A mum has shared how she became a self-made millionaire by 40 - by making use of other people's money, being 'brave' and not getting caught up in others' opinions.
Maureen Pound, 54, shared the five things she did to become rich and says to make money you need to 'take action'.
The mum-of-two shared how she would set a strategy and stick to it and made the decision not to live in her biggest asset, a three-bedroom $199k property in Melbourne, Australia - instead renting it out for $1,400 per month.
Another nugget of her advice was to 'get really great people around you' to help do the things you aren't good at.
Maureen started out as a secondary teacher aged 27 before entering the corporate world - writing IT training for companies like Tesco and the United States Air Force.
She saved as much money as possible from her pay packet to purchase properties - which she then decided to rent out.
Maureen became a millionaire at 39 after buying five homes - four in Australia and one in Vanuatu, the South Pacific - and rents them out, earns around 72k per year.
Maureen, director of a virtual assistant company, from Melbourne Australia, said: "If you want to become a millionaire you have to be brave and take action - if you take action you work things out.
"I feel very strongly about GenY and GenZ, I feel that every generation blames the generations above them but I think they can do it too - younger generations can achieve a lot with their money.
"I still live in a rental to this day and I have these other properties.
"If you're a millennial saying 'oh no, the properties are too expensive' my friend - who is a millennial - just bought one in Queensland for about $350k so stop going for the top of the market and get yourself in the market.
"You don't have to have this perfect plan, you just need an idea of what you want. If you take action you find out what works for you and what doesn't."
Maureen bought her first property at the age of 28 - a three-bedroom house in Melbourne - which she then rented out.
She said: "I started going out with a guy when I was 28 and he asked me what my five-year plan was and suggested I start investing my money.
"Each pay packet I put money away for a couple of years. I ended up with a $20k deposit for my first property.
"I was talking to someone at work who knew a man who was selling off-the-plan properties in Queensland and they were quite cheap and would be built in a couple of years.
"I thought 'hold it, I've got equity in this apartment that I could use to put down a deposit on these off-the-plan properties.'
"It took a few years to be built but once it was it got rented out straight away, then I still had some equity to buy a third property.
"Once again I went off the plan route and I found this great apartment about a block away from the beach, so I put down a deposit for that apartment."
Maureen currently owns five properties - four in Australia and one in Vanuatu, the South Pacific - three of which are long-term rentals and two are used as Airbnbs.
The property mogul started sharing her pearls of wisdom on TikTok where she quickly amassed 14.6 thousand followers.
She said: "I decided to share how I got to where I am today because I have a successful business and we are about to open in the UK.
Maureen wanted to highlight how anybody can become a millionaire she said: "I just want to encourage people, there are still opportunities out there for people.
One of Maureen's top tips is to surround yourself with great people.
She said: "Everyone is intelligent in different ways, I have lots of ideas about how to take action.
"But if you asked me about the bank interest rates on my property I wouldn't know, but it doesn't matter as I have people around me.
"People want the perfect answer, the perfect answer isn't out there - you have to find it."
Maureen said she is a 'self-made millionaire' - as she did not come from a wealthy family, and her dad worked three jobs to support his nine children.
After travelling Europe and Australia in her early twenties, Maureen became a teacher, and then entered the corporate world - writing IT training for companies like Tesco and the United States Air Force.
For the past 22 years, Maureen has been investing in properties, she said: "The key message is that I invested when working for someone else, with a fixed income and then had business and a varying cash flow.
"You can do both and it works."
Maureen said she has been 'surprised' by the reaction to her videos, she said: "I don't consider myself uber successful, but there is a property investment magazine that said it was unusual for a single woman to be this successful in the industry.
"I have done this all on my own."
Maureen said she made the decision not to live in her biggest assets.
She said: "I bought a property and after nine months, I moved out and rented it out and made rent off of it.
"I claimed tax benefits from being a landlord, then I rented something with mates and it was much cheaper."
Maureen's lasting piece of advice for wannabe millionaires is 'be brave'.
She added: "Be brave and take action, if you take action you work things out - you don't have to have this perfect plan - you just need an idea of what you want.
"If you take action you find out what works and what doesn't."
Maureen can be found on TikTok at @howtogetlaidontinder.
Five things Maureen did to become a millionaire by age 40 -
1) To make money use other people's money
2) Stick to your strategy
3) Not get caught up in other people's opinions
4) Make the decision not to live in her biggest asset
5) Get really great people around her
China warns against U.S. missile troop deployment plan in Japan Xinhua) 08:17, July 29, 2022 BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson on Thursday said China will take resolute countermeasures should the United States follow through with its missile troop deployment plan in Japan. Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the above remarks in response to a press inquiry regarding the matter. The United States' intention to make such a move is perilous and detrimental to the national security of countries in the region as well as regional peace and stability, said Wu. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- At the 2022 Beijing Culture Forum held from July 25 to 26, experts and industry insiders shared the new trends and prospects of cultural innovation. Wan Jie, chairman of Artron Art Group, said the company is going to join hands with the Beijing Fine Art Academy to launch a digital exhibition of the art work of Chinese painter Qi Baishi (1864-1957) in Italy, this November. Focusing on art data collection, the company has built a database for the works of nearly 500,000 artists, and committed to building digital archives for about 15,000 art galleries, museums and art institutions including the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital city of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Chen Yanshun, chairman of BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd., said at the forum that traditional industries like radio and television have achieved transformation and upgrading with the help of digital technology. New cultural formats such as online literature, online live broadcasts, short videos have developed rapidly. The digital media has combined cultural content with digital technology to become an important part of the cultural industry. According to the forum's sources, the new cultural formats in Beijing, such as digital publishing, and the manufacturing sector of wearable intelligent cultural devices, achieved a total revenue of over 1 trillion yuan (about 148.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, an increase of 22.6 percent year on year. From January to November 2021, there were 1,105 culture and technology enterprises in Beijing, with revenues totalling 776 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.1 percent. "On Baidu Maps, through augmented reality (AR) technology, the fountain ruins in the Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan Park, was 'reconstructed,' allowing tourists to see the virtual images of its original scenery on their mobile phones," said Wu Tian, vice president of Baidu Group. Jin Wei, vice mayor of Beijing, said the municipal government has supported culture and technology enterprises. It has built 98 municipal-level cultural industrial parks, such as the 798 Art District and Star Park. Science and technology has taken on the role of empowering culture and promoting cultural industries. Officials from France, the United States, and Russia have been visiting the African continent this week in an effort to garner support from various African leaders for their stance in the Ukraine conflict. While in Benin, French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of waging a "new type of hybrid world war". Its like a new Cold War is playing out in Africa, where the rival sides are trying to gain influence, William Gumede, director of Democracy Works, a foundation promoting good governance, told Associated Press (AP) newswire. This spate of visits from French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and US UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield are a shift into high gear in order to garner support from the various African countries, according to Gumede. Russia sent troops into Ukraine on 24 February, sparking a war that has killed thousands and displaced millions. "Russia launched an offensive against Ukraine. It's a territorial war, the likes of which we thought had disappeared from European soil," Macron said on the second leg of a trip to Africa to reset France's relations with the continent, where many nations are former French colonies. French touch in Benin "I speak on a continent that has suffered colonial imperialism," he said at a press conference with Benin President Patrice Talon. "Russia is one of the last imperial colonial powers" as it decided to "invade a neighbouring country to defend its interests," he said. On a more regional level, Macron pledged support to Benin in terms of countering terrorism after the West African country has faced escalated threats from al-Qaeda and Islamic-State-linked armed groups. "France promises support in air, intelligence and equipment as well as training for the defense and security forces of Benin," Macron indicated at a press conference with his Benin counterpart Patrice Talon. Story continues "We are also going to meet Benins needs in terms of equipment and help the country to structure how it arms its army". This renewed support comes as France prepares to pull its forces out of Mali after 9 years, repositioning its involvement in the Sahel region. It blamed the deterioration of bilateral ties on the decision by the Malian junta to work with Russian group Wagner to expel jihadists. French opposition lawmakers were hoping Macron would draw attention to the "alarming" situation of political prisoners in Benin amid a crackdown by the Talon administration on opposition figures, particularly during the election last year. Talon denied that the country was holding political prisoners. In Benin no one is in prison for political reasons, they are in prison because they have committed crimes for political reasons, he said. The release of 30 opposition supporters was announced during Macron's visit. Food security Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov targeted African countries hit by drought and hunger, as he visited Egypt, Congo, Uganda, and Ethiopia this week. As Western countries have promoted that Russia and its war against Ukraine are to blame for rising food prices and massive shortages, Lavrov maintained in his visits that the West is creating a neo-colonialist war though food availability. A number of African countries, especially Egypt, are reliant on Ukraine for grain, but since the war broke out earlier this year, no grain has been shipped. Macron accused the Kremlin of using TV channels like RT to spread propaganda in support of the war. And he charged the Kremlin with blackmailing the world by thwarting the export of grain from Ukraine. "They are blackmailing because they are the ones who blocked cereals in Ukraine. They are the ones who regulate their cereals". "The situation in Ukraine did additionally negatively affect food markets, but not due to the Russian special operation, rather due to the absolutely inadequate reaction of the West, which announced sanctions," Lavrov said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopias capital. However, a large number of African countries have refused to comment or agree to Western sanctions against Russia. The most telling example was the UN General Assembly vote in March to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine. Twenty-five African countries abstained or did not vote at all. A TUI plane flew from Greece to Scotland without passengers, The Daily Mail reported. Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images A TUI plane flew from Greece to Scotland without passengers, MailOnline reported. Passengers were kicked off the plane because crew had worked too many hours, per the report. Their flight was delayed by 13 hours and TUI was unable to provide overnight accommodation. Passengers were booted off a plane by British airline TUI because the crew had worked too many hours but the plane still flew off without them, according to a report by MailOnline. The flight from the Greek island Corfu to Aberdeen, Scotland originally scheduled for 10:15 p.m. on 22 July was initially delayed by a few hours, which a TUI spokesperson told Insider was related to "operational disruption." But after passengers had taken a shuttle bus to board the plane, they were told to return to the terminal because the captain had exceeded his legal limit on working hours, passenger Steve Dongworth told MailOnline. He said that TUI staff later told him it was actually the cabin crew, not the pilot, who had timed out. Passengers were given a new flight time of 1:45 p.m. on July 23, MailOnline reported more than 13 hours after the original flight was scheduled to depart. Data from FlightRadar 24 confirms the flight was scheduled for this time. Dongworth told MailOnline that while he waited at the airport he had checked flight-tracking app FlightRadar24 and saw that the plane had actually departed at 3:44 a.m. and made the journey to Scotland. Insider confirmed via both FlightRadar 24 and FlightAware that the plane departed at this time and flew to Aberdeen. "The plane still needed to return to the UK as this would then impact other flights," the TUI spokesperson told Insider. "Passengers couldn't fly on this aircraft as there was not any crew to operate the flight." TUI was unable to provide overnight accommodation for the passengers waiting for their rescheduled flight. Dongworth said they were left to sleep on the floor in the departure lounge. "We were told those who wanted to leave could do so but would not be allowed back into the gate until they had checked in for the new flight," Dongworth told MailOnline, adding that he didn't want to walk round Corfu so late at night. Story continues "Regretfully, a lack of hotel availability in the area meant we couldn't source any overnight accommodation for customers as we normally would in these circumstances," the TUI spokesperson told Insider. The airline told affected passengers that they wouldn't be able to access their checked-in luggage during the delay, per a screenshot of an email from TUI that Dongworth shared on Twitter. Dongworth told MailOnline that the airline only offered him sandwiches during the delay, but a TUI spokesperson told Insider that staff handed out water and meal vouchers to the passengers. The flight was ultimately delayed again, departing at 3:57 p.m. on July 23, per data from FlightRadar 24. The spokesperson told Insider that TUI had kept the passengers up to date while it worked on a new flight plan and had provided them with details on how to claim compensation under EU rules. "We do everything we can to get customers away as planned and, while instances like this are rare, we recognise we fell short of our usually high standards and apologise again," the spokesperson said. Read the original article on Business Insider Sir Frederick Barclay at the Royal Courts Of Justice in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA) (PA Wire) Businessman Sir Frederick Barclay is waiting to see whether he will be penalised after a judge ruled he was in contempt of court as a result of failing to give nearly 250,000 to his ex-wife. Lady Hiroko Barclay, 79, had asked Sir Jonathan Cohen to hand 87-year-old Sir Frederick a jail term after arguing that he had breached court orders to pay her more than 100 million following the breakdown of their 34-year marriage. She said he had not paid the first of two 50 million lump sums as ordered and owed 185 000 to cover the cost of her legal bills and 60,000 in maintenance. Lady Barclay argued that Sir Frederick had the means to pay but had not paid. Sir Jonathan ruled that Sir Frederick was not in contempt as a result of not paying the first of the two 50 million lump sums. Lady Hiroko Barclay leaving the High Court in London (Kirsty OConnor/PA) (PA Wire) He concluded that Lady Barclay had not proved that Sir Frederick had the means to pay. But the judge ruled that Sir Frederick was in contempt as a result of not paying the money he owed for legal fees and maintenance after concluding that he had the means to pay those sums. Sir Jonathan made the rulings after considering the latest stage of a dispute over money between Sir Frederick and Lady Barclay at a public hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London. He said he would consider whether penalties might be imposed at a follow-up hearing next month. Lawyers said outside court that Sir Jonathan could hand Sir Frederick a jail sentence. Sir Frederick Barclay, right, and twin brother Sir David after receiving their knighthoods in 2000 (Michael Stephens/PA) (PA Wire) Lady Barclay had told Sir Jonathan that Sir Frederick had the means to pay all the money he owed but was aiming to string things out until one or other of us dies. Sir Frederick had said he did not have access to funds and said money was held in trusts. Lawyer Marcus Dearle, who represents Sir Frederick, had told the judge that all steps had been taken to raise money owed. Sir Frederick and his twin Sir David were among the UKs most high-profile businessmen. Their business interests including Telegraph Media Group and The Ritz hotel in London. Story continues Sir David died in January last year, aged 86. Control of the Barclay group has passed of other members of the family. Sir Jonathan suggested, in a written ruling, that the litigation should be a matter of honour to the Barclay family. He said Sir Frederick and Sir David had amassed a fortune through their business activities. In 2014, the two brothers set about dividing what they had so as to make provision for the next generation and with the intention of avoiding tax liabilities arising either in life or on death, he said. This took the form of a web of highly complex overseas trust arrangements. He said the family fortune built up by the two brothers was divided equally between three of Sir Davids sons and Sir Fredericks daughter, Amanda. He added: Thus it was that one side of the family had 75% of the wealth and the other 25%, all of it held through complicated trust structures. The judge discussed the involvement of Sir Fredericks nephews in the divorce litigation and said they had not assisted in finding a solution. He said it had not been suggested that anyone except Sir Davids sons other than Sir Fredericks daughter were the true ultimate beneficial owners of the underlying assets. The judge said the three men had ultimate control beneficially of 75% of the businesses. But he added: I have heard nothing from them except, tellingly, by way of statements in support of (an) application that would have the effect of removing from this public hearing the power of the media and others to make reference to a huge raft of evidence which they describe as confidential information. He went on: it is very striking that rather than assist in finding a solution to what should be a matter of honour to this family they refuse to provide information, hiding behind the walls of the trust structure, whilst spending over 1 million in subsidising Sir Fredericks legal fees and no doubt a very large sum on their own fees to try to avert the gaze of the media. Whitney Leads UKIPT Nottingham Main Event; Margereson Wins SHR July 29 2022 Matthew Pitt Editor Day 1a of the 1,100 PokerStars United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Nottingham Main Event is done and dusted after 13 action-packed hours of poker action at Dusk Till Dawn. The first flight of the UKIPT Nottingham Main Event drew in a 149-strong crowd but only 21 of those starters had chips in front of them when the curtain came down on proceedings. Also taking place at the home of British Poker was the 5,300 buy-in Super High Roller. It crowned its champion after a heads-up deal between two of the United Kingdom's elite grinders 1,100 UKIPT Nottingham Main Event Day 1A Top 10 Chip Counts Place Player Chips 1 Mark Whitney 385,000 2 Ben Jones 376,000 3 Majid Nadeem 359,000 4 Alberto Speranzoni 359,000 5 Calogero Morreale 336,000 6 Robbie Bull 309,000 7 Cameron Williamson 309,000 8 Rehman Kassam 278,000 9 Daniel Gormley 274,000 10 Sarbjit Kular 217,000 Follow all the UKIPT Nottingham Main Event action here The opening flight of the first UKIPT Nottingham Main Event since 2015 saw Mark Whitney make a superb start, turning his 30,000 starting stack into a tournament-leading 385,000 chips. Whitney has just under $25,500 in live tournament winnings but looks set to more than double that sum if he can continue his Day 1a form into the latter stages of this 500,000 guaranteed event. Ben Jones is hot on Whitney's heels with a 376,000 stack. Most people know Jones by his "jenbizzle" online monikor, an alias that has seen Jones win more than $5.2 million in the online poker world. Majid Nadeem, third-place finisher in the 2022 Irish Open Coin Rivet High Roller for 51,385, bagged up 359,000 chips at the close of play, which ties him with Italian Alberto Speranzoni. Other familiar names in the Day 1a top 10 chip counts include Robbie Bull (309,000), and former Dusk Till Dawn dealer Rehman Kassam (278,000). Also through at the first attempt are such luminaries as Usman Siddique (157,000), MILLIONS Online champion Endrit Geci (103,000), and the 2016 WPT500 champion Andreas Olympios (38,000). Of course, if only 21 of the 149 starters punched their Day 2 tickets, plenty of stellar names busted out before time was called on Day 1a. James Clarke, Matthew Davenport, Jack Allen, Brandon Sheils, Lee French, Yiannis Liperis, Keith Johnson, and Jack Hardcastle will all have to enter Day 1b if they want to become this tournament's champion. Day 1b shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. BST on July 29, and the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be with you every step of the way. Howlett Takes Down Road to PSPC Dublin; Platinum Pass to be Awarded in Nottingham Margereson Wins the UKIPT Nottingham Super High Roller Scott Margereson The 5,300 Super High Roller saw 40 players create a 200,000 prize pool, with the top two finishers walking away with more than half of that princely sum. Seven places were paid, and it was Dusk Till Dawn regular Mitch Johnson who was the first to cash, his seventh-place finish coming with 10,000. Leo Farodoye joined Johnson at the cashier's desk with a payout slip for 12,500, before popular grinder Alex Golder got his hands on the 15,000 fourth place prize. Danish rounder Henrik Hecklen, a player who you find playing anything from $500 to $100,000 events, finished third here for 30,000, which left Scott "AggroSantos" Margereson heads-up against the recent WSOP bracelet winner Harry Lodge. The heads-up duo struck a deal before Margereson came out on top. Lodge's runner-up finish came with 50,341 with Margereson scooping 56,159. Look out for both Lodge and Margereson on Day 1b of the Main Event. 5,300 Super High Roller Final Table Results Place Player Prize 1 Scott Margereson 56,159* 2 Harry Lodge 50,341* 3 Henrik Hecklen 30,000 4 Jonathan McCann 20,000 5 Alex Goulder 15,000 6 Leo Farodoye 12,500 7 Mitch Johnson 10,000 *reflects a heads-up deal Jon Stewart speaks to the press before a news conference about the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act on Capitol Hill July 28, 2022 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images Jon Stewart ripped into Republicans for blocking the advancement of a veteran health care bill. "Sadly, these are the people that fought and defended their right to this fuckery," Stewart said. Stewart said the Republicans who blocked the bill were "cowards." Jon Stewart, the former host of "The Daily Show," during a visit to Washington, DC, on Thursday excoriated Senate Republicans for blocking a bill that would expand health care access for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits and Agent Orange, among other contaminants, during their service. "This is corruption at its finest. And sadly, these are the people that fought and defended their right to this fuckery," Stewart said in comments to reporters on Capitol Hill. Stewart during a press conference with Democratic lawmakers like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said Republicans "don't support the troops" but "support the war machine." "They haven't met a veteran they won't screw over," Stewart, a longtime advocate for veterans, added. A version of the bipartisan bill the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act passed in the Senate in June (84-14). But revisions made to the bill in the House where it passed by a 342-88 vote saw the measure return to the Senate. Despite passing with strong bipartisan support in the Senate last month, the bill on Wednesday failed to cross the 60-vote threshold necessary for it to advance. Twenty-five Republicans who previously supported the bill voted against it, per the Guardian. Stewart in a tweet called those Republicans "stab vets in the back Senators." GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who was among the Republicans to stand in the way of the advancement of the legislation, said the measure was "a budget gimmick that's designed to allow hundreds of billions of dollars in additional unrelated spending, having nothing to do with veterans," per Roll Call. Story continues During Thursday's press conference, Stewart called Toomey a "coward," saying the Pennsylvania Republican's opposition to the measure over the allocation of discretionary funds was "bullshit." Toomey's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, in a statement on Wednesday slammed Republicans for stalling the bill. "This eleventh-hour act of cowardice will actively harm this country's veterans and their families. Republicans chose today to rob generations of toxic-exposed veterans across this country of the health care and benefits they so desperately need and make no mistake, more veterans will suffer and die as a result," Tester said. Read the original article on Business Insider "The program is important. I've had a really good time," King said. "College is important, education is important and this is helping me get there." The Upward Bound summer program at UNG also made an impact on Ellishiah "Lee" Campbell, a rising 10th-grader at Johnson High School. "The program helped me because the way I learn is different from the way things are taught in school," Campbell said. "The tutoring sessions help you learn your own way of learning." The program provides a variety of opportunities for students, such as college visits, student leadership development opportunities and other direct services specifically for first-generation students. One of the campus visits was to Morgan State University. "Their admissions staff talked about the relevance of higher education in a way that intrigued our students," Richardson said. "They challenged our students to persist and get out of their comfort zones while in high school and beyond. King and Campbell appreciated the support, especially with ACT prep, which helps them become familiar with the test and strategies for success. "It made me feel confident," King said. Miguel Del Angel, rising senior at Johnson High School, has been in the program the last four consecutive years. He joined at the encouragement of his former mathematics teacher who knew of his political aspirations. Del Angel particularly appreciated the chance to visit with staff members of U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock while at the Capitol. The Upward Bound students also had a mock congressional debate and visited the national monuments. "My siblings and I came to the conclusion that we were all going to go to college. It was our main goal. With Upward Bound, it showed me I have so many options. It opened my eyes to a lot of things I wouldn't have seen otherwise," Del Angel said. Its hot out there and environmental activism is rising with the temperature. The latest demonstration hit the Uffizi Gallery this week when protestors glued themselves to Sandro Botticellis Primavera. Primavera is an Edenic scene of glistening flowers and golden-haired women in filmy, flowing robes reveling in the glories of nature - a romanticized reminder of what were losing to forest fires, droughts, and our addiction to fossil fuels. Another aspect of Primavera that makes it an apt choice for the protestors: each figure in the painting is actively participating. Theres no passivity anywhere. The demonstration at the Uffizi is only one of many at museums where activists glue themselves to artworks relevant to their cause. You may remember an early form of this same protest in 2018 at the Louvre when dissenters rallied against the museums choice of sponsors such as big oil. In that demonstration, several people lay on the floor beneath Theodore Gericaults The Raft of the Medusa as if to mimic the dead and dying sailors after their ship sank. Like the raft in the painting, planet earth is also adrift and headed for extinction. Not taking global warming laying down Clearly, latter-day environmental activism is taking a more aggressive approach. Last month, protestors at the Courtauld Museum in London, glued themselves to the frame of Van Goghs Peach Trees in Blossom. Of course, anything in bloom enlivening the countryside is pertinent; but I wondered if those doing the gluing knew that Van Gogh told his brother Peach Trees in Blossom was probably the best landscape I have done. Also, this month, activism to save the planet took another form. Besides bonding to the frame of John Constables Hay Wain at the National Gallery in London, demonstrators overlaid the painting with a reimagined rendition showing trees on fire. None of the activism in England went over well with Britains culture minister Nadine Dorries. She tweeted that the protestors were attention seekers who put art treasures at risk. "These protestors should be removed and held responsible for the damage and disruption." But heres the thing. No harm has come to any of the paintings that these reformers stick themselves to. Not even the frames are damaged. The glue is reportedly dissolvable without a trace. The supposed attention seekers consult with art restorers before they act. Landscapes are not the only subjects for gluing. Demonstrators at the Royal Academy, London adhered their hands to Da Vincis The Last Supper citing the painters love of nature. Speaking of Da Vinci, think of all the trouble that has gone into preserving the Mona Lisa with its climate-controlled, bulletproof glass case. Whats the point of preserving an artistic heritage if we lose an inheritance of another kind planet earth? Back to the future I can see it now, cant you? A re-make of the 2001 movie The Planet of the Apes. But this time you dont see the Statue of Liberty in ruins. Instead, you see the Mona Lisa forever preserved in impervious glass sticking out of a wasteland reminding us not of nuclear war this time, but of war, we lost to global warming. BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a congratulatory message to Nikenike Vurobaravu on his assuming office as the president of Vanuatu. Vanuatu is China's good friend, good partner and good brother in the Pacific island countries region, Xi said, adding that the ever deepening China-Vanuatu comprehensive strategic partnership, with fruitful exchanges and cooperation in various fields, has become an example of mutual respect, solidarity and coordination between developing countries. This year marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Vanuatu, the Chinese president said, adding that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Vanuatu relations and stands ready to work with President Vurobaravu to open up broader prospects for the bilateral ties and bring benefits to the two countries and their people. Associate Professor Nghiem inh Vy, a member of the Development Board of the High School History Curriculum for the 2018 high school education programme, speaks with Giao duc Viet Nam (Viet Nam Education) magazine about the changes made to the high school curriculum. Would you walk us through the process of making changes and adjustments to the high school history curriculum? The history curriculum development board agreed that the 2018 high school history curriculum was compiled very carefully and seriously in terms of quality. On July 19, the Ministry of Education and Training held a workshop to comment on the adjusted high school history curriculum as required in Resolution No 63/2022/QH15 of the National Assembly. At the workshop, we proposed an adjustment plan without changing the issued programme structure; proposed reducing a few topics; and adjusted some content in nine topics and left 10 topics unchanged. The editing of the content, concepts and requirements to be achieved in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades is quite specific with the percentage of the time for each content. The adjustment does not affect or require any modification to the secondary-level history curriculum. Content that has been thoroughly studied at the lower secondary level will be reduced at the high school level. Moreover, the history programme at the secondary level continues to be considered a foundation for students to develop core general knowledge. In high school, students will study more general and advanced topics. The Programme Development Board only performs the main task of adjusting the content of the existing history programme from 70 sessions to 52 sessions for each grade. What principles are the programme adjustments based on? The required adjustments to the history curriculum must be based on the eight key principles that we discussed and outlined. Firstly, it must comply with the objectives and viewpoints on curriculum development of the 2018 General Education Programme and the characteristics of the History subject. Secondly, it must be made without changing the current programme structure, strengthening general knowledge at the basic education stage, helping students understand more deeply core knowledge through topics to develop qualities and competencies of a learner. Thirdly, we have to streamline content and required levels to suit the mass of students. Fourthly, the new programme has to ensure the fundamentality and system for mass education; at the same time, focusing on career-oriented education for high school students. Fifthly, the selected topics and contents must be suitable to the psychological characteristics of the age and perception of high school students. Sixthly, the curriculum has to attach importance to the knowledge of national history and Vietnamese revolutionary history to improve education on patriotism for the country, national pride, historical traditions and national culture. At the same time, it must ensure the connection and harmony between knowledge of world history and Southeast Asian history, ensuring the content of world and regional history knowledge is the basis for a deeper understanding of the nation's history. Seventhly, the compulsory section of the history programme must be feasible and suitable for all students. Eighthly, it also pays attention to the harmony, logic, and connection between the content of compulsory history topics (basic and core) with professional-oriented topics of an in-depth nature. Will the reduction in the number of sessions cause any disturbance for students and teachers? The adjustment of the compulsory part of the history programme with the high school level has tried to reduce academic knowledge, ensuring the basicity to educate students to love the homeland, the country, and the revolutionary tradition. It will not break the structure of the programme and still contributes to career orientation. The adjustment of the history programme is not building a brand new one, but is an adjustment between the mandatory and optional parts, mainly changing from 70 sessions to 52 sessions to ensure scientific and pedagogical properties. We think that 52 sessions are suitable for all students. As for the students who are oriented to study Social and Humanities, in addition to 52 periods, they will learn 35 more specialised lessons. We will continue with workshops in Ho Chi Minh City to consult scientists and teachers from the southern provinces. The high school History Programme Development Board in the 2018 General Education Programme will study and make the most appropriate adjustments based on absorbing comments from experts, administrators and teachers. How should schools and teachers change to meet the requirements of the adjusted programme? It should be said that in recent years, teachers at all levels have always tried to innovate teaching methods and make changes in assessment tests to make history teaching better. We ask that teachers consider the adjusted programme as an obligation and textbooks as the leading reference in teaching. Teachers can study many sets of textbooks, as long as they stick to the requirements to prepare quality lesson plans. The role of teachers is not only as an attractive imparter of knowledge but also as an organiser and operator of teaching hours for the sake of students capacity development. Teachers need to be equipped with and effectively use teaching equipment by the school and refer to standard documents on the Internet and many other materials. Of course, teachers must also be good at running extracurricular activities. For the part of management agencies, it is necessary to create favourable conditions for teachers to innovate and have more motivation for teaching the subject. VNS BEN TRE The intercropping of other crops in coconut groves in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Ben Tre has helped farmers improve income amid a dramatic decline in the price of the nut. The prices of mature coconuts in the countrys largest coconut-producing province have fallen to VN20,000 VN25,000 per dozen due to weaker export demand, causing coconut farmers income to plummet. Nguyen Van Hiep has a 6,000 sq.m coconut grove in Giong Trom Districts Binh Thanh Commune and his income from the nut has been reduced by two-thirds from before. However, Hiep has other income from growing elephant grass in the grove in order to breed five cows and earns about VN50 million VN60 million (US$2,100 US$2,600) a year from selling calves. His coconut grove is small and if he grows only coconuts, the income is not enough to cover his familys expenses, he said, adding that the additional crop has helped stabilise his familys income. Other farmers have planted other crops and bred shrimp in coconut groves to increase income compared to growing only coconuts. Tran Van Tam grows limes and grapefruits and breeds giant river prawns in his coconut grove in Giong Trom Districts Chau Binh Commune. The income from intercropping is two to three times more compared to growing only coconut in a same area, he said. It is possible to grow other plants between coconut trees as the trees are planted 7 8 metres away from each other, and the other plants help reduce wild grasses and maximise the use of land in coconut groves, he said. Coconut farmers can only have a stable income when the price of coconuts is above VN80,000 ($3.4) a dozen, he said. The additional income from intercropping plants and giant river prawns has helped farmers to increase income and stabilise lives, he said. The province has more than 77,000ha of coconuts, according to the province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Coconut trees account for only about 30 per cent of farming land and 50 - 60 per cent of the amount of sunlight in coconut groves, so the groves have the potential for intercropping other crops, it said. Huynh Quang uc, deputy director of the department, said crops which are effectively intercropped in coconut farms include banana, green skin and pink flesh grapefruits, other citrus fruits, and fish and shrimp in grove ponds. The intercropping of other crops in coconut groves offer farmers an income equal to when coconuts have a higher price, he said. Organic farming Ben Tre is strengthening developing coconut cultivation to organic standards under linkages among farmers, co-operatives and processing companies to meet export requirements. It has developed more than 2,890ha of organic coconuts in the first half of the year, taking its total organic coconut area to 16,014ha, according to the department. Most organic coconut areas are located in Giong Trom, Mo Cay Nam, Binh ai, Thanh Phu, Ba Tri and Mo Cay Bac districts. oan Van anh, director of the department, said the department has co-operated with localities and eight processing companies to develop organic coconut areas for export. The provinces organic coconut-related products have been diversified and exported to many markets. Tran Quoc Ung, chairman of the Thoi Thanh Agriculture Co-operative, said his co-operative is growing nearly 120ha of organic coconut and sells about 100,000 nuts to the Luong Quoi Coconut Co. Ltd a month. The nuts are used to produce jam for export to the US, he said. Farmers who grow organic coconuts are paid a price of VN15,000 - VN20,000 per dozen higher than normal coconuts, he said. anh said the department will co-operate with localities, processing companies and farmers associations at all levels to persuade farmers to grow more organic coconuts. Farmers will be instructed on techniques for growing organic coconuts and making organic fertilisers from animal waste and agricultural byproducts, helping to reduce the production cost of growing organic coconuts. The department will co-operate with relevant departments and localities to implement policies restructuring agriculture production, developing organic agriculture production and concentrating farming areas under value chains. VNS The upcoming plan will take into account all regions of the country, from urban areas to the mountains, Le Toan The first outline of the national development master plan for 2021-2030 was revealed last week, with the plan to be completed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and submitted to the National Assembly at a meeting in October-November. This master plan is a strategic document to re-order and restructure the national planning space based on the potential and strength of the country for rapid and sustainable socioeconomic development, said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong. In the view of Phuong, one of the most important concepts of the plan is to develop the country on a unified level, rather than divided along administrative boundaries, while all resources of the country are mobilised and used effectively. Therefore, the national development space will be formed based on economic areas and corridors, strategic urban and economic centres, and connected infrastructure. Tran Hong Quang, director general of the MPIs Development Strategy Institute, said, We will select some of the key economic regions at present that have the most favourable locations for international airports and seaports, sci-tech and innovation, and high-quality human resources to become the key motivation economic areas for the country. Quang added that while there are six socioeconomic regions currently, the 2021-2030 master plan proposes re-organisation into seven socioeconomic regions. Every region has its own advantages and strengths in combination with its location, roles, and function to build a direction in line with the development of industries, economic zones, and infrastructure, said Quang. In addition to highly appreciating the draft of the national master plan, some experts expected that it would be revised further. According to Vu Nang Dung from the Vietnam Soil Science Association, coastal/maritime, delta and low-lying areas, and mountainous regions should all be cultivated and developed on a level playing field. It is quite difficult to build a master plan that integrates everything, Dung said, But we should identify regional development and vertical development instead of focusing on the current six socioeconomic regions, urged Dung. Dang Viet Dung, chairman of the Vietnam Federation of Civil Engineering Associations, said that economic corridors are a new concept, so some criteria need to be pointed out. In addition to the basic traffic routes, we should analyse resources, human resources, and the strength of every region in order to develop economic corridors properly, he said. Meanwhile, Nguyen Quang, former director of the UN-Habitat Vietnam Programme, said that the building of the countrys master plan needs a cross-disciplinary approach like other countries are carrying out. The plan should clarify the priorities and the solutions for these priorities. This is an approach that needs multi-industrial support to point out issues, build, and carry out the master plan, said Quang. For example, the second National Physical Plan 2011-2020 in Malaysia organised the country into four regions, three main development corridors, and four sub-development corridors. In Indonesia, its Economic Master Plan for 2011-2025 highlighted six economic corridors that contribute over 80 per cent of the countrys GDP, including Sumatra for its resource production and national energy centre, Bali-Nusa for tourism and food support, and Papua-Kepulauan for the development of agriculture, energy, and mining. On July 27, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the government's delegation worked with Ho Chi Minh City authorities to analyse socioeconomic progress over the last seven months and to break through the obstacles that several delayed projects are facing. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the government's delegation at the meeting on July 27 To maintain its leading position, leaders of Ho Chi Minh City proposed the removal of a series of issues from policy mechanisms, decentralisation, and legal obstacles for each specific project. Through working with the Government Office and ministries, 15 issues were proposed by Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee for approval. Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai suggested that the government should issue a resolution to accelerate the progress of a range of key projects such as Ring Road No.3. Ring Road No.4s policy should also be submitted to the National Assembly for approval by mid-2023. Ho Chi Minh City also asked PM Chinh to approve the policy of allowing seven land plots to be used to compensate for two projects under a build-transfer contract, including three land plots for anti-tidal flood protection projects and four others reserved for the road project connecting Pham Van Dong to the Go Dua-National Highway 1 intersection in Thu Duc City. Also at the meeting, Mai requested that the government, ministries, and branches remove problems related to public land interspersed in residential areas, lease houses, and land managed by public units. Mai also wants to see capital for three hospital projects located in Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, and Thu Duc, more implementation time for the metro project No.2, and the allocation of more medium-term capital for completing the metro line No.1. Nguyen Van Nen, Politburo member and Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, said that in the past, the government and prime minister have made many decisions to remove obstacles and open mechanisms for the city. Currently, the development of Ho Chi Minh City is facing bottlenecks in the institutions, infrastructure, and human resources that need support from the central government. Reaffirming that Ho Chi Minh City is always aware of its responsibility for the development of the country, Nen said that the city is focusing on summarising Resolution No.16 issued in 2012 by the Politburo and Resolution No.54 from 2017 by the National Assembly to permit Ho Chi Minh City to implement pilot projects where information is not yet available or where previous studies are no longer appropriate. Concluding the meeting, PM Chinh highly appreciated the achievements of Ho Chi Minh City, noting that its budget revenue accounted for nearly one-third of the country's total. To achieve that result, Ho Chi Minh City has creatively implemented the guidelines of the Party, the National Assembly, and the government, made efforts to overcome the difficulties of the political system, and closely coordinated with central agencies. Agreeing with the proposal of the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City, the prime minister emphasised that where there is no current law or where the laws no longer match reality, the city can undertake pilot projects, gain experience, and gradually expand it into other fields. Ho Chi Minh City's GRDP growth rate in the first six months of the year is estimated to increase by 3.8 per cent, with a total export turnover of goods of just under $25 billion. The total budget revenue for the first seven months of the year was about $12.3 trillion, reaching 73.2 per cent of the estimate. From now until the end of the year, Ho Chi Minh City expects to achieve a GRDP growth rate of 7-7.2 per cent, which is higher than the target of 6-6.5 per cent. It is extremely alarming that more than 2000 information security incidents were recorded in the first half of the year in Vietnam, specifically, 2,022 malware attacks, 378 phishing attacks, and 243 interface-changing attacks. The attacks are increasing and target organisations and enterprises with weak IT systems that are not proactive and lack the proper awareness of the importance of ensuring information security. Accordingly, this situation and optimal solutions were the major contents discussed at the seminar by FPT Information System Co., Ltd. (FPT IS) and SECUI South Korea's premier network security solution provider with the largest market share for the past 11 consecutive years. SECUI is cooperating with FPT IS to protect enterprises data and digital assets In light of Vietnam's strong promotion of digital transformation, FPT IS and SECUI have reaffirmed that the most important asset of any enterprise is data. Therefore, the demand for information security solutions is increasing as network security risks will always exist. To minimise the consequences of information security incidents, organisations and enterprises need to employ themselves with adequate infrastructure, human resources, and technologies to always be ready against attacks. The seminar is a part of the strategic cooperation agreement previously signed between FPT IS and SECUI. Under the agreement, the two companies will provide network security equipment such as the BLUEMAX NGF Next-generation Firewall, BLUEMAX IPS Intrusion Prevention System, BLUEMAX WIPS Wireless-Intrusion Prevention System while jointly researching and developing a management service model. FPT IS is committed to drawing on its advanced technical resources and enormous experience in network security, while SECUI commits to exchanging documents and successful business models, and organising in-depth solution training courses for FPT IS. Founded in 2000, SECUI focused on developing network security technologies with the goal of becoming a leading enterprise in security. With the available foundation of experience and technologies, SECUI has cooperated with FPT IS to deliver its products to the Vietnamese market. Tackling information security issues for enterprises At the seminar, SECUI introduced the BLUEMAX NGF SECUI's next-gen firewall for virtual cloud network security that provides a comprehensive security platform, detecting and blocking all security threats in wired and wireless IT infrastructures. Adopting the Zero Trust security model, BLUEMAX NGF ensures absolute information security for enterprises as no one inside or outside the network can access the system if their identity has not yet been verified. The BLUEMAX IPS Intrusion Prevention System was a solution to help enterprises proactively respond to a complex and rapidly changing security environment by using a threat prevention platform to inspect traffic and malicious files. The solution also supports optimised operation when digital assets are compromised. The BLUEMAX WIPS solution is an intelligent deep analysis engine that can detect and analyse security threats and respond quickly to prevent unauthorised intrusion. CEO of SECUI Sam Yong Jeong said, We were honoured and proud to cooperate with FPT IS, one of the leading tech companies in Vietnam with extensive business knowledge and enormous experience in network security. SECUI expects to expand its market share in Vietnam and the cooperation with FPT IS will be a stepping stone allowing its products to reach more Vietnamese customers." Pioneering in cyber security solutions in the market, FPT IS is proud to have highly capable security staff together with world-leading certificates, optimal solutions for security issues, and a global partner network. FPT IS has introduced FPT.EagleEye, the first software-as-a-service automatic information security monitoring and incident response solution in Vietnam, capable of detecting the risk of network attacks and issuing warnings within 10 minutes, providing 24/7 optimised endpoint control. Specifically, FPT.EagleEye MDR analyses thousands of behaviours recorded on endpoints using a cloud-based intrusion detection system. Potential threats will then be analysed by a team of security experts and investigated by a centralised processing and analysis technology which can even detect unknown types of malicious code. More importantly, with solutions and services provided by FPT IS and its partners, enterprises can optimise and save costs and resources since the work of security monitoring will be taken care of by FPT IS' advanced solutions and highly capable staff. On behalf of FPT IS, Than Minh Ngoc said, In recent years, FPT IS has focused on research and partnered with leading security technology firms to deliver the best services and solutions to customers. FPT IS is proud to be the information security partner of dozens of banks, state agencies, and large enterprises in Vietnam." "We were also honoured to partner with the No. 1 South Korean network security provider, SECUI, to deliver leading network security solutions to enterprises in Vietnam. The cooperation agreement marked a major milestone regarding digital asset protection in Vietnam, paving the way for the development of more network security products in the future, concluded Ngoc. Unilever leads in corporate sustainability in 12 consecutive years This year, 718 sustainability experts from 73 countries who were drawn from academia, the corporate sector, governments, media organisations, and NGOs were asked to name the three companies that they feel are showing the greatest commitment to integrating sustainability into their business strategies. Having maintained its position at the top of this increasingly competitive field for more than a decade, Unilever is motivated to drive its Compass sustainability agenda by improving the health of the planet, improving peoples health, confidence, and wellbeing, and contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world. Unilevers CEO Alan Jope said, Its a privilege to be recognised by a panel of experts as the global leader in sustainable business. Topping the GlobeScan list for the 12th year gives everyone at Unilever a great sense of pride and encourages us to continue building a responsible business, translating leadership in sustainability into superior financial performance, he added. As the largest and longest-running survey of its kind, the GlobeScan and SustainAbility Leaders Survey has tracked expert opinions on sustainable development leadership for more than 25 years. The research draws from bi-annual surveys from a global panel of experienced sustainability experts on topics such as leadership, climate change, biodiversity, inequality, sustainable development goals, and key emerging issues. In Vietnam, Unilever has constantly driven programmes aiming to protect the environment, enhance peoples health and hygiene, and improve people's livelihoods. Particularly, Unilever Vietnam focuses on climate action through its purposeful brands. Clean Future programme by the companys Home Care category is a key initiative to drive the climate commitment. Clean Future from Unilever Vietnam contributes to tackling the climate crisis Clean Future programme makes three main commitments, including totally eliminating fossil-fuel-derived carbon from Home Care products by 2030, ensuring 100 per cent biodegradable formulations in Home Care products, and reducing the amount of virgin plastic in favour of post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR) in packaging. Specifically, by 2025, all Home Care product packaging will be reusable, recyclable, or biodegradable, and more than 25 per cent will use PCR. To achieve these goals, Clean Future focuses on creating better product formulations and sustainable product packaging. Many of the companys products, such as OMO, Comfort, Sunlight, and Cif already feature plant-based, nature-derived formula ingredients with packaging made from PCR plastic. BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday afternoon held phone talks with his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi. Xi pointed out that at present, facing changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century, the world finds itself in a new period of turbulence and transformation, adding that the aspirations of people of all countries for development and security have become more urgent, and the call for international equity and justice has grown only stronger. In the face of complicated international situation, he noted that China and Iran have strengthened solidarity and cooperation, enhanced their common interests and safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries. China views its relations with Iran from a strategic perspective and stands ready to work with Iran to push for new progress in the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership, he said. Xi stressed that the two sides should continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, as well as uphold non-interference in others' internal affairs, a basic norm in international relations. He called on the two sides to maintain close communication on the implementation of the comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries, actively promote practical cooperation in key areas, keep up with anti-pandemic cooperation, and strengthen communication and coordination in regional and international affairs. The Chinese side has always supported Middle East countries in solving regional security problems in unity and coordination, and supported the people in the region exploring their development path independently, Xi said, adding that China is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with Iran within such frameworks as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. China appreciates Iran's active support for the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, and is ready to work with Iran to promote the implementation of the initiatives and push for the development of the international order towards a more just and rational direction. Waco hit its 27th day in a row over 100 degrees Thursday, the fifth-longest streak in its history. The triple-digit daily highs have persisted since July 2, marking the longest streak since the record-setting heat wave and drought of summer 2011, which had 44 consecutive days above 100. Meanwhile, 62% of McLennan County is listed in exceptional drought, the most extreme category listed by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Waco Regional Airport has received practically no rain in July and only 8.9 inches all year, or 12.5 inches less than usual year to date. But Waco is hardly alone in Texas or even in the Northern Hemisphere in feeling the heat this summer. Nearly 50 million Americans are under the National Weather Services extreme heat warning, according to the federal website heat.gov. Climate scientists at Texas A&M University say most of North America and Western Europe are experiencing one of the hottest summers on record. The ongoing summertime heat is global, in Europe and Asia as well, said Yangyang Xu, an assistant professor in the Texas A&M University Department of Atmospheric Sciences, in a July 20 interview. In addition to low pressure over Alaska and high pressure over the Western U.S., Xu said that an ocean current pattern in the Pacific Ocean, La Nina, had continued from last year into this year. La Nina tends to be associated with hotter than normal temperatures in Texas and the other states around the Gulf of Mexico, Xu said. Still, he said this summers heat has been extreme. It is a mystery to me why we have seen so many days in a row with temperatures of 100 to 105, Xu said. Usually theres a break with some thunderstorms. Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, also based at A&M, agreed that high pressure conditions in the atmosphere this month have kept Texas and much of North America hot. Theres a trough over Alaska and a ridge over the Western U.S., he said. He added that parts Alaska and China as well as Eastern Europe are experiencing cooler-than-usual while other regions roast. Nielsen-Gammon also sees longer-term influences on this summers widespread global heat. He pointed to the 2 degree overall rise in average global temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere that has taken place during the last 150 years, coinciding with greenhouse gases, industrialization, factories and people burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and power vehicles Xu also said that neither the record setting freeze across Texas in February 2021, nor the milder freeze in February this year, was directly correlated with the heat wave this summer. Treat the events independently, Xu said. These events are extreme and not directly correlated, even in the same year. Xu could not point to any other ongoing phenomena that could be causing the continuing heat over North America and Western Europe, coinciding with slightly cooler temperatures in Eastern Europe, China and Alaska. Only when we have the full data set of all temperature, pressure and rainfall data of the world for the summer, Xu said, will we be able to analyze and model and determine the actual cause of the heat wave. Solar astronomers note that while sunlight drives weather and climate, any increase in solar brightness from week to week and month to month is very slight. The incoming sunlight obviously provides nearly all the energy in the Earths complete ecosystem, so any change would indeed be important, Brian Skiff, a solar astronomer with the Lowell Observatory, said in July 14 email. However, over the last several decades, as climate scientists and other scientists have worked out Earths energy budget regarding climate change, Skiff wrote, it has become clear that the variation in the total output of the Sun is tiny, only a few hundredths of a percent. By implication, regional and seasonal effects, such as (the heat wave in Waco), are unrelated to any change in the solar output, Skiff wrote. Instead they result from the complex interaction of the land/ocean/atmosphere system, including the increase in the greenhouse gases that humanity is putting into the system. The city of Waco has responded to the heat wave by opening cooling centers when the heat index or apparent temperature is forecast to be 105 degrees or hotter. The Waco Multipurpose Facility at 1020 Elm Ave. is designated as a cooling center Friday from noon to 7 p.m. The Sul Ross Community Center, 1414 Jefferson Ave., will be the cooling center this weekend at the same times. Ryan Dirker, assistant director in the Waco-McLennan County Office of Emergency Management, said nine people used the cooling center last weekend, and a handful through the week. Opening a cooling center is a just-in-case thing, we want to have it open just in case people need it, Dirker said. He added that in absence of brownouts, or electricity going out rotating through neighborhoods for periods of 30 to 45 minutes, he doesnt expect many people to use the cooling centers. With the power staying on, most people can remain comfortable indoors, he said. Dirker also said that statewide power grid operator ERCOT recently told cities that no brownouts are expected in coming weeks. Movie fans attending this years Deep in the Heart Film Festival not only got to sample short films from across the United States and 15 other countries, but some made by local filmmakers and writers. Although the festival closed its in-person activities July 17, its online encore continues through Saturday on the festivals website, allowing a second chance to see some of those local productions. Online access was included in the festivals VIP package, but others interested in viewing festival entries online can pay a $10 access fee to see many of its film shorts and features. Traveler of the East This years festival included Ric Maddoxs 2014 short film Traveler of the East, a fantasy about a boy who escapes a difficult situation through the power of imagination. The audience this time was a local one, as Maddox, his wife Simone and their two daughters moved to a small farm outside Gholson two years ago from southern California. Maddox wears multiple hats these days: fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen foundation, drama instructor at Live Oak Academy, actor, screenwriter, director and producer. After several years of service in the U.S. Army, including a tour of duty in Iraq, he has worked as a actor in New York and Los Angeles, with The Alamo, Stop-Loss, The American West and Dead Men: The Series among his film and television credits. Traveler of the East was his first film to direct. After living in the Waco area and working with student talent, he said it could have been shot in Waco. I think theres a ton of opportunity for filming in Waco, Maddox said. Traveler of the East is included in the Family Friendly film block. Gloomy Sunday script Kevin Machate shot his first film in Waco earlier this year, but his entry in this years festival shows more of what he has been working on here since moving back to Waco five years ago: screenwriting. The Texas-born Machate, a University High School and McLennan Community College graduate, first came to Waco in 1986 and has lived here six times since then. In 12 years of acting, directing, writing and producing, he has directed seven short films and has producer credits on about another 50. In Waco he has shifted much of his work to writing. Its easier and I dont pay anyone, he quipped. He has collected more than a few screenplay awards at festivals across the country. His script Gloomy Sunday was among the screenplays read for the festival, though not available through the digital encore. Machate sticks to producing and directing short films as they are less expensive and the logistics involved are simpler. Eyes Wide Shut Many in Waco know Collin Selman as a musician or one of the founders of the Silent House Theater Co., but this years Deep in the Heart Film Festival showed his movie-making side, or, more accurately, his music video-making side. Selman collaborated with Waco animator Bryson McBee to create Eyes Wide Shut, an animated music video that screened at the festival. Its main character, who Selman said will appear in more songs later, gets abducted on a date and tries to escape. It is part of the Texas Roots short film block in the festivals online encore. Adamah Festivalgoers also viewed Tyler Wisners short film Adamah on the festivals opening night. The 10-minute short is a modern adaptation of the biblical story of Cain and Abel, shot on a ranch outside McGregor. It is included in the Opening Night Shorts film block for the online encore. The Harris Creek Baptist Church videographer got his film- and videomaking start in Dallas, going directly into video work after graduating from high school in 2019. COVID-19 chilled most of his business a year after he started and he contemplated leaving the field altogether, he said. He went back to screenwriting and found the experience rekindled his earlier passion. He took the Harris Creek job, writing and filming Adamah in his spare time. Waco has been a different environment for filming, he said. Filming in Dallas often drew interest from people trying to make a business connection. In Waco, interest came without strings attached. In Waco I felt more free and that more people were open to it, Wisner said. We Want In China Spring High School senior Luke Larsen wrote and shot the short We Want In, which was screened in the festivals student film block. The short, filmed locally and featuring several of his China Spring classmates, imagines a student-sparked revolution against a government tax on left-foot shoes that is a burden on the lower working class. It is included in the Texas Roots film block for the online encore. The cheapest kilowatt-hour of electricity is the one you do not use. Yet conservation has enormous value to the grid, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas should pay more for it. The Public Utility Commission of Texas and grid operator ERCOT rely on companies and consumers to reduce demand when temperatures approach extremes and electricity supply runs low. The Texas Legislature allows prices to rise from about 5 cents a kilowatt-hour to $5 because they want to reward generation and encourage consumers to cut back when supply is tight. Consumers, though, consider it price-gouging when rates spike at the moment we need electricity the most. But spending billions of dollars building power plants to meet a level of demand we only experience for a few hours a year would cost even more. The better investment is in greater energy efficiency and easier demand response, which the Public Utility Commission of Texas has still not prioritized since the grid failed in February 2021. The commission, appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, is an energy efficiency laggard compared to other states, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy group. Spending money to help consumers, especially renters and landlords, to improve energy efficiency is 39 percent cheaper than building new fossil fuel power plants, ACEEE data shows. But the PUC and Texas lawmakers continue to push fossil fuel power plants that will benefit Republican Party donors. Wasting electricity in Texas when power demand is peaking just doesnt make sense, Steven Nadel, executive director of ACEEE, wrote back in October. Home efficiency upgrades and technology that shifts when electricity is used simply costs less than building new plants, and we have the numbers to prove it. Across the country, states spent an average of 1.5 percent of electricity sales on energy efficiency programs in 2020, but Texas only spent 0.5 percent, according to ACEEE data. The lackluster spending to upgrade the homes of low-income consumers or subsidize commercial demand response has led to higher prices by setting new electricity demand records. The best way to reduce prices is to reduce demand. In 2020, energy efficiency programs reduced electricity usage in Massachusetts by 2.3 percent, California by 1.7 percent and Arizona by 1.2 percent, according to government data. Texas programs only achieved a 0.2 percent reduction. Texas could do so much more if lawmakers applied the right incentives. The most crucial step is to reward profit-seeking corporations for promoting conservation. Texas law requires utilities to offer energy efficiency programs in return for bonus payments. But because the goals have remained unchanged since 2011, utilities achieve them with little effort. Electricity demand, meanwhile, continues to set records. The PUC should set higher energy efficiency goals and reward utilities more for reducing demand, Cyrus Reed, conservation director of the Sierra Clubs Lone Star Chapter, told commissioners at a hearing last month. The PUC could also save money by dramatically reducing peak demand over the next five years with energy efficiency and demand response programs for residential consumers, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy determined in a white paper. Helping homeowners upgrade from electric furnaces to electric heat pumps, improving attic insulation and duct sealing, switching to smart thermostats and installing heat pump water heaters are the more cost-efficient efficiency steps. Demand response programs could include paying consumers for allowing their utility to shift when their central air conditioners, water heaters and electric vehicle chargers are used, the ACEEE suggested. Implementing these programs would cost Texas $4.9 billion over five years and eliminate the need to build $8 billion worth of fossil fuel powerplants, the ACEEE calculated. To their credit, the PUC has recommended expanding the Emergency Response System that pays big commercial and industrial customers to drop off the grid during peak periods. Regulations capped the program at $50 million a year in 2007, but the PUC has proposed raising the budget to $75 million. Mona Tierney-Lloyd, head of U.S. public policy for energy company Enel, said ERCOT has already seen the benefits of paying companies to reduce demand. She says her company would like to expand demand response services. This year is going to be a proof point of whether that additional $25 million is adequate or whether we should think about more investment, Tierney Lloyd told me. Texas will need more electricity, and the vast majority should come from wind and solar resources coupled with battery backup. We will also require new natural gas plants for when demand peaks, but not for routine generation. Energy efficiency and demand response will save money and conserve resources year-round. The PUC should set rules that make saving energy as profitable as generating it. WEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Lots of older folks are turning to alternative medicine to help them with the pains of aging but they dont necessarily think thats any of their doctors business. About 40% of older adults use at least one alternative medicine practice to help with body aches or mental strains, be it chiropractic care, massage therapy, meditation, yoga or another non-conventional option, according to the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. But only 18% of those whove tried an alternative medicine practice have actually talked about it with their health care provider. The results suggest that primary care docs should bring up the topic during checkups, said Dr. Rachael Maciasz, a general internal medicine physician at Michigan Medicine who worked with the polling team on the report. As research continues to show the importance of the mind-body connection in health, and as more rigorous studies are done to determine what effects integrative strategies can have on various conditions, its important for patients and providers to keep the lines of communication open, Maciasz said in a news release on the report. Just about everyone surveyed said they believe that the mind impacts health, with 82% saying it has a major impact and 14% saying it has a minor impact. The people surveyed said they had tried alternative medicine to treat or prevent pain, insomnia, digestive issues, to relax or manage stress, to address a physical injury, or to help with depression or anxiety. About 38% of people 50 and older found alternative medicine very beneficial, while another 54% said it was somewhat beneficial. Those who pursue such practices tend to pay for it out of pocket, the findings showed. Only 15% said their health insurance covers them, 19% said they have no coverage, and two-thirds were unsure about their coverage. About 84% said theyd be likely to try alternative medicine if health insurance covered it. Of those whove stopped using such a practice, more than one-quarter cited cost as one of the reasons. More information The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health has more about integrative health. SOURCE: University of Michigan, news release, July 22, 2022 Was this page helpful? WATERLOO A Waterloo mother is asking a jury to award more than $1.1 million in damages after her son was hospitalized with high lead levels in 2019. Closing arguments wrapped up Thursday in the suit brought by Victoria Fuhrman who said her landlord, Chase Keller, failed to disclose the presence of lead paint when she and her then 2-year-old son began renting an apartment on Logan Avenue. Without the disclosure, people are in danger, her attorney, Bradley Kaspar, told jurors. The boy spent more than a week in the hospital and still suffers from behavioral issues, according to testimony. Kaspar asked jurors to award his client and her son $500,000 in punitive damages plus $100,000 in past pain and suffering, $100,000 in future pain and suffering, $100,000 for past loss of companionship, $100,000 for future loss on companionship, and $9,134 in past medical expenses. Testimony at trial showed that the boy was found with high lead levels in February 2019 and he was hospitalized when those levels reached 46 micrograms per deciliter of blood. Kaspar said when Fuhrman notified the landlord about the lead problem, he asked for a rent check and took steps to have her evicted. Kellers attorney, Brian Marty, told jurors the plaintiffs are asking for more than $1.1 million for behavioral issues the child had before they moved into the apartment. He said evidence showed Fuhrman had told medical staff that her son had the issues before they began renting in December 2018. He said Keller didnt know about lead paint at the Logan address and had nothing to lose in disclosing it because he had done so at another rental property where lead was discovered. Marty also noted that after the two moved out, the childs lead levels began to climb again, and x-rays showed lead in his digestive tract. It tells us he is still ingesting lead somewhere, Marty said. The defense questioned if the lead could have come from another source, such as a family members home on Kern Street where they stayed before and after their time on Logan. Jurors began deliberating the case Thursday afternoon. WATERLOO A Black Hawk County jury has sided with a Waterloo landlord in a civil suit brought by a tenant whose toddler was exposed to lead. Jurors deliberated for about two hours Friday before finding landlord Chase Keller had no fault and his limited liability companies Ham Sandwich LLC and Level Property Management LLC didnt violate the Landlord Tenant Act or the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act. The mother, Victoria Fuhrman, took Keller to court, claiming he failed to disclose the presence of lead paint in the Logan Avenue apartment where she and her son began living in December 2018. The son was later found to have high levels of lead in his bloodstream. He was hospitalized for eight days and continues to have behavioral issues consistent with lead exposure, according to testimony. During trial, her attorney asked jurors to award $1.1 million in damages. Kellers attorney argued that Keller didnt know about lead in the building and had provided Fuhrman with an EPA-approved lead safety brochure when she moved in. The defense also noted that the mother had reported to health workers that the behavioral issues began before they moved into the Logan Avenue address, and the child had renewed levels of lead months after they moved out, suggesting he may have found lead elsewhere. Testimony in the trial began Tuesday, and closing arguments in the case were Thursday. WATERLOO The Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors may have to go back to the drawing board to allocate funding to community services. On Tuesday, the board had $100,000 to allocate to six services but ended up giving out $55,000 to five of them. The Family and Childrens Council, Focus on Diabetes, Grow Cedar Valley, Northeast Iowa Food Bank, Operation Threshold and the Riverview Center asked for a total of $211,500. Grow Cedar Valley requested $50,000 but was allocated no money at the meeting. This came after Supervisors Dan Trelka and Linda Laylin recused themselves from the vote. Trelka abstained because he said he is a member of the economic development organization and recently purchased a business that will be involved with Grow Cedar Valley. Laylin noted that she worked there for 25 years and has many good friends still employed by it. The three remaining supervisors needed to be unanimous in their vote to approve any funding because, even with recusals, a majority of the board still needs to favor a proposal. Supervisor Chair Craig White motioned for $50,000 while Supervisor Chris Schwartz motioned for $15,000. Meanwhile, Supervisor Tom Little said he wasnt in favor of any funding. I have concerns, Little said. The board passed proclamations and letters of support to the state and I noticed (Grow Cedar Valley) come out against what we were doing. Grow Cedar Valleys CEO, Cary Darrah, said she wasnt sure what Little was talking about. Little said he had nothing more to discuss. White and Schwartz agreed on a $25,000 motion, but the vote was still 2-1 and it didnt pass. Darrah mentioned with the lesser funding the organization would reach out to Evansdale and La Porte City to work on Grow Cedar Valleys businesses retention expansion program in suburban and rural areas. Were disappointed, Darrah said. We still intend on working with the county however we can to meet the goals businesses in Black Hawk County need. Before 2013, the board had committees that would meet and come to it with recommendations. But after stopping the use of funds from the countys Solid Waste Management Commission landfill revenue, the advisory committees were disbanded. It looks like we should go back to that committee we had before because everyone of these we could recuse ourselves because we have relationships with people, White said. I could recuse myself because Ive been on Child and Familys Council, Ive been on Northeast Iowa Food Bank, so Id have to excuse myself from them but I didnt see a conflict. Schwartz said he would be open to a second round of applications in the year for the remaining $45,000. Grow Cedar Valley wasnt the only funding allocation vote some supervisors abstained from. Trelka abstained from the vote on the Family & Childrens Council of Black Hawk County because he was asked to rejoin the board. The group asked for $10,000 and were allocated $5,000. Laylin said after talking to the organization, they asked for $10,000 to replace money lost from a large donor and to help with their baby safety program. White and Schwartz recused themselves from the Northeast Iowa Food Bank vote. White said he used to sit on the board and Schwartz said he is a non-voting member of it. The NEIFB asked for $50,000 and was awarded $20,000. White and Schwartz also abstained from voting on Operation Thresholds proposal. The organization asked for $20,000 and was awarded $10,000. The board noted the program is looking at implementing a new service of water heater replacement and repair so people dont get services turned off. The other two organizations, Focus on Diabetes and the Riverview Center, didnt have any supervisors recuse themselves. Focus on Diabetes asked for $25,000 and was awarded $5,000. The group hosts an awareness event at the Waterloo Center for the Arts annually. Board members noted that the group is looking to expand to include prostate cancer screenings. The Riverview Center asked for $56,500 to make up for a 22% decrease in state funds. The supervisors awarded them $15,000. DES MOINES For the second time in a week, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller announced the state and others have reached a preliminary billion-dollar settlement with a drug company to address the opioid crisis. Millers office announced former opioid-maker Allergan has agreed to pay up to $2.37 billion to participating states and local governments to settle lawsuits. The Attorney Generals office announced Wednesday that drugmaker Teva has agreed to contribute more than $4.2 billion in cash and medications to settle lawsuits in various states, including Iowa, that claimed the company contributed to the U.S. opioid epidemic. If finalized, the settlements announced this week would provide as much as $6.6 billion nationwide, including to abate and help Iowans and other Americans recover from addiction through prevention and treatment. AbbVie, which acquired Allergan in 2020, disclosed the agreement in its earnings announcement Friday. Details of the settlements remain subject to ongoing negotiations, according to Millers office, including terms requiring business practice changes and transparency. We continue to make it a priority to hold manufacturers responsible, while ensuring victims of this epidemic receive the help they need, Miller said in a statement. Ireland-based Allergan formerly made Norco- and Kadian-branded and generic opioids. The company sold its opioid products to Teva in 2016. Iowa and more than a dozen other states allege Allergan downplayed the addiction risks and overstated the benefits of its former Norco- and Kadian-branded and generic opioids; encouraged doctors to treat patients showing signs addiction by prescribing them more opioids; and failed to maintain effective controls to prevent diversion of opioids. The $2.37 billion figure includes money that Allergan has already agreed to pay under settlements with individual states. Also during the past week, Miller announced his office is suing tobacco companies to recover $133 million in withheld payments stemming from a 1998 settlement. LOTTERY BOOM: The Iowa Lotterys financial numbers will finish near the previous years record highs, the lottery said. According to preliminary figures for the state budget year that ended June 30, the Iowa Lottery generated $433 million in total sales, $274 million in prizes were paid to players, and $98 million in proceeds went to state causes. Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn in a news release said June 30 closed the books on the most successful two-year period of sales, proceeds and prizes in Iowa Lottery history. Total sales in the previous state budget year reached a record $453 million. Combined with last years more than 20% increase in sales and proceeds, the Iowa Lottery continues to responsibly generate significant revenues for important Iowa causes even in the face of increasingly challenging economic conditions, Strawn said. Part 2 below is vital to read Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine (Part 1) The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine. High-precision sea-, air- and land-based weapons hit enemy reserves in Kiev and Cherngoiv regions on July 28. The strikes completely disabled 30th Mechanized Brigade, which was being prepared for deployment to Donbass at training ground near Lyutezh in Kiev Region. In addition, 57th Motorised Infantry Brigade, which was recovering its combat capabilities in Chernigov Region at Goncharovskoye Combined Arms training ground, suffered critical losses. Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery strikes continue against military facilities in Ukraine. During the day, 1 Tochka-U tactical missile launcher, 1 missile and artillery weapons and ammunition depot of 81st Airmobile Brigade of AFU near Kostantnovka settlement in Donetsk Peoples Republic, as well as 275 areas of enemy manpower and military equipment have been hit. Su-35s of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed 1 Tor-M1 anti-aircraft missile launcher near Dergachi, Kharkov Region. In addition, Su-34 destroyed Ukrainian self-propelled 1 Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile system near Razdolovka, Donetsk Peoples Republic. Russian air defence means have shot down 6 unmanned aerial vehicles near Chervonyi Shakhtor, Chervonoye, Vernopole and Velikaya Kamyshevakha in Kharkov Region, as well as Verkhnetoretskoye in Donetsk Peoples Republic overnight. In addition, 12 shells of multiple-launch rocket system have been intercepted over Chernobayevka in Kherson Region and Gorskoye in Lugansk Peoples Republic, as well as 1 Tochka-U ballistic missile near Chervonyi Oskol in Kharkov Region. In total, 260 Ukrainian airplanes and 145 helicopters, 1,631 unmanned aerial vehicles, 361 anti-aircraft missile systems, 4,181 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 768 multiple launch rocket systems, 3,213 field artillery and mortars, as well as 4,522 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation. Part 2 #MoD #Russia #Ukraine #report @mod_russia_en Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine (Part 2) Bloody provocation was purposefully perpetrated by Kiev regime tonight. US-made HIMARS MLRS struck a detention centre near Elenovka, where Ukrainian servicemen, including Azov fighters, are being held. 40 Ukrainian POWs were killed and 75 injured. In addition, 8 employees of detention centre were injured to varying degrees of severity. A large number of Ukrainian soldiers are now voluntarily laying down their arms, knowing the humane treatment of prisoners of war on the Russian side. This blatant provocation was committed in order to intimidate Ukrainian servicemen and prevent their surrender. The circumstances of this provocation are being investigated. Part 1 #MoD #Russia #Ukraine #report @mod_russia_enjoy Kiev just murdered their own people with USA Weapons and did it intentionally WtR Weather Alert ...Thunderstorms Chances increasing this Week... * Another surge of monsoon moisture will continue thunderstorm chances across the region this week, with the best chances extending through Thursday before diminishing into the weekend. * Most areas will see a 25-45% chance of storms in the afternoon and early evening hours. Nocturnal showers are possible tonight with a few thunderstorm possible overnight Wednesday. * 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. If you live in a flash flood prone area, especially near a burn scar, be ready to act quickly if heavy rainfall occurs. BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday afternoon held phone talks with his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi. Xi pointed out that at present, facing changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century, the world finds itself in a new period of turbulence and transformation, adding that the aspirations of people of all countries for development and security have become more urgent, and the call for international equity and justice has grown only stronger. In the face of complicated international situation, he noted that China and Iran have strengthened solidarity and cooperation, enhanced their common interests and safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries. China views its relations with Iran from a strategic perspective and stands ready to work with Iran to push for new progress in the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership, he said. Xi stressed that the two sides should continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, as well as uphold non-interference in others' internal affairs, a basic norm in international relations. He called on the two sides to maintain close communication on the implementation of the comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries, actively promote practical cooperation in key areas, keep up with anti-pandemic cooperation, and strengthen communication and coordination in regional and international affairs. The Chinese side has always supported Middle East countries in solving regional security problems in unity and coordination, and supported the people in the region in exploring their development path independently, Xi said, adding that China is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with Iran within such frameworks as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. China appreciates Iran's active support for the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, and is ready to work with Iran to promote the implementation of the initiatives and push for the development of the international order towards a more just and rational direction. Raisi noted that Iran and China jointly celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties last year, and that bilateral cooperation has seen important progress over the past 50 years. He believed that bilateral ties will realize even higher levels of development in the future with joint efforts of both sides, the Iranian leader added. It is a priority and key part of Iran's established foreign policy to firmly deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between Iran and China, the president said. Both Iran and China oppose hegemonism and unilateralism, and reject interference in other countries' internal affairs, illegal unilateral sanctions and double standards, Raisi noted, adding that Iran firmly upholds the one-China policy and supports China in safeguarding its core interests. Iran highly appreciates China's important and active role in international and regional affairs, and supports the China-proposed Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative, he said. His country is ready to conduct close communication and coordination with China for the purpose of safeguarding international fairness and justice, defending shared interests of developing countries, and promoting regional and world peace, security and development, Raisi added. New Jersey, for instance, will waive its 6.625 percent sales tax on the purchase of an electric vehicle, which would amount to $2,650 off a $40,000 EV. You should also look at incentives for installing EV charging equipment, often offered by your local utility. In California, if you live in Anaheim, you can shave $3,000 off the cost of installing faster, Level 2 charging at your home. But if you live in Oklahoma, the best utility incentives amount to $200 for installing EV charging equipment. 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The law that established the credits gave a fixed allotment to each manufacturer, and both GM and Tesla have exhausted theirs (though their vehicles might qualify for some state rebates). But for other brands, federal credits can greatly reduce the sticker price. Also note: To qualify for the full tax credit of $7,500, you have to actually owe at least that amount in taxes in a year. A person drawing on retirement savings and Social Security may have a relatively low tax bill and not meet that threshold, says Jay Halpern, a CPA in Kingston, New York. How much do EVs cost to operate? We already mentioned the difference in fuel costs, but EVs also have fewer moving parts than do their gas-powered relatives, with no pumping pistons, no complicated gear boxes, no fuel injectors, no radiators, no crankshafts and so on. And that means less maintenance and fewer repairs. The Department of Energy has a good calculator to compare costs for what youre driving now vs. an EV. As for operating costs, a front-wheel-drive gas-powered Honda CR-V, which gets decent fuel mileage at 28 mph city/34 highway, will run about $2,988 a year in gas if driven 15,000 miles in California, while the Department of Energy says an all-electric Audi Q4 driving that same distance will cost about $1,250 a year for electricity. In Michigan the gas cost falls to $2,362 but the kilowatts cost a mere $954 again, less than half the money. What about range? Ten years ago, when the first crop of electric cars came out, you had Teslas, which had 200 miles of range. But mass-priced electric cars had ranges of around 75 miles. And most people just wont buy a car with 75 miles of range, says EV industry consultant Voelcker. But times have changed. Today the new normal is rapidly approaching 250 or 300 miles. But considering that you can recharge your EV at home each night, that range may be far more than youll need (except on a long road trip). Voelcker advises spending a month of resetting your gas cars odometer every Sunday morning and penciling down the distances you actually drove in a week. People are always really shocked to find out how far they didnt go. Where to charge an EV? Nearly 90 percent of EV owners say they always or mostly charge at home, according to a February 2021 survey by J.D. Power. Thats due both to convenience and cost. At home you arent paying a surcharge to a third-party provider. Still, public EV charging is frequently cheaper than fueling up on gasoline. And if you hunt carefully, you can increasingly find free charging stations, offered both by governments and by retailers like grocery stores that want your loyalty. Phone apps can help you locate them. If youre charging away from home, find something to do while youre waiting. Even high-speed chargers need a half hour or more to tank you up. Petmal/Getty Images As travelers venture back out into the world, they are doing so with sustainability in mind. In fact, a study published this spring by Expedia Group Media Solutions shows that nearly 70 percent of consumers are willing to sacrifice some element of convenience in order to travel more sustainably, and three out of four travelers would choose a destination, lodging or transportation option that supports the local community and culture, even if it was more expensive. Additionally, a recent study by the research firm MMGY Travel Intelligence found that 81 percent of active travelers are willing to change travel behavior to reduce impact on the environment. To that end, according to the Sustainable Travel Report 2022 from Booking.com, nearly half of the travelers surveyed chose at least one sustainable accommodation last year. The report also shows that 70 percent of global travelers indicate they would be more likely to choose a sustainable accommodation, whether or not they were specifically looking for one. In California, one effort to be more eco-friendly will soon be mandatory: small personal care products like shampoo, conditioner and shower gel bottles will be banned from hotels and accommodations with more than 50 rooms starting January 1, 2023; the ban goes into effect for hotels and accommodations of 50 rooms or less on January 1, 2024. Even without legislation, many hotel brands and independent properties are taking sustainable practices into their own hands. Page under Maintenance This page is under maintenance, while being upgraded. Please visit later. Thank you. [Go Back] BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Xavier Garnier, 48, who hails from France, said he would never forget his traditional Chinese wedding at a historic village in China. As fireworks illuminated the sky, Garnier exchanged wedding vows with his Chinese bride Zhao Lixin in a well-decorated farmhouse by the Mihe river in Zhao's hometown of Zhaosi Village, in east China's Shandong Province, on a summer day in 2015. Garnier attributes his decision of holding the wedding in Zhaosi to the meandering Mihe River, which he believes is quite similar to the Loire River in his hometown in Maine-et-Loire. "When I first brought Garnier home, he was thrilled and said Zhaosi Village is just like his hometown," Zhao said. The couple met for the first time at a French music festival in 2012 that was organized by Garnier, and their romance blossomed. When they decided to get married, Garnier suggested holding a simple, creative and traditional wedding in Zhao's hometown. Just like Garnier and Zhao, an increasing number of young Chinese couples are opting for idyllic village weddings rather than those held in opulent city restaurants. The wedding venues range from vegetable patches and grass fields to pastoral areas near rivers, offering a fusion of contemporary trends and traditional rituals. "The Chinese wedding ceremony is very different from that in France," Garnier said, adding he was thrilled with many customs such as lifting up the red bridal veil, the bride and groom stepping across a brazier together, and bowing down to the parents to seek blessings. Zhao, a vlogger on Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle-oriented social media platform, has noticed that the platform is flooded with photos and videos of rural weddings. Searches for the topic "village weddings" on the platform increased by 134 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, data from Xiaohongshu showed. The number of posts related to rural weddings has also grown by 421 percent year on year during this period. "The simple but aesthetic village weddings have been favored by young people," Zhao said. Zhao, who grew up in a rural area, said that in the past, parents and some family elders used to organize the processes and rituals of wedding ceremonies. "However, as a growing number of young people settle in cities, they have introduced new ideas and concepts to rural weddings, which has made traditional Chinese weddings more dynamic and vibrant," Zhao said. After spending some two decades in China, Garnier believes that the increasing popularity of rural weddings demonstrates that "young Chinese are more confident about their culture and prefer to decide their wedding ceremonies on their own." On Saturday, July 30, the Santa Fe Womans Club and Library Association invites the public to celebrate its 130th Anniversary from 4-7 p.m. with an open house at the Womans Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail in Santa Fe. An art show featuring the art of the Womans Club members will be on display, including paintings, quilts and jewelry. On Thursday, the Womans Club presented Fairview Tales which tells of the lives of Fairview Cemetery and those who inhabit it. It will be such a celebratory event where many people will be getting together for the first time since the pandemic, librarian Pat Hodapp said. There will be music from local musicians, great refreshments, and more. Womans Club member Becky Abbotts musical group, Desert Serenade, will provide music for the occasion. Refreshments will be served, including lemonade in honor of the early club members who sold it on the Plaza to support the works of the Womans Club and Library Association. Bell ringer group The Bells of Saint Francis will welcome attendees. The pandemic created roadblocks for everyone who had in-person meetings, so now that things are almost back to normal. The club is assessing community and club members needs, Hodapp said. The celebration of the 130th Anniversary of the Womans Club has given us an opportunity to let the community know of our commitment to the needs of Santa Fe. Hodapp has been with the group for 15 years. As director of libraries for Santa Fe, I was pleased to join this library support group and be the contact to let them know of library needs, Hodapp said. I volunteer for various events, which includes helping with hands-on assistance and providing refreshments to doing marketing about the clubs great activities. She is one of its many members actively trying to leave the world better than they found it. We have yearly events like the baby shower where community groups knit and quilt items for newborns which are distributed to La Familia Health Center, which serves about 1,300 babies annually Hodapp said. Some of us who are not so talented provide much-needed baby diapers. Giving away diapers is one of many ways they positively impacted the area for over a century. In 1892, eight women formed the Benevolent Association to make civic improvements and to create a library in the community. These women were joined by hundreds of other women over time to tackle much- needed improvement to make Santa Fe special and meet the needs of the area. Ive described the members as movers and shakers, ever since the first women came together in 1892 to improve the Santa Fe community, Hodapp said. We no longer have to fill the water troughs on the Plaza for burros and horses, or build sidewalks on the Plaza or personally take milk to needy children, but we make sure the many varied needs are met. In 1894, they became the Guardians of the Plaza and repaired benches, fertilized grass, made pathways, installed a picket fence and also filled the water troughs for horses and burros. To raise the funds for these improvements and others to come, the Womans Club members sold lemonade on the Plaza, held Fiesta parties, Sunday afternoon teas and dances. The work of the Womans Club encompassed serving women and children, providing milk and food for the most needy. They established the first United Way and maintained the Fairview Cemetery for over 30 years. The Womans Club and Library Association was named as a Santa Fe Living Treasure in 2003. Those are high praise for the many women who make an effort to ensure the many needs are met, Hodapp said. Their efforts were the basis of Santa Fes 911, food depot, and of course the first library, while today, we still look to provide assistance for those who need help. The club is always looking for new members to help improve the area. We welcome new members to the Womans Club and we provide a place where women can find ways to be philanthropic and do volunteer work that is necessary and fun to be a part of, Hodapp said. Please call 505-983-9455 or contact the website at sfwomansclub.org for more information. New Mexico will receive more than $100 million for high-speed internet projects in rural areas, the federal government announced Thursday. The projects, part of a $401 million national funding announcement, are supported by the U.S. Agriculture Departments ReConnect program. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters that the money will bring fast internet to rural residents, public schools, farms and businesses. Connectivity is a catalyst for economic prosperity anywhere, but it is certainly a catalyst for economic prosperity in rural communities, Vilsack said. The USDA says the projects will connect schools to distance learning, expand telemedicine services and give farmers and ranchers technology for more precise land and water management. New Mexico projects include: $3.7 million grant to Continental Divide Electric Cooperative for Cibola and McKinley counties, including Laguna and Acoma pueblos $11.7 million grant/loan to Tularosa Basin Telephone Company for Lincoln and Otero counties, including the Mescalero Apache Nation $14.7 million grant to ENMR Telephone Cooperative/Plateau for Chaves, Colfax, De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Lincoln, San Miguel, Socorro, Torrance and Union counties $28.9 million loan to Penasco Valley Telephone Cooperative for Chaves, Eddy, Lincoln and Otero counties $44.9 million loan to Valley Telephone Cooperative for southwest New Mexico and southeast Arizona Rey Berrones, marketing and communications director for the Penasco Valley Telephone Cooperative, said the companys project will fund 300 miles of fiber in isolated, rough terrain. The federal money will bring high-speed internet to nearly 3,000 people, 13 farms, 50 businesses and eight public schools in southeast New Mexico. We have been working on this issue for decades, and were very excited that, finally, on a federal and a state level, they are recognizing that fast internet is something that is a need for people and not just a luxury, Berrones said. The government requires the companies to make the internet programs affordable and reliable. We will use the federal funds to help pay for the households that we have identified as being in need, Berrones said. Weve also deployed about five different community WiFi hotspots in those areas that are free to use. The ReConnect program is expected to receive a $2 billion boost from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the coming weeks. Known for her silken textiles splashed with vibrant color, Placitas artist Dorothy Bunny Bowen expanded her repertoire during the pandemic. As the world shut down, she ventured into the wood from her back yard, as well as clay. The results are on view in Dorothy Bunny Bowen: Branching Out at Placitas Wild Hearts Gallery through Aug. 28. Ive been a textile person since 1980 when I first learned batik, she said. A lot of things just stopped. Ive always loved wood. I carved our front door out of alder and walnut. Living amid a juniper forest, she began gathering branches for her creations. Ive been trying to use what I have rather than buying things, she continued. During COVID, it was hard to get stuff. As she played with clay, she attached pieces to her trees trimming scars as tree blessings. She also formed clay plaques. Bowens piece Scout emerged from the meandering channels of beetle-kill pine with aspen and indigo dye after she saw the recent Albuquerque Museum indigo exhibition. It occurred to me it would be fun to use indigo on wood, she said. She topped the branch with a natural piece of oiled aspen resembling an undefinable creature. The first name for it was Critter, she said of the imaginary folly. Standing Raven grew from a piece of juniper, the top carved into the birds head. We have them out here, of course, Bowen said. Theyre just wonderful mythological creatures. The Phoenicians carried ravens on their ships to guide them. Later, the Vikings continued the practice. If they came back, they knew they were not near land. Bowen grew up in Virginias Shenandoah Valley, earning a bachelors degree in art as she studied printmaking and lithography. She moved to Placitas in 1975 and worked for the Museum of International Folk Art under a grant analyzing textiles. A batik workshop at Placitas Elementary School launched her fiber career. The medium combined her love of textiles with her love of painting. Batik is images with wax and dye, she said. Instead of being a surface thing, its actually in the fiber. Youre working with lots of different layers like layers of watercolor; youre scrubbing the dyes into the silk. Bowen began with cotton; she has been painting on silk since 1999. She uses the Japanese rozome technique on silk, applying the wax with a brush to resemble calligraphy. First she draws a design in pencil or charcoal on the back of white kimono silk. Then she stretches the silk, adding a mixture of soybeans and water for sizing. Next, Bowen applies a molten mixture of beeswax and paraffin or soy wax to any areas where the silk is to remain white. She prefer to mix all of her colors from the basics: warm red, cool red, yellow, blue and black. She sets the dyes by steaming. Forest Phoenix, a wax resist dye on kimono silk, echoes her feelings about the forest, especially the resilience of aspen groves Every summer since 1971, weve gone up to Colorado and spent time in a cabin at 9,000 feet, she explained. It occurred to me that after a fire, the aspen are the first to come back. Its like a phoenix tree because its the first one to come up from the ashes. Dorothy Bunny Bowen: Branching Out WHEN: Through Aug. 28 WHERE: Wild Hearts Gallery, 221-B N.M. 165, Placitas CONTACT: wildheartsgallery-nm.com, 505-361-2710. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal What to do about a student who consistently doesnt show up to class, or one who bullies others? Is it a schools responsibility to sit down with the student to figure out whats going on? Or does that miss the mark of helping the students whose learning is being disrupted? Often, when students act out, its because of some sort of trauma, says Emma Green, the state Public Education Departments first prevention, response and resiliency coordinator. That can include abuse or neglect at home, but also extend to trauma from the COVID-19 pandemic. To shift away from punishing and excluding students, Green is urging schools across the state to embrace trauma-informed restorative practices. Those aim to draw attention to how misbehavior affects school communities, and emphasize support for wrongdoers instead of suspending or expelling them. But some, like House Minority Whip Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, arent entirely on board with introducing restorative justice into schools. Montoya said the concept doesnt go far enough in protecting the victim including when applied to criminal justice. He questioned where schools should draw the line, especially when it comes to violence and bullying. Its all about the safety of the students, he said. The problem I have with this restorative justice system thats in place in cities that are run by progressives, is it goes too far in worrying about restoring the victimizer. PED is focused on restorative justice, on race and gender issues, and not focusing on education, he added. Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus told Montoya in a letter that PEDs idea isnt to change how schools handle violence or threats. Fighting in Albuquerque Public Schools, for example, can mean short-term suspension, according to the districts handbook for the coming year. Rather, the PED wants to encourage restorative practices with optional professional development to de-escalate tensions between students before they get out of hand, while avoiding piling more trauma on, Steinhaus said. Montoya said hes mainly concerned with violence, and agreed that students shouldnt be kicked out of school for any reason. At the same time, he said that even when theres a possibility for violence such as when a student is bullied there can be a disruption in the learning environment. Were worried, I think, sometimes too much for the one at the expense of the many, he said. We need to make sure that the learning environment is not disrupted. Green argued that restorative practices, which include a range of different interventions and supports to help students starting with daily check-ins on the well being of students in fact replace exclusionary punishment with more inclusionary and accountability-based supports. Under restorative justice, a bully would still have to answer to school leadership, she said the idea is just that everyone would get more help on the root causes of the problem, instead of the bully being kicked to the curb. When we send a kiddo out of the classroom enough, theres this message that they dont belong, that its not worth the teachers time, or anyones time to really figure out what that student needs to be able to keep them included in the learning environment,' she said. Last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham described a plan to build the $40 million Albuquerque Rail Trail as the best kind of infrastructure spending. While thats debatable too many New Mexicans still lack access to basic needs like electricity, clean water and safe bridges the governor makes a good point. Creating infrastructure that improves quality of life is an investment in the citys future. Done right, the project could positively impact businesses, neighborhoods and tourism and spur millions in private-sector investments. Its also the kind of amenity young people are looking for, so it could play a role in workforce development. The vision is to connect the historic Albuquerque Rail Yards to Downtown, Sawmill District and Old Town and transform Downtowns rail corridor into a vibrant and artistic urban trail that creates opportunities for economic development, healthy recreation and culture expression. Indeed, looking at an artists rendering of the trail, its easy to get excited about the potential. It would have shade, parklets and art. The Bosque Trail, with its ample shade and opportunities to see points of interest along the way Tingley Beach, Rio Grande Valley State Park, Rio Grande Nature Center, the BioPark and the National Hispanic Cultural Center offers a template for success. The Rail Trail already has some built-in amenities of its own. Imagined to run from the Rail Yards in Barelas to Lomas Boulevard, then along a railroad spur and eventually into Old Town, it already has Old Town and the Sawmill District as prime destinations for residents and visitors alike. If the Rail Yards can become something hip and fun year-round, there will be anchors on both ends. And while a trail on its own isnt a difference-maker, it could be the catalyst. It will need to have cool stuff to see and experience, especially in this industrial core, plus good eats nearby to become an attraction (and so private-sector buy-in is essential). But none of the ancillary stuff happens without the trail first, so kudos to Mayor Tim Keller, the City Council, city staff and the governor for laying the groundwork and cobbling together $25 million so far for a potentially transformational project. But first and foremost, people need to feel safe, especially on a trail that runs through part of our beleaguered Downtown and past areas known for multiple unsanctioned encampments. Making this investment viable means a strong, visible commitment to addressing the crime and homelessness that plague the area. Without that, the Rail Trail will be a $40 million path not taken. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal An incident report lays out the welfare check made on a man who, a day later, attacked his wife and pointed a pistol at neighbors before being shot dead by Albuquerque police last week on the West Side. Wendel Tagle, 43, was shot July 21 by at least one officer at the Core Vistas at Seven Bar Ranch apartments near Coors and Alameda NW. In the minutes leading up to the shooting, according to police, Tagle pointed a gun at several people in the complex. Tagles wife was hospitalized with what police have described as a possible gunshot wound to the leg. She could not be reached Thursday. Police were called to the apartment a day earlier to check on Tagle, who expressed paranoia about a former coworker and said stresses over quitting his job were affecting his marriage. A Mobile Crisis Team, made up of a behavioral health clinician and at least one officer, found Tagle was not homicidal or suicidal during a mental health assessment. Police and clinicians provided the couple with resources, which they declined. Police were first called to the apartment around 8 a.m. on July 20, according to an Albuquerque Police Department incident report released to the Journal. Tagle had called 911 and told a dispatcher his coworker had been sending him tea in the mail that he believed was poisonous. Tagle told responding officers that a coworker in the film industry had caused him extreme stress that led him to quit his job and affected his marriage. He said, according to the report, the pair had been arguing more than ever before and he wanted his wife to be happy. When asked what help could be provided, (Tagle) indicated our presence was helpful to him, according to the incident report. Tagles wife, who also works in the film industry, told officers she was working up to 90 hours a week and had not had much time for her husband lately. The wife said she respected Tagles decision to quit his job and she planned to make a career change herself, realizing how toxic the film industry is. Tagles wife told police the couple had talked about seeing a couples therapist and she planned to make more time for herself and Tagle, according to the report. Both Tagle and his wife said there had been arguments between the two but no physical fighting. At the time there was no indication of violence between (Tagle and his wife), according to the report. The report states resources were offered to the couple multiple times but they declined. I advised both parties to take time away from each other, an officer wrote in the report. Both parties stated they felt safe in the residence and no one wanted to leave. The incident report notes that it was not written until after police fatally shot Tagle and police agreed an informational report would benefit the investigation. Small, ancient sculptures that have been gathering dust in an Albuquerque storage box are returning home to Mexico, where they are intertwined with the identity of Indigenous communities. The Albuquerque Museum Foundation celebrated the repatriation of the dozen sculptures in a ceremony Wednesday. The local Consulate of Mexico will accept Olmec greenstone sculptures, a figure from the city of Zacatecas, bowls that were buried with tombs and other clay figurines that date back thousands of years. The event comes as Native, Indigenous and African communities have pushed for museums, universities and other institutions to repatriate items that are important parts of their cultures and histories. Foundation President and CEO Andrew Rodgers said returning the sculptures that have sat in storage for 15 years was the right thing to do. Even the foundations board agreed. But some outside their organization had a different idea. We did encounter a couple people who suggested Oh you should just sell these They may not be worth a ton so just keep them or Mexico doesnt really care about this kind of stuff,' Rodgers said. Mexico, however, very much cares. We appreciate and recognize actions taken by the Albuquerque Museum Foundation to voluntarily return these archaeological pieces back to the Mexican nation, Consul of Mexico Norma Ang Sanchez said in a statement. They are important elements of memory and identity for our native communities, and we are pleased they will be recovered. The effort to research the artifacts origins began over five months ago when they were discovered sitting in a box in storage. Rodgers assistant obtained the original appraisal form from when a donor gifted them in 2007. Immediately alarm bells started going off in our heads when they saw the label pre-Columbian, Rodgers said. Playing internet detective, Rodgers found the original dealer. A New York woman in her 90s still had the original notecards from the items sale to the donors in 1985. She said they either were purchased on a roadside in Mexico or from dealers in New England. I dont think anybody had mal intent. I just think there was not much clarity or much transparency in that sort of a practice 30, 40, 50 years ago, Rodgers said. Museum archaeologists at the University of New Mexico and Emory University in Atlanta authenticated the objects before talking with the local Mexican consulate. The Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, which will end up with the figures, believes they were made in western Mexico between 300 and 600 B.C. There has always been a desire to reclaim pre-Hispanic culture and artwork, according to Tessa Solomon, a reporter for the online publication ARTnews who has covered dozens of stories on the topic. When Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador became president of Mexico in 2018, his administration made retrieving artifacts a priority. Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto Guerrero has tried to stop sales of cultural items at auction. The efforts spawned a social media movement called #MyHeritageIsNotForSale. Its estimated more than 5,500 archaeological objects from Mexico have been recovered in the last few years. (Mexican officials) definitely have the most concerted effort to stop auction sales of these pieces, Solomon said. Placing these objects in a European or American gallery or museum is creating these gaps in the art history of these places that is difficult to fill. It shouldnt be up to other countries to create these histories. Campaigns to restore artifacts and artwork to a country or a people are happening worldwide. The U.S. Department of Interior is weighing changes to a federal law that ensures the repatriation of Native American remains and sacred objects. The proposed revisions include more clarity, specific deadlines and heavier penalties for violating the law. Indigenous groups from Canada are calling on the Vatican Museums to give up tens of thousands of artifacts and art. The Vatican says the feathered headdresses, carved walrus tusks, masks and embroidered animal skins were gifts to Pope Pius XI. Germany and Nigeria signed an agreement on July 1 to facilitate the return of hundreds of artifacts known as the Benin Bronzes that the British stole from Africa over a century ago. Hundreds of bronzes were sold to museums all over the world. The Smithsonian had 29 at its National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. They will go back to the Nigerian government. Other Smithsonian museums have been returning objects to their rightful owners for more than three decades, said Kevin Gover, undersecretary for museums and culture. Determining who owns the items can be a lengthy process. Some of these things, remember, are often very old, said Gover, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. So it does require a great deal of research to be sure we understand exactly what it is and exactly how it was acquired I m impressed that this Albuquerque Museum (Foundation) had it done in six months. The racial reckoning that started in the U.S. in 2020 likely increased the number of calls for reclaiming antiquities and artwork. In April, the Smithsonian enacted an ethical returns policy that requires a look at how an object came into the institutions possession. Museums and other art venues must face they are in an age where they will be judged by their actions, not just their artwork. The public is sort of expecting more from these institutions, Gover said. This is part of maintaining that trust, being able to say we came into possession of this object in an ethical way, in a fair way. Rodgers, of the Albuquerque Museum Foundation, is taking the ordeal as a key learning opportunity. This experience has especially given us exposure to this world and a better understanding, he said. So I think were certainly much better prepared to make sure that we never accept anything we shouldnt. KYIV, Ukraine Russia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war captured after the fall of Mariupol, the city where troops famously held out against a monthslong Russian siege. Both sides said the assault was premeditated with the aim of covering up atrocities. Russia claimed that Ukraines military used U.S.-supplied rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk Peoples Republic. Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded another 75. Moscow opened a probe into the attack, sending a team to the site from Russias Investigative Committee, the countrys main criminal investigation agency. The state RIA Novosti agency reported that fragments of U.S.-supplied precision High Mobility Artillery Rocket System rockets were found at the site. The Ukrainian military denied making any rocket or artillery strikes in Olenivka, and it accused the Russians of shelling the prison to cover up the alleged torture and execution of Ukrainians there. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the shelling as a deliberate, cynical, calculated mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners. Neither claim could be independently verified. Video shot by The Associated Press showed charred, twisted bed frames in the wrecked barracks, as well as burned bodies and metal sheets hanging from the destroyed roof. The footage also included bodies lined up on the ground next to a barbed-wire fence and an array of what was claimed to be metal rocket fragments on a wooden bench. Denis Pushilin, the leader of the internationally unrecognized Donetsk republic, said the prison held 193 inmates. He did not specify how many were Ukrainian POWs. The deputy commander of the Donetsk separatist forces, Eduard Basurin, suggested that Ukraine decided to strike the prison to prevent captives from revealing key military information. Ukraine knew exactly where they were being held and in what place, he said. After the Ukrainian prisoners of war began to talk about the crimes they committed, and orders they received from Kyiv, a decision was made by the political leadership of Ukraine: carry out a strike here. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called for a strict investigation into the attack and urged the United Nations and other international organizations to condemn it. He said the Russians had transferred some Ukrainian prisoners to the barracks just a few days before the strike, suggesting that it was planned. The purpose to discredit Ukraine in front of our partners and disrupt weapons supply, he tweeted. Ukrainian officials alleged that Russias Wagner Group, mercenaries Russia has used in other armed conflicts and reportedly elsewhere in Ukraine, carried out the assault. Ukraines security agencies issued a statement citing evidence that Russia was responsible, including the transfer of prisoners, analysis of injuries and the blast wave, intercepted phone conversations and the absence of shelling at the site. All this leaves no doubt: The explosion in Olenivka was a Russian terrorist act and a gross violation of international agreements, the statement said. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, described the strike as a bloody provocation aimed at discouraging Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. He too claimed that U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets were used, and said eight guards were among the wounded. Ukrainian forces are fighting to hold on to the remaining territory under their control in Donetsk. Together with the neighboring Luhansk province, they make up Ukraines mostly Russian-speaking industrial Donbas region. For several months, Moscow has focused on trying to seize parts of the Donbas not already held by the separatists. Holding POWs in an area with active fighting appeared to defy the Geneva Convention, which requires that prisoners be evacuated as soon as possible after capture to camps away from combat zones. The Ukrainian POWS at the Donetsk prison included troops captured during the fall of Mariupol. They spent months holed up with civilians at a giant steel mill in the southern port city. Their resistance during a relentless Russian bombardment became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance against Russias aggression. More than 2,400 soldiers from the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian national guard and other military units gave up their fight and surrendered under orders from Ukraines military in May. Scores of Ukrainian soldiers have been taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas. Some have returned to Ukraine as part of prisoner exchanges with Russia, but the families of other POWs have no idea whether their loved ones are still alive, or if they will ever come home. In other developments Friday: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the highest-level known contact between the two sides since Russia invaded Ukraine. Blinken urged Russia to accept a deal to win the release of American detainees Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Ukraines president visited one of the countrys main Black Sea ports a week after a deal was struck to create safe corridors for grain shipments that have been trapped in the country since the war began. Workers were seen preparing terminals for grain exports, which are relied on by millions of impoverished people worldwide. Zelenskyy said the shipments would begin with the departure of several vessels that were already loaded but could not leave when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The Ukrainian presidential office said at least 13 civilians were killed and another 36 wounded in Russian shelling over the last 24 hours. In the southern city of Mykolaiv, at least four people were killed and seven others wounded when Russian shelling hit a bus stop. The Russian barrage also hit a facility that distributed humanitarian aid where three people were wounded, officials said. Ukrainian officials also said at least four civilians were killed and five hurt in the eastern town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. An appeals court in Kyiv on Friday reduced to 15 years the life sentence of a Russian soldier convicted in the first war crimes trial since Russia invaded Ukraine. Critics had said the sentencing of Vadim Shishimarin, 21, was unduly harsh given that he confessed to the crime and expressed remorse. He pleaded guilty to killing a civilian and was convicted in May. His defense lawyer argued that Shishimarin shot a Ukrainian man on the orders of his superiors. ___ Follow the APs coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine HEFEI, July 29 (Xinhua) -- A China-Europe freight train, carrying 100 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers, left Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province on Friday afternoon, for Budapest of Hungary, marking the first trip between the two cities. Anhui-made products such as solar panel components, electric machines, and inverters, with a total worth of nearly 10 million U.S. dollars, are expected to arrive in Budapest in 16 to 18 days by the train after a journey of more than 10,800 km. Since Anhui launched the first China-Europe freight train route in 2014, over 2,500 China-Europe freight train trips have been made so far, linking the province with 85 cities in 18 countries. The China-Europe freight train service provides a new channel for the inland province to connect with the world and export its goods. A total of 500 such trips have been made so far this year, and 22 more destinations are added to Hefei's China-Europe freight train network. BEIJING President Xi Jinping warned against meddling in Chinas dealings with Taiwan during a phone call with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, that gave no indication of progress on trade, technology or other irritants, including Beijings opposition to a top American lawmakers possible visit to the island that the mainland claims as its own territory. Xi also warned against splitting the worlds two biggest economies, according to a Chinese government summary of Thursdays unusually lengthy, three-hour call. Businesspeople and economists warn such a change, brought on by Chinese industrial policy and U.S. curbs on technology exports, might hurt the global economy by slowing innovation and increasing costs. Meanwhile, Xi and Biden are looking at the possibility of meeting in person, according to a U.S. official who declined to be identified further. Xi has been invited to Indonesia in November for a meeting of the Group of 20 major economies, making it a potential location for a face-to-face meeting. The Chinese government gave no indication Xi and Biden discussed possible plans by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan, which the ruling Communist Party says has no right to conduct foreign relations. But Xi rejected interference by external forces that might encourage Taiwan to try to make its decades-old de facto independence permanent. The tough language from Xi, who usually tries to appear to be above political disputes and makes blandly positive public comments, suggested Chinese leaders might believe Washington didnt understand the seriousness of previous warnings about Taiwan. Resolutely safeguarding Chinas national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Friday. Those who play with fire will perish by it. Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with a communist victory on the mainland. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars of trade and investment. Both sides say they are one country but disagree over which government is entitled to national leadership. A Ministry of Defense spokesperson said ahead of Thursdays call that Washington must not arrange for Pelosi to visit Taiwan. He said the ruling partys military wing, the Peoples Liberation Army, would take strong measures to thwart any external interference. Xi called on the United States to honor the one-China principle, according to Zhao, referring to Beijings position that the mainland and Taiwan are one country. The United States, by contrast, has a one-China policy that says Washington takes no position on the question but wants to see it resolved peacefully. Chinas opposition to to interactions between the United States and Taiwan is clear and consistent, Zhao said. A foreign ministry summary of the conversation cited Biden as saying the United States doesnt support independence for Taiwan. Coverage of the conversation in Chinas entirely state-controlled media on Friday was limited to repeating government statements. Pelosi has yet to confirm whether she will go to Taiwan, but if she does, the Democrat from California would be the highest-ranking elected American official to visit since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. Beijing criticized Gingrich for saying the United States would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack but did little else in response to his three-hour visit to the island. Since then, Chinas position on Taiwan has hardened as the mainland economy grew to become second-largest after the United States. The ruling party poured hundreds of billions of dollars into developing fighter jets and other high-tech weapons including carrier killer missiles that are thought to be intended to block the U.S. Navy from helping to defend the island. The conflict over a possible Pelosi visit is more sensitive to Beijing in a year when Xi, who took power in 2012, is expected to try to break with tradition and award himself a third five-year term as party leader. Xi, who wants to be seen as restoring Chinas rightful historic role as a global leader, has promoted a more assertive policy abroad. The Peoples Liberation Army has sent growing numbers of fighter planes and bombers to fly near Taiwan in an attempt to intimidate its democratically elected government. The United States has no official relations with Taiwan but has extensive commercial ties and informal political connections. Washington is obliged by federal law to see that Taiwan has the means to defend itself. Xi called for cooperation on reducing the risk of economic recession, coordinating macroeconomic policies, fighting COVID-19 and de-escalation of regional hot spots, according to the government statement. He also warned against decoupling, or separating, the U.S. and Chinese economies for strategic reasons. Businesspeople and industry analysts have warned global industries might be split into separate markets with incompatible products due to Chinas pressure on its companies to develop their own technology standards and U.S. restrictions on Chinese access to technology that Washington see as a security risk. That might slow innovation and increase costs. Attempts at decoupling or severing supply chains in defiance of underlying laws would not help boost the U.S. economy, the statement said. They would only make the world economy more vulnerable. JACKSON, Ky. Trapped homeowners swam to safety and others were rescued by boat as record flash flooding killed at least 16 people in Kentucky and swamped entire Appalachian towns, prompting a frenzied search for survivors Friday through some of the poorest communities in America. Authorities warned the death toll would likely grow sharply as search efforts continued. The rain let up early Friday morning, but some waterways were not expected to crest until Saturday and more storms were forecast to roll through the region early next week. Its the latest in a string of catastrophic deluges that have hammered parts of the U.S. this summer, including St. Louis earlier this week and again Friday. Scientists warn climate change is making weather disasters more common. Water poured down hillsides and into Appalachian valleys and hollows where it swelled creeks and streams coursing through small towns. The torrent engulfed homes and businesses and trashed vehicles. Mudslides marooned some people on steep slopes. Rescue teams backed by the National Guard used helicopters and boats to search for the missing. But some areas remained inaccessible and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll was going to get a lot higher. It could take weeks to account for all victims, he said. Patricia Colombo, 63, of Hazard, Kentucky, got stranded after her car stalled in floodwaters on a state highway. Colombo began to panic when water started rushing in. Her phone was dead, but she saw a helicopter overhead and waved it down. The helicopter crew radioed a team on the ground that pulled her safely from her car. Colombo stayed the night at her fiances home in Jackson and they took turns sleeping, repeatedly checking the water with flashlights to see if it was rising. Colombo lost her car but said others who were struggling prior to the floods had it worse. Many of these people cannot recover out here. They have homes that are half underwater, theyve lost everything, she said. The water came into Rachel Pattons Floyd County home so quickly that her mother, who is on oxygen, had to be evacuated on a door floated across the high water. Pattons voice faltered as she described their harrowing escape. We had to swim out and it was cold. It was over my head so it was, it was scary, she told WCHS-TV. Beshear said Friday that at least six children were among the victims and that the total number of lives lost could more than double as rescue teams reach more areas. Among those who died were four children from the same family in Knott County, Coroner Corey Watson said Friday. At least 33,000 utility customers were without power. The flooding extended into western Virginia and southern West Virginia, across a region where poverty is endemic. There are hundreds of families that have lost everything, Beshear said. And many of these families didnt have much to begin with. And so it hurts even more. But were going to be there for them. Extreme rain events have become more common as climate change bakes the planet and alters weather patterns, according to scientists. Thats a growing challenge for officials during disasters, because models used to predict storm impacts are in part based on past events and cant keep up with increasingly devastating flash floods, hurricanes and heat waves. This is what climate change looks like, meteorologist and Weather Underground founder Jeff Masters said of flooding in Appalachia and the Midwest. These extreme rainfall events are the type you would expect to see in a warming world. A day before the floods hit Appalachia, the National Weather Service had said Wednesday that there was a slight to moderate risk of flash flooding across the region on Thursday. The deluge came two days after record rains around St. Louis dropped more than 12 inches (31 centimeters) and killed at least two people. Last month, heavy rain on mountain snow in Yellowstone National Park triggered historic flooding and the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. In both instances, the rain flooding far exceeded what forecasters predicted. The floodwaters raging through Appalachia were so swift that some people trapped in their homes couldnt be immediately reached, said Floyd County Judge-Executive Robbie Williams. Just to the west in hard-hit Perry County, authorities said some people remained unaccounted for and almost everyone in the area had suffered some sort of damage. Weve still got a lot of searching to do, said Jerry Stacy, the emergency management director in Perry County. More than 330 people have sought shelter, Beshear said. And with property damage so extensive, the governor opened an online portal for donations to the victims. President Joe Biden called to express his support for what will be a lengthy recovery effort, Beshear said, predicting it will take more than a year to fully rebuild. Biden also declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency appointed an officer to coordinate the recovery. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said at a briefing with Beshear that the agency would bring whatever resources were necessary to support search and recovery efforts. Even the governor had problems reaching the devastation. His initial plans to tour the disaster area were postponed Friday because of unsafe conditions at an airport where he was to land. He got a look at the flooding later in the day aboard a helicopter. Hundreds of homes, the ballfields, the parks, businesses under more water than I think any of us have ever seen in that area, the governor said. Absolutely impassable in numerous spots. Just devastating. Portions of at least 28 state roads in Kentucky were blocked due to flooding or mudslides, Beshear said. Rescue crews in Virginia and West Virginia worked to reach people where roads werent passable. Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six counties in West Virginia where the flooding downed trees, power outages and blocked roads. Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration, enabling Virginia to mobilize resources across the flooded southwest of the state. The National Weather Service said another storm front adding misery to flood victims in St. Louis on Friday could bring more thunderstorms to the Appalachians in coming days. The hardest hit areas of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches (20-27 centimeters) over 48 hours, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brandon Bonds. The North Fork of the Kentucky River broke records in at least two places. It reached 20.9 feet (6.4 meters) in Whitesburg more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) over the previous record and crested at 43.5 feet (13.25 meters) in Jackson, Bonds said. ___ Brown reported from Billings, Montana. Contributors include Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky; Timothy D. Easley in Jackson, Kentucky, and Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland. WASHINGTON The Biden administration likes to say Russia has become isolated internationally because of its invasion of Ukraine. Yet Moscows top officials have hardly been cloistered in the Kremlin. And now, even the U.S. Is talking to them. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been meeting with world leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member. Meanwhile, his top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, is jetting around the world, smiling, shaking hands and posing for photos with foreign leaders including some friends of the U.S. And on Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about American detainees and Ukraine. Blinken would not discuss the specific details of the call but said he had pressed Lavrov to accept a substantial proposal the U.S. has made for the release of jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Brittany Griner. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov strongly suggested to Blinken returning to a professional dialogue in the mode of quiet diplomacy on any efforts at American detainees release. The phone call and the handshakes cast doubt on a core part of the U.S. strategy aimed at ending the Ukraine war: that diplomatic and economic isolation, along with battlefield setbacks, would ultimately force Russia to send its troops home. Even as he announced plans for the call two days earlier, Blinken continued to insist Russia is indeed isolated. He argued the travel of its top officials is purely damage control and a reaction to international criticism Moscow is facing for the Ukraine war. U.S. officials say Russia is trying to shore up the few alliances it has left some of which are American adversaries like Iran. But countries that are ostensibly U.S. partners, like Egypt and Uganda, are also warmly welcoming top Russians. And after making the case since February that theres no point in talking to Russia because Russia is not serious about diplomacy and cannot be trusted, the U.S. has conceded it needs to engage with Moscow as well. The public outreach to Lavrov combined with the announcement of a substantial proposal to Russia to win the release of Whelan and Griner took many by surprise. The Blinken-Lavrov conversation was the highest-level contact between the U.S. and Russia since Feb. 15, before the Russian invasion, and could set the stage for possible in-person discussions, although administration officials say there are no plans for that. The Kremlin presumably reveled in the fact that the U.S. is now seeking engagement and will likely delay the process of arranging a call to gain maximum advantage. They are going to drag this out and try to humiliate us as much as they can, said Ian Kelly, a retired career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Georgia in the Obama and Trump administrations. I dont think it goes along with (the administrations) overall policy. Kelly saw Blinkens interest in the call as counterproductive to our broader effort to isolate Russia. Other countries will look at this and say, Why shouldnt we deal with Lavrov or the Russians more broadly?' he said. Already, Western appeals to convince Asian, African and Middle Eastern nations to shun Russia appear to have been ignored as Lavrov travels around the world. Still, on Wednesday, Blinken played down the importance of Lavrovs globetrotting. He said it was a response to the cold reception Russia has gotten to Ukraine-related wheat and grain shortages now plaguing large portions of the developing world, particularly as a United Nations-backed agreement to free up those supplies has yet to be implemented. What I see is a desperate game of defense to try somehow to justify to the world the actions that Russia has taken, Blinken said. Somehow trying to justify whats unjustifiable. U.S. and European officials point out that Russia has come under heavy criticism for the Ukraine invasion and the food and energy security shortages that have resulted. Biden administration officials, including Blinken, have noted with satisfaction that Lavrov chose to leave a recent meeting of G-20 foreign ministers in Indonesia after listening to a litany of complaints from counterparts about the global impact of the war. Despite that, there is no sign Russia will be excluded from major international events such as the ASEAN Regional Forum next week, the United Nations General Assembly in September or a trio of leaders summits in Asia to be held in November. Russia continues to maintain close ties with China, India and numerous developing countries throughout Asia and Africa. Many depend on Russia for energy and other exports, though they also rely on Ukraine for grain. India hasnt shunned Russia despite its membership in the so-called Quad with the U.S., Australia and Japan. With a longstanding close relationship with Russia, India has boosted energy imports from Russia despite pressure from the U.S. and Europe, which is moving away from Russian gas and oil. India, for example, has used nearly 60 million barrels of Russian oil in 2022 so far, compared with only 12 million barrels in all of 2021, according to commodity data firm Kpler. On the other side of the coin, the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, this week scrapped a deal to purchase 16 Russian military transport helicopters due to fears of possible U.S. sanctions. The Russian foreign ministry has gleefully countered the assertions of Russias isolation by tweeting photographs of Lavrov in various world capitals. Among the photos: Lavrov at the the G-20 meeting in Bali with the Chinese, Indian and Indonesian foreign ministers; in Uganda with President Yoweri Museveni, a longtime U.S. partner; and in Egypt with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, also a U.S. partner, whose country every year receives billions in dollars in American aid. ___ Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Jim Gomez in Manila contributed. ODESA, Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a Black Sea port Friday to watch crews prepare to export grain trapped by Russias five-month-old war, a week after a deal was struck to allow critical food supplies to flow to millions of impoverished people facing hunger worldwide. The first vessel, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war, Zelenskyy, in his signature olive drab T-shirt, told reporters as he stood next to a Turkish-flagged ship at the Chernomorsk port in the Odesa region. He said the departure of wheat and other grain will begin with ships that were already loaded but could not leave Ukrainian ports after Russia invaded in late February. Ukraine is a key global exporter of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil, and their loss has raised global food prices, threatened political instability and helped push more people into poverty and hunger in already vulnerable countries. Ukraines military is committed to the ships safety, said Zelenskyy, adding, It is important for us that Ukraine remains the guarantor of global food security. His unannounced visit to the port is part of Ukraines push to show the world that it is nearly ready to export millions of tons of grains under last weeks breakthrough agreements, which were brokered by Turkey and the United Nations and signed separately by Ukraine and Russia. The sides agreed to facilitate the shipment of wheat and other grains from three Ukrainian ports through safe corridors on the Black Sea, as well as fertilizer and food from Russia. But a Russian missile strike on Odesa hours after signing the deal threw Moscows commitment into question and raised concerns about the safety of shipping crews, who also have to navigate waters strewn with explosive mines. Russias deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told the U.N. Security Council in New York on Friday that Ukraine has been deploying military goods and hardware in the port of Odesa, and we will continue to destroy these goods and objects, as we did on July 23. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized the link between taking grain out of Ukrainian ports and unblocking direct or indirect restrictions on the export of our grain, fertilizers and other goods to global markets. The security concerns and complexities of the agreements have set off a slow, cautious start. The clock is ticking the deal is only good for 120 days. The goal over the next four months is to export some 20 million tons of grain from three Ukrainian sea ports blocked since the Feb. 24 invasion. That provides time for about four to five large bulk carriers per day to transport grain from the ports to millions of people in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, who are already facing food shortages and, in some cases, famine. Getting the grain out is also critical to farmers in Ukraine, who are running out of storage capacity because of a new harvest. We are ready, Ukraines minister of infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov, told reporters at the port of Odesa on Friday. But he said Ukraine is waiting on the U.N. to confirm the safe corridors that ships will use. In the meantime, a ship at the port of Chernomorsk was being loaded with grain, he said. Lloyds List, a global shipping news publisher, noted that while U.N. officials are pushing for the initial voyage this week to show progress, uncertainty on key details will likely prevent an immediate ramping-up of shipments. Until those logistical issues and detailed outlines of safeguarding procedures are disseminated, charters will not be agreed and insurers will not be underwriting shipments, wrote Bridget Diakun and Richard Meade of Lloyds List. They note, however, that U.N. agencies, such as the World Food Program, have already arranged to charter much of the grain for urgent humanitarian needs. Shipping companies have not rushed in because explosive mines are drifting in the waters, ship owners are assessing the risks and many question how the agreement will unfold. The deal stipulates that Russia and Ukraine provide maximum assurances for ships that brave the journey to the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Smaller Ukrainian pilot boats will guide the vessels through approved corridors. The entire operation will be overseen by a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul staffed by officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations. Once ships reach port, they will be loaded with grain before departing back to the Bosphorus Strait, where they will be boarded to inspect them for weapons. There will likely be inspections for ships embarking to Ukraine as well. ___ Associated Press writers Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. The South Valley is getting its first Chick-fil-A. The popular chicken chain is adding a new location in the Las Estancias shopping center between Coors and Rio Bravo. According to Bernalillo County records, the project received a building permit for 3911 Las Estancias SW in December. Chick-fil-A Inc. confirmed in a statement Friday that the South Valley location will open in late fall this year. Local subcontractor Chavez Concrete said its crews started laying concrete for the building more than a month ago. Main Frame Construction Corp. is also involved in the project, . Chick-fil-A joins several other national chains including Chilis Grill & Bar, Starbucks and Whataburger that have moved into the South Valley shopping center. The new restaurant will be Chick-Fil-As ninth location in Albuquerque, and 15th in New Mexico. The chains presence has been growing in the city since the first Albuquerque location was opened in 2008. A man was shot and killed Thursday night at a gas station in the South Valley. Angelina Navarro, a Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman, said the suspects fled the homicide in a stolen blue 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 with New Mexico license plate AFAX64. Navarro shared photos of the truck and a man and woman believed to have been involved in the incident. She said deputies responded around 8 p.m. to reports of gunfire at the 7-Eleven at 4321 Coors SW, near Gun Club. Deputies found a man dead at the scene from at least one gunshot wound. Witnesses advised two men were in an altercation in the gas station parking lot when gunshots were heard, Navarro said. She said detectives are asking for the publics help in identifying those involved. Tips: Anyone with information is asked to contact BCSO Detective Carroll at (505) 263-5617 or email the agency at ViolentCrimes@bernco.gov. The Stars of American Ballet will celebrate 10 years of performing in Santa Fe. There would be no Stars of American Ballet without Performance Santa Fe, said Daniel Ulbricht, dancer and choreographer. We kind of use Performance Santa Fe as a flagship. What we try here, we might try elsewhere. The dancers will return to the Lensic Performing Art Center on Friday, Aug. 5 and Saturday, Aug. 6. Seventeen dancers will take the stage with two musicians. The troupe travels to cities that rarely host ballet performances, offering principals and soloists from major American companies, including the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. The dancers perform during their time off. The Lensic date comes after a two-year, COVID-driven hiatus. A lot of people used it as an off-ramp, Ulbricht said. It was an opportunity to pivot. It nudged me to reinvest in the next generation of dancers. It also allowed me to invest in new work. The weekend programs showcase completely different offerings, he added. Fridays selection opens with Apollo by Igor Stravinsky with choreography by George Balanchine. The ballet marked the first time the pair worked together. Its got such a weight in it, Ulbricht said. For any male dancer to dance the lead is a big deal. With choreography by David Parsons of the international touring dance company Parsons Dance Company, Balance of Power features a bracing solo by Zoey Anderson. The amount of intensity and electricity and complex control she has in the solo is amazing, Ulbricht said. Ulbricht choreographed Dreamers to the music from the movie La La Land. I loved the music but didnt get the movie, he explained. Eight dancers will dominate the stage. The Aug. 6 show will open with the world premiere De Deux starring Quinn Starner and Cainan Weber, two up-and-coming dancers from the New York City Ballet. The precise dance is in the Baroque style, Ulbricht said. Balanchine choreographed Sonatine to the music of Maurice Ravel on piano. It has a little bit of a French air to it, Ulbricht said. Its very much Balanchine, letting the music take the lead. Set to a ukulele soundtrack, Palolo was choreographed by Caili Quan, one of the hottest choreographers in town, Ulbricht said. Ulbricht choreographed Benny Goodmans famous Sing, Sing, Sing as an accessible delight. It always leads the audience to tap their feet and say, Hey, I know this, he added. The evening ends with Les Lutins, (The Goblins) choreographed by Ulbricht. This is a trio, Ulbricht said, with violin and piano on stage. You get to see the dancers and the musicians interact. Both of the male dancers compete for the females attention, only to see her fall for the violinist. Im trying to find more pieces that make the music and the dancing more accessible, Ulbricht said. I think weve brought over 80 or 90 pieces (to Santa Fe) over 10 years. Thats kind of an embarrassment of riches. William Shakespeare had his own variation of the English language, but that doesnt mean it has to be difficult to understand. Upstart Crows of Santa Fe offers youth an immersive way to learn Shakespeares unique style, and the playwrights brilliance will be on display as the troupe is set to perform A Midsummer Nights Dream. Performances of the play are scheduled for Aug. 5-7 and continues Aug. 12-14 at UU Santa Fe. The cast consists of actors and actresses ranging from 10 to 18 years old who not only work together as an ensemble, but mentor each other at the same time. Shakespeares writing can be troublesome to dissect, but when children and teens show interest in the classic tales, groups such as Upstart Crows help harness the attraction. Its drummed into us that this is some kind of scholarly elitist material its not true at all, said Caryl Farkas, who facilitates rehearsals for the group. It speaks to you at a level you dont even realize its magic. Farkas, who developed a love for Shakespeare and theater as a child, first experienced an immersive Shakespeare program in Wisconsin as a parent volunteer for her daughter Annas group, The Young Shakespeare Players, she said. I was knocked out by the enthusiasm these kids had, Farkas explained. It was a beautiful system because the director treated them all as if they were completely capable of understanding and processing whats in the text, which is nothing less than what makes us human. Farkas moved to New Mexico in 2014, and she and Anna formed Upstart Crows. Anna, who began participating in the Wisconsin group when she was 6 years old, wanted to start a similar program while attending St. Johns College in Santa Fe. They hoped to promote accessibility to Shakespeare to younger people. Farkas said, Its really more of a Shakespeare immersion program than it is a theater program, but the result of that immersion is really good theater. Theres a saying that information breeds instinct, and by the time these kids hit the stage with one of these plays, they know an awful lot about it. Through workshops, guest directors, professional experts and community outreach, Upstart Crows offers kids and teenagers a chance to embrace and produce uncut versions of classic plays. They learn an understanding of the craft and how to collaborate as a cast as they go and no theater experience is needed to start participating in the program. The ideal is you have at least two casts, Farkas explained. Theyre commenting on each others performance, so theyre really directing each other. Its a very collaborative program. Finding the right instruction is vital to sustaining enthusiasm within a student. Only three people signed up for the companys first production, Twelfth Night, which eventually ended up being scenes from the play, Farkas said. One of the participants was her other daughter, Joy. Fortunately, peers in the audience became inspired and the program quickly grew to a full cast for the next show: A Midsummer Nights Dream. Though Upstart Crows has been in business since 2014, the upcoming performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream will only be their second production of the play. The ability to offer and perform various works is a testament to the lasting impression the program has made on the youth of Santa Fe. They were clamoring to do it, Farkas said of the casts eagerness to tackle A Midsummer Nights Dream again. The life this thing has taken on is very self-sustaining, self-perpetuating. The older kids are mentoring the younger kids and my place is just really overseeing the process. She added, Its all about the language, and they find things. Its never the same. The process has satisfied the philosophy of the program, and Upstart Crows just keeps expanding, teaching the language of Shakespeare through firsthand love for classic theater in the modern era. The group will begin rehearsing in September for their January 2023 production of Romeo and Juliet. Each year, the buyers get stronger at the Great Southwestern Antique and Vintage Show. As producer of the event, it makes Terry Schurmeier excited. This year is the 23rd event and it takes place Friday, Aug. 5 through Sunday, Aug. 7, at the Manuel Lujan Jr. Exhibit Complex at Expo New Mexico. Last year the event was put together quickly, she says. This year, weve had time to plan and are making it one of the best coming back from the pandemic. A benefit sneak preview will take place from 1-6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5. Tickets for the benefit event are $100 and benefit KNME PBS, University of New Mexico Hospital, Popejoy Schooltime Series, VSA Arts of New Mexico, St. Pius High School, Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association and Albuquerque Museums Magic Bus Program. Schurmeier is also the owner of Cowboys & Indians Antiques, located on Central Avenue. The event was designed for treasure hunters looking for a great find. We have buyers coming from all over the country, she says. We have some East Coast dealers coming to the show because the antique business has changed with the pandemic. Because of that, the dealers are looking to the Southwest for the shows because theres more space. The event has a heavy emphasis on cowboys and expansion in the West. The West provided natural resources to our country and has a rich culture that helps balance the urban world of the East, she says. This year, Schurmeier will be selling some items from her decades of collecting. Ive collected primarily Native American and Americana textiles for over 40 years, she says. I always look for ancient trade beads and fine Navajo blankets and Mexican serapes. Ive also collected a lot of New Mexican religious materials. Sometimes, you dont know what youre going to collect until you see it. Thats what keeps me busy. Schurmeier says this years event has more dealers than last year and there will be eight additional spaces. It will be a full show, she says. On Friday, for those that do the early entry, 100% goes to our NMPBS art in education endowment. All of that comes from people who come in on Friday and they have a day to shop when the dealers arent so busy. MANY GLACIER ROAD, MONTANA Is that a grizzly? My brother, Rick, and I were driving into Glacier National Park from the east, heading to Many Glacier Hotel, where we had a room for the night. It was June 26, the first day of our whirlwind effort to see as much as we could of three national parks in four days. Earlier, we had been on the west side of Glacier, drinking beer and eating a late lunch at Fredas Bar; driving as far as we were allowed on Going-to-the-Sun Road, which was still choked off with snow at its higher elevations; and enjoying the serenity of 10-mile-long Lake McDonald. We had watched a little boy trying out his snorkel gear in the shallows near the lakes shore as his father stood by. Now, after a long, bleak haul to the parks east side, we were rolling into the twilight when we saw the big bear. It was 25 yards off the road, foraging among the tall grass and wildflowers. I grabbed my brothers camera. My goals on this trip were to see a grizzly bear and a moose in the wild, and here on the first day was a grizzly. Or was it? There are black bears at Glacier, too. This bear was dark brown, but both species come in various colors. I was sure I could make out the distinctive hump of the grizzly on this bear, but its snout looked more like that of a black bear. What the heck. Close enough. I took some pictures. Now for that moose. Picturesque lake In 1850, there were 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park, but they have been melting. There are only 25 now. Many Glacier Hotel was built in 1914-15 by the Great Northern Railway. Its on the eastern side of Swiftcurrent Lake. On the morning of June 27, as Rick and I were about to do the 2-mile hike around the lake, we were told there was a mother moose and her calf grazing just off the trail. I was pumped. It looked as if I were about to check moose off my to see list. The hike was wonderful easy walking, cool, picturesque lake scenery with glacier-encrusted mountains looming in the background. But no moose. Later we drove on the eastern portion of Going-to-the-Sun Road, along Saint Mary Lake. A young bear, after looking both ways, crossed the road in front of our slow-moving car. We think it was a grizzly, too, but its even more difficult to tell when they are immature. Suddenly, we realized it was after 3 p.m. and we had to drive 375 miles to get to Yellowstone National Park that night. Where the buffalo roam It was 10:45 p.m. when we arrived at Yellowstone in Wyoming. We had to find security to get us the key to our cabin, which is within walking distance of the famous Old Faithful geyser. We were told that a visitor had been gored by a buffalo earlier that day. Another would be gored later in the week. Yellowstone has lots of buffalo, not to mention 500 active geysers and 10,000 hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles (vents that emit volcanic gases). Parts of Yellowstone look as if they belong on another planet. Other parts incredible canyons, thundering waterfalls, roaring rivers look like the most beautiful places on earth. Rick and I were just grateful to be here. Only days earlier, Yellowstone had been closed to the public because of flooding that had destroyed roads, bridges and homes. The northern part of the park was still closed, but we explored the southern section on June 28. We saw Old Faithful erupt three times. We walked the -mile loop through sulfuric mud pots with names such as Black Dragons Cauldron. We sought out the best vantage points to look at the Upper and Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. And we marveled at the colorful harlequin ducks perched on or floating behind large rocks in the white water of the hurtling Yellowstone River. Occasionally, one of the ducks would flap upriver, land on the rough water and body surf back to the safety of the rocks. We saw buffalo, mule deer and elk. But no moose. Bound for Moose Grand Teton, the third national park on our agenda, is also in Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone. It took slightly more than an hour to get there on June 29. This would be our shortest visit. We were driving through the park on the way to Jackson, Wyoming, and the start of our trek back to New Mexico. We stopped to admire the snow-capped peaks of the spectacular Teton Range. We walked along String Lake and Jenny Lake. Still no moose sightings, but we were hopeful because we were heading toward Moose, a small town on the Snake River inside the park. The impressive Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, more museum and interactive education facility than visitor center, is near Moose. We stopped by. There is a life-sized bronze sculpture of a moose outside the center. Rick took a picture. Close enough. Photo taken on July 26, 2022 shows a damaged bridge after heavy monsoon rains in southern Pakistani port city of Karachi. (Str/Xinhua) by Raheela Nazir ISLAMABAD, July 28 (Xinhua) -- At least 357 people were killed and over 400 were injured as heavy monsoon rains continued to batter Pakistan for more than five weeks, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said Thursday. Besides human loss, infrastructure, road networks and houses have also been damaged due to the heavy monsoon rains and flash flooding across Pakistan since June 14, official sources from the NDMA told Xinhua. A total of 23,792 homes have been fully or partially damaged, making thousands of people displaced, according to the NDMA statistics, adding that the heavy downpours have also damaged dozens of bridges and shops. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif tweeted Thursday that Pakistan is facing the challenges of climate change and stressed the need to address the problem of current flash flooding. "Climate change is an undeniable reality of our times and has serious consequences for developing countries like Pakistan ... The government is aligning its development goals with the climate change requirements," he said. Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province remained one of the most hard-hit areas, where 106 people died in rain-related incidents and subsequent flooding, followed by 90 dead in the southern Sindh province. There have been 76 fatalities in the eastern Punjab province, 70 in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, while 15 people were killed in other parts of the country, said the NDMA. Meanwhile, civil administrations in respective cities along with the Pakistani army are carrying out rescue and relief efforts in affected areas. The authorities are shifting stranded people to safer places, providing food and water to affected people, whereas doctors and paramedics are in the field to provide medical care. Taking notice of the huge losses across Pakistan, the prime minister has constituted a committee to assess the damage caused by monsoon rains and floods, while announcing to enhance monetary compensation for the affected citizens. Farzana Bibi, a 48-year-old resident of the southern port city of Karachi, said that her family members cannot leave the house as streets in her neighborhood are submerged in knee-deep muddy flood water. "The flood water has entered my house and damaged all of my furniture which I bought recently ... I am so upset. Rains are considered a blessing from God, but the recent heavy rains and floods have brought us a lot of inconveniences," Bibi told Xinhua. Predicting more rains during the ongoing week, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said that monsoon currents are continuously penetrating the country and are likely to shift and intensify in upper and central parts of Pakistan. Photo taken on July 26, 2022 shows a damaged bridge after heavy monsoon rains in southern Pakistani port city of Karachi. (Str/Xinhua) Photo released by Pakistani military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on July 28, 2022 shows security personnel distributing relief goods in Lasbela district, Balochistan province, southwestern Pakistan. (ISPR/Handout via Xinhua) Photo released by Pakistani military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on July 28, 2022 shows workers preparing flood relief packages in Lasbela district, Balochistan province, southwestern Pakistan. (ISPR/Handout via Xinhua) Photo released by Pakistani military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on July 28, 2022 shows security personnel distributing relief goods in Lasbela district, Balochistan province, southwestern Pakistan. (ISPR/Handout via Xinhua) Photo taken on July 28, 2022 shows a damaged road after heavy monsoon rains in Lasbela district, Balochistan province, southwestern Pakistan. (ISPR/Handout via Xinhua) As India gears up to celebrate her 75th year of Independence, we at Adgully are tracing the journey of Advertising and its contribution to the Indian society at large whether it is bringing about a change in mindsets, or a societal pattern, or empowering different communities or ushering in new thoughts basically, Soch badal ke rakh diya. Our aim is to collate 75 most impressive and significant ways in which Advertising has impacted India over the decades. For this, we are reaching out to the Advertising Honchos of India to share the most significant contributions of Advertising to the Indian society and why they consider them to be important developments. We will serialise the story on Adgullys website in the lead-up to the Independence Day this year in this special series: India @75 Through the Advertising Lens. In conversation with Adgully, Suraja Kishore, CEO, BBDO India, notes how the evolution of Indian advertising is a reflection of the countrys socio-economic and cultural mosaic through the last few decades. In fact, advertising has been a catalyst for change in a culture that has been constantly assimilating the new with the old ideas of life and living. According to Kishore, following are a few markers of that change: JSW Group is collaborating with the Murtikaar community residing in Raighad district of Maharashtra to celebrate JSW Eco-Friendly Ganesh Utsav. This unique collaboration takes the form of a community festival called JSW Eco-friendly Ganesh Utsav based on the theme of Rang Abhimanacha (Colours of Pride). During this community festival, JSW aims to create consciousness among these murtikaars to use environment-friendly colours to paint the Ganpati idols during this years Ganesh Chaturthi. Most of the Ganpati idols sold in Mumbai, Pune and other parts of Maharashtra are primarily from the Raigad district. The Ganpati idols made by the Murtikaar community are popular in Maharashtra as well as in many international markets. This is why the Pen village where a large part of the Murtikaars resides is popularly known as Ganeshas Idol Abode. Every year in Maharashtra, millions of these idols are immersed in lakes, rivers and the sea during the festival. JSW Eco-friendly Ganesh Utsav aims to create a social consciousness to use low VOC colours and reduce the risk to marine life. JSW Group is focused on protecting the environment through various sustainable practices in its business operations. It has joined hands with the Pen-based Murtikaar community to promote the idea of eco-friendly Ganesh Utsav. This is being accomplished by offering these murtikaars an opportunity to use JSW Paints water-based colours. JSW Paints has a portfolio of 1808 colours that are eco-friendly, non-toxic and quick to dry. According to Mr Ashish Chandra, Executive VP & Plant Head, JSW Steel Dolvi Works, Our steadfast commitment to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change extends beyond our business operations to the communities which reside around our plants. Our collaboration with the Murtikaars in Pen to create a social consciousness to celebrate an eco-friendly Ganesh festival and strengthen it as a community-level institution. We are leveraging the strength of our Group businesses to accomplish this goal. Ms Anuradha Bose, Chief Marketing Officer of JSW Paints said, The JSW Eco-friendly Ganesh Utsav provides us with the perfect platform to initiate a social change. Being environment-friendly, our paint products water based, are low on VOC and totally family-friendly. With this activity, we instil new pride in the way Maharashtra celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi. Mr Ashwini Saxena, CEO of JSW Foundation says, JSW Foundation is committed to preserve and celebrate the native art of our Murtikaar community by introducing new and sustainable practises in a constant pursuit of making life better for them. The JSW Eco-Friendly Ganesh utsav is a small beginning in this direction. Mars, Incorporated today launched #HereToBeHeard, a new global crowdsourcing campaign that elevates the voices of women from all intersections including race, age, sexuality, religion and ability to help shape a more inclusive business environment and create a world where all women can thrive. To take this conversation forward, Indias leading content creator and actor Dolly Singh who has been an active advocate for women empowerment for many years now will be representing India in this ambitious global project. Dolly will be sharing her experiences and inviting women to share their voices and vision at beheard.mars.com. She will be joined by an exciting roster of women from diverse sectors and geographies such as Emmy award-winning actress and host Tamera Mowry-Housley to influencers including Poppy Jamie, Hani Sidow, Helen Wu and Kellie Gerardi. Sharing her thoughts on the same, Dolly Singh states I'm so happy to be a part of the #heretobeheard campaign, it is great working with a brand that is working towards women empowerment and striving to make a positive change. Victoria Mars, Mars Board Member and ambassador of Mars' Full Potential program states "Women have played a powerful role in our history and leadership at Mars. But we have more to do. We're striving to empower more women within our workplace, and across our extended value chain. The magnitude and urgency of gender inequality in society demands more action. If global business doesn't listen and step up now, then when? Business can have an outsized impact on driving change at scale. At Mars we're seizing this opportunity to expand the conversation and drive action. The #HereToBeHeard movement is about ensuring that all women's voices have a chance to be heard and translating what we hear into impact plans that advance gender equality." With over 1.3 million followers on Instagram and 647k subscribers on YouTube, Dolly is a name to reckon with in the social media world, widely popular for her online monikers South Delhi girl who can't do without her house help Sunita, the savage Guddi Bhabhi who is fed up with her mother-in-law/husband and the fearless Zeenat and Shree who never fail to crush down biased patriarchy and societal norms. #HereToBeHeard is a response lead campaign and rally-cry that asks all women to answer What needs to change so more women can reach their full potential? Mars will review all submissions as well as compile a study, turning the insights & ideas we hear from women into tangible, immediate action for Mars and call on our peers and partners to do the same. #HereToBeHeard is part of the larger Mars Full Potential Campaign/initiative where Mars is committed to supporting women in our workplace, communities & marketplace. This campaign is a way to hear from women, learn from them, and ensure their voices are heard. With customer centricity and innovation at its heart, Motorola is now changing the way they discover, share, and connect with the world around them through their marketing spree. Marking them as the 3rd most preferred brand in the FY 2021-22, with brand preference doubling year-on-year, Motorola has positioned itself as one of the leading brands with their revolutionary technology world and through their successive device launches. Motorola has always believed in pursuing a sustainable strategy of profitable growth. For the past few years, the company has been profitable and is growing rapidly both in terms of value as well as volume, with a double-digit premium to market growth every year. With the changing dynamics of how brands endeavoured to capture the hold of the markets, Motorola takes pride in moving with the astute pace of their consumers, for their consumers. Speaking to Adgully for their column Marketing Minds, Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing, Motorola India, speaks about Motorolas strategy of profitable growth, adopting relatable contextual communication to gain traction for their innovations, pushing ahead with their 5G strategy, and much more. Motorola smartphone was a frontline brand few years back. With the entry of Chinese brands, the market became very competitive. Whats going to be the bounce back strategy for the brand to garner a larger share of the market? Motorola has always believed in pursuing a sustainable strategy of profitable growth. For the past few years, we have not only been profitable, but are growing rapidly both in terms of value as well as volume, with a double-digit premium to market growth every year. With all our brand parameters at a 5-year high, we have doubled our brand preference YoY; now the No. 3 brand in India for aided awareness, consideration, and preference. The key aspects of our strategy fueling this rapid growth include: Driving aspiration for the brand through consistent product innovation. (For example, Motorola edge 30 the worlds thinnest 5G phone) Establishing use-cases through software and services. (For example, ThinkShield for mobile, ReadyFor) Growing presence both in online and retail channels. (For example, Flipkart, Reliance Digital retail, Motorola.in, etc.) Localised, youth centric communication to build stronger connect with Indias Gen Z. Media innovations for driving disproportionate increase in our category SOV without proportional increase in SOE. How do you plan to woo the GENX audience who have strong preference for brands like iPhone and Samsung? How do you plan to differentiate your offerings to get them into the consideration set? We have been consistently growing our brand preference over the past five years; have doubled our brand preference YoY in CY 2021 and are now Indias 3rd brand in terms of brand preference as per our annual Brand Track study. We have also been recognised as Indias best brand (by ET Edge) and Indias most preferred brand (Marksmen Daily) in 2021. This consistent growth in preference is driven by combination of factors, including: Product Portfolio Enhancement Last year we were successfully able to establish ourselves in the premium market segment with the expansion of our Motorola edge franchise, garnering an incredible response from Indian consumer. We are now present across all smartphone segments in India, including mass (E series), mid (G series), premium (Edge) and super premium (Razr). Hardware Innovation We have been consistently delivering industry-first innovations across our Moto G and Motorola Edge franchises. Some of the recent examples include Motorola Edge 30 Pro, worlds first smartphone with Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Motorola Edge 30, which is worlds thinnest 5G phone. Software & Services Innovation Differentiating from the competition not just based on hardware, but also in software and services with unique propositions that include a clean Android experience, ThinkShield for mobile and ReadyFor solution for leveraging consumer use-cases with interconnected devices. Relatable Contextual Communication In a highly competitive market, its important for us to also differentiate our communication, by customising it for the Indian audience. Weve been doing this consistently and effectively to gain traction for our innovations, some examples of which are: G52 digital film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2_Pj6SABh8 Edge 30 digital films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj7_YmBWWrY , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL22E1iqG-E Lot of growth is expected from the Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. How are you planning to tap these markets and whats going to be your strategic approach to reach markets? Growth from Tier 2 and 3 markets is a reality, considering the rapid growth of middle class in India and our strategy to address this demand is as below: Product Placement and Availability By partnering with the largest eCommerce player in the country. We are already catering to a large set of digital savvy audience through Flipkart and are now, also expanding our retail distribution footprint rapidly, with an aim to cross 50,000 touchpoints by year-end. Product customization The needs of Tier 2 and 3 audiences are different from a standard metro audience. Thus, we are specifically developing smartphones and feature phones catering to the needs of these audiences. Enhanced use of Regional Language in communication by translating and serving to audiences in 8-10 regional languages for stronger connect. Whats your view on the 5G entry? How are you gearing yourself to this and offering phones which are 5G compatible at affordable pricing? Motorola has been pioneer in the 5G devices ecosystem, along with being the first to launch a 5G enabled device in April 2019 and the first smartphone brand to launch Indias most affordable 5G smartphone Moto G 5G in 2020. It is important for smartphone brands to ensure that they do not compromise on the features, including the 5G support itself, while trying to hit affordable price points. We are the pioneers of True 5G in India, which implies support for the maximum global 5G bands with our smartphones to give consumers truly 5G ready smartphones across price points. Our most affordable 5G smartphone Moto G 51 provides the most well-rounded feature set in the affordable segment and is currently available at an effective price of just Rs 11,999, including offers. We are committed to providing consumers with the best 5G smartphones across price points as the 5G ecosystem continues to mature in India. Hows online shopping working for Motorola? What steps have you taken to beef up distribution channels for easy availability of all your models? Flipkart is the largest e-commerce marketplace in India, with reach across metros, Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities alike. Our strategic partnership with Flipkart has allowed us to offer our wide bouquet of product across the country in a seamless manner. This strategy has helped us grow our volume and value share consistently over the last two years. Further, we have been investing in the retail channel and are constantly looking to expand our retail footprint through partnerships across GT, Modern Trade as well as the O2O. Through strong partnerships with national LFR chains such as Reliance Digital as well as regional chains, O2O and general trade, we are aiming to be present in approximately 50,000 stores in India by the end of FY22-23. In the electronics business customer centricity is the backbone to retain customers. What has been your strategy to delight your customer with flawless service? Consumers are at the center of all we do from designing products and services that cater to their needs to giving them the best after sales experience. With our extensive consumer survey programs across products and categories, we keep gathering insights on the needs of consumers and changes in their consumption patterns, which help us customise our products as per their requirements. With the increase in multimedia consumption, we observed a strong need for stereo speakers even at affordable price points from Indian consumers. Our latest range of smartphones, including the affordable Moto G 42, pack a dual-speaker set-up. Similarly, the consumers need for lighter, thinner designs has also been addressed through introduction of premium looking and elegant designs across our product range, along with a commitment of up to a 3-year upgrade policy for security updates, ensuring the after-sale consumer experience remains perfect. Plus, our services such as ThinkShield for mobile provide business grade security to consumers. Finally, with almost 400 service touchpoints across India, dedicated call center, WhatsApp, and chatbot support, and premium services such as home pick-up and drop and priority queues for Razr and Edge series owners, we offer some of the most advanced ways and accessibility for consumers. We consistently monitor our customer NPS and have been seeing strong growth in every parameter YoY. Whats going to be your communication and engagement strategy with your audience to heighten the awareness levels and get the brand top of mind in a crowded market? There are 5 key pillars in our strategy to drive awareness and engagement with our target consumers: Drive curiosity, buzz and conversation through industry-first product innovations Examples include the worlds first 5G device, worlds first flippable smartphone (Motorola Razr), worlds thinnest 5G smartphone (Motorola Edge 30), and more. Localised, contextual and engaging storytelling At the heart of communication is good storytelling and with our strategy to create localised videos, we deliver cut through communication that is relevant and relatable to the target audience. Maximising reach with relevant audience A large smartphone market also implies a very large in-market audience base. Thus, it is important for the brand to reach the consumer set actively looking for a smartphone with top funnel media investments. While performance marketing continues to be important to drive sell-outs, top funnel investments are critical for us to be visible enough to create an uplift in TOMA with the relevant audience set. Staying fresh & relevant In this fast-paced category, recency is critical factor in driving SPONT and TOMA. We are ensuring that we stay visible and fresh in minds of Indian consumers through our new product launches and campaigns. Driving consideration and engagement through influencers This is specifically important in a cluttered category, where consumers have too many options to choose from at any price point. Consumers look for guidance or views from experts, where our review programs with technology-led influencers play a big role in assisting the consumer decision making. BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua on Friday called for further cooperation among China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ensure smooth operation of industrial and supply chains to facilitate long-term prosperity in the region. Hu made the remarks when delivering a video speech at an ASEAN plus China, Japan and the ROK (10+3) forum on industrial chain and supply chain cooperation, which was held in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. Hu said the international situation has been complex and the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains are facing severe tests. It is very important for China, Japan, the ROK and ASEAN to strengthen opening up and cooperation and ensure the smooth operation of industrial and supply chains in order to improve risk-prevention capabilities and promote the long-term prosperity in the region, he said. China is willing to work with all parties to improve the level of regional free trade zone building, focus on enhancing the overall strength of the regional industrial chain, continue to promote the supporting role of connectivity, and strive to foster new momentum for cooperation, he said. Hu also expressed the wish that entrepreneurs from all over the world will invest in China, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and carry out a more secure, stable and higher-level cooperation of industrial chain and supply chain. Vadilal Industries Ltd., the Indian legacy ice cream brand has recently appointed Mullen Lintas Delhi as the creative agency for its global brand campaign. The agency won this business, on the back of its creative and strategic capabilities. They will be responsible for Vadilal Ice Creams creative mandate for International Business. As one of the foremost brands of the country, Vadilal has been bringing delightful ice-cream experience to people across the world for over 115 years. Having established itself as the largest Indian ice creams brand in the International Markets, the brand is now looking to take a communication leap with a well-designed marketing campaign. Commenting on the new partnership, Shreshth Jhawar, CEO, Vadilal Industries USA said, We were impressed with the deep understanding of the category and consumer demonstrated, and of course by the creative firepower on display by the team. We look forward to a strong and effective long-term partnership with Mullen Lintas. Mullen Lintas will be responsible for driving growth objectives and business opportunities in the International Markets for Vadilal Ice Creams. The agency will strategize and execute the brands communication for a mega campaign designed exclusively for its international markets across countries like USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Europe, Singapore, Middle East, amongst others. Delighted about the win, Hari Krishnan, CEO, Mullen Lintas said, We are delighted to have been given the mandate for Vadilal (USA). The brand is synonymous with joy & delight and moments of fun and happiness. Our efforts would be to build a brand narrative that consolidates these emotions around the brand in a manner that is uniquely ingrained in the Mullen Lintas Challenger Thinking philosophy. The account will be led by the Mullen Lintas team in New Delhi. Ipsos Happiness Monitor inaugural monthly pan India report shows that only 1 in 2 Indians claimed to be happy. And citizens in the West (62%) and North of India (56%) claimed to be happier over those residing in East (35%) and South (40%). Further, those from SEC A households (55%), students (60%) and unemployed (60%) were happier than those from SEC B & C (49%), homemakers (49%) or retired (47%). The survey benchmarks personal happiness vis-a-vis health, financial, personal relationships, social circle and national and global factors. Health was seen to be a major positive contributing factor to happiness, likewise for family, friends and neighbours to some extent for some target groups (for homemakers and retired folks they were a bane). Financial condition was seen to be a major demotivating factor to happiness and increasing stress levels. Current national issues and global issues like war, pandemic etc. were seen to be subverting happiness. The survey evaluates each pillar of happiness and interestingly, the impact is quite different for all target groups. Notably, these have a stake in happiness and managing these pillars would determine the happiness quotient of the citizens. Commenting on the findings, Parijat Chakraborty, Group Service Line Leader, Public Affairs, Corporate Reputation, Ipsos India, said, Ipsos Happiness Monitor on a monthly basis captures happiness levels not at a superficial level but is an all-encompassing measurement covering personal determinants and macro factors. Because we felt happiness was not about instant gratification and at the surface but was manifesting in every aspect of ones life. Some of the key areas captured included, health, economic conditions, family, friends circle, neighbours, situation in the country and situation in the world, which were seen to be impacting happiness levels. Health One in two citizens said they were happy with their health. Older citizens (45+) were comparatively less happy (44%); tier 1 citizens were happier about their health (67%) vis-a-vis tier 3 citizens (38%). Interestingly, unemployed (65%) and students (63%), were happier about their health than full time parents/ homemakers (40%) and retired people (42%). Economic & Financial Conditions Only 1 in 3 of citizens polled (32%) were happy with their financial conditions. Financial stress was seen to be rampant across target groups, making all target group low on happiness. SEC C (25%), SEC B (32%), full time parent/ homemakers (23%), retired (17%), tier3 citizens (28%). Target groups comparatively in a happier state were self-employed (49%), unemployed (45%), tier 1 citizens (40%), and citizens from west India (42%) and from SEC A households (44%) were happier about their economic and financial conditions. Family At least 2 in 3 citizens polled said they were happy with their family. Similar trend was seen across all target groups and gender. Family is one of the highest contributing factors to happiness. Also, as it is loving, accepting and the ecosystem that heals and comforts, stated Chakraborty. Interestingly, those from tier 1 towns (78%), west (78%) and north India (73%) were happiest with their family. Full time parents/ homemakers (56%) and self employed (58%) were less happy with their family. Happiness with family was uniform by age groups, differences seeped in only by professions and cities. Friends Circle Almost 1 in 2 (48%) of citizens polled said they are happy with their friends circle. Those from SEC A households (53%) were happier than those from SEC C homes (42%). Students (60%) were happier with their friends circle than full time parents/ homemakers (39%) and retired people (33%). Citizens from the west of India (65%) were happiest with their friends circle versus those from east (36%), south (38%) and north (49%). Neighbours Overall, 44% said they are happy with their neighbours. Full time parents/ homemakers were least happy with their neighbours (35%); those in the metros (37%) were less happy with their neighbours than those living in tier 1 towns (58%). Those in south (29%) and east (32%) were less happy with their neighbours than those in west (56%) and north (51%) India. Situation in the Country Only 1 in 3 citizens (34%) say the situation in the country is making them happy. Barring self employed (46%), citizens from west India (42%) and north India (41%), for the rest of target groups, situation in the country is less contributing factor to happiness. Situation of the World Only 3 in 10 (31%) are happy with the situation in the world. Some target groups were less unhappy with the situation of the world. SEC A (37%), self employed (45%), unemployed (43%), tier 1 (40%), citizens from west (39%) and north (38%). Macro factors have been dampeners to happiness and even financial and economic conditions. The survey month on month will keep tabs on shifts, added Chakraborty. Indias largest and most influential PR professional body, Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) celebrated two decades of leadership at its first edition of PRCAI PRologue bringing together leaders from the communications industry under one roof to charter the future of the PR industry, taking it into a new era of Interverse of Communications 3.0. The public relations industry is witnessing a revolution where global trends like digitalization, globalization, technology disruptions and web 3.0 are intervening and re-defining the role of communicators. PRCAI PRologue captured the pulse of new trends such as Tech-ing It to the future verse, Weaving trends with zillenials and Re-powering ethics in communications through a day-long conference. PRCAI PRologue presented an extraordinary forum with diverse and exemplary list of guests and panelists from renowned companies, including a keynote address by MG Motor Indias President & Managing Director, Rajeev Chaba, and Sairee Chahal, Founder, SHEROES. The speakers came from all across the country to contribute to compelling ideas and thoughts such as Pratik Gupta, Co-founder XP&DLand, Metaform and Zoo Media, Sanjay Kapoor, Editor Hardnews & General Secretary Editors Guild of India, Rajiv Makhni, Managing Editor NDTV, Ankit Vengurlekar, Director & Editor-in-Chief at CoinSwitch Kuber, Prasenjit Bhattacharya, Founder Director Great Place To Work India, RJ, Khurafati Nitin, Shubhodip Pal, Co-founder & CEO Googly Media, PTE, Rajesh Lalwani, CEO, Scenario Consulting, Gaurav Choudhury, Cofounder & CEO Earshot Media, Nameet Potnis, CEO, Asset Money & Founder, Drumworks and Diana Marszalek, PRovoke Media. Atul Sharma, President, PRCAI said, PRCAI is constantly striving to create a more professional, ethical, and prosperous PR industry. In the past year through various initiatives, we have been able to bring the industry together, push our learning and development initiatives and also evangelise the profession across quarters, and the results are nothing short than remarkable. I am superb delighted with the focus and vision that the new team has brought alive. The key themes discussed at PRologue: Tech-ing it to Futureverse: This decade is all about unification of Communications 3.0 with technology and the first PRCAI Prologue probes deeper into the question of how does communications interplays with technology? The discussion will encompass the way evolved web is becoming the newest reality and what it takes to survive, thrive and build a symbiotic communication relationship, defining new industry mandates & parameters. With the onset of Metaverse, NFTs and other integrated technologies, what is the direction commstech shall take? Weaving New Trends with Zillenials: This decade is dedicated to content creators from diverse walks of life who are walking the talk and taking communications to an unprecedented era by pushing new boundaries. The second PRCAI Prologue discusses how content and new age curators will reign to be the biggest differentiator and how do they see their influence evolving in the future? The mystery to unbox is that how the Gen Z, Millennial creators are leveraging new age mediums to build large communities, create stickiness with their audiences and will these creators make content for the greater good? Re-Powering Ethics in Communications: Probes the pertinent question that will ethics make a comeback in communications and how are we safeguarding the core principle that drives reputation? As we foray into a new world order that is more cognizant of social and behavioral change, a lot awaits in the world of Comms 3.0 and who will emerge a winner, when data, opinions, ethics are intertwining and doing their own power plays? Deeptie Sethi, CEO PRCAI said, PRCAI as an entity is reinventing itself and driving relevance for our audiences and stakeholders who are both impacting and impacted by our highly skilled industry. The launch of PRCAI Prologue, new collaborations, research driven insights are a true reflection of our new brand identity that is will take its members, practitioner, academicians together to #influencingPRogress into the new era of Communications leadership. The PRCAI New Brand Identity At the Prologue, PRCAI revealed its new youthful look-and-feel that signals the vision of PRCAI to build prosperity through adherence to professionalism and ethics. The new logo and the refreshed website www.prcai.org has been designed by 4AM Worldwide. The creative intent and choice of logo colours - turquoise, sunset orange and white exuberates PRCAIs ethos of leadership, trust, inclusivity and equality. The manifestation of the C is the sphere of influence in communication & giving a voice for freedom of expression and forward momentum to the progressiveness nature of our industry. Focussed on the human aspect of the business and the inclusive and equal approach, the i is suggestive of the innovative and pioneering mindset that guarantees prosperity. Upskilling And Celebrating Talent The PRCAI Prologue hosted a book lovers initiative to encourage barter of books and knowledge in association with Kunzum Books to harness the culture of reading in the communications industry. Reading is core to this profession and PRCAI recognises the need to motivate young professionals to develop a habit of constant reading indulgences. The program hosted a fireside chat on how to build well-read organizations. PRCAIs PRologue also offered a stage to the 18 winners of Indias first Accreditation Programme in Indian Public Relations (AIPR) for public relations professionals. Those who qualified for the first-ever batch of AIPR, were officially felicitated with the prestigious AIPR pin. These young professionals will be the torchbearers of the industry as they strive to maintain strong professional and ethical standards, leading the industry. PRCAI PRologue precedes with the celebration of recognizing compelling work in our field and in association with Holmes Report will be bringing the 10th edition of SABRE South Asian 2022 Awards, which are the world's largest PR awards program, recognizing superior achievement in branding and reputation in Asia Pacific. Publicis Groupe India has won FMCG major, PepsiCo Indias media mandate. The account was bagged post a multi-agency pitch process. With this development, PepsiCo India has consolidated its media, creative and digital business with Publicis Groupe, demonstrating the strength and success of the Groupes Power Of One model which helps brands excel and lead in the complex platform world. Commenting on this development, George Kovoor, Senior Vice-President, PepsiCo India, said, Publicis Media was selected after a very thorough and competitive pitch process. Their expertise in areas such as media, data, digital, analytics, content, commerce, and ability to orchestrate and leverage diverse capabilities for seamless brand experiences led to them to be our partner of choice. We are confident that this new partnership, and their technological excellence will help us reach our consumers in an engaging and impactful manner. Reacting to the win, Tanmay Mohanty, CEO, Media Services, Publicis Groupe India, said, We are proud and elated at having been chosen as PepsiCo Indias media agency partner. Through data driven decision-making, new insights and ideas on the category, our teams were able to demonstrate how PepsiCo India could grow its portfolio brands further and leverage the power of integrated communications. PepsiCo India has iconic brands, and we look forward to bringing in media excellence and innovation for them and generating the right business outcomes. Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia, added here, Publicis Groupe looks forward to working with PepsiCo India, channelising our full spectrum of media, creative and digital capabilities and driving stronger consumer connects and powerful communications for its brands. We look forward to harnessing and mobilising the best talent, resources, proprietary tools and capabilities from across the Groupe and helping PepsiCo India accelerate and devise consumer strategy. Every year, siblings celebrate Raksha Bandhan by following the traditional rituals of a sister tying a Rakhi to her brother. The festive occasion focuses on the significance of a simple thread symbolizing the bond shared by siblings. This year to make the Rakhi celebration more unique, Kinder Joy, the flagship brand of Ferrero India, has launched an exciting, fun-filled edutainment platform, Kinder Digital Hub for kids to promote the significance of the festival. As an ally to mothers, Kinder Joy continues to engage in teaching rituals and traditions to kids in a fun and engaging manner, Kinder Joy has introduced an exclusive digital hub for Raksha Bandhan. On scanning the QR code on the exclusive Rakhi share pack or logging on to kinder.com the children will have access to the Kinder digital hub that will unravel the magical world of Kinder and will take them on an adventure with the protagonists Ki & Jo, the cartoon characters exclusively created for this special occasion. Through the entire edutainment journey, the kids will be able to navigate through an exciting new world of stories, games and filters - all inspired by the traditions based on Raksha Bandhan. In addition to this, the people will also have a chance to win cool prizes like iPads and Kindles subject to terms and conditions which can be read on kinder.com While wishing all on Raksha Bandhan and commenting on the new launch of the edutainment digital hub Amedeo Aragona, Brand Head Kinder India said Ferrero has always symbolized with the spirit of gifting during festivals. This year, with the special Rakhi packs, while we aim at creating beautiful memories, we felt it necessary that children should understand the significance of the festival. This led us to create the characters Ki & Jo, who will take kids along on a fun and educative journey as well as introduce Equality and Inclusivity in relationships via edutainment. Kinder Joy has also launched a TVC for this special occasion which is in sync with their tagline #KhaokheloKhushRaho which is a 360-degree campaign that will be leveraged across platforms, from strong media bursts on TV to extensive presence on digital platforms, from wide-reaching on-ground POSM to clutter-breaking In-App advertising, the brand is ready to raise the bar this Rakhi season. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, July 29, 2022. (China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Xinhua) TASHKENT, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) here on Friday. During the meeting, Wang said that the world today is entering a new period of turbulence and transformation, profound changes unseen in a century are resonating with the most serious pandemic in 100 years, and international and regional hotspot issues keep cropping up. Chinese President Xi Jinping has grasped the pulse of historical development and echoed the voices of people from all over the world. He proposed the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, contributing Chinese wisdom and public goods to solving the problems of the times, which has received positive responses from the international community, including the SCO member states, Wang said. Faced with the arduous task of development and stability, we must uphold the Shanghai Spirit, work together and help each other to build a closer SCO community with a shared future, the Chinese top diplomat said, who also put forward a five-point proposal. Wang stressed that China will take the hosting of the SCO prime ministers' meeting in November this year as an opportunity to promote the coordinated and efficient development of the regional economy. China has always regarded the SCO as a priority in its diplomacy, and will use its own development to help the development of countries in the region, and inject more positive energy into the security of all countries and the well-being of the people, he said. The foreign ministers who participated in the meeting fully affirmed the important role played by the SCO in consolidating the strategic mutual trust among member states, promoting regional development and prosperity, and deepening people-to-people bonds. They believed that solidarity and coordination should be further strengthened, and multilateralism should be activated, so as to adapt to the rapidly changing international situation. They agreed to expand mutually beneficial cooperation, improve the level of regional connectivity, and believed that the SCO will play a greater role in promoting the stability of international production and supply chains. They also pledged to make good use of the rich cultural resources of countries in the region and strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation. They discussed the establishment of the SCO Development Bank and agreed to advance the SCO membership expansion process in an orderly manner. All parties spoke highly of the work of Uzbekistan which holds the SCO's rotating presidency, and supported the SCO Secretariat and regional anti-terrorist agencies to strengthen their own construction and provide stronger guarantees for the organization's cooperation in various fields. The meeting made comprehensive preparations for the SCO summit in the city of Samarkand to be held this autumn, and also adopted draft documents that will be submitted to the summit for deliberation. During his stay in Uzbekistan, Wang also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Afghan interim government, and participated in Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's collective meeting. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, July 29, 2022. (China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Xinhua) Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, July 29, 2022. (China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Xinhua) RAMALLAH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Friday condemned the killing of a Palestinian teenager, and accused Israel of ignoring the pledges made by U.S. President Joe Biden. The Palestinian presidency condemns "the crime committed by the Israeli soldiers" in the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a press statement. "The Israeli government bears the consequences of violating all resolutions of international legitimacy and international law," Abu Rudeineh said. He added that it confirmed Israel's disregard and rejection of all the commitments and pledges made by Biden during his recent tour of the region, urging the United States to stop the Israeli moves. Earlier on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that a 16-year-old boy was killed by Israeli soldiers in clashes that broke out in the village of Al-Mughayyir during a demonstration against the Israeli policy of expanding settlements and confiscating Palestinian land. Meanwhile, a number of Palestinians were injured on the same day during clashes with the Israeli soldiers near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. There has been no immediate Israeli authorities' response to the incident. For many years, the Palestinians have been organizing weekly protests, rallies and demonstrations against the Israeli policies of expanding settlements and confiscating lands in the West Bank. Official Palestinian figures said that there are more than 600,000 Israeli settlers living in West Bank's settlements, an issue that was a major reason for keeping the peace process stalled since 2014. A recent University of Chicago Institute of Politics poll showed that a majority of Americans think our government is corrupt and rigged against them. And almost a third of respondents also feel it may eventually be necessary to take up arms against the evil empire currently running the show. Subtract from that poll the bleeding-heart libs who think feelings matter more than facts, and the numbers are scarier still. Big Government, including their toadies in the mainstream media, has clearly blown its cover. And it appears, based on this poll, that the American people are mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore. Why have so many lost faith in our government to the point that armed rebellion is being considered? Double standards, thats why. Americans see them and theyre rightfully furious. They see the despicable treatment afforded President Trump, whose term in office surely seems like the good old days when compared to the turmoil Democrats have unleashed in just a year and a half at the helm. They watched the press question Trumps mental fitness and acuity while staunchly supporting the corrupt, dried-up turnip currently occupying the Oval Office. They observed the media constantly demonizing Trumps family and then totally supporting Dr. Jill and the hapless, hopeless Biden spawn. Theyve seen every aspect of the Donalds financial dealings examined with a fine-tooth comb, while the Big Guy (Hunters nickname for Crusty Joe) gets half of his crack and sex-addled sons ill-gotten millions with impunity. Theyve watched the FBI run multiple coups against both candidate and President Trump, while sitting on the treasure trove of Biden family criminality contained in Hunters laptop, which the Feebs have been investigating for two and a half years now. Theyve observed how law enforcement looked the other way as BLMers peacefully rioted, taking lives, ruining businesses, and causing billions of dollars in damage -- all this while authorities pretend that January 6 was another Pearl Harbor, instead of a relatively small dustup where the crowd was rife with Feds, officers obligingly opened the doors to the Capitol, and the only person killed was an unarmed woman, shot to death with impunity by a cop. They see criminals, perverts and drug dealers released without bail to continue their wicked ways while the Jan. 6th defendants rot in D.C. jails, their Constitutional rights suspended and their personal lives ruined. Theyve watched in stunned silence as Democrats and the Deep State pulled every dirty trick in the book on President Trump, while the Republican members of the D.C. Uni-Party sat silent or, as in the case of Cheney and Kinzinger, eagerly concurred. Theyve listened as Hollywood, the media, and academia all denigrated Trumps burning desire to make America great again, at the same time supporting the notion that our country is a racist, sexist, xenophobic hellhole, and always has been. Theyve undoubtedly noticed that Democrats, with the help of Big Tech and many millions of Zucker-bucks, made it incredibly easy to cheat in the last election; yet Trump has been portrayed as a psychopathic monster for pointing out that he was clearly robbed out of a second term. They watched President Trump fight the COVID-19 pandemic with all his might, even as wee Dr. Fauci and Dr. Scarf purposely undermined his efforts with their lies, double-talk and obfuscation. While Trump fought the good fight, white-coated bureaucrats and their pals in Big Pharma got incredibly wealthy. They watched Trump castigate China for loosing COVID-19 upon the world, causing millions of needless deaths, even as the NBA, Hollywood, influential leaders of both parties, and the Biden Crime Family all filled their pockets with yauns while defending the fine folks of the Chinese Communist Party. They surely observed how President Trumps policies lifted all financial boats, setting records for black and Hispanic employment, while the Swamp was busy calling Trump and his supporters irredeemable racists. They couldnt help but notice how Trump was deemed a scoundrel for pointing out that women generally allowed him easy sexual access because he was a wealthy celebrity. But those same folks upset with Trumps statement of fact, were totally incurious about our current demented presidents fondness for touching, fondling, and smelling small children; nor did they show any interest in reports that Creepy Joe took showers with his young daughter, who then became a promiscuous young woman and an addict. They surely took note of Trumps incredible energy in his old age, how quick he was to travel the world, campaign for his undeserving party, and speak to reporters. It must have been shocking then to see Senile Joe garble his words, hide from the press, and spend long weekends out of sight and out of mind in Delaware, all this while falling up stairs and off his bicycle. They also noted how firm President Trump was with other countries, telling Germany to pony up for NATO, forcing Mexico to stop enabling illegal immigration with financial penalties, and reducing IRGC general Qasem Suleimani to a grease stain on the desert floor for threatening U.S. soldiers and diplomats. Now, of course, they watch as Iran plays Bidens diplomats for fools, Russia feels secure enough in Bidens impotence to start a war, and the Saudis laugh in the doddering old fools face when Biden comes begging for more oil. They could see that President Trump made the U.S. energy independent, creating jobs and prosperity for everyone; while the current administration has crushed the energy industry, making gas and oil unaffordable for the common man, even as the climate-change crusaders fly around in private jets, party maskless during a pandemic, and buy up oceanfront mansions. They watched Donald Trump become the first president to stand up for the rights of unborn babies and choose like-minded justices for the Supreme Court; this followed by an administration vowing to use all means, legal and extralegal, to facilitate the dismemberment of unborn innocents, not to mention choosing a Supreme Court justice solely on the basis of her genitalia and skin color. They observed Trump praising and building up our military might, even as turncoats like General Mark White Rage Milley and Col. Alexander Vindman, surely the softest Ranger ever, purposely undermined their commander-in-chief by providing comfort to the enemy and conspiring to impeach the president, respectively. In summation, its clear to me and anyone with eyes to see why a majority of Americans thinks our government is rotten to the core, and why many think a second American Revolution may be necessary to restore integrity in government. Whats not clear is why anyone whos lived through the obvious double standards I just enumerated, doesnt feel that way. Image: University of Chicago Institute of Politics Advancing the erosion of local control in education with more mandates for equity and social/emotional learning, the Biden administration recently announced two new federal education initiatives. The federal government's latest attempt to influence local education targets youth summer programs through the Department of Education and national, private partners. Biden's National Partnership for Student Success and the Engage Every Student Initiative are steeped in "public-private partnerships" with liberal trade associations and national non-profits funded through the Department of Education and other federal funding. The National League of Cities partner has a Race, Equity and Leadership program, which last year hosted a forum stating, "Summer 2020 was a season of reckoning for our country. Months of social uprisings left many people in our nation's cities, towns, and villages reflecting on the contemporary and historical challenges of our time as systems of power and oppression continue to produce inequitable outcomes for us all [emphasis added]." Another public-private partner funded by the Department of Education is the National Center, whose mission is "to bolster equity by helping educational systems provide the resources, create the policies, and enact the instructional practices required for all groups of students to learn, grow, and achieve regardless of their identity and experiences [emphasis added]." Communities in Schools, another federally funded, private partner, states on its website, "To provide every student with equitable conditions for learning, a focus on the whole child, school climate and social-emotional development is vital. The effects of income inequality, structural racism trauma and toxic stress have devastating effects on early brain development [emphasis added]." According to information available on partner websites, the most egregious of Biden's new education initiatives is the National Summer Learning Association, which lists resources with multiple links for social, emotional learning, and "Tools for Anti-Racist Teaching," "Learning For Justice (Southern Poverty Law Center)," "The Black Experience The Course," and "Racial Equity." Despite dramatic increases in federal intervention and funding in the public education system since the 1960s, educational achievement has not improved. The most widely used measure of school achievement are scores from National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which shows no significant change. The Department of Education (USED) funds more than 100 subsidy programs, and each comes with regulations that extend federal control over state and local education. The accumulation of federal rules has suppressed innovation, diversity, and competition in state education systems, while generating vast paper-pushing bureaucracies. In fact, state education officials report that most of their staff (in some cases significant majorities) simply oversee and manage federal education programs. Policymakers seem always on the lookout for the latest thing, the innovation that would set the world of education on fire. Yet, in retrospect, it is hard to think of a single program that USED funded that made a lasting contribution to the advancement of education. Most programs supported by USED are designed to serve the students most in need. Nevertheless, the achievement gap between children of differing income levels has increased over the years. Efforts to improve educational outcomes for low-income children have also been expensive and unproductive. Even the federal college grant and loan programs have been ineffective. Eliminating the Department of Education can be achieved in five simple steps. 1) Send all Program Management and Funding to the states including Pell Grants for college. 2) Repeal all laws permitting federal intervention in K12 education starting with ESSA. 3) Privatize college loan programs through savings and loan institutions. 4) Eliminate all offices and divisions in the Department of Education and related spending. 5) Reduce federal tax collection, shifting education revenue responsibilities entirely back to the states. Although this experiment with federal control of local public schools has gone on for half a century now, it has failed. We need to stop treating children like guinea pigs in some social engineering laboratory and start embracing children as human beings to be supported and inspired to achieve their own dreams and aspirations. One organization, U.S. Parents Involved in Education (USPIE), is dedicated to returning education to its proper local roots and restoring parental authority over their children's education by helping parents and local communities to escape federal and other national influences. This is the key to fighting back against overreaching federal education mandates. The evidence is inarguable the federal government's intervention in education has been a dismal failure and must end. Sheri Few is the founder and president of United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE), whose mission is to end the U.S. Department of Education and all federal education mandates. USPIE has established 20 state chapters and is growing rapidly amid the national outcry from parents who want to regain control of their children's education. Few is a nationally recognized leader on education policy and is often quoted in conservative media. Few has spent much of the last year exposing Critical Race Theory and serving as executive producer for the new documentary film titled Truth & Lies in American Education. Image: Nenad Stojkovic. Eighty million refugees roam the world today. We view all of them through a political lens, and the language used to label runaways reveals our biases and defines their treatment. There are 5 million (good) refugees from Ukraine. (Bad) illegals flood America's southern border. British officers are deporting (bothersome) displaced persons to Rwanda. Three million (ignored) Venezuelans seek political asylum in Colombia. (Pitiful) African Blacks and Middle East Muslims drown, and others are enslaved trekking from Africa and Syria. (Dismissed) Afghanis on the run are just dying. My father was a German-Jewish (enemy alien) refugee. The Nazis freed him from Buchenwald around 1940. His mother bought him a visa to Panama. Hitler expected refugees to be a burden to destination countries. Dad traveled from Fulda to Hamburg, boarding a boat sailing to Panama. The ship refueled and resupplied in England. Dad jumped off. The British interned him in a camp for enemy aliens, Jews and non-Jews, Orthodox and secular, working men and intellectuals. Interns had to convince Colonel May that they were not spies. From concentration camp to internment camp like a summer fling. We visited a cousin who spent her teen years in a concentration camp. My young son piped up, "I'm going to camp this summer." We busted out laughing until my cousin wished he would not go to the same one she survived. Now there is a book that tells the rest of the story. Internment in Britain in 1940: Life and Art behind the Wire by Ines Newman with Charmain Brinson & Rachel Dickson (Vallentine Mitchell 2021) fills in the details about the missing time. They built the book around a diary kept by Newman's grandfather, Wilhelm Hollitscher. Hollitscher's story mirrors that of my father. Neither spoke much about life in Buchenwald or the British internment camps until the Hollitscher diary was found. Newman too "knew very little about our grandparents." The diary somehow found its way into London's Weiner Library. It is a firsthand, invaluable account for understanding how a nation at war protected civilian refugees. I can hear my father's voice and imagine life through Hollitscher's words and pictures the days and nights in a refugee camp. Newman and co-authors wrote Internment after years of extensive research. The effort let Newman get to know her grandparents she missed growing up. The book is in the best traditions of social anthropology. Meade and Benedict might have praised it. America closed its borders, refusing asylum to European Jews long before war broke out. The British were at war and yet gave refuge to German Jews, Aryans, and Italians. Foreign nationals that is, suspected enemy aliens were under arrest until cleared of being spies. They held 25,000 men and 4,000 women at any one time. The interns were "called to appear in front of Aliens' Tribunals throughout Britain." The tribunals graded each person according to a perceived level of security risk. Many avoided arrest and internment. America arrested and moved 120,000 citizens of Japanese ancestry, whether U.S. citizens or not. My friend Smitherton was one of them, but that is another story. The white Americans running the war did not have relocation camps for whites of German ancestry. Hollitscher describes British camps as livable. Others were vermin-ridden tents where "British soldiers and even their officers helped themselves in plain sight to the inmates' possessions." Conditions were tough in the country. Britain was at war. Supplies rationed. The country fell into a depression after Russia collaborated with the Nazis, and the Polish and French militaries collapsed. The book offers significant background details, and the diary is descriptive. Overall, its tone reflects my father's attitude toward the British. Some interned Jews believed that conditions might be better if certain guards, officers, and officials were not antisemitic, but it was better for Jews in Britain than for Japanese in the deserts and mountains of America. The Hollitscher diary describes the daily privations, tedium, brooding, and "wrestling with their loss of identity." But they were imaginative. When art supplies were in short supply, camp artists burnt twigs "to create sticks of charcoal; short beard hairs were plucked to use for brushes." They made paints from brick dust or vegetable juice ground with linseed oil or olive oil from sardine cans. In the diary's epilogue, there are ruminations by Hollitscher about whether the wartime atmosphere resulted from government panic or the fault of the "military machine" responsible for refugees. Newman believes that "Fascism reaches up into the highest circles. ... [T]here exists an antisemitic alternative government, supported by members of the governing classes, which has its own views and is active and sabotages members of the government with a different view." This infection weaved its way through the Foreign Office and upper society. It manifested in the British official collaboration with the Arab world. The goal was to forefend a homeland for the Jews despite Prime Minister Churchill's wartime and post-war position that "my heart is full of sympathy for Zionism." The book makes an important contribution to restructuring attitudes and services to refugees and fills in gaps in modern Jewish history. Dr. Harold Goldmeier is an award-winning entrepreneur receiving the Governor's Award (Illinois) for family investment programs in the workplace from the Commission on the Status of Women. He was a research and teaching fellow at Harvard, worked for four governors, and recently sold his business in Chicago. Harold is a managing partner of an investment firm, a business management consultant, a public speaker on business, social, and public policy issues, and taught international university students in Tel Aviv. Image: hendricjabs via Pixabay, Pixabay License. Sonys PS5 unit sales have reached 21.7 million as of the companys Q1 fiscal year 2022, according to the companys latest financial results posted Friday July 29. This is a bump up from 19.3 million total PS5 unit sales as of the previous quarter. And a report from June 3 revealed Sony had shipped over 20 million PS5 consoles worldwide. The Q1 fiscal year 2022 ended June 30. Which means in about a month from that last report, Sony shipped somewhere in the ballpark of another 1.7 million PS5 units. Sony certainly seems to be continuing its upward momentum to meet its goal of the PS5 overtaking the PS4 again in sales in year 4 of the consoles availability. In addition to reaching 21.7 million units shipped, Sony also states that it still feels confident itll meet its goal of 18 million PS5 consoles shipped for the fiscal year 2022. Advertisement PS5 unit sales will likely ramp up in the holiday season While Sony celebrates its latest PS5 successes, the company still plans to do more. Sony says that its beginning to see a recovery from the impact of the lockdown in Shanghai and component supplies are starting to improve. Because of these changes, Sony is working to bring forward more supply into the year-end holiday selling season. As it gets closer to Q4, which starts in October, we could see a lot more PS5 units become available for consumers. The year-end holiday season is also typically the busiest part of the year when it comes to shopping. And Sony wants to be sure its as ready as it can be for those looking to buy a PS5 during the holidays. But while PS5 unit sales have gone up, certain parts of the PlayStation experience have gone down. Sony notes that total gameplay time from PlayStation users has declined by 15% year-on-year in Q1. Gameplay time in June however increased by 3% compared to May, which is only a 10% decline from June 2021. Advertisement Even still, Sony says it had forecasted more player engagement, and that the resulting numbers are lower than it had expected. Abortion bans delay treatment for miscarriages 08:30, July 29, 2022 By MAY ZHOU ( China Daily To avoid getting into a time-consuming and costly legal mess, a Louisiana hospital's lawyer told a doctor not to perform surgery when a woman who was 16 weeks' pregnant had a miscarriage. Instead of a relatively simple 15-minute procedure, the woman had to endure a painful hours-long labor to push the dead fetus out of her body. The US Supreme Court's overturning of Roe vs Wade on June 24 has led to flickering access to abortion in Louisiana because of a statewide trigger ban. The ban has taken effect twice and been blocked twice by a court so far. In a lawsuit filed against the state by the patient, her doctor Valerie Williams provided an affidavit that illustrated how an abortion ban could delay or deny healthcare for women suffering miscarriages. In her affidavit, Williams said that in early July when the abortion ban was in effect, the patient broke water, and it was too early for the fetus to be viable. Williams said she was told not to perform a surgical procedure known as D&E (dilation and evacuation) by the hospital, and she had to watch while her patient "was forced to go through a painful, hours-long labor to deliver a nonviable fetus, despite her wishes and best medical advice". Williams said that the patient took hours to deliver the placenta, began hemorrhaging and lost nearly a liter of blood before she could stop the bleeding. "She was screaming not from pain, but from the emotional trauma she was experiencing," Williams said in the affidavit. "There is absolutely no medical basis for my patient, or any other patient in this state, to experience anything like this. This was the first time in my 15-year career that I could not give a patient the care they needed. This is a travesty." Her affidavit also described a patient who became pregnant despite using birth control and sought an abortion soon after the Supreme Court decision. "She told me that she hoped the pregnancy was ectopic so she could get treated in Louisiana, rather than having to leave the state," Williams said, referring to a pregnancy in which the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus and must be removed. "It is horrific that patients are hoping to have a life-threatening health complication so that they can get appropriate care," she said. However, even ectopic pregnancy won't necessarily guarantee timely care in abortion-ban states. In Central Texas, a physician was allegedly instructed to not treat an ectopic pregnancy until a rupture occurred, which puts patient health at serious risk, according to the Texas Medical Association (TMA). In a letter to the regulatory Texas Medical Board about two weeks ago, TMA officials, citing the above case as an example but not providing names, said they have received complaints that hospital administrators and their legal teams are stopping doctors from providing medically appropriate care to patients with some pregnancy complications due to an abortion ban. They asked the board to "swiftly act to prevent any wrongful intrusion into the practice of medicine". Many pregnant women are finding out how difficult it has become to obtain medical care under abortion bans. One Houston woman suffered a miscarriage and had to carry the dead fetus inside her body for two weeks before getting proper care. Marlena Stell, a beauty YouTuber with 1.47 million subscribers, tearfully shared her ordeal on her YouTube channel. She moved to Houston from Washington state last year. She found out that the fetus was dead in a routine ultrasound check when she was 9 1/2 weeks' pregnant last fall. She first cried, then asked for a standard D&C (dilation and curettage) procedure. D&C is also used for abortion. Due to Texas' abortion ban, the doctor told her that she had to get another ultrasound to confirm the miscarriage before any medical care could be provided. Stell said she felt violated and angry at having to undergo an intrusive and emotionally devastating transvaginal ultrasound before she could get medical care. In days waiting for care, she wondered if her body would naturally miscarry or if she would get an infection carrying a dead fetus inside her body. By the time she was arranged to have the procedure, it had been two weeks since she found out the fetus was dead. She was met with abortion protesters when she went to the clinic for care; she was angry and scared. "I was so angry I was treated this way because of the law passed by men who have never been pregnant and never will be but are telling me how I am supposed to get help and made me feel like I did something wrong," she said. "It's not right. I shouldn't beg to get medical attention." (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) DHAKA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 people were killed when a train ploughed into a tourist minibus on Friday at a rail crossing in southeast Bangladesh. At least three people were critically injured in the accident at Bangladesh's Chattogram district, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka, at about 1:45 p.m. local time, Kabir Hossain, officer-in-Charge of local Mirsharai police station, told Xinhua. One of the passengers miraculously remains unscathed after being hit by the train, he added. He further said the train en route to seaport city Chattogram from Dhaka rammed into the passenger minibus at a level crossing. "All the 11 dead including the driver were on the microbus," said the police official, adding that all of them were tourists heading towards the Khoiyachora waterfall in Mirsharai area in the Chattogram district. The minibus climbed onto the track ignoring signal, Ansar Ali, a railway official, told the reporters. He said though the gateman had lowered the bar at the crossing, the bus pushed through it. The minibus was dragged a short distance by the train before it stopped, he added. (ANSA) - ROME, JUL 29 - For a nation not known as big boozers, Italy has a fine tradition when it comes to conjuring up alcoholic drinks. Campari, Martini, Prosecco, Limoncello, Amaretto and Chianti are just some examples. JAS, a young Rome-based enterprise, is continuing this tradition with an innovative way to enjoy cocktails. A cool drink mixed by a skilled bartender is one of life's pleasures, especially on a hot summer evening. But it is not always possible, or affordable, to have a barman at hand to prepare the perfect cocktail. So JAS, which stands for Juicy and Sparkling, has prepared a range of ready-to-drink cocktails that make it possible to have this authentic experience pretty much anywhere - at a house party, at a barbecue, on a boat. The cocktails come in kegs, which you have to cool in a fridge and, when it's party time, pop the tap on top, put in an ice bag and start pouring. A three-litre keg, enough for 20 cocktails, comes in at just under 50 euros (46-48 euros). At under 2.50 euros a drink, this is good in terms of value for money. But that is only one of the range's virtues. Founders Gianluca Sanzi, a chemist and entrepreneur, and top barman Pino Mondello have chosen distinctive cocktails that give people the chance to explore new flavours. The ingredients are organic, with juices from fruit varieties that are cultivated by small-holder farmers and are at risk because they are drifting out of use. So the aim is to help maintain biodiversity while supporting traditional farmers and their communities The JAS Tintoretto, for example, is made with organic pomegranate from the Salento area of southern Italy. The Puccini is based on organic Tardivo di Ciaculli mandarins and the Hugo, an aperitif from the province of Bolzano, uses wild elder flower syrup. "Our philosophy is simple," said Mondello. "The recipes must have a label that is as short as possible, with only organic or wild ingredients. "We don't add sugars or preservatives; we don't use additives, aromas or colourants". A sign of how committed Sanzi and Mondello are to the authenticity of the ingredients is given by the fact they have stopped producing their Melampo mix this year because the Brenta Dolomites raspberries it features are now out of season. JAS have two new cocktails, the Bellini and the Rossini with peaches and strawberries respectively, in the pipeline. The enterprise is teaming up with Rome's famous Alexanderplatz jazz club (JAS meets jazz) with a stand that is opening in the Colosseum area on August 2 as part of the Italian capital's Estate Romana summer festival. Sanzi and Mondello have opted for a range of sparkling cocktails with a relatively low alcoholic content - the idea is for people to enjoy the flavours and have a good time, not get smashed. "We are satisfied with the job we've done and we are convinced that every taste will show the commitment and care we put into the preparation and the selection of the ingredients," Sanzi concluded. (ANSA). PALERMO - Over a thousand migrants rescued by NGO ships in the Mediterranean have not been disembarked yet. Precisely 387 are on the Ocean Viking and 659 on Geo Barents. Sos Mediterranean and MSF asked for a port to disembark the migrants. Yesterday Sea Watch 3, with 438 migrants on board, was assigned the port of Taranto as destination. In the mean time, last night was the first without rescue missions or new arrivals in Lampedusa, after nearly a full week of constant arrivals. Thursday a total of 5 arrivals for a total of 283 persons was registered. At the Sicilian hotspot of contrada Imbriacola, there are approximately 1700 migrants being hosted despite the fact the shelter was designed to accommodate only 350. The last 200 migrants rescued by the military navy ship Foscari, were transferred to Pozzallo. The Prosecutor's office in Agrigento, in agreement with the Ministry of Interior, is working on a plan for a new set of transfers. Over a thousand migrants on Ocean Viking and Geo Barents First night with no arrivals, Lampedusa has 1.700 migrants (ANSAmed) - PALERMO, 29 LUG - Over a thousand migrants rescued by NGO ships in the Mediterranean have not been disembarked yet. Precisely 387 are on the Ocean Viking and 659 on Geo Barents. Sos Mediterranean and MSF asked for a port to disembark the migrants. Yesterday Sea Watch 3, with 438 migrants on board, was assigned the port of Taranto as destination. In the mean time, last night was the first without rescue missions or new arrivals in Lampedusa, after nearly a full week of constant arrivals. Thursday a total of 5 arrivals for a total of 283 persons was registered. At the Sicilian hotspot of contrada Imbriacola, there are approximately 1700 migrants being hosted despite the fact the shelter was designed to accommodate only 350. The last 200 migrants rescued by the military navy ship Foscari, were transferred to Pozzallo. The Prosecutor's office in Agrigento, in agreement with the Ministry of Interior, is working on a plan for a new set of transfers. (ANSAmed). Palestinian boy, 16, killed by Israeli army in the West Bank Mortally wounded during clashes in town of al-Mughayer (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, 29 LUG - "A Palestinian boy, 16, was mortally wounded by Israeli fire during clashes that took place today in the West Bank, in the town of al-Mughayer. The Palestinian Ministry of Health communicated the news, as noted by Maan news agency. According to the Ministry the boy was hit in the chest by a bullet and died shortly after being hospitalized. The Israeli military spokesperson has not commented on the incident for now. According to the reconstruction of the series of events leading to the boy's death, as described by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the incidents began when the inhabitants of the West Bank's village organized a protest against the Israeli settlers. At that point the military units intervened, together with the settlers to disperse the protesters. (ANSAmed). Saudi prince thanks President Macron for 'strategic partnership' MBS leaves Paris amid NGOs' denunciation of his crimes (ANSAmed) - PARIS, 29 LUG - Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) thanked President Emmuel Macron for the "warm welcome received" yesterday in Paris, despite the protests of outrage on the part of human rights NGOs and of opposition parties. Last evening President Macron received MBS at the Elisee Palace, the person who is the de facto leader of the oil-producing Gulf country. MBS was invited for a 'working dinner' at the presidential palace on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore. A first leg of the trip included a stop-over in Athens and then Paris. This was the crown Prince's first visit to the European union after the assassination of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in 2018 at the Riyadh Consulate in Istanbul. In a message addressed to Macron, MBS extends his "profound gratitude" and "thanks for the warm welcome and hospitality", adding that the discussions held with the French President "have confirmed our mutual will to strengthen the strategic partnership and friendship between our two countries to all sectors". Yesterday, the NGO Democracy for the Arab Worlds (Dawn), founded by Khashoggi, together with the Swiss NGO, Trial International, filed a complaint in Paris against MBS for this complicit role in the forced disappearance of the Saudi journalist, Khashoggi. (ANSAmed). KATHMANDU, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The tiger population in Nepal has more than doubled in the last 12 years to 355, according to a census released on Friday. "This is a matter of pride that the tiger population has reached 355 as per Nepal's global commitment," said Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who made public the census in Kathmandu on the day when the International Tiger Day was marked. In the first tiger summit held in 2010 in St. Petersburg of Russia, Nepal pledged to double its tiger population in the wild by 2022 along with 12 other countries and regions which still have the species. In 2010, 121 tigers were found in Nepal, and the figure rose to 198 in 2013 and 235 in 2018, according to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. "It was possible to achieve our goal of doubling the tiger population because of political commitment, contributions from conservation agencies and the support from local people," Pem Narayan Kadel, secretary at the Ministry of Forest and Environment, told Xinhua. Chitwan National Park has the largest tiger population of 128 in Nepal, followed by Bardia National Park with 125. PARIS - Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) thanked President Emmuel Macron for the "warm welcome received" yesterday in Paris, despite the protests of outrage on the part of human rights NGOs and of opposition parties. Last evening President Macron received MBS at the Elisee Palace, the person who is the de facto leader of the oil-producing Gulf country. MBS was invited for a 'working dinner' at the presidential palace on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore. A first leg of the trip included a stop-over in Athens and then Paris. This was the crown Prince's first visit to the European union after the assassination of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in 2018 at the Riyadh Consulate in Istanbul. In a message addressed to Macron, MBS extends his "profound gratitude" and "thanks for the warm welcome and hospitality", adding that the discussions held with the French President "have confirmed our mutual will to strengthen the strategic partnership and friendship between our two countries to all sectors". Yesterday, the NGO Democracy for the Arab Worlds (Dawn), founded by Khashoggi, together with the Swiss NGO, Trial International, filed a complaint in Paris against MBS for this complicit role in the forced disappearance of the Saudi journalist, Khashoggi. Ben Affleck will reprise his role as Batman in the upcoming Aquaman sequel, the films star Jason Momoa has confirmed. Sharing a picture of the pair on Instagram, Momoa wrote the pair would be reunited for the DC blockbuster, which is due out in 2023. The actor said the pair had been busted by a tour on the Warner Bros backlot tour, where they are reportedly filming the flick. REUNITED bruce and arthur, Momoa wrote. Love u and miss u Ben WB studio tours just explored the backlot alright. Busted on set, all great things coming AQUAMAN 2, all my aloha J. The original Aquaman starred Momoa alongside actress Amber Heard, who is also expected to re-join the cast, despite rumours following her infamous defamation trial loss with former partner Johnny Depp. British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has returned to profit for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The group said it made an operating profit of 293 million euros (245 million) between April and June, compared with a 967 million euro (810 million) loss during the same period last year. It expects operating profit before exceptional items to be positive for 2022 as a whole if there are no further setbacks related to Covid-19 and government-imposed restrictions or material impacts from geopolitical developments. IAG boss Luis Gallego said this result supports our outlook for a full-year operating profit (IAG/PA) IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said: In the second quarter we returned to profit for the first time since the start of the pandemic following a strong recovery in demand across all our airlines. This result supports our outlook for a full-year operating profit. Our performance reflected a significant increase in capacity, load factor and yield compared to the first quarter. Premium leisure remains strong, while business travel continues a steady recovery in all airlines. IAG said the challenging operational environment at Heathrow meant British Airways capacity was limited to 69.1% of pre-pandemic levels between April and June. That is compared with 57.4% during the previous three months. Heathrow has capped daily departing passenger numbers (Steve Parsons/PA) The airline, which has cancelled tens of thousands of flights this summer, plans to increase its capacity to around 75% between July and October. IAGs plans for overall passenger capacity are around 80% between July and October, and 85% for the final quarter of the year. That is a reduction of 5% for the second half of 2022 compared with previous guidance, which the group said is mainly due to the challenges at Heathrow. On July 12, Heathrow introduced a cap of 100,000 daily departing passengers until September 11 due to a shortage of staff in ground handling and elsewhere, leading to more flights being cancelled. Mr Gallego said: Our industry continues to face historic challenges due to the unprecedented scaling up in operations, especially in the UK where the operational challenges of Heathrow Airport have been acute. Our airline teams remain focused on enhancing operational resilience and improving customer experience. I would like to thank those customers affected for their loyalty and patience and our colleagues for their hard work and commitment. We will continue working with the industry to address these issues as aviation emerges from its biggest crisis ever. Mr Gallego told reporters that British Airways reduced its summer schedule at Heathrow as it realised its plan was going to be impossible because of the shortage of people there. He went on: We decided to cap the capacity in order to get resilience to the operation and in order to protect our customers. I think it was the right movement. We were worried because the projections of the number of people at Heathrow didnt match the projections and the demand that we were expecting. Asked how long he believes restrictions will last at Heathrow, Mr Gallego replied: We hope that before the end of the year we are going to have a more stable operation. I think with the adjustment of capacity that all the airlines have done, we are improving the resilience of operation at the airport. So I hope that if everything goes well, at the end of the year we will be in a better situation. Coleen Rooney has welcomed her victory in the Wagatha Christie High Court case brought by Rebekah Vardy but added that she never believed it should have gone to court and that it was not a case I ever sought or wanted. In a social media post that went viral in October 2019, Mrs Rooney, 36, said she had carried out a months-long sting operation and accused Mrs Vardy, 40, of leaking false stories about her private life to the press. The wife of former England footballer Wayne Rooney publicly claimed Mrs Vardys account was the source behind three stories in The Sun newspaper featuring fake details she had posted on her private Instagram stories. Mrs Vardy, who is married to Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, denied leaking stories to the media and sued her fellow footballers wife for libel, while Mrs Rooney defended the claim on the basis that her post was substantially true. In a much-anticipated ruling on Friday, Mrs Justice Steyn found in Mrs Rooneys favour and dismissed the claim against her. Following the judgment, Mrs Rooney said she was pleased with the ruling following a week-long trial in May. She said: It was not a case I ever sought or wanted. I never believed it should have gone to court at such expense in times of hardship for so many people when the money could have been far better spent helping others. Both before and after my social media posts in October 2019, I made every effort to avoid the need for such a drawn-out and public court case. All my attempts to do so were knocked back by Mrs Vardy. Mrs Rooney added that she had no alternative but to defend the claim to end the repeated leaking of my private information to The Sun. She continued: These leaks from my private Instagram account began in 2017. They continued for almost two years, intruding on my privacy and that of my family. Although I bear Mrs Vardy no ill-will, todays judgment makes clear that I was right in what I said in my posts of October 2019. Coleen and Wayne Rooney leave the Royal Courts Of Justice in London (Aaron Chown/PA) In her ruling, Mrs Justice Steyn said it was likely that Mrs Vardys agent at the time, Caroline Watt, undertook the direct act of passing the information to The Sun. But she added: Nonetheless, the evidence clearly shows, in my view, that Mrs Vardy knew of and condoned this behaviour, actively engaging in it by directing Ms Watt to the private Instagram account, sending her screenshots of Mrs Rooneys posts, drawing attention to items of potential interest to the press, and answering additional queries raised by the press via Ms Watt. During the trial, the two women each gave evidence, as did Mr Rooney, also 36, who played for Everton and Manchester United as well as England. In her 76-page judgment, Mrs Justice Steyn said Mrs Vardys evidence was manifestly inconsistent with contemporaneous documentary evidence on many occasions. She continued: I bear in mind when assessing her evidence the degree of stress she was naturally feeling, given the high-profile nature of the trial, the abuse that she has suffered since the reveal post was published, and the length of time she was in the witness box. The judge added: Nevertheless, I find that it is, unfortunately, necessary to treat Mrs Vardys evidence with very considerable caution. During the trial, Mrs Rooneys barrister, David Sherborne, argued that Mrs Vardy had a habitual and established practice of leaking information about those she knew through Ms Watt to The Sun. He said there were, in text message exchanges between Mrs Vardy and Ms Watt, examples of the pair discussing leaking other peoples private information. Mrs Justice Steyn said in her ruling: In my judgment, the conclusions that I have reached as to the extent to which the claimant engaged in disclosing to The Sun information to which she only had access as a permitted follower of an Instagram account which she knew, and Mrs Rooney repeatedly asserted, was private, suffice to show the single meaning is substantially true. Rebekah and Jamie Vardy outside court (Yui Mok/PA) In the first ruling in the case in November 2020, then-Mr Justice Warby found the viral post had clearly identified Mrs Vardy as being guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust. He also found that an ordinary reader would take the post as claiming Mrs Vardy had regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Ms Rooneys personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun newspaper of Mrs Rooneys private posts and stories. The libel battle came after Mrs Rooney publicly claimed that an account behind three fake stories in The Sun that she had posted on her personal Instagram account was Mrs Vardys. The fake stories Mrs Rooney planted on her Instagram during the sting operation featured her travelling to Mexico for a gender selection procedure, her planning to return to TV, and the basement flooding at her home. In the post on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, she wrote: I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. Its Rebekah Vardys account. It is believed the total legal costs of the case will be in the region of 3 million, most of which will now be borne by Mrs Vardy. A former policeman has accused prosecutors of trying to criminalise innocent police officers over allegedly sexist, racist and ableist jokes they made in a WhatsApp chat with Sarah Everards killer. Former Pc Joel Borders, 45, is on trial at Westminster Magistrates Court along with serving Metropolitan Police constables Jonathon Cobban, 35, and William Neville, 34, charged with sending grossly offensive messages to the group in 2019. All three deny charges relating to improper use of a public electronic communications network between April 5 and August 9 2019. Their WhatsApp chat, called Bottle and Stoppers, comprised seven officers who had transferred from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) to the Met. It is known that messages from the chat were found on Wayne Couzens phone during investigations into the murder of Ms Everard last year, though the court has not made direct reference to this due to other ongoing hearings. Former Metropolitan Police constable Joel Borders told Westminster Magistrates Court he was an exemplary officer (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Borders, who described himself as an exemplary officer after having his message joking about raping a female colleague read to the court, worked for the CNC from March 30 2014, and transferred to the Met on February 11 2019. He left the force on December 9 2020 for unrelated reasons and before he was told about Couzens or that he was being investigated for misconduct in August 2021. In messages previously read to the court, Borders, from Preston, Lancashire, said: I cant wait to get on the guns so I can shoot some c*** in the face, and suggested tasering people with Downs Syndrome. Speaking about a female colleague, he also said she would lead me on then get me locked up when I rape and beat her! Sneaky bitch. During cross-examination by his lawyer, Nicholas Yeo, on Friday, Borders told the court that he was well thought of on the job, and his joke messages had been blown out of proportion. I was an exemplary officer, he said. I always turned up to work early, I always dressed smart, made sure my boots were clean. My image was perfect and I behaved perfectly with people. I know thats me saying this, but I was well thought-of on the job. Three Metropolitan Police officers are in court over messages they exchanged on a group chat with Sarah Everards killer, Wayne Couzens (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Borders admitted that he was naive when he first joined the Met in February 2019, but handling delicate matters changed his sense of humour. He said his jokes were not intended to offend the people they were about, and gave the example of a joke he made about his mother, who has dementia, after she suffered a fall and broke her hip a few months ago. He said he made his exhausted 75-year-old father laugh by telling him not to visit her in hospital if he was too tired because she wont remember. You might say thats offensive to people with dementia, but it made my dad laugh, and all of a sudden his mood changed his whole attitude changed, he said. During a later, heated exchange with prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward, Borders said: You are trying to criminalise innocent police officers. Indicating his former colleagues in the dock, he said: Those officers in there are probably going to lose their jobs, just because you take exception to certain jokes. Cobban, from Didcot, Oxfordshire, bowed his head and fixed his gaze at the ground as these comments were made, before taking to the witness box himself. In messages previously heard by the court, Cobban described a hospital patient he was dealing with as an attention-seeking, self-harming fag, and Hounslow, a diverse area of west London, as a Somali shithole. Serving Metropolitan Police officer Jonathon Cobban (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Following this second comment, he added: There goes pussy patrol more like FGM (female genital mutilation) patrol. Speaking on Friday, Cobban said the pussy patrol joke took inspiration from Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners, and his FGM comment was not related to the ethnic diversity of the area. Cobban said that, like many emergency services workers, he had developed a dark sense of humour as a coping mechanism and described the messages as banter between mates. Responding to jokes about police performing sex acts on domestic violence victims, Cobban also wrote in the group chat: Thats alright, DV victims love it thats why they are repeat victims more often than not. The Pc described this comment as quite obviously sarcastic and a way of venting frustrations after attending domestic abuse calls where callers would not co-operate with police once they arrived. The officer said that in these cases more often than not the allegations are false. Serving Metropolitan Police Pc William Neville (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Cobban said: Since then, I have been to many domestics and some of them are heart-breaking. I would not find that joke funny now. Asked by Mr Yeo whether he thought the messages would be read by people outside the group chat, he said: Not for one second. As far as I was concerned these messages were on a private, encoded WhatsApp group and they would never be read by anyone outside the group. Neville, of Weybridge, Surrey, watched from the dock, and is due to give evidence later on Friday. On Thursday, Neville was accused of acting out a rape fantasy by prosecutor Edward Brown QC, after he described the time he pinned a 15-year-old girl going mental on the floor as deploying a struggle snuggle. His defence lawyer Mr Yeo disputed this as an overreach. Two serving Met Sergeants, Sarah Stephens and Owen Graham, who know Neville, were called as witnesses and said they were familiar with the term struggle snuggle as slang for a restraint technique from training sessions. Ms Stephens, a sergeant of 20 years, said there were absolutely no sexual connotations to the term, and when asked whether it involved anything funny or any kind of innuendo she said: No. She also described Neville as one of the most professional, hard-working police officers that I have ever worked with. When asked by Mr Yeo whether Neville had ever shown signs of holding discriminatory views against women or any minority groups, she said: Never. Quite the opposite. He has shown complete compassion and supported me when I have gone through difficult times. PS Graham described Neville as an officer who would sometimes be chosen to deal with difficult calls because of his professional nature. Neville, who joined the CNC in July 2016 before transferring to the Met, said that he had never heard of the Communications Act and the offence he is now being prosecuted for. Neville said: The first time I heard about the offence was when I was being investigated for it. The trial continues on September 21 at City of London Magistrates Court. A London-based former Neighbours actress will mark the soap operas final airing in the UK with a viewing party, describing the show as the backdrop for the British for 37 years. Julie Mullins played the role of Julie Martin in Neighbours from 1992 to 1994, her time on the show ending after her characters death. Channel 5 announced it was dropping the show earlier in 2022, and while fans took to social media and signed a petition to show their displeasure, Friday will mark its final episode. Julie Mullins played the role of Julie Martin in Neighbours from 1992 to 1994 (Julie Mullins) Ms Mullins told the PA news agency: Neighbours is a part of Australian culture. The casual nature, the outdoors, the swimming pools, the barbecues that makes it quintessential Australian culture. But its been the backdrop for the British for 37 years. It is in the psychology of families, students, school kids, university students, mums cooking the dinner. Unlike some soaps, its not all doom and gloom all the time. Theres a lot of light-hearted stuff. Of course, they have the car explosions and the drama in relationships, but its otherwise quite a happy show. I think people really are going to miss it. Producers have said they will not end the show with scenes of destruction and devastation. Instead, former stars will return to say goodbye to Ramsay Street, including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Guy Pearce and Margot Robbie. Thank you for loving us, we love you #Neighbours pic.twitter.com/dpnoykQpdf Neighbours (@neighbours) July 28, 2022 Another fan favourite who will star in the finale is Alan Fletcher, who has played Dr Karl Kennedy in the soap for 28 years. Ms Mullins said: I actually knew Alan in a social way from when I had just started drama school. I was working with a regional theatre outside Sydney and he was one of the professional actors doing a production. Somehow, I ended up going into the rehearsal room, which was fabulous for me because I wanted to be a professional actor and was playing the piano for (Alan) to learn some songs. We were quite friendly and I used to keep in touch with him off and on. Then the bizarre thing was, years later it was my last month of filming Neighbours, and he rang me up. He said Julie, youre not going to believe this, but Ive been offered a two-year stint in Neighbours which is exactly what Id done. My character was just about to get killed off, so he went in as I left! At 9pm on Friday, for one last time fans all over the country will get together for viewing parties to watch the final episode, including Ms Mullins. About a dozen of us are getting together to watch the finale at a friends home in Reading, she said. Some of the group are British, so theyve grown up with Neighbours, and some of the other guests that are coming are Australian. One of them is called Kylie actually, we were laughing because she will be our Kylie for the night! When asked if it was time for the show to come to an end, Ms Mullins said: I wouldnt say its the right time because its actually in good shape at the moment. Artistically I think any long-running series goes up and down in terms of how engaging it is, but I dont think its end is due to a quality issue. But I also know that all shows do come to an end at some point. You know, the Coronation Streets of this world are very rare. The US Embassy in London has shared its support for the Lionesses through a video skit in which staff recreate Alessia Russos back-heel goal. In a short video posted to Twitter on Friday, US Embassy spokesperson Aaron Snipe is filmed in slow-motion re-enacting Russos stunning shot from Englands Euro 2022 semi-final triumph over Sweden. Mr Snipe is filmed walking along a corridor in the embassy office before being approached by a colleague who hands him papers containing the written rules, telling him: As a US diplomat, you cant take a position on this you cannot support England in the Euro finals. Mr Snipe is then seen playfully scrunching up the papers into a ball, dropping the paper ball to the floor, and back-heeling it into a nearby bin to the sound of dramatic music. Russos back-heel goal scored in the 68th minute on Tuesday, which saw England go 3-0 up in the match against Sweden, was described by England boss Sarina Wiegman as phenomenal. The Embassys video, which features bunting of the England flag in its office, was shared alongside the caption: Oh, the cheek from our own office Russo! This is no time for diplomacy. Lets go, @Lionesses. Jane Hartley, the US Ambassador to the UK, responded to the video on Twitter, jokingly telling Mr Snipe to get back to work as Wembley is still over 48 hrs away before adding in brackets: Go, #Lionesses! One Twitter user said Mr Snipe had won at Twitter, while another pointed out: Backheels arent easy are they? Englands semi-final victory on Tuesday was watched by an average of 7.9 million people, according to overnight ratings. Sundays match, which will see the Lionesses take on Germany at Wembley, is expected to pull in an even larger audience. Police have arrested a man on suspicion of the murder of a young mother who has not been seen for more than a week. Madison Wright, 30, of Basildon in Essex, was wearing a pink top, black trousers and flip flops when she was last seen alive on July 22. Her car, a black Vauxhall Astra with the registration EU13 JVW, was found four days later on July 26 in Brackendale Avenue in Basildon. Essex Police said that on Friday morning a 36-year-old man from Pitsea was arrested on suspicion of Ms Wrights murder. Madison Wright has been missing since July 22 and her car was found on July 26 (Essex Police/ PA) It is understood that the suspect, who remains in custody, is known to Ms Wright. Ms Wright, who is 5ft 8in, slim, with hazel eyes and shoulder length blonde hair, has not been seen or heard from since 8.30am on Friday July 22. She has a dream catcher tattoo on her left arm and a tattoo of a rose on her right hand. Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: Madison is a young mum, with a family who love her and are desperately worried about her. Shes been missing for a week today and is still missing, and we desperately need to find her. We have a team of dedicated, specialist officers and staff working to find her and we urgently need anyone with information about her disappearance to contact us. He said officers want to speak to anyone who has seen or heard from Ms Wright since the morning of July 22, or saw her between that point and when her car was found on Tuesday July 26. The force is also appealing for CCTV, dash cam or other footage in relation to the incident. Essex Police has set up a dedicated phone line for people to report information to them on 0207 1267612. Information can also be reported online at https://mipp.police.uk/operation/4201020122Q20-PO1 or anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge could return more than 200 artefacts that were looted by British colonial forces in 1897, after Nigeria this year requested the repatriation of the cultural items. The 213 objects, including many bronzes and some ivory and wooden sculptures, were taken from Benin City by British troops in February 1897 in response to a violent trade dispute the previous month. During the attack, British forces burned the citys palace and exiled Benins Oba, or king. Several thousand brasses and other artefacts collectively known as the Benin Bronzes were taken by the British and subsequently sold off in London to recoup the costs of the military mission. A brass penannular bracelet held in the collections of Cambridges Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Cambridge University/ PA) Considered of exceptional artistic quality and significance, these works were avidly sought by museums and collectors of the period, resulting in dispersal across many European and US museums as well as in the UK. Claims for restitution date back to the mid-twentieth century and have intensified in recent years. On January 7 this year, Oxford and Cambridge received formal claims from Nigerias National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) for the return of the items. Cambridge has identified 116 objects either known or presumed to have been looted, which are in the universitys Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) collections. The claim with Oxford is for 97 objects in the collections of its Pitt Rivers Museum and the Ashmolean Museum. Both universities are supporting the claims for the return of the artefacts, which will be considered by the Charity Commission before their return can be authorised. A Cambridge professor said there is growing recognition that illegitimately acquired artefacts should be returned to their countries of origin (Cambridge University/PA) Cambridge University said its decision was in line with similar commitments recently made by other US and European museums, and reflects a sector-wide move away from keeping together collections irrespective of how those artefacts were collected. Nigerias National Commission for Museums and Monuments has said it welcomes proposals for loan arrangements that enable artefacts to remain on display, with appropriate acknowledgement, at Cambridges Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Professor Nicholas Thomas, director of Cambridges Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, said: Across the international museum sector there is growing recognition that illegitimately acquired artefacts should be returned to their countries of origin. The Smithsonian and major European museums have announced decisions to return collections to a number of countries. Oxford University said it is expected that the claim for the return of the artefacts will be considered by the autumn. In a statement, Oxford University said the Pitt Rivers Museum had received a claim from Nigeria for the return of 97 objects in the Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean Museum collections that were taken from Benin City by British armed forces in 1897. The claim is now being processed by the university following its procedures for claims for the return of cultural objects, the statement said. On June 20 2022, the Council of the University of Oxford considered and supported the claim for the return to Nigeria of the 97 objects. The university is now submitting the case to the Charity Commission, recommending transfer of legal title to the objects to the NCMM. It is expected that the Charity Commission will consider the claim by autumn 2022. The Nigerian government is developing the Edo Museum of West African Arts, along with a storage and study facility for returned artefacts, which is currently under construction next to the existing Benin City museum. A Premier League player who was arrested on suspicion of rape has had one of three allegations against him dropped as his bail was extended until early October. The player, who has not been named, was arrested in Barnet, north London, on July 4 over rape allegations against a woman in her 20s in June. He was further arrested while in custody over allegations of raping a different woman in April and June 2021. The 29-year-old denies the allegations. In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said no further action would be taken in relation to the June 2021 offence. On 4 July, an allegation of rape of a woman in her 20s was reported to police, the statement said. It was reported the alleged rape happened in June 2022. On 4 July, a 29-year-old man was arrested at an address in Barnet on suspicion of rape and taken into custody. While in custody, he was further arrested on suspicion of two incidents of rape that were alleged to have been committed in April and June of 2021 against a different woman in her 20s. No further action will be taken in relation to the offence in June 2021 but the investigation into the remaining offences is ongoing. The man was initially bailed until a date in August but his bail has since been extended to a date in early October. Earlier in July, the players Premier League club confirmed it was not currently taking action against the player. The club, which has also not been named, said in a statement: We are aware of the allegations which are currently the subject of a police investigation. We have confirmed that the player denies the allegations and is on police bail pending the outcome of their inquiries. There have been no charges laid and the player can fulfil his professional commitments including permitted travel. We take our commitments and responsibilities seriously and have followed our safeguarding policies and procedures. We will keep this matter under close consideration and will review further if circumstances change. KABUL, July 29 (Xinhua) -- A handover ceremony of earthquake relief donated by a Chinese firm has been held in the Afghan capital Kabul. Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu, Sheikh Shahabuddin Delawar, acting minister of mines and petroleum of Afghanistan's Taliban-led caretaker government and Mawlawi Sharafuddin Muslim, deputy minister of state for disaster management and humanitarian affairs, attended the ceremony. At the ceremony, Wang said the Chinese government immediately announced emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, and the MCC-JCL Aynak Minerals Company Ltd. (MJAM) has also donated materials to help Afghan disaster victims since the earthquake occured. Wang said as a good neighbor, brother and partner, China attached great importance to the difficulties of Afghanistan and was willing to try its best to extend a helping hand to the Afghan people in difficulties. China sincerely helped Afghanistan achieve independent development and would continue to help Afghanistan in dealing with the disaster, and continue to provide support to the Afghan people in the areas of food, medical care, disaster relief training, the ambassador said. Delawar expressed his gratitude to the Chinese government and the Chinese firm for their rapid response and generous assistance to Afghanistan during the difficult times. Muslim thanked China for providing relief supplies immediately after the deadly earthquake happened in Afghanistan. Wu Min, deputy general manager of MJAM, handed over aid supplies to the Afghan side at the ceremony. A destructive earthquake rattled Afghanistan on June 22, killing more than 1,000 people and destroying more than 17,000 houses. Rebekah Vardy has said she is devastated by the ruling in the Wagatha Christie High Court libel claim she brought against Coleen Rooney. In a viral social media post in October 2019, Mrs Rooney, 36, said she had carried out a months-long sting operation and accused Mrs Vardy, 40, of leaking false stories about her private life to the press. The wife of former England footballer Wayne Rooney publicly claimed Mrs Vardys account was the source behind three stories in The Sun newspaper featuring fake details she had posted on her private Instagram stories. Mrs Vardy, who is married to Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, denied leaking stories to the media and sued her fellow footballers wife for libel, while Mrs Rooney defended the claim on the basis that her post was substantially true. In a much-anticipated ruling on Friday, Mrs Justice Steyn found in Mrs Rooneys favour and dismissed the claim against her. After the judgment, Mrs Vardy thanked her supporters and said she was extremely sad and disappointed at the decision that the judge has reached. She continued: It is not the result that I had expected, nor believe was just. I brought this action to vindicate my reputation and am devastated by the judges finding. The judge accepted that publication of Coleens post was not in the public interest and she also rejected her claim that I was the Secret Wag. But as for the rest of her judgment, she got it wrong and this is something I cannot accept. The TV personality reiterated that she and her family including her then unborn baby were sent vile abuse after the viral post and during the trial. Please can the people who have been abusing me and my family now stop. The case is over, she added. In her own statement following the judgment, Mrs Rooney welcomed her victory and said she had no ill-will towards Mrs Vardy. She said: It was not a case I ever sought or wanted. I never believed it should have gone to court at such expense in times of hardship for so many people when the money could have been far better spent helping others. Both before and after my social media posts in October 2019, I made every effort to avoid the need for such a drawn-out and public court case. All my attempts to do so were knocked back by Mrs Vardy. Coleen and Wayne Rooney leave the Royal Courts Of Justice in London (Aaron Chown/PA) Finding in favour of Mrs Rooney, Mrs Justice Steyn said it was likely that Mrs Vardys agent at the time, Caroline Watt, undertook the direct act of passing the information to The Sun. But she added: Nonetheless, the evidence clearly shows, in my view, that Mrs Vardy knew of and condoned this behaviour, actively engaging in it by directing Ms Watt to the private Instagram account, sending her screenshots of Mrs Rooneys posts, drawing attention to items of potential interest to the press, and answering additional queries raised by the press via Ms Watt. During the trial, the two women each gave evidence, as did Mr Rooney, also 36, who played for Everton and Manchester United as well as England. In her 76-page judgment, Mrs Justice Steyn said Mrs Vardys evidence was manifestly inconsistent with contemporaneous documentary evidence on many occasions. The judge added: I find that it is, unfortunately, necessary to treat Mrs Vardys evidence with very considerable caution. Mrs Justice Steyn also found it was likely that Mrs Vardy deliberately deleted her WhatsApp chat with Ms Watt and that Ms Watt deliberately dropped her phone into the North Sea shortly after it was ordered to be searched. Mrs Vardy also chose not to call Ms Watt to give evidence partly because she knew the agents evidence would be shown to be untrue, the judge ruled. Rebekah and Jamie Vardy outside court (Yui Mok/PA) Mrs Rooneys barrister, David Sherborne, previously argued that Mrs Vardy had a habitual and established practice of leaking information about those she knew through Ms Watt to The Sun. Mrs Justice Steyn said in her ruling: In my judgment, the conclusions that I have reached as to the extent to which the claimant engaged in disclosing to The Sun information to which she only had access as a permitted follower of an Instagram account which she knew, and Mrs Rooney repeatedly asserted, was private, suffice to show the single meaning is substantially true. In the first ruling in the case in November 2020, then-Mr Justice Warby found the viral post had clearly identified Mrs Vardy as being guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust. He also found that an ordinary reader would take the post as claiming Mrs Vardy had regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Ms Rooneys personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun newspaper of Mrs Rooneys private posts and stories. The libel battle came after Mrs Rooney publicly claimed that an account behind three fake stories in The Sun that she had posted on her personal Instagram account was Mrs Vardys. The fake stories Mrs Rooney planted on her Instagram during the sting operation featured her travelling to Mexico for a gender selection procedure, her planning to return to TV, and the basement flooding at her home. In the post on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, she wrote: I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. Its Rebekah Vardys account. It is believed the total legal costs of the case will be in the region of 3 million, most of which will now be borne by Mrs Vardy. Liz Truss has said she is not complacent about her prospects in the race for No 10 after winning Ben Wallaces backing. The Tory leadership hopefuls campaign was boosted by a major endorsement from the Defence Secretary on Thursday. It came after she and rival Rishi Sunak faced a grilling from voters in the first official hustings with Conservative Party members in Leeds. Asked during a visit to Norfolk on Friday if she was confident she was now set to win the leadership contest, she said: Im not at all complacent. Im fighting for every vote across the country. She added: Im delighted to have the support of Ben Wallace. Weve worked very closely together. Hes been a fantastic defence secretary for our country. Meanwhile, in a thinly veiled swipe at the former chancellors record, she warned it would be risky for the country to continue along the current economic path. Ms Truss insisted the way to get growth is to help people and businesses keep more of their own money, saying the number one priority should be avoiding recession. She said: What is risky is carrying on on the same economic path, which is currently forecast to lead us to recession. That is the risk. What Im talking about is unleashing opportunity, unleashing growth, keeping taxes low. That will see the economy grow, and it will see us being able to pay back our debt quicker. Liz Truss arriving to speak at an event in Dereham, Norfolk (Joe Giddens/PA) Ms Truss also committed to challenging the current orthodoxy around investment spending, with more going into left-behind areas. Mr Sunak is set to face veteran political journalist Andrew Neil for a crunch interview on Friday an opportunity Channel 4 said Ms Truss had so far declined earlier this week. Asked if she will be watching, Ms Truss said she will be celebrating her wedding anniversary. She told reporters: Its my wedding anniversary today. So Ill be celebrating 22 years of being married to my husband. Earlier, Mr Wallace accused Mr Sunak of trying to block vital defence money during his time as chancellor. In a series of interviews on Friday, the defence secretary explained the reasons he had thrown his support behind Ms Truss. He told Sky News she recognised the threats we face every day need to be funded properly, pointing to her commitment to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030. He also said that without any prompting or asking, Ms Truss wrote a letter to the Prime Minister saying that defence needed more money. In contrast Mr Sunak, the defence secretary said, tried to block vital defence money in 2019, only to find himself overruled by the PM. Mr Wallace was asked by LBCs Nick Ferrari how obstructive the former chancellor was in granting more money to the armed forces. He replied: I dont think he was obstructive When pressed further, he said: I mean, the multi-year settlement that we got was not what the Treasury had wanted. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (Dominic Lipinski/PA) They wanted a one-year settlement. This was back in 2019, I think. It was vital that we got a multi-year settlement. The Prime Minister effectively asserted his authority and made sure thats what happened. Mr Ferrari asked: But Mr Sunak was not in support? Mr Wallace said: Not that I remember. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said Mr Sunak would be a fine member of anybodys Cabinet, but added: For me, Liz is the one that I think will do best by defence of this nation, by investing in it. The two Tory leadership hopefuls were questioned separately on an array of policy areas in Thursdays hustings as well as their predictions for the womens Euro 2022 final. The event, hosted by Mr Ferrari, was the first of 12 sessions for the party faithful across the country to question the final two contenders, before voting for the next Tory leader and prime minister closes on September 2. Presenter Nick Ferrari speaking to Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak (Owen Humphreys/PA) While they did not address one another directly, tax continued to be a significant dividing line between them. Mr Sunak said he would not embark on a spree, borrowing tens and tens of billions of pounds of unfunded promises and put them on the countrys credit card. Meanwhile, Ms Truss criticised windfall taxes something Mr Sunak imposed as a one-off on energy companies as chancellor. She said: I dont believe in windfall taxes because they put off future investment. What we should be doing is encouraging Shell and other companies to invest in the United Kingdom, because we need to get our productivity up, we need capital investment. Employees at a Joliet, Illinois, Amazon warehouse have filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the company, alleging corporate abuse, racial discrimination, and retaliation. According to the complaint filed Tuesday, a group of Black employees at the MDW2 Fulfillment Center said that Confederate imagery on coworkers' clothing, racist death threats written in bathroom stalls, and a lack of security and accountability have contributed to a racially hostile work environment since late 2021. Institutional abuse and women's rights attorney Tamara Holder said her clients are now not only seeking change in the workplace to appropriately address and resolve these issues, but monetary damages for emotional duress caused by stressful working conditions. MORE: Amazon warehouses under investigation from federal prosecutors, Department of Labor "We don't know what that amount comes to at this point. But I can tell you that after working in a climate where it's racially hostile, people are experiencing extreme emotional distress," she told ABC News. "Our message to Amazon is that their behavior after our cases come to light is only increasing our damages because people are becoming more afraid rather than less." Video: Authorities launch probe into working conditions at Amazon warehouses As the case receives more attention, Holder said that employees are hesitant to speak out any more about these claims for fear of further retaliation from the MDW2 Fulfillment Center management, causing concern for the future of this case and her clients' livelihoods. "They are allegedly telling their employees that if they speak out, they will be fired because they signed an agreement to remain silent," Holder told ABC News. Holder says former MDW2 employee Tori Davis was the first to make contact with her about the warehouse's work environment. Davis, who was fired earlier this month after raising the alarm about her concerns, told ABC affiliate WLS that the death threats were dismissed by Amazon. "They were trying to sweep it under the rug," Davis said. "The way that this situation was handled, it was strange." PHOTO: An Amazon Delivery Station and Amazon Fulfillment Center stands in Burbank, Calif., June 24, 2022. (Getty Images, FILE) A spokesperson for Amazon, Richard Rocha, issued a statement to ABC News. "Amazon works hard to protect our employees from any form of discrimination and to provide an environment where employees feel safe. Hate or racism have no place in our society and are certainly not tolerated by Amazon," the statement read. The MDW2 Fulfillment Center did not respond to ABC News' request for comment. Holder said she plans to do everything in her power to see the complaint through and ensure that her clients' voices are heard. "I think that they had an opportunity here to make it better. And instead they're taking a very, very different aggressive stance to make it worse," she said. "They are not too big for me and they are not too big for the people that I representWe are not going away." Employees at Amazon warehouse in Illinois allege racially hostile work environment originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto As of March, the average monthly Social Security benefit is $1,618.29 for an individual, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Doubling up for a couple, that's $3,236.58. Not a bad haul, if it's supplementing other income or padding a nice, big nest egg. If Social Security is all you're living on, however, you're going to have to pick your retirement city very carefully to stretch those dollars to their absolute limit -- particularly on the notoriously expensive West Coast, which, for the purposes of this study, includes Alaska. See: How Biden Is Impacting Social Security in 2022 Learn: 10 Reasons You Should Claim Social Security Early To determine the best places for couples to live on the West Coast on only their combined Social Security checks, GOBankingRates used cost-of-living data from Sperling's Best Places. The ranking also includes ApartmentList data on the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment, as well as each city's livability score, sourced from AreaVibes. Each city was then given a combined score -- which represents a summation of all those factors -- with lower scores being better. The list is ranked in order of the worst score to the best. Read on to learn about the West Coast spots that are most welcoming to retirees living on Social Security. jared ropelato / Shutterstock.com Vallejo, California 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,607 Vallejo has a lousy livability score of 56 -- livability scores are calculated by algorithms that factor in dozens of variables like proximity to amenities, crime and schools. The cost-of-living index is a high 131.3, with 100 representing the national average. The average one-bedroom apartment will run you $1,607 per month, the highest on this list. Jon Bilous / Shutterstock.com Riverside, California 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,508 At 133.1, Riverside's cost-of-living index is even higher than even Vallejo's -- a full one-third more than the national average. The town's livability score is an unimpressive 59, mostly because of its relatively high crime rate. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,508, one of the three highest on the list. Small Business Spotlight 2022: Nominate Your Favorite Small Biz Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto Seattle 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,596 Moving up the coast to Washington is Seattle, a pricey city where the average one-bedroom costs $1,596. That contributes to a bruising 172.3 cost-of-living index -- the highest on this list, by far -- which means that daily living in Seattle is 72.3% more expensive than the national average. All in all, its livability score is an underwhelming 65 thanks to high crime rates, high housing costs and, of course, a high cost of living. Manny Chavez / Getty Images/iStockphoto Sacramento, California 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,432 The capital city of California, Sacramento has a below-average livability score of 62, mostly because of its crime statistics and relatively high prices. The cost-of-living index there is 118.2, making the city nearly 20% costlier to live in than the national average. The typical renter will shell out $1,432 for a one-bedroom. JMcQ / Shutterstock.com Anchorage, Alaska 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,176 In Anchorage, crime and real estate prices are high even by Alaska standards, both of which contribute to the city's drab livability score of 60. Although the average one-bedroom there costs $1,176 per month, one of the least expensive on this list, Anchorage residents still struggle with a rough cost-of-living index of 123.5. Spondylolithesis / Getty Images Napa, California 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,522 Known for its legendary vineyards, daily life in Napa is nearly as pricey as its wine -- the cost-of-living index is 162.1, second only to Seattle. With an average monthly rent of $1,522, it's one of only four cities on this list where the typical one-bedroom costs more than $1,500. Overall, its livability score is a middling 70. Kyle Sprague / Shutterstock.com Portland, Oregon 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,344 The cost of living in Portland is 30.8% higher than the national average. Although its $1,344 average rent makes it one of just five cities on this list where a one-bedroom goes for less than $1,400, its very high crime rate contributes to a dreary livability score of 65. DenisTangneyJr / iStock.com Fresno, California 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,025 Just two cities on this list are less expensive than Fresno, which boasts a forgiving cost-of-living index of 102.6. With an average monthly rent of $1,025.00, a one-bedroom is cheaper in just thee other cities. Unfortunately, high crime contributes to a subpar livability score of 58. Ceri Breeze / Shutterstock.com Bremerton, Washington 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,440 Bremerton comes up with an average livability score of 70. With a cost-of-living index of 108.9 and an average rent of $1,440 for a one-bedroom, it's certainly one of the more affordable cities to make the cut. GarysFRP / Getty Images Eugene, Oregon 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $928 With a cost-of-living index of 105.3, Eugene is even more affordable than Bremerton. A lot of that has to do with the fact that it's one of only three cities on the list with a three-figure monthly rent -- $928 per month, to be exact, which makes it the cheapest on the entire list. Thanks to its high crime rate, however, Eugene earns a meh livability score of 65. John T Callery / Shutterstock.com Olympia, Washington 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $1,436 The capital city of Washington has a cost-of-living index of 106.1, which puts it on the lower side of this list. Olympia's livability score is 74 -- the highest of any city profiled here -- and a $1,436 average monthly rent. benedek / Getty Images/iStockphoto Spokane, Washington 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $947 Just one city on this list is cheaper to live in than the national average -- Spokane, whose cost-of-living index is an impressive 92.3. Although the city's paltry livability score of 67 leaves plenty to be desired, its $947 monthly rent makes it the No. 2 least expensive place to rent an apartment. Shutterstock.com Salem, Oregon 2022 average 1-bedroom rent: $979 With a cost-of-living index of 101.8, Salem is less expensive to live in than any city on this list except for Spokane. One of just three cities with a sub-$1,000 average rent, a one-bedroom goes for just $979 per month. That's all good news, despite Salem's low livability score of 69. More From GOBankingRates Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the best places for a couple to live on the West Coast on only their combined Social Security checks based on the (1) average monthly benefit for retired workers, $1,618.29, sourced from the Social Security Administration, and doubled ($3,236.58); (2) the overall cost of living in each city, sourced from Sperling's Best Places; (3) average 2022 rent for a one-bedroom apartment as sourced from ApartmentList; and (4) livability scores sourced from AreaVibes. Factors (2) through (4) were scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factor (4) was weighted double in final calculations. All data was collected and is up to date as of April 22, 2022. This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 13 Best Places on the West Coast for Couples To Live on Only a Social Security Check The Government has said it regrets the time taken to establish the decision-making process behind a controversial effort to evacuate animal welfare charity staff from Afghanistan. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said ministers and officials had given evidence to an inquiry led by a cross-party committee of MPs in good faith, and at no stage sought to be deliberately misleading. The FCDO acknowledged that an error in internal communication left some staff believing the Prime Minister had made the decision to call Nowzads staff forward for evacuation. Downing Street has previously denied Boris Johnson played any role in prioritising their removal. However, the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) said in a scathing report earlier this year that multiple senior officials believed he had and we have yet to be offered a plausible alternative explanation. Addressing the FAC report, in which it was accused of giving intentionally evasive, and often deliberately misleading responses to the committees investigations, the FCDO acknowledged that more care should have been taken within the department in how the decision was communicated to staff. The Government regrets that it took as long as it did to establish what the decision-making process had been in this case, and how the decision was communicated internally to FCDO staff, it said. The Government acknowledges again that the way the decision to call forward Nowzad staff for evacuation was made was exceptional. It agrees that, in this particular case, more care should have been taken within the FCDO in how the decision was communicated to staff. It acknowledges again that an error in the way the decision was communicated internally left some FCDO staff believing that the Prime Minister had made the decision. Former Royal Marine Paul Pen Farthing (PA) The FCDO agrees with the committee on the importance of accurate record keeping, even in a complex, fast-moving crisis such as this. Nowzad was set up by former Royal Marine Paul Pen Farthing, who launched a high-profile campaign to get his staff and animals out of Kabul as the Taliban swept across Afghanistan last year. The Tory-led FAC said in its report the charitys workers were called for evacuation at the last minute despite not meeting the Foreign Offices prioritisation criteria after a mysterious intervention from elsewhere in Government. In the end, they fled Afghanistan to Pakistan rather than on a plane from Kabul. The charitys animals were able to leave on a charter flight with Mr Farthing, which the MPs said absorbed significant resources during the chaotic period. Labour MP Chris Bryant, a member of the FAC, said the FCDOs response failed to clarify or explain the inconsistencies in their statements to the committee. Our report called on the political and diplomatic leadership of the Foreign Office to make a fresh start and re-commit to transparency and positive engagement with Parliament after this experience, he said. Judging by the continuing evasions in this response, they are not listening. So far we have had few signs that the Foreign Secretary and the Foreign Office are able to learn valuable lessons from this experience. If this continues, we risk another catastrophe further undermining our standing on the world stage. The Foreign Office also acknowledged the scope of its effort to evacuate those who did not qualify for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme was poorly communicated publicly and to Parliament, and therefore its confines were not well understood. The FAC said in its report that under-resourcing of the evacuation effort in a crucial period likely cost hundreds of people their chance to leave the country, and as a result likely cost lives. However, the FCDO denied that the decision to temporarily withdraw its staff overnight on August 14-15, with the exception of the ambassador and a small number of embassy colleagues, represented mismanagement. Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the FAC, said: I am pleased that the Foreign Office has acknowledged and accepted many of the criticisms put forward in the Foreign Affairs Committees report. This disaster has exposed serious failings in the department and I hope that this response signals the start of a sincere attempt to remedy these failures. Commenting on the report, chairman of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood told the BBC Radio 4s The World At One programme the Government needs to recognise that the Whitehall construct is simply not designed to deal with enduring emergencies. Mr Ellwood, who now sits as an independent MP after losing the Tory party whip, added: There isnt that operational strategic decision-making. We have a tried and tested Whitehall system, but really, its too siloed, and its too risk-averse. Theres an expectation that Britain will step forward as other nations perhaps hesitate. We can only do that if we have the machinery in place to make the decisions or to make the advisory recommendations to whoever is prime minister at the time. David Lammy, Labours shadow foreign secretary, said: The Conservative Government degraded the UKs international reputation and made the world less safe with its disastrous handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer. The Governments evasiveness over the Nowzad evacuation typifies its shambolic approach, and they are still failing to come clean about who in Government was making critical national security decisions. Mr Lammy also accused the Government of ignoring the humanitarian catastrophe of millions on the brink of starvation in Afghanistan. Ministers must urgently set out a comprehensive strategy for engaging with Afghanistan to support the millions of civilians who are starving, restore the 0.7% commitment to international aid, and lead the world by convening an emergency global food summit with the UN, he said. Gwyneth Paltrow is getting to the bottom of the "glazed donut" skincare trend! In a new episode of Hailey Bieber's Youtube series, Who's in My Bathroom, the model, 25, sits down with theOscar-winning actress and Goop founder as they both walk through their own skincare routines. The two entrepreneurs showcased both of their own lines of skincare. For Paltrow, 49, it's her line from Goop and for Bieber, her newly launched Rhode skincare. Paltrow showcases her products which includes an exfoliator, an oil, moisturizer, "sleep milk" a product the Goop founder says helps correct dark spots and fine lines and lastly a lip balm. Then, Bieber jumps into her "Rhode routine" starting with the Peptide Glazing Fluid. "Glazing fluid?," Paltrow asks. "What are you glazing?" "Glazing the skin, glazing the face," Bieber clarifies before telling Paltrow that she knows she wants to know more about "this glazed donut concept." Gwyneth Paltrow thought Hailey Biebers Glazed Donut skincare trend was sexual' Hailey Rhode Bieber/YouTube Gwyneth Paltrow and Hailey Bieber RELATED: Vanessa Hudgens Is the Latest Celeb to Try Out Hailey Bieber's Viral 'Glazed Donut' Manicure "I didn't come up with this concept," Bieber explained. "This is something that I feel like has always been in the skincare world. For me, its about the look, that sheen, that glowy glazy sheen. I don't want to go to bed at night unless I look like a freshly glazed donut." "Where did your head go?," Bieber asked Paltrow. "First it went to, like, does that mean someone wants to like lick your face?," she said before saying she thought "glazed donut" sounded "sexual." Bieber joked, "You're like 'What's this new position everybody's getting into? The Glazed Donut.' " After the two get out a giggle, Bieber continues with her routine sharing her line's Barrier Restore Cream and Peptide Lip Treatment. Bieber launched her Rhode skincare line last month, though just days later was hit with a lawsuit for trademark infringement by a 9-year-old fashion company that shares the name of her skincare line, Rhode which is Bieber's middle name. RHODE cofounders Purna Khatau and Phoebe Vickers asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for a preliminary injunction ordering Bieber to stop using "rhode" for her brand, according to documents provided to PEOPLE. They also asked her to change the name of her brand, as per a statement given to PEOPLE. On July 22, her company filed an emergency letter motion related to the making of rhode, a documentary on the brand that was released on Bieber's YouTube channel that day. RELATED: Hailey Bieber Wears 5 Outfits in 1 Day While Promoting New Skincare Line Rhode in N.Y.C. As per documents obtained by E! News, Bieber submitted the video to the court for review and, after viewing, the judge denied the preliminary injunction motion, allowing Bieber and her team to release the video and continue brand promotion as the trademark lawsuit continues. In the 17-minute YouTube video, Bieber touches upon the inspiration behind her brand's name, saying, "I always knew I wanted to create a brand around the name 'Rhode'," which is also her and her mother's middle name. Illinois vehicle thefts increased by more than 12% from 2019 to 2020, the most recent year for which data are available, according to the Illinois Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention & Insurance Verification Councils 2021 report. There were more vehicle thefts recorded in Illinois in 2020 than for any year after 2012, according to the report. While 65% of those vehicle thefts occurred in Cook County, St. Clair County recorded 775 vehicle that year, and Madison County reported 637. July is National Vehicle Theft Prevention Month, and there are several best practices motorists can use to mitigate the likelihood of vehicle thefts. Heres some data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau on which vehicles were most frequently stolen in Illinois, Missouri and nationally in 2021. Plus, read on for tips to prevent your vehicle from being stolen. Which vehicles are most often stolen? Heres the top 10 vehicles most often stolen in Illinois in 2021, per the NICB: 2014 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee 2020 Chevrolet Malibu 2020 Dodge Charger 2007 Toyota Camry 2015 Nissan Altima 2005 Ford pickup (full size) 2008 Chevrolet Impala 2021 Chevrolet pickup (full size) 2016 Honda Civic 2014 Honda Accord Heres NICBs 2021 list of the most frequently stolen vehicles in Missouri: 2004 Ford pickup (full size) 2005 Chevrolet pickup (full size) 2001 Dodge pickup (full size) 2020 Chevrolet Malibu 2015 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee 2020 Nissan Altima 2007 Toyota Camry 2004 GMC pickup (full size) 1997 Honda Accord 2008 Chevrolet Impala The NICB says these were these were the mostly commonly stolen vehicles across the U.S. in 2021: 2004 Chevrolet pickup (full size) 2006 Ford pickup (full size) 2000 Honda Civic 1997 Honda Accord 2007 Toyota Camry 2005 GMC pickup (full size) 2020 Nissan Altima 2000 Honda CR-V 2018 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee 2020 Toyota Corolla What can you do to protect your vehicle from theft? More than 800,000 vehicles were stolen in the U.S. in 2020, costing owners more than $7 billion, government data show. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers these tips to reduce thefts: Take your car key with you; dont leave it in or on your vehicle. Close and lock all windows and doors when you park. Park in well-lit areas. Dont leave valuables in your car, especially if they can be seen by passersby. Thieves will take more than wheel covers and radios. Some of the most popular vehicle parts or valuable items stolen from vehicles include doors, engines, transmissions, air bags, radios, GPS units, cell phones, iPads, laptops, and purses, the NHTSA says. Drivers can also try to protect their car with an anti-theft device, which makes a vehicle more difficult to steal or easier to recover. Alarms and steering wheel locks bring attention to or create a visual deterrence, the NHTSA says. Other devices can stop the flow of electricity or fuel to the engine to keep a thief from hot-wiring it. Recovery systems use electronic transmission technology to help police find a stolen vehicle. Victims of car theft should contact the police immediately to file a report, the NHTSA recommends, and they should reach out to their insurance company within 24 hours. An 11-year-old girl was struck and killed by a boat while tubing at a camp, Michigan authorities said. A 25-year-old lifeguard and 29-year-old spotter took a group of children out tubing on the lake on Wednesday, July 28, at the Michindoh Conference Center in Hillsdale, according to a news release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The lifeguard steered the speedboat while the spotter kept an eye on the 12 children riding the banana boat, an inflatable tube pulled behind the boat, the release said. The weather had been favorable for boating, and all the children wore helmets life jackets while riding the tube on an otherwise empty lake, the Department of Natural Resources said. At some point, a few of the children fell off the tube and into the water. When the boat returned to pick them up, it struck a child that they had not seen in the water, according to the release. Immediately, the lifeguard jumped in to help the child, bringing the 11-year-old girl back onto the boat and rushing her to the conference centers dock, officials said. Emergency personnel called by a woman at the conference center arrived to treat the girls life-threatening injuries, according to the release. Officials said the girl was taken to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The lifeguard had been certified in boater safety, officials said, and is cooperating with the investigation. Officials did not consider drugs or alcohol to be factors in the fatal accident. Hillsdale is about 95 miles southwest of Detroit, just north of the Michigan-Indiana-Ohio state line. Michindoh Conference Center did not respond to McClatchy News request for comment. Woman thrown from jet ski dies after hitting boat propeller, Colorado officials say Woman falls off bow of boat and gets sucked under it into propeller, Florida cops say 15-year-old swimmer dies after boat strikes her in the Ozarks, Missouri officials say At the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, antiabortion supporters rally Tuesday during debate of a Republican proposal to ban nearly all abortions in the state. (Michael Conroy / Associated Press) When a 10-year-old Ohio girl traveled to Indiana last month to end a pregnancy forced on her by a rapist, several conservative politicians and TV pundits called the report a hoax. After horrific details confirmed the case was real, some tried a new tack: claiming, without evidence, that the child could have still legally obtained an abortion in Ohio under a near-total abortion ban that exempts only women whose lives or major bodily functions are at risk once fetal cardiac activity is detected. Catherine Glenn Foster, president of the antiabortion Americans United for Life, suggested another purported defense for young rape victims: She told the House Judiciary Committee that a 10-year-old's pregnancy would probably impact her life and so, therefore, it would fall under any exception and would not be an abortion. In televised statements and interviews, antiabortion advocates have used misleading rhetoric about abortion access to downplay fallout and complications from restrictive abortion laws as doctors, struggling to interpret laws that have largely been untested in courts, turn away pregnant patients for care. Those efforts have had an immediate effect, casting a narrative about a post-Roe vs. Wade world that overlooks how abortion laws enacted in recent weeks have complicated the way doctors treat rape victims, miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. More than half a dozen doctors interviewed by the Associated Press said they feel compromised and uncertain operating in an abortion landscape fundamentally changed by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that rejected nearly 50 years of precedent that abortion was a protected constitutional right. Its a horrible position for healthcare providers to be in, to be unsure about whats legal and what's not legal, and to be questioning the care that they know that they should provide, said Dr. Jennifer Kerns, an associate professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UC San Francisco. Ohio Atty. Gen. Dave Yost, who initially questioned reporting of the 10-year-old girl's rape case, said in a Fox News Channel interview that she did not have to leave Ohio for abortion treatment, citing the states exemptions. Last week, Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis repeated the claim during a public forum: She could have had that abortion here. The laws Republican sponsor said the same in a newspaper column published Thursday. But there is little evidence to support their assertions. The states nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission confirmed in an analysis that the age of a pregnant girl, alone, would not allow her to legally access the procedure in the state. Doctors in Ohio are required to document a medical condition and rationale if they administer an abortion to provide life-saving treatment. Yosts office did not return a request for additional comment. Gonidakis laid out different scenarios to the AP under which the girl might have been able to access the abortion in Ohio, such as if a doctor agreed her life was at risk because of her age, while noting that he had not reviewed her medical records. Across social media, some conservatives have also minimized concerns about access to treatment for ectopic pregnancies, calling it still legal in every state. An ectopic pregnancy is defined as one in which a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus, where it has no chance of survival. Earlier this month, abortion opponent Erin Morrow Hawley told the House Reform and Oversight Committee that ectopic pregnancies had become the subject of misinformation. There have been social media posts suggesting that women wont get treated for an ectopic pregnancy because doctors might be afraid of performing the procedure, but thats absolutely false, said Hawley, an attorney at the religious nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom. Treatment for an ectopic pregnancy is not, in fact, an abortion. State abortion laws, however, have fueled confusion. Doctors generally agree that the procedure to an end an ectopic pregnancy, which typically includes medication or surgery to remove the pregnancy, is not the same as an abortion. But women reportedly have been declined care in states that have severely restricted abortion access, like Ohio, where an abortion is banned once fetal cardiac activity is detected. Fetal cardiac activity can still be present in ectopic pregnancies. In one case, a central Texas hospital told a physician not to treat an ectopic pregnancy until it ruptured, per a letter from the Texas Medical Assn. In an email to the AP, Hawley said that doctors who have turned away ectopic pregnancy patients because of abortion bans are misinterpreting the laws. Still, even before Roe vs. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in June, some religious hospitals had policies against treating women for ectopic pregnancies. And many states have not specified in their newly enacted abortion bans that an ectopic pregnancy can be treated as an exception. That's left doctors in some states leery of ending the pregnancy, said Dr. Kate White, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University School of Medicine. Lawmakers in West Virginia, for example, are considering an abortion ban that would carve out an exception for ectopic pregnancies. Clinicians may be afraid to treat it if the abortion law in their state does not explicitly carve out ectopic pregnancy. You can see their worry, Hey, growing pregnancy, cant interrupt it ever,' White said. They are afraid that the law is too broad. Seitz reported from Washington, Kelety reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Dr. Seusss books are famous. Now, Columbia has a chance to admire Seuss rare works at a gallery exhibit at Rob Shaw Gallery & Framing from Aug. 26 to Aug. 28. Seventy pieces of Seusss artwork, book illustrations, private paintings, political cartoons and unorthodox taxidermies will be on display at the West Columbia gallery, located at 324 State St. Valerie Jackson, owner of Jackson Gallery in Roswell, Georgia, has been collecting Dr. Seuss pieces for 25 years and enjoys traveling to galleries throughout the nation to display his works. This exhibit is very rare. ... So, what chances do people have walking into a gallery that has the art of Dr. Seuss? Jackson explained. I have a very large collection. Most galleries dont have the collection that I do. So even if you did walk into one, you would not see the inventory that I have. Limited edition pieces will be available for purchase from his Secret Art Collection and beloved illustrations from published books. Prices will range from $400+, and a new piece will be unveiled at the exhibit. Jackson will be present at the exhibition to talk about Dr. Seuss pieces and is eager to answer questions. She expects people from all over the state to visit the gallery. Theyre just really special to me. You know, I get joy, I have a big clientele for Dr. Seuss. And the people that have started purchasing and building their collection, they just love it. Hes probably more famous today than he was when he was alive, Jackson said. Rob Shaw said he is honored Jackson reached out to him to display her collection in West Columbia. Jackson has not toured galleries lately, so the Rob Shaw Gallery & Framing is her first event in a while. This will reach a wide audience. Kids love Dr. Seuss, and so many adults grew up with his books. There will be a lot of nostalgia, Shaw said. Some locals are already buzzing with excitement over Dr. Seuss rare collection. Shaws gallery was visited by a customer who thought the Seuss collection was held in July, which he thinks speaks to the bubbling anticipation. Theres so much excitement around it, that a person came a month early, Shaw said, laughing. People stand in front of damaged houses after flash flood hits the Torue Village of the Parigi Mutong District, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 29, 2022. Three people were killed and four others went missing as flash floods struck Indonesia's province of Central Sulawesi, and a search operation for the missing is underway, a senior local disaster agency officer said on Friday. (Photo by Adi Pranata/Xinhua) JAKARTA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and four others went missing as flash floods struck Indonesia's province of Central Sulawesi, and a search operation for the missing is underway, a senior local disaster agency officer said on Friday. Heavy downpours triggered the natural disaster that submerged all the houses in the Torue village of the Parigi Moutong district, said Idran MT. Lopi, head of the operational unit of the district's disaster management agency. "The water suddenly came and submerged all houses and buildings in our village last night (Thursday night)," he said. "After the impacted areas were checked, three people were killed and four others remained missing, while search and rescue office's personnel are looking for the missing people now," he told Xinhua by phone. As the water submerged the houses by about one meter high, villagers took shelters in higher grounds, he said, adding that evacuation centers and centers of logistics have been set up for disaster relief. Search and Rescue (SAR) team members search for flood victims at Torue Village in Parigi Mutong District, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 30, 2022. Three people were killed and four others went missing as flash floods struck Central Sulawesi, and a search operation for the missing is underway. (Photo by Adi Pranata/Xinhua) People clean mud from their houses after flash flood hits the Torue Village of the Parigi Mutong District, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, July 29, 2022. Three people were killed and four others went missing as flash floods struck Indonesia's province of Central Sulawesi, and a search operation for the missing is underway, a senior local disaster agency officer said on Friday. (Photo by Adi Pranata/Xinhua) So remember when I reported back in May that Balance Coffee & Tea would not reopen? This is still the case. However, the old train depot will still be home to a cafe and coffee roasting facility. Belleville-based LongStory Coffee announced this month via Facebook that they will open a cafe and roastery at 732 S. Illinois St. in Belleville. Balance closed in mid-March. The owner wanted to sell the Balance Coffee & Tea brand in hopes the cafe could be reopened. In May, the Balance Facebook page said that would not happen, and the cafe permanently closed. Word of LongStory setting up shop in the old train depot was kept pretty quiet (not always an easy thing to do here in Belleville). Once word got out, LongStory Coffee owner and head roaster Erik Busch said that public response to the July 18 Facebook announcement was huge, bringing excited responses from existing followers of LongStory Coffee, as well as those from Balance. Plans for the shop In the weeks leading up to the announcement, Busch worked inside the building, clearing the entire space to start with a clean slate. New construction will include a partial wall on the west end of the building, hiding the existing restroom areas (because no one really wants to see those while sipping their morning joe or nibbling on tasty vittles). In keeping with the latest design for LongStorys coffee packaging, a book-themed mural will adorn the new wall. The old train depot at 732 S. Illinois St. in Belleville is being transformed into LongStory Coffees new cafe and coffee roastery, which is slated to open later this year. Work is also being done on what was Balances former roasting room. This space was stripped down to the studs and will be rebuilt as a kitchen. Busch is currently looking for a business such as a new start-up or home-based kitchen or food truck looking to expand interested in renting the kitchen space and providing hot breakfast and lunch food items for the cafe. The kitchen will have a walk-up order window, and the tenant will be able to make their own hours of operation. Whoever leases the kitchen area will be able to offer better food than we could ever offer, said Busch. Anyone interested in leasing the kitchen space at the new cafe can send an email to longstorycoffee@yahoo.com. LongStorys own serving counter will be placed at the front of the building, just inside the main entrance. Bar seating will run along the counter. Busch said that in old photos of the train depot, the ticket counter was in this space, so it makes sense to him to have their serving counter in the same place. In addition to coffees and other beverages, cold food items pastries, grab-and-go items will be available. The main seating area will be loungy (yes, this is a real word), living room-themed and take up a good amount of the buildings floor space. All of the buildings existing doors will be functional, as will the small windows above them, according to Busch, allowing for an open, airy atmosphere during nicer weather. The new roasting room is in the east of the building, which was previously closed to the public. A new roaster delivered to the site in mid-July looks a bit like a train, very fitting for the 1920s building. A new coffee roaster was delivered to LongStory Coffee in mid-July. Outside, the small driving path along the front of the building will be an entry-only lane that will lead to a lined parking area at the east end of the building. Handicapped parking and numbered curbside pickup spaces will be available in front. The back of the building will have additional angled parking. Busch plans to expand the outdoor seating area at the front of the building. A partition between the tables and entry lane will be included. One of the doors in front of the building will connect to the inside counter area. Busch said he would like to see that as a way for staff to access outdoor customers. He would also like to have a walk-up window in that area for placing orders too. From craft beer to coffee Busch previously studied brewing and fermentation technology, interned at 4 Hands Brewing Co. and recently ended a five-year gig working for Schlafly Beer. He even planned to open his own brewery, once upon a time, but those plans never came to fruition. In 2019, Busch said he received a small, tabletop coffee roaster for Christmas from his fiancees father. Busch said he loved it and just became obsessed with it. It wasnt long before what started as a hobby started to grow. Plans he once had to open a brewery evolved into the start of a productive coffee roasting business. LongStory Coffee became an official business in February 2020, when Busch attended the Schlafly Winter Market as a first-time vendor to sell his coffee. Things went very well, said Busch. LongStory Coffee continued to sell at area markets, through its website and in local shops like Bellevilles Down the Hall Homebrew and Vincents Market in Soulard. In May 2021, Busch secured a vendor space at OFallons Vine Street Market and was able to really grow the business and build a stronger customer base. A quality coffee experience LongStory will serve pour-over coffees, espresso drinks, and even drip coffee. Busch plans to include multiple taps for their nitro coffee, a style that is increasingly popular among coffee drinkers. (Think coffee with a thicker, creamier texture and a dense, foamy head, like a Guinness.) He uses what hes learned about brewing beer and incorporates it into his coffee roasting and brewing. Some of LongStorys coffee is aged in used beer and whiskey barrels. One recent blend was LongStorys Yamaraja, a medium roast coffee aged in a Buffalo Trace barrel. (Unfortunately, this ones sold out. And no, I didnt get any either, but there will be others.) Busch is building relationships with area liquor stores to obtain empty barrels to age his coffees. Currently sitting in the new roasting room are two bourbon barrels, one from a batch of Old Elk, donated by Randalls Wine & Spirits, and another from New Riff, donated by Clayton Winehouse. Some of these barrel-aged coffees are packaged and sold directly to LongStorys customers, but the bulk of it will be returned to and sold by the stores that donated the barrels. Busch said theres interest from Stumpys Spirits Distillery and Switchgrass Spirits for a similar collaboration. He also said that somewhere down the road he hopes to work with Schlafly too. Working with Teatopia in St. Louis is also getting my tea game up, said Busch, who would love to do a nitro tea. Busch takes coffee roasting classes, saying that there are always new ways to roast and ferment coffee beans. He plans to continue his education to stay on top of his game and make the best quality coffees possible. He would also love to offer roasting classes and cupping, or tasting events. Busch said he wants to give people more than just a caffeine fix. He wants to provide an experience. About LongStory Coffee LongStory Coffees cafe and roastery is located at 732 S. Illinois St. in Belleville. Busch expects to open in late summer/early fall. Until then, LongStory Coffee can be purchased at OFallons Vine Street Market 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays or online at longstorycoffee.com. For updates and info, visit facebook.com/LongStoryCoffee. A counselor at a Meridian mental health clinic was arrested by police Wednesday afternoon after the man was charged with two felonies related to the sexual abuse of a minor under 16. Jamus Edward McCullough, 46, was charged with one count of child sexual abuse of a minor under 16 years old and one count of intimidating, influencing, impeding or deterring a witness from testifying in a criminal or juvenile matter, according to online court records. McCullough, of Boise, is a licensed professional counselor, according to online records from the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses. A document obtained by the Idaho Statesman confirmed McCullough worked at Advanced Clinical Trauma Services in Meridian. A former patient of McCullough also confirmed to the Statesman that McCullough was employed at the clinic, and that part of his job was working with children. The patient spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of backlash. Boise police investigate sex abuse report On July 21, Boise police received a report of sexual abuse between McCullough and a female minor, whom McCullough knew, that occurred at an unidentified Boise location, spokesperson Haley Williams told the Statesman by email. Williams said detectives from Boise Police Departments Special Victims Unit responded and took over the investigation. The detectives also found evidence that McCullough made statements to the victim to deter her from speaking about the incident, Williams said. During the investigation, a warrant was issued for McCulloughs arrest, and officers arrested him without incident Wednesday in Meridian, Williams said. McCullough appeared to have been arrested at the Meridian clinic where he worked. Advanced Clinical Trauma Services sent an email to employees that said an incident took place involving police on Wednesday at the clinics Meridian offices. Williams confirmed to the Statesman the street where McCullough was arrested the same street of the mental health clinic but didnt provide additional details. McCullough was booked into Ada County Jail on Wednesday afternoon, according to court and jail records. McCulloughs bond was set at $100,000, jail records showed. Everyone is safe, and we appreciate the calm professionalism displayed (by) staff for the benefit of our clients under such adverse conditions, the clinic said in the email. This is a breaking news story. Check back to idahostatesman.com for updates. To sign up for breaking news alerts, click here. A man accidentally shot and killed a woman Thursday, Caldwell police said. Officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 5100 block of Danville Street early in the day, according to a news release from the Caldwell Police Department. Police said they found a 59-year-old woman who was shot once in the chest. The woman was treated by paramedics, but she died at the scene. Steven Smith, 53, of Caldwell, told 911 dispatch that he shot the woman accidentally, police said. He was arrested and booked into the Canyon County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder, according to a news release from the department and online jail records. The pair lived together, police said. The Idaho Statesman has reached out to Caldwell police for more information. Authorities said they did not believe anyone else was involved in the incident, and there was no ongoing threat to the public. Caldwell detectives were investigating the shooting with the help of the Canyon Countys Sheriffs Offices Crime Lab team. The Miami Hurricanes just got their second large commitment in two days for the Class of 2023 this time large as in 6-6, 330 pounds. Three-star offensive lineman Tommy Kinsler, who decommitted from the Florida Gators on July 2 on the heels of his official visit to the University of Miami the previous weekend, chose Miami over the Gators and Florida State on Thursday night. Kinsler plays for Trinity Catholic in Ocala. Gods plan 305 lets go, Kinsler posted on Twitter, accompanied by an emoji of hands throwing up the U above a graphic of his photos. Gods plan 305 lets go pic.twitter.com/4jFWTfm1Bm Tommy Kinsler AKA Bruno (@tommykinsler) July 28, 2022 On Wednesday, the Canes got a pledge from four-star linebacker Malik Bryant, rated the No. 1 linebacker in the nation by Rivals.com and the No. 4 by 247Sports and considered one of the most important commitments theyve received yet. Miami coach Mario Cristobals recruiting prowess is on fire, as eight four- or five-star players have committed to the Class of 2023 in the past month quarterback Jaden Rashada, wide receiver Nathaniel Joseph, tight end Riley Williams, offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa, edge rusher Jayden Wayne, linebacker Raul Aguirre, athlete Robert Stafford and Bryant. Kinsler, who said he would make his announcement during his moms birthday dinner, is rated 66th best at his position in the 247Sports composite rankings and the 57th best offensive tackle by On3.com. Rivals has him as a three-star tackle without a national ranking, but he could play inside for the Canes. Kinsler said after he decommitted from the Gators that he had made his initial commitment decision prematurely but had not ruled Florida out. His first commitment came on June 19 after his official visit to UF. Miami now has 16 commitments for 2023, including four offensive linemen. Before Kinslers pledge on Thursday, UMs 2023 class was ranked No. 5 by On3, No 8 by 247Sports and No. 10 by Rivals. A car dealer and three other men were charged in a murder-for-hire plot more than two years after a Tennessee couple was shot to death and dumped at a Nashville construction site, federal prosecutors say. The car dealer, Erik Charles Maund, 47, of Austin, Texas, is accused of paying more than $750,000 to three men for taking part in the murder of the woman, who he previously had a relationship with, and her boyfriend, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Tennessee. In addition to Maund, Gilad Peled, 48, and Bryon Brockway, 47, also from Austin, and Adam Carey, 31, of Richlands, North Carolina, were charged with murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap resulting in death, and kidnapping resulting in death in a superseding indictment, a July 28 news release says. Brockway and Carey were former active-duty marines and Peled was a former Israeli Defense Forces member, court documents show. McClatchy News contacted attorneys listed for the men on July 29. An attorney for Maund declined to comment. Before the Nashville couple was shot to death in March 2020, Maund, a married man, was a partner in Maund Automotive Group in Austin, an indictment states. This company had Toyota and Volkswagen dealerships and was founded by Maunds father. In February 2020, Maund messaged the Nashville woman that he would be in the area and told her he would love to see (her) again, according to court documents. Then, he allegedly arranged to meet her at a Nashville hotel where he would stay. Their communications led to the womans boyfriend texting Maund with demands for money or he would expose their relationship, prosecutors say. The murder-for-hire plot To deal with the mans extortionate demands, Maund is accused of hiring Brockway, Carey and Peled who, at the time, owned a security services business that was involved in responding to extortion attempts, an indictment shows. Then, the Nashville couple was unknowingly put under surveillance by Carey and others who traveled to Tennessee to keep tabs on them and used a Pinger account to try to communicate with them, the news release says. On March 9, 2020, two days before the murders, Peled received a document showing the womans apartment complex address and car, as well as information confirming the man stayed at her home, prosecutors say. The document also advised that Carey and others would use everything at their disposal to stop the attempted extortion of Maund, according to the release. The murders On March 11, 2020, prosecutors say Brockway and Carey, armed with guns, arrived at the womans apartment complex and confronted the couple before shooting the man to death in the parking lot. Brockway and Carey are accused of then kidnapping the woman and loading the mans body into a car before driving to a construction site in Nashville, according to the release. At the site, the woman was fatally shot several times and her body, as well as the mans, was discarded there, according to prosecutors. Within hours of the murders, the Pinger account used to communicate was deleted and a rental car rented by Brockway was returned, the release says. That same day, Maund transferred more than $750,000 to a bank account that Peled controlled to pay the three men for the kidnapping and murder of the couple, prosecutors say. All four men were arrested in December 2021 and have stayed in law enforcement custody since, according to the release. While in custody, Maund was accused of trying to have a co-conspirator killed after they wanted more money for taking part in the alleged crimes, prosecutors say. Maund agreed to pay the co-conspirator an additional $25,000 and then offered Peled $50,000 to arrange to pay Brockway $100,000 for the murder of the co-conspirator, to cut off any future requests for payment for the original murders, the release says. If the four men are convicted on the charges they face, they could be sentenced to up to life in prison, according to the attorneys office. Cartel-orchestrated shooting outside Chilis was a murder-for-hire plot, Texas cops say Businessman hired nephew to gun down ex-employee who started rival company, feds say Man tries to hire hitman for $13,000 to kill woman he briefly dated, feds say Man had gang kill girlfriend after she became a drug trafficking informant, feds say Cassandra Greer-Lee lost her husband, Nickolas Lee, to COVID-19 in April 2020 while he was incarcerated in Chicagos Cook County Jail, the largest single-site jail in the U.S. Lee was just the third person to die of the virus in the pretrial detention facility, whose population typically hovers around 6,000 inmates, during a period when there wasnt much information available about the viruss spread and containment. Since then, at least a dozen more deaths of incarcerated people and jail staff have followed, according to the jails records, causing human rights activists to take a closer look. Over time, frustration with jail leadership with regard to the facilitys general upkeep and care for detainees has only intensified as more inmates have died. Some of the deaths have been COVID-related and others not, leaving critics questioning the jails commitment to keeping inmates safe. My husband died of pure negligence, Greer-Lee told Yahoo News, noting that she called the sheriffs office and jail hospital at least 132 times when her husband fell ill and said nearly all the calls went unanswered. He walked into the Cook County Jail a healthy 42-year-old man, and he left out in a body bag. The Cook County Department of Corrections in Chicago. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images) Cook County officials, however, reject the notion that they dont do everything in their power to protect people in their facility and that the jail is any more dangerous than any other one in America. They claim Lee was taken to the hospital as soon as he told medical staff he was sick. The sheriff's office said in a statement that it had no record of Greer-Lees complaints or of her calls. The Cook County Sheriffs Office works very hard to protect the health and safety of individuals ordered into its custody, Matthew Walberg, press secretary for the sheriffs office, told Yahoo News in an email. We operate one of the largest jails in the United States, and while every death is tragic, we have for years recorded fewer deaths in custody than comparable jails. Greer-Lee claims that in her experience, that couldnt be further from the truth. She says her husband told her and jail staff of symptoms as early as March 29, 2020. More than a week passed before anything was done, she said. He was finally admitted to a hospital on April 6. Six days later he was dead. According to the jails data, which was shared with Yahoo News, from 2017 through 2021 there were a total of 57 deaths of incarcerated people in Cook County custody a sum that falls just under the national jail mortality rate. This year, the jail says, there have been three deaths thus far. While resources to verify the data are not readily available, advocates believe the numbers could be even higher. For Cook County officials, these numbers exemplify a jail under good management. For critics, the numbers are evidence of a jail in peril. A view of the exterior of the Cook County Jail complex. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Greer-Lee has seemingly been on a one-woman crusade for the last 18 months, seeking to hold the leadership at Cook County Jail responsible for what she calls carelessness and to ultimately get the current jail administration removed. Their actions, she says, led to the avoidable deaths of her husband and a slew of other incarcerated people as well as inhumane conditions including roach and rodent infestation and mold that causes sickness. You have people back there that have been there for nine, 10 years, she said. People are sick back there. Theyre not getting health care. Its rodents, and they dont have the things that they need, like everyday essentials. Im not saying this has to be like a Holiday Inn or a suite, but soap, sanitizing products and tissue you shouldnt have to beg for those things. Every day Greer-Lee stands outside the jail at 1 p.m. in protest, seeking accountability for the lives lost and hoping to prevent future deaths. Cook County officials disagree. Every single thing was done to protect our staff, who worked tirelessly, and the individuals remanded to the custody of the jail since the beginning of the pandemic, Walberg said. These allegations about lack of PPE, cleaning supplies and soap are tired, false reiterations of claims made two years ago, and they are as demonstrably untrue now as they were then. Much of the blame for the jails delinquency, according to Greer-Lee, falls squarely on the shoulders of Tom Dart, the county's sheriff. Dart, who has held the position since 2006, has brought an aggressive yet innovative approach to law enforcement, according to his personal website, and in 2009 he was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, praised for reducing the large number of evictions across the county during the previous year. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. (Joshua Lott for the Washington Post via Getty Images) But according to Darts biggest critics, that only tells a portion of who he is. Nicholas Zaeyda, a lieutenant at the jail, told Yahoo News that at least eight officers he knows of have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic. Zaeyda, whos currently running to replace Dart, has spent the last 23 years working at the jail and prior to that spent a decade as an interrogation specialist with the U.S. Army. We are doing our job with handcuffs on due to severely limited resources available to officers to combat a COVID surge, he said, adding that favoritism within the ranks has ballooned the number of directors well into the hundreds and no one knows who is in charge. Cook County officials shared data of the office structure, which includes eight officer roles ranging from executive director to correctional officer. According to their numbers, no role above the rank of lieutenant exceeds 12 officers. There are 100 lieutenants, 163 sergeants and more than 2,000 correctional officers. Walberg rejected claims that staff lacked concern for the deadly virus. Any allegations of a general lack of concern for COVID the entire time and guards' carelessness with concern for inmates was due to a lack of leadership from the top down, starting with Dart are ignorant and offensive, he said. Those who would say this completely ignore the sacrifices the sheriff and our staff have made. The sheriff's office also noted that Zaeyda was suspended for 60 days late last year for insubordination. Still, deaths in the jail have continued. Under Darts leadership, just last month 24-year-old Raheem Hatter was found unresponsive on the floor of his cell with injuries to his head, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. An autopsy report from the jails medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. Hatters family was reportedly never notified of his death, but instead learned about it from an Instagram post. Dart with inmates at Cook County Jail as they line up to vote in the Illinois primary election in 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Just over a year ago, another detainee, Nickolas Lockett, was found dead in his cell less than a week after pleading guilty to aggravated battery of a police officer. The initial investigation found no signs of foul play or indications of suicide, and an autopsy was inconclusive. But critics believe there is more to the story. He finally wanted to get it together, Locketts mother, Mary Lopez, told the Chicago Tribune. And why is it when they want to change, something happens to them? A group of educators and researchers who were motivated by the inequities they saw across Illinois jails put together their own data on inmate deaths across the state. Using public records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, they found that from 2010 to 2021, 80 to 100 people died in custody in Illinois prisons, according to the Illinois Deaths in Custody Project. But their data for jails is incomplete, one of the authors of the report told Yahoo News, because there is no requirement from the system to share any of this information. We often have the cause of death that the state provides, but having to verify this information is a challenge, said Erica Meiners, a professor of education and womens, gender and sexuality studies at Northeastern Illinois University. People are often trying to get information from the system, and there is no requirement from the system to share any information. ... Theres no teeth. The goal of the project was to increase the transparency of deaths in prison, but Meiners notes that the real outrage should be focused toward the high number of Americans in the jail and prison system, particularly because confinement often takes the place of addressing the serious mental health issues that face the most marginalized groups. With more than 2 million people in jail at any given time, the U.S. far outpaces the incarceration rate of any other country in the world. The reason why we have people dying in prisons and jails is because we are using prisons and jails as a way to address poverty and all kinds of issues that it shouldnt be addressing, Meiners said. We need to shrink our reliance on our prison system and our jail system. ... The only way to stop people from dying in jails and prisons is to make sure they don't get there in the first place. Inmates at Cook County Jail. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) The most recent comprehensive report on Cook County Jail inmate mortality rates, published in 2007 in the Journal of Urban Health, found that from 1995 to 2004, 178 inmates died in the jail, an average of nearly 20 deaths a year. The vast majority of these deaths were Black men who died from sickness or homicide. These events occurred before Dart assumed his current role. The office of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not respond to Yahoo News request for comment, but advocates say she has been a steadfast Dart supporter in wanting to increase the jails population. Dart currently operates a budget of $600 million as the jails chief officer. He was sued by civil rights attorneys at three law firms with support from the Chicago Community Bond Fund in April 2020 for not having enough COVID precautions. People were complaining and no one was listening, former inmate Anthony Johnson, who contracted COVID-19 in the jail that April, told Southside Weekly, a nonprofit local newspaper based in Chicago. It was going through the jail like wildfire [and the strategy of the sheriffs office] was just trial and error. ... The fact is, they didnt know what to do. The court issued a preliminary injunction that required personal protective equipment, soap, sanitizer and social distancing, but Dart sought to overturn these mandates. He was successful at getting the social distancing requirement lifted by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals even as jails in other states began to release thousands of nonviolent, low-level inmates. In addition to Cook County, jails across the country saw COVID-19 unleash havoc as millions of inmates became infected with the virus amid a perfect storm of conditions. Specifically, that meant large numbers of people with limited space to social distance, along with a lack of sanitary supplies and patients dealing with mental health issues going unchecked. This jail churn effectively produces epidemic machines that seed outbreaks both in and beyond jails, undermining public safety for the entire country, Dr. Eric Reinhart of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine told NPR last year. Cook County Jail detainees. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images) Efforts to curb the deaths inside Cook County, advocates say, did not go nearly far enough. As early as March 2020, more than 100 organizations coordinated by the Chicago Community Bond Fund, a nonprofit that advocates for an end to pretrial detention, signed an open letter to Cook County Jail about what was needed to curb the spread of COVID-19. Advocates say their concerns were largely ignored as inmates started dying. The bond fund petitioned for mass release of low-level, nonviolent inmates, but to no avail. Later it was reported that inmates were complaining that new arrivals were not being tested at initial processing into the jail, there was insufficient PPE for inmates and staff, and those who were symptomatic were often denied prompt treatment, if any. The jail eventually did reduce its size in the spring of 2020 and moved detainees to single cells, which saved dozens of lives and prevented hundreds of hospitalizations, researchers at Stanford and Yale universities found in a study published early last year. Taken together, these measures not only have bearing for the correctional facility, but also for the community health systems that surround the jail, the authors of the study wrote. Our findings suggest that depopulation efforts should be a primary strategy for COVID-19 mitigation in jails. Dart called the study vindication for the jails effective precautions, while human rights advocates saw it as proof that properly managing the virus saves lives, and even more deaths could have been prevented. Inmates reportedly called the jails effort to slow COVID smoke and mirrors, claiming they had to fend for themselves. Many refused to congregate in groups, having to disobey officers orders to do so. Others slept in the hallways outside their cells to keep distance, shared cleaning supplies or used T-shirts to make handmade masks. Earlier this year, an inmate named Tommie Davis told Injustice Watch, a nonprofit journalism organization, that over New Years at least six men who showed COVID symptoms were isolated for six days and then were returned to the general population without being administered a COVID test. Davis described this experience in stark terms. Its just terrible, he said. This is like being in hell. Not jail hell. With nearly 400 cases of COVID-19 having been diagnosed among its inmates and employees, Cook County Jail is the nation's largest-known source of coronavirus infections. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Cook County Jail officials told Injustice Watch that they could not confirm or deny that account, but said the jail was following guidance from local and federal health departments for testing and quarantines. There are currently more than 5,000 inmates housed in the jail on any given day, and more than 74% of the population is Black. Mark Clements was an inmate in early March 2020. He spent two days inside the jail for posting to Facebook that the Illinois governor needs his butt whooped for keeping families inside the jail. Clements told Yahoo News that in his experience, there were no safeguards for inmates at Cook County Jail and said guards didnt give a f*** if all of the people there had died. Clements recalls guards not wearing masks and not being concerned for the well-being of inmates within the facility. What I seen personally at the jail was negligence by many of the sheriffs, he said. As for current COVID precautions for the jail, Walberg said there is a COVID test administered to all incoming inmates, vaccines are available for staff members and detainees and PPE remains readily available. We continue to work closely with Cermak Health Services, the Chicago Department of Public Health, as well as state and federal public health authorities to ensure that our COVID-19 protocols are either setting or following best practices, Walberg said. It is a testament to our initial efforts that many of the protocols that were developed at the beginning of the pandemic are still effective and in use today. Greer-Lee says she doesnt trust leadership at Cook County. Instead, she says shes committed to sharing her frustrations about the jail in hopes of preventing more avoidable deaths. Inmate lives do not matter here in Chicago, she said. _____ Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Cassandra Greer-Lee, Scott Olson/Getty Images FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Wauwatosa Police Department in Wauwatosa, Wis., shows then-Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah. The parents of a teenager who was one of three people who were killed by the former Wisconsin police officer over a five-year span filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday, July 28, 2022, alleging he used excessive force and that the department he worked for embraces and promotes racism. (Gary Monreal/Monreal Photography LLC/Wauwatosa Police Department via AP, File) MADISON, Wis. (AP) The parents of a teenager who was one of three people killed by a former Wisconsin police officer over a five-year span filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday alleging that he used excessive force and that the department he worked for embraces and promotes racism. Alvin Cole's parents, Tracy and Albert Cole, are seeking unspecified damages from former Wauwatosa Officer Joseph Mensah, the city's former police chief, Barry Weber, and its insurance company in connection with their son's death. Mensah shot the 17-year-old during a foot chase outside a mall in February 2020. Mensah said the teen fired first. Alvin Cole was the third person Mensah shot and killed during a five-year stretch with the Wauwatosa Police Department. Mensah killed Antonio Gonzales in 2015 after Gonzales refused to drop a sword, according to prosecutors. He killed Jay Anderson in 2016 after he found Anderson sleeping in a car in a park after hours. Prosecutors said Anderson reached for a gun on the passenger seat. Mensah is Black, Anderson and Alvin Cole were Black and Gonzales identified as Native American. Related video: Cole family attorney fought tickets issued to protesters in February 2021 Mensah wasn't charged in any of the shootings. Anderson's and Gonzales' families filed federal civil lawsuits last year against Mensah, Weber and the city. Those cases are still pending. The latest lawsuit alleges that Alvin Cole accidentally shot himself during the chase and was on the ground trying to comply with officers' commands when Mensah ran up and shot him five times without giving him any commands. This amounts to unconstitutional excessive force, the suit contends. The lawsuit also asserts that race was a motivating factor in Mensah's decision to open fire, insisting that Mensah treated Alvin Cole worse than he would have treated a white person in the same situation. The lawsuit also argues the Wauwatosa Police Department embraces and promotes racism, arguing that Black people were barred from living in certain parts of the city into the 1980s and that several members of the department attended so-called MLK parties in blackface in the 1980s and 1990s but were never disciplined. The lawsuit goes on to allege that 83% of the department's arrests in 2018 were of Black people even though Black people only made up 5.3% of the city's population that year. Mensah's attorney, Jonathan Cermele, didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Weber retired in June 2021; his attorney, Ann Wirth, also didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Wauwatosa City Attorney Alan Kesner declined to comment, saying the city hadn't been served with the lawsuit yet and that he hadn't seen the filing. Mensah resigned from the police department under pressure in 2020 and joined the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department. Human rights attorney Kimberley Motley is representing the Cole, Anderson and Gonzales families in their lawsuits. She persuaded Milwaukee County Judge Glenn Yamahiro to revisit whether to file charges in Anderson's case last year. Two special prosecutors Yamahiro appointed to review the case declined to file charges in June, saying they wouldn't be able to prove Mensah didn't act in self-defense. Hours before another round of heavy rain struck southwestern Illinois Thursday afternoon, some displaced East St. Louis residents worried about where theyll live. They said they havent received any answers from the city since their neighborhood was flooded Tuesday. If they come speak with us and let us know whats going on, that would be good, said Denise Smith, who lives on Terrace Drive. We need some type of communication because I feel like Im about to have an anxiety attack. Smith said her family, including her 2-year-old daughter, was taken to a hotel inside Casino Queen after severe rainfall Tuesday caused flash flooding. Smith has lived in her home on 725 Terrace Drive for nearly a year and hadnt experienced severe flooding in the neighborhood until now. Terrace Drive and parts of Mary Avenue were still flooded as of Thursday afternoon, even before another round of torrential rain fell later in the day. Four days ago, I got my car fixed, Smith, 34, said. It was $2,500 to get it fixed, and now its submerged in water. Basically, I lost everything. Illinois is not even under national disaster, so were not getting help from FEMA or anything right now, so the only thing were doing is living day by day. Im hearing the city pumps arent working as they should, so if all of this was fixed, we wouldnt be having the issues that we have. Almost 24 hours after most of the rain stopped in the region, homes and vehicles on Terrace Dr. in East St. Louis still remain flooded. Were still displaced and homeless City officials in East St. Louis did not respond directly to Smiths concerns on Thursday. On Tuesday, East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern III declared a state of emergency, and city hall was provided as a makeshift shelter for residents. St. Clair County declared a flood disaster on Thursday. County workers were seen installing pumps to help drained areas in East St. Louis on Thursday afternoon. Twenty-five familes in East St. Louis have been rescued and displaced since Tuesday, according to a press release sent by the city on Thursday afternoon. Since the moment the flooding occurred, I have been working diligently with our public safety, public works and emergency management staff to address the needs of our residents which included food, clothing, medication, and temporary housing, Eastern said in the press release. The City of East St. Louis is currently coordinating emergency assistance for displaced residents in partnership with the United Way of Greater of St. Louis, State Representative LaToya Greenwood, State Senator Christopher Belt, Illinois Emergency Management and other nonprofit organizations. My heart goes out to the residents who were affected by the storm. Sharon Franklin, who also resides on Terrace Drive, is frustrated by what she said is a lack of communication from the city. Her family is staying in the Casino Queen, but she doesnt know how long theyll be able to stay there. Gateway Pet Guardians used a boat to help pet owners rescue two cats and dog from their home on Terrace Dr. in East St. Louis. The pets have been trapped in the home since the owners were forced out due to rising flood waters that still remain. We got here Tuesday, and they informed us of a check-out date of Thursday, and we have nowhere to go, Franklin said. They were talking about sending us over to shelters, and I have special needs children, and I cant have that, so its just terrible.Were stuck, and we dont know anything. Franklin hopes their stay can be extended until next week. On Thursday, staff and volunteers from Gateway Pet Guardians provided a boat for Sharon to rescue her pets from her home. But she still isnt sure of whats next for her family. Were still displaced and homeless, Franklin said. A lot of us have funds, but we dont have enough to get a place. We need a contingency plan, and no one has that. (The hotel has) a bed to sleep in, and thats cool and everything, but you still have that vision in your head when they say you have to go and what are you going to do next? The city is encouraging residents in need of assistance to call United Way of Greater St. Louis at 2-1-1, Urban League at (618) 274-1150, and Community Lifeline at (618) 482-2950. A family physician, right, and resident perform a surgical abortion on a 39-year-old woman. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) Dr. Nikki Zite explained the situation to her patient: Her pregnancy could kill her. The 37-year-old patient, who was nine weeks along, had suffered damage to her heart during her last pregnancy, and her chances of heart failure this time were somewhere between 25% and 50%. With three children to raise, the patient decided that was a risk she could not bear. Zite performed an abortion. That was in 2018. Today, the Tennessee obstetrician-gynecologist isn't sure terminating such a pregnancy would even be legal. Like the other 11 states that have already banned abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade last month, Tennessee makes an exception when a pregnant person's life is in jeopardy. But that determination often comes down to a judgment call. How much risk is enough to justify an abortion? What if a patient develops a dangerous infection like sepsis? What if their kidneys show signs of failure? How long is it necessary to wait to see whether things improve? The laws are vague on those questions. In Tennessee, doctors must prove "by a preponderance of the evidence" that an abortion is "necessary to prevent the death of pregnant woman or prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function. Zite said her hospital in Knoxville now requires at least two physicians to agree an abortion is warranted. I fully intend to follow the law, but I worry about my interpretation," she said. Even if the whole hospital team agrees, I dont have assurance that the attorney general will agree. She recently took an American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology exam to update her credentials, and though she knew the correct answers regarding medically necessary abortions, it occurred to her that following those standards might now be illegal in her state. Until someone is arrested, we won't know what these laws mean," Zite said. "That's a hard way to practice medicine. The penalties for doctors can be severe, with fines up to $100,000 and prison sentences as long as 15 years with Texas set to make the maximum punishment life behind bars. In interviews, doctors said that fears of prosecution are muddling their ability to exercise their medical judgment. The scrub tech, the nurse, and the anesthesiologist could all go to jail if they make the wrong call, said Dr. Rebekah Gee, a gynecologist who headed the Louisiana Department of Health from 2016 to 2020. I went to Harvard and Cornell and spent eight years refining my clinical judgment, and now a lawyer with no medical knowledge is deciding a patients fate." "We doctors were not trained to wait until shes nearly ready to breathe her last breath, she said. Gee predicted that some people who need abortions will die because doctors will be hesitant to perform them and that the victims will disproportionately be low-income women of color. Those are the patients least likely to be able to travel out of state for immediate care. Black, Latino and Native American women already die from pregnancy-related causes at two to three times the rate that white women die, because of preexisting health disparities and lower-quality care, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These politicians intentions were to prevent elective abortion, but what they did here goes far beyond that," Gee said. "I believe it will take women dying to get these unsophisticated laws changed. Dr. Valerie Williams, an obstetrician-gynecologist in New Orleans, said in a sworn affidavit this monththat a hospital lawyer prevented her from using the preferred method known as dilation and evacuation to remove a nonviable fetus from a patient whose water broke at 16 weeks. "Going back into that hospital room and telling the patient that she would have to be induced and push out that fetus was one of the hardest conversations I've ever had," Williams wrote. The patient lost nearly a liter of blood and was screaming not from pain, but from the emotional trauma, the affidavit said. This was the first time in my 15-year career that I could not give a patient the care they needed. This is a travesty. In perhaps the best-known abortion case since Roe was overturned, a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio traveled to Indiana in late Juneto end her pregnancy. The ban in Ohio makes no exceptions in cases of rape or pregnant children, though doctors say that giving birth at such a young age poses numerous risks to a patient's life. Even clear-cut cases have gotten bogged down in the bureaucracy of the new legal landscape. Dr. Mae Winchester, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Cleveland, said she recently had a patient who was 19 weeks pregnant show up at the hospital with a fever, a climbing heart rate and a white blood cell count that had doubled in 12 hours all signs of sepsis. It would be five more weeks before the fetus had any chance of surviving outside the womb and Winchester knew the woman needed an abortion to save her life. But the doctor couldnt proceed until she had campaigned for second opinions and received final approval from a hospital lawyer. Even then, the hospital required Winchester to ask the patient whether she wanted to hear the heartbeat. The woman cried as she listened on the ultrasound machine. A study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine found widespread variation in how doctors in Texas interpreted legal exceptions to the law that took effect there last fall effectively banning abortions after six weeks. Some physicians said they believed they could end a pregnancy if the patients water were to break before the fetus was viable. Others believed they would need to wait until the patient developed a life-threatening infection. In multiple cases, the treating clinicians believing, on the basis of their own or their hospitals interpretation of the law, that they could not provide early intervention sent patients home, only to see them return with signs of sepsis, the authors wrote. The only patient able to obtain an abortion at one hospital was a woman whose severe cardiac condition progressed to the point that she was admitted to the intensive care unit. In another case, a woman whose water had broken early said her doctor instructed her to fly to another state, and told her that if she went into labor on the plane, she should "leave the placenta inside [her body]." "Youre going to have to deal with a 19-week fetus outside your body until you land, the doctor said, according to the woman. After the Texas law took effect, some doctors began using a procedure known as a hysterotomy to end dangerous pregnancies. It involves cutting through the wall of the uterus, and carries an increased risk of complications compared with dilation and evacuation, the standard of care for abortions after 15 weeks. But it is less likely to be construed as an elective abortion. Unlike in other states, the law in Texas specifies that doctors are permitted to end an ectopic pregnancy, a dangerous condition in which a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus. The pregnancies almost never result in viable fetuses, and can rupture fallopian tubes if left untreated. But some doctors in the state are still hesitant to perform any abortions, instead recommending that patients travel out of state, according to Dr. Lorie Harper, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Austin who helped conduct the New England Journal study. She said she worries about patients with pulmonary hypertension, which carries up to a 50% risk of maternal death during pregnancy or in the six months after delivery. Because cardiac events can be sudden, there is no margin to simply wait and watch for signs of distress. My medical opinion is that its high-risk, she said. I dont know what the law would say. Though the laws are open to interpretation, Harper said the alternative a finite list of high-risk conditions for which abortion is allowed would be worse, because it couldnt account for the nuances that inevitably arise in individual cases. In at least one respect, the laws are clear: Several states explicitly exclude mental illness and even the possibility of suicide or other self-harm as a legitimate reason to terminate a pregnancy. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in December 2021. (Bandar Aljaloud / Associated Press) French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to his presidential palace Thursday for a controversial dinner that marks another step in the Saudi leaders diplomatic rehabilitation. The move has drawn harsh criticism in France given the gruesome Saudi killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The visit by the oil-rich kingdoms de facto leader comes as France and other European nations are seeking to secure sources of energy to lessen their dependence on oil and gas supplies from Russia amid its war on Ukraine. France is also a major weapons and defense supplier to Persian Gulf nations. This was the second stop after Greece of the crown princes first official visit to the European Union since Khashoggis death. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Macron could be counted on to raise human rights concerns with the prince while also seeking to secure energy supplies from nations other than Russia. Obviously, this isnt about casting aside our principles. Its not about calling into question our commitment in favor of human rights. The president will surely have an opportunity to talk about this with Mr. Mohammed bin Salman, Borne said. But she added: In a context where we know that Russia is cutting, is threatening to cut, and is again cutting gas supplies and where we have tensions over energy prices, I think the French would not understand if we didnt talk to the countries that are the exact producers of energy. Russian energy corporation Gazprom on Wednesday cut the amount of natural gas flowing through a major pipeline from Russia to Europe to 20% of capacity, blaming technical problems. Germany, however, called it a deliberate move to sow uncertainty and push up prices amid the war in Ukraine. European nations are rushing to bolster gas storage levels for winter amid fears that Russia could completely cut off gas exports which are used for industry and to generate electricity and heat homes to try to gain political leverage over the bloc. Hours before the leaders meeting, the crown prince was targeted in a legal complaint filed Thursday in a Paris court by a human rights group that alleged his complicity in Khashoggis killing. A Washington-based group, Democracy for the Arab World Now, called on French authorities to open a criminal investigation into the crown princes role. The group said it filed a complaint arguing that the prince was an accomplice to the torture of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and his disappearance. It said two other rights groups backed its call for a French investigation and argued that the prince should not have immunity from prosecution because he is not the Saudi head of state. The Paris prosecutors office said it had no information about the complaint. Other rights groups are speaking up too. By meeting with the crown prince on French soil, while Saudi dissidents remain wrongfully detained, trapped in the country through travel bans and targeted abroad, President Macron risks contributing to the dangerous normalization of a brutal man, said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. Macrons dinner capped a long day for the French leader: He was in Guinea-Bissau, wrapping up a three-nation, four-day tour of Africa, Thursday morning. The Elysee Palace said the war in Ukraine will be high on the working dinners agenda and added that Macron would address human rights, without elaborating. A press spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with the French presidencys customary practice, said that we have constantly said that the facts [of the killing] should be established. The crown prince has been steadily attracting big-name investors back to the kingdom since Khashoggis killing. He has also reset Saudi relations with Turkey, a key step toward rehabilitating his international standing. Western intelligence determined that Mohammed was complicit in the killing. The journalists body was dismembered with a bone saw, according to Turkish officials. The crown prince lost supporters in the West who previously had been cheering his social reforms at home. He maintains he had no knowledge of the operation, despite it being carried out by people who directly reported to him. Macron was one of the highest-profile world leaders to meet the prince shortly after the killing, during a tense chat caught on camera at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina in 2018. They have met several times since. Adamson reported from Paris and Batrawy reported from Dubai. Abdullah al-Shihri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and John Leicester contributed from Le Pecq, France. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. SINGAPORE, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Ministry of Manpower said on Friday that the country's labor market continued recovery in the second quarter of 2022. The ministry said in a preliminary report that the city-state's total employment, excluding migrant domestic workers, expanded by 64,400 in the second quarter, compared to an increase of 42,000 in the first quarter. The ministry said Singapore's non-resident employment, which remains below 2019's level, is expected to continue growing at a robust pace as it catches up to the pre-COVID level. Resident employment, which is expected to be about 4 percent above 2019's level, will likely see subdued growth given the low resident unemployment rate. In June 2022, Singapore's unemployment rates stood at 2.1 percent, 2.9 percent for residents, and 3.1 percent for citizens, according to official statistics. Not many in Venezuela know his name, but those who do dont like talking about him openly. He is Pedro Luis Martin Olivares, a former intelligence officer accused by witnesses and alleged victims of running a kidnapping and extortion racket for years. Operating out of a secluded penthouse in a luxury Caracas hotel, he is now believed to run one of the main branches of the Cartel of the Suns drug organization, in partnership with high-ranking Venezuelan officials. On April 24, 2015, he was indicted in the Southern District of Florida for distribution of more than five kilograms of cocaine, knowing that such controlled substance would be imported into the United States. And yet he remains free to do as he pleases. The United States is offering a $10 million reward for his arrest more even than for the sons of infamous Mexican cartel boss Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. The U.S. government has also sanctioned his commercial interests, which span private security, surveillance and poultry farming. Despite the high-level charges and the power he wields, Martin, 55, has managed to keep a low profile, even as his family has accrued substantial assets abroad. Now, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the Miami Herald, in partnership with Armando.info and Infolibre, have traced part of Martins fortune to Barcelona, Spain, where his relatives have acquired luxury apartments in one of the citys most expensive districts. Two of them are unknown to Spanish investigators who looked into Martins assets in the country. Drawing on court documents, investigation files, company and property records and interviews, reporters also uncovered new details about the former intelligence officials life. Martin is one of more than a dozen Venezuelan officials and businessmen close to the Caracas socialist regime who are facing charges in South Florida for money laundering, corruption or drug trafficking. Years of operating without checks and balances have allowed corrupt officials to siphon billions of dollars out of the states treasury and benefit from the operations of drug traffickers allied with or working for high-ranking military and regime officials. Experts claim that a great deal of that illicit wealth has flowed to South Florida, inflating the local real estate market. Ivan Simonovis, a former police commissioner and criminal investigator in Venezuela, said that Martin had held a lot of power and did a lot of damage to many people over the years, although his influence had recently declined. Of six people interviewed, only Simonovis agreed to be quoted by name. The others would speak only under condition of anonymity, fearing retribution. Reporters have also reached out to Martin and his family members but so far they have not been willing to comment. Beyond the fact that Martin was born in 1967 in Caracas, there is little public record of his early years. In a rare interview with the Spanish website of the pan-Arab TV network Al-Mayadeen in October 2020 published six days after the U.S. reward for him was announced Martin described himself as a lawyer and economist. Simonovis, a former political prisoner under the Caracas regime who later became chief intelligence advisor to opposition leader Juan Guaido recognized by the United States as the legitimate president of Venezuela said that Martin got involved in drug trafficking and money-laundering activities in the 1990s, years before socialist president Hugo Chavez got elected. He later began cooperating with Venezuelan authorities to avoid prosecution, helping set up several controlled deliveries drug sales carried out with the knowledge of Venezuelan law enforcement to capture other traffickers. After Chavez became president in 1999, Martin was appointed to the citys anti-drug office, apparently leveraging connections he had built in the police force, Simonovis said. In 2002, Martin became director of financial intelligence in the Venezuelan secret services the General Sectoral Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services, known then as DISIP and later renamed the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, or SEBIN. Four different sources, including Simonovis, said he then started to run a parallel office out of Centro Lido, a business and commercial center in Caracas, while he was at the DISIP. He and his associates used informants and wiretaps to obtain compromising information on wealthy or powerful figures, fabricated criminal files and demanded money to bury the information and stop the harassment, they said. The office building in Caracas where Pedro Luis Martin Olivares has his office. A wealthy Venezuelan who spent years in jail said Martin also used to visit the prison and offer favors, such as access to the rooftop, computers, or distance learning courses, in exchange for payments. Eventually, Martins power had grown enough that he began to blackmail figures within the Chavez power structure. That was the straw that broke the camels back, Simonovis said. A former military official and a person who knew Martins family confirmed this account, saying Martin was removed from his post after trying to extort someone close to Chavez. You Never Abandon Intelligence Martin left the DISIP in 2004, but he apparently maintained a connection to the intelligence community. In the interview with Al-Mayadeen in 2020, he said that he still handles information despite formally departing the intelligence agency. You never abandon intelligence, you always keep getting information, he said. Simonovis and the wealthy Venezuelan who had been imprisoned said Martin kept managing his parallel office out of Centro Lido, where he now also began to run a commercial empire: After leaving DISIP, Martin founded at least five companies, spanning sectors such as security, private surveillance, transport for valuables, and even a poultry farm. Details of these companies operations show that Martin remained well-connected even after leaving his official post. Company records show that his private security firm, Grupo Control 2004, won contracts from major state-run institutions, including the state bank Bicentenario, the Maracaibo airport and Minerven, a major mining company. Another of his companies, PLM Consultores, provided advisory services in institutional relations to 11 companies linked to Omar Farias, a businessman known in Venezuela as the Insurance Czar because he won major insurance contracts from public institutions, allowing him to amass a fortune under Chavez. In 2010, Martin surfaced in a classified U.S. State Department cable, published by WikiLeaks, detailing an alleged Venezuelan intelligence agency plot to assassinate then-Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli. The cable did not provide any reasons Venezuelas government would want to carry out such an assassination, but it did link Martin to the Chavez regime six years after he left his post with the intelligence service. While no evidence of any plot was found, the law enforcement team found significant derogatory information on Pedro Ruiz [sic] Martin Olivares, said the cable issued by the U.S. Embassy in Panama, which described him as a seriously bad actor. Around the same time, a joint anti-narcotics operation carried out by authorities in the United States and British Virgin Islands would have profound consequences for Martin. Luxury Apartment The Spanish security agency began investigating Martin in 2014 over his alleged drug trafficking and high-level Chavez government connections. Calling him Platanote, or The Big Plantain, they started probing his assets in Spain. One of their targets for surveillance was a Barcelona apartment Martin bought in 2003. Currently worth around $200,000, the fourth-floor apartment is in a working-class neighborhood. When reporters visited in June, they found the mailbox had no name on it, although a neighbor said they could often see movement in the shutters, indicating it was occupied. OCCRP was also able to identify two other, more valuable Barcelona properties unknown to Spanish authorities, together worth around $2.5 million, according to company documents. Both are located in a 1950s-era former bank building in the citys Golden Mile, a strip of high-end property in the city center. An apartment building in Spain where property linked to Pedro Luis Martin Olivares is located. Both properties are owned by Urdanbest SL, a Spanish company in which Martins wife, Alejandra Besteiro, his son Pedro Luis Martin Besteiro, and his stepson Orlando Urdaneta Besteiro appear as directors. Urdanbest is located in a luxurious office in one of Madrids most expensive neighborhoods. Drug Charges In 2010, police arrested three men who were waiting in a boat to retrieve a package dropped in the waters of the Virgin Islands by a plane from Venezuela.. Inside, they found more than 261 kilograms of cocaine. Authorities linked the shipment to Colombian drug trafficker Roberto Mendez Hurtado, also known as Pluma Blanca, from the Norte del Valle cartel. In 2013, Colombia extradited Mendez and he was accused of organizing cocaine shipments from Venezuela to Central America and the Caribbean. After pleading guilty and receiving a 19-year sentence from a federal judge in Miami, Mendez was released early this year. According to U.S. authorities, Mendez had several high-ranking Venezuelan officials on his payroll, including Martin, who allegedly helped coordinate cocaine shipments from his position in the DISIP and distributed bribes to Venezuelan officials. He also allegedly made sure radars were turned off to allow planes loaded with cocaine to pass through Venezuelan airspace. Martin was close to Hugo El Pollo Carvajal, a former Venezuelan military intelligence chief who was once in Chavezs inner circle, according to a prosecution source. According to U.S. authorities, Carvajal, Martin, and other top Venezuelan officers were allegedly part of the Cartel of the Suns drug-trafficking organization embedded within the countrys military and led by high-ranking officials with the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, who succeeded Chavez after the latter died. After two years on the run, Carvajal was captured in Spain in 2021 and is awaiting extradition to the United States. The United States indicted Martin on drug trafficking charges in 2015. Three years later, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned his companies, saying that Martin had exploited his government position and accepted bribes from drug traffickers operating in Venezuela and Colombia as part of a broader scheme to facilitate the movement of narcotics from and through Venezuelan airspace. In 2018 OFAC also mentioned Martin in its sanctions against Diosdado Cabello, one of Venezuelas most powerful politicians, claiming the two worked together to move illicit money to Panama, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas in late 2016. Early in 2020, the Department of Justice charged Cabello and Maduro with drug trafficking, accusing them of heading the Cartel of the Suns and turning Venezuela into a narco-state. Around a dozen other high-ranking government officials were also indicted on the same charges. In his interview with Al-Mayadeen, Martin dismissed the charges against him, saying that Mendez was offering false information to reduce his own sentence. U.S. authorities put people in prison who dont even know you, he said. They tell them that they have to testify against you in order to reduce their convictions. He said the OFAC sanctions had been merely a way to blackmail and pressure him to turn against senior Chavez government figures. According to Venezuelan and U.S. sources tracking down the activities of the Venezuelan cartel, Martin works closely with also-indicted Venezuelan trafficker Carlos Orense Azocar, who was extradited in late June from Italy to New York to face charges that carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison. People linked to the investigations said that Orense and Martin had worked initially with also-charged El Pollo Carvajal, the spy chief, who was arrested in Spain and is fighting extradition. According to U.S. court transcripts, Martin turned himself in to Venezuelan authorities after an Interpol red notice was issued against him, a fact his lawyer in the United States used to argue that he could not be considered a fugitive. U.S. prosecutors reject this argument, claiming that Martin had turned himself in because he knew Venezuela would not send him to the United States. When the Venezuelans approached U.S. authorities to ask if they wanted to file paperwork to have Martin extradited, they declined. Martin was not detained and was freed to go about his business. We know well and good that theres a constitutional prohibition in Venezuela from Venezuela extraditing its own citizens, said Adam Fels, assistant U.S. attorney at the time. So why even bother? Elements within the caravan of some 4,000 migrants who spent two days camped outside an office of Mexicos INM immigration agency in the southern town of Huixtla stormed the building on Wednesday. Huixtla is some 40 km (25 miles) northwest of Tapachula, a city on the border with Guatemala that has become ground zero of the regional migration crisis. Unhappy with the failure of INM officials to respond to their requests for transit visas that would allow them to cross Mexico en route to the United States, large groups of migrants forced their way into the building around mid-day. They overcame a contingent of National Guard and once inside, they vandalized the premises and hurled rocks, chairs and pieces of metal fencing at the officers trying to expel them. Three people were hurt in the melee. Venezuelan migrant Jose Antonio Gutierrez said the group asked INM to expedite the delivery of documents so we can travel to the northern border. Another migrant from Venezuela, Dany Maldonado, said that the transit visa he obtained from an INM office in Tapachula was subsequently seized and destroyed by police in northern Mexico, forcing him to return to the south and start over. Prior to the disturbances, the INM was ushering people with appointments into the Huixtla office in groups of 50 to process their applications. Members of the caravan told reporters they planned to remain at the Huixtla office until they received permits, while other migrants blocked the main coastal road in Chiapas state for a second straight day, snarling traffic. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) registered a record of more than 1.7 million illegal border crossings in the 2021 fiscal year that ended last Sept. 30. Since the 2022 fiscal year began on Oct. 1, 2021, the CBP says that more than 1 million migrants have been intercepted along the U.S.s southern border. Mexico, for its part, says it deported more than 114,000 foreigners in 2021, the highest number in nearly 15 years, according to figures from the Migrant Policy Unit. In the first quarter of 2022, Mexicos INM migration agency processed 77,626 people, an increase of 89% over the same period last year. This story was originally published on idahocapitalsun.com on July 28. As of Friday, the Idaho Department of Lands and Timber Protective Association have sent 221 employees to other states in the West to assist fighting fires in the field, according to a press release from IDL. Firefighters have been deployed to New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Alaska, California, Washington, Arizona, Montana and Wyoming. Theyre also assisting the U.S. Forest Service and the Nez Perce Tribe. The somewhat slow start to Idahos fire season there are three fires burning in the remote Salmon-Challis National Forest has made it possible to send firefighters away to gain training while building relationships with surrounding states, according to the release. Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in the release that this was an opportunity for firefighters to gain experience on the dime of other states and the federal government, which gives Idaho taxpayers a bit of a break. The Department of Lands will be reimbursed by other jurisdictions for the wages and expenses incurred by Idaho firefighters while they are on off-district assignments. California has about 10 active fires at the moment, while Utah has four and Nevada five. During the 2021 fire season, President Joe Biden increased the federal minimum wage for firefighters to $15 per hour. New firefighters in Idaho are paid $15 per hour to start. The Idaho Legislature approved a budget that includes the Department of Lands spending over $1 million to make fire-billing, reporting, invoicing, accounting and cost-sharing more efficient by switching from a paper system to the electronic Golds Business System. This system is being universally adopted by the Western states, according to the release. Over 150 workers are losing their jobs as an aircraft logistics company plans to permanently close its Charlotte location. According to a WARN notice submitted to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, LGSTX Services Inc. will shut down its facility at 4100 Yorkmont Road permanently by Sept. 27. The closure will leave 154 workers mostly cargo loaders and administrative employees without a job. The closure came after a sudden and unforeseen decision from a customer to end services from the company, according to the notice to the state. A new company will operate out of the same facility however, and current employees in good standing are expected to receive job offers from the company. The workers have no union representation, according to the document. LGSTX could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. About LGSTX LGSTX is an aviation services company that offers cargo facilities and aircraft maintenance, air cargo transportation services and other air logistics needs, according to its website. Its headquarters is in Wilmington, Ohio. The company is part of the Air Transport Services Group, an umbrella organization also based out of Wilmington. After two years of canceled celebrations, Boises Basque Block will come alive this weekend with the sights, sounds and smells of northern Spain. Txantxangorriak musicians will fill the air with the sound of tambourines and accordions, Tolosa Udaberri and Oinkari Basque dancers will fill the streets, and the tastes of chorizo, croquetas and paella will fill the mouths of festival-goers. It can mean only one thing: The San Inazio Basque Festival is making its long-awaited return. We havent been able to for the last couple of years because of COVID, Basque Market owner Tony Eiguren told the Idaho Statesman on Wednesday as he looked over an itinerary taped to the window at his restaurant. Were super excited to be able to see people and kind of get some degree back. The Basque Market is one of several restaurants in the Basque Block Grove Street between 6th Street and Capitol Boulevard that will play a part in hosting Boises largest Basque festival this year. Leku Ona will be serving food prepared by Basque Country-born chef Asier Garcia, while Bar Gernika, a Basque Block staple since 1991, will be serving up lamb grinders and fried peppers, among other things. But the festival is more than just an opportunity for some local restaurants to promote their food on a busy weekend. It celebrates decades of Basque culture in Boise, home to the highest concentration of Basque people in the United States. You dont have to be Basque to enjoy the fun at the annual San Inazio Festival on the Basque Block in Downtown Boise from Friday, July 29, to Sunday, July 31. What is the San Inazio Festival? Basque Country is an autonomous region in northern Spain its part of the country but has a level of authority within its borders. The Basque community stands out because of its deep cultural roots that are unique to the area, such as its own language, festivals and music. Basque people began migrating to the western part of the United States in the late 1800s, seeking opportunities for mining, ranching and shepherding. Mass migration to the U.S. started in the mid-1900s, with the Basque fleeing retribution from Spanish general and eventual head of state Francisco Franco, who persecuted and attacked the Basque for refusing to unify with Spain. Idaho was a popular landing spot for many, as were California and Nevada. Today, Boises Basque Block stands as a cultural stronghold. I think its really important just to have some kind of cultural center in a city, Leku Ona general manager Travis Wright told the Statesman. I mean, were in Idaho, right? So its not like its the most diverse state in the union. And so to have any kind of culture brought in, its really nice. Boises Basque community has been celebrating the San Inazio Festival since the 1950s, said Isana Urquidi, who is on the Euzkaldunak board of directors. Euzkaldunak, a Boise nonprofit, is the organization responsible for hosting the festival. Each Basque community selects a saint to celebrate each year, and this year Boise chose St. Ignatius of Loyola, the patron saint of the Basque. Within the Basque Country, each city kind of has a festival that theyre known for, Urquidi said. And many of them are focused around a certain saint and their feast day. So thats what dictates when (the festival) is. St. Ignatius day lands on July 31 every year, so it will be on Sunday, the final day of the festival. St. Ignatius died on July 31, 1556. What should festival-goers expect? Urquidi said the Basque Center and local restaurants expect close to 10,000 people to pass through the block over the weekend, even with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees each day. Youll see a big mix of Basque people and people from Boise who just want to kind of participate in the culture, Urquidi said. I think the biggest thing probably is just kind of experiencing different aspects of the Basque culture that we have tried to preserve here in Boise. Friday Friday is considered Friends and Family night, Urquidi told the Statesman. The festival will start at 5 p.m. with the traditional Basque sport of Pala and include a not very formal night that will see people mingling throughout the block as musicians play in the background. People will often bring a pintxo, a small appetizer, to the Basque Center and put it on a long table for people to choose from. Saturday Saturday is the busiest day of the festival, Bar Gernika owner Jeff May told the Statesman. Festivities will start at 10 a.m. and the Boiseko Gazteak Basque Dancers a young dancing group takes center stage at 11 a.m. Those dancers will be followed by the Txantxangorriak music group, and the Tolosa Udaberri and Oinkari Basque dancers. Oinkari Basque Dancers perform Basque traditional dances outside of St. Marks Catholic Church. The annual San Inazio Mass, conducted in English and Basque was held at St Marks Catholic Church for the first time. The church can seat 1,800 people. San Inazio (Saint Ignatius of Loyola) is patron saint of the Basque Country. Saturday August 1, 2015 This year is unique in that we have a group from the Basque Country, from the town of Tolosa, and theyll be visiting and performing with us, Urquidi said. There will be a temporary halt in festivities at 7 p.m. for Mass at St. Marks Church on Northview Street, where Basque dancers will perform before, during and after. A street dance and musical performance from Amuma Says No will finish the night on the Basque Block at 9 p.m. Sunday Sunday is considered park day, but the Basque Block will have plenty of activity, too. Much of the day will be spent at Kristin Armstrong Park, where people will set up tables for picnics, and traditional Basque and American park games will be played. Restaurants will continue to celebrate on the Basque Block. The Basque Market will serve paella in front of the restaurant at 8:15 p.m. It also will have the traditional Spanish and Basque dish once on Friday and four times on Saturday. The festival will be capped off by a final performance from Amuma Says No at 8 p.m. Sunday. Olivia Troye knew when she got up on Tuesday morning that shed be spending the day at home. This plan had nothing to do with the weather forecast, though she was preparing for a storm of sorts. Her former boss, Donald Trump, was scheduled to speak at a think tank in Washington, returning to the nations capital for the first time since leaving office following his failed attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power. I dont go out in public when there's a major MAGA event, Troye said. Such is the life of a Trump defector, for whom the decision to speak out publicly against the administration that once employed them means subjecting themselves to an onslaught of personal attacks, harassment and threats. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell with Olivia Troye, who served as a homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence. (Susan Walsh/AP) Troye, a former homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, first ran afoul of Trump World nearly two years ago, after she resigned over the administrations handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with the Washington Post at the time, Troye, who served as a senior adviser on the White House coronavirus task force, said Trumps response to the pandemic showed a flat-out disregard for human life, leading her to back Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election, despite being a lifelong Republican. In response, the White House sought to discredit Troye, painting her as a disgruntled former employee and downplaying her role on the task force. Suddenly, Troye said, she was ostracized by her former colleagues, fellow Republicans and even members of her family. At the same time, shed become the target of descriptive and disgusting and hateful messages on social media. Though most of the threats and vitriol shes received have largely been confined to the internet, she says some people have even shown up outside her house, leaving her feeling wary of strangers who approach her in public. These days, Troye told Yahoo News, shes noticed that the online threats seem to spike whenever she speaks publicly about the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and shes been doing that a lot lately. Rather than shy away from the public eye, Troye, 45, is speaking out in support of other young women going up against Trump. Donald Trump at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., on Thursday. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images) Shes part of what Politico recently described as a secret support system for former Trump aides like Cassidy Hutchinson, a senior aide to Trumps final chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews, who have emerged as key witnesses in the select committees investigation of Trumps efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his actions on Jan. 6. The informal network, which Troye says formed organically, includes fellow female Trump dissenters, including former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin and former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham (who resigned on Jan. 6), as well as other Republican women who have also paid a price for speaking out against Trump, like former Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock. While some may have once fiercely defended the former presidents attacks on those who crossed him, theyve each since been the target of the kinds of personal insults, threats and professional isolation that come with opposing Trump. Knowing exactly what Hutchinson and Matthews would be up against when they agreed to testify publicly before the Jan. 6 committee this summer, theyve all rallied together to try to counteract it. Having worked w/Cassidy Hutchinson, I know she was very dedicated to her role while working for Mark Meadows in the Trump White House, Troye tweeted, days before Hutchinson delivered her explosive live testimony before the committee at a surprise hearing in late June. She has nothing to hide & no reason to lie about those who knew what they were doing was wrong & sought pardons. Americans should believe her. Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. (Jabin Botsford/Washington Post via Getty Images) The day of Hutchinson's congressional testimony, Griffin and Matthews commended her on her bravery, and pushed back on the attempts to discredit Hutchinson, which began before shed even finished speaking. Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinsons role or her access in the West Wing either doesnt understand how the Trump WH worked or is attempting to discredit her because theyre scared of how damning this testimony is, Matthews tweeted. Matthews, who resigned from the White House on Jan. 6, received the same treatment when it was her turn to testify the following month, at a primetime hearing focused on Trumps failure to intervene for more than three hours as a violent mob of his supporters ravaged the Capitol. I think its a testament to this young woman's bravery [that shes] stepping forward, unlike so many men in leadership at the White House and in Congress, Grisham said of Matthews ahead of her testimony, during an appearance on CNN alongside Troye and Griffin. When Matthews took her seat at the witness table that night, Troye was in the hearing room, as she had been for Hutchinsons testimony. Once you have done the right thing and spoken out, I think you sort of get used to the playbook that Trump World uses, Griffin, 33, told Yahoo News. Since resigning from the White House in December 2020, she has been called a clown and a nobody by the former president. I think theres a level of protectiveness that we have over these women and wanting to offer them the support that we all felt like we didnt have at the various times that we spoke out, she said. Alyssa Farah Griffin, then White House director of strategic communications, in October 2020. (Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Griffin and Troye both described the fierce backlash that they and other Trump defectors have encountered as part of a deliberate strategy or what Troye called a coordinated machine designed to intimidate and discourage others from speaking out. And they noted that attacks on former Trump allies tend to adhere to a familiar pattern, starting with the often easily disprovable denial of ever having known the person, followed by a series of vicious and personal digs at their credibility, character, mental health and sometimes appearance. The reaction to testimony given by Trump's former White House staffers, and Hutchinson in particular, was no exception. I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and leaker), Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, during Hutchinsons testimony. He went on to suggest in the same post that she was now speaking out against him only because he personally turned down her request to join other members of his team in Florida after leaving the White House. The next day, Trump denied several of Hutchinsons most damning claims in an interview with the conservative cable network Newsmax, and dismissed the former aide who he referred to simply as this lady and the woman as a total disaster and train wreck with serious mental problems. Trump similarly took to Truth Social during Matthewss testimony to claim he did not know her yet was aware of nice things shed said about him long after January 6th. In Hutchinsons case, there have also been signs of more overt attempts at intimidation. During her initial meetings with the select committee, Hutchinson had been represented by a Trump-aligned attorney who was paid by the former president's political action committee. Even then, leaked details that emerged from those early depositions made clear that Hutchinson, who effectively served as Meadowss right hand during the final weeks of the Trump presidency, would be a valuable witness for the select committee. But it was only after replacing her Trump-backed attorney with Justice Department veteran Jody Hunt that she divulged even more damning details and agreed to testify in public. Sarah Matthews, former deputy White House press secretary. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Hutchinson also reportedly told the committee about a call she received from someone in Trumps inner circle encouraging her to be loyal and to do the right thing before her fourth closed-door deposition. This, along with security concerns, reportedly contributed to the urgency and secrecy around her public testimony. This week it was reported that Hutchinson is among the former Trump administration officials now cooperating with the Justice Departments criminal probe of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Griffin, who has herself cooperated with the Jan. 6 probe, has said she is the one who connected Hutchinson with Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the panels vice chair, after Hutchinson reached out following her initial depositions and expressed a desire to share more than her Trump-backed counsel would allow. She attributes the bravery she says her former colleagues have shown to what she called the Cheney factor. Cheney, who is one of just two Republicans appointed by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve on the Jan. 6 committee, is perhaps more familiar than anyone with the consequences faced by women who dare to criticize Trump in public. Within a matter of months after she broke with the rest of her party and voted to impeach Trump for inciting the violent riot on Jan. 6, Cheney went from being the highest-ranking GOP woman on Capitol Hill to getting ousted from her leadership role as the No. 3 House Republican. Now she risks losing her seat to a Trump-backed challenger in Wyomings Republican primary next month. Vice Chair Liz Cheney, with Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., at a House select committee hearing on July 21. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Where others have chosen to either get in line with Trump or decide not to seek reelection, Cheney has forged ahead undeterred, vowing to hold Trump accountable while campaigning to remain in office. From the outset, how bold Congresswoman Cheney has been has both inspired and empowered people to come forward, Griffin said. I think there is something that really resonates about a political figure being willing to put their political future on the line to do what they think is right. Comstock agreed, telling Yahoo News that the select committees investigation would not have been nearly as successful as it has been if the panel were made up entirely of Democrats. But for Liz being on this committee, I dont know that some of the women would have felt comfortable coming forward, she said. Comstock, an outspoken Trump critic who has been called a RINO loser by the former president, said shes known Cheney for 20 years and has gotten to know Troye and Griffin over the past year. In addition to her public support of Hutchinson and Matthews, the other women who spoke to Yahoo News described Comstock as the big sister of the group, offering legal advice and places to stay to those in need. Former Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va. (William B. Plowman/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) When I was in office, and as a public official, I just had so many people help me, Comstock said. So now Im in a position where I can help other people. To me, thats just what you do. For Hutchinson, 27, and Matthews, 26, whose careers were just getting started when they were hired to work in the Trump White House, the decision to risk their careers, friendships and personal safety is particularly striking in light of the fact that many of their older, more established male colleagues have been unwilling to do the same. Cheney highlighted this imbalance in her closing remarks at the July 21 hearing, thanking the former Trump aides for having the courage to testify knowing that they would be attacked by President Trump, and by the 50-, 60- and 70-year-old men who hide themselves behind executive privilege. Along with Hutchinson and Matthews, Cheney called out the other women who testified at this summers public hearings: Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards and Georgia election workers Wandrea "Shaye" Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, calling them an inspiration to American women, and to American girls. Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, left, a former Georgia election worker, with her mother, Ruby Freeman, testifies during a hearing of the Jan. 6 committee. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) In addition to the testimony by women who have appeared in public, the committees recent hearings have featured clips of videotaped depositions given by several other young women who worked in Trumps White House and have so far remained on his good side, including former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Trumps executive assistant Molly Michael and his daughter Ivanka. While these women have yet to be the source of any shocking revelations that we know of the committee has still been able to use parts of their interviews to corroborate some of the details that others have brought to light about Trumps behavior on Jan. 6 and in the aftermath of the insurrection. Of course, women arent the only ones who have been cooperating with the committees investigation, nor have the men who have come forward been exempt from attacks. Arizonas Republican House Speaker Rusty Bowers, for example, testified this summer about the threats and harassment he and his family endured after he refused to comply with a request from Trump to declare that the 2020 election had been rigged in the Arizona state Legislature in order to replace legitimate Biden electors with fake, pro-Trump electors. Hes now at risk of losing the Republican primary for an open state Senate seat to a Trump-endorsed opponent. Former Attorney General William Barr, who testified about telling Trump there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, told the New York Times that he gets a lot of vitriol from the right. Trump supporters clash with police and security forces on Jan. 6, 2021. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) But women have borne the brunt of the attacks. This dynamic was perhaps most starkly illustrated by a since-deleted tweet posted by the official account of the House Republican Conference during the committees primetime hearing on July 21. The tweet, which a spokesperson later said was unauthorized, singled out Matthews, who currently works as a communications director for House Republicans on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, calling her just another liar and pawn in Pelosis witch hunt, while making no mention of Matthew Pottinger, the former Trump national security adviser who was testifying alongside her. When women are in the public eye, they get way worse and different and sexist attacks that men never would, said Griffin. I know for a fact that Sarah and myself and Cassidy and Olivia have all gotten attacks that are violent, theyre sexually violent, and theyre the kind of things that no man in our position would get. While it is true that high-profile women are typically subject to more intense public scrutiny than their male counterparts, the gender dynamics that have emerged in the Jan. 6 committees investigation have a particularly Trumpian quality. A former beauty pageant proprietor who has racked up dozens of sexual assault allegations dating back to the 1970s, Trump also has a long and well-established history of making crude and demeaning comments about women, whether hes bragging about grabbing them by the genitals or calling them ugly and pigs. His penchant for hurling particularly vicious insults at his female critics, often focused on their physical appearance or intelligence, continued once he was in the White House, where he surrounded himself overwhelmingly with men. President Donald Trump signing an executive order in 2017. (Ron Sachs/Pool/Getty Images) I think its no secret that the Trump administration was a bit of a misogynistic enterprise, from top to bottom, said Comstock, who suggested that the women hired to work in the Trump White House were of a much higher caliber than the men who greatly outnumbered them. Troye also described a Barbie doll culture in the Trump administration, in which remarks about female staffers physical appearances were a regular occurrence. Thats who Donald Trump is, she said. At times, you werent judged on your capability, you were judged on your looks. Troye said she thinks the sexist environment inside the Trump White House likely played a role in women finding our voices. The things that they say, it tells you exactly the way they view women, she said of Trump and his allies. That was the culture in the White House. President Trump has done nothing but empower women throughout his extremely successful career in business and his historic first term as president, Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington said in an emailed statement to Yahoo News. Its sad, however, some who had the privilege to work in the White House are mere swamp social climbers, chasing their less than 15 minutes to be used by political hacks and the Fake News Media, and spread yet more baseless lies about a man who was most certainly the best boss they ever had. While Trump World is responsible for the vast majority of the backlash against these women, theyve also faced criticism from some on the left and in the Never Trump wing of the GOP, who argue that those who previously enabled Trump should not be celebrated, or who question their motives for speaking out now. We get it from all sides, Troye said. She said shes accepted the fact that there will be people who judge her for having worked in the Trump administration, and there will also likely be those who will never hire her because she spoke out. I think you have to be at peace with it, she said. Theres absolutely nothing to be gained from coming forward, except for knowing that you did the right thing. Moreover, she said she thinks the American people need to hear about what happened during Trumps presidency from the people who lived it. And shell continue to speak out in hopes that others will be encouraged to do the same. I refuse to be silenced, she said. _____ The rioters got within two doors of Vice President Mike Pence's office. See how in this 3D explainer from Yahoo Immersive. An extraordinary story of nerve-wracking heroism gets an appealingly straightforward, propulsive retelling in Ron Howards Thirteen Lives, which dutifully dramatizes the risky 2018 operation that saved a dozen boys and their soccer coach from the deepest recesses of the flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave in northern Thailand. As real-life cases of ticking-clock peril go, this one had everyone by the heart and throat as it unfolded, a monsoon season misadventure that spurred a remarkable coalition, locally and globally, of steadfast, industrious and ingenious souls: sacrificing farmers, rain diverters, Thai Navy SEALS and cave divers. Howard, comfortable with canvases big and small, knows from this kind of all-hands-on-deck story its dramatic contours and gritty details having made one of the great averting-disaster movies with Apollo 13. Whats trickier, however, about getting Thirteen Lives right is that a less conscientious filmmaker might have foregrounded a white-savior chronicle, considering the significant technical expertise of British divers Richard Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) and John Volanthen (Colin Farrell) and Australian anesthetist Richard Harris (Joel Edgerton), whose extraction method was, literally and figuratively, a shot in the dark. The life-affirming reality of what transpired is, of course, a bigger narrative, and thankfully, Howard and screenwriter William Nicholson understand that. Theyve smartly crafted a chronologically precise, wide-view version emphasizing the community of problem-solvers on hand including a pressured Gov. Narongsak (Sahajak Boonthanakit), groundwater engineer Thanet Natisr (Nophand Boonyai), intrepid soldier Saman (Weir Sukollawat Kanarot), and literally thousands of helpers whose efforts lay the groundwork for the success of a band of hobbyist explorers who happened to be white male foreigners. Theres a diversity of temperament too, when you factor in the nicked pride of Thai Navy SEAL leader Capt. Arnont Sureewong (Tui Thiraphat Sajakul) who must widen his notion of teamwork, and Mortensens convincing portrayal of a cultural outsider whose irritableness when dealing with others is never terribly far from the surface. (Are we surprised a dude who chooses exploring remote, cramped underwater worlds as a leisure pursuit might prefer solitude to socializing?) Howards version of this incredible story is also having to compete with the fact that its not the only one made by an Oscar-winning filmmaker. Thirteen Lives follows last years documentary The Rescue, from Free Solo directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, which was an illuminating, pulse-pounding knockout, built around key players riveting first-person accounts (except, due to rights issues, that of the kids). Invariably, the carefully naturalistic approach that Thirteen Lives takes keeps it from being as pointedly, emotionally walloping as The Rescue. But what Howard does with his solid cast, steady pacing and seamless mix of location verisimilitude and Molly Hughes cave-recreated production design is still plenty powerful whether youre familiar with the operations details or not: he drops us right into a charged, time-sensitive atmosphere of hope and focus, and lets the unvarnished tension of a mission with no room for error play across everyones faces as the story propels forward. On that visceral level too, its possibly the wettest movie in recent memory, from first torrential downpour to last, with cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeproms claustrophobic, lamplit cave tunnel sequences suitably thick with dank and darkness. Howard may never put his thumb on the scale to juice the emotions, but affecting moments of vulnerability still pierce the selflessness: the sense of guilt the boys coach touchingly expresses, one mothers fear that her familys statelessness will be an issue and the reasonable worry across all the main players especially when the daring rescue is set in motion thats like a hot potato nobody wants to hold for too long. Theres even room for subtle spirituality in how the specifics of the boys passage to safety relates to the mythical sleeping princess shown being prayed to by locals and believed to hold power over the mountain. Thirteen Lives may be a vivid rescue procedural first and foremost, but its also a testament to the guardian spirit possible in any of us. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Jacob and Mandy Ragsdale of Savannah are opening a new pizza joint Friday in Macon. Their Dough Bros Pizza Joint at 3955 Arkwright Road, Suite E, will be their second location in Middle Georgia and their third to open this year. The couple, who grew up in the pizza making business, opened their first Dough Bros Pizza Joint in October 2021 in Midway. They next opened one in Warner Robins on March 1 and their third pie place in Ravenel, South Carolina, on March 15. The Ragsdale Family from left to right, Grayson, 7, and Mandy Ragsdale, Grampa Tom Johnson, Jacob and Liam, 8, Ragsdale. Johnson, 80, is Jacob Ragsdales grandfather and the boys great grandfather. The Macon store Their Dough Bros Pizza Joint in Macon is the fourth store for these high school sweethearts who both worked in her parents pizzeria in Georgetown, a suburb of Savannah. Their pizza joints are named after their boys, 8-year-old Liam and 7-year-old Grayson. Dough Bros Pizza Joint owners Jacob and Mandy Ragsdale named their pizza joint after their boys, 8-year-old Liam, left, and 7-year-old Grayson. Were excited to be here, Jacob Ragsdale said. Were just trying to change the world one slice at a time. The new restaurant, which is in the former spot of a Zoners Pizza Wings & Waffles, will operate from 11 a.m to 10 p.m. daily except Friday and Saturday when they stay open an hour later. The 1,500-square-foot Macon store will mirror the Warner Robins store thats geared for takeout and delivery. Same exact menu, Ragsdale said. Same kind of formula of what we got going on in Warner Robins. Almost exactly the same business model You know, if it aint broke, dont fix it. Dough Bros Pizza Joint at 3955 Arkwright Road, Suite E, in Macon is expected to open Friday. The menu Their menu includes several signature pizzas from BBQ pizza to a supreme pizza to a Tex Mex pizza, or build your own in sizes of small (10 inches), large (14 inches) or huge (18 inches). The kitchen sink pizza is their most popular signature pizza thats topped with almost everything and then covered in mozzarella and served with a choice dipping sauce. The kitchen sink pizza from Dough Bros Pizza Joint. The new pie place is expected to open Friday at 3955 Arkwright Road, Suite E, in Macon. Teasers include cheesy bread, breadsticks, pepperoni rolls and hogs in da dough, which are smoked sausages wrapped in dough, baked, finished with butter, garlic Parmesan and served with mustard. Also on the menu are salads, calzones, strombolis, BBQ chicken, chicken Parmesan and meatballs. They also serve up not sandwiches that are piled with meat and served with two slices of toast on the side or slapped together like a sandwich. Philly cheese at Dough Bros Pizza Joint. The most popular not sandwich is the Philly cheese, which comes with a choice of protein, plus onions, green bell peppers, mushrooms, cheese, dipping sauce and a bag of chips. Their restaurants also have a smoker where seasoned Boston butts are smoked. The meat is served by the pound from a half pound and up to five pounds with a choice of BBQ sauce and toast. Their wings, which may be purchased in increments from five pieces up to 40 pieces, also are smoked on the grill. Their desserts include a signature pecan pie and pecan pie stromboli thats one of Mandys family recipes. A veggie pizza at Dough Bros Pizza Joint. The new pie place is expected to open Friday at 3955 Arkwright Road, Suite E, in Macon. The Ragsdales, who like to say pizza sauce is in their veins, will be on hand to launch the opening of their Macon pie place. Shaun Brown, who started as an assistant manager at their Dough Bros Pizza Joint in Warner Robins, will serve as a district manager over both stores when the Macon location opens. The assistant manager at the Warner Robins store will move into the general manager position. Like the Warner Robins location, which is performing well, the Macon store is in a spot where the former pizza restaurant went belly up. Ive never really worried about what happened before, Ragsdale said. Me and Mandy really try our best to kinda just focus on what we got going and everything else is noise. A group made up of some of the world's leading climate scientists has concluded that last week's record-shattering heat wave in the United Kingdom would have been "extremely unlikely" without human-caused climate change. On July 19, the U.K. obliterated its all-time temperature record with a high of 104.5 degrees Fahrenheit. That bested the previous record of 101.7F, or 38.7C, which was set in July 2019. That staggering heat, in a country unaccustomed to it, came amid a 2F (1.2C) rise in global average temperatures since mankind began pumping greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere at that start of the Industrial Revolution. Using computer climate modeling and analyzing data from weather stations throughout the U.K., researchers with the World Weather Attribution initiative determined that "the likelihood of observing such an event in a 1.2C cooler world is extremely low, and statistically impossible in two out of the three analyzed stations." "We would not have had last week's temperatures without climate change, that's for sure," Friederike Otto of Imperial College London, who heads the World Weather Attribution group, told the BBC. A thermometer is used to illustrate the temperature at Trafalgar Square in London on July 19. (Kristian Buus/In Pictures via Getty Images) The same group of scientists made a similar determination following the 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, in which temperatures climbed 30F above normal, killing hundreds of people and more than 1 billion sea creatures. Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute scientist Sjoukje Philip noted that the heat dome that gripped much of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia "would have been virtually impossible without human-induced climate change. As temperatures continue to rise due to excess greenhouse gas emissions, so will the number of extreme heat waves, experts have determined. Climate change is clearly increasing the severity and frequency of unprecedented extreme heat events globally, Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Yahoo News last year. Thats also specifically true in individual regions. The Pacific Northwest is once again in the throes of a heat wave. Though less severe than the unprecedented 2021 event, it has lasted longer, baking the region in triple-digit heat since Monday. Initial reports from the state medical officer in Oregon, where temperatures in cities like Medford hit a record-breaking 111F for that day, are that at least four people have died of heat-related causes so far. As noted in Thursday's World Weather Attribution report, assessing the final death toll from a heat wave takes time. "Heat waves during the height of summer pose a substantial risk to human health and are potentially lethal. This risk is aggravated by climate change, but also by other factors such as an aging population, urbanization, changing social structures, and levels of preparedness," the report stated. "The full impact is only known after a few weeks when the mortality figures have been analyzed." If theres one thing you have to admire in Idahos Senate delegation, its their consistency. Unlike many of their Republican colleagues, they didnt reverse their votes Wednesday on the Honoring our PACT Act, which would provide health care to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who have developed injuries and diseases related to exposure to burn pits and extend benefits for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly and bipartisanly passed the bill in June. In the House, where it also passed overwhelmingly and bipartisanly, a minor correction was made to the bill, which meant it had to be sent back to the Senate for another procedural vote. But in between the June vote and Wednesday, there was a political development. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, long a holdout on President Joe Bidens big spending package, announced he had reached a deal he could support. It would spend billions on climate change and reduce the deficit by raising taxes on the wealthy. Republicans who oppose this appear to have reacted in an unspeakably callous way: by holding the Honoring our PACT Act hostage. Though 34 Republican senators originally supported the bill, that suddenly dropped to eight on Wednesday, dipping the bill below the filibuster threshold and effectively blocking it. Senate Republicans may have principled reasons for opposing the Democratic reconciliation package, but turning veterans into a political bargaining chip to try to buy off votes on the spending bill is utterly unconscionable. But Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo cannot be accused of any such hypocrisy. They did not switch their votes. They simply have shown principled and consistent opposition to providing veterans with adequate health care. Crapo and Risch have opposed the Honoring our PACT Act from the start. They were among the only 14 votes against the bill in June, and they voted against it again this week. Now, of course, you could compare these votes to what Crapo and Risch say about veterans. And there you might be tempted to detect a bit of hypocrisy. I am proud to promote programs to help service members transition back to civilian life once their tour of service has ended, and to ensure surviving spouses and families of deceased veterans have access to the full benefits promised by the federal government, wrote Risch in a statement on Veterans Day in 2020. No mention of caring for veterans injured by duties they were ordered to perform, such as standing guard over or sleeping near pits full of burning trash, human waste, chemicals, fuel, paint and who knows what else. So theres no hypocrisy in Rischs vote. More than 130,000 veterans and their families call Idaho home, Crapo wrote on Facebook last Veterans Day. These brave men and women have sworn an oath to defend the freedoms and liberties we all hold dear. We owe each of our veterans our undying gratitude for their commitment to service and the sacrifices they have made. But its important to remember that undying gratitude and paying to treat lung damage incurred while deployed overseas are not the same thing. So theres no hypocrisy here. But it is important we continue to support their service well beyond their deployment, Crapo wrote in a second Facebook message that Veterans Day. Ensuring veterans have access to quality care and benefits they have rightfully earned remains a top priority in Congress, and we cannot waver in that endeavor. Well, OK. Maybe a little hypocrisy. Bryan Clark is an opinion writer for the Idaho Statesman based in eastern Idaho. ISLAMABAD, July 29 (Xinhua) -- As heavy monsoon rains continue to lash various parts of Pakistan, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Friday issued an alert for the Chenab River in the country's eastern Punjab province. The authority said in a statement that water flows in the Chenab River will reach "medium to high flood" within the next 24 hours, advising concerned civil administrations to people living along the banks of the river and in the vicinity of adjoining nullahs about the expected increase of water flows. It also advised locals to shift their cattle away from low-lying areas adjacent to the river and its associated nullahs, adding that vehicle movement in low-lying areas and at-risk areas should be restricted. Travelers and tourists are also forewarned about risks posed at flood-vulnerable locations by the NDMA. Police and local administrations are advised to divert tourists to safe waiting areas with a sufficient supply of food, water and essential medicines in case of dangerous road conditions. All civic agencies and rescue services will remain alert and ensure the availability of personnel and equipment during the next 24 hours, especially in at-risk areas, said the NDMA statement. More research suggests its time to abandon the craze over vitamin D. Taking high doses of the sunshine vitamin doesn't reduce the risk of broken bones in generally healthy older Americans, researchers reported Wednesday. Its the latest in a string of disappointments about a nutrient once hoped to have wide-ranging protective effects. That same study of nearly 26,000 people already had found that popping lots of vitamin D pills didnt prevent heart disease, cancer or memory loss either. And while getting enough vitamin D is important for strong bones, more is not better, said Dr. Meryl LeBoff of Boston's Brigham and Womens Hospital, the study's lead author. An estimated third of Americans 60 and older take the supplements and more than 10 million blood tests for vitamin D levels are performed annually despite years of controversy over whether the average older adult needs either. The newest findings added to other trials with similar results should end that debate, wrote Drs. Steven Cummings of California Pacific Medical Center and Clifford Rosen of Maine Medical Center Research Institute in a commentary in the medical journal. People should stop taking vitamin D supplements to prevent major diseases and doctors should stop the routine screenings that fuel concern, the pair concluded. They werent involved in the latest study. Just how much vitamin D should people get? The U.S. recommends 600 to 800 international units a day to ensure that everyone, young and old, gets enough. While our skin makes vitamin D from sun exposure, that can be tougher in winter. Milk and certain other foods are fortified with the nutrient to help. The bigger question was whether more than that recommended amount might be better, to prevent fractures or maybe other disorders, too. To address conflicting scientific reports, Brigham and Womans preventive medicine chief Dr. JoAnn Manson started the largest study of its type to track a variety of health outcomes in nearly 26,000 generally healthy Americans in their 50s or older. The latest results compare bone fractures in those who took either a high dose 2,000 international units of the most active form of vitamin D, called D-3 or dummy pills every day for five years. The supplements didnt reduce the risk of broken hips or other bones, LeBoff reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. While vitamin D and calcium work best together, she said even the 20% of study participants who also took a calcium supplement didnt benefit. Nor did the small number of study participants who had low blood levels of vitamin D. Still, LeBoff cautioned that the study didnt include people who may require supplements because of bone-thinning osteoporosis or other disorders, or those with severe vitamin D deficiencies. And Manson said more research is needed to tell if there are additional high-risk groups who might benefit. Overall, these findings overturn dogma and cast doubt on the value of routine screening for vitamin D blood levels and blanket recommendations for supplementation, Manson said. Spending time outdoors, being physically active and having a heart-healthy diet will lead to greater gains in health for most people. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. North Carolinas own U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis has made national headlines in recent months as he emerges as a deal-maker in the Senate, sometimes bucking his party as he becomes the linchpin for key legislation. Following the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas,that left 19 children and two adults dead, Congress mobilized to pass gun legislation. It wasnt the first time that a tragedy had pushed lawmakers to act on guns, but it was the first time in three decades that Congress was successful in no small part because of Tillis. Corralling support from Democrats and fellow Republicans, Tillis helped draft an 80-page bill that expands mental health care access and enhances background checks for gun buyers under 21. The bill passed both houses last month and was signed by President Joe Biden. More recently, Tillis voiced his support for a bill to codify the rights to same-sex marriage and interracial marriage. Congressional Democrats put the bill forward after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called for revisiting Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that legalized same-sex marriage. The bill, titled the Respect for Marriage Act, passed the House earlier this month, with all of North Carolinas Republicans voting no. Despite his partys votes in the House, Tillis told McClatchy he plans to support the bill, calling it a sincere codification of current law. Tillis support marks a departure from his record on same-sex marriage. In 2011, when Tillis served as speaker of the North Carolina House, the legislature declared the legal definition of marriage to be between a man and woman, a definition that later became part of the state constitution. However, even then Tillis called same-sex marriage a generational issue that he expected to be repealed within 20 years. In another, slightly less reported move, Tillis is also heavily involved in supporting Finland and Swedens bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Tillis is co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group alongside Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. The two visited Finland and Sweden last month as part of their trip to the annual NATO summit. Donald Trump frequently criticized NATO while he was president, and the organization has fallen out of favor with many Republicans in Congress as well. In April, the House passed a resolution in support of NATO; 63 Republicans (including three from North Carolina) voted against it. Sweden and Finland are both vital to the strength of NATOs military border and the deterrence of future Russian aggression, and their accession to the NATO alliance will be a historic expansion, Tillis said in a press release last month. Senator Shaheen and I unequivocally support their intent to join, and we look forward to visiting both nations to bolster support before returning home to lead the Senates ratification of their accession. Tillis term in the Senate doesnt end until 2027, so he may be able to make decisions that are unpopular with some of the Republican base without fearing electoral backlash. Hes still sticking with the party on many major issues, though. When Democrats attempted to codify Roe v. Wade in May after a draft decision of the Supreme Courts decision overturning Roe was leaked, Tillis voted against it. MORE FROM THE TEAM Our new colleague, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, reports that thousands of North Carolinians serving a felony sentence are now eligible to vote. Due to a court ruling, any resident convicted of a felony who has finished their jail or prison time may now vote in the upcoming elections. The ruling comes after years of advocacy from voting rights groups and affects over 56,000 people. And our budget queen, Dawn Vaughan, has an update on Medicaid expansion talks in the legislature. The short story: theyre stalled, despite Gov. Roy Coopers optimism a few weeks ago that a deal could come quickly. While both the House and Senate largely agree that expansion should happen, theyve been unable to come to an agreement on the details. And for one last bit of Tillis news, our D.C. correspondent, Danielle Battaglia, reports that hes taken a key role in reforming how presidential elections are certified. Tillis and 15 other senators are sponsoring legislation to clarify that the vice presidents role in certifying elections is purely ceremonial, following Trumps attempts to have former Vice President Mike Pence overturn the 2020 election results. ALL UNDER THE DOME ALL THE TIME Thanks for reading this weeks newsletter. Be sure to also check out our stories, our tweets and our Under the Dome podcast. All our politics stories post to our Under the Dome Twitter account, so be sure to follow it. We also have a pinned list on that Twitter account of the politics team so you can follow our work individually as well. And our new podcast episodes post every Monday to keep you informed about whats coming up next. By Kyle Ingram, reporter for The News & Observer. Email me at kingram@newsobserver.com and follow me on Twitter @kyle_ingram11. A plaque honoring the Jewish community of Nevada Countys Gold Rush population was vandalized with red paint last week. The plaque is at Nevada Citys Hirschmans Pond, once part of a hydraulic mine operated by Jewish miner Leb Hirschman in the 1860s and 70s. Chairman of the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission Bernie Zimmerman said that the pond endures as the last remaining readily visible evidence of the large Jewish community that immigrated to Nevada County during the Gold Rush. The area was registered as a historical landmark in July 2021, and a dedication ceremony was held for the plaque this May. A hiker reported to Zimmerman on July 22 that the plaque had been doused in red paint. There are about 200 historical plaques in the county, and this is the only one that has been defaced, as far as we know. Zimmerman said. Its also the only plaque in the county that has any reference to the Jewish community in it. Zimmerman noted that there are a number of additional signs surrounding the plaque identifying local wildlife, but that they were not vandalized. County crews removed the plaque for cleaning, and have since added a plexiglass cover to shield the plaque from future attacks. An investigation into the vandalism is ongoing, according to Nevada City Police Chief Daniel Foss. Were investigating it as a possible hate crime, but we have no indication that thats what it is, Foss said. While no suspect has been identified, Foss said that the Nevada City Police Department had several people that they were interested in speaking to about the incident. Vanilla Ice wants his fans to know that he is not affiliated with long shot Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark McCloskey after a political ad featuring the artists name and photograph was promoted by the campaign on Thursday. The advertisement, shared on the campaigns website and social media accounts, references an upcoming performance by Vanilla Ice and the Ying Yang Twins at the Ozark Empire Fair and encourages visitors to join team McCloskey. In it, McCloskey is pictured beside the 90s-era star above a banner that reads: Featuring Vanilla Ice and Ying Yang Twins. In a statement Thursday evening, managers for Vanilla Ice said the rapper did not give approval for his show to be coupled with the political ad. Vanilla Ice is not taking sides on political issues and is working to support his family, his managers said. Please make this known. The campaign ad appeared to suggest, at least, that McCloskey and Vanilla Ice would be at the fair in Springfield, Missouri, on the same day. But McCloskey is scheduled to make his appearance on Sunday, two days after the show. Reached by phone on Thursday afternoon, McCloskey said there was no relationship between his campaign and Vanilla Ice or the Ying Yang Twins. He said there was no intention to suggest that was the case, either. (Were) merely saying that were going to be there at a time when theyre going to be there. No relationship whatsoever, McCloskey said. McCloskey and his wife Patricia McCloskey first rose to right-wing fame after they were photographed waving around firearms from the front porch of their palatial St. Louis residence during a police brutality protest in June 2020. McCloskey was charged with misdemeanor assault and pleaded guilty, but was later pardoned by Republican Gov. Mike Parson. McCloskey is competing in the Aug. 2 primary election as Republican voters will select a candidate for the November general to run for retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunts seat. Recent polls show McCloskey trailing Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, former Gov. Eric Greitens, Rep. Vicky Hartzler and Rep. Billy Long. The Stars Kacen Bayless and Daniel Derochers contributed to this report. According to press reports, the U.S. government is prepared to swap notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, two Americans currently jailed in Russia. Whelan, a former U.S. Marine and Michigan police officer, was arrested in Russia in December 2018 on espionage charges, which he denied; he was sentenced to 16 years in June 2020. Griner, a WNBA player and Olympic gold medalist, was detained in February at Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport, exactly one week before Russias invasion of Ukraine, on charges that she was trafficking cannabis oil a banned substance in Russia inside vape canisters. She pleaded guilty on July 7 and now faces up to 10 years in prison. Few U.S. officials take the Russian prosecutors allegations at face value; the prevailing view is that both Whelan and Griner were snatched as hostages for exactly the kind of swap now under consideration, or as bargaining chips for lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia. The Russian security services watched Griner closely and knew they could compromise her, a former U.S. intelligence officer told Yahoo News. Shes a Black gay woman who could be portrayed as carrying drugs, and they waited until she departed. This was not legitimate law enforcement but cynical power games by the Kremlin. John Sipher, the former deputy head of Russia House at the CIA, said Whelan would have been unlikely to be recruited by any U.S. intelligence service owing to his compromised history: He was given a bad-conduct discharge from the Marine Corps after being court-martialed on larceny-related offenses in 2008. Viktor Bout arrives at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., in 2010. (U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images) Even by the Kremlins suspect characterization of Whelan and Griner, the allegations against Bout are far worse. In the late 1990s, Jonathan Winer, a senior official in the State Department during the Clinton administration who tracked Bouts movements, told Yahoo News, Bout was the No. 2 target for the United States, after Osama bin Laden. In fact, the infamous arms dealer, widely known as the merchant of death, has even been accused of arming al-Qaida. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union until his capture in a 2008 Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation in Bangkok, Bout supplied a rogues gallery of governments and militias with guns, ammunition and aircraft. Nicolas Cage played a thinly veiled version of him in the 2005 film Lord of War, although the real-life versions antics were more cinematically uncanny. Even Bouts aliases Viktor Budd, Viktor Butt and, simply, Boris might have stretched credulity for a Bond villain. Bout was chummy with a succession of African dictators, including Libyas Moammar Gadhafi, Rwandas Paul Kagame, Zaires Mobutu Sese Seko and Liberias Charles Taylor, the latter of whom paid him in conflict diamonds and whose child soldiers operated the antique Antonov cargo planes that Bout sold him. Warlord Sam Mosquito Bockarie committed crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone with Bout-proffered weapons. Some of these clients would object to Bouts apparent racism and peremptory behavior: a pushy Russian in the midst of anticolonial (or postcolonial) leaders. But that hardly affected his bottom line or their willingness to enrich it. Moammar Gadhafi in Paris in 2007. (Eric Ryan/Getty Images) The Tajikistan-born weapons merchant could play both sides of any war to his advantage. He equipped the Taliban with an air force before 9/11 and also sent weapons to their mortal enemy, Ahmad Shah Massoud, the commander of the Northern Alliance and onetime Afghan defense minister, with whom he liked to hunt the finely horned Marco Polo sheep of the Pamir Mountains. Both the Taliban and Massoud evidently knew their broker was double-dealing, but they put up with it because they had no choice, as one Bout associate later recounted to his biographers: No one else would deliver the packages. Astonishingly, even after being hunted by the U.S. government for years, Bouts flagship company Irbis (snow leopard in Russian) even secretly acted as a private airlift courier for supplies intended for the U.S. military and contractors in occupied Iraq in 2004. For all Bouts blood-boltered infamy, some former national security officials think the Biden administration made the right call. Its a trade that has to be made, despite all the pitfalls, according to Marc Polymeropoulos, who oversaw the CIAs clandestine operations in Europe and Eurasia. The pressure from the families on the White House is immense. Polymeropoulos acknowledged that the trade would amount to rewarding terrible Russian behavior equating a notorious international arms trafficker with Whelan and Griner but that the cost would be worth it. Make no mistake, the Americans have no hope of release save for this swap. Also, lets not forget that the Israelis have for decades swapped Palestinian terrorists for their imprisoned soldiers, and sometimes just their remains. Sipher agrees. First, its a hard policy call, and Im glad that Americans that were wrongly held as hostages will be freed. I understand why an American president makes such a deal. However, we should admit that we played Vladimir Putins game. He got what he wanted in his typical bullying manner. He knows he can push the West around and will do it until he is stopped. Brittney Griner in court in Moscow on Wednesday. (Washington Post via Getty Images) The U.S. sanctioned Bout in 2004 due to his gunrunning to Liberia; a year later, the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four of his associates and 30 of his companies. According to the 2008 sealed indictment against Bout, filed in the Southern District of New York, he agreed to provide advanced weapons systems to FARC, the Colombian terrorist organization, knowing that they would be used to target Americans and U.S. military personnel. The Russian assembled a fleet of cargo airplanes capable of transporting weapons and military equipment to various parts of the world, including Africa, South America and the Middle East, the indictment read. Everything from AK-47s to attack helicopters wound up in the holds of Bouts cargo planes, of which there were scores, under different national flaggings. He maintained the largest private fleet of post-Soviet cargo aircraft in the world at one point, administering it under a veneer of legitimacy by transporting food, medicine and other licit goods along with lethal contraband. Bout was found guilty in 2011 on all four counts of the indictment: conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, conspiracy to kill officers and employees of the U.S., conspiracy to acquire and use antiaircraft missiles, and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a terrorist organization. He is now in the 10th year of a 25-year sentence. Peter Hain, the former minister of state for Africa at the British Foreign Office, told the London Sunday Telegraph in 2002 that Bout was supplying the Taliban and al-Qaida, an allegation that Bout always denied, portraying himself as an honest businessman toting innocent wares such as textiles and furniture to places like Afghanistan. (It was Hain who coined Bouts unshakable moniker, the merchant of death.) British politician Peter Hain in 2019. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images) Bout has for years also loudly denied any connection to the Russian government or its military intelligence service, still known by its Soviet-era acronym, the GRU. However, in Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possibile, a 2007 chronicle of Bouts malign activities, authors Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun quote one of his associates: The GRU gave him three airplanes to start the business. The planes, countless numbers of them, were sitting there doing nothing. They decided, lets make this commercial. They gave Viktor the aircraft and in exchange collected a part of the charter money. It was a setup from the beginning. An unnamed analyst who worked with British intelligence also told the authors that MI6, the U.K.'s foreign intelligence service, never had any doubt Bout was GRU material. U.N. officials placed Bout's earlier career as that of an interpreter for Russian peacekeepers in Angola; he had trained at the Soviet Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, a favored stalking ground for GRU recruitment. Military translators are often GRU officers stationed under diplomatic cover owing to the spy services polyglot job requirement. Bout has said he speaks six languages. His bodyguards in his heyday were also reportedly all veterans from GRU Spetsnaz, or special forces. Russias military intelligence agency has come under international scrutiny in the last several years, particularly after U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that a team of now-indicted GRU officers in Moscow were responsible for the hack-and-leak operation against the Democratic Party email servers in 2016, with the express intent of influencing the outcome of that years presidential contest. GRU operatives have been busy outside the digital domain too. The headquarters of the GRU in Moscow in 2016. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images) Operatives attached to an elite assassination-and-sabotage cell known as Unit 29155 were sent to Salisbury, England, in 2018 to poison a GRU defector, Sergei Skripal, along with his daughter, Yulia, with a Russian-manufactured nerve agent. Unit 29155 has also lately been linked to a string of earlier mysterious poisonings over the last decade, including that of another arms dealer, the Bulgarian Emilian Gebrev, who succumbed to Skripal-like symptoms in 2015 along with his son and his factory manager near his office in central Sofia. A series of explosions of factories and depots elsewhere in Bulgaria and also the Czech Republic, both of them NATO and EU member states, have been attributed to Unit 29155 operatives, leading to expulsions of Russian intelligence officers from embassies in both countries. Tellingly, these sites are believed to have contained Soviet-era ammunition bound for Ukraine. Given the unprecedented access Bout had to surplus weapons and ammunition stocks, not to mention the enormous Antonov freighters scattered like metal carcasses across airfields of the fallen Soviet empire, it beggars belief that he was not in some way linked to Russian intelligence. That would certainly account for why Vladimir Putins regime has so desperately sought for his repatriation to Russia and why the U.S. side apparently believes Bout would be a tempting trade amid caustic tensions between the two countries. The Kremlin, said Winer, the former State Department official, moved heaven and earth to first prevent Bouts extradition to the U.S. from Thailand and then to secure his release from prison. The Russian Foreign Ministry has classed him as a political prisoner and, for more than a decade after his capture, serially raised his release with Washington in some kind of exchange. The big question was whether he was basically state-sponsored or a rogue operator whom the Russian government found useful, Winer told Yahoo News. Was he an agent of the GRU when we caught him? Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday. (Pavel Byrkin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images) Given Bouts conviction in a U.S. court for aiding and abetting FARC, its a slightly awkward question for the Biden administration, now facing a mounting chorus to label Russia itself a state sponsor of terrorism. On Thursday, the Senate unanimously adopted a nonbinding resolution urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Moscow as such. The text of the resolution not only cites Russian military atrocities against civilians in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Ukraine but also names the Wagner Group, a notorious mercenary outfit. Financed by the U.S.- and EU-sanctioned oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin a catering magnate and architect of the St. Petersburg troll farm implicated by Mueller in the 2016 U.S. election interference scheme the Wagner Group has committed serious human rights abuses in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Mozambique, according to the European Union. The allegations include torture and extrajudicial killings. The Senate also accuses the group of having tried to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the start of Russias invasion in February. The Treasury Department sanctioned the Wagner Group as a Russian Ministry of Defense proxy force. The mercenaries maintain a camp in the Russian region of Krasnodar, right next door to a well-guarded training facility for GRU Spetsnaz, of which Wagners leader, Dmitry Utkin, was once a brigade commander. According to Polymeropoulos, the former CIA officer, there was never any doubt that Wagner functions as an arm of the GRU. Might the same be said of the man now sitting in a medium-security penitentiary in Marion, Ill., awaiting his plane back to Moscow? They will try to lock me up for life, the then-45-year-old Bout told the New Yorker before his sentencing. But Ill get back to Russia. I dont know when. But Im still young. Your empire will collapse and Ill get out of here. There were more electives There were better teachers There were less tests There were more exciting ways to learn Other Vote View Results ISLAMABAD, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held talks with Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Afghan interim government, and stressed the need for enhanced cooperation to promote economic integration and regional connectivity, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said. During their talks on the sidelines of the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Zardari reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to regional connectivity and infrastructure projects, the ministry said in a statement on Friday. He reiterated solidarity and support for the Afghan people following the destruction caused by the recent earthquake in Afghanistan, adding that Pakistan remained firmly committed to a peaceful, stable, prosperous and connected Afghanistan. The foreign minister highlighted the various steps taken by Pakistan to support bilateral engagements with Afghanistan and facilitate international humanitarian assistance, according to the statement. Muttaqi thanked Pakistan for dispatching humanitarian assistance and for hosting Afghan refugees for the last four decades, the ministry said. YEREVAN, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS. The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations released its Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations Bill today, which reaffirms Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act and recommend $2 million in demining assistance to Artsakh, along with humanitarian aid to help displaced Armenians, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). Specifically, the Committee Report stated that up to $2,000,000 for humanitarian demining and unexploded ordnance [UXO] clearance activities in areas affected by fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, subject to prior consultation with the Committees on Appropriations as well as humanitarian assistance for those displaced by the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Last month, the House of Representatives passed its version of the Bill that called for $60 million in assistance to Armenia and $2 million for demining activities in Artsakh. The House Bill also included language on Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act. "Having just returned from Armenia and Artsakh, continued U.S. assistance and engagement remains critically important, stated Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan. The Assembly will continue to work with the House and Senate to ensure the best outcome to help the Armenian people, Khaloyan added. NICOSIA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- An underwater archeological park on the edge of Limassol is providing visitors with a rare glimpse of life in Cyprus more than 2,400 years ago, archeology professor Stella Demesticha told Xinhua on Friday. Demesticha is an associate professor of underwater archaeology at the state University of Cyprus, and worked on the preparation of the park, which encompasses the entire submerged harbor of the ancient city of Amathus. Archeologists have dated the construction of the harbor back to the end of the 3rd century B.C., when Cyprus was at the center of a conflict between the successors of Alexander the Great. The site was excavated by a French archaeological team in the 1980s, but it was mainly the discoveries on land that drew public attention. These included the Agora, private houses and administrative buildings, and public baths. Hundreds of pottery items were also excavated. "People were only aware of the Agora, with its columns, and other excavated buildings next to the seaside and the main road," said Demesticha. However, the harbor lies in shallow waters close to the shore, with parts including the entrance and jetties visible to visitors. Access is easy and no special diving equipment is required except a mask and snorkel. The ruins of the harbor extend 100 meters into the sea, and cover an area of about 30,000 square meters. The harbor has three moles; stone embankments made from around 5,000 heavy blocks with quays on the inside, and heavy breakwaters of boulders on the outer side. Turning the submerged harbor into an underwater park was a joint undertaking by the Maritime Archaeological Research Laboratory, the state University of Cyprus, the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus and the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research of Cyprus. by Steve Suwannarat Thailand is facing an increasingly ageing population. Unlike other Asian countries, it is ill-equipped to cope with it. Thai authorities must rethink urban welfare policies. Bangkok (AsiaNews) Thailand has one of Asias fastest ageing populations. The ratio of working age to senior people is expected to be halved from 3.6 in 2020 over the next 20 years, this according to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) The demographic challenge it faces is not dissimilar from that of Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore, but these countries are richer and their shift was more gradual. In Thailand, action is hampered by cultural and economic factors and the speed at which the population is ageing, making it hard to reform welfare policies while taking into account certain trends in society. A low birth rate casts a heavy shadow on those on the cusp of retirement. Welfare agencies are already struggling to step in where family and neighbours once played an essential role to help increasingly lonely seniors. Thais over 65 now number 7.5 million or 11 per cent of a population of 70 million, but are expected to reach 30 per cent by 2040. Suthida Chuanwan, a researcher at the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, told a recent seminar in Bangkok that social enterprises can play a greater role, something backed by several studies. The expert notes that a quarter of lonely seniors are at risk of insecurity, anxiety, or depression. There are more and more elderly families, households with people over 60 living full-time under the same roof, without any real outside support or adequate home care assistance. The situation calls for seniors-oriented economic, social, and healthcare support initiatives, above all in large cities, starting with the capital Bangkok, where ties with relatives and acquaintances are less close than in the provinces. In rural areas, seniors remain more integrated into the social fabric and can better enjoy recreational and social activities centred on them. Action is essential since many of the seniors who have led a healthy lifestyle might not have had the opportunity or the means to save for the future. For Jongjit Ritthirong, also a researcher at the Institute for Population and Social Research, this is a challenge for Thais authorities since they are now called to invest more in social assistance to avoid future unsustainable cost increases associated with the increasingly ageing population. by Guido Alberto Casanova Kim Hyung-ryul managed production and supplies from Vietnam. Telegram platform used to manage the dealing. In the first six months of 2022, drug shipments intercepted by Seoul police increased by 11.2%, with users among the very young on the rise. Seoul (AsiaNews) - For about three years Kim Hyung-ryul was one of the most important South Korean drug lords in Southeast Asia from his headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City, more than 3,000 kilometres from the coast of Korea. Today, however, Kim is in handcuffs in Seoul awaiting his own trial. "After three years of cooperation with Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security, Kim was arrested on 17 July and sent back to Korea on the 19th," the South Korean National Police Agency announced. Kim was one of the main producers of methamphetamine in the area, along with synthetic cannabinoids, so much so that other drug lords around South-East Asia relied on his supplies from Vietnam. According to the police, his group grossed more than USD 5.4 million as of 2018. "This is only an estimate," police said, "the exact extent of the distribution will be made public when we further investigate, but we expect it to be much larger." Kim had been flagged by Interpol in June 2019 and had been wanted throughout Korea for at least a year before that. After his location, a South Korean police team had travelled to Vietnam to organise his capture. Together with him, 20 other South Koreans were arrested as accomplices in the narcotics trade. The group ran the drug trade via Telegram and controlled a large part of the market in South Korea. The other two drug lords with whom Kim shared the Korean marketplaces, one based in the Philippines and the other in Cambodia, were arrested recently. Now, following Kim's arrest, South Korean police are focusing their attention on the network of dealers and buyers that the organisation had established in the country. However, the arrest of the three largest drug producers and distributors in South Korea is counterbalanced by the increase in drug trafficking in the first six months of 2022. According to information released by the police, intercepted drug shipments increased by 11.2% compared to the same months last year. In particular, there has been a near doubling of methamphetamine seizures, with the growth attributable mainly to imports from South-East Asia. The spread of narcotics in South Korea is a phenomenon that increasingly affects the younger generation. Last year, 71% of sentences for drug-related offences concerned the under-40 age group, a figure that has been steadily rising in recent years. At present, the incidence of this demographic category on the total number of drug offenders is still 58.9%, as reported by the commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police. For many of them, this is their first sentence. In the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Quebec, Francis' address to the bishops, clergy and pastoral workers of Canada. "Let us return to the first proclamation: to those who have not yet embraced the Lord in their lives we cannot presume to communicate the joy of faith by presenting secondary aspects, repeating certain practices or replicating outdated pastoral formulas." Quebec (AsiaNews) - A Church free from the nostalgia of the past, which must not defend itself from the world but gift the joy of the Gospel. This is the horizon that Francis indicated to the Church of Canada last night when he met bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men, seminarians and pastoral workers in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Quebec. With them he addressed another of the great themes of the Church's presence in Canada today: the relationship with a context strongly marked by secularisation. He questioned : "Does our Church express the joy of the Gospel? Is there a faith in our communities that attracts because of the joy it communicates? If we want to address the root of these questions, we cannot help but reflect on what, in the reality of our time, threatens the joy of faith and risks obscuring it, seriously undermining the Christian experience. One immediately thinks of secularisation, which has long since transformed the lifestyle of today's women and men, consigning God to the background". "When we observe the culture in which we are immersed, its languages and its symbols, we must be careful not to remain prisoners of pessimism and resentment, leaving ourselves open to negative judgements or useless nostalgia, " said Pope Francis, encouraging them to look beyond this negativity which is the result of "a faith that, percieving itself to be under attack, conceives itself as a defensive 'armour' from the world, and thus which risks becoming a 'crusader spirit'. Let us beware of this,' he warned, 'because it is not Christian; it is not God's way. The Lord, who detests worldliness, looks with love on the world. He blesses our life, He says good things about us and our reality, He incarnates Himself in the situations of history not to condemn, but to make the seed of the Kingdom sprout right there where darkness seems to triumph". "If we stop short at this negative outlook we will end up denying the incarnation, because we will flee reality, instead of incarnating ourselves in it. We will close in on ourselves, we will cry over our losses, we will continually complain and fall into sadness and pessimism, which never come from God." Instead, it is a matter of "having a gaze similar to that of God, who knows how to discern the good and is persistent in seeking it, seeing it and nourishing it. It is not a naive gaze, but a gaze that discerns reality' Francis continued, . Recalling the distinction between secularisation and secularism - proposed by Paul VI in the apostolic exhortation Evangelli nuntiandi - Pope Francis invited us to beware of the risk "of communicating the wrong message, as if behind the criticism of secularisation there was nostalgia for a sacralised world, for a society of bygone times in which the Church and its ministers had more power and social relevance". On the contrary, 'secularisation is a challenge to our pastoral imagination. While it makes us see the difficulties we have in transmitting the joy of faith, it stimulates us to rediscover a new passion for evangelisation, to seek new languages, to change some pastoral priorities, to go to the essentials'. Hence the invitation to cultivate 'a personal and ecclesial lifestyle that can rekindle the desire for the Lord, instil hope, transmit trust and credibility'. A path in which he indicated three challenges in particular. Firstly, to make Jesus known, returning to the first proclamation. "We cannot presume to communicate the joy of faith," the Pontiff commented, "by presenting secondary aspects to those who have not yet embraced the Lord in their lives, or only by repeating certain practices or replicating outdated pastoral formulas . New ways must be found to announce the heart of the Gospel to those who have not yet encountered Christ'. But the first proclamation demands credibility, and here then is the second challenge, that of witness. "The Gospel," Francis explained, "is effectively proclaimed when it is life that speaks, when it reveals that freedom that sets others free, that compassion that asks nothing in return, that mercy that without words speaks of Christ." Reflecting on this the pope also mentioned the path of purification required by the scandal of sexual abuse committed against minors and vulnerable people not only in Canada , "scandals that require strong actions and an irreversible battle". Finally, the third challenge: fraternity. "It is about living a Christian community that becomes a school of humanity, where we learn to love one another as brothers and sisters, willing to work together for the common good. Let us ask ourselves: how is fraternity among us? Are we brothers or competitors divided into parties? And how are our relations with those who are not 'of ours', with those who do not believe, with those who have different traditions and customs? This is the way,' he concluded, 'to promote fraternal relationships with everyone, with our indigenous brothers and sisters, with every sister and brother we meet, because in the face of each one is reflected the presence of God'. by Fady Noun The Lebanese cabinet wants to tear down the huge containers, damaged by the blast that killed more than 220 people. For the families of the victims, the silos should be preserved as a memorial. A fire broke out caused by fermenting grains, which cannot be put out, with a real possibility that the northern part may collapse. Meanwhile, the investigation into the explosion has a hit a wall. Beirut (AsiaNews) Lebanon will hold a Day of National Mourning on 4 August, the second anniversary of the explosion of a warehouse in the port of Beirut that contained hundreds of tonnes of poorly stored ammonium nitrate. More than 220 people died in the incident with some 6,500 injured; entire neighbourhoods of the Lebanese capital were devastated. The blast also hit the ports giant grain silos, located in front of the warehouse, which partially collapsed. Since then, they have become the symbols of the tragedy, and are now at the centre of a controversy as to whether they should be demolished or not. Meanwhile, the investigation into the causes of the explosion has been held up for months due to political interference. Over the past few months, the fate of the silos has been an open question. On 16 March, Prime Minister Nagib Mikati and his cabinet opted for their demolition, a decision that was questioned only two days later by Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada, who decided that the silos should be preserved as a memorial in accordance with the wishes of the victims families. On 14 April, the cabinet revisited the issue, tasking the Council for Development and Reconstruction with the demolition. After that, the matter seemed to have died down, until, that is, a fire broke out in the northern part of the silos. The prime minister, who backs tearing down the structure, seized the opportunity and warned that the silos in the northern part are likely to collapse, citing the environment minister. The fire, according to experts, was caused by methane fumes from the fermentation of the remaining grain stocks, combined with high temperatures. For the authorities, some parts of the silos still contain between 3,000 and 6,000 tonnes of wheat and other grains that could not be removed due to the danger of collapse. For the relatives of the victims, the fire reopened not-so-old wounds. Contrary to what Assaad Haddad, General Manager at Beirut Port Grain Silos, believes, namely that the fire will not damage the structure of the silos, Beirut MP Paula Yacoubian has accused the government of waiting for the metal components to meld so that the silos will collapse on their own, facilitating their demolition. For his part, the cabinet said to let the fire go out on its own. "We know that trying to extinguish the fire with water could speed up the grain fermentation process and fuel the methane fumes," Yacoubian said, "but if the government acted in good faith, it could extinguish the fire with dry ice." Yacoubian's intervention seems to be late, though. The northern part of the silos has been irreparably weakened and is starting to tilt at a rate of 2-2.5 millimetres per hour. However, if this section does collapse, it does not follow that all the silos will. While waiting for an unpredictable collapse, the cabinet is seriously working on a controlled demolition of the silos. Experts envisage two methods: implosion by explosives installed inside the giant columns or a steel ball. Inevitably, some believe, this will impact the immediate environment and human health because of all the dust, with the risk of potentially toxic asbestos particles spreading across a wide area. Opponents of the demolition question the claim that asbestos is present. Meanwhile, the investigation into the explosion, led by Judge Tarek Bitar, has been stalled for months. Several ministers summoned by the magistrate raised formal objections and paralysed the process, blaming criminal negligence. Today's headlines: In Japan again Covid-19 emergency in hospitals; A Syrian cargo ship carrying grain Ukraine accuses Russia of stealing from warehouses docks in Lebano; Vietnamese academic who had called for Party reforms under house arrest;. Azerbaijan wants to join the D8, the group of 'big Islamic countries'. CHINA-UNITED STATES The leaders of the US and China traded warnings over Taiwan yesterday during a phone call that lasted more than two hours. Joe Biden said the US strongly opposes any unilateral move to change the status of the island. Xi Jinping said the US must stick to the one-China principle, warning that "those who play with fire get burned". During the talks - described as "direct" and "honest" - climate change and global health policies were also discussed. JAPAN Japan recorded 233,100 new cases of coronavirus, setting a new record for the second consecutive day. The new wave of Covid-19 - the seventh - is causing concern because of the pressure on the healthcare system: in 19 prefectures, the occupancy of available hospital places has exceeded 50 per cent. According to the WHO, Japan is the country with the highest number of infections in the last week LEBANON-RUSSIA-UKRAINE A US-sanctioned Syrian cargo ship has docked in the port of Tripoli in Lebanon with cargo that Ukraine claims consists of stolen barley and flour. According to allegations by the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Beirut, the grain was allegedly taken by the Russians from warehouses in Ukraine. RUSSIA-IRAN Russia has concluded an agreement with Iran for the supply of spare parts and equipment for Russian aircraft, and also for on-board maintenance and repairs, according to Iranian civil aviation representative Mirakbara Razawi, who said that passenger traffic between the two countries will also be intensified. VIETNAM The former director of the Institute for Research and Technological Development in South-East Asia and North Asia - Nguyen Son Lo, 74 - was placed under house arrest and banned from leaving Vietnam as part of an investigation into allegations of "abuse of democratic freedoms" for making a series of recommendations on improving the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam. PAKISTAN Twenty-six-year-old Manisha Ropeta is the first woman from Pakistan's Hindu minority community to become deputy superintendent of police. In the male-dominated Pakistani society and culture, it is difficult for women to enter professions considered 'male' such as the police force. TURKEY-AZERBAIJAN Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the Apa news agency in Istanbul that Azerbaijan has applied to join the D-8 organisation, the 8 'big Islamic countries' together with Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. This suggests he has secured a third term in office. In a speech, Xi calls for action against economic imbalances. A return to a more centralised economy is possible, but so is an agreement with Li Keqiangs pro-market faction. According to well-known activist Wei Jingsheng, with or without Xi, the Communist Party will decline. Beijing (AsiaNews) Xi Jinping presented his political strategy for the next five years at a symposium held in the capital on Tuesday and Wednesday. His plan is designed to build a modernised socialist country. According to several observers, this is a further sign that the Chinese president is sure to get a third term in power, which would be unprecedented after the eras of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. All members of the Politburo Standing Committee, including Premier Li Keqiang and Vice President Wang Qishan, attended the high-level meeting, considered a prelude to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), scheduled for the fall. High-level officials from the central and provincial administrations were also present. They heard Xi say that the authorities must address the problem of the countrys unbalanced and insufficient development. For some analysts, the use of Marxist phraseology could indicate that Xi is prepared to return to a more centralised economy at the expense of the more open market economy that has developed over the past 40 years. Without citing them, Xi seems to be repeating his famous slogans about shared prosperity, dual internal and external circulation, as well as economic self-sufficiency. For critics though, the presidents orientations are responsible for the country's economic woes of the past year. In his opening speech at the symposium, Premier Li said that officials and leaders must study Xi's thinking and follow his guidelines in what seems to be a further sign that the Chinese president has free rein to stay in power. It could also mean that Li reached a deal with Xi on the future balance of power within the Party and government, with an important role for the Communist Youth faction headed by Li. In recent months Xi has had to give Li more leeway to put the economy back in order after it was hit hard by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the presidents centralising policies. Speaking on Radio Free Asia, veteran pro-democracy activist Wei Jingsheng, now exiled in the United States, argues that Xi's re-election is not a foregone conclusion. For Wei, the fact that official media have devoted little coverage to the meeting suggests that an internal struggle is underway in the Party. What is more, whether Xi stays in power or not, infighting will undermine the Party, and accelerate its demise. FRC Action Announces Opposition to Candidates Who Undermine Marriage and Religious Freedom FRC Action PAC Endorses Against GOP Rep. Peter Meijer for His Vote NEWS PROVIDED BY FRC Action July 29, 2022 WASHINGTON, July 29, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- FRC Action, the legislative affiliate of Family Research Council, announced today it will support challengers to Members of Congress who voted in favor on the so-called Respect for Marriage Act. The legislation voted on in the Nancy Pelosi-led US House, and being considered in the Chuck Schumer-led US Senate, is more appropriately called the "Disrespect for Marriage & Religious Freedom Act." It disregards the needs of children, paves the way for an acceleration of hostility toward religious Americans, disrespects the institution of marriage, and forces the federal government to accept any definition of marriage that any state may adopt -- including polyamorous marriages. The legislation also repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which was signed into law in 1996 with a strong bipartisan majority. Its repeal would undermine religious liberty in key ways and cast doubt on the tax exemption of religious schools and nonprofit organizations. Last week, 47 House Republicans voted to codify into law what the GOP platform states Republicans would not accept from an activist Court. As a result, FRC Action PAC, the Political Action Committee connected to FRC Action, is announcing it will endorse conservative challengers to those incumbents. The first endorsement to be announced is John Gibbs in Michigan's 3rd Congressional Primary. Gibbs is challenging incumbent Republican Peter Meijer who voted in favor of the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act. FRC Action PAC will work to oppose other US House and US Senate candidates who vote to undermine marriage, family, and religious freedom. FRC Action President Tony Perkins made the following comments: "Conservative challengers, who support the GOP platform on life, marriage and religious freedom, who are primarying Members of Congress who voted against natural marriage and religious freedom, will have the support of FRC Action. Additionally, we will actively work to help them gain the support of other pro-family, pro-religious freedom organizations. "The so-called Respect for Marriage Act undermines fundamentally important principles on marriage, family, and religious liberty. We draw the line here. These bedrock principles about the true meaning of marriage are not negotiable. Marriage and religious freedom are red lines. "We all recall when President Obama's solicitor general said at oral arguments in Obergefell that it was 'certainly going to be an issue' if religious schools wanted to retain their tax-exempt status after that ruling. If Congress passes the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act, it will only intensify the effort to marginalize, silence and eliminate. Whether the 47 GOP members recognize it or not, they cast a vote against religious freedom in America. We will not be supporting anyone to hold public office who supports legislation that undermines natural marriage and religious freedom. "FRC Action and FRC Action PAC will actively work to hold both Democrat and Republican lawmakers accountable if they vote to undermine these critical ideals," Perkins concluded. FRC Action PAC is the political action committee connected to FRC Action, a 501(c)(4) membership organization. FRC Action is the legislative advocacy arm of the Family Research Council, a 501(c)(3) organization. Paid for by Family Research Council Action PAC (www.frcactionpac.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. SOURCE FRC Action CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Alice Chao, 866-FRC-NEWS, 866-372-6397 Everyone knows just how difficult it may be to give Swiss watchmakers and lovers of timepieces something to talk about. Well, Jason Wilbur, an American mind with an exceptional automotive and design background, achieved this same effect around 10 years ago, landing him great consideration for the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve.But what's been going on over the past decade? Well, I'll tell you what's been going on, a hermit, working hard, day and night, probably forgetting to eat, only to come out of his R&D cave with a mouthwatering lineup of timepieces that are proudly built right here in the U.S. Time to see what's in store from an American brand that has been revered by the Swiss.Three timekeeper styles are shown on the Wilbur website, but only one is currently available for purchase, the Launch Edition . However, the future will be changing all that. But, that doesn't mean that everyone is limited to the same timepiece. There are five variations for the Launch Edition, but the most expensive models are already sold out, including the $6,250 (6,150 at current exchange rates) JWB SS CR1.Nonetheless, the JWA and JWB are still available for those who want to support this modern American brand, and best of all, both pieces will cost you $2,700 (2,650) and are limited to 250 each. Yes, only you and 250 other folks will ever own the same watch. The more expensive styles are limited to 20 or less, hence why they're gone But what makes them tick? Get it, tick? What you'll be strapping to your wrist is a 44-millimeter case and bezel with a wonderfully enclosed crown. What's neat about the case is that it's built from nine parts and uses sapphire crystals to allow for impeccable anti-reflective clarity. Each case is also hand-finished, so it'll be a unique piece nonetheless.Case aside, it's time to reveal a bit about the movement inside these buggers. Since the Swiss don't give up their goods that easily, the Launch uses a Japanese Seiko NH-35A automatic movement with 24 jewels. However, Wilbur has modified it to their liking and is running at 21,600 BPH with a 41-hour power reserve.Now, all that aside, just take a moment and really let this timepiece soak into your visual cortex. The steel case, secured and fastened with black screws, and highlighted by a black crown, sits in wait for a watch face embellished with a floating hour and minute ring, only to be chased down by quick hands until the end of time. If you need to know what date it is, that feature is available too. Essential details like minutes, hours, and the date are highlighted with a crisp color tone based on the model chosen, so make sure you comb through the available options.Some final details you should know about are found on the backside of the timekeeper. Aside from being able to see a tad of the movement, the words "Designed In California" and "Race Fuel Only" can be seen cradling "Wilbur" and "Launch" underneath. You'll also be reminded of how quickly you acted in owning the Launch Edition by an "X Of 250" in between the strap lugs. Oh, 100 meters of water depth, and the piece should still be fine.While exploring the Wilbur brand, I noticed that there are more watches lined up for this year, and we'll be sure to cover those as well. In the meantime, if you see something that rocks your grey matter, don't be afraid to ask Wilbur if they're willing to build an extra timekeeper from the ones sold out; if the price is right, I'm sure you folks can work something out.I think you should keep an eye on this team and what they have in store for the future because it's not every day that you see an American brand living up to Swiss standards of accuracy and design. I say this because although the Launch Edition features a Seiko movement, what Wilbur has in store are genuine Swiss articles. Better start putting aside some of your paycheck each month. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA Back on April 16th, a non-U.S. incident involving an i4 eDrive40 was brought to BMWs attention. On June 3rd, the Bavarian automaker became aware of a U.S. incident involving a 2022 model year iX xDrive50. Mere days later, BMW learned of an overseas incident involving an iX M60.Filed with the, the report attached below states that similar findings were identified in all cases, involving an irregularity during the manufacturing process of the cells.After a careful review of both production and process records, the Munich-based automaker decided that a voluntary recall is necessary. BMW isnt aware of accidents or injuries related to this condition. A grand total of 83 vehicles are called back, split between 56 examples of the iX and 27 examples of the i4. The xDrive50, M60, eDrive40, and M50 are listed.Suspect iX vehicles were manufactured between December 2nd, 2021 and June 30th, 2022. Suspect i4 vehicles were built in the period between November 22nd through June 13th. The suspect packs bear part numbers 8846469 and 884646 for the iX, and 8847350 and 8847342 for the i4.Dealers have been already notified of this problem, with instructions to replace the affected cells. Affected owners will be informed by first-class mail on September 19th, and in the meantime, drivers will be instructed not to drive and not to charge their vehicles. The report further states that drivers will be instructed to park their vehicles away from structures.Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or thesafety hotline at 1-888-327-4236. Alternatively, owners may run their vehicle identification numbers through the NHTSAs look-up tool. Most teenagers were probably waiting for this summer so they could chill during the day and party at night. But Cal Currier had much bigger plans. The California teenager headed on a risky solo trip across the Atlantic Ocean on a 30-foot (9.1 meters) sailboat built in 1976. He set sail on June 27 and ended up spending 28 days on the water, according to People The initial plan was to travel to Spain, but the final destination ended up being Lagos, Portugal. Cal successfully sailed for almost 4,000 miles (6,437 km) from Marion, Massachusetts, to Lagos. By all accounts, he is now the youngest person to have sailed across the Atlantic.His father had told Sippican Week that the Guinness Book of World Records doesnt want to encourage teens younger than 16 to attempt to break the record, which is why the figures arent very clear. But, from what he could find, Curriers father believes that the last time something similar was accomplished was way back in 1976.That also happens to be the year when the Tartan sailboat that would become Cals vessel was built. Cal started a summer camp in order to raise money for the boat, which he had found through an online listing, and paid $12,000 for it. Luckily for him, the boat belonged to a reputable boat maker, the 90-year-old Sandy Van Zandt, who was actually planning a similar trip but became Cals mentor instead. The boat was named Argos and was initially packed with 400 miles worth of diesel and 100 days worth of food.The teens only means of communicating with his family was through intermittent satellite connection, and he also had to handle by himself all the practical issues that came up during the trip. But to him, the hardest part of it all was the mental aspect being alone and unable to communicate with anyone. That is why Cal wont be sailing solo again anytime soon, but hes ready for other new adventures For example, the latest statistics show that sales of smartphones and PCs are slowly declining year-over-year, finally giving chipmakers and other suppliers the opportunity of aligning production with demand.But things arent by any means the same in other industry sectors, such as the car manufacturing business.The demand here is still at record levels, and this is the reason some carmakers are still forced to temporarily halt production at some plants and even build vehicles without certain non-critical systems.STMicroelectronics, which is one of the largest chipmakers in the entire world and a chip supplier for car manufacturers as well, says it expects the demand to surpass its production capacity until at least 2023. In other words, the company believes it wouldnt be able to align the chip output with the orders it received, so as far as carmakers are concerned, the inventory would continue to be rather constrained until next year.This is both good news and bad news.While some carmakers expected the chip crisis to ease off in the second half of the year, there are more and more signs that this isnt going to happen, and the struggle would continue until 2023.Intel, on the other hand, believes that the constrained chip inventory would remain a problem for the car manufacturing business until 2024 , especially as chipmakers themselves are now struggling with other problems on their own. One of them is related to the disruptions caused by the lockdowns announced by the Chinese government and which are impacting the supply chain, eventually hurting the production of chip-making equipment.Clearly, anticipating when the chip shortage would come to an end is impossible, but STMicroelectronics doesnt expect the demand to slow down until 2023. The company is also setting up a new plant in Crolles, France, therefore expecting to boost the output once the production lines go live. The Amels Custom 78 has left its shed following delivery to its new owner, who was actively involved in the designing process of the vessel. The sale of the yacht was officially announced at the 2017 Monaco Yacht Show.In 2020, it arrived in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. There, the team at Amels and Damen Yachting worked hard to turn the vessel into an imposing superyacht that measures 77.8 meters (255 ft) in length.The owner's vision is reflected throughout the whole build. With a beam of 14 meters (46 ft) and a Gross Tonnage of 2,885 GT, the yacht has amazing outdoor spaces and interior volumes. Its exterior was designed by Espen ino, while its custom interiors were drawn by the renowned studio Zuretti Interior Designers.Although there's not much information provided by the shipyard regarding its amenities, we do know that the 255-footer has a variety of elements that focus on providing a unique experience at sea. There is a spacious open top deck, a large pool on the aft deck, and very wide side decks that may be used as private areas for guests. Speaking of that, the Amels Custom 78 has room for 14 guests, a crew of 26, plus the captain.The superyacht rolled out of its shed for the first time last year, treating onlookers to a great spectacle. The vessel spent the last year undergoing a number of sea trials ahead of its delivery. In fact, this is the first Amels Full Custom to be delivered since the shipyard's Limited Editions concept was introduced in 2005.In terms of performance, the Amels Custom 78 can reach a maximum speed of 17 knots (19.5 mph/ 31 kph). When it cruises at speeds of 13.5 knots (15.5 mph/ 25 kph), the vessel can cover 5,754-mile (9,260-km) distances. SUV EV Pebble Beach visitors will be able to catch the Ocean at Concours Village, which is said to be an ideal location for a five-passenger, emissions-free vehicle, which, by the way, is priced from just $37,499 in Sport trim.We are excited to be at Pebble Beach Concours to showcase one of the worlds most sustainable and innovative electric vehicles, said company CEO Henrik Fisker. Its the first time were in northern California, and this setting offers our local stakeholders an opportunity to see, touch, and feel the Fisker Ocean.Those first lucky 5,000 buyers getting the Ocean One will end up with anbased on the high-specification Extreme trim. Additionally, the limited-edition variant comes with 22-inch F3 SlipStream alloy wheels with recycled carbon fiber inserts, a commemorative digital signature inside, plus model-specific exterior badging.Meanwhile, sometime in the next few months, each reservation holder will get to finalize the details of their specific Fisker Ocean One.Fun fact, earlier this year at CES 2022, Fisker showcased its revolutionary Advanced Driver Assistance System for the Ocean. This technology boasts four types of sensors, starting with an industry-leading surround-view camera suite, followed by a camera-based driver monitoring system, ultrasonic technology and the Digital Radar System.Also, if you fancy yourself a future Fisker Ocean owner, youll be happy to learn that thefeatures an industry-leading basic warranty of six years / 100,000 km (62,000 miles), a powertrain warranty of 10 years / 160,000 km (99,400 miles), and a battery warranty of 10 years / 160,000 km. EV ICE General Motors is in the midst of an uphill battle to surpass Tesla in themarket. Unlike Tesla, GM doesnt think building enough EVs would be the problem but finding customers for all of them. It is true that the Chevrolet Silverado only gathered around 150,000 reservations, whereas rival Ford had to stop taking more reservations for the F-150 Lightning when 200,000 of them were received. Thats why GM is trying to extend its client base by returning to Europe with a slew of electric vehicles.The move was rumored since GM established a new European arm last year. More rumors came earlier this month after Bloomberg revealed talks inside GM to bring its electric vehicles to the continent. This is interesting, considering how the Detroit automaker left Europe in 2017 after selling Opel and Vauxhall to PSA. Nevertheless, GM is now ready to come clean with the comeback, as GM Europe boss Mahmoud Samara has confirmed to Autocar Samara is confident that GM will prove a substantial player in the market, considering its strong line of Ultium electric models. The European continent might even prove a better market for GM than the U.S., thanks to much rapid adoption of electric vehicles. This, again, assumes that GM would manufacture more EVs than it can sell in the U.S. Thus, the European market would come in handy.Unlike previous GM efforts, where its European portfolio consisted of distinct European brands, the new push will involve its existing American brands. Cadillac will naturally lead the charge, thanks to the upscale image and the competitive technology of the Lyriq. But the more affordable Chevrolet models will probably make the bulk of sales in Europe.With what the customers need in Europe and what weve done to transform our company, we feel this is a unique opportunity for us, said Samara. Chevrolet is a global brand, Cadillac is a global brand, Hummer is a global brand, so we have global brands that are fit for purpose. Whats so beautiful about transitioning to EVs is the flexibility that we can deliver with those platforms. It will be fit for purpose in Europe.What General Motors will try to achieve in Europe is basically the same as what Volkswagen tried until it announced the Scout revival. Conquering a foreign market with a local brand is never easy, although Tesla proved it possible in China. GM has a slightly different strategy in Europe with a start-up approach. Without a legacyluggage, GM will follow more streamlined models like Tesla, Polestar, and Genesis. This means an online-only retail model, with no dealers involved, significantly cutting on initial investments. Agent 007 fans will rejoice at the news that a number of stunt cars that starred in the latest movie in the franchise, No Time To Die, are heading to charity auction.This year, James Bond celebrates the 60th anniversary of the first spy movie, Dr. No., starring Sean Connery. To mark the occasion, Christies auction house has announced an official two-part charity sale in September. Among the lots that will be offered, there are a Jaguar, Aston Martins, two Defenders, and a Range Rover Sport that appeared on the big screen or are closely associated with the latest movie.The collection is led by a Land Rover Defender 110, one of ten examples used by the cast during the filming of No Time To Die. This vehicle is aimed squarely at collectors, as it is sold as a non-runner item. It appeared in the all-terrain chase scene and was also used in promotional materials prior to the films release.According to the listing, this is an original pre-production Defender that has been modified to be used by professional stunt drivers in the movie, which means it is not approved for use on public roads.The Defender, which comes with VIN number 007, is expected to fetch between 300,000 and 500,000 ($364,260 - $606,220), and all proceeds will go to The British Red Cross.Unlike the car above, the next vehicle set to hit the auction block is a fully road-legal example. Its a Defender 110 V8 Bond Edition built by SV Bespoke that did not star in the movie.The model in question takes cues from the Defenders used in No Time to Die and boasts a 60 Years of Bond logo on the instrument panel end cap. Just 300 units of the Bond Edition were ever made, and this particular version offered by Christies is estimated to sell for between 200,000 and 300,000 ($242,850 - $364,260). Conservation charity Tusk will benefit from the proceeds of this sale.Next up on the list is a Jaguar XF that moviegoers could see in the films pre-credit sequence, driven by the baddies chasing after Bond (Daniel Craig) and Madelaine Swann (Lea Seydoux). Christies estimates predict it will fetch somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000 ($60,710 - $84,994).There is also a Range Rover Sport SVR included in the charity auction, one of six used in the making of the movie. This vehicle too could be seen in a chase scene on the big screen and it is estimated it will fetch between 80,000 and 120,000 ($97,136 - $145,704).The cherries on the top of Christies charity auction are the two Aston Martins from No Time To Die, which were actually driven by Daniel Craig during filming. The first one is a 1981 Aston Martin V8 specially customized for the movie and designed to resemble the 1987 model year car that was driven by Timothy Daltons Bond in The Living Daylights. This one is estimated to go for 500,000 to 700,000 ($607,100 - $849,940).The second Aston Martin is a DB5 replica stunt car that was handcrafted for the spy movie. It is one of eight built and the only DB5 stunt car to date to be offered for public sale by Aston Martin and EON Productions.The vehicle features mocked-up side panel damage and was driven in the opening chase scene in the last installment of the James Bond franchise.Estimates have it as the auctions highest-priced item, as it is expected to be sold for between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 ($1.8 - $2.4 million). If sold, proceeds will go to The Princes Trust and The Prince of Waless Charitable Fund.Mark Higgins, Word Rally champion and Bonds double in Spectre, defined Craigs driving style as fast, stylish, and controlled. So if you too want to drive like Bond, go visit the charity auctions listings. Christies auction will include a 25-lot live, invitation-based event that is set to take place in London on September 28. A second online auction will comprise 35 lots spanning the 25 films and will run from September 15 through October 5, when James Bond Day is celebrated. EV NHTSA Although unconfirmed, Chevrolet has tacitly signed the death warrant of the Camaro by not keeping up with the Ford Mustang and the beefier Dodge Challenger. The Boltand its EUV-branded crossover sibling have been irremediably affected by the worldwide battery recall fiasco. The Silverado 1500 ZR2 doesnt have a supercharged V8 option to fend off the Ford F-150 Raptor R and Ram 1500 TRX. Dont even get me started on the reincarnated Blazer, the rental car-like Malibu, and the reliability issues.Following the Chapter 11 reorganization, GM seems to be increasingly out of tune with consumer-driven trends. The biggest of the Big Three in Detroit has a long history of not identifying trends in a timely fashion. The General Motors EV1 comes to mind, the first mass-produced passenger car of the modern era. All the wrongs attributed to Chevrolet in recent memory are summed up rather nicely in this video, coming courtesy of DYTASTIC.The Honest Chevy Commercial begins rather predictably. Weve never been the loudest, the best selling, or the most powerful. But we dont care. Uncle Sam will bail us out anyways. Apply cold water to burn!The videos narrator then hits General Motors where it hurts. We personally love our cars so much so that we usually take them back, referring to the 26 million vehicles recalled in the first half of 2014. Certain vehicles are included in the infamous ignition switch fiasco that killed 124 and injured 274 people.In light of these very dark times for General Motors, the Detroit-based automaker still hasnt learned its lesson. You only need to search for your favorite nameplate in thedatabase to understand how poor the quality control, quality assurance, and reliability still are.The line that got me laughing out loud is towards the end of the clip. Thanks to GMs Alabama-inspired culture, were the most inbred car company around, which means we have a lot of family members. Church Technology Firm Announces New Feature to Inspire Church Growth Answering the call for better communication among church members, without sending them to outside social media platforms, ChurchSpring launches Groups. NEWS PROVIDED BY ChurchSpring July 29, 2022 ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa, July 29, 2022 / People are the core of ChurchSpring. Bringing people into deep community is one of its biggest missions. Groups main benefit will be to help facilitate easier administration of bringing people together. ChurchSpring was built with the great commission in mind. They are a company committed to creating tools that help the local church make disciples. ChurchSpring offers the most intuitive, affordable, frustration-free church websites on the planet. Founder, Rohn Gibson explains, "We're really excited about the launch of our fully integrated Groups feature. Having a community-groups enabled church website allows a safe place for people to fellowship and get the information they need. Our technology isn't meant to be a vacuum to suck people in, like most social media platforms. Our technology provides church members with the information they need, then helps them redirect away from the screen to engage in deep community with other believers with the information they gleaned." ChurchSpring's website builder allows churches to launch their own website in 90 seconds fast. Current exciting features such as the fully integrated free mobile app with every website, the online giving platform, and live streaming integration are just a few of the literally thousands of features packed into the simple and easy-to-use ChurchSpring platform, with U.S. based support and no set up fees. With the launch of Groups, churches can now create an area in their website and mobile app that will clearly identify different community and ministry groups within the church of which they can be a part. ChurchSpring helps churches grow, and communicate better. If you'd like to learn more about ChurchSpring, visit SOURCE ChurchSpring CONTACT: Kelly Keith, Share Tweet NEWS PROVIDED BYJuly 29, 2022ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa, July 29, 2022 / Christian Newswire / -- ChurchSpring, the premier church website builder, is excited to announce the launch of its newest feature, Groups.People are the core of ChurchSpring. Bringing people into deep community is one of its biggest missions. Groups main benefit will be to help facilitate easier administration of bringing people together.ChurchSpring was built with the great commission in mind. They are a company committed to creating tools that help the local church make disciples. ChurchSpring offers the most intuitive, affordable, frustration-free church websites on the planet.Founder, Rohn Gibson explains, "We're really excited about the launch of our fully integrated Groups feature. Having a community-groups enabled church website allows a safe place for people to fellowship and get the information they need. Our technology isn't meant to be a vacuum to suck people in, like most social media platforms. Our technology provides church members with the information they need, then helps them redirect away from the screen to engage in deep community with other believers with the information they gleaned."ChurchSpring's website builder allows churches to launch their own website in 90 seconds fast. Current exciting features such as the fully integrated free mobile app with every website, the online giving platform, and live streaming integration are just a few of the literally thousands of features packed into the simple and easy-to-use ChurchSpring platform, with U.S. based support and no set up fees.With the launch of Groups, churches can now create an area in their website and mobile app that will clearly identify different community and ministry groups within the church of which they can be a part. ChurchSpring helps churches grow, and communicate better.If you'd like to learn more about ChurchSpring, visit ChurchSpring.com/demo to see how ChurchSpring can benefit your ministry, or reach out to Kelly@ChurchSpring.com SOURCE ChurchSpringCONTACT: Kelly Keith, Kelly@ChurchSpring.com Bodrum'da uyu?turucu kacakc?l??? yapan yat ile Turk Sahil Guvenli?i aras?nda cat??ma c?kt?. Pert hale gelen yat Yunan karasular?na girmeden yakaland?. pic.twitter.com/4BNnh9N3fl Zulya (@Zulya48246965) July 28, 2022 Turkish media outlet Milliyet (hat tip to Superyacht Times ) reports that the Turkish Coast Guard tried to stop the yacht after receiving a report that it was possibly being used to transport drugs. The four people onboard did not heed the summons, which led to the chase.It ended badly for the yacht in question, which was sailing under the U.S. flag. In order to prevent it from reaching Greek territorial waters, where it seemed to be heading, the Coast Guard opened fire on it. They were eventually able to stop it by ramming into its side, and it was then towed into port.The yacht is now in custody in Yalikavak, near the port of Bodrum in the Mugla Province, and all four people onboard were arrested. According to the media outlet, the vessel is or was, better said a 27-meter (88.5-foot) Admiral build apparently named Belgor. There is no data tracking available for it, which would make sense if it was really used for criminal activities.Admiral Yachts is the flagship brand of The Italian Sea Group and one of the most prestigious shipyards in the industry. Beside large-scale, spectacular vessels , it also does smaller production series models, like the one thats just been destroyed in Turkey, the Admiral 27, named this way due to its size. Its actually an older-gen model, so units are comparatively cheap on the second-hand market. For instance, a 90s Admiral 27 can be bought in decent condition for as little as $300,000.An investigation into the incident is now underway. Photos snapped by residents (of the four people on the boat, only one had a phone) show that Belgor took considerable damage, but is probably not irreparable video of the Belgor at port shows more of the damage it took during the chase.according to the Daily Sabah , another commercial vessel was involved, but it stopped when summoned. From both ships, the Turkish Coast Guard recovered a total of 84 kg (185 pounds) of drugs. Electric Vehicle Electrification has even penetrated automotive racing with Formula E , and NASCAR is rumored to be considering a move to an electric series next year.It was inevitable that drag racing would follow. The allure of drag racer is not limited to astonishing speeds over a very short run of 1320 feet (402 meters). The real draw is the testosterone-producing roar as dragsters and funny cars blaze down the track at speeds over 300 mph (482 kph).These racers go from a standstill to 60 mph (97 kph) before their rear wheels cross the starting line slamming your $15 (14.71 euros) draught beer into your chest. Before the Heineken reaches your crotch, the race is over.At this weekend's Flav-R-Pak NHRA Nationals, a 2400 horsepower electric dragster will attempt to eclipse the 200 mph (322 kph) mark. Quite a feat, to be sure, but it will not wet your shirt.Nobody is better suited to lead the charge than Steve Huff in his re-branded Faster Than Cancer electric dragster. Huff crested the 200 mph mark with a blazing 201 mph (322 kph) pass at the 2022 NHRA Arizona Nationals in February.This weekend Huff returns home to Seattle, Washington, for hometown fans to make a pass in the Pep BoysService exhibition at the Flav-R-Pak 2022 Northwest Nationals.Huff's 240-inch (6.09 meters) wheelbase 6.0-second certified dragster is powered by a purpose-built lithium polymer battery producing 800 volts, 2000 amps, and 1.6 million watts. The racer weighs just 2010 pounds (911 kgs) with a driver. Two custom-wound axial-flux dual stack motors produce 2400 horsepower and 2000 foot-pounds of torque. The top speed to date is 201.37 mph (323 kph) in 7.47 seconds.[https://youtu.be/kZrVVyTWo6w] Even for a company with customers and employees spread across 15 countries, it felt a little clunky shuttling between greenhouses in Edison, l You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter. China sets out economic priorities for 2nd half 08:34, July 29, 2022 By XU WEI ( Chinadaily.com.cn Economy: Food security, energy, housing on agenda China set out priorities on Thursday for its economic policies in the second half of this year, pledging to enable its macro policies to play a proactive role in boosting demand and to increase credit support to businesses in a bid to attain the best possible outcomes for growth this year. A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee highlighted the need to consolidate the momentum of economic recovery, stabilize the job market and commodity prices, and maintain major economic indicators within a proper range. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting. The tone-setting meeting came after China's economy grew 0.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022, posting 2.5 percent growth in the first half of the year, as the world's second-largest economy was battered by a surge in COVID-19 cases in Shanghai and other manufacturing hubs in eastern China. China set the target of around 5.5 percent for its GDP growth in 2022 during the annual session of the National People's Congress earlier this year. Policymakers at Thursday's meeting said the nation must maintain its strategic orientation and remain unwavering in running its own affairs well as it faces some stark contradictions and problems in the economy. In coordinating efforts to fight the pandemic and pursue economic and social development, they highlighted the need to adopt a comprehensive, holistic and long-term perspective, saying that political considerations should be the priority. They reaffirmed the nation's dynamic zero-COVID strategy, saying that new outbreaks must be contained immediately and there should be zero complacency in fighting the pandemic. The monitoring of new variants of the coronavirus and the research and development of new vaccines and pharmaceuticals should be stepped up, they said. The meeting pledged support to local authorities to take full advantage of special-purpose bonds, which totaled 3.65 trillion yuan ($540.77 billion) this year. The government will ensure reasonable and ample liquidity in monetary policy to scale up credit support to businesses and put new loans from policy banks and investment funds for infrastructure to proper use. They highlighted the need to bolster the stability and global competitiveness of industry and supply chains, ensure unimpeded transportation and logistics, and support the nation's central and western regions in improving their infrastructure and business climate. The nation will reinforce its efforts to ensure food security, improve its ability, guarantee the supply of energy and resources, and plan the development of a system for the supply and use of new energy. Homebuyers seeking to meet their basic needs and those trying to improve their housing conditions will receive support, and local authorities will be urged to assume their duties in ensuring that real estate developers deliver their projects. The meeting underscored the need to properly defuse risks from village and township banks in some areas and crack down on financial crimes. It reaffirmed the importance of promoting the standardized, healthy and sustainable growth of the platform economy, conducting regularized oversight of businesses in the sector and approving a host of new investments by such businesses. The policymakers urged the provincial regions serving as China's economic powerhouses to lead the nation's growth, saying that eligible provincial areas must strive to reach their preset targets for economic and social development this year. The government will create a good policy and institutional environment to free the hands of State-owned enterprises, boost the courage of private businesses and shore up the confidence of foreign enterprises, they said. The meeting was held three days after a high-level symposium that solicited opinions and suggestions on economic work for the second half of the year from non-CPC personages. While presiding over the meeting, Xi said the long-term positive fundamentals of the Chinese economy, which has strong resilience, immense potential and adequate vitality, remain unchanged. He expressed hope that non-CPC personages can give full play to their strengths, contribute to socioeconomic development and help create a sound environment for the 20th National Congress of the CPC. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) NN/Getty Images/iStockphoto A 500-acre fire in North Texas, which ended up destroying five homes, was started with paper trash that was ignited by sunlight through a glass bottle in an open trash can, according to reporting from NBC News. The fire began on July 18 at Possum Kingdom Lake, about 70 miles from Fort Worth. It took eight days to fully contain the fire. A statement from the Possum Kingdom West Side Volunteer Fire Department said the department found a trash can packed with paper goods and glass bottles, NBC News reported. The department believes a wind gust opened the trash can, exposing the bottles to sunlight and allowing it to ignite the paper. The fire spread from the trash can to nearby cedar trees and then spread from there, according to NBC News. The $369 billion deal Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., forged Wednesday with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., could represent the nation's most consequential climate policy yet, even though it falls short of what the United States needs to do to meet its global warming pledge by the end of the decade. The agreement - which includes tax credits to spur clean-energy development and purchases of electric vehicles - could put the United States on track to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, according to Rhodium Group, a research firm. President Joe Biden has pledged to cut emissions at least in half by the end of the decade. A combination of executive action by Biden and state-led efforts to tackle climate change "can help close the rest of the gap," said Ben King, an associate director at Rhodium. Without new legislation, Rhodium projects that the United States would probably cut its carbon output by only 24% to 35% by 2030. Already, Earth has warmed more than 1.1 degrees Celsius (1.98 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, mainly because of the burning of fossil fuels. Scientists say each additional fraction of warming will increase the severity of hurricanes, floods, wildfires and heat waves in the years to come. The United States would have to shave its emissions at least in half to give global leaders a shot at holding warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit). The new agreement includes some significant concessions on fossil fuels that would probably increase carbon pollution by requiring the federal government to auction off more public lands and waters for oil drilling. Manchin, whose home state of West Virginia is a major producer of coal and gas, had argued for these provisions during the negotiations. But many climate advocates said those trade-offs, which Senate Democrats accepted to win Manchin's support, were worth it. The bill would mandate new lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, which climate advocates had opposed but which the Biden administration was leaning toward regardless. It would also make the construction of renewable-energy projects on federal land contingent on more oil drilling. In order for the Interior Department to issue a right-of-way for wind and solar projects - a necessary approval to connect to the power grid - the department would have to auction off at least 2 million acres for drilling during the previous year. Similarly, the department wouldn't be able to sell offshore wind leases until it had offered at least 60 million acres in waters for sale. Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the fossil-fuel-friendly provisions "super cynical." "If you look at the details, it's a terrible deal," Hartl said. "I don't see frankly how the math even works, because the amount of leasing we would be locking in until 2032 would just be game over for the climate." Princeton University professor Jesse Jenkins, an energy policy expert and modeler, said the bill's climate calculus does pencil out. "The measures in this bill do bind the administration's hand to ensure leasing continues," he wrote in an email. But Jenkins said any additional emissions from federal leasing are "dwarfed by the emissions reductions driven by the bill." A new fee on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry and an Environmental Protection Agency regulation curbing emissions of the potent greenhouse gas are also expected to reduce carbon pollution. "While it is unfortunate that the bill includes some support for the continued production of fossil fuels on public lands and waters," said Sam Ricketts, co-founder and adviser for Evergreen Action, an environmental group, "we recognize that it is the result of a long, painstaking process necessary to achieve the support of all 50 Democratic senators in this Congress." The climate and tax package would bolster American energy production and combat climate change through tax incentives for the renewable-energy sector, increasing wind, solar, battery and geothermal construction. Tens of millions of drivers would qualify for new tax credits to buy electric vehicles. Homeowners across the country would get financial help to pay for heat pumps and insulate their properties. "What's going to happen with this bill is a wave of investment in renewable energy," said Lachlan Carey, a senior associate at RMI, a clean-energy think tank. An analysis by the group found that those new investments would lower the cost of electricity by shifting the country away from more-expensive fossil fuels, such as coal, and toward cheaper renewable energy. Though the effects of this transition would probably take a few years to reach individuals, they could save American rate payers $5 billion annually by 2024, the group found. "This couldn't come at a better time," Carey said. "Gas prices are hurting American consumers, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the risks of relying on fossil fuels, and of course China continues to dominate industries like solar, like batteries, like wind. This bill really unleashes the power and ingenuity of the American private sector to compete in the industries that are going to define this century." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A producer for conspiracy theorist Alex Joness media company tried to paint a sympathetic portrait of him Thursday as a jury decides how much in financial damages he should pay for his past claims that the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school was a hoax a move that lawyers for parents of a child slain in the massacre immediately rebuked as hypocritical. Daria Karpova, a producer at Jones Austin, Texas-based Infowars website, testified that that the pressure of multiple lawsuits and trials has taken a toll on Jones. He's been "stressed out and cant relax even while on vacation as hes been constantly worried about his programs and money over the past four years since being sued for defamation. Karpova said some people believe Jones murdered the 20 first-graders killed in the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, that left a total of 26 dead. A lawyer for the parents suing Jones for at least $150 million for the abuse they say theyve suffered for years because of Jones false statements immediately jumped on the depiction of a wounded man struggling to cope with lies said about him as posturing. When people lie about you it affects you negatively, it affects your well-being? Do you understand the irony, the hypocrisy of making that statement in this courtroom right now? asked Mark Bankston, attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who was killed at the school. Its just the truth," Karpova said. "What am I supposed to say? Heslin and Lewis sued Jones for emotional distress and reputational damage that Jones caused them and are seeking at least $150 million from Jones and his media empire Free Speech Systems. Courts in Texas and Connecticut have already found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax involving crisis actors aimed at increasing gun control. In both states, the judges issued default judgments against Jones without trials because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over documents. In total, the families of eight Sandy Hook victims and an FBI agent who responded to the school are suing Jones and his company in multiple courts. Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting took place, but insists he's not responsible for the suffering that Sandy Hook parents say they have endured because of the hoax conspiracy, including death threats and harassment by Jones followers. The first three days of the trial have been dominated by video clips of Jones and Sandy Hook reports on Infowars and testimony from Karpova, who has worked at the website since 2015. Karpova was designated by the company to be its representative at trial, but could not answer questions about company revenue and its numbers of viewers and listeners. She also struggled to answer other questions about some of the video evidence she was instructed to prepare testimony about. In one video clip presented by defense attorney Andino Reynal from 2017, Jones invited the families of Sandy Hook to come on his program for an open dialogue Alex could have been advocates for these parents, done a lot of good to stop anyone there to harass them, she said as Heslin and Lewis sat about 20 feet away in the courtroom. Karpova called the shows reliance on Wolfgang Halbig, a Sandy Hook denier, as a frequent guest and source of information "the worst decision ever made by the company. Several of the clips featured in evidence have included Halbig, as well as a taunting email he sent to Scarlett Lewis. Later Thursday, the jury watched a 2017 Infowars clip at the center of the case: a report where studio host Owen Shroyer strongly suggested Heslin could not have held the body of his dead son like hed described in a television interview. Im sorry if that hurt anybody, Shroyer said Thursday after being called as a witness. I hope their grieving can end someday. He then implied the trial itself could keep hurting the families. Jones has been in and out of the courtroom during testimony. He had four bodyguards with him Thursday. He has tried to portray the damages trial as an assault of the First Amendment right to free speech. He arrived at the courthouse on Tuesday with a Save the 1st message printed on a large piece of silver tape over this mouth. In a break during opening statements, he held an impromptu news conference just steps away from the courtroom to call the trial a show trial by a kangaroo court. ___ More on school shootings: https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings Sometimes I feel like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Im constantly rushing around from place to place, not so much late as trying to get everything crammed into a busy schedule. For those who say this area is boring, I say look in the mirror maybe the boring thing is looking back at you. August is traditionally the dog days of summer, where arts organizations take a bit of a break to set up for the arts season that begins in earnest in September. However, that doesnt mean things slack up. Museums, theaters and assorted arts organizations are hosting events through the next few weeks, often opening their doors to alternative experiences. Beaumont Community Players rounds out its KIDmunity summer series with The Addams Family musical this weekend with performances tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. The show features high schoolers, who always do a great job. Its a fun show. By way of alternative programming, BCP will also host its new play festival Aug. 6. The event features the winners of a global contest, and the two winning plays will be presented at a matinee and evening performance. The $5 entry fee covers both performances, so come for one, stay for the second. Make a day of it. Port Arthur Little Theatre is presenting the Musical Newsies, today through Sunday, and Aug. 5, 6. 7, 12, 13, 14. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Newsies won a Tony for best original score and tells the story of a group of newspaper boys in turn-of-the-20th-century New York as they fight for better pay and conditions. It is an energetic show that has a lot of humor as well as a good message. PALT is located at 4701 Jimmy Johnson Blvd. On the visual arts front, The Art Studio, Inc. will host its Summer Night Spree, Sunday, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Madisons on Dowlen Road. The event will feature a variety of artisans of all types, from painting to jewelry and everything in-between. Proceeds benefit The Studio. First Thursday is always a rush, with events taking place all over Beaumont. The Music Studio will host a closing reception for its Art of Flowers show, 5:30 p.m., Aug. 4, at The Art Museum of Southeast Texas. Local florists have selected images from the show to create accompanying arrangements. Admission is free. The Art Studio will host its monthly Thoughtcrime Live poetry the same evening. But wait, theres more. The Stark Museum of Art will host Lunch & Look @ Home, a virtual lecture about artists Frederic Remington and Charles Marion Russell, noon to 1 p.m., Aug. 11. The talk, by curator Sarah Boehme, will show how each artist portrayed the American West. The Zoom program is free, but participants must pre-register at starkmuseum.org. As well as theater, BCP will host White Linen Nights, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., Aug. 13. The event will include live music, food vendors and artist booths (disclaimer, I shall be there with my paintings and drawings). Visitors are encouraged to wear white. Tickets are $20, with a $5 discount if purchased by Aug.11. For more information, visit beaumontstages.com. AMSET will host a free family arts day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Aug. 13. The theme is Dont Mess With Texas, Mess With Art, with participants making art from recycled materials. The activities are inspired by the current exhibition, Documents & Dwelling by Keliy Anderson-Staley. Still bored? How about channeling your inner Spielberg and participating in the annual Boomtown 48 Hr. Film Race, Aug. 19. The event is free. At 7 p.m., the rules of the race will be read, and teams will sign in and have two days to create their film. The first 12 films to cross the finish line in under 48 hours will be screened in the Jefferson Theater during the 2022 Boomtown Film & Music Festival, Sept. 9 and 10. Joko Jokowi Widodo, the leader of G20 President Indonesia, undertook a carefully curated tour of Northeast Asia this week to ensure multilateral support for the groups summit in November amid divisions over Russias war in Ukraine, analysts said. The Indonesian president visited China, Japan and South Korea all countries with important trade and investment ties to Southeast Asias largest economy. Jokowis trip sent a message of concrete cooperation and friendship amid a global situation steeped in rivalry and containment efforts, Indonesian Foreign Minister told reporters in Seoul, the last leg of the presidents five-day tour. The leaders appreciated President Jokowis leadership in contributing to global peace, she said. Indonesia has often strived to balance its relations between China and its rival superpower, the United States. But in his role as this years holder of the revolving G20 presidency, Jokowi has had to step up his diplomatic game by playing a mediatory role to blunt the wedge that Russias invasion of Ukraine created in the group, observers said. On one side, western countries in the Group of Twenty have condemned Russia for invading Ukraine. On the other, member-states including China, Indonesia and India, have refused to follow suit and still maintain ties with Moscow. Still, there is no doubt Jokowi wants the G20 summit, scheduled for November in Bali, to be a success, analysts said. The trip was relevant to Indonesias chairmanship of the G20, David Sumual, chief economist at Bank Central Asia, told BenarNews. Indonesia wants to make sure the G20 summit is successful and attended by all members, he said. According to Agus Haryanto, an analyst at Jenderal Soedirman University in Purwokerto, Indonesia is concerned about the prospect of no agreement at the Bali summit. At the G20, Indonesia faces a major challenge on what the outcome of the G20 summit in November will be, he said. With good relations with the three countries [China, Japan and South Korea], Indonesia is looking for support to smoothen things out and reduce tensions. Jokowi, whose term ends in 2024, wants to leave a legacy of being a peacemaker and reaffirm the countrys independent and active foreign policy, Agus said. During his first term, the president paid less attention to foreign affairs. Now in his second term, Jokowi has shown that domestic politics and foreign policy are equally important. Tense meetings Under Indonesias presidency, G20 meetings have been fraught, as most have occurred after the invasion of Ukraine in late February. At the groups foreign ministers meeting in Bali earlier in July, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov walked out at least once during what he called the frenzied castigation of Moscow over Russias invasion of Ukraine. Before that, top U.S. British, Canadian and Ukrainian financial diplomats walked out as a Russian official addressed a G20 meeting in Washington on April 20. The trip will also undoubtedly strengthen support for Indonesias G20 presidency, especially in preparation for the summit in Bali, Foreign Minister Retno said on Thursday about her bosss visits to Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul. Indonesian President Joko Widodo (left) shakes hands with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at the Presidential Office in Seoul, July 28, 2022. [Yonhap via Reuters] Respect international law Jokowis trip to Northeast Asia also showcased Indonesias non-aligned foreign policy, which helped him secure U.S. $13 billion in investment pledges in total from China, Japan and South Korea. At a meeting between Jokowi and Japans top executives on Wednesday, 10 Japanese companies pledged a total of U.S. $5.2 billion in investments in the next few years, Indonesian officials said. These include a pledge by carmaker Toyota Motor Corp to invest $1.8 billion to build its electric vehicles in Indonesia over the next five years. In Seoul, South Korean companies expressed intentions to invest $6.72 billion, including in the electric vehicle battery, steel and gas sectors. In addition, China said it wanted to increase crude palm-oil imports from Indonesia by 1 million tons, worth $1.5 billion. While investment pledges are welcome, Ninasapti Triaswati, an economist at the University of Indonesia, cautioned about economic and defense deals with China in light of Beijings growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. Chinas aggressive actions in the area are causing regional tensions. Likewise, regional tensions between China and Taiwan and Japan will have a negative impact on the ASEAN region and East Asia. In a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Jokowi stressed the importance of peace in the South China Sea, said Retno, Indonesias top diplomat. The only way to maintain stability and peace is to respect international law, especially UNCLOS 1982, she said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Filipino activists from the Burma Solidarity Philippines coalition hold a protest in northern Manila, to condemn what they call an illegitimate military junta in Myanmar and its execution of four pro-democracy activists, July 29 2022. Malaysia on Friday raised the prospect of junking ASEANs five-point consensus to resolve Myanmars post-coup crisis, after the Burmese junta made a mockery of it by executing four political prisoners. Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, who has been the most vocal Southeast Asian government official to date to demand that Naypyidaws military regime follow through on the consensus, said the 10-member regional bloc had a big decision to make about the pact at its summit in November. Until today, there has been no real progress on the 5PC. The violence continues, and in fact [has] gotten worse. It shows the junta is making a mockery of the 5PC [five-point consensus,] Saifuddin wrote on Facebook. T]he ASEAN Summit this November will need to make a big decision. Will the 5PC be continued? Can it be improved? Or to create something new?" To worldwide shock and condemnation, the generals who rule Myanmar put to death veteran democracy activist Ko Jimmy (whose real name is Kyaw Min Yu), former National League for Democracy lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw, and activists Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, likely on July 23. A military court had convicted them for terrorist acts and they lost appeals against their death sentences. The junta had also rejected the possibility of a pardon for the condemned men. The regime executed the four in defiance of an appeal made directly to Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the junta chief, by Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia this years holder of the ASEAN chair that the military government reconsider their deaths sentences. On Tuesday, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations harshly criticized the executions, calling them highly reprehensible. The next day, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to condemn the executions carried out by Myanmar. The vote was unusual because China, which is friendly with the Burmese military, had often used its veto power on the council to block international efforts to sanction the junta over post-coup violence and mass killings. The executions of the four dissidents marked a setback, Cambodia said as ASEAN chair, in expediting progress on the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), namely in building trust and confidence to engender a dialogue among all parties concerned, in order to end violence and alleviate the suffering of the innocent people. The junta has reneged on the five-point plan that it agreed to with ASEAN in April 2021 to put the country back on a democratic path. The consensus called for an end to violence; constructive dialogue among all parties; the mediation of such talks by a special ASEAN envoy; the provision of ASEAN-coordinated humanitarian assistance and a visit to Myanmar by an ASEAN delegation to meet with all parties. Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah responds to a reporters question during a press conference at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, May 14, 2022. [Radio Free Asia] ASEAN members may face difficulties Saifuddin, Malaysias foreign minister, believes it cannot be business as usual at ASEAN. Through his diplomacy Malaysia became the first member-state of the regional bloc to officially contact Myanmars shadow, civilian National Unity Government (NUG). In the wake of the executions, ASEAN needs to meet that governments representatives as soon as possible, Saifuddin said. Now is the time for this meeting to be hastened and [for] its progress [to be] made public, he wrote on Facebook. I am of the opinion that ASEAN needs to have a framework that has an end game and lay out the matters/processes required to achieve that end game. In this context, ASEAN needs to have accurate and up-to-date information about what is actually happening by obtaining it directly from the involved parties. The end-game, he said, is a democratic, inclusive and just, peaceful and harmonious, prosperous Myanmar whose civil and political rights are guaranteed by the constitution. Saifuddin reiterated that Myanmar military regime representatives should not be allowed at any meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including the next ASEAN foreign ministers gathering, scheduled for Aug. 3 in Phnom Penh. Mahbubul Haque, a scholar who is an expert on Myanmar, said he never had much hope for the five-point consensus on Myanmar nor was he very optimistic about a potential new plan either. To make a consensus among the member-states will be difficult. Myanmar did not respect the international communitys decision, the senior lecturer in international relations at the Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin in Malaysia told BenarNews. It will be highly appreciated if Malaysia can take a consistently strong political stand to restore democracy in Myanmar, he added. Nisha David in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. A man in Hong Kong watches a news report about the telephone meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping, July 29, 2022. In a regional show of strength, China announced three almost-simultaneous military exercises in the South China Sea between July 27 and 31, just as reports emerged that U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi may embark on her Asia-Pacific tour on July 29. The Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) issued three navigation warnings advising ships against entering three designated areas in the South China Sea during time slots starting July 27 and finishing July 31. A navigation warning is a public advisory notice to mariners about changes to navigational aids and current marine activities or hazards including military exercises. Coordinates provided by the Guangdong MSA show three areas close to Chinas mainland but one of them lies about 240 km (150 miles) from Pratas Island, claimed by both the Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan but controlled by Taipei. Prior to these drills, the Chinese military held two exercises back to back from July 16 to 20 and July 20 to 22, also in the South China Sea. One of them covered an area of nearly 100,000 square km (38,610 square miles). China often holds military exercises at short notice as a form of protest in response to U.S. naval activities and political developments that Beijing deems hostile. The unusually high frequency of drills this month shows China-U.S. tensions have been raised by Pelosis reported Taiwan visit and the presence of the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group in the South China Sea. Six warnings China has responded strongly against the rumored trip which, if confirmed, would be the first visit by a U.S. House speaker to Taiwan since 1997. Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the trip during a phone conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday, their fifth conversation since Biden took office in January 2021. Xi warned Washington against playing with fire over Taiwan. Playing with fire will only get you burned. I hope the U.S. is clear on this, state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying during the phone call. Before the Xi-Biden meeting, different Chinese government agencies had already issued at least six official warnings against the visit, with the Defense Ministry on Thursday threatening that actions are the best answer. Countries in the region are watching these latest developments closely, said Shahriman Lockman, director of Malaysias Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS). The concern here is how China would seek to retaliate if Pelosi were to visit Taiwan, Lockman said. If that retaliation took place in the South China Sea, perhaps in the form of a deployment of combat aircraft to the Spratlys [a disputed island chain], it would underscore to other countries the growing risks of US-China rivalry, he said. U.S. media reported that Pelosi, the third most senior figure in the American political system, would depart for an Asia-Pacific tour on Friday. Both Bloomberg and NBC quoted anonymous sources as saying that the tour would take Pelosi to some U.S. allies in the region, including Japan and Singapore, but whether she would make a stop in Taiwan remained unclear. Some leading American-China experts have called on her to postpone any Taiwan visit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at the Capitol in Washington on July 21, 2022. [AP] Avoid confrontation Bonnie Glaser, Director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Zack Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in the New York Times that the event would be seen by Beijing as a serious provocation. Chinese leaders might be willing to risk an escalation such as challenging Ms. Pelosis plane or flying military aircraft directly over Taiwan for the first time, they said. Leaders on all sides must wake up and find off-ramps to avoid a dangerous confrontation that neither side wants, the two analysts said, arguing that a crisis in the Taiwan Strait would put the island in a very difficult situation. Shahriman Lockman from Malaysias ISIS suggested that, should Pelosi decide to skip Taiwan, the Americans could attempt to present this as a demonstration of restraint and maturity. I think there is a good middle ground here which is for Pelosi to telephone Tsai Ing-wen from Japan so she wont need to visit Taiwan but at the same time, be able to show her support, Lockman said. The U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a Chinese province, but it is obligated by law to provide the island with defense capabilities. During his conversation with the Chinese leader on Thursday Biden made clear that Washington strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to a White House press release. The office of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday thanked Biden for his continuous support, the official Central News Agency reported. The Presidential Palace expresses its gratitude and looks forward to Chinas shared responsibility in maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the report said. Reported by Radio Free Asia, an online affiliate of BenarNews. Francisco Lara Jr., a senior peace and conflict adviser for International Alert Philippines (center), discusses violence in the southern Philippines during a news conference in Makati city, Metro Manila, July 28, 2022. The groups country director, Nikki Philline de la Rosa (right), and consultant Judy Gulane flank Lara. Efforts to remove and destroy firearms belonging to former Muslim separatist guerrillas as required by a 2014 peace deal have failed to make the southern Philippines much safer from gun violence, a conflict monitoring group is reporting. There has been no proper accounting for the number of weapons that members of the former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrilla group have turned over and that have been decommissioned, analysts with International Alert Philippines said in presenting findings from their research over the last decade. Many weapons are still circulating among militants and civilians in the south, they said. The reason why there is a proliferation of guns is because people in the Bangsamoro feel less protected, Professor Francisco Lara Jr., the groups senior conflict and peace adviser, said during a Thursday news conference announcing the release of the groups new book, Conflicts Long Game: A Decade of Violence in the Bangsamoro. Their security is more fragile than for anyone else in the region. International Alert said the government accepted the figure given to it by MILF officials that 14,000 guns had been decommissioned, but the number could not be verified. The leaders of the former armed separatist group control the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, as part of the 2014 peace deal with Manila, by which the MILF agreed to turn over and decommission weapons belonging to their fighters. Officials with the MILF did not immediately respond to BenarNews requests for comment on Friday. Lara noted that a 2016 report estimated there were more than 50,000 loose weapons in the Bangsamoro region. He said that unless all unlicensed firearms are accounted for, violence, regardless of the perpetrators, would continue. Destroying weapons once owned by former rebels would not solve the problem because the countrys existing laws enable citizens to own weapons and to carry them outside their homes under special circumstances. If we are granting every Filipino the right to carry licensed firearms outside their homes, the MILF can say, why cant we do the same, he said. Why not just register their weapons and lets forget decommissioning. It really is hard in a culture where weapons are an insurance for protection of their security, it is very difficult to remove that. On Friday, gun violence claimed another victim in the southern Philippines. The father of a doctor suspected of killing a former mayor and two others during a graduation ceremony at a Metro Manila university last weekend was himself fatally shot by gunmen on a motorcycle. According to Lara, while the 12,000-member MILF, the countrys largest former separatist group, held many weapons, thousands were in the hands of smaller militant groups with ties to the Islamic State, criminal groups and civilians who arm themselves for protection. Ordinary people who just want to protect themselves Businessman Basilio Lozano Miro, who runs a car rental service in southern Cotabato city, said it was normal for residents to own weapons whether licensed or unlicensed. In the place where I live in Cotabato, about 80 percent of the households here own firearms. And these are ordinary people who just want to protect themselves, said Miro, who never leaves home without his licensed gun and whose adult son was taught from a young age to properly load and shoot. Why would I disarm myself when criminals and militants themselves are armed? Razul Intalan, a 53-year-old former MILF member, said he had to decommission his weapon, but that did not mean he would go without protection. Part of the money they gave to me I had set aside so I could buy a new gun from the black market, he told BenarNews, as he tended a small community variety store that he runs in a former rebel enclave. He is too old to be accepted in the military or police force, but never too old to protect himself from enemies, he said. Decommissioning delays The COVID-19 pandemic, which led to lockdowns on large parts of the Philippine archipelago, along with the election of a new president, delayed the decommissioning process involving the former MILF fighters and their weapons. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the countrys new president, has not named a deputy to deal with the process. We have raised the point of facilitating rather than delaying the decommissioning process because the level of weaponry is still high and its getting higher, Lara said. Despite those concerns, Lara said the peace process was on the right track and moving toward a soft spot in terms of an overall decline in violence. The violence is declining in the Bangsamoro. The issue we are raising is, will this be sustainable? he asked. Philippine police secure the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Metro Manila, after a gunman killed three people, July 24, 2022. [Aaron Favila/AP] Fatal shooting Meanwhile on Friday, gunmen on a motorcycle fatally shot retired police officer Roland Yumol outside his home in Lamitan, a city on southern Basilan Island. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead upon arrival. Lt. Col. Tadzhabel Managola, the new Lamitan city police chief, said investigators were trying to determine the motive for killing Yumol and to identify the gunmen. Our investigation continues to establish a possible motive in the gun attack, Managola told local journalists in Basilan. Residents said it could have been a vendetta over the killing of former Lamitan city Mayor Rosita Furigay. Police arrested Yumols son, Chao Tiao Yumol, alleging he shot and killed Furigay along with an aide and a security guard at the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon city on July 24. Furigays daughter, who was to graduate from law school that day, was injured. The younger Yumol had a long-running feud with Furigay, who closed his clinic three years ago because he allegedly was operating it without a license, according to authorities. Police said he was arrested within hours of the shooting, adding that officers seized a gun previously owned by a military officer who reported it missing years ago. That weapon included a silencer, so that gives you an indication about what sorts of problems beleaguer the region when it comes to weapons, Lara said, citing the police report. Philippine National Police did not link the two shootings. So far, it is speculative to assume its direct relation to the shooting incident that happened last Sunday at the Ateneo de Manila University, Brig. Gen. Roderick Alba, the public information office chief, said in a statement, according to the state-run Philippine News Agency. Froilan Gallardo and Richel V. Umel in Iligan city, and a correspondent in Zamboanga, Philippines, contributed to this report. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High around 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Occasional rain. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Occasional rain. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. When hes not onstage making your sides split, comedian Alex Edelman wants to visit the James Turrell exhibition at Mass MoCA, grab a soft serve from King Kone in Pittsfield, and eat at as many local restaurants as possible (hes taking recommendations). You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Business writer Tony Dobrowolski's main focus is on business reporting. He came to The Eagle in 1992 after previously working for newspapers in Connecticut and Montreal. He can be reached at tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6224. On July 28, 1945: The U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2. A U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New Yorks Empire State Building, killing 14 people. More than half a century ago, when the Catholic bishop for western Massachusetts and other priests were raping and abusing an altar boy, charities like churches held immunity from certain legal actions. Though the Legislature ended common-law charitable immunity in 1971, the law change wasnt retroactive. In April, a lawyer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield argued before the Supreme Judicial Court that a civil lawsuit filed by that former altar boy over his abuse by former Bishop Christopher Weldon should be dismissed. The church remained protected by that immunity, the lawyer argued. This week, the SJC rejected that claim. The decision means the unnamed Chicopee mans lawsuit against the diocese will move forward in Hampden County Superior Court. Charitable immunity, Associate Justice David A. Lowy wrote in a 25-page decision, does not protect the diocese from counts in the lawsuit related to sexual assaults by Weldon and other priests violence the diocese acknowledged occurred in the early 1960s. It does not protect the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield from the counts alleging sexual assault against the plaintiff, as these allegations do not involve conduct related to a charitable Mission, Lowy wrote. For that reason, Lowys decision says, Judge Karen L. Goodwin properly denied the motion to dismiss on the ground of charitable immunity for the counts alleging sexual abuse of the plaintiff. The case was elevated from the Appeals Court to the SJC in December because the high court wanted to consider issues it raises. They included whether the diocese, which includes all of Berkshire County, was protected, in these circumstances, by charitable immunity, the legal protection in place at the time of the assaults. State courts had declined to dismiss the litigation. In an earlier action March 4, Lowy denied a move by lawyers for the diocese and other defendants to delay proceedings in the case, saying the plaintiff has a right to expeditious resolution of his case. In that earlier decision, Lowy said the case needed to be heard to evaluate defense claims. The defendants claims of both charitable immunity and lack of subject matter jurisdiction appear to be factually bound up with the merits of Does claims, not collateral to them, Lowy wrote. The lawsuit had been scheduled for a final pretrial conference by June 30 in Hampden County Superior Court. The court has extended the period of discovery at the request of the defendants. The lawsuit, brought by a man identified only as John Doe, includes two sets of claims. The first relates to the 1960s abuse. The second stems from events after the plaintiff reported that abuse in 2014, and whether the church injured him further through its inaction and what the suit claims was an attempted cover-up in 2019. In 2020, an outside judge hired by the diocese determined the mans allegations against Weldon and two other priests to be unequivocally credible. The mans lawsuit, filed in February 2021 by Nancy Frankel Pelletier of the Springfield firm Robinson Donovan, claims that Doe was repeatedly and violently abused by clergy members. After he reported that abuse decades later to the diocese, the mans lawyers say he was met by deliberate indifference conduct the suit claims left him further traumatized. The complaint alleges people who work or worked for the diocese played roles in suppressing the mans initial reports of abuse by Weldon and other clergy. Attorney Michael G. McDonough, of Egan, Flanagan and Cohen of Springfield, represents the diocese and most of eight other defendants. In addition to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield, a Corporation Sole, the lawsuit names John J. Egan, former Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, Patricia McManamy, Monsignor Christopher Connelly, Jeffrey Trant, John Hale, Kevin Murphy and Mark Dupont. A first-of-its-kind survey of current and past customers of Spectrum cable and internet in South County reveals widespread discontent and anger over pricing, lack of a customized a la carte selection of TV channels, and the absence of a Boston station for state news coverage. The survey of 464 residents released this month was distributed by the Five Town Cable Advisory Committee, which will be negotiating with Spectrum this fall and winter for renewal of a contract serving 6,392 Spectrum customers in the towns of Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Sheffield and Stockbridge. The 10-year contract expires March 1. The committee hopes to negotiate a five-year franchise agreement, said Chairman Linda Z. Miller of Lenox. Spectrum, owned by Charter Communications, has no cable TV competition in the five towns, although nonsubscribers can stream TV through the internet. Residential customers in the five towns depend on Spectrum for high-speed broadband internet service, Miller said. Other survey findings While employees received high marks for courtesy, customer service in general received a mixed reception, with monthly billing given the lowest marks. Channel selection and availability was criticized by 44 percent of the survey responders. Smart devices such as Roku, Firestick, Apple TV, tablets, computers and smart TVs are gaining rapidly in popularity, with nearly 80 percent of Spectrum customers surveyed choosing to stream instead of watching traditional TV or cable. Most customers receive their monthly bills five days or fewer ahead of the due dates, a common complaint reflected in the survey comments. Based on the response rate, the confidence level in the survey distributed online through SurveyMonkey and from paper surveys placed at town halls, libraries and post offices from Feb. 1 to May 7 is 95 percent with a 4.4 percent margin of error, Miller stated. Berkshire residents need to have access to Massachusetts channels, one irate customer said. There is practically zero coverage of whats happening in our state elections, state budget discussions, pandemic regulations. We are isolated and in an information desert that can be remedied. The absence of a Boston channel such as WCVB-TV, Channel 5, which was provided until a few years ago, was one of the most widely mentioned complaints. A Springfield station was returned to the lineup in February 2020. Miller acknowledged minimal hope of restoring the channel unless the Federal Communications Commission redefines Berkshire County as part of the Springfield market area rather than within the Albany, N.Y., area. That results in multiple Albany channels included in Spectrum cable lineups. The survey uncovered another common theme: Too many channels are not used, making the service too expensive for what we actually watch. Some customers said they dropped Spectrum cable in favor of streaming, Direct TV or Dish satellite service while keeping high-speed internet because no better alternatives were available. Asked whether the survey results give the Five-Town Cable Advisory Committee ammunition as it negotiates with the company, Miller said choices for consumers are very limited when it comes to potential competition for Spectrum. Heidi Vandenbrouck, senior communications manager for Charter, said the survey represents a small number of customers. Sign-up for The Berkshire Eagle's free newsletters Sign up We continue to encourage any customer with a question or concern to reach out to us directly, she said. Nearly all the survey participants reported using Spectrum for internet while 75 percent purchased one of four cable TV packages ranging from $30 a month for 15 channels to $150 for all channels, including premium services such as HBO and Showtime. About half used the companys telephone service. Asked whether they would prefer to purchase a la carte channels, choosing only those they wanted, 95 percent of the customers surveyed said yes. A la carte would make a lot of people happy, Miller said, and will be a topic in contract talks. Were certainly going to put it on the table. Community Television for the Southern Berkshires (CTSB), covering town meetings, education and community events, was watched infrequently and by 35 percent of survey responders. The vast majority were unaware that CTSB had been relocated to channels 1301, 1302 and 1303. Only 19 percent have used CTSBs on demand coverage available online at ctsbtv.org. Miller voiced concern over CTSBs future, suggesting its in jeopardy financially as the only choice for hyper-local TV and internet news coverage of town government and School Committee meetings, as well as community events. Spectrum is trying to justify cutbacks in federally regulated funding support for CTSB by citing low viewership, Miller said. When the company moved the three CTSB services from low channel numbers (14, 15, 16) on the basic service tier to 1301, 1302 and 1303, CTSB lost tremendous viewership because they couldnt be found because no one channel surfs that high, she said. They are in breach of the contract right now. CTSB is committed to improving coverage of local events, Miller said. One of the objectives of the new franchise agreement is to build in protection, enhancement and promotion of CTSB, she said. We have to make sure that they are funded to do all the good that they do. Miller said Spectrums high-speed internet service yields somewhat fewer complaints than issues affecting cable TV. She also acknowledged that the committee has no leverage with Charter/Spectrum on pricing issues. Thats out of our hands, she said. Ralph Gardner Jr. is a journalist whose work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and The New Yorker. He can be reached at ralph@ralphgardner.com. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle. When you talk about sin in church, you wouldnt think there is a sin which would be celebrated. After all we are followers of Jesus Christ we should not be celebrating any type of sin. However, within the walls of the church and outside those walls there is one sin that seems to not only be tolerated but in some circles, it is revered. We tend to embrace it with open arms and even encourage it whether we realize it or not. I would even add there are many in the body of Christ who might not even consider it to be a sin at all. The sin I am referring to is the sin of busyness. Be honest, when I mentioned that did you immediately think of it as sin, because many dont. I know just saying the word busyness may not bring a high level of conviction, but I want to walk you through a passage of Scripture that will hopefully change your mind. In the book of Revelation there is a church in Ephesus. Jesus gives this church a message which we are going to analyze. Here is what Jesus said to this church: BOISE - Idaho public health officials are urging residents to take extra precautions after a bat that was found on a sidewalk in downtown Boise on Tuesday, July 26, tested positive for rabies. The bat was reportedly found on a sidewalk on Bannock Street, across from Cecil D. Andrus Park in downtown Boise. Reports suggest that two other dead bats had also been seen in the same area last week. This is the fourth bat this year to test positive for rabies in Idaho. Two others were reported in Bannock County and one in Madison County. On average 15 rabid bats are detected in Idaho each year. The rabies virus can cause a fatal illness in both people and pets. Although most bats do not have rabies, they are the species most often found to be rabid in Idaho. Central District Health (CDH) and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare urge residents to avoid all contact with any bat. If you handled a bat in the downtown Boise area in the last week, it is important that you contact your primary care provider immediately to discuss the situation and determine if rabies shots are warranted, said State Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Leslie Tengelsen. Bat bites are extremely small and hard to see, so if there is any chance you handled a bat near the park, talk to your healthcare provider. If your pet picked up a bat near the park, even if currently vaccinated against rabies, talk to your veterinarian about getting your pet a rabies booster. If you or your pet did have an encounter with a bat on a sidewalk on Bannock Street across from the park, you are urged to speak with a Central District Health epidemiologist by calling (208) 375-5211. CDH and Health and Welfare urge residents to report additional dead or dying bats in the area to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game by calling (208) 465-8465. GRANGEVILLE - On Thursday at approximately 2:41 p.m., the Idaho County Communications Center received a 911 call of an injury ATV accident on Warren Wagon Road approximately 3 miles past the Secesh Stage Stop, east of Riggins. The Idaho Country Sheriff's Office says Lifeflight was dispatched to the Secesh Stage Stop where the injured party was transported. It was reported that the patient was connected to an automated external defibrillator and compressions were ongoing. Lifeflight arrived on scene at approximately 4:03 pm and advised that 71-year-old Randy Hanshew, of Rupert, had passed away due to injuries sustained in the accident. Family members were on scene and were notified. Lifeflight transported Mr. Hanshew to the McCall Airport where they met with McCall Funeral Home. The Idaho County Sheriff's Office thanked Lifeflight, Valley County Sheriff's Office, McCall Airport, and the Secesh community for their assistance. July is Beef Month in Idaho. According to the Idaho Beef Council, there are 2.5 million head of cattle and calves in the state of Idaho exceeding Idahos population of 1.8 million people. The Idaho Foodbank is pleased to partner with this important industry to bring food security to all Idahoans. Beef Counts, which began in 2010, is a program designed to provide a consistent supply of high-quality protein throughout the year to The Idaho Foodbank. This is done with both cash and cattle contributions made by the beef industry in Idaho. We are grateful for the Idaho Beef Council, Agri Beef, and all the organizations, businesses and families in Idahos beef community for their continued support of our mission. Earlier this month, team members from True West Beef in the Magic Valley took some time to volunteer at a food distribution. True West Beef is a new beef processing plant being built in Jerome in collaboration with Agri Beef and livestock producers from around the west. They were able to help pack and distribute boxes of food to those living in the Magic Valley who are struggling to make ends meet. In addition to providing some staple food items and fresh produce, ground beef provided by the Beef Counts program was also part of the food distribution. Through the Beef Counts program and volunteer support in their communities, Idahos beef industry plays a valuable role in our work to address food insecurity, said Karen Vauk, President and CEO of The Idaho Foodbank. We appreciate their ongoing support of The Idaho Foodbank and the significant role they play in helping Idahoans struggling to make ends meet. Beef is an excellent source of iron and protein, and it is a food that is desired by many of the people served by The Idaho Foodbank. Idahos beef community is joined by other food producers and companies across Idaho in their year-round support of providing critical nutrition to Idahoans who are experiencing hunger. If you or someone you know needs food assistance, please go to The Idaho Foodbanks Food Assistance Locator: idahofoodbank.org/getfood. The cost to repair significant damage to the ferry Cathlamet will be well into the millions, according to Ian Sterling, director of communications for Washington State Ferries. The 328-foot long vessel, which is capable of carrying up to 124 vehicles and 1,200 passengers, sustained heavy damage Thursday morning when it had a hard landing at the Fauntleroy dock in Seattle on Thursday morning. The ship collided with a piling referred to as a dolphin that helps guide ships and boats in. Photographs and video on local news websites and social media showed the top left part of the 41-year-old vessel severely damaged, and at least one motor vehicle pinned inside the ferry by bent metal. No injuries have been reported. It will take a long time months to repair the Cathlamet, Sterling said during a brief Thursday afternoon phone interview with The Center Square. The cause of the accident has yet to be determined, he said, noting it could take weeks or months to figure out what went wrong. Theres no smoking gun, Sterling explained. Service has since been restored on the Southworth-Vashon-Fauntleroy run, after moving the damaged Cathlamet out of the dock at Fauntleroy to head toward the ferry maintenance facility at Bainbridge Island. The backup ferry Kitsap will take over service at Fauntleroy. This is but the latest headache for WSF, which has had to deal with staffing shortages exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenge of keeping vessels in working order. Earlier this year, the Washington State Legislature approved money for four new hybrid-electric class ferries as part of the nearly $17 billion Move Ahead Washington transportation package. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BIG RAPIDS Celeste Littrup has a passion for cocktails and is looking to hit the ground running with her newly founded private bartending business, Happier Hour. A senior at Ferris State University majoring in marketing and sales, Littrup aims to create a quality bartending experience with good marketing in mind. After some time working as a bartender at the Blue Cow in Big Rapids, the 21-year-old is ready to grow her entrepreneurship skills. Littrup said her experience as a server and bartender in local restaurants lends itself well to her goals. I have been bartending for, I think, three years now, Littrup said. I also work at Raven in town and have been working there since I was a freshman in college. I've also worked at Tullymore, and that's kind of where I got my foot in the door with events and stuff, but I've been working in restaurants since I was 16. A resident of Big Rapids until the age of 10, Littrup moved down to South Carolina before moving back to Mecosta County to attend school. Starting a private bartending business was not always a career choice but after receiving support from family and friends Littrup decided to take the leap. After having a family friend request her bartending services for a private birthday party, she immediately saw the opportunities that the endeavor could have. I thought this could be a great little side gig, Littrup said. I started looking up researching and seeing how plausible it would be, and I think for my age and because I'm in marketing and sales, I'd be able to do everything behind the scenes kind of thing. Through her studies in marketing and sales Littrup has built up a knowledge of social media and she hopes to be able to both market her services and also herself as a good resource for event planners. Through Happier Hour, Littrup plans to provide services to any events in all of West Michigan. She first began to see opportunities for families renting Airbnbs, as some homes for rent have small home bars ideal for private bartending. Littrup said support from family has helped her keep her confidence and that she is working to get the word out on her business. My biggest influence has been my dad, Littrup said. He's just been in my ear saying, you should do this, you should do that, and all these ideas have been popping up. The biggest for me thing is getting my name out there, finding vendors, and spreading the word. As for her favorite cocktails to make Littrup said she mainly sticks to the basics but enjoys making old-fashioneds, cosmos, and bloody marys. Happier Hour will also cater to non-alcoholic drinkers and fans of mocktails, and Littrup plans to provide garnishes and ice for events. She said working with her clients on what they want specifically will be a big focus. I'd be willing to sit down and talk with (clients) and come up with certain drinks, Littrup said. They can provide the alcoholic or nonalcoholic bases. It's pretty much up to them what they want and I want to be able to customize and do whatever people really want. Being a cost-effective business owner is also an important aspect for Littrup and she is aiming to create a client experience that wont break the bank for either party. Aware that Michigan is a big drinking state, Littrup sees Big Rapids as an ideal place to start her journey. Pretty much everything that I've done so far for it has been completely me, Littrup said. I feel like I have knowledge about not only just marketing myself but about the logistics of everything. I will hopefully get enough bigger events where I can have my own little staff because something that I value is having people that care about my business as much as I do. Moving forward Littrup will be aiming to add to her clients and event vendors and continue to hone her business strategy and social media presence while she works to complete her degree. For more information on Happier Hour and its services visit the businesss Facebook page at www.facebook.com/privatebartendermichigan. First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain. Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that. And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details. If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Problem With Plastic Bags Plastic bags start out as fossil fuels and end up as deadly waste in landfills and the ocean. Birds often mistake shredded plastic bags for food, filling their stomachs with toxic debris. For hungry sea turtles, it's nearly impossible to distinguish between jellyfish and floating plastic shopping bags. Fish eat thousands of tons of plastic a year, transferring it up the food chain to bigger fish and marine mammals. Microplastics are also consumed by people through food and in the air. Its estimated that globally, people consume the equivalent of a credit card of plastic every week,1 and its expected that there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050.2 The fossil fuel industry plans to increase plastic production by 40% over the next decade. These oil giants are rapidly building petrochemical plants across the United States to turn fracked gas into plastic. This means more plastic in our oceans, more greenhouse gas emissions and more toxic air pollution, which exacerbates the climate crisis that often disproportionately affects communities of color. 10 Facts About Single-Use Plastic Bags Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, which require 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture.3 Americans use an average of 365 plastic bags per person per year. People in Denmark use an average of four plastic bags per year.4 It only takes about 14 plastic bags for the equivalent of the gas required to drive one mile.5 In 2015 about 730,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps were generated (including PS, PP, HDPE, PVC & LDPE) in the United States, but more than 87% of those items are never recycled, winding up in landfills and the ocean.6 About 34% of dead leatherback sea turtle have ingested plastics.7 The plastic typically used in bottles, bags and food containers contains chemical additives such as endocrine disruptors, which are associated with negative health effects including cancers, birth defects and immune system suppression in humans and wildlife.8 It takes 1,000 years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. Unfortunately, the bags don't break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment.9 Chemical leachates from plastic bags impair the growth of the worlds most important microorganisms, Prochlorococcus, a marine bacterium that provides one tenth of the worlds oxygen.10 There were 1.9 million grocery bags and other plastic bags collected in the 2018 International Coastal Cleanup.11 In 2014 California became the first state to ban plastic bags. As of March 2018, 311 local bag ordinances have been adopted in 24 states, including Hawaii.12 As of July 2018, 127 countries have adopted some form of legislation to regulate plastic bags.13 Ways You Can Help Learn more about how plastic pollution threatens wildlife. Upon completing both parts, the students will receive an American Heart Association BLS e-Card India MedLern, a leading digital learning solution for hospitals and healthcare professionals, has collaborated with Shree Bhavani Group of Institutions to provide resuscitation training. Shree Bhavani Group of Institution will adopt this programme, HeartCode Complete, for training their nursing students in BLS. The programme is divided into two parts online, self-paced Cognitive Part 1 and Skills Session on the RQI-P GO Simulation Station. Upon completing both parts, the students will receive an American Heart Association BLS e-Card. RQI-P GO Simulation Stations are portable and students will have the flexibility to be trained on BLS without having to travel at any location. The innovation training programme is also user friendly and provides real time audio visual feedback to the learners. It also adapts to the learning style of the students so that they can complete the training at their own pace and time. What does an advertising awards festival have to do with business today? Image supplied. Roanna Williams, Net#workBBDO & Creative Circle chairperson The world is changing radically and for businesses, creativity is now being seen as an investment that can actually change the course of business and the ways that brands interact with the world, says Roanna Williams, Net#workBBDO and Creative Circle chairperson. This is why we see many brands and businesses - doing work that is purpose-led because it not only affects their business; it affects the state of the world. And where better to find these ideas that are leading the change we need in the world than the Cannes Lions, the Olympics of creativity? We will be sharing insights from the recent Cannes Lions at the upcoming Creative Circle Full Circle 2022 event that is taking place this Thursday, 4 August, says Williams. She adds that this is also the perfect opportunity to gather in a room, have face-to-face meaningful conversations about creativity, after not being able to do so for close to two years or more. Here is a sneak preview from Williams of some of the conversations you can expect: Why is Cannes this relevant to us in South Africa? There is a shift happening in the world and we are seeing this in the work that is winning at Cannes Lions. The stand-out winning work is coming from countries that have really tough economic and social problems and lets be honest, we are one of them. Work from India, for example, is standing out massively. 90% of the Indian work that won was addressing real societal problems. Their budgets are small (similar to South Africa), but their ideas were big and disruptive the varying approaches had one thing in common - making India better, more inclusive, and fairer. The Full Circle will be an opportunity for South African businesses to view this work and gain insights and inspiration from it and our panel. Tell us a bit more about the upcoming Full Circle panel The speakers will be unpacking their experience in Cannes. There is nothing like that actual experience of sitting on a jury panel with diverse jurors from across the world who are all top advertising creatives and marketers. The conversations that take place around the work is in-depth and super insightful and sets the benchmark. They will be sharing those insights, which you cannot get anywhere else. Yes, you can read a few things about Cannes online, but they physically sat in those rooms and the growth for creativity lies in those conversations. This is so important as Cannes ultimately sets the standard of creativity. Why is creativity such a big deal? If I work in a bank, for example, is creativity something I should consider as important and relevant to my business? People box creativity into I cannot draw, sing, dance, etc. Creativity is so much broader than this. The bigger aspect of creativity is the ability to think out of the box and solve problems and thats why creativity has become a business asset. We are living in a world with so many problems - and to change and solve these problems we need out-of-the-box thinkers. Creative people dont look at problems in the same old-fashioned way; and this kind of thinking is what the world needs. This makes creativity an imperative business tool today; the ability and opportunity to tackle our real-world problems head on and we are seeing increasingly more of that. Today, businesses are hiring and collaborating more with creative thinkers; individuals and partners with the ability to think in a unique way that solves real business problems. There is a lot of talk (and has been for some years now) about purpose-led work and we saw a lot of this work winning at Cannes. Why should we be paying attention to purpose-led work? Purpose-led brands, through creativity, literally solve or address a real-world problem. Purpose-led work is how can a brand be relevant and authentic in a world where there is not much trust. When a brand stands for something that is relevant to its brand it is real. That means they must be culturally relevant on the ground. A more long term purpose-led approach that builds trust. Are you with the people or just being a face and making a lot of noise? Purpose-led brands dont talk at you, they talk with you. However, many brands talk about purpose-led work but thats all they do talk about it. They dont actually do it and consumers see right through that. Power lies in doing. Its also not about jumping onto the latest trends. Consumers see right through brands that attach themselves to the latest trend but dont stand for something. Because just attaching yourself to something is not authentic. It comes back to how you do it constantly in a relevant way. Where does trust come into this? Trust is tricky thing because trust takes time, and this takes patience and consistency. Trust is also built over the entire ecosystem of a business. It starts internally. Your employees and directors, salesmen, retailers - every touchpoint with the brand has to live your purpose. And then you can communicate this to the external world with an authentic voice. What consumers then see is not advertising telling them this is something the brand cares about, but that it is something that is embedded and is growing from the roots of the entire business. Read here Special features include: Good news for the North West province: R180m in investments Outgoing Nelson Mandela Children's Fund CEO Konehali Gugushe, who has paved the way for her successor The post-pandemic era: Life without masks e also take a look at what happened at the BRICS Summit and the bumper celebration that happened at the first post-Covid National Arts Festival. The memory of the tragedy of the KZN floods is still fresh, and so it is heartening to read about the efforts to help the people and the province in the article Reaching beyond disaster: KwaZulu-Natal builds on its resilient economy. Are you experiencing a colder-than-usual winter? We have some great tips on fighting the winter chills, as well as how to save money on electricity. And if that wasnt enough, the article on tax season and possible deductions will hopefully bring some warmth. Whether you are in the public sector, the private sector, supply chain or an interested individual, PSL has something for you. We hope you enjoy the read. For enquiries, regarding being profiled or showcased in the next edition of the Public Sector Leaders publication, please set up an appointment with our national project manager, Emlyn Dunn, here. The story of Delivery Ka Speed begins one ordinary night in Hammanskraal, when Godiragetse Mogajane just wasn't much in the mood for cooking. Craving something hot, fast, and flavourful, he did what millions of South Africans do every day, and picked up his smartphone to order take-out. Mogajanes next discovery that none of the usual fast-food delivery apps service Hammanskraal, or any other township, for that matter sparked an idea that set the entrepreneurial 24-year-old on a mission not only to bring take-out to the townships, but to employ and uplift jobless local youths at the same time. The townships informal patchwork of unmapped streets make it impossible for outside delivery services to find customers locations. But what if the delivery service was run by locals and only employed township residents intimately familiar with their neighbourhoods layout as drivers? Fast-forward one year and Delivery Ka Speed (Speedy Delivery in Sepitori) is a flourishing, homegrown, black-owned, township food delivery service with its own mobile app. The community welcomed us with open arms, says marketing manager Tsholofelo Lebelo. Obviously, people are familiar with food delivery apps and services, so when we brought that convenience to the townships, they were like, Finally! Where have you guys been? Originally, the Delivery Ka Speed team consisted of just six staff, two shoppers, and three delivery drivers. Today, the burgeoning business is run by 15 ambitious black graduates, all under 30 and hailing from Hammanskraal, and over 26 delivery drivers. According to Lebelo, thanks to their shared backgrounds and common goal of uplifting their community, the team has grown into a tight-knit force to be reckoned with. One thing that sets our team apart from any other team is we are just hungry to participate in this economy, agrees Mogajane. Were tired of having companies that come to our townships to drop products and services and we just consume. While Delivery Ka Speeds customers are reaping the benefits of the companys success by tucking into their favourite fast foods at home, its undoubtedly the drivers who use either cars, bicycles, or e-bikes to make deliveries who are the real beneficiaries in this story. Delivery Ka Speed has changed me as a whole, financially and mentally, says Lucky Marumo, a 24-year-old delivery driver. Thulani Malambe, also 24 years old, tells a similar story: Since I started working at Delivery Ka Speed, my life changed, he says. Now I am able to do things that I wasnt able to do when I wasnt working. Im able to buy myself new clothes that I like, Im able to buy myself food that I want. Economically empowering people like Marumo and Malambe is central to Delivery Ka Speeds raison d'etre. We can change the narrative of young people in townships: that theyre lazy and that they dont want to work, says Mogajane. Because what we have seen is that young people want to work, young people want to participate in this economy. They want to make an honest income. Delivery Ka Speeds inspiring story caught the attention of Claire Olivier, key account manager at online payment solution, Adumo Online. Olivier reached out and was immediately impressed by the buckets of potential she saw in the small but ambitious team. Adumo Online now processes payments for the innovative delivery service's app. CEO David Smith says that he has the Adumo Online teams experience and nose for talent to thank for identifying promising partnerships such as this one. It was Claires belief that brought the Delivery Ka Speed mission to our attention, says Smith. Having people that can look at opportunities and identify the potential for success, rather than just looking at the numbers, has helped to unlock another exciting partnership for Adumo Online. Adumo Online has made it extremely easy for our customers to pay online, says Delivery Ka Speed. This ability and willingness to engage with small, nascent merchants, while having the scope to service enterprise clients like Herbalife, is a hallmark of Adumo Onlines agile approach and wide scope. Part of South Africas largest independent payment processing conglomerate, the Adumo Group, Adumo Online is an online payment solution that supports multiple payment types across all e-commerce channels. Hungry? Download the Delivery Ka Speed app for iOS and Android. Winners of the ninth Simon 'Mabhunu' Sabela KZN Film and Television Awards were announced during the annual Durban International Film Festival on 23 July. Afda staff, students and alumni walked off with six awards after being nominated for 16. Afda Cape Town honours alumnus picked up the Best Feature Film Award for his horror film Fried Barry with Afda Durban taking the other five. "I'm so proud of the winners of the Simon Mabhunu Sabela Awards from Afda Durban. There were five awards given out on the Saturday night at the ceremony at Durban ICC, hosted by KZN Film Commission. Our head of producing, Richard Green, won Best Director of a Feature Film, for Tokoloshe; Sir Roel Twijnstra, programme coordinator for live performance, won a Best Supporting Actor Award for Tokoloshe; alumnus Byron McNeil won the Best Actor Award for his role in Time & Tide; 2020 honours alumnus, Tanner Mitchison, won Best Short Script Award for Nineteen-Eighty-Six his honours script; Tanner Mitchison also won for Best Student Film Award, with his producer, Sphesihle Zama, Afda Durban 2nd year LCC and lecturer. The Simon Mabhunu Sabela Awards are decided by an external panel for each category, and even though I'm overall chairperson of the Sabelas, I don't have a say in who wins. So these wins are all the sole achievement of the excellence from every Afda Durban staff member and Alumni. What I love about these awards is that it showcases a diversity of talent which epitomises complexion of KwaZulu-Natal. I know Afda Durban plans to keep winning Sabelas for many years to come as the quality of our lecturers and students will continue to excel," says Afda Durban Dean Janet van Eeden. Afda Durban student films have an extraordinary record at the Simon Sabela Awards, having won the Best Student Film award for the last eight years in a row. On the 16th April 2021, the Simon Mabhunu Sabela Awards Statue was officially unveiled by members of the KZN Film Commission, Afda Durban, members of KZN Tourism and the Mayor's office in a special ribbon-cutting ceremony on the Afda Durban campus. The Simon Mabhunu Sabela film and television awards recognise outstanding achievement and excellence within the South African Film and Television industry, with a special focus on KwaZulu-Natal. Among those who will be honoured at the awards are actors, producers, directors and various film and television technicians. The awards are an initiative of the Department of Economic Development Tourism and Environmental Affairs and are implemented by the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission. Mr Simon "Mabhunu" Sabela, in whose honour the Film and Television Awards are named, was a legend in both big screen and television. Not only was he South Africa's first Black film director, he also had a long and successful career which saw him feature in over 34 movies, both nationally and internationally. Local incubation facilitator, the Innovator Trust, announced 39 graduates from their 2021 Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (Yep). In an exclusive virtual graduation ceremony, the dynamic, driven and inspiring Class of 2021 who, almost 2 years, ago embarked on a journey of personal and professional self-discovery, took to the Innovator Trust virtual stage as they were officially announced as graduates from the 2021 Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (Yep). Having completed the 1-year programme during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, these graduates were commended for their determination, resilience and perseverance. Despite the challenges brought on by the adverse circumstances under lockdown, which undoubtedly made learning difficult, these young individuals chose to remain committed and never gave up. Launched in 2017, in partnership with Vodacom, Yep was initiated to lend a helping hand to unemployed South African youth, ushering young entrepreneurial minds on a guided tour of the modern business environment, developing skills necessary for the working world and exposing them to the opportunities that exist within the realm of tech entrepreneurship. The Youth Entrepreneurship Programme gave beneficiaries an ideal and holistic tool-kit for the modern day, young entrepreneur to dig their roots deep and build a solid foundation for their businesses to develop. With presence in the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, the Free State and the Gauteng provinces, the programme provides mentorship, training and course materials covering subject matter areas such as coding, Microsoft skills, gaming, financial management and business model planning, marketing, self-awareness, workplace readiness, business communication, conflict management, and more. Overall Top Achievers, Lehlohonolo Majawetsa (Free State), Kerwin Flint (Western Cape) and Billy Magagula (Gauteng) received special mention at the graduation, acknowledging their dedication and excellence in engagement throughout the programme and walking away with a prize package including a R2,000 Takealot voucher courtesy of the Innovator Trust as well as a brand new smartphone from Vodacom. The top prize of the day was reserved for the Top Business Presentations from the cohort. Every year, three beneficiaries who have successfully worked on an innovative, impactful business plan and boldly pitched their entrepreneurial ambitions to a panel of industry experts, are selected for this special award, each of them receiving a prize package including a R5,000 cash injection towards their business venture courtesy of the Innovator Trust, as well as a tablet and smartphone from Vodacom. The YEP Top 3 Business Presentations were: 1st Place: Kaede Cupido (Western Cape) 2nd Place: Thandokazi Dyantyi (Western Cape) 3rd Place: Refentse Phiri (Free State) In the words of Tashline Jooste, CEO of the Innovator Trust who delivered a rousing address to the graduates: To simply be here today after the last two years is a victory. It is a victory over impending doom, failure and challenges, a victory over mediocrity, the comfort zone and complacency, and it is a victory over every bit of fear thats ever stopped you from achieving your goals and getting where you want to be in life, said Jooste. Congratulations to each of our Yep Class of 2021! Free State: Bonolo Sebitsang Elizabeth Dimakatso Liketso Fundiswa Totola Itumeleng Mokoloko Jackson Molapisi Keabetswe Mongana Lebogang Mokoloko Lehlohonolo Majawetsa Nkagiseng Mponya Olebogeng Poss Pulane Phiane Refentse Phiri Gauteng & Mpumalanga: Ben Magagula Billy Magagula Brightness Malatji Francis Mmampa Rapakgadi Gracca Khensani Mahomane Harry Ramokgopa Jerodine Modau Kgopotso Mashaku Lebogang Letsatsi Matlhatsi Malebye Martha Maupa Miranda Mogale Mmalerato Mokwena Mogau Rudolph Matlala Promise Methula Western Cape: Anele Mgaba Cassidy Bennett Kaede Cupido Kerwin Flint Matthew Davids Nazneen Jacobs Nokubonga Ngceba Shikalepo Yekani Siyavuya Ndleleni Thandokazi Dyantyi The FBI is reportedly "pressuring" agents to reclassify cases as "domestic violent extremism" -- regardless of the facts of the case -- in order to bolster the Biden regime's narrative that white extremists are the "greatest threat" our country faces. Agents who go along with the scheme are then rewarded with "awards and promotions." The House Judiciary Committee revealed the bombshell allegations in a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray. "From recent protected disclosures, we have learned that FBI officials are pressuring agents to reclassify cases as domestic violent extremism even if the cases do not meet the criteria for such a classification," Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said in the letter. "Given the narrative pushed by the Biden administration that domestic violent extremism is the greatest threat facing our country, revelation that the FBI may be artificially padding domestic terrorism data is scandalous." "We have received accusations that FBI agents are bolstering the number of cases of DVEs to satisfy their superiors," Jordan continued. "For example, one whistleblower explained that because agents are not finding enough DVE cases, they are encouraged and incentivized to reclassify cases as DVE cases even though there is minimal, circumstantial evidence to support the reclassification." #BREAKING Whistleblowers: FBI Leadership Pressuring Agents to Artificially Pad Domestic Terrorism Data pic.twitter.com/fGuQbUbjX3 House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) July 27, 2022 "Another whistleblowerwho led at least one high profile domestic terrorism investigationstated that a field office Counterterrorism Assistant Special Agent in Charge and the FBI's Director of the Counterterrorism Division have pressured agents to move cases into the DVE category to hit self-created performance metrics," Jordan said. "According to whistleblowers, the FBI uses these metrics to dispense awards and promotions. Every whistleblower has called it an environment of 'pressure' within the FBI." Other FBI whistleblowers came forward last week to reveal the FBI sabotaged investigations into Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 election by labeling them as "disinformation." While the FBI was running cover for Hunter Biden and letting BLM rioters off the hook, they were busy framing random white people as "domestic violent extremists" and ruining their lives for political gain. "The same senior FBI agent who allegedly shut down investigative activity related to Hunter Biden also allegedly sought to pad the FBI's number of 'domestic violent extremism' cases, a whistleblower informed House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Wednesday," Breitbart reports. "Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault, whom Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) previously identified in a letter to the FBI about Hunter Biden, is also one of the unidentified agents implicated in an unrelated letter Jordan wrote to the FBI on Wednesday, Jordan confirmed to Breitbart News." "The letter specifically references an unnamed 'field office Counterterrorism Assistant Special Agent in Charge' who 'pressured agents' to categorize cases as domestic violent extremism," Breitbart reported. "Later Wednesday, after the letter was sent to Wray, a whistleblower informed Jordan that Thibault was the unnamed agent, Jordan told Breitbart News." As Fox News noted, Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed last year: "In the FBI's view, the top domestic violence extremist threat comes from racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, specifically those who advocated for the superiority of the White race." Garland used this fake threat to justify the creation of a "Domestic Terrorism Unit" to go after American citizens as potential "terrorists." Merrick Garland also ordered the FBI to mobilize against parents opposed to anti-white critical race theory brainwashing being taught in our nation's public schools. This is the smoking gun. Attorney General Garland provided zero evidence that parents are engaging in credible threats or acts of violence. And yet, he mobilized the FBI Counterterrorism Division to use counterterrorism tools for investigating, tracking, and tagging parents. pic.twitter.com/PHpVIqvlBw Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) November 16, 2021 Meanwhile, Garland's own family members were found to be profiting off selling such anti-white CRT materials to public schools! Merrick Garland is the most extreme, dangerous and corrupt Attorney General in American history! Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds and Telegram. Google and Amazon are letting the police access data from smart home cameras without a warrant, if they are told this footage is needed because of an emergency. Meanwhile others who sell similar devices and services, like Arlo, Apple, Wyze, Eufy, claim their policy is the opposite, CNET writes. It was first reported that Amazon was cooperating with law enforcement in this way, and it has now emerged that Google is treating its customers privacy the same way. In the US, Amazon and Google say that in most cases the police have to provide some kind of legal justification to access video from their devices installed in peoples homes, be it a warrant or subpoena. Any other policy, such as making exceptions like the emergencies one, is not something a company can be forced to do, reports say, suggesting that Amazon and Google have chosen to adopt such an approach to users privacy. Nevertheless, the two tech giants are proceeding with this policy; Amazon has revealed that it turned over data 11 times when the police submitted emergency requests, while Google does not provide any details in its transparency report. The company has an information request policy that addresses this scenario, to say that if it reasonably believes giving footage to the authorities who have no warrant to obtain it will prevent death or serious physical harm, it may do so. Some examples given of when reasonable belief comes into play while making these decisions are bomb threats, school shootings, kidnappings, suicides, etc. We still consider these requests in light of applicable laws and our policies, Google promises. And when Google decides to give law enforcement their data because the company believes there is an emergency, users may never learn that this happened. According to a Nest spokesman quoted by CNET, they do try to notify users, though. Amazon, on the other hand, didnt even bother to disclose, when asked by both CNET and The Verge, whether or not, and in what circumstances, it lets users know that footage from smart cameras has been shared. This is just the latest controversy plaguing the smart home surveillance market, with others mostly related to security issues. Millions of people in the UK are beset by insecurities and worries about the rising cost of living. Fuel and energy prices are escalating, variously blamed on Brexit, Covid, and the war in Ukraine. A recent survey reported that 67% of Britons are worried about paying food and fuel bills, and 56% believe their household finances have worsened in the past 12 months. The NHS is experiencing huge pressures. Rachel Clarke, a palliative care doctor and the author of Breathtaking: Inside the NHS in a Time of Pandemic, said in March that the NHS: is not coping much better now than it was at Covids peaks. We are drowning in Covid patients, cancer patients, the patients on the waiting list backlogs, and the patients whose conditions have become infinitely more complex and harmful because theyve been waiting so long. There are so few staff and those left are so burned out and traumatised that patients are inevitably being neglected. Too many people in this country are relying on food banks. Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022, the Trussell Trust network, the UKs largest foodbank organisation, distributed over 2.1 million emergency food parcels to people in crisis. This is an increase of 81% compared to the same period five years ago. Hundreds of thousands of disabled and chronically ill people are having to wait an average of five months for disability benefits. Employees are working long hours on short-term and zero-hour contracts. There are persistent delays and poor services on public transport. And people have to wait inordinately long times to obtain driving licenses and passports. All of this is taking place against the reality of industrial action and rising public dissatisfaction with what passes for news or politics in the Westminster bubble, or any of the other bubbles inhabited by Western elites. Public trust in the mainstream media has dropped dramatically in recent years. According to a recent analysis by Press Gazette, BBC News experienced the biggest drop in public confidence, along with the Times and the Telegraph. BBC News, regularly touted by its managers and senior journalists as the gold standard in reliability and accuracy, has seen trust in its journalism drop from 75% four years ago to 55% now. For what its worth, that still leaves it the most trusted newsbrand in the UK, along with ITV news, also at 55%. Channel 4 News was just behind on 54%. Sky News saw trust in its output decline from 62% to 45%. The Guardian could only manage 48% (remarkably high, given its record), down from 61%. Press Gazette summed up the findings: Major newsbrands have a crisis of trust. Former Guardian journalist Jonathan Cook observed: Is the reason all establishment media are seeing huge drops in audience trust the fault of Russian disinformation? Or is it because they act as brazen mouthpieces for the establishment? Be sure all these outlets will tell you its down to Russia. Commenting on the low trust figures, Cook added: half of audiences think our main news shows actually peddle fake news. Rossalyn Warren, Reuters audience editor, recently shared a headline finding from the Oxford-based Reuters Institute that: 46% of people (mostly women and young people) actively avoid the news because it has a negative impact on their mood. Thats up from 24% in 2017. The prevailing public mood was pithily summed up by writer Umair Haque as a feeling of downward mobility. This, he said, is how many people feel today: They dont feel good. Confident. Assured. Optimistic. They feelworthless. Defeated. Helpless and hopeless. Traumatized and weary. Haque continued: I cant take it anymore. I cant take it financially how am I going to make ends meet? I cant take it economically no matter how hard you work, little seems to change. I cant take it culturally nothing, no one out there seems to help me, aid me, be there for me. I cant take it socially this whole society feels like its against me. There is, warned Haque, a tsunami of demoralisation sweeping our societies: And as people grow demoralized, they grow de-moralized. Their moral centers and cores stop working. Only the strong survive, and the weak perish? I had better become ruthless, cunning, cruel. I must learn how to be a knife. Not a lever, not an open hand. A closed fist. In the bitter battle for self-preservation, the great virtues empathy, grace, truth, knowledge all themselves become needless luxuries and unaffordable indulgences. To some extent, in this harsh depiction, Haque was playing devils advocate. But his point was clear. Many of us are struggling and perhaps tempted to protect and preserve what we have, in our own limited spheres; and woe betide anyone who gets in our way. However, rather than feel despair or harden our hearts, an alternative approach is to admit that many of us sometimes feel demoralised, even overwhelmed, and to share that feeling with others. As Haque said: Youre not alone, my friend. That may be a small step on a new journey that we all need to take. Because we have to accept that real change is not going to come from our leaders, but from ourselves. Consider the rail strikes that have been taking place in the UK. The most overtly right-wing press the likes of the soaraway Sun wailed about a return to the 1970s driven by Marxist thugs. Such defamation is to be expected in the vitriolic pages of the billionaire-owned press. But how different is this from the more subtle vilification by an ostensibly neutral BBC journalist? On the eve of recent industrial action, Nick Robinson, former BBC political editor and now a Radio 4 Today presenter, tweeted: Whos the man behind the strikes which are threatening a week of rail chaos? Is he a champion of workers who deserve a pay rise or a politically motivated dinosaur? You decide after listening to my half hour conversation with Mick Lynch @RMTunion This might appear a relatively minor example. But it is symptomatic of the insidious, endemic anti-working class, anti-trade union stance embedded in BBC News impartiality. Robinson would never say of a senior Tory leader: Is he a public servant or an oligarchy-serving, greed-driven predator? Scale up Robinsons attitudes, shared across leading BBC News presenters and editors, and you get what the BBC represents; indeed, what the BBC is: a state-affiliated broadcaster relentlessly pitching elite perspectives on domestic and international affairs. Challenges are routinely met with disdain, blanking or arrogance. Once You See How The Super Rich Run Everything Solely For Their Own Benefit You Cannot Unsee It In his calm, articulate determination to get his points across in recent media interviews, many of them conducted risibly by highly-paid celebrity journalists, RMT union leader Mick Lynch has been a ray of hope for many people. Speaking live on BBC News from a picket line in London last month, Lynch said: The whole country is suffering. And we have got a membership and a trade union that is prepared to fight for what weve got. What the rest of the country suffers from is the lack of power. Lynch expanded: The lack of the ability to organise and the lack of the wherewithal to take on these employers that are continually driving down wages, and making the working class in this country poorer, year on year on year, while the rich get richer and dividends are accelerated and the stock market is reasonably healthy. Weve got full employment and falling wages, and that is a situation that has never happened before and it cannot be tolerated by working people or by the trade union movement. In a Sky News interview, the union leader highlighted the deceptive rhetoric of many businesses: What were seeing here is a smokescreen caused by Covid, and many employers are taking this opportunity. Theyre using what is a temporary phenomenon Covid and the temporary phenomenon of people being told not to go to work as a smokescreen to get rid of decent conditions, decent pay rates and decent agreements. Making the kind of rational, reasonable points that rarely get an airing on state-corporate news outlets, Lynch added: Everybody wants our cities, towns and villages to recover. The way we do that, and one of the most important aspects of that, is by having a decent public transport system that can be relied on, is safe and accessible. Cutting staff, cutting services and cutting funding is the opposite to that, and nobody in our community should tolerate that from this government of billionaires who tell everyone else theyve got to tighten their belts while theyre raking it in. Lynchs assured media performances, particularly when confronted with ludicrous questions, won him praise from many corners. A Guardian piece observed that the union boss had been deft, scornful and effective. Political economist Matt Bishop noted: Whats remarkable about the Mick Lynch coverage is just how rarely we hear straightforward, working-class lefty union people in mainstream debate. Our media is dominated by a privately educated professional pundit class, their MP and banker chums, and its all the poorer for it. Exactly. Although, of course, it is not mainstream debate. It is a tightly-controlled debate that exists within the severely skewed bias of a state-corporate media, owned and managed by elite interests. Even Mark Solomons, a former industrial correspondent at the Sun noted in an article in the right-wing Spectator, that: Lynch is currently dominating TV screens and social media, making mincemeat out of politicians and broadcast interviewers alike. Solomons added: He has stuck to his guns, confounded his opponents, and used simple, plain-talking language. He comes across as a working-class man who has made it to the top of his profession without selling out his principles, someone who makes it quite clear why the union is doing what it is doing irrespective of whether or not we agree with him. There was understanding and support from members of the public. An anonymous 53-year-old manager of an NHS mental health team living in south London blamed the government for the rail strikes: I wish the government would meaningfully and consistently fund public infrastructure and the key workers who keep our city and society running. Im tired of services being cut to the bone, everything being done on the cheap and workers being told to simply work harder to fill the gaps. Giles Barret, a 38-year-old owner of a recording studio, said: Collective action is the reason we have a weekend, among many other hard-won rights, and we must never stop fighting for them capital certainly wont. And David Ling, a 69-year-old pensioner, also pointed to the bigger picture behind the rail strikes: Theres so many problems in this country that are caused by austerity, privatisation and cutbacks that in the end its gonna be a reaction. Its not just the railway workers its teachers and nurses and everything. In the end, somethings got to give. You cant carry on cutting back and people scrimping and saving. It doesnt work. Barnaby Raine of Novara Media commented approvingly of Mick Lynchs media performances: Our whole media debate is a surreal circus until someone bursts it open. An opinion poll showed that public opinion had shifted dramatically in support of rail strikes following Lynchs media appearances. Previously, support for the strike was at 38%, while opposition to the strike was 43%. Afterwards, support for the strike had risen 7% to 45%, while opposition to the strike had dropped 6% to 37%. On Twitter, political writer John Traynor provided a potent summary of why Lynch had been so effective at getting his points of view across to the public. First: Lynch knows that what he is saying is both factually correct and consistent. This contrasts with conservative voices who know what they are spouting is [a] pack of lies and drivel, and comically inconsistent. Second: Lynch understands fully what he is talking about. His knowledge allows him to counter any derisory interruption. This contrasts with conservative voices who know only a few mendacious soundbites with no in depth knowledge, and this causes them to fall. Third: Lynch speaks sincerely; he believes in all the points he makes. This contrasts with conservative voices who believe in nothing and are just playing a part for money. Matthew Todd, author of the best-selling LGBT mental health book, Straight Jacket, said via Twitter that: Ive worked in the media alongside politicians for 25 years. Once you see how the super rich run everything solely for their own benefit you cannot unsee it. If people understood what lies in store for us they wouldnt be on strike, there would be a revolution #RailStrikes Despite this brief opening in permissible debate around the economy, if Lynch continues to be this effective, then the state-corporate media will revert to type and attempt to crush him, just as they did with Jeremy Corbyn. The Guardian Is A Tool Of The British Establishment Indeed, in a recent compelling interview with Matt Kennard of Declassified UK, Corbyn opened up about the experience he had gone through as Labour Party leader during which he had been the target of arguably the biggest ever propaganda blitz against a British political leader. He was particularly scathing of the Guardian which, long ago, may have been regarded by some as a reliable left-leaning newspaper: I have absolutely no illusions in the Guardian, none whatsoever. My mum brought me up to read the Guardian. She said, Its a good paper you can trust. You cant. After their treatment of me, I do not trust the Guardian. He continued: There are good people who work in the Guardian, there are some brilliant writers in the Guardian, but as a paper, its a tool of the British establishment. Its a mainstream establishment paper. So, as long as everybody on the left gets it clear: when you buy the Guardian, youre buying an establishment paper. Indeed, the Guardian and BBC News were central to the establishments cynical exploitation of antisemitism allegations to kill Corbyns chances of becoming Prime Minister: an analysis of the Guardians treatment of the time that I was leader of the party needs to be made because they and the BBC had more unsourced reporting of anti-semitic criticisms surrounding me than any other paper, including the Mail, The Telegraph and the Sun. As for the British media as a whole: We have a supine media in this country. The British self-confidence of saying weve got the best media in the world, the best broadcasting in the world, the best democracy in the world. Its nonsense, utter, complete nonsense. We have a media thats supine, that self-censors, that accepts D-Notices, doesnt challenge them, and the vast majority of the mainstream media havent lifted so much as a little finger in support or defence of Julian Assange. Today, Labour has a new leader who is trying as hard as possible to stifle left policies and voices within the party, dragging it relentlessly towards the right; or what Sir Keir Starmer calls the centre ground. In an Observer opinion piece, Labour has now claimed the centre ground and has shown it can win, this Blairite establishment stooge boasted: Since the horror of the last general election, we have rolled up our sleeves and focused on listening to the public and changing our party. Weve rooted out the poison of antisemitism, shown unshakeable support for Nato, forged a new relationship with business, shed unworkable or unaffordable policies and created an election machine capable of taking on the Conservatives. Being able to win again has taken more than two years of hard graft from all those who ache to see the transformation a Labour government would bring the country we love. As political writer Steve Topple noted, Starmers comments were largely vacuous dross and detached from reality. In particular: Labour has shed unworkable or unaffordable policies but with no clear reference to what these are. Clearly, its those promises he made during the Labour leadership election. Remember those? The talk of nationalisation of industries and services? We can now categorically see that Starmers pledges were nothing short of manipulation of party members. This is despite the fact that with things like rail renationalisation, the public consistently supports it. A Bent System Of Government Peter Oborne, former political editor at the Spectator and former Daily Telegraph chief political commentator, recently warned of the rising oligarchical nature of politics in the UK, whether Conservative or Labour: You would hope that in a well-managed democracy the purpose of political power was to challenge the super-rich, make sure they didnt get what they wanted. Under [Boris] Johnson, political power has been a vehicle for the super-rich to make sure that they do get what they want. Oborne offered this damning verdict on our supposed free press: The second element of Johnson is that the media class and the political class have merged in Downing Street; they are the same thing. And so all the stuff which we as journalists get taught at journalism school its the task of the press to hold government to account, and there is a sort of separation of powers is no longer the case. There has been a merger. Oborne called Johnson the billionaires bitch. Why? First, because Johnson was, before he announced his resignation as Tory leader on 7 July, dependent on billionaire donors to the Tory party who saw him until recently, at least as the best option to represent their interests: You can see what they want is access to power, its contracts we saw this with Covid when Tory donors were rewarded endlessly. Second, because Johnson has curried favour with billionaire newspaper proprietors, such as the Barclay brothers, owners of the Telegraph, and Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Times and the Sun. In an article titled, Boris Johnson is finished. But will the rotten system that created him fall too?, Oborne pointed out: The Murdoch Press, Associated Newspapers and the Telegraph group control approximately three quarters of the newspaper reading market. These three groups have been central to Johnsons success. Every title in all these groups supported Johnsons bid for the Tory leadership, his 2019 general election campaign, and through last months vote of confidence. Throughout all of this they played down the corruption, fabrication, scandal, cronyism, law-breaking and incompetence of the Johnson government. Oborne found some hope in democratic pressures at last having some effect: Very late in the day the reputational damage of sticking with Johnson has struck home. The newspapers, finally scared of their readers, are running for cover. On Wednesday, Rupert Murdochs Times belatedly pulled the plug The prime minister has lost the confidence of his party and the country. He should quit now. Faced with the prospect of crumbling support from even the right-wing press, together with multiple resignations across government, Johnson finally bowed to the inevitable and resigned as Tory leader, while remaining as Prime Minister until a new leader can be elected in the autumn. What will happen next? Oborne warns that nothing much will change: The global super-rich are looking for a British prime minister who will look after their interests without the reputational damage. Ex-chancellor Sunak, now the bookies favourite, looks like their choice. A near-billionaire himself, he at least has no incentive to take bribes. But hes been at the heart of the bent Johnson system of government for almost three years, repeating the prime ministers lies and tolerating his incompetence, bigotry and incessant sleaze. Whether Sunak or someone else takes over, warned Oborne: The next Tory leader will almost certainly pursue the same policies as Johnson. On Brexit. On civil liberties. On the Human Rights Act. The same English nationalism and cheap, ugly, vicious populism. He added: Remember that all the leading candidates in the leadership contest served in Johnsons cabinet. They supported his policies, and in many cases repeated his lies. As for Keir Starmer, Knight Commander of the Order of Bath, Oborne is scathing, pointing out that the politician dishonestly represented himself as coming from the left when bidding to become Corbyns successor. Since Starmer was elected Labour leader, he has been trying to buy into the Blair model of relying on donors, appeasing newspaper proprietors, ruthlessly excluding the trade unions, and indeed attacking the left, notably Stop the War and any Labour MPs critical of Nato: He made a choice to define himself not against Boris Johnson, the billionaires person. He decided to define himself as not being Jeremy Corbyn. That was the classic Blairite pivot. Blair chose to win by sucking up to Rupert Murdoch, and sucking up to the billionaires, and Starmer appears to be doing just the same thing. Oborne predicts that, if Starmer ever becomes Prime Minister, all he would be is maybe a more scrupulous version of Boris Johnson; in other words, a slightly softer version of oligarchical politics. If the public is to get what it supports and deserves not least a basic standard of living, and a rational and urgent response to the climate crisis we all need to take action now. On July 27, 2022, the United States Senate passed a resolution urging the State Department to classify Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The document calls attention to Russias military operations over the past 30 years in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Ukraine as the principal reason for designating Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. They specifically cited how the Russian government allegedly used force against civilians during the Second Chechen War in Chechnya and it military aid campaign to separatists in the breakaway republics in Donbass since the Ukrainian Euromaidan Revolution of 2014. Russian state news agency TASS reported that this resolution was submitted on May 9. It was first filed by South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham. Ukraine has actively pushed the US to put Russia on the state sponsor of terrorism list. Members of the US Congress have also called for making this move. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had harsh words for the US government over its idiotic move to label Russia a sponsor of terrorism. She warned that this state sponsor of terror designation will be met with a firm response from the Russian state. All these measures that they are going to undertake, even such an idiotic one, will be expanded and continued. Certainly, we <> are not going to leave anything unanswered and they must comprehend this, she stated. The US government uses the state sponsor of terrorism label for countries that have allegedly repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism. By slapping this designation on countries, the US government then has the power to impose broad-based sanctions against countries on this list. The US Department of Treasury has the power to take punitive actions against entities and individuals on this list, on top of states that trade with countries that have received the state sponsor of terrorism designation. Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria are currently classified as state sponsors of terror. Should the US government follow through with this designation, tensions will only escalate between it and Russia. The irony here is that the US has a long track record of funding Islamist militants in regions such as Afghanistan, Chechnya, Syria, and Xinjiang. If the US had any sense, it would take the L with regards to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict and begin withdrawing from NATO. Its geopolitical priorities should be focused on its southern border and maintaining stability in the Western Hemisphere. Xia Haijun was long considered the closest associate of China Evergrande Group founder Hui Ka Yan. He accompanied Hui for a Harvard University visit in 2018, bought company bonds to boost market confidence and was the one sent to Hong Kong last year to discuss the developers asset sales. All told, Xia was a valued member of the Evergrande family. And his salary showed it: He earned more than $US460 million ($658 million) since 2009. Xias sudden ouster makes him the most high-profile executive to fall since Chinas property crisis kicked off at Evergrande in 2020. Credit:Getty Images That all changed last week, when the chief executive officer was forced to resign after an investigation showed he was involved in arranging undisclosed loan guarantees that threatened to wipe out about $US2 billion of corporate deposits. It came as Evergrande, the worlds most indebted developer, is preparing to present a restructuring plan by the end of this month. Xias sudden ouster makes him the most high-profile executive to fall since Chinas property crisis kicked off at Evergrande in 2020. While his downfall may reflect an attempt by the developer to rebuild investor confidence, the company has so far failed to assuage concerns about its corporate governance and capacity to pull off whats likely to be one of the most complicated restructurings in history. Overseas experience is often seen as a positive by employers, at least for those for whom the majority of studies and employment history have been in Australia. Its often a different story for refugees. According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, only around a quarter of refugees find employment in their first two years in Australia. Its a problem being tackled by a recently launched digital skills training program for refugees. Over the next 18 months, the five-month program will develop skills and find job opportunities for at least 65 participants. It will also play a part in chipping away at the shortage of workers in IT roles. Shahad Almajidi (right) with Sarmad Sako, who is also participating in the program. Each organisation will offer the benefits of its expertise or network: ServiceNow leads eight weeks of technical training and accreditation, Community Corporate provides soft skills training, and 12-week work placements with Woolworths or Accenture help participants gain valuable local experience. This program helps to unlock this untapped talent pool and meet the significant demand we see in our customers and partners for tech talent, says Eric Swift, vice president and managing director for ServiceNow Australia and New Zealand. Over the next three years, Do has another 50 books planned. Hes also adapting several into a television series, working with a team of editors, illustrators, writers and animators to do so. The 45-year-old artist, author, TV host and comedian is prolific. As well as hosting various TV shows, he has written a memoir, called The Happiest Refugee , and several best-selling series for children: Weirdo, Ninja Kid, Hotdog!, E-Boy, Wolf Girl, Skydragon and PowPowPig. His latest offering, Wolf Girl 7, made its debut at number one. Anh Do wants to create a movie or TV series using many of the characters from his childrens books. Credit:Matt Davidson Ive got 10 titles and about 15 characters at the moment, he tells The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Anh Do has a vision: a world in which all the characters from his books come together in a Marvel-style universe. There might be a Wolf Girl movie and Ninja Kid turns up to help, he says. A new series called Smarty Pup will land in October, about a little girl whose mother has died, and her dog, JJ. During a meteor storm, some alien goop falls on the dog and turns him into the smartest creature on earth: he can talk, solve maths problems and speak 12 languages. It couldve easily been called Dog Einstein, Do says. Wolf Girl starts with a little girl being woken by her mother in the middle of the night, saying they have to leave. Its what happened to the author when he was two years old. My mum woke me and we were heading out on a little nine-metre fishing boat with 38 others, crammed in like sardines, to leave Vietnam as refugees. Having survived the boat trip, complete with pirates and endless days at sea, and then several months in a refugee camp, the family made it safely to Australia and settled in Sydney. Dos father left when Anh was 13 they wouldnt meet again for nearly a decade. His mother raised three children solo, working in sweatshops where she made about $7 an hour. Even so, it was a happy childhood. Things at home werent always easy but there was always the library I could borrow books and bring them home and escape for a while. As a kid, he was a huge fan of the Choose your own adventure books. I used to read every single scenario, and there were times when Id finish the book and Id then try to think of new endings, to come up with even more dramatic endings and plot twists. His books now regularly top the most borrowed books list of kids junior fiction in libraries around the country. That made me tear up a bit, it brings me so much joy that kids like reading the books. Theres a discussion familiar to crime writers in The Woman in the Library. Australian recipient of the prestigious (fictional) Sinclair Scholarship, Winifred (people call me Freddie) Kincaid admits that she is a pantser. In other words, an author who flies by the seat of their pants when it comes to devising an intriguing plot. In fact, Freddie thinks of herself as more of a bus driver when it comes to plotting: theres a route of sorts, but who hops on and who gets off is determined by the balance of habit and timing and random chance. The Handsome Man to whom she is explaining her approach is also a writer, but a meticulous planner who has devised an intricate flowchart with radiating themes and subplots: its like a spiders web spun to catch a story, Freddie reflects appreciatively. Sulari Gentills latest novel, The Woman in the Library, is both metafiction and mystery. Credit:Fiona D'Alessandro Whichever Sulari Gentill herself may be, a plotter or a pantser, The Woman in the Library is both a compelling narrative trip and a complex web that captures the heart as well as the head. This is a book about writing fiction that plays with the form of the classic crime novel while also involving a love story, a serial killer, and a nod towards that 18th-century favourite, the epistolary novel. It begins with an email from Leo (an aspiring American author) to Hannah (a successful Australian crime writer) describing how he has spent the day being distracted by the magnificent ceiling in the reading room of the Boston Public Library. In chapter one we meet Hannahs character Freddie sitting in that same library admiring the ceiling while quietly observing the people sitting around her. They include the Handsome Man, Freud Girl and Heroic Chin, all of whom will eventually receive names. Bates, 42, was often spotted driving his $300,000 Mercedes-Benz SUV around the Wategos Beach enclave of millionaires. A regular on the Sydney and Byron Bay social scene for years, he was Sydney publicity maven Roxy Jacenkos school formal date decades ago. Described by former friends as espousing a carefully cultivated aura of a high-flying svengali, Bates was well-known for lavishing his girlfriends with expensive gifts, racking up expensive lunch bills at his neighbourhood watering hole, the swanky Raes at Wategos Beach, where he was known to order multiple bottles of Krug champagne and giant tubs of caviar. Potential investors, some of whom handed over hundreds of thousands of dollars, were hooked. Wategos Beach in Byron Bay. Credit:Peter Braig PS spotted them among the wealthy guests dressed in all-white at the exclusive Paspaley jewellery party in 2019 at the luxurious Qualia resort on Hamilton Island, where they sipped vintage champagne and fondled million-dollar pearl necklaces, festooned in rubies, diamonds and emeralds. But friends told PS it all proved too much for mother-of-two Gibson, 35, the daughter of Hostplus superannuation board director David Gibson. Their relationship ended in March. Last October she paid more than $4 million for a terrace house in Paddington where she now resides with her young children from a previous marriage. Bates, a former advertising executive, is understood to be renting in Bondi. Its all a far cry from when Bates sat in an obstetricians office with the mother of his first child over a decade ago trying to make out the shape of their unborn child on the ultrasound monitor as he dreamt up a business opportunity. Robert Bates and Emma Gibson in Byron Bay in 2020. Credit:Paul Harris Bates went into business with the obstetrician, Rob Buist, to create a hydration supplement for pregnant women. Gibson became the public face of the product and has so far borne the brunt of the latest fallout. Bates met Gibson in Hong Kong six years ago when she was running the VistaJet private aviation business and Bates was a regular customer. She started working for his 7 Trinity Biotech business in Sydney, the Singapore-registered parent company of Aquamamma, which also supplies a host of other wellness products. One of those products is another powder supplement called Aurum+ which supposedly treats mental health conditions. PS has learned that a string of wealthy investors, including Bates former Wategos neighbours, are now pursuing him for the return of hundreds of thousands of dollars, one threatening legal action before getting his investment back. Bates declined to comment on confidential investor relationships. Bates told the AFR when the couple was inducted into the rich list about a little side bet on the success of Aurum+ and Aquamamma he had with Gibson: First one to $1 billion valuation pays for the next holiday. Gibson later clarified the loser had to buy a case of their favourite wine, Burgundys La Tache. PS found the wine selling online yesterday for $12,650 ... a bottle. Not everyone needs good Neighbours Missing in action: former Neighbours star Kimberley Davies. Craig McLachlan was reportedly snubbed and fans wondered why Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan barely uttered a word in the Neighbours finale on Thursday night. But where was 90s bombshell Kimberley Davies, without question one of the biggest stars in the series? PS hears Davies has politely declined offers to partake in the Neighbours nostalgia, more interested in focusing on her Melbourne decorating business and raising her family with her model-turned-doctor husband Jason Harvey. Pop star in disguise The original Liam Gallagher. Credit:Getty While Liam Gallagher bemoaned his missing half-star in Herald reviewer George Palathingals three-and-a-half star rating of his Sydney concert last Saturday, he might want to make himself a bit better known to our citys band of paparazzi. Indeed, Gallagher wasnt even recognised by one snapper who passed the Oasis frontman outside the Park Hyatt last weekend. Ironically, the pap wasnt there for the 90s pop star, but rather to capture a shot of Kim Kardashians boyfriend Pete Davidson, who happened to be staying in the same hotel as Gallagher while in Australia shooting a film. Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson at the Met Gala in May. Credit:AP Aussies fly flag Europe Today co-host Karl Stefanovic, wife Jasmine and baby daughter Harper were making the most of James Packers $250 million superyacht as it set anchor on the Cote dAzur on their family Euro holiday this week. Over in Corsica, it was the Lowes heiress Linda Penn and her family, including social fixture son Josh, who took a very un-discount fashion approach to deck wear aboard their floating palace this week, the entire extended family wearing what appeared to be a full suite of Dolce & Gabbana resort wear. They didnt get it at Lowes. Retail heiress Linda Penn (second from right) with her extended family dressed in Dolce & Gabbana in Corsica this week. Credit:Instagram Larry and Sylvie Emdur in Greece this week. Credit:Instagram While not quite on the same scale, celebrity accountant Anthony Bells new boat was chartered by a posse of Aussies in Greece including Bells good mate and publican Peter Calligeros and his wife, property heiress Sacha Rose, who got busy testing out the new Ghost III, which PS has recently reported on. Let them eat grapes: Lisa and Grant Vandenberg in Greece this week. Credit:Facebook Among the lively gang from Sydney living it up were Grant Mr Fixit Vandenberg being fed grapes by his wife Lisa in between dancing on chairs, Terry Biviano and hubby, footy great Anthony Minichiello, Bells long-time gal pal and veteran bikini model Laura Csortan and television personality Larry Emdur (wearing a buff torso print on his muscle with great effect) with his wife Sylvie. Terry Biviano (left) flying the Sydney flag with Sacha Rose in Greece. Credit:Facebook Kidding on the catwalk Former Sydney runway model, MasterChef contestant and red carpet fixture Michelle Walsh swears she was only kidding when she joked on Facebook about a return to the catwalk as one of masked models who walked with Nicole Kidman and Kim Kardashian in the Balenciaga show in Paris a few weeks back. Not Michelle Walsh: A masked model in the recent Balenciaga fashion show in Paris. But at least one hapless gossip blogger is reporting it as fact. Its taken on a life of its own, Walsh told PS this week. I better buy a bloody mask! Only joking: Martin and Michelle Walsh. Credit:Belinda Rolland He adds, Of course, if they do succeed on truth, it will operate as a quasi-investigation into war crimes as well, which is also significant in and of itself. Few would wish themselves in the shoes of Besanko, who now has to sift through a mountain of evidence, elicited from more than 40 witnesses delivered over 110 days, to decide whether Roberts-Smith will forever be branded a man who murdered Afghan prisoners, bullied former comrades and struck his former lover. Journalists Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie. Credit:Nine Nines newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, have taken the calculated risk of mounting a truth defence. That means their legal team, headed by Nicholas Owens, SC, had to convince the judge that the war crimes and other wrongdoing alleged by star investigative reporters Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters were, on the balance of probabilities, true. But Roberts-Smiths legal team, headed by Arthur Moses, SC, and Matthew Richardson, SC, have urged the judge to be rigorous in applying what is known as the Briginshaw standard. Loading This is an evidentiary principle derived from a 1938 divorce suit, which holds that even in a civil suit like this with a lower standard of proof than in a criminal case the court must take particular care in weighing the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence if there are grave consequences for those involved. Moses ran hard on this in his summing up, saying the criminal allegations being made by the media outlets fell at the very highest end of objective seriousness [and] strike at the very heart of Mr Roberts-Smiths morality and humanity. Underscoring this point, Moses added that murderer was ordinarily a label ... reserved for convicted criminals flowing from a criminal proceeding. He also pointed out that if the judge accepted all the evidence from the media outlets as to the five unlawful killings of unarmed prisoners that Nine alleges, this would implicate other soldiers particularly the SAS witnesses known as Person 4 and Person 11. Person 4 is said to have shot a prisoner at Roberts-Smiths command at a village compound known as Whiskey 108 in April 2009, while Person 11 is alleged to have conspired with the Victoria Cross recipient to execute an unarmed man, Ali Jan, at the village of Darwan in late 2012. Moses told the judge that in addition to branding Roberts-Smith a murderer, Your Honour is [effectively] being asked to make a finding that Person 4 is a murderer. Your Honour is being asked to make a finding that Person 11 is a murderer. (Person 11 has denied the alleged execution, while Person 4 declined to give evidence on the grounds of self-incrimination.) Exhibit in Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case, showing the village of Darwan. The X marked with B and an arrow is said to be the cliff from which a villager was allegedly kicked by Roberts-Smith. He denies the allegation. Nines legal team, however, believes the war crimes case it has painstakingly built over the past year is strong enough to withstand the Briginshaw test. Nothing left on the table, is how one participant summed up the mood on the media outlets side this week. University of Sydney professor David Rolph, a defamation law expert, said the law has long recognised that in order to be satisfied that a fact is proven on the balance of probabilities you need to take into account the seriousness of the allegation. Because the allegations are serious and hotly contested, it may be difficult for the publishers to establish truth but not impossible. Moses has accused McKenzie and Masters of jumping like salmon [onto] a hook as soldiers within the SAS, jealous of Roberts-Smiths military honours, peddled supposed lies and gossip to the two reporters. But Owens, utterly rejecting this, emphasised that many of Nines critical witnesses had never had any contact with the journalists. Indeed, some of the key witnesses summoned by Nine particularly SAS troopers who were identified as Persons 24, 40, 41, 42 and 43 were called by the mastheads lawyers only after theyd won access to a critical Defence department document known as a Potentially Affected Persons (PAP) notice. The PAP had been confidentially issued to Roberts-Smith by the Inspector-General of the Defence Force in connection with a separate war crimes probe being conducted by the military. Ben Roberts-Smiths legal representation Arthur Moses, SC, and Nicholas Owens, SC, representing Nine. Credit:Peter Rae/Edwina Pickles The gaining of access to the PAP even in its highly redacted form was a major turning point for the newspapers in the case. The hearings have taken a heavy toll on some of the soldiers who gave evidence, as demonstrated by the occasionally distressed state of some in the witness box. Moses branded two of Nines witnesses as liars and perjurers, and says others are mistaken because of mental health conditions which distorted their memory. But Owens says the media outlets witnesses are honest and reliable, and by contrast, has accused Roberts-Smiths witnesses of collusion and cover-up. Unpicking what occurred at Whiskey 108 is particularly complex because of the large number of SAS or former SAS witnesses who were involved in the operation that day. But essentially the media outlets case rests on one core proposition: that two Afghan men came out of a hidden tunnel there. Nine says the two men, who were taken prisoner, were soon afterwards executed unlawfully, one by Roberts-Smith and the second at his instigation with a story concocted to cover the deaths. Loading Roberts-Smith and his allies denied any men came out of a tunnel at all Moses branding the Nine case a mishmash. But Owens said while there may have been differences of detail among some of his SAS witnesses, there was no plausible suggestion about how they might all have, as it were, come to have a collective hallucination in broadly the same terms about people coming out of the tunnel. Another evidentiary tussle turned on whether the media outlets should have summoned an Afghan soldier known as Person 12 to give evidence. Person 12 was a senior Afghan officer who is said to have ordered the execution of another unarmed detainee at Chenartu, in Afghanistan, in late 2012, under pressure from Roberts-Smith. Loading Citing a precedent in a case known as Jones v Dunkel, Moses said Besanko should draw an adverse inference against Nine because of its failure to call Person 12. But Owens said the officer could equally have been called by Roberts-Smiths side. Nine is confident it has closed its case in a strong position, thanks to the additional evidence turned up by months of patient sleuthing. Should it fail, Bosland says a record payout could flow if the judge grants aggravated damages imposed where a court finds improper or unjustifiable conduct by the respondent. The domestic violence allegation has a separate defamatory sting, Roberts-Smiths lawyers say. Theyve argued that the conduct of his ex-lover, Person 17, was overall inconsistent with his having struck her. But Nine says she is truthful, and emphasised the power imbalance between the pair. While the Defamation Act was recently reformed across much of the country, the Roberts-Smith litigation is being fought under older laws that imposed fewer restrictions on the size of damages payouts. Under those provisions, a cap on general damages for non-economic loss currently fixed at $443,000 ceased to apply if aggravated damages were also awarded. Roberts-Smith is also claiming special damages, to cover the career opportunities he said evaporated as a result of the case. (Actor Geoffrey Rush holds the current record for the highest defamation payout to a single plaintiff in Australia at $2.9 million). The long-overdue changes to defamation law will provide investigative journalists with a new public interest defence in future, if publishers can establish they reasonably believed publication of material was in the public interest. The defence remains untested. But in facing off against the onetime war hero under the older law, Nine is having to jump a high bar. 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. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size This story is part of the July 30 edition of Good Weekend. See all 15 stories. Falling birth rates across nearly all the developed world and now much of the developing world have demographers like Paul Morland concerned. While the planet as a whole is projected to be home to 9.8 billion people by 2050 up from 7.96 billion today a vast number of countries, from within Europe to South-East Asia to the Americas, are dealing with decades of sub-replacement fertility, which means a total fertility rate (TFR) below the 2.1 required for a woman to replace herself and her partner. Australia, for example, has not had a fertility rate above 2.1 since 1976, and without generations of immigration, would have a much smaller, less diverse and somewhat older population than it enjoys today. In his new book, Tomorrows People: The Future of Humanity in Ten Numbers, Morland, an academic visitor at St Antonys College at the University of Oxford, reveals how changing population dynamics will help determine prosperity, the balance of power between nations, and the mass movement of peoples in coming decades. While theres a popular belief that low fertility is limited to a handful of countries such as Japan (with a TFR of 1.4), Singapore (1.1), Taiwan (1.2) and Italy (1.3), declining birth rates are now more the rule than the exception across vast areas of the globe. Morland, a father of three adult children, insists we are now living through whats being called a demographic transition. Youve written of an infertile crescent now stretching from Spain to Singapore, accompanied by fast-ageing populations ... Educated, urban and prosperous people tend towards smaller family sizes. As education, urbanisation and prosperity have spread globally, so has sub-replacement fertility rates. Once the preserve of north-west Europe, low fertility spread to the rest of Europe, then to other developed regions like Japan and East Asia. Today, the demography is running ahead of the development, so that even still relatively poor countries like Thailand have low fertility rates. A lot of African countries particularly in sub-Saharan Africa arent there yet. Loading Still, the population of the world is increasing, isnt it in large part due to the booming populations in parts of Africa? In the pre-modern world, high birth rates occurred with tragically high rates of infant mortality to temper population growth. Now the historical preference for large families is combined with mercifully lower levels of infant mortality and higher levels of healthcare to create one of the biggest population explosions in history. Africas population growth has been stupendous, from around one in 14 people in the world in 1950 to around one in seven today. But outside sub-Saharan Africa, fertility rates are dropping, across South America and even places like Afghanistan. Advertisement Demographer Paul Morland, author of a new book on world-wide birth rates: Tomorrows People: The Future of Humanity in Ten Numbers. Many greet the news that fertility rates are dropping across most of the world as a blessing for the planet, which is under relentless environmental assault. It is certainly an environmental blessing that, thanks to lower fertility rates, the worlds population is now growing at roughly 1 per cent a year as opposed to 2 per cent a year, which was the case 40 or so years ago. And the slowdown continues. But it has a downside. In Britain, there are no longer significant inflows into the workforce due to demography; there are slightly less early-20s becoming workers as early-60s ceasing to be. We are approaching an era of acute labour shortages in much of the world and robots are not yet ready to come to our assistance. Ageing also gives rise to challenges such as the provision of healthcare and the funding of taxes. We are approaching an era of acute labour shortages in much of the world and robots are not yet ready to come to our assistance. Thats happening in Australia as well. Japan, which has traditionally resisted immigration, is in worse shape, with a shrinking population and stagnant economic growth. One publication recently declared a declining birth rate state of emergency. At about the time Japans workforce peaked, its economic growth started to decline. Japan is still a rich and successful economy but combining low fertility with a resistance to immigration means it is baking in a stagnant economy. The governments efforts to counter this through fiscal and monetary means have left a pile of debt but little growth. You write in Tomorrows People that we have already reached what Swedish statistician Hans Rosling called peak child. What does this mean? The worlds total population has not yet peaked, but its number of children more or less has. Older, smaller cohorts will die off and be replaced by the bigger ones, who have already been born and that is what will drive population growth. But the number of the young will stop growing, if it has not already, and the global population will age. So were headed for a warmer, overcrowded and older planet as the 21st century advances? Yes, we are ageing as a planet. The big population hitters like China are moving in the same direction. China already has a higher mean age than the United States and is getting old very quickly. The average age of a person in Catalonia, Spain, is 43. Falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century. Advertisement The population of Nigeria now 206 million is expected to reach 401 million by 2050. Are we seeing a greater gulf between countries with high fertility rates and low fertility rates? It is very much a question of sub-Saharan Africa versus the rest. Outside that region, fertility rates are either low or falling. A few countries like Sri Lanka have managed decades in the two-plus zone, but many others have slipped below it. China has, India is about to. Even countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan have seen sharp falls. Within Africa, there is a complex pattern. South Africa and its neighbours have successfully brought down their fertility rates. Kenya and Ethiopia are doing so. But progress in much of the continent is halting at best. For decades now, Australias population has only increased because of immigration, which ground to a halt with the onset of COVID-19. We have a rapidly ageing population, but immigration by itself cant keep a population young, can it? Immigrant fertility rates converge with host societies fertility rates and fertility rates in the host countries are now much lower, so no, immigration is not a panacea. A country like Australia with a relatively small population, which is highly attractive to migrants, can keep going for a while. If China wanted to keep its population young through migration, it would have to suck in the youth of the world. Italy and Japan are expected to see their populations halve by 2100. Only large-scale immigration could prevent this... Large-scale immigration can be destabilising for a country. Would Italy still be Italy if its culture was overwhelmed, for example? Immigration has enormous benefits but needs to be carefully managed. Loading In one recent TV interview, you spoke of the paradox of one low-fertility, ageing country, Russia, attacking another, Ukraine. When Russian mothers are sending their only sons off to war, and thousands are coming back in body bags, will it reduce public support for a war? It should. The problem in Russias case is there is not a very free flow of information; also, the mechanisms by which a discontented population can change policies are not clear. But this will be a pressure against the indefinite continuation of the war. Russia has been accused of genocide and war crimes, including deporting tens of thousands of Ukrainians. Is this a demographic strategy: trying to weaken and wipe out a culture? Numbers matter here. The group or nation with the larger numbers has an advantage. The strategies the larger group adopts to win this battle, including genocide, can be catastrophic for smaller populations. Are authoritarian countries better positioned to bump up their fertility rate? Two years ago, Vladimir Putin announced plans to increase Russias average birth rate. Has it worked? Its falling again in Russia now and never got up that much. Nicolae Ceausescu tried to increase fertility rates in Romania by banning contraception but that was more than 50 years ago; it would be harder to do now. In Romania, the orphanages filled up and eventually the fertility rate went down as people found ways around the governments efforts. Banning abortion is also problematic. Whatever we do in the West, it has to be about freedom of choice. The idea that we can raise birth rates by banning abortion or contraception is illusory as well as wrong. Developed countries with higher fertility rates have relatively progressive approaches to women in the workforce, and are also relaxed about childbirth outside marriage, says Morland. Credit:Getty Images Advertisement Youve said that if a society encourages women to get an education but frowns on those who combine family and career, women will often choose the interesting job rather than the joys of motherhood. This is what has happened in socially conservative countries like Italy and South Korea, isnt it? Yes, and Japan. Developed countries with higher fertility rates, such as the UK, Scandinavia and France, not only have relatively progressive approaches to women in the workforce but are also relaxed about childbirth outside marriage. So pro-natalism should not be associated with the patriarchy or gender inequality. Population can affect the rise and fall of empires, right? In 1900 the Russian Empire had a population of 136 million; today its barely larger, at 146 million, and rural depopulation has been staggering, with up to 20,000 villages abandoned, as you write in your book. By contrast, the US had a population of 76 million in 1900 and now boasts nearly 330 million. Why the stark contrast in population fortunes? First, Russia got to really low fertility rates earlier than the US. Second, it lost much territory the Russian Empire included todays Ukraine, Belarus, Baltic states, Central Asia, and so on and their populations. Third, the US continues to be a magnet for migration. There has been some immigration in Russia from the states of the former Soviet Union but nothing like the scale of migration to the US from all over the world. Then there has been substantial emigration from Russia; Jews, for example, have left in their hundreds of thousands. Religion plays a big role in the number of children women have as well, doesnt it? Israeli women have nearly three times as many children as Singaporean women, although theyre just as educated. This is the most interesting area in demography now. How is it that some value systems drive higher fertility, others lower, and what are the consequences? In the US, people on the right have larger families. In Israel, even secular people have a relatively large number of children. If everywhere is going to become urban, educated and prosperous and we are not to die out as a human race, we have to learn something from the societies which have succeeded in modernising while maintaining above-replacement fertility rates. People have to believe in something, including their country or people, and want to sustain it, and/or love the idea and reality of bringing new life into the world. Yet nowhere has fertility fallen as fast as in fundamentalist Iran. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is now calling for policies to boost population growth. There is plenty of data to suggest that Iranians are anti-religious. The mullahs anyway promoted smaller family sizes, scared by the surging population they faced back in the 1980s. Now they are backtracking but, as in China, where one-child policies are being reversed, they are having little success. In the US, the more religious the state, the higher the fertility rate, and they tend to be more conservative. Do fertility rates reflect political leanings? Yes. In the US, the more religious the state, the higher the fertility rate, and they tend to be more conservative. It was the so-called heartland states that voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. By having more children, are conservatives effectively breeding their way to election victory? Not necessarily. The problem for them is that, unlike many religiously conservative groups, the politically conservative dont necessarily get to win over their childrens political views. Advertisement Youve equated government policies designed to increase low birth rates by encouraging women to have more children with trying to push water uphill. Why is that? China has progressively relaxed its controls since officially abandoning its one-child policy in January 2016. Countries like Hungary and Russia have poured resources into raising fertility rates but the impact is limited. I believe its all about values, and that the ability of governments to impact them is limited. What really matters are the priorities of individuals, which can only be nudged by government, not fundamentally changed. Loading While many governments in Asia have been trying to increase birth rates, Indonesia, with a fertility rate of 2.26, has been encouraging people to have fewer kids. Indonesia has had great success in bringing down its fertility rate from about 5.5 to about 2.5 in the last 30 years of the 20th century. Today its benefiting from a demographic dividend, with plenty of young people entering the workforce. Indonesia has succeeded in staying in the Goldilocks zone of fertility not too high and not too low for about a quarter of a century. Its been in the news that India will surpass China as the worlds most populous country next year. Has this happened a lot sooner than you expected? This was expected to happen some time in the 2020s. China has probably had the worlds largest population since it became a state. This is the first time it will be surpassed for thousands of years. And it will be hit by a demographic tsunami in the coming years. In any case, China was heading for a big slowdown: look at the fall in fertility rates among Chinese communities outside China Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia. A society like China, which rapidly urbanised and developed and got educated, was bound to have a sharp fall in fertility rates. It would be a bit less sharp and dramatic had there been no one-child policy, but it would have been a problem anyway. Now, a slightly worse problem than would otherwise have imposed itself will be entirely blamed on the Communist Party for its heartless policy. And any efforts now from the Communist Party to reverse course and get people to have more children will have little credibility. India is projected to surpass China as the worlds most populous country next year. Credit:Getty Images The decline of marriage and the nuclear family is also playing a role in declining fertility, right? Nearly 30 per cent of Singaporean women between 30 and 39 are single; in Japan, the figure is more than 25 per cent, and in South Korea nearly 34 per cent. Whats happening in these countries? Modern societies seem to require a relaxed attitude to family. Where childbearing outside marriage is taboo, fertility rates are low. This includes countries like Italy and Greece. If you want a half-way decent level of fertility, you need to dissociate unmarried and childless. Are large families fading away, especially in the developed world? There is a trend towards richer couples having a third child in some countries, but larger families, yes, are declining. Advertisement Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size This story is part of the July 30 edition of Good Weekend. See all 15 stories. I first meet Olga Rudenko, the 33-year-old editor-in-chief of the now world-famous Kyiv Independent, and her CEO, 32-year-old Daryna Shevchenko, in early May over Zoom. As we chat, Shevchenko, who is crouched over her laptop in her fifth-floor flat in Kyiv, her glasses balanced on her nose, frequently breaks off our conversation to mutter about air-raid sirens, telling me blithely she should really carry on this conversation from the refuge of her bathroom, the safest place should a missile strike. I used to be emotional. Someone who could cry quite easily, Rudenko says quietly. But during these past months, I havent been able to cry at all. There is so much shit you dont know about war, so much I wish I didnt know. Even the terminology They launched The Kyiv Independent as an English-language news media start-up only 14 weeks before Russian president Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Production of the Kyiv Post, a legacy print newspaper, where Rudenko had been deputy editor since 2017, had been suspended in November 2021 by its oligarch proprietor after staff refused to let him curb their editorial independence in reporting on government corruption. Without warning, on November 8, the owner, Adnan Kivan, fired the American editor, Brian Bonner, and the editorial staff. Twenty-five of them felt their only choice was to re-form under a new brand name, with Rudenko, who had worked at the Post for 10 years, unanimously voted in as editor and Shevchenko as CEO. Within two days they were up and running and, with no one being paid for the first six weeks, they launched on social media with an email, a podcast and reader membership. Loading As Russian missiles began exploding over their city, the Independent quickly became a global phenomenon, a startling symbol of fierce national resistance, another Ukrainian David and Goliath story. Its Twitter account grew from 30,000 to 1 million in two days, then to 2 million in a month. Its website, which had only gone live in January with 1000 users a day, had 7.5 million unique views in March. The team has frequently broken stories to English-speaking journalists worldwide. It has been endorsed by former US president Barack Obama and has audiences in Washington, Brussels and London. Two days after our first conversation, Rudenko appears on the front cover of Time magazine, as one of the Next Generation Leaders with the headline, Witnessing a War. Rudenko makes headlines of her own. Advertisement When it finally happened, it was just such a huge feeling of disbelief, she recalls of those first surreal, horrifying hours of the conflict. We had been highly anxious for weeks but always clung to the belief Putin was trying to intimidate [Ukrainian president Volodymyr] Zelensky. Maybe he would march into Donbas; no one expected it would be a full-frontal attack from all sides. It was a complete shock. We heard his announcement at 3am; Daryna had even taken a sleeping pill. I was ringing her non-stop and messaging her, When the f are you waking up? While her CEO continued to sleep, Rudenko quickly uploaded their first article on the war. Putin labelled it a special military operation. Other Western media were also referring to it as such. But I take pride in my decision that our first article minutes after his announcement clearly stated in its headline Putin invades Ukraine. Soon after, we heard the first explosions in the sky. I live on the top floor of an old building, just the roof between me and their missiles. I was thinking, Im going to die now. They had made contingency plans for an attack and many of the team began leaving Kyiv immediately. By dawn, there were seven-hour traffic queues west. I was still ringing Daryna and calling my mum, who lives in Dnipro [seven hours drive south-east of Kyiv], screaming at her to get in the car and drive west. By 5am I was in a kind of stupor. I hadnt slept. Putin is trying to take away something we spent so much time building Ukraine wasnt given anything; we built it ourselves. Shevchenko woke at 8am to find the dread that had been building in her stomach was now a nightmarish reality. The city was empty; it was apocalyptic. I called Olga, walked my dog, packed my bag, grabbed my documents and left. While her editor spent the next few days in a bomb shelter trying to stay in touch with the team (and her boyfriend, a famous Ukrainian investigative TV reporter), who had rapidly dispersed across Ukraine, Shevchenko moved to her parents in the northern outskirts of the capital city, very close to the affluent Kyiv suburb of Bucha, which would emerge in April as one of the worst scenes of Russian atrocities, with civilian men, women and children executed, tortured and raped. The atrocities make you so angry they make you turn to fire. She grimaces. Putin is trying to take away something we spent so much time building Ukraine wasnt given anything; we built it ourselves. Loading You soon learnt the difference between air missile defence explosions and missiles finding their target, Shevchenko continues. She woke one morning to watch a Russian tank drive over a car under her parents window. After two weeks she relocated again, this time with friends to relative safety in western Ukraine, as did Rudenko, where they remained until April while Russian troops encircled Kyiv during a six-week offensive. Days after Shevchenko left her parents home, a missile destroyed an apartment building one block from them. I was screaming at them to please leave, to come with me, she says. My dad is 75. They refused. They are proud nationalists; they have spent their lives being political activists. They are still there. Advertisement Rudenko has dialled in for our Zoom meeting from Dnipro, the closest Ukrainian city to the fighting in Donbas, where her mother and stepfather live. She is visiting for the first time after months apart. Only two of their editorial team moved across the border to Poland to take their children to safety. Another joined the fighting. Their handsome defence editor, Illia Ponomarenko, has become a star in his own right with 1.2 million Twitter followers. His reporting can often be hard to read. Or watch. He does not spare his audience the horrors of war. Shevchenko has raised $US2 million ($2.9 million) through crowdfunding to buy satellite phones and protective clothing, and to pay their staff. There are now 15 journalists in Kyiv, most of whom are in the office uploading reports. Regular editorial video conferences are held three times a week. The Independents defence editor Illia Ponomarenko is a Twitter star. As a former editor of the London Evening Standard, Im interested in how theyre running the operation in such extreme circumstances. There is no management book about leading in a war, admits Rudenko. I want to create an environment where journalists can do their best. The sacrifices our staff members are making to tell the story of war are amazing. We hatch a plan that day for them both to travel to the UK a feat I am still amazed they pull off in five weeks, given the challenges of getting Ukrainians a UK visa. As well as raising awareness and funds for their own business, the two women and their chief financial officer, Jakub Parusinski, have also founded the Fix, a broad fundraising campaign for independent free media in Ukraine, much of which is under serious financial pressure, never mind operating in a war zone. With the help of supporters in the UK, we begin setting up meetings with UK investors, including Brent Hobermans Founders Forum in London and Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, where former Google executive Eric Schmidt, Tim Davie of the BBC, designer Thomas Heatherwick and Snap founder Evan Spiegel are among hefty investors gathering for a series of events in London Tech Week. Sixty-four per cent of Ukrainian television, the main source of news, is still under the control of oligarchs. An ecosystem of free media is not only vital now but will also be essential in the rebuilding of Ukraine, unearthing corruption at government and business level. Rudenko and her team will be needed long after CNN and the BBC have moved on to the next tragedy. Advertisement Olga Rudenko is talking about counting corpses. It is a ferociously hot June day. We are sheltering inside the Daylesford cafe on Westbourne Grove in west London, surrounded by the yummy mummies of Notting Hill, sipping on green juices. It is the first of many moments over the coming days where the stark contrast between our lives in the UK and that of the two young Ukrainian women in front of me causes my brain to blink. Rudenko is distractedly tapping instructions to her team in Kyiv. Despite my impatience to get them to talk about current events, they are insistent they first take me back to the Ukrainian revolution of 2013 and 2014. That revolution was our awakening, explains Rudenko above the noise of the cafe. Protests erupted in Kyiv in November 2013 after president Viktor Yanukovych suddenly announced his decision not to sign a free-trade agreement with the European Union and instead chose closer ties to Russia. He was a very corrupt president, says Shevchenko, the more openly passionate of the duo. Her friend and colleague is reserved and quietly spoken; even when she swears it is controlled, her voice never rising in anger. Both were young reporters in their early 20s, focusing mainly on lifestyle stories for the Kyiv Post. But from then on, every day for three months, the two women risked their lives reporting on the deadly clashes between the protesters, who barricaded themselves into a makeshift city within a city, and the security forces and riot police. Kyiv Independent CEO, Daryna Shevchenko: Ive had two or three severe breakdowns during this war (Some days) you cannot even read an email. Credit:Jude Edginton/The Times Magazine/News Licensing On the first day as fighting broke out, their editor had asked for volunteers to go into the streets. Snipers were targeting reporters, just as the Russians have fired on journalists in this war. Olga and I both put our hands straight up. We wanted to; many of the men didnt they had families to think of. We ran at it. The security police used tear gas on us that day. Its like having a ton of pepper sprayed up your nose, she adds. At this point the Post was a respected Kyiv newspaper, running investigations into corruption and owned by the steel magnate Mohammad Zahoor. Rudenko was sent to count the bodies of protesters in makeshift hospitals around the capital. The revolution finally culminated in Yanukovych being overthrown in February 2014, but only after 108 protesters died. There is CCTV footage of Yanukovych loading truckloads of valuables as he escapes to Russia, aided by Putin. Advertisement An anti-government protester in Kiev, 2014. We have been fighting this war of freedom for years in Ukraine, says Shevchenko. Credit:Getty Images After 2014 there was no turning back for us, Shevchenko continues. It was clear we didnt have enough independent media, and the mission of journalism is vital for democracy to be established; this is the mission we have continued to fight for. We have been fighting this war of freedom for years in Ukraine. (During the 2004 Ukrainian revolution, which erupted over allegations of electoral fraud, she was characteristically leading protests at her school.) I saw during those three months in Kyiv that people were willing to make huge sacrifices for their values and their freedoms, adds Rudenko. The energy of those protesters in that camp how tragedy brings people together. It is that same revolutionary spirit that drove us to set up the Independent and what continues to drive us now. When Adnan fired us because we were exposing corruption it was, F you! You are not going to win. Something unfair was happening, and we had to make it right. Lots of people at the time told us, You cant do it and every comment made us more determined. It united the whole team, and that same determination unites us now. The three of us attend Junes Founders Forum gala dinner at the British Museum. The vast atrium is flooded with some of the richest investors in the world or those who represent them. Rudenko is sitting next to the model Karlie Kloss and her husband, the tech investor Josh Kushner (his brother, Jared, is married to Ivanka Trump). The couple have just returned from Ukraine. Rudenko tells me they are grateful for any aid, even if it is only keeping Ukraine foremost in our minds through visiting celebrities. Traffic to their website has dropped dramatically since March to 2.3 million unique visitors a month. President Zelensky has warned repeatedly against war fatigue. For the first six weeks after the Kyiv Independents launch last November, staff could not be paid. Money has since been raised for their salaries, protective clothing and satellite phones. Credit: Ukraine barely locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic. When I ask Rudenko about Boris Johnson, who recently resigned as British prime minister after being mired in a long series of scandals, she agrees he is a hero back in her home country. Partygate is hard for us to relate to we didnt deal with the pandemic as you did; life felt reasonably normal. Just before the invasion she had written a column in The New York Times criticising Zelenskys apparent cosiness with the more corrupt members of his government. What does she think of him now? I think he is the right person for this job. He is doing a good job rallying support, she says. I just want to be careful as a journalist as we are here to speak truth to power; from my reporting on him before the war, I am aware of some historical aspects of his tenure. Rumour has it that both Zelensky and Johnson will address the packed Founders Forum event at Soho Farmhouse as filmed holograms. It is where we are spending the next two days. A friend puts us up in her Cotswold home. Rudenko wryly smiles as she surveys the beautiful countryside. No wonder oligarchs love coming here and buying your country houses. They are stunning. After dinner in Soho Farmhouse, where the women manage to sit at the only table with people with Russian connections Actually they asked intelligent questions and wanted to listen to what we had to say we return for another drink with fellow house guests, including the chairman of the BBC and the founder of Wikipedia. At midnight, Shevchenko and I share a cigarette outside in the warm night. Advertisement An Australian man already accused of funding an overseas fighter to travel to Syrian to join terrorist groups battling government forces, has also been charged with advocating for a terrorism act. Omar Saghir, 40, was arrested on July 16, 2021, by Australian Federal Police officers when he landed at Sydney Airport from Saudi Arabia, where he had been since 2019. A photo released in December 2018 showing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters in northern Syria. Credit:AP The AFP allege Saghir played a senior role in a Brisbane group that held a religiously motivated violent extremist ideology and a desire to travel to Syria to fight. Saghir has also been accused of co-founding an organisation that provided funds to people who later fled Australia to join Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group fighting against Syrian government forces. A court ruling on a probe into sexual harassment and bullying allegations against a surgeon and his clinical performance jeopardises more than a dozen other Health Ombudsman investigations, a parliamentary estimates hearing has heard. The case that triggered this domino effect involved Brisbane surgeon Dr William Braun a bariatric surgeon who has worked at public and private hospitals. Dr William Braun continues to practice, with an office in Chermside on Brisbanes northside. Credit:Facebook In 2019, the Health Ombudsman started an investigation into a complaint made against Braun. The Ombudsman was required to complete the inquiry within a year from the start. When a year had passed, the Ombudsman had not completed the inquiry or exercised its power to extend the time. The slaughtered bodies of a koala, a border collie, a cat and guinea pigs have been dumped in an inner-city park in Brisbane. Residents of Toowong near Anzac Park alerted council workers early Thursday evening to bags in the park where the bodies of the animals were discovered. The animals bodies had been chopped up, police said. File pic: Police and the RSPCA are investigating the dumping of a koala, border collie and possums in a Brisbane park. Credit:Nine news. The council workers found the bodies of a koala, a border collie, some possums, guinea pigs and a cat and alerted police and the RSPCA. The woman who stabbed good samaritan Dusty Rose to death in a West Australian caravan park has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 16 years. Almost a year after Roses death in August 2021, Supreme Court Justice Bruno Fiannaca described the attack as a senseless act of violence cutting short the life of a young woman who had so much to live for. Dusty Roses mother, Cheryl Francis (left), with one of Dustys best friends, Tayla Brown, after hearing the sentence at the Supreme Court on Friday. Credit:Holly Thompson Fiannaca said there was nothing to indicate her murderer, Antoinette Aleisha Winmar, felt any remorse. It was not a completely spontaneous attack, and Winmar was well aware of what she was doing during her rage. A case like this highlights how fragile life can be, he told the court, and said it showed how one act of violence could change everything. One of the ministers who oversaw a program that funnelled an extra $100 million of public money into National Party seats ahead of more deserving electorates has rejected accusations of pork-barrelling, saying regional people were only getting their fair share. Former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Michael McCormack on Friday said he and fellow ministers had followed a merit-based approach to allocating money under the $1.15 billion Building Better Regions Fund. But he noted there was a subjective element to the program to ensure it was not just handed out on the advice of pointy-shoed and faceless bureaucrats. Former deputy prime ministers Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack have defended their approaches to allocating money under a regional grants program. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen An audit report of the fund found almost two-thirds of it went to projects that did not have the most merit. National-held seats received $104 million more than they should have if the money were handed out fairly, it said. National-held seats accounted for 24 per cent of all applicable electorates but received both a higher number and larger value of grants than both Liberal-held and Labor-held seats. Australians will be asked if they support an alteration to the Constitution to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to parliament, in a referendum question proposed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. In the most significant speech on Indigenous affairs by a prime minister since Kevin Rudds 2008 National Apology, Albanese outlined on Saturday the wording that could be added to the Constitution if the referendum were successful. The prime minister travelled to the Garma cultural festival in Arnhem Land, which returned after a two-year hiatus, to call on Australians to unite behind the Labor governments campaign to recognise First Nation peoples in the constitution. I believe there is room in Australian hearts, for the Statement from the Heart, he said. We are seeking a momentous change but it is also a very simple one. Premier Mark McGowan has thrown his support behind his cabinet and hosed down questions on whether a reshuffle was imminent. The parliamentary winter break has been marred with controversies, including Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernans foot-in-mouth moment on foot and mouth disease, teenage detainees being moved to maximum-security Casuarina prison and accusations the government fast-tracked Labor donors G2G applications when borders were closed in 2020. WA Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan. Credit:Peter de Kruijff The health portfolio continues to be a headache for Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson as ambulance ramping figures for July have already set a state record of 6531 hours, while staffing issues in the Department of Communities have resulted in more than 1000 children in state care not being assigned caseworkers. Opposition Leader Mia Davies said the wheels were starting to fall off the government and called on McGowan to dump struggling ministers to give members in Labors expansive backbench a shot. Latest News Asset finance applications tumble But business loan demand up, says credit bureau Reserve Bank announces two key appointments One becomes head of international department, the other of the financial stability department Digital banking platform Sandstone Technology has appointed Abhish Saha as its new CEO effective from August 8. Saha (pictured) has been occupying the role of executive general manager for the past nine months and will be replacing Michael Phillipou, who has held the position of CEO since December 2020. Saha has more than 25 years experience across both the technology and financial services industries including fintechs and CBA. He has worked with tier one banks across Australia, Asia and the Middle East. Saha has extensive financial, strategy, product and technology experience having worked within technical and product functions. I am honoured to be appointed CEO of Sandstone Technology and am excited to have the opportunity to lead one of Australias leading fintechs through this next period of growth, Saha said. I would like to thank the owners of the business and other key stakeholders for their vote of confidence in this appointment and the unwavering support of the executive team. Read more: Bendigo and Adelaide Bank transforms loan systems The fintech works with a number of aggregator and lender clients such Finsure and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to streamline their digital offerings and better assist brokers and their clients. Saha said Sandstone Technology was here for brokers and was looking to offer them further digitalisation processes. The online experience for brokers and being able to use those assets as a way of lightening their workload is very important to us, he said. Also finding the path of least resistance or the easiest path through an online experience through broker networks can really benefit for all parties involved. Saha said Sandstone Technology had a strong track record in delivering automation and digitisation programs across the banking sector with a particular focus on digital banking, including loan origination systems. Understanding the impact of manual processes, customer experience and how complex systems can be simplified for better user experiences has resulted in a string of proven, in-market successes for our customers across the globe, he said. I would also like to thank Michael for the strong foundation that has been laid and for leaving the organisation in a position of strength. Read more: La Trobe Financial joins Lendi Group panel Outgoing CEO Phillipou said he joined Sandstone Technology because he believed in the mission of helping banks grow their businesses in the most efficient and compliant way. As a self-funded private company, competing with some of the largest enterprise financial technology providers in the world, I am exceptionally proud as I reflect on the incredible work the board, advisory committee, executive team and our broader team have executed, Phillipou said. It now gives me great pleasure to hand over the role to Abhish. He is exceptionally well-suited and best qualified to work with the board & advisory committee to guide this wonderful 26-year-old organisation into its next phase of growth and success. China, Uzbekistan reach consensuses on strengthening ties Xinhua) 08:54, July 29, 2022 TASHKENT, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China and Uzbekistan reached a series of consensuses on raising bilateral relations to a higher level during Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Tashkent on Thursday. The two sides will take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as a new starting point to make joint efforts toward the vision and goal of building a China-Uzbekistan community with a shared future and inject new strong impetus into their comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang told reporters. The two sides discussed the promotion of the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, and Uzbekistan expressed readiness to support and participate in the two important initiatives, he said. Both parties spoke highly of the growth of bilateral trade despite an unfavorable environment and voiced confidence in the prospects of further cooperation, Wang noted. China and Uzbekistan pledged to achieve an annual trade turnover of 10 billion U.S. dollars as soon as possible and set new targets, and decided to jointly implement the five-year plan for economic, trade and investment cooperation, and draw up a list of priority cooperation projects for the future. Both sides believe that the time is becoming ripe to push forward the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and are willing to speed up the feasibility study for the project, he told reporters. The two countries will deepen cooperation in poverty alleviation and set up a sub-committee on poverty reduction under the inter-governmental cooperation committee to advance the work. They will also strengthen medical and health cooperation, expand joint production of vaccines, while China will assist Uzbekistan in building a regional center of vaccine production and research and development. In addition, China will provide free cataract surgeries for another 500 Uzbek patients and set up a cooperation center for blindness prevention in the Central Asian country, Wang concluded. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) BENGALURU (Reuters) -Shares of on Thursday surged 10%, the most in more than two years, after the non-bank lender's quarterly profit blew past estimates on strong customer additions and lower bad loan provisions. The company on Wednesday said its profit more than doubled to 25.96 billion rupees ($325.37 million), beating expectations of 24.41 billion rupees, as loan loss provisions slid 57%. said it was focusing on protecting its margins, amid increasing competition in the sector. "The company has started increasing pricing across products gradually from June 2022," it said in a statement https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive/966d6613-d2b4-4066-b68c-4eace44b5a2a.pdf, adding new loans booked surged 60.3% from a year earlier. "Customer acquisitions and new loans trajectory has been strong and the momentum will only get stronger with the digital ecosystem - app, web platform and the full-stack payment offerings," Motilal Oswal analysts said in a note. said it was on track to offer all products and services on app by January 2023. Management's guidance of achieving 4 trillion rupees in assets under management (AUM) looks strong and we expect significant loan growth acceleration on the back of steady economic growth, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a note. At the end of the June-quarter, AUM was up 28% at 2.04 trillion rupees. Shares of Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance's holding company, climbed 9.2% after it approved a bonus share issue and a stock split as its profit jumped. Bajaj Finance shares, down 8.3% so far this year as of last close, were the top boost to the blue-chip Nifty 50 index. ($1 = 79.7850 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V and Vinay Dwivedi) (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.) Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal refuted a report of the cab-hailing platform being in talks for a potential merger with Uber. "Absolute rubbish. Were very profitable and growing well. If some other want to exit their business from India they are welcome to! We will never merge," tweeted Aggarwal while responding to the report. Aggarwal met top Uber executives in San Francisco, US recently, reported Economic Times while citing two soruces aware of the major development. The report comes at a time when Ola is reportedly ramping up its electric vehicle business and is now planning to lay off around 1,000 employees. Media reports say that verticals like mobility, hyperlocal, fintech, and its used car operations have all been included in the process. Recently, a report said that Ola is laying off up to 500 employees across departments as it aimed to cut costs amid a challenging funding environment and a delay in listing plans. Absolute rubbish. Were very profitable and growing well. If some other want to exit their business from India they are welcome to! We will never merge. https://t.co/X3wC9HDrnr Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) July 29, 2022 Senior executives at the SoftBank-backed company were reportedly tasked with identifying team members who can be asked to leave based on performance. The company had shut down its used vehicle business Ola Cars, as well as its quick-commerce business, Ola Dash, recently. It was shut down within one year of its launch, as the company shifted focus on its electric two-wheeler and car verticals. Last month, Uber refuted Bloomberg report of it exploring options for its Indian ride-hailing business, including a sale, but suspended discussions after tech startup valuations cratered. Uber pondered a stock swap with local or even a pullout, before a global equity market rout upended plans. A stock deal was favored in exploratory talks as that would allow Uber to retain a foothold in India, reported Bloomberg. Rakesh Mohan, former joint secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting, was appointed non-executive independent director of on Friday. Mohans appointment was cleared by the ministry of information and broadcasting and the boards nomination and remuneration committee. The company is witnessing a battle of management control between the bank and the companys founder the Goel family. As of now, YES Bank owns 24.7 per cent stake in Dish TV while the former promoters own 5.9 per cent stake. Mohans appointment is subject to approval of the companys shareholders. YES Bank has been in a battle with the Goels of the Essel group since last year after the direct-to-home broadcaster decided to raise Rs 1,000 crore via a rights issue. The bank had raised an objection to the proposal, saying the rights issue would dilute its stake. It then sought removal of five directors, who were close to the Goels, from the board. Of these, Jawahar Goel and Ashok Kurien have been denied new terms as managing director (MD) and director, respectively on two separate occasions. Goels rejection happened during the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last month. Kuriens nomination was rejected in the companys annual general meeting (AGM) held in December last year. The Goels moved the Bombay High Court seeking relief but the court ruled in favour of the bank. Ola and Uber, which compete in the area of mobility are in talks for a possible merger, according to media reports, which said that Olas co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal met top executives in San Francisco, US recently. However, Aggarwal said on Friday night that there is no such development. Absolute rubbish. Were very profitable and growing well. If some other want to exit their business from India they are welcome to! We will never merge, said Aggarwal on Twitter. "We are not, nor have been, in merger talks with Ola," said spokesperson. In the past, both the have held such conversations as Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank is a common investor in both the and it had pushed for a merger. But the deal didnt happen that time. However, now the conversations for a merger have come up again as both the companies are looking for growth at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has hurt the transportation industry. However, an Ola spokesperson on Friday said that the firm is one of the most profitable ride-hailing companies in the world with a strong balance sheet. We are the market leader in India and are much bigger than other player. Hence, merger of any kind is completely out of the equation, said the spokesperson. We believe that India has a lot more opportunity to unlock when it comes to mobility services. As a strong vertically integrated mobility company we will further consolidate our position by any acquisition in the Indian market, if at all. Such developments may happen at a time when the company is repurposing some of its infrastructure and capabilities toward boosting the Ola Electric sales and service network. Ola is in the process of laying off 400-500 employees, a move aimed at driving cost efficiency, revealed sources. They said these layoffs are taking place across departments, amid a challenging funding environment and a delay in listing plans for the Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm. The company recently shut down its used vehicle business Ola Cars and quick-commerce business Ola Dash, which promised 10-minute food delivery. It has repurposed the infrastructure and capabilities of the Ola Cars business towards boosting the Ola Electric sales and service network. The company shut down Ola Cars within a year of its launch as it shifted focus to its electric two-wheeler and car verticals. Ola has, so far, shut down Ola Cafe, Food Panda, Ola Foods, and Ola Dash. Ola has a total workforce of around 5,000 people. In May 2020, Ola announced laying off 1,400 employees, or over 33 per cent of its workforce, as Covid-19 continued to hurt the transportation industry. The Bengaluru-based firm said it had to opt for sackings because the situation was not expected to improve anytime soon. Ola Electric has suspended producing scooters at Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri plant for almost a week, reported The Economic Times (ET) on Friday quoting unnmamed sources. The company said the plant is undergoing annual maintenance and installing new machines. ET's sources said Ola had suspended production due to inventory pile-up. Future Factory, as the plant in Krishnagiri is called, has nearly 4,000 units of electric scooters piled up. The number excludes the thousands of units ready to ship to customers who pre-ordered the EVs, the report said. Ola had started trial production of its electric scooters range at Future Factory in Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu's Hosur district in October. The regular production started in the month of December. Like most auto that go through annual maintenance at their factories, we did too. At no point can this be considered as shutting down production. Hence, clarifying that (information) is untrue, an Ola spokesperson told ET Prime. Responding to ET, Ola did not give details on daily production, booking numbers, or duration of the suspension, but clarified that it was brief. Ola, which initially had nearly 150,000 bookings, started delivering its scooters in late December. However, it received a high number of cancellations after complaints about the performance and quality of the vehicles. As ramps up its hiring for the electric mobility business, the urban mobility firm is in the process of firing nearly 1,000 employees, The Economic Times reported on Friday quoting company insiders and recruitment agencies. An earlier report by the newspaper had stated that the firm was laying off around 400-500 employees, while the annual appraisals for many staff were yet to be formalised. However, the final figure for retrenchment can now touch about 1,000, reported ET. Ola's restructuring exercise, which is expected to go on for a few more weeks, is taking place in a bid to shift focus towards the firm's electric mobility business. is hiring aggressively for the electric mobility business, executives engaged in the recruitment process told ET. The firm has been hiring across verticals, including mobility, hyperlocal, fintech, and for its used cars businesses, the report said. has asked employees, who are targeted for layoffs, to resign voluntarily, one company executive told ET. The company is delaying the appraisal process of several employees who the company wants to fire-- so that they resign, an employee told ET. Ola had recently unveiled the first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell, NMC 2170. The company is investing heavily in developing core research and development (R&D) to create indigenous advanced cell technologies. As SoftBank-backed Ola plans to manufacture lithium-ion battery cells and an electric car, it was hiring four people for every person that the firm was let go, ET reported quoting a source. Ola is planning to hire about 800 people for cars alone and additionally for cell development..., ET reported quoting a person aware of the matter. The source added, Even as they are letting go of people, there are more people coming in. It is a repurposing process for the company rather than a cost-cutting process..." Ola Electric on July 18 said it has signed an agreement under the Centres production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to manufacture advanced cells in India. It said it is the only Indian electric mobility company selected by the Government of India under its ambitious Rs 80,000-crore cell PLI scheme, receiving a maximum capacity of 20-gigawatt hour (GWh) for its bid in March. is set to resume operations from September after receiving the airline operating permit from the Directorate General of (DGCA). Airline officials in the know have told Business Standard that it will restart operations with 20 aircraft and will only fly on domestic routes initially. All these aircraft will be brand new and will be leased from foreign lessors. None of the older planes leased or owned by Jet will be used as the airline which suspended commercial operations on April 17, 2019, due to financial distress takes to the skies again. All the new aircraft will be narrow-bodied planes. A decision on whether these will be Airbus A 320 Neos or Boeings 737 MAX will be made public over the next few days. Also Read: How the Ukraine war may give wings to Jet airways' international plans On Tuesday, the airline kicked off its recruitment drive for pilots, tweeting: Inviting pilots who are current and type-rated on the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737NG or MAX aircraft, to apply to join us in creating history as we prepare to relaunch India's classiest airline. The airline will commence operations only on domestic routes and no international flights are planned upon resumption, said the official. The airline has told the government that it plans to add another 20 aircraft to its fleet by the end of 2024. By 2030, Jet plans to have a fleet of 150 aircraft, Minister of State for VK Singh informed Lok Sabha last week. This means that while Jet will be starting with almost the same fleet strength as Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed Akasa Air, it will be twice the size of Akasa by the end of this decade, going by the Lok Sabha reply. Akasa Airs 72 plane deal with Boeing runs through 2030 with the last plane delivered by that years end. Jets decision to start with a fleet of brand new planes will benefit the airline on two counts. Firstly, has leased its planes to other carriers like Air Serbia, which yield income for the airline. These planes have become a bone of contention between and its lenders as the airline looks to settle its past dues as part of its resolution plan. Banks, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), have reportedly threatened to launch insolvency proceedings against Jet Airways if it does not pay them the Rs 108 crore received as rentals from Air Serbia for these planes as part of the settlement process. Operating with these planes that are embroiled in this tussle could jeopardise operations once the airline resumes flying in India. Secondly, a brand new fleet would bring significant savings in terms of fuel and maintenance expenses, which make up over half of any airlines operational costs. Jet has decided not to fly international initially despite the government scrapping the 5/20 rule in 2016. This rule required airlines to have flown at least for five years and have a minimum fleet of 20 aircraft to be allowed to fly overseas. Coincidently, it was at former Jet promoter Naresh Goyals insistence that the rule was introduced in 2004. The Narendra Modi government scrapped the five-year experience requirement but the new policy still requires airlines to have a fleet of 20 planes or a reserve 20 per cent of their fleet for domestic routes, whichever is higher. The decision to restart operations only domestically on a limited scale is a big departure from Jets past, when it commanded the highest international passenger market share in India. It was the only airline other than Air India flying to the US with a fleet of wide bodied Boeings. It had the highest international seat capacity among all airlines in India. As many as 5.82 lakh people lost their lives in accidents in four years up to 2020 as per the data received from police department of all states/UTs, though the number of deaths have decreased down the years, the Parliament was told on Thursday. In 2017, 464,910 accidents left 147,913 dead and 470,975 injured, while in 2018, the number of accidents were 467,044, killing 151,417 people and injuring 469,418, while in 2019, 449,002 accidents left 151,113 dead and in 2020, the number of accidents decreased to 366,138 which left 131,714 people dead and 348,279 injured, Road Transport Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha in a written reply. He also said that the Ministry has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to address the issue of road safety based on education, engineering - both of roads and vehicles, enforcement, and emergency care. Accordingly, various initiatives have been taken. Gadkari said that to create effective public awareness about road safety, the Ministry undertakes various publicity measures and awareness campaigns on road safety through social media, electronic media, and print media. Further, it implements a scheme to provide financial assistance to various agencies for administering road safety advocacy. --IANS miz/vd (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Banks are the backbone of the national economy. They fulfil financial duties and coordinate the financial activity of a country and its people. Banks are responsible for uplifting the different segments of society. Banks perform a long list of functions that are essential for economic growth, and we depend on banks at different levels. Let's see how August turns out to be as banks remain closed on 18 days during this month. Like most institutions, banks remain closed on select days of the year. During this period, nobody is advised to visit banks. Since most banks have turned online, this won't be a problem for transactions, bill payments and fulfilling basic financial obligations. Hence, it is crucial to ensure this before visiting any bank. So, if you have some pending work, it is better to do it before August hits. A bank holiday calendar can help you choose the right day to appear at the bank. While digital banking ensures a smoother experience, a few things can only be performed manually at banks. Majorly, Bank are either regional or national. While regional are region-centric and concerned with a particular state, national are relevant and applicable to all the banks in the country. Here, we have listed the bank holidays in August, according to instructions by the Reserve Bank of India. Additionally, many banks are closed on Saturdays and Sundays, so it is not included in some cases. Have a look. Bank holidays in August 2022 Ahead of Union Home Minister and National President J.P. Nadda attending a two-day party conclave in Patna on July 30-31, the saffron party has announced a new political strategy in the run-up to the 2025 Assembly polls after Harish Dwivedi, the co-incharge, confirmed that the party has started a "Prawas programme" in 200 Assembly constituencies across the state. Dwivedi, who arrived in Patna on Thursday, said: "The party organisation officials are staying in 200 Assembly constituencies in on July 28 and 29 to take feedback of the people. If necessary, we (BJP) will not hesitate to hold a "Prawas programme" in all 243 Assembly constituencies in future." Dwivedi's statement sends warning signals for BJP's ally JD(U), which is running a coalition government with it in Bihar. However, the JD(U) is in the driving seat in Bihar but its think-tank is fully aware how emerged as the single largest party due to which the JD(U) fared a distant third in the 2020 state Assembly polls. During the 2020 Bihar Assembly election, JD(U)'s seat distribution was for 122 seats, of which it had given seven seats to Hindustani Awam Morcha. Hence, it contested on 115 seats. On the other hand, BJP's seat share was for 121 seats, of which it gave 11 seats to Vikassheel Insaan Party from its own quota. BJP then contested on 110 seats and managed to win 74 seats. JD-U on the other hand, exhibited a poor show and won only 43 seats. According to the Prawas programme, the BJP organisation officials will visit 200 assembly constituencies in Bihar and interact with the people. The saffron party officials have been assigned to assess the situation of how people are thinking ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. The entire exercise by the BJP is taking place keeping in view the pulse of the people, especially for 2024 Lok Sabha election. The saffron party officials will return to Patna and participate in the meeting which will be attended by Shah and Nadda on July 31. Bihar BJP President Sanjay Jaiswal claims that the BJP National President will also hold a massive roadshow in Patna and the party is making sure that it turns out to be a grand event. --IANS ajk/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.) The on Friday is scheduled to hear a case about the pendency of against members of Parliament (MPs) and Legislative Assemblies (MLAs). The matter, which will be heard by a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Subramonium Prasad, was instituted in October 2020 by the court on its own after the Supreme Court's direction to all high courts to monitor the pending against lawmakers. The Supreme Court had issued the direction after observing that there has been no substantial improvement in disposal of pending against sitting and former lawmakers. The high court will also hear a plea by the Public Works Department (PWD) challenging an order of the deputy conservator of forests imposing a fine of Rs 38.7 lakh on it for allegedly failing to do de-concretisation of trees in Vasant Vihar here. The petition is listed for hearing before Justice Yashwant Varma. The department in its plea has said the fine was imposed inspite of work for de-concretisation of trees having been completed and information having duly been submitted before the high court through various status reports/compliance affidavits. (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 Centre on Thursday urged 14 states to accelerate the utilisation of central funds and exponentially expedite the completion of new medical colleges attached to existing District/ Referral hospitals approved under the Centrally sponsored scheme for early commencement of the Under Graduate courses. The concerning slow progress of these projects was strongly highlighted by Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, as he reviewed the progress with Health Secretaries and Directors (Medical Education) of 14 states and UTs through video conference (VC) on Thursday. 157 new medical Colleges have been sanctioned under this scheme since 2014, in three phases so far. The states/UTs that participated in the review meeting were Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha and Punjab. Union Health Secretary urged the States to expedite the physical completion of projects to enable commencement of UG courses by academic session 2023-24. "It was pointed out that since the scheme will conclude on 31st March 2024, hence all projects need to be completed in time. It was informed that a sum of Rs. 7,500 crores have been allotted for the schemes of Human Resources for Health (HRH) and Medical Education (ME) for the financial year 2022-23," said a statement by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. "However, due to the slow pace of expenditure of the States/UTs and since there has been no requisition for release of funds from the states, further release of funds by the Centre to States cannot take place. States were further informed that utilization certificates have to be furnished urgently without delay to enable the Centre to release balance funds," the statement added. During the meeting, the Union Health Secretary emphasized benefits of newer technologies that enable quick completion and also high levels of conservation of energy. "States were advised to explore and use locally relevant and green technology options, and steel composite structures for the projects which are yet to start. It was also pointed out that some of the projects seem to be languishing as the construction companies lack requisite experience regarding the building of hospitals and provision of associated specialized services," said the statement. The Government of India had launched the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for "Establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals" in January 2014, with fund sharing between the Central Government and States/UTs in the ratio of 90:10 for NE/ special category states and 60:40 for other states. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government has demonstrated its commitment to by increasing the number of tiger reserves from nine in 1973 to 52 at present, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Friday. The government is also committed towards the well-being of the people who inhabit these tiger-bearing landscapes through creation of livelihood opportunities and interventions, he said at an event organised at the Chandrapur Forest Academy, Maharashtra, to mark the International Tiger Day. According to the 1028 tiger census, India has a tiger population of 2,967. The tiger estimation is conducted once every four years. "The government has demonstrated its commitment to by increasing the number of tiger reserves from initial nine in 1973 to the current 52, the latest being Ramgarh Vishdhari in Rajasthan," Yadav said. He said India has taken up a high priority conservation project to bring back cheetah which went extinct in 1952. The cheetah introduction programme is at an advanced stage of implementation, he added. The bilateral agreement with the Namibian government has already been signed and a pact with South Africa will be signed soon, the minister said. Officials had told PTI earlier that the first batch comprising four male and as many female cheetahs will arrive from Namibia by August 15. Twelve cheetahs will be brought from South Africa. Union Minister of State for Ashwini Kumar Choubey stressed that the tiger symbolises power and plays a crucial role in conservation of biodiversity, forest, water and climate security. "We should imagine a future of peaceful co-existence of man, animal and nature," he said. It is a matter of great pride that India is a global leader in and is collaborating with countries like Cambodia, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Russia to come together for the cause of tiger conservation, Choubey 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.) made the highest number of legal demands globally to remove content posted by verified journalists and news outlets on during July-December 2021, the microblogging platform said. In its latest transparency report, said was only behind the US in seeking account information, accounting for 19 per cent of global information requests. It was among the top five countries to issue content-blocking orders to Twitter during July-December 2021 for all kinds of users. Twitter said 349 accounts of verified journalists and news outlets located around the world were subject to 326 legal demands to remove content, a 103 per cent increase in the number of accounts since the previous period (January-June 2021). "This spike is largely attributed to legal demands submitted by (114), Turkey (78), Russia (55), and Pakistan (48)," it said. India had topped this list for January-June 2021 as well. In that timeframe, India had made 89 of the total 231 such demands the platform received globally. Twitter said 'legal demands' include a combination of court orders and other formal demands to remove content, from both governmental entities and lawyers representing individuals. Without giving details, 17 tweets from verified journalists and news outlets globally were withheld during the second half of 2021 as compared to 11 tweets withheld during January-June. Twitter said it received a legal demand from the Commission for Protection of Child Rights in India to remove content relating to privacy issues involving a minor. While Twitter did not name anyone, the reference was to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's tweet of August last year when he shared a picture of the parents of a minor Dalit girl who was allegedly raped. "The reported tweet published by a high-ranking political figure was withheld in India in compliance with the Indian law," it said. Twitter also received the second highest number of government legal requests for providing account information of users from India, after the US. "The United States submitted the most government information requests during this reporting period, accounting for 20 per cent of the global volume, and 39 per cent of the global accounts specified. "The second highest volume of requests originated from India, comprising 19 per cent of global information requests and 27 per cent of the global accounts specified," it said. Japan, France and Germany were the other three nations in top five countries by volume. "Twitter received 63 (+3 per cent) more routine requests from India, while the number of routine accounts specified increased by 205 (+3 per cent) during this reporting period for a total of 2,211 requests for 7,768 accounts," the report said. Globally, Twitter received 11,460 requests. Giving details of legal demands made from India, Twitter said a total of 3,992, or 8 per cent of 47,572 worldwide, requests to remove content from its platform were made during July-December 2021. These included 23 court orders and 3,969 other legal demands. During this period, Twitter withheld 88 accounts and 303 tweets in India. As per Twitter guidelines, 'government information requests' include both emergency and routine legal demands for account information issued by law enforcement and other government agencies. 'Routine requests' (aka non-emergency requests) are legal demands issued by government or law enforcement authorities (e.g., subpoenas, court orders, search warrants) that compel Twitter to turn over account information. Twitter said it may disclose account information to law enforcement agencies in response to a valid 'emergency request' if it is provided with sufficient information to support a good faith belief that there is an imminent threat involving danger of death or serious physical injury to a person, and it has information relevant to averting or mitigating the threat. "97 per cent of the total global volume of legal demands originated from only five countries (in decreasing order): Japan, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, and India. These five countries have remained Twitter's top requesting countries for legal demands over the past three years," the report said. India is the fifth highest requestor, accounting for 8 per cent of global legal demands. "Maintaining its position among the top five requesters, the Indian authorities continued to submit a significant number of legal demands this reporting period, which also included a high volume of URLs," it said. On 'preservation requests', it said global government preservation requests increased by 10 per cent, while accounts specified increased by 19 per cent during this reporting period. The US (34 per cent) and India (51 per cent) together accounted for 85 per cent of all global preservation requests. 'Preservation requests' refer to government and law enforcement requests made in accordance with relevant law that require Twitter to maintain the specified account data pending the issuance of a valid legal process to obtain that data. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's government blocked access to Krafton's battle-royale game BGMI under the same provision of its which it has invoked since 2020 to ban Chinese apps on grounds of security, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. The section 69A of India's allows the government to block public access to content in the interest of security, among other reasons. Orders issued under the section are generally confidential in nature. (Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) (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 will undertake four trial runs before the implementation of an agreement on the use of neighbouring Bangladesh's Chittagong and Mongla ports by India for trade, an official said. The initiative will help boost business flow on inland waterways via the Indo-Bangla Protocol route, he said. The decision to conduct trial runs was taken after the 13th Joint Group of Customs (JSC) meeting held in March, said the official of the Kolkata Port, now rechristened as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP). It was also decided that ships can carry cargo for both Bangladesh and the north-eastern states of India, he stated. "We have been asked to undertake trial runs and it has to be completed within six months. All destinations are in Bangladesh," SMP chairman Vinit Kumar said. The trials will be undertaken on the following routes -- Mongla to Tamabil (a hilly area in Bangladesh's Sylhet), Tamabil to Chittagong, Chittagong to Sheola (a land border) and Mongla to Bibirbazar. "Transit cargo for trial run on Mongla-Tamabil and Mongla-Bibirbazar (land port in Cumilla) routes will depart Kolkata on July 30," the official said. Maersk Line India has partnered with SMP to do these two trial runs, he said. "The vessel is expected to reach Mongla on August 5, carrying 16 tonne of iron pipes of Electrosteel Castings Ltd in a container destined to reach Meghalaya using Tamabil-Dawki border points, and 8.5-tonne prefoam in another container for Assam using Bibirbazar-Srimantpur border points," the official said. "This exercise will boost an alternative route through waterways for transportation of coastal containers from Kolkata or Haldia to northeastern states, along with other export-import containers to Bangladesh in the same barge or vessel," Kumar said. The cargo movement from to the northeast states of India through the Protocol route will not just reduce transit cost and time but also help develop the economy. An agreement and standard operating procedure on the use of Chattogram and Mongla ports for the movement of goods to and from India have been signed by the two countries. Kumar said both the Inland Waterways Authority of India and SMP, Kolkata have undertaken several infrastructural development projects that will further smoothen environmental friendly cargo movement via the waterways to NE states and Bangladesh. (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 MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the crashed near Rajasthan's Barmer district on July 28. The aircraft went down in the western sector at 9:10 p.m. in the evening. The crash claimed lives of the two IAF when the aircraft was on a training sortie. The has mentioned that a court of inquiry has been ordered into the cause of the accident. #WATCH | Rajasthan: A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Barmer district. Further details regarding the pilots awaited pic.twitter.com/5KfO24hZB6 ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2022 The recent accident adds up to the long list of nearly 300 mishaps involving the MiG 21 aircraft, ever since the aircraft was inducted into the IAF in 1963, reveals data on Bharat Rakshak.com. A Times of India reports paints a more dismal picture. It says over 400 Mig-21 fighter have crashed since 1971-72 claiming the lives of more than 200 and another 50 people on the ground. The IAF has also announced that it is going to retire one more squadron of the Russian combat aircraft fleet- MiG-21 Bison by September 30. "The 51 Squadron based out of Srinagar air base is being number plated on September 30. After this, only three squadrons of the planes would be left in service and (those) would be phased out by the year 2025," sources in the IAF told ANI. History of MiG-21 Designed by the erstwhile Soviet Union's Mikoyan Gurevich group, MiG-21 is India's longest serving fighter aircraft. After its introduction in the early 1960s, the country rapidly updated its combat potential with MiG-21 planes due to the 1962 war with China and the increasing hostalities by Pakistan. Over the years, India got 1,200 MiG planes to safeguard the skies, according to a report by News18 of 2019. Why IAF still uses MiG-21 The still uses the MiG 21 after numerous crashes. Forces of many nations, including Bangladesh and Afghanistan, have removed the from service. Asked why the aircraft is still in use, Air Vice Marshal Sunil Nanodkar (retired), told the Hindustan Times, "Was there a choice? You have to have a certain number of fighter planes to guard your skies. The induction of multi-role fighters was delayed, only 36 Rafales came instead of the projected requirement of 126 jets, the light combat aircraft (LCA) programme is behind schedule and fighters such as Sukhoi-30 have had serviceability issues. IAF had to make do with its MiG-21 fleet." "The MiG-21 Bison is an upgraded aircraft. While the aircraft has got the tag of flying coffins, the safety record of the aircraft is actually good if one compares the years in service and the flying hours," Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retired), the Director General of Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) told ThePrint. Noida-based Priyanka was convinced that she had contracted monkeypox after she discovered red bumps and spots on her leg. The 28-year-old marketing executive said within a day other parts of her body also had spots. "Since monkeypox was being discussed in news reports, I first thought I had contracted it. I was worried and looked for pictures and news about it. I called my doctor who allayed my fears but for me, the situation normalised only after the spots subsided and I realised it was a normal skin allergy," she told PTI. Priyanka is not the only one to have panicked after seeing rashes on her skin. in Delhi-NCR are seeing harried patients, who are developing allergies, rushing to them inquiring whether they have contracted the infection. reported the first case of monkeypox on Sunday after a 34-year-old man tested positive for the viral disease. Due to increased awareness, people are coming to to confirm if their symptoms are related to monkeypox, which is being supervised under experts. We have been getting such queries and observing a rise in panic among people from the last seven to 10 days, especially after the first case of monkeypox was found in the country," said Dr Ramanjit Singh, visiting consultant, dermatology, Medanta Hospital. The fear is especially among those people who have recently travelled abroad, Singh said. In the rainy season, people are more prone to viral infections and chickenpox cases are largely seen in this season along with other infections that have symptoms of rashes, and nausea, he added. "Due to this situation, some patients are getting confused and misinterpret it with monkeypox. The patient may determine whether they have monkeypox or not by understanding the sequence and the onset of symptoms," Singh said. Explaining further, he said monkeypox usually starts with fever, malaise, headache, sometimes sore throat and cough, and lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes) and all these symptoms appear four days prior to skin lesions, rashes and other problems which primarily start from the extremities like hand, eyes and spread to the whole body. "If someone gets symptoms in this sequence, they should get examined for monkeypox. The boils that occur during chickenpox are filled with fluid and don't include malaise," he said. Experts unanimously stress that in monkeypox, there will be other symptoms along with skin involvement. Dr Sachin Dhawan, senior consultant, Department of Dermatology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, said a woman recently visited him after her 10-month-old baby had a reaction following an insect bite. "With increasing awareness through the internet, people are coming to us with queries about monkeypox if they have rashes or simple insect bite. There is no need to panic. The number of cases is relatively low. But if you have a doubt, it is better to consult the doctor," he said. India has so far reported four cases of monkeypox, including three in Kerala and in . While three cases had a foreign travel history, the patient had attended a stag party in Himachal Pradesh. He is currently in LNJP Hospital and is on the way to recovery. Dr Pooja Chopra, senior dermatologist, Aakash Healthcare Super Specialty Hospital, Dwarka, said her colleagues in other parts of the country have seen cases of patients with atypical rashes accompanied by fever and joint pains. Stressing that being vigilant and alert is the key, she concurred with her counterparts that patients are confusing skin allergy with monkeypox. "Look out for symptoms like atypical rashes, fever, joint pain, generalised weakness, in case you suspect you have the infection, she added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The on Friday sought the stand of the city police on JNU student Sharjeel Imam's plea seeking interim bail in a 2020 riots case involving allegations of sedition. A bench of Justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal issued notice on his appeals challenging the trial court order refusing to release him on interim bail and staying the ongoing proceedings in the case. Imam, who is facing for his alleged inflammatory speeches, had urged the trial court to release him for the time being on account of the Supreme Court keeping in abeyance Section 124A (sedition) IPC until the issue of its constitutionality is examined. The court sought a status report from the police and listed the matter for consideration on August 25. According to the prosecution, Imam had allegedly made speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019, and at the Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019, where he threatened to cut off Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India. In his plea before the high court, Imam said the trial court has failed to recognise that pursuant to the directions of the top court, the basis for dismissal of his earlier bail plea i.e. the charge of sedition were obviated and therefore relief must be granted to him. The plea thus urged the high court to release him on interim bail pending the final outcome of the constitutionality challenge to the offence of sedition. The Special Court has wrongly interpreted the directions by the Supreme Court and further erred in solely relying upon the order framing charges against the appellant to dismiss the interim bail application the appeal filed through lawyers Talib Mustafa, Ahmad Ibrahim, and Kartik Venu said. It further submitted that Imam has been incarcerated for almost 30 months and despite the maximum punishment for the offences, excluding sedition, being only up to a maximum seven years of imprisonment, the trial court failed to consider the relevant considerations for his release. Earlier this year, the trial court had ordered for framing of charges against Imam under Sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity), l53B (Imputations prejudicial to integration), 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief) of IPC and Section 13 (Punishment for Unlawful Activities) of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. While refusing to direct the release of the accused, the trial court had said that interim bail applications can only be considered in case of emergencies, like a medical condition. Noting the arguments of Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, it had also said while the Supreme Court had directed all pending trials under Section 124 A to be kept in abeyance, it did not issue directions for grant of interim bail to the accused. "Adjudication with respect to other sections can proceed if the court is of the view that no prejudice would be caused to the accused," it had further opined. On May 11, the Supreme Court had stayed till further orders on the registration of FIRs, probes, and the coercive measures for the offence of sedition across the country by the Centre and the states until an appropriate forum of the government re-examines the colonial-era penal law. (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.) Commission for Women chief Rekha Sharma on Thursday called the 'rashtrapatni' remark by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on President Droupadi Murmu "sexist" and stated that it shows his "mindset towards women". Sharma said that the Congress leader "must apologise in writing" and asked the party's interim president Sonia Gandhi to take action against him. Chowdhury on Thursday called President Murmu 'rashtrapatni', a remark for which he said he would apologise to the President personally. The remark sparked a row as the BJP demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi. Speaking to ANI, the chief said, "The remark of Parliamentarian Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury towards the is very derogatory. This sexist remark shows his mindset towards women. When he can speak like this towards the highest authority of India, how must he be behaving with others?" She further informed that the Commission has written to Sonia Gandhi on the matter. "He must apologize, in writing. His party president should take action against him. We have also written to Sonia Gandhi Ji regarding the same. has summoned AR Chowdhury; he must come and apologize," Sharma added. Earlier on Thursday, the Commission for Women (NCW) along with Chairpersons and other senior officials of different State Commissions for Women has jointly condemned the objectionable remarks made by MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury against the Droupadi Murmu, an official statement said. In a joint statement, Chairperson Rekha Sharma and Chairpersons and representatives of State Commissions of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Telangana, Tripura, Odisha, Maharashtra, Manipur and Rajasthan, who were present at the quarterly meeting in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh have condemned the words used by Chowdhury as an attempt to humiliate the President. Observing that the remarks made are extremely derogatory, sexist and condemnable, the Commission has taken cognizance of the matter, the press note from stated. NCW has sent a notice to Chowdhury to appear before the Commission in person and to tender a written explanation for his remarks. The hearing has been scheduled for August 3 at 11:30 am. Earlier in the day, amid backlash over the "rashtrapatni" remark, Chowdhury said that he can't even think of insulting President Droupadi Murmu and he will personally meet her and apologise. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister on Friday that reforms in drones, space and geospatial sectors are opening up new avenues. "Removal of angel tax, removal of retrospective tax, and reduction of corporate tax - are encouraging investments and industry. The reforms in drones, space and geospatial sectors are opening up new avenues", he said. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister congratulated the students on getting their degrees. "Congratulations to all those who are graduating today in Anna University's 42nd convocation. You would have already built a future for yourselves in your minds. Therefore, today is not only a day of achievements but also of aspirations", he said. Calling them the leaders of tomorrow, the Prime Minister also noted the sacrifices of the parents and support of teachers and non-teaching staff of the University. The Prime Minister recalled the words of Swami Vivekananda in what was known as Madras 125 years ago about the possibilities for the youth of India. The Prime Minister remarked that "the whole world is looking at India's youth with hope. Because you are the growth engines of the country and India is the world's growth engine." The Prime Minister also recalled former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's association with Anna University. "May his thoughts and values always inspire you", said the Prime Minister. PM Modi noted that the COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented event. "It was a once-in-a-century crisis that nobody had any user manual for. It tested every country," he said. He remarked that adversities reveal what we are made of. "India faced the unknown confidently, thanks to its scientists, healthcare professionals and common people," said PM Modi. As a result, he said, every sector in India is bustling with a new life while adding that industry, investment, innovation and international trade, all are seeing India at the forefront. The Prime Minister said India was the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer last year. "Innovation is becoming a way of life. In just the last 6 years, the number of recognised start-ups increased by 15,000 per cent," he said. The Prime Minister informed that India received a record FDI of over 83 billion dollars last year and said that India's start-ups too received record funding post-pandemic. He added that above all this, India's position in the international trade dynamics is at its best ever. In this era of tech-led disruptions, the Prime Minister said there are three important factors in India's favour. He said that the first factor is there is a taste for technology. There is a growing sense of comfort with the use of technology. Even the poorest of the poor are adapting to it, he added. "The second factor is there is trust in risk-takers. Earlier at social occasions, it was difficult for a youngster to say he or she was an entrepreneur. People used to tell them to 'get settled', meaning, get a salaried job. Now the situation is the opposite. The third factor is: there is temperament for reform," he said. The Prime Minister said that earlier, "there was a notion that a strong government means it should control everything and everyone. But we have changed this. A strong government does not control everything or everyone. It controls the system's impulse to interfere. A strong government is not restrictive but is responsive. A strong government does not move into every domain. It limits itself and makes space for people's talents". He gave examples of freedom and flexibility provided to youth by the Education Policy and the scrapping of 25,000 compliances for ease of business. The Prime Minister underlined the link between the progress of youth and the nation. He said in conclusion "Your growth is India's growth. Your learnings are India's learnings. Your victory is India's victory." During the programme, the Prime Minister awarded gold medals and certificates to 69 gold medalists. Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, Chief Minister MK Stalin, and Union Minister L Murugan were among those present on the occasion. Anna University was established on 4 September 1978. It is named after CN Annadurai, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. It has 13 Constituent Colleges, 494 Affiliated Colleges spread over Tamil Nadu and 3 Regional Campuses - Tirunelveli, Madurai and Coimbatore. (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 Enforce Directorate raided yet another apartment linked to Arpita Mukherjee, the close associate of arrested minister Partha Chatterjee, in the city's Chinar Park area after recovering around Rs 28 crore cash from another flat belonging to her. The raid by the ED, which is probing the money trail of the school jobs scam, was conducted late Thursday evening, an ED official said. As the door of the flat was locked and the keys could not be traced, the ED sleuths broke it open in the presence of central force officers. "This (Chinar Park) apartment belongs to Arpita Mukherjee and we suspect that like her other flats cash may be stacked here as well," the ED official said. "We are talking to the neighbours and trying to find out what kind of activities were carried out here," he said. The details of the Chinar Park flat was provided by Mukherjee herself during interrogation by the ED earlier in the day. In the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday ED sleuths had raided a flat belonging to Mukherjee in Belghoria area of the city and recovered around Rs 28 crore unaccounted cash besides large quantities of gold and silver. The central agency had seized over Rs 21 crore cash from another flat belonging to Mukherjee in Tollygunj area. The value of the gold jewellery, believed to weigh several kilograms, is still being ascertained. CBI as directed by Calcutta High Court is probing the alleged irregularities committed in the recruitment of Group C and D staff as well as teachers in government-sponsored and aided schools on the recommendations of the School Service Commission. Chatterjee, who was the education minister when the alleged irregularities took place, was arrested on July 23. He was stripped of all his cabinet portfolios and suspended from the ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Noida Authority informed the on Friday that the Noida Twin Tower demolition will take place on August 21. Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala heard the matter. Supertech's twin towers Apex and Ceyane in Noida's Sector 93A will be demolished at 2.30 pm on August 21. The court was informed by the counsel appearing for Noida Authority that a status report was filed on what transpired since the last meeting. One meeting was on June 7 and the other was on July 19, they said. The counsel also informed the court that Edifice Engineering assured that demolition will be on August 21, 2022, at 2.30 pm. Resident Welfare Association Members have demanded a structural audit of the twin tower so that the demolition is safe, they said. The Noida authority had conducted a meeting on February 9 with representatives of district administration, fire department, electricity supply undertaking, police, traffic police, explosives department of Central government, Gas Authority of India Limited (which operates a major gas pipeline within 16 metres from the towers), and resident welfare associations of and the adjoining ATS Village complex to address the concerns of all stakeholders. Edifice Engineering, a Mumbai-based firm, will overlook the safe demolition of the tower. Amidst the demolition, there have been concerns about a dust storm. The in May had extended the deadline till August 28 for the demolition of Supertech's twin 40-storey towers in its Emerald project in Noida, which have been held as illegal for a violation of norms. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and P Narasimha had then passed the order on an application filed by Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) seeking an extension of the timeline of May 22 by three months till August 28 after the agency appointed for demolition Edifice Engineering sought time. The counsel appearing for IRP for Supertech said that after the test blast conducted by Edifice Engineering it was found that the structure was stronger and more stable than it was expected. Amicus curiae advocate Gaurav Agrawal also supported the application and said that even agency CBRI (Central Building Research Institute) which has been appointed by the top court to oversee the demolition exercise has also approved the extension of time. The bench after considering the application and submission of amicus passed the order directing to complete the demolition of both the towers by August 28 and sought a status report. On February 28, the Noida authority informed the top court that the work for the demolition of realty major Supertech's twin 40-storey towers in its Emerald Court project, which have been held as illegal for a violation of norms, has commenced. warned Thursday that governments around the globe are asking the company to remove content or snoop on private details of user accounts at an alarming rate. The company revealed in a new report that it fielded a record number of legal demands nearly 60,000 during a six-month period last year - from local, state or governments that wanted to remove content from accounts or reveal confidential information such as direct messages or user locations. We're seeing governments become more aggressive in how they try to use legal tactics to unmask the people using our service, collect information about account owners and also using legal demands as a way to try and silence people, Yoel Roth, the head of Twitter's safety and integrity, said in a conversation broadcast on the site Thursday. The US makes up the majority of demands for account information, accounting for 20% of the requests. India follows closely behind. says it complied fully with roughly 40% of all asks for information on user accounts. Japan, which is also a frequent requestor for account information, makes the most requests of Twitter to take down content from accounts. Japan made more than 23,000 requests half of all requests for content to be removed. Russia followed closely behind on its takedown asks. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, also reported an increase in government asks for private user data during the same timeframe. Twitter also reported a huge spike in requests from governments that targeted verified journalists and news outlets during the last half of 2021. Governments also made a record number of legal demands on 349 accounts of verified journalists or news outlets around the globe between July and December of last year a 103% increase. Twitter did not provide a breakdown of which countries made those requests on journalists' accounts or how many of the asks they complied with. Governments are using the companies to silence critics and censor journalists, Rob Mahoney, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press. This surge in government demands for content takedowns and information on journalists is part of a global trend of increasing censorship and manipulation of information," Mahoney said. platforms are vital for reporters and they must do more to resist government attempts to silence critical voices. (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.) Earlier in June this year the UKs Financial Times carried an in-depth report on how Xi Jinpings China was betting heavily on what have been described as strategic emerging industries from hi-tech manufacturing to renewables, AI to quantum computing. With more than 900 billion dollars of funds directed towards these technologies considered central to economic competition with the west, the FT reported that the ultimate aim was to produce a new generation of national champions across these strategic sectors. The seriousness of this effort and the stiff competition it has spurred might be gauged from the fact that the United States Congress recently passed a landmark 280-billion-dollar CHIPS and Science Act aimed at supporting American chip makers and boosting research in hi-tech sectors batteries to robotics. Even as Chinas top chip maker SMIC has claimed breakthrough in nanoscale chip manufacturing, several questions have been raised in a recent analytical report by the NIKKEI Asia on the ability of the US and other countries to go local with semiconductor manufacturing and to secure related supply chains. This hi-tech race is perhaps the new arms race as we enter into what seems to be the 21st centurys version of a cold war that has pitted China against the West. The Chinese efforts to dominate and influence hi-tech also needs to be viewed in the broader context of standards such as 5g/6g that have seen consistent behind the scenes influence by China. The purported intent of these efforts by China is to set and use global standards as a lever to expand its industrial base in these strategic emerging sectors. It is in this context that we must view the decision of the Union Cabinet announcing a revival package for . To better appreciate the strategic significance of this decision it would be in order to put into perspective how state funded technology spending by India for decades has done little to nothing to either develop a homegrown base for strategic industries nor establish a stake for India in global standards. As the CEO of Indias Public Broadcaster it was eye opening that Doordarshan and All India Radio had been spending thousands of crores of rupees from government of India grants towards broadcast infrastructure almost entirely on foreign technology vendors. Barring a handful of domestic systems integrators almost all of the hi-tech broadcast equipment from satellite systems to terrestrial transmitters were all imported. It was also stunning to discover that these investments were being made on a family of global standards that were based on intellectual property owned by foreign broadcasters and related entities who were the ultimate beneficiaries of royalty revenues. Telecom which is a far larger sector compared to Broadcasting with investments running into lakhs of crores of rupees clearly has even greater stakes for those who set the standards and stand to benefit from public investments. The Union Cabinets decision to target the universal service obligation, USO funds, towards rural 4G network rollout based on the indigenously developed technology stack is a significant first step in this direction. Much of the commentary in the immediate aftermath of the package announcement has predictably focused on the commercial viability of and on the need for disinvestment. While PSU disinvestment in non-strategic sectors is an imperative for economic reforms, the same needs to be viewed differently in the case of strategic sectors. From Space (NSIL) to Defence (corporatizing Ordnance Factories) and now Telecom, the Aatmanirbhar Bharat push by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to be seen as Indias response to the global race for hi-tech dominance. From 4G technology development by Indian research organisations like C-DOT and Indian start-ups like Tejas to 5G technology standards push by the IITs, we are for the first time witnessing indigenous technology being a viable option and India specific needs being reflected in global technology standards. On a much smaller scale is a similar effort that was initiated by Prasar Bharati with IIT Kanpur supported by TSDSI the Indian standards body and Indian start-ups like Sankhya Labs to boost indigenous technology development in Direct to Mobile Broadcasting (D2M) in line with emerging standards for 5G. By requiring BSNL to invest in indigenous technology stack for its rural 4G service for more than 30,000 villages, the homegrown telecom R&D and hi-tech start-up ecosystem will receive an unprecedented strategic boost. The second area of thrust of the BSNL revival focused on rural broadband bringing fiber to every village will have an additional benefit for Digital India. The continued success of mass scale platforms like Aadhaar, UPI depends heavily on access to Internet and Broadband services available ubiquitously across India as a Public Utility. A solid foundation for the many technology powered governance initiatives accelerating the transformation towards a Digital India requires universalizing digital access. It is from these twin lenses of aatmanirbhar bharat and digital India that we must assess the rationale for infusing more than a lakh core of public funds into the state owned telecom service provider. The underlying strategic objectives will only be realized if the hi-tech ecosystem in India is further developed and nurtured by BSNL. This will require an entrepreneurial and innovation driven approach to managing the PSU telecom giant. Going beyond BSNL, the hi-tech funding philosophy of India will also have to become comfortable with placing strategic bets and taking risks with innovations at the frontiers of technology. It would be pertinent to recognize that from VLSI to the Internet, most of todays ubiquitous technologies were the product of strategic bets on early stage technologies by government entities such as the DARPA in the United States. The ultimate success of Aatmanirbhar Bharat in hi-tech will depend on similar risk taking and on an entrepreneurial approach to innovation that actively nurtures and grows the domestic hi-tech ecosystem. The author is former CEO, Prasar Bharati India is set to get more channels to buy cheap Russian oil, with a new wave of smaller, international traders muscling into its vast market by offering barrels shunned by rivals after the invasion of Ukraine. State-run refiners such as Indian Oil Corp. are warming to the idea of buying from the lesser-known traders. Refinery officials said theyve found it easier to work with them, rather than directly with Russian producers, as theres less bureaucracy that slows negotiations with firms such as Rosneft PJSC. Companies include Wellbred and Montfort have been marketing Russian oil to Indian buyers, joining the likes of Coral Energy and Everest Energy as more traders emerge to fill the gap left by larger merchants such as Vitol Group, said the officials, who declined to be named. According to their websites, the companies have offices in Switzerland, Dubai and Singapore. Nobody replied to emails sent to IOC, Wellbred and Montfort, and Rosneft did not respond to a request for comment. Traders and shipbrokers said they didnt know much about the firms, except they handled fuels from time to time. Trading houses often serve the function of middlemen by bridging differences between sellers and buyers. In theory, some companies can continue to work with Russian entities thatve been sanctioned under certain jurisdictions, help with financing and logistics, and even offer different payment terms to assist in the movement of funds. Sri Lanka received Russian crude onboard a vessel chartered by Coral Energy in May and has since bought more from the trader. Indian refiners are willing to take the risk of dealing with these new, little-known traders because the discounts must be too good to pass up, said Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights. We know the Indian refiners want the Russian cargoes on a delivered basis. So as long as the new traders are fulfilling that need, it works, she added. The new crop of merchants was recently offering supplies of Russian Urals crude at discounts of about $8 a barrel, according to officials. They are also beefing up staffing, they said. Wellbreds employees include former individuals from larger companies such as Glencore Plc and Gunvor Group. Some traders are offering payment options in alternative currencies such as United Arab Emirates dirhams, according to officials. Separately, Indias central bank has announced a plan to settle international trade in the local currency. As the shift plays out, Indian Oil, the nations biggest processor, has been importing Russian oil at a record-breaking pace and overtaking its private peers, according to analytics firm Kpler. Inflows have averaged 450,000 barrels a day in July -- up 44% from last month -- while Indias overall purchases of Russian barrels rose 3% to about 1 million barrels a day, Kpler data show. Indias traditionally more agile private oil processors, such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy Ltd., had already doubled down on purchases from the smaller firms even before the worlds largest oil traders scaled back handling Russian crude exports in May. A Chinese government entity responsible for public relations attempted to open a stealth account on targeting Western audiences with propaganda, according to internal messages seen by Bloomberg. The attempt, which met with push-back from executives, highlights the internal tensions within the fast-growing social media app, owned by Beijing-based Inc., which has constantly attempted to distance itself from Chinese state influence. In an April 2020 message addressed to Elizabeth Kanter, TikToks head of government relations for the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Israel, a colleague flagged a Chinese government entity thats interested in joining but would not want to be openly seen as a government account as the main purpose is for promoting content that showcase the best side of (some sort of propaganda). The messages indicate that some of ByteDances most senior government relations team, including Kanter and US-based Erich Andersen, Global Head of Corporate Affairs and General Counsel, discussed the matter internally but pushed back on the request, which they described as sensitive. TikTok used the incident to spark an internal discussion about other sensitive requests, the messages state. We declined to offer support for this request, as we believed the creation of such an account would violate our Community Guidelines, said a TikTok spokeswoman, who downplayed the incident as an informal request from a friend of an employee. TikTok has rules against coordinated inauthentic behavior, where accounts conceal their true identity to exert influence or sway public opinion, and against political advertising, the spokeswoman said. TikTok does allow some Chinese government entities, including the Chinese embassy in the US, to have verified accounts. The company is planning to expand its state-controlled media policy, which labels state-run accounts, in the coming months to include other government entities, the spokeswoman added. Kanter and Andersen declined to comment. The Chinese government did not respond to a request for comment. The messages have emerged in the same week that UK foreign secretary Liz Truss pledged to crack down on Chinese-owned firms. On the sidelines of the (SCO) foreign ministers meeting in Tashkent, foreign affairs minister might hold a bilateral meeting with Afghanistan's foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The government has been requesting the meeting since June, The Print reported. The SCO meeting is being held under the presidency of Uzbekistan this year. In June, the Indian government decided to reopen its embassy in Kabul for the first time since it was shut after the took over the country in 2021. In the meeting, which will be the first face-to-face interaction between the two leaders, issues like humanitarian aid to Afghans are likely to be discussed. The two leaders might also discuss the restart of India's infrastructural projects in Afghanistan, which were stalled due to the overthrow of the Ashraf Ghani government last year. The Print also reported that Jaishankar is expected to keep a strong anti-terrorism stance on the lines of the Resolution 2593, passed last year at the (UNSC). However, India has been in constant touch with the since it took over Afghanistan. In June, before opening the embassy, India also sent a delegation led by joint secretary JP Singh to hold talks with Muttaqi. Singh is also a part of the current delegation to Tashkent. Earlier this month, the Uzbek government held a meeting on Afghanistan, which was attended by 30 countries including India. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi confirmed, on Thursday, that India attended it. "It was in continuation of our efforts to engage with the community on issues related to Afghanistan. During this conference, India reiterated its commitment to assist the Afghan people in this difficult time and provide humanitarian assistance. We also reiterated 2593 (at the meeting)," he said. Jaishankar is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. On the other hand, Muttaqi reportedly met his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday. Russia and accused each other Friday of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of a key southern city in May. Both sides said the assault was premeditated with the aim of covering up atrocities. Russia claimed that Ukraine's military used US-supplied multiple rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People's Republic. Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded another 75. Moscow opened a probe into the attack, sending a team to the site from Russias Investigative Committee, the country's main criminal investigation agency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russias Sakhalin Energy Investment Co has asked its liquefied natural gas (LNG) customers to pay for supplies via a Moscow unit of a European bank, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. A second source said the energy company was in discussions to switch payment currencies away from US dollars for supply contracts. The changes follow Russian President Vladimir Putins June 30 decree to create a new firm to take over all the rights and obligations of Sakhalin Energy. Using other currencies and a bank within Moscow could help insulate Russia from sanctions aimed at freezing it out of financial markets. reuters (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ukrainian parliament has adopted a draft law to grant special status to Polish citizens in Ukraine, a parliament member said. The presidential proposal on granting special status to Polish citizens in was supported by 283 lawmakers in the 450-seat Assembly, Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on Telegram on Thursday. The new legislation adopted on Thursday allows Polish citizens to legally stay in for 18 months after the adoption of the law, Zheleznyak said. The law grants Polish citizens equal rights as Ukrainians in employment, economic activities, as well as in getting education and medical assistance in . On July 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky submitted to the parliament the draft law on establishing legal and social guarantees for Polish citizens in Ukraine, "as a sign of gratitude to the Polish people for their solidarity and support for Ukraine." --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.) Emphasizing on the ever-increasing restrictions and ongoing violation of human rights by the leadership, US Senators urged Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to exclude of any seat at the . Four American senators Robert Menendez, James E. Risch, Jeanne Shaheen and Joni K. Ernst wrote to the UN Secretary-General, raised concerns over human rights violations in Afghanistan and asked it to take "meaningful actions" in defence of the human rights of Afghans. "We urge you to work to ensure the does not receive a seat at the when the UN Credentials Committee meets this September to determine diplomatic representation for Afghanistan," the letter further added, reported Khaama Press. "The United Nations has an opportunity to take meaningful actions that will send a clear, unequivocal message to the world that its member nations will defend the human rights of Afghans, particularly women and girls," Khaama Press reported quoting the letter. "We must not stand by as the Taliban seeks to erase the human rights of Afghan women and girls," the letter read. "The UN travel exemption has failed to produce meaningful dialogue with the Taliban nor spur them to take concrete actions to demonstrate their respect for the human rights and freedoms of the Afghan people," the senators said in the letter. "Moreover, Taliban leaders have misused the exemption, travelling to Beijing and Moscow in efforts to establish diplomatic ties," they stated. According to the letter, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted last month to once again roll over the travel ban exemptions for 13 Islamic Emirate leaders, restoring the travel ban only on two Ministers of Education following the Islamic Emirate's refusal to open secondary schools for girls. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has claimed several times that there has been a surge in human rights violations in Afghanistan. However, time and again, the Taliban have denied claims of human rights violations in the country and said that such violations have decreased since it came to power in Afghanistan. Despite repeated calls from all around the world, the Taliban have failed to deliver its promises on the safety of the Afghan people and their assurance of an inclusive government. (ANI) Notably, UNAMA has a vital role in monitoring and documentation of the violation and protection of human rights in Afghanistan. The UN mission said that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the Criminal Court (ICC) also have a significant role to play in preventing human rights violations and ensuring accountability, in line with Afghanistan's obligations. Since they took control of the country in August 2021, the Taliban have violated women's and girls' rights to education, work and free movement and decimated the system of protection and support for those fleeing domestic violence. The group has also detained women and girls for minor violations of discriminatory rules and contributed to a surge in the rates of child, early and forced marriage in Afghanistan. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister on Friday launch 'India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX)', the country's first international bullion exchange near Gandhinagar. He visited India's first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) on Friday. This exchange will facilitate efficient price discovery with the assurance of responsible sourcing and quality, apart from giving impetus to the financialisation of gold in India. The prime minister also laid the foundation stone for the headquarters building of the International Financial Services Centres Authority. Apart from that, Modi launcedh NSE IFSC-SGX Connect platform. Under this system, all orders on Nifty derivatives placed by members of Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) will be routed to and matched on the NSE-IFSC order matching and trading platform. The Connect platform will deepen liquidity in derivative at GIFT-IFSC. "International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) will become an enabler, it will support innovation and also become a catalyst for growth opportunities. In 2008 there was a global economic crisis and recession. There was an atmosphere of policy paralysis in India. But, at that time Gujarat was taking new and big steps in the field of fintech. I'm glad that idea has progressed so far today "India is now standing in line with countries like USA, UK and Singapore from where global finance is given direction. Today India is one of the largest economies in the world. Today a record foreign investment is coming to India," said PM Modi at the launch. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister of Home Affairs and Co-operation Amit Shah, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Ministers of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad were also present at the events. Gujarat | PM arrives in Gandhinagar. He will shortly lay the foundation stone of the Headquarters Building of the International Financial Services Centres Authority. PM will also launch India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) and NSE IFSC-SGX Connect. pic.twitter.com/gq67cwSsdN ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2022 "It's a momentous and historic occasion when three major milestones are being launched. PM has sown the seeds of this center (GIFT City) and will launch the major initiates and more initiatives will come in the near future," said Sitharaman. "Gujarat contributes more than 8% to the country's economy. Gujarat has become a diamond, manufacturing and ceramic hub. Now were moving towards making it a financial services hub," said Gujarat CM. In a slew of initiatives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched NSE IFSC-SGX Connect and India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) at the International Financial Service Centre (IFSC) in Gandhinagar. Modi also laid the foundation stone for a Rs 200 crore headquarters building of International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), and presided over the exchange of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) by IFSCA with foreign regulatory authorities and the Department of Space. Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Union Ministers of State for finance, Pankaj Chaudhary and Dr Bhagwat Karad, Gujarat CM, Bhupendra Patel, and Gujarat Finance Minister, Kanubhai Desai, also attended the inauguration ceremony at the Campus in Gandhinagar. Once the NSE IFSC-SGX Connect is implemented following a transition period of 4-5 months, all orders on Nifty derivatives placed by members of Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) will be routed to and matched on the NSE- order-matching and trading platform. With this, the average daily volume in Nifty futures at SGX of 109,000 contracts valued at roughly $3.65 billion is expected to move to NSE- . The Connect is expected to deepen liquidity in derivative at GIFT-IFSC, bringing in more international participants and creating a positive impact on the financial ecosystem. Similarly, IIBX at will help the Indian bullion market transit towards a more organised structure by allowing qualified jewellers to import gold directly using the exchange mechanism. India's first such bullion exchange, IIBX will aid efficient price discovery and ensure standardisation, quality assurance and integrated sourcing, in addition to speeding up financialisation of gold in India. IIBX will also reinforce the Centre's goal at enabling India, one of the principal consumers of gold, to influence global prices of the metal. Reiterating that many milestones were announced for at GIFT City on Friday, Modi said that India would now stand at par with countries like the US, the UK and Singapore in giving global financial services a direction. Talking about Gujarat's GIFT City being ahead of its times, Modi said "Even amid 2007-2008 global financial crisis and policy paralysis, Gujarat was taking strides in fintech... India is now integrating with the global supply chain and GIFT City is one of the major gateways." On growing financial awareness among the general populace, Modi cited AMFI's assets under management (AUM) which grew from Rs 10 trillion in 2014 to Rs 35 trillion by June 2022. Among the MoUs exchanged by IFSCA were those with the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, Luxembourg; Qatar Financial Centre Authority; and Finansinspektionen, Sweden. IFSCA also exchanged a MoU with the Department of Space (DoS), Government of India, to unlock the enormous opportunity of convergence between FinTech and SpaceTech. With a built-up area of 300,000 sq ft spread across 27 floors, the upcoming IFSCA Tower headquarters building is expected to be completed by 2024. Commending IFSC's progress in banking, finance and insurance, Sitharaman stated that total assets in banking had doubled to stand at $32 billion. "Hedge funds are looking at this jurisdiction (IFSC) for pooling of global funds that can be invested in India... IIBX is a major step. India being the second largest consumer of gold, we will now be able to command global prices," Sitharaman added. The union finance minister also reiterated being rated among the top 15 centres globally, which are likely to become more significant over the next 2 to 3 years by Global Financial Centres Index, London, in its latest report. Among other initiatives announced on Friday included setting up of an Indian Regional Office (IRO) by New Development Bank (NDB); inauguration of international banking units of Deutsche Bank AG, JP Morgan Chase Bank and MUFG Bank; capacity expansion of Global In-house Centre (GIC) of Bank of America; and operationalization of four International Trade Finance Services (ITFS) platforms established by RXIL Global IFSC Ltd., Vayana (IFSC) Private Ltd., Mynd IFSC Private Ltd., and Kredx Ventures IFSC Private Ltd. NDB, which has approved 20 projects in India totalling approximately USD 7.2 billion, will work closely with the Government, public and private sector agencies in the Indian sub-continent to identify projects with strong development impact. on Friday also granted Authorisation Certificates to five FinTech firms including CropData IFSC Pvt Ltd, EdgeVerve Systems Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Infosys), Signzy Technologies Private Limited, UMBO IDTech Private Limited (Riskcovry), and Qkrishi Quantum Pvt Ltd. The fintech firms will bring operations in areas and sectors like agritech, blockchain-powered solutions, unified KYC Solution and customer on-boarding digital infrastructure, insurance distribution solutions, and deep-tech quantum-based algorithms. The Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) and Commodity Participants Association of India (CPAI) jointly submitted a letter of intent (LoI) on behalf of over 100 Broker-Dealers to set up their operations in . The India INX saw the 75th listing of bonds, with bonds cumulatively valued at $50 billion being listed on India INX. Moreover, in order to mobilise capital flows for corporates, governments and institutions in India and other parts of the world to achieve their environmental and social goals, the International Sustainability Platform (ISX) was launched at GIFT City on Friday. Analyse this GMM Pfaudler surged 17.47% to Rs 1577.90 after the company's consolidated net profit surged to Rs 44.51 crore in Q1 June 2022 as against Rs 2.59 crore in Q1 June 2021. Net sales rose 34% to Rs 739.24 crore in Q1 June 2022 over Q1 June 2021 on the back of strong execution. Pre-tax profit stood at Rs 83.43 crore in Q1 June 2022 compared with pre-tax loss of Rs 15.65 crore in Q1 June 2021. EBITDA stood at Rs 98 crore in Q1 FY23, up 172% YoY and up 36% QoQ. EBITDA margin was at 13.2%, 672 bps higher than previous year. Order intake were reported at Rs 998 crore in Q1 FY23, up 24% YoY and up 112% QoQ. The growth was driven by International business. Order backlog grew by 27%, YoY to Rs 2,182 crore. Commenting on the Company's Q1 FY23 results, Tarak Patel, managing director said, "Our focus on execution and cost controls have helped us achieve a strong Q1 performance, where we have increased revenues and improved margins. We recorded a significantly higher order intake this quarter adding to our backlog and putting us in a strong position for the coming quarters. While commodity prices have softened over the past few months, energy costs continue to remain a concern." Meanwhile, GMM signed an agreement to acquire 100% stake in Hydro Air Research Italia S.r.l., based in Milan, Italy, for a total consideration of 4.96 million euros (Rs 38.24 crore). The transaction is funded through internal accruals and expected to be completed in August 2022. Hydro Air Research Italia S.r.l. (HARI) designs and manufactures advanced separation systems (skid mounted units and/or turnkey plants) for process applications. Working in separation technologies for more than 40 years and with over 60 plants completed in the last 5 years, HARI offers green solutions to various industries including the pharmaceuticals and chemicals and has also recently entered high growth sectors such as plant-based proteins, bioplastics and lithium purification. "I am happy to announce that we have approved the acquisition of Hydro Air Research Italia S.r.l. (HARI) based in Milan, Italy. HARI is an engineering company specializing in the field of liquid separation and filtration serving the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. HARI's application expertise and process know-how will be a welcome addition to our product portfolio and will augment our capabilities to enter adjacent markets and provide green technologies to our customers," Tarak Patel said. GMM Pfaudler delivers corrosion-resistant technologies, systems, and services worldwide and remains the preferred choice by consistently providing its customers in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries with innovative and cost-effective solutions. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hindalco Industries Ltd is quoting at Rs 410.6, up 4.64% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 7.69% in last one year as compared to a 8.53% gain in NIFTY and a 4.76% gain in the Nifty Media index. Hindalco Industries Ltd is up for a third straight session in a row. The stock is quoting at Rs 410.6, up 4.64% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.05% on the day, quoting at 17107.4. The Sensex is at 57433.63, up 1.01%. Hindalco Industries Ltd has added around 21.25% in last one month. Meanwhile, Nifty Media index of which Hindalco Industries Ltd is a constituent, has added around 17.91% in last one month and is currently quoting at 5282.1, up 4.04% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 88.25 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 132.03 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark August futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 408, up 4.72% on the day. Hindalco Industries Ltd is down 7.69% in last one year as compared to a 8.53% gain in NIFTY and a 4.76% gain in the Nifty Media index. The PE of the stock is 15.82 based on TTM earnings ending March 22. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nippon Life India Asset Management (NAM India) slipped 3.58% to Rs 280.05 after the company's consolidated net profit tumbled 37% to Rs 114.34 crore on 18.9% declined in total income to Rs 299.37 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22. Nippon Life India Asset Management is the asset manager of Nippon India Mutual Fund (NIMF). Consolidated profit before tax stood at Rs 154.59 crore in Q1 FY23, down 34.5% from Rs 236.03 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter previous year. Operating profit in Q1 FY23 was at Rs 171 crore, up by 1% YoY. As on 30 June 2022, NAM India's assets under management was Rs 3,30,684 crore ($41.9 billion). For the quarter ended 30 June 2022, NIMF's overall AUM market share rose to 7.40%, registering an increase of 16 basis points as against the quarter ended 30 June 2021. For the quarter ended 30 June 2022, NIMF's average assets under management was Rs 2,79,431 crore ($35.4 billion), recording a growth of 16%. For the quarter ended 30 June 2022, share of Equity Assets rose to 42% of NIMF's AUM as against 41% for the quarter ended 30 June 2021. As on June 2022, NIMF has one of the largest retail assets in the Industry, at Rs 74,101 crore ($9.4 billion). Retail assets contributed 27% to NIMF's AUM. As on June 2022, Individual AUM stood at Rs 136,742 crore ($17.3 billion) and contributed 50% to NIMF's AUM. For the quarter ended 30 June 2022, NIMF is one of the largest ETF players with AUM of Rs 60,091 crore ($7.6 billion) and a market share of 14%. Sundeep Sikka, ED & CEO of NAM India, said Domestic economy as well as the Mutual Fund industry were impacted in Q1 due to macro headwinds. In this dynamic investment environment, Investors' interest continues to be our prime focus. We remain committed in supporting our clients pursue their long-term financial goals and add sustainable value. He further added, Today, NAM India is humbled to have the faith and trust of over 1.8 crore investors, which is the largest investor base in the MF industry. NIMF's overall market share also improved by 16 basis points. The granularity of our distribution, consistent fund performance, strong governance architecture and de-risked business model have created beneficial opportunities, even in tough macro conditions. With a 100% investor-centric approach, our endeavour is to consistently create a better future for all stakeholders. Nippon Life India Asset Management (NAM India) is one of the largest asset managers in India, managing (directly & indirectly) assets across mutual funds including exchange traded funds, managed accounts, including portfolio management services, alternative investments funds and pension funds; and offshore funds and advisory mandates. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Industries Minister Pratap Keshari Deb said on Thursday that Odisha is one of the fastest-growing economies in India as it became a "destination of choice" for businesses in the metal and allied sectors due to natural resources. The Minister also stated that the state has grown at 10.1 per cent making it one of the fastest growing economies in India. Manufacturing sector with 56 per cent share in Industrial GSVA grew at 14.3 per cent in 2021-22 while mining sector with 21 per cent share registered 18.1 per cent growth." He also drew the attention towards the fact that Odisha has become a destination of choice for industries in the metal and allied sectors owing to our natural resources and ecosystem advantage. The Government has proactively taken measures to broad base the industrial ecosystem in the state, with focus sectors like chemicals and petrochemicals, textiles and apparel among others, he said at an event in Bhubaneswar where the government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Speaking about the natural resources, he said, "Odisha has 96 per cent of India's chromite reserves, 92 per cent nickel reserves, 53 per cent bauxite, 45 per cent manganese, 35 per cent iron-one, and 23 per cent coal reserves. This has made Odisha the largest producer of Steel, Stainless Steel, Ferro Alloys, Alumina, and Aluminium in India." Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) PNC Infratech advanced 1.67% to Rs 255.35 after the company announced the signing of a concession agreement with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a HAM Project worth Rs 864 crore. The agreement was signed between NHAI and Hardoi Highways, a special purpose vehicle incorporated by the company for implementation of the said project. The project involves improving and upgrading the existing road to four lane with paved shoulders, from end of Hardoi bypass to end of Hardoi district of NH-731 (Pkg-III) in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The project is to be constructed in 30 months, upon declaration of appointed date and operated for 15 years, post construction. PNC Infratech is engaged in infrastructure development through the construction of highways including BOT (built, operate and transfer projects), airport runways, bridges, flyovers and power transmission projects among others. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 64.4% to Rs 247.19 crore on a 19.4% rise in net sales to Rs 2226.02 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SBI Life Insurance Company gained 8.68% to Rs 1,294 after the company's net profit rose 17.8% to Rs 262.85 crore from Rs 223.16 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22. Net premium income jumped 32.76% to Rs 11,036.02 crore in Q1 FY23 as compared to Rs 8,312.55 crore in Q1 FY22. Profit before tax (PBT) grew 14.6% YoY to Rs 267.42 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2022. SBI Life Insurance Company has maintained its leadership position in Individual Rated Premium (IRP) of Rs 2,580 crore with 24.0% private market share in Q1 FY23. The Individual New Business Premium grew 87% YoY to Rs 3,430 crore in Q1 FY23. New Business Premium (NBP) jumped 67% YoY to Rs 5,590 crore in Q1 FY23 driven by strong growth in regular premium business by 83%. Protection New Business Premium has increased by 63% from Rs 430 crore in Q1 FY22 to Rs 700 crore in Q1 FY23 due to growth in individual protection business by 55% to Rs 200 crore and growth in group protection business by 66% to Rs 500 crore in Q1 FY23. Gross Written Premium (GWP) has risen by 35% to Rs 11,350 billion in Q1 FY23 mainly due to 83% growth in First Year Premium (FYP) and 14% growth in Renewal Premium (RP) in Q1 FY23. The company has a distribution network of 222,957 trained insurance professionals consisting of agents, CIFs and SPs along with widespread operations with 970 offices across country. The firm also has a distribution network comprising of strong bancassurance channel, agency channel and others comprising of corporate agents, brokers, micro agents, common service centers, insurance marketing firms, web aggregators and direct business. APE channel mix for Q1 FY23 is bancassurance channel 63%, agency channel 26% & other channels 11%. NBP of Agency channel has increased by 50% to Rs 940 crore in Q1 FY23 and NBP of Banca channel has increased by 94% to Rs 2,900 crore in Q1 FY23 as compared to same period last year. Value of New Business (VoNB) increased by 130% YoY to Rs 880 crore for Q1 FY23. VoNB margin has also improved by 665 bps to 30.4% in Q1 FY23. SBI Life Insurance Company has an additional reserve of Rs 290 crore towards COVID-19 pandemic as on 30 June 2022. Its 13th month persistency (based on premium considering single premium and fully paid-up policies & group business where persistency is measurable) stood at 88.71% in Q1 FY23 as against 88.37% in Q1 FY22. The company's strong growth in 25th and 49th month persistency (based on premium considering regular premium/ limited premium payment under individual category) improved by 339 bps to 78.72% and by 403 bps to 70.32% in Q1 FY23, on account of its focus on improving the quality of business and customer retention. Asset under Management (AuM) grew by 13% from Rs 2,31,560 crore as on 30 June 2021 to Rs 2,62,350 crore as on 30 June 2022 with debt-equity mix of 73:27. Over 97% of the debt investments are in AAA and Sovereign instruments, the company stated in its press release. The company's net worth increased by 11% to Rs 11,760 crore as on 30 June 2022 from Rs 10,580 crore as on 30 June 2021. Robust solvency ratio as on 30 June 2022 was at 2.21 as against the regulatory requirement of 1.50. SBI Life Insurance Company is one of the leading life Insurance companies in India. SBI Life Insurance Company has a strong distribution network of 222,957 trained insurance professionals consisting of agents, CIFs and SPs along with widespread operations with 970 offices across country. The company has diversified distribution network comprising of strong bancassurance channel, agency channel and others comprising of corporate agents, brokers, micro agents, common service centers, insurance marketing firms, web aggregators and direct business. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vedanta Ltd is quoting at Rs 254.6, up 3.71% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 15.65% in last one year as compared to a 8.53% gain in NIFTY and a 4.76% gain in the Nifty Media index. Vedanta Ltd gained for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 254.6, up 3.71% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.05% on the day, quoting at 17107.4. The Sensex is at 57433.63, up 1.01%. Vedanta Ltd has added around 14.17% in last one month. Meanwhile, Nifty Media index of which Vedanta Ltd is a constituent, has added around 17.91% in last one month and is currently quoting at 5282.1, up 4.04% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 156.1 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 187.56 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark August futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 255.7, up 3.48% on the day. Vedanta Ltd is down 15.65% in last one year as compared to a 8.53% gain in NIFTY and a 4.76% gain in the Nifty Media index. The PE of the stock is 5.25 based on TTM earnings ending March 22. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and 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. 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. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The on Friday directed leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera, and Netta DSouza to immediately delete tweets by them in reference to the Goa of the daughter of Union Minister and issued summons to them after Irani filed a defamation suit against them. The leaders have deleted the tweets but have said they will respond to the summons and fight the case in court. This is likely the first case where a court has asked political leaders to remove tweets and has many ramifications including issues related to fundamental rights. The court directed the leaders to remove the post and things associated with it, and stop their recirculation. Irani has filed a civil defamation suit seeking a permanent and mandatory injunction along with damages of more than Rs 2 crore and stated Ramesh, Khera and DSouza conspired with other unknown individuals to launch scathing and belligerent personal remarks to malign and defame her young child. The top echelons of the government including Union Ministers and came out all guns blazing in Iranis defence after the stand-off between her and President Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Iranis daughters Goa venture was also reported on the social media, along with pictures Irani claims are false. Justice Mini Pushkarna, who heard the case in the Delhi High Court, stated: I am of the prima facie view that slanderous allegations were made against the plaintiff without verifying actual facts. Grave injury has been caused to the reputation of the plaintiff in view of the tweets and retweets carried out due to the press conference of the defendants, the court added. (The) plaintiff has made out prima facie case and balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants. I deem it proper to pass an interim injunction directing Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta DSouza to delete and remove the allegations made during the press conference from all social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook and Inc. They are also directed to remove the post, videos, tweets, retweets, morphed pictures of the plaintiff and her daughter along with the allegations and stop their recirculation. If defendants 1-3 fail to comply with the directions within 24 hours of this order, defendants 4-6 (social media platforms) are directed to take down the material, the court added. The fallout of Thursdays events was that the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha worked for exactly 19 minutes. Before adjourning, the governments legislative business for next week was announced. The following Bills are expected to be introduced: The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2022; and the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2022. However, the jury is still out on the suspension, which ended on Thursday, of the 23 MPs of different parties. If their behaviour remains the same when the House meets on Monday, there is a possibility they could be suspended for the rest of the session. Opposition MPs continued their 50-hour day-night sit-in on Friday morning in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside premises to mark their strong against their suspension and the central government which they claimed was not ready to hold discussion over key issues like price rise and increased GST rates. A total of 27 MPs including 23 Rajya Sabha MPs and 4 Lok Sabha MPs have been suspended for "unruly behaviour" during the ongoing . This is learnt to be the highest number of single-batch suspensions in the Upper House. The 50-hour long sit-in is likely to end around 5 pm on Friday. MPs, who were suspended for the week for their "unruly behaviour and disrupting proceedings" in the Parliament, had started the sit-in Wednesday afternoon. Among the MPs who spent the night outside include Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Abir Ranjan Biswas and Derek O'Brien while TMC MPs Dola Sen, Sushmita Dev, Mausam Noor, AAP MPs Sushil Gupta and Sandeep Pathak were at the protest site till midnight. On the second night under the sky, the MPs arranged mosquito nets for themselves. TMC MP Derek O'Brien and AAP MP Sanjay Singh shared a photo from the protest site where the MPs could be seen inside mosquito nets. Congress leader Manickam Tagore earlier on Thursday posted a video of a mosquito sitting on a protesting MP's hand. In that video, a mosquito coil was also seen. "Non-stop day-night 50 hr dharna still on. About 6 hours to go. Revoke suspension of 27 MPs suspended for seeking a discussion on #PriceRise. Opposition fighting to save sanctity of from dictators," tweeted TMC MP Derek O'Brien. Some of the media reports also claimed that the suspended Rajya Sabha MPs who are protesting in the Parliament had consumed "tandoori chicken" in front of Mahatama Gandhi's statue. Sanjay Singh took to Twitter to share several pictures of the protest and said that the Chief Minister of Gujarat should resign as many children lost their parents because of the spurious liquor "These innocent children were made orphans by the poisonous liquor of Gujarat. Is it a crime to raise their issue in the House? Should the CM of Gujarat not resign? The night has passed, it is morning. The protest in the Parliament premises continued for the third day," he said in a tweet. Singh also shared a video on Twitter and said today the protest has entered the third and they will continue till the government discusses the spurious liquor tragedy in Gujarat. "Today is the third day of protest and today I am sitting in front of the Gandhi statue inside the parliament premises. The issue because we are protesting is to hold a discussion in Parliament over the death of 75 people by consuming spurious liquor in Gujarat. In the state where the BJP is in power for the last 27 years and where liquor is banned, their small children are orphaned because of spurious liquor. This is the matter we want to raise in Parliament but we were suspended. But I am still in the Parliament premises and will continue to protest," said AAP MP. Earlier, Singh told ANI that all the 20 suspended MPs from Rajya Sabha would continue their 50-hour long sit-in till Friday afternoon and that the Modi government should apologize to the people of Gujarat over the spurious liquor tragedy. MPs who were suspended on Tuesday over 'unruly behaviour and disrupting proceedings' include Sushmita Dev, Santanu Sen, Dola Sen, Mausam Noor, Shanta Chhetri, Abhi Ranjan Biswar and Mohd Nadidul Haque. On July 27, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of this week for "throwing paper on the Chair" during the proceedings. Singh was the 20th MP from the Upper House who was suspended for disrupting proceedings in this session. This is the highest number of single-batch suspensions in the Upper House. On July 25, four Congress MPs including Manickam Tagore, Ramya Haridas, Jothimani and TN Prathapan were suspended from the Lok Sabha for the entire Monsoon session for their 'unruly behaviour and disrupting proceedings.' The commenced on July 18 and will continue till August 12. There will be 18 sittings during the Session. (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 K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday met (SP) chief at his residence here and discussed national . During the hour-long meeting, the two leaders discussed the prevailing political situation and other national issues, according to an official statement. SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav was also present in the meeting. The chief minister, who was in the national capital for the last three days, held several meetings with his Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs and discussed various issues concerning the state. He is also expected to meet farmers' union representatives. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) is cracking down on unexpected, annoying ads that users face while playing Android games, along with several other new ads guidelines to ensure high-quality experiences for users on Play Store. Effective from September 30, developers cannot show full-screen ads of all formats (video, GIF, static, etc.) that show unexpectedly, typically when the user has chosen to do something else, are not allowed. "Ads that appear during game play at the beginning of a level or during the beginning of a content segment are not allowed and full-screen video interstitial ads that appear before an app's loading screen (splash screen) are not allowed," said in its developer policy update. Such ads are unexpected for users, as they expect to begin a game or engage in content instead. Full screen ads of all formats that are not "closeable after 15 seconds are not allowed", said . "Opt-in full screen interstitials or full screen interstitials that do not interrupt users in their actions (for example, after the score screen in a game app) may persist more than 15 seconds," said Google. This policy does not apply to rewarded ads, monetisation and advertising that does not interfere with normal app use or game play. Effective from November 1, all apps distributed on Google Play are required to respect the Flag_Secure declaration of other apps for security and privacy purposes. "Apps must not facilitate or create workarounds to bypass the Flag_Secure settings in other apps," the company said. Flag_Secure is a display flag declared in an app's code to indicate that its user interface (UI) contains sensitive data intended to be limited to a secure surface while using the app. Google will not allow apps that mislead users by impersonating someone else (another developer, company, entity) or another app from August 31. "Don't imply that your app is related to or authorised by someone that it isn't. Be careful not to use app icons, descriptions, titles, or in-app elements that could mislead users about your app's relationship to someone else or another app," said Google. Effective from September 30, if developers sell subscriptions in apps, they must ensure that the apps clearly disclose how a user can manage or cancel their subscription. "You must also include in your app access to an easy-to-use, online method to cancel the subscription," the company said. --IANS na/ksk/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Popular social media platform Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has announced a new creator fund that will award independent musicians up to $100,000 per month. The company said that the new grant programme is designed to recognise emerging, independent artists for their critical role in driving video creations, inspiring Internet trends and defining cultural moments. "We want to support the independent and emerging artists that are driving creation on Snapchat," Ted Suh, Global Head of Partnerships at Snap, said in a statement. "By providing meaningful funding and creative support, our goal is for artists to feel empowered to continue creating and pursue a career in music," Suh added. Snap said that starting in August, it will provide monthly grants of up to $100,000 to top Sounds creators that are distributing on via DistroKid, and driving the creation of content across the platform. Popular Sounds will also have the opportunity to be included in our Sounds product, in a Lens or Spotlight. The company mentioned that artists must be based in the US and must be over 16 where applicable, and have parental consent. --IANS vc/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.) New Delhi [India], July 29 (ANI/SRV): HanumanCare, a Bihar-based healthcare brand, is eyeing an expansion in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. HanumanCare is an emergency care solutions provider under Medicvisor operating in 38 districts throughout Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi NCR, and parts of Uttar Pradesh. In July 2020 amidst the pandemic, Medicvisor was founded witnessing the lack of emergency medical services (EMS) solutions. HanumanCare delivers urgent healthcare solutions (EMS) such as road ambulance, sick transportation in train (Train ambulance) and Air ambulances. HanumanCare has concentrated EMS in BHARAT, which includes not just cities but also districts, towns, and villages. Every day, emergency cases arise that require medical healthcare providers to solve or handle those problems. Observing this widespread issue, HanumanCare hopes to connect people in need in the local district with the appropriate hospitals in the city centre or metros. The application provided by HanumanCare has 24x7 medical aid provisions along with a 24x7 call centre service for non-app users. The application serves as a one-click solution to multiple services such as booking emergency healthcare, diagnostic collection at home, and many more. The ambulance service by HanumanCare has already catered to 1 lakh plus patients since COVID-19 and operated with a no-rejection policy for all the patients. Additionally, there is uniform pricing for ambulance services, treatment continuity, and tele monitoring enroute assistance for the patient. HanumanCare provides an online presence for paramedics of all skill levels in the community at a time convenient for customers and at a reasonable cost to society. The prototype is currently being tested at the Patna location only and early results are very encouraging. HanumanCare has entered and will revolutionize the relatively unorganized sector of doorstep paramedical services. Some of their major home nursing services include -- emergency first responder; ECG and routine health check-ups. Dr Niraj Jha, Co-Founder of Hanuman, stated, "COVID waves emphasised the absence of emergency care infrastructure (care facilities and trustworthy ambulances) on one hand and a paucity of human resources on the other. We can certainly conclude that there has always been a need to rethink and overhaul the emergency response system in India, particularly in the BHARAT areas. Keeping this in mind, we decided to launch HanumanCare to be the beacon of hope in troubled times. With a positive response since its launch and identifying the gap in the industry, we strive to enter more geographies in the coming years." It is not wrong to deduce that ambulances are largely Hospital driven businesses and co-exist with the availability of Healthcare in the area. According to the study and data of WHO and other renowned Healthcare Institutions, it can be noted that there is an abundant no. of Ambulances in India. But for apparent reasons, the abundance is still not enough to meet the striving needs of Healthcare accessibility in India. The problem lies in the usage of Ambulances. In rural areas, ambulances are often used as Mortuary vans, they're also used for the transfer of patients from Hospitals to Diagnostics and Daycare or Specialty care centers. Thus, more no. of ambulances are required. The solution lies in augmenting the current resources available to us. Medical users don't only require road transport ambulances but also Train and Air ambulances for bed-to-bed transfer of patients to farfetched areas like Mumbai, Vellore, etc which have better accessibility of Healthcare resources. The challenges existing in the Healthcare domain are mainly the Turnaround Time, Care in transit, Monitoring and evaluation of cost, and better accessibility of transport in the PPP model. Hanuman with its GPS-enabled and well-equipped Smart Ambulances is gripping its foot in the domain to augment the resource for better availability and accessibility. AI-powered data-driven decisions enable HanumanCare ambulance and EMR teams are there to improve efficiency and turnaround time by locating patients or clinics near diagnostic and ambulance services. As an aggregator of health services, HanumanCare's AI-powered platform provides customers and partners with transparent pricing and transparency. Furthermore, Digital data (geo-data) and heat maps are also used to find information. The prestigious strategic partners for HanumanCare are Big Apollo Hospital in Patna, which helps in the one-stop ambulance and home nursing services. The company has a tie-up with Apollo Diagnostics, Bihar for a collection centre for home diagnostic services. Additionally, HanumanCare has partnerships with Pathkind Diagnostic, Medanta Hospital, Nokia for Corporate Healthcare Services, and Agile Healthcare. HanumanCare's Co-Founder, Niraj Jha, was named a Medgate Top 40 under 40-Next Wave in Healthcare in 2021 and received the Atal Samman Award for excellent contributions to healthcare in 2020. HanumanCare was also chosen to participate in the Bihar Startup CSR Health Impact Awards 2022 and the MedGate Healthcare Awards 2022. HanumanCare is the first comprehensive healthcare services platform that works by aggregating current service providers and players across varied healthcare demands and infusing transparency. Hanuman's solution also provides quality tracking and employs cutting-edge AI and Machine Learning technologies to react swiftly, effectively, and improve user experience. Furthermore, the firm is convinced that its team's grasp of Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations, issues, and consumer behaviour would assist HanumanCare solution in scaling across India. This story is provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) . A decade after India first got 4G and when private telecom players are at the cusp of 5G deployment, government-owned is yet to be allotted 4G airwaves. This has resulted in declining revenues and stagnating wireless market share for the company in the last few years. The government now wants to transform the beleaguered telco into a financially viable, sustainable and vibrant player. has suffered losses of Rs 50,631 crore in just the last five years, albeit narrowing its losses in FY21. In fact, the last time reported a profit was in 2008-09. Energy / In Depth: Getting the world out of the power crisis The heat waves sweeping the Northern Hemisphere this summer came at a bad time as the extreme hot weather adds strain to an already stretched energy system from China to Europe to North America. Rising energy demand, surging prices and uncertain supply are pushing governments to rethink their energy and carbon strategies. The goals of energy security and reducing emissions have come increasingly into conflict, forcing policymakers into trade-off decisions. China-Indonesia / China to help with Indonesian vaccine hub that will democratize access to life-saving jabs, chamber says Chinas assistance in establishing a regional vaccine center in Indonesia as well as cooperating on research will help ensure that people in the poorest countries can have the same access to life-saving inoculations for diseases including Covid-19 as those in rich nations, according to the head of the Southeast Asian nations leading chamber of commerce. The center is an important part of Indonesias long-term goal, and it will be for developing vaccines, not just for Covid-19 but also tuberculosis and tropical diseases, said Arsjad Rasjid, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in an interview with Caixin. Corruption / Chinas industry and information minister hit with corruption probe Xiao Yaqing, head of Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is being investigated on corruption accusations, the countrys top graft watchdog said Thursday. Xiao, who became the minister in July 2020, is suspected of violations of (Communist Party) discipline and law, according to a statement (link in Chinese) issued by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. While the statement did not offer further details, the phrase is a common euphemism for corruption. FINANCE & ECONOMY In April 2021 Ant said it would restructure as a financial holding company overseen by the central bank. Fintech / Ant makes fresh move to advance internal reshuffle Alibaba-backed fintech giant Ant Group is making another internal structural change to empower its board of directors as part of a broader revamp to satisfy regulatory requirements since its scuppered IPO in late 2020. Ant established a new committee under its board to oversee risk management and consumer protection, the company said in a semi-annual report released Wednesday. The creation of the panel is a key step to enhance corporate governance and strengthen the functioning of the board, Ant said. Banking / Industrial Bank gets a boost as Fujian government expands its stake The biggest state shareholder of Industrial Bank Co. Ltd., one of Chinas leading commercial banks, plans to inject as much as 1 billion yuan ($148 million) to expand its stake and support the banks digital transition, Industrial Bank said. The finance department of the Fujian provincial government will invest between 500 million yuan and 1 billion yuan over six months starting Tuesday buying the banks shares on the open market in batches, Fujian-based Industrial Bank said. Quick hits / China-U.S. audit deal needed very soon to avoid delistings, SEC chief says BUSINESS & TECH Petal Chuxing will come embedded in devices running the new Harmony 3.0 operating system, helping to diversify the business as Huawei's consumer arm struggles under U.S. sanctions. Photo: IC Photo Huawei / Huawei launches ride-hailing platform in challenge to Didis dominance Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., the worlds top telecom-equipment maker, launched a ride-hailing aggregator as it looks to push into the tightly regulated market dominated by Didi Global Inc., which was recently slapped with a hefty fine for breaking Chinas data security laws. The service, named Petal Chuxing, is compatible with various Huawei devices, including smartphones, smartwatches and tablet computers, which are powered by the latest version of the companys homegrown Harmony operating system (OS), He Gang, chief operating officer of Huaweis terminal business group, said Wednesday at a company event. Pork / Hog cannibalism clip spotlights grim plight of Chinas pork producers A 23-second clip of hungry pigs overwhelming and biting one of their kin at a farm run by a leading Chinese pork producer was all it took to spark a stock sell-off and put a spotlight on the operators precarious financial position. The grim video, titled Pigs Eating Pigs, bore a caption saying Jiangxi Zhengbang Technology Co. Ltd. hadnt fed the hogs for eight days. Posted on the Douyin short-video platform at the weekend by a person claiming to work for the firm, the clip was no longer accessible Thursday but had already been widely reposted and shared. Bail / Chinas fragrance queen released on bail while police investigation continues A wealthy business woman under police detention since the beginning of this year has been released on bail as authorities transferred police surveillance on her from one jurisdiction to another, according to a company filing. Zhu Linyao, known as Chinas fragrance queen and founder of the largest flavor-maker, Huabao International Holdings Ltd., is currently under residential surveillance at a designated residence by the police in Anyuan county, Jiangxi province, according to the Tuesday statement. Quick hits / Steel profits plunge in June amid slack demand and rising costs Beijing reopens for international flights after Covid isolation Alibaba primary listing may lure billions of dollars from China Long Read / The Chinese economys uncertain path to recovery GALLERY Deadly earthquake hits Philippines Recommended newsletter for you / Caixin Must-Read Newsletter brings you the best of our coverage and stories you cant miss. You can opt-in now and get hand-picked news coverage delivered to your inbox each week for free. Thanks for reading. If you havent already, click here to subscribe. Guangzhous Nanhu Amusement Park is about to receive a major renovation. Southern Chinas first theme park is showing signs of its age since opening in 1985. The city government plans to invest about 500 million yuan in the park, which will be open 24 hours a day and feature esports venues and night markets Aug 16, 2022 04:26 PM After debuting its technology and its merits for everyday driving , Nissan Philippines has now revealed everything you need to know about i... Photo: The Canadian Press Pope Francis arrives at the church on his popemobile for the holy mass at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne de Beaupr?, east of Quebec City, during his papal visit across Canada in Quebec City on Thursday, July 28, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bernard Brault For the first time since the start of a Canadian tour highlighted by apologies for the Catholic Church's role in Indigenous residential schools, Pope Francis on Thursday acknowledged sexual abuse inflicted on "minors and vulnerable people." Speaking at a prayer service at Quebec City's Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica-Cathedral, Francis said the church in Canada is on a new path after being devastated by the evil perpetrated by some of its sons and daughters. I think in particular of the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people, crimes that require firm action and an irreversible commitment, he said in an address delivered in his native Spanish. Francis has apologized during both the Alberta and Quebec legs of his visit for the role Catholic institutions played in the Indigenous residential school system and until Thursday he had not mentioned sexual abuse. However, he did not specifically say sexual abuse happened at residential schools. He said the Christian community must never again allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to another, reiterating his plea for forgiveness. The pain and the shame we feel must become an occasion for conversion: never again! Francis received a long-standing ovation after his address from the invitation-only congregation, which included bishops, priests, deacons, seminarians and pastoral workers from across Canada. Indigenous people have been expressing a mixture of hope and skepticism over the Pope's visit, with some saying they want to hear about the actions that will follow the pontiffs historic apologies. Anishinaabe activist Sarain Fox and her cousin Chelsea Brunelle raised their fists Thursday morning as they held up a large banner reading "Rescind the doctrine" inside the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, just ahead of a mass led by Francis. The banner referred to the Doctrine of Discovery, which stems from a series of edicts, known as papal bulls, dating back to the 15th century. In an interview after the service, Fox said that while some of the Pope's words on his Canadian trip were meaningful even beautiful "actions speak louder than words." The Pope, she said, has failed to make it clear that the entire religious organization, not just a few bad people, was responsible for residential school abuses. And he has not commented on the doctrine that was used to justify colonizing lands that were considered to be uninhabited but were in fact home to Indigenous Peoples. The women said they hadn't travelled from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., planning to protest but changed their minds after being offended by what they saw as a lack of Indigenous representation and care for survivors at Wednesday's papal events. My experience in Quebec has been that this entire event feels like no one consulted with the Indigenous community, she said. It doesnt feel like were a part of it. The theme of the mass was reconciliation, and the congregation was made up largely of residential school survivors and other Indigenous people. During his homily, the pontiff used two Bible stories that of Adam and Eve and that of two disciples haunted by failure after the death of Jesus to illustrate the churchs difficult and demanding journey of healing and reconciliation. Chief Real McKenzie of the Matimekush-Lac John Innu Nation said he was hopeful the Pope's visit and his message would provide healing for some, but he acknowledged it has divided communities. Some are going to accept it," McKenzie said, but others are going to die without hearing what they consider a satisfactory response. Jackie Gull-Barney, from the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi in northern Quebec, said before the service that she was hoping to find healing and peace from the Pope's visit. Gull-Barney said her family was "split in half" by residential schools, after she and two of her siblings were sent to English-language schools in Ontario, and two younger siblings learned French at schools in Quebec. She was happy with the Pope's apology to Indigenous people in Maskwacis, Alta., which she felt was "very humble and very sincere." But she wants to know what concrete steps will follow. "What will happen after the apology?" she said. "Is there going to be programs and places we can go for assistance and help to carry on?" Hundreds gathered outside the basilica in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre, Que., to listen to Francis lead the second mass of his Canadian tour, which he has called a pilgrimage of penance. Organizers said many of the speakers who delivered readings at the service Thursday were Indigenous, and the Pope's chasuble the outermost garment worn by Roman Catholic priests during mass was specially designed by a local Huron-Wendat artist. Many in the pews were dressed in orange to represent the Every Child Matters movement remembering the children lost in residential schools and the survivors. Some attendees wore floral scarfs, and elders in wheelchairs sat in a section to the left near the stage. Louis Joe Bernard, a Mi'kmaq who came from Nova Scotia, said the Pope's visit has stirred emotions but it is beneficial. I think we need God in our lives and with the Pope here, realizing, acknowledging the harm that was done to the Aboriginal people, I think it is good, Bernard said. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Pope's trip to Canada was a "step toward healing," but acknowledged that some Indigenous leaders want to see Francis go further. "His Holinesss message, the churchs message that this is a beginning of a process is encouraging, has been helpful to many in their healing, but theres a lot of work to do," Trudeau told reporters in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre. Francis is to leave Quebec City on Friday and make a brief stop in Iqaluit before heading home to Vatican City. The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help residential school survivors and their relatives suffering trauma invoked by the recall of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419. Photo: CTV News As summer dawned in B.C., Gwen bought an accessible van so she and her three-year-old daughter could explore together. One day they drove from the Fraser Valley to the ocean for a childrens event that Gwen had learned about, sitting by the water and watching boats speed by. Even though it was a four-hour round trip and she had to take out a loan to pay for the van, Gwen says it was worth it for what might be her last chance to share memories with her three-year-old daughter. Because Gwen is considering a medically assisted death if she cannot access essential treatment for her chronic pain and disabilities, which make it impossible at times to eat, sleep, move or play with her child. Government support and health coverage dont fund the treatment that Gwen says her doctors recommend to vastly reduce her pain, or to provide enough income to live with a little one. The support of family and many friends across the Lower Mainland have made it possible for Gwen and her daughter to keep living together, but Gwen says she fears losing custody if her pain worsens or her support network falters. Gwens family and friends are crowdfunding to cover the costs of what they believe could be life-changing therapy, in the hopes it will give her the chance to manage her pain and live to see her daughter grow up. I didnt have any idea how bad this condition would get when I had my daughter... and I feel like Im failing her, Gwen told The Tyee. (Due to the sensitive nature of her conditions, The Tyee is not using her or her daughters real names.) Im so desperate to just be with her. Gwen is one of several disabled people in B.C. and across Canada who have raised concerns about changes to the rules around Medical Assistance in Dying, a process where a doctor or nurse practitioner can assist some individuals, at their request, in ending their lives. They say expanding MAID eligibility to people whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable the original requirement should not come until assistance rates and health coverage are increased to provide what poor disabled people need to live. While MAID was intended to give people broader personal choice and autonomy in health care, Gwen says recent eligibility expansions make it easier for those with chronic conditions to die instead of live. In June, the federal government broadened MAID eligibility to include people whose death is not reasonably foreseeable, and early next year, Canada will become one of the few nations in the world allowing MAID for people with mental illnesses. The expanded criteria now gives Gwen and many more disabled people access to MAID. Gwen was born with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, an inherited connective tissue disorder that makes it more difficult for her to move and walk. After her back was injured in a 2013 car accident, Gwen developed chronic intolerable pain. She uses a walker for mobility and will soon have a wheelchair after a two-year wait. Gwen is also autistic, leading to sensory issues that often make it difficult to receive care and manage her complex pain and multiple chemical sensitivities. Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which is not a terminal condition with proper treatment, has made Gwens back injuries even more complicated and painful. Gwen, a community advocate and former non-profit worker, has had to stop working due to the pain, but is still active online helping out fellow disabled people and their families when she can. When pain flares up, it feels like the wind is knocked out of me and I cant breathe, Gwen said. She cant move from the couch easily and sleeps propped up on pillows to keep pressure off her back and hold up her head so she can breathe and swallow. Gwen says she may only have a few pain flare-ups per year, but theyre worse each time, often lasting weeks. It takes months for her to stabilize physically and mentally afterward, she said. I have to build up this inertia just to get from the couch to the kitchen, Gwen said. And its hard to explain to my daughter that if she gets underfoot, I could really get hurt. Gwen experiences suicidal ideation because of the unrelenting pain. I dont want to die, but when youre in that much pain, these intrusive thoughts come up, she said. The suffering is so far beyond what anyone can fathom. Gwen receives $1,694 per month in provincial disability assistance, which barely covers rent and food for her and her daughter, let alone accessibility improvements such as a ramp she needs to get into housing. Gwen said ICBC and the province have both declined to pay for a treatment course recommended by her doctors that would help desensitize her central nervous system and bring her pain to a more manageable threshold so that she can get surgery for her back injury. The IV infusion therapy of ketamine at a private pain clinic in B.C. costs about $2,900 per day. Gwen would likely need two rounds of 10-day treatments, at minimum, plus travel expenses and child care for future treatments in the United States. Ketamine infusions have been shown to alleviate a variety of pain syndromes, including central nervous pain like Gwens. The province may cover extended health therapies if an individual who receives assistance has no other options and it is recommended by a health-care provider. Despite some evidence supporting ketamines effectiveness at alleviating symptoms of depression and chronic pain, the infusions are not covered because they are considered an off-label use of the drug at this time. Gwens GoFundMe, organized by about a dozen friends and acquaintances from her disability support communities online, has raised a little over $14,000 towards its $60,000 goal. Before the accident, Gwen said she generally believed help would be there for those who needed it. But she says the little support she has received from the government as her conditions have deteriorated is worse than nothing. Advocates for those with disabilities and health-care experts have raised concerns that low-income people will be forced to choose medically assisted deaths instead of facing life without the supports they need to live well. In the last six months at least three people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in B.C. said they were considering MAID in the absence of proper care and treatment. In Ontario, advocates say one woman felt she had no choice but to die after she could not find or afford housing free of cigarette smoke and cleaners, to which she was severely allergic. Its eugenics, because they dont want us to be properly supported and be OK. And if we dont have family to take care of us, its Please just go and die, said Gwen. Lauren Clark, who founded and runs Bridge C-14 for individuals and families considering and completing MAID, said situations like Gwens are becoming more common. We know the system is fractured and not able to support those in need, said Clark, who is a registered social worker. Whether or not they want to apply for MAID, this may be their only option to alleviate suffering. Clark said it is concerning because MAID was created to give people more bodily autonomy and choice, but it appears those who struggle with disabilities without the support they need are being pushed towards dying. It needs to be a good choice, not a choice of last resort, Clark said. Gwen feels grateful for the community that has rallied around her to help care for her daughter and fight for her care. That includes Bunny Wilder, who crossed paths with Gwen online a few years ago. Wilder, who is disabled and a single parent of a disabled child, said when the stories of people opting for MAID out of desperation began to surface, they knew it was only a matter of time until it affected someone they knew. I know its one bad viral illness or car accident and it could be me in that position, Wilder said from their home in East Vancouver. When we dont have an option to live with dignity... then MAID isnt really a choice. While theyve never met in person, Wilder said Gwen is generous and has an incredible sense of justice that shines through. They hope this show of support will save Gwens life, but they think of the people who arent able to advocate for themselves or dont have a network like Gwens. No one deserves to die because they dont have access to money, said Wilder. No one who wants to live should have death paid for by the government when the government wont pay for them to live. Gwen is angry about how hard she is having to fight to stay alive and to be able to care for her daughter. As she speaks on the phone to The Tyee, Gwens mother and daughter return from playing at the park, and the toddler squeals with delight when she sees her mom. She cant understand any of this, and when she gets older shes going to wonder why people didnt save her mom, said Gwen. I dont want that to be her future. And I dont want her to be angry, because she is so full of love and joy. Photo: Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada The Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area is home to 90% of Canada's tufted puffins. Two environmental groups are suing the Canadian federal government over 20 oil and gas sleeper exploration permits originally granted off the coast of British Columbia in the late 1960s and 1970s. The application for judicial review, filed in a federal court on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund Canada and David Suzuki Foundation, claims the federal government has unlawfully extended the permits in violation of the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The central argument that we're advancing is that those permits are expired and the federal government has unlawfully kept them alive and on the books for more than 40 years, said Ecojustice staff attorney Ian Miron, who is representing the two plaintiffs. We certainly think that the threat of oil and gas exploration is not an abstract one. Miron pointed to the Bay du Nord offshore oil project approved this year off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador as an example of how the government is still approving major extraction projects despite its climate commitments. The permits cover an area spreading out over 5,840 square kilometres in the Hecate Strait Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area and the Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area off the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. The Scott Islands attract five to 10 million migrating birds every year. The coastal sanctuary has the highest concentration of breeding seabirds on Canadas Pacific coast, and the islands provide habitat for 40 per cent of all B.C.s seabirds. That includes several species listed as at risk by the federal government, including marbled murrelets, short-tailed albatross and the sooty shearwater. Four of the Hecate Strait glass sponge reefs, meanwhile, are thought to be 9,000 years old. Before they were discovered, they were thought to be extinct worldwide, only surviving in the fossil record dating back to the late Jurassic period. Described as exceptionally fragile and vulnerable to human activity, the glass sponges play an important role in marine carbon and nitrogen processing, according to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. In a nutshell, these two ecosystems support a thriving biodiversity but also contribute to thriving culture and livelihoods for the communities along the coast, said Miron. Miron said the environmental groups are taking the matter the court as a last resort after questions to the federal government and the two companies that hold the permits Chevron Canada and ExxonMobil Canada fell on deaf ears. We do think there is some urgency to taking these permits off the books, said the attorney. Our clients believe that the mere existence of these permits in these protected areas is actually hampering efforts to fully protect and manage the areas. Glacier Media reached out to the Ministry of Natural Resources and ExxonMobil Canada, but neither responded to a request for comment by the time of publication. A spokesperson for Chevron Canada declined to comment, citing pending litigation. If the defendants choose to fight the application for judicial review, a case could reach a federal court within a year, says Miron. Photo: The Canadian Press The Supreme Court of Canada says sex with a condom is a different physical act than sex without one, and that the use of a condom can be a condition of consent under sexual assault law. In a 5-4 decision today, the top court says that "no, not without a condom" should not be found to mean "yes, without a condom" in a courtroom. The court has ordered a new trial in a British Columbia case in which a complainant told a new sexual partner, Ross McKenzie Kirkpatrick, that she would only have sex with him if he wore a condom. The fact Kirkpatrick used a condom the first time they had sex led the complainant to assume that he was already wearing one when he initiated sex for a second time, she told the court but he wasn't, which she said she did not realize until he ejaculated. The sexual assault charge against Kirkpatrick was dismissed by a trial judge who found there was no evidence the complainant had not consented to "the sexual activity in question," nor that the defendant had been explicitly deceitful, which would have been another avenue for conviction. Although the reasons for its decision are split, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed with the B.C. Court of Appeal's decision that the trial judge erred in the finding of no evidence. Photo: The Canadian Press Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard searched Friday for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America. Kentuckys governor said 16 people have died, a toll he expected to grow as the rain keeps falling. Weve still got a lot of searching to do, said Jerry Stacy, the emergency management director in Kentucky s hard-hit Perry County. We still have missing people. Powerful floodwaters swallowed towns that hug creeks and streams in Appalachian valleys and hollows, swamping homes and businesses, trashing vehicles in useless piles and crunching runaway equipment and debris against bridges. Mudslides marooned people on steep slopes and at least 33,000 customers were without power. Gov. Andy Beshear told The Associated Press Friday that children were among the victims, and that the death toll could more than double as rescue teams search the disaster area. The tough news is 16 confirmed fatalities now, and folks thats going to get a lot higher, the governor said during a late-morning briefing. He said the deaths were in four eastern Kentucky counties. Emergency crews made close to 50 air rescues and hundreds of water rescues on Thursday, and more people still needed help, Beshear said: "This is not only an ongoing disaster but an ongoing search and rescue. The water is not going to crest in some areas until tomorrow. Rachel Patton said floodwaters filled her Floyd County home so quickly that her mother, who is on oxygen, had to be evacuated on a door that was floated across the high water. Pattons voice faltered as she described their harrowing escape. We had to swim out and it was cold. It was over my head so it was, it was scary, she told WCHS TV. The water was so swift that some people trapped in their homes couldnt be reached on Thursday, said Floyd County Judge-Executive Robbie Williams. Just to the west in Perry County, some people remained unaccounted for and almost everyone in the area had suffered some sort of damage, firefighter Glenn Caudil said. Probably 95 percent of the people in this area lost everything houses, cars, animals. Its heartbreaking, Caudil told WCHS. Determining the number of people unaccounted for is tough with cell service and electricity out across the disaster area, he said: This is so widespread, its a challenge on even local officials to put that number together. More than 200 people have sought shelter, Beshear said. He deployed National Guard soldiers to the hardest-hit areas. Three parks set up shelters, and with property damage so extensive, the governor opened an online portal for donations to the victims. President Joe Biden called to express his support for what will be a lengthy recovery effort, Beshear said, predicting it will take more than a year to fully rebuild. Biden also declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency appointed an officer to coordinate the recovery. Beshear had planned to tour the disaster area on Friday, but postponed it because conditions at an airport where they planned to land are unsafe, his office said. More rain Friday tormented the region after days of torrential rainfall. The storm sent water gushing from hillsides and surging out of streambeds, inundating roads and forcing rescue crews to use helicopters and boats to reach trapped people. Flooding also damaged parts of western Virginia and southern West Virginia, across a region where poverty is endemic. There are hundreds of families that have lost everything, Beshear said. And many of these families didnt have much to begin with. And so it hurts even more. But were going to be there for them. Poweroutage.us reported more than 33,000 customers remained without electricity Friday in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia, with the bulk of the outages in Kentucky. Rescue crews also worked in Virginia and West Virginia to reach people in places where roads werent passable. Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six counties in West Virginia where the flooding downed trees, power outages and blocked roads. Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration, enabling Virginia to mobilize resources across flooded areas of southwest Virginia. With more rainfall forecasted over the next few days, we want to lean forward in providing as many resources possible to assist those affected, Youngkin said in a statement. While some floodwaters receded after peaking Thursday, the National Weather Service said flash flooding remained possible through Friday evening in places across the region. The hardest hit areas of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches over a 48-hour period ending Thursday, said Brandon Bonds, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Jackson. Some areas got more rain overnight, including Martin County, which was pounded with another 3 inches or so leading to new a flash flood warning on Friday. The North Fork of the Kentucky River rose to broke records in at least two places. A river gauge recorded 20.9 feet in Whitesburg, more than 6 feet over the previous record, and the river crested at a record 43.47 feet in Jackson, Bonds said. Bonds said some places could see more rain Friday afternoon, and begin to dry out on Saturday before things pick back up Sunday and into next week. In Whitesburg, Kentucky, floodwaters seeped into Appalshop, an arts and education center renowned for promoting and preserving the region's history and culture. Were not sure exactly the full damage because we havent been able to safely go into the building or really get too close to it," said Meredith Scalos, its communications director. We do know that some of our archival materials have flooded out of the building into Whitesburg streets. Photo: Glacier Media A 30-year-old Vancouver man arrested last month in connection with a vandalism spree in North Vancouver has now been charged with an attack on a homeless person in West Vancouver. Jessie James Constant Olson faces charges of assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm in connection with the case. The apparently unprovoked assault on the homeless person happened early Tuesday morning, June 14, when a suspect approached the 55-year-old victim in West Vancouver and began yelling at him, police said at the time. The suspect also threw several large rocks, resulting in lacerations to the victims head and hand. Investigators said the victim did not know the suspect. Surveillance footage captured nearby showed the suspect was a light-skinned man with dark, curly hair. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a black hoodie, black pants and black shoes as well as a blue hat. Police arrested Olson days after seeking public help in identifying the suspect captured on a surveillance camera. Not long before the assault, someone also perpetrated a spate of vandalism on businesses and vehicles along Marine Drive in North Vancouver. Residents reported dozens of smashed windows and other damage to property. Multiple buildings at three different locations in North Vancouver were targeted over a three-day period, June 14-16. Windows of businesses and vehicles and security cameras were smashed, along with fob scanners used to enter office and apartment buildings. In some cases, hoses were turned on and put inside mail slots, resulting in water damage, according to North Vancouver RCMP spokesman Sgt. Peter DeVries. Video and images shared by business owners in the area showed a man whose appearance is identical to that of the assault suspect in the image released by West Vancouver police. Olson faces three charges of mischief for damage to buildings that happened in North Vancouver between June 14 and 15 at 2070 Curling Rd., 2030 Marine Drive and 340 Brooksbank Ave., as well as one charge of obstructing a peace office in North Vancouver June 16. He also faces charges of assault with a weapon, threats and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose for events that happened June 10 in North Vancouver. Olson is also charged with being unlawfully in a dwelling house at 7072 Inlet Drive in Burnaby on April 11, 2022 and with three counts of breaching a probation order. Olson remains in custody. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 4 in North Vancouver. In case you missed it, (Kelowna) Mayor Basran has unofficially launched his campaign with a slew of videos posted to his recently re-activated social media accounts. I guess communicating with the public is only important during elections. But what is more concerning is the recent release of a two-minute campaign-style video by the City of Kelowna itself. The video features only the mayor and goes on at length about what the city has done to fight crime since the last election. The timing of this release is certainly striking. Shortly after (former mayoral candidate) Tom Dyas announced his candidacy for mayor (again) with the top pillar of his platform focused on crime and safety, the city released the video of the mayor talking about crime and safety since the last election. The video was paid for and made using taxpayer dollars. Essentially, we the taxpayers, are paying for (part of) the mayors campaign through his use of city resources. I wonder when this video was filmed? Was it after Dyas campaign launch? Is it ethical to hold off on announcing your campaign so that you can keep using taxpayer dollars and city resources to campaign against your biggest challengers? I dont think so. Kieran Gray, Kelowna (Editors note: Incumbent Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran has yet to publicly announce if he will run in the upcoming municipal election.) Xi underscores need for China, U.S. to maintain communication on important issues Xinhua) 08:59, July 29, 2022 BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that China and the United States need to maintain communication on such important issues as coordinating macroeconomic policies, keeping global industrial and supply chains stable, and protecting global energy and food security. Xi made the remarks when having talks over phone with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden. Attempts at decoupling or severing supply chains in defiance of underlying laws would not help boost the U.S. economy, Xi said, adding that they would only make the world economy more vulnerable. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) Photo: BC Gov't B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman said the province is spending an additional $3.8 million on marine cleanup projects to restore the health of B.C.s coastline and marine ecosystems. Heyman was joined by Aman Singh, MLA for Richmond-Queensborough, Kelly Greene, MLA for Richmond Steveston, and Parm Bains, MP from Steveston-Richmond East to make the announcement from the Richmond non-profit Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF), a new facility that is committed to combating plastic waste in oceans through innovative ways to recycle and reuse. The new projects funded by the province in partnership with coastal communities and Indigenous peoples will clean up 1,000 kilometres of B.C.s coastline, remove as many as 30 derelict vessels and create more local job opportunities, said Heyman. The Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative came out of consultations with local governments and individuals in 2019. Concerns were raised over abandoned vessels, mooring buoys, polystyrene foam, aquaculture debris and single-use plastics. The cleanup projects will be carried out by the Coastal Restoration Society, Misty Isles Economic Development Society and OLF, which will clear 400 kilometres of shoreline debris from North Vancouver Island to the south coast of the Sea to Sky region. In total, the projects will support the creation of 150 jobs, according to the province. Meanwhile, Heyman noted that the province is investing in new technologies to turn used plastics into new products. He also said B.C. is working to expand the number of products that can be recycled, including electric vehicle batteries. Chloe Dubois, OLFs co-founder and president, said the Clean Coast, Clean Waters initiative has not only cleaned out polluted debris but also transformed these materials into high-value plastic pellets that can be used to create new, durable and long-lasting goods. With our provincial-wide cleanup and processing facilities, we have the opportunity to protect our oceans and aquatic life and reduce the allocation of precious land to landfills, reduce the lifetime costs of managing these landfills, create important jobs and create high-value products, said Dubois. We have the continued opportunity to transform a long-standing problem that has plagued coastal communities... into a new sustainability sector for our province. This morning, Bains took Vancouver's U.S. Consul General Brent Hardt on a tour around the Ocean Legacy Facility to discuss how Canada and U.S. can work together to accelerate climate ambitions. To date, the initiative has removed more than 1,000 tonnes of debris from local waters and cleaned nearly 4,000 kilometres of shoreline, roughly the distance from Victoria to Quebec City. Re. Kelowna child's $3,000 autism assessment turned out to be useless (Castanet,July 29) (In the story) SJ warns us about the complications that may occur when working with an unlicensed therapist. I would like to share my personal experience. Having grown up in Netherlands where I obtained my engineering degree, I worked for 10 years in Holland for an international energy company before I got the opportunity to work abroad as engineer. Without any problems, I worked for 22 years in six countries on three continents in engineering positions. Then I retired and had the opportunity to settle in Canada as permanent resident. The interesting thing in Canada is that here, my engineering degree is not recognized. In other words, I am not allowed to call myself an engineer in Canada as I am not licensed. (It does not) bother me because I am retired, but it is a bit funny after all the years working as engineer outside the country where I was born and where I studied. In an earlier letter to Castanet I have pleaded for a global standardization of university and college degrees such that examples as SJ describes (so this) can be avoided as much as possible. I hope one of our MPs will take this issue on and pursue a solution on the federal level. Ronald Ratgers, Kelowna Photo: NorthWest Copper Corp.. A Lorraine Project mineral resource estimate update released this week provides encouraging news for NorthWest Copper, the mining company exploring the area 280 km northwest of Prince George. The demand for copper continues to increase as the world attempts to ditch its dependence on fossil fuels in favour of renewable electric energy sources. That global drain on copper supplies and a spike in market prices has peaked the interest of a Vancouver mining company exploring a region of the central Interior where core samples have revealed rich copper and gold deposits. A mineral resource estimate update released this week for the 56,000 hectare Lorraine Project, 280 kilometres northwest of Prince George, is encouraging news for NorthWest Copper Corp., which has identified two other areas or copper-gold deposits in the same area. Based on historic drilling samples that started in 1949, the Lorraine Project, about 50 km northeast of Takla Landing, has revealed significant mineralization in shallow surface deposits. NorthWest plans to expand its drilling operations this summer to determine the feasibility of combining Lorraine with its other operations, 40 km to the south, to developing a permanent mine. Its a project thats been around for a long time, however, it is pretty close to our Kwanika-Stardust Project, so the proximity of all those things together makes them more interesting, said company president and CEO Peter Bell. When you build a mine you need a combination of richness, how much metal there is in each tonne of rock, and the more you make per tonne, the more profitable the operation is. But it needs to be a certain size in order to pay for building it, you need that combination. In this case, because we have these other projects in our portfolio, we end up with enough scale to make it viable. And because the rock is very rich, once you get an operation up and going, its likely to be profitable. If it leads to a mining project, the cost to develop it would be in the range of $500-600 million. Construction and the cost of operating a mine would create hundreds of jobs for many years in the region. As a job creator, Bell said it would be similar in scale to Mount Milligan. As with any mining operation, the company would first have to have the approval area First Nations and the province and then would then have to raise the money to develop it, which he said would take years. The Lorraine mineral deposit is roughly two-thirds copper and one-third gold. Because the deposits are close to surface, the costs of extraction would be minimalized and that adds to the potential of development. The area is also close to the CN rail line and provides access to BC Hydro power lines. Another plus is there is a skilled workforce already employed at existing mines in the vicinity, such as Mount Milligan, which could help speed development of the project. NorthWest Copper already has close to 100 drillers, surveyors and geologists who started drilling at Kwanika on March 25. The company in the development stage of another exploration project East Niv a new copper-gold discovery in 2021 in the same corridor further to the northwest. East Niv is close to the Kemess Underground Project being developed by Centerra Gold. The global need for copper continues to increase while consumers switch to renewables such as electric vehicles and development of green energy is dependent on mining to create materials needed for electricity generation, transmission and storage. The UN Forecast Policy Scenario predicts a substantial increase in electricity generation from renewable sources hydro, wind and solar which will also increase the demand for copper. Renewables are expected to become the largest global source of power and by 2050, providing 73 per cent of the worlds electricity, up from 25 per cent in 2020. This is a pretty special time in the mining business and copper is kind of at the core of electrifying the whole energy economy in the world, said Bell. If were going to wire up all these electric cars and all these things are going to reduce our use of fossil fuels, we need a lot of copper to do it, and B.C. is a great place to develop a project. Were in Canada, were in our own backyard. Theres s lots of good infrastructure there and a history of mining and we have a lot of hydroelectric power, which is a great way to power an operation. Chile and Peru are the two largest copper producers but political unrest in both countries is putting pressure on mining producers. B.C. produces 54 per cent of Canadas copper and has more than 80 percent of the countrys copper reserves. Market prices for copper have increased from $2.80 per pound in 2020 to the current $3.42, while the price of gold is about $2,218 per ounce. Drilling at the Lorraine Project will start later this summer after the company upgrades a deactivated forest service road access and creates a camp for workers. NorthWest intends to spend $20 million this year to further explore the region. Formerly known as Serengeti Resources Inc., the company merged with Sun Metals Corp. in March 2021 to become NorthWest Copper. Serengeti has been exploring the region since 2004. The merger joined Kwanika and Stardust into one project. The new value of NorthWest is in putting a bunch of projects together and achieving more scale than we had when things were all in separate hands, said Bell. Cementir's 1H22 boosted by Danish results 29 July 2022 Cementir's sales in the 1H22 were led by Denmark, where sales revenue in the 1H22 reached EUR233.3m, up 14 per cent from EUR204.5m in the 1H21, due to sustained demand in all business segments, particularly in cement, and higher sales prices. Cement volumes in Denmark, both grey and white, increased by about 14.5 per cent YoY in the 1H22 due to growth in all major market segments, favourable weather conditions and the start of new infrastructure projects. Exports of white cement fell by 26 per cent YoY in the 1H22 due to redistribution of sales in the United States to other group companies. On the other hand, there was an increase in sales of white cement in Poland and a contraction in France and Belgium. In the 1H22 cement sales volumes in Belgium increased by approximately three per cent compared to 2021, with positive trends in Belgium, the Netherlands and France and a decline in Germany. In Belgium, demand developed positively, especially in the first quarter, also supported by favourable weather conditions, with average sales prices rising. White cement sales volume growth in North America was 1.5 per cent, supported by higher deliveries especially in Texas and California, where demand was sustained and is expected to continue its upward trend in the coming months, especially in the residential and bagged cement sectors. In contrast, the York (PA) region was affected by adverse weather conditions in the first quarter and problems caused by a shortage of logistics personnel. Demand is also expected to be robust for the coming months. The increase in Turkish cement sales prices led to a strong increase in sales revenues in local currency. Sales volumes in the Turkish market decreased by 14 per cent due to a significant reduction in sales at the Elazig plant in Eastern Anatolia (45 per cent) and Kars in northeastern Turkey (-46 per cent), only partially offset by higher deliveries from the Izmir plant in the Aegean region (+7 per cent). The contraction in Elazig is also to be attributed to the end of infrastructure projects related to the reconstruction following the January 2020 earthquake, while in the Kars area weather conditions were worse than expected and uncertainties about the economic situation in Turkey had a greater influence on the start of new construction projects. Cement and clinker exports increased by about 30 per cent also due to higher clinker volumes exported to Denmark. Chinese sales revenue increased by 10.7 per cent to EUR31.2m (EUR 28.2m in the 1H21) despite the fact that sales volumes declined by 10.5 per cent compared to the 1H21 for a number of reasons: further restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 especially in the east and south of the country (Shanghai was in lock down until 1 June), logistical problems in the country's major ports, a major slowdown during the Chinese New Year, as well as adverse weather conditions and international political tensions. Sales revenue in Malaysia increased by 31.5 per cent to EUR26.8m (EUR20.4m in the corresponding period of 2021) against a 5.5 per cent growth in total volumes. Malaysian sales were down by 16 per cent due to the decline in private residential activity and the shortage of skilled labour at some large construction sites. Exports increased by eight per cent compared to 2021, due to higher volumes sold in Australia, Cambodia and Myanmar only partially offset by lower volumes in South Korea. Outlook The economic indicators for the second quarter point to downside risks for most advanced and emerging economies. The price of energy commodities marked further significant increases, mainly due to the continuation of the Ukraine-Russia war, triggering further inflationary pressures. With reference to the group's activities, in light of the results for the first half of the year, the targets announced on 8 February 2022 are confirmed, ie to achieve consolidated revenues of more than EUR1.5bn, an EBITDA of between EUR305m and EUR315m and a net cash position of about EUR60m at year-end, including industrial investments of about EUR95m. Published under This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court mandated the state government to maintain the equality clause when awarding punishment to employees for committing similar offences. The court said awarding different punishments for similar offences indicated clear discrimination, which would be tantamount to denial of equality as guaranteed by Article 14 of the Constitution of India. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surepalli Nanda made the directions while dealing a petition filed by a retired treasury department employee, whose pension was withheld permanently to the tune of 30 per cent on the ground that he had been proved guilty in misappropriation of treasury funds. Another employee, who was facing similar charges, was not punished but his pension was nominally withheld for a limited period. The petitioner in the case, S.M.P.M. Hashmi worked as sub-treasury officer, Karimnagar, and retired in 2001. In 2004, charges were made against the petitioner that he had caused a financial loss to the exchequer by allowing some government employees to fraudulently withdraw funds from the treasury. Some of the charges were that Rs 75,000 was paid to one Syed Ameena Ahmed, senior accountant in the district treasury, towards medical advance bill without sanction orders, and another medical reimbursement bill of Rs 5,410 was processed by the same officer which was also a fraudulent action. Another sub-treasury officer, Karimnagar, also drew an amount of Rs 17,662 towards medical reimbursement though the bill did not receive proper sanction. In his explanation, the petitioner submitted that he had no authority to sanction the bills since he was only a sub-treasury officer and that the bills were prepared by the district treasury officer and passed by the assistant treasury officer and as such he was not responsible for both preparing and passing bills for payment. Several employees of the Karimnagar treasury office were charged with the same allegations and the government conducted a common inquiry against all the charged officers. Not satisfied with his explanation, the government declared him as involved in a conspiracy and withheld 30 per cent of his pension permanently. He had challenged it before the AP Administrative Tribunal, which rejected his plea in 2008 to quash the punishment. In 2017, the High Court, in a case before it by another employee, who had faced similar charges, quashed the GO of imposing 30 per cent cut of pension and the punishment was modified to withholding 2 per cent cut in pension for a period of one year. Thereafter, on the request of petitioner Hashmi, the district treasury officer forwarded a communication to state level authorities to apply the same orders to the petitioner also. But, they were denied. Hashmi then approached the High Court. Chris Welton of the American Battlefield Trust speaks during the grand opening as, behind him, two bikers make their way up the trail at Rocky Face Ridge Park - photo by Mitch Talley Mike Babb (left), who has pushed for a park at Rocky Face Ridge for two decades, stands with Whitfield County Commission Chairman Jevin Jensen after hearing a pavilion at the facility will be named in Mr. Babbs honor - photo by Mitch Talley Some 158 years ago, Col. Alexander McIlvain was the highest-ranking soldier killed during the Civil War fighting in the Dalton area. Monday afternoon, Scott McIlvain looked on as Whitfield County opened its newest park Rocky Face Ridge Park off Crow Valley Road on the same hallowed ground where his heroic ancestor had given his life trying to rescue one of his men during a battle there in May 1864. In less than five minutes, 88 of his Federal troops had already been shot down. Col. McIlvain heard one of those injured men crying out in pain and ordered Capt. Samuel Wolfe to send out a rescue detail. No sir, I will not, sir, for it is certain death for any man to cross upon that space, Wolfe answered, offering instead to go save the injured man himself. The colonel then replied, Never mind, I will do it myself. That decision proved to be ill-fated. Col. McIlvain took a couple of steps forward and received a shot to the left breast where he was mortally wounded, and he died later that afternoon further up Rocky Face Ridge, local historian Bob Jenkins told the large crowd that had gathered beneath the hot Georgia sun for the grand opening of Rocky Face Ridge Park. Shermans March to the Sea that ultimately won the war for the North began at Rocky Face Ridge, making it a key site for history buffs interested in the Civil War. Some 12 historical markers tell the story of the battle, but theres much more to the new park. With 1,000 acres of land, soaring atop a mountain and resting down in a valley, with a pond thrown in for good measure, the park will offer something for everyone, says former Whitfield County Commission Chairman Mike Babb, who has championed the facility for the past 20 years. During Babbs first tenure in office from 1997 to 2004, the county acquired about 600 acres on the western side of the ridge. During his second tenure from 2009 to 2016, the county acquired the 301-acre Grant Farm, the site of two Civil War battles in 1864 as well as Confederate encampments during the winter of 1863-64 after the Battle of Chattanooga. The parking lot and trailheads are located on the farm now. Were conserving a piece of property thats got some historical value to it, Babb explained, and will also have value in the future for people who are not interested in the Civil War but who like getting out and enjoying nature. They can hike on it, they can bike on it, they can picnic on it, so its probably the best value for the money as far as a park because its a conservation park. You dont have to build community centers and ballfields, so you can get by for a lot less money. In fact, Whitfield County taxpayers have only about a $600,000 investment in the park, with about $3 million more coming from a wide range of grants, foundations, and public donations. A sign near the pavilion where Mondays ceremony was held recognizes 17 donors, including (in alphabetical order) Albert H. Griffin Family, American Battlefield Trust, Carpet Capital Running Club, Northwest Georgia Community Foundation, Dalton Utilities, Georgia Piedmont Land Trust, Land and Water Conservation Fund, Lyndhurst Foundation, National Park Service, Northwest Georgia SORBA, Riverview Foundation, Rural Trails Program, Save the Dalton Battlefields, Whitfield County and City of Dalton Greenspace Funds, Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, Whitfield County Historic Preservation Commission, and Whitfield County SPLOST. This day is really about the partnership between those organizations, Whitfield County Commission Chairman Jevin Jensen said. If youre being candid with yourself, you cannot get 1,000 acres of undeveloped land for $3.4 million. This is a tens of millions of dollars investment that is now a crown jewel for Whitfield County, and we hope we can share it not just with this generation but future generations to come. Kathryn Sellers of the Whitfield County Historic Preservation Commission agreed. Think of what we have here, she said. The assets are unbelievable. We have a beautiful valley, and we have a mountain on which you can see the whole Atlanta campaign from Lookout Mountain all the way to Kennesaw on a good day. We have a valley where children can play. We have a pond; I have a vision and I think others do too of having a fishing dock [where] children can fish. The history is wonderful, and the fact that we have all these other amenities while they still saved the breastworks and the earthworks on this mountain so that we can tell the story of the Civil War is just amazing. Sellers, who also works for the Convention and Visitors Bureau, called the park such a great draw for local, regional and even national visitors because this is a very, very special historic place with a lot of other amenities, including a hiking trail to the top of the ridge, a cross country trail around the park, and about 10 miles of a mountain bike trail that circles the ridge. Chairman Jenkins, with Save the Dalton Battlefields, called the facility a multi-use park that is an example of what can happen when people come together and work together. Among those partners was Northwest Georgia SORBA (Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association), invited by Chairman Babb at a time when it appeared enough donors might not be found to build the park. Instead, SORBA came in and paid for a concept plan in 2016 that demonstrated a sustainable mountain bike trail could be built without impacting the historic structures on the land. Later, SORBA helped design that trail, provided $75,000 for its construction and volunteered 1,000 hours of in-kind labor. A $200,000 grant from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division also helped with trail construction. If youve been around this parking lot today, youve seen cars from all over the Southeast, Northwest Georgia SORBA President Gaye Rice said. People have been riding this trail now for nearly two years, and the buzz is just over the top. Everyone is so positive. Theyre telling their friends, and people are coming to ride. The park and trail, she said, will showcase the beauty of Whitfield County and bring tourism to this area. Its a gem in our crown, and were so excited for this grand opening and to be able to share this park with its history and beauty. Jim Ogden, chief historian with Chattanooga and Chickamauga National Military Park, reminded visitors that the battle on this land marked the beginning of the Atlanta Campaign on May 8, 1864. While there will be more and bigger battles to the south, the campaign that will allow [Union Gen. William T.] Sherman in early September [1864] to communicate to [Union Gen.] Ulysses S. Grant and President Lincoln Atlanta is ours and fairly won, that campaign began here. This story is one that can now be better told. Mr. Ogden said for years when he was leading tours of the battlefields in North Georgia, he has had to be content with interpreting it from passing by on Crow Valley Road or stopping at Poplar Springs Church. But now theres an opportunity to stand on the grounds, Mr. Ogden said, and for those who are hearty, there will be opportunity to make your way to the top as Col. McIlvains descendant did stand literally on the ground where these events unfolded. Keynote speaker Chris Welton, a Board of Trustees member with the American Battlefield Trust, said his organization has made a renewed emphasis on education, and the best way to educate people is not just to let them read a book but to be able to touch and feel and see what happened some place. That is not always possible, he said, pointing out that the site of the Battle of Atlanta, for example, has since been razed and replaced by I-20. While he called the Civil War a tragedy and horrific, an emotionally charged Mr. Welton said its part of who we are, recalling a quote: When a society compulsively disrespects its historical accomplishments, when it obsessively seeks to turn a good thing into a bad thing, the outlook for that society is bleak. So what youve done here by celebrating what happened here, as tragic as it was and we dont celebrate the death, we dont celebrate the destruction, we certainly dont celebrate slavery, Mr. Welton said, but we do celebrate the attitude of the people who fought and died here and what caused them to do that, and the sacrifices that they made. Everybody fighting thought they were doing the right thing. At the end of the ceremony, Chairman Jensen presented awards of appreciation to Jenkins for his service as honorary historian and to Babb for his vision of the past 20 years. In fact, he announced that a pavilion on the site, which was constructed by Whitfield County Buildings & Grounds, is being named in Mr. Babbs honor. Im proud of my share, Mr. Babb said, but my share is very small compared to what a lot and lot of other people, organizations, and foundations have done for this. I look forward to bringing my family over here for a picnic. Growing up in the little town of Apison, TN (it was little in the 50s) and going to the first grade of our small school was special. One of my classmates in elementary school through high school was Aubie Camp. After graduation from Ooltewah High School in 1964, Aubie joined the Marine Corps. In October of 1965, Private First Class Aubie Camp was in action in Vietnam. He served as a mortarman attached to Company A, First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division (Rein.), FMF, in the Republic of Vietnam. Prior to daylight on Oct. 30, 1965, Company A was attacked by a force of 300 to 400 insurgent Communist (Viet Cong) guerrillas. During the height of the attack, five or six of the enemy were seen setting up a mortar just 40 yards from Private First Class Camp's position. Although wounded by shell fragments in the head, arm and back, Private First Class Camp left his position in order to conduct a one-man assault against the enemy. Courageously moving through intense hostile fire in order to reach the Viet Cong position, he threw three grenades, the first two of which were duds. His third and final grenade hit its target, detonated, destroyed the mortar and killed five of the enemy. As a result of his prompt and effective actions, a serious enemy threat was eliminated and the tide of the battle was materially altered. By his heroic actions, valiant fighting spirit and selfless devotion to duty throughout, Private First Class Camp upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Aubie Camp earned a purple heart and silver star from the battle on Hill 22 when he was just 19. In September of 2020 some of our classmates and friends joined Aubie and his family as we put up a Hometown Hero Sign in Apison honoring Aubie Camp. When I talked to Aubie after he was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago Aubie would say to me it's okay. At the age of 17 he was saved at a revival at Nelly Head Baptist Church. Aubie was strong in his faith of Jesus Christ and he loved his wife of 55 years, Sylvia, and his great family. Aubie passed away July 27th and he will be missed by the classmates from the Class of 1964 and by all of us that loved him. Bill Hullander School employees on their yearly summer break were one of the factors that impacted the June county unemployment rates, according to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The latest statistics showed, as they typically do in June, jobless numbers increased in each of the states 95 counties, officials said.Statewide, unemployment remained unchanged between May and June at 3.3 percent. The state rate is seasonally adjusted to consider seasonal impacts, like school breaks, while county unemployment data is not adjusted.Across Tennessee, 68 counties had unemployment rates that were less than 5 percent in June.The remaining 27 counties had rates that came in at 5 percent or higher but less than 10 percent.Williamson County recorded the states lowest rate for the month at 2.8 percent, which was a 0.5 of a percentage point increase. Cheatham and Wilson counties had the next lowest rates at 3.2 percent, both increased by 0.6 of a percentage point.Perry Countys rate was Tennessees highest in June. At 6.8 percent, unemployment there increased by 1.3 percentage points during the month. Bledsoe County followed with an increase of 1.6 percentage points to 6.7 percent.TDLWD has a complete analysis of the June county unemployment data, including labor force estimates for many of the states cities, which is available here.There are many paths to employment across the state and TDLWD offers both in-person and online assistance to job seekers. The Departments www.TNWorkReady.com website puts all of those services in one convenient location. From www.TNVirtualAJC.com, which outlines the programs available, 24/7 on the job seekers schedule, to an interactive map that easily identifies where to find the states American Job Centers.The state of Tennessee will release the statewide unemployment rate for July on Aug. 18 at 1:30 p.m. CDT. The Tennessee and Hamilton County Republican Party has apparently conceded that they cannot beat 6th District Commissioner David Sharpe on the issues. David has proven his ability to lead and forge new paths to improve the lives of all of those who live in Hamilton County since he was elected to the County Commission. Clearly, he is doing such a good job that the Tennessee and Hamilton County Republican Party know they cannot challenge him on the issues. Instead, they have chosen to use a series of vicious attack ads that are based on false statements about Commissioner Sharpes position on important issues such a school safety and other issues. The Republicans chose to cut and paste a news article and use it out of context to imply that Commissioner Sharpe wants to remove SROs from our schools. The truth is Commissioner Sharpe was pushing a plan to get safety officers in all 75 schools in Hamilton County. This was confirmed by the Republican chair of the school board and others. Commissioner Sharpe is working hard for Hamilton County and the the truth. He should be re-elected. It is also clear that any campaign ads targeting Democrats that come from the Tennessee and Hamilton County Republican Party should be taken with a grain of salt and go straight to the recycle bin for that is all that they are worth. Rodney Strong * * * Well stated, Mr. Strong. The mailers against Commission Sharpe were sleazy beyond any amount of reasonable campaign strategy. For the Republican Party to endorse the contents of the mailers against Sharpe speaks volumes about who the Republican Party really is. Placing the state party name on the mailer is a pure disgrace. I would apologize for the Republican Partys sleazy behavior, but I have not been a Republican since 2005. They are certain to defend their ridiculous behavior in the District 6 campaign, because voters do respond to negative mailers. This one may have backfired. Weston Wamps inner circle of VBFs admitted funding the mailers against Sabrena Smedley and Matt Hullander, shamelessly. Is this is what we have to look forward to in county government? Mayor Coppinger always held onto his civil decorum, manners, and never campaigned in that manner to win. Can you imagine how Sharpe, Smedley, and Hullander felt with everyone who knows them receiving these sleazy mailers? I believe the same people responsible for the sleazy mailers in the county mayors race are behind the District 6 mailers. I am in good company in that view. The new potential county mayor has a strong desire to have six commission votes. The state Republican Party was likely the pass through to hide the names of who actually funded the District 6 mailers. Commissioner Sharpe knows who is hiding behind the Republican Party funding these sleazy mailers. I think the mailers did backfire and has caused a degree of bipartisan solidarity in favor of Commissioner Sharpe. Commissioner Sharpe, I am sorry they did this to you. The higher county offices are attainable for Democrats. If not this cycle, next. This year I voted for, Matt Adams for county mayor, John Brooks for district attorney, and Larry Ables and the list goes on. The Republican Party is not getting my vote, or my familys vote, and does not deserve your vote for their candidates. It would be nice to have a bipartisan political group. April Eidson, Conservative Sad news seeing a person was murdered at the Rosemont Apartment. We lived on Oak Street across the street from the then named Glenwood Apartments from 1953 to 1956. I spent many a day there as there were probably 100 school age kids who lived in the units. In those days, parents simply let their kids roam the neighborhood with no worry for their safety. Now adults can't walk ... (click for more) Saturday, July 30, is the last day for Tennesseans to cast their ballot early in the Aug. 4 state and federal Primary and state and county General Election. Election Day is Thursday, Aug 4. Thus far, 14,723 have cast early ballots in Hamilton County. Key Hamilton County races include Democrat Matt Adams versus Republican Weston Wamp for county mayor and Democrat John Brooks opposing Republican Coty Wamp for district attorney. County Mayor Jim Coppinger chose not to seek re-election. District Attorney Neal Pinkston was defeated in the primary. Larry Ables, a former assistant public defender who now works as an assistant prosecutor is opposing Judge Gerald Webb in General Sessions Court. "There is a long ballot for the August election, and voters should be aware that casting their ballot may take additional time," said Secretary of State Tre Hargett. "Tennesseans will likely see shorter wait times during early voting. That's why I'm encouraging Tennesseans to take advantage of the convenience of early voting to make their voice heard." "Tennesseans will likely see shorter wait times during early voting. That's why I'm encouraging Tennesseans to take advantage of the convenience of early voting to make their voice heard." GoVoteTN app GoVoteTN app Voters can find early voting and Election Day voting times, polling locations, view and mark sample ballots and more with theor online at GoVoteTN.gov . Download thefor free in the App Store or Google Play. GoVoteTN.gov . Tennesseans voting early or on Election Day need to bring valid photo identification to the polls. A driver's license or photo ID issued by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Tennessee state government or the federal government is acceptable even if it's expired. A student ID or out-of-state driver's license is not acceptable. For more information about what types of IDs are permitted, visit With a salute to rural Tennessee architecture as well as a tribute to the past work of former City Councilman Dave Crockett in helping get the land preserved years ago as a park, the Greenway Farm Conference Center in Hixson was dedicated Thursday evening.And plenty of praises were also given for current District 3 City Councilman Ken Smith, who had admittedly made getting the structure built a point of emphasis in recent years.Ken Smith had the vision for this structure and pushed it over the finish line through dogged persistence over the years, said Scott Martin, who began serving as administrator of the Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors department earlier this year.Mr.Martins remarks came during a brief program at the new facility as it was informally unveiled with a two-hour open house and reception featuring hors-doeuvres catered by Lakeshore Grille. The program had originally been scheduled for the previous Thursday but was postponed due to the weather forecast.Approximately 40-50 people -- including State Senator Bo Watson, members of the Hefferlin + Kronenberg Architects firm and city Public Works officials attended.The building was part of a roughly $1.58 million project that included removing the asbestos from and tearing down the structurally unsound mid-century home and later meeting facility built by former property owner Dr. Benton Spangler.The new structure was mostly completed several weeks ago, but had sat idle while the finishing touches were completed.Administrator Martin said the finished product looks nice. This is craftsmanship, he said. This is not something you go to Walmart and get. This is not a spec building. This is an intentionally designed space.Councilman Smith said he had spent several years getting and encouraging the Council to set aside money for the project, and he considers it a unique event structure. This is the only building in the city of Chattanooga of its kind that you can look outside and see nothing but beautiful landscapes and parks, and kids playing in fields, said the councilman, who was also recently appointed to a vacant County Commission seat and plans to vacate his City Council post.Its truly remarkable what we were able to do and transform this space.The design team included March Adams & Associates and the Hefferlin + Kronenberg firm, and lead project architect Jordan Bailey of Hefferlin said a lot of thought went into the planning.The main purpose of the space was an event center that took advantage of the views of the park and the outdoor spaces and that could house a lot of people but also open up to the adjacent outdoor space to be a lot bigger than the actual enclosed space, he said.Firm founder and managing partner Heidi Hefferlin also pointed out the pine beams in the rafters that were also put there for a purpose.The design is also influenced by vernacular Tennessee architecture, she said. You notice the resemblance to a barn, and this was a farm before. The root of the design came from Tennessee architecture.J&J Contractors Inc. led by Skip Smith was the general contractor.Also on hand for the event was former Councilman Mr. Crockett, who in the late 1980s led a group of homeowners in saving the Spangler farm from potential development plans. The City Commission agreed to buy it in 1990 in one of its last acts before the change in government.Both Mr. Martin and Mr. Smith praised the efforts of Mr. Crockett, who ended up becoming the first District 3 city councilman from Hixson that year shortly after the successful purchase.Without Davids leadership, this wouldnt be a park and we wouldnt be here today, Mr. Martin said.Added Councilman Smith to Mr. Crockett, If you didnt stay dedicated to this space being a park, we would not be able to (celebrate) the accomplishment we are having in this building.In an interview before the formal remarks, Mr. Crockett recounted the events that led to the saving of the Greenway Farm greenspace more than 30 years ago. He said some 1,500 area residents had mobilized to prevent a development proposal.When the development project seemed stalled after a zoning denial, he said they then began talking to then-Mayor Gene Roberts and told him they thought the Nature Conservancy was interested in buying the land to protect it.Gene said, We would like to be a part of it, Mr. Crockett said. I said if you are going to be a part of it, you are going to have to move in a hurry. He and (then-Commissioner of Public Utilities and former Mayor) Pat Rose said they will try to buy the facility.As a way of trying to sell the whole community on the project, he said they went to numerous groups and organizations and churches. And they had an unlikely group that they thought could get the most out of it inner-city youngsters located miles away from the Hixson area.The people up on the ridge, they go to Yellowstone and the Smoky Mountains, but the inner-city kids dont have anywhere (to see the outdoors), he said, adding that the city of Chattanooga had no other offering like this for outdoor programs or canoeing.He added that they tracked the use of the park by youngsters involved in the city programs the first eight or nine years the Greenway Farm was open, and many came from the inner-city areas or were members of minorities. Also, more than half of the rental uses in the park were done by minority groups, he said.Mr. Crockett also praised the new conference center and the work by Councilman Smith to get it built.Its a great facility and people can enjoy it, he said.A flier passed out at the open house said the facility includes the 2,497-square-foot main room with space for up to 188 people, a deck and outdoor space totaling 2,297 square feet, a dressing room/office and a kitchen. It also has restrooms, which architect Bailey said were put in the open central breezeway to allow for access from both center attendees and park exercisers.The information also said the hourly rental rate is $75 per hour or $450 daily, and that those wanting to rent it during the hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. can call 423-643-7864.* * *To hear an interview with former City Councilman Dave Crockett regarding the efforts more than 30 years ago to get the land saved as a park, listen here * * *Jcshearer2@comcast.net Aug. 4th is quickly approaching and, once again, our greatest tradition and right will repeat itself deciding our own fate. As I survey the candidates in various races, I have never seen more contrast between the two that are running for Hamilton County School Board District 11.Being a fourth generation Chattanoogan is a badge I wear with honor. I recently returned to Hamilton County after living in New York and Washington, D.C. for career purposes. Returning to Hamilton County was a deliberate move to ensure my children would be exposed to the values that have proven inclusive, grounded in morality and in keeping with our greatest traditions of forming a more perfect union, state and city. One of my guiding lights outside of my Christian faith, has always been the common-sense values bestowed by a family originating in St.Elmo. These values have a direct connection with respect for an individual and an individuals freedom. Throughout the years, I have routinely observed candidates (from different political parties) that have different opinions on how to ensure said values; however, their goal(s) were focused on our countrys greatest traditions.This cycle is revealing only one candidate who is pursuing education policy goals that have a connection with local values and equal opportunity for all candidate Virginia Anne Manson. The woke ideology that is being promoted by candidate Jill Black is divisive, rooted in values more akin to Bolshevism, and an attempt to replace the teaching of our greatest achievements with ideas that the likes of George Soros prefer. This is a form of politics that is antithetical to foundational ideas of our county and have proven to fail all over the world. Replacing the parent with a teacher is one of the primary objectives of the new woke left who have taken over a once honorable Democratic Party. It is now a party rooted in controlling us rather than enabling freedom of choice and freedom of thought.We have seen these violent, divisive and anarchist tactics/movements preferred by the woke left over the past few years across our country. It has weakened us there is no debate there. Look at New York City, Baltimore, San Francisco and other historic and formerly great locales that are rotting as a result of entrusting their futures to the woke left for over 50 years. They now want to bring this form of public policy to Hamilton County in the form of disastrous ideas such as closing neighborhood schools (UnifiEd) and mandating masks on our kids. Regardless of your race, your religion, your gender this is not the culture that has enabled so much greatness in Chattanooga and Hamilton County over the past 30 years.There is only one candidate that speaks and will act for our collective values. There is only one candidate that embraces an education policy without control tactics such as masks and parental elimination. That candidate is Virginia Anne Manson.Rush Baker The Walker County Board of Education has tentatively adopted a 2022 millage rate which will require an increase in property taxes by 16.31 percent. Citizens are invited to a public hearing on the tax increase to be held at the advancing Education Center, 925 Osborn Road, Chickamauga on Tuesday, Aug. 9, at 5 p.m. There will be additional public hearings on the tax increase at the boardroom of the Walker County Department of Education at 201 South Duke St., LaFayette, on Monday, Aug. 15, at 11 a.m. and at 6 p.m. The tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 16.404 mills - an increase of 2.3 mils. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market of $225,000 with a homestead exemption is approximately $202.40. The proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $175,000 is approximately $161. The board plans to lower the millage rate from 17.404 to 16.404 to "offset some of the increase in property fair market values in recent higher appraisals." Georgia law requires advertisement of a notice of property tax increase if a proposed millage rate is higher than the calculated "rollback rate". School officials said the increase is necessary to provide teachers with a $3,000 raise under a new state law. County government is not seeking a tax increase. Karimnagar: The Congress must care for all communities equally if it aspires to come to power in the next assembly elections, observed the partys Husnabad assembly segment incharge Bomma Sriram. A meeting of the Congress leaders was held under the leadership of block Congress president Komati Satyanarayana in Husnabad on Thursday. Bomma alleged that the party leadership is not considering the services it got from the weaker sections and was giving more importance to leaders from the upper levels of the society. When all the leaders opposed the re-joining of Praveen Reddy from the ruling TRS, the Congress leadership quietly took him to Delhi and made a party member. My father, former MLA late Bomma Venkanna rendered services to the Congress for more than 50 years and being loyal to the party. I am serving the party for the past 20 years in Husnabad. But the party leadership is not recognizing my services," he alleged. If the party allots assembly tickets to the newly joined members, it will face the heat of the local leaders, he warned. Congress leaders Lingamurthy, Mallesham, B Shankar, B Chandu, J Ailaiah, M Dharmaiah, K Tirupati Reddy, G Srinivas, A Srinivas, K Swarna Latha, B Sarojana, V Raju were present. U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), along with 21 Republican colleagues, introduced a broad package to clarify and strengthen violent crime laws related to homicide, bank robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and other offenses. The Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act resolves discrepancies brought on by conflicting court decisions and clarifies congressional intent regarding crimes of violence and their respective penalties. Despite an ongoing crime wave, no Democrats have agreed to cosponsor the fixes, said Senator Blackburn. The Democrats Defund the Police movement has emboldened criminals, undermined law enforcement, and contributed to the historic crime wave devastating American cities and suburbs, said Senator Blackburn. I joined 22 of my colleagues to strengthen punishments for violent criminals, but the radical left is intent on blocking this effort to push forward their pro-crime agenda. Tennesseans who are victims of homicides, carjackings, and kidnappings need laws that hold criminals accountable and combat the crime wave. Against the wishes of the radical left, I will not give up on making those laws a reality. Crime is skyrocketing in communities across the country," said Senator Grassley. "Carjackings, homicides, attacks on law enforcement are all up. We have a duty to ensure that penalties for federal offenses serve as a deterrent and that any ambiguity from split court decisions is rectified so that perpetrators can be held accountable. This bill includes a number of small fixes that will go a long way in improving justice and preventing future crimes. Unfortunately, we dont yet have bipartisan support to advance these modest, but meaningful, reforms. American communities are suffering under a scourge of lawlessness, so I hope we get some cooperation soon and Ill keep reaching across the aisle to get it." Many communities across the country continue to experience steadily increasing violent crime. Murder rates increased 30 percent in 2020 and continued climbing in 2021. Carjackings, particularly in urban areas are on the rise, with some cities recording up to 400 percent spikes. Overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 last year, with fentanyl appearing in a variety of substances, including candy-flavored drugs that are marketed to children. 2021 marked the deadliest year for law enforcement since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. The Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act addresses ambiguity and conflicting application of existing law by clarifying congressional intent without establishing sweeping new offense categories, said officials. Among other provisions, the bill: Clarifies that attempted bank robbery and conspiracy to commit bank robbery are punishable under the current bank robbery statute; Abolishes an outdated rule that prohibits perpetrators of violent crime from being charged with murder if the victim succumbs to injuries sustained by that violent crime 366 days after the attack; Rectifies conflicting circuit court decisions that have resulted in a higher burden to charge offenses like assaulting a police officer than Congress intended; Increases the statutory maximum penalty for carjacking and removes a duplicative intent requirement needed to charge a carjacking offense; Rectifies conflicting circuit court decisions by clarifying that an attempt or conspiracy to commit an offence involving physical force meets the legal definition of a crime of violence; Outlaws the marketing of candy-flavored drugs to minors; and Establishes a new category of violent kidnapping offences, allowing for greater penalties for violent kidnapping. NDAA is excited to endorse the Combating Violence and Dangerous Crime Act, an important effort to fix criminal provisions in Title 18 of the Federal Code which ensures prosecutors have the tools needed to hold bad actors accountable," said Nelson Bunn, executive director, National District Attorneys Association. "We look forward to working alongside the Senate Judiciary Committee to adopt these commonsense measures to improve public safety." Along with Senators Blackburn and Grassley, the bill is cosponsored by Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Kennedy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), James Risch (R-Idaho), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Shelley Capito (R-W.V.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). Director and actor Taika Waititis performances are usually memorable. Whether hes playing a space alien made of rocks, or the worst real-life monster in history, he brings the same approach to the role. For the most part, people seem to like it. And one things for sure: hes not shy about sharing his streamlined process! Taika Waititi | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Taika Waititi did exactly zero research before playing Adolf Hitler Waititi seems to be having the time of his life as an A-list director. The New Zealand native is brimming with ideas and even has a pitch for another Thor movie ready to go. The man is a machine when it comes to writing and directing. But a workaholic actor, he is not, as he happily shared in an interview with Wired. Im the laziest actor youll ever, ever come across, the What We Do In the Shadows director said. I played Hitler, didnt read anything about him. Hitler is normally a role taken on with gravitas, such as in the famous scene from Downfall. Waititi also didnt intend to play the role in the first place. As the Jojo Rabbit project came together, he fell into the controversial part. And he wasnt particularly excited about researching the role. So he simply didnt. Jojo Rabbit was a strange blend of dark concepts and levity Taikas 2019 dark comedy Jojo Rabbit is the story of a 10-year-old enthusiastic Hitler Youth member. The excitable, silly young kids demeanor is totally at odds with the terrible reality of the Nazis. But, being as fully propagandized as he is, he cant quite put it together. That changes when he realizes his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. The boys perceived reality falls apart as he becomes closer to the girl. Along the way, he speaks with his idealized, childs perspective of Hitler. Thats where Waititis animated performance comes in. The film is an adaptation of a book, Caging Skies, that is played much more straight. While there are fanciful elements, it tends to be far more cutting and almost never very funny. Jojo Rabbit was Waititi putting his stamp on the process, Collider reports. He also takes the step of ending the story before the third act of the book, which is notoriously dark. Instead, the film leaves the audience with a more straightforward story and fairly direct life lessons learned. Critics enjoyed the film, and audiences adored it, according to Rotten Tomatoes. Waititi has a habit of just winging it when hes in front of the camera The director is mostly known for his tenure as a Marvel movie director. After James Gunn put his comedic stamp on the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Disney went in search of another fresh voice. From there, Thor: Ragnarok came into being. Waititi threw himself into the fast-paced world of Marvel Cinematic Universe filmmaking, with its tight schedules and demanding short-term workload. The demands of directing likely explain his relaxed attitude toward acting. Take his work in front of the camera as Korg. Waititi steps into the shoes of a huge rock alien creature in the Thor films who happens to have a New Zealanders voice. I just like the idea of playing this big rock guy, who was Thors buddy, whos like a sidekick, the writer/director/actor told GQ. I wasnt even sure if people would even understand my accent. I thought, well, theyll probably make me revoice this or get someone else to do it. The Korg character is a fan favorite. Obviously, Waititis easygoing charm is a good match for the big screen even if it doesnt take much effort to get the job done. RELATED: Thor: Love and Thunder: Taika Waititi Discusses Surprising Post-Credits Scene Cameo That Was All Kevin Feige The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the new research group "Deep Learning on sparse chemical process data" for four years with around 3.5 million euros. It is coordinated at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK). The group is working on making Deep Learning methods, a subfield of artificial intelligence, usable for the chemical industry. So far, this has not been possible, especially due to the sparse data available. The interdisciplinary team from computer science and process engineering is developing new methods for this purpose. These are intended to help detect errors in chemical processes at an early stage in order to avert accidents and shutdowns. Search millions of images within fractions of a second for a keyword such as "beach" or use speech recognition to have a song played for you on your streaming service. Deep learning - a branch of artificial intelligence - makes such things possible. With the help of huge amounts of data, algorithms learn; they classify, sort and filter data. The technology is used in many areas, such as medicine, agriculture and robotics. However, this has not yet been the case for processes in the chemical industry. "There is much less data here than, for example, in an image search on the web, and in some cases there is no data at all or companies do not make it available," says Professor Dr. Marius Kloft, who heads the Intelligent Systems department and the Machine Learning working group at TU Kaiserslautern and is the spokesman for the new DFG research group. "In addition, often all data also looks the same, which makes learning here much more difficult." For example, in a chemical plant, the same process is always run under the same conditions over a long period of time, such as the conversion of raw materials into products. Sensors then always measure the same temperature, pressure and so on. It is precisely in such areas that the new research group nevertheless wants to apply deep learning methods. The group benefits from its interdisciplinary approach. Otherwise, the development of such new methods would not be possible. In addition to computer scientist Kloft and computer science professor Dr. Heike Leitte, the group includes TUK process engineering professor Dr. Hans Hasse, as well as junior professor Dr. Fabian Jirasek, who conducts research on machine learning in process engineering, and junior professor Dr. Sophie Fellenz, who also works on machine learning. What is special about Fellenz and Jirasek is that the Carl Zeiss Foundation is funding their junior professorships as a tandem with 1.5 million euros; their common goal is to bring together machine learning with physical modeling. The new DFG research group is now also benefiting from this. As part of a Mercator Fellowship, the project will also involve computer science professor Dr. Stephan Mandt from the University of California at Irvine, whose research includes applications of machine learning in the natural sciences. "For us, the focus is less on the number of data and more on the quality of the data," Kloft continues. The team is taking two approaches. First, it performs chemical processes in the lab itself to collect experimental data; second, it also generates synthetic data. "Each experiment is complex and expensive. We are therefore primarily concerned with collecting the right data, i.e., the data from which the deep learning methods can learn the most," adds Jirasek. For this purpose, a so-called batch distillation plant is used on the Kaiserslautern campus to collect data from dynamic processes. Furthermore, at the project partner, the Technical University of Munich, a continuous production plant for synthetic fuels is operated on a pilot scale at the Straubing site. "These plants are equipped with a variety of sensors to record a wide range of data, such as pressure and temperature, but also videos of the inner workings or the composition of the mixtures used," the junior professor continues. In addition to the data from the laboratory, further data is generated with the help of physical simulations and artificial intelligence methods. A particular challenge here is to make these as realistic as possible. "We are taking two approaches to this," explains Assistant Professor Fellenz. "First, we are developing methods to learn the style of experimental data and then apply it to simulation data." Such methods already exist to change the tonality of texts. In the research group, they are now being applied to the time-series data of chemical processes, which can be understood as sequential data just like words in a text. "On the other hand, we incorporate physical laws, for example from thermodynamics, directly into our models, so that we can also generate realistic data from areas where we have no measurements," the computer scientist continues. The goal for the next four years is to use the new deep learning methods to detect anomalies or faults in chemical plants at an early stage, but also to identify suitable countermeasures. This is of high practical relevance, since any failure of a plant is at least expensive, and in the worst case represents a danger to people and the environment. The examples are numerous, such as in 2013, when an explosion occurred in a chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, USA, killing one person and injuring many. The cause was a fault in a heat exchanger. "Especially in such plants, anomalies in the process can have dire consequences," Kloft continues. Deep Learning methods could help here to automatically detect such faults in order to issue a warning message in time. "Our anomaly detectors should be much more sensitive than conventional techniques thanks to Deep Learning." The object of the work is also to explain the information, visualize it and present it clearly. They need to be quick and easy to understand so that professionals in the chemical industry can use these techniques and respond to appropriate recommendations from the technology. The team will also work on verifying its methods. This will involve using mathematical methods to verify that the algorithms are working correctly. Kloft continues, "With our work, we are generating a completely new data set that we will make available to others." Professor Dr. Werner R. Thiel, Vice President for Research and Technology at TUK, emphasizes the importance of the new DFG research group: "We have been able to lay the foundation for this success with our two tandem junior professorships funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. We are thus contributing our expertise from computer science and process engineering to the project. Without this combination, such a project would not be possible. This is an advantage of our research location, which is interdisciplinary in many areas. This is now paying off again. I warmly congratulate all those involved." The Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Science, Clemens Hoch, also congratulates: "I am very pleased with the success of the researchers from Kaiserslautern and their cooperation partners from Oldenburg and Straubing. The DFG-funded research group is proof of the TU's research strength in this highly topical field of research and fits perfectly into the state's AI strategy. This project again clearly demonstrates that the key technology of artificial intelligence can make positive, performance-enhancing contributions in a wide range of scientific disciplines and applications. Therefore, I am very pleased that we in Rhineland-Palatinate are fortunate to have leading AI researchers, such as Professor Kloft and his colleagues, in our institutions whose innovative projects are developing new possibilities for the use of artificial intelligence in Rhineland-Palatinate and beyond." The long-term goal of the research group is to develop methods for the autonomous operation of plants in the chemical industry. With its work, the group also wants to advance process simulation in process engineering by developing new types of tools and integrating data types into them that are currently not even considered. In addition to the working groups of the TU Kaiserslautern, the teams of Dr. Michael Bortz of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM in Kaiserslautern, Professor Dr. Jakob Burger of the TU Munich and Professor Dr. Daniel Neider of the University of Oldenburg are involved in the project. In addition, Professor Dr. Stephan Mandt from the University of California in Irvine is involved as a Mercator Fellow. 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 Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister and Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday sacked her heavyweight colleague Partha Chatterjee, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the School Service Commission jobs scam, as a Cabinet minister from her government and all party posts and suspended him from the party too. Ms Banerjee also took charge of Mr Chatterjees portfolios -- commerce and industries, information technology, parliamentary affairs and public enterprises. The state home department issued the notification about Mr Chatterjees removal in the afternoon, ironically when the CM chaired the West Bengal Industrial Promotion Board meeting for the first time with corporate leaders. In the evening Ms Banerjees MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee announced the action taken by the party against Mr Chatterjee after chairing a meeting on disciplinary affairs with three state ministers -- Firhad Hakim, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Aroop Biswas -- and state party chief Subrata Bakshi. Mr Banerjee said: Mr Chatterjee, in an unanimous decision, has been removed with immediate effect from five posts secretary-general, national working committee member, national vice-president, editor of party mouthpiece Jago Bangla and disciplinary committee member -- of the TMC. He will remain suspended from the party till the probe continues. He said: Our party needed some days time to take a decision after some startling information had come to the public domain after July 22. This is circumstantial evidence. On July 23, those of us who are in the party disciplinary committee conveyed our opinion in writing to our party supremo on what to do. We want to know the source of this huge amount of black money. In an apparent dig at Mr Chatterjee, the TMC national general secretary added: We give the benefit of doubt to the people and not our leaders. If anyone betrays the people or uses our party platform in self-interest to create a mechanism of making money, the party will not support him. We also demand the strongest punishment of the accused in corruption matters. The TMC cut down Mr Chatterjee to size hours after the ED, in yet another haul, seized Rs 27.9 crores in cash and Rs 4.31 crores of jewellery, including three gold bars of 1 kg each, during a 19-hour-long raid and search at the flat of Mr Chatterjees close friend and co-accused Arpita Mukherjee at Belghoria in North Kolkata since Friday afternoon. So far the Central agency has seized nearly Rs 50 crores of cash and Rs 5 crores of jewellery apart from foreign currency at two flats belonging to Arpita in less than a week. It has launched another search after raiding the third flat of Arpita at Chinar Park in New Town based on her revelation during custodial interrogation. Reacting to the steps against Mr Chatterjee, state BJP chief and Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar said: He was made a scapegoat. He cant mastermind the scam alone. The entire state government is involved in it. We want the resignation of the CM and her government. A fresh election will be held to help the people decide who will run the state. Churchgoers are six times more likely than preachers to say that their churchs typical sermon goes over an hour. Preachers, on the other hand, are twice as likely to say their sermons last less than 15 minutes. Time, it seems, moves differently in pulpit and pew. Modern preachers may decry the shortened attention spans of contemporary congregants, but conflict over sermon length isnt new. It was a frequent point of contention during the Reformation, as preachers discovered the great depths of the Wordand went on and on about it. Some sermons clocked in at three hours. Even the leading Reformers soon suggested restraints. Thomas Cranmer thought an hour and a half really ought to be plenty of time. John Calvin said a preacher needed to stop when he got tedious. Martin Luther offered young ministers this indelible advice: When people say, He was prattling on and could no longer stop, thats a bad sign. British churches eventually started installing hourglasses by the pulpits, according to church historian Owen Chadwick. The craftsmen who made them were more sympathetic to the experience in the pews than in the pulpits, though, and more than a few of the timepieces did not keep an honest hour. One surviving hourglass reliably runs out of sand at 48 minutes. Though the preacher probably said it was half an hour. For more on sermon length and the perception of sermon length, visit: Lifeway Research. 1 You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access. Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. Recently, one of my students asked me how long Ive been teaching theology. Ten years, I said. And as I walked back to my office and sat down at my desk, a question hovered in my head: What have I left my students with after a decade? In my self-centeredness, I had assumed I was the one bestowing the gift of knowledge to my students. But in truth, one of the best things I have done is send my students into modern ministrys stormy seas with time-tested wisdom from an experienced crew from church history. The longer I teach, the more I resonate with C. S. Lewiss admonition, The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts. And yet there remains notable deserts in the world of seminary education, particularly when it comes to incorporating large swaths of Christianitys Great Tradition. Years ago, as a PhD theology student at a Protestant seminary, I was handed a list of required reading. Out of 128 books, only three of them (!) were by premodern authors (written from the first century to the 15th century). Even when I crossed into history with my degree, seminars skipped from the church fathers to the Reformers, only to progress into American history. And since halfyes, halfof church history lies in the Middle Ages, this gap in my education felt like a Grand Canyon. So, I petitioned the school to invent my own independent study of medieval theology and history. Has anything changed today? Christopher Cleveland chronicles how evangelical seminaries sought to replace liberal with conservative theologians, and in the processdue to either neglect or avoidancea generation of evangelical scholars arose who had no serious acquaintance with the classical categories of theology developed in Patristic, Medieval, and Reformed orthodox thought. As Protestants, many of us were taught that everything started off grand in the early church but then the church entered the Dark Ages. Thankfully, the Reformers turned the lights back on and established the true church that had been lost since the days of the apostles. We mistakenly believe the Reformers pursued a total, radical break with the pasta rebellion that started a new churchrather than seeking to renew the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. The practical implications of this mindset are serious: Most Protestants today have no idea what occurred in the church for nearly a thousand years. Yet they are confident of one thing: Whatever did occur during the premodern era is not worth our time and can only corrupt Christianity. This is the mindset of many everyday churchgoers, which ultimately trickles down from the preaching in the pulpit. And since most pastors are trained in seminaries, the source of the problem is often in the outlook of Protestant academic institutions. Those outside the evangelical vortex looking in often ask how this could happen. Many of them attended secular institutions where such a chasm is unthinkable. I wish I could say the oversight is merely administrative, but it is not. Ideas, after all, have consequences. So, how do we change course? The answer has everything to do with humility. We all know C. S. Lewis from his famous book Mere Christianity, which emphasized his staunch commitment to orthodoxythat is, classical Christianityas nonnegotiable. Yet many forget that in the middle of this classic apologetic, Lewis spends two whole chapters retrieving the intricacies of the Nicene Creed and its doctrine of eternal generation. He also wrote a preface to one of the great works of Christian history, On the Incarnation by the eastern church father Athanasius. Lewis advisedno, pleadedwith moderns in his generation to read more old books. He did so not because these premodern authors were without foibles. Every generation has its blind spots. But their blind spots are not always our blind spots. Article continues below None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books, said Lewis. The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. For instance, Lewis often ruminated on the God-centered vision of medieval theology, which he considered an antidote to the disenchanted cosmos of skeptical modernism so prevalent in his day. As Jason Baxter points out in his recent book, Lewis believed it was his duty to save not this or that ancient author, but the general wisdom of the Long Middle Ages, and then vernacularize it for his world. Under the threat of modernisms disenchanted cosmos, Lewis had no patience for the chronological snobbery of his day. Fearful such a skepticism could undo Christian orthodoxy itself, Lewis considered such pretentiousness not only ignorant but ungodly. And so should we. Summoning tradition is not a badge for those who think they know everything. Quite the opposite: It requires the humility to stop talkingobsessed as we are by our own voicesand to listen instead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about, said G. K. Chesterton in Orthodoxy. Chesterton and Lewis alike called on their generation to humble themselves and listen to the democracy of the dead. If not, the church could only slide into heresies, new and old. Many of our forefathers in the faith had a similar mindsetincluding the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. At the time, Rome accused the Reformers of being novel and thus hereticallumping them together with the radical sectarians of their day. Such radicals considered the church lost in darkness from the time of the apostles until the radicals arrived. They claimed to believe only in the Bible and spurned ancient thinkers. The radicals considered themselves alone to be the true church. The Reformers were furious at the hubris of the radicals and frustrated at being mistaken for them. Unlike the radicals, the Reformers were not rebels and revolutionaries bent on dividing the churchschismatics at heart. From the beginning, their intention was to renew the church, arguing Rome had no monopoly on claiming catholicity. As I explain in The Reformation as Renewal, the Reformers constantly appealed to Scripture, yet they justified their interpretation of it by invoking theologians of the past. Scripture was their final court of appeal, but it was not their only authority; they believed the church was accountable to the creeds, which keep the church faithful to the biblical witness itself. And while they expressed serious critique of Rome on doctrines like salvation and sacraments, they also voiced agreement on numerous other doctrines. Doing otherwise would have thrown their orthodoxy into question, only confirming Romes accusation. Reformation expert Richard Muller makes a sobering point: The Reformation altered comparatively few of the major doctrines of the Christian faith. Doctrines like salvation and the church needed serious correction. However, doctrines as central to Christianity as God, the trinity, creation, providence, predestination, and the last things were taken over by the magisterial Reformation virtually without alteration, says Muller. Virtually without alterationwill the real Protestantism please stand up? Article continues below Not only did our Protestant fathers continue retrieving the theology of the church fathers, but they were more indebted to the medieval scholasticsincluding Thomas Aquinasthan is often assumed. Few theologians in the history of the church perpetuated the biblical, orthodox doctrines of God and Christ with such astute precision as Aquinas. Because of this, I often bring up Aquinas in my course on the Trinity at the evangelical seminary where I teach. Each year students report back to me with excitement that they have made an ironic discovery: They find Aquinas far more orthodox on the Trinity than some contemporary evangelicals. But one afternoon, I walked into my class and found on my podium a giant rosary, crucifix and allwith a note that read, For Dr. Barrett. The message was clear: A professor who assigns Aquinas must be a closet Roman Catholic. I would have laughed had I not felt so sorry for this anonymous student. Are we so insecure as Protestants that we cannot benefit from one of the greatest minds in the history of the churchparticularly on a doctrine as essential as the Trinitysimply because we may disagree with him on soteriology and ecclesiology? Even our Reformation forefathers were secure enough in their Protestant convictions to critically appropriate Aquinas in innumerable areasfrom biblical interpretation to the attributes of God, from the Trinity to ethics and eschatology. Reformed theologians not only wielded Aquinas against Roman Catholics, but Michael Horton has shown that many of them were even more Thomistic than their opponents. Modern evangelical theologians who avoid Aquinas will often draw from Protestant Scholastics like the Puritan thinker John Owen. And yet the Protestant Scholastics method and theology were faithful to biblical orthodoxy precisely because they were students of Aquinas. These connections are so undeniable that Crossway, an evangelical publisher, will publish a multivolume set on Thomas Aquinas for Protestantswritten by a team of Protestant authors. At the end of the day, were not looking to enshrine Aquinas or any other thinker. Rather, we will listen critically but with humility as Aquinas unveils timeless, transcendental insights that serve to recover the eternal goodness, truth, and beauty of God in our disenchanted world. Evangelicals, with all our modern proclivities, often like to act as judge, separating the good guys from the bad guys of Christian historywhich serves only to venerate the former and eliminate the latter. This approach to history is ruthless in idolizing and canceling historical figures. Such a mindset not only encourages a divisive sectarianismwhere, eventually, no one is considered the true church except usbut also lacks empathy. We are unable to understand the complexity of people, movements, institutions, and entire epochs of the past, let alone learn from them. Behind this judgmentalism hides our own insecurities, agendas, and platforms. As the saying goes, people are always afraid of what they do not know. And this fear of the unknown, masked in a rhetoric of hostility, translates into the classroom of tomorrows Christian leaders, which further trickles down to influence our laypeople. I recently had a conversation with a young person deeply discouraged by todays evangelicalsthat is, evangelicals-turned-fundamentalists indifferent to or suspicious of all things premodernwho wondered whether the evangelical church has any real historical roots to offer anymore. If the evangelical leaders of today cannot follow the lead of their Protestant forefathers and claim the church catholicwith a small c, meaning universalthe next generation will find a church that can. And while changing course will be anything but easy, I believe we must begin with the cure prescribed by Lewis to keep the clean sea breeze of orthodoxy blowing through our minds. Matthew Barrett is the author of Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit (Baker Books), associate professor of Christian theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and host of the Credo podcast. Three weeks before Pope Francis visited Canada to apologize for the churchs involvement in indigenous residential schools, Christina Dawsons church in Vancouver, British Columbia, burned down. The fire was eerily reminiscent of the more than 50 churches that were defaced or destroyed across the country a year ago, weeks after the discoveries of the remains of residential school students began making international headlines. This months fire started in a back alley on July 6, according to Dawson. By the next morning, the churchs two-story building was completely ravaged. Fire inspectors are still investigating the incident to determine whether the blaze was deliberately set. Dawson is from the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations on the western end of Vancouver Island. She serves as lead pastor of Street Church, which is part of the Foursquare network of churches in Canada. Its pastoral team are all alumni of First Nations Bible College. The popes apology has galvanized Dawsons desire to share Christ with other indigenous peoples. I find it more urgent than ever to find a new building [for my church], she said. What the priests and nuns at these residential schools did to us was evil, Dawson said. But the worst thing they did to us: They made us indigenous people hate the name of Jesus. A mixed reception On Monday (July 24), Francis apologized for the Catholic churchs role in setting up Canadas residential schools and perpetuating decades of abuse against First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children. The popes weeklong trip to Canada came on the heels of a visit by indigenous leaders to the Vatican in late March. Speaking in Spanish at Maskwacis, Albertathe site of the former Ermineskin Residential School, which was operated by Roman Catholic missionaries from 1895 to 1975Francis acknowledged the physical, verbal, psychological, and spiritual abuse that children suffered at residential schools. Beginning in 1831, more than 150,000 of these children attended residential schools. And although the last school closed in Saskatchewan in 1996, the trauma of being forced to relinquish their cultural traditions, languages, and practices continues to pervade generations of indigenous peoples. At Maskwacis, Francis kissed a bright red banner displaying the names of 4,120 children who had died in residential schools and issued a plea for forgiveness for the deplorable evil: I am sorry. I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools. About two-thirds (63%) of indigenous peoples in the country identify themselves as Christian, according to a 2011 poll by Canadas National Household Survey. More than half are Catholic and the rest are Protestant or Orthodox. Indigenous evangelical leaders in North America both witnessed and experienced myriad responses to the papal apology, ranging from anger and grief to gratefulness and relief. My initial thought was that we dont need another apology. We need an apology that is lived out, said Susan McPherson Derendy, who is Nehiyaw-Swampy Cree and teaches theological education through an indigenous lens to First Nations Christians. But some felt that many residential school survivors and their families needed to hear it. Shari Russell, a consultant for the Salvation Armys Indigenous Ministries, is from the Yellow Quill Nation in Saskatchewan. Her older sisters were sent to Catholic residential schools. I have some sadness as my sisters have journeyed on to the other side. This would have been helpful for them to hear, she said. Terry Wildman, who is Ojibwe and Yaqui and the US-based director of spiritual growth and leadership at InterVarsitys Native Ministries, expressed gratitude for the popes apology while also recognizing that it had stirred up controversy. This doesnt complete anything, but it opens new doors for further conversation and feedback from indigenous peoples, he said. An enduring grief Last summer, the discovery of numerous unmarked graves on the sites of former residential schools in Kamloops, British Columbia, and Marieval, Saskatchewan, horrified the worldtheir existence evidence of the 25,000 First Nations students who never returned home. I know the weight of the burden of grief that our indigenous peoples carry, as I have personally experienced it myself through the loss of my son, Dawson said. Dawsons son was killed three years ago. In moments when the pain has been too great for her to carry, she has called on Jesus for help. Her Christian faith is something she hopes she can share with other indigenous persons she encounters on the street who have suffered similar losses. Street Church has served its community for 29 years and has run services on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to reach out to the homeless in its vicinity. During the pandemic, the congregation moved from offering food services to providing care packs for visitors, who heard praise and worship songs and testimonies about God while receiving physical nourishment. As she awaits the fire investigators findings, Dawson is looking for a new ground-floor location for Street Church in the Downtown Eastside, one of the citys poorest areas with one of the largest urban populations of First Nations people across Canada (and where the original church was located). Being there means her church is well poised to reach out to those who are experiencing prolonged suffering brought on by the residential school system. Hidden benefits Many of the indigenous leaders interviewed by CT said that Canadian evangelicals are often dismissive of or indifferent toward the atrocities committed against indigenous peoples. Many evangelicals say their denomination didnt run a residential school, said Russell. But they need to recognize that the Doctrine of Discovery has permeated the church and its theology. We need to recognize our own ethnocentrism and racism. Samantha Martin-Bird, who works for a nonprofit that addresses inequities confronting indigenous young people, grew up in an evangelical church setting and now lives and worships in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The citizen of Peguis First Nation in Manitoba cited King David making amends for Sauls wrongdoing (2 Sam. 21:114) as an illustration of how evangelicals might still be held accountable. Evangelicals tend to think mainly about their own personal sin or wrongdoing, she said. But in this story, the whole community suffered harm and experienced famine because someone (Saul) who had already died broke a treaty [with the Gibeonites]. David was not related to Saul, but he was still asked to make it right. Denominations like the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) have followed in Davids footsteps. Canadian CRC congregations committed to several initiatives from the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions 94 calls to action, including championing equity in education and educating the laity on this history. Even though the CRC didnt run a residential school, we are beneficiaries of the colonial system that the residential schools represented, Mike Hogeterp of the CRCNAs Centre for Public Dialogue told CT last year. Since 1994, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) has worked to strengthen its ties with the indigenous community. They formed a task force in 1995 to create educational resources for churches. More recently, the EFC presented a paper, Stewarding Sacred Seeds, at NAIITS 2020 symposium, which outlined seven commitments that were subsequently adopted. These included recommitting to the Reconciliation Proclamation, reviewing existing church resources, repudiating the idea of neutrality on issues pertaining to indigenous justice, and developing a theology of stewardship of land and creation. To come alongside Indigenous sisters and brothers is to listen and ask questions, wrote EFC president Bruce J. Clemenger last year. When we own the shame of what was done in this land to our neighbours and their ancestors, we will be motivated to pray and seek healing for our country. Reimagining education One area that indigenous Christian leaders are investing in as they journey toward reconciling faith and culture is the field of theological education. Last July, Russell was seconded to Indigenous Pathways, a nonprofit charitable organization incorporated in Canada and the United States that works globally to improve the future of indigenous peoples through training, community engagement, and formal education. Part of this work includes her role as associate director at NAIITS (formerly the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies). The indigenous learning community offers MA and PhD programs that encourage the development of written work around biblical and theological themes from indigenous perspectives. Derendy attended church as a child and teenager, left the faith, and returned in her 20s. A prayer and counseling session she attended in the mid-1990s helped her see herself as a Cree child of Creator God, as opposed to the negative and toxic stereotypes [of indigenous women] that were a part of societal conditioning. What Dakota elders later said to herthat Gods will for them was to be good Dakota menwas also pivotal in confirming her journey of faith and providing her with greater guidance and direction. Today Derendy is Keeper of the Learning Circle at the Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre in Beausejour, Manitoba, where she is working to implement a curriculum that reflects a decolonized, indigenized approach to theology. The center trains and equips people for indigenous leadership roles in the United Church of Canada and elsewhere. Indigenous leaders are also embarking on efforts to contextualize the gospel through language recovery. Last summer, Wildman and his team, made up entirely of North American indigenous people, published the First Nations Version of the New Testament. The decision to publish it in English, he said, was intentional. Boarding and residential schools have been very successful in taking our languages from us, said Wildman, who grew up in Michigan and now lives in Arizona on the traditional lands of the Pima and Tohono Oodham. Less than 10 percent of us can read our own language. We wanted to take this colonial language, make it serve us, and incorporate wordings and idioms that are more Native-friendly. Feedback on the First Nations Version from both indigenous and nonindigenous believers has been phenomenal, in Wildmans words. Just this week, he signed another contract with InterVarsity Press to translate Psalms and Proverbs, slated for publication in 2024. For Dawson, reconnecting with the language of her culture is key to processing the trauma she experienced. I wish I could learn my language [more]. I know very little, she said. Martin-Bird said that evangelicals should invest in the efforts to revitalize indigenous languages in response to their erasure. Reading the Bible in Ojibwe, Hebrew, and English, she said, is a practice that has enabled her to develop a greater love for Scripture and a deeper appreciation for its richness and complexity. While she did not feel disconnected from her indigenous identity, she described it as fractured due to the churchs colonizing influence. An example of this, she said, is that she is not fluent in Cree or anishinaabemowin (the Ojibwe language). But exploring beloved Bible storiessuch as Abraham sacrificing Isaac in Genesis 22 and the account of Jesus birth in Matthewin Ojibwe during Lent and Advent was enriching. I wanted to sift through familiar stories and see how different they felt [in another language], she said. Looking ahead In the view of these indigenous evangelical leaders, the grief that persists and the depth and breadth of what they ache to accomplish do not negate opportunities for celebration. This August, the Salvation Army will host a Celebration of Culture and Pow Wow in Pine Lake Camp, Alberta, where indigenous peoples will have a place to celebrate their heritage and faith. Years ago, the church would not have allowed this. Now theyre sponsoring it, Russell said. To her, the fact that a Christian ministry is organizing this event gives her hope for the evangelical church at large. Churches ought to look at how they teach and educate clergy and congregations about what has happened and how we can begin to live in right relationship with one another, she said. The gospel story of Jesus brings life and wholeness. Bringing about and seeing that redemption happen is something I hope and long for. Seattle Pacific University, a private school associated with the Free Methodist Church, was the site of daily protests for more than a month earlier this summer as students challenged a school policy that prohibited the hiring of LGBT people. Dissenting students called the policy homophobic and discriminatory. Now, the university says its rights are being violated by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, whose office launched an investigation into the schools hiring practices. Seattle Pacific University is suing Ferguson, claiming his probe aims to influence the university in its application and understanding of church teaching, according to the claim filed Wednesday, July 27, in US District Court for the Western District of Washington. The university is represented by Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Becket Senior Counsel Lori Windham, in a statement, said Ferguson singled out the university because of its Christian beliefs, demanding information about the schools religious hiring practices and employees. She said the university is asking a federal court to stop him from interfering in the religious decisions of a Christian university seeking to remain true to its faith and mission. Fergusons office did not respond to an email requesting comment. Students and others fighting against the hiring policy said in a statement that the lawsuit shows the university is still painting a portrait of a school that is being persecuted by outside forces for practicing their faith. We know this is not an issue of religious freedoms; rather its an issue of the people in power failing to uphold the universitys commitment to its own community. At issue is the schools employee lifestyle expectation policy that states, in part, that employees are expected to refrain from sexual behavior that is inconsistent with the Universitys understanding of Biblical standards, including cohabitation, extramarital sexual activity, and same-sex sexual activity. The controversy began after an adjunct nursing professor filed a lawsuit in January 2021, accusing the university of refusing him job opportunities because of his sexual orientation. Four months later, the universitys faculty in April 2021 took a vote of no confidence in its board of trustees after members of the board declined to change the hiring policy. The faculty also sought for the university to drop its statement on human sexuality. In the aftermath, a campus work group was assigned to study the issue and in May 2022 presented its recommendations. Thats when the board of trustees chose to retain the policy. Students then staged a more than monthlong sit-in beginning in late May. Its believed students asked Ferguson to take legal action against the universitys board of trustees, according to the suit. Fergusons office sent a letter to the university, demanding prompt production of voluminous and sensitive internal information on the Universitys religious policies and their application to any and all faculty, staff, and administrators, the complaint reads. According to the complaint: The letter clearly indicates that the attorney general considers prohibiting same-sex marriage and activity to be in violation of the law The First Amendment protects the ability of religious organizations to follow the teachings of their faith on marriage and sexual relationships outside marriage, and to maintain policies consistent with those beliefs. The university notes in the complaint that Free Methodists believe sexual intimacy is a gift from God and is a great blessing in the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. Fergusons probe, the complaint reads, infringes on the universitys First Amendment right to govern itself according to religious principles, frame its policies and doctrine, and select its employees and leaders according to those religious principles without government interference. If the school were to change its employment policies to allow hiring Christians in same-sex marriages, the university would be automatically disaffiliated from the Free Methodist Church and no longer be a denominational institution, according to the lawsuit. Archbishop's arrest upon return from Israel upsets Lebanon's Christians Lebanon's Maronite Christian community has voiced its concern over the arrest and interrogation of their Archbishop Musa al-Hajj in his own country as he returned from an aid trip to Israel, reports say. The arrest at the border crossing and the interrogation had been ordered by the Military Court's Government Commissioner, Judge Fadi Akiki, on July 19, according to the American Mideast Coalition for Democracy. Musa al-Hajj is not only the archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land but also the patriarchal vicar for Jerusalem, the Palestinian Territories and the Hashemite Kingdom, the group noted in a statement. The archbishop's trip to Israel involved visiting the Christian Maronite community, many of them refugees from the 1975-1990 civil war. AMCD claims Al-Hajj was interrogated "on the flimsy excuse" that he may have helped some Lebanese people struggling under their collapsing economy obtain some relief from relatives who had fled to Israel, according to AMCD. Arab News reports the archbishop was accused of bringing in a large sum of U.S. dollars to Lebanon and was detained for 11 hours before the involvement of church officials and the judiciary led to his release. According to International Christian Concern, Al-Hajj received a summons for military court interrogations and a travel ban imposed by military courts. An official close to the case told AFP, that Hajj ignored the military court summons issued for allegedly violating boycott laws imposed on Israel and money laundering. AMCD reports that "Lebanese sources believe this is an attempt to pressure (Maronite) Patriarch al-Rahi to change his position in favor of UN resolution 1559 regarding the disarming of all militias and liberating Lebanon from all foreign meddling, specifically from the domination of the Iranian proxy, Hezbollah." AMCD is concerned about the use of Lebanese military courts against civilians. "This military court has issued many other arrest warrants against those opposing the terrorist organization Hezbollah, even against American citizens, in an apparent effort to stifle their activism and freedom of speech. This abuse of power has been going on for some time but has escalated recently," the statement added. Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi and other clerics called the arrest a "charade." "We demand... the confiscated aid be returned to the archbishop so that it can reach its beneficiaries," they said in a statement, according to AFP. On Sunday, Christians gathered in protest in the courtyard of the patriarchs place of residence in Dimane. Over 60 percent of Lebanon's population is Muslim, mostly from Sunni, Shi'a and Alawite sects. Christians form over one-third of the population. Under a decades-old power-sharing agreement in Lebanon, the presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian while the premier is a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim. The patriarch has spoken publicly about the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for October, which will select a new Maronite president, as well as concerns about the political coercion of Hezbollah as an Iranian proxy, ICC noted. In a Sunday sermon, Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi reportedly said Christians want a president "committed to the Lebanese cause, national constants, Lebanon's sovereignty and independence, and who abides by the principle of neutrality." "We cannot call for Lebanon's neutrality and choose a president who is biased toward certain axes," he said. Lebanon's former President Amin Gemayel also commented on the archbishop's arrest. "Arresting Al-Hajj while on a pastoral and humanitarian mission and summoning him for investigation before the military court constitute a harsh blow by a political-judicial-security narrow-minded thinking against the role represented by the archbishop of the holy land through his care for the conditions of the Maronites, as well as all other Christian and Muslim denominations in Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories," Gemayel said in a statement shared with Arab News. Maltese Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, the Vatican's envoy to Lebanon, said the arrest sets a "dangerous" precedent, according to All Arab News. Samir Geagea, leader of the growing Christian-backed Lebanese Forces, said in a statement the archbishop's detainment was "not comprehensible at all." Evangelical social activist Ron Sider dies at 82 Professor, author remembered as a 'Pioneer of the Evangelical Left' Influential Evangelical progressive social activist, author and professor Ron Sider, who founded Christians for Social Action, died Wednesday at 82. CSA Executive Director Nikki Toyama-Szeto announced Thursday that Sider died of cardiac arrest after a hospital stay for other medical issues on Wednesday evening. "Ron listened well. For someone who taught many, who wrote much, and who led well, he was an extraordinary listener," wrote Toyama-Szeto. "He had strong convictions and reasoned positions, but he was softhearted when it came to engaging with ideas that were different from his own he asked questions, was always curious and always learning, and listened with an open heart and mind." Toyama-Szeto also said Sider had a "compelling vision for justice" that "stirred hearts and souls," describing him as a pacifist who "called us to pursue peace with the same fervor of those who pursued violence." "We at Christians for Social Action feel the loss of this humble, kind, and prophetic man," she added. "As the initial surprise passes, we hold deep gratitude for the big and small ways that Ron bore witness to God's heart, and how he always showed us a fuller picture of what it means to follow Jesus." Born in Erie, Ontario, Canada, in 1939, Ronald James Sider helped create the 1973 Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern, signed by dozens of faith leaders. The declaration included calls to end racism, economic injustice, western materialism, and gender inequality, confessing that "we have not demonstrated the love of God to those suffering social abuses." "As evangelical Christians committed to the Lord Jesus Christ and the full authority of the Word of God, we affirm that God lays total claim upon the lives of his people," continued the statement. "We cannot, therefore, separate our lives from the situation in which God has placed us in the United States and the world." It was out of a series of "Thanksgiving Workshops" organized by Sider that Chicago Declaration came to be, according to Asbury University history professor David Swartz. Swartz called the declaration a "landmark document of the postwar evangelical left." Known for his political activism, Sider launched Evangelicals for McGovern in 1978, which Swartz described as the first partisan evangelical-founded political organization of the 20th century to elect a president. In 1978, Sider founded Evangelicals for Social Action, an advocacy group that changed its name to Christians for Social Action in 2020 due to concerns over the term "evangelical." Sider published or edited over 30 books and contributed chapters to several more. In 1977, he released his highly influential book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity. "His 1977 Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger ... argued that global economic injustices cannot be addressed simply through individual social ethics. They must be tackled structurally through such actions as lobbying Congress to reduce military spending and to drop barriers to imports from developing nations," Swartz wrote in a blog post remembering Sider as a "pioneer of the Evangelical left." "In the decades since, Sider's progressive vision has persisted. With the exception of a vote for George W. Bush's 'compassionate conservatism' in 2000 that he now regrets, Sider has routinely embraced and stumped on behalf of many liberal Democratic policies." In 2015, Sider joined around 70 faith leaders in signing an open letter to then-President Barack Obama urging him to keep a federal rule allowing religious organizations who contract with the federal government to hire people in keeping with their religious views. Sider was a staunch critic of Donald Trump, having edited a 2020 book titled The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump: 30 Evangelical Christians on Justice, Truth, and Moral Integrity. "Our plea is to white Evangelicals to please take another look and ask, 'Does this person measure up to biblical norms?'" Sider told The Christian Post in an interview at the time. "Even if you think the book will make you mad, given the title, I challenge you to read it and decide for yourself if there are any valid points that we are making there." Sider also called on then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to do more to address the concerns that Evangelical voters have regarding issues like abortion and religious liberty. "There are millions of evangelicals (and Catholics) in swing states who want to vote for Biden," Sider said. "We agree much more with Biden than with Trump on numerous issues." "But on two issues abortion and religious freedom we need to hear that Biden's campaign understands, respects and can talk to us about our concerns, even though they do not fully agree." Sider taught at the Philadelphia campus of Messiah College and began teaching at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now known as Palmer Theological Seminary) in Pennsylvania in 1977. He spent decades as a faculty member and became the Distinguished Professor of Theology, Holistic Ministry and Public Policy. "Over the years, Ron challenged the followers of Jesus to embrace and live out the twin biblical mandates of evangelism and social action in his teaching, writing, and speaking," notes an obituary posted on the Palmer website. "His effective ministry bore fruit in the seminary classroom, the local and global church, and further afield in the public sphere, both in the United States and abroad." In March 2021, Sider announced that he had an aggressive form of bladder cancer but intended to "fight this cancer with all my might." Sider is survived by his wife, Arbutus, three adult children and their families. 'He had hookers': Joe Rogan confuses Jerry Falwell Sr. with Jimmy Swaggart Joe Rogan, who has one of the most popular podcasts in the world, made a major blunder when he confused the late Jerry Falwell Sr. with televangelist Jimmy Swaggart by describing the former as having been caught with "hookers." On Wednesday's episode of the "Joe Rogan Experience" with "Triggernometry" hosts Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin that covered a wide range of topics from free speech to the war in Ukraine, the three comedians and podcasters spoke about how people who virtue signal or claim to be "male feminists" are often the ones sexually harassing women or mistreating their colleagues. "The more 'right' someone's opinions, the more naughty they are behind the scenes," Kisin said. Foster, who, along with Kisin, is from England and less familiar with American televangelists and Evangelical leaders, said: "It's a new version of the fire and brimstone preacher, like Jerry Falwell. Do you remember that case?" "Yes, of course," Rogan replied, mimicking Swaggart crying. "God, I have sinned you." "He had hookers and s. He got a little too crazy," Rogan added. "But the thing is, back then, you didn't have Facebook. You couldn't counteract this with a nice blog post. ... So what he had to do was cry on TV and it's hilarious. It's hilarious also because he might've really meant it. Maybe he did really start off originally as a man of God and lost his way, and then got corrupted just like a politician." Twenty minutes later, Rogan's producer, Jamie Vernon, told the podcasters that they had confused Falwell Sr. with Swaggart. "It wasn't him, by the way," Vernon said. "It wasn't him (Falwell) crying?" Rogan asked before correcting himself. "Jimmy Swaggart, that's right. So which one's Jerry Falwell?" His producer then made a second factual error when he said Falwell "had stuff going on, too, but he didn't cry." "Did he (Falwell) get busted too? Was it the same thing? Hookers?" Rogan asked with everyone replying in the affirmative, still confused about who Falwell was. "I had them confused," Rogan said. "Jerry Falwell is now going to sue, wherever he is," Foster quipped. Rogan replied, "We might have to edit that out. ... I don't know what he did." Falwell Sr. was the founder of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and the founding pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church, where he served from 1956 until he died in 2007. He was also a major leader in what was known as the Moral Majority, which became a force in U.S. politics. Swaggart, now 87, is a Pentecostal televangelist who started his ministry in 1971 that was originally known as the Camp Meeting Hour. He garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best Performance for Traditional Gospel in 1980. He is now the senior pastor of the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. On Feb. 21, 1988, Swaggart delivered his famous and often parodied I have sinned sermon. After being caught with a prostitute, he took to the pulpit and tearfully confessed before his congregation, declaring: I have sinned." He apologized to various people, including his family and the Assemblies of God denomination. I have no one but myself to blame. I do not lay the fault or the blame of the charge at anyone else's feet. For no one is to blame but Jimmy Swaggart. I take the responsibility. I take the blame. I take the fault, he said. To my fellow television ministers and evangelists, you that are already bearing an almost unbearable load, to continue to say and tell the great story of Jesus' love, I have made your load heavier and I have hurt you. Please forgive me for sinning against you. On Oct. 11, 1991, Swaggart was caught with another prostitute when a California Highway Patrol officer pulled him over for driving on the wrong side of the road. Pro-life doctor warns of dangers as European org. ships abortion pills to Americans As doctors in Europe continue to ship abortion pills to Americans as some states ban the drug after the U.S. Supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, a pro-life doctor is warning that mailing from overseas is a "dangerous" way to distribute the drug. Dr. Donna Harrison, CEO of the 6,000-member American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, has offered her concerns as a group called Aid Access has worked to provide chemical abortion pills to the U.S. for four years and vows to continue doing so. Since the Supreme Court overturnedRoe last month, concluding that there is no constitutional right to abortion and returning the issue to the states, Aid Access has reported that it receives 4,000 requests a day for abortion pills, up from 600 to 700 a day. In an interview with The Christian Post, Harrison said that in ordering the pills online, women may not know exactly how far along their pregnancy is, which means there is a lack of informed consent. The doctor also noted that about one in 50 pregnancies in the United States end in an ectopic pregnancy, a life-threatening condition where the embryo implants outside the uterus. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the side effects of taking the abortion pill can include heavy and painful bleeding. Chemical abortions require patients to take two drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. The drugs are approved by the FDA to terminate pregnancy up to 10 weeks gestation. "The symptoms of a Mifeprex abortion are exactly the same as a rupturing ectopic pregnancy," Harrison said. "So a woman who is having pain and bleeding will go on the internet, say, 'Oh, yes, I should expect pain and bleeding from this operation,' not knowing she's got a rupturing ectopic pregnancy, and then she dies from an internal hemorrhage." Aid Access is led by Dutch physician Dr. Rebecca Gompers, who founded the organization in 2018. The organization consists of four doctors supervising a team of about 10 medical staff members. Potential patients visit Aid Access's website and answer a series of questions, such as how far along they are in pregnancy and whether anyone is forcing them into the abortion. The medical team then sends a prescription for the abortion pill to the pharmacy. As NBC reported, it's been difficult for U.S. authorities to stop Aid Access from mailing abortion pills, even to states with strict abortion laws, because the organization operates outside the country and ships pills from India. "We will continue to serve women who need it. We're not going to stop," Gompers said in a statement. "We are expanding again our capacity, so we can help with all the requests that we get." In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to Aid Access calling on it to "immediately cease causing the introduction of these violative drugs into U.S. commerce." "By facilitating the sale of unapproved mifepristone and misoprostol to consumers in the U.S., Aidaccess.org causes the introduction of unapproved new drugs into U.S. commerce in violation of the FD&C Act," the letter stated. "These drugs are also new drugs ... because they are not generally recognized as safe and effective for their labeled use. New drugs may not be legally introduced or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce without prior approval from FDA." Harrison, an adjunct professor at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, believes that distributing abortion pills online is a "dangerous" way to administer such a drug. With chemical abortion pills being available online, Harrison also stated that it could be easy for a boyfriend or even a sex trafficker to order them and force women to undergo a chemical abortion without her consent. Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, promotes chemical abortion as "really safe and effective" on its website, stating that millions have used it safely. The organization contends that complications after an abortion are rare and typically happen in special circumstances, such as a woman ending a pregnancy for health reasons or if she has a history of mental health problems. Other sources, however, have questioned the validity of data available on the complications from abortion pills. A peer-reviewed study published in May by the pro-life research organization Charlotte Lozier Institute, which Harrison co-authored, suggests that multiple cases of complications from the abortion pill were mischaracterized as miscarriages. The study consisted of a 17-year longitudinal analysis of 423,000 confirmed abortions and 121,283 confirmed subsequent visits to an emergency room within 30 days of the abortion. Researchers assessed women over 13 years of age with at least one identifiable pregnancy between 1999 and 2015. According to the study, "of the women with miscoded abortion pill complications who were admitted to the hospital, 86% needed surgery for [retained products of conception]." The rate was 2.5 times higher than women who underwent surgical abortions and were miscoded as miscarriage patients. A 2009 study titled "Immediate complications of medical compared with surgical termination of pregnancy" purports that the need for emergency surgery to complete abortion for women who take Mifeprex before nine weeks of pregnancy is four times greater than the risk of surgical abortion. UN temporarily blocks removal of Archie Battersbee's life support The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities has asked the United Kingdom to keep 12-year-old Archie Battersbee on life support while it considers the boy's case. The CRPD issued an injunction Friday following a refusal Thursday by the U.K. Supreme Court to intervene in the case. Lower courts ruled against a request from the boy's parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, to prevent Royal London Hospital from discontinuing life support. Battersbee was found unconscious with a ligature around his neck in April, suffering a "catastrophic hypoxic ischaemic brain injury." Judges have agreed with the hospital's assessment that the child is likely brain dead. The parents are supported in their legal fight by the Christian Legal Centre. The legal center said in a statement Friday that the court order allowing the removal of Battersbee's life support went into effect Thursday afternoon. The family applied to the UN CRPD because individuals and families can file complaints regarding potential violations of disabled people's rights. Battersbee's parents argue that stopping their son's treatment breaches the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Children. The UN CRPD said in response to Battersbee's parents that its special rapporteur on communications "requested the State party to refrain from withdrawing life-preserving medical treatment, including mechanical ventilation and artificial nutrition and hydration, from the alleged victim while the case is under consideration by the Committee." "[T]his request does not imply that any decision has been reached on the substance of the matter under consideration," the response states. "The Committee may review the necessity of maintaining the request for interim measures once the State party's observations have been received.'" Dance is grateful for the U.N's quick response. "This is the first time this has ever happened in history of this inhumane system in the U.K.," she said. "There have been so many ups and downs, but we have put on the full armour of God, gone into the battle and now we have given Archie time, that is all we have ever asked for." Last month, Justice Emma Arbuthnot ruled that the Royal London Hospital could discontinue Archie's life support, writing that the boy is likely dead "on the balance of probabilities." Despite her decision, Arbuthnot granted the parents permission to appeal. In a July 15 judgment, Justice Anthony Hayden ruled that it is in the child's "best interests" for his life support to be removed. "Where, as here, the treatment is futile, it compromises Archie's dignity, deprives him of his autonomy, and becomes wholly inimical to his welfare," Hayden stated in his ruling. "It serves only to protract his death, whilst being unable to prolong his life." Hayden wrote that "arrangements" can be made that will afford Battersbee the opportunity "to die in peaceful circumstances and in the embrace of the family he loved." On Monday, three judges of the Court of Appeal in central London denied the parents permission to appeal the second high court judge's decision to end his life support treatment. New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani were engaged in a fairly unprecedented face-off on the floor of the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The incident took place as the Lower House was adjourned at 12 noon. While the BJP has alleged the Congress president was rude to its MP and of speaking in a threatening tone, the Congress has accused BJP MPs of subjecting Mrs Gandhi to brutal heckling, verbal assault and physical intimidation, and demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Before the adjournment, Congress MPs, including Sonia Gandhi, faced sharp criticism from the treasury benches over the controversial remark by Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who had referred to President Droupadi Murmu as Rashtrapatni while sitting on a protest inside the Parliament complex on Wednesday. This evoked sharp reactions from the BJP who felt using such a word for the President was highly derogatory. While Mr Chowdhury apologised for the remark, saying that it was a slip of the tongue and blamed it on his poor knowledge of Hindi, and has sought time to go and apologise to the President personally, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP women members demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi as well. As the Lok Sabha was adjourned in the afternoon, Mrs Gandhi walked across to the treasury benches and sought to know from BJP member Rama Devi why she was being dragged into the issue. Ms Rama Devi told the media later that Mrs Gandhi sought to know why her name was being dragged into the issue. What is my fault? Mrs Gandhi asked Ms Rama Devi, who said her fault was that she had selected Mr Chowdhury as the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha. As the duo were talking, a group of BJP women MPs including Ms Irani reportedly shouted at Sonia Gandhi saying that she should also apologise for the remarks against the President. At this point, Mrs Gandhi told Ms Irani not to speak to her. As BJP members started flocking around Rama Devi and Sonia Gandhi, NCP member Supriya Sule and Trinamul member Aparupa Poddar escorted Mrs Gandhi away. Later, Treinamul MP Mahua Moitra said the 75-year-old Congress leader was being encircled and heckled pack-wolf style by the BJP MPs. (I) was in Lok Sabha when 75-year-old lady senior leader encircled and heckled pack-wolf style when all she did was walk over and speak (masked) to another senior lady panel chairperson. Disgusted to read the BJP lies and false version in the press, Ms Moitra tweeted. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the media that Mrs Gandhi was speaking in a threatening tone with the BJP members. Ms Sitharaman claimed that Sonia Gandhi told the BJP members you dont talk to me, when they sought to know what the issue being discussed was. Instead of tendering an apology, she is misleading by claiming that Adhir Chowdhury has already apologised. Instead of an apology, she is resorting to threats, Ms Sitharaman said, referring to the incident in the Lok Sabha chamber. Hitting back, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh termed Ms Iranis behaviour as outrageous. The AICC general secretary added: Atrocious and outrageous behaviour by Union minister Smriti Irani in the Lok Sabha today! But will she be pulled up by the Speaker? Are the rules only meant for the Opposition? The brutal heckling, verbal assault and physical intimidation of one of the most dignified ladies of Indian politics, Smt Sonia Gandhi, inside by the BJP was traumatic and sickening. That this assault by the BJP MPs took place inside Parliament reflected the mentality of a mob, said Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi. The BJP thought Sonia Gandhi would get scared and leave, but being the fearless leader she is, she went up to those women MPs and wanted to speak to them in a very dignified way, but that was met with very abhorrent behaviour from BJP MPs and we saw that women and male MPs and ministers surrounded her and created an atmosphere where she could have been shoved and could have been hurt, Mr Gogoi added. Women and male MPs of the BJP made objectionable remarks against Sonia Gandhi and their behaviour was objectionable as well. This shows that the party which raises slogans in the name of women and culture has shown how they disrespected an Indian woman and tried to hurt her honour, he said. The Congress is approaching the Lok Sabha Speaker to complain against the BJP MPs and ministers who were present in the confrontation with the Congress president, and want the matter sent to the privileges committee and the video footage of the incident to be inspected. Earlier, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman also raised the issue in the House and demanded an apology from the Congress president for the remark. Chowdhurys comments were not a slip of the tongue. It was a deliberate sexist insult against the President, Ms Sitharaman said, adding that at a time when the entire country is rejoicing at the election of a self-made woman from a tribal background as President, for the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha to call her rashtrapatni in a pati-patni (husband-wife) kind of a level has insulted the President of India. I demand an apology from the president of the Congress Party who herself is a woman, she said. Madison on the chopping block? Tragically, slavery has been around from the beginning of time. It is still practiced even today in some places where Christianity is not dominant or has not been dominant. But while slavery was a fact of life in the 1700s not only in colonial America, but all over the world it was the system put in place by Americas founding fathers that eventually led to its dissolution. But that doesnt matter to the woke mob, which insists that historical figures be held to todays standards, and which seeks to tear down Americas history and rebuild it on a neo-Marxist foundation. Thus, the woke crowd goes after any founding father in any way associated with slavery. Most recently comes the attack on James Madison, a key architect of the Constitution. The New York Post reports on an overhaul of Montpelier, the house of Madison, noting that a $10 million grant from left-leaning philanthropist David M. Rubenstein has put slavery and racism center-stage, shoving Madisons authorship of the United States Constitution off into the wings. Instead, blindsided tourists are hammered by high-tech exhibits about Madisons slaves and current racial conflicts. Tourists visiting Montpelier may be coming to learn about the Constitution, but they are sorely disappointed. One describes it as, A one hour Critical Race Theory experience disguised as a tour. And so it is that, in James Madisons own home, our fourth president and a key architect of the Constitution is relentlessly attacked for not living up to todays standards. Madison, though a slave-owner, helped create a framework for one day abolishing slavery. By the standards of their contemporary world, Americas founders were deeply progressive in their desire to eliminate slavery and far out of step with most of the rest of the world. Much of the freedom we enjoy today gets back to those men and women who settled America for religious liberty and then the founding fathers who implemented Biblical principles to create America. Madison played a key role. He attended the Presbyterian College of Princeton, New Jersey (now Princeton University) rather than the Anglican College of William and Mary, where sons of Virginia were expected to attend. He learned directly under Rev. John Witherspoon, who also later turned out to be an important founding father. Perhaps, the most important lesson that James Madison took home from his Princeton education was the firm belief in the biblical doctrine of mans sinfulness and its implications for political science. John Eidsmoe, author of the landmark book, Christianity and the Constitution, points out: One thing is certain, the Christian religion, particularly Rev. Witherspoon's Calvinism, influenced Madison's view of law and government. Madison once wrote, All men having power ought to be distrusted. After the Constitutional Convention, but before the document was ratified, Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote letters to the editor of newspapers in the state of New York, using the pseudonym Publius to argue for ratification. These letters were gathered together later and are known as the Federalist Papers and reflect the genius of American political science. The Federalist Papers dont quote the Bible directly, but they express a biblical worldview on mans nature and the potential corruption of power. What is the essence of tyranny according to James Madison, author of Federalist #47? The answer is having all three branches of government in the hands of one or a few. In Federalist #51, he argues that if men were angels, government wouldnt even be necessary. But since men arent angels, government is necessary. Furthermore, we also need protection from the government, since it is run by men, not angels. In Federalist #42, Madison explains the constitutional provision that would allow the federal government to abolish the slave trade 20 years after its ratification: It ought to be considered as a great point gained in favor of humanity, that a period of 20 years may terminate forever, within these States, a traffic which has so long and so loudly upbraided the barbarism of modern policy. Americans need to learn the true history of our rich past. Yes, America has a checkered past with slavery and segregation. But so does the rest of the entire world and the principles of founders like Madison were on the forefront of ending these evils. As Americas greatest civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., observed in his outstanding I Have a Dream speech, When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. We will not move toward a positive future if we distort our past, as the woke mobs now does. As James Madison himself once said: A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people. Pastor Ted Haggard accused of inappropriate male touching and drug use in new ministry Some 12 years after starting Colorado-based St. James Church in a defiant comeback from a 2006 sex scandal involving illicit drug use and a male prostitute, former National Association of Evangelicals President Ted Haggard has been accused of inappropriately touching at least two young men and illicit drug use during his new ministry. "People are scared and worried and don't want to be connected to him anymore," the Rev. Kirk "Seth" Sethman, who was ordained as a minister by St. James Church in October 2012, told The Colorado Springs Gazette. St. James Church did not immediately respond to questions about the allegations when contacted by The Christian Post on Wednesday. But Sethman, a reformed drug addict who served time in prison as a young adult for burglary, insists that Haggard has not been delivered from his wayward proclivities. He told The Gazette that in the spring of 2012, just under two years after Haggard and his wife, Gayle, started St. James Church, the former megachurch pastor asked a young male church member to whom he was providing counseling to buy him methamphetamine. Sethman said the young member, who was recovering from heroin addiction, told him what happened. He asked another member who is a medical doctor to help him confront Haggard. He said when they confronted Haggard, the pastor admitted to having the methamphetamine and said he was planning to use it to celebrate his upcoming birthday. The St. James Church pastor then asked the two men to help him remove the drug from his house so he would not be tempted to use it. Sethman said when they got to Haggard's house, Haggard gave him a briefcase to throw away. "He asked us to conceal the matter and said he would be accountable to us in the future," Sethman said. "Which never happened." Sethman said after he left Haggard's home, he opened the briefcase and found a bag containing a small amount of the nearly 1 gram of methamphetamine the young church member had bought for the pastor. There was also reportedly a "well-used" glass meth pipe, several sex toys, a DVD with two young males on the cover and a credit card with Ted Haggard's name. Sethman, who went blind in 2015 due to a medical condition, said he didn't call the police because he wanted to protect Haggard, the church and the young man. He said he chose to smoke the remaining methamphetamine instead and waited about a year before disposing of the briefcase. "I was protecting the young man, the church and Ted," Sethman said. "My choice I made was wrong, but I thought I was doing right." The report said Sethman relapsed into drug use and drinking until 2017 when he rejoined St. James Church. Around that time, Sethman said a young man told him that "'it was really weird that Ted kept pushing him to go four-wheeling in the woods with him.'" In 2006, Haggard was forced to resign as pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs and as president of the National Association of Evangelicals after confessing to "sexual immorality" with Denver male escort Mike Jones. Haggard, who said he would classify himself as bisexual if he weren't a Christian pastor, said he didn't have sex with the prostitute. "We never had sex sex. I bought drugs and a massage from him, and he masturbated me at the end of it. That's it," he told GQ in 2011. Haggard initially denied using methamphetamine he allegedly bought from Jones but later admitted to using the drug. "Sometimes I'd throw it away," he told GQ. "Other times, I'd go someplace and masturbate and use it. But it was for masturbation. And that's one of the reasons why I haven't been real clear. I don't want to stand up publicly and say, 'Hey, I'm a masturbation guy!' Sethman told The Gazette that he wasn't aware of Haggard's 2006 scandal until January 2019 and that after that discovery, he became more concerned about stories he heard about how he conducted himself around young men. He shared recorded testimony from two young men stating that Haggard made them uncomfortable with touching they felt was inappropriate. "Sometimes when he touches me, it feels very predatorial and very strange," one of the men, who was a minor at the time of his alleged touching, was quoted as saying. "He'll touch me on my pecs or my back or hug me in a way that I'm sliding up his hip or the side of his thigh or his bum. You can kind of tell it's weird." "There's a lot of highly suspicious things that he does, and you're like, 'that doesn't seem or feel normal.'" The second young adult male said he was uncomfortable with Haggard's behavior around the teenager and other minors. Sethman, who worked as a children's ministry volunteer under Haggard at New Life Church, said in April 2020, some elders called for Haggard to step down over the concerns raised by the young males. "What prompted me to write that letter was his abuse of authority and his denying it," an unidentified elder, who asked leaders to remove Haggard from his role, told The Gazette. "We were looking for accountability." The elder says she knows that many people are moved by his charisma, but she sees him as a "silver-tongued snake in many ways, who makes excuses and lies." In April, Haggard announced that he was switching the model of his church to a series of house churches and changed the name to Storyhouse Church. He said there was a "slow decline" in the church over the past two years. The St. James Church building was sold for $1.95 million, The Gazette reported, citing county records. Sethman says he is even more concerned about the potential for abuse to occur inside Haggard's home. "My prayer," said Sethman, "is protecting the children and the young adults." Brooklyn pastor robbed of jewelry being sued for allegedly scamming parishioner of life savings Bishop Lamor Whitehead of Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in Brooklyn, who claims he and his congregation lost jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars during a livestreamed robbery at his church on Sunday, allegedly scammed one of his parishioners of her life savings, which he's accused of using to purchase a $4.4 million mansion in New Jersey, according to a lawsuit filed in the Brooklyn Supreme Court. He is now being sued by parishioner Pauline Anderson, 56, for $2.45 million in actual and punitive damages for taking $90,000 of her savings to secure a house for her, but he used the money to secure a home for himself instead. According to the lawsuit, filed last September and first cited publicly by The City, Whitehead promised to help Anderson purchase a home after she was rejected by two mortgage lenders because her credit score was too low. Anderson had co-signed for a student loan for one of her children which was in arrears, the lawsuit said. When she failed to secure a home loan through traditional methods, the desperate Anderson who joined Whiteheads church in January 2020, warily gave him a check for $90,000 in November 2020 when he said he could help her secure a home. She told Whitehead that she was wary in handing over her money because that was all she had to live on. Whitehead offered to give her $100 per month for her living expenses at that point to live off until the purchase and renovation of the property he promised was complete. Whitehead did not give Anderson a receipt for the $90,000 she paid him. The lawsuit said Anderson trusted Whitehead with her money partly because he was her pastor. When she joined his church in 2020, she had just recovered from a life-threatening surgery and Whitehead, who was introduced to her by her son, Rasheed Anderson, had prayed for her. She further trusted Whitehead to help her find a home because he had also previously helped her son secure a home. Whitehead allegedly took Andersons money to purchase a $4.4 million mansion in Saddle River, New Jersey. The Premises is a large, palatial estate with an inground pool with a waterfall, outdoor fountains, hot tub, gym and wine cellar, among other luxury amenities. It is located in the upper-class neighborhood of Saddle River, New Jersey, one of the highest per-capita income markets in the country, the lawsuit said. Upon information and belief, LWI and Mr. Whitehead fraudulently converted Ms. Andersons investment of $90,000.00 as part of his down payment on the Contract to purchase the Premises as a personal residence for Mr. Whitehead himself, the lawsuit continued. Ms. Anderson was instead left with nothing but a vague promise by Mr. Whitehead to pay the funds back in the future followed by an assertion that he had no further obligation to do so. Whitehead, who ran a failed campaign to become Brooklyn borough president, also did not give Anderson the monthly $100 he promised, and when she inquired about her money he allegedly told her in text messages dated May 19, 2021, that anything that was given to me is a Donation unless its attached to a contract! I was making investments thats what I Do! Information from the New York City Police Department cited by The New York Post said three masked gunmen burst into Whitehead's church at around 11:14 a.m. on Sunday. A video of the incident shows Whitehead quickly surrendering to the gunmen as they relieved him, his wife and their congregation of their precious stones. While police sources cited by The New York Times said the stolen jewelry was worth more than $1 million, other reports pegged the value at about $400,000. In a statement during an Instagram Live session Monday, Whitehead, who is now offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunmen, said reports that the value of the stolen jewelry exceeds $1 million are incorrect. "And just to clear things up. I know CNN has reported and also the [New York] Post, that over a million dollars of jewelry was stolen. That's inaccurate, said the Brooklyn bishop who was arrested in 2006 for a $2 million identity-theft scam. Whitehead, 44, who served some five years in prison but was released in 2013, claims he was "falsely convicted and arrested for a crime I did not commit." Catholic school can fire counselor for being in a same-sex marriage, 7th Circuit rules A federal appeals court panel has ruled that a Catholic school in Indiana can lawfully refuse to renew the contract of a guidance counselor because she was in a same-sex marriage, which violated Catholic teaching. A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled Thursday in favor of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis and Roncalli High School, rejecting a lawsuit from former guidance counselor Lynn Starkey and upholding a lower court ruling. Circuit Judge Michael Brennan authored the panel opinion, concluding that Starkey fit the legal description of a minister and could be dismissed by the school for rejecting Catholic teaching on marriage based on a ministerial exception. The ministerial exception is a legal principle that protects churches and religious institutions from legal action taken by employees who perform religious functions. The exception is designed to protect religious institutions from government influence. "She was identified as a 'minister of the faith' in her job description and employed under a 'Ministry Contract' beginning in the 201718 school year," wrote Brennan. "For more than 30 years, Roncalli's employment contracts included a morals clause, and all evidence shows that the school considered Starkey a minister and entrusted her with religious duties." Brennan, a Trump appointee, concluded that "Starkey was a minister because she was entrusted with communicating the Catholic faith to the school's students and guiding the school's religious mission." As a result, the panel did not feel a need to address arguments over Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The majority opinion cited the Supreme Court's decisions in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru (2020) and Hosanna-Tabor Lutheran Evangelical School v. EEOC (2012). Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook, a Reagan appointee, authored a concurring opinion arguing that the archdiocese and the school could justify their actions based on Title VII. Specifically, Easterbrook detailed how Title VII "permits a religious employer to require the staff to abide by religious rules," including any prohibitions on same-sex unions. "A religious school is entitled to limit its staff to people who will be role models by living the life prescribed by the faith," wrote Easterbrook. "Our circuit has never embraced the position that 702(a) permits religious discrimination but not sex discrimination that has a religious footing. Section 702(a) will not resolve all claims made by employees of religious organizations, but it resolves many including Starkey's." The panel opinion upheld a lower court decision from last August by U.S. District Judge Richard Young, who argued that the state could not interfere in the affairs of the Catholic school. "When the state interferes with these types of employment decisions, it violates both the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment," wrote Young at the time. "The ministerial exception is not limited to claims of religious discrimination; it bars all claims of discrimination under Title VII, including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation." Young also concluded that Starkey's "work in helping shape Roncalli's educational and spiritual environment weigh heavily in favor of applying the ministerial exception." "Moreover, that Starkey characterizes her work as a guidance counselor in purely secular terms does not change the result because it would be inappropriate for this court to draw a distinction between secular and religious guidance offered by a guidance counselor at a Catholic school," he added. Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at the religious freedom legal group Becket, praised the appellate court's decision. "Religious groups have a constitutional right to hire individuals who believe in their faith's ideals and are committed to their religious mission," said Goodrich in a statement. "Our justice system has consistently ruled that the government cannot intrude on a religious organization's choice of who will pass on the faith to the next generation." Evangelicals for Social Action drops evangelical, calls term too 'political Lamenting that the term evangelical is now too largely political and hasn't been helpful in conveying the character of their organization, Evangelicals for Social Action, a Christian scholar-activist group started in 1973, announced Monday that they have changed their name to Christians for Social Action. Today the word evangelical in the popular mind has largely political connotations. For significant numbers of people, it signifies a right-wing political movement irrevocably committed to Donald Trump. Many young people raised in evangelical churches are turning away in disgustabandoning evangelical churches and even sometimes the Christian faith itself. And the larger society thinks of evangelicals not as people committed to Jesus Christ and the biblical gospel but as pro-Trump political activists, Ron Sider, the organizations founder and president emeritus, said in a statement. After careful thought and prayer, we have decided to change our namea little! Our new name is Christians for Social Action (CSA). We believe it will help us win a listening ear with more people. And it certainly will avoid people refusing to even take a minute to see who we are because they see a word that for many people immediately signals political folks, he noted. Sider contends that while the word evangelical is a rich theological term that refers to historic Christian orthodoxy and a commitment to Jesus Gospel, the political activism of popular evangelical figures such as Jerry Falwell Sr., who formed the Moral Majority in the 1970s, and Pat Robertson, who mobilized charismatics and Pentecostals in his 1987-1988 presidential run, distorted that narrative. He explained that while ESA believed biblical faith called Christians to a completely pro-life agenda, Falwell, Robertson others in their camp preferred to focus on a much narrower range of issues, particularly abortion and marriage. They identified more and more with the politically conservative part of the Republican Party. Increasingly, the media equated evangelicals with the Religious Right. And in 2016, 81% of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump. And they have continued to support this twice divorced sexist, who had boasted of sexual affairs, stoked racism, promoted policies that largely benefit the richest 20%, ignored the overwhelming scientific consensus on global warming, and lied constantly, undermining democracy by dismissing anything he disliked as fake news, Sider said. A new book titled, The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump: 30 Evangelical Christians on Justice, Truth, and Moral Integrity, edited by Sider and published earlier this summer, raises similar concerns. It calls on white evangelicals to rethink their support for the president and warns that Trump is damaging the witness of evangelical Christianity in American culture. Our plea is to white evangelicals to please take another look and ask, Does this person measure up to biblical norms? Sider told The Christian Post in an earlier interview. We are not telling you what to include. But please prayerfully think about that. Even if you think the book will make you mad, given the title, I challenge you to read it and decide for yourself if there are any valid points that we are making there. In his statement Monday, Sider explained that as the reputation of the term evangelical evolved over time, holding on to the term in their name simply caused more confusion about his organizations commitment to working for justice for everyone. The result is that ESA increasingly found that our name failed to communicate who we really are. And it also led people to click off any message with that name before we had any opportunity to explain that (the word comes from the Greek word, evangel, for gospel.) Because of a shameful history of white evangelical racism, the black church has long refused to use the term evangelical for itself even though its theology and piety are very close to what the word evangelical used to mean, he said. Progressive evangelical leader urges Biden to talk to evangelicals about abortion, religious freedom A longtime progressive evangelical leader who's urged white evangelicals to rethink their vote for President Donald Trump is now calling on 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to do more to appeal to evangelical voters and address their concerns about abortion and religious freedom. Ron Sider, a theologian, professor and social activist who founded the group Evangelicals for Social Action in 1973 and authored the popular 1978 book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, published an op-ed in USA Today on Monday. In the piece, Sider, 80, explained how and why it's important for Biden to do something that his predecessor, Hillary Clinton, did not do in 2016. With the Democratic Party sliding further left when it comes to stances on LGBT issues and abortion, Sider argues that white evangelicals a major voting bloc for Trump need Biden to show that he understands and respects our concerns. There are millions of evangelicals (and Catholics) in swing states who want to vote for Biden, Sider argued. We agree much more with Biden than with Trump on numerous issues: racial justice, economic justice, the environment and climate change, tax policy that demands more of the rich, health care for all and much more. We want to vote for Joe Biden! But on two issues abortion and religious freedom we need to hear that Bidens campaign understands, respects and can talk to us about our concerns, even though they do not fully agree, he continued. Sider, an emeritus professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy at Palmer Theological Seminary Pennsylvania, is also the editor of the new book, The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump. The book consists of essays written by 30 evangelical Christians from various backgrounds calling for white evangelicals to rethink their vote for Trump in 2020 after exit polls showed that 8 in 10 white evangelical voters voted for Trump in 2016. Former President Bill Clinton personally told a very close friend of mine that the reason his wife Hillary Clinton lost Pennsylvania (and the presidency) in 2016 was because of her stand on abortion, Sider wrote. In 2008, she said abortion should be legal, safe and rare. In 2016, she refused to say it should be rare. In 2016, Clinton was urged by progressive evangelical leader Jim Wallis to state publicly a call for abortion to be rare. But she never did. Some Trump supporters would also argue that Clintons support for late-term abortion was one of her downfalls. In 2016, she refused to say it should be rare, Sider explained. That kind of stance ignores basic polling data. Sider cited a Gallup poll showing that about 29% of Americans say abortion should be legal in every instance, 20% believe abortion should never be legal, and about 50% said abortion should be legal with some restrictions. I expect that Biden will keep saying he'll guarantee that abortion continues to be legal and safe, Sider said. But Biden could also say that as a Catholic, he understands those who want it to be less frequent. Sider went on to argue that important Democratic policies actually foster fewer abortions, citing figures suggesting that the number of abortions fell under President Barack Obama. Sider argues that Obamas policies improved economic support for low-income persons, including insurance coverage for contraception. Millions of evangelicals and Catholics in swing states do not think abortion trumps all other issues, Sider contends. We think universal health care is a pro-life issue. So are capital punishment, climate change, racial justice and effective poverty reduction programs here and abroad. We want to support Biden for these and other reasons, he added. But it would make it much easier if Biden would show some understanding of the tens of millions of Americans who think abortion should be grieved, not celebrated. Sider went on in his op-ed to say that the issue of religious freedom is also crucial, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 to make same-sex marriage a national right. Sider criticized the fact that some prominent Democratic figures have argued that any faith-based organization that believes it must be faithful to its traditional view of marriage in its hiring practices should lose all government funds. That would mean that many thousands of religious colleges, universities and faith-based social service agencies serving millions of people would lose both government funds (for example Pell grants and work-study funds) and even lose their tax-exempt status, Sider wrote. If that view prevails, it will vastly weaken and probably destroy vast numbers of faith-based organizations and harm millions of poorer Americans. Sider stated that he supports adding federal discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity but stressed that religious freedom for faith-based organizations should also be protected. Sider voiced his support for the Fairness for All Act, legislation introduced last year that is backed by the National Association of Evangelicals. Millions of Christians in key swing states want to defeat Trump this year. Some of us will vote for Biden regardless of what he says on these two issues, Sider explained. But others will not. And that loss of votes might cost Biden the presidency and far more important, mean another four years of Trumps devastating policies. I hope Joe Biden will do what he can to hear our deeply felt concerns on abortion and religious freedom. The Christian Post reached out to Sider to inquire if he has reached out directly to the Biden campaign. A response is pending. Siders plea comes after Public Religion Research Institute polling data showed in late April that favorability among white Christians in battleground states had dropped by 27 percentage points since mid-March. The PRRI data at the time suggested that Trumps favorability among white evangelical Protestants declined 11 percentage points since March to 66% in April. In late May, PRRI found that 62% of white evangelicals hold favorable views of the president. However, recent data from Pew Research show that about 82% of evangelical registered voters say they plan to vote for or are leaning toward voting for Trump in 2020. As previously reported, the Biden campaign believes that it can appeal to younger millennial evangelical voters and moderate evangelical voters even if the majority of white evangelical voters still vote for Trump in November. John McCarthy, the deputy national political director for the Biden Campaign, told Just The News that he thinks evangelicals who voted for Trump will be open to Bidens message. In 2008, President Barack Obama, whom Biden served as vice president, won 26% of the white evangelical vote and 21% of the white evangelical vote in 2012. By comparison, Clinton won just 16% of the evangelical vote in 2016. Broad swaths of the faith community did not feel like the Democratic nominee was interested in their vote, former Obama campaign faith adviser Michael Wear said of Clinton in an interview journalist David Brody. "I've been very clear that the invitation was not given in 2016, Wear added. Religious liberty groups condemn Biden's proposed rule forcing doctors to do abortions, trans surgeries Law firms specializing in religious liberty cases have denounced a newly proposed rule from the Biden administration that critics say will force doctors to perform abortions and body mutilating "gender transition" surgeries, even if they're morally opposed to the practices. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday a proposed rule that would implement antidiscrimination measures on the basis of sex, based on earlier actions by the Biden administration. The measures draw from Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race and national origin. The proposed rule would define sex as including sexual orientation and gender identity, in keeping with the U.S. Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County. This proposed rule ensures that people nationwide can access health care free from discrimination, said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, as quoted in the announcement. Standing with communities in need is critical, particularly given increased attacks on women, trans youth, and health care providers. Health care should be a right not dependent on looks, location, love, language, or the type of care someone needs. Luke Goodrich of Becket Law is critical of the proposed rule, telling The Christian Post that it was yet another proposal to force doctors and hospitals across the country to perform gender transitions and abortions in violation of their conscience and medical judgment. This has been the announced policy of the administration since the first day President Biden took office, he added. But what they are doing here is proposing to codify that threatening and unlawful [mandate] as a new federal rule. The new proposed rule is already dead on arrival when it comes to religious groups, because the Biden administration is already subject to multiple permanent injunctions from federal courts telling it, it is not allowed to require religious doctors and hospitals to perform transitions and abortions. Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom said the administration just came right out of the gate and told the world you all have to behave this way and well issue a regulation later. Agencies are supposed to not do anything like this except in a codified regulation, but the Biden administration hasnt bothered to wait until they actually do it the right way, Bowman told CP. So, by the time this regulation is finalized, which should be this time next year, theyll have already been imposing this mandate for over two years by fiat. Bowman explained that if the proposed rule is codified, then the next administration would need to change it if it wanted to take a different approach. Unless, of course, it decides that regulations dont matter and that were just going to regulate by website, Bowman added, noting that there has been litigation already because the Biden administration didnt wait to impose this mandate, they just waited to let the public participate. So, how can the courts enjoin something thats simply proposed and not finalized yet? Because they imposed it before they did this. Theyre formalizing something that theyve already been forcing people to do. The proposed rule traces its origins to the Obama administration, which attempted in 2016 to require healthcare providers to perform gender transition procedures, including on minors, even if the providers held sincere religious objections. The Obama-era mandate was challenged in court by multiple groups, and was eventually repealed during the Trump administration, only to be revived by the Biden administration. In August 2021, U.S. District Judge Reed OConnor of the Northern District of Texas issued a permanent injunction against a similar mandate that required medical facilities and health insurers to cover or to provide abortions and gender transition procedures. OConnor issued the permanent injunction in the case of Franciscan Alliance, Inc. et al. v. Xavier Becerra, concluding that the mandate violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. No party disputes that the [Transgender Mandate] threatens to burden Christian Plaintiffs religious exercise by placing substantial pressure on Christian Plaintiffs, in the form of fines and civil liability, to perform and provide insurance coverage for gender-transition procedures and abortions, he wrote. When the RFRA violation is clear and the threat of irreparable harm is present, a permanent injunction exempting Christian Plaintiffs from that religion-burdening conduct is the appropriate relief. In May, Judge Daniel Traynor of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota granted the Christian Employers Alliance a preliminary injunction on the grounds that the mandate would irreparably harm the group. Over 80 religious, conservative groups urge Senate to oppose gay marriage bill Leaders representing more than 80 religious and conservative groups have sent a letter to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in an attempt to convince Republicans to vote against the Respect for Marriage Act that would codify a right to same-sex marriage into federal law. The Respect for Marriage Act already passed the Democrat-controlled House in a 267-157 vote last week. The push to pass the measure stems from concern that the U.S. Supreme Courts June 24 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health overturning the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide will pave the way for the court to overturn the Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Supporters of the Respect for Marriage Act cite Justice Clarence Thomas concurring opinion in Dobbs deriding the idea of substantive due process as legal fiction and expressing a desire to reconsider all of this Courts substantive due process precedents including Obergefell as evidence that the court may overturn the 2015 decision. At the same time, Thomas signaled an openness to examining whether other constitutional provisions guarantee the myriad rights that our substantive due process cases have generated. The Respect for Marriage Act received the support of 47 Republicans in addition to all Democrats in the House. Maintaining that the bill was rushed through the House without any public hearings or input, a group of 83 leaders representing Christian and/or conservative organizations and colleges wrote a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urging him to rally Republicans against it. Signatories include: Michael Farris of Alliance Defending Freedom, Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation, Ryan Anderson of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld of the Coalition for Jewish Values, Terry Schilling of the American Principles Project, and Brian Burch of CatholicVote. The signatories condemned the bill as an attack on millions of Americans, particularly people of faith, who believe marriage is between one man and one woman and that legitimate distinctions exist between men and women concerning family formation that should be recognized in the law. Additionally, they warned that the Respect for Marriage Act aims to shut down any disagreement, silencing those with the long-held conviction that marriage between one man and one woman is essential to human flourishing, a view that has existed from the dawn of time. The truth is, while H.R. 8404 does nothing to change the status of, or benefits afforded to, same-sex marriage in light of Obergefell, it does much to endanger people of faith, they wrote. Justice [Samuel] Alito was right when he predicted the Obergefell decision would be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy. The conservative and Christian leaders contended that the Respect for Marriage Act effectively deputizes activist groups to sue religious individuals, organizations, and businesses that operate according to their deeply held religious belief that marriage is between one man and one woman and also act under color of state law. They noted that The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized this as a term that might apply where a private organization participates in a joint activity with a state, is performing a function traditionally performed by the government, or even when its operations are entwined with government policies. Activists will argue this includes (1) faith-based foster care providers who are alleged to be performing a state function through child placement services; (2) religious social service organizations that are heavily funded by and work jointly with the government to serve their communities; and (3) religious organizations and businesses that provide services under contract with the government. Although the issues to be litigated would be many, there is no question the proposed Act subjects religious people, businesses, and organizations to countless new lawsuits. Describing the Respect for Marriage Act as far more extreme than codifying Obergefell, the conservative leaders suggested that the bill multiplies the threats against tens of millions of Americans who in good faith proclaim a marriage view with which the Acts sponsors disagree, while laying the foundation for increased federal action and litigation against them. They concluded the letter by asking McConnell to urge your colleagues to thoroughly abandon this harmful and unnecessary legislation. So far, at least five Senate Republicans have indicated that they will probably or definitely support the Respect for Marriage Act. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rob Portman, Ohio, cosponsored the bill in the Senate, while Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have identified themselves as likely to support it. The legislation will require 60 votes to pass, meaning that at least five more Republicans must vote in favor of it before it can become law, assuming that all 50 Senate Democrats support the bill. Only eight Republican senators appear likely or certain to vote against it: Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., James Inhofe, R-Okla., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss. The remaining senators have not made it clear how they plan to vote on the bill. While leaders of conservative organizations have come out against the Respect for Marriage Act, leaders of major corporations have written a letter urging senators to support the legislation. The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group, announced Thursday that it had assembled a coalition of 173 businesses that had come out in favor of the bill. Those businesses include: Abercrombie & Fitch, Airbnb, American Airlines, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, Bayer, Best Buy, Citigroup, CVS Health, Dell, Delta Airlines, DoorDash, Eventbrite, General Mills, General Motors, Google, H&R Block, Harley Davidson, Hyatt, IBM, IKEA, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, LinkedIn, Logitech, Lyft, Macys, Microsoft, Nestle, Nike, Patagonia, PayPal, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Pinterest, Sony, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, T-Mobile, Target, Tesla, The Walt Disney Co., Twitter, United Airlines, Wells Fargo and Zillow. Data collected in 2021 by the Public Religion Research Institute reveals 68% support for same-sex marriage nationwide, which has achieved majority support in all but three states: Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi. Majorities of respondents living in Arkansas (52%) and Mississippi (55%) oppose same-sex marriage, while only a plurality of those living in Alabama (49%) support it. YouTube's new policy on abortion 'misinformation' may lead to more of it, pro-life group warns YouTubes plans to crack down on abortion misinformation could lead to the platform purging any content that it deems inflammatory on the subject while enabling real misinformation to spread even further, a pro-life group warns. Last week, YouTube announced its intention to remove content that provides instructions for unsafe abortion methods or promotes false claims about abortion safety under our medical misinformation policies and launch an information panel that provides viewers with context and information from global health authorities under abortion-related videos and above relevant search results. In an interview with The Christian Post, National Right to Life Director of Communications Laura Echevarria warned that YouTube could use Planned Parenthood as one of its global health authorities to provide context about abortion. She cited the largest abortion provider in the United States as one of several pro-abortion groups that have engaged in misinformation following the U.S. Supreme Courts June 24 Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Supreme Court decision reversing the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. There have been quite a number of alarmist reports, [and a] misinformation campaign about ectopic pregnancies and the fact that women wont be treated for them, she said. Theres also been language that has conflated miscarriages with abortion and [asserting] that women who experience miscarriages may be prosecuted. Echevarria added, An induced abortion is the deliberate taking of a human life through the use of either drugs or a surgical procedure and it takes the life of a child in utero. That child is alive when the abortion takes place, she said, contrasting an induced abortion with a miscarriage, where the child has already died, and an ectopic pregnancy, where a pregnancy occurs outside of the uterus and actually is life-endangering for the mother. Echevarria slammed that kind of misinformation where Planned Parenthood and groups like that have been making these alarmist claims that women who have miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies will not be treated for those. Describing such narratives as disingenuous and harmful, she told CP, our concern would be if YouTube is going to those kinds of authorities that misinformation could be carried out on a much broader scale than it has already. In addition to Planned Parenthood, Echevarria lamented that although the American College of OB/GYNs has been very trustworthy in the past, it has become very political by seeking to make abortion readily available. She identified the American College of OB/GYNs as one of the other global health authorities YouTube might use to provide context about abortion. She reiterated that it and other organizations were bowing to the abortion industry in their mission statements and their goals and their stated goals now include abortion on demand. Additionally, Echevarria warned of the direct impact YouTubes effort to combat misinformation on the issue of abortion could have on pro-life groups. If we talk about a living unborn baby in a video, they may deem that as inflammatory language or something like that, she predicted. Its medically and scientifically accurate but they may deem it inflammatory. She suggested that YouTubes new policy regarding misinformation on abortion could end up being harmful in the long run by not allowing people to have full and complete information at their fingertips. At the same time, Echevarria urged YouTube to act as a gatekeeper by preventing women from accessing videos that could cause them to harm themselves, such as videos encouraging them to ingest or to procure drugs or herbs that could be harmful to them. Echevarria also addressed what she characterized as a misinformation campaign about pro-life pregnancy centers derided by pro-abortion activists and lawmakers as fake clinics. While she acknowledged that every person on staff at a pregnancy center does not have a medical background, Echevarria insisted that at a pregnancy center she once worked at, the nurses who work there as well as the volunteers who perform ultrasounds all have a degree and must accumulate continuing education credits. Its harmful for communities for pro-abortion Democrats to claim that these centers are doing wrong and that theyre not helpful and theyre harmful and thats not true, she stressed. I would encourage any of these politicians who are making these claims who have never visited a pregnancy center to visit a pregnancy center and find out what they do and why they do what they do. YouTubes vow to remove misinformation videos about abortion follows a June 17 request from Democratic lawmakers asking Google to scrub pro-life pregnancy centers from search results based on queries related to abortion. The members of Congress told Google, the parent company of YouTube, that the pregnancy centers are fake clinics that traffic in misinformation and dont provide comprehensive health services, in addition to labeling them as dangerous to womens health. Pro-abortion Democrats and the abortion industry have really painted a target onto pregnancy centers, Echevarria maintained. The letter calling on Google to limit the appearance of pro-life pregnancy centers in search results follows a series of attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers that began shortly after Politico published a leaked draft of the Dobbs opinion on May 2. In many of these attacks, the words fake clinic were spray-painted onto the exterior walls of the pro-life pregnancy centers. Last week, a coalition of Republican attorneys general vowed to investigate Google if it complied with congressional Democrats request to limit the appearance of pro-life pregnancy centers in search results related to abortion. A group of congressional Republicans attempted to pass a resolution declaring that the U.S. House of Representatives condemns attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers, but Democrats defeated their effort. HYDERABAD: An enthusiastic official who issued memos to his juniors for not attending the birthday celebrations of IT minister K.T. Rama Rao at Bellampalli on July 24 landed in trouble. The minister asked commissioner and director of municipal administration (CDMA) N. Satyanarayana to suspend the official, municipal commissioner G. Gangadhar, for issuing the memos. "I am the last person to encourage sycophancy in politics or administration. Read about an over enthusiastic municipal commissioner issuing a memo to subordinates for not attending my birthday celebrations! Have asked the CDMA director to suspend the MC for his absurd behavior (sic)," Rama Rao said on his social media handles. Officials from the Bellampalli Government Hospital informed that a huge plantation drive was taken up to mark the birthday celebrations of Rama Rao on the hospital premises. They said 250 saplings were planted within the hospital premises and 100 outside it. Four officials were absent as it was Sunday. Irked over this, the municipal commissioner issued memos and sought an explanation within 24 hours. The memo observed that the four staff members ignored a WhatsApp message which informed them to attend the celebrations. The notice sought an explanation on why action should not be taken against the staff members T. Rajeshwari, S. Purnachandar, A. Mohan and Sravan within 24 hours after receiving the memo. Disciplinary action will be taken against you and your superiors will be informed if you don't respond to this memo, the memo stated. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, the CDMA director early on the day said he would issue a memo to municipal commissioner for misuse of power. However, later on the day, after Rama Raos social media post, Satyanarayana issued a suspension order. The order stated that the municipal commissioner would be placed under suspension for further inquiry. Senator threatens to withhold Rwanda aid for targeting US residents, supporting Congo rebels Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez, D-N.J., urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to review the millions of dollars in aid the United States sends to Rwanda due to the Kagame government's reported targeting of American residents and alleged support for an armed rebel group killing civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a letter sent last Wednesday, Menendez urged Blinken to undertake a "comprehensive review" of the department's policies on Rwanda and reconsider the types of assistance the U.S. provides to the Central African country that experienced a genocide in 1994. Until such a review takes place, Menendez wrote that he would place a hold on all security assistance, beginning with the several million dollars of support for the Rwandan military. According to the letter, the U.S. allocated more than $147 million in foreign assistance to Rwanda in 2021, making the U.S. Rwanda's largest bilateral donor. Menendez highlighted Rwanda's participation in "destabilizing actions" in Central Africa. He noted that the country is credibly accused of supporting M23 (March 23 movement) rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo and sending soldiers across the border. "As you recall, in the late 1990s Rwanda and Uganda invaded DRC, triggering a regional war that according to the International Rescue Committee, resulted in as many as 5.4 million deaths from 1998 to 2007 due conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis," he wrote. Menendez fears that U.S. support for the Rwandan military while it is allegedly deployed in DRC and supporting the armed M23 group would send "a troubling signal that the U.S. tacitly approves of such actions." The Rwandan government of President Paul Kagame has denied allegations that it has sent troops to eastern DRC and is supporting M23 militants. The violence in DRC stems from a massive refugee crisis and spillover from the Rwanda genocide against the Tutsis, in which over 800,000 were killed in 1994. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Hutu genocidaires fled to eastern DRC and formed armed groups opposing Tutsi, and other opportunistic rebel groups were launched. From 1998 to 2003, government forces fought rebels backed by Rwanda in the Second Congo War. Although a peace deal was struck in 2002 and a transitional government was formed in 2003, violence has continued. One of the most prominent rebel groups is the M23, which is predominantly made up of ethnic Tutsis with the alleged backing of the Rwanda government. Menendez reminded Blinken that Rwanda sought to "undermine" DRC again by supporting M23 rebels who captured Goma in 2012. The action resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of more than 200,000 people, according to the United Nations. Another concern Menendez addressed involved accusations that Rwanda is silencing journalists, political opponents and dissidents, stating that Kagame's efforts to do so are "well known." Citing a Human Rights Watch report, Menendez stated that since 2019 alone, 32 journalists, internet commentators and opposition activists have been killed, jailed or disappeared. Kagame has been in office since 2000. In 2015, Rwanda passed changes to its constitution extending term limits so that Kagame can possibly remain in office. The senator also cited worrying reports that Kagame intends to target critics in Europe and the United States, citing the detention of lawful permanent U.S. resident Paul Rusesabagina, better known as the hotel manager portrayed in the movie "Hotel Rwanda," who helped shelter refugees during the genocide. In 2020, Rusesabagina was lured onto a charter flight and flown to Rwanda without his knowledge and arrested. He was convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Rusesabagina, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2005, is classified by the U.S. government as a wrongful detainee. The senator suggested elevating the travel advisory for Rwanda, currently at "Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions," to "Level 3: Reconsider Travel," citing Rwanda's pattern of targeting American residents as the reason. "Not only would Rwanda be flouting U.S. laws by targeting dissidents inside the United States, Rwanda appears to be the only foreign government in the world that is both wrongfully detaining an American resident and seen by the United States as a partner and ally," Menendez wrote. "The Rwandan government is also credibly accused of targeting dissidents living outside Rwanda," Menendez added. "Outspoken critics of Kagame have been assassinated in South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, and Kenya." The support for M23 and targeting of U.S. residents is why the letter recommends sending Rwandan military or government officials participating in International Military Education and Training programs or other military assistance programs in the U.S. back to Rwanda. "The United States cannot support Rwandan contributions to peacekeeping in some parts of Africa while looking the other way as Rwanda foments rebellion and violence in other parts of the continent," Menendez wrote. "I look forward to working with you to ensure U.S. policy reflects the values of the United States and of the Biden administration." As Human Rights Watch reported, the M23 armed group has killed at least 29 civilians since mid-June. The rebel force believed to have been inactive for a decade is reportedly receiving support for its operations in the North Kivu province from Rwanda. "Since the M23 took control of several towns and villages in North Kivu in June, they've committed the same kind of horrific abuses against civilians that we've documented in the past," Thomas Fessey, senior Congo researcher at Human Rights Watch, said. "The government's failure to hold M23 commanders accountable for war crimes committed years ago is enabling them and their new recruits to commit abuses today." Kagame has fostered a great relationship with popular megachurch pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California. In 2019, Warren received criticism after Kagame spoke at Saddleback Church about Rwanda's transformation since the 1994 genocide. Warren has been friends with Kagame for over a decade. Judge temporarily blocks Wyoming's abortion ban A judge has temporarily blocked a Wyoming law that would have banned most abortions after an emergency hearing that was held the day the measure was supposed to take effect. Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday, at the behest of six plaintiffs who argued that the ban would harm them. Owens, who was appointed by Gov. Mark Gordon, issued the temporary restraining order from the bench, according to Jackson Hole News. Two of the plaintiffs included a pregnant woman who raised concerns about health issues and an OB-GYN named Dr. Giovannina Anthony, who was concerned about being criminally punished. In March, Gordon signed House Bill 92 into law, a trigger measure that would ban most abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade. The ban, which included exemptions for rape, incest, and life-threatening medical emergency for the mother, passed the state Senate 24-5 with one abstention and the House 45-14 with one abstention. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe via the Dobbs v. Jackson decision last month, Gordon certified HB 92 last week and confirmed that the ban would soon take effect. I believe that the decision to regulate abortion is properly left to the states. As a pro-life Governor, my focus will continue to be on ensuring we are doing all we can to support mothers, children and families, he tweeted. Libby Skarin of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming denounced the trigger ban, claiming that, if enforced, Wyomingites will have fewer rights than people in other states. A persons health, not politics, should guide important health care decisions including the decision to have an abortion, stated Skarin last week. Although several have successfully moved to ban abortion in most circumstances, a few states have been delayed in their efforts by litigation from local abortion providers. In Kentucky, Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry issued a temporary injunction against the state from enforcing two abortion bans, one of which would ban most abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy, while the other was another trigger ban. [Plaintiffs have] demonstrated at the very least a substantial question as to the merits regarding the constitutionality of both the Trigger Ban and the Six Week Ban, ruled Perry. As such, they are entitled to injunctive relief until the matter can be fully resolved on the merits. Vice President Harris boldly declares that she is a woman Speaking to a group of disability advocates, and wanting to be thoughtful of those who were blind or vision impaired, Vice President Kamala Harris began her talk by saying, I am Kamala Harris, my pronouns are she and her, I am a woman sitting at the table wearing a blue suit. But what, exactly, did she mean by those words? What, after all, is a woman? And what do we learn about Harris from her preferred gender pronouns? In raising these questions, my purpose is not to mock the Vice President. Rather, it is to mock the cultural madness that set the stage for her comments. We must not become accustomed to this social insanity! To be sure, others found VP Harriss comments to be quite condescending, including Mary Chastain, who describes herself as nearly vision impaired. Writing on the Legal Insurrection website, Chastain stated, "my main problem with Harris is her introduction of herself to the table of blind and visually impaired people. Its patronizing and dumb. Were not stupid. Indeed, unless you were living under a rock, you would know that the Vice President is a woman regardless of whether you were seeing or blind. But the title of Chastains short post also recognized the irony of the moment: Kamala Harris is a Biologist: I am a Woman. Exactly! Chastain was referring to Justice Ketanji Jacksons deflection when Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked during her confirmation hearings, Can you provide a definition for the word woman?. Justice Jackson said that she could not, explaining, Not in this context, Im not a biologist. Vice President Harris, then, must be a biologist herself, since she had no problem stating that she was, in fact, a woman. But of course! Putting sarcasm aside, of course Harris is a woman. And of course, the whole world understands what she means when she says she is a woman. And of course, Justice Jackson knows exactly what a woman is and is not. Thats why I suggested that the ideal follow-up question from Blackburn to Jackson would have been, Judge Jackson, are you a woman? And thats why a headline on the Daily Wirestated, Yes, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Can Define Woman The Woke Left Just Wont Let Her. But of course. As for Harriss preferred gender pronouns, the fact that she felt it proper to share that information reminds us yet again of how deeply we have fallen off the cliff of reality. We should be alarmed. We should be shaking our heads. We should be asking how on earth we got to this point. The Vice President of the United States giving her preferred gender pronouns at the beginning of her talk? Really? (For another shocking illustration of just how far we have fallen, see my article, Biden Administration Is A Vivid Illustration Of LGBTQ+ Activism On Steroids.) Of course today, a woman could say, My name is Rachel, and my pronouns are he-his, since Rachel might choose to live as a woman and yet identify as a man. Why not? These pronouns simply explain how we want people to refer to us. They tell us nothing about their biological sex. This reminds me of a 2005 quote that I cited in A Queer Thing Happened to America. Please read it slowly to feel the full weight of the words: Sally considers himself a gender outlaw, playing outside the traditional definitions of man and woman. Sally runs his business as a man and has not had sex change surgery but considers himself a woman. All clear! In the same way, in todays world, what the Vice President could just as well have been saying was, I am a biological male who identifies as a female and whose pronouns are she-her. Why not? After all, it was recently reported that, The Merriam-Webster dictionary has updated its definition of trans woman to woman who was identified as male at birth. So, a biological male who identifies as a female is a woman. The dictionary says so. There you have it. All that being said, what no one seems to be talking about is the fact that Harris claimed to be wearing a blue suit. What does this actually mean? What if my definition of blue is different than hers? After all, colors have different shades, and some people are color blind. Plus, if biology can be overruled by perception, why cant perception overrule color? Why not? Is this any less mad than the University of Pennsylvania nominating a biological male swimmer as 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year? I do not deprecate those who genuinely struggle with gender identity issues, as I have said time and time again. My heart goes out to them in their struggles. And I do pray for Gods best for the Vice President. May the Lord guide her into all truth! But I absolutely will continue to draw attention to the cultural madness into which we are descending. And I will continue to shout, The emperor has no clothes! This is becoming more and more evident every day. Lets keep shouting! 2 killed, dozen injured by terrorist attack on Syrian church inauguration A Greek Orthodox church in Syria built as a replica of Istanbuls Hagia Sophia with Russias help was bombed during its inauguration, according to reports, killing at least two people and injuring about a dozen others. A rocket was fired by unspecified terrorist organizations targeting the crowded inauguration ceremony of Hagia Sophia Church in the town of Al-Suqaylabiyah, about 30 miles northwest of Syrias central province of Hama on Sunday, AFP reported, citing the Syrian Arab News Agency. The attack reportedly involved rockets, missiles or armed drones. The Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad was building the church as a replica of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, with the help of the Russian government in response to the Turkish governments converting that building to a mosque in July 2020, Catholic News Agency reported. The construction of the mini replica of Hagia Sophia, a church dedicated to divine wisdom, started two years ago, with the approval of the Damascus government, according to Fides. The U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern said that while the perpetrators of the church attack are unknown, it is believed to be members affiliated with Turkish-backed non-state actors. Throughout the civil war, we have seen the Syrian government, Turkey, Russia, and others compete for influence across the country, ICC President Jeff King said. Sundays attack is a painful reminder that this competition repeatedly places innocent Christians in the crossfire of regional violence. He said that [w]arring parties in Syria have once again shown unacceptable disregard for civilian life. Our prayers are with the victims of this attack. Parts of Hama province are controlled by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the former franchise in Syria of Al-Qaeda, and other rebel groups also remain active with varying degrees of Turkish backing, according to AFP. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been seeking to gain support among his conservative base amid economic and political uncertainty. Istanbuls Hagia Sophia, built in 537 A.D. as a Greek Orthodox church, was the seat of Eastern Christianity for 900 years before the city was seized in the 15th century by Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror, who converted it into an Ottoman mosque. In 1934, modern Turkeys founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, banned worship in Hagia Sophia and designated it as a museum. Global persecution watchdog Open Doors USA ranks Syria as the 15th-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution. The Middle Eastern country's Christian population has dwindled since civil war began in 2011. Syria is also home to several Islamic extremist groups. According to the watchdog, public expression of faith is dangerous for Christians in areas where extremists have territorial control. "Even though the public threat of ISIS has largely subsided, Christians in Syria still grapple with daily persecution that may become violent. In areas where Islamic extremist groups are active, leaders of historical church communities may be targeted simply because they are more visible," an Open Doors fact sheet states. "But leaders of other Christian groups are also vulnerable because they may be more active in evangelism. Church buildings are completely destroyed in many parts of Syria where Islamic extremists had control (or continue to maintain control)." The long hot summers of New Orleans are no secretand no joke. With extended heat waves like the one this June, the combination of high temperatures and saturating humidity can push the heat "real feel" up near 115 F. In such extreme circumstances, Lake Pontchartrain and the gulf beaches of Mississippi and Alabama offer little relief when the water itself approaches body temperature. So New Orleanians, desperate to cast off the invisible sopping shroud that hangs on them the minute they step outside, seek out local swimming pools. There are many pools in New Orleans that offer public admission, but three establishments in different neighborhoods stand out as favorites: The Drifter in Mid-City, The Country Club in Bywater and The Chloe uptown. Each has its own aesthetic and feel, slight differences in typical clientele, and poolside culture. But theyre all refreshing escapes on a summer day. Emily Kask for Chron The Drifter Hotel in Mid-City is a beautifully renovated 1958 motor lodge with a large courtyard where the pool is located. The glossy mid-century modern retro refit gives it a California feel. The pool itself is small, but the entire courtyard is large and colorful, well-suited for its party atmosphere and reputation as a higher-energy and more social pool. A large pink astroturfed area is perfect for sunbathing orwhen a DJ or band has the stagedancing. A large disco ball hanging over the pool reinforces the party atmosphere. The crowd at the Drifter skews young and hip; tattooed, pierced, outgoing. Its low $10 admission makes it popular with students from nearby colleges. Prominently posted lists of anti-discriminatory policies make explicit that the Drifter is a safe space, which, along with strict rules about photography and a very casual and easygoing atmosphere, make some people comfortable enough to embrace the pools liberal toptional policy and bare their chests. Emily Kask for Chron Maeve Spanier, a 23-year-old Marketing consultant, first visited the Drifter for a party when she was still a college student. She and her boyfriend have since become club members (currently $299 per year per person) going every summer weekend if they can. She loves the highly social feeling at the Drifter. Theres always something going on there, she says, a food truck or a DJ or a clothing pop-up. I once went for yoga and mimosas. Every time we go we meet new people. The Drifter doesnt have a kitchen of its own but frequently hosts food trucks of all kinds. The drink menu is inexpensive and the house frozen cocktaila tasty pink slushie called The Zaddyis very popular. It is the least secluded-feeling of the three pools - near an audible and visible highway and an overbearing billboard - but it offers its own kind of escape via the time-traveling retro aesthetic and the social atmosphere fostered by good drinks, music, and the intimacy of a smaller pool. Emily Kask for Chron The Country Club is the oldest of the three; a large 1898-built home bought by three men in 1977 who first installed the pool. It has since become a neighborhood institution, having begun its life as a clothing-optional gay pool club of legend and Dionysian fantasy. Ownership changed hands in 2003 leaving behind some of its wilder elementsincluding its once-cavalier nudity policy and the establishment has undergone several renovations and upgrades since, including improving its standing and renown as a restaurant. The Country Club has the largest of the three pools, and boasts a few other amenities the others lack: a small sauna and locker room featuring chic mosaic tile work, and a large hot tub (a sign reading Bear Lake hangs above it in a nod to the clubs gay roots.) The crowd is diverse although it remains very popular with Gen-X gay men, and although swimsuits are no longer optional, racy stylesthongs, high-cuts, and the likeare not uncommon choices for patrons of all genders. The Country Club is perhaps the sexiest of the pools, although in a very self-aware and non-creepy way. People often go there to see and be seen. Donnell Brown is a regular at The Country Club; a 55-year-old Porsche race car mechanic who travels often, he says the pool is my home, my peace. In the summer months, he spends up to four days a week poolside, wearing his favorite red thong and a terrycloth robe, relishing the lingering atmosphere of a place once famous for its freakiness. Im pretty comfortable in my own skin, Brown asserts confidently. For some reason I make a lot of people feel good. Pool admission at The Country Club is $20. A club membership is $499 a year and comes with a few added benefits like food and drink discounts and invitations to members-only parties. They continually improve and adapt their cocktail program, and their spritzes are particularly popular. The same food served inside the Country Clubs restaurant is available poolside, with the roasted Brussels sprouts and hamburger noted favorites. Emily Kask for Chron The Chloe Hotel on St. Charles Street uptown features the newest and most upscale of the three pools. The luxurious boutique hotel is most famous for its highly-acclaimed restaurant and bar, but the pool is becoming steadily more popular, especially among uptown locals and - because it is part of the highly-regarded LeBlanc & Smith group of restaurants and bars - hospitality industry workers. The pool is medium-sized, and the poolside area is the smallest of the three. The first come-first swim $25 admission to non-hotel guests and limited seating lends it an exclusive, calm, and refined atmosphere: the Chloe is never too crowded. The pool and its patrons exude a typically uptown elegancestraw hats and designer sunglasses are common, as are stylish coverups like caftans and linen pants. The cocktail program is top quality, with a focus on rum, tequila, and mezcal-based drinks. The full menu of The Chloe Hotels restaurant is available poolside, lunchtime highlights of which are the Chicken Katsu sandwich and Shrimp Etoufee dumplings. Emily Kask for Chron Its the intimate feel of The Chloe that has made Kaitlyn Hall, a 29-year-old freelancer, a regular. Its a little more private than some of the other pools, she says. Its individualistic and it feels more European to me. You dont get bothered as much. Whenever I have a book that needs to get read, The Chloe is where I go. This private, restrained yet relaxed atmosphere, combined with the pools popularity with the hotels guests, means that a certain amount of its patrons are VIP visitors to the cityincluding the occasional movie or TV star, confident that they can relax without being disturbed. There are many other pools in the city, most of them attached to hotels, but a glance at just these three shows that New Orleanians and visitors are spoiled for choice. All are popular, stylish, and beloved by their patrons, and each offers a different kind of summer refuge: The Chloe intimate and luxurious, The Drifter social and energetic, The Country Club romantic and flamboyant. Butmost importantlytheyre all perfect places to strip down and cool off. By Lindy Elkins-Tanton William Morrow. 272 pp. $29.99. - - - Lindy Elkins-Tanton is the principal investigator for a NASA probe slotted to fly out to the asteroid belt to study a rare, metal-rich asteroid called Psyche. This body, 138 miles wide, is suspected to be the ancient core of a failed planet, one that didn't fully form in that vast region between Mars and Jupiter. As Earth's core is inaccessible, Psyche might serve as the means to unlock the secrets of our own planet's mysterious center. Given the title of her memoir - "A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman" - a reader might expect to be immersed solely in a scientific story: how a geologist progressed over the years from hammering terrestrial rocks as a student to leading a deep-space mission. But this riveting book, beautifully written, is far more. With a brave candor, Elkins-Tanton examines all aspects of her experiences - personal and professional, the good and the bad - to plumb the very meaning of her life. She also offers novel approaches to education, tactics for handling sexual harassment cases in academia and new methods for team-building in scientific research that go beyond the "hero model." "No single person can alone build human knowledge anymore," she notes. "We need the breadth of ideas that comes from a diversity of voices." Elkins-Tanton's childhood at first appears quite idyllic. Growing up in Ithaca, N.Y., she dabbled in poetry and music, won awards for her horse riding, and explored her town with great freedom. But there was also a dark side: Her mother was detached, her father often angry, and she had to wear an uncomfortable back brace to treat her scoliosis. More than that, she was repeatedly sexually assaulted as a small child in her neighborhood woods, a fact her mother never wanted to acknowledge. A terror remained within Elkins-Tanton for years because of that trauma, until a therapist recognized it as a type of post-traumatic stress disorder. Before that analysis, though, she found solace in her chosen major at MIT. "The more I thought about geology," she writes, "the more I felt calm and comforted. . . . That geologic timeline spooling out and out into the past and then again into the future felt like a tall cool drink on a hot day." By her sophomore year, she was conducting high-temperature and high-pressure experiments that mimicked the interior of the Earth. She delightfully recounts each step of her procedures like a chef lovingly describing her favorite recipe. At her graduation, she received not only a bachelor's degree but a master's degree as well. Here her life takes an unexpected turn. Not feeling ready to continue her studies ("for reasons still unclear to me," she admits), she surprisingly went into business, becoming an analyst for a management consulting firm. Over the following years, she married into a prominent family, gave birth to a son and, while later running her own consulting company, raised sheep and trained dogs. But after the dissolution of her marriage and two years of teaching mathematics at a small Maryland college (where she met her current husband), she at last returned to MIT, first for a PhD and later a professorship. At this point, the book offers valuable lessons on successful scientific strategies. Early on, Elkins-Tanton recognized that to answer the big questions in her science she needed to step "across disciplinary boundaries to synthesize from entirely different fields." That became her modus operandi. For example, she became fascinated with the Siberian flood basalts, the most voluminous mass of lava to ever erupt upon a continent, enough to cover the Lower 48 states. It oozed out around the time of the end-Permian extinction, some 252 million years ago, when 70 percent of terrestrial species and more than 90 percent of ocean species disappeared. Was that a coincidence, or was the eruption the cause? To find an answer, she organized a vast collaboration of geologists, geophysicists, geochemists and atmospheric scientists. The expressive descriptions of her field trips to Siberia are the most engaging sections of the book, providing a ringside seat to the discomforts and thrills of a geological expedition. "The layers of the rock rose from the river like an endless shelf of books, slumped at an angle," she writes. "Layer after layer, rising up through time. We'd float up through the whole Tunguska sequence, and then we'd meet the flood basalts themselves." After years of data-gathering by that worldwide network of researchers, they indeed proved that climate-changing gases released by the flood ("frighteningly similar to what humankind is producing today," she stresses) caused the mass extinction. Her questions then reached beyond the Earth. In 2014 Elkins-Tanton became director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, where the proposal for the Psyche mission was finalized. The review process was long and painstaking, but it came down to a final one-day team presentation before a panel of judges, a nerve-racking appraisal that seems 10 times more intense than a dissertation defense. The Psyche proposal was a dark horse, as Elkins-Tanton had never headed up a NASA mission and her industrial partner had previously built spacecraft only for Earth orbit, not deep space. This is where Elkins-Tanton's early detour into business and the lessons she learned there paid off; NASA noticed that day how well her team functioned under pressure. Once launched, the spacecraft will travel three years to get to Psyche. With the start of that journey, writes Elkins-Tanton, "we'll have won, again, something actually worth winning: the chance to work harder, for longer, on something that will amaze us and drive human knowledge farther." She has found her life's meaning. - - - Marcia Bartusiak is professor of the practice emeritus at MIT and the author of seven books on the frontiers of astrophysics and its history, including "The Day We Found the Universe" and "Black Hole." By Anthony Marra Hogarth. 432 pp. $28.99 - - - Anthony Marra labors under the most benevolent curse that can befall a writer: When he was 28 years old, he published "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena," an astonishingly great debut novel. Manipulating time and tone with hypnotic effect, sweeping from tragic to absurd with majestic ease, Marra told the stories of folks caught in a war-torn Chechen village. "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena" won the inaugural John Leonard Prize for Best First Book from the National Book Critics Circle, and raves piled up around the novel like ticker tape. Now, almost a decade later, Marra has published his second novel, a story set before and during World War II called "Mercury Pictures Presents." The author's fans, who include former president Barack Obama, will recognize his elegant resolution of tangled disasters, his heartbreaking poignancy, his eye for historical curiosities that exceed the parameters of fiction. But the emotional range here is narrower, the record of human cruelty more subtle. And if "Mercury Pictures Presents" doesn't generate the impact of "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena," well, that's an impossibly high standard. The novel opens in Hollywood in 1941. There's a screwball comedy playing, but it's not on the screen; it's in the corporate office of Mercury Pictures. Studio founder Artie Feldman can't believe his bald spot has finally grown too large to conceal. Older readers will recall Carl Reiner on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" when Artie suggests, "Maybe the toupee shrunk." Six more toupees - all adorned with pet names - sit behind his desk on wooden heads like furry Oscars. "Artie had become convinced that each one crackled with the karmic energy of the hair's original head, unrealized and awaiting release." But Mercury Pictures faces problems even more severe than male-pattern baldness. The Senate Investigation into Motion Picture War Propaganda has "invited" Artie and other studio heads to Washington for a show trial to defend their films and their patriotism. Worse, the puritan who controls the Production Code Administration is increasing his efforts to make pictures "gratuitously inoffensive," lest the snow-white innocence of American viewers be stained. Artie's principal defender and the feisty central character of this complicated novel is his deputy producer, Maria Lagana. She's a 28-year-old Italian American with "the talents of a general, diplomat, hostage negotiator and hairdresser." She has a special knack, Marra explains, "for smuggling subtext past the border guards of decorum at the Production Code Administration." When Artie tells Maria she can have a producer's credit if she gets their latest film past the censors, she takes the challenge. Marra unspools this period comedy with so much old-time snappy wit that "Mercury Pictures Presents" should come with popcorn and a 78-ounce Coke. But then, suddenly, the scene shifts to a far darker era - the first in a series of maneuvers indicating the thin membrane separating humor and horror in this novel. What feels at first like a charming flashback to Maria's youth in Rome is, in fact, an explanation for her abiding sense of guilt. As a strident teenager, she acted rashly to protect her father in a way that accidentally led to his arrest under the fascist reign. While Maria escapes to the United States, her dad remains behind and becomes embroiled in a convoluted murder plot that ricochets through several lives. With these tangled events, Marra demonstrates his remarkable ability to capture the intricate cruelties of political and social collapse. Borrowing the tropes of spy thrillers and police procedurals, he transcribes a web of chaos and kindness that carries a few lucky souls through the fires of Italy's collapse. Along the way, he sets down the lines of future coincidences so outlandish that only history could validate them. When Marra switches back to the United States, that frightening vision of Italian fascism serves as both contrast and caution. As the country enters the war, Mercury Pictures joins the effort to convince Americans of the purity of their cause and the villainy of their enemies. But, of course, many of those propaganda films are written, directed, produced and even performed by the very kinds of people that the U.S. government is busy demonizing. These "resident aliens" working for the studio cannot legally travel more than a few miles from their homes, and they constantly risk harassment and even assault, yet here they are glorifying the country's cherished values of equality and liberty. (In one of several brilliant and bitterly funny set pieces, a talented Asian American actor spends the day with Bela Lugosi considering the psychic costs of portraying "foreigners" for White audiences.) The novel's most fascinating move is the way it teases out the complications of realism - particularly in the service of propaganda. Marra describes studio filmmakers struggling to shoot footage of actual battle scenes that looks convincing. Despite their best efforts, the technological limits of the cameras make the documentary reels appear tiny and confusing. The only solution, ultimately, is to fake the carnage with reenactments. "Everywhere," Marra deadpans, "there was a pent-up hunger for what resembled reality." And in one of the novel's many bizarre-but-true episodes, that idea gets turned on its head: Deep in the Utah desert, the Army builds a precise simulacrum of a Berlin neighborhood to practice raining actual carnage down on the German capital. What's real is rendered fake; what's fake is passed off as real. Who can maintain a sense of moral clarity in such a national house of mirrors? But this novel isn't sustained merely by its surreal images, its archival discoveries or even its sharp critique of American hypocrisy. What matters, ultimately, is Marra's ear for catching the subtle grace notes in ordinary people's lives. If reading "Mercury Pictures Presents" sometimes feels like watching several movies simultaneously, you can trust that the novel will eventually resolve into focus with a moment of radical compassion that emits no more noise than a sigh. - - - Ron Charles reviews books and writes the Book Club newsletter for The Washington Post. The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler By David I. Kertzer Random House. 621 pp. $37.50 - - - Of all the thorns in the side of the many apologists for Pope Pius XII, Brown University professor David I. Kertzer is probably the most formidable. Avoiding the strident tone of Garry Wills's "Papal Sin" or John Cornwell's aggressively titled "Hitler's Pope," Kertzer's books about the papacy are models of calm, uncluttered prose, prodigious research, and the ability to appeal to both a scholarly and a general audience. In his new book, "The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler," Kertzer brings all of his usual detective and narrative skills to bear. The story isn't an inspiring one. The reputation of Pius XII has not worn well since his death in 1958. His detractors see a pontiff indifferent to the suffering of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis and a weak spiritual leader intimidated by Adolf Hitler and manipulated by Benito Mussolini. Pius's defenders say this view paints a radically distorted picture of a man who was caught between the need to protect his church, with its 40 million German Catholics, and the barbarism of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. By the mid-1960s, the Catholic Church could no longer ignore the clamor. Between 1965 and 1981, a 12-volume compilation of the Holy See's World War II documents was released by the Vatican. It has long been suspected, though, that evidence not flattering to Pius XII was held back. In 2019, Pope Francis decided it was time to admit outside historians to the archives. The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe" and "The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe," Kertzer was in Rome at the door of the archives on the day the relevant files were opened for study. The result is the most comprehensive account of the Vatican's relations to the Nazi and fascist regimes before and during the war, the temporizing of the pope, and the opportunities for moral courage that were lost. It seems remarkable in retrospect that Pius XII ever thought he could come to terms with Hitler. Days after the pope's coronation in 1939, the German dictator showed the world how much the Munich Pact meant to him when he invaded Czechoslovakia and incorporated it into the Reich. Yet Pius XII, hesitant and often out of touch with hard realities, believed he could negotiate with a man he perceived as a needed bulwark against communism. The fate of Europe's Jews never entered into his thinking. It is disturbing to read of the new pope's decision to shelve the encyclical attacking racism and antisemitism that his predecessor, Pius XI, had planned to release the day before his death, and of his warm birthday greetings to the Fuhrer in April 1939, six months after the horror of Kristallnacht. These and other sorry facts have long been known, though. Truly shocking is Kertzer's discovery in the archives of an account of a secret meeting between the pope and a representative of the Reich, King Victor Emmanuel's German son-in-law, only weeks before the invasion of Poland. The Vatican has carefully kept all mention of this meeting out of the official record, and only with the 2020 opening of those files has it come to light. In that meeting, Pius XII agreed to avoid involvement in what he called "partisan politics" in the Reich, which would have included the activities of the Gestapo, the Nazi euthanasia program and the reign of terror visited on the Jews, in return for an end to restrictions on parochial-school education and attacks on his clergy. "No one here is anti-German," the pope told Hitler's emissary, according to a Vatican transcript. "We love Germany. We are pleased if Germany is great and powerful. And we do not oppose any particular form of government, if only the Catholics can live in accordance with their religion." The pope personally repeated this message to Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Nazi foreign minister, soon after the defeat of Poland and the closing of churches and convents there. Kertzer's depiction of Vatican politics during the war is even more heartbreaking. Pius XII continued to believe that he could tame an inferno of hate if he remained committed to diplomatic overtures and placating language, and he declined to condemn the invasion of Catholic Belgium, the Netherlands or France. Polish pleas for help went unanswered. He was outspoken about the Allied bombing of Rome, but about the roundup of Rome's Jews in 1943, he said nothing. He refused to excommunicate Hitler, Heinrich Himmler or Mussolini, all nominal Catholics to the day they died. Though Pius XII talked of martyrdom on occasion, he had no intention of moving in that direction. "The Pope at War" is more than an examination of one man's failings, though. Among the book's many satisfactions is the wide net the author casts with ably drawn portraits of the German diplomats, Italian politicians, ambassadors and nuncios, cardinals and Vatican bureaucrats with whom the pope interacted. This is a chronicle with very few heroes. One, a French cardinal, Eugene Tisserant, tried to persuade Pius XII to speak out against Nazi genocide, to no avail. "I fear that history will have much to reproach the Holy See for," he remarked in 1940. How prescient were those words. - - - John Loughery is the author of four biographies, including "Dagger John: Archbishop John Hughes and the Making of Irish America" and "Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice of the American Century." LOS ANGELES (AP) Joe Manganiello marveled at the years-old mysteries in his family that were solved through DNA by researchers on PBS Finding Your Roots, including a revelation involving the actors paternal grandfather. It was so surprising that host Henry Louis Gates Jr. had to call Manganiello with the news so he wouldnt find out first during taping. My family and I had a betting pool of what it is, like whats so bad that you cant announce it on the episode? Manganiello told a TV critics meeting Thursday. Gates informed Manganiello that the man the family believed to be the actors paternal grandfather really wasnt. My grandfather was a Black man of mixed race, said Manganiello, who is white. That was fascinating. As a result, Gates told him, You are zero percent genetically related to anyone named Manganiello in the world. Gates didnt stop there. The shows research traced back to the actors fifth great-grandfather who was a slave who became free before slavery was abolished in Massachusetts, where Manganiellos father was born outside of Boston. His fathers family came from Italy. Manganiello found out his distant relative joined the Continental Army and fought alongside other Blacks for the colonies against the British in units that were non-segregated. None of us would have guessed that if wed had 10 years of guessing, the actor said. If Manganiellos not my last name, what is? Another mystery from his mothers side was solved, too. Manganiellos maternal great-grandmother was a survivor of the Armenian genocide during World War I in which her husband and seven of her children were killed. She was shot, but played dead and escaped with an eighth child, who later drowned while they traversed the Euphrates River. Manganiello was told his great-grandmother was incarcerated and met a German officer stationed at the camp. He said she became pregnant by the officer, who later returned to Germany without her. The actors aunt had a picture of the man, which later got lost. We had nothing to connect us being German other than this, he said. The shows researchers found that the actors mother and aunt were the children of the half-German baby. That was a really profound moment for me, he said. Gates said it took nearly a year to uncover the ancestry in part because the Turkish government doesnt give researchers access to vital records and population documents dating to the Ottoman Empire. Manganiello was filming in Europe last year, and the locals mistook him as being German. To think that I dont look like the other people in m family is because I look like the Germans, OK, now that makes sense, he said. Its really wild what we uncovered. The 45-year-old actor known for True Blood and Magic Mike was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He is married to Colombian-born actor Sofia Vergara. The new season of Finding Your Roots begins Jan. 3. Among those featured are Oscar winners Viola Davis and Julia Roberts, as well as Carol Burnett, political activist Angela Davis and actor Danny Trejo. Welcome to the Summer of Sweat. Every week until it hits 70, we'll tell you where to find refreshing eats and drinks to cool off in every Houston neighborhood. In previous weeks, we've told you about icy refreshments in Montrose, the Heights, downtown Houston, Third Ward, Asiatown, the East End, Garden Oaks, Sugar Land and the coast. This week, we're spotlighting the Galleria area, where you'll find stretchy ice cream, boba and shaved ice. Booza 1941 Booza This Palestinian creamery, featuring stretchy ice cream, is the first of its kind in Houston. Helmed by the Rukab family, who have a long history of selling booza in Ramallah, the shop offers traditional flavors like chocolate, vanilla and cookies 'n' cream in cups and cones. Find it: 5922 Richmond Ave. Ste A, Houston, TX 77057; (832) 831-3176 Hours: Daily, noon-9:30 p.m. Kimberly Park Dish Society At Dish Society's Galleria-area location, the classic root beer float is the ultimate summer refresher. The quintessential soda shop splurge is made with Amy's Mexican vanilla ice cream and organic root beer. It will set you back just $5. Find it: 5740 San Felipe St #100, Houston, TX 77057; (832) 538-1060 Hours: Daily, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Moises Sirias Fat Tuesday Get your frozens to-go at this New Orleans-style daiquiri bar, which slings 18 different flavors. Choices like pina colada, jungle juice, bellini, and Cat 5 hurricane come in souvenir cups or gallons to-go. They are tasty on their own, but guests can combine flavors to make their own customized drink. Find it: 8366 Westheimer Rd Suite G, Houston, TX 77063; (281) 501-3866 Hours: Sunday, noon-10 p.m.; Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-midnight Mai Pham / Mai Pham Nu Ice & Drinks The sky-high mounds of shaved ice at Nu Ice & Drinks are an appropriate snack on Houston's 100-degree days. Jazz yours up with toppings like chopped nuts, sprinkles, cereal fruit or a caramel drizzle, and pair with a boba drink handcrafted by one of the shop's bobaristas. Find it: 5901 Westheimer Rd B1, Houston, TX 77057; (832) 649-2266 Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-midnight Yelp/Cynthia V. Rocambolesc The Spain-based Roca brothers opened their first U.S. outpost of Rocambolesc in Uptown Park this summer, and the crowds have been ever-present since. You can build the gelato of your dreams by adding toppings and drizzles, but springing for a whimsical dessert pop may make an even better photo for the 'gram. Playful choices like the strawberry and rose water ice pop are molded into the shape of a nose, and the yogurt, licorice and lime pop resembles an iPhone. Find it: 1101 Uptown Park Blvd Suite 10, Houston, TX 77056; (281) 501-3499 Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Abigail Rosenthal/Chron Van Leeuwen This New York City ice cream phenomenon has arrived with multiple locations in Houston, including one in Uptown Park. Van Leeuwen uses simple ingredients like milk, cream, eggs and cane sugar to craft its ice cream, and incorporates cashews, coconuts and oats for its vegan varieties. Imaginative flavors range from honeycomb and Sicilian pistachio to traditionals like vanilla bean. Find it: 1151 Uptown Park Blvd Suite 8, Houston, TX 77056; (346) 204-4140 Hours: Daily, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Friday met former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav in New Delhi, where the two, along with SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, discussed the current state of national politics. Chandrashekar Rao has been in the national capital for the past five days where he has been, according to his office, holding review meetings on various subjects with top bureaucrats from the state, including Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, who accompanied him to New Delhi. On Friday, Akhilesh Yadav, and Ram Gopal Yadav called on Chandrashekar Rao at the latters residence in Delhi and the trio spent a few hours discussing issues related to the state of affairs in the country, and current political situation. Though no official details of the meeting were released by the Chief Ministers Office, it is learnt that the three leaders discussed ways and means, and possibilities on putting a check on an increasingly belligerent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and how the BJP-led Central government was wielding the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department to intimidate political parties and those opposed to the BJP government. It is learnt that the leaders also discussed on how to hold the BJP government accountable on its omissions and commissions in the ongoing Parliament session. They also discussed the upcoming Vice Presidential elections and the Opposition strategy. The meeting on Friday once again gave hope to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) that the Chief Minister has not dropped his plans for going national, though there continues to be a lot of uncertainty over the proposed launch of a national party by Chandrashekar Rao. The Telangana Chief Minister was also scheduled to meet with Tejaswi Yadav, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader from Bihar, but that meeting did not materialise. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Supporters of a recreational marijuana initiative have turned in the required number of valid signatures, moving the measure closer to appearing on Arkansas' ballot this fall, election officials said Friday. A spokesman for the secretary of state's office said supporters of the proposed constitutional amendment had reached the 89,151 valid signatures from registered voters needed to qualify for the November ballot. The proposal's popular name and ballot title still must be approved by the state Board of Election Commissioners to qualify for the ballot. HARTFORD Multiple police agencies were involved in a Thursday night pursuit that ended with the arrests of two people in Missouri. At about 7 p.m. Thursday Hartford Police began pursuing a white Ford F-150 pickup truck at Madison Avenue and Illinois 111. Alton Police had pursued the same truck earlier in the evening; the registered owner of the truck was reportedly sought on an outstanding felony warrant, although it was unknown if the owner was driving the truck. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) A vial of insulin cost $25 in 1995, back when Chris Noble was 5 years old and just learning how to manage his Type 1 diabetes with the help of his parents and his doctors. Nearly three decades later, Noble says that same vial of insulin costs more than $300 a 12-fold increase for something he and millions like him cant live without. Its as essential as water, Noble said. Health care advocates have bemoaned for years that insulin, while inexpensive to produce, is held hostage by a U.S. health care system stubbornly resistant to reforms as companies monopolize and maximize profits. Now, with several insulin patents nearing their expiration dates, California is looking to disrupt that market by making its own insulin and selling it for a much cheaper price. Last month, after a few years of study, state lawmakers approved $100 million for the project, with $50 million dedicated to developing three types of insulin and the rest set aside to invest in a manufacturing facility. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers still have many details to work out, including contracting with a private company to do most of the work. But the budget was a put-his-money-where-his-mouth-is moment for Newsom, who has been calling for the state to launch its own brand of generic drugs to lower the overall price of medication. Nothing epitomizes market failures more than the cost of insulin, Newsom said in a video posted to his Twitter account. California is now taking matters into our own hands. This wouldn't be the first time California has made its own medicine. In 1990, about half of all cases of infant botulism a rare illness that affects the large intestine were in California. The California Department of Public Health got a federal grant to develop and test a treatment. The treatment won federal approval in 2003, and California has been making it ever since. But the market for infant botulism treatments is small, with about 110 cases reported each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One course of California's botulism treatment costs more than $57,000, according to a legislative analysis. Meanwhile, about 7 million people in the United States require insulin to manage their diabetes. The human body converts most of the food we eat into sugar. The pancreas then produces insulin, which converts that sugar into energy. People who have diabetes don't produce enough insulin. People with Type 1 diabetes must take insulin every day to survive. Insulin was first discovered in 1920s by a team of Canadian scientists. They sold the patent to the University of Toronto for just $1, hoping the school would license the product to multiple companies to prevent a monopoly that would lead to high prices. But over time, the insulin market was slowly cornered. Today, just three companies produce most of the world's insulin. In the United States, the line between an insulin manufacturer and a patient is not straight. It zigs and zags between insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers third parties that managed prescription drug benefits for health plans. It's that system that has kept the cost of insulin much higher in the United States than other countries, as more companies benefit from the higher price tag, said Kasia Lipska, an associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine. It creates this really weird incentive, Lipska said. California will try to break that incentive. The reason more companies haven't entered the insulin market is because if they did, the established manufacturers would just undercut them, making it impossible to recoup their investment, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a consumer advocacy group. But California is in a different position because aside from selling insulin, it also buys the product every year for the millions of people on its publicly funded health plans. That means if California's product drives down the price of insulin across the market, the state would still benefit. That's why California's market power matters, Wright said. To a Wall Street investor, driving down the cost of insulin means you might not be able to get your investment back. To California, driving down the price of insulin is a real savings to both taxpayers as well as to our residents. Still, there's no guarantee California's plan will work. For one thing, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers might not cover California's insulin products, making it more difficult for patients to get them. Sarah Sutton, director of public affairs for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said a better idea would be for California to focus on commonsense solutions to address the role pharmacy benefit managers play in insulin pricing. That would bring real relief to patients right now, she said. Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said he hopes a state as large as California making its own insulin would significantly diminish the role of pharmacy benefit managers in insulin pricing. If successful, Ghaly said he thinks the price of California-branded insulin would be so competitive that patients could buy it off the shelf cheaper than going through their insurance plan. We expect to save hundreds of millions of dollars for California because of this, Ghaly said. This gives us an opportunity to create a blueprint for healthcare affordability that has been so far out of reach for states and, frankly, the federal government, and it's really exciting to see where it can go. Ben Singson/Journal-Courier Congressman Darin LaHood of Illinois is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers in both chambers calling for strengthening digital trade and the burgeoning digital economy. LaHood along with Suzan DelBene of Washington, Steve Chabot of Ohio and Ami Bera of California introduced a resolution outlining digital trade's importance. The resolution calls on the White House "to negotiate strong, inclusive, forward-looking and enforceable rules on digital trade and the digital economy" with other countries. MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) A heat wave thats been scorching the Pacific Northwest and is suspected in several deaths will create dangerous weather conditions in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains this weekend. Heat warnings and advisories were in effect for north central Idaho and western Montana through Sunday. Forecasters said temperatures could top 105 degrees Fahrenheit ( 40.5 Celsius) in some areas. They said that would put people at heightened risk of heat-related illnesses. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate PARIS (AP) Frances presidency on Friday focused on global warming, the war in Ukraine and the Iran nuclear deal in relaying details about the controversial dinner in Paris between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron. In a generally celebratory communique, the presidential Elysee palace skirted over the issue of the gruesome Saudi killing of U.S.-based journalist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Western intelligence has determined that Prince Mohammed was complicit in the killing. The French statement said the president and prince in their meeting Thursday welcomed the strengthening of exchanges between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France (and) they expressed the wish to deepen the relationship between the two countries and to continue their consultation to meet regional and global challenges, in particular the fight against global warming. Little was said regarding French or European energy links with energy-rich Saudi Arabia, even as Russias threats to cut of the European Unions gas supplies has had European leaders scrambling for alternative energy sources. French media suggested this was the reason the prince was invited. Macron, his office said, underlined the importance of continuing the coordination initiated with Saudi Arabia with a view to diversifying the energy supplies of European states. A short phrase ending the statement said simply that Macron also addressed the issue of human rights in Saudi Arabia. It did not elaborate. Macron's approach contrasted with that of U.S. President Joe Biden, who met with the Saudi prince earlier this month in Jeddah and said -- publicly -- that he told him he held him responsible for Khashoggis killing. The meeting with Marcon marked another step in the Saudi leaders diplomatic rehabilitation less than four years after Khashoggi's slaying at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The crown prince lost supporters in the West who previously had been cheering his social reforms at home. He maintains he had no knowledge of the operation, despite it being carried out by people who directly reported to him. French government spokesman Olivier Veran on Friday defended the crown prince's visit, saying it was part of international geopolitics and was essential (so that)... France makes its views, priorities, action on the international level heard." The Saudi prince, who stopped in Greece before coming to France, is making his first official visit to the EU since the Khashoggi slaying. ___ Catherine Gashka contributed WASHINGTON - The House on Thursday voted to pass the $280 billion Chips and Science Act, a bill that would subsidize domestic semiconductor manufacturing and invest billions in science and technology innovation, in a bid to strengthen the United States' competitiveness and self-reliance in what is seen as a keystone industry for economic and national security. The House passed the legislation on a 243-187 vote, with strong bipartisan support - despite a last-minute push by House GOP leaders to whip against the bill. Twenty-four Republicans defied the leadership and joined Democrats in backing the measure. President Joe Biden hailed the outcome after securing bipartisan support last year for a major infrastructure bill and recently for a measure to reduce gun violence, overcoming election-year partisanship. Biden said the bill is "exactly what we need to be doing to grow our economy right now." "Today, the House passed a bill that will make cars cheaper, appliances cheaper, and computers cheaper," Biden said in a statement. "It will lower the costs of everyday goods. And, it will create high-paying manufacturing jobs across the country and strengthen U.S. leadership in the industries of the future at the same time." The Senate had passed the bill Wednesday in a 64-33 vote. Days earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had said there would be bipartisan support for the bill's passage in the House and vowed to send it to Biden's desk as soon as possible. At the time, House Republican leaders had planned to let their rank and file vote their conscience on the bill. However, after the stunning news Wednesday night of a deal between Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Democratic leaders on a separate climate, health-care and taxes bill, House GOP leaders urged members to oppose the chips bill as retribution, in an effort to deny Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a legislative win. Before the House GOP decided to whip against the chips bill, proponents of the legislation thought they could garner a sizable amount of Republican support, according to people familiar with the vote counts who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the matter. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters that he would still support the bill, calling it a national security issue. Others, however, said they would toe the party line. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., the ranking GOP member on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said he expected his remarks on the bill would be very different "just 24 hours ago." Lucas noted he had worked on the chips-funding legislation for more than three years, and lamented that it was now "irrevocably tied to a massive tax hike and spending spree," referring to the Democrats' tax bill. "Regrettably, and it's more regrettably than you can possibly imagine, I will not be casting my vote for the CHIPS and Science Act today," Lucas said. "I want to emphasize that this is in no way a reflection of my feeling about the transformational research policies in this bill." Some members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus were also squeamish on the bill - Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has been publicly critical and voted against it Wednesday - and there was fear that its passage in the House could be threatened if supporting lawmakers dwindled. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with the caucus virtually Thursday afternoon to provide reassurances about guardrails included in the legislation. According to two sources familiar with the meeting, Raimondo appealed to liberals by emphasizing to the group that she understood their concerns and would use tools at her disposal to ensure that funding in the legislation is not used to enrich big companies. She promised to instead invest in American jobs and minority-owned businesses, while telling liberals it was time to step up and support the president. Raimondo spent the past 24 hours working the phones to ensure significant GOP support was not lost after Senate Republicans tried to derail its passage, reminding lawmakers about the national security implications if it did not pass Thursday. On the House floor Thursday, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., slammed the legislation as a "$280 billion blank check" to the semiconductor industry, saying he had always opposed it. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., criticized the bill as one that would benefit only "a single industry," and several GOP lawmakers urged their colleagues to vote no. Rep. Joseph Morelle, D-N.Y., countered by saying there were few industries that did not utilize semiconductor chips. "Chips run everything. So whether it's your cellphone, your laptop, your automobile, it really doesn't matter. Children's toys have chips in them," Morelle said. "And the fact is we have lost our competitive edge. . . . This isn't about a single industry. It's about every industry." Later, Morelle read aloud on the House floor praise for the legislation - from Senate Republicans who had voted to pass it just the day before. About $52 billion will go to microchip manufacturers to incentivize construction of domestic semiconductor fabrication plants - or "fabs" - to make the chips, which are used in a wide variety of products, including motor vehicles, cellphones, medical equipment and military weapons. A shortage of semiconductor chips during the coronavirus pandemic has caused price hikes and supply-chain disruptions in several industries. The bill also includes about $100 billion in authorizations over five years for programs such as expanding the National Science Foundation's work and establishing regional technology hubs to support startups in areas of the country that haven't traditionally drawn big funding for tech. In a White House meeting with business and labor leaders Monday, Raimondo noted that the United States used to make 40% of the world's chips but now makes about 12% - and "essentially none of the leading-edge chips," which come almost entirely from Taiwan. The United States has invested "nearly nothing" in semiconductor manufacturing, while China has invested $150 billion to build its domestic capacity, Raimondo said. She also said it was critical for the United States to be able to compete with countries that have been providing subsidies to semiconductor companies to build factories. "The chips funding will be the deciding factor on where those companies choose to expand," Raimondo said. "We want them, we need them, to expand here in the United States." Included in the legislation are provisions that would prohibit companies from building most types of new semiconductor manufacturing facilities in China "or any other foreign country of concern" for a decade after receiving federal funding. - - - The Washington Post's Paul Kane and Jeanne Whalen contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Let's get this sorted out. When thousands of people wearing surplus store armor storm the city, many carrying bear spray and weapons, many more shouting for the overthrow of the government, that's the time to call in the National Guard. When thousands of people come in on buses carrying their worldly possessions in a single bag, many holding crying babies in soiled diapers, many more with no shoes on their feet, that's not the time for the National Guard. This is how D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is responding, months into the ongoing political stunt being played by two Republican governors who think it's hilarious to score political points on the backs of vulnerable people. She's asking for the National Guard. "With pledges from Texas and Arizona to continue these abhorrent operations indefinitely, the situation is dire, and we consider this a humanitarian crisis," The Democratic mayor's office said in a letter to the secretary of defense, asking for federal help. In the past month, "the pace of arriving buses and the volume of arrivals have reached tipping points," said the mayor's letter, obtained by NBC News. "Our collective response and service efforts have now become overwhelmed: the regional welcome center we helped establish in Montgomery County, Maryland is at capacity; our homeless services system is already under great strain; and, tragically, many families arrive in Washington, D.C. with nowhere to go, or they remain in limbo seeking onward destinations across the United States." The city want to use the D.C. Armory as a processing center, staffed by unarmed personnel. The aid workers who have been doing much of the work - greeting buses arriving at Union Station at all hours, getting the migrants clothing, diapers and food before working out the next steps on their paths to citizenship - are mostly horrified by the prospect of working with the military. "What I've been hearing consistently from migrants is that when the military is there, they get treated like militants," said Bianca Vazquez, who has been an organizer with the mutual-aid groups meeting the migrants. As a nation, we have a history of militarizing the immigration process. A fun trip to Ellis Island's historical exhibits will show you some of the holding cells that migrants described as "kennels," where aspiring Americans were caged for weeks, months or even years before they were processed. In this latest, grim chapter of the way America chooses Americans, migrants have been bused to D.C. as a protest. It began in April, when the governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, announced he would export his state's chaos to the nation's capital after the Biden administration's ending of Title 42, the suspension of admission and asylum during the pandemic. Another Republican, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, soon joined in, sending buses of migrants from his state, too. Buses come nearly every day, sometimes two or three a day, aid workers said. They've dropped off more than 4,000 immigrants so far, with plenty more to come. And D.C. doesn't have the resources to help everyone. LOL? ROTFL? Laugh-crying GIFs and emoji galore is how right-wingers are greeting Bowser's request for help, believing that D.C. is finally getting a taste of what border states have been living for years now. Let's get something straight - this crisis is not about handling crowds or lawbreakers. Washington, D.C., knows how to be a good host, America. D.C. welcomes your fidgeting middle school tour groups, your loons, your extremists, the sex offenders and the addicts you send to represent you in Congress. It has posh steak houses for your egotists and specialty clubs of all flavors to satisfy their various kinks. The police force is primo at spotting your drunk drivers, and it has flex cuffs for days when the protesters come to town. The local DEA agents know where your congressman is getting his drugs. The nation's capital is very good at managing a daily influx of people. But the 4,000 migrants aren't just a crowd to be managed by the National Guard. This isn't a policing problem or a military emergency. These are vulnerable people who are here to make new lives for themselves - the very foundations of everything that is America. And what better place to do it than in Washington, D.C.? The aid groups have asked for help creating a welcome center, funding housing programs and committing resources to help them begin the process of becoming legal Americans. Many of the migrants go on to family in New York, Boston and Iowa. And D.C. simply needs to do this as efficiently and morally as possible. D.C. has done it many times before. And it can do it again. This is a humanitarian crisis, and Washington, D.C., needs to approach it with humanity. MOSCOW (AP) The Kremlin on Friday offered strong support to China amid the tensions over Taiwan, warning the United States against any provocative" moves that could exacerbate the situation. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against meddling in Chinas dealings with Taiwan during a phone call Thursday with U.S. President Joe Biden, Speaking in a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia staunchly supports China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We believe that no other country has the right to call (that) into doubt or take any provocative steps, Peskov said. He warned the U.S. against destructive moves, adding that such behavior on the international arena could only exacerbate tensions as the world is already overloaded with regional and global problems. The tough statement reflects close ties between Moscow and Beijing, which have grown stronger since Russia sent its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. China has refused to criticize Russias action, blaming the U.S. and NATO for provoking Moscow, and has blasted punishing sanctions imposed on Moscow. The Chinese government gave no indication Xi and Biden discussed possible plans by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan, which the ruling Communist Party says has no right to conduct foreign relations. But Xi rejected interference by external forces that might encourage Taiwan to try to make its decades-old de facto independence permanent. Resolutely safeguarding Chinas national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Friday. Those who play with fire will perish by it. The tough language from Xi, who usually tries to appear to be above political disputes and makes blandly positive public comments, suggested Chinese leaders might believe Washington didnt understand the seriousness of previous warnings about Taiwan. Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with a communist victory on the mainland. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars of trade and investment. Both sides say they are one country but disagree over which government is entitled to national leadership. The court also did not find that the power of the officers of ED, under Section 50, in which they record the response or statements of the accused violates the principle that no person can be compelled to bear evidence or act as a witness against himself. PTI It was a landmark observation made by the Supreme Court of India when, while reflecting on the argument of the Central government that a canon of natural justice on presumption of innocence was not a constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right, it said that the principle of innocence of an accused could be interdicted by a law made by the Centre or a state. It was on the basis of this observation which sets aside, legally, a principle that any accused is innocent till proven guilty, one oft-regarded as an inviolable human right, that the apex court upheld the constitutional validity of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The highest court of the land thus upheld the powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to search, attach, arrest and seize properties in cases dealing with money-laundering. Further, the Supreme Court also did not agree with the petitioner on another question of the procedure to be adhered to by the law enforcement agencies during arrest, saying it was not compulsory for the ED to give a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) to the accused before the arrest, because the ECIR was not equal or same as a First Information Report (FIR). The Supreme Court said it would suffice if the officials of the ED merely disclosed the grounds of such an arrest. The court did not agree with the batch of petitions, which argued that ECIR, as a provision, was opaque arbitrary and draconian, or that it violates the basic rights of an accused and was against the basic principles of the criminal justice system, or the guarantees enshrined in Articles 14, 20 and 21 of the Constitution. The observations and directive of Supreme Court Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C.T. Ravikumar have several far-reaching consequences for both law making houses as well as the courts, because another crucial legal aspect raised by the petition was of consequent onus of proving guilt. Did it lie with the law enforcement agency? The Supreme Court found no fault with Section 24 of the Act which put the burden on the accused to prove that the proceeds of the crime were untainted property. Similarly, the court also did not find that the power of the officers of ED, under Section 50, in which they record the response or statements of the accused violates the principle that no person can be compelled to bear evidence or act as a witness against himself. The court, reflecting upon the amendments to the Act, including the provisions of laying down conditions for bail under Section 45, which the Supreme Court itself struck down five years ago, went against its own wisdom, saying it was, open to the Parliament to cure the defect noted by this court. Recognising the seriousness and extent of money laundering, the highest court of the land called it a scourge and an offence against the sovereignty and integrity of the country, and put an end to the argument of political witch-hunts through misuse of the PMLA, because if the disease was as serious, its cure could not be dubbed a hatchet wielded against rival politicians. A seven-judge bench may review some of the aspects related to the legality of the passing of these amendments. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate PERRY COUNTY, Ky. - President Joe Biden issued a major disaster declaration for Kentucky on Friday as thousands remained without power from disastrous flooding that has killed at least 16 people, including several children, since Wednesday. The disaster status frees federal funding to support recovery in eastern Kentucky's Appalachian foothills, where a flood watch remained in effect and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said he expected the death toll to more than double. "As governor, I've seen a lot," he said. "I've certainly done three-plus flights and/or tours over flooded areas. This is by far the worst." Biden left a voice mail for Beshear on Thursday night and called Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to offer the federal government's support, said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre. More than 20 search-and-rescue teams were operating in Kentucky, she said. Among the dead - in Perry, Knott, Letcher and Clay counties - were six children, at least three people in their 60s, at least two people in their 70s and an 81-year-old woman, Beshear told reporters. Most of the people were killed in Knott County. Four of the children killed were identified in a Lexington Herald-Leader story, Beshear said. Brittany Trejo told the newspaper that her cousins, who ranged in age from 1.5 to 8, were swept away from their parents in the flooding Thursday. With people stuck on roofs and in trees, first responders conducted about 50 air rescues and hundreds of boat rescues Thursday, Beshear said. Efforts were continuing Friday, and limited cell service made it difficult to determine a count of the missing. The flooding in some areas was not expected to crest until Saturday, Beshear said. The region has also sustained significant property damage, particularly in settlements near creeks and rivers. Churches are missing entire walls, and houses have been broken open to expose bedrooms. Standing water has made some back roads impassable, while mudslides and downed trees block others. Hundreds of homes have been lost in what Beshear called "the worst flooding disaster, at least of my lifetime, in Kentucky." "Hundreds of Kentucky families are going to lose everything," he said Thursday on "NBC Nightly News." The National Weather Service's Jackson station predicted that rainfall would gradually slow Friday as a cold front moved into the area. More storms, however, are expected to arrive Sunday through Tuesday. The deluge was caused by the same weather that caused historic flooding on Tuesday in St. Louis, where at least one person was killed and several others were stranded in their cars and homes. The rainfalls there and in Kentucky have less than a 1 in 1,000 chance of happening in a given year. Human-caused climate change has spurred extreme precipitation events to increase significantly in the past century. Heavy rainfall is now roughly 20% to 40% more likely in and near eastern Kentucky than it was around 1900, according to the U.S. government's National Climate Assessment. The mud-coated destruction across some eastern Kentucky communities became more obvious Friday as the floodwaters began to recede. In Perry County, the damage done to Buckhorn School - a K-12 facility with more than 300 students - was "just mind-blowing," said Tim Wooton, the principal. The school filled with at least six feet of water Wednesday night as nearby Squabble Creek swelled above its banks, he said. Splintered wood, metal and other debris from structures washed away upstream shattered the school's windows and doors and filled the hallways. Although the school's exterior walls mostly remained intact, Wooton said the interior had suffered "major" damage. "There's nothing salvageable," Christie Stamper, the school's assistant principal, said Friday. The school graduated its 120th class in the spring, Wooton said, and students and residents of the small town of Buckhorn see it as a focal point of the community. "We're family," Stamper said through tears, "and this is the heart of it." As floodwaters rose around Price Neace's home in Lost Creek, Ky., on Wednesday night, his daughter-in-law urged him to flee. He had survived flooding last year, but this time was much worse, said his daughter-in-law, Sue Neace. Around 2 a.m., Price, 72, left in his pickup truck in search of higher ground. Sue said she didn't hear from him again until Friday morning. He had parked his car on dry land and eventually set out on foot, hoping that someone would rescue him, he told her. Sue, 48, said she planned to try to find him. "This is family," she said. "You just go." Through text messages, Sue determined her father-in-law's location, about two hours from her home in Waddy, Ky. She messaged him that she was coming to get him after a quick stop at Walmart to buy him some supplies. In his text, she said, he asked her to bring him a pack of cigarettes. --- Iati and Sachs reported from Washington. Jason Samenow contributed to this report. NEW YORK (AP) A once-prominent neurologist was found guilty Friday on charges of sexually abusing patients while treating them with pain medications. A New York City jury reached the verdict after deliberating for about three days at the trial of Dr. Ricardo Cruciani. Cruciani, 68, was convicted on 12 criminal counts one count of predatory sexual assault, one of attempted rape, one of sex abuse, two of rape and seven of criminal sexual acts. He was acquitted on two other counts. We entrust doctors to respect our bodies and health when we go to them for help, yet Dr. Cruciani utterly violated that duty, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. Cruciani, Bragg added, left in his wake six survivors who continue to suffer from debilitating diseases, and now, years of trauma. Cruciani had worked for several leading pain-management providers during his career. He has denied the sexual abuse allegations. His attorney, Fred Sosinsky, said Friday there would be an appeal. My client and his beautiful family are crushed by todays verdict, the lawyer said. In the end, it appears that the collective weight of six accusers, rather than a fair consideration of each of their problematic accounts, carried the day. Cruciani, who had been out on bail, was jailed after the verdict was announced. Prosecutors alleged Cruciani groomed vulnerable patients by overprescribing pain killers, sometimes to treat serious injuries from car wrecks and other accidents. Six women testified the sexual abuse often occurred behind closed doors during appointments in 2013 at a Manhattan medical center, where the doctor would expose himself and demand sex. He didnt finish writing my prescriptions until I did something for him, one told the jury. In closing arguments, prosecutor Shannon Lucey called the behavior just pure evil, adding, This defendant is nothing but a drug dealer who used his prescription pad as a weapon. Sosinsky countered by arguing the witnesses werent credible, telling the jury the women were willing to lie and dispute the indisputable to make the charges stick. Among the witnesses at a trial that began seven weeks ago was Hillary Tullin, who helped fuel the case by calling a sexual abuse hotline in 2017 and reporting that Cruciani had abused her between 2005 and 2013. Mr. Cruciani and his lawyers were indefatigable in their attempts to portray me and the other witnesses as liars but the truth prevailed, Tullin said Friday in response to the verdict. What happened to us is real, its traumatic, and it can no longer be denied. The AP does not typically identify people who say they are survivors of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Tullin has done. Cruciani is still facing federal charges accusing him of abusing multiple patients over 15 years at his offices in New York City, Philadelphia and Hopewell, New Jersey. The federal charges and state trial follow years of public complaints by Crucianis accusers that authorities in some places were not taking his crimes seriously, particularly in Philadelphia, where he pleaded guilty to relatively minor misdemeanor groping counts involving seven patients. ___ This story has been corrected to show that Cruciani was found guilty on 12 criminal counts, not five. ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) A man accused of shooting a state trooper in Pennsylvania early Friday had served time in prison for his role in a 2005 murder-for-hire plot in Ohio, a district attorney's office said. Two troopers had observed a disturbance on the sidewalk outside the Franklin Mini-Mart in Aliquippa, state police said. As the troopers approached, a suspect ran into the store and the troopers followed. MADRID (AP) Spain's leader has proposed an energy-saving move that many men have already embraced. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has asked government officials and people working in the private sector to save energy by giving up wearing neckties at work. Appearing at a news conference in an open-necked white shirt and blue jacket, Sanchez explained he had dressed less formally not as a nod to the casual Friday custom but to curb utility use presumably air-conditioning, but he did not spell that out. Id like you to note that I am not wearing a tie. That means that we can all make savings from an energy point of view," the prime minister said at the news conference called to summarize his governments annual performance. He said he encouraged his ministers and public officials, "that if not necessary, dont use a tie. Spain has sweltered for more than a month, with temperatures in parts of the country often surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The government has urged people to reduce electricity costs by not overusing air conditioning. Rising energy costs for households and businesses in Spain has been a major issue in recent months, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. Sanchez said the government would present a new energy-saving plan next week, but he gave no details. He said the plan was designed to cut utility bills and to reduce energy dependency on the aggressor, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin." In June, Spain approved economic relief measures worth more than 9 billion euros ($9,2 billion), including reductions in electricity taxes and a one-time payment of 200 euros ($200) for people with low-incomes. ___ Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment. NEW YORK (AP) A federal appeals court ruled Friday against a group of New York parents who sued after the state made it more difficult for children to get a medical exemption from school immunization requirements, which were tightened after a major measles outbreak in 2019. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit filed by families and Children's Health Defense, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s anti-vaccine group. The lawsuit challenged state rules adopted in 2019 that did away with religious exemptions for vaccines and narrowed eligibility for medical exemptions down to children with just a few rare conditions, like severe allergic reactions to a previous dose of vaccine or certain, severe immune system diseases. The state's allowed exemptions follow guidelines from a federal advisory panel. The families argued the regulations violated their rights because school officials could deny requests on behalf of vulnerable children even when a doctor certified a medical need for an exemption. The appeals panel rejected that argument, writing in the decision that "the new regulations require requests to comply with evidence-based national standards for the purpose of ensuring that physicians do not recommend medical exemptions in conclusory fashion or for non-medical reasons. New York's longstanding vaccination rules don't include a mandate for children to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Sujata Gibson, an attorney for the plaintiffs, who hailed from a variety of school districts around the state, said she was disappointed in the decision. The real question here is: Who decides when you are looking at medical exemptions? she said. Is it the treating physician, or is it the school principal? Resistance to vaccines helped fuel a measles outbreak that sickened nearly 1,300 people in 2019, the highest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1992. Vaccine hesitancy persists in some of the New York communities that were the epicenter of that outbreak. Earlier this month, health officials in Rockland County, northwest of New York City, reported that an unvaccinated young adult had become infected with polio in the first U.S. case of the disease in nearly a decade. WASHINGTON (AP) There's no reason for China and the U.S. to come to blows" should House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visit Taiwan during an Asia trip she is expected to make soon, the White House said Friday, underscoring the international tensions surrounding her travel plans. The remarks by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby came as Pelosi, D-Calif., offered a rationale for a visit to Asia that she had yet to publicly acknowledge. Kirby was asked Friday if the U.S. has noticed any Chinese military preparations due to her travel plans. Theres no reason for it to come to that, to come to blows, to come to increased physical tension, Kirby said at the White House. Theres no reason for that because theres been no change in American policy with respect to One China. Seeming to stop just short of saying she would travel there, Pelosi said, Im very excited that should we go to the countries, that youll be hearing about along the way about the conversations she would have there. She noted President Joe Biden's focus on Asia and referenced his recent trip to South Korea and Japan, telling reporters, "He has visited there, his vice president has visited, the secretary of commerce and others. And we want the Congress of the United States to be part of that initiative. Pelosi and her aides have not confirmed her travel plans or named the countries she might visit, citing security concerns. China considers Taiwan its own territory and has said it might reclaim the island democracy by force. For more than four decades, the U.S. has followed a one China" policy in which it recognizes Beijing as the government of China yet maintains informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan. China has objected strenuously to any Taiwan visit by Pelosi, warning of resolute and strong measures if she does. Biden said earlier this month that the Pentagon thinks a Pelosi trip to Taiwan is not a good idea right now. Senior defense officials who briefed reporters on Friday declined to discuss any potential preparations for a trip. Biden has designed his foreign policy in part around countering China's growing economic and military might. Pelosi's itinerary has also become a domestic political issue, with some Republicans urging her to visit Taiwan as a show of standing up to Beijing. Kirby said Friday that Pelosi does not need nor nor do we offer approval or disapproval" for travel. And he said, The speaker is entitled to travel aboard a military aircraft. The military routinely supplies aircraft for travel by lawmakers, which presidents have the rarely used authority to deny. In a highly unusual move, then-President Donald Trump blocked Pelosi and other lawmakers from using a military plane to visit Afghanistan during a 2019 battle over a government shutdown and after she told him to delay his State of the Union address. Attorneys for right-wing provocateur Alex Jones argued Wednesday with the attorneys of Sandy Hook parents suing Jones for defamation. The heated exchange in the courtroom came after proceedings for the day had ended but were captured on camera, KXAN reported. The argument arose in the Austin district courtroom where Jones is facing a civil trial for spreading lies stating the Sandy Hook, Conn. shooting never happened. Mark Bankston, attorney for the Sandy Hook parents, contested whether Jones' attorneys were allowed to play certain full video clips from Jones' show Infowars as evidence in the trial. Bankston had played several different Infowars clips in which Jones or guests of the show discussed the Sandy Hook shooting during Wednesday's trial proceedings. Andino Reynal, attorney for Jones, objected when Bankston argued that Reynal couldn't play certain full video clips from the show, according to KXAN. "Plaintiffs have chosen to play little clips from cherry-picked videos. They agreed before that those could come in," said Reynal. The dispute continued on the courtroom floor after Wednesday's proceedings. At one point, Jones' attorney Reynal said "how about some brutal honesty?" and gave Bankston the middle finger. Another attorney on the parents' legal team eventually suggested they settle the dispute over the phone, ending the confrontation. Soon after a gunman killed 19 students and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Jones began spreading the lie that the shooting was faked by the government and that grieving parents were actually "crisis actors." Jones' followers doxxed and harassed parents of victims for years afterwards. Jones' current trial is the latest in a series of defamation lawsuits filed by Sandy Hook victims' parents against the right-wing personality in Connecticut and Texas. Jones has paid out millions in damages and court sanctions so far after losing those cases. Judge Gamble has already issued a default ruling in favor of the parents that establishes Jones' liability in this case, after he repeatedly failed to comply with the court's pre-trial discovery process; the jury in the current trial will just decide how much Jones should pay the parents in damages. Q: I was taught in religious school that the reason Moses was not allowed by God to enter the Holy Land was his killing of the taskmaster in Egypt. Recently, I was told that I was wrong. Who is right? A A: Sorry, dear A, but you are wrong. I wrote this answer in 1984 (before I had even met Father Tom Hartman) and I am sticking to it now: Moses means, The one who was drawn out of the water, and Moses was indeed drawn out of waters: Moses was drawn out of the waters of his mothers womb. Moses was drawn out of the waters of the river Nile. Moses was drawn out of the waters of the Red Sea. Only from the waters of Meribah was Moses not drawn out. In the desert, on the freedom side of the Red Sea, the first response of the people was to cry out for water. God said to Moses, Pass before the people and take along the rod with which you struck the Nile, and strike the rock and water will issue from it, and the people will drink. The place was named Massah and Meribah. (Ex 17:5-7) At the end of the 40 years of wandering, at the same place called Meribah, the people again cried out for water. This time God spoke to Moses saying, You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes order the rock to yield its water. Despite Gods command to speak to the rock, Moses struck the rock twice with his rod. It worked, but after Moses hit the rock God said to Moses and Aaron, because you did not trust me enough to affirm my sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given to them. Those are the waters of Meribah. (Num 20:7-13) Two linked moments of thirst and faith. One at the beginning of the wandering and one at the end of the wandering, one a blessing and one a curse. Moses drew forth the first waters of Meribah by striking the rock at Gods command and was praised. He drew forth the second waters of Meribah by striking the rock and was punished. Why such a great punishment for such a small sin in such a great man? The answer is found in what separates the first waters of Meribah from the second waters of Meribah. Mt. Sinai separates the waters of Meribah. Sinai is the difference. Sinai is the reason. Moses was commanded to hit the rock before Mt. Sinai, and Moses was commanded to speak to the rock after Mt. Sinai. Sinai was the place where force was meant to yield to reason, strength to law, and violence to compassion. By striking the rock Moses sent a spiritually destructive message: Sinai had changed nothing. Perhaps God intended Moses to be the Messiah and by striking the rock Moses showed himself to be just another pharaoh. Perhaps Moses thought that his shepherds staff was actually a scepter. Another version: Moses hit the rock on purpose. Moses understood clearly that God wanted him to speak to the rock and usher in the Messianic age of peace and tranquility. However, Moses also knew that though the desert land was behind, the land of Canaan was ahead. Moses knew that even though the land was given by God, it would still have to be taken by the people, and Moses knew that the people could not take the land without force. Moses knew that the strong hand which smote the Egyptians would still be needed to smite the Canaanites. Moses knew that it was too soon for the outstretched arm to supplant the strong hand. Moses knew that by hitting the rock he would be prevented from entering the land but he also knew that by hitting the rock at least the people would be able to enter the land. And then after a long silence God said to Moses, When my people enter the land you shall not enter with them, but neither shall I. This exiled part of my presence shall be called my Shechinah. They shall know that I too am a divided presence in the world, and that I shall only be whole again on that day when the power of the fist vanishes forever from the world. When God lifted Moses to Heaven in Gods outstretched arm Moses shepherds staff slipped from his hand and fell to earth. It fell into the waters of Meribah and was gone forever. And then God kissed Moses on the lips and took his breath away. Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including Religion for Dummies, co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available. WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, July 28, 2022 _____ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Southwestern Mohave County in northwestern Arizona... East central San Bernardino County in southern California... South central Clark County in southern Nevada... * Until 545 PM PDT/545 PM MST/. * At 445 PM PDT/445 PM MST/, a severe thunderstorm was located near Oatman, or 14 miles southeast of Bullhead City, moving southwest at 20 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs and trees. * Locations impacted include... Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City, Laughlin, Topock, Yucca, Katherine Landing, Needles, Oatman, Desert Hills, Mojave Ranch Estates, Mohave Valley, Big Bend Rec Area, Highway 95 And I-40, Mesquite Creek, Arizona Village and Willow Valley. This includes the following highways... Interstate 40 in Arizona between mile markers 0 and 28. Interstate 40 in California between mile markers 122 and 155. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. If on or near Lake Mohave and 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 LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, July 29, 2022 _____ FLASH FLOOD WARNING The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has issued a * Flash Flood Warning for... West Central Mohave County in northwestern Arizona... San Bernardino County in southern California... South Central Clark County in southern Nevada... * Until 130 AM MST /130 AM PDT/. * At 1129 PM MST /1129 PM PDT/, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly. HAZARD...Life-threatening flash flooding. Thunderstorms producing flash flooding. SOURCE...Radar. IMPACT...Life-threatening flash flooding of low-water crossings, creeks, normally dry washes and roads. * Some locations that will experience flash flooding include... Bullhead City, Laughlin, Searchlight, Katherine Landing, Cima, Cal-Nev-Ari, Nipton Road Mile Marker 3, Nipton, Black Canyon Equestrian Campground, Big Bend Rec Area, Hole In The Wall Campground, Highway 95 And I-40, Mid Hills Campground, Cottonwood Cove Campground, Cottonwood Cove, Nipton And Ivanpah Roads, Mojave Ranch Estates, Mohave Valley, Mesquite Creek and Willow Valley. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO SACRAMENTO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, July 29, 2022 _____ EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Sacramento CA 250 AM PDT Fri Jul 29 2022 ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Hot conditions with Valley highs 100 to 113 degrees, foothill highs 95 to 110 degrees, and mountain highs 80 to 100 degrees. * WHERE...Northern Sacramento Valley, portions of the Central Sacramento Valley, adjacent foothills, Shasta County Mountains, and Burney Basin. Includes the cities of Redding, Red Bluff, and Chico. * WHEN...Until 9 PM PDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Widespread moderate to locally high heat risk expected. Excessive heat will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Warm overnight lows in the low to mid 70s are expected in the Sacramento Valley, and low to mid 80s in portions of the foothills. 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 WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, July 28, 2022 _____ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Southwestern Randall County in the Panhandle of Texas... East central Deaf Smith County in the Panhandle of Texas... * Until 700 PM CDT. * At 553 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 6 miles southeast of Buffalo Lake, or 13 miles southwest of Canyon, moving north at 15 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible. * Locations impacted include... Canyon, Umbarger, Buffalo Lake, Dawn and Mescalero Park. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO SEATTLE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, July 31, 2022 _____ HEAT ADVISORY URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Seattle WA 332 AM PDT Fri Jul 29 2022 ...HEAT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...Hot conditions with temperatures in the 90s and low temperatures in the low to mid 60s. This will pose a moderate to high risk of heat-related illness. * WHERE...Lower Chehalis Valley Area, Western Whatcom County, Hood Canal Area, Southwest Interior and Western Skagit County. * WHEN...Until 9 PM PDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Heat will increase the risk of heat-related illnesses for those who are sensitive to heat, especially those without effective cooling or adequate hydration. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. For sheltering information and other human services in your area, dial 2 1 1 during business hours or visit wa211.org anytime. * WHERE...West Slopes South Central Cascades and Passes, West Slopes North Central Cascades and Passes and West Slopes North Cascades and Passes. ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures in the 90s and lows in the mid 60s. This will pose a high risk of heat- related illness. * WHERE...Tacoma Area, Bellevue and Vicinity, Everett and Vicinity, Seattle and Vicinity and Bremerton and Vicinity. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat will significantly increase the risk of heat-related illnesses for much of the population, especially those who are heat sensitive and those without effective cooling or adequate hydration. * WHERE...East Puget Sound Lowlands. Ozone can trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation and congestion. It can also worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Ozone concentrations are expected to be the highest in the afternoon and evening. We expect the ground-level ozone pollution levels to come back down to healthy levels as temperatures decline.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures approaching 110 to 115. Very warm overnight lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s. * WHERE...Portions of central, south central and southeast Washington and central, north central and northeast Oregon. * WHEN...Until 11 PM PDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. SATURDAY... ...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM SATURDAY TO 11 PM PDT * WHAT...For the Excessive Heat Warning, dangerously hot conditions with temperatures as high as 100 to 105. For the Heat Advisory on Sunday, temperatures 95 to 98 expected. * WHERE...East Slopes of the Washington Cascades. * WHEN...For the Excessive Heat Warning, until 11 PM PDT Saturday. For the Heat Advisory, from 11 PM Saturday to 11 PM PDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures 95 to 105. Warm overnight lows as high as the upper 50s to mid 60s. * WHERE...In Washington, Northwest Blue Mountains. In Oregon, Ochoco-John Day Highlands, Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon, Southern Blue Mountains of Oregon, Grande Ronde Valley, East Slopes of the Oregon Cascades and Wallowa County. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Immigration ministers from across Canada met in New Brunswick to identify how to best achieve the country's immigration goals. Canadian immigration ministers agree on multi-year PNP levels plan Immigration ministers from across Canada met in New Brunswick to identify how to best achieve the country's immigration goals. Canadian immigration ministers agree on multi-year PNP levels plan Immigration ministers from across Canada met in New Brunswick to identify how to best achieve the country's immigration goals. Canadian immigration ministers agree on multi-year PNP levels plan Immigration ministers from across Canada met in New Brunswick to identify how to best achieve the country's immigration goals. Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A The Forum of Ministers Responsible (FMRI) for Immigration met in Saint John, New Brunswick on July 28 to discuss a host of major immigration policy issues. Topics on the agenda included Canadas Immigration Levels Plan, a more agile economic immigration system, regional economic immigration, settlement, and refugees resettlement. The big takeaway is that Canadas immigration ministers agreed to develop a multi-year Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) allocation plan. Currently, even though Canada sets its permanent residence targets over a three-year period, PNP allocations are determined on an annual basis. Moving forward, the ministers agreed that PNP allocation targets will also be set on a three-year basis. The ministers agreed to determine the multi-year PNP plan by March 31, 2023. Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration The FMRI is comprised of Canadas federal, provincial, and territorial immigration ministers. They meet each year to discuss immigration issues of national importance. The FMRI is a decision-making body with the goal of supporting a flexible, timely, and effective immigration system for Canada. Canadas Immigration Minister Sean Fraser added in the post-meeting press conference that there is no certainty at the moment on the precise numbers on the increased PNP allocations for each province and territory. The reason, he said, is the federal government needs to have follow-up conversations with provinces and territories to ensure they have the settlement capacity necessary to welcome more newcomers. The rationale for a multi-year PNP plan is similar to why Canada re-introduced a multi-year Immigration Levels Plan back in 2017. The rationale for the Immigration Levels Plan 2018-2020, and subsequent plans, has been to allow stakeholders including government, the settlement sector, and employers the ability to plan in advance for higher immigration levels. Canada is now guided by the Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024 and Minister Fraser is set to table the 2023-2025 plan by November 1st of this year. At present, Canadas PNP targets over a three-year period are contained in the levels plan. However, each province and territorys PNP allocation is set on an annual basis. The federal immigration minister sends a letter to their provincial and territorial counterparts each year with their respective allocation, typically in the first quarter of the calendar year. However, the countrys immigration ministers have now agreed that by the end of March 2023, the federal minister will inform each province and territory of their PNP allocation over a three-year period. This will allow each province and territory to plan ahead, including identifying how to best use their allocation to achieve their economic development goals, as well as to identify what operational steps they need to take to be able to process PNP applications as efficiently as possible. As a province or territorys PNP allocation increases, they need to ensure they have enough staff and the requisite technology in place to process higher PNP volumes within their service standards. The PNP has grown in prominence since it was introduced in 1998 to promote a broader distribution of immigration across Canada. Prior to its introduction, most immigrants settled in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, which made it challenging for the Atlantic and Prairie provinces to support their economic development through immigration. The PNP only contributed to about 400 new immigrant arrivals in 1999, but it is now set to welcome over 80,000 new immigrants in 2022 and over 90,000 by 2024. The PNP, next to the federal Express Entry system, is among the two major pathways for economic class immigrants to land in Canada. The post-meeting press release noted the immigration ministers also discussed assisting Afghan refugees, supporting Ukrainians, improving application processing times, taking steps to strengthen public support for immigration in Canada, among other topics. Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options. Monitoring IT trends is no trivial task. After all, the deluge is considerable. Every day, single-shingle IT cognoscenti blog, tweet, and podcast their thoughts about the future of IT. Every week, vendors the supply side of the tech community release whitepapers and forecasts about where they think (or hope you will think) technology is going. Every month, consultancies, research firms, the press the tech communitys services side adjust and amplify annual technology predictions. Every quarter, government agencies, think tanks, academic centers the administrative/regulatory side publish thought leadership pieces about what comes next. Every year, trade associations and venture capital firms publish reports detailing how technology trends will impact specific industries, products, issues, and/or disciplines. We are awash in suppositions regarding technology change. In the face of such a firehose, what are IT leaders to do regarding IT trends? Its inconceivable to keep on top of them all. And yet, keeping apprised of and ideally, ahead of IT trends is a key facet of IT leadership in todays era of rapid disruption. The best way for CIOs to approach the sea of technology prognostication consuming the IT community is to recognize and perfect the following four key roles IT leaders should play in keeping their organizations informed of and on top of the latest discussion and debate around IT trends. CIO as trend collector CIOs first and foremost must collect and impart meaning to the IT trend informational avalanche. Old-fashioned trend analysis was watching the torpedo as it comes at you. CIOs today must act proactively and prophylactically to ensure their organization is focusing on the right trends, in the right way, at the right time. CIO as trend communicator In his seminal work on technological forecasting, James Brian Quinn suggested that technology trend forecasting should become a daily part of the executive info-intake process much as economic forecasts, market forecasts, financial forecasts, and weather forecasts. In our digital age in which technology trends create opportunities and can materially change competitive circumstance, I believe CIOs need to formalize the IT trend communication process much like the Presidents Daily Brief. The CEO and their direct reports should receive a crisp, fit-for-purpose, regularly scheduled briefing regarding key IT trends. At the board level, it is conceivable that IT trends should discussed at every meeting paying particular attention to positioning and impact on key customer relationships. In preparing the IT Trends Briefing, CIOs should be sure emphasize the relationship to and impact on organizational objectives and human motivations. CIO as trend coroner Organizations can over-allocate, under-allocate, and mis-allocate resources to IT trend analysis. CIOs have to balance FOMO (i.e., fear of missing out) enthusiasms with realities of paralysis by analysis and strategic relevance. In the dotcom run-up I remember a cartoon with the caption, We need to rethink our strategy of hoping the internet will just go away. That said, a big part of the CIOs value add in the IT trend space is deciding which trends dont require immediate attention or resources. The CIO serves as a trend coroner detailing cause of death and time of death that is to say, why a given trend need not be pursued at this time. What is fascinating about IT is that a trend that is dead to one organization may be critical to anothers survival, often in a different industry. For example, over the next five years there are many organizations that will not need to move aggressively on unmanned vehicles. The Department of Defense, however, already has well over 20,000 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in operational inventory. CIO as trend creator Too many in our industry view IT trends as exogenous variables billiard-balls zooming at us from outside the enterprise. In reality IT trends reflect the wishes, needs, and dreams of ahead-of-the-curve IT professionals. In his magisterial treatise on 500 years of technology change, Leonardo: Technology & Culture From the Renaissance to the Present, Thomas Misa argues that historical actors played a major role in choosing and changing technologies in an effort to create or sustain their vision of the future. Misa is telling us that we are the ultimate source of IT trends. In their provocative and compelling book Homo prospectus, University of Pennsylvania Psychology professor Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman and University of Michigan Philosophy professor Peter Railton argue that man is misnamed. We are not really homo sapiens (i.e., wise) or homo habilus (i.e., handy). What we really are is homo prospectus a species capable of contemplating the future and considering the prospects of alternative futures. CIOs have a choice. They can be trend masters or trend victims. To be trend masters, they must stimulate the enterprise to think creatively about the future they want to inhabit and provide the tools to make it happen. For financial services company Capital Group, competing in tight IT talent markets is all about the long run. We focus on the long term, says Global CIO Marta Zarraga. Every single decision we make is based on the healthiness of the organization long term. That focus includes not only the firms customer-facing strategies but also its commitment to investing in the development of its employees, a strategy that is paying off, as evidenced by Capital Groups No. 3 for employee satisfaction among large financial services companies, according to Global BPO research firm The Everest Group. Zarraga, who had a clear picture of Capital Groups commitment to its employees as early as her interview process before joining the firm, attributes Capital Groups success with employee satisfaction in significant measure to its focus on career growth. It doesnt hurt that Capital Group offers compensation at what Zarraga describes as the top percentile of the industry. But its Capital Groups emphasis on career development through its extensive portfolio of training programs that has both the company and its employees on track for long-term success, Zarraga says. Exploring new horizons Capital Groups talent development programs include internal bootcamps, learning journeys for developing subject matter expertise, mentorships, even an internal talent marketplace where employees can post their skills, which helps promote more movement within the organization. Marta Zarraga, global CIO, Capital Group Capital Group This emphasis on fluidity is at the center of many of Capital Groups career development options, which include internal self-paced learning programs for employees with coursework tailored to help them learn skills to work in other areas of the business. For example, if a data team member wants to increase their skills or move to a data engineer position, they can embark on a curriculum for up to two years to gain the right skills and experience. Even those signing on for their first full-time job have the opportunity to explore career paths at Capital Group. The Technology Rotational Experience (TREx) program is a 25-month career development program that gives participants the chance to work across three different IT teams right out of college. Cohorts of the program complete one nine-month and two eight-month rotations in areas such as solutions engineering, software development, architecture, emerging technologies, technology support and operations, information security, or business operations management. Sarah Ortiz is one Capital Group employee who took advantage of TREx when first joining the company. The TREx program gave me the space to learn, develop, and customize an experience for my career development, she says. I got to work on teams as a full stack developer for our Investment Group, as a cybersecurity engineer pentesting our applications, and as a cloud engineer delivering scalable infrastructure solutions in AWS. The program hosts regular meetings and get-togethers for cohorts so they can check in on their skills and career development and even connect with leaders through an ongoing speaker series. Along with the different teams, TREx gave me opportunities to work on committees, participate in hackathons, talk with leaders regularly, and present my work to large audiences and senior leaders, Ortiz says. Now, with the guidance and support of the TREx program I am permanently joining our Cyber Security team as a cybersecurity engineer, and I could not be more excited for my future career growth at Capital Group. Zarraga agrees that TREx can be a key stepping-stone for new hires: I think its incredibly important to allow new grads to rotate around the organization because it gives you this direct experience around all of these different areas and it gives you the opportunity to learn about [the different] facets around all of these roles, she says. But then we also give people the opportunity to have direct placements, when they find places that they really like. Sharpening skills Bootcamps are another way Capital Group is setting up new hires for long-term success. Aimee Oz [they/them], a software development engineer at Capital Group, started in 2021 as an intern and participated in the data engineering bootcamp that was offered to all new team members. The bootcamp broadened my understanding of key concepts in data engineering. It provided an overview of cloud computing and data lake essentials and introduced me to Pandas an open-source Python package used for data analysis, says Oz. Oz says the program made them feel valued at the company and reinforced the internal culture of growth and learning. I can show up as myself and develop the skills and confidence for my career in software development within the financial industry. From early on my contributions at work have been respected, and Ive found it very easy to reach out and ask questions to people on different teams, they say. The bootcamp helped them better understand how important the ingestion and standardization of data is and how collecting and structuring data using a common format can help build better API responses, Oz says. Investing in future leaders Capital Group is invested in developing talent at every level from interns and entry-level employees to those who have an eye on leadership roles. The company works to provide internal growth opportunities for employees, promoting roughly the same number of people that it hires externally, Zarraga says. Creating career and leadership paths for employees gives workers the option to grow within the company, rather than having to leave for outside opportunities to level up. Brian Paul, a market data technology manager at Capital Group, says he was initially drawn to the organization after leaving a different financial services company because he saw the emphasis Capital Group places on associate development. He feels Capital Group is a company where he can flourish and build a career with the right support from leadership and self-motivation. Seeing a clear path forward in the organization and having the right support can do a lot for employee engagement and morale. Paul participated in the companys Capital Emerging Leader (CEL) program, which is offered to employees looking to advance into leadership roles. The program helps those interested in leadership with finding their authentic leadership styles, growing their networks, and providing confidence in ones self in preparation for potentially stepping into a people leadership role, Paul says. The company also has a strong focus on supporting women associates so theyre in line for promotions, Zarraga says, adding that Capital Group works hard to pull from diverse talent pools and to establish practices that ensure they are removing potential biases. Efforts such as these are part of an emphasis on equity and inclusion at Capital Group to ensure all employees are on a fair playing field and that they feel comfortable and welcome in the organization. We look into how we can develop and how we can support our colleagues and were very focused on ensuring the well-being of the associates and also the communities where we live, Zarraga says. I would say that the combination of long-term [focus], really strong compensation, and looking after associates well-being, career, and self-development I think all of that makes the company incredibly strong, and this is why we are ranking so high [with our employees], she says. China-India corps commander level meeting reaches four-point consensus: spokesperson Xinhua) 09:02, July 29, 2022 BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A four-point consensus on the resolution of border issues between China and India was reached at the 16th round of the China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting, a military spokesperson said Thursday. The two sides continued discussions for the resolution of relevant issues along the Line of Actual Control of the China-India border, said Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference. The two sides agreed to implement the important consensus reached by leaders from both countries and build momentum for progress in bilateral ties. The two sides also agreed to make effective efforts to manage differences and maintain the security and stability in the border area before the resolution of relevant issues, as well as to maintain communicaiton and dialogues and reach a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible, said Wu. The general situation in the border area currently remains stable, and contacts between the two sides through military and diplomatic channels never stopped, said Wu. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) Primeste notificari pe email Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele Termen Extins: Concurs de selectie a unui expert/e sau echipa de experti in domeniul evaluarii organizatiilor de tineret membre ale CNTM cu privire la existenta si eficacitatea politicii lor interne si identificarea prioritatilor strategice de dezvoltare When the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that recognized a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy, it simultaneously created a crazy quilt of laws where abortion is legal in certain states but not others, and it committed the news media to reporting on the vital consequences of its decision. The interplay between those two dynamics will likely result in challenges to press freedomsome unintended or unforeseen, but with at least three likely clashes worth noting. First, take the case of Oregon and Idaho. Following Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe, state law in Oregon will continue to permit abortion. Idaho, however, has a trigger law that, thirty days after Dobbs becomes final, bans virtually all abortions, with exceptions only for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother. (It also has a law allowing relatives to sue abortion providers who provide or attempt to provide abortion services after about five or six weeks.) In April, news outlets in both states ran stories about a move by Planned Parenthood to secure medical-office space in Ontario, Oregona border town along the Snake River and accessible from I-84. Those stories informed Idaho residents that abortions may be legally performed right at the state border, fifty-six miles from Boise. Pre-Roe, the Virginia Weekly, a newspaper in Charlottesville, published an advertisement from the Womens Pavilion, a New Yorkbased abortion referral agency, noting that abortions were legal in the latter city and offering immediate placement in accredited hospitals and clinics at low cost. Authorities successfully prosecuted the editor of the paper under a Virginia law that criminalized encouraging or prompting someone to have an abortion. The editor, who argued that the charge violated his First Amendment rights, appealed, and the case wound its way through the courts. It finally ended up before the US Supreme Court, where, in Bigelow v. Virginia, the justices overturned the editors conviction, holding that because the practice was legal in New York and abortion was prominent in public debate at the time, the First Amendment protected the ad. Right now, the National Right to Life Committees model anti-abortion bill has a provision similar to that at issue in Bigelow. The NRLC law, on its face, would apply to the Virginia Weekly and, for an aggressive prosecutor, to an Idaho outlet reporting that a quick drive to Ontario, Oregon, could enable access to a legal abortion. States with similar aiding and abetting laws could see them used against journalists and news outlets reporting on abortion access in other states. Heres the second likely challenge to the press post-Dobbs. Were already starting to see stories based on confidential sources who, because of the uncertainty flowing from the new patchwork of state laws, have sought a medication abortion using pills obtained online. Were going to see many more. If that is illegal under state law, we can think of this as an invisible offense: the patient wont report it, nor will the provider; nor will the relative, friend, or partner who helps. In a state that bans the practice of medication abortionsand especially in a state that criminalizes themthe most obvious avenue to crack the case will be the reporter with those confidential sources. (Thats particularly true if the state is trying to regulate patients who travel out of state for an abortion and the only enforcement option is against patients when they return.) In Branzburg v. Hayesa seminal First Amendment case from the 1970s, arising from the nascent War on Drugs, where prosecutors tried to force a reporter to disclose his sources for a story about drug dealersthats exactly what happened. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Finally, reporters with confidential sources are going to be much richer repositories of valuable evidence for prosecutors and plaintiffs seeking to enforce abortion bans than they were fifty years ago, pre-Roe. Today, we all have what for investigators in 1973 would have been supercomputers in our pockets. They track what you say, where you go, when you go, and who you interact with. Those digital breadcrumbs will be irresistible for investigators and prosecutors facing intense political pressure to crack down on abortion services. In many ways, newsgathering vis-a-vis abortion post-Dobbs will resemble reporting on things like military secrets, narcotics, public corruption, corporate malfeasance, or any other beat where promising confidentiality to a source is necessary to tell the story. Those beats breed press-freedom violations. We shouldnt be surprised when we see them. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Gabe Rottman is an attorney and the director of the Technology and Press Freedom Project at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The ordinance-or-law endorsement in a commercial property policy may require Cincinnati Insurance Co. to pay $1.3 million to replace a roof that suffered only $23,000 in tornado damage. A panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday reversed a US District Court decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Cincinnati Insurance Co. in a dispute over damage to the roof of the Cannon Mall in Cannon Falls, a suburb south of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Even though storm damage required the replacement of 100 square feet of roof, the entire roof had become saturated with water. Because the Minnesota building code requires replacement of roofs in that condition, Goodhue County denied the malls application for a building permit. The appellate panel said that is exactly the circumstance envisioned by the ordinance-or-law coverage provided by the insurance policy. We hold the tornado was a but-for cause of the countys enforcement of the ordinance, the panels opinion says. We also hold that even if resulting in requires something more than literal but-for causation, the endorsement still covers the cost of replacing the malls roof. Attorney Alexander Jadin, who represented the malls owner, said wind damage claims are one of the most common reasons for property disputes in Minnesota. As far as policy construction and what people bargain for when they buy additional coverages, this is the right result for this, he said. This is what the (ordinance-or-law coverage) is supposed to do. Rymer Cos., which owns the mall, filed a claim after a tornado passed nearby on Sept. 20, 2018. The company submitted a damage estimate of $1.3 million. Cincinnati said the tornado came no closer than a quarter mile from the mall and found only minor damage. It offered $10,702.40. The parties agreed to appoint appraisers. The panel concluded that most of the damage to the roof was caused by pre-existing water saturation. The panel valued the actual storm damage at only $23,226. But Goodhue County refused to issue a permit for partial repairs, insisting that the building code required a complete replacement. Rymer refused to accept the settlement offer and argued that the ordinance-or-law clause in its policy required the insurer to pay to replace the roof. Cincinnati filed a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment and Rymer filed a counterclaim. US District Judge Eric C. Tostrud granted the insurers motion for summary judgment. Rymer appealed. The 8th Circuit panel said Rymers ordinance-or-law claims differs from others that courts have rejected: The mall owner was not required to replace the roof before the storm occurred, so the company wasnt trying to bootstrap the cost of repairing pre-existing conditions to a covered loss. The county demanded replacement only because Rymer was seeking a permit to make partial repairs. The panel said exclusions in the ordinance-or-law endorsement shows that the insurers could have avoided coverage by choosing different policy language. For example, enforcement of a law or ordinance caused by pollution or bacteria are excluded. The policy also excluded repairs that were required before the damage occurred but were not completed because of a failure to comply. Notably absent from this list is a roofs water saturation, the opinion says. Jadin said many commercial property policies in Minnesota have anti-concurrent causation clauses that bar ordinance-or-law coverage for pre-existing conditions. He said Cincinnati could have added such a cause to Rymers policy, or could have chosen not to insure the roof at all. About the photo: The interior of the Cannon Malls, located in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, is shown in a photo taken from Rymer Companies website. Insureds cannot recover damages from the insurance company if they failed to comply with the policy and failed to allow the insurer to make the needed repairs, a Florida appeals court decided Wednesday. Floridas 3rd District Court of Appeal upheld without comment a 2020 decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mark Blumstein As a result of plaintiffs actions, inactions and lack of cooperation, Florida Peninsula was unable to restore the property to its pre-loss condition, although Florida Peninsula was ready, willing, and able to do so, Blumstein wrote. Thus, plaintiffs failure to comply with the option to repair bars any recovery under the policy. An insurers right to repair with its own contractors has been a point of contention for at least a decade, with a number of homeowners and plaintiffs attorneys arguing that some restoration work has been incomplete and subpar in quality. But appeals courts have upheld the policy provisions in several cases. In this case, John Rose vs. Florida Peninsula, the insurer actually paid for some plumbing repairs that were not covered by the policy. But the insureds refusal to cooperate with Florida Peninsulas other repair efforts, as well as legal maneuvering by the claimants attorney, ultimately doomed any attempt to win damages through litigation, the circuit court found. Even a court order could not get the plaintiffs to allow the repairs to commence, Judge Blumstein wrote. The claim began almost a decade ago after the Roses said their home suffered water damage from a leak. Florida Peninsula notified them that it was exercising its option to repair, in keeping with the policy. Months later, in October 2013, the insurer said the claim would be denied if the repair work did not begin within 14 days. Despite that, the homeowners still would not allow the repairs and their attorney, with the Alvarez, Carbonell and Feltman firm in Coral Gables, alleged that the invocation of the insurer repair clause was improper for reasons left unstated, the court explained. The lawyer then requested copies of all estimates, communications, emails, and invoices between Florida Peninsula and its contractor. In the lawsuit complaint, the Roses lawyer argued that the couple had, in fact, allowed access to the property and the insurance company had improperly denied the claim. The judge didnt agree. In sum, the uncontested facts show that Florida Peninsula exercised the option to repair the damages at the plaintiffs property consistent with the policys option to repair provision, Blumstein wrote. Despite Florida Peninsulas request and a court order, the plaintiffs failed and/or refused to allow the repairs to commence. Instead, they used threats and unsupported conditions to prevent the repairs from commencing. This was in violation of Florida law and the policy. The 3rd DCA also upheld a Miami-Dade courts ruling against Citizens Property Insurance Corp. In the decision, Citizens vs. Carlos Hernandez, the court also agreed to a motion by Hernandez to award his attorneys fees. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. The Chinese PLA Navy (PLAN) is accelerating its military drills to improve its anti-submarine strategy in intercepting US submarines racing to assist Taiwan should force come to blows. People's Republic of China (PRC) told the US not to cross the line by acknowledging Taiwan and goading it to force a confrontation. America Increases Presence in the Indo-Pacific In 1979, Washington agreed with the One China Policy and recognized the PRC as the only legitimate Chinese state, noted AP News. Nancy Pelosi, the US House Speaker, has recently confirmed a trip to Taiwan, which Beijing views as a breach of the One China Policy, as the island's recognition as an independent state, leading to protests and warnings that suggest using force to seize the island, as reported by EurAsian Times. China flaunts its military readiness as the most recent pictures show two Y-8Q ASW aircraft taking off at sunset. Y-8Q is an ASW aircraft manufactured in China with the most sophisticated magnetic anomaly detectors that can find demagnetized submarines beneath. KQ-200 has a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) near the tail, an electro-optic payload underneath the aircraft, and a surface search radar in the nose. It includes two AVIC SQ-4 and SQ-5 sonobuoy deployment openings, four sonobuoys, and a cargo bay for torpedoes and anti-submarine grenades. That has six-bladed WJ-6C turboprops and is developed on the Y-8 Category III Platform. Based on the Soviet An-12, the Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation (SAC) manufactures the medium transport Y-8. The aircraft has a patrol endurance of approximately 10 hours and a range of about 5,000 km as part of the anti-sub warfare strategy of the Chinese PLA Navy. Read Also: US Sanctions 3 US Firms for Sending Technical Rocket Data to China US Submarines in Taiwan Waters Will Be Targeted As a result of its membership in the Southern Theatre Command, China continues to have an interest in the South China Sea (SCS), notably the northern section of the SCS. The Eastern Theatre Command is the only command to have a Taiwan contingency (ETC). As a result, it is reasonable to presume that the PLAN's aim is US Navy nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs and SSBNs) that would have to approach the SCS via the Basi Channel and the Luzon Strait. According to Olli Pekka Soursa, assistant professor at the Rabdan Academy in the United Arab Emirates, the area has shallower waters and a few natural hideouts, noted The Diplomat. The Y-8Q and H-6K bombers can attack surface ships in the strait or get info. Nuclear Subs, Sub-hunting Units The shallow seas of the SCS are where US maritime strategists and navy planners believe nuclear submarines are at a disadvantage. Littoral water is best served by powered diesel-electric submarines (SSKs). Nuclear submarines are louder because their pipelines contain more fluid and steam and are easier to detect with sonar. Their Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology advancements have also boosted their diving depth, speed, and submerged endurance, enabling them to stay down for at least a week, if not days. Nonetheless, US SSNs would almost definitely be pulled into action in a Taiwan situation, thus, the Y-8Q and the region it operates in would remain of significant interest to China. Commodore G. Prakash, an avid China observer, believes publicizing typical night-time ASW missions has extra propaganda value, possibly preventing Taiwan and the US from intervening against China. Chinese PLA Navy and anti-sub warfare strategy will use the area and the best subs to counter US submarines from entering the fray. Related Article: China's First Supercarrier Held in Drydock Waiting To Be Launched by the PLA Navy Anytime @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Colorado College is welcoming its first vice president for people and workplace culture. Ryan Simmons will join CC at the end of August, bringing 25 years of experience in human resources, leadership development, and culture-oriented organizational development. He led Childrens Hospital Colorado through several cultural transitions, where he ensured that the organization maintained its core values while adapting to new challenges. Childrens Hospital Colorado has consistently been ranked as a top 10 pediatric hospital system by U.S. News and World Report. Simmons graduated cum laude from the University of Colorado Boulder and earned a M.Ed. in human resources development from Colorado State University Denver. I am honored to have been selected to join Colorado College, Simmons said. I am very familiar with the uniqueness of CC, having lived and worked in Colorado Springs for a long time, and I truly believe the people of Colorado College are the reason CC is so successful in providing the finest liberal arts education in the country. I hope to help build on the long and impactful history of CC as we reimagine our future as a community together. The vice president for people and workplace culture is a new role that will lead Human Resources at Colorado College and will focus not only on the function of HR but create an environment and culture where all faculty, staff, and students can thrive. In his role at CC, Simmons will be a strategic partner to the leadership team. As Colorado College President L. Song Richardson shared in an announcement to employees, he will help build a positive work culture and position us to meet current and future needs as we fulfill the colleges mission. Ryan will champion a workplace culture that allows everyone to do their best work and he will work with the HR team to deliver an unparalleled employee experience by maintaining a diverse, inclusive, and open-minded environment where our employees are able to thrive and engage in life-long learning and development. Simmons starts at CC on August 29. A long-serving staffer of the California State Water Resources Board has resigned his post, but not before noting the "dark and uncertain times" ahead as states, including Colorado, grapple with dramatically dwindling water supply from the Colorado River. The resignation letter from Max Gomberg, an environmental program manager who managed the climate and conservation unit at the Office of Research, Planning and Performance and who had been with the agency since January 2012, sharply points to similar problems in the six other basin states that rely on the Colorado River to quench the thirst of their residents and industries. Notably, Gomberg blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom and board members for their reluctance to embrace what he considers to be necessary action to confront the West's water and climate crisis. Indeed, Gomberg's remarks on conservation and his state's reluctance to take action reinforce the magnitude of problems facing the seven states of the Colorado River as they try to meet a mid-August requirement to come up with a plan to conserve 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water in the coming year. That requirement was announced by Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton in a June 14 hearing with the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Touton said if the seven states, which include California, Colorado and Arizona, did not come up with a plan, the bureau would do everything to "protect the system, which likely means the federal government would impose its own solutions on the states. Touton's announcement caught some by surprise, and the basin states, which otherwise had cooperated in the past in taking significant and often painful actions to conserver water, appear less inclined to play nice this time around. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Gomberg said he encountered resistance to numerous proposals, such as ways to bolster water conservation, as well as new water agency permit requirements on climate preparedness and climate requirements to "strengthen water regulation and management." Gomberg also said California has been too slow and cautious in adopting conservation measures, failed to revamp what he deems to be an excessive two-decade timeframe on groundwater regulation, and supported the "perpetuation of status-quo power structures," arguing that local groundwater agencies are dominated by irrigation districts and agricultural interests, according to the Los Angeles Times. He also accused Newsom's administration of failing to to address inequities in the water rights system. The people in charge of those agencies have the least incentive to move quickly, Gomberg reportedly said. They fully intend to run out the clock and fight any state attempt to come in and get into their business. In a statement to Colorado Politics, Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board, defended the state's decisions in managing water. "Every day, the State Water Board makes tough decisions to protect and manage Californias limited water resources by listening to the perspectives and needs of the states diverse stakeholder communities," Esquivel said. "Over the past year, the board has taken unprecedented, bold, real-time regulatory actions in response to the states drought emergency, including implementing the broadest water rights curtailments in history; has voted to pass one of the strongest anti-racism state resolutions ever adopted; and, has begun implementation of the Bay-Delta plan for the lower San Joaquin River Bay-Delta." Esquivel added: "At the same time, the Newsom administration continues to add capacity to the boards work through massive state budget investments that support drought resilience and response and investments to water systems to make the state more climate resilient." The challenges Gomberg highlighted are playing out across the West. On July 18, the four upper basin states Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico sent a letter to the federal Bureau of Reclamation with a five-point plan for addressing dwindling water levels. At the same time, Colorado said it had already done its part to conserve and that it is now up to the lower basin states Nevada, Arizona and Southern California to come up with the water needed to preserve hydropower at both the Glen Canyon dam, on Lake Powell, and Hoover dam, on Lake Mead. But even the combined annual water allocation of the lower basin states won't be sufficient to allow them to forego 4 million acre feet of water. "I think that at this point, we stand ready to hear what the Lower Basin has in mind," said Amy Ostdiek, a section chief with the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Ostdiek, who is head of the Interstate, Federal, and Water Information Section, told The Gazette in early July the Upper Basin states already dramatically reduced their water use in 2021 because of drought conditions. Specifically, they cut 1 million acre-feet in use in 2021 compared with 2020, bringing it down to 3.5 million acre-feet, she said. But, Ostdiek maintained, total water use in the Lower Basin has not been cut enough to preserve levels in the lakes at the same time. That 1 million acre-foot savings claim is now being challenged. Three water experts John Fleck of the University of New Mexico; Eric Kuhn, formerly the executive director of the Colorado River Conservation District; and, Jack Schmidt of Utah State recently crunched some of the data, and concluded that claim is dubious. The trio recently wrote that "as stakeholders negotiate the current crisis on the Colorado River, we believe the representatives of the states of the Upper Basin our states are making a dangerous argument." That argument is simple, they said. "The Upper Basin states argue that their part of the watershed already routinely suffers water supply shortages in dry years. Without the luxury of large reservoir storage along the rim of the watershed that might store excess runoff in wet years and supplement supplies in dry years, the argument goes, the Upper Basin is limited by the actual mountain snowpack in any given year," they said, adding what that means allegedly is using less water. But that argument is not backed by the Bureau of Reclamations Consumptive Uses and Losses reports, they wrote. In fact, in dry years, the Upper Basin states actually use more water than in wet years, based on the data, and much of that additional use is in agriculture. In the five driest years (2002, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2020), the average use was 4.06 million acre-feet per year. In the five wettest years (2005, 2008, 2011, 2017, 2019), the average use was 4.01 million acre-feet per year. They warned that Lower Basin interests are perfectly capable of doing the same math. The Colorado River Compact of 1922 optimistically forecast 15 million acre-feet of water would be available annually, divided equally between the upper and lower basin states. But drought and climate change has now reduced that flow to 12.3 million acre-feet annually during the past 20 years. The seven states have largely worked collaboratively in the past decade, coming up with a drought contingency plan in 2019, for example. Late last year, that plan resulted in in draw-downs of water from the Aspinall Unit at Blue Mesa Reservoir in Gunnison County, Navajo Reservoir in southwestern Colorado and the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah in order to keep Lake Powell's water levels high enough to generate hydropower. It hasn't been enough. Lake Powell now sits at just 48 feet above its most dangerous point, where it would be forced to shut down its hydropower, which could take place as soon as 2024. Hence the requirement for massive conservation and the fear of cuts in water availability all over the Southwest. Water experts, such as Kuhn, now question whether that spirit of cooperation, which began with the 1922 compact and has kept the seven states at the negotiating table for 100 years, will hold as states face the deadline outlined by Touton, as well as negotiations over river guidelines that are due to expire in 2026. Kuhn had suggested during a June 16 conference that the compact is based on a river that "no longer exists." At the conference, Tanya Trujillo, the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of Interior, said the department doesn't have a recipe for how to come up with the 2 to 4 million acre-feet. "We're going to have to be very creative in developing a large list of potential options," Trujillo said. "We're going to be doing things we've never done before." When the University of New Mexico's Fleck asked if the notion of collaborative governance on the river been oversold, Trujillo replied, "I don't know that we can blame the current governance process for the current hydrology." She added: "I don't want us to be in a chaos category." Editor's note: The original version of this article erroneously stated that Max Gomberg served on the California State Water Resources Board. In fact, Mr. Gomberg was an environmental program manager who managed the climate and conservation unit in one of the agency's offices. This story has also been updated with comments from Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board. Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse is leading a package of 49 bills designed to help address wildfires and droughts throughout the country. Neguse, D-Lafayette, on Thursday unveiled the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act, which combines dozens of previously introduced legislation, including bills to increase firefighter pay to at least $20 per hour, fund $500 million in preservation of reservoirs and provide various assistance to victims of wildfires and droughts. We need to apply a whole-of-government approach to recovery, Neguse said. Across America, the impacts of climate change continue to worsen. In this new normal, historic drought and record-setting wildfires have become all too common. What once were fire season, are now fire years. The package also includes several of Neguses own bills, such as the Wildfire Recovery Act to increase resources for communities rebuilding after wildfires; the Wildfire Smoke Relief Act to provide federal emergency assistance to at-risk people suffering from unhealthy air quality from wildfire smoke; and, the Land Restoration and Resiliency Act to fund projects to protect against climate change. The policy package comes as Colorado has suffered increasingly devastating wildfires in recent years. In December, the Marshall fire the most destructive wildfire in state history tore through more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County. The three largest wildfires in Colorado history all occurred in 2020. During Thursdays press conference promoting the package, Neguse was backed by nearly a dozen Democratic members of Congress, mostly from other Western states that are also struggling with wildfires. I share the sorrow and the pain of having watched our communities homes and livelihoods go up in flames, and the deaths that occur from that, U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-New Mexico, said. The bill is like a gentle monsoon rain falling on our parched landscape. It brings both hope and solutions. New Mexico is currently experiencing its largest wildfire in state history the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire which has burned over 340,000 acres so far. Multiple California representatives also spoke in favor of the bill, saying seven of the states worst fires in history occurred in the last four years and 53,000 acres have already burned this year. Supporters of the package emphasized that, though the West is disproportionately affected by wildfires and droughts, all states suffer, especially due to wildfire smoke harming air quality nationwide. We are one nation, indivisible, and if one part of us is burning, we are all burning, U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said. Climate challenge is a crisis, and unfortunately, there are too many in the Congress of the United States on the other side of the aisle who dismiss it as the critical problem that it is. Neguse said most of the 49 bills included in the package are bipartisan, giving him hope that Republicans will support the package. However, his optimism is cautious, calling the U.S. Senate a place where good ideas go to die. The U.S. House is expected to vote on the package this week. Former United States Donald Trump is once again claiming "absolute immunity" in all of the civil lawsuits that he is involved with that pertain to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. The Republican businessman's preliminary statement to the court has already been released and it is where the former president's legal team dismisses the possibility of civil suits against Trump entirely, citing presidential immunity. Trump's Presidential Immunity In a statement, the former president's legal team said that the appeal requires the adjudication of a simple but important constitutional issue regarding the separation of powers. It also questions whether or not the scope of presidential immunity continues to reach the outer perimeters of presidential responsibilities or whether it can be undercut. They continued to say that this question was answered by the Supreme Court, which held that the immunity is rooted in the constitutional separation of powers. They argued that it was especially important to the former president because he deals with matters that are controversial and arouse intense feelings, as per Fox News. Furthermore, the Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the actions and correspondence of Trump in its investigation of his inner circle's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Read Also: Hunter Biden's Secret Emails Reveal Associate Called Joe Biden 'Big Guy' During Panic Over Laptop Scandal Ahead of 2020 Presidential Election In the former president's preliminary statement, he claims that a judiciary review of "executive function" would set a poor precedent for the future, allowing the three branches of government to interfere and meddle with one another on ideological grounds. According to NBC News, the situation comes as the House Select Committee continues to examine Trump's roles in the assault on the Capitol. Trump's legal team continues to try and shield him from civil lawsuits filed by Democratic members of Congress and two U.S. Capitol Police officers who said they were injured during the insurrection. Overturning the 2020 Elections In February, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta pared back some of those claims but declined to dismiss all of them. He ruled that Trump was not immune from civil lawsuits and that he was acting as a candidate, not performing one of the duties of his office, when he spoke at a rally before the riot. Trump's lawyers, in a legal brief filed this week, urged that the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia find that the judge wrongly concluded that courts should look at the contents of a president's remarks when they decide whether immunity applies. They said that examining the contents of a tweet or speech constitutes an intrusion on the executive. The lawyers heavily relied on a 1982 decision by the Supreme Court which tossed out a lawsuit filed against former President Richard Nixon by ruling that presidents are immune from lawsuits over even actions at the "outer perimeter" of their official duties. Trump faces multiple civil suits stemming from his effort to overturn the 2020 elections, which claim in part that the former president violated the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. It is a civil rights law that prohibits conspiracies against the federal government or depriving people of their rights, The Hill reported. Related Article: Donald Trump Returns to Washington for the First Time Since Defeat as SCOTUS Prepares Expected 2024 Election Campaign @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Nonagenarian Indian goes back to her Pakistan home after 75 years Ninety-year-old Reena Varma finally went back to the house in Rawalpindi city, Pakistan that she had dreamed about for 75 years. Reena Varma Chibbars family had left Rawalpindi in 1947, weeks before the Partition which led to the creation of two independent nations, India and Pakistan. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@hfmuckra Varma, who had travelled to Pakistan from the western Indian city of Pune, was showered with rose petals as she walked towards the house on College Road. People played drums and danced with her as they celebrated her arrival. Varmas family had left Rawalpindi in 1947, weeks before the Partition which led to the creation of two independent nations, India and Pakistan. The Partition resulted in mayhem and bloodshed, especially in Punjab, when millions of people fled their homes to cross the border after religious riots broke out. Through all the pain and trauma, Ms Varma never stopped thinking about her childhood home which her father had built with his savings. In 2021, she became a social media sensation in India and Pakistan after she spoke longingly of the house she had left behind in an interview. Activists from a Facebook group called India-Pakistan Heritage Club started looking for her old home in Rawalpindi and finally a female journalist found it. But Ms Varma couldnt travel to Pakistan last year because of travel restrictions imposed due to Covid-19. And in March, when she applied for a visa to visit Pakistan, it was rejected without assigning any reason. I was shattered, I never expected that the application of a 90-year-old who only wished to see her house before she died could be refused. It was unthinkable for me, but it did happen, Ms Varma says. She decided to reapply, but before she could, her story caught the eye of a Pakistani minister, who instructed the countrys high commission in Delhi to immediately process her application. I was overwhelmed when I received a call from the Pakistani high commission. They asked me to come and take my visa. It happened within a few days. Activists from a Facebook group called India-Pakistan Heritage Club started looking for her old home in Rawalpindi and finally a female journalist found it. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@etribune But there were more challenges: the weather was extremely hot. Ms Varma, who recently lost her son and was planning to travel alone, was advised to wait for a few more months. The wait was excruciating, she said, but she didnt want to take the risk of falling ill so she waited and finally arrived in Pakistan on 16 July. On July 20, Ms Varma finally made it to her old home. When I met her, she was dressed colourfully and meticulously and her eyes sparkled as much as her earrings. Sipping her lemonade, she told me she had mixed feelings about the visit. Its bitter and sweet, she said. I wanted to share this moment with my family, but they are all gone. I am happy to make it here, but Im also feeling lonelier today. Varma said that when she left her home in the summer of 1947, she and her sisters never thought that they would be able to return. One of my sisters was married in Amritsar. My brother-in-law visited us in April 1947 and persuaded my father to send us with him. He knew that trouble was brewing. So, in the summer of that year, we were sent to Shimla, which is part of India, instead of Murree where we would normally spend our vacations. Murree is a hilly resort around 88km from Rawalpindi. "My parents resisted but joined us a few weeks later. We all accepted Partition gradually, except my mother. She couldnt make sense of it and would always say what difference could it make to us. First we were living under the British Raj, now it would be a Muslim Raj, but how can we be forced to leave our house. People gathered in the street just to get a glimpse of the visitor or take a selfie with her. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@javedmalik50 Varma says that her mother didnt accept the house they were granted as refugees in compensation for the one they had left in Rawalpindi. She believed that if they did that, they would never be able to reclaim their own property in what had now become Pakistan. When Ms Varma entered her childhood home, reporters were stopped outside. The olive-green facade of the building was freshly painted. The outlook of the house was slightly modern, but the structure was old. Meanwhile, more people were gathering in the street just to get a glimpse of the visitor or take a selfie with her. Varma stayed inside for a couple of hours. When she reappeared, over a dozen cameras were waiting for her. The weather was humid and the street congested, but Varma looked composed, completely unmoved by the frenzied crowd around her. She told reporters that the house was still very much the same-- the tiles, the roofs and the fireplace - and that it reminded her of the beautiful life she once had here and the loved ones that she had lost. My heart is grieving but Im thankful to be around to experience a moment Ive been waiting for a lifetime, she said. Many in India and Pakistan believe that her charming story has given hope to the region where the politics of hate and the othering of communities have dominated the narrative for so long. Read more India News and Breaking News here Some former Democratic and Republican officials have banded together and planned to form a new political party called Forward, in an attempt to appeal to what they called the "moderate, common-sense majority." In a statement released on Wednesday, David Jolly, Christine Todd, and Andrew Yang said that political extremism is ripping the United States apart. They argued that the two major parties have failed to remedy the crisis of the nation. Yang said that today's outdated parties have failed to cater to the fringes, resulting in most Americans feel they are not represented. New Moderate Political Party Jolly is a former Republican congressman from Florida, Whitman is a former Republican governor of New Jersey, and Yang is a former Democratic presidential and New York mayoral candidate. The three officials will merge their political organizations into the new party moving forward. They cited issues including guns, climate change, and abortion as those that could benefit from a moderate approach. Furthermore, the new party will also advocate ranked-choice voting and open primaries, the end of gerrymandering, and nationwide protection for voting rights, as per CNN. In an interview, Yang said that 62% of Americans are now looking for a third party, which is a record high number due to them seeing that current leaders are not getting things done. He added that when asked about the policy goals, the majority of Americans actually agree on really even divisive issues. Read Also: Donald Trump Pulls Out 'Absolute Immunity' Card vs. Civil Lawsuits Over US Capitol Riot The new moderate party is planning a national convention next summer and will soon seek ballot access to run candidates in 2024. Forward said in a news release that it would also launch a "national building tour this fall to hear from voters and begin laying the groundwork for expanded state-by-state party registration and ballot access." According to the New York Post, the situation comes as New York City Republican Party activists are encouraging thousands of GOP members to temporarily enroll in the Democratic Party to help elect the most moderate or conservative candidates on the left. Fighting for Democracy Due to the Democratic Party's gerrymandering debacle, there is no deadline for re-enrolling in a political party for the Aug. 23 primary. This means that voters can change their party registration at the voting booth on primary day by filling out an affidavit ballot. Former longtime Brooklyn Republican Party chairman Craig Eaton said that he was speaking to Republican leaders about the issue. He added that they have created an opportunity for Republicans to elect moderate Democrats. Business mogul John Catsimatidis, who has previously helped bankroll the city Republican Party and ran for mayor in 2013, said GOP members should consider crossing over and crashing the Democratic party primaries to try to make a difference. Forward's announcement also said that the group's advisers include not only former U.S. presidential candidates, members of Congress, and governors, but also Cabinet officials, entrepreneurs, and grassroots leaders. The group said that it has thousands of volunteers in all 50 states across the United States. The new political party plans to recruit candidates to run for office at the local, state, and national levels. Despite not having its own candidates for the 2022 midterms, Forward will announce support for select candidates who it says stand up for democracy, CBS News reported. Related Article: Sen. Mitch McConnell Warns Thousands of Americans May Lose Jobs Following Democrats' Reconciliation Deal @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, criticized an American paper for peddling false information about alleged Russian losses without verification. He said the New York Times is guilty of spreading fake news regarding Russian casualties suffered in Ukraine. The NYT report is another story disseminated by Western media to cover the failing proxy war in Ukraine pushed by neocons. Western Media's Misleading Reports Peskov mentioned that the NYT, not the US administration, was the source of information, claiming that prominent western newspapers quickly and frequently distribute false information about Russian losses, according to RT. According to a report published by The New York Times on Thursday, the Biden administration estimates that up to 75,000 Russian soldiers may have been killed or injured during the combat in Ukraine. Peskov said the publication identified an anonymous legislator as a source who claimed to have observed a security briefing from the agencies in Washington. The New York Times warned that estimates of military casualties on both sides are highly speculative and that numbers could fluctuate by tens of thousands, citing New on News. Although he acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had suffered heavy losses, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky downplayed them. Compared to May and June, when there were 100-200 casualties each day, there were 30 combat deaths per day a week ago. But Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, on July 4, issued a rebuttal calling the Ukrainian leader a liar. He said Ukraine lost as many as 5,500 troops in two weeks of fighting, and half were killed in action. Read Also: Donald Trump Net Worth 2022: Did Trump Get Richer Since Leaving the US Presidency? On March 25, The Russian Ministry of Defense updated its casualties, which numbered 1,351 and 3,825 injured in battle from the offensive's start. Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the Russian Duma's Defense Committee, claimed in June that changes to military planning had prevented serious losses. Zelensky, however, suffered losses and destroyed arms. Kyiv Threatens Massive Retaliation by Targeting Russia Moscow forewarned Kyiv to expect a heavy punishment for attacking Crimea if it dared to try. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev predicted a major onslaught on Ukrainian leader Zelensky in the middle of July that would severely destroy the country. To no avail, the US and cronies did not relent in giving Ukrainians long-range weapons to hit inside Russia, and all fears of a severe escalation were thrown out the window. Washington has not yet consented to provide Ukraine with tactical ballistic missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers. These missiles can be fired from the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers that the US gave. According to Eduard Basurin, spokesperson for the army of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Ukrainian forces might have obtained 300km-range HIMARS rockets. The West's continued use of long-range weaponry, such as the HIMARS, in Ukraine, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, has already forced Moscow to reevaluate the objectives of its military campaign in the neighboring nation. He noted that they now encompass several other Ukrainian regions besides Donbass. The Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the false information pushed by the NYT on Russian losses as lies by the West to hide its failure in Ukraine. Related Article: Russia Claims Hitting Harpoon Anti-ship Missiles in the Port of Odessa @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. EAST HARTFORD A local 16-year-old drowned overnight at Terry Pool, police said Thursday. Officers responded to the pool, located on High Street, shortly after midnight for a report of minors inside the fenced-in area of the property, Officer Marc Caruso said. While en route, police received further information that someone may be underwater. Police rushed to the scene, jumped the fence, and found juveniles attempting to pull an unresponsive male from the pool, Caruso said. Caruso said officers removed the teen from the water and performed CPR until medics arrived. The teen, identified as Tresor Boroze, 16, was taken to Connecticut Childrens Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Caruso said. At this time, police are treating this incident as a tragic accident, Caruso said. In a statement, Mayor Mike Walsh offered condolences and said the town would work with police to better understand the situation. At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victim, Walsh said. We are working with law enforcement to understand just how this tragedy occurred. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com A West Hartford man who partially owned several Connecticut restaurants has pleaded guilty to what federal prosecutors called an extensive tax fraud scheme. William Chen, 49, used a software to delete transactions, creating fraudulent sales records and suppressing the restaurants taxable income for their tax returns for about seven years, according to U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery. He also failed to pay federal and other taxes during this time, Avery said. In all, Chen owed the IRS more than $2 million, the U.S. Attorneys office said. Chen pleaded guilty Friday in Bridgeport federal court to two counts of filing a false tax return. He faces up to six years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 21 by U.S. District Judge Sarah A.L. Merriam, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Chen is a partial owner of several restaurants, including Ginza Japanese Restaurant in Bloomfield, Ginza Japanese Cuisine in Wethersfield, Kaliubon Ramen in Wethersfield and West Hartford and Feng Asian Bistro in Hartford, Canton and Millbury, Mass., the U.S. Attorneys office said. As a partial owner, the U.S. Attorneys office said Chen was in charge of purchasing and using the Point-of-Sale, or POS, system for restaurant orders. He also trained other staff members on how to use the system. On this POS system, Chen paid an additional fee to activate a zapper software, a program designed to deliberately delete transactions from the POS system to create fraudulent sales records, the U.S. Attorneys office said. From 2013 to 2020, Chen and other restaurant workers deleted cash transactions with the intent to reduce the gross receipts and the amount of sales tax collected reported by the POS, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. As a result, Chen intentionally suppressed the restaurants taxable income that he disclosed to his accountant who prepared his and his restaurants income tax returns. Chen was also responsible for accounting and keeping the financial records at the restaurants. This included collecting and withholding employment taxes and signing the restaurants tax returns. In that same time frame, Chen failed to withhold, account for, and pay to the IRS federal income taxes, Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes (FICA), and federal unemployment taxes for multiple employees that he paid, or that he knew were paid, in cash, the U.S. Attorneys office added. Chen is free pending his sentencing in October, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. MADISON, Wis. (AP) Harry Wait was so determined to show Wisconsin's election system is vulnerable to fraud that he logged onto the state website, requested an absentee ballot in the state Assembly speakers name and had it delivered to himself. Then he ran to a sheriff to tell him that he had committed fraud. Now Wait faces the possibility of criminal charges in a strange new chapter in a chaotic, seemingly endless fight over election administration in the key battleground state. The fight began after Joe Biden won the state in 2020, defeating former President Donald Trump by nearly 21,000 votes. Trump has refused to accept the loss, insisting the election was marred by fraud. Multiple reviews and court decisions have upheld Biden's victory, but Trump's supporters have spent the months since promoting his baseless claims that Biden somehow stole the election. Republican state Rep. Tim Ramthun has centered his gubernatorial campaign around decertifying Bidens win in the state. GOP legislators passed sweeping election law changes earlier this year only to see Democratic Gov. Tony Evers veto the package. The conservative-controlled state Supreme Court in July outlawed absentee ballot drop boxes. That's not all. A Republican sheriff last year called for charging elections officials for refusing to send special assistants into nursing homes to help residents vote absentee at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. And under pressure from Trump, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos launched an investigation into voter fraud last summer that has cost taxpayers more than $1 million but so far turned up nothing. It hasn't been nearly enough for the state GOP's hardliners. Nine Republican legislators, including Vos and state Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, face primary challengers who say the incumbents haven't done enough to bolster election security. Enter Harry Wait. He's the president of the Racine-based group HOT Government, which has alleged fraud in the 2020 election. He told The Associated Press that he visited the state's election website and ordered what he says were 10 absentee ballots in the names of other people, including Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason, and had them delivered to his own address. He quickly contacted Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling and told him all about it, saying he had proven the state's system is vulnerable to fraud. Wait wasn't alone. Adrianne Melby, of Burlington, told the AP that she decided to see if she could get an absentee ballot sent to a different address. She had a friend visit the website, order a ballot in Melby's name and have it sent to the friend's address. Melby told Schmaling what she had done as well. Wisconsin law prohibits people from making false statements to obtain an absentee ballot and from impersonating a voter. Penalties can include fines of up to $10,000 and three-and-a-half years in prison. Wait and Melby told the AP that Schmaling promised he wouldn't arrest them or refer charges. I asked him if he was going to arrest me and he said no, Wait said. The conversation was fairly short. He was glad that I had opened this up and revealed it. Melby, for her part, said that Schmaling told her that neither she nor her friend committed a crime because Melby gave her friend consent to obtain a ballot in her name. Schmaling is a Republican activist who campaigned for Trump. He called for prosecutors to charge five of the state Election Commissions six members over their decision in March 2020 when COVID-19 was rampant and before vaccines were available not to send special voting deputies into Wisconsin nursing homes to help residents vote. No one was ultimately prosecuted and Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul called Schmaling's demands a disgraceful publicity stunt." Schmaling said in a statement Friday that he's working to highlight what he called the vulnerability that Wait and Melby found on the website. He said Kaul has ordered state Justice Department agents to investigate how people can obtain ballots on the website using others' information. Justice Department spokeswoman Gillian Drummond confirmed that the agency is investigating but declined to comment further. Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson didn't respond to a message seeking comment. Vos, whose district includes Racine County, said what Wait did amounts to voter fraud. His actions are sad," Vos said. "If election integrity means anything, it means we all have to follow the law Republicans and Democrats alike. The state Election Commission, made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, held an emergency meeting on Thursday night to address Wait's and Melby's activities. Administrator Meagan Wolfe told commissioners that the website is no more vulnerable to fraud than a traditional mail request for an absentee ballot. She also stressed that the state's voter registration database would flag anyone who tried to vote using another person's absentee ballot. The commissioners ultimately voted to discuss referring charges to prosecutors at a future meeting, perhaps as early as next week. People who think its cute to commit a crime to undermine elections, that needs to be stopped and it needs to be stopped now. And waiting implies theres something appropriate about it, Democratic commissioner Ann Jacobs said during the meeting. The commission also decided to send postcards to about 4,000 voters who requested their absentee ballots for the 2022 election be sent to addresses that aren't their own, in order to verify their intent. Spokesman Riley Vetterkind said that's not an indication of fraud, as voters often ask to have ballots sent to vacation homes or other places they stay. Wait told the AP that he knew what he did was a crime but that he did it for the good of the republic." The commission is coming after him because he exposed its inability to protect elections, he said. Melby said that if what she did was illegal, prosecutors should go after all ballot harvesters in the 2020 election. Pressed for details on who was harvesting ballots, Melby told a reporter to watch 2,000 Mules, a pro-Trump documentary that falsely alleges widespread voter fraud. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political scientist Anthony Chergosky said Wait's and Melby's actions were extremely irresponsible." They showed fraud is possible but not that it occurs on a scale that can affect election results, he said. They also demonstrated the extent of Trump's influence on the Republican Party and unending efforts to undo the 2020 election, he said. It's a logical outcome of the rhetoric President Trump and others in his party have engaged in, Chergosky said. "The practical purpose of this is to sow distrust in the outcome of the 2020 election. The Republican Party is not ready to turn the page on it. MANILA, Philippines (AP) China blasted a top U.S. Navy official Friday after he criticized Beijings increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, saying it's Americas military deployments in the disputed waters which it called navigation bullying that could spark confrontations. The Chinese Embassy in Manila said it strongly deplored U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toros remarks, which were unfounded accusations against and maliciously smeared China and inflated the China threat. In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press while on a visit to Manila, Del Toro underscored how Beijing has encroached in sovereign waters of its Asian neighbors in violation of international law. U.S. military focus in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the disputed South China Sea, would never slacken and, in fact, has intensified despite the war in Ukraine, he said in an assurance to Asian allies, including the Philippines. China has had increasingly tense territorial spats in recent years with the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia in the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety on historical grounds. Brunei and Taiwan also have claims in the contested waters. Washington lays no claims to the strategic waters but has said the peaceful resolution of the disputes along with freedom of navigation and overflight in the waterway where a bulk of world trade transits are in the U.S. national interest. Beijing rejected a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its claims and continues to defy the landmark decision on a case brought up by the Philippine government. Del Toro renewed assurances by President Joe Biden that the U.S. would honor its obligations under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty in case Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under attack in the contested waters. As President Biden has said, if one country violates one inch of Filipino sovereignty, whether it be at sea or on shore or an offshore island, we will be there to support the Filipino nation and the Filipino people in every possible way, Del Toro said. Chinas move to transform seven disputed reefs into missile-protected island bases in the Spratlys, the most hotly contested section of the South China Sea, is very concerning and prompted the U.S. and other Western nations to press on with freedom of navigation patrols around the Chinese-claimed territories. But the Chinese Embassy said the U.S. military deployments from half a globe away aimed to to flex muscles, make military provocations and create maritime and air tensions," conducting navigation bullying in the name of freedom of navigation. In an attempt to preserve its hegemony, the U.S. keeps intensifying power projection in this region, and deliberately seeks to widen differences and provoke tensions," it said. China and other rival claimants have exercised restraint, kept their differences and disputes in a proper place, and got them on the track of consultation and management, the embassy said. However, rival claimant states, including the Philippines and Vietnam, have filed numerous diplomatic protests over the years amid Chinas increasingly assertive actions, including its transformation of seven disputed reefs into what are now missile-protected island bases. Diplomatic talks have eased occasional confrontation but not ended them. The South China Sea is not a 'hunting ground' for countries outside the region, still less should it be a 'wrestling ground' for big powers, the Chinese statement said. We staunchly support all efforts that are conducive to peaceful settlement and management of disputes, and unequivocally reject words and actions that aim to stoke tension and confrontation in the region. Del Toro told the AP that potential aggressors in the region should learn from the current troubles of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has faced sanctions from Western nations and their allies, which also provide weapons and humanitarian support to Ukrainians battling Russias invasion forces. If such level of aggression is ever committed in the Asia-Pacific, Im convinced that allies and partners will come together to do the same thing here in the Pacific, Del Toro said. Rescue crews rescued people from rooftops in central Appalachia on Thursday, as heavy rains unleashed some of the worst floodings in the state's history, killing at least eight people and leaving others missing, according to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. As water rescue personnel sought trapped persons in hard-hit eastern Kentucky, one emergency official called the situation "catastrophic." Gov. Andy Beshear Expects "Double-Digit Deaths" in Kentucky Floods According to Beshear, hundreds of houses might be damaged, and the flooding is historic and continuous. At least 20 to 30 people have already been flown to safety, but officials fear there are more in need who will be more difficult to reach. During the meeting, Beshear stated that "we predict double-digit deaths and requested assistance in collecting certain supplies for locals." Later that night, Beshear tweeted that he had requested government aid from President Biden, adding that the devastation caused is massive and rehabilitation will be a long-term commitment. Thunderstorms deposited several inches of rain during the previous three days, causing flash flooding and mudslides in the hilly terrain of eastern Kentucky, western Virginia, and southern West Virginia, CBS News reported. Aerial footage from Garrett County, Kentucky, shows residences, petrol stations, and automobiles half immersed in water. One person can be seen riding a jet ski through the floodwaters, while others wait in a boat. According to the governor, another 2 to 3 inches of rain could fall Thursday night and into the weekend, with most of it falling overnight. Flood warnings continue to be issued for up to 4 million people in Kentucky, southern Ohio, West Virginia, and southwestern Virginia. Earlier in the day, the governor told a news conference that the state expected significant property damage that would take months, if not years, for many families to repair and recover from. He also revealed that 25,111 people are without electricity statewide, according to NBC News. Read Also: Taiwan Simulates Attack on Capital Amid Tensions With China, Launches Jets and Tanks in Military Drill Kentucky Flood Survivor Recalls "Horror" Incident When rising water enveloped her home, a flood survivor was forced to walk to the top of a hill and beg for help. During a severe rainfall in Kentucky, Brianna Imhoff had to blast a rifle in the air so that emergency services could rescue her, her husband, pets, and an elderly neighbor. Imhoff reported hearing water beating on her house around 5 am. When she looked outside, she saw that the yard had been totally inundated by the swiftly rising water. Imhoff and her husband, Austin, then waded to their next-door neighbor's house, carrying their two dogs. Imhoff and her husband had only been in their rental property for a month, but they worked at a nearby nursing facility and had been acquainted with their neighbor through caring for his grandmother. His aunt let them in even though he was not at home at the time. When the water began to rise, Imhoff claimed they were forced to relocate upstairs. They felt compelled to leave by 7 am, so they went up a hill behind the home. Imhoff attempted to share their location on Facebook, but the service refused. They didn't hear a rescue helicopter until 10:30 am. They were saved by the local fire department and, according to Imhoff, the state rescue squad. They were brought to Jackson, where they boarded a volunteer bus to check on Imhoff's mother, whose trailer had also been inundated, as per The Sun. Related Article: Highland Park Shooting Suspect Gets Slapped with 21 First-Degree Murder Counts, More Criminal Charges @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TONOPAH, Nev. (AP) The Nye County Commission is used to dealing with all sorts of hot-button controversies. Water rights, livestock rules and marijuana licenses are among the many dramas that consume the commission's time in this swath of rural and deeply Republican Nevada. Last spring, it was something new: voting machines. For months, conspiracy theories fueled on social media by those repeating lies about former President Donald Trumps loss in 2020 inflamed public suspicions about whether election results could be trusted. In response, the commission put a remarkable item on its agenda: Ditch the countys voting machines and instead count every vote on every ballot entirely by hand. When it came up for consideration, witnesses from out of state insisted machines could be hacked and votes flipped without leaving a trace. They said no county could be certain their machines werent accessible via the internet and open to tampering by nefarious actors. It was all just too much for Sam Merlino, a Republican who has spent more than two decades administering elections as the countys clerk. She defended the systems checks and balances that ensure an accurate vote tally, but felt bombarded by theories unlike any she had ever heard. I couldnt do anything but just sit and listen," she said in a recent interview from her office in Tonopah, an old silver mining town surrounded by hills of rock and sagebrush about halfway between Las Vegas and Reno. When the commission voted unanimously to recommend hand-counting ballots even though there was no evidence of any tampering she decided to submit her resignation. Merlino will step down next week and leave the administration of elections in a county about twice the size of New Hampshire to a new clerk. The most likely candidate is someone who has falsely contended that Trump won the 2020 election. Merlinos departure and Nye Countys plans to scrap voting machines and hand-count every ballot open a window into the real-world consequences of unfounded conspiracy theories that have spread across the country since Trumps defeat in 2020. The moves also raise questions about how local elections will be run when overseen by people who are skeptical of the process. A network of people peddling conspiracy theories about the security of voting machines has hop-scotched the country for more than a year, spinning elaborate yarns involving Venezuelan software, the Chinese Communist Party and offshore servers. They have tried to persuade state and local officials to do just what Nye County is attempting. While no state has taken the same step, their efforts find fertile ground in conservative parts of the U.S. such as Nye County, where suspicions of government run deep. Already this year, some rural county boards have threatened to refuse to certify the results of their primary elections, even without evidence of problems. The fact that Trump won Nye County in 2020 by more than 40 percentage points has done little to quell conspiracy theories. Merlino recalled when an error on a sample ballot ballooned on social media into a full-blown corruption conspiracy theory about the printing companys financial ties: Just like anything, once a rumor starts or once something is out there, people feed on it, she said. County commissioners say they are obligated to try to re-establish trust in elections and view ditching the electronic vote-tabulating machines as an attempt to do so. But election experts insist that hand-counting ballots isn't practical anywhere except in the tiniest counties; Nye County has about 31,500 registered voters. They say the potential for human error is far greater than running ballots through a tabulator and auditing the results afterward to ensure accuracy. Its a very bad idea, and everyone from the most conservative election officials to the most liberal will testify to that, said David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a non-profit that works on election procedures. A lengthy hand-counting process could spark a political crisis in Nevada, a perennial presidential battleground. Its not clear what would happen if just one county failed to finish counting votes within the seven-day timeframe required under state law or declines to certify the results. That scenario hasn't deterred the idea's supporters. Activists attending a recent Nye County GOP Unity event in Pahrump attributed their support for hand-counting to what they claimed were unexplained irregularities and suspicions about election tampering. Tina Trenner of Pahrump said cutting voting off from electrical sources could help ease skepticism about election results. They could be hacked. Something as simple as a phone with a hotspot in it, sitting up on the counter, can suddenly make those machines available on the internet, she said. The push to hand-count ballots has won support from some prominent Nevada Republicans, most significantly Jim Marchant, the GOP nominee for secretary of state. While campaigning for the office that oversees elections, he's repeated the falsehood that Trump actually won the 2020 election. Marchant has said he is eager to work with Mark Kampf, the winner of the GOP primary for Nye County clerk. Marchant repeated a promise from months earlier, telling The Associated Press he could provide as many members of his election integrity movement from Nevada and elsewhere as needed to help with hand-counting. Kampf, an accountant, has campaigned on a platform that includes ridding the county of voting machines. In a recent debate, he insisted Trump won the 2020 election. He said education and returning to hand-counting was a way to alleviate widespread distrust. That may prove a tall task. The degree to which distrust has entrenched itself worries Merlino. Her own efforts to educate have done little in a community where many remain spellbound by Trumps ongoing insistence that he was the true winner. She's not sure the attempt to hand-count the thousands of ballots that will be cast in November will solve it. I dont think it can be done, she said. "If they want to give it a go, thats why Im giving them the opportunity to do it. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect that Nye County is about twice the size of New Hampshire, not the size of New Hampshire. ___ Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta contributed. You cant fault Connecticuts proclivity for boasting about its academic credentials. We are, after all, home to Yale University in New Haven, which is reliably ranked among the nations most prestigious colleges But an alternate study suggests that while Connecticuts colleges are not failing, a few remedial lessons might be in order. This ranking doesnt come from the likes of U.S. News & World Report, which reinforces the reputation of elite institutions, but from the Washington, D.C., think tank Third Way. When it comes to serving low-income students, Third Way graded Connecticuts colleges as below average. As any student knows, below average is not an aspiration. For a state often labeled as hosting the widest wealth gap in the nation, this is not a sign of progress. Essentially, the report weighs results over image. To any graduate, what really matters is how their education translates to a thriving career (and likely the ability to climb out of student debt). So while its great that Yale is second on Forbes ranking of American colleges, Third Way put 11 of Connecticuts 19 institutions in the bottom 40 percent. In addition to counting the number of low-income students in a college, the study considered factors such as the salaries of graduates and how long it takes students to pay off loans. The theme of balance in the classroom has been debated for generations, and remains the subtext of showdowns over affordable housing in many of our communities. The Third Way study is akin to flipping traditional testing models for high school students. Using different metrics, Yale and Wesleyan were penalized because less than 20 percent of their student bodies were raised in low-income families. Third Way rewarded points to schools with more economically diverse student populations. In the alternate Third Way universe, Connecticuts standout school was Post University in Waterbury, which serves a population of 70 percent low-income students. Also faring well were Central Connecticut State University in New Britain (38 percent low-income students) and the University of Connecticut in Storrs (27 percent). Connecticuts bottom schools as graded by Third Way were Sacred Heart University, the University of New Haven and Mitchell College in New London. Meanwhile, CT Mirror also reported on the latest cost-cutting measures being taken within the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system. This comes at a time when the system is undergoing a merger of operations within its 12 community colleges. Cutting programs and staff size is unlikely to turn around declining enrollment numbers, which were impacted as many struggling families couldnt afford tuition bills during the pandemic. Without the one-time American Rescue Plan Act funding from the state that covered an $18.4 million pay period, several of the schools would be operating at a deficit. These issues dovetail into lessons of economics, history, political science, social justice and more for Connecticut educators. For other state leaders, its a reminder that that wealth gap will never narrow until it happens in our schools. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate FAIRFIELD Both redistricting and a magnet school are included as possible approaches in the districts updated racial imbalance plan. Interim Superintendent Stephen Tracy said the plans goal is to sustain and enhance education for all students, to recognize the growing diversity of the student population and to bring the school district into compliance with state law. The redistricting plan is expected to be presented to a school board committee by next May, with that committee recommending a plan to the full board in June so it can be adopted in time for the 2024 school year. There will also be a series of community presentations on it this fall, Tracy said at this weeks Board of Education meeting where the updated racial imbalance plan was presented. The racial imbalance plan also requires equity training at every level of the school district, which will take place in the winter and spring, he said. Another part of the racial imbalance plan is for officials to consider creating an intra-district magnet school. Tracy said it would offer enhanced opportunities for students and encourage parents to think about having their children attend school outside of their neighborhoods. The two possibilities that we think are really up for discussion are the international baccalaureate program and or a dual language program, he said. In my opinion, its not likely that these programs will contribute substantially to reducing the racial imbalance numbers. It may contribute a little bit. McKinley Elementary School was tagged as racially imbalanced back in April 2007, but has made little progress on closing the imbalance since then. Past strategies have opt-in and magnet programs, but neither have been successful. The state labels schools as racially imbalanced when the proportion of minority students for any school exceeds 25 percentage points more than the comparable proportion for the school district. McKinleys minority population was 56.65 percent for the 2020-21 school year, higher than the entire districts minority population of 26.4 percent by approximately 30 percentage points, according to school data. Officials said McKinley has exceed that 25-percent threshold every year since it was designated racially imbalanced except for in 2012. In 2017, the school board submitted a plan to solve the issue by redistricting. That idea received conditional approval from the state board. Fairfield Public School leaders met with state education officials in April to discuss the racial imbalance in the district. During that meeting, school board chairwoman Christine Vitale said the COVID-19 pandemic had slowed progress on their plan, and that she did not see McKinleys diversity as a problem. She also noted that Fairfield recently hired a diversity, equity and inclusion director in part to tackle an achievement gap between Black and Hispanic students and white and Asian students. Fairfield school officials said they would make progress under the plan it had been using. State officials disagreed, and pushed Fairfield officials to change their plan to make progress quicker. This week, Tracy said Fairfields elementary schools have developed significant differences as enrollment has changed over time, with five schools under 75 percent capacity and five schools above 85 percent capacity. He also noted that K-5 enrollment for the coming school year is 1,000 students below capacity. Redistricting is on the table, he said, noting the school system needs use its schools efficiently, regardless of the racial imbalance. Redistricting is not something Fairfield would do lightly, especially given the opposition the idea has encountered from McKinley parents. BOE Secretary Jessica Gerber said it is no secret that the topic of redistricting is going to engender a tremendous amount of distress and questions from the public. She said redistricting will impact everyone in town, as it would also change where students go to middle and high school, noting the last time a redistricting of this magnitude took place was about 20 years ago. The district hired consultant Milone and MacBroom to come up with options on how to address the racial imbalance via redistricting. Its report, presented in February of 2020, presented four options. The first redistricting option involved using Jennings Elementary School as a district-wide early childhood center and pre-kindergarten facility. The second scenario had pocket redistricting to reduce racial imbalance at McKinley while keeping pre-kindergarten at Stratfield Elementary School and Fairfield Warde High School. The third called for five pre-kindergarten classes, each moved to Holland Hill and North Stratford elementary schools. The fourth option would create six pre-kindergarten classrooms at Warde, two at Holland Hill and two at North Stratfield. The upcoming redistricting plan will relook at redistricting and might present different approaches. Tracy said the goal of the racial imbalance plan would be to reduce the difference in percentage of students of color between McKinley and the district to 15 percent. That brings you out of the realm of imbalance and out of the realm of impending imbalance, he said. Throughout the meeting, board members asked questions about how this would impact the district from a budget perspective, as well as how it would affect student experience and various programs. Tracy said the future superintendent will likely create the plan with staff, although consultants would likely need to be hired to work on it well. He admitted the process would be complicated. joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate JACKSON, Ky. (AP) Trapped homeowners swam to safety and others were rescued by boat as record flash flooding killed at least 16 people in Kentucky and swamped entire Appalachian towns, prompting a frenzied search for survivors Friday through some of the poorest communities in America. Authorities warned the death toll would likely grow sharply as search efforts continued. The rain let up early Friday morning, but some waterways were not expected to crest until Saturday and more storms were forecast to roll through the region early next week. Its the latest in a string of catastrophic deluges that have hammered parts of the U.S. this summer, including St. Louis earlier this week and again Friday. Scientists warn climate change is making weather disasters more common. Water poured down hillsides and into Appalachian valleys and hollows where it swelled creeks and streams coursing through small towns. The torrent engulfed homes and businesses and trashed vehicles. Mudslides marooned some people on steep slopes. Rescue teams backed by the National Guard used helicopters and boats to search for the missing. But some areas remained inaccessible and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll was going to get a lot higher." It could take weeks to account for all victims, he said. Patricia Colombo, 63, of Hazard, Kentucky, got stranded after her car stalled in floodwaters on a state highway. Colombo began to panic when water started rushing in. Her phone was dead, but she saw a helicopter overhead and waved it down. The helicopter crew radioed a team on the ground that pulled her safely from her car. Colombo stayed the night at her fiances home in Jackson and they took turns sleeping, repeatedly checking the water with flashlights to see if it was rising. Colombo lost her car but said others who were struggling prior to the floods had it worse. Many of these people cannot recover out here. They have homes that are half underwater, theyve lost everything," she said. The water came into Rachel Patton's Floyd County home so quickly that her mother, who is on oxygen, had to be evacuated on a door floated across the high water. Pattons voice faltered as she described their harrowing escape. We had to swim out and it was cold. It was over my head so it was, it was scary, she told WCHS-TV. Beshear said Friday that at least six children were among the victims and that the total number of lives lost could more than double as rescue teams reach more areas. Among those who died were four children from the same family in Knott County, Coroner Corey Watson said Friday. At least 33,000 utility customers were without power. The flooding extended into western Virginia and southern West Virginia, across a region where poverty is endemic. There are hundreds of families that have lost everything, Beshear said. And many of these families didnt have much to begin with. And so it hurts even more. But were going to be there for them. Extreme rain events have become more common as climate change bakes the planet and alters weather patterns, according to scientists. Thats a growing challenge for officials during disasters, because models used to predict storm impacts are in part based on past events and cant keep up with increasingly devastating flash floods, hurricanes and heat waves. This is what climate change looks like, meteorologist and Weather Underground founder Jeff Masters said of flooding in Appalachia and the Midwest. These extreme rainfall events are the type you would expect to see in a warming world. A day before the floods hit Appalachia, the National Weather Service had said Wednesday that there was a slight to moderate risk of flash flooding across the region on Thursday. The deluge came two days after record rains around St. Louis dropped more than 12 inches (31 centimeters) and killed at least two people. Last month, heavy rain on mountain snow in Yellowstone National Park triggered historic flooding and the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. In both instances, the rain flooding far exceeded what forecasters predicted. The floodwaters raging through Appalachia were so swift that some people trapped in their homes couldnt be immediately reached, said Floyd County Judge-Executive Robbie Williams. Just to the west in hard-hit Perry County, authorities said some people remained unaccounted for and almost everyone in the area had suffered some sort of damage. Weve still got a lot of searching to do, said Jerry Stacy, the emergency management director in Perry County. More than 330 people have sought shelter, Beshear said. And with property damage so extensive, the governor opened an online portal for donations to the victims. President Joe Biden called to express his support for what will be a lengthy recovery effort, Beshear said, predicting it will take more than a year to fully rebuild. Biden also declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency appointed an officer to coordinate the recovery. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said at a briefing with Beshear that the agency would bring whatever resources were necessary to support search and recovery efforts. Even the governor had problems reaching the devastation. His initial plans to tour the disaster area were postponed Friday because of unsafe conditions at an airport where he was to land. He got a look at the flooding later in the day aboard a helicopter. Hundreds of homes, the ballfields, the parks, businesses under more water than I think any of us have ever seen in that area, the governor said. Absolutely impassable in numerous spots. Just devastating. Portions of at least 28 state roads in Kentucky were blocked due to flooding or mudslides, Beshear said. Rescue crews in Virginia and West Virginia worked to reach people where roads werent passable. Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six counties in West Virginia where the flooding downed trees, power outages and blocked roads. Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration, enabling Virginia to mobilize resources across the flooded southwest of the state. The National Weather Service said another storm front adding misery to flood victims in St. Louis on Friday could bring more thunderstorms to the Appalachians in coming days. The hardest hit areas of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches (20-27 centimeters) over 48 hours, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brandon Bonds. The North Fork of the Kentucky River broke records in at least two places. It reached 20.9 feet (6.4 meters) in Whitesburg more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) over the previous record and crested at 43.5 feet (13.25 meters) in Jackson, Bonds said. ___ Brown reported from Billings, Montana. Contributors include Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky; Timothy D. Easley in Jackson, Kentucky, and Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland. CHESHIRE Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski, who has campaigned thus far on a proudly tough-on-crime platform, knocked Gov. Ned Lamont over a surprising subject Thursday: conditions in Connecticut prisons. Were here to advocate for the inmates and the corrections staff suffering in horrible conditions behind me, Stefanowski said, standing across the street from Cheshire Correctional Institute. Conditions that are so bad we should be ashamed that the great state of Connecticut is putting state employees and inmates through it. Stefanowski said he has heard from correction officers and incarcerated people who are struggling with a lack of air conditioning amid the current heat wave, a dearth of working showers and a shortage in corrections staff that they say has created unsafe conditions. To combat these issues, he proposed the state conduct a review of correctional facilities, allow media into prisons to view conditions and offer hero pay bonuses to correction officers. A spokesperson for the Department of Correction said there are no issues with the air conditioning at Cheshire Correctional and that people incarcerated in Connecticut have regular access to showers at multiple times throughout the day. She said that while a high number of staff are out with COVID-19 or on medical leave, the agency continues to be proactive in hiring correction officers. Asked about prison conditions, Lamont spokesperson Max Reiss touted Connecticuts relatively low incarcerated population. Connecticuts prison population continues to be at or near historic lows, which leads to less congested facilities, making our facilities easier to manage for all of our staff, Reiss said in an email. Routine maintenance is a regular occurrence in these facilities to ensure they are adequate for both offenders and staff. Stefanowski said he requested to tour a prison earlier this year but had his application denied under a long-standing policy that prohibits visits for political candidates. Throughout his campaign for governor, Stefanowski has cited an increase in murder in some Connecticut cities (amid a broader decrease in violent crime statewide) to justify proposals for stricter laws regarding juvenile crime and more money for police departments. On Thursday, however, he chided Lamont, a Democrat, for a recent rise in incarceration, which followed a dramatic decline early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked to square his tough-on-crime stances with his stated concern over rising incarceration, Stefanowski said the state should get help for young people convicted of minor crimes but crack down on violent offenders. As for whether his approach would lead to a further increase in incarceration, Stefanowski said, it might, it might not, but Ill tell you right now is unacceptable. Over the past decade, first under Gov. Dannel Malloy and then under Lamont, Connecticut has sought to establish a less punitive justice system, focused more on rehabilitation and less on punishment for its own sake. As part of that effort, the state has closed prisons, legalized marijuana, raised the age at which teenagers are tried as adults for most crimes, reduced penalties for certain drug-related crimes and established an expedited parole process for nonviolent offenders, among other policies. Despite his frequent focus on crime, which he describes as spiraling out-of-control, Stefanowski said Thursday that as governor he would favor a similarly rehabilitative approach, at least up to a point. I think the objective is always to rehabilitate, especially with younger people, Stefanowski said. But I also think the issue right now is that you have to have safety and comfort while you do that. According to the most recent FBI statistics, Connecticut had the fourth lowest level of violent crime of any state in 2020, having recorded an increase in property crime but a dip in violent crime. Democrats this year helped pass a bill aimed at reducing juvenile crime but have argued that further tough-on-crime policies would harm Black and Latino communities while failing to meaningfully improve public safety. alex.putterman@hearstmediact.com LOS ANGELES (AP) Neil Patrick Harris has played an impressive number of what he calls extreme characters, which made his role in the comedy "Uncoupled especially appealing. I was attracted to the notion of a bit of normalcy and nuance, he said of his refreshing dip into the Netflix series. He plays a suddenly single New Yorker, dumped by his partner of 17 years, stumbling into an unfamiliar dating world. The eight-episode Uncoupled, which debuted Friday, represents a still relatively rare Hollywood commodity: a rom-com with a gay character as the lovable hero of the story. That increased its value for Harris, as did the shows veteran, TV homerun-hitting writer-producers: Darren Star (Sex and the City, Emily in Paris) and Jeffrey Richman (Modern Family, Frasier). As a gay man myself, I thought that having content that was representational was great on a streaming platform like Netflix, Harris said. Star and Richman's knack for making fare with broad appeal is proven, and Harris marvels at the show's skillful juggling of the sad and the ridiculously funny." I thought that that was all something that hasnt necessarily been done before. And I was honored to be asked to be a part of it, to be honest, said the Emmy-winning actor whose eclectic string of screen credits since he started as a teen actor include Doogie Howser, M.D.; How I Met Your Mother; Gone Girl and The Matrix Resurrections. On Broadway, he earned a Tony Award for Hedwig and the Angry Inch. In Uncoupled, Harris' Michael is a Manhattan real estate agent who works with a candid and loyal colleague (Tisha Campbell), has a supportive circle of friends and is coming to grips with life as an unmoored, 40-something man. The role's emotional demands made it a very risky, scary move for Harris to sign on, Star said. I would say, gay or straight, I've never seen such vulnerability from a male character. It's a guy going through the pain of a breakup, and you don't really get to see it that often. A birthday party scene in the first episode calls for Michael to publicly toast his partner Colin (Tuc Watkins) to a crowd unaware the pair have just split. It's a tour de force moment for Harris. His authenticity and emotion, it was so remarkable. When an actor elevates your writing like that, it's why you are a writer, Richman said. Harris and the show's creators are on the same page regarding what the show is not intended to be: a political statement. It's almost the opposite, said Star. It was like, this is where we are. It's where the world, the audience has moved, they want to see a show like this. You don't have to be gay to see yourself reflected in these characters because it's so much about the humanity of this experience." Harris sees value in a work that is just a slice of representation without agenda....If one tries too hard to accomplish a specific agenda with art, itll be met with both extremes. The people that love it will embrace it, and the people who dont love it will be affronted by it." Uncoupled is truthful but also very binge-y and it doesnt take itself too seriously, he said. For the actor, who's married and a family man he and actor-chef David Burtka have two children Uncoupled was a chance to venture into an aspect of life that Harris has been lucky enough to avoid. I didnt start dating till much later than most, and when I did start dating, they all went fairly well. I dont have a lot of relationship wounds," he said. Ive been with David for 18 years, and once we started dating, we really just never stopped. Wading into fictional heartache turned out to be oddly rewarding. In a very weird, altered version of my reality, this was an exciting role to play because it touched on, it brought up emotions that I hadnt felt that I hope to not feel but that I was required to feel, Harris said. On the flip side, scenes that called for him to flash a goodly amount of skin left him unfazed. Thankfully, it was my own skin, so I was familiar with it, Harris said, with perfect deadpan delivery. Then he gets serious, describing a healthy and enviable self-image. I dont have much modesty at all. Im 49 years old. Ive been doing this since I was 13 or 14. I dont need a changing room curtain," he said. "In Hedwig, you saw almost everything. I work out a fair amount and I feel more confident in my own skin than I have before." Does he feel the need to explain to his twins, born in 2010, that dad is in the nearly altogether on TV? I thought about it a lot when we were filming it, Um, are the kids going to watch this?' Harris said. He's sure they won't, and offers a well-reasoned explanation: As is common, his son and daughter routinely cringe at what their parents do. He recalled walking with them to school and asking about the day ahead. Please, just stop talking, one admonished him, Harris recalled. So I think if they were to watch Uncoupled' and see my naked butt on screen, they would be mortified. They don't want to see my naked butt getting out of the shower in the bathroom. I think they'll just not ever want to watch it. A catalytic converter was stolen this week from a states attorneys car parked in the juvenile courthouse lot in New Haven, state police said Wednesday. Theyre getting pretty brazen, Connecticut State Police Trooper First Class Pedro A. Muniz, a spokesperson for the agency, said of cat thieves who have caused untold expense and lost time to vehicle owners throughout the state. State police received a call around 1:30 p.m. Monday that a converter had been cut from a Toyota Prius parked in the Whalley Avenue lot in New Haven, Muniz said. Police are investigating, he said, and no other details were available. Cashing in on valuable metals contained in the pollution scrubbing devices, thieves have been doing their quick surgery on cars parked in residential driveways and retail parking lots and from school bus yards and commercial businesses throughout the state. Several school buses in Wolcott were hit this week, according to police, about a month after thieves stole converters from the same yard. Wolcott Police Chief Edward Stephens said three thieves early Tuesday sliced a converter from a U-Haul van parked outside Party Plus on Wolcott Road, then traveled down the road to All-Star Transportation, where they cut converters from seven small school buses before finally hitting two cars at AmeriVu Inn and Suites. Thieves using the same car stole seven converters from All-Star buses in early June, Stephens said. The cost to the bus company per vehicle was likely about $1,500, he said. Individual victims typically pay at least a $500 insurance deductible for replacement, but those with older, high mileage cars and trucks who lack the necessary coverage sometimes must choose between junking the vehicle and repairs that can easily rise above $1,000. Using power tools, thieves can sever the exhaust system components in under five minutes. Some vehicles, such as Priuses, are prized targets because they emit fewer toxins, so the converters are cleaner and more valuable. The thefts also are prompting confrontations between thieves, police and victimized vehicle owners. Milford police warned residents against confrontations last week after a masked thief pointed a gun at two people. That incident came one month after a Milford man needed 300 stitches when he interrupted a similar theft in his driveway. Gov. Ned Lamont in May signed a bill into law meant to curb the illicit trade in converters. The law prohibits recyclers and scrap yards from receiving converters not attached to vehicles. The law also boosts record-keeping requirements and requires scrap metal dealers to submit all information on converter sales to state police weekly. But critics say thieves can easily skirt the law by selling the devices online or going to out-of-state scrap dealers. Buying a converter without the proper paperwork, a Class C misdemeanor, should be a felony, said John Porriello, a leader of the public safety advocacy group Safe Streets CT. This particular incident, Porriello said of the theft in New Haven, is an exhibit of how brazen the criminals in Connecticut have become that they would steal from a parking lot of the juvenile court in broad daylight. Although the identity of those responsible is not known, police around the state say many of the cat thieves are juveniles. Oh, the irony, Porriello wrote in a Facebook post. His group, along with law enforcement leaders and some legislators, have called for tougher penalties for underage criminals in the wake of car thefts and burglaries and other crimes around the state. Jesse.Leavenworth@hearstmediact.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN, Texas The defense of Alex Jones at a defamation awards trial where parents are seeking $150 million in damages featured an Infowars video of Jones saying he believed children died in the Sandy Hook massacre but questioned media accounts of the crime. Did you hear Alex Jones say on the video, I believe children died at Sandy Hook? asked attorney Andino Reynal during Day 3 of evidence in a livestreamed trial that has been covered nationwide since it began with jury selection on Monday. Reynal was questioning an Infowars producer on the witness stand named Daria Karpova, who began a third day of testimony Thursday after being grilled earlier in the week by attorneys for the parents of a slain Sandy Hook first-grader. He did say that, Karpova said. As a corporate representative for Infowars, what is the companys position as to what it was trying to do with its coverage of Sandy Hook? Reynal asked. Alex believed there were children that were murdered at the school but questioned heavily the events of that day and government involvement, Karpova said. Later on Thursday, a rising star at Infowars admitted under questioning that he did nothing to fact-check a story he broadcast in 2018 that defamed the father of a slain boy. I could have done a better job, said Owen Shroyer, the host of Infowars The War Room. You could have done a job, said the parents attorney, Kyle Farrar. You could have done something, but you didnt do anything, did you? Shroyer explained to the jury of 12 as parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis looked on with reservation on their faces that he was live on the air and didnt have time. Their college-age son, J.T. Lewis, was at the courthouse the morning, but did not stay in the courtroom for testimony, including Shroyers. Is that an excuse to defame Mr. Heslin that you didnt have time? the attorney Farrar asked. No, Shroyer said. The start of testimony Thursday followed acrimony Wednesday when Reynal lost his temper during a dispute about a video he wanted to play that wasnt on the evidence list, and he flipped his middle finger at the parents lead attorney Mark Bankston, calling him a liar. Reynal the lawyer Jones trusts most to defend him in this and two other upcoming Sandy Hook defamation awards cases in Texas and Connecticut had already called the defense team dishonest and referred to them derisively as personal injury lawyers when he lost his temper. Although the heated exchange happened after the jury had been dismissed for the day, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble warned that it better not happen again. On Tuesday during opening statements, Gamble had to issue a warning that she didnt want any discussion of the case where jurors might hear it after Jones left the court room during a break and gave an impromptu press conference just outside the doors. Reynal got on the right side of the judge Thursday by apologizing. Gamble settled the dispute about the video in question by denying it. Reynal responded by playing a 50-minute video already on the evidence list of a Jones broadcast from Dec. 14, 2012 when a 20-year-old gunman shot his way into a locked Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 first-graders and six educators. That video, which Reynal said was meant to show that Jones Infowars makes an effort for all voices to be heard, was followed by a 17-minute video where Jones said he believed children were killed at Sandy Hook. Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of slain first-grader Jesse Lewis, appeared composed in the courtroom during the video. Heslin and Lewis sued Jones after he called the worst crime in modern Connecticut history staged, synthetic, manufactured, a giant hoax, and completely fake with actors. The time devoted Thursday to showing long Infowars footage was meant to counteract evidence offered by the parents attorneys that Jones allowed extremists a platform with millions of viewers to defame and harass victims. Does Infowars try to have a forum where they discuss views openly? Reynal asked Karpova. Yes, she said. Stay tuned all week for updates. rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342 SOUTHBURY A state trooper is under investigation on sexual assault allegations, state police said in a news release Wednesday evening. Trooper Jose Campos has been suspended while Connecticut State Polices Central District Major Crime Squad investigates the accusation. His police powers have been revoked, state police added. Southbury constables were called to a home on Old Field Road around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. The resident accused Campos of sexual assault, prompting an investigation from state police. In order to protect the integrity of this active investigation, the Connecticut State Police will not be providing further information, state police said. State police said further information about the case will be made available when the investigation is complete. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Dita Bhargava, whose campaign for state treasurer has centered on investing in companies that practice good corporate governance and responsibility, has released a provocative new campaign ad that targets Purdue Pharma over its role in the opioid crisis, which took the life of her 26-year-old son. The ad titled Money was filmed outside the pharmaceutical companys headquarters in Stamford the same place the Greenwich Democrat held a press conference Friday to draw attention to her plan, if elected, to use the states $45 billion in pension funds to support companies that, for example, guarantee reproductive health care for their employees and dont profit from addiction or gun violence. In the video, which began airing Thursday, Bhargava holds a framed picture of her son and points to Purdue Pharmas building on Tresser Boulevard. They killed a million people, including our son all to make more money, she says, looking into the camera. Its the latest - and deeply personal - attempt by Bhargava to appeal to voters in a midsummer primary by highlighting the power of the treasurers office to hold corporations accountable by the investments it makes. Bhargava recently won a fight against the online streaming service Hulu for initially refusing to run her campaign ad on abortion. Bhargava said its been four years, two weeks and two days since her son, Alec Pelletier died of a fatal overdose of fentanyl. His death occurred several weeks before the 2018 primary for state treasurer, which Bhargava lost to Treasurer Shawn Wooden, who is stepping down after one term. Alecs death was the result of several factors - corporate greed was a major one, Bhargava said. Between big pharmaceuticals that flooded our country with painkillers after lying about their addictive nature and health insurance companies that would not properly cover addiction and mental health treatment, the lives of so many have (been) destroyed or lost because of corporate greed. Bhargava said she chose to feature her sons death as part of her campaign because of her personal experience of the bad companies can do when they are guided by greed and power. Purdue Pharma, which must pay $6 billion to victims as part of a settlement with eight states including Connecticut, responded to the ad in a written statement Friday issued via a spokesperson. While we take issue with Ms. Bhargavas statement about the Company, we respect that her feelings are deeply held, the statement says. We have the deepest sympathy for those who have lost loved ones to the opioid crisis, and we are focused on concluding our bankruptcy so we can deliver billions of dollars of value for victim compensation, opioid crisis abatement, and overdose rescue medicines. Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chairman of the legislatures Public Health Committee, and hotel executive Gary Mendell, whose son Brian struggled with drug addiction and died by suicide in October 2011, joined Bhargava at Fridays press conference. Brian had been clean for 13 months prior to his death, his father said. Bhargava, an investment manager, is one of three Democrats seeking the partys nomination for the open seat for Treasurer ahead of the Aug. 9 primary election. Erick Russell, a New Haven lawyer and the party endorsed candidate, has also promised to use the office to promote social activism including by divesting from gun manufacturers, developing a plan to move away from fossil fuels, promoting fair labor practices, and advocating against excessive executive compensation. New Haven housing authority chief, Karen Dubois-Walton, the other Democrat in the race, has highlighted her role as chair of the board of a local family philanthropy where she worked with investment advisors to ensure responsible growth while guiding the fund toward socially responsive investments. Her priorities for Treasurers Office include stimulating equitable growth. julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com French President Emmanuel Macron has chosen to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite the controversy over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Furthermore, the visit has been met with criticism as the crown prince is staying in the "world's most expensive home," a chateau built by the murder victim's cousin. The home, the Chateau Louis XIV in Louveciennes, is found outside Paris and is a newly-built mansion intended to mimic the extravagant luxury of the nearby Versailles Palace. Macron Hosts Saudi Crown Prince The trip is part of a continuing Western attempt to court the major-oil producing state amid the war between Russia and Ukraine. It also comes as talks with Iran over the possibility of reviving a nuclear deal have faltered. The Thursday visit came two weeks after he held talks in Saudi Arabia with United States President Joe Biden. The Saudi Crown Prince also made a stop in Greece before heading to the France capital for the discussions, as per Aljazeera. Western authorities are eager to reset relations with the Gulf Arab oil giant as it seeks to counter the rising regional influence of Iran, Russia, and China. However, French opposition figures and human rights groups have criticized Macron's decision to invite bin Salman to dinner at the Elysee Palace. It comes in the wake of the gruesome murder of Khashoggi by a team of Saudi agents in October 2018. The United Nations conducted a probe that described the crime as an "extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible." According to France24, the topics of the meeting are expected to include energy supply as concern grows over potential supply shortage as Russia cuts off some regions from gas deliveries. The Saudi Crown Prince, who is universally known as MBS, is portrayed at home as a champion of social and economic reform. Read Also: Brittney Griner Update: Russia Issues Stern Reminder After US Publicizes Prisoner Swap Offer The Killing of Jamal Khashoggi However, critics see him as a murderous tyrant, with Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard saying that he is "profoundly troubled" by the visit. He said it is because of what they mean for the world and for Khashoggi. On Thursday, the fiancee of the late Khashoggi expressed outrage at MBS' visit to France, saying that she is "scandalized and outraged" that Macron is receiving the crown prince with honors. The trip also marks MBS' first trip to the European Union since the murder of the journalist as the UN probe noted that there was "credible evidence" warranting further investigation. Furthermore, U.S. intelligence agencies determined that MBS had "approved" the operation that led to Khashoggi's death, though Riyadh denies this accusation and instead blames rogue operatives. Khashoggi's murder drew outrage not just over the killing of a prominent critic of the Saudi regime, but also for the manner in which it was carried out. The journalist was lured into the Saudi consulate on Oct. 2, 2018, where he was reportedly strangled and dismembered with a bonesaw. Callamard added that MBS' reception by world leaders is "all the more shocking given many of them at the time expressed disgust (over the killing) and a commitment not to bring MBS back into the international community." The massive 7,000-square-meter property that MBS is staying in was bought by an undisclosed buyer in 2015 for $300 million at the time. Two years after the purchase, 36-year-old bin Salman was reported to be the ultimate owner via a series of shell companies, CBS News reported. Related Article: China's Xi Jinping Warns Joe Biden, US Over Taiwan Conflict: "If You Play with Fire You Get Burned" @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Yale scientists have developed an Omicron-specific mRNA vaccine that creates a strong antibody response against subvariants BA.1 and BA.2.12.1. Early tests in mice show some promising signs that vaccinating against families of subvariants of COVID-19 is possible. The study illustrates the exceptional flexibility of mRNA vaccine technology, and the possible future of rapid iteration of vaccines against emergent threats. The Yale study is an interesting proof-of-concept study, said Dr. Sean Diehl, a professor of microbiology at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. They made this all themselves and thats a really good thing for the democratization of these vaccines. The new vaccine, called Omnivax (no relation to another Omnivax developed by Harvard in 2020) includes spike protein mRNA from BA.1 which shares some mutations with other Omicron subvariants. Like the existing mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna against COVID-19 spike protein, the Yale Omnivax vaccine simulates a viral infection which your immune system then reacts to. The mRNA, borne by immune-alerting fatty nanoparticles, enter your cells and force them to make spike protein. This protein production can last about a week with the majority of it occurring at the site of injection for the first two to three days. To your immune system that reads as an infection, even if no infection is happening. Vaccine-derived protein also shows up in your draining lymph nodes and spleen within those early days as the foreign protein is shown to B-cells (the cells that make antibody) and T-cells, (the cells that marshal antiviral activity and help control inflammation). This trains the immune system to recognize the spike protein of COVID-19. The next time the immune system, notices viral spike protein it will rapidly scale up antibody production and react faster than it did before. Circulating antibodies left over from the vaccination also help by grabbing the virus before it can infect, neutralizing it. Whats different here is that Omnivax does this with BA.1 spike protein instead of the original spike protein. When mice were vaccinated with Omnivax they produced antibodies that were better at blocking BA.1 and BA.2 spike proteins. These circulating antibodies were still present in mice four months after vaccination. Higher antibody titers are usually associated with longer protections, said Feng Zhenhao, a postdoctoral researcher who headed the experimental team in Dr. Sidi Chens lab. We dont have direct evidence but based on our data and other studies we tend to get those results. The study demonstrates that vaccination against a specific subvariant might have broader applicability against other, closely related subvariants. Our study suggests that the Omicron-specific vaccination protects against Omicron BA.2.12.1 infection to a greater degree than ancestral vaccination, wrote Chen, the study author, in an email. This might mean that boosters against BA.1 could protect against other Omicron subvariants like BA.4 and BA.5. Chen wrote that his lab was currently testing, developing and comparing multi-subvariant and BA.4/5-specific vaccines. Importantly the study also demonstrates that mRNA vaccination technology can be rapidly deployed against new variants as they emerge. The research began months ago, as the early Omicron subvariants were being identified. Creating the vaccine itself was the easy part, the hard part was collecting four months of data and getting everything through peer review. If the vaccine testing and approval process can be adjusted to enhance the speed of mRNA rollouts, its possible that we could have new vaccines very quickly. It all helps reinforce efforts that are underway in South Africa and Brazil and other areas of the world, said Diehl. They are trying to replicate the science of mRNA vaccines and make them avalible for their own populations. But what this study doesnt show is clinical relevance. All the experiments were conducted in mice or in cell culture. None involved exposing vaccinated mice to strains of Omicron. The study uses the enhanced presence of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron subvariants BA.1 and BA.2 as a proxy for enhanced protection. Because its in mice I hesitate this has clinical signifigance, said Diehl. That experiment really didnt get done yet. Chen explained that mice arent a good model system for studying severe Omicron infections. They just dont get severely ill in the same way they did to prior strains of the virus. While its good news that this vaccine produces more neutralizing antibodies against Omicron and its subvariants its not clear that those increases will be seen in humans, or matter in infections overall. Dr. Chen said the next step would be to move into non-human primates. That would be a future plan but we dont have a timeline yet, said Dr. Chen. Though we are working on it actively. Chens team would be entering into a quickly evolving landscape of primate studies for omicron. So far, these studies have produced inconsistent results. Some have demonstrated enhanced protection. Others have demonstrated equivalent protection, no better than already existing vaccines. Despite the unclear primate data, last month Moderna and Pfizer entered Phase 2 clinical trials with the Food and Drug Administration with Omicron-specific vaccines. The hope is that theyll have results by the fall. But the Biden administration isnt just interested in countering BA.5. They want to develop a vaccine that kills transmission. On July 26 at the White House vaccine summit, experts from across the country discussed developing vaccines that would cover all variants, not just the variant of the moment. Administration officials, researchers, pharma companies and public health experts want to avoid variant chasing where the vaccine development is always behind the curve of COVID-19. At a panel moderated by acting White House Scientific Advisor, Dr. Francis Collins the panelists were unanimous in their support for developing vaccines that prevent transmission. The dominant idea the panel proposed appeared to be the development of a nasal spray vaccine to enhance the barrier function of the immune system. A transmission-blocking vaccine is really the way to stop the spread of the virus so no more mutants can arise, said Akiko Iwasaki, a professor of immunobiology from Yale on the panel. Its really the only way to prevent a disease like long COVID. While the Yale Omnivax vaccine may be a step in this direction, a good proof-of-concept for rapid iterations of mRNA vaccine technology, it doesnt represent the end goal of this line of research. It may end up being a component of next-generation vaccines. Chen said that their current anti-Omicron mRNA sequence could be adapted to nasal or microdermal needle patch delivery but the data to support how that would work just isnt there yet. mRNA vaccines can be administered by needles, mucosally or by patch, said Chen. Nobody knows if mucosal or patches work better than needles. Work on this vaccine is ongoing. The Yale team is currently testing Omnivax against BA.5 and figuring out the logistical challenge of moving into a more relevant animal model. Given the speed at which Chens team developed this vaccine and published results its possible that these outstanding questions will be answered soon. Everyone is anticipating this is going to be like seasonal flu, we have a seasonal flu vaccine against that seasonal variant, said Chen. We are adapting our platform to quickly generate these variant-specific vaccines and use them in a timely manner. NORWALK Beth Iovinelli knows many women want to breastfeed their child. She also knows many women struggle to find good and informed support to help them and their babies that leads many mothers to give up quickly. Its very emotionally charged. Many moms feel like theyre being pressured to breastfeed. They know the health benefits of it, and many want to, said Iovinelli, who hopes to provide that support to mothers at her new business, Milk Street Lactation Support Center. Iovinelli estimates more than 80 percent of mothers will initiate breastfeeding, but the drop off is staggering after three or six months. The reason for stopping can range from lack of support to returning to work. Iovinelli has worked in maternal child health her entire 30-year career as a nurse. She spent 17 years at Norwalk Hospital, five years running the lactation and newborn services program for a local pediatrician and the last five years she worked with Dr. Christina Smilie, who specialized in lactation medicine. With Smilie retiring, Iovinelli needed to decide whether to return to the hospital or work in another office. Instead, she fell back on a lifelong dream to open her own business. When she saw a for rent sign go up in the window of 21 First St., she inquired about the space and soon signed a lease. I always, all the years Ive worked in lactation support, felt like a storefront, community-based model would get more eyes on it in the community instead of being in a doctors office or a big medical building. It feels much easier to walk in and feel comfortable, Iovinelli said. The lactation specialist quickly saw mothers peeking into the window as she set up the office and invited them inside to talk about the services Milk Street would offer. A warm orange couch and serene blue walls makes mothers feel comfortable and willing to open up to Iovinelli about their struggles. Iovinelli helps mothers with a range of feeding challenges, including latching difficulty, sore or injured nipples, milk supply concerns, advice on breastfeeding equipment, pumping guidance and many more. Iovinelli offers her services online or in-person. She also offers a prenatal class and hosts a new moms group on Wednesday mornings. With every new client, Iovinelli likes to learn more about their experience beyond their breastfeeding issues and to build a trust with them. Usually I start with, Tell me your story. Tell me how your pregnancy was. Tell me how your labor was, Iovinelli said. Moms need a safe space. With any big life event, you need to process it Looking at the mom and her experience and her journey from a macro view then getting down and saying, tell me all the details. Tell me the nitty gritty. Tell me whats keeping you awake at night. From their story, Iovinelli can work up an evaluation based on whether they need some simple tips and tricks, their baby was born prematurely, they have high blood pressure, they lost a lot of blood during delivery, they struggle with hormonal or infertility issues or have mental health issues. Anna Powers came to Milk Street after giving birth to her second child. Her doctor recommended she work with Iovinelli because of how much she struggled with nursing her first child and because her newborn son was born five weeks premature. My doctor knew about my level of anxiety around this time so even though nothing was wrong, we saw Beth to make sure that I had the support that I needed around nursing, Powers said. Nursing can feel really overwhelming and isolating. If you can get support from someone like a Beth right from the beginning, it can make a world of difference. Rachael Ryan came to Iovinelli when her newborn son struggled to latch without causing a lot of pain for Ryan. During her sessions, the new mom learned about more comfortable feeding positions, how to position her babys mouth during feeding, and better understand what she should be feeling while feeding. As a first-time mom, I was very under-prepared for how much work went into breastfeeding, and this became a big source of stress in the early days of having a newborn. Milk Street helped me, my husband and my baby all feel better prepared to tackle the challenges (and joys) that come with breastfeeding, Ryan said. About 70 to 80 percent of Iovinellis clients come in with a support partner, either a significant other, a parent, or a close friend. Iovinelli correlates the role of the mothers partner to a NASCAR pit crew, helping to cook the family meals, rubbing moms shoulders, making her tea and letting her sleep. I try to focus on and to say, Youre not just here for show. Youre a very important part of this process, said Iovinelli, who added a partner can help mom remember a tip brought up in a session or a class that they attended together. So, mom doesnt feel like shes on the journey by herself, and she shouldnt be. Its a family thing. It affects everyone. Due to the recent formula shortage, Iovinelli has seen more moms trying to breastfeed longer than they anticipated or to increase their milk supply. She admits it can be hard when a mom has struggled to nurse for several months, but she may be able to identify issues unknown to the mother or develop a more realistic nursing plan. Iovinelli also helps new moms learn more about how their medications may affect their breastfeeding and make recommendations for moms to bring back to their primary care physicians. She also will make referrals for mothers who are struggling with mental health issues and recommend a therapist who specializes in the issues for new mothers. People think its a bunch of hippies sitting around talking about breastfeeding. Theres a lot more to it, said Iovinelli, who referred to herself as a hippie at heart. But its much more scientific than I think people understand and its not just feed more or suck it up and deal with the pain. No, theres a problem and we can figure it out in a scientific, analytic way and also in a human way. Iovinelli is in the process of credentialing with Aetna and will bill the insurance company directly for patients covered by Aetna. For out-of-network clients, Milk Street will provide a bill for clients to submit to their insurance company for reimbursement. For more information about the services provided by Milk Street Lactation Support Center, visit its website or email info@milkstreetlactation.com emily.morgan@hearstmediact.com (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Naomi Schalit, The Conversation (THE CONVERSATION) In June 2022, Gallup asked participants in a U.S. survey about their party membership. In politics, pollsters asked, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat or an independent? The largest segment of participants 43% said they were independent. Republicans and Democrats represented 27% each. Note the lower case i in independent. That means its not a party, as the Democrats and Republicans are. Actual political parties have policies, they have big bank accounts, they have organizations in every state, and they have a place on the ballot in elections. But if the leaders of a new, centrist political party whose formation was announced on July 28, 2022, accomplish their goal, the Forward Party will attract many voters who no longer identify as Democrats or Republicans and it will become a force for moderation - and an institution - in U.S. electoral politics. How will we solve the big issues facing America? the founders said at a news conference. Not Left. Not Right. Forward. Here are three stories from The Conversations archives that analyze the chances of third-party success at changing the U.S. political system. 1. Dont count on it Political scientist Alexander Cohen of Clarkson University acknowledges that the U.S. two-party system has long been besieged. Critics of party politics in general date to the countrys founding. Alexander Hamilton called political parties a most fatal disease, Cohen writes. James Madison renounced the violence of faction, and George Washington feared that an overly successful party would create frightful despotism. Still, parties persisted as the vehicles of electoral politics in the country, evolving into the current two-party system from a variety of parties that emerged and died over the past 200 years. An upstart third party is unlikely to dislodge the status quo, Cohen says. The modern Republicans and Democrats are unlikely to go the way of the Whigs, Federalists and Anti-Federalists, regardless of recent political earthquakes. 2. Its hard to end the party A third party, writes Indiana University political scientist Marjorie Hershey, simply doesnt have an advantage in the U.S. political system. The American electoral system is the primary reason why the U.S. is the sole major democracy with only two parties consistently capable of electing public officials, writes Hershey. Votes are counted in most American elections using plurality rules, or winner take all. Whoever gets the most votes wins the single seat up for election. But in many other democracies, Hershey says, multiple political parties can thrive because of a different system of electing representatives. For example, Hershey writes, there are widely used systems that award seats proportionally to the percentage of votes a party wins. In the Netherlands, for instance, writes Hershey, even a small third party called the Party for the Animals composed of animal rights supporters, not dogs and cats won 3.2% of the legislative vote in 2017 and earned five seats, out of 150, in the national legislature. If that system existed in the U.S., that would mean even a small party would be smart to run Congressional candidates, because even if the party only got 5% of the vote, they could win 5% of the states U.S. House seats. But a caveat: Those voters who call themselves independent, or say theyre disappointed by or disillusioned with political parties, are still influenced by vestigial party sentiment. Pollsters find, writes Hershey, that most of these independents actually lean toward either the Democrats or the Republicans, and their voting choices are almost as intensely partisan as those who do claim a party affiliation. 3. Winning isnt everything Not everyone sees failure at the ballot box as the final judgment on U.S. third parties. Winning elections isnt necessarily the goal. The most successful third parties in U.S. politics dont typically rise to dominance but instead challenge the major parties enough to force them to change course, writes political scientist Bernard Tamas of Valdosta State University. Tamas, who has written a book on U.S. third parties, says that they tend to emerge when Democrats and Republicans are politically polarized something that has happened periodically since the Civil War. That polarization between parties means larger groups of voters end up being not represented by either one, and the intense contention between them also increases political dissatisfaction. For the 50 years after the Civil War, the two parties were very polarized. Third parties were aggressive and strong during that period, Tamas writes. But their aim wasnt to make themselves an institution in a new, multiparty democracy as the Forward Partys leaders hope now. For example, the Greenback Party in the 1870s and the Populist Party in the 1890s both aimed, via electoral victories, to force the major parties to adopt policies supporting poor farmers and opposing business monopolies. The Populist Party was especially successful in pressing the Democrats to embrace those positions. Tamas predicted in 2021 that a new, centrist third party would emerge very much like the party that made its debut on July 28. He noted that challenging the Trump-influenced GOP would be a main focus of such a party. The new party could gain strategic advantages by fielding candidates in local and state elections in more moderate places where some Republican candidates have nevertheless chosen to follow their party to the extreme, he writes. But even if the Forward Party raises money and fields successful candidates, it may not be long in the U.S. political landscape. The Progressive Party existed for less than a decade, for example, Tamas writes. But by strategically winning the votes of moderate conservatives and thereby undermining Republicans electoral goals, even if briefly, a new third party could stop the GOP from hurtling farther down an extreme and undemocratic path. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/a-new-third-party-for-us-politics-3-essential-reads-on-what-that-means-187895. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TONOPAH, Nev. (AP) The Nye County Commission is used to dealing with all sorts of hot-button controversies. Water rights, livestock rules and marijuana licenses are among the many local dramas that consume the time of the five commissioners in this vast swath of rural and deeply Republican Nevada. Last spring, it was something new: voting machines. For months, conspiracy theories fueled on social media by those repeating lies about former President Donald Trumps loss in 2020 inflamed public suspicions about whether election results could be trusted. In response, the commission put a remarkable item on its agenda: Ditch the countys voting machines and instead count every vote on every ballot more than 20,000 in a typical general election entirely by hand. Commissioners called a parade of witnesses, including three from out of state who insisted voting machines could be hacked and votes flipped without leaving a trace. They said no county could be certain their machines weren't accessible via the internet and open to tampering by nefarious actors. It was all just too much for Sam Merlino, a Republican who has spent more than two decades administering elections as the countys clerk. She simply felt outgunned. It just made me feel helpless, she said in a recent interview from her office in Tonopah, an old silver mining town surrounded by hills of rock and sagebrush about halfway between Las Vegas and Reno. She defended the system's checks and balances that ensure an accurate vote tally, but was bombarded with technical jargon and theories unlike any she'd ever heard. I couldnt do anything but just sit and listen, she said. When the county commission voted unanimously to recommend hand-counting ballots even though there was no evidence of any tampering she decided shed had enough and submitted her resignation. Merlino will step down next week and leave the administration of elections in a county about twice the size of New Hampshire to a new clerk; the most likely candidate to succeed her is someone who has promoted voting machine conspiracy theories and falsely contends that Trump actually won the 2020 election. Merlinos departure and Nye Countys plans to scrap voting machines and hand-count every ballot open a window into the real-world consequences of unfounded conspiracy theories that have spread across the country since Trumps defeat. The moves also raise questions about how local elections will be run when overseen by people who are skeptical of the process. A network of people peddling conspiracy theories about the security of voting machines has hop-scotched the country for more than a year, spinning elaborate yarns involving Venezuelan software, the Chinese Communist Party and offshore servers. They have tried to persuade state and local officials to do just what Nye County is attempting. While no state has taken the same step, their efforts find fertile ground in conservative parts of the U.S. such as Nye County, where suspicions of government run deep. Already this year, some rural county boards have threatened to refuse to certify the results of their primary elections, even without evidence of problems. Nye County, the country's third largest by area, stretches from the strip malls on the outer margins of Las Vegas through desolate rangelands where cattle graze and the military trains pilots and practices missile-firing and bomb drops. Conspiracy theories have long found an audience in the county. Its home to part of Area 51, the once-secret U.S. Air Force base that draws alien enthusiasts and UFO hunters. During public comment at county commission meetings, residents reference Infowars Alex Jones, who has peddled fake conspiracy theories about the Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre. In Pahrump, the countys most populous town, a plaque on a park bench honors the late radio host and conspiracy theorist Art Bell, who lived here until his death in 2018. Its voters are unrelentingly Republican. In 2018, they chose a Republican brothel owner over a Democrat in a statehouse race even though the brothel owner had died weeks earlier. Trump won Nye County by more than 40 percentage points among the 25,427 ballots cast in November 2020. That margin, however, has done nothing to stifle the spread of conspiracy theories about voter fraud and ballot tampering. At a recent Republican Party event and county commission meeting, many brought up stories they had heard involving QR codes, half-inserted USB drives and foreign hackers infiltrating machines manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems. No evidence has surfaced to prove any of the theories, yet they continue to spread in Nye County Facebook groups. Merlino recalled when an error on a sample ballot ballooned on social media into a full-blown corruption conspiracy theory about the printing companys financial ties: Just like anything, once a rumor starts or once something is out there, people feed on it, she said. County commissioners say they are obligated to take action as a way to re-establish trust in elections, a concern that fed into their vote to recommend hand-counting ballots in the upcoming November election rather than use tabulating machines. Election experts are skeptical that hand-counting is doable anywhere except in the tiniest counties; Nye County has about 31,500 registered voters. They say the potential for human error is far greater than running ballots through a tabulator and auditing the results afterward to ensure accuracy. Its a very bad idea, and everyone from the most conservative election officials to the most liberal will testify to that, said David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonprofit that works on election procedures. A lengthy hand-counting process could spark a political crisis in the state, a perennial presidential battleground and one of six states where Trump disputed his 2020 loss. It's not clear what would happen if just one of Nevadas 17 counties fails to finish counting votes within the seven-day timeframe required under state law, or declines to certify the results. The secretary of state's office has said hand-counting could conflict with state law and has scheduled hearings in August to discuss regulations for any county planning to attempt it. Supporters of the move are undaunted. At a dimly lit Mexican restaurant in Pahrump, an hours drive from Las Vegas, activists attending a recent Nye County GOP Unity event attributed support for hand-counting to what they claimed were unexplained irregularities and suspicions about election tampering. You just dont know 100%, said Leo Blundo, a Nye County commissioner who voted against certifying the results from the June primary after he lost his reelection bid. Pahrump Republican Tina Trenner said cutting voting off from electrical sources could help ease skepticism about election results. They could be hacked. Something as simple as a phone with a hotspot in it, sitting up on the counter, can suddenly make those machines available on the internet, she said. The push to hand-count ballots also has won support from at least one prominent Nevada Republican Jim Marchant, the GOP nominee for secretary of state, the office that oversees elections. He has participated in rallies and other events around the country promoting the falsehood that Trump actually won the 2020 election. If we get out en masse and vote, well overwhelm the system so that any mechanisms they have in place to manipulate the system will be negated, he told applauding Republicans in Pahrump, without specifying who he feared would manipulate the election. Marchant repeated a promise he made to the Nye County Commission months earlier, when the clerk said hand-counting ballots would require a substantial number of people. Marchant told The Associated Press he could provide as many members of his election integrity movement from Nevada and elsewhere as necessary to help with the process. In a stump speech, Marchant said he was eager to work with Mark Kampf, the winner of the Republican Party primary in the Nye County clerks race. Kampfs platform included replacing voting machines with hand-counting. In one debate, Kampf, an accountant and corporate auditor, insisted Trump won the 2020 election. He told voters he was concerned that an interstate voter roll maintenance system could be a ploy from billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros. He warned about the misuse of ballot drop boxes, citing the film 2000 Mules." Experts say it uses flawed analysis of cellphone data and drop box surveillance footage to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election. Kampf, who is expected to be appointed to replace Merlino in August, declined to comment for this story. He told the commission at its July meeting that he planned to emphasize voter education to restore trust in elections. That may prove a tall task in a community that remains spellbound by Trumps ongoing insistence that he was the true winner. The degree to which distrust has entrenched itself worries Merlino, whose own efforts to educate have done little to sway her neighbors. After a mostly quiet tenure, the self-described personal responsibility Republican" said she has been sickened to witness fictions and falsehoods taking root in her county and politicizing the work of her fellow election workers in Nevada. Merlino's office has been inundated with public records requests from people looking for evidence of fraud or tampering. County residents who deny the results of the 2020 presidential election without evidence yell at her and her staff while in line to vote. Myths of stolen elections have even estranged her from members of her own family, including one to whom she hasnt spoken in over six months. On top of all that, the commission's move toward hand-counting convinced her it was time to step down. I dont think it can be done, she said. If they want to give it a go, thats why Im giving them the opportunity to do it. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect that Nye County is about twice the size of New Hampshire, not the size of New Hampshire. ___ Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta contributed. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEPORT Twenty-seven individuals applied to be the citys next permanent police chief, and 19 of those are now participating in an oral screening process by Bridgeports search consultant, the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Nearly two weeks after the July 14 application deadline, Mayor Joe Ganims administration and the IACP on Wednesday responded to some of the questions Hearst Connecticut Media submitted about the pool of contenders, but claimed others could not be answered for confidentiality reasons. Of the 27 who applied, two were women. One of those was Acting Chief Rebeca Garcia, who had previously confirmed she had decided to compete in the process. The IACP and city, however, declined to break down the 27 candidates by those within the department and from out-of-state. In the weeks and months leading up to the search, members of the community have debated whether the next permanent chief should be someone who has risen through the ranks as was the case with the prior two, Joseph Gaudett and Armando Perez or be an outsider who can bring a fresh perspective to reforming the force. Due to confidentially requirements the IACP is unable to provide this information, was the response from the Ganim administration Wednesday. The consultant did provide details of the applicants educational backgrounds, another factor of the search that has been debated. Critics were upset the IACP and city did not require interested individuals have a college degree. Instead the IACP in June had stated a higher education or a commitment to pursuing one will be given priority value during the initial screening process. According to the data provided by the city and IACP, 18 of the 27 initial applicants had a masters degree, three an associates degree, two a juris doctor or law degree, two a PhD and two were labeled as no degree/in progress. A chief search timeline released in late May set Sept. 16 as the deadline for the IACP to present Ganim with three finalists. The City Council will then approve the contract for whomever the mayor appoints. According to the IACP, a panel of subject matter experts whittled down the 27 contenders to the 19. An expert panel is conducting the oral interviews. The remainder of the search will involve assessments based on various job-related exercises including best practices as well as needs unique to Bridgeport with candidates needing a minimum score of 75 percent to pass each portion. An independent panel of subject matter experts will select and rank the finalists. The Ganim administration and IACP are under tremendous pressure to conduct a clean process given the last search conducted in 2018 resulted in the arrests and conviction of Perez and former Personnel Director David Dunn for conspiring to help Perez cheat to become a finalist. Subsequently, Dr. Jesse Lee with the IACP has declined to not only reveal the identities of any search panelists, but explain whether those groups would be composed of IACP staff or locals from Bridgeport. We want to make sure nobody is approachable, Lee told Hearst Connecticut in early June. We keep that stuff close to the vest. Although in 2018 many at the time assumed Perez, who was acting chief, was a lock to be Ganims choice for top cop in part because of their long friendship, some activists demanded an opportunity for residents to meet with the three finalists from that year: Perez, Bridgeport Capt. Roderick Porter, who recently retired, and then-New Haven Assistant Chief Luiz Casanova, who has since become head of the Connecticut State Capitol Police in Hartford. The Ganim administration responded by setting up a luncheon between the three competitors and inviting community leaders. Asked if the public would have an opportunity to meet this years finalists, Ganims communications director, Tiadora Josef, was unable to immediately say Wednesday. I dont think thats unreasonable, said City Councilman Scott Burns, who in 2020 co-chaired a special community task force that recommended ways of reforming policing in Bridgeport. He said it would be good for the public to see, meet, hear them out a little bit. Burns was also encouraged that some educated people have expressed interest in the job. And the Rev. D. Stanley Lord, head of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP, was similarly happy to learn Wednesday about the large candidate pool and that many in it have a college degree. Thats a good pool to be able to fish out of it, Lord said. I think were on the right track. TRUMBULL After a two-year hiatus, Trumbulls restaurant week will be back this fall. Rina Bakalar, Trumbulls community and economic development director, said the town is in the process of signing up restaurants for the event, which will take place from Friday, Oct. 7 to Friday, Oct. 14. We had a very successful Restaurant Week in 2019 and then COVID hit and we did not hold the event in 2020 or 2021, Bakalar said. She said town officials hope to sign up at least 15 to 20 restaurants to participate in Restaurant Week. As part of the promotion, participating restaurants will offer either a prix-fixe menu at lunch and dinner, or a buy one get one free, or a buy a meal and get something free. Bakalar said the response from restaurants hoping to participate in the event has been excellent. The towns last restaurant week, in 2019, had more than 20 restaurants participate. Trumbulls restaurants cater to a variety of tastes, Bakalar said. Trumbull is increasingly becoming a restaurant destination for the region, she said. We have American/Continental, Asian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Sicilian, Mediterranean/Italian, pub, and barbecue cuisines. We want to highlight our establishments and help bring customers in to try the delicious food and support their businesses. First Selectman Vicki Tesoro said she looked forward to the benefits Restaurant Week can bring to town businesses and residents. We are always looking at ways to support our local businesses and to celebrate our community, she said. Trumbull Restaurant Week is a great way to do both. I encourage everyone to join us for Trumbull Restaurant Week and to help spread the word. Bakalar said the town would soon update the Restaurant Week website, https://www.trumbullrestaurantweek.com/, with the new information. The town plans to promote the event heavily throughout September. Despite the victim's family's pleadings, an Alabama inmate convicted of killing his former fiancee decades ago was killed Thursday night. Joe Nathan James Jr. was given a fatal injection at a jail in south Alabama after the US Supreme Court dismissed his appeal for a stay of execution. James was found guilty and condemned to death in the shooting murder of Faith Hall, 26, in Birmingham in 1994. Alabama Executes Joe Nathan James, Jr. Hall's children have stated that they would like James to serve life in prison, but Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey stated on Wednesday that the execution will go forward. According to prosecutors, James briefly dated Hall and grew obsessed when she rejected him, pursuing and tormenting her for months before murdering her. According to court filings, on Aug. 15, 1994, after Hall had gone shopping with a friend, James pushed his way into the friend's apartment, grabbed a revolver from his belt, and shot Hall three times. In 1996, a Jefferson County jury convicted James of capital murder and decided to recommend the death penalty, which was imposed by a judge. A state appeals court reversed the conviction after ruling that a judge had improperly entered several police reports into evidence. When juries rejected defense arguments that James was under emotional stress at the time of the shooting, he was retried and condemned to death in 1999. Following a nearly three-hour delay that the state would not immediately explain, the execution began a few minutes after 9 p.m. CDT. Before the execution, James did not open his eyes or make any obvious gestures. When the warden asked whether he had any final remarks, he did not move or speak. His respiration dropped to the point that it was no longer apparent, and he was pronounced dead at 9:27 pm. Hall's two girls, who were three and six years old at the time of their mother's death, have said that they would want James to serve life in jail. The execution was not attended by family members, according to the New York Post. Read Also: Mariupol Occupiers Distribute Water Contaminated With Fecal Bacteria as Residents Struggle To Survive Joe James Jr. Left Notes in Jail Before Execution Akay Ivey, the governor of Alabama, has stated that she will not interfere. Ivey said in a statement Thursday night that she understands the victim's family and loved ones' pain, but that she "must always fulfill our commitment to the law, to public safety, and justice." According to him, the execution sends an unmistakable statement that Alabama stands with victims of domestic abuse. James worked as his counsel in his quest to halt his execution, submitting handwritten papers and appeal notifications to the courts from death row. On his behalf, a lawyer filed the latest appeal with the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday. However, the plea for a stay of execution was denied just 30 minutes before the execution was scheduled to occur, USA Today reported. As said by Alabama Department of Corrections Public Information Officer Kelly Betts, James did not receive visitors on Wednesday. However, he did talk over the phone with his mother and attorney James Ransom. He is said to have eaten both lunch and dinner. James reportedly refused his meal of grits, eggs, apple jelly, biscuits, orange juice, and bread hours before his death. On Thursday, he allegedly ate lunch but declined dinner. There were no final meal requests from James. On Thursday, he got more phone calls and spoke with Ransom and two other lawyers. According to The Sun, there was a two-hour wait before the execution. Inmates hung messages in the windows, as reported by media observers waiting in a vehicle outside the facility. Alabama Representative Juandalynn Givan stated on behalf of Hall's family hours before the execution. Related Article: Brittney Griner Update: Russia Issues Stern Reminder After US Publicizes Prisoner Swap Offer @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. South Africa: SA releases science, tech indicator report Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, says the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disastrous impact on public health systems and economic progress across the globe, threatening the gains made in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Millions of people have died and economies have declined sharply. Poverty is on the rise. Inequality is deepening. The gains related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at risk, and vulnerabilities and inequalities within and between nations have been exposed, Nzimande said. He was speaking at the launch of the 2022 South Africa Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators Report. Out of the adversity created by the pandemic, Nzimande commended the role played by those in the national system of innovation (NSI), and how they responded to COVID-19 by joining global funding efforts, which led to the speedy construction of hospitals, and the production of medical devices and protective gear at competitive prices. The World Health Organization permitted South Africa to establish a world-class consortium to create the first technology transfer hub for COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. The hub will play a leading role in the preclinical research phase of Africa's first messenger RNA technology. It will also be responsible for the inbound technology transfer and production of the first vaccines against COVID-19 and other diseases, Nzimande said. Turning to the ever-pressing issue of climate change, Nzimande said reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) between August 2021 and April 2022 noted the adverse effects of climate change in all assessed regions. Extreme impacts have caused irreversible changes to some human and natural systems. Extreme weather events, such as those recorded in KwaZulu-Natal in 2022, are expected to become more frequent and will have increasingly severe impacts, Nzimande said. Nzimande said this has enormous implications for South Africa's development aspirations, such as creating employment and reducing poverty and inequality. There is an urgent need to build a climate-resilient society to respond to the current and projected impacts of climate change, while transitioning to a just climate future. Investment in innovative instruments for mitigation and adaptation is critical for building a just society and meeting the SDGs, he said. On economic challenges, Nzimande said the size of the economy is now at pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. The real GDP was slightly higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, unemployment was at 34.5% during the first quarter of 2022, with black women and youth bearing most of the brunt, Nzimande said. COVID-19 constrained the already tight NSI fiscal environment further. [The] Department of Science and Innovation and [its] entities experienced budget cuts, Nzimande said. Nzimande said the number of households living in poverty increased in terms of all poverty indicators. Over the past decade, other forms of deprivation, such as a lack of access to clean water and sanitation, have remained unchanged, he said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2022-07-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Xi warns against misperceiving China-U.S. ties, misreading China's development Xinhua) 09:03, July 29, 2022 BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that to approach and define China-U.S. relations in terms of strategic competition and view China as the primary rival and the most serious long-term challenge would be misperceiving China-U.S. relations and misreading China's development, and would mislead the people of the two countries and the international community. Xi made the remarks when having talks with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, over phone on Thursday. The two sides need to maintain communication at all levels and make good use of existing communication channels to promote bilateral cooperation, he added. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) Rumors regarding Prince William and Rose Hanbury's supposed romance have resurfaced. The Duke of Cambridge was accused of cheating on Kate Middleton with her closest friend Rose Hanbury back in 2019. Rose and Kate supposedly had a falling out over the infidelity claims. Prince William, Kate Middleton Ignore Rumored Affair According to an insider, Kate Middleton excluded Rose Hanbury from her social group after Prince William allegedly strayed on his wife. Fans now think Kate's sister Pippa was instrumental in dispelling the accusations. The mother of three just gave birth to a daughter named Rose. Pippa, according to fans, would never name her daughter after her brother-in-rumored law's lover. As per Her Family, Pippa and her husband James Matthews announced the birth of their third child earlier this week. For their newborn girl, the parents picked the traditional floral name Rose. The Duchess of Cambridge has already met her new baby niece. Andrew Morton told New Idea that the Cambridges dismissed the infidelity rumors. Twitter users are perplexed by the hashtag #PrinceofPegging and have mixed feelings about it after finding it has been linked to Prince William. Several microblogging site users are perplexed as to why the hashtag "#PrinceofPegging" is trending. Many of them expressed their delight on the platform. Based on a tweet by Deuxmoi, netizens claimed that the hashtag #PrinceofPegging related to Prince William and his purported sexual fetishes. Aside from Prince William, numerous netizens insulted the Duchess of Cambridge in the message published on Twitter. The online attacks on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge came after the release of British writer Tom Bower's new book, 'Revenge,' about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Several Twitter users slammed Meghan Markle for allegedly bullying Princess Charlotte, according to AS. Read Also: Tristan Thompson Spotted Holding Hands with Another Woman in Greece; Pregnant Khloe Kardashian Reacts Who Is Rose Hanbury? Rose Hanbury is a former model and the current Marchioness of Cholmondeley. She is married to David George Philip Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and they have three children: twin boys, Alexander and Oliver, and a daughter, Iris. Rose and David married at Chelsea Town Hall in 2009. Rose resides in Houghton Hall, a 106-room mansion in Norfolk. It was built in the 1700s for Sir Robert Walpole and was acquired by David in 1990 when his father died. David's professional name is David Rocksavage. Rose is a former model who was signed to Storm Models, the agency that discovered Kate Moss. The Marchioness occasionally posts photos from her modeling days on social media. Rose shared an Instagram photo of herself with actress Amanda Seyfried from a Vogue Magazine session in 2016. On the other hand, Rose has not only worked as a model but has also worked as a researcher for Conservative MP Michael Gove for a brief time. A Marquess, pronounced Mar-kwiss, is the second highest grade of peerage after Dukes. Meanwhile, a Marchioness, pronounced Marsh-on-ess, is a Marquess's wife. Rose appears to have multiple Royal Family links, both via her forebears and through her friendships According to Hello! Magazine, Rose's paternal grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Lambert, was a bridesmaid at the Queen's wedding to Prince Philip in 1947. She and her husband, David, attended Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding in 2011, and the two couples collaborated in 2016 to hold a fundraising event for East Anglia's Children's Hospices at Houghton Hall, Hitc reported Related Article: Princess Eugenie Feuds with Prince William, Kate Middleton After Royal Disgrace Over Prince Andrew Scandal @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Tavistock transgender clinic now appears to have been little more than a human laboratory where thousands of vulnerable young people were treated as guinea pigs. The announcement that its to be shut down is therefore a cause for celebration and another indication that the tide may finally be turning against the madness of extreme trans activism. It follows the tribunal victory of barrister Allison Bailey, who was victimised at work for disagreeing with the idea that someones biological sex can change. So could it be that common sense may finally be starting to prevail over the cynical bullying of the militant trans lobby? For years, those including this newspaper who dared to question the Tavistocks practices were branded transphobes, and even accused of putting vulnerable young lives at risk. We must NEVER let the rantings of a fringe minority silence free speech, reason and medical evidence We now know the opposite was true. Fuelled by an ideologically-driven agenda, the clinic was risking long-term damage to childrens development without proper scrutiny or clinical governance. Dont take our word for it. Read the interim conclusions of the official review by consultant paediatrician Hilary Cass. She found the service was not safe for young people (could there be a more damning indictment?), with children as young as ten being given largely untested drugs to block puberty. Medics were pressurised to accept that children were serious in their desire to change gender, rather than go through the normal process of clinical assessment. Crucially, doctors failed to look carefully enough at the mental state of the patients or examine other medical issues. Given that they included boys and girls with autism, that is unforgivable. Mercifully, this outrage appears to be over. In years to come we will surely look back and wonder how it was ever allowed to happen at all. But if there is one lesson to be learned, let it be this: We must NEVER let the rantings of a fringe minority silence free speech, reason and medical evidence. Use profits to cut bills No one should begrudge private firms making a healthy profit. They have to fund not only staff wages, running costs, and shareholder dividends but also the research and development necessary to secure future competitiveness. However, when profits are perceived to tip over into profiteering, public faith in the free market crumbles and the whole system is at risk of breaking down. The vast gains announced by Shell and British Gas owner Centrica on the back of steepling oil and gas prices will be seen by many as obscene. While millions of families are struggling to pay spiralling energy and fuel bills, their suppliers are swimming in extra profits they havent truly earned. So the public will rightly ask why some of those profits are not being used to reduce consumer bills which have already gone up by an average of 54 per cent and are set to soar still further. Its true these companies are already subject to a substantial windfall tax and there are calls for them to pay more. But when they are making a fortune in the midst of a cost of living crunch, wouldnt it be far better and more ethical simply to lower their prices? Britain, we are often told, is a deeply racist and intolerant society, in which sinister power structures hold back minority ethnic groups, while the white majority push selfishly ahead. Yet new data flies in the face of this fashionable narrative. Following a national drive to make undergraduate intakes more diverse, figures released on Thursday by the Department for Education showed that, for the first time, white young people are now proportionately the least likely of all major ethnic groups to attend our top universities. Among Britains Chinese families, some 40.7 per cent of their youngsters made it to Oxford, Cambridge and others in the elite Russell Group in 2020-21. The figures for Asian young people were 16 per cent. It was 10.7 per cent for black families and just 10.5 per cent among white ones. Of course, in some ways, this is an inspirational success story. That children from non-white backgrounds are thriving in Britains educational system is something to celebrate. Commendable, too, are our universities efforts to make their student intakes more diverse. Many of these establishments are world-leading and it is right they should be open to anyone with the brains and aptitude to succeed in them. Britain, we are often told, is a deeply racist and intolerant society, in which sinister power structures hold back minority ethnic groups, while the white majority push selfishly ahead Given the disparity between the ethnic background of undergraduates at our elite universities and the country at large, our institutions risk looking as if they are more interested in promoting diversity than in shaping the minds of our brightest youngsters whatever their race. The diversity drive is only part of the story: culture plays a huge role, too. One of the reasons that children from black African families are doing so much better in attending top universities is because their parents are often particularly focused on education. They put a strong emphasis on family and have low rates of divorce. Such stability helps children flourish. In contrast, poor, white, working-class communities experience far higher rates of family breakdown, as well as other challenges that jeopardise academic success, from addiction to joblessness and mental and physical health problems. Nevertheless, much of the problem does lie firmly with the universities. Not so long ago, Oxford, Cambridge and their like were revered centres of learning where young people could expand their horizons and learn to think critically. Today, they all too often resemble woke citadels, where academics are harassed or sacked if they fail to hold the correct views on issues including Brexit, gender and the legacy of the British Empire. My research has shown that about 80 per cent of academics lean to the Left politically. The small minority who lean to the Right are far more likely to experience political discrimination and to self-censor, or hide, their real views on campus. Not so long ago, Oxford, Cambridge and their like were revered centres of learning where young people could expand their horizons and learn to think critically But if our universities really want to pursue racial equality, they should take a look at some other statistics released this week by the Department for Education. These revealed the numbers of young people who go to university at all not just the elite institutions. The results were even more striking. Fully 81 per cent of Chinese children, almost 66 per cent of Asian children and 48 per cent of mixed-race children go to any university nowadays. The figure for white children? Just 40 per cent. The numbers are even more damning when you look at the details. Among children who receive free school meals that is, the white working-class only 13.6 per cent go to university. The only ethnic groups with even fewer children making it to university are Roma and Traveller Gipsy communities. Why are young white working-class children being let down so badly? Last year, I found some answers as I advised the Governments Education Committee. We produced a report highlighting how decades of neglect and muddled policy thinking have contributed to this sorry state of affairs. But few among the metropolitan Twitterati, who cling to the notion that Britain is institutionally racist, are willing to speak up for the white working class, let alone the universities who peddle the same eccentric worldview. In March, Nottingham University withdrew an honorary degree from Tony Sewell, the black educational consultant who had been appointed to chair a race commission by Boris Johnson While its vital that our universities do all they can to attract promising youngsters from every background, the Education Committees report was clear. The pendulum has swung too far the other way. We made particular mention of the dubious arguments that have been imported from the U.S. and are now swirling around our education system. These would have you believe most Britons benefit from white privilege and should apologise for who they are. These ideas are not supported by empirical evidence. Indeed, they may have contributed directly to the neglect of white working-class pupils. And the problem is getting worse. Only this week, the Dont Divide Us group found nearly one in four local councils are actively promoting a divisive brand of anti-racism in schools, pushing concepts such as white privilege and unconscious bias into the classroom. Meanwhile, the think-tank Neon has produced a report showing how, although universities have many initiatives to attract minority groups, they simply dont invest nearly the same amount of money and energy into encouraging white working-class children. That was the universitys right, of course. But Nottingham had no problem expanding its reach into China and handing out honorary degrees to leading Chinese Communists This hypocritical disparity was never more apparent than in 2018, when the millionaire rapper Stormzy announced he was funding a scheme to provide scholarships for black students studying at Cambridge. Good for him. But the following year, philanthropist Sir Bryan Thwaitess attempts to fund similar scholarships for poor white students were turned down by both Dulwich College and Winchester College two of Britains top private schools for fear that it would be regarded as racial discrimination. The double standards are glaring. But the woke brigade brooks no criticism even, or perhaps especially, from the very minorities it purports to represent. In March, Nottingham University withdrew an honorary degree from Tony Sewell, the black educational consultant who had been appointed to chair a race commission by Boris Johnson, and who had challenged the claim that Britain is institutionally racist. That was the universitys right, of course. But Nottingham had no problem expanding its reach into China and handing out honorary degrees to leading Chinese Communists. Other universities are equally willing to take money from the ghouls of Beijing a regime that is torturing and enslaving Uighur Muslims as I write while performatively obsessing over decolonising their curriculums and tying themselves in knots over the role some of their historic benefactors may or may not have played in the Transatlantic slave trade. This hypocritical disparity was never more apparent than in 2018, when the millionaire rapper Stormzy announced he was funding a scheme to provide scholarships for black students studying at Cambridge We need to challenge this dangerous and divisive woke ideology one that is spinning such a misleading picture of modern Britain. Ours is not an institutionally racist country: quite the opposite. As the latest statistics suggest, it is one of the best places in the world to be a member of an ethnic minority. At the same time, we need to speak up loudly for white working-class children and recognise that the noble aim of increasing diversity in the classroom and the lecture hall especially when couched in the language of oppression and white privilege has costs as well. Only by doing these things will we ensure that yet another generation of white working-class children do not find themselves so unfairly left behind and watch aghast as our universities become even less representative of the country at large. Spring of 2008, and the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida sparkled in the sun, and I was a wasteland. Worse, a silly, frightened woman. My husband, Conrad Black, was in prison while I lived alone in a large seashore house where migrants would occasionally wash up under our stairs down to the beach, sometimes alive and sometimes tragically dead. They werent my main fear, though I regretted the lack of a man in the house to deal with them. It was the home- grown invaders who now and then robbed and assaulted. And the terrible silence of a house in which no one lived but my shadow. Dont stop at traffic lights if youre driving home late at night, the local deputy police chief had told me, after I explained I would definitely not follow his advice and get a gun. Just a quick look both ways and then drive fast through the intersection or theyll bust your windscreen. Get a Kuvasz, my former husband had advised more prudently. Theyll protect you. Being Hungarian, he was referring to the breed of dog that had guarded the junk yard near his home in Budapest. I took his advice and got, in fairly quick succession, two Kuvasz Maya and Arpad. Maya, my Empress, died of a deadly splenetic cancer in 2020, aged 12 a decent lifespan for a large-breed dog. Only Arpad survives. Now the tables are turned I protect him. Devotion: Writer Barbara Amiel wont leave the side of Arpad, her beloved Kuvasz whose health is declining Every morning, around 7.30am, my herniated discs squeak as I pull myself up from the air mattress on our dining-room floor, where Ive been sleeping since June 2021. This is not due to a rift with my husband, but a concern for the near 13-year-old semi-paralysed dog who can no longer mount the stairs to our bedroom. Mornings, he needs help to leave the house, and at night I can hear the panicked wheezing and small noises when he requires assistance with his breathing. There isnt much longer to go and he needs me near, just as I needed him so desperately for most of his life. Its a fair exchange. The night Arpad arrived was muggy and about 80f. At 1.30am, I stood in the cargo section of Floridas Fort Lauderdale airport waiting for the eight-weeks-less-a day puppy. He had travelled 16 hours from Montana in Americas North-West. I heard him first, an irrepressible bark somewhere in the back of the hall, and then the cargo handlers put a crate in front of me. A bundle of white fur jumped out, already about 16lb, wagging his tail and immediately trying to ravish the quiet lady-like lapdog being released next to him much to the annoyance of the lapdog woman waiting for her. Yep, I thought. This is definitely my dog. When I brought him home to his crate and shut the door for the night, he began to cry the first time away from his mother and litter of nine siblings. There were no smells he could understand. Maya, then nearly two years old, watched him indifferently. Finally, some dormant maternal instinct kicked in, and she wandered over to the outside of his crate, put her wet nose through its crosswires and her long, furry body up against the side. He snuggled into her smells and the crying stopped. He would idolise her all her life. I had already registered his name with the American Kennel Club The Grand Prince Arpad in deference to his ancestry. Prince Arpad had moved the Magyars and dogs into the Carpathian basin around the 10th century. Later, the first King Matthias of Hungary doted on his Kuvasz and knew, as I do, that they were far more reliable than people and hypoallergenic as well. Only nobility were permitted to have these majestic, all-white long-haired dogs of Tibetan/ Asian background. But kingdoms pass and royal hunting fields become more utilitarian pastures. Kuvasz excelled as working farm dogs, guarding owners and flocks until the tragedy of World War II when the Germans invaded Hungary and shot every Kuvasz that confronted them. By 1945, there were said to be fewer than two dozen in the entire country. This is a breed that will fight to the death to safeguard its territory and owner. No special training needed its the instinct bred over 1,000 years. Well, I said to my little white ball of fur: Im your flock. Protect me please. He turned out to be an overachiever. He saved my mental health. Then he saved my life. As far as I was concerned, my life wasnt worth that much back then. Until it was endangered: a year later, 4.30am and I lay in bed writing a letter to Conrad when the doorknobs of my locked bedroom doors turned. Frozen with fear, I couldnt move. Almost simultaneously, my two Kuvasz flew past my bed growling like something out of The Hound Of The Baskervilles. They literally hurled their bodies up against the door. Now I knew this was not a delusional response made worse by the meds I was taking. The Kuvasz had heard and smelled an intruder on their territory. Barbara Amiel in the snow with her Kuvasz dogs I ran into the bathroom and called the police, who arrived within five minutes. The intruder had left. Indeed, the police nearly left, too, when confronted with my dogs. Two nights later a man was arrested after attempting to suffocate a 68-year-old woman in her bedroom less than a mile away. It was only the luck of her son upstairs that got the pillow off her face in time to prevent her murder. The police called to tell me. For the next ten years of his life, Arpad became my shadow. I was never alone again. Whatever the FBI or lawyers threw at me during the seemingly endless years of my husbands battle against criminal charges, I could take my dogs for an hour-long walk and calm my breathing down. When I sat for three years writing my memoirs, Arpad curled up on the daybed in my office for the entire slog and slept with open eyes, watching me. Maya remained largely outside in the daytime, conscientiously patrolling our large property and putting the fear of God into any of the Press that tried to climb the fence for photos. Words are threadbare for what these two dogs did for me. Now Arpad alone lies with me: outside my open office door during the day and the dining room at night, both just off the front hall where his illness has imprisoned him. His breathing is quiet when hes sleeping and breathing through his nose, but when he wakes he opens his mouth, pants, and discovers trouble. Laryngeal paralysis has silenced his bark, the muscles around his trachea are failing and the vet says that its like trying to breathe through a straw. Panic makes the situation worse, and at night when I hear him in distress, my getting up and stroking his head calms him until he falls asleep again. On top of this, Degenerative Myelopathy (the canine version of Motor Neurone Disease) is taking away his ability to walk. He hobbles on bloodied, knuckled paws with no feeling in them, and his legs cross over and trip him up. This is what old age and the coming of death looks like. Brutal. Arpad was car-crash handsome, Maya quite beautiful, and walking the two of them became as distinctive as walking two polar bears which they were often called He lies between two Dyson fans on the floor that mimic the breezes he loves. A couple of times a day I can help him navigate to the grass outside while I hold his Help Em Up Harness so I can (just) lift his 115 lb weight. We sit together, watching the trees and birds, and sometimes, when I take him to a grassy knoll by the gates, he can see people and cars. But then he tries to bark at dogs going by, as he always did, and his strangled voice is barely audible. He cant understand why and he keeps trying. Hes slowly suffocating and very soon weeks, not months I will have to act. He still rumbles with pleasure when I scratch him and he still eats his meals, though not as much. But keeping a stoic dog for yourself when they are suffering silent, blind pain is a selfish and cruel indulgence. Every dog owner thinks their dog is special and in my view every dog is, whether mutt, designer mix or purebred. In the UK, I found a lot of snobbery among purebred dog owners who sniff, even sneer, at the new 60-plus doodle breeds. Just because breeders have mixed poodles with every possible dog breed doesnt mean that the result is somehow inauthentic, or they are lesser dogs. Doodles are wonderful dogs imbued with that marvellous poodle intelligence, even if their new breed names are twee: cockapoos, labradoodles, bernedoodles. No one Ive met in the UK has an opinion on Kuvasz, mainly because there dont seem to be any here. Kuvasz arent even properly recognised by the UK Kennel Club yet theyre put on the Imported Breed Register which is odd really, since they are a European dog and have been fully recognised for 91 years by the American Kennel Club. I suppose British flocks havent got the sort of predators that U.S. and European flocks face: wolves, big cats, coyotes, bears. So British farmers may not think of guard dogs, only herding ones the shelties, collies and Welsh corgis. During the pandemic, dogs of every kind were brought home as a distraction and then, painfully, some abandoned when life normalised, some even with their muzzles taped so they couldnt bark or eat. And yet, a dog wants only one thing: to please its owner. Human beings are, I think, the only species on earth that deliberately tortures other species and each other. When Arpad arrived in my life, I had been in a horribly depressed limbo, hair unwashed, crumpled clothes complete with nightly contemplation of pills and ways out. But Arpad was car-crash handsome, Maya quite beautiful, and walking the two of them became as distinctive as walking two polar bears which they were often called. My spirits were lifted by their buoyancy and happy sniffs of the air and ineffectual chases of seagulls; I began to dress up tidily for my dogs and almost felt like the postcard beauty with two Borzois. Happily, Conrad returned from prison and for the first time met the dogs. Maya quickly sized him up as no bother. Arpad was not quite the same. The first time I left Conrad alone with the dogs, I gave him my serious talk about how to handle Arpad: Keep your eye on him all the time. Hes still a puppy in spite of his size, and doesnt like to be alone yet. I reminded him of the ritual chant by the Westminster Dog Show commentator on the appearance of the Kuvasz in the ring: Here come the beautiful Kuvasz. These dogs are not for the first-time owner or the timid. Yes, yes, Barbara. Youd think Id never had a dog. (He did once, long ago in his childhood a standard poodle.) I had been away about ten minutes when my phone rang. As Conrad had sat, reading the memoirs of some ghastly general in some remote European 19th-century war, Arpad had mounted our bed, urinated on it, torn up the sheet and mattress and was spitting horsehair balls. Maya, my Empress, died of a deadly splenetic cancer in 2020, aged 12 a decent lifespan for a large-breed dog, only Arpad survives, now the tables are turned I protect him Conrad was enraged. Arpad was indifferent to him. It took Maya to calm the two males down. When Conrad was again absent in prison for another nine months, Arpad cleared his mind of this biped intruder. On my husbands return, the interruption of a chat I was having with Arpad involved a brass candelabra from the hall table, a rolled-up newspaper and the hideous choice about which to use on the snarling dog. A swipe and Arpad backed down. From that moment, Conrad was allowed to sleep in my bed and was accepted as a member of the pack, albeit a junior one. Looking at my almost inert dog now, I can remember, painfully, the old days. Arpad bemused when a butterfly perched on his nose. Sharing an ice-cream cone with him off Palm Beachs Worth Avenue. Crying into Arpads fur on returning from a prison visit to Conrad while Maya licked the side of my face sympathetically. Arpad celebrating with me when I finished a chapter of my memoirs hed have a piece of cheddar and Id have a piece of pizza. Or was it the other way around? Arpad, never ill a day in his life, till 13 months ago when, on June 5, he found he couldnt go upstairs and from that moment on, the travail and tears. Memories, and the sweetest one will be this: my pleasure on waking at 7.30am to his grateful welcome and to my knowledge that I can give back to him a little of what hes given me. Rudyard Kipling knew . . . You will discover how much you care/ And will give your heart to a dog to tear! The sudden shuttering of Londons Tavistock clinic, which wrongly prescribed powerful puberty blockers and other drugs to thousands of vulnerable children, will be marked by history as the moment the tide turned on the NHSs obsession with extreme trans ideology. No public institution has embraced this dogma more fervently and now, we see, so damagingly than our precious Health Service. Biological reality, let alone womens hard-won rights, have often been flung aside by those who run the NHS, with devastating consequences. At the Tavistock, which was obsessively championed by trans-rights activists, children were fast-tracked into changing gender, with many suffering permanent physical and mental damage. Yet despite this much-needed closure, which will make the lives of many confused children far safer, the bullying of woke warriors and trans-rights obsessives in the NHS continues. Inclusion: NHS staff taking part in London Pride Managers often seem to have an insatiable appetite to transform the health service into an instrument of political correctness. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, for example, holds that trans women should be placed on female wards, even if they retain male sex organs. As the Mail has also revealed, the NHSs online advice pages have been rewritten to contain desexed terminology straight out of George Orwells dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The term women has been ditched from guidance about the menopause, while the NHS also states tautologically that anyone with ovaries can get ovarian cancer. People know when they are pregnant, the bizarre website continues, scrupulously avoiding the word women. Critics point out that those behind this revolution are guilty of misogynistic double standards. For while the NHS downplays womanhood, it typically fails to do the same with men. Official advice on erectile dysfunction, for example, states that the problem is particularly common in men over 40 and that most men occasionally fail to keep an erection. No gender sensitivities there. Sometimes, the issue can be truly absurd. Take Leslie Sinclair, a 66-year-old retired driver for an engineering company from Scotland. Over the past five decades, he has selflessly donated 125 pints of blood to the transfusion service. But his altruism counted for nothing when he turned up at his local Albert Halls clinic in Stirling for another act of life-saving generosity and was asked to fill in an official form. One question jumped out at him: Are you pregnant or have you been in the last six months? Unsurprisingly, Mr Sinclair considered the question ridiculous and refused to answer. Yet, incredibly, staff told him that his blood could not be accepted. It was yet another case of politically correct box-ticking triumphing over common sense all the more shocking as the transfusion service desperately needs blood. The episode could almost be a metaphor for what is happening across the NHS which is why the closure of the Tavistock is so striking. The NHS has at times resembled nothing so much as an instrument of social engineering, rather than somewhere we go to have our health needs met. At the Tavistock, which was obsessively championed by trans-rights activists, children were fast-tracked into changing gender, with many suffering permanent physical and mental damage The former Tory Chancellor Nigel Lawson famously said that the NHS was the closest thing that English people had to a religion. But today, the service especially its management has looked more like a cult. Fixation with transgender issues is one example, with expectant mothers referred to as birthing people or child-bearing individuals. The Royal College of Midwives refers to gender-diverse individuals. Understandably, one midwife last month said she was ashamed by the colleges stance, which she called nonsense and offensive. Meanwhile, Baroness Nicholson warned in the House of Lords recently about the impact of this dogma on the safety of female patients. The respected peer referred to a shocking incident in which a hospital covered up an alleged rape by a transgender patient on a single-sex ward. At times, this woke agenda is used to obscure or excuse systemic failings. Last month, Dr Nick Watts, the NHSs chief sustainability officer, declared that for GPs to abandon face-to-face appointments a move that has caused so much of the public to despair was better for the planet because the switch to online and telephone consultations reduced carbon emissions. Doctors withdrawal from their essential duties was presented as a pathway for social justice, as part of the NHSs stated mission to create a world-class zero-emission health service. If the NHS delivered decent healthcare, much of this would not matter. Yet and perhaps in some cases as a direct consequence of its new-found priorities it is failing in its prime duty to keep the nation healthy. The more NHS chiefs trumpet their commitment to diversity, inclusion and the environment, the more badly they seem to perform at their real jobs. The number of people waiting for hospital treatment has reached an extraordinary 6.5 million. Thanks partly to the breakdown in the GP service, pressures on accident and emergency units are intense. At least five per cent of those admitted to such units have to wait 12 hours before being seen. In April, a study by the think-tank Civitas found that the UK was ranked 17th out of 19 advanced nations for life expectancy: far behind Germany, Spain and Japan. As researcher Tim Knox said: Our cancer survival rates are shockingly low. We are the worst for strokes and heart attacks. We are one from bottom for preventing treatable diseases. We are third from bottom for infant mortality. These problems are not down to underfunding, as so many Left-wing campaigners pretend. In fact, in 2019, Britains expenditure on healthcare, at 10.2 per cent of GDP, was in line with the European average. Moreover, NHS spending is due to increase dramatically from 124 billion in 2020 to more than 160 billion in 2025, helped by the recent 1.25 percentage point hike in national insurance, which will help raise 12 billion. Baroness Nicholson warned in the House of Lords recently about the impact of this dogma on the safety of female patients as she shared a shocking incident where a hospital covered up an alleged rape by a transgender patient on a single-sex ward Yet so much of the extra cash is wasted through mismanagement, empire-building and low productivity. And with health outcomes in Britain worse than many other rich countries, you might think that following non-medical priorities and changing official language in line with woke thinking might be jettisoned. But, no. The woke agenda continues, spawning a bloated and ever-growing class of officials whose prime job is not frontline healthcare. It is no exaggeration to say that the NHS has become the biggest branch of Britains diversity industry, employing hundreds of equality and inclusion officers paid for by taxpayers. According to one recent study by the Mail, the number of such posts in the NHS has soared by 50 per cent in the past year alone, with more than 400 now estimated to be on the public payroll. Among recent NHS job adverts have been a Head of Organisation, Development, Culture and Diversity at the North West University Healthcare NHS Trust in London, on a salary of some 81,000, to build diverse leadership thought and facilitate change. In South-East London, Oxleas NHS Trust felt it needed a Head of Equalities and Human Rights on about 69,000, leading cultural change and working in partnership with key stakeholders to create an inclusive service. Some organisations are explicit about their political mission. You will support with raising awareness across the Trust at all levels to shift behaviour and thinking, proclaims the Solent NHS Trust as it seeks a 53,000 Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. That the NHS bosses advertising these jobs have become entrenched in their new beliefs was seen in the depressing outcome of a review into NHS management conducted earlier this year by the ex-Royal Marines leader General Sir Gordon Messenger, who twice won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on missions to Iraq and Afghanistan. With his remit to shake-up the service, Messenger could have inspired a rethink about the woke take-over. Sadly, he became its ally. As former Tory minister Lord (Peter) Lilley pointed out: This terror of the Taliban and scourge of Saddam was no match for the social justice brigade, who reduced him to spouting every fashionable nostrum instead of showing his military skills. In part, Left-wing politicisation has so easily found a home because of the health services innate right-on ethos and its centralised command structure. Wokery is now woven into its fabric. Staff networks increasingly act as engines for the juggernaut of the diversity industry. The Faith and Belief (FAB) group, for example, at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, extends its embrace to Paganism, which supposedly covers Heathen, Druid and Wiccan lifestyles. In May, the NHS Employers quango held an Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Week. This featured a talk on multiple sources of oppression by a doctor from the NHS Muslim Womens network and a conversation on the challenge of transitioning [changing sex] while still employed in the NHS. Bullying the public into changing its beliefs about issues such as trans rights often appears more important than the publics health. A report from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trusts Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team partnered with the LGBT Foundation to deliver a Pride in Practice Programme. The programme is a kind of purity test for officialdom, where public bodies compete to be awarded medals by the Foundation that assesses their commitment to providing inclusive services. A similar but even more extensive initiative is run by Stonewall, which began as a pressure group for gay and lesbian equality but has been transformed into an aggressive advocate for transgender issues, using its Diversity Champions accreditation scheme described by some as a protection racket to make money and intimidate corporations into adopting its narrow outlook. Such radicalism is now common in the NHS. Far from promoting harmony, some staff have been left feeling guilty about their white privilege, the microaggressions they may have committed and their unconscious bias. One NHS diversity course told its participants that white people will need to see themselves as racial beings. The episode could almost be a metaphor for what is happening across the NHS which is why the closure of the Tavistock is so striking There was widespread outrage last year when it was revealed that the NHS had created a guide to approved terminology and even opinions, covering cultural appropriation and patriarchy. The glossary attacked white supremacy, white centering (the conscious belief that whiteness is the norm), and white fragility (a range of defensive moves by white people), misogynoir (misogyny specifically aimed at black women) and intersectionality (multiple impacts of discrimination). This much-criticised document was subsequently withdrawn. The irony behind all this frenzied activity? The NHS is probably already the most diverse employer in Britain. More than 42 per cent of medical staff already come from ethnic minority backgrounds. But that reality never seems to halt the advance of the zealots. Like Marxist ideology in the creaking Soviet Union, this woke dogma serves as a gigantic distraction from failure. Poor performance becomes the justification for ever-greater emphasis on equality and diversity. In this way, the NHS becomes trapped in permanent revolution the term championed by the Soviet Marxist Leon Trotsky. So officialdom grows and the managers seize more power and those who the NHS was set up to look after, the patients, risk not being treated and, instead, become its political pawns. Experts have warned that women risk scarring and burning their genitals by using creams designed to lighten the vaginal area. Products being sold online and in UK pharmacies offer women from non-white backgrounds the opportunity to bleach their intimate areas in a bid to be 'more attractive in a Western way'. Just one such product is offered by Birmingham-based Severina's Secrets, which charges 75 for its Perfectly Pink Privates Deluxe Whitening Cream. Meanwhile pharmacies in Edgeware Road, London, where there is a high population of Arabs and Egyptians, have a wide stock of similar whitening products such as the Cleo Fem 'intimate whitening serum'. While these are regulated products and there is no suggestion that these particular creams pose any harm, NHS gynaecologist Dr Ahmed El Ghazim has warned that unregulated products 'may contain corrosive substances such as bleach'. 'If a product is not correctly regulated, and produced outside of the UK it may cause burning, scarring and skin problems that will look far worse than a dark vaginal area,' he said. The deluxe cream for men and women retails at 75.99 on Severina's Secrets The deluxe cream for men and women retails at 75.99 on Severina's Secrets This Cleo 'intimate whitening serum' was found in a London pharmacy 'Women of colour will naturally have a darker vaginal area, and this should not cause any concern. 'The products may not necessarily be harmful to use, but are harmful in the sense that they promote fairness.' Skin lightening is a multi-billion-pound global industry with big name brands such as Elizabeth Arden, Clinique, Garnier and Vaseline offering products. However, there is a booming market in illegal creams, soaps and pills, containing highly damaging ingredients such as mercury, bleach and acid. Egyptian beauty and Egyptology graduate Julie Fokeh,28, has used lighteners on her armpits and sometimes her face - but wants to tell others they are 'beautiful as they are'. Skin lightening: Practice dating back thousands of years that's now a multi-billion-pound global industry Skin lightening is practiced everywhere from the US to Africa and South East Asia, and dates back thousands of years. In ancient Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia, women painted their faces with a paste containing lead and chalk to appear whiter, because a lighter complexion was associated with being wealthy enough to stay out of the sun, while those doing manual labour were darker. Evidence has also been found in Ancient Egpyt, according to reports presented to the International Conference of Comparative Mummy Studies in Hildesheim, Germany in 2016, which said: 'The remains of a young woman from 3,500 years ago was found with evidence of skin bleaching. 'According to the researchers, this condition possibly points to a skin disorder known as exogenous ochronosis, and the dermatosis is often caused by protracted use of skin bleaching cosmetics.' Today, clinics in Egypt offer skin whitening as standard for as little as 150 over several sessions to create a more 'ideal' look, this can range from the face to the bikini area. When the British occupied Egypt in the 50s the fairer skinned look was then adapted into advertising and continues until today, where models are seen with lighter eyes, skin and hair. Sudan, just below Egypt has similar attitudes to whitening, and many of the same products are sold there. People in Africa have used homemade remedies involving bleach and have suffered horrific burns as a result, because they can not afford a professional treatment, while countries such as Rwanda have banned lightening products. Nigeria is the biggest consumer of lightening products in Africa and the WHO estimates that 77 per cent of women use them. Skin lightening in Africa exploded in the 50s and 60s as nations gained their independence and people wanted the power and privilege associated with whiter skin. Colourism in India began before colonialism in the 1600s, when social hierarchy was based on caste systems. The wealthy, royals and priests were at the top, while those with manual labour jobs were at the bottom. Those working agricultural jobs in the fields became darker due to their sun exposure, starting the association that those with darker skin were lower in social hierarchy. This was further ingrained into society during the colonial times, when European invaders cemented the belief that those with lighter skin were more powerful and therefore had access to more privileges. The common belief was that those of higher social hierarchy weren't as exposed to the sun as the lower castes, and could stay indoors. A Washington University Global Studies Law Review found that invaders including Mughals, Portuguese, and British came to India as early as AD 712. They note that 'Arab and Muslim invaders, including the Mughals, came from the Arabic and Persian Belt and had a fairer skin tone than the majority of the local Indian population', and were seen as more powerful. The belief became so ingrained into society, that India's first fairness cream 'Fair and Lovely' for women was introduced in the 1970s. In 2005, India's first fairness cream for men followed, Fair and Handsome, and was even endorsed by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Advertisement The worst of these, a chemical called hydroquinone, is officially banned in the EU, but can still be prescribed by dermatologists for cosmetic reasons and isnt hard to find in the UK. In removing the top layer of skin, which initially results in a brighter looking face, it also removes the bodys natural defence against infection and the sun, increasing the risk of skin cancer. If it enters the bloodstream, it can cause fatal liver and kidney damage. Skin whitening is common within black, Asian and North communities, where women are led to believe that whiteness is more beautiful. One Egyptian woman who has used whitening creams, albeit not on her genitals, told Femail that it's particularly common among brides. Julie Fokeh, 28, an Egyptology graduate living in Cairo, said: 'Men expect women to have a lightened private area on their wedding night. For a lot of women here this is the first time they will have sex, so they want to be perfect.' 'They will spend money they don't have on creams and treatments for the wedding night just to make sure they appear as the men want. 'This is why those types of creams are used. It's not only products found in the pharmacy. We can also have laser sessions for whitening. 'I think it's bad when women don't accept themselves or do this for a man. I am trying to tell people that men also have different colours on their private areas, no one is perfect. We should accept ourselves as beautiful. 'We have a culture here that the female should be perfect, but not the man. Men here seem to love foreign girls and because of the sun we obviously just don't have that type of white skin. So a lot of people use them to counteract the darkening of the skin from the sun. 'However many men in Egypt are drawn to whiteness because of cultural aspects. In our culture, things that are different or forbidden are seen as attractive. 'So if a man sees a European woman, he is drawn to her - because it is rare to find that kind of beauty here. 'Some Egyptian women would buy these products in an attempt to emulate that type of look.' One woman, 30, who is half-Egyptian and grew up in the UK told Femail she spent most of her life being called 'half-caste' and was told to 'brush her hair' by teachers. 'My natural curlier hair was seen as messy and I would spend all day brushing it but the teachers would say I "looked a mess". 'I've also been bullied for how I look and my dark hair. When I was 11 my mum introduced me to bleach for my top lip hair. I was also told by my father that white, blonde women are more beautiful. 'Surrounded by Western looking girls in class I often felt ugly and ashamed. 'Also in the changing rooms, I noticed my vaginal area appeared darker than theirs and even when shaved had a shadow, I felt jealous it wasn't white. 'Last year I bought the skin whitening cream for my bikini area in a shop because I feel it's too dark. It worked, but I didn't really research what was in it. I felt more beautiful and confident afterwards.' Some of the products on offer to women looking to lighten their private areas include Severina's Secrets run by Bulgarian born Severina Radoslavova Baycheva and Romanian born Maria Dinu. Its range includes Perfectly Pink Privates Deluxe Whitening Cream for women and men, as well as 'pure spray' for vaginas. The whitening cream, made from 'natural ingredients' retails at a hefty 75 and claims to 'turn you into the confident powerful being you've always been'. It contains Kojic Acid, a by-product created while fermenting malting rice to use for making sake, Japanese rice wine, which inhibits the formation of pigment in plant and animal tissues, hence its use in lightening products. Other products contain Citrus Medica Limonum (lemon) extract, which is known for it's natural bleaching properties. Cleo Intimate whitening serum, which retails at 10.75 claims to be 'A hypoallergenic intensive formula that lightens, tightens and tones the vaginal walls, eliminating infection, itchiness & discharge', as well as lightening the skin. A Sydney-based model has revealed how she flew 17,000km to the UK to donate part of her liver to her newborn nephew after he was born with a rare condition, only for it to change her career and body forever. Sophie Hughes, now 31, had been living in the Harbour City for nine years when her nephew Oscar was born with a rare condition called Biliary Atresia which causes the bile ducts outside and inside the liver to become scarred and blocked. Her brother Ant, 37, told her about his son's condition in an email in May 2016,and knowing the newborn needed a liver donation, Sophie flew back to her native UK and discovered she was a match for the little one. Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, Sophie revealed how she was left with a 18cm scar on her stomach, and quickly gained weight, going from a size 6 (left) to a size 14 (right) A Sydney-based model has revealed how she flew 17,000km to the UK to donate part of her liver to her newborn nephew after he was born with a rare condition - only for it to change her career forever Her brother Ant, 37, had told her about his son's condition in an email and knowing the newborn needed a liver donation, Sophie flew back to her native UK and discovered she was a match for the little one. Sophie is pictured in 2016 with her nephew With little Oscar getting sicker and sicker by the day, Sophie decided to donate part of her liver to save her nephew's life. But as a result of the gruelling eight-hour operation, her body changed forever. Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, Sophie revealed how she was left with a 18cm scar on her stomach, and quickly gained weight, going from a size 6 to a size 14. This left her believing she'd never model again as she was 'terrified' to show off her scar in public. However, five years on she's now a successful curve model and proudly shows off her scar, often posing in lingerie and bikinis to the delight of her thousands of Instagram followers. 'The response to my curve modelling and scar has been amazing, I have women comment [on my Instagram] saying "she looks like me!," she told FEMAIL. With little Oscar getting sicker and sicker by the day, Sophie decided to donate part of her liver to save her nephew's life. Oscar is pictured in hospital Five years, Sophie is a successful curve model and proudly shows off her scar, often posing lingerie and bikinis to her thousands of Instagram followers. Little Oscar (pictured, together), now six, is doing 'really well' 'And they message me telling me how much more confident they feel in their bodies as a result of me sharing mine. 'I also have lots of young women who have similar scars reach out and thank me for sharing my story, so it's a beautiful positive community'. Sophie, who is originally from Manchester, started modelling aged 15, after being scouted on the streets of London. A few years later, she went backpacking around the world aged 21, when she met her now ex-partner in a bar and moved in with him a few weeks later. She kept her career going in Australia by continuing to model, but four years after she first arrived she had a devastating email from her brother telling her about his son's rare condition. Sophie Hughes, 31, had been living in the Harbour City for nine years, when in May 2016, her nephew Oscar was born with a rare condition called Biliary Atresia which causes the bile ducts outside and inside the liver to become scarred and blocked Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, Sophie revealed how she was left with a 18cm scar on her stomach, and quickly gained weight, going from a size 6 to a size 14 (pictured) Sophie, who is originally from Manchester in the UK, started modelling aged 15, after being scouted on the streets of London Aged 21, Sophie went backpacking around the world, when she met her now ex-partner in a bar and moved in with him a few weeks later Sophie, pictured, kept her career going in Australia by continuing to model, but four years after she first arrived she had a devastating email from her brother telling her about his son's rare condition. Biliary atresia affects about one out in every 18,000 infants. It happens when the liver does not form properly and the bile ducts - vital for liver health and digestion - become blocked. What is Biliary atresia? Biliary atresia is a disease of the bile ducts that only occurs in infants. Bile is a digestive liquid that is made in the liver and travels through the bile ducts to the small intestine, where it helps digest fats. The disease causes the bile ducts to become inflamed and blocked causing the liquid to remain in the liver and destroy the organ. Only one out of every 18,000 infants is diagnosed with the disease and it is unknown what causes it. The cause of biliary atresia is unknown. Research is being carried out but it hasn't provided any definite answers yet and there is no evidence to suggest that biliary atresia is hereditary. If a child is diagnosed with biliary atresia, they will require surgery. This will involve carrying out an investigation called an operative cholangiogram under a general anaesthetic to confirm the diagnosis. If biliary atresia is confirmed then this will be followed by a "Kasai procedure", usually done under the same general anaesthetic at the same time. The aim of the operation is to help bile drain from the liver into the gut. Kasai procedure which involves removing the blocked bile ducts and gallbladder and replacing them with a segment of the child's small intestine. This segment of intestine is sewn to the liver and functions as a new extrahepatic bile duct system. If this isn't successful then the infant will need a liver transplant. Advertisement The disease causes the bile ducts to become inflamed and blocked causing the liquid to remain in the liver and destroy the organ. At six weeks old, Oscar had a Kasai procedure which involves removing the blocked bile ducts and gallbladder and replacing them with a segment of the child's small intestine. This segment of intestine is sewn to the liver and functions as a new extrahepatic bile duct system. However, the procedure didn't work - meaning that Oscar desperately needed a liver donation. At first, the family hoped they could get the donation from a dead donor, and turned down Sophie's offer to return to the UK. But as Oscar's condition worsened, they needed an urgent match from a family member and Sophie got on the next flight to London. 'I flew back to the UK and underwent extensive testing, MRI, cat scan, mental health, pap smear, you name it they tested every inch of me to make sure I was a match and also healthy and stable enough to donate,' she explained. 'Because I had flown back from Australia they rushed me through testing and within a couple of weeks we got the call to say I was a match. 'Oscar was getting sicker every day and we came close to losing him when he suffered a major blood clot, so we knew it was time and we underwent our surgeries in Leeds'. Sophie then spent four months in the UK recovering before she was fit to fly home to Sydney. 'The surgery was eight hours long and I can't even explain how difficult recovery was. 'It was worth it every single minute but it was incredibly taxing and very emotional. 'The first month especially I was averaging 18 hours of sleep a day whilst my liver grew back, incredible really! 'The flight back to Australia was hell, I couldn't sit down so I ended up standing for most of the 24-hour flight, I was completely exhausted but determined to get home to Sydney. While recovering, Sophie took a break from modelling as her body was 'changing rapidly'. 'I gained a lot of weight in a short space, I'd never struggled with weight gain before so that was tough. I levelled out at a size 14'. Initially, she was worried about retuning to modelling. At first, the family hoped they could get the donation from a dead donor, and turned down Sophie's offer to return to the UK. But as Oscar's condition worsened, they needed an urgent match from a family member and Sophie got on the next flight to London Sophie then spent four months in the UK recovering before she was fit to fly home to Sydney 'I was terrified of showing my scar in public, it was quite a deep red and very obvious,' Sophie said. 'To start with and it was a constant source of conversation, so I would hide in a one-piece because I wasn't ready to acknowledge what I'd done and I couldn't handle people calling me a hero or telling me I was amazing whilst I was still busy processing the gravity of what I'd been through. 'I've now been curve modelling for a few years and my career is really taking off over in the UK, I also do lots of social media content creation for brands who want to be representative. 'Any negative commentary would be filtered out by my agents and I'm simply not booked, the clients who book me are so positive and love my scar, love the representation and diversity it brings! 'Having a social media presence is also a big part of having a successful modelling career now, so clients will stalk my socials before booking, read about my story and feel connected to it before we work together, which is really special. Sophie said: ''I was terrified of showing my scar in public, it was quite a deep red and very obvious,' but she now proudly shows it off While recovering, Sophie took a break from modelling as her body was 'changing rapidly'.'I gained a lot of weight in a short space, I'd never struggled with weight gain before so that was tough. I levelled out at a size 14'. Little Oscar, now six, is doing 'really well', Sophie adds. 'He's the cheekiest, happiest six-year-old and I love him to pieces. 'He will be on anti-rejection meds forever and it's going to be a bumpy road no doubt but he's really healthy and we're all so proud of him. Sophie is also back to normal with no 'life-altering' differences to her pre-op self. 'I can't plank! I can't wear anything that digs into my scar and I definitely can't drink like I used to, but I'm also not 21 anymore so I think that may be age. 'Other than that I'm really healthy and have no major impacts, I've been very lucky,' she says. Sophie is also back to normal with no 'life-altering' differences to her pre-op self. 'I can't plank! I can't wear anything that digs into my scar and I definitely can't drink like I used to, but I'm also not 21 anymore so I think that may be age.' Sophie says: ''My goal is for us to get to a space where it's no longer shocking to see diversity in campaigns, it's no longer a big deal, it's no longer considered brave for me to show my scar, it's just normal.' She's also 'very proud' to represent a different kind of model and hopes to get to a point where there are more people like her in the industry. 'I think it's incredibly important [to see diversity in modelling], that representation is everything, whether it's race, gender, or body inclusivity, we have a long way to go but we are making a hell of a start,' 'My goal is for us to get to a space where it's no longer shocking to see diversity in campaigns, it's no longer a big deal, it's no longer considered brave for me to show my scar, it's just normal. 'And I'll keep shouting about it from the rooftops until we do'. Defense officials claim that a security plan, which includes the use of ships and aircraft, is being developed by the Pentagon to ensure the safety of United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi if she pushes her trip to Taiwan with a congressional delegation. The security plan for Nancy Pelosi Taiwan trip is being developed by the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command John Aquilino, who supervises US military operations across the region. Most likely, it would require the approval of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Furthermore, several US officials claim that President Joe Biden would probably also receive a briefing on key points of the plan. One senior Defense official informed CNN any moment a senior US official makes a trip to the region, they are planning "how to make sure" that the official is "safe and secure" as expected. However, the trip has heightened concern within the Biden administration, and Pentagon officials are secretly attempting to persuade Pelosi of the dangers a visit during a highly tense period between Taiwan and China may present. US Army Ensures the Safety of Pelosi,Other Delegates Concerns over military action in the area have also been raised by reports of a US strike group transiting the South China Sea and a Chinese weaponized drone flying east of Taiwan as the island nation began its yearly military exercises, as per a report from The Guardian. The Navy already maintains a sizable force in the area. By taking up a position in the South China Sea, ]assets like the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, equipped with fighter and reconnaissance aircraft, may be deployed closer to Taiwan. Additionally, the Air Force may be deployed for surveillance and to monitor airspace. Other military assets could be placed farther away, prepared to take action in case of emergencies. A second Defense official commented that the type of planning has "always layers of force protection." According to insiders, the Pentagon might also send reconnaissance satellites over the area to actively gather intelligence on Chinese military actions. Read Also: Kim Jong Un Warns To Use Nuke Amid Tensions with US and South, Says North Korea Is Ready To Mobilize Nuclear Deterrent According to a House foreign affairs committee member, Nancy Pelosi has invited senior legislators to travel with her to Taiwan. It is the first apparent verification of the widely rumored trip. Analysts believe that relations between the US, China, and Taiwan are at their most perilous point in decades, and the possible visit by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island is at the center of this. Xi Issues a Stern Warning to Biden Meanwhile, President Joe Biden expressed worries about Pelosi visiting Taiwan when he spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. He claimed over the weekend that American military officials had advised him against traveling to Taiwan at the moment. NBC News reported that Biden and Xi discussed various topics, including concerns about Taiwan. The Chinese used stern language in its readout of the two-hour-plus conversation to warn against any U.S. backing for Taiwan's sovereignty. The Chinese statement reads: "Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the U.S. will be clear-eyed about this." However, lawmakers from the Republican and Democrat parties expressed support for Pelosi, encouraging her to visit and highlight American support for Taiwan. Related Article: Chinese PLAN Refines Its Anti-Sub Warfare Strategy Designed To Intercept US Submarines Reaching Taiwan Strait @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The first series of the rebooted Van Der Valk turned out to be lockdown gold. Airing in April 2020 while we were all stuck at home, it brought the beauty of Amsterdam into our living rooms with three stylish Dutch noir murder-mysteries based loosely on the original 70s series starring Barry Foster, and it proved such a hit with viewers that a second and third series were commissioned immediately. Covid then delayed filming for a year, but the second series of three two-hour episodes finally arrives on ITV next week. And because of the two-year delay between the two series, it kicks off with a particularly high-stakes episode. 'We were conscious of thinking we needed to relaunch the series in a way,' explains creator and writer Chris Murray. 'So we've done a scaled-up story about a serial killer, someone who's killing in ways that relate to the city. Marc Warren and Maimie McCoy as Van der Valk and Hassell in the new series which arrives on ITV next week 'We wanted to tap into the history of the city.' When a solicitor who'd just won a case to evict some squatters is found murdered, and a cryptic note alluding to more killings is found in her jacket, the police turn their focus onto the squatters. Trying to stop the rampage is Piet Van der Valk (Marc Warren), a detective who lives for his job following the tragic death of his wife. His all-action sidekick is Inspector Lucienne Hassell (The Musketeers actress Maimie McCoy), the perfect foil to Van der Valk's reserved nature, and both work under Chief Julia Dahlman (Emma Fielding). For Warren, playing the hero cop was quite a change from his usual turns as bad guys in dramas like Mad Dogs and The Good Wife. 'It's much more minimal than anything I've done before,' says Marc, 55. 'I've tended to play larger-than-life characters, so this is very different. I've noticed that the longer I play Van der Valk, the moodier I seem to get,' he adds. 'I wouldn't say he's a barrel of laughs, but he's got a dry sense of humour.' This new version of Van Der Valk is a departure from the earlier series, with the character drawn quite differently. 'He's a man who's had a life,' says Chris. 'He can mix with high and low culture, with criminals and the great and good.' He lives alone on a houseboat, but he's contemplating finding love again. 'At the end of the last series, you learnt that Van der Valk's partner had drowned after a car accident,' says Marc. 'So we start off this series with him meeting a girl and that relationship runs through the three episodes.' In its 70s heyday, Van der Valk's cases were set among the seedy side of Amsterdam. 'We've made a decision not to go into those worlds, that stereotypical perception of Amsterdam as party central with drugs and sex,' explains Chris. 'We wanted to have a broader palette to work with, and a lot of these stories come from spending time there.' For Warren, playing the hero cop was quite a change from his usual turns as bad guys in dramas like Mad Dogs and The Good Wife And so as well as the canals and Van der Valk's houseboat, the police use the historic city centre restaurant Cafe Scheltema as a secondary station. But as romantic as it looks on-screen, Marc says it's a difficult place to work. 'It's a tough location as it gets very hot,' he sighs. 'Each episode builds to us having to shoot all the police stuff in the last three or four days, and that means a lot of lines. We made a decision not to use the stereotype of Amsterdam as party central with drugs and sex CHRIS MURRAY 'By the end of that you can barely remember your name!' The second and third episodes also delve into the heart of modern Amsterdam. 'The city is famous for its diamond industry, so we wrote about a dysfunctional family in the business,' says Chris. Filming took place in a real diamond factory in Utrecht. 'We were in the workshop which was amazing,' says Maimie. 'Some of the workers have been there 20 years and were extras in the scene.' The third episode is set in the classical music world when a cellist dies after an acid attack. Filming took place at the Muziekgebouw, one of Amsterdam's finest concert halls. Marc and Maimie had to film at tourist hotspots, which sometimes proved a challenge. Pictured: Marc as Van der Walk and Vineeta Rishi as Therese Ramecker Filming in tourist hotspots proved a challenge at times though. 'Maimie and I had to drive through Dam Square at its most packed, wearing bulletproof vests with the flashing lights on,' says Marc. The longer I play Van der Valk the moodier I get hes not a barrel of laughs but he has a dry sense of humour MARC WARREN 'But nobody had told the police and we got pulled over. I thought, 'If we'd had our guns on us, we'd have been in trouble!' Luckily, a crew member showed the police their filming permits. One cast member even got to show off his musical skills. Darrell D'Silva, who plays pathologist Hendrik, actually played in Amsterdam's clubs in the 80s. 'We see Hendrik playing the saxophone in a bar which ties in with my Amsterdam history,' he explains. 'Before I became an actor, I played gigs there.' When Darrell told Marc about his Amsterdam gigs, he went straight to the producers. 'I sent him a video of me playing and he said, 'It's gotta go in the show,' says Darrell. 'So he told Chris about it and in episode one, I'm playing the sax!' Series two of Van Der Valk starts on Sunday 7 August at 9pm on ITV. SHOPPING: Products featured in this article are independently selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, MailOnline will earn an affiliate commission. Whether you want to overhaul your makeup routine, or discover a foundation that leaves a flawless finish, now's your chance as Charlotte Tilbury's summer sale has arrived, and you can save up to 40 per cent off. The British beauty brand behind one of the most famous lipsticks ever (Pillow Talk Original Matte Revolution Lipstick) has launched a not to be missed summer sale brimming with incredible deals on makeup and skincare sets. One of our favourites is this covetable Pillow Talk Luscious Lip Slick kit, which includes three full-sized products to emphasise your pout for under 60 - but hurry, we expect it to sell out. For those looking to treat their skin, the Hydrate & Glow Summer Skin Secrets bundle contains four cult favourites, including the Instant Magic Facial Dry Sheet Mask that's clinically proven to diminish wrinkles, smooth, lift, hydrate and brighten skin. Head over to Charlotte Tilbury's website before the sale ends and check out our top picks below. A woman who was repeatedly raped by her older brother for two years has claimed her parents tried to 'get in her ear' to convince her not to report him. Aoife Farrelly, from Co. Meath, Ireland but now living in Aberdeen, was sexually abused by her then 15-year-old brother from when she was six years old. Last month the 21-year-old waived her anonymity after her brother Cian Farrelly, now 30, was sentenced to four-and-a half-years (with 18 months suspended) in prison to tell her story to TV crews outside Central Criminal Court in Dublin. Now she has opened up in more detail about her ordeal, revealing the moment she first told her parents about her brother's abuse when she was eight-years-old, and finally reporting him to the police in 2020. Speaking on The Women's Podcast for The Irish Times, Aoife claimed her parents tried to dissuade her from going to the police after she told them her plans. Courageous Aoife Farrelly, 21, from Co. Meath, Ireland, spoke out about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her older brother Cian when she was a child left in his care She also revealed she no longer has any contact with her mother and father, but does not hold any ill feeling towards them. Aoife said that before the abuse started she had a happy childhood, but after her brother started attacking her aged six, she began to detatch from the family, and from reality. 'It was hard to know what was reality and what was in my head any more. It was an awful lot to deal with as a six-year-old,' she said. During the interview, Aoife also recalled the moment she first told her mother about Cian's abuse when she was just eight-years-old. 'I was brushing my teeth and I started crying. I said, "Mum I need to speak to you",' she recalled. 'It took me at least an hour to two hours to get it out, just choking on my words.' When Aoife finally managed to explain, her mother went downstairs and immediately told her father. Together, they confronted Cian. 'Being the coward he is he ran straight out of the house and said he was going to kill himself,' she said. However, shortly afterwards Cian came back into the house and admitted 'the lesser of what he was doing' to his parents. After that, Aoife was never left in her older brother's care, but she said the family never spoke of the abuse again. While 'life went back to normal for everyone else' the student's mental health suffered while she kept the secret from everyone else in her life. The family continued on as if 'nothing had happened' and Cian, then 17, continued to live in the same house. 'It was never, ever spoken about ever again,' she said, adding that her family took the view that she had problems with an eating disorder, anxiety self harm and depression for no particular reason. Claiming Cian had 'ripped the guts out' of her childhood and teenage years, Aoife explained she battled an eating disorder, self harmed and suffered from panic attacks due to living with PTSD while living in the same house as Cian until she was 20-years-old. She said: 'No room in that house was safe.' But after meeting a new psychotherapist in March 2020, Aoife said a 'light bulb went off' in her head and she finally decided to report him. The following month, Aoife told her parents what she was doing - and she claims they tried to change her mind. Aoife told podcast host Rosin Ingle: 'They wanted me to weigh up my options.' She added her parents had argued: 'He is your brother at the end of the day' and asked her 'Do you know what's going to happen to him when he goes to prison?' Despite claiming her parents tried to 'get in her ear' to not report Cian, Aoife praised them for giving evidence against her abuser in court. Speaking outside of the Central Criminal Court in Dublin last month Aoife said she didn't blame her parents for not reporting Cian to the police there and then. She explained to Ingle that she wasn't sure her parents were ever aware of the full extent of the abuse. 'I think they did the best with what they had,' she said, explaining her eight-year-old self didn't know how to articulate the horrors Cian had inflicted upon her. When Ingle asked if Aoife's parents had changed their position on their son after hearing the full details of what he had done, the 21-year-old replied: 'I wouldn't know.' She added she has 'refused to speak to them' since the trial, claiming she believes they are still trying to support Cian. 'Again it's the whole thing of why are you doing this to us. What good is going to come from it? Do you not realise the effect it's going to have on our family. 'We were this big close knit family. At one stage all five of us were in our local gym. It was always this joke that we should do something like Ireland's Fittest Family. 'We were this poster family for the best family ever.' She said that she doesn't need 'negativity' for the sake of her mental health, but that she hopes she will reconcile in the future, as long as they are not speaking to Cian. Aoife said: 'Right now they are trying to support the two of us and I don't want anyone on the fence.' Sentencing Cian last month Justice McDermott said he was unable to sentence the abuser as an adult, with a guideline of 10-15 years, because he was underage when he committed the offences. The judge pointed to the element of violence in the attacks, which left a young Aoife 'helpless, isolated and alone'. The court heard horrifying details of the abuse Cian had inflicted upon his sister, including how Farrelly would put his hand over Aoife's mouth to stifle her screams as he raped her and told her the abuse was 'our secret'. Although Aoife does not currently have a relationship with their parents, she told the podcast: 'They really did the best that they could. I wasn't allowed in his care after I spoke to them the first time.' She added: 'Maybe they didn't understand completely what I was trying to say.' Aoife said that she would be open to having a relationship with her parents again in the future. Now living in Scotland and working in a dog-friendly cafe, Aoife still has contact with her older sister, who is the middle sibling of the three and also lives in Aberdeen. The 21-year-old said: 'She's trying to support me as best as she can... So far, so good.' If you have been the victim of rape or sexual assault and you need support, you can call the Rape Crisis helpline on 0808 802 9999 A Primark mega-fan showed her love for the nation's favorite budget retailer by making a 12-hour round trip and travelling 301 miles with a suitcase to fill up at the counter. Suzanne Scott, 28, who's lived abroad in Vancouver for the last few years hasn't had the chance to visit her favorite store. When she was visiting her family home in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, last month to take the train to Birmingham, a 12-hour round trip of 301 miles, to visit the world's biggest Primark. Once there, Suzanne who works as a retail store manager set about filling up the suitcase with 290 worth of merchandise, including toiletries, underwear and clothing. Footage, which has now gone viral on TikTok with more than five million views, shows Suzanne piling her haul into a suitcase while a cashier scanned through the rest of her items in the background. Suzanne Scott was visiting her family home in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland, last month when she opted to take the train all the way down to Birmingham to visit the world's biggest Primark Suzanne filled up her mum's suitcase with clothing, underwear and toiletries in the Birmingham Primark store Shop until you drop! Suzanne heads home after her day of hauling with two additional bags alongside a suitcase stuffed with Primark merchandise Since sharing the clip to TikTok, Suzanne has received a mixed response with many praising her handy hack, whilst others blasted her for 'wasting money'. But she argued that the spree was 'her treat' and she's sure 'people spend more in a week on Shein'. Suzanne said: 'This was my first trip back to the UK in four years. 'It was so lovely being back in Scotland after all this time - it was like I'd never left. 'I decided to do a day trip down to Birmingham to do a Primark shop. I joked: "I better take a suitcase!" and my mum ended up giving me hers. Suzanne poses in the Tasty by Greggs cafe - the world's biggest branch of the bakery chain in the world's biggest Primark The proud Primark mega-fan poses next to the Greggs bus a in store. Earlier this year, Greggs released a sell-out range of clothing stocked in Primark 'I knew it was going to be a big shop. I hadn't been in four years, because they don't have Primark in Canada. 'I wanted to do the day trip down to Birmingham from Scotland. It was a six-hour trip there and a six-hour trip back. 'We got the first train down in the morning and the first train back at night. We didn't get home until 1am. 'We had to get the train from Falkirk to Edinburgh then down to Birmingham. It was a lot of dedication for a Primark shop. 'We went down to Birmingham because that's where the biggest Primark is. I figured it was a case of go big or go home. 'Another reason why I bought the suitcase was because I knew carrying home a ton of bags wouldn't be a good idea. 'I came to about 290 by the end of the shop, which isn't too bad. I got quite a bit for that. I got quite a bit of toiletries, clothing and underwear.' Suzanne admits to missing fast fashion retailer Primark whilst she's abroad and finds she doesn't spend as much whilst shopping in Canada. Suzanne and her family at the start of the 12-hour round trip to Birmingham from their home in Falkirk, Scotland The trio, Suzanne with her aunt and mum, toast on the train with an Irn-Bru, Scotland's bestselling fizzy drink after the thirsty work of Primark shopping Suzanne said: 'I missed Primark a lot whilst I'm over in Canada. I've also lived in New Zealand and Australia, and between the three places there's no Primark. 'It's the big thing when I come home to go to Primark. Other countries don't have anything like it - they don't really do fast fashion, especially at such a cheap price. 'When I was packing it all away, I wasn't even paying attention to anyone who was behind me. I was just like 'Scan, put it in. Scan, put in.' 'I was all business. I was saying, "I'm a cashier, it's fine". It was my day to enjoy.' The retail manager stacked up 290 worth of merchandise with critics saying she's 'wasting money' but Suzanne insists it was a 'treat for herself' Suzanne piled up the goodies which included toiletries to pack into the suitcase Suzanne said: 'I picked up over four million views on the video, it's crazy. Going off the comments, I think it picked up that many because they were saying bringing a suitcase was genius. 'People were saying they were going to bring a suitcase next time they went to Primark. However, there were also negative comments on there from people saying: 'Oh, she's not sustainable' or 'She's wasting money'. Suzanne replied: 'I would say, I don't do big shops that often. When I'm in Canada, I'll be buying the bare minimum. 'It's not like I'm going out spending loads of money all the time. I'm sure plenty of people spend more a week on Shein.' Commenters were left divided over Suzanne's decision to bring a suitcase along for her day-out in Birmingham. One wrote: 'This is so sad', whilst another remarked: 'It's understandable to buy a few fast fashion pieces every now and then but massive hauls like this are so unnecessary.' However, many viewers came to Suzanne's defence saying it's 'her money' and calling naysayers 'Judge Judys'. Suzanne at the till in Primark with her travel sized suitcase as the cashier scans the giant haul One commented: 'It's her money, why you all mad?', as another admitted: 'I'm just disappointed I never thought of this.' Another supportive commenter wrote: 'What's with all the Judge Judys in the comments? Do we not have free will anymore?! Jesus Christ, hope you had a fun shopping trip!!' One admirer said: 'I think it's the best idea. Why bother with struggling with massive bags when you can wheel a suitcase?' Primark has been contacted for comment. A British man who has found love with a Filipina woman claims she will 'cook, clean and treat him like a king' when she moves across the world to be with him in a new episode of 90 Day Fiance UK. Pub quiz company owner Richard, 41, from Preston, Lancashire, has been in a long-distance relationship with Kathleen, 32, from Cebu, the Philippines, for the past four years, and now the couple are planning to live together for the first time. Kathleen, who met her British beau on a dating website, is leaving behind her family and starting a new life as an NHS worker. Their journey will be documented on reality TV series 90 Day Fiance UK, which follows Brits and their long-distance lovers as they live together for the first time. Pub quiz company owner Richard, 41, pictured, from Preston, Lancashire, has been in a long-distance relationship with Kathleen, 32, from Cebu, the Philippines, for the past four years, and now the couple are planning to live together for the first time Kathleen, pictured, who met her British beau on a dating website, is leaving behind her family and starting a new life as an NHS worker In this week's episode, Richard explains he wanted to find a girlfriend who lived overseas because he thinks British women are 'hard work'. 'I have always wanted to find a woman that is more traditional than the modern woman,' he says. 'British women are just hard work. They take, take, take, take, take. 'I'm looking for a woman who doesn't mind picking up my socks.' He continues: 'I met Kathleen on a dating website which was intended for international daters. She's very, very cute. She's got quite a large head in comparison to her body, but what a great a**e.' Speaking on the show, Richard admits he is looking forward to Kathleen moving to the UK so she can take care of him. 'When Kathleen comes to the UK, she's going to treat me like a king,' he says, placing a toy crown on his head. 'King Richard. It would be my ideal scenario that Kathleen would do everything around the house.' Speaking to his friends, he says: 'She's going to cook for me, she's going to clean for me. I get to wake up in the morning next to her.' Richard, pictured, has built a 'pub quiz empire' and is hoping to win big in his love life when Kathleen moves to the UK to be with him Speaking on the show, Richard admits he is looking forward to Kathleen moving to the UK so she can take care of him. Pictured, Kathleen on a video call with Richard Kathleen's family (pictured) are sceptical of her partner's intentions and fear he will take her for granted Richard's friend Gavin questions his thinking, saying: 'She's coming here and going to be working 70, 80 hours a week [in the NHS] and you're not? 'But she's going to do the cooking, the cleaning, the housework as well?' Richard's friend Jenny agrees: 'I wouldn't do it. No, I work 40 hours a week and then I'd have to cook and clean and wipe your backside? No.' Richard is adamant that Kathleen really wants to look after him. 'She wants to be that. She wants to look after me. She wants to do those things,' he says. 'I need looking after. I'm a man child. 'It's literally built into many, many people that that's the job that they're going to do, and they do it without question... I like that. 'She's going to be the rock that can hold me up so I can go off and be fabulous and I can go and work really, really hard.' Speaking to his friends, Richard (pictured left) says: 'She's going to cook for me, she's going to clean for me. I get to wake up in the morning next to her.' Kathleen speaks to a friend about how her and Richard took a six-month break when she found out he was seeing other women He adds: 'The house is pretty clean so it shouldn't be too much work.' One of his friends questions whether the relationship sounds like a fair trade and asks if Kathleen will really have the opportunity to 'improve her life'. Richard hits back: 'If she has an issue, she needs to open her mouth and say something. I'm not forcing her to do anything and I'm not going to tell her to do anything, she's going to do it off her own back. 'If that's a problem for anyone else then that's your problem... Will you stop breaking my balls. She's got equality, she's not a lower human being than me, she is my equal. 'We are a team. She's amazing. You're going to love her. I already do love her. 'I think I know Kathleen well enough that I do believe that it's going to be a fairy-tale, I do think I'm going to have a cleaning fairy. I do think I'm going to have my cake and eat it. It's going to be fab.' Richard explains he wanted to find a girlfriend who lived overseas because he thinks British women are 'hard work'. He also wants someone to take care of the home. Pictured, Richard doing his housework Two friends remain sceptical of how it will unfold and another friend adds: 'There is no doubt about it, Richard has traditional and maybe sexist views but he also has a big heart too.' The couple admit things haven't been smooth sailing. Richard says his girlfriend has 'jealousy' issues and has difficulty with his 'flirtatious' nature. 'My night out starts in the day, around about midday,' he says of his hard-partying lifestyle. 'We'll go pub, pub, pub, pub, pub, club, club, club, strippers, more strippers, kebab shop, taxi, and home.' He continues: 'I will flirt, and I am going to flirt, and it's fun doing so. That can be a little bit awkward when at the end of the night the person that you've been flirting with wants a little bit more than a flirt! Trying to say no when "little Ricky" is going [Richard straightens his index finger] is very, very difficult.' Nearly 7,000 miles away in the Philippines, Kathleen lives a very different life to Richard. 'I live at home with my mum, dad and my brother,' she says. As the eldest child, Kathleen has a variety of responsibilities to oversee in the house. 'I also look after our store near our house,' she says. As Kathleen admits, meeting Richard was never originally part of her life plan. 'We cannot control our feelings, things happen all of a sudden and we fall in love,' she says. 'Richard is very handsome for me, I love his eyes. He is very funny and he talks a lot.' She also reveals her boyfriend's sweet side, adding: 'After two months of talking, he immediately flew here to meet me and my whole family.' However, her family don't trust Richard, and believe that he's only after one thing. 'My family think that Richard is the same as the other white man who comes here in the Philippines and looks for a sex slave,' she says. As she prepares to fly over and join Richard in the UK, Kathleen's brother Khryss shares his concerns. 'Kathleen's attempt to move to the UK worries me a lot,' he says. 'Her life would be different.' Making matters more difficult, moving to the UK means leaving her mother, who has Parkinson's. 'My mum has an illness, she has Parkinson's disease,' she says. 'That's why I do most of the housework.' While Richard continues to paint his perfect picture of what life with Kathleen will look like, he does acknowledge the bumps in the road that the couple have faced during their relationship. 'Me and Kathleen have been in a relationship for four years,' he says. 'We've mostly been together during that time' The couple explain they had a six-month break after Kathleen found out he had been talking to other girls. 'When I found out that Richard was talking with different women I was really hurt and really sad,' she admits. 'I didn't expect that he could do such a thing.' However they were able to rekindle their relationship and started to talk again - after Richard had a fling with another woman living in Malaysia. 'During our blip, I did find another hot Asian babe from over in Malaysia,' he admits. But quickly, Richard realised that Kathleen was the one for him. He adds: 'To be fair, the sex was pretty amazing, but I'm not in it for that. You don't want to marry the dirty girl, you want to marry the good girl, and Kathleen's the good girl.' The brand-new series of 90 Day Fiance UK is available to stream now exclusively on discovery+, with new episodes dropping every Sunday Michelle Obama paid a heartwarming tribute to her mom, Marian, in honor of her 85th birthday, in which she thanked her for 'guiding' her through life. Former First Lady Michelle, 58, shared a touching photo of her and her mother in an Instagram post on Friday morning. In the caption, the wife of 44th President Barack Obama wished her mother a happy birthday and said her mom's 'love' has been a 'vital source of [her] sanity.' Michelle Obama paid a heartwarming tribute to mom Marian in honor of her 85th birthday, thanking her for 'guiding' the proud daughter through life Michelle, 58, (pictured with her mom as a child) shared the touching photo of her and her mother wishing her a happy birthday in an Instagram post Friday morning In the caption the former first lady and wife of the 44th President Barack Obama, said her mother's 'love' has been a 'vital source of [her] sanity' The former first lady's caption read: 'Happy birthday to the woman who has guided me through life. 'Your love, your support - all of your thoughtful advice - means more to me than you'll ever know. 'Youve always been my backstop - a calm and nonjudgmental witness to my life and a vital source of my sanity. 'Thank you for teaching me how to trust my own judgement and for always giving me those much-needed reality checks. 'Ive dedicated a chapter to sharing your wonderful parenting advice in The Light We Carry, and I cant wait for everybody to take in all of your words of wisdom. I love you so much, mom!' In the photo, Michelle is pictured wearing a black dress and cheerful smile as she wrapped her arm around Marian, who is seen in a beige cardigan and colorful top, smiling from ear to ear as Michelle embraced her. The moving tribute comes just one week after Michelle announced her new book The Light We Carry, which is set to release November 15 and has an entire chapter 'dedicated' to the former first-mother-in-law. Michelle's book is said to be 'a collection of stories and practices' that have helped her throughout her life, and includes questions that keep the author 'up at night,' such as, 'How do I know Im good enough? How do I bring my whole self to the table? How can I overcome my fears?' The moving tribute comes just one week after Michelle announced her new book The Light We Carry, which has an entire chapter 'dedicated' to Marian Michelle (pictured as a child with her parents) added that her mother always empowered her to be unique saying that she is her 'rock, best friend and guiding light' in a Mother's Day post Since leaving the White House, the former first lady (pictured speaking at When We All Vote in 2022) has been keeping busy as an author, podcast host and has been an inspiration to many The proud daughter frequently praises her mom on social media, previously saying that she is her 'rock, best friend, and guiding light' in a Mother's Day post, where she also thanked her mom for her 'encouraging parenting style.' She added that her mother always empowered her to be unique and that she 'laid out the blueprint for how to raise' her own daughters Malia, 24, and Sasha, 21. Marian has also been vocal about her pride for her daughter, previously complimenting Michelle's 'grace and dignity' as first lady. In an interview with Essence in 2009, Marian said: 'I never doubted that she could do this. She is doing it with such grace and dignity. 'So I am just proud. I just hope she does what she wants to do. Because the things that she wants to do are very important. They mean a lot to her.' In the same interview, Michelle added that her parents 'unconditionally' supported and rooted for her, adding that it played a 'huge role' in building her confidence. She gushed: 'She completely underestimates her role in who I am. She always says, "You came here that way, I just stayed out of your way." 'Thats not how I saw it. My mom is an incredibly intelligent and insightful person about life in general.' Since leaving the White House, the former first lady has been keeping busy as an author and podcast host, and has spoken out on various issues, including encouraging people to go vote at the When We All Vote's Summit. A seven-year-old boy has been dubbed a 'hero' after he bravely jumped into a six-foot-deep pool to save a three-year-old from drowning. Massiah Browne, from Sacramento, California, was swimming with his family at their apartment complex, when he noticed that the toddler, who is a stranger to him, was lying with his mouth and eyes open at the bottom of the pool. He quickly dove into the water and rescued the toddler - miraculously saving his life. In an interview with Good Morning America, Massiah, who has been taking swimming lessons since he was young, opened up about the heroic moment. He said: 'I was just playing in the pool and then I saw a boy at the bottom of the pool and I went to go get him.' Massiah Browne (pictured), seven, from California, saved a toddler after he saw the three-year-old boy lying face down at the bottom of the pool The seven-year-old boy (pictured above with his mom) was swimming with his family at their apartment complex six-foot deep pool when he jumped in to save the toddler Massiah saw the toddler, who is a stranger to him, at the bottom of the pool and went to 'go get him' and alerted his relative Savannah, nine, (pictured above) and adults who called 911 The second grader was in the pool with his relative Savannah, nine, at the time of the incident. Massiah's mom, Tiara Delvalle, quickly rushed to the pool from her nearby apartment after other relatives who were with the kids notified her of the scary instance. Massiah remembered seeing the toddler with his mouth and eyes wide open prior to diving into the six-feet deep pool and pulling him out from under the water by his arms. Savannah then came to the rescue and helped pull the three-year-old boy to the pool deck before alerting adults, who called 911. 'Savannah brought him to his mom and then they did CPR on the boy and then they called the doctor,' Massiah told Good Morning America. A spokesperson for the Sacramento Fire Department confirmed with ABC News that first responders received a call from the apartment complex pool on July 19. Prior to paramedics arriving, bystanders performed CPR on the unconscious boy; when first responders arrived at the scene they found the boy breathing in short gasps and transported him to a local hospital. 'Savannah brought him to his mom and then they did CPR on the boy and then they called the doctor,' Massiah (pictured) told Good Morning America Massiah (seen with his mom) helped save the toddler and according to the CDC, drowning is the second leading cause of death in children between the ages of one and four The three-year-old boy has made a full recovery and Massiah's (pictured above with his dad) parents 'couldn't believe' their son's heroic efforts and added that he is a 'good kid' The spokesperson added that the child was brought to the hospital in critical condition 'with advanced life support efforts provided by Sacramento firefighters.' The three-year-old has since made a full recovery, which his mom has called a 'miracle.' According to the CDC, drowning is the second leading cause of death in children between the ages of one and four and there are an average of 11 drowning deaths per day. Furthermore, in a report published in 2021 by the American Academy of Pediatrics, it was revealed that male toddlers and male teenage boys are most at risk of dying from drowning. To prevent drowning deaths or non-fatal drownings, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends constant and attentive adult supervision when children are in and around water as well as life jacket use among children and adults, four-sided pool fencing that measure at least four feet tall and parents and supervising adults should restrict unsupervised access to pools. The toddler's parents are thankful for the seven-year-old's heroism. Massiah's parents - Tiara and Marcus Browne, former Olympic boxer - said their son 'swims like a fish' and that they 'couldn't believe' his bravery during the rescue, adding that he's a 'good kid.' Dear Bel, Ive been working through this issue for two years and still feel residual rage thats so confusing. A few months before the pandemic I was out walking when a man tried to rape me. It was in broad daylight, on a local path, in the town Ive lived all my life. A place where Ive always felt safe. The perpetrator was a man I would say hello to when walking my dogs each day, although I did not know him personally. While his actions were brutal and violent, I managed to escape without being sexually assaulted. In shock and disbelief, I did not contact the police for weeks. Heres my problem: they werent able to prosecute as the law protects the mentally vulnerable, even when theyre in the wrong. I understand that. The case-worker cannot supervise the man 24/7. I understand that. Not all men are going to attack me. I understand that. I also understand the logic behind every part of the decision-making process. And yet, every now and again, even when Im not thinking about the incident in question, I am filled with rage. I feel so angry I want to break something, cry or both. And the worst part is, Im raging at nothing. I dont blame anyone not the assailant, the police, social services. I know theyre all cogs in a large machine, but I feel fear and jumpiness when a man I dont know stands close. The mind may forgive, but the body does not forget. Ive tried counselling, but it was over the phone during the pandemic and not particularly effective. Its hard to feel listened-to when you can hear the therapist doing her dishes as you talk. Exercise helps a lot, but that residual anger is still there. Please be reassured I dont take it out on anyone, nor do I self-harm. I generally scream and cry and then fall into a depressed slump for a day or so. I really want this to stop to find a way to let it go so it doesnt keep creeping up on me when I least expect it. Have you any suggestions on how I can release this anger? Im open to anything: physical, symbolic, mystical, whatever you think may help. I just want to let it go. MICHELLE This week Bel Mooney gives advice to a woman who doesn't know where to place her rage after a man tried to rape her That you are still finding it impossible to shake off the lasting effects of a shocking, frightening experience is no surprise to me. It sounds like you are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, a common after-effect of which is helpless anger as the event is re-run again and again in the mind. More than 40 years ago I was the victim of an attempted sexual attack in London by a stranger, who only ran away when some people appeared in the distance. I remember shivering every time I saw a man who resembled my attacker on the Underground, and that continued for a very long time. But for you, in a familiar place where you felt safe, it would have been so much worse: a violation which, in seconds, switched the innocence of a familiar encounter into something rather monstrous. Thought of the day We are, all of us, moulded and remoulded by those who have loved us, and though that love may pass, we remain nonetheless their work a work that very likely they do not recognise, and which is never exactly what they intended. From The Desert Of Love by Francois Mauriac (French writer 18851970) Advertisement Your original letter explains that the man still lives nearby and you see him from time to time, so you have no escape from your trauma. Whats more, all your impressive efforts to understand the complexity of what happened afterwards (details omitted) and to accept that nobody can be blamed have surely resulted in your feeling all the more vulnerable, because you are left with the burden of understanding, which has not, in turn, been extended to you. But you are being given it here and countless people are surely on your side. I find appalling the image of you talking to a psychotherapist or counsellor on the phone while he or she washes their plates. Good therapists have made Zoom meetings work well, but in my opinion (and in normal times) sessions should be face-to-face, when expressions and body language can be observed. I would urge you to try again, with optimism, in one-to-one sessions. You may find the website welldoing.org useful. You ask me for suggestions. Screaming and crying add to stress, so instead try square breathing: breathe in to a count of four, hold for four, breathe out to a count of four, hold still for four, then begin again. This process can really work to calm you down, especially if performed a minimum of ten times. Whenever the rage descends, put on some beautiful music (Chopin Nocturnes, for example, or new age meditative sounds), breathe deeply and, eyes closed, hold your arms out, palms upwards. Try to find somewhere very different to walk the dogs, even if it involves a short drive and talk to those dogs, since screaming will upset them. Sign up to DailyOM.com and look at the emails every day with me. Why wont my chap see a doctor? Dear Bel, Please help, as I am worried sick about a mole on my partners back. I have pleaded and begged him to go and get it checked, but he will not. What I cant understand is that last year he had a pre-cancerous mole removed from his nose, and he was OK with this procedure. He has just moved into a lovely flat, was talking about retiring, but now seems happy to carry on working (at 68) as a pharmacy delivery driver. So he could quite easily ask the pharmacist to check it out for him. I am so worried about his sunbathing, but he says I am fussing. Please publish my letter Bel, as he reads your column every week, and I really dont know what else to do. Im so worried about him. ELAINE Last Wednesday something unusual happened. At 9.30am, I dropped my husband off at the hospital for a dermatology appointment to examine a small scabby (where scratched) lump on one side of his scalp. The thing has been bothering him for over a year and it transpires its a basal cell carcinoma (one of the most common skin cancers), non-malignant, thank goodness, so now he will wait for the appointment to remove it. I used the word unusual because he would rather chop a mountain of logs than look after his own health. Born and brought up (until the age of nine) in Kenya, he has skin cancer in his family and had a mole removed some years ago. But he kept putting off making an appointment with our GP, and finally did so because I did some gentle bullying . Does this sound familiar? Why do so many of us (and Im including myself) put off acting when something is vaguely worrying? Of course, its true that since Covid shook our lives and did such damage to both the national psyche and the economy, it has become more and more difficult to see a GP. We have a crisis in the NHS one which I have written about yet see no signs of it being taken seriously by people who still parrot the sentimental lie that our health service is the best in the world. So when, on this page, I suggest that people contact their GP as a first port of call it is with knowledge of how frustrating this can be. But if we all give up what change can we achieve? You have to persist and to tell a receptionist there is risk of skin cancer should at least achieve a telephone conversation and a referral. But even 20 years ago youd have found that certain people were unwilling to contact their GPs about niggling problems. (Others are the worried well who will always think the worst). I suspect your partner is one of those people who is unwilling to act through a strange mixture of laziness and fear. You think/hope the thing will just go away by itself. Some of us (me!) are also anxious about making a fuss even though we know we have a perfect right to have our little worries listened to. You mention your partners sunbathing habit. It just shows it can indeed be hard to teach an old dog new tricks! We should all be aware of how dangerous the sun can be. If he must sunbathe, buy him some factor 50 and a hat. He knows youre concerned, so what else can you do? I hope you are both readers of the Mails excellent Tuesday health pages, which carry advice about this and many other issues. No expert (and a reformed sun-worshipper), I speak from public information, wide experience and common sense. So now its time for me to talk directly to your partner: Listen, my friend, I hope you are reading as usual! You may think you have no problems and sometimes wonder at the issues raised in this column. But you see, you have two problems . . . a pesky mole which might be dangerous and a habit of not listening to the woman who really cares. You should know we all have one body and one life and owe it to ourselves and those who love us to be careful, especially as we age. If you care about Elaines feelings at all (and you must, since she sounds so lovely), please stop being so daft and stubborn and get that mole checked as soon as possible. Just do it, OK? And finallyA glorious, royal day in the sun It really was a heartening event, for so many reasons. The sun shone on Cirencester, Gloucestershire, for a parade of The Royal Wessex Yeomanry, the nations armoured Reserve. It was the presentation of the Queens Platinum Jubilee medal. Reserve soldiers complete their training in their spare time. The medals were presented by the Earl of Wessex, while local dignitaries and the friends and families of the soldiers watched on. Thats it in a nutshell . . . but it felt like so much more to me. We were there because my son-in-law was leading the parade, mounted on a beautiful black Household Cavalry steed, so it was as special for our family as for all the others proudly watching. And I saw it all as a threefold celebration. Contact Bel Bel answers readers' questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT, or email bel.mooney@dailymail.co.uk. Names are changed to protect identities. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Advertisement First, the Royal Wessex Yeomanry supports the regular armoured regiments of the British Army by providing fully trained tank crews on operations across the world. But the Reserve also provides so much more help to us all, from supporting the police following a terrorist attack, to specialist capabilities such as bomb disposal and intelligence experts. They really matter and we should realise that. Then there was the presence of Prince Edward. Can we ever really know how much work is done by members of the Royal Family? Edward turns up sweltering in a full dress uniform to do the honours. When he says a huge thank you on behalf of the Queen it means something and the royalist patriot in me feels grateful. This is the first time a Sovereign has ever awarded a medal as thanks for essential service to Queen and country since 1952. Members of the Armed Forces, emergency services personnel, prison service, police community support officers, holders of the Victoria Cross and George Cross and members of the Royal Household are all eligible. A small band played and it was marvellous. A former corrections officer has revealed the top safety tips that she learned while working alongside criminals in a prison - including taking pictures of taxi license plates before getting in them, never using your last name on social media, and avoiding listening to music while walking home. Michaela Katharina, who hails from Canada, worked as a corrections officer for two and a half years, and during that time, she picked up numerous safety tips. Now, the former prison worker has shared her knowledge with the world in a series of videos posted to TikTok, which quickly went - racking up over 750,000 views collectively. In her initial video, the Canadian woman listed several of the things that she learned while working at the prison that could potentially help you avoid danger - including avoiding sharing any personal information with strangers. Michaela Katharina, from Canada, worked as a corrections officer for two and a half years alongside criminals, and during her time working in the prison, she picked up some safety tips She took to TikTok to share the top advice she learned to avoid danger - including not allowing children to go to sleepovers and never listening to music while walking Michaela shared two videos, which collectively racked up over 750,000 views, in which she shared a series of safety tips Her top advice included not having any revealing or 'identifiable' bumper stickers on your car. She warned against the popular stick-figure family stickers - which are often seen on vehicles across the globe - because she said 'people can tell if you're single or if you have children' from them, and that 'they don't need to know that information.' Michaela's second tip was to 'never correct a stranger's assumption' about you, explaining that it's not 'necessary' for people you don't know personally to have any information about you. She went on to stress that no one should ever walk home at night while listening to music because 'you need to be alert of your surroundings,' and added that she always keeps something that could be used as a weapon nearby and wears shoes she can 'run in.' 'Lock your doors, lock your doors, lock your doors,' the former corrections officer added, noting that there is no reason for car or home doors to ever be left unlocked. Her other tips include always taking a photo or making note of the license plate of a taxi prior to entering it, and not meeting someone you don't know in an unfamiliar area. Lastly, the former prison worker said if she ever had children, she would never allow them to be alone with an adult, even if they are supposed to be 'trusted' - such as 'teachers.' She also said advised against allowed your kids to go to a sleepover 'until they are old enough to have a conversation about grooming and sexual assault.' The former prison worker said if she ever had children she would never allow them to be alone with an adult, even if they are supposed to be 'trusted' Michaela added people shouldn't have any revealing bumper stickers on their cars, such as a stick-figure family sticker, because 'people can tell if you're single or if you have children' Michaela went on to advise people to always be alert of any cars behind them and make sure there is never anyone following them Michaela's video gained so much popularity that she decided to make a follow up video, in which she shared even more safety tips. She began by recommending that all single people tell a friend or loved one the name of the person they are going on a date with and where they are going. She warned viewers to avoid putting any identifying signs in front of their home, such as 'proud graduate' signs or markings with family names, and said people should always be alert of any cars that are behind them. Michaela also advised people to avoid putting photos of their kids on social media, specifically photos of 'nude children,' with the corrections officer adding that 'sadly' someone out there 'will sexualize your child.' Lastly, Michaela told her viewers to avoid listing their full name on social media so people can't track them down and 'contact' them. TikTok users supported the former correction officer's tips, and many agreed with Michaela's anti-sleepover point. TikTok users supported the former correction officer's tips, and many agreed with Michaela's anti-sleepover point 'The last one is 100 per cent the right call and dont let anyone tell you otherwise,' said one user. Another user added: 'My mom never let me sleep over anywhere I hated it but now I'm glad.' 'I worked in prisons for five years, I always used to tell people a time frame when they asked where I lived. Like ''Ohh just 30 minutes away.''' Another user commented: 'all very good advice.' 'The last one is 100 per cent. My parents never let me stay anywhere and as I grow up I understand why,' commented another user. A spectacularly sparkling and show-stopping drag brunch-style dining experience is headed for a major Australian city. The Star Sydney's Marquee night club will host a one-off Supercharged Drag Spectacular presented by two of Ru Paul Drag Race Australia's biggest stars on Saturday, August 13. Melbourne's Art Simone and Auckland's Anita Wigl'it will battle it out in an epic lip-sync battle performance that the audience can expect plenty of sass, big hair and dazzling costumes from. Sydneysides can now get tickets to The Star's Marquee night club's Supercharged Drag Spectacular co-hosted by Melbourne's own Art Simone (pictured) Ticketholders can enjoy three fabulous hours of dancing, performances from familiar queens and surprise VIP guests, bottomless bubbles, and a grazing-style menu Luckily for those who don't get out of bed until midday, Marquee's take on a drag brunch doesn't start until 3pm and runs for three fabulous hours. Ticketholders will be treated to two-hours of non-stop bubbles, wine and beer, a cocktail on arrival and a grazing-style menu including multi-coloured popcorn, sliders with rainbow slaw and all-you-can-eat antipasto. There will also be extra surprise performances from familiar queens and opportunities for guests to sashay their way across the rainbow, disco ball-lit dancefloor. Outside of the main space at Boombox in a hidden library will be makeup stations by M.A.C Cosmetics' glam squad for guests to get their glitter on. Co-host Anita Wigl'it (pictured) from Auckland said they are 'outrageously excited' to dance and laugh alongside their Aussie fans during a fun-filled afternoon Luckily for those who don't get out of bed until midday, Marquee's take on a drag brunch doesn't start until 3pm, runs for three fabulous hours and costs $70 a ticket Anita said this will be her first performance in Sydney since season one of Drag Race and the first time this year she will be about to laugh and dance alongside her Aussie fans. 'I am outrageously excited to be coming back to Sydney, the Southern Hemisphere's capital of drag, or at least it is to me,' she said. 'I'm so excited to be bringing Down Under drag excellence to such an extraordinary venue. I look forward to seeing you all for a day of Drag, Dancing, Drinks and Deliciousness,' added Art. Tickets are available now from Moshtix and cost $70 each plus booking fee. A missile strike destroyed a prison building in Ukraine on Friday, reportedly killing dozens of prisoners of war, with Moscow and Kyiv pointing fingers at each other on who should be held responsible for the deadly attack. The fatalities eclipsed U.N.-backed efforts to resume transporting food from Ukraine and mitigate an impending worldwide hunger crisis; some of the dead were confirmed by Reuters inside the dilapidated prison where the men were confined. According to the Russian defense ministry, the attack on the prison in the separatist-held frontline town of Olenivka, Donetsk region resulted in the deaths of 40 prisoners and the injuries of 75 others. The leader of the separatist movement, Denis Pushilin, claimed that 193 prisoners were held there. But he did not clarify How many of them were Ukrainian POWs. Russian news outlets reported Kyiv had employed HIMARS missiles developed in the United States during the attack. The Russian artillery had targeted the prison, according to the Ukrainian armed forces, to conceal the mistreatment of prisoners detained there and place the responsibility on Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for international condemnation of the incident and claimed that Russia had committed a war crime. In response to what it claimed were Russian war crimes, the Ukrainian foreign ministry denounced an assault on a prison in territory held by rebels with Russian support and appealed to the International Criminal Court. Russia has denied any involvement in any war crimes in Ukraine but claimed that Kyiv was responsible for the attack on Friday. Ukraine Calls ICC To Investigate Russia's War Crimes In a statement, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said: "We call on the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to urgently draw attention to the atrocities of Russian servicemen in the context of the investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by citizens of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine." Read Also: Taiwan Simulates Attack on Capital Amid Tensions With China, Launches Jets and Tanks in Military Drill According to the statement the alleged crimes took place at the same time as another war crime committed by Russia, the shelling of prisons in the seized Olenivka, where it is thought that Ukrainians were being detained as prisoners of war. Ukrainian prosecutor general's office has launched a preliminary inquiry into the attack, per Al Jazeera. Ukraine Resumes Grain Exports In other developments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled Friday to the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk with his infrastructure minister and a delegation of G7 officials, including the U.S., German, Canadian,and British ambassadors to Ukraine, as reported by CBC. According to an export agreement Ukraine and Russia concluded a week ago, Zelenskyy claimed his country is prepared to restart grain shipments for the first time in five months as he stood close to a Turkish freighter that was ready to embark. Zelensky said that Ukraine has sent all the signals to its partners UN and Turkey, adding that the military "guarantees the security situation.He added: "The minister of infrastructure is in direct contact with Turkey and the UN. We're waiting for them to give the go-ahead." The first shipments, according to Zelenskyy, might start as early as Friday or Saturday. Related Article: EU Energy Crunch: Russia To Reduce Gas Supplies to the Bloc Via Nord Stream 1 Pipeline @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. An Aussie mum has revealed she was called a 'monster' by cruel trolls for choosing to laser off her baby's facial birthmark - but claims she did it to help her child. Stay-at-home mum Brooke Atkins, 33, from Gold Coast, welcomed her second child, a baby boy named Kingsley six months ago. But soon after he was born, Brooke and her partner Kewene Wallace, 27, noticed a large 'port wine' mark covering half of his face. Scroll down for video An Aussie mum has revealed she was called a 'monster' by cruel trolls for choosing to laser off her baby's facial birthmark - but claims she did it to help her child Stay-at-home mum Brooke Atkins, 33, from Gold Coast, welcomed her second child, a baby boy named Kingsley six months ago. But soon after he was born, Brooke and her partner Kewene Wallace, 27, noticed a large 'port wine' mark covering half of his face. Kinngsley is pitctured after his laser treatment Port-wine stain birthmarks are usually harmless, but if on the face particularly over the eye - they can be linked to glaucoma and Sturge Weber Syndrome. Birth mark can cause can cause seizures and other disabilities while glaucoma which can cause blindness.Kingsley is pictured after the laser treatmetn Port-wine stain birthmarks are usually harmless, but if on the face particularly over the eye - they can be linked to glaucoma and Sturge Weber Syndrome. This can cause seizures and other disabilities while glaucoma which can cause blindness. Kingsley was diagnosed with both. 'The thing with port wine stains is that they are progressive, meaning they will change and darken over time,' Brooke, who is also mum to Amarni, two, said. 'The thing with port wine stains is that they are progressive, meaning they will change and darken over time,' Brooke (pictured), who is also mum to Amarni, two, said. Brooke decided to get the the birthmark assured off as they can become dangerous and bleed Kingsley is pictured before having his first laser treatment to remove the port wine stain birthmark What is a port wine stain birthmark? A port wine stain is a birthmark caused by the overdevelopment of blood vessels underneath the skin. The change in the blood vessels is caused by a genetic mutation which occurs before a child is born, and will remain for the rest of a person's life though the severity of them differs between people. Port wine stains begin as a flat red or purple mark and, over time, can become more raised, bulkier and darker in colour. They can occur anywhere on the body but 65 per cent of them appear on a person's head or neck. Around three in every 1,000 babies has a port wine stain and they are more common in girls than in boys, though the reason for this is not known. Treatment usually involves laser treatment to remove some of the dark colour from the mark, or camouflaging the discolouring using a special type of make-up. Advertisement 'They can develop a "cobblestone" appearance, with raised bumps, ridges and the risk of vascular blebs, where they dangerously bleed. 'Once a port wine stain gets to this stage, it is often very difficult to treat and laser barely has any affect, as the skin is already far too damaged.' She then decided to use a laser treatment on Kingsley's mark. Yhe purpose of the laser treatments are not to 'remove' the birthmark but instead keep the skin healthy, to prevent any further damage to the area, Brooke explained 'The only way to treat a port wine stain is through laser treatments and the most effective laser for a it is called a Pulsed Dye Laser. 'When he was first born, we were referred to the Queensland Children's Hospital dermatology and vascular department, where they organise the first treatment and explain in further details why laser would be important. 'The purpose of the laser treatments are not to 'remove' the birthmark but instead keep the skin healthy, to prevent any further damage to the area.' The family are currently going through the treatment with Kingsley and are amazed with him every day Unfortunately, Brooke has dealt with hundreds of mean trolls who branded her a monster for removing the mark The family are currently going through the treatment with Kingsley and are amazed with him every day. But the choice to treat the mark has been slammed by trolls on TikTok, who Brooke says called her a 'monster' after she shared a post about it. One person said: 'Don't think I could laser my baby.' Another commented: 'That birthmark is barely visible, what you're doing to him is horrible, it's more for you than him.' Of the reception she has received online, Brooke said: 'Honestly, when I first started reading the negative comments, I sat there for a good half an hour and cried to myself.'. Kingsley is pictured now Kingsley with mum Brooke after recovering from the laser treatment 'Brainwashed mother making her kid insecure the second he gets out the womb,' commented another user. 'Why is everyone supporting this,' commented someone else. While others were quick to support her. One person said: 'You're the mom and you know what is the best for him.' 'When he was first born, we were referred to the Queensland Children's Hospital dermatology and vascular department, where they organise the first treatment and explain in further details why laser would be important,' Brooke explained. Kingsley is pictured On the mend: Kingsley with mum Brooke, Dad Kewene and sister Amarni, two Another commented: 'He would've still looked as beautiful with or without the birthmark.' Of the reception she has received online, Brooke said: 'Honestly, when I first started reading the negative comments, I sat there for a good half an hour and cried to myself. 'I had a whole heap of mum guilt and it made me question my decision, even though I knew I was doing the right thing, the cruel words still played in my head. Brooke said: ''I had a whole heap of mum guilt and it made me question my decision, even though I knew I was doing the right thing, the cruel words still played in my head.' Kinglsey is pictured 'Thankfully for every negative comment, there were 100 positive, so it helped a lot! 'I just wish these people had known about the health issues connected to these types of birthmarks before writing these things, that this wasn't for cosmetic reasons and that as parents, this was the hardest decision we have had to make. 'That the last six months have been extremely hard on us and reading these comments, actually do hurt this is the last thing we need, judgement from those who have no understanding around my sons conditions.' 'I just wish these people had known about the health issues connected to these types of birthmarks before writing these things, that this wasn't for cosmetic reasons and that as parents, this was the hardest decision we have had to make,' Brooke said She added: 'Although I constantly worry about my son's future and what it will be like, he continues to hit all his milestones. 'This journey for our family has just started and there is a long road ahead but we will push through! 'Over 20 hospital appointments, two different hospitals, over 10 different specialists and doctors, five different medical departments, three MRI's, one ultrasound, two hearing tests, two operations, two laser treatments and three diagnoses, all in six months yet he is the happiest, most loving and sweetest boy you will ever meet!' Patients going to A&E because they were having a mental crisis had to wait three weeks for a bed at one of England's busiest hospitals, it has been revealed. They had to stay in a short stay area with no natural light at Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital because of a shortage of mental health beds. A Government inspection dated April 26 to 27 found the patients stayed in the side rooms for an average of 52 hours before being moved on. But some had to stay in the area which had no TV or radio and only had a toilet and basin available for two to three weeks. The NHS says patients in a mental health crisis 'might think about suicide' or 'experience hallucinations and hear voices'. It comes amid a crisis in casualty departments, with dozens of patients with physical problems forced to wait two days for a bed at one of England's busiest hospitals. A shocking 865 people waited longer than a day to be admitted after showing up at Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust's emergency departments in April and May. Of them, 89 endured waits of at least 48 hours for a bed during the same time period. And last weekend, a sign put up in A&E at Royal Bolton Hospital, run by Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, warned of waits of '40+ hours for a bed'. The NHS is currently battling its busiest summer on record with pandemic backlogs, Covid staff absences and ongoing handover delays. Emergency wait times have hit record levels across England, with latest data showing 12-hour waits are increasingly becoming more regular. Mental health patients have been forced to wait up to three weeks in an emergency department at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, a Care Quality Commission has revealed Some 89 patients were left stranded waiting for a bed for more than 48 hours in A&Es run by Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust in April and May. Pictured Bodmin Hospital, which is run by the trust Some 22,034 people had to wait more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England in June from a decision to admit to actually being admitted, NHS England said. The figure is up from 19,053 the previous month, but still below a record of 24,138 in April, which was the highest for any calendar month in records going back to August 2010 Shocking sign at A&E warns of 40-hour wait for a bed A&E patients were told they could wait 40 hours before being admitted to hospital as the NHS battles its busiest summer on record. A shocking sign put up at the Royal Bolton Hospital in Greater Manchester at the weekend warned they could be waiting '40+ hours for a bed'. It said there were only six beds left in the entire hospital, and that they were being reserved for the sickest patients. Patients who were in the A&E at the time said people were forced to sleep on the floor while they waited for medical attention. Bosses at the hospital admitted the situation was 'not acceptable' in a statement published yesterday. Advertisement More than 22,000 Britons queued for more than half a day in emergency departments before being admitted last month. The target is four hours. A Care Quality Commission a public body that rates health and social services in England report into Royal Sussex County Hospital rated its urgent and emergency services as requiring improvement. Mental health patients at the hospital's A&E, run by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, only had access to a shower in a neighbouring ward while waiting for beds. They were checked by mental health liaison teams each day. University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust chief executive George Findlay said: 'Since I returned to the trust two months ago, I have been extremely impressed by the efforts and commitment of colleagues in all our hospitals to always provide the highest standards of patient care despite the pressures on our services. 'I am pleased, therefore, that the inspectors recognised a real commitment to patient care across all services and noted the wide range of improvements made since their previous inspection of maternity and surgery in September 2021. He added: 'We recognise there is more work to do and we are doing it. 'We are successfully recruiting new people to our teams and filling our staffing gaps. 'We have secured investment and are finalising a business case to improve the layout and functionality of the emergency department at the RSCH and are continuing to build on the improvements we have made in all areas. 'Some issues take longer to resolve than others, but I want people across Sussex to know that when they come to a UHSussex hospital, we will do all we can to provide the safe, high quality, effective care they expect.' Meanwhile, latest data for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust shows at least one patient with physical ailments a day waited more than 48 hours to be admitted after going to A&E in April and May. The trust has admitted some of the patients were stranded in corridors or waiting rooms 'on rare occasions' but 'they are always moved as quickly as possible to another area'. The NHS is currently battling its busiest summer on record with patients told they could wait 40 hours before being admitted to Royal Bolton Hospital in Greater Manchester last week (pictured) The NHS backlog for routine treatment grew from 6.4million to 6.6million in May, the latest month with data, meaning one in eight people in England are now waiting for elective care, often in pain 'We're in danger of singing 'kumbaya' as the Titanic sinks': NHS boss issues grim warning The NHS is in danger of 'singing 'kumbaya' as the Titanic sinks, one hospital chief executive has claimed. Milton Keynes University Hospital Foundation Trust boss Joe Harrison argued health leaders were 'presiding over a failing NHS'. 'I'm really concerned about where we are at,' he told a roundtable attended by trust executives from across the country. His comments come on the back of a damning report that warned the health service faces its biggest ever workforce crisis that poses a 'serious risk to patient safety'. The MP-led committee, led by Jeremy Hunt, claimed the Government has no credible strategy to improve the situation while demand grows. The Health Service Journal, a trade publication for NHS leaders and senior managers, held a meeting with trust chief executives about the current state of the health service. During the briefing, Mr Harrison said: 'I think we're in danger of all sitting around the campfire singing 'kumbaya' as the Titanic sinks. 'We are presiding over a failing NHS. There's no question about it.' He added: 'And if we carry on like this, people have every right to say, 'what on earth are we spending 150bn on?'' Mr Harrison's comments were echoed by other NHS leaders, who said that a lack of accountability over standards like A&E waiting times would undermine public faith in the health service. Advertisement In most cases, they were kept in ambulance handover areas, minor treatment areas, A&E cubicles and rapid assessment units, according to hospital bosses. It is unclear how widespread the astonishing waits have become elsewhere because trusts do not routinely publish A&E admission times over 24 hours. The waits happened despite A&Es in the area seeing half of the admissions they had in the same time period in 2019 before the pandemic. No patient waited longer than 12 hours in those months pre-pandemic, compared to 607 in June, according to the most recent data. Bed-blockers patients ready for discharge who are unable to leave are part of the problem, according to the trust. Many hospitals are also suffering with less staff than they had pre-pandemic, with staff absences also increasing because of Covid infections. National data indicates there has been no improvement in wait times in recent months, with emergency 12-hour waits in June higher than in May. Trust bosses in Cornwall have also also warned demand will increase in the coming weeks, as the county welcomes millions of tourists over summer. Those who faced the longest waits at the trust were placed in corridors 'only on rare occasions, and they are always moved as quickly as possible to another area in the department,' a spokesperson for the trust said. They told the HSJ: 'Within our hospitals we have opened as many extra beds as possible. 'We are reducing admissions by reviewing lower acuity patients on arrival and during their inpatient stay to maximise the use of alternative settings and services, wherever appropriate. 'This is not a problem our hospitals can solve alone, and we continue to work together with our system partners to tackle the capacity gaps in the care home and domiciliary care sectors, which are largely driven by the high level of staff vacancies.' There is increasing concern about how the NHS A&E system is coping over what some are calling it's worst ever summer as it battles a fresh surge of Covid, hot weather and a wave of staff absences - on top of pandemic backlogs. Heart attack patients waited more than 50 minutes for an ambulance on average in England last month nearly triple the NHS target and more than 22,000 Britons queued for 12-plus hours in A&E before being seen. Callouts to the most urgent cases have also risen by a third in recent months, with the average patient with a life-threatening emergency now waiting nine minutes for paramedics, compared to the seven-minute goal. The health service's monthly performance stats lay bare the crisis in emergency departments as medics wrestle with increasing Covid hospital and staff sickness rates, excess admissions caused by the heatwave and pandemic backlogs. Meanwhile, the number of people in England waiting to start routine hospital treatment has also risen to a new record high. A total of 6.6million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of May. This is up from 6.5million in April and is the highest number since records began in August 2007. England's GP crisis deepens: Staff numbers fall to lowest level on record, fewer than HALF of consults are with a qualified doctor and up to one in five appointments last just five MINUTES The number of qualified GPs has dropped to its lowest level on record and just one in four family doctors work full time, according to official data that highlights the 'catastrophic' crisis in general practice. There were around 27,500 fully-qualified, permanent family doctors working for NHS England last month, down from about 28,000 in June 2021 and 1,500 fewer than five years ago. The figure comes despite Boris Johnson's 2019 manifesto pledge to increase GP numbers by 6,000 by 2024. Ministers have since admitted that target will not be met. Health bosses have warned the crippling workforce shortages, combined with unprecedented demand for a GP following the pandemic, has created an untenable situation that threatens patient safety. Meanwhile, just 23 per cent of permanent NHS GPs work 37.5 hours or more a week, a drop from one third in five years. It follows research showing most family doctors now only work three days or less a week. Patients have struggled to secure appointments or see a doctor face-to-face, which has seen some desperate people resort to turning up at A&E. Separate figures suggest other NHS staff are increasingly picking up the burden as GPs wrestle staffing problems. Data for June shows fewer than half of all appointments were carried out by qualified doctors. The rest were seen by other staff, including nurses, physiotherapists and even acupuncturists. Nearly one in five appointments nationally lasted five or fewer minutes last month, in what campaign groups said was a sign GP surgeries have turned into 'revolving door' practices in an effort to get patients in and out as fast possible to get through huge workloads. Appointments are meant to last no less than 10 minutes according to NHS best practice, while unions have pushed to increase the time to 15 minutes to ensure 'quality of care'. Meanwhile, around 65 per cent of appointments were made face-to-face during the month, down from nearly 80 per cent before the pandemic. There were just 27,558 full-time equivalent, fully-qualified GPs working in England last month, down 1.6 per cent on the 18,000 recorded in June 2021. It was down 5.3 per cent on the more than 29,000 working in June 2017 Meanwhile, separate figures today showed less than half of all appointments made last month saw patients seen by qualified doctors. Nearly 47 per cent of patients were seen by nurses or other staff, which can include acupuncturists and physiotherapists One in six appointments in the country lasted up to just five minutes last month, with even higher proportions seen in some areas of the country. NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board saw 20 per cent of patients in five minutes or less Increasing numbers of doctors are reducing their working hours and retiring early, while some are leaving to the private sector or abroad because of the huge increases in pressure put on them. The NHS Digital data shows the number of full-time equivalent GPs that are fully qualified have dropped to its lowest level since records began in September 2015. All figures are based on the number of full-time equivalent posts in the GP workforce, and do not include trainees or locums. Patients to access test results and GP records on the NHS app from November Patients will be able to access test results and other information via the NHS app from November in a move that will free up GP surgery phone lines. NHS England will switch on automatic access to GP records on November 1 following a year-long delay due to 'safeguarding' concerns. For patients accessing more sensitive information, such as cancer test results, GPs will be able to customise how and when their records are shared. Professor Sir Stephen Powis, of NHS England, said: 'Improving patient access to health information on the NHS App will put patients in the driving seat when it comes to managing their own health.' He added it would help free up GP phone lines for urgent calls. The November date was confirmed in a letter to GPs last week. It said practices can 'consider increasing the number of patients who have online access and/or enhance their level of access gradually over the coming months'. Advertisement Emily Jones, director of risk and healthcare at consultancy firm Broadstone, said: 'The declining number of qualified GPs in the UK is pushing the NHS to breaking point as demand continues to rise amid a growing backlog. 'The crisis risks a vicious spiral as more GPs quit the practice due to the intensifying workload heaping further pressure on those that remain in service. 'Patients are now waiting longer than ever for appointments with their GP for new diagnoses as well as ongoing treatments for existing conditions like cancer and diabetes. 'This is having a catastrophic impact as life threatening illnesses are being left undiagnosed until it is sadly too late for effective treatment.' Meanwhile, the proportion of GPs working part-time between - 15 and 37.5 hours a week - has climbed from around six in 10 (62 per cent) to seven in 10 (69 per cent), according to figures for June. GPs said doctors have been forced to drop their working time to avoid burnout because of the 'unsustainable' pressures being put on them by ever-increasing demand. Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GP, told MailOnline: 'Despite repeated promises to boost GP numbers, today's figures show that we have more than 1,500 fewer qualified, full-time equivalent GPs than we did five years ago. 'The result is a chronically over-stretched and under-resourced general practice service, with GPs and their teams working to their absolute limits to deliver increasingly complex care to the ever-rising number of patients that need it. 'This is reflected in today's GP consultation figures, which show general practice is continuing to deliver more consultations every month than pre-pandemic, with more than 26million appointments delivered in June, and over 44 per cent of those on the same day they were booked.' He added: 'Working at this intensity is unsustainable and it's unsafe for both patients and staff. An exhausted GP is not able to practice safely or deliver the high-quality care and services they are trained and want to deliver for patients. 'This is leading to GPs and other members of our teams burning out and having to evaluate their futures working in general practice, in some cases leaving the profession earlier than planned and in others reducing contracted working hours to make the job more sustainable. 'Yet working "part time" in general practice often means working what would normally be considered full-time, or longer and will likely include many hours of paperwork on top of patient appointments.' The proportion of GP appointments that were face-to-face rose slightly to 64.8 per cent last month, up from 64.1 per cent in May Graph shows: The proportion of patients seen by a fully qualified doctor at GP appointments in different regions of England in June Half of sick Brits haven't seen a doctor in a year Half of sick Britons have not seen a GP in a year, stark official figures suggest. In most cases, the reason is they find it too difficult to book an appointment, according to a major survey. Critics today described the lack of access as a 'ticking time bomb' that will lead to vital diagnoses being missed. A poll of 700,000 people with long-term health conditions in England found patient satisfaction and trust in general practice has fallen across the board. More than half of patients (55 per cent) who needed an appointment in the 12 months to April failed to secure one, up from 42 per cent the previous year. The main reason for a quarter of patients was that it was too difficult to book one, while a fifth said they did not want to burden the NHS. Patients struggled to see a GP for check-ups, treatment and drug reviews during the pandemic as surgeries switched the majority of consults to phone and video. Practices are now seeing record demand as those who could not get care or put it off start to pour back into the NHS. Advertisement Separate data from NHS Digital shows the proportion of appointments where patients are seen by qualified doctors fell to just 49.9 per cent last month, down from 50.2 per cent in May. The figures are calculated based on the number of sessions with a GP in attendance as a proportion of all appointments, which include some appointments where the type of healthcare professional was not recorded. This means there may have been slightly more appointments that were attended by GPs than are reflected in the data. One in six appointments in the country lasted up to just five minutes last month, with even higher proportions seen in some areas of the country. NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board saw 20 per cent of patients in five minutes or less. The area with the next highest proportion of sub five-minute consultations was NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (19.9 per cent) It was followed by NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board (19.6 per cent), NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (19.4 per cent) and NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (19.1 per cent). Dennis Reed, director of elderly charity Silver Voices, told MailOnline: 'I find it difficult to comprehend how a GP visit can take less than five minutes. That hardly provides enough time to take your coat off and sit down. 'Routine and speedy transactions, such as repeat prescriptions or blood pressure checks are now carried out by other practice staff, and it is only complex cases, which are referred for GP attention. 'These "revolving door" statistics show the pressures that GPs are under and the potential dangers to patient safety from rushed diagnoses.' The British Medical Association (BMA) a trade union representing nearly 160,000 doctors advises all appointments last at least 15 minutes to ensure 'the quality of care provided, preserve patient satisfaction, and reduce the need for repeated consultation with patients'. Appointments are supposed to be fixed at 10 minutes according to NHS best practice. More than half (51.8 per cent) of appointments lasted less than 15 minutes, according to the figures. Meanwhile, the proportion of GP appointments that were face-to-face rose slightly to 64.8 per cent last month, up from 64.1 per cent in May. The amount of consultations that are made in-person are still below pre-pandemic levels, with concerns raised doctors are less able to spot potentially dangerous diseases over the phone or on Zoom calls. The data comes after the annual GP Patient Survey earlier this month revealed half of sick patients have not seen their GP in the last year, with most saying it was because they could not get an appointment. Of patients who had avoided seeing a GP in the past year, more than a quarter (27 per cent) said they found it too difficult to book an appointment more than double the number in 2021 (11 per cent). Some 20 per cent were worried about the burden on the NHS, while 12 per cent said it was due to being worried about catching Covid, down from 17 per cent in 2021. Of those who did manage to see a doctor in the last 12 months, half (49 per cent) said they were not seen as quickly as they wanted, up from 41 per cent. Just 56 per cent said they had a good experience making an appointment compared to 71 per cent a year ago. The guide also recommends doing no stressful work within two hours in advance and avoiding tech devices And late eaters would have to bring their mealtimes forward to three hours before bed, or risk a poor sleep But it's bad news if you love caffeine, as the formula says it has to go at least 10 hours before bed Sleep doctors hail the '10-3-2-1' method to prepare for a night of optimal sleep throughout the day Busy lives and hectic work schedules are the most common reasons given for not getting enough sleep Two-thirds of adults in the US and UK fail to get the recommended eight hours, instead getting just six hours Advertisement You'd think with decades of practice, we'd all be professionals by now. So, why is it that millions of us still struggle to get a good night's sleep? Two-thirds of adults in the US and UK fail to get the recommended eight hours and studies suggest the average American and Briton gets around just six. Busy lives and hectic work schedules are the most common reasons given for not getting enough sleep. But our obsession with technology, a lack of exercise and culture of eating late have also been blamed as reasons we are so under-slept. Sleep doctors in recent years have waxed lyrical about the '10-3-2-1' formula, a step-by-step guide on how to best prepare yourself for a night of optimal sleep throughout the day. But it's bad news if you love caffeine, as the method says it has to go at least 10 hours before bed. And late eaters would have to bring their mealtimes forward to three hours before bed, or risk a night spent tossing and turning. The guide also recommends logging out of your work emails two hours before hitting the sack and even avoiding phones, tablets and laptops during the hour before hitting the hay. It comes after a mathematician this week claimed to have devised the perfect formula to help you feel chirpy in every morning. To start the day right, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, president-elect of the British Science Association, said we should get out of bed at 7.12am, exercise for exactly 21 minutes and then shower for ten minutes. Here, MailOnline analyses the science behind the 10-3-2-1 formula: Sleep doctors in recent years have waxed lyrical about the '10-3-2-1' formula, a step-by-step guide on how to best prepare yourself for a night of optimal sleep throughout the day. But it's bad news if you love caffeine, as the method says it has to go at least 10 hours before bed (top left). And late eaters would have to bring their mealtimes forward to three hours before bed (top right), or risk a night spent tossing and turning. The guide also recommends logging out of your work emails two hours before hitting the sack (bottom left) and even avoiding phones, tablets and laptops during the hour before hitting the hay (bottom right) HOW MUCH SLEEP SHOULD I GET? Most adults need between six and nine hours of sleep every night. Going to bed and getting up at a similar time each night programmes the brain and internal body clock to get used to a set routine. But few people manage to stick to strict bedtime patterns. To get to sleep easier, the NHS advises winding down, such as by taking a bath, reading and avoiding electronic devices. The health service also recommends keeping the bedroom sleep-friendly by removing TVs and gadgets from the room and keeping it dark and tidy. For people who struggle to sleep, the NHS says keeping a sleep diary can uncover lifestyle habits or activities that contribute to sleepiness. Source: NHS Advertisement CUT CAFFEINE AT MIDDAY The expert-endorsed approach sets out that caffeine should stop 10 hours before bed. With the average Briton going to bed at 11pm, this would mean no coffee, tea or energy drinks after 1pm. The 10-hour time could be down to how long it takes caffeine to metabolize in the body. Health chiefs say it takes eight to 12 hours to clear from the system, giving an average of 10 hours. An array of research has shown that caffeine can boost cognition and temporarily ward-off the effects of a poor night's sleep. But dozens of studies have shown the stimulant makes it harder to fall asleep and doesn't protect against the effects of long-term sleep deprivation. And a 2013 study by researchers from Wayne State University in Michigan suggests that consuming caffeine six hours before bed can slash how much sleep a person gets. The scientists followed the sleeping habits of 12 people who had pills containing 400mg of the stimulant the equivalent of two or three coffees zero, three and six hours before their usual bedtime. The results show that those who had the pills six hours before bed slept for one hour less than usual. Experts also warn that caffeine too close to bed can reduce sleep quality. A review by University of Zurich researchers detailed that the stimulant suppresses slow-wave sleep the deep sleep that leaves people feeling refreshed and alert. If this is interrupted, people can be left feeling sleep deprived meaning their memory, concentration and mood will take a hit. THAT LAST SNACK OR GLASS OF WINE BETTER BE BEFORE 8PM Under the 10-3-2-1 approach, people are advised against eating or drinking alcohol three hours before their head hits the pillow Those having a late night drink or midnight snack may be putting their sleep at risk. Under the 10-3-2-1 approach, people are advised against eating or drinking alcohol three hours before their head hits the pillow. Experts say this window of fasting gives the body plenty of time to digest food but is a short enough time that people don't hit the sack hungry. And avoiding alcohol before bed is linked with better quality sleep. But scientists have come up with slightly different rules. Researchers at the London Sleep Centre, who reviewed 27 studies, found that those who drank shortly before bed were more likely doze off quickly and sleep deeper. But they experience less rapid eye movement sleep the stage where dreams happen, towards the end of the night. The nervous system is activated during this stage, which is key for getting ready to wake back up in the morning without feeling groggy. And studies show that the later in the day you eat, the less chance food has to digest properly leading to acid reflux and cramps, as well as making the digestive system work at night, giving a less restful sleep. However, data shows conflicting results. A team at the University of Michigan detailed in a 2021 study of 13,000 Americans that those who ate within an hour of going to bed actually slept for an extra 30 minutes, on average. But eating close to bedtime can have impacts beyond sleep quality. A 2016 study, by researchers at Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey found people who eat within two hours of sleep are more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke. The team, who monitored 700 people found that their blood pressure spiked and stayed high when they ate within two hours of bedtime. The scientists said this is because eating releases a rush of stress hormones when the body should be starting to relax. Those whose blood pressure stays high overnight have much higher rates of heart-related death. WORK NO LATER THAN 9PM Experts say the brain should have two hours of rest before sleep. In this window, people should avoid all work-related activities, such as emails, phone calls and thinking about the following day Experts say the brain should have two hours of rest before sleep. In this window, people should avoid all work-related activities, such as emails, phone calls and thinking about the following day. People are even advised to write down any tasks on their mind so they can switch off for the night. This is because those who struggle to get a good sleep often blame stress and anxiety. Being too tense can cause shallow breathing, increase heart rate and blood pressure and release hormones that make people feel more alert. During this process it can be nearly impossible to fall asleep, with researchers consistently finding that those who struggle the most to sleep report the most stress. A team at the University of Indonesia, who quizzed 450 people about their stress and sleeping patters, found worn down people were nearly five-times more likely to struggle sleeping than those who were not stressed. And a study of 800 medical students found that those who were not stressed were 28 per cent more likely to have a satisfying sleep, according to researchers at the King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. But the findings seem to go both ways with a lack of sleep itself contributing to stress. A 2020 study by Chinese researchers, which saw more than 800 teenagers complete questionnaires on their sleeping habits, revealed that those who reported falling asleep fastest and the least amount of time tossing and turning were better able to cope with stress. NO NETFLIX IN BED AFTER 10PM Experts have long warned that electronic devices interfere with human's biological clock. As the sun comes up, the body produces the hormone cortisol, which makes you feel awake and alert Experts have long warned that electronic devices interfere with human's biological clock. As the sun comes up, the body produces the hormone cortisol, which makes you feel awake and alert. As it gets darker in the evening, the body produces melatonin, which triggers feelings of sleepiness. But evidence shows that looking at phones, tablets and laptops interferes with this process meaning a late night scroll on social media or watching Netflix in bed could lead to sleeping troubles. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York found that using phones, tablets and laptops on maximum brightness two hours before bed makes it harder to drift off. They said excess light stops the normal release of melatonin the signal to the body clock that its time for bed. Meanwhile, a team at the University of Arizona, who studied the sleep patterns and tech habits of hundreds of students, found that surfing the internet in the last hour before bed were more likely to have less sleep. And a study of 700 Americans by the University of California found that those who looked at screens before bed reported higher levels of disrupted sleep. On top of these results, a team at Harvard Medical School found that it's not limited to devices even bright lights around the home can hinder melatonin production at night by as much as 90 per cent. Advertisement The UK's sole child gender clinic was ordered to close it doors yesterday following more than a decade of allegations that it rushed teenagers onto life-altering puberty blocking drugs. It was finally brought down after a probe into claims from brave whistleblowers who had been raising concerns about practices at the trust for 17 years. North London-based Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), part of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, has treated 9,000 children as young as 10 since it opened in 1989. But it has faced a myriad of accusations from staff and former patients, with patients claiming they were rushed to change gender without having their mental health properly assessed. Medics described a 'climate of fear' about being labelled transphobic by managers and colleagues if they dared to question the service's approach. Dr Hilary Cass, a top paediatrician leading an NHS-commissioned review into Tavistock, last week told health chiefs that the centre needed to be overhauled after speaking with dozens of whistleblowers. Concerns were first raised about the clinic in 2005, when Sue Evans, a nurse at GIDS warned that youngsters were being assessed too quickly and their treatment was influenced by transgender rights groups. She accused staff, some of whom she said previously worked at transgender charities such as Mermaids and Gendered Intelligence, of immediately affirming children's beliefs, rather than trying to understand all the difficulties the child was experiencing. Some referred patients for puberty blockers after just four appointments. The drugs pause physical changes in puberty, such as the development of breasts or facial hair. Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, who are vying to be the next Prime Minister, last night vowed to crack down their use in children, hinting that they could be outright banned for under-18s. Concerns were first raised about the clinic in 2005, when Sue Evans (left), a nurse at GIDS warned that youngsters were being assessed too quickly and their treatment was influenced by transgender rights groups. In February 2019, an internal report by Dr David Bell (right), who was on Tavistock's board, set out how patients were suffering 'long term damage' because GIDS could not 'stand up to the pressure' from 'highly politicised' campaigners and families. He argued that some of the trust's patients were adopting a trans identify 'as a solution' to 'multiple problems' including past child abuse, bereavement and homophobia Dr Marcus Evans who had worked at the trust for decades and whose wife Sue first raised concerns about its practices in 2005 accused the trust of creating a 'climate of fear' and trying to 'dismiss or undermine' concerns, while 25 other clinicians signed a letter complaining about the attitude of managers Little is known about their long term effects and almost all patients who receive them go on to start treatment with cross-sex hormones, which cause irreversible changes such as breast development and deepening of the voice. They can also cause infertility. Mrs Evans flagged her worries to Tavistock's clinical management team but they only became public years later. In February 2019, an internal report by Dr David Bell, who was on Tavistock's board, set out how patients were suffering 'long term damage' because GIDS could not 'stand up to the pressure' from 'highly politicised' campaigners and families. He argued that some of the trust's patients were adopting a trans identity 'as a solution' to 'multiple problems' including past child abuse, bereavement and homophobia. Dr Bell accused the trust of providing 'woefully inadequate care' and that staff had 'very serious ethical concerns' about children making life-changing decisions with inadequate assessment or consent. Later that month, consultant psychotherapist Dr Marcus Evans who had worked at the trust for decades and whose wife Sue first raised concerns about its practices in 2005 resigned in protest at the Tavistock's response to doctors who raised the alarm. He accused the trust of creating a 'climate of fear' and trying to 'dismiss or undermine' concerns, while 25 other clinicians signed a letter complaining about the attitude of managers. Following the publication of his report, Dr Bell received letters threatening disciplinary action, including vague allegations of bullying. His warnings triggered a subsequent report by Dr Dinesh Sinha, the trust's medical director. But while this admitted staff had 'excessive' workloads and faced lobbying, he concluded the service was safe. But the trust continued to come under fire. In July 2019, Dr Kirsty Entwhisle, a psychologist at GIDS' Leeds branch, went public with accusations that staff misled patients and made decisions about young people's 'bodies and lives' without 'robust evidence'. She said some of the children had suffered 'very traumatic early experiences', such as being abandoned by their parents, sexual abuse, domestic violence or poverty. These factors were 'minimised or dismissed' by staff, who referred patients for treatment without exploring or addressing these problems. Medics who suggested children's early experiences were linked with their desire to transition were at risk of being 'called transphobic', Dr Entwhisle said. Staff were also telling their patients that hormone blockers were 'fully reversible' when experts still do not yet know the impact they of on children's brains, she claimed. In October 2019, Sue Evans and the anonymous mother of a 15-year-olds patient launched the first legal action against Tavistock. They claimed the trust should not prescribe puberty blockers to children who could not give informed consent. Keira Bell, who was given the drugs when she was 16, replaced Mrs Evans as lead claimant in January 2020. In July 2019, Dr Kirsy Entwhisle (left), a psychologist at GIDS Leeds hub, went public with accusations that staff misled patients and made decisions about young people's 'bodies and lives' without 'robust evidence'. She said some of the children had suffered 'very traumatic early experiences', such as being abandoned by their parents, sexual abuse, domestic violence or poverty, which were 'minimised or dismissed' by staff, who referred patients for treatment without exploring or addressing these problems. Sonia Appleby (right), the trust's safeguarding lead, filed a claim with an employment tribunal after trust managers tried to stop her from carrying out her role when staff raised concerns. Last September, the tribunal awarded her 20,000, ruling that she had been treated unfairly Keira Bell, who was prescribed the drugs when she was 16-years-old, replaced Mrs Evans as lead claimant in January 2020. She underwent breast-removal surgery but regretted transitioning, claiming she was given puberty blockers after 'superficial conversations' with social workers' and was receiving testosterone shots a year later'. Ms Bell, who said she was suffering from anxiety and depression at the time, said medics should have considered her comorbidities, 'not just reaffirm my naive hope that everything could be solved with hormones and surgery'. She said Tavistock 'failed to protect young patients' and had 'conducted what amounted to uncontrolled experiments on us' HOW THE TAVISTOCK SCANDAL UNFOLDED 2005: Sue Evans, a nurse at Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), warned that youngsters were being assessed too quickly and their treatment was influenced by transgender rights groups. 2009: GIDS became a national service responsible for treating all children in England with gender and identify issues. Demand skyrocketed, with fewer than 100 patients referred to the clinic in 2010, jumping more than 2,500 by 2018. 2018: A senior member of staff told the trust's board that children were wrong fast-tracked into changing their gender with the mental health and social reasons behind their wishes being overlooked February 2019: An internal report by Dr David Bell, who was on Tavistock's board, set out how patients were suffering 'long term damage' because GIDS could not 'stand up to the pressure' from 'highly politicised' campaigners and families. February 2019: Consultant psychotherapist Dr Marcus Evans who had worked at the trust for decades and whose wife Sue first raised concerns about its practices in 2005 resigned in protest at the Tavistock's response to doctors who raised the alarm. July 2019: Dr Kirsty Entwhisle, a psychologist at GIDS Leeds hub, went public with accusations that staff misled patients and made decisions about young people's 'bodies and lives' without 'robust evidence'. October 2019: Former GIDS nurse Sue Evans and an anonymous mother of a 15-year-olds GIDS patient launched the first legal action against Tavistock. They claimed the trust should not prescribed puberty blockers to children who could not give informed consent. January 2020: Keira Bell, who was prescribed the drugs when she was 16-years-old, replaced Mrs Evans as lead claimant. She underwent breast-removal surgery but regretted transitioning, claiming she was given puberty blockers after 'superficial conversations' with social workers' and was receiving testosterone shots a year later'. December 2020: In response to the claim, the High Court decided that under-16s could not give informed consent to the treatment. 2020: NHS England asks paediatrician Dr Hillary Cass to conduct a review into Tavistock. September 2021: Tavistock appealed the decision and it was overturned by the Court of Appeal, which claimed the previous ruling was 'inappropriate' and placed patients, parents and medics in a 'very difficult position'. September 2021: Sonia Appleby, the trust's safeguarding lead, awarded 20,000 by tribunal after claiming trust managers tried to stop her from carrying out her role when staff raised concerns. January 2021: The UK's health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, gave GIDS the lowest rating it can, 'inadequate', after finding 'significant concerns' about how it operates. It demanded improvement. March 2022: In an interim report, Dr Cass hit out at the lack of 'open discussion' at the trust about its treatment, which was not subject to quality controls. She found other mental health issues were 'overshadowed' in favour of gender identity issues when children were referred to GIDS. She called for a 'fundamentally different service model' and 'rapid' research on the use of the drugs after she found 'insufficient evidence' on their benefits. July 2022: In a letter to the NHS, Dr Cass called for regional centres to be commissioned for gender identity treatment, with 'strong links' to mental health services and academic hubs that conduct ongoing research. July 2022: The NHS confirmed that GIDS will be replaced by regional centres at existing children's hospitals, which will provide more holistic care with 'strong links to mental health services'. Advertisement Ms Bell had undergone breast-removal surgery but regretted transitioning, claiming she was given puberty blockers after 'superficial conversations' with social workers and was 'receiving testosterone shots a year later'. The former patient, who said she was suffering from anxiety and depression at the time she received treatment, said medics should have considered her mental health issues, 'not just reaffirm my naive hope that everything could be solved with hormones and surgery'. She said Tavistock 'failed to protect young patients' and had 'conducted what amounted to uncontrolled experiments on us'. Ruling on the claim in December 2020, the High Court decided that under-16s could not give informed consent to the treatment. But Tavistock appealed the decision and it was overturned by the Court of Appeal in September 2021, claiming the previous ruling was 'inappropriate' and placed patients, parents and medics in a 'very difficult position'. Last January, the UK's health watchdog, Care Quality Commission, gave GIDS an 'inadequate' rating the lowest possible. It found 'significant concerns' about how it operates and demanded improvement, with 4,600 children on the waiting list, who were deemed at risk of self-harm, facing waits of up to two years. The CQC warned that staff had not always fully logged the competency, capacity and consent of patients receiving treatment or the reasons for their clinical decisions so it was impossible to understand why decisions had been made. Its investigation came after the Children's Commissioner for England raised concerns about GIDS clinical practice, safeguarding procedures and how it assessed its capacity and consent to treatment. Meanwhile, Sonia Appleby, the trust's safeguarding lead, filed a claim with an employment tribunal after trust managers tried to stop her from carrying out her role when staff raised concerns. Last September, the tribunal awarded her 20,000, with the court ruling that she had been treated unfairly. In a move that finally saw GIDS ordered to close its doors, Dr Cass, a former chair of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health who is conducting an independent review into GIDS, wrote to health leaders last week, saying its work needs to be overhauled. The health service commissioned the report in autumn 2020 to examine its gender identity services following a spate of scandals. In an interim report in March, Dr Cass hit out at the lack of 'open discussion' at the trust about its treatment, which was not subject to quality controls. She found other mental health issues were 'overshadowed' in favour of gender identity issues when children were referred to GIDS. She called for a 'fundamentally different service model' and 'rapid' research on the use of the drugs after she found 'insufficient evidence' on their benefits. The letter to NHS England last week called for regional centres to be commissioned for gender identity treatment, with 'strong links' to mental health services and academic hubs that conduct ongoing research. The NHS yesterday confirmed that GIDS will be replaced by these local hubs at existing children's hospitals, which will provide more holistic care with 'strong links to mental health services'. NHS England said it would set up two new centres in London and the North West. They will take responsibility for all of Tavistock child trans patients and waiting lists with the aim to shut down the clinic by next spring. GIDS' London service will be run by a partnership between Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Evelina London Children's Hospital. In the North West, the service will be a partnership between Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. After these initial two, a further six or seven similar services could be opened in other parts of the country. Patients currently being treated at GIDS will continue to be treated by the service before their care is transferred to the new operators early next year. GIDS has said there are currently no plans to change access to puberty blockers until the research programme proposed by Dr Cass is designed. The closure of the service for young people at Tavistock is likely to be seen as a victory by campaigners who have previously accused GIDS of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs. A spokesperson for GIDS said: 'The trust supports the need to establish a more sustainable model for the care of this group of patients given the marked growth in referrals.' 'The expertise that resides within the current GIDS service will be critical to the successful formation of these early adopter services and providing continuity in patient care. 'We will work closely with partners and commissioners to ensure a smooth transition to the new model of delivery.' They also added the team at GIDS were extremely proud of their work despite the 'intense scrutiny' they had been under. 'Over the last couple of years, our staff in GIDS have worked tirelessly and under intense scrutiny in a difficult climate. 'We are proud of them and thankful for their unrelenting patient focus and extraordinary efforts.' Monkeypox has been declared an 'imminent threat to public health' in New York because of the ongoing and rapid spread of the disease, health officials announced on Thursday. The state leads the nation in confirmed cases, having recorded 1,247 of the 4,907 infections in America with nearly all cases in and around New York City. State health commissioner Dr Mary Bassett said the declaration would 'free up' extra funding to help prevent the disease's spread. It came the same day San Francisco officials said they would declare a 'local emergency' over monkeypox as its infection tally reached 241. No nationwide alert has been issued yet, although the Biden administration is considering the move. A total of one-in-five Americans now fear they may catch monkeypox, a poll of 1,500 adults from the Annenberg Public Policy Center in Pennsylvania revealed today as public concern over the disease which could spill into the wider population ticks up. The above map shows the number of monkeypox cases declared across the U.S. by CDC The above graph shows the total number of cases of monkeypox confirmed in the United States. This week the tally shot up by more than 1,000 in 24 hours, which officials said was down to 'historic' cases finally being recorded 'Every American should pay attention on monkeypox', health chief says Every American should 'pay attention' to the monkeypox outbreak because the disease could spill over into more groups than just gay men, the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) warned Thursday before U.S. cases topped 4,900, the highest tally in the world. Dr Xavier Becerra, secretary of the HHS, issued the stark warning during a press briefing, adding that infections with the disease were 'painful' and could also be dangerous. He did insist it was 'absolutely' still possible for the U.S. to eliminate monkeypox. The vast majority of cases are still among gay or bisexual men, but last week America recorded its first two cases in children in a toddler in California and infant traveling through Washington D.C. and a pregnant woman who tested positive when she was near full-term. Top experts have been warning for weeks that other groups could catch the disease because it does not require sexual contact to transmit, but only close contact such as hugs or brushing the rashes of an infected person. Advertisement Making the declaration Thursday, Bassett said: 'Based on the ongoing spread of this virus, which has increased rapidly and affected primarily [gay or bisexual male] communities... I've declared monkeypox an Imminent Threat to Public Health throughout New York State. 'This declaration means that local health departments... will be able to access additional State reimbursement, after other Federal State funding sources are maximized. '[This will held] protect all New Yorkers and ultimately limit the spread of monkeypox in our communities.' Concern has been growing over monkeypox after cases spiked by more than 1,000 in a day on Wednesday with officials predicting they will keep rising for 'weeks'. About 99 percent of infections have been detected in men, with the 'vast majority' among those who are gay or bisexual. But top experts fear the disease will spill into more vulnerable groups. Over the last seven days America has recorded its first two cases in children a toddler in California and infant in Washington D.C. and one in a pregnant woman. In announcing plans to declare monkeypox an emergency this week, San Francisco's mayor London Breed said the 'early action' was needed to 'protect public health'. 'Many people in our LGBTQ+ community are scared and frustrated,' she said. 'This local emergency will allow us to continue to support our most at-risk, while also better preparing for what's to come.' Director of Health for the Bay Area city Dr Grant Colfax said the COVID-19 pandemic had taught them that early action was needed to contain the disease. Their declaration will go into effect on August 1. The Biden administration is also expected to declare monkeypox a health emergency in the coming days, Politico reports. It would follow on from a similar decision made last week by the World Health Organization, after they previously shied away from the move. When this was declared, the White House said it was a 'call to action' for countries to begin 'stopping' the spread of the virus globally. Both cities have struggled to get hold of enough doses of the vaccine to protect citizens against the disease. New York City is offering the jab to all gay or bisexual men who have multiple sexual partners in a fortnight, while San Francisco is rolling it out to 'everyone who wants it'. New York got another 110,000 doses yesterday with 80,000 earmarked for New York City, on top of the 60,000 rolled out statewide so far. But San Francisco was offered only 4,220 out of the 35,000 it had initially requested. Roll outs have previously been slammed for their slow pace, and how it's 'ridiculous' so few jabs are available in such large cities. America has the most confirmed monkeypox cases in the world. But when the data is considered per head - a more accurate measure because it takes into account countries differing population sizes - it shows Spain has the worst outbreak It comes after a survey warned concerns over monkeypox were growing among Americans amid spiraling cases. The Annenberg Public Policy Center, a part of the University of Pennsylvania, interviewed 1,500 Americans over whether they were concerned about catching Covid or monkeypox two weeks ago. It found 19 percent said they were worried about being infected with monkeypox. A greater proportion 30 percent said they still had concerns over catching Covid. The majority of people surveyed said they were not concerned about becoming infected with either disease. The center's director Kathleen Jamieson said: 'It's important that the public calibrate its concerns to the reality of the risk of Covid and monkeypox and act appropriately.' Every victim of the contaminated blood scandal should be paid at least 100,000 each, the chairman of an inquiry into the disaster ruled today. The compensation should be paid 'without delay', Sir Brian Langstaff said. He said he had made the report in light of the inquiry hearing evidence of 'profound physical and mental suffering' caused by the scandal. The inquiry was set-up to examine how thousands of patients with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders were infected with HIV and hepatitis C in the 1970s and 80s after getting tainted donations from US prisoners, sex workers and drug addicts who were paid to give their blood. About 2,400 people died, in what has been labelled the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. The independent inquiry into the 50-year-old scandal was announced in 2017 and began hearing evidence in 2019. Campaigners praised the 'step in the right direction' but raised concerns there are still hundreds of parents or children of victims who are not eligible for the payments. Thousands of victims who were infected with HIV and hepatitis with contaminated blood should be paid at least 100,000 each, Sir Brian Langstaff (pictured) said today Lauren Palmer, 33, lost both her parents to the contaminated blood scandal when she was nine Victim Michelle Tolley described it as the 'worst tragedy in the history of the NHS and it must never ever happen again, absolutely never' A timeline of the contaminated blood scandal which began in the early-1970s 1972: NHS starts importing large batches of Factor VIII products from United States to help clot blood of haemophiliacs. 1974: Some researchers warn that Factor VIII could be contaminated and spreading hepatitis. Late-1970s: Patients continue to be given Factor VIII, with much of the plasma used to make the product coming from donors such as prison inmates, drug addicts and prostitutes. 1983: Governments in both the UK and the United States are told that Aids has been spread through blood products. Mid-1980s: By now the blood products such as Factor VIII, were being heat-treated to kill viruses, but thousands of patients had already been infected. 1991: Blood products imported from US are withdrawn from use. The government awards ex-gratia payments to haemophiliac victims threatening to sue. 2007: Privately-funded inquiry into scandal set up by Lord Archer of Sandwell but it does not get offical status and relies on donations. 2008: Penrose Inquiry launched, but victims claim the seven-year investigation was a 'whitewash'. 2017: Independent inquiry into contaminated blood scandal announced by Prime Minister Theresa May. April, 2019 Infected Blood Inquiry starts hearing evidence. Advertisement In a letter to Paymaster General Michael Ellis accompanying the report, Sir Brian said: 'As you will read, it was the force of Sir Robert Francis QC's recommendation of an interim payment, as amplified by him in the course of his oral evidence to the inquiry, that caused me to reflect on whether I should exercise my powers to make such a report. 'I believed that elementary justice required that I consider this question. No submission made to me argued that I should not make a recommendation. 'Having considered the submissions and reflected on the evidence this inquiry has heard of profound physical and mental suffering across a wide range of backgrounds, from a diversity of places and in a variety of personal circumstances, I considered it right that I should make this report. 'I recommend that: (1) An interim payment should be paid, without delay, to all those infected and all bereaved partners currently registered on UK infected blood support schemes, and those who register between now and the inception of any future scheme; (2) The amount should be no less than 100,000, as recommended by Sir Robert Francis QC.' It comes after a report on the interim payments by Sir Robert, who studied options for a framework for compensation for victims of the infected blood tragedy, was published in June. The inquiry was established to examine how thousands of patients in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. About 30,000 Britons many haemophiliacs contracted HIV and/or hepatitis C in the 1970s and 1980s after being treated by the NHS with cheap, tainted US blood products At least 2,400 died because of the blood. Today's announcement does not extend to parents or children of victims, meaning hundreds of families are still waiting to hear how they will be compensated after the inquiry. The BBC reported that there are more than 4,000 surviving victims of the contaminated blood scandal, equating to a pay-out in the region of 400million. Jason Evans, founder of victims' campaign group Factor 8, said: 'The announcement today is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, and we are thankful to Sir Brian. 'It's disappointing that hundreds of bereaved families will have to wait. We had hoped for a recommendation that the whole community could get behind and campaign for. 'However, it must be stressed that the arbitrary exclusion of many bereaved families is a creation of the government, not of the infected blood inquiry. 'Many parents whose children died after being infected are now elderly; I expect there will be more deaths without any recognition in this group as the Inquiry continues. The compensation should be paid `without delay to those affected, Sir Brian Langstaff wrote in an interim report Wife of tainted blood victim in payout plea for victims Wendy Stubbs said it is already too late for the 'love of her life' Stephen, 63, who is rapidly deteriorating as a result of contracting hepatitis C from blood products in the 1980s The wife of a man infected in the tainted blood scandal has called for urgent compensation for victims after her husband spent his last Christmas still waiting for justice. Wendy Stubbs said it is already too late for the love of her life Stephen, 63, who is rapidly deteriorating as a result of contracting hepatitis C from blood products in the 1980s. The grandfather has an aggressive form of Alzheimers disease caused by his infection and is living out his days in a care home unable to talk, feed or dress himself, or recognise his loved ones. Mrs Stubbs, 61, said tearfully: For Stephen it is already too late, he hasnt got a clue what is going on. Christmas is a happy time for families but he doesnt even know who I am. 'There were thousands infected and affected and the very few that are left now are still suffering like Stephen but there is still no justice. The Government needs to do something and urgently before theyve all been wiped out. Advertisement 'Hopefully, the government will take this on board and act now to remove the hierarchy of bereaved families. 'In the meantime, we urge the government to take swift action in making interim compensation payments to all who have been so badly impacted by the devastating effects of Hepatitis C and HIV.' Des Collins, senior partner at Collins Solicitors, who represents families and those affected by the scandal said the report was a 'welcome development' but compensation had been 'due for decades'. 'These immediate interim payments for some of the most vulnerable will, at last, provide some financial compensation that many of those suffering have been due for decades,' he said. 'Whilst coming too late for the thousands who have tragically passed away over the intervening years since they were infected, it is a welcome development for some of those still living with the dreadful repercussions of this avoidable treatment failure. 'We look forward to the day when all victims of this scandal are properly compensated for their suffering and for those whose decisions led to the ruining of countless innocent lives being held to account. 'We now await the Government's response, and would like to thank the IBI chair Sir Brian Langstaff for recognising the importance of today's recommendations.' In a short statement at the end of Friday's hearing, Sir Brian made clear his recommendation did not have to be accepted by the Government. 'Please also remember I have no power to order interim payments: my sole power is to make a recommendation. It does not have to be accepted by Government, nor does it have to be accepted in full,' he said. He also apologised to those who would not be eligible for compensation under the scope of the recommendation, but stressed the inquiry's work was still ongoing. A final report into the matter is yet to be published, Sir Brian said. 'I know that this will be disappointing for some of you who may fall into neither category and I apologise for that,' the chairman said. 'I ask those who are disappointed to remember that this is not the end of the inquiry's work, and the question of compensation, and its scope is not resolved in this short report on interim payments.' An 'unusually large' cluster of 23 babies under three months old have suffered brain inflammation in Tennessee after being infected with parechovirus and COVID-19 lockdowns could be to blame. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports the infants were all diagnosed over a month-long period up to mid-May this year, and all but one were hospitalized. In 2018, only four cases were recorded a month in spring. Parechovirus infections are common in children and usually pass without any symptoms, but among those under six months the disease can cause fevers, seizures and brain inflammations and in rare cases be fatal. It is normally passed on via contact with siblings or parents. Dr Lili Tao, the microbiologist at Vanderbilt University who led the paper, told DailyMail.com the uptick may be due to 'social distancing' to stop Covid spreading also weakening immunity against this virus, sparking a surge of cases now. The infants were all diagnosed over a month-long period up to mid-May this year, and all but one were hospitalized. (stock image) The uptick in cases was revealed in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the leading diseases publication in the United States. It said the children were aged between five days to three months old with a median age of 24 days, and 13 were female while ten were male. All of them suffered inflammation to the brain and lining of the brain because of the infection medically termed human parechovirus meningoencephalitis. Several also had a fever, fussiness and poor eating. What is parechovirus? Parechovirus is a common and normally harmless infection among children and adults. Most cases cause few or no symptoms and quickly clear up on their own. But the virus is much more dangerous in children less than six months old, where an infection can cause fevers, seizures and brain inflammation. In rare cases, it may also be fatal. How do I catch parechovirus? The disease can be caught by breathing in air from an infected person. It may also be transmitted through the fecal-oral route, where someone touches a feces-contaminated surface and then their mouth. What are the symptoms? In many cases it may cause little or no symptoms. But in more serious infections the virus can trigger fever, irritability, nausea and diarrhea. Among children less than six months old it can also cause brain inflammation, seizures and be fatal in rare cases. Is there a treatment? There is no specifically-designed treatment for the virus. But sick newborns may be offered immunoglobins, an intravenous medication that boosts immunity. They could also be given Pleconaril, an oral antiviral medication that fights infections. Source: Cleveland Clinic. Advertisement All but one were admitted to hospital at the Monrow Carell Jr. Children's hospital in Nashville. Four of the children were moved to intensive care for treatment. Most of the children recovered from the illness, but one may be left with lasting seizures while a second could have permanent hearing loss. The cases were diagnosed between April 12 and May 24 this year. It was not clear how they became infected, but the researchers noted 16 lived with siblings or were exposed to other children. One also became infected while they were on the wards at a neonatal unit. Asked how the infants became infected, Dr Tao said many of the patients came from homes where another member had symptoms of a respiratory virus a tell-tale sign of parechovirus. 'It suggests that it might be a household member in the family that had the infection and probably transmitted it to the very small babies,' she said. It also was not clear what treatment the babies had received. Cases of parechovirus usually rise about every two years over the spring and summer months in line with the warming conditions. But this normally goes largely undetected because the virus rarely causes severe infections in people. Yet over 2020 when the next surge was expected none was detected as COVID-19 restrictions kept many at home and away from others. Tao said the investigation was sparked after medics noticed more children being effected by parechovirus than normal. Asked whether it could be driven by a drop in immunity due to restrictions stopping the virus circulating she said: 'We cannot say for sure, but there is a fair chance that this is associated with social distancing. 'We did not see any peak in the virus in 2020, that suggests it is associated with this.' She could not say whether it was being driven by similar factors as the spate of hepatitis cases in children. British scientists say it may be caused by lockdowns weakening children's immunity, but in America health officials say there was no rise in hepatitis cases out of the normal. There were 19 cases of parechovirus detected over five spring months in Tennessee in 2018, data shows. From 2019 to 2021 there were seven cases reported. An article on 2 July reported on social media comments made by Alice Evans, the ex-wife of Ioan Gruffudd, about his new partner, Bianca Wallace. Ms Evans seemed to suggest that Ms Wallace was mocking her by posting a 'selfie' photograph with misapplied makeup in response to a selfie Ms Evans had posted. Commenting on her selfie, Ms Evans said she struggled with her makeup due to her sight but felt no one noticed and acknowledged 'maybe I am too old to be posting pics like that'. She appeared to accuse Ms Wallace of 'laughing at people you think are not as cool as you'. In fact, Ms Wallace posted her photograph in 2020, well before the selfie put up by Ms Evans. We are happy to make clear that the suspicions raised by Ms Evans cannot have been correct and apologise to Ms Wallace for any distress caused by the article. We have agreed to make a donation to the MS Society on behalf of Ms Wallace. To report an inaccuracy, please email corrections@mailonline.co.uk. To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules please go to www.mailonline.co.uk/readerseditor where you will find an easy-to-use complaints form. You can also write to Readers' Editor, MailOnline, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or contact IPSO directly at ipso.co.uk National Highways has added a new 'Big Brother' van to its fleet that can detect if motorists are wearing a seatbelt or holding a phone at the wheel as they drive past - and police have been using it for weeks. The vehicle is the first of its kind being trialled on UK roads, with Warwickshire Police deploying it on its motorways from 11 July and will use it for at least the next three months to catch motorists breaking the law. The van will be used only at the roadside at various locations and is fitted with a large metal gantry structure with cameras attached to monitor the road from an elevated position. The Government's major roads department says the hi-tech van is first being used to 'understand the scale of the problem around these dangerous motoring offences', though suggest similar technology-packed vehicles could be distributed across the country to 'boost road safety'. On the hunt: The new van, which has been in use since 11 July, will help detect motoring offences such as holding a mobile phone at the wheel or not wearing a seatbelt National Highways says drivers caught by the van breaking the law will be issued by Warwickshire Police with a warning letter to inform them of the dangers of their actions. The letters will remind drivers that they could be fined up to 500 for not wearing a seat belt in addition to receiving penalty points, while those caught using a handheld device will be stung with 200 fines and six points on their licence. Warwickshire Police confirmed to This is Money that repeat offenders will face fines and penalty points during the trial. Other serious offences, such as drivers caught travelling with a small child in the front seat, will also result in prosecutions, the force told us. Earlier this year, stricter laws were introduced to almost completely outlaw any form of mobile phone use while driving, meaning anyone caught handling the phone - from touching the screen to scroll news feeds or pressing a button to take a photograph - will be penalised. The only exceptions are for making calls to emergency services when there is no safe place to pull over and to use contactless payments like Apple Pay at a fast-food drive-through and to pay tolls, while hands-free calls are also still permitted. Warning letters sent to drivers caught committing an offence by the roadside van will be asked to complete a short survey which will be used to inform National Highways' research. The testing period is said to be an 'initial' three months, though this could be extended, with the timescale used to assess the equipment's performance across different types of roads. The van should be easy to spot stationary at the roadside, given that it has a large metal structure that extends from the roof and contains cameras and equipment powering the surveillance systems. This allows the technology to monitor road users from an elevated position to see what is going on inside vehicles, providing a viewpoint similar to cameras installed on motorway gantries and fixed speed cameras at the roadside. Stricter laws were introduced for mobile phone use at the wheel earlier this year. It means simply touching the device can land motorists with 200 fines and 6 points Highways England describes it as a 'sensor test vehicle' that 'can record footage of passing motorists' - and it will only be operational when parked up rather than when the van is on the move. Images captured by the cameras are processed using artificial intelligence (AI) to determine if motorists were using a handheld mobile phone and drivers and passengers were without a seatbelt. The van is also capable of being kitted with additional technology to detect tailgating offences, although this system does not form part of the trials in Warwickshire, the authorities said. RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes welcomed the arrival of the surveillance van, saying the motoring organisation had been urging the Government 'for several years' to explore how camera-based technology could 'reduce the scourge of drivers who put others at risk by using handheld phones while driving'. Lyes says the vehicle will also be welcomed by the majority of motorists. '79 per cent of drivers we surveyed support the introduction of this kind of technology, with a clear majority strongly in favour of this happening,' he said 'We're extremely pleased to see National Highways and Warwickshire Police working together on this, and very much hope other police forces follow suit in a bid to make our roads safer.' Government statistics show that around one in four road deaths in Britain can be attributed to not wearing a seatbelt National Highways says the trial will form part of its commitment to improve road deaths, which includes a target to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries from motorways and busy A-roads by 2040. Latest Government figures show that there were 420 collisions on British roads in 2019 in which the driver was using a mobile phone at the wheel. Separate figures show that failure to wear a seatbelt has been attributed to one in four road deaths. National Highways head of road safety, Jeremy Phillips, said: 'Safety remains our top priority and we want everyone to get to their destination safely. 'Sadly, there are still drivers who do not feel the need to wear a seatbelt, become distracted by their phones or travel too close to the vehicle in front. 'We want to see if we can change driver behaviour and therefore improve road safety for everyone. 'Our advice is clear; please leave enough space, buckle up and give the road your full attention.' Warwickshire Police inspector, Jem Mountford, added: 'We are really excited to see the impact that this new technology has on the behaviour of drivers in Warwickshire. 'Our officers deal with the tragic circumstances of collisions where often innocent people have been killed or seriously injured because a driver was distracted by a mobile phone or someone was not wearing a seatbelt. 'These collisions are preventable but we need all road users to do the right thing and comply with the law to make our roads safer. 'During the trial the most serious breaches may be prosecuted, with others receiving warning letters, giving us the opportunity to explain how they have been caught and asking them to change their behaviour. Next time they may not be so lucky.' The van has become the latest in a raft of new equipment being used across Britain to catch drivers breaking the law. This includes the installation a new fixed camera last year on the M4 in Berkshire that also detect if drivers are not wearing seatbelts or are holding mobile phones. Highways England claims this camera has caught nearly 7,000 people failing to belt up and over 25,000 drivers handling their phones in the first six months. The Government agency overseeing major roads has also trialled new tailgating cameras on a stretch of the M1 near Northampton that have captured 60,343 instances of vehicles driving too close in a one-year period between October 2020 and September last year. Although the technology and research is funded by National Highways, it says enforcement of any motoring offences identified 'remains a matter for individual police forces'. 'Supercabs' are being used by National Highways to monitor driving behaviour from a raised position, which has resulted in 250 drivers per month being caught for different offences National Highways also operates three unmarked HGV cabs that are used by police to monitor driving on the strategic road network as part of 'Operation Tramline'. The 'supercabs' are not only relatively inconspicuous but also provide a raised viewing point for officers to see if a car driver is illegally using a device, not wearing a seatbelt or committing other dangerous driving offences. The cabs, which have been used since February 2018, put officers at the same height as other HGV operators - and National Highways has previously released footage of lorry drivers using their phones. Around 250 dangerous drivers a month are caught by the cabs, with handheld mobile phone use and not wearing seatbelts being some of the top offences identified by police, the government agency says. Shares in Aston Martin sped into reverse yesterday as the luxury car maker said hundreds of supercars had been left unfinished. More than 350 are awaiting parts, as it blamed the supply chain problems on lockdowns in China and war in Ukraine. The problems dented sales and led to a loss of 285m for the first half of this year more than the 213m the group lost in the whole of 2021, on top of 466m in 2020. Driven to distraction: More than 350 are awaiting parts, as Aston Martin blamed the supply chain problems on lockdowns in China and war in Ukraine The results explain why the company had to go cap-in-hand to Saudi Arabia for a 650m cash injection this month. The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund is now the second largest shareholder, behind the 22 per cent stake held by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll. Stroll said: 'The first half was not without its challenges. 'Isolated but impactful supply chain shortages, particularly in the second quarter, resulted in lower wholesales and significant working capital headwinds. Specifically, we ended June with more than 350 cars we had planned to deliver in the quarter still awaiting final parts, consuming tens of millions in cash and temporarily limiting our ability to meet the strong demand we have. 'We have now started to deliver these vehicles in July.' Shares in the James Bond favourite rose 0.6 per cent, or 2.8p, to 478.4p. The stock has fallen 66 per cent so far this year. The FTSE 100 was up 1.1 per cent, or 78.18 points, at 7423.43 and the FTSE 250 climbed 1.6 per cent, or 309.71 points, to 20,164.90. Gains were being made by Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust following strong earnings reports from Apple and Amazon on Thursday. Amazon is Scottish Mortgage's seventh-largest holding. While Scottish Mortgage does not own Apple shares, the iPhone maker's better-than-expected earnings have boosted the sector as a whole. Its shares were up 3.2 per cent, or 26.4p, to 862p. Another notable gainer was Glencore, which lowered its guidance for copper production but is still expected to report record profit next week, driven by surging thermal coal prices and record trading returns. The world's largest commodity trader was slapped with 1.2billion of penalties for bribery and corruption this year, but investors hope the worst is behind it. Shares were up 2.8 per cent, or 12.5p, to 461.85p AstraZeneca hiked its revenue forecast for the year after strong demand for its Covid antibody treatment and cancer medication. The pharmaceutical giant said it expects a Covid injection to help drive sales of at least 20 per cent for the year. Nevertheless, the shares fell 0.2 per cent, or 26p, to 10,844p as it revealed a 53 per cent decline in operating profits to 1.15billion for the first six months of the year. Current board executive Michel Demare will take over as chairman. BT fell 0.03 per cent, or 0.05p, to 161.8p at news that Virgin Media O2 has created a venture with French infrastructure investor InfraVia Capital Partners to build between 5m and 7m fibre connections across Britain, investing 4.5billion in the network. It will be 50 per cent-owned by Liberty Global and Telefonica, and 50 per cent by InfraVia. The deal is expected to close this year and marks efforts by the newly formed group to take on telecoms behemoth BT. Further down the market, Rightmove revenue and profits rose in the first half of the year, as it said activity on its site had been resilient. The UK's largest online property platform took in 162.7m in sales over the six months to 30 June, up 9 per cent on 2021. Request Finance, the largest enterprise crypto invoicing and payroll platform trusted by over 2,000 Web3 businesses, is thriving despite the crypto winter. In June, Request registered a 7.3% increase in the number of crypto invoices paid through its platform to the tune of $8.43 million, exhibiting continuous growth even during a period of unforeseen volatility. What's more, Request Finance recently completed a successful seed round that raised $5.5 million from leading institutional backers such as Animoca Brands, which is also a prominent metaverse company, as well as XAnge and Balderton Capital. The seed round also attracted top Web3 founders such as Sebastien Borget, the co-founder and COO of The Sandbox, Michael Kong (CEO of Fantom), and Stani Kulechov, CEO and founder of Aave. According to reports, Request Finance plans to use the funds to expand its product offerings, enter new markets, and build out its team by hiring for positions across the board even while most companies in the space lay off staff. Is the Crypto Market Dead? Detractors of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin have been quick to declare the entire industry dead as fear uncertainty, and doubt about Bitcoin and the crypto market hits all-time highs. On Google searches, the term "Bitcoin is dead" has once again resurfaced, thereby renewing the speculation about the demise of the leading cryptocurrency and the entire market. Granted, the collapse of Terra Luna and its stablecoin platform sent a shockwave throughout the industry that saw Bitcoin and Ethereum drop by over 15% in a matter of days, thus marking an 18-month low. The collapse of Terra Luna and its UST stablecoin, right from its underdog start as a payment app in South Korea to a $60 billion crypto ecosystem, wiped out over $17 billion in value off the crypto market, raising questions about the future of the industry. However, a closer look at the numbers from companies such as Request Finance tells a different story. Request Finance's Survival Strategy Request's focus on helping businesses tackle complex compliance and accounting challenges when dealing with crypto is by far one of the most important aspects of the company's success strategy. In a blog post announcing their successful $5.5 seed round, Maxime Le Dantec, Principal at Balderton Capital, said: "The popularity of cryptocurrencies poses serious challenges to CFOs and their teams. Bank accounts are increasingly replaced by wallets, financial institutions now compete with decentralized lending protocols, and legacy payment networks are being replaced by blockchains. The traditional enterprise finance software stack made of tools like Melio payments or Bill.com is less relevant than a crypto-native tool like Request Finance" Since its launch in January 2021, Request Finance has managed to clear over $200 million in crypto invoices and continues to offer an all-in-one finance solution for Web3 natives, including easy integration with business accounting software such as Xero, QuickBooks, and Freeagent. The company has also managed to form key partnerships with leading DeFi protocols such as MakerDAO, AAVE, and The Sandbox, thereby increasing its reach and platform usage. In addition, Request Finance has managed to capitalize on the increasing move toward remote work and online collaboration by offering a mobile app that makes it easier for users to request, approve and pay invoices on the go. Request's focus on the biggest challenges for institutions and individuals venturing into the incoming Web3 space seems to be paying off as the company continues to grow even amid a market downturn. "The opportunities that lie in powering payments for the open metaverse have attracted several large, traditional payment companies. But crypto-native solutions like Request Finance play a critical role in addressing the needs of Web3 enterprises and their communities," said Yat Siu, who is the CEO and co-founder of Animoca Brands. What's Next For Request Finance The future looks bright for Request Finance and other companies in the space despite the crypto winter. The request team has plans to launch a new slate of in-app services and products that will further help Web3 companies better manage their crypto-financial operations as we progress further into a decentralized financial future. Despite the negative sentiments across the crypto sphere, companies such as Request Finance prove that the industry is far from dead and that there is still a lot of value to be created in the space. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The owner of British Airways has soared back into the black for the first time since the start of the pandemic despite airport chaos causing it to cut tens of thousands of flights. International Airlines Group (IAG) posted a profit of 245m for the second quarter, compared with a loss of 810m during the same period last year. But it has scaled back the pace of its recovery to pre-pandemic levels 'mainly due to the challenges at Heathrow', which has capped passenger numbers. Turbulence: International Airlines Group posted a profit of 245m for the second quarter, compared with a loss of 810m during the same period last year Chief executive Luis Gallego said problems at Heathrow had been 'acute'. 'Our airline teams remain focused on enhancing operational resilience and improving customer experience. 'I would like to thank those customers affected for their loyalty and patience and our colleagues for their hard work and commitment. 'We will continue working with the industry to address these issues as aviation emerges from its biggest crisis ever.' He added that 'if everything goes well, at the end of the year we will be in a better situation' at the London hub. But he said airlines face 'historic challenges' as travel demand surges back. Flight cancellations caused by shortages of staff at airports have caused misery for passengers trying to get away. Data from an aviation analytics company this month suggested British Airways had cancelled nearly a fifth of its flights, or around 60,000, from its summer schedule. That was before Heathrow imposed a limit of 100,000 daily departing passengers until 11 September due to a shortage of ground handling and other staff, leading to more cancellations. Gallego said British Airways' capacity was limited to 69.1 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the April-June period. It aims to increase that to 75 per cent in the current third quarter. IAG, which also owns Spanish carriers Iberia and Vueling, as well as Ireland's Aer Lingus, forecasts passenger capacity across the group at 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter and 85 per cent in the fourth. For the second half overall that is 5pc less than its previous target. IAG's shares fell 2.6 per cent, or 3.16p, to 118.74p yesterday. It said it expected to turn a profit for the year as a whole as long as there are 'no further setbacks related to Covid and Government-imposed restrictions or material impacts from geopolitical developments'. Gallego said demand for premium holiday travel remained strong, with a 'steady recovery' for business trips. He said there were no signs of any weakness in demand, apparently allaying any fear of bookings dropping off as consumers face a cost of living squeeze. The results came as latest figures from rival Air France-KLM also showed a return to profit and a cut to its third-quarter capacity forecast. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said of IAG's results: 'That doesn't mean the turbulence is over.' He added: 'It is perhaps no surprise that demand is proving durable for air travel given it was denied to people by Covid restrictions for so long. 'However, customers' ability to splurge by jetting off on holiday is finite and there has to be a risk that a bumper, if disrupted, 2022 summer season becomes difficult to emulate. 'That is particularly true when you consider how many passengers may have been alienated by last-minute cancellations and significant disruption at airports.' An Australian influencer has opened up about his 'experiment' of going 120 days without any form of sexual pleasure. Jamie Zhu, 28, from Sydney, told Daily Mail Australia that he tried 'semen retention' after researching the spiritual effects of sex. He claims the bizarre practice of avoiding any form of ejaculation left him with increased focus and energy, while also reducing anxiety and depression. There has been no scientific scrutiny of the practice and it seems to fly in the face of nature. But for Mr Zhu - who accidentally 'relapsed' after 120 days - not ejaculating has completely changed his life. Jamie Zhu said his energy levels increased during the challenge, motivating him to undergo a fitness challenge. Pictured is Mr Zhu before he gave up sexual pleasure Jamie Zhu, 28, from Sydney, recently told his two million TikTok followers that he was trying out semen retention - the practice of avoiding ejaculation. Pictured is Mr Zhu after transforming his body due to increased energy levels as a result of giving up sexual pleasure 'After the first one to two months or so, I noticed that my energy was absolutely through the roof,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'I stopped having those afternoon crashes and my capacity to work was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I used to burn out easily if I was working too much, but the notion of burn-out doesn't exist anymore. 'Not only did I physically feel more energetic, but I was hyper-focused on my career and distractions and temptations were easy to control.' Those extra energy levels motivated Mr Zhu to focus on health and fitness, meaning he was able to go harder at the gym and transform his body. Mr Zhu said that for most of his life he had been 'sleeping around with many different women', and noticed his male friends would applaud him on his sexual conquests. 'I then started to question if this was truly good for me. I also started to question why my mates would encourage this behaviour,' he said. Mr Zhu said he'd felt way more energetic since cutting out sex from his lifestyle 'I then realised that an element of this is because of the way society and the media have sexualised our culture into making men like myself think that success is based upon money, status and how many women you can sleep with. 'Rappers boast about how many women they can sleep with - like it is a numbers game, how many cars they have, how much money they have and they subconsciously influence young impressionable males like myself into thinking this is what life is all about.' Mr Zhu said he was dating someone for a while when he started semen retention, admitting his new endeavour threw a 'curveball' into the mix. He stressed that for him to get into a relationship, he needed a partner who would fully support him. When he began practicing the new method, the 28-year-old made sure he kept all other parts of his life the same so he could see if there really were any benefits. 'I had full control of my emotions. I was always able to control them when before I would throw tantrums and feel emotionally overwhelmed a lot of the time,' he said. 'I'd say after 100 days, I noticed that my whole life didn't revolve around sex anymore, and I could focus on things that actually mattered long term.' He admitted there were temptations and at times he was close to breaking his dry run. 'But I decided that the promise I made to myself outweighed any short term pleasures that would steer me off the course,' Mr Zhu said. He said the practice made him realise that he was only focusing on things that he wanted at the time, instead of what could fulfil him long-term. Mr Zhu said he became extremely more energetic and focused after he started to practice semen retention 'Things like preservation, patience and even celibacy are frowned upon in this day and age. This is something we should be questioning,' he said. When Mr Zhu told his friends of his new lifestyle, they weren't exactly envious and said any benefits would likely just be placebo. He also pointed out the fact that many of his mates had developed unhealthy addictions to porn. 'They thought I was crazy when I started but now my mate is doing it too. A lot of friends I know are heavily addicted to porn and can't go more than one day without it. This is what I call an addiction,' he said. Mr Zhu has a massive following on social media, with about 10 million fans One mate did jump on the bandwagon, with Mr Zhu saying he's experiencing more benefits than he is. More women are also interested in him, Mr Zhu added, although admitting that wasn't the case for himself. 'I had a friend who decided to jump on the bandwagon too and he swears by it and is experiencing even more benefits than I have. 'He said he has somehow experienced so many more females being interested in him. I didn't really experience an increase in that area, but hey maybe it is because I'm already a handsome guy.' From having such a huge following on social media - about ten million across Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook - Mr Zhu said the notion had been heavily criticised. 'The benefits of semen retention outweigh and overlap what science is capable of measuring,' he said. Mr Zhu broke his dry spell after 120 days, admitting he was 'only human' 'There are thousands of guys out there doing the same thing, and everyone is experiencing the same benefits.' He initially had a goal of 100 days, and managed 120 days before accidentally breaking the run, saying he was 'only human'. 'I have broken the habit of living my old life and it is more something that I will try to do until I have met the girl I will marry,' he said. 'Then things will change after that.' Ernie Dingo's dance troupe came up with an impromptu new ceremony in 1976 after an awkward stand-off with Maori and Cook Islanders who refused to perform at an arts festival until they were ritually welcomed Since the beginning of time, Indigenous communities have greeted strangers to their lands. However, the welcome to country ceremony we now have before school starts, when parliament sits and even when we catch a plane, is just 46 years old. Ernie Dingo's dance troupe came up with the impromptu new routine in 1976 after an awkward stand-off with Maori and Cook Islanders who refused to perform at an arts festival until they were ritually welcomed. It has now grown to become a regular feature of everyday life in Australia, and is seen as a sacred tradition to launch public events, especially corporate functions. But while it is intended to be friendly, welcoming and inclusive, it has proved divisive, with some claiming it is a token gesture and a symbol of woke culture. Pauline Hanson stormed out of an acknowledgement to country - a form of the welcome ceremony given by non-Aboriginals - at the opening of Australia's federal Parliament on Wednesday. Welcome to Country ceremonies have now grown to become a regular feature of everyday life in Australia, and is seen as a sacred tradition to launch public events like the AFL match between the Hawthorn Hawks and the Adelaide Crows in July The One Nation leader fumed: 'I see this as divisive. I've been feeling this way for a long time.' She was branded an 'ignorant racist' by Indigenous Greens senator Lidia Thorpe but newly-elected Indigenous Country Liberal senator Jacinta Price backed her protest. 'I understand Pauline's frustrations,' said senator Price, ex-mayor of Alice Springs. 'Welcome to country and acknowledgement of country - they're all very recent reinvention of culture.' The modern welcome to country began at Perth Arts Festival in 1976 after an unexpected culture clash with four Maori and Cook Islander performers. They refused to set foot on the lawns of the University of Western Australia where they were due to perform until they had been welcomed in an Indigenous ceremony. Richard Walley's Middar Aboriginal Theatre group - which included a young Ernie Dingo - created the ritual to ensure the show could go on after consulting the local Nyoongar Elders. 'I was surprised, but I didnt mind,' Walley told Australian Geographic in 2016 on the 40th anniversary of the moment. 'I asked the good spirits of my ancestors and the good spirits of the ancestors of the land to watch over us and keep our guests safe while theyre in our Country. 'And then I talked to the spirits of their ancestors, saying that were looking after them here and we will send them back to their Country.' Richard Walley (pictured) led the Middar Aboriginal Theatre group in 1976 - which included a young Ernie Dingo - and created the ritual after consulting local Nyoongar Elders The musician, dancer and writer invoked the blessing in the local language and then sang a Nyoongar song celebrating their lands before the troupe performed a ceremonial dance. The ritual was a huge success and struck a chord in the Indigenous community as giving a sense of unity and identity and a way to bond with the non-Indigenous. For the thousands of years previous, welcoming rituals were anything from a smoke ceremony to a speech, to a song or some form of performance, depending on the local culture. But the spiritual message of Walley's words and the celebration of ancient Indigenous culture became the blueprint for all future ceremonies. The Welcome ceremony concept quickly took hold and was adopted by the Northern Territory Tourism Board and then the Australian Tourism Commission He compared it to getting a stamp in a passport when you travel to new lands. It proved groundbreaking as a way to share Indigenous culture and break down barriers which had proved problematic until then, said Ernie Dingo. 'We couldnt do it to white people because they wouldnt understand, and there was too much negativity,' he admitted in 2016. He declined to comment on Friday. The formalised concept quickly took hold and was adopted by the Northern Territory Tourism Board and then the Australian Tourism Commission. The ceremony spread across the world after it earned a global platform at the Miss Universe beauty pageant when it was held in Perth in 1979 and included a clip of the ceremony It spread across the world after it earned a global platform when the Miss Universe beauty pageant was held in Perth in 1979 and included the ceremony. Within the Indigenous community, it also won approval and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts asked The Australia Council for the Arts for their grant recipients to be Welcomed for any performances on Indigenous land. Mr Walley added: 'That was sort of the catalyst, those years, that made the public aware of cultural protocol.' Since then it has been adopted widely, greeting British Royalty, opening the 2000 Olympics, and at the opening of Australian Parliament since 2008. Welcome To Country has been adopted widely, greeting royalty like the Queen, seen here in 2011, opening the 2000 Olympics, and at the opening of Australian Parliament since 2008 Superstars like Stevie Wonder, Sting and Kiss have also been welcomed by Walley and Dingo, with Wonder so entranced by Walley's didgeridoo he was gifted it. The ceremony now regularly precedes most Australian events of any significance, and has been a prominent part of sporting finals and major matches in recent years. It reached a new peak this year when the Wallabies clash with England in Brisbane this month featured not just a Welcome to Country but the National Anthem sung in the local Indigenous language and players wearing an Aboriginal-styled shirt. The format has evolved over the years and there's no set script but Walley says that is part of it strength. The Wallabies clash with England featured not just a Welcome to Country but the National Anthem sung in the local Indigenous language and players wearing an Aboriginal-styled shirt 'Thats fantastic because each place is different and each custodian has a different language and a different outlook,' he said in 2016. He did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. 'But were all firm believers that were from the land, and that is what we pay tribute to, and all people call upon ancestors.' On Thursday though, Senator Price said the widespread use of Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies had weakened their message and impact. 'We've just been absolutely saturated with it,' the Northern Territory senator said on Thursday. 'It's actually removing the sacredness of certain traditional culture and practices. Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Price said the widespread use of Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies had weakened their message and impact 'And it's just become almost like a throwaway line. We don't want to see all these symbolic gestures. We want to see real action. 'We want to see change for the benefit of not just marginalised Australians, but all Australians. It's not the road to go down. It's not about division anymore.' Her comments echoed the warning by the head of indigenous programming at the Sydney Opera House, Rhoda Roberts, in 2012 who said some ceremonies lacked sincerity. 'It's difficult. I think what's happened is that everyone's got excited about doing the right thing and being PC,' she said at the time. 'I say tokenism in that it's wonderful you're doing it but I often feel you don't have any heart for it. I want to put the spirit and the heart into it. 'Is it something you just say because you're PC? The next phase of it is to actually understand the spirituality of it.' Pauline Hanson stormed out of an acknowledgement to country - a form of the Welcome ceremony given by non-Aboriginals - at the opening of Parliament on Wednesday Senator Hanson also railed against the proliferation of Welcome messages in normal life. 'We are now hearing it on flights and aeroplanes,' she raged on Wednesday. 'I'm sorry - this is my country as well. 'This is heading towards division in our nation. A them and us. And we'll never close the gap if we continue down this path. 'All Australians should be treated equally and the same.' Trader Joe's joins the ranks of Starbucks and Amazon, where workers are forming unions and demanding better pay and working conditions Two other stores - in Minneapolis and Boulder - are also looking to unionize and have begun the process Public Relations Manager Nakia Rohde said the company already has good pay and benefits packages, but said they are prepared to talk to union reps The company has seven days to appeal the decision and it is unclear if it will Crew members won in a 45-31 vote, with only five eligible employees not voting The Hadley store became the first Trader Joe's to unionize on Thursday Employees at a Trader Joe's in Massachusetts became the first store to unionize at the chain, joining the growing list of workers at major companies seeking labor protections. The store in Hadley, about 80 miles west of Boston, is the first Trader Joe's with an employee union, although workers at locations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Boulder, Colorado, locations have also initiated unionization efforts. The union vote, counted by National Labor Relations Board agents in front of witnesses from management and employees, passed 45-31 with one vote voided. Eighty-one store employees were eligible to vote. The union, Trader Joe's United, celebrated on Twitter writing: 'We won! This victory is historic, but not a surprise. 'Since the moment we announced our campaign, a majority of the crew have enthusiastically supported our union, and despite the company's best efforts to bust us, our majority has never wavered.' The company has seven days to file an objection. A company spokesperson did not indicate whether there would be one, noting that Trader Joe's already has among the best package of pay, benefits, and working conditions in the grocery store business. Trader Joe's joins the ranks of other major retailers, such as Amazon and Starbucks, where workers have unionized and demanded better from the chains. The Hadley Trader Joe's (pictured) became the first store to unionize on Thursday. Two other stores - in Minneapolis and Boulder - are also looking to unionize The union celebrated the win, but said the next challenge is yet to come as the company has seven days to appeal the decision Trader Joe's Public Relations Manager Nakia Rohde, said in a statement: 'We are prepared to immediately begin discussions with union representatives for the employees at this store to negotiate a contract.' 'We are willing to use any current union contract for a multi-state grocery company with stores in the area, selected by the union representatives, as a template to negotiate a new structure for the employees in this store; including pay, retirement, healthcare, and working conditions such as scheduling and job flexibility.' Organizers at the store launched the effort in May in an open letter to company CEO Dan Bane citing concerns about pay, benefits and safety. Now that the union has been approved, the next step is putting together a negotiating committee to hammer out a contract with the California-based company, which has about 530 stores nationwide. 'We must embrace this challenge head on, together, and negotiate a contract that reflects the values Trader Joe's has long claimed to espouse,' the union said in a tweet. Earlier this month, Hadley workers organized a pro-union rally near the store Pro-Union rally held at Hadley Trader Joe's on Jul 23, 2022 Trader Joe's United is an independent union and not affiliated with a larger existing union, although organizers have received administrative and legal help from established unions, 18-year Trader Joe's employee Maeg Yosef said. It's 'time for us to sit down at the negotiating table as equals with Trade Joe's and create a contract that protects and takes care of us as workers,' Yosef said. Workers from at least two other Trader Joe's locations have initiated unionization efforts. Employees at a Minneapolis location have a union vote scheduled for August 11 and 12, while the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 on Tuesday filed a union election petition with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of crew members at a Boulder, Colorado store. The Trader Joe's workers are part of a nationwide wave of employees at major companies who have or are attempting to unionize in an effort to secure a bigger say in their work conditions and compensation. Before the vote took place, Trader Joe's management engaged in what Yosef called 'classic union-busting' tactics, including hiring a law firm specializing in fighting unionization to try and talk employees out of approving a union. The chain also announced it would be offering a '$10/hour premium for all hours worked on Sundays and certain holidays' and said it would adjust the market-based hourly rates by August. Crew members also received a 20 percent discount on all purchases. However, employees were undeterred and many social media users called the letter, dated in June, a 'last-ditch effort.' Prior to the successful vote, many employees shared their reasoning behind voting yes for a union, which was featured on its Twitter page. Woody, who said he has worked for the company for 14 years, said he was 'voting yes because I want to give my fellow crew members a voice in our workplace.' Sarah, who has been with the company for nine years, said she was voting yes because 'all workers deserve the right to have their voices heard, their jobs and benefits protected, and to feel safe and respected in their place of work.' 'I believe unionizing is the only way for us to do this,' she said. An 11-year veteran employee, Adelaide, also said she wanted a 'say in our workplace' and wanted 'clear, consistent guidelines in place to protect the crew.' Others said they wanted to give the power back to the workers, who make the multibillion company its profit, and wanted their best interest put first. However, workers aren't the only ones celebrating the historic win. Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, rejoiced on Twitter, writing: 'Let me congratulate the workers of Trader Joe's in Hadley on successfully organizing the first union in the history of Trader Joe's. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern, and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich celebrated the Hadley store's win 'Now is the time for management to recognize the union and to negotiate a fair contract with decent benefits and safe working conditions.' Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern also offered his 'congratulations to everyone who made this possibleyou are an inspiration!' Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich also congratulated the workers, writing on Twitter: 'Thank you to @TradeJoesUnite and all of the workers across the country who are showing us the power of union organizing. Solidarity, always.' Workers at multiple Starbucks coffee shop locations across the country, as well as employees at Amazon, Apple and REI are among those who have formed unions at specific locations in the past year. Starbucks workers at the coffee giant's flagship roastery in Seattle voted in April to form a union, the chain's latest location to form a collective bargaining unit against the wishes of CEO Howard Schultz. The news came as a leaked video posted by the outlet 'More Perfect Union' showed Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on a call with managers slamming the unionization efforts, which he called 'a new, outside force that's trying desperately to disrupt our company.' Rossann Williams, Starbucks' president for North America, told managers it is 'your number one responsibility' to get store employees to vote no. Starbucks workers at the coffee giant's flagship roastery in Seattle voted to form a union in April, the chain's latest location to form a collective bargaining unit The Starbucks Reserve and Roastery in the Capitol Hill neighborhood is the business' second to unionize in its hometown of Seattle During the first nine months of the 2022 fiscal year, from October 1 until June 30, union representation petitions filed at the National Labor Relations Board have increased 58 percent compared to the first three quarters of the previous fiscal year, the agency said this month. Workers at an Amazon facility in New York City voted to unionize in April, making it the online retailer's first U.S. facility - among the 110 in the U.S. - to organize. The company employs roughly 1.3 million workers across the country, and is on pace to surpass Walmart as the largest private employer in the U.S. within a year or two. Amazon has fiercely pushed back on workers looking for more humane working conditions through unionization efforts since its founding in 1994. A New Jersey Amazon employee suffered a fatal heart attack in a fulfillment center on Prime Day this month. Rafael Reynaldo Mota Frias, 42, died of cardiac arrest on July 13, in 92-degree heat during the online retailer's busy season, prompting a federal workplace safety investigation. His family and co-workers say he worked under sweltering hot conditions that contributed to his death. 'He was accomplished at his job, but it was too demanding,' the fallen worker's cousin Marlen Frias told the Daily Beast. An African-American woman died when she fell from the back of a patrol car after cops didn't shut the door. Brianna Grier, 28, from Georgia, suffered significant injuries as she was being driven to the Hancock County Sheriff's Office on July 15. She later died at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta on July 21. Grier's family said they called the cops because she was suffering from a mental health episode. However, Hancock County sheriff's deputies decided to arrest her when they arrived at the home in Sparta. Brianna Grier, 28, from Georgia, suffered significant injuries as she was being driven to the Hancock County Sheriff's Office on July 15 Grier's family said they called the cops because she was suffering from a mental health episode. However, Hancock County sheriff deputies decided to arrest her when they arrived at the home in Sparta. Pictured: Grier in hospital after she fell from the car Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) agents did interviews, reviewed multiple body camera videos and did mechanical tests on the car. The investigation shows that as deputies tried to put Grier in the patrol car, she was on the ground by the rear driver's-side door refusing to get in the car and said she was going to harm herself. One of the deputies walked around and opened the rear passenger-side door and then returned to the rear driver's side door. The two deputies put Grier in the back of the patrol car and closed the rear driver's side door. Her hands were handcuffed in front of her body and she was not wearing a seatbelt. Body camera footage shows the deputies had no other contact with Grier from the time she was put in the car until she fell out of the moving car. The GBI concluded the rear passenger-side door of the patrol car was never closed. It said the investigation shows the deputy thought he had closed the rear passenger side door. Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, the lawyer for Grier's family, said Grier was taken into custody after a mental health crisis. He said: 'Brianna Grier was a beautiful young mother who should still be alive. As deputies tried to put Grier in the patrol car, she was on the ground by the rear driver's-side door refusing to get in the car and said she was going to harm herself 'It is the responsibility of law enforcement to keep everyone in their custody safe and alive, including when there is a mental health crisis. 'Briannas family had faith in law enforcement to get her the help she needed, and now they are being forced to grieve her completely unnecessary death.' Crump said his team will investigate what failures caused Grier to fall out of the car while it was moving and suffer a fatal brain injury. The GBI investigation is ongoing. Vice President Kamala Harris called and thanked the Indiana doctor who performed an abortion for a 10-year-old girl who was impregnated after being raped. Harris phoned Dr Caitlin Bernard on July 19, according to CBS News, to thank the doctor for her actions. 'She really just thanked me. She thanked me for speaking out, for bringing this issue up,' Bernard told CBS News in a Tuesday interview, 'She talked about how important it is to hear the voices of physicians, and again, what has been made into a political situation but is actually about health care and how important it is for physicians to be advocates for their patients.' A White House representative confirmed that Harris made the call, saying she thanked the doctor for her 'courage, professionalism, and dedication to her patients,' and said her actions gave a 'sense of strength' to others. Bernard performed the abortion on June 30, days after the overturning of Roe v Wade made it illegal for the girl to receive an abortion in her home state of Ohio. The case became a flashpoint in the debate over abortion rights after it was shared to a local newspaper by an unnamed source last month, with pro-choicers as high up as President Biden using the case to exemplify the problems with abortion bans in Republican states. Vice President Kamala Harris called and thanked the Indiana doctor, Caitlin Bernard (left), who performed an abortion for a 10-year-old girl who was impregnated after being raped. Meanwhile, Bernard is suing Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokitawho, who she said defamed her when he called her an 'abortion-activist.' He cast doubts on whether the rape and abortion happened at all, and announced he was opening an investigation into whether Bernard reported the procedure. Pundits, politicians and news publications quickly clashed over the veracity of the story, but that initial doubt was soon quelled after it was revealed that the rape had taken place, and that a 27-year-old Ohio man was charged with raping the girl. Records further revealed that the abortion also occurred, and that Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, was the doctor who performed it. No rules were broken. Speaking on national television Tuesday, Bernard slammed politicians and news publications who questioned the story's veracity, after the Supreme Court nixed federal rights for abortions in June. Dr. Caitlin Bernard performed the abortion on June 30, days after the overturning of Roe v Wade made it illegal for the girl to receive an abortion in her home state of Ohio 'Come spend a day in my clinic,' Bernard told 'CBS Evening News' Norah O'Donnell, when asked about those who accused her of making up the story - including AG Todd Rokita, who falsely said she failed to report the procedure. 'Come see the care that we provide every single day,' the OBGYN continued. 'The situations that people find themselves in, and in need of abortion care are some of the most difficult that you could imagine. 'And that's why we, as physicians, need to be able to provide that care unhindered, that medical decisions need to be made between a physician and their patients.' Due to privacy laws, as politicians and pundits - and even publications such as The Washington Post - debated over the story, Bernard had to keep mum about the June 30 procedure. However, in early July, Ohio linked 27-year-old Columbus man Gerson Fuentes to the rape, which police said took place on two different occasions. Documents obtained by the Washington Post further revealed that Dr Bernard did report the minor's abortion before she was legally mandated to do so - contradicting televised claims made by Rokita, who said he had not received documentation from state agencies that the abortion had been reported. He also called Bernard an 'abortion activist,' casting doubt on the account, and hinted that he would personally pull her license if the story turned out to be false. Bernard said she felt threatened by the claims, has since sued the Indiana AG for defamation, saying the statements he made about her were false and harmful to her reputation. Dr. Caitlin Bernard speaking at an abortion rights rally on June 25 at the Indiana Statehouse The accused rapist, 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes was ordered Thursday to be held without bond by a judge who cited the horrendous violence of the crime and the fact that he had been living in the same home as the girl and her mother. He was charged with two felony counts of rape, and pleaded not guilty despite previously confessing to the crime at least twice. He showed no emotion as he was led by deputies from the Columbus courtroom back to his jail cell. 'To allow him to return to that home, the traumatic and psychological impact would be undeserving to an alleged victim,' Franklin County Judge Julie Lynch said. She also cited the 'physical, and mental and emotional trauma' the girl suffered from enduring the rapes and the abortion, and finding her case at the center of the country's abortion debate. Fuentes, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, was arraigned earlier this month and his bail was initially set at $2 million. He remains in the Franklin County Jail in Ohio. The accused rapist, 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes was ordered Thursday to be held without bond by a judge who cited the horrendous violence of the crime and the fact that he had been living in the same home as the girl and her mother Fuentes was charged with two felony counts of rape, and pleaded not guilty despite previously confessing to the crime at least twice. He showed no emotion as he was led by deputies from the Columbus courtroom back to his jail cell The girl's abortion was first reported by The Columbus Dispatch reported, saying she crossed state lines in order to get access the procedure. Bernard told The Indianapolis Star that an abortion had been provided for such a child because the girl couldn't get the abortion in Ohio, which had a newly imposed state ban on abortions at the first detectable 'fetal heartbeat' at six weeks. The child was six weeks and three days pregnant - therefore, ineligible by just three days to receive the procedure in her home state. According to court records, a report was generated on June 22 with the Columbus Division of Police for rape. And on July 6, the victim identified Fuentes to authorities as the person who raped her. A week later, Fuentes was served a search warrant for a saliva sample and was taken into custody where he confessed to raping the victim multiple times. Six children and 14 adults were rescued from a St Louis daycare center after it was inundated with four foot floodwaters - and electrical sockets began to spark after the water touched them. St. Louis firefighters with Company 29 were able to rescue 10 to 20 people, including at adult camp counselors, at the Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church in what was described by fire spokesman Nick Dunne as 'thigh-high water.' A fire department spokesman said six children were rescued, while the others freed were adults. Photos shared with DailyMail.com showed the center filled with filthy water after the rescue attempt was completed. Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church in St Louis was badly flooded on Thursday, with six children and fourteen adults also rescued from the building, which doubles up as a daycare center From 10 to 20 people at summer camp were rescued by the St. Louis Fire Department after a flash flood hit the Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church 'The water came in pretty fast,' Edwards said. 'The water was above the outlet and it started sparking.' The quick-thinking camp director moved them into a dry area and called the fire department. He said that no one was hurt, just 'shaken up a bit.' 'We'll just keep walking in blessing,' the reverend told the MailOnline. It was another close call in a week of rescues as a 100-year storm drenched the area in the dangerous rain. Vehicles were completely overrun with floodwater this morning after intense floods caused serious disruption John Ward, left, and a firefighter help Lynn Hartke wade through the flash floodwater on Hermitage Avenue in St. Louis following the severe flooding in the area Matthew Robinson holds onto his dog, Bebe, as he and his girlfriend Kimberly Tat are rescued from their home An elderly woman is lifted onto a life raft by emergency workers On Tuesday, firefighters pulled the body of a man out of a fully submerged vehicle at Skinker Boulevard and Enright Avenue in the Forest Park neighborhood. The car was in eight and half feet of water in a low-lying area and the water was above the roof of the car. 'As the water was receding, the car made itself visible,' St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said. Firefighters were able to extract the body who was the deceased, but he has not been identified. 'We don't know if the individual drove into the water It's under investigation right now,' Jenkerson said. A record-breaking eight inches of rainwater fell overnight in St Louis, leaving many roads impassable as people were forced to abandon their cars on Interstate 70 during the intense flash floods Residents in St Louis were waking up this morning to unprecedented levels of floodwater in their neighborhoods - completely submerging cars and vehicles left on the streets The raging flash floods over the week have washed out the century-old record of 6.85', which was previously set on August 20th 1915. The region has seen major flood damage - and city officials said that they are preparing for even more rain this evening. Drivers were left stranded by the once-in-a-century deluge - while other parts of the country have been scorched in coast-to-coast record-breaking heatwave during a week of tumultuous weather alerts. The National Weather Service of St Louis has issued a Flash Flood Emergency for the city and advised residents to seek higher ground and avoid walking or driving through flooded areas. They have recorded 8.81 inches of rainfall from midnight Monday to 9am Tuesday morning after the thunderstorms eased across the area by mid-morning. Terrified residents posted alarming videos and photos of submerged cars and flooded basements on social media as the catastrophic flood levels continued to rise. Images of Forest Park DeBaliviere Metrolink station in St Louis showed the tracks and platforms completely under water - with just half of the information boards and steps still visible. Interstate 70 east of Mid Rivers Mall Drive near Costco was also rendered completely impassable by the flash flooding. Highway 61 near Flint Hill also was closed due to the high water. The Fire Department reported that several cars were stranded on the Interstate 44. Firefighters in St Louis were scrambling to search for stranded people in flooded vehicles. National Weather Service previously warned that central to eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois could see more than 12 inches of rainfall before the deluge ended after swamped neighborhoods were turned into rivers and lakes overnight. Locals were told by Metro that bus and train passengers could see hours of delays all week long caused by the intense flooding. The White House slammed Republican governors on Thursday for using migrants as a 'political pawn' by bussing them to Washington, D.C., after the city's mayor called for the National Guard to help. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the influx had caused a 'humanitarian crisis.' But the issue quickly spiralled into a political row as Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office said the nation's capital was now experiencing the sort of problems that Texans saw every day. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said officials talking with Bowser about the request. 'We have been in regular touch with Mayor Bowser and her team,' she said at her daily briefing. 'And I said this before ... about Republicans using migrants as a political tool, and that is shameful and that is just wrong. 'There is a process in place for managing migrants at the border. This is not it.' She said migrants should be expelled under Title 42, or transferred into custody, or placed in the care of local organizations for proper processing. Karine Jean-Pierre slammed Republican governors for the way they were using migrants as a 'political pawn' or 'political tool' as the mayor of Washington, D.C., called for the National Guard to be deployed to help with a humanitarian crisis in the city The office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott hit back, saying: 'Washington D.C. finally understands what Texans have been dealing with every single day' 'So what Republicans are doing, the way that they're meddling in the process and using migrants as a political pawn, is just wrong,' she added. Bowser follows New York City Mayor Eric Adams in highlighting migrants being sent to their cities, and blaming Arizona and Texas for the influx. She said some 4000 people had arrived in the city after crossing the border illegally, creating a 'tipping point.' But Texas hit back. 'Washington D.C. finally understands what Texans have been dealing with every single day, as our communities are overrun and overwhelmed by thousands of illegal immigrants thanks to President Bidens open border policies,' Abbott's office said in a statement. "If the mayor wants a solution to this crisis, she should call on President Biden to take immediate action to secure the border something he has failed to do. The true ongoing humanitarian crisis is along our southern border.' The war of words follows Bowser's request for the National Guard. 'The pace of arriving buses and the volume of arrivals have reached tipping points,' Bowser wrote in a letter to the Biden administration. 'Our collective response and service efforts have now become overwhelmed.' 'Tragically, many families arrive in Washington, DC with nowhere to go, or they remain in limbo seeking onward destinations across the United States,' she added. The plea for assistance comes after a new NBC News report shows that, according to internal documents, 73 migrants were found living in houses in Northwest D.C. that are operated by human smugglers. Bowser said that the migrant crisis landing on the front door of the nation's capital has reached a 'tipping point' with more than 4,000 people arriving so far after crossing the border illegally from Mexico. D.C Mayor Muriel Bowser is requesting the National Guard be activated in the nation's capital to help deal with the influx of migrants being bused there from Texas and Arizona She said the crisis has hit a 'tipping point' with more than 4,000 migrants arriving from the two border states since April. Pictured: Migrants are dropped off in front of the U.S. Capitol as they await immigration proceedings after seeking asylum in Texas and Arizona Texas Senator Ted Cruz confirmed Bowser is correctly labeling it a 'humanitarian crisis' and said if 4,000 is a 'tipping point', then more actions need to be taken at the southern border She also dubbed it a 'humanitarian crisis' requiring the involvement of the National Guard and requested that the D.C. Armory bemused as a processing center, the Metro area's NBC affiliate reported. 'DC Mayorrightlycalls massive influx of illegal aliens a 'humanitarian crisis,' Texas Senator Ted Cruz tweeted. 'She says w/ 4000 arriving in DC, we're 'at a tipping point,' he continued. 'If 4000 is a tipping point, what the hell do you call the THREE & A HALF MILLION illegal immigrants who've crossed our southern border??' The goal of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, both Republicans, bussing migrants to D.C. was to show national leaders the crisis that border states are facing as they feel largely ignored by the administration when it comes to the record-setting number of crossings. The D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency along with Bowser sent letters to the Office of the Secretary of Defense on July 19 and then followed up with letters to President Biden on July 22. Bowser and the D.C. agency have not yet received responses, according to NBC. Without its own National Guard presence, D.C. will have to rely on other states to offer up members of their own domestic service to help out. Abbott started shipping migrants from his state to D.C. in mid-April and Ducey followed suit a month later. Since the start of the initiative, more than 125 buses have transported 4,8000 migrants from Tex border communities the 2,000 miles to D.C. Another 27 buses carrying more than 1,000 passengers from Arizona have arrived in the nation's capital. Migrants walk through D.C. with paper bags they were given during a bus trip from the border to the nation's capital Meanwhile, 60 adult and 13 children migrants were found by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations team. The operation found six residential homes that DHS HSI believe is operated by human smugglers. Along with the migrants, according to the documents reviewed by NBC, the agents also found $95,000 in cash and a small amount of cocaine. Northwest D.C., where the migrants were found, includes some of D.C.'s most affluent neighborhoods, including Georgetown and Kalorama. In 2017, the Obamas purchased a home in Kalorama for $8.1 million. No addresses or neighborhoods were mentioned in documents on where the migrants were found or how many were living in a single house. Ben Wallace has backed Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race and criticised Rishi Sunak for 'walking out the door' of Boris Johnson's cabinet. Speaking to The Sun, the Defence Secretary described the Foreign Secretary as 'authentic, honest and experienced' with the 'integrity' for the top job. He also told The Times Ms Truss was 'a winner not because she's a slick salesperson but because she is authentic.' The Defence Secretary described the Foreign Secretary as 'authentic, honest and experienced' Mr Wallace hit out at the former Chancellor, questioning what would have happened if the markets crashed on the day he quit his role, according to The Sun. 'I don't have the luxury as Defence Secretary of just walking out the door - I have roles in keeping this country safe,' he told the paper. 'And the guardian of the markets, you know, the guardian of our economy, is the chancellor.' Wallace pulled out of the running to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, despite having been the bookmakers' favourite to win. Wallace pulled out of the running to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, despite having been the bookmakers' favourite to win Mr Wallace hit out at the former Chancellor, questioning what would have happened if the markets crashed on the day he quit his role The politician, 52, had topped a YouGov poll of potential runners to take over as Conservative Party leader and had put a campaign team together. But he announced on Twitter that he will not take part in the race, days after Boris Johnson announced his resignation. Mr Wallace said on Twitter: 'After careful consideration and discussing with colleagues and family, I have taken the decision not to enter the contest for leadership of the Conservative Party.' He added that it had not been an 'easy' choice to make, but said his focus is on his role as Defence Secretary and 'keeping this great country safe'. After the announcement, Wallace was said to be a 'kingmaker' in the Tory leadership race, but was said to be 'waiting until the final stages to announce who he is backing' to become Prime Minister. A friend of Mr Wallace told The Times at the time that he is a 'kingmaker' in the race due to his grassroots popularity in the party. The endorsement came after the candidates were quizzed separately on a vast array of policy areas - as well as their predictions for the Women's Euro 2022 final - as they sought to woo northern voters in the race for the top job. The event, hosted by LBC's Nick Ferrari, was the first of 12 sessions for the party faithful across the country to question the final two contenders, before voting for the next Tory leader and prime minister closes on September 2. While they did not address one another directly, tax continued to be a significant dividing line between the pair. Mr Sunak took a veiled swipe at Ms Truss by saying he would not "embark on a spree, borrowing tens and tens of billions of pounds of unfunded promises and put them on the country's credit card". Meanwhile, Ms Truss criticised windfall taxes - something Mr Sunak imposed as a one-off on energy companies as chancellor. She said: "I don't believe in windfall taxes, because they put off future investment. "What we should be doing is encouraging Shell and other companies to invest in the United Kingdom, because we need to get our productivity up, we need capital investment." But she avoided being pinned down on potential changes to inheritance tax. "I think our tax system in Britain isn't working. It's too complicated. It's even more complicated than the American tax system which we know is a nightmare," she said. Three teenage boys have been charged with murder after the alleged stabbing of another 16-year-old boy at a party at a home in western Sydney. Emergency services were called to a home on Australis Drive at Ropes Crossing, near Blacktown, about 2.50am on June 4. They found a teenage boy suffering a stab wound and officers performed CPR on him until paramedics arrived, however the 16-year-old died at the home. Three teenage boys have been charged with murder after the alleged stabbing of another 16-year-old boy at a party at a home in western Sydney Detective Chief Inspector Paul Tickner said on the day of the incident he believed the alleged offender to be the boyfriend of a mutual friend, who had been invited to the party by a teenage girl at the gathering. 'Young boys, probably with some hormones running through their system, and somebody thought they had to defend the rights of their girlfriend at the scene,' he said. 'Unfortunately it's led to a young boy being killed. They shouldn't have been carrying knives in the first place.' The mutual friend's boyfriend brought two other males with him, police said at the time. Strike Force BOBR was established to investigate the incident, with detectives and members of the State Crime Command's Homicide Squad assisting the investigation. Police launched public appeals for information and executed two search warrants on Thursday, at homes on Pages Road, at St Marys, and Jill Street, at Marayong, where they seized a number of items for forensic examination. Two boys, both aged 17, were arrested at the homes, and a third teenager, aged 16, was arrested in Tregear a short time later The trio were taken to Mt Druitt Police Station where they were charged with murder, affray and wield knife in public place (pictured, police outside a home during the arrests) Two boys, both aged 17, were arrested at the homes, and a third teenager, aged 16, was arrested in Tregear a short time later. The trio were taken to Mt Druitt Police Station where they were charged with murder, affray and wield knife in public place. They were refused bail and will appear at a children's court on Friday. Inquiries under Strike Force BOBR continue. An explosive email is threatening to discredit claims the New South Wales coalition weren't closely involved in ensuring John Barilaro got a $500,000-a-year job in New York. The email between high-ranking public servants suggests colleagues of the former deputy premier were involved in the hiring process that saw him given a cushy New York job that had already been offered to someone else. It comes despite previous claims hiring for the Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas role was conducted at 'arm's length' from the government. An email between a senior public servant Amy Brown (pictured) and the New South Wales Trade Minister threatens to blow away previous claims the NSW government weren't involved in the appointment of John Barilaro to a cushy job in New York Barilaro had hoped his exit from state politics would be in the highly-paid posting in the US, but the circumstances surrounding the job offer have left the NSW government embroiled in an embarrassing scandal. The government was forced to hand over a cache of sensitive documents on Thursday afternoon to the NSW Legislative Council inquiry. One of the more damning documents was the email from Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown to a colleague, revealing Trade Minister Stuart Ayres had reviewed and added a name to the short-list for the New York posting. 'Min Ayres and I have run through the 'long' shortlist and our recommended 'short' shortlist for NYC,' the email read. 'He'd like to add (redacted name) to the short shortlist please.' The email (mock-up pictured) seems to imply trade minister Stuart Ayres was consulted in the hiring process of the American commissioner role, despite previous claims the government was kept at arm's length from the hiring process Ms Brown was responsible for overseeing the recruitment process for the trade commissioner role. Minister Ayres has so far maintained hiring procedures were conducted at 'arm's length' from the government. 'I have not under any circumstances influenced the decisions of Amy Brown in who she is selecting as senior executives of the public service,' Ayres said while in Mumbai, where he is finishing up a visit with Premier Dominic Perrottet. Mr Ayres said Mr Barilaro applied for the job as a private citizen. Another document shows Mr Ayres and Mr Barilaro met on or before June 16, and Mr Ayres had indicated he supported his appointment. Labor said the public accountability committee has scheduled hearings after brokering a deal with the government to release three large tranches of documents relating to the hiring of the former NSW Nationals leader. 'This is a victory for the public's right to know and it's a defeat of the government's attempt to cover up these documents and the information they contain,' Labor's Shadow Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said. 'Stuart Ayres hasn't been arm's length from this process. 'He's had his fingers all over this process from the moment he became the minister for trade.' The inquiry previously heard Mr Barilaro had stated he'd get 'them' to put an office in New York - 'that's where I'm off to' he reportedly said John Barilaro (pictured) was reportedly looking to fill the role of trade commissioner in the US before he had left NSW parliament The NSW Liberal party was pressured into releasing the numerous documents to the public, despite the fact many were deemed secret. Earlier, Barilaro's former chief of staff accused the former NSW deputy premier of boasting about moving to New York for a top trade job and 'getting the f*** out' of Sydney. In sensational evidence to a parliamentary inquiry, Mark Connell recalled that Mr Barilaro had just come from a meeting with then-Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and minister Mr Ayres when he made the alleged comments. Mr Barilaro had only been appointed the state's trade minister the month before, Mr Connell said, adding he had come directly to his office after the meeting. 'He said, "I've just come from a meeting with Dom and Stuart regarding trade and we're going to bring back the Agent General in London as well as a bunch of other postings around the world",' the staffer said. 'I responded to Mr Barilaro and stated, "but John, the Agent General role will be filled well before you retire from this place".' He claimed Mr Barilaro then said: 'I don't want to go to London, f*** that, I'm off to New York.' When told the office wasn't in New York, but California, the former deputy premier then allegedly said: 'I'll get them to put one in New York, that's where I'm off to.' The bombshell statement came amid growing criticism around the decision to appoint Mr Barilaro to the top trade posting, which was allegedly offered to another top public servant, Jenny West. Senior public servant Jenny West (pictured) had her dream role in America stripped from her Ms West had been given the job and documents show she had been approved to receive additional allowances for living expenses in New York so she would not have to 'dip into her savings'. Mr Connell said he served as the chief of staff to the former deputy premier from April 2017 to December 2019. Ms Brown revealed to the inquiry the total cost of fitting out a 'shell' of an office within the Australian Consulate in New York for the job was $943,260. 'Investment NSW can confirm that the candidate mentioned in the email from Amy Brown was not John Barilaro,' an Investment NSW spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia. 'Investment NSW can confirm that an internal CEO Briefing cover note contained a clerical error, incorrectly stating that the Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade had met with Mr Barilaro as part of the STIC Americas recruitment process.' An elderly Aussie woman has been seriously injured after she plunged into a 'geothermal sinkhole' in New Zealand while walking on a footpath. The woman, from Perth, was walking with her husband to the Whakarewarewa Village in Rotorua on the North Island when the ground opened up beneath her. She collapsed, suffering serious injuries, before her husband was able to pull her out. The woman was rushed to hospital, where she is said to be in a critical condition. The husband suffered less serious injuries. The hole is thought to be around two metres long, one metre wide and at least one metre deep. The village, which is a popular attraction as the country's 'only living Maori village', has been closed to the public. The Perth woman, described as elderly, was seriously injured after plunging into a geothermal sinkhole in New Zealand The hole is thought to be around two metres long, one metre wide and at least one metre deep 'Two ambulances and one rapid response unit attended the scene. St John treated then transported one patient in a critical condition and one in a moderate condition to Rotorua Hospital,' an ambulance spokesperson said. Village spokesperson Mike Gibbons said the couple were walking along a footpath near the entrance to the village when they fell. He told 9News the village would be temporarily closed to visitors until a 'full investigation and assessment had been undertaken by the appropriate authorities, including WorkSafe and the Rotorua Lakes Council'. 'The area surrounding the fumarole, which is estimated to be 2m long x 1m wide and up to 1m deep... has been closed off to the public, pending the WorkSafe assessment. 'It appears the ground may have been compromised following the recent heavy rainfall. 'We are just keeping in communications with them and their families to monitor their wellbeing and recovery from the incident.' The ground opened up beneath the woman near a tourist attraction in Rotorua, on the North Island, on Thursday The local Aukaha News said people had reported steam rising from the area about a week ago, prompting authorities to put an orange safety cone in the area. Whakarewarewa Village is a popular cultural attraction as the country's 'only living Maori village' that offers Maori dance performances, a traditional feast and geothermal features, according to its website. Rotorua Lakes Council said they were notified of the incident just before 2.15pm on Thursday. Staff were immediately sent to make the area safe. 'The area around the hole remains cordoned off and the road is closed, with signage in place,' the council said. 'Work to fix the road will start as soon as possible and other roads in the village will be checked as a precaution. 'Council will stay in touch with its contacts in the village to keep residents updated on progress.' Emmanuel Macron courted controversy last night by hosting Saudi Arabias crown prince for dinner in Paris. The meeting is part of Mohammed Bin Salmans first visit to Europe since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The two leaders last met in the Saudi city of Jeddah in December. Handshake: Emmanuel Macron with Prince Mohammed last night Last nights talks drew a stinging rebuke from Mr Khashoggis fiancee. Hatice Cengiz said Frances president had welcomed her late partners executioner with all the honours. She added: The surge in energy prices because of the war in Ukraine cannot justify that in the name of alleged realpolitik we absolve the person responsible for Saudi policy toward political opponents. French Green MEP Yannick Jadot, who ran in this years presidential elections, also chided Mr Macron for welcoming the prince to the Elysee. The meeting is during Mohammed Bin Salmans first visit to Europe since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul Is the dismembered body of the journalist Khashoggi on the menu for the evening meal? he asked. Prince Mohammed has repeatedly denied involvement in the killing of the ex-Washington Post writer. Western powers are courting Saudi Arabia once more amid fears Russia will cut gas supplies this winter. French PM Elisabeth Borne insisted that such concerns made talks with energy producers necessary. The heartbroken husband of missing conwoman, Melissa Caddick, has used LinkedIn to unleash a bizarre campaign of terror against the corporate regulator - which he blames for his wife's presumed death. Anthony Koletti, 40, has been at war with ASIC since Caddick disappeared from their $15 million home at Dover Heights, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, in November 2020 - the day after investigators raided the property. Despite insurmountable evidence against her, the one-time DJ has never been able to accept that his wife stole $23 million from close friends and family while posing as a financial advisor. He falsely believes ASIC invented the claims because they had some sort of vendetta against his wife, and gave the organisation a one-star Google review - which he then shared on LinkedIn. Koletti also used LinkedIn to share a photo of a homemade sign he taped outside the regulator's office on the anniversary of Caddick's disappearance, which read, 'ASIC = womanslaughter'. Anthony Koletti has been at war with ASIC since Melissa Caddick (pictured together) disappeared from their $15 million Dover Heights home He gave ASIC a one-star Google review (pictured), which has since been deleted. 'ASIC negligence caused the death of my wife,' he wrote In the now-deleted Google review, Koletti wrote in February: 'ASIC negligence caused the death of my wife.' 'If they can get away with manslaughter they are clearly above the law. 'My wife was dehumanised by ASIC then she died.' He also used the social media platform to falsely accuse the corporate watchdog of being 'white collar crooks' who 'caused the death of my wife'. 'Put an end to "Pre emptive Slaughter",' another post read. 'Preemptive slaughter' is a term normally associated killing livestock that risk infecting other animals with fatal illnesses, such as bird flu or foot-and-mouth diseased. Other posts in his tirade, which all appear to have been posted in January and February this year, include baseless claims that ASIC are a 'bunch of cowards that kill your wife and take no responsibility for it'. 'Corrupt and overpowered above the law pansies.' Koletti also used LinkedIn to share a photo of a homemade sign he taped outside the regulator's office on the anniversary of Caddick's disappearance, which read, 'ASIC = womanslaughter' (pictured) He also used LinkedIn to falsely accuse the corporate watchdog of being 'white collar crooks' who 'caused the death of my wife' (posts pictured) He continually blames the corporate regular for the death of his wife, while also confusingly referring to it as 'manslaughter', 'womanslaughter' or, at times, 'womenslaughter'. Manslaughter occurs when someone inadvertently dies as a result of another's actions - where there was no malice intent. Koletti's LinkedIn explosion occurred at around the time Isabella Allen - the woman at the helm of the Caddick investigation - filed an AVO against him after he released an album where he essentially accused ASIC of inventing the claims against his wife. Legal documents filed in February alleged Koletti sent texts to Allen, trolled her on social media and was involved in other behaviours deemed 'threatening' including making several dis tracks that mentioned her and ASIC directly. However, the AVO application was withdrawn this week before it was up for mention in court on Friday - leaving the unemployed hairdresser free to continue new career as a freelance music producer. Koletti's LinkedIn explosion occurred at around the time Isabella Allen - the woman at the helm of the Caddick investigation - filed an AVO against him Melissa Caddick's Dover Heights mansion (pictured) will go up for auction in coming months He claimed the AVO was 'an attempt to defame my character' and impeded on his right to lyrical free speech. In one bizarre tune, the former hairdresser called Allen 'ugly', compared her to a snake and a rat, and launched a personal attack about her 'government job'. 'You can't hide behind your government job forever,' he chimes in one song on the album, Raid. 'Might get me a snake or a and call it Isabella. I'll buy the ugliest thing I can find.' He accused Allen and her colleagues of 'laughing at me' during a formal interview, and said she accused him of threatening her while he tried to obtain government assistance for Caddick's son. In May, he released a new single called 'Liar Liars' - a spoken-word piece accompanied by a synth beat, during which he takes aim at media organisations, radio hosts, liquidators, and ASIC. Koletti claimed the AVO was 'an attempt to defame my character' and impeded on his right to lyrical free speech Caddick (pictured with Koletti) was wanted by police after she skipped town in November 2020 with $23million of her clients' life-savings Caddick was wanted by police after she skipped town in November 2020 with $23million of her clients' life-savings, until she was declared dead four months later when her decaying foot drifted ashore 400km south of her home in Sydney. ASIC has been trying to recover some of the live savings her 72 clients poured into the scam, which funded her lavish lifestyle. Mr Koletti was booted from Caddick's $6.2million Dover Heights mansion in May as liquidators seek to sell the home to recoup some of her victims' stolen funds. Liquidators are in the process of preparing the ritzy Wallangra Road property, which has skyrocketed to around $15million in value since Caddick's 2014 purchase, to put up for sale in a private auction. An inquest into Caddick's disappearance and suspected death will be held in September. Ben Fordham has blasted Anthony Albanese over his government's decision to scrap the cashless welfare card. The card, which was introduced into certain communities by the Coalition government in 2016, quarantines 80 per cent of a welfare recipient's payments so they can't use that money on alcohol, gambling or make cash withdrawals. Labor introduced legislation on Wednesday to abolish the card, following up on a pledge Mr Albanese made going into the May election. But 2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham slammed the decision, telling his listeners that the government seems to be 'too soft' to 'make some hard decisions'. Ben Fordham has blasted Anthony Albanese (pictured) over his government's decision to scrap the cashless welfare card 'Anthony Albanese has had a shocker here. This is going to hurt the people not help them,' he said. 'It didn't cut anyone's welfare, it didn't ban anyone from spending money on the pokies or having a beer. 'All it did was set a realistic budget, up to 80 per cent on essentials and the rest on whatever you want.' The radio host cited a study on the card conducted by the University of Adelaide that saw a 23 per cent decline in gambling after the card was issued while 45 per cent of those who used the card said it had 'improved their lives'. 'The social services minister Amanda Rishworth says, "I have no reason to have concern that removing the compulsory card will add to any alcohol misuse",' Fordham said. 'Well I don't know what she's basing that on, and I don't know how many community leaders she's spoken to. 'This is a good program and getting rid of it is going to be a costly mistake.' He claimed that 'emotions have won out over cold hard facts' and that disadvantaged kids were going to be worse off 'because the bleeding hearts like the Greens senator Lidia Thorpe have been describing the program as racist'. The cashless welfare card (pictured) was introduced by the Coalition government into certain communities back in 2016. It quarantines 80 per cent of welfare payments so that money can't be used for alcohol or gambling 2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham (pictured) told his listeners that the government was 'too soft' to 'make some hard decisions' before claiming that that getting rid of the card would be a 'costly mistake' The 2GB presenter continued: 'I remember receiving the messages from mayors, councillors and community representatives and many, many, many mums who said, 'We need it too'.' 'They ignore the fact that the cashless welfare card was handed out to white families too.' Fordham recalled Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's message to the Prime Minister this week, telling him he had abolished the card to 'please an inner-city woke audience' and that the decision would 'result in high incidences of domestic violence and assault in Indigenous communities'. 'The PM has listened to people with no-lived experience who think they know better,' Fordham said. 'Decisions have consequences, and there are some shameful consequences that will flow from this decision.' 'Kids will go hungry because Anthony Albanese is too soft,' he added. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the government got rid of the card to 'please an inner-city woke audience' and that it would 'result in high incidences of domestic violence and assault in Indigenous communities' The Prime Minister defended the decision, claiming it will empower communities and allow people to have control over their money The Prime Minister has defended his government's decision to ditch the card, saying it will empower communities where it had been rolled out. Despite criticism from the opposition, Mr Albanese said there was a mandate for the scheme's removal. 'We had a welfare system that was paying a private company to engage in activity with for-profit motive, which was resulting in... issues being imposed on communities,' he told parliament on Thursday. He added that it was important for people to have control over their money. 'One of things we have done is to make sure we're about empowering communities, not taking power away from them.' An expected counter-attack against Russian forces in southern Ukraine has increased fears that the Kremlin could resort to using nuclear weapons, according to a British expert. Ukrainian forces were said yesterday to be gaining momentum near the occupied city of Kherson. Air strikes have destroyed several bridges leaving the remaining Russian troops cut off. As Russian military doctrine prescribes tactical nuclear weapons when its forces are facing defeat, concerns are growing that Vladimir Putin could use them. Last night, chemical weapons expert Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said: 'The spectre of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine is no doubt a growing concern in Nato capitals. Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Goron with his wife Julia in Tisbury, Wiltshire 'As the tide appears to be turning in southern Ukraine, Putin's special operation could be about to unravel. At this stage it is critical the UK and the US signal to the Kremlin that any use of nuclear weapons would cross a red line.' Tactical nuclear missiles usually have a killing radius of a mile and a half. But their shockwaves and electromagnetic pulses extend further, posing an additional risk to life. Western intelligence agencies were last night understood to be closely monitoring any transit of these weapons towards southern Ukraine. These fears emerged as the numbers of Russian troops killed or wounded in the conflict was put at 75,000 or higher. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov The latest US estimate was up from 60,000 put forward last week. In recent days there has also been a significant drop-off in the quantities of Russian ordnance being fired at Ukrainian positions. Russian artillery fire has reduced by half, most probably because of the destruction of missile depots far behind the frontline. These silos are in range of the latest Western rockets donated to Ukraine. The boom in people getting puppies during lockdown has led to an increase in dog fouling in parks and green spaces, according to council chiefs. A staggering 53 tons of dog mess are left behind in parks each day because of 780,000 irresponsible dog owners, 6 per cent of the total number of owners, it is claimed. Keep Britain Tidy calculates that the dog population has increased 44 per cent from nine million to 13million since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Based on surveys of dog owners, the anti-litter group estimates that each day Britains dogs now produce a mountainous 884 tons of excrement during walks in parks and green spaces, the vast majority of which is responsibly picked up by owners. 49 per cent of parents of children aged four to 11 said dog mess has put them off taking a trip to the park The estimate of 53 tons is based on a YouGov survey, in which 4 per cent of dog owners said they do not pick up after their pooch, while 2 per cent bag it but leave it hanging from bushes or on railings. However, the vast majority of owners either put it in a bin in the park (85 per cent) or take it home (40 per cent). Between an estimated 35.3 tons left unbagged on the ground and approximately 17.7 tons of bagged mess left on trees or railings, the amount left by irresponsible owners would require between three and four average bin lorries to clear it away each day. More than half of local authorities surveyed reported an increase in unbagged dog mess and bagged dog mess carefully hung in parks. In addition, half of councils say that they are having to empty bins more frequently as a result of the increased volume, 16 per cent have installed bigger bins and 27 per cent are having to do more litter-picking and cleaning. Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said yesterday: Anyone who owns a dog knows that they should pick up after them. The vast majority of owners either put it in a bin in the park -85 per cent- or take it home - 40 per cent She said 49 per cent of parents of children aged four to 11 said dog mess has put them off taking a trip to the park, despite the fact that 88 per cent said a visit to the park made their children happier and 62 per cent said it was a highlight of their day. Parks and green spaces should be a safe space for everyone to enjoy, so its absolutely vital that dog owners are responsible and bag their dogs poo and bin it, she added. Commenting on the challenges local authorities are facing in tackling the problem, one park manager said: Unfortunately people are lazy about it, and are irresponsible, and changing peoples mentality about picking up after their dogs is a real challenge. The survey was released to mark Love Parks Week, an annual campaign run by Keep Britain Tidy. Manhattan's woke district attorney has been blasted for trying to defend the release of a suspected teenage mugger who was filmed beating an NYPD cop two days later. Alvin Bragg's office was blasted over its decision to free the 16 year-old, who hasn't been named, over a mugging on Madison Avenue last Wednesday - only for the same suspect to allegedly punch a cop 20 times in a Harlem subway station three days later. Former prosecutor turned defense lawyer Mark Bederow, argued that the DA bungled the case which he told Fox News, definitely falls under 'extraordinary circumstances.' 'The DA clearly knew that they were prosecuting the same offender for a violent robbery,' he told the news outlet. 'If that is not an extraordinary circumstance, what is? If violence against police officers is unacceptable, why ignore the violent robbery arrest. This isn't accountability. This is lunacy.' Bederow spoke in response to Bragg spokesperson Emily Tuttle's insistence that they'd made the right move with freeing the young offender - and letting him walk free again after the cop attack. The youngster appeared in a Manhattan court Tuesday, and even asked if he could press charges of his own - but declined to say who he wished to prosecute. 'Our system must respond to children as children and intensive community monitoring was the appropriate pre-trial determination for a fifteen-year-old child with no previous arrests,' she said. The 16-year-old, pictured here, after he was arraigned on second-degree assault charges on a police officer and the case was transferred to Family Court Former prosecutor, now defense lawyer, Mark Bederow says that releasing the teen after his four felony arrest in the last six months is 'lunacy.' Woke Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, pictured, has been blasted for attempting to defend his handling of the teenager's case 'Violence against our police officers is unacceptable and given his age at the time of arrest, we consented to send his second case to Family Court as soon as possible, where he would receive the age-appropriate interventions and supports he needs while being held accountable,' Tuttle continued. But her words cut little ice with other criminal justice figures. Police Benevolent Association leader Patrick Lynch seemed to throw his hands up over what he called failure of the system. 'We're having this debate about what court it should go to, but the reality is that it doesn't matter at this point they're releasing everyone. The criminal justice system is no longer set up to protect the public from dangerous criminals. It's set up to fail.' 'The politicians need to wake up and hold criminals accountable,' Detectives Endowment Association president Paul DiGiacomo said. 'They created an environment where there are no consequences for committing crime, what do they expect. Mayor Eric Adams was also appalled by the boy's repeated second chances, and said his treatment by the judicial system was an example of why New York City has become a 'laughingstock' in the eyes of the nation over its treatment of offenders. They spoke days after the boy was caught on a wild video repeatedly punching a cop who attempted arrest him over the weekend for turnstile jumping. The recording shows the the suspect bashing the cop in the head again and again and then throwing him into a chokehold temporarily before the patrolman is able to gain control. The teenager reportedly jumped over the turnstiles at the East Harlem subway station on Saturday before being approached by officers. He became 'verbally aggressive' before launching blows against an officer in the brawl The 16-year-old started throwing multiple punches at officers, desperate to get away, before trying to slam one of the cops into the metal railings In April, cops arrested the 16-year-old with a .40 caliber pistol and a crossbow in Brooklyn, but that case too was transferred to family court, according to Fox News. Because it was a sealed juvenile case handled in a different jurisdiction, the Manhattan DA was not aware of the case. And on July 20, days before he fight with the officer, he attacked and robbed a person on Madison Avenue, for which he was released without bail and given a curfew, according to a source. At the teen's arraignment for second-degree assault on the officer on Wednesday, Bragg's office recommended that he be released without bail and the case be transferred to Family Court, where he will be tried as a juvenile. Patrick Lynch, President of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, has slammed the lax bail systems in New York The New York City Law Department represents underage offenders in Family Court and he will avoid prison time. New York District Attorneys can only prosecute youthful offenders under certain circumstances under the state Raise the Age Law. The only exceptions to Family Court for teenage lawbreakers, ages 16 and 17, are sex crimes, use of a fire arm, serious physical injury or a case with 'extraordinary circumstances.' She had previously said that the young man did not have any weapons history because her office did not have access to his gun and crossbow charges, which was in a sealed juvenile case in Brooklyn. The teen's violent brawl has stunned the city at a time of spiking crime. Mayor Eric Adams, who has made curbing crime the cornerstone of his administration, called on state lawmakers to repeal the Raise the Age law. 'We're not talking about someone that steals an apple,' Adams told cable channel NY1. 'We're talking about someone that has repeatedly used violence in our city.' Woke state Senator Michael Gianaris chided the mayor for his suggestion. 'It's sad Mayor Adams has joined the ranks of right-wingers who are so grossly demagoguing this issue,' Gianaris said. 'He should focus less on deflecting from his own responsibility for higher crime and more on taking steps that would actually make New York safer.' Cruel anti-vaxxers have come under fire after falsely claiming the tragic death of a toddler at a childcare centre was due to the Covid vaccine. The town of Maryborough, on Queensland's Fraser Coast, is still reeling nine days after the death of a two year-old boy at Little Gems Childcare and Early Learning Centre on July 20. Queensland Police stressed to Daily Mail Australia last week the death is not being treated as suspicious. Those police assurances have done nothing to stop anti-vaxxers from weighing in on the tragedy by falsely suggesting online it was due to the Covid vaccine. A two-year-old boy died at Little Gems Childcare and Early Learning Centre in Maryborough (pictured) on July 20 It comes after a website known to spread misinformation claimed in a headline that the toddler was 'fully jabbed' and had died 'mysteriously'. The online article spurred anti-vaxxer readers into action - spreading lies about the case on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and Telegram. But their wild conspiracy theories have since been debunked - because no Covid-19 vaccine is currently available in Australia to children aged under the age of five, nor have any sources close to the family said the child was vaccinated. The Moderna vaccination was provisionally approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in children aged six months to five years on July 19, one day before the little boy died. A probe by ABC's fact checker CheckMate found while it is possible the boy could have been vaccinated overseas, there was no supporting evidence to prove it. Queensland Police has reiterated its stance that 'preliminary investigations indicate the death is not suspicious'. It comes as the town continues to struggles to deal with the tragedy, where flowers were placed outside the centre. The Covid-19 vaccine is currently only available to Australian children over the age of five (stock image) One mother who arrived at the childcare centre to pick up her child on the day of the boy's death told the Courier Mail tearful staff inside were 'absolutely beside themselves'. 'I can't help but feel tremendous pain for the parents,' she said. 'Imagine dropping your child off to daycare and never seeing them again.' She added that her three-year-old daughter loved attending the day care centre and each of the staff. She said staff would feel like 'they've lost a child too' after nurturing each child and 'really taking care of the kids'. Conservative senator Jacinta Price has made enemies of other Aboriginal politicians by campaigning against what she deems tokenistic virtue-signalling. Her maiden speech to the Senate this week has exposed the stark divide between Indigenous MPs and community leaders, particularly over those who want a 'Voice to Parliament' enshrined into the Constitution. A Voice to Parliament is an idea put forward in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, and would be a body of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people set up in Canberra to advise Parliament on policies and projects. While some left-leaning Labor lawmakers - and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese - say the legal change would help improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, others have slammed the idea as 'patronising', saying it would do little to lift thousands out of poverty. A cultural gap is widening, with conservatives denouncing symbolic gestures that do nothing to tackle issues such as domestic violence and alcohol abuse, and left-leaning advocates who emphasise Australia's colonial and racist past. Scroll down for video Conservative Indigenous senator Jacinta Price has made enemies with other Aboriginal politicians by campaigning against what she calls symbolic gestures (pictured making her maiden speech this week) Like her Indigenous mother Bess Price, a former Northern Territory Country Liberals minister, the NT's newest senator has been a fierce critic of welcome to country ceremonies and is opposed to the idea of an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament. Jacinta Price has used her new national platform to campaign against the prime minister's plan, being unveiled this weekend in Arnhem Land, for a referendum to be held to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the Constitution. 'Perhaps a word of advice, since that is what you are seeking: listen to everyone, not just those who support your virtue-signalling agenda but also those you contradict,' she said. Professor Marcia Langton, a co-author of the Uluru Statement from the Heart who is also speaking at the Garma Festival, argued this voice was necessary to protect Aboriginal people from genocide and questioned if critics 'can read and write'. Senator Price, who sits with The Nationals as a member of the NT's Country Liberal Party, used her maiden speech to the chamber this week to deride the now ubiquitous acknowledgement to traditional owners, with federal Parliament now having 10 Indigenous members. 'Throughout Australia, the reinvention of culture has brought us welcome to country or recognition of country, a standard ritual practice before events, meetings and social gatherings by governments, corporates, institutions, primary schools, kindergartens, high schools, universities, workplaces, music festivals, gallery openings, conferences, airline broadcasts and so on and so forth,' she said. Australian Parliament's 10 Indigenous MPs JACINTA PRICE: Nationals senator for the Northern Territory MARION SCRYMGOUR: Labor member for Lingiari JANA STEWART: Labor senator for Victoria LIDIA THORPE: Greens senator for Victoria LINDA BURNEY: Labor Minister for Indigenous Australians PAT DODSON: Labor senator for Western Australia MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Labor Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians GORDON REID: Labor member for Robertson DORINDA COX: Greens senator for Western Australia KERRYNNE LIDDLE: Liberal senator for South Australia Advertisement 'I personally have had more than my fill of being symbolically recognised.' The former deputy mayor of Alice Springs used her maiden speech to condemn Mr Albanese's promise for a referendum. 'This government has yet to demonstrate how this proposed voice will deliver practical outcomes and unite, rather than drive a wedge further between, Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia,' Senator Price said. 'And, no, Prime Minister, we don't need another handout, as you have described the Uluru statement to be. 'No, we Indigenous Australians have not come to agreement on this statement, as you have also claimed. 'It would be far more dignifying if we were recognised and respected as individuals in our own right who are not simply defined by our racial heritage but by the content of our character. 'We've proven for decades now that we do not need a chief protector of aborigines.' Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, the first Aboriginal woman elected to the House of Representatives, and her Liberal predecessor Ken Wyatt, the first Aboriginal member of the lower house who lost his seat in May, are both supporters of an Aboriginal voice to Parliament. Senator Price, who has Warlpiri and Celtic ethnicity, has previously clashed with Labor's new member for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour, a former deputy chief minister of the Northern Territory. Her mother Bess Price in January 2018 slammed Ms Scrymgour for criticising her daughter Jacinta's campaign to keep Australia Day on January 26, after she described her as a 'dud' on Facebook who 'our mob can see through'. Her mother Bess Price (pictured) in January 2018 slammed Ms Scrymgour for criticising her daughter Jacinta's campaign to keep Australia Day on January 26, after she described her as a 'dud' on Facebook who 'our mob can see through' 'The hate that has been directed at my daughter for having a different opinion to those who want to remain in their victimhood mentality is disgusting and I'm appalled,' Ms Price said. 'There is a dark side that has come to surface and Australia is now witnessing this up close.' In 2012, she received a prestigious U.S. International Women's Courage Award from then U.S. President Barack Obama in 2012 for her work tackling domestic violence. In her 2018 Facebook post, she slammed traditional smoking ceremonies as symbolic acts that did nothing to address issues like domestic violence against Aboriginal women. 'All the "Welcome to Country", all the "Smoking Ceremonies" and all the made up bulls*** rituals about "pay our respects to elders past and present" is just one big lie,' Bess Price said. 'Shame shame shame. In her 2018 Facebook post, she slammed traditional smoking ceremonies as symbolic acts that did nothing to address issues like domestic violence against Aboriginal women The former deputy mayor of Alice Springs used her maiden speech to condemn Mr Albanese's promise, reiterated on Friday at the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land, for a referendum to be held 'No wonder we Aboriginal people can't get ahead. No wonder Aboriginal women experience the highest level of violence against us.' Meanwhile, their critic, Ms Scrymgour, used her maiden speech this week to compare the sudden lifting of alcohol bans in Indigenous towns to U.S. President Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. 'It is like pulling your forces out of Afghanistan but leaving the local workers and their dependents in harm's way on the ground without an escape plan, but that is what has happened,' she said. Professor Marcia Langton - who was a co-author of the Uluru statement - has also warned the Indigenous Australians face 'genocide'. 'How do we ensure that Indigenous peoples in Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, have security against, well, let's put it plainly, genocide,' she told Radio National broadcaster Patricia Karvelas on Friday. Professor Marcia Langton, a co-author of the Uluru Statement from the Heart who is also speaking at the Garma Festival, argued the voice to Parliament was necessary to protect Aboriginal people from genocide 'How do we ensure that our people survive into the future with all the existential threats against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples against our languages, our cultures, and our safety and wellbeing.' In 1967, 91 per cent of voters taking part in a referendum voted yes to allow the Commonwealth to make laws affecting Aboriginal people and include them in the Census. But Professor Langton argued racist provisions still remained in the Constitution that meant governments could enact harmful policies against Indigenous people and survive any High Court challenge. She argued, however, that Indigenous people were not just a race and needed to be directly consulted about policies and government programs that affected them. Senator Price (pictured with her son), who has Warlpiri and Celtic ethnicity, is also an opponent of an Aboriginal having a voice to Parliament enshrined in the constitution 'We're not a race, we are over 600 cultural groups in this country with their own language traditions,' Professor Langton said. 'We are the people who are descended from our ancestors who came here through thousands of years, dated back to 65,000 years. 'This was our land until 1788 and this is where all of our traditions and culture come from. 'We're the people's of this land and there's a huge diversity but all of us share one thing in common: we've all been victims of a long process of colonisation and racist discrimination and here we go again.' Professor Langton said the fact federal Parliament now had 10 indigenous MPs did not change the fact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders needed direct representation beyond their electorates. 'Indigenous people's around the country will live in electorates where they don't have an Aboriginal member of Parliament,' she said. In her maiden speech this week, the new Labor member for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour (pictured) likened the sudden lifting of alcohol bans to US president Biden's disastrous withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan 'They want a formal guarantee that the government will make decisions in conjunction with them over matters that affect their daily lives, such as essential services, potable drinking water, housing, schools, health clinics, and I don't think that's too much to ask.' Professor Langton also slammed conservative critics of the voice within the Liberal Party, including Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. 'I see this demand for more detail as mischief making sowing confusion,' she said. 'I do wonder if some of them can read and write.' The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was established in 1989 but abolished in 2004, with bipartisan support, following a spate of mismanagement. Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy, a former ABC-TV newsreader, told Parliament the Labor Party had a united position on the Voice. 'Our government and First Nations caucus is very, very clear on our position on a Voice to Parliament,' she said. 'We will work wholeheartedly and inclusively with all parliamentarians and, indeed, all Australians so that there can be overwhelming support in a referendum that we wish to take to the Australian people in this term of the parliament, asking for a voice to the parliament for First Nations people.' Shortly before Senator Price spoke, Labor senator for Victoria Jana Stewart, who is also Indigenous, started her maiden speech with an acknowledgement to country. Despite their political and cultural differences, Jacinta Price hugged Senator Stewart in the chamber of Parliament Shortly before Senator Price spoke, Labor's new senator for Victoria Jana Stewart, who is also Indigenous, started her maiden speech with an acknowledgement to country. 'My name is Jana Stewart, and I'm a Mutti Mutti and Wemba Wemba woman with links country all along the Murray River,' she said. 'I start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the country where I stand today, the Ngunawal and Ngambri people. 'I acknowledge your peoples' continual connection to this land and place that now houses our national parliament. 'I acknowledge all traditional custodians throughout our nation and their unceded sovereignty to country and waters.' Despite their political and cultural differences, Jacinta Price hugged Senator Stewart in the chamber of Parliament after her speech. Despite a cooling smartphone market, Samsung recorded its best second-quarter profit since 2018, thanks on the strong sales of chips, as per CNET. According to the Korea-based company, they notched a 12% increase in this year's second-quarter profit compared to the same time last year. Samsung announced on Wednesday that its operating profit for the three-month period that ended on June 30 amounted to around 14.1 trillion won ($10.8 billion). Meanwhile, the company recorded 77.2 trillion won ($59.1 billion) revenue for the second-quarter, with an increase of more than 21%. Samsung Plans to Expand Its Flagship Sales A decline is observed in the company's earnings on mobile business compared to the first quarter. This can be attributed to the increase in the costs of components. However, revenue is observed to increase by 31% year over year due to the strong sales of flagship models including the Galaxy S22 series and the Galaxy Tab S8 series. According to Samsung, in the second half of the year, the company expects that the smartphone market will hold steady or show single-digit growth. Moreover, Samsung also said that it is planning to do an expansion of flagship sales with a line of new foldables. The company is expected to release it new line of flagship in the upcoming Unpacked event that will happen next month. The demand for smartphones is plunging in the second quarter. In fact, in the second quarter, smartphone sellers only shipped 270 million handsets. This recorded a 9% decline over the first quarter. "Economic headwinds, sluggish demand, and inventory pileup have resulted in vendors rapidly reassessing their portfolio strategies for the rest of 2022," Canalys Research Analyst Runar Bjrhovde said in a report, as per CNET. Bjrhovde added that it possible that the oversupplied mid-range is a factor why vendors place their attention on adjusting to new launches. With this, consumers with limited budget choose the lower end devices. Read Also: Samsung Electronics Sees Third Quarter Profit Boost Despite Smartphone Woes Samsung Cautions Decline in PC and Consumer Products. While Samsung is widely known as a creator of phone and TV, the company also markets memory chips. Samsung benefited in the second quarter from continued strong demand for server memory. Meanwhile, the demand for consumer products weakened. However, the sales in Samsung memory units still managed to rise to 18% year over year. Despite of the increase, Samsung warned that "demand for consumer products and PCs will remain weak," as per CNET. Samsung said that when it comes to PC, there is a looming possibility that the plummet in demand may extend to enterprise segments. However, the company also noted that there is also a possibility that the consumer demand will get stimulated during the year-end promotional season. The company's strong quarter came while chipmakers face an excessive supply. This is while the demand for smartphones and PCs declines. According to market researcher TrendForce, the prices for DRAM chips, which are typically used in PCs, were expected to decrease by about 5% in the second quarter. It is expected to decline further to 10% in the third quarter. Likewise, prices for NAND Flash memory, which is commonly used in portable consumer devices, were expected to plunge about 5% this quarter. By third quarter, a 10% decline is expected, TrendForce predicted. Related Article: Samsung Celebrates $61 Billion Quarterly Revenue The sister of an accused backpacker murderer is being sought for questioning in Germany over an alleged cover-up following the smothering death of Simone Strobel, 25, some 17 years ago. German surfer Toby Moran, aka Tobias Suckfuell, was arrested in Perth, Western Australia this week and charged with the murder of his one-time girlfriend near Lismore on the NSW north coast in 2005. In recent days, detectives revealed that they are seeking two persons of interest for questioning in Europe. Police Superintendent Scott Tanner said they 'know who they are.' 'It would be in their best interests to contact German authorities.' Daily Mail Australia can reveal those two persons of interest are Kathrin Suckfuell - Tobias's sister and a medical industry worker - and Jens Martin, a former friend of both siblings. The German nationals, now aged in their 40s, are being investigated for possible charges of accessory after the fact of murder and perverting the course of justice, police said. Police warned it is 'in their best interests' for the pair to come forward to authorities. Pictures from the time: Above, Kathrin Suckfuell is seen with her brother Tobias (centre), carrying sunflowers to the vigil, which was held by Lismore locals near the crime scene where Simone Strobel's body was found. This photo was taken six days after she argued with Tobias One of the last photos of Simone Strobel (on right, in left picture) at Lismore which she told her parents was 'so beautiful ... a dream come true' a day before Tobias Moran (right) allegedly smothered her to death Tobias Suckfuell, 42, who plans to apply for bail next week, faces life in prison if convicted of the cold case killing. Kathrin Suckfuell and Jens Martin were with Mr Moran and Ms Strobel the night she was last seen alive, at Lismore Tourist Caravan Park on the night of Friday, February 11, 2005. The pair had joined Tobias and Simone - who had been dating for six years and were on the 'trip of a lifetime' backpacking around the world. They were planning to spend a month with them touring Australia. According to a subsequent coronial inquest into Ms Strobel's death, the next morning, Tobias and Kathrin Suckfuell and Jens Martin packed up their van and tent and checked out of the caravan park. At 10.45am, Tobias and Jens went to the Lismore Police Station and told officers Ms Strobel had left the campsite during the night after criticising Tobias and his sister over a family matter, and had not returned. Five days later, on Thursday, February 17, 2005, an officer of the NSW Police Dog Unit found Ms Strobel's naked and decomposing human body under palm fronds, pushed through the fence of a bocce court just 90 metres from the campsite. Around 200 shocked Lismore locals held a candlelight vigil near the crime scene, attended by Tobias, his sister Kathrin - who brought along a large bunch of sunflowers - Jens Martin and other foreign backpackers. Tobias (centre) along with his sister Kathrin Suckfuell (second right) at the vigil near the crime scene where Simone Strobel's body was found, with Mr Moran later slamming local police for being 'kindergarten cops' Simone Strobel (above, second left, on CCTV) outside Lismore's Gollan Hotel with Tobias, his sister Kathrin Suckfuell and Jens Martin after the four German backpackers had been ejected from the premises The van and tent where the Suckfuell siblings and Simone Strobel and Jens Martin were staying before Ms Strobel disappeared and the other three packed up and reported her missing The local council held a fundraising campaign which raised $6000 to pay for Tobias Suckfuell's plane ticket home. The town's local paper quoted Tobias Suckfuell calling police 'kindergarten cops' for the almost week-long delay in finding Ms Strobel's body. He also accused them of 'not taking him seriously' when he reported her missing. Both Tobias and Kathrin Suckfuell declined to attend Ms Strobel's 2007 inquest before then deputy state coroner Paul MacMahon. Jens Martin did and was a key witness. At the inquest, Mr Martin alleged he, Kathrin and Tobias had lied to police about their activities the night Simone disappeared and about the direction she went when she walked away from their campsite. Mr Martin told the inquest through an interpreter: 'I don't know who killed Simone. It's possible Tobias may have had something to do with it it's not my job.' But he claimed he had lied to Lismore police at Tobias Suckfuell's request because he had been smoking cannabis the night before, which he knew was illegal, and because Mr Suckfuell had told him he didn't want to be a suspect. Toby Moran (above when he was Tobias Suckfuell with then girlfriend Simone Strobel) has been charged with her 2005 murder in Lismore and extradited from Perth to Sydney Toby Moran is let out of a police van at Maroubra station on Wednesday to be charged with murder after his extradition from Perth where he has been living for more than a decade He also claimed Simone and and Tobias' relationship had been deteriorating during their time in Australia where Tobias had been smoking cannabis heavily and was becoming increasingly aggressive and controlling. On the night of Simone's disappearance, the disagreement between the couple had even Kathrin in tears, the inquest heard. Mr Martin disclosed that Tobias and Kathrin visited his home in Germany to ask the about his testimony to the German police following the incident. The inquest found Simone Strobel and her three German travelling companions were drinking at the Gollan Hotel in Lismore the night she disappeared. At 11pm, the bar manager told the group to leave the hotel because of their state of intoxication, and their departure was captured on CCTV as they returned to the caravan park and continued drinking. Following Mr Martin's evidence, state coroner Paul McMahon personally wrote to the Suckfuell siblings, informing them of the serious allegations that had been made and again inviting them to return to Australia, at no cost, to provide their version of events at the inquest. Tobias Suckfuell, now named Tobias Moran (above) jet-setted around the world to surfing spots in Bali and Mexico before settling in down in Perth with his wealthy wife Samantha The former Tobias Suckfuell, has been living under his new name Toby Moran with wealthy lawyer and yoga instructor wife Samantha Moran (pictured above) in the elite Perth suburb of City Beach for more than a decade Tobias also travelled the world, jet-setting to surfing spots beaches in Bali and Mexico and then while in a remote beach in South Africa, he met Samantha Moran, the daughter of wealthy Perth dentist John Moran. Tobias Moran and Ms Moran were married in 2012 at his family's farmhouse in Altbessingen, Germany, 30km from the Wurzburg home of Ms Strobel's grieving parents. Gustl and Gabi Strobel revealed this week that just one day before their beloved daughter's death, she had told them from Lismore that 'it's so beautiful here, this is a dream come true'. The Strobels told The West Australian on Thursday they hoped Tobias Moran's arrest would finally shed light on what really happened to their daughter. Speaking from his home in Germany, Mr Strobel said he, his wife, and their children Alexander and Christina were 'tense with hope' after Tobias Moran was arrested and now awaits trial. Toby Moran is handcuffed and led away from his wealthy wife's multi-million dollar Perth beach shack for extradition to Sydney where he will face court on Thursday charged with murder Toby Moran (above with wealthy wife Samantha) has been living the high life in a luxury beach shack owned by his wealthy dentist father-in-law in the elite Perth suburb of City Beach The grieving parents of Simone Strobel (left) in Bavaria have been seeking answers for years since her 2005 alleged murder after last being seen on CCTV (right) six days before her naked decomposing body was found pushed through a fence near the Suckfuell siblings' campsite For the last 17 years, the Strobel family have endured 'agonising uncertainty' while Tobias Friedrich Suckfuell - aka Toby Moran - has led a charmed existence as the blond-haired surfer married to a wealthy lawyer and enjoying a life of luxury. That was until Mr Moran was dramatically arrested on Tuesday in Perth, handcuffed and flown to Sydney where he was formally charged with murder and refused bail. WA Police footage shows detectives arresting Mr Moran outside his home in exclusive City Beach, Perth, and NSW Police footage shows him arriving i Sydney and being placed into a police van. Mr Moran had been living with his pregnant wife Samantha, their two young children and pet dog Mango in a modest-looking multi-million dollar fibro house in a Perth street of mostly high-end rebuilds in elite City Beach. The house is owned by Ms Moran's wealthy parents, who live in the same suburb where he has been a house husband and part-time builder. He has never previously been charged over the murder of Ms Strobel, a kindergarten teacher. Ms Strobel's mysterious death also became the subject of a book, Have You Seen Simone? written by Virginia Peters. As Mr Moran was led off in handcuffs to be extradited and face a Sydney court charged with murder, his wife Samantha (above, the couple together) is preparing to give birth to their third child in Perth Simone Strobel (above in the same outfit she was last seen wearing on CCTV) was found decomposing and covered in palm fronds, pushed through the fence of a bocce court 90m from the caravan park where she and Mr Moran had been camping with his sister Kathrin The fibro house owned by Samantha Moran's family is in a street of multi-million dollar knockdowns in the same suburb as her wealthy parents, John and Sandy In 2014, Mr Moran took out an injunction to prevent its publication, and then launched a defamation suit against Ms Peters and Schwarz Publishing, but dropped the lawsuit in 2017. However, during the defamation suit's process called discovery, the defence applied for the release of papers called 'the 100-page Document'. In 2017, Mr Moran applied to block these documents on the grounds they were the subject of legal professional privilege and included notes written by himself and Samantha in South Africa which allegedly discuss the circumstances of Ms Strobel's death. The West Australian newspaper has previously reported Ms Moran said the couple was looking forward to commenting on the Ms Strobel's case in the future, but would not speak publicly before then. SIMONE STROBEL TRAGEDY Simeone Strobel and Toby Moran - then known as Tobias Suckfuell - arrived in Australia for a one-year working holiday in August 2004, and travelled along the east coast. Tobias's sister Kathrin and Jens Martin arrived on Australia Day 2005 to join the couple for a month. On February 11, the four young Germans arrived at Lismore Tourist Caravan Park, and adjourned to the Gollan Hotel for a drinking session. Tensions erupted between Tobias and Simone, who argued at the campsite, after which Simone disappeared. The next day, Jens and Kathrin began to look for Simone. On February 13, the three checked out of the caravan park before reporting Simone's disappearance to police. Four days later, on February 17, 2005, a police dog handler discovered Simone's body hidden in the grounds of the Lismore Continental Club's bocce courts. The three travellers laid flowers at a makeshift memorial in the club grounds with Ms Strobel's brother who had flown out from Germany. Both Suckfuell siblings and Jens Martin returned to Germany, but only Mr Martin flew back to Lismore for the 2007 inquest. Advertisement Toby and Samantha met in South Africa after he left Australia following Simone's alleged murder and have lived a comfortable life with the help of her rich Perth family Simone Strobel and Tobias Suckfuell (right) are seen on CCTV leaving Lismore's Gollan hotel on February 11, 2005 when it is said the couple argued over tensions in their relationship Photo of Tobias and Simone during their backpacker holiday in Australia which has been signed by him with a romantic message to his then girlfriend of more than six years Tobias Suckfuell (above) in a NSW Police interview following the discovery of his then girlfriend's body pushed through a fence near their campsite in Lismore Toby and Samantha (above) are expecting their third child just as he has been extradited from Perth to NSW to face charges of murdering his ex-girlfriend in a Lismore caravan park in 2005 NSW Police told the inquest they believed Ms Strobel had been killed by smothering, most likely with a pillow. In 2020, the NSW government offered a $1 million reward for information over the homicide. Mr Moran will face Sydney's Downing Centre local court to apply for bail next week where his lawyers are expected to cite his ties with his wife's family, two children and impending birth of his third child. Police prosecutors are expected to oppose the bail application on the grounds that Mr Moran left Australia after Ms Strobel's death and declined to attend her 2007 inquest. Housing developers could be prevented from beginning new projects in west London until 2035 'because the power grid cannot cope'. An unprecedented crisis in the British electricity system brought parts of London to a near blackout last week, when the National Grids Electricity System Operator was forced to pay 9,724.54 per megawatt hour to Belgium to avoid a catastrophe. It came amid growing concern over the UK's ability to generate enough electricity to keep the lights on this winter, with the gap between maximum supply and maximum demand already said to be 'tight'. And now the Greater London Authority (GLA) has informed developers that it could take more than 10 years for electricity grid capacity to rise to a level at which it can sustain new homes in the boroughs of Hillingdon, Ealing and Hounslow. As of 2019-20, they account for around 11 per cent of the capital's housing supply - nearly 5,000 homes, The Times reports. The potential disruption to further housing developments risks aggravating already existing issues in meeting demand for properties in London. A warning from the GLA, seen by the Financial Times, said: 'Major new applicants to the distribution network... including housing developments, commercial premises and industrial activities, will have to wait several years to receive new electricity connections.' There is already growing concern over the UK's ability to generate enough electricity to keep the lights on this winter Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he is 'very concerned' the shortage could impact the delivery of thousands of new homes in west London It comes as Putin's decision to restrict the flower of gas to Europe pushed up prices across the Continent Britain could come close to running out of electricity this winter, experts warn Britain could come close to running out of electricity this winter, experts warned yesterday. A report by the Electricity System Operator (ESO), the body tasked with balancing the National Grid, says there could be 'tight periods' in December but believes it should be able to keep the lights on. The grid needs to make sure that it has enough generators ready to go when demand for electricity peaks. If the margin falls below certain levels, the ESO will send out an Electricity Margin Notice (EMN). This lets generators know that more electricity is needed. The ESO said: 'We may need to use our standard operational tools to manage these periods should they occur which, for example, may mean issuing EMNs. 'We expect there to be sufficient available capacity to respond to these market signals to meet consumer demand.' In the report, it notes that Britain is not as reliant on Russian gas as other countries in Europe. But 'it is clear that the cessation of flows of gas into Europe could have knock-on impacts, including very high prices'. The ESO has worked with the Government to ensure that four coal power stations are ready to use if they need to be called on this winter and they are working on a fifth. It is also 'exploring options' to incentivise energy users to reduce their use during peak times. Russian flows of gas to Europe have been reduced since the country launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. Much of the UK's electricity comes from gas, so any serious hit to gas supplies could impact the availability of electricity. Advertisement The message added that an applicant to the distribution network had been told there was not 'sufficient electrical capacity for a new connection' until 2035. Pressure on the electricity grid in west London is understood to be worsened by a number of data centres having been built in the area in recent years, which are said to be using fibre optics cables that run along the M4 corridor. The Electricity System Operator has already indicated the situation across the UK could be particularly difficult in the first half of December later this year. And in London, mayor Sadiq Khan has said he is 'very concerned' the shortage could impact the delivery of thousands of new homes. A spokesperson said: '[The mayor] wrote to the government weeks ago requesting a meeting to discuss electricity capacity in west London but the request was declined.' Mr Khan is said to be working alongside network providers as part of efforts to address supply issues, with some industry insiders of the opinion that the process by which electricity connections are created needs to be reformed. Referring to the data centres using fibre optics cables, the GLA message added: 'Data centres use large quantities of electricity, the equivalent of towns or small cities, to power servers and ensure resilience in service.' The area is home to a number of tech companies including Google, Amazon and Microsoft - some of which reported 'cooling problems' during last week's heatwave. It is believed that at least 25 units would be affected by the GLA's warning. David OLeary, policy director at the Home Builders Federation, tole The Times: 'Our understanding is that you just cant build them.' A spokesperson for the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) said: 'This is an issue with connection agreements at a local distribution network level. 'The ESO is actively working with all the parties involved to find solutions to make the connections happen.' It came as Putin's decision to restrict the flower of gas to Europe pushed up prices across the Continent, with many countries drawing up contingency plans to cut gas and electricity use by 15 per cent in order to conserve supplies and protect families through the winter. These include turning off street lights, not heating public swimming pools and shutting down production at some major manufacturers, however more drastic measures may be necessary. Germany and other European nations are racing to buy consignments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) via container from the United States, Africa and the Middle East, however this is pushing up prices and will be insufficient to fill the gap left by Russia. Any increase in the wholesale cost of gas is pushed through to electricity as it is used as fuel in around 40 per cent of UK power stations. The Germany city of Hanover became the first big city in Europe to ban hot water and central heating in public buildings on Thursday in response to Putin's weaponizing of gas supplies. The drastic step comes as Germans have been told to expect sky high electricity bills and sweeping gas rationing measures that will affect their day-to-day lives. London's fire chief has called for a 'total ban' on disposable barbecues as the capital braces for a potential second summer heatwave. The warning comes after the London Fire Brigade (LFB) experienced its 'busiest week' in history last week. London's Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said 'urgent action' was needed to introduce a national ban on the sale of disposable barbecues which he warned could cause 'untold damage'. Firefighters attended more than 1,000 fires in the week from July 18 as temperatures soared, taking more than twice as many calls as usual and tackling an unprecedented number of large grassland fires. During that period the brigade received 8,302 calls, while on average it usually takes around 450 calls a day. Disposable BBQs destroyed large swathes of meadow close to Morden Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and the London Fire Commissioner, Andy Roe at a Fire station in East London. Wednesday. Picture date: Thursday July 21, 2022 Mr Roe said people behaved 'carelessly' and 'recklessly' despite warnings about grass fires. On Saturday July 23, firefighters prevented a serious blaze at Wanstead Flats, east London, caused by a disposable barbecue. Mr Roe said disposable barbecues 'can be bought for as little as 5 and can cause untold damage, especially when the grass is as dry as it has been over the last few weeks'. He added: 'Last week is another example of how we are increasingly being challenged by new extremes of weather as our climate changes and we're developing long-term strategies to deal with more incidents like this in the future.' Waitrose, Aldi, and other retailers have announced they will no longer stock disposable barbecues because of their detrimental impact on the environment and wildlife. London's Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said 'urgent action' was needed to introduce a national ban on the sale of disposable barbecues which he warned could cause 'untold damage' The UK experienced a heatwave last week with a record-breaking high of 40.3C in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, last Tuesday. That day the fire service saw its busiest day since the Second World War as a result of the extreme temperatures, taking 2,670 calls and attending 1,146 incidents. A total of 16 homes were lost in the large fire in Wennington, east London, and crews had to fight to save the fire station itself from the flames. The National Fire Chiefs Council has warned UK cities they need to prepare for wildfires after dozens of 'unprecedented' blazes broke out during last week's record breaking temperatures. Firefighters also shared tips on how to prevent grass fires which included not having barbecues on balconies, parks and public spaces. Rail bosses yesterday warned union barons they will force through reforms to working practices if they carry on snubbing an 8 per cent pay rise offer. Network Rail risked escalating its row with the militant RMT union over pay and jobs security by serving it with a so-called 'section 188' warning. It means they can legally press ahead with modernisation of working practices without the union's consent in the coming weeks. The move by the agency, which manages signalling and track maintenance, will be seen as an attempt to bounce the RMT into accepting its pay offer. But it could backfire by further angering the RMT and triggering more strikes. Network Rail wants to use technology more to detect obstacles on the line, roster staff more flexibly and multi-skill workers so less need to attend certain jobs. It says accepting these changes could unlock millions of pounds in efficiency savings to give RMT workers a pay rise of 8 per cent over this year and next. But the union has rejected the offer, instead staging four national strikes with the latest on Wednesday. It has called another two national walkouts on August 18 and 20. RMT General Secretary Mike Lynch arrives at the RMT Headquarters RMT supporters protest outside offices of Network Rail as a nationwide strike called by the RMT Union was held today on July 27, 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland A senior source acknowledged Network Rail's move could provoke a 'hostile reaction' from the union, but said: 'We cannot be held to ransom over modernising our working practices.' They added: 'It's not something we do with any sense of appetite or relish, but faced with that finding crisis in the industry it's something we absolutely have to do.' In contrast to the RMT's approach, yesterday it emerged the TSSA rail union has put the same pay offer to its Network Rail members in a referendum rather than go on strike. A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'This is a positive step forward. Network Rail has put a good offer on the table and we very much hope TSSA's members will endorse it. 'Other unions should sit up and take notice and realise we can best deliver reform by industry and unions working together. 'We urge other unions to stop playing politics and follow the TSSA's lead by giving their members the chance to have their say on Network Rail's proposals.' Mr Haines said: 'The way people live and work has changed since the pandemic. On the railway, that means significantly fewer commuters and significantly less income. 'This year we'll see a shortfall of around 2bn compared with 2019. A senior source acknowledged Network Rail's move could provoke a 'hostile reaction' from the union (supporters pictured), but said: 'We cannot be held to ransom over modernising our working practices' 'It would be wrong to fund this deficit through increases in fares or taxes when we know that some of our working practices are fundamentally broken. 'That's why we must make progress with modernising the way we carry out maintenance work and making the savings that are necessary for the future of our railway. 'We haven't given up on finding a negotiated way forward. We have made a good pay offer and our door remains open, but we can't continue to circle the same ground day after day, week after week and not move forward. 'These reforms are too important, especially given we started these conversations 18 months ago. 'It is vital that we progress our modernisation plans to help put our railway on a sustainable financial footing for the future.' Advertisement Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy were today denied the judgment in the Wagatha Christie case in advance to avoid it being leaked ahead of the ruling at Midday. The judge in the three-year-long libel case, Mrs Justice Steyn, will hand down her bombshell verdict in the libel trial of the year at lunchtime in a case that has cost the WAGs and their husbands 3million. For a week in May the case captivated millions who were left open-mouthed by the evidence including explosive and expletive-filled Whatsapp messages sent by Ms Vardy as well as Coleen's evidence about leaking false stories about her private life to find who was giving them to the tabloids and how her marriage almost fell apart after her husband Wayne was caught drink-driving with a party girl. Rebekah was seen in tears and left early with her husband Jamie in a case some experts claimed quickly became one of the most ill-advised libel trials in history, with Mrs Rooney's barrister claiming her case 'disintegrated' during the week-long trial. Mrs Rooney has said she is 'supremely confident' ahead of the verdict today and has reportedly told friends: 'Whatever the judge decides, I've already won'. The source added: 'She believes the evidence presented before the court has proved her case that Becky knew about leaks to the Press and approved them.' Media lawyer Mark Stephens predicted: 'If the sting of the libel is true, in that Rebekah Vardy is a habitual leaker, then Coleen Rooney probably wins. Even if Rebekah does win, the measure of her damages will be very low. It could be as low as 1. If she is awarded that level of damages, she will end up paying the other side's legal costs.' He added: 'In the court of public opinion Rebekah Vardy did herself a disservice with her evidence. The only winners here are the lawyers, who are going to be putting up Vardy or Rooney extensions in their homes.' The two women have been locked in a bitter legal dispute since 2019 after Mrs Rooney, wife of former England captain Wayne, took to social media to accuse her fellow WAG Mrs Vardy of leaking stories to the press. Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy together in 2016. The WAGs have ended up in court in the libel trial of the year According to the Sun, Mrs Rooney privately told pals: 'Whatever the judge decides, I've already won' Rebekah, pictured with Jamie Vardy leaving court, began a libel action against Coleen, arguing that the accusation over her Instagram account was false Wayne Rooney reunited with wife Coleen and the children as they spent a day out in Manchester A screenshot of one of two posts from Coleen Rooney's private instagram made on the day of her viral public post accusing 'Rebekah Vardy's account' Wagatha Christie timeline: How Coleen and Rebekah's long-running, vicious war unfolded before the eyes of the world September 2017 to October 2019 - The Sun runs a number of articles about Coleen, including that she travelled to Mexico to look into baby 'gender selection' treatment, her plan to revive her TV career and the flooding of her basement. October 9, 2019 - Coleen uses social media to accuse Rebekah of selling stories from her private Instagram account to the tabloids. Coleen says she spent five months attempting to work out who was sharing information about her and her family based on posts she had made on her personal social media page. After sharing a series of 'false' stories and using a process of elimination, Coleen claims they were viewed by one Instagram account, belonging to Rebekah. Rebekah, then pregnant with her fifth child, denies the allegations and says various people had access to her Instagram over the years. She claims to be 'so upset' by Coleen's accusation, later adding: 'I thought she was my friend but she completely annihilated me.' The public dispute makes headlines around the world, with the hashtag #WagathaChristie trending. How it all began: On October 9, 2019, Coleen Rooney, now 36, accused Rebekah Vardy, 40, of leaking 'false stories' about her to the press in an Instagram post (above) Shortly after Coleen's public accusation, Rebekah - who was pregnant and on holiday in Dubai at the time - denied any involvement (above) February 13, 2020 - In a tearful appearance on ITV's Loose Women, Rebekah says the stress of the dispute caused her to have severe anxiety attacks and she 'ended up in hospital three times'. Coleen says in a statement that she does not want to 'engage in further public debate'. June 23, 2020 - It emerges that Rebekah has launched libel proceedings against Coleen. Rebekah's lawyers allege she 'suffered extreme distress, hurt, anxiety and embarrassment as a result of the publication of the post and the events which followed'. November 19-20, 2020 - The libel battle has its first High Court hearing in London. A judge rules that Coleen's October 2019 post 'clearly identified' Rebekah as being 'guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust'. Mr Justice Warby concludes that the 'natural and ordinary' meaning of the posts was that Rebekah had 'regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Coleen's personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun of Coleen's private posts and stories'. February 8-9, 2022 - A series of explosive messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt - which Coleen's lawyers allege were about her - are revealed at a preliminary court hearing. The court is told Rebekah was not referring to Coleen when she called someone a 'nasty bitch' in one exchange with Ms Watt. Coleen's lawyers seek further information from the WhatsApp messages, but the court is told that Ms Watt's phone fell into the North Sea after a boat she was on hit a wave, before further information could be extracted from it. February 14 - Coleen is refused permission to bring a High Court claim against Ms Watt for misuse of private information to be heard alongside the libel battle. A High Court judge, Mrs Justice Steyn, says the bid was brought too late and previous opportunities to make the claim had not been taken. April 13 - Ms Watt is not fit to give oral evidence at the upcoming libel trial, the High Court is told as the case returns for another hearing. The agent revokes permission for her witness statement to be used, and withdraws her waiver which would have allowed Sun journalists to say whether she was a source of the allegedly leaked stories. April 29 - Rebekah 'appears to accept' that her agent was the source of allegedly leaked stories, Coleen's barrister David Sherborne tells the High Court. He argues that a new witness statement submitted by Rebekah suggests Ms Watt was the source but Rebekah claims she 'did not authorise or condone her'. Rebekah's lawyer Hugh Tomlinson says the statement did not contain 'any change whatever in the pleaded case', with her legal team having no communication with Ms Watt. May 10 onwards - The trial lasts seven days Advertisement The packed hearings at the High Court in May saw both Rebekah, 40, and Coleen, 36, give dramatic testimony from the witness box in the case which centred on Coleen's claims that her rival had leaked information to the Sun based on posts from her private Instagram account. Coleen was also said to be 'supremely confident' of winning the case. A friend reportedly said: 'She believes the evidence presented before the court has proved her case that Becky knew about leaks to the Press and approved them.' In most cases, the verdict would be revealed to the parties in advance of the handing down of the verdict. But legal sources have reportedly said: 'It's totally at the judge's discretion but allows those involved to consider their legal position, especially in a high-profile case like this. On this occasion that has been totally denied and they won't know the result until the morning.' The two women have been locked in a bitter legal dispute since 2019 after Mrs Rooney, wife of former England captain Wayne, took to social media to accuse her fellow WAG Mrs Vardy of leaking stories to the press. In a now infamous 'reveal' post that went viral on social media, Mrs Rooney wrote: 'It's.. Rebekah Vardy's account.' Mrs Vardy, wife of Leicester City and England player Jamie, hit back at the accusation. The mother of five strenuously denied having anything to do with stories being leaked to The Sun newspaper and took her former friend to court, suing her for libel. In May, the pair faced each other over seven days in the High Court where Mrs Justice Steyn heard details of Mrs Rooney's 'sting' operation, phones going missing in the North Sea, and Mrs Vardy comparing Peter Andre's private parts to a chipolata. The eventful and highly publicised trial cost up to 3million in lawyers' fees, meaning today's loser will pick up an eye-watering legal bill. Accompanied to court every day by husband Wayne, Mrs Rooney told the trial that she planted a series of fake stories on her Instagram account after becoming suspicious that someone was leaking details of her private life to the tabloids. The mother of four told the court that her WAG rival 'monitored and stalked' her private Instagram profile along with her former agent Caroline Watt. The court was read a string of text messages between the pair, including Mrs Vardy telling Mrs Watt she would 'love' to leak stories about Mrs Rooney to the press. Mrs Rooney's barrister David Sherborne argued that Mrs Vardy had a 'habitual and established practice' of leaking information through Mrs Watt, who had to pull out of being a witness as she was deemed too unwell to give evidence. On the final day of the trial, Mr Sherbourne said Mrs Vardy's evidence in court was 'highly unreliable' and her accuracy 'simply cannot be trusted' as she had repeatedly changed her version of events. A lighter moment came when Mr Sherborne quipped that the phone belonging to Mrs Watt, from which messages were lost after she claimed it fell into the North Sea, lay 'in Davy Jones' Locker'. The court erupted with laughter when Mrs Vardy responded: 'I'm sorry, I don't know who Davy Jones is.' Mrs Vardy, decked out in designer suits and six-inch stilettos, remained defiant on the stand and denied having anything to do with the leaks. Her lawyers argued that she suffered 'very serious harm to her reputation' as a result of Mrs Rooney's post and that the incident was 'extremely upsetting' for her and her family. Mrs Vardy told of how she feared losing her unborn baby at the time of the social media storm as it was causing her such stress and anxiety. Mrs Vardy, who was seven months' pregnant at the time, said she was admitted to hospital three times in the final two months of her pregnancy and was left feeling suicidal. Mrs Justice Steyn is due to publish her ruling at noon Over seven days in courtroom number 13 at the Royal Courts of Justice, the two footballers' wives each gave evidence as revelations from the case made daily headlines across the British press. During the trial, Mrs Rooney's barrister David Sherborne argued that Mrs Vardy had a 'habitual and established practice' of leaking information about those she knew - through her friend and former agent Caroline Watt - to The Sun newspaper. Discussing Mrs Rooney's viral 'reveal' post, her barrister added: 'It is what she believed at the time... and it is what she believes even more so now that we have got to the end of the case.' However, Hugh Tomlinson QC, for Mrs Vardy, said Mrs Rooney had 'failed to produce any evidence' that Mrs Vardy had 'regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower' of her private Instagram account by passing on information from it to The Sun. Mr Tomlinson said the libel battle was a 'very simple case' when 'one clears away the conspiracy theories'. He added: 'Mrs Vardy's case is and always has been that she did not leak the information nor did she authorise anyone else to leak. 'She does not know to this day what happened. She does not know where this information came from.' The barrister added that Mrs Vardy suffered 'very serious harm to her reputation' as a result of Mrs Rooney's post. These are the sensational posts and images at the heart of the 3 million Wagatha Christie libel trial between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney many published here for the first time. Top of the bill is the famous but never published photo from Coleen's private Instagram account showing Wayne in bed with three of his sons in spotted pyjamas (pictured) Coleen told the court that she only posted the image (pictured left) on her private account because she did not want to fuel stories about her and Wayne reuniting after the couple's marriage faltered when he was caught drink driving in another woman's car. On her public Instagram account Coleen only posted a photo of herself with her then three sons Kai, Klay and Kit, (pictured right) wearing matching pyjamas. But she was angered a few days later, when a story appeared in The Sun clearly based on the private image The lawyers for both sides agreed to release this fascinating bundle of hundreds of documents which have formed the evidence throughout the seven-day case at the High Court. On 12th of September 2019, Coleen shows a picture of herself with her youngest son Cass, looking at their new mansion-in-progress in Cheshire, with the caption: 'Site visit. I think he likes his new house' (pictured left). Many of the photographs give an insight into the Rooney's private family life, such as one of the couple with all four of their children at the seaside (pictured right) with the caption: 'And back to US tomorrow for dad!' when Wayne was playing in Washington but his family were still in the UK Then there are many posted which Coleen added onto her private Instagram account, some of which were fake, and some of those she blocked from all over her followers except Rebekah's account. In one post she showed a photograph of her passport with the caption 'Escaping the measle outbreak in Washington'. In another she accused someone on her Instagram of leaking stories to the Sun Screen grab dated issued by Kingsley Napley of text messages between Rebekah and Jamie Vardy after reports Wayne Rooney was asked to tell Jamie Vardy his wife needed to reduce her media presence Screen grab dated issued by Kingsley Napley of text messages between Rebekah and Jamie Vardy after reports Wayne Rooney was asked to tell Jamie Vardy his wife needed to reduce her media presence Pictured left: A screen grab of Coleen Rooney's private instagram story of the so-called 'TV decisions' post, one of the three fake posts she said she posted in her sting operation. Pictured right: A post from Coleen Rooney's private instagram story which has only been viewed by one account In one image, Coleen was seen riding on a bike around holding a bottle of wine (pictured left), while Claire posted a picture of the women in a hot tub together, and some of them riding ponies. A story subsequently appeared in The Sun, clearly based on the private image of Coleen on the bicycle, which mentioned she was seen 'swigging a bottle of plonk while cycling at speed'. Pictured right: A screen grab issued by Kingsley Napley of a post from Coleen Rooney's private instagram story which has only been viewed by one account Who's who in the case? Former friends who had a bitter falling out, the former Virgin Atlantic air hostess, and the celebrity lawyers going head to head Rebekah Vardy with her agent, Caroline Watt, who had been due to give evidence in the trial but was recently found to be 'not fit' to take part, also withdrawing her written evidence Rebekah Vardy The footballer's wife bringing the claim, Rebekah's family was thrust into the limelight after her husband Jamie helped Leicester City on their way to an unlikely Premier League win in 2016. The model and TV personality, 40, appeared on I'm A Celebrity in 2017 before later appearing on Dancing On Ice in 2021, as well as making appearances on Loose Women. The mother-of-five recently wrote a children's book with her husband Jamie, entitled Cedric The Little Sloth With A Big Dream, which follows a little sloth who hopes to become a footballer. Coleen Rooney Coleen, the footballer's wife defending the claim, is perhaps now better known as 'Wagatha Christie' after her social media posts at the heart of the libel trial went viral. The 36-year-old has had a varied career including TV presenting, writing, as well as fronting an exercise DVD. Coleen met her husband when she was 12, as the couple went to the same school in Liverpool. They began dating when they both turned 16 and have four sons together - Kai Wayne, Klay Anthony, Kit Joseph and Cass Mac. Caroline Watt Mrs Vardy's friend and agent, Ms Watt has featured in some of the preliminary hearings, despite not being a party to the claim or giving evidence at the trial. She is a former Virgin Atlantic air hostess who has been Rebekah's agent for the past seven years, helping to build her profile in the national media. Reports that she no longer represents her following the current controversy engulfing the two have been dismissed as inaccurate with Ms Watt remaining close to Ms Vardy both professionally and personally. Ms Watt, 39, is married to former footballer Steve Watt, who played briefly for Chelsea, making one Premier League appearance for two minutes in 2005 and Swansea City. He is currently manager of Kent non-league side Hythe Town and they have two children. After leaving the airline industry, Ms Watt began working as an agent in the world of entertainment, quickly developing a reputation for her communication skills and ability to network. She was formerly employed by talent agency The Frontrow Partnership but left in 2019 to go it alone and took her main client and close friend, Ms Vardy with her. Ms Watt has been credited with building Ms Vardy's public profile by ensuring that she regularly featured in the national media and also brokered the deal for her to appear on the hit reality TV show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in 2018. Ms Watt started representing the high-profile WAG in 2015, when her husband, Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy shot to fame. She is a regular visitor to the Vardy's Lincolnshire home and also socialises with Ms Vardy, attending glitzy parties and bars. Her other clients include the former Page 3 girl Nicola McLean but it is Ms Vardy that has been the biggest asset in her career as an agent. Advertisement ... And the celebrity lawyers earning a fortune from the 3m Wagatha Christie case - and the judge who will make the final ruling in the libel action of the year David Sherborne (left), 53, is acting for Mrs Rooney. He has represented an array of stars including Johnny Depp in the London case. Hugh Tomlinson QC (right), who is representing Ms Vardy, is a top-flight privacy silk who has launched a number of battles with the Press in a wide-spanning career. He is a board member of campaign group Hacked Off. Karen Margaret Steyn QC is sworn in as a Justice of the High Court in 2019 David Sherborne Mr Sherborne also has a reputation as the barrister the rich and famous turn to for legal assistance - his previous client list includes Diana, Princess of Wales, Hollywood actor Michael Douglas and former prime minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie. Mrs Rooney's barrister is no stranger to high-profile libel trials at the Royal Courts of Justice, notably representing Johnny Depp in the actor's 2020 libel claim against the publisher of the Sun, News Group Newspapers (NGN). The barrister, called to the bar in 1992, has also represented dozens of claimants, including celebrities, suing NGN over phone hacking at the News Of The World. Hugh Tomlinson QC An experienced media barrister, Mr Tomlinson is at the front of Mrs Vardy's legal team in the libel case. Called to the bar in 1983, his previous clients include the Prince of Wales in his legal battle against the Mail on Sunday over his diaries, easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and oligarch Roman Abramovich. Mr Tomlinson, who became a QC in 2002, is a board member of campaign group Hacked Off. Mrs Justice Steyn The High Court judge overseeing the case, Mrs Justice Steyn (pictured right) was appointed in 2019 and sits in the Queen's Bench Division - the part of the High Court which deals with defamation, personal injury and breach of contract claims. As well as overseeing the 'Wagatha Christie' claim, other prominent cases she has heard include Arron Banks' libel claim against journalist Carole Cadwalladr and the FDA union's unsuccessful legal challenge over Boris Johnson's decision to support Priti Patel following bullying accusations. The daughter of former Law Lord Lord Steyn, Mrs Justice Steyn covered a variety of cases as a barrister, including a case over the expansion of Heathrow airport. Advertisement How the Wagatha Christie case unfolded Day 7 - Rebekah Vardy tears up as libel hearing comes to an end, as her lawyer says Wagatha Christie post led to 'horrific abuse', while Rooney's barrister accusers her of 'lying under oath' Rebekah Vardy cried in court again and embraced her solicitor as her jaw-dropping 3million Wagatha Christie libel battle with Coleen Rooney came to an emotional close. The tearful WAG was seen throwing her hands around solicitor Charlotte Harris following the conclusion of the high-profile legal battle. The emotional close came after barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC told the court how Mrs Vardy had suffered 'public abuse and ridicule' on a 'massive scale' as a result of the Coleen Rooney's Wagatha Christie post. Closing the Mrs Vardy's case on the final day of the high-profile libel battle, Mr Tomlinson told the court how his client had received 'the most horrific abuse' - including death threats - following the now-famous 'it's Rebekah Vardy's account...' reveal. Rebekah Vardy (pictured: Leaving court ) cried in court again and embraced her solicitor as her jaw-dropping 3million Wagatha Christie libel battle with Coleen Rooney came to an emotional close He also highlighted a number of messages to the high court, including one in which internet trolls had said Ms Vardy's baby deserved to be 'put in a microwave and 'put in an incinerator'. Describing the impact of the bombshell post by Mrs Rooney on Rebekah, Mr Tomlinson said: 'There was no urgency whatsoever. 'Mrs Rooney could have blocked Mrs Vardy and made contact with Mrs Vardy to ask for her views, or she could have waited until after Mrs Vardy had given birth. 'She did neither and failed to give any proper or reasonable consideration to the possibility that the activity could be happening from Mrs Vardy's account without Mrs Vardy's knowledge. 'The publication of the post to millions of readers was, in the circumstances, wholly unfair to Mrs Vardy who should have been given an opportunity to comment and explain her position in advance. ' Mr Tomlinson said as a result Rebekah suffered 'the most horrific abuse'. Mr Tomlinson said his client was entitled to 'substantial damages in compensation for this defamatory publication.' Rebekah blames her publicist for selling stories about Coleen Ms Vardy blamed her publicist for selling stories about Coleen Rooney and admitted she regretted calling Coleen a 'c**t' and her husband Wayne a 'sh*tehouse' in abusive messages - but insisted her rival's Wagatha Christie Instagram reveal was 'misconceived'. Mr Tomlinson said 'Mrs Vardy has obviously made mistakes. One of them, the most serious, was to trust someone she shouldn't have' [referring to her agent Caroline Watt]. Another is the way she talked in private conversations with Ms Watt. She accepts she said things which, had she known they would come out in public, she would not have said.' He added: 'This is a case about Mrs Vardy and the way she has been treated by thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people on social media this goes on to this day. Even during this trial she's continued to receive abuse on social media.' Rebekah Vardy sketched in the High Court where she was accused of lying and giving 'implausible' evidence. She left court for an hour without explanation, returning with some Lucozade, her laptop and her lawyer The barrister continued: 'Throughout this case, she (Mrs Vardy) has sought to find out the position. The very first thing she said to Mrs Rooney was 'send me the evidence, send me the posts. The suggestion that she is trying to hide something is quite wrong'. Mr Tomlinson said Rebekah's libel dispute with Coleen was a 'very simple case' when 'one clears away the conspiracy theories', adding Mrs Vardy would have to be 'very clever or very cynical' to have deleted swathes of her WhatsApp back-ups. He also dismissed the suggestion that Rebekah had deleted a handful of 'incriminating' messages to save her own skin. Her agent Caroline Watt's phone was dropped in the North Sea after the court asked for it to be handed over for examination. When this was referred to as Davy Jones' Locker last week, Ms Vardy admitted she didn't know what that meant. 'Has Mrs Rooney proved that Mrs Vardy leaked the information from her post that she's accused of leaking?' Mr Tomlinson said. He added: 'Mrs Vardy's case is and always has been that she did not leak the information nor did she authorise anyone else to leak. She does not know to this day what happened,' Mr Tomlinson said, adding: 'She does not know where this information came from.' Rebekah 'lied under oath' and 'cannot be trusted' in her evidence, Coleen's lawyer claims Rebekah Vardy 'lied under oath', gave 'implausible' evidence that 'cannot be trusted' and deleted incriminating WhatsApp messages in a fatally flawed libel action she brought against her rival Coleen that should never have made it to the High Court, Mrs Rooney's barrister declared. Celebrity lawyer David Sherborne claimed Mrs Vardy's case had 'disintegrated' during the week-long trial in an eviscerating attack on the wife of Premier League footballer Jamie Vardy at the Royal Courts of Justice. Mr Vardy also came in for criticism, with Mr Sherborne accusing him of not being willing to be called as a witness so he could avoid giving evidence under oath. Instead he gave a statement outside accusing Wayne Rooney of talking 'nonsense' about his wife. Mrs Rooney's bronzed barrister, who has also represented Meghan Markle, Johnny Depp, Kate Moss, Sir Paul McCartney and Sienna Miller, said: 'It's not lost on the court, I'm sure, that Mr Vardy was perfectly willing to give a statement not under oath but apparently not willing to provide one for the process of these proceedings.' Rebekah Vardy has said she was wrong to trust her friend and agent Caroline Watt (left), who has been too ill to attend the trial, accusing her of leaking stories about Coleen Coleen Rooney's barrister David Sherborne is seen behind an empty bench where Coleen and Wayne Rooney had been seen on previous days Jamie Vardy (sketched in court on Tuesday) accused Wayne Rooney of talking 'nonsense' about an alleged conversation about his wife's conduct at Euro 2016 on another day of high drama evidence Mr Sherborne said that Mrs Vardy's case had 'almost entirely disintegrated' over the course of the trial, which entered its seventh and final day. He added: 'Anyone could be forgiven for wondering how on earth this case has been allowed to get this far. She [Coleen] finds herself at the end of a seven-day libel trial, and for what?' Mr Sherborne said: 'Mrs Vardy was a highly unreliable witness. Her evidence should be treated with the utmost caution. Its accuracy simply cannot be trusted. The contrast in the way Mrs Rooney gave evidence could not have been clearer.' He said Coleen 'had been honest' while Rebekah's 'evidence was 'ill-considered and lacking in candour'.' He said Mrs Vardy's memory had been 'selective' as she gave evidence. Referring to the 'disappearance' of the WhatsApp messages between Rebekah and her agent and publicist Caroline Watt, central to the case, Mr Sherborne said her explanation that the loss happened during export to her solicitors was 'impossible.' The fact Ms Watt's phone was 'dropped in the North Sea' during a trip to Scotland was 'fishy enough', Mr Sherborne said. 'There is only one conclusion and that is that Mrs Vardy deleted the WhatsApp chat and it was a deliberate lie to cover up her wrongdoing. There is no other plausible explanation. The only conclusion the court can reach is that she deleted the WhatsApp chat and then lied under oath about it', he told Mrs Justice Steyn. David Sherborne claimed he had proved that Rebekah Vardy had 'regularly and frequently' leaked information to The Sun about his client and others in her sphere. He said: 'Just because she [Vardy] was not the one who pulled the trigger on occasion, it does not mean she was not responsible'. Mr Sherborne also said the court 'can and should conclude' that the loss of WhatsApp messages between Rebekah Vardy and her publicist Caroline Watt was 'the result of deliberate deletion'. 'The loss of documents is substantial in this case,' he said. Mr Sherborne said these were deliberately deleted - despite claims from Vardy they were lost accidentally. He described the case as a 'deliberate trail of destruction' and a 'series of improbable events'. Day 6 - Jamie Vardy accuses Wayne Rooney of talking 'nonsense' about his wife before leaving early after Rebekah falls ill The Vardys leave early Rebekah Vardy (R) and her husband, Leicester City striker, Jamie Vardy (L) leave the Royal Courts of Justice early on Wednesday Rebekah Vardy dramatically left the Wagatha Christie libel trial early on Tuesday after her husband accused Wayne Rooney of 'talking nonsense' about them. Jamie Vardy led his wife out of the High Court during a ten-minute interval. Moments later, her legal team told the judge she had gone because she 'was not feeling very well'. The Rooneys appeared in good spirits and were smiling as they left court at the end of the day's proceedings, as legal experts predicted the case was going their way. Wayne Rooney: Roy Hodgson asked me to speak to Jamie about his wife Wayne Rooney was the star witness on Day 6 of the Wagatha Christie trial England manager Roy Hodgson (left) talks to Jamie Vardy (second left) as Wayne Rooney (second right) watches on during a training session at Stade de Bourgognes in Chantilly during the Euro 2016 tournament in France Wayne Rooney told the High Court there was 'a lot of negativity' surrounding Mrs Vardy's column for The Sun and so he agreed to ask Vardy 'to ask his wife to calm down'. Rooney recalled sitting down with his teammate over a can of Red Bull and a coffee in the England squad's games room during the competition in France. He said: 'I remember the conversation I had with Jamie. It was awkward for me to speak to a teammate about his wife. It wasn't my place to speak to Mrs Vardy. I was asked to speak to Mr Vardy and I followed those instructions.' Rooney said he did not know whether Vardy had raised the issue with his wife, saying: 'If Jamie gives that information to his wife or not is not down to me.' He was asked whether he was certain the conversation took place and replied: 'I'm sat here under oath. I 100 per cent spoke to Mr Vardy on the situation. Again, if he wants to relay that back to his wife that's entirely his business.' ...but Jamie brands his evidence 'nonsense' After Wayne's evidence Jamie Vardy put out a statement denying it was true - but stopped short of accusing his former England teammate of perjury Around two hours later, Vardy issued the statement through his wife's PR agent. He said: 'Wayne is talking nonsense. He must be confused because he never spoke to me about issues concerning Becky's media work at Euro 2016. 'There was nothing to speak about, I know this because I discuss everything with Becky.' The Vardys arrived at court hand in hand, and continued to hold hands throughout most of the morning's hearing. Mrs Vardy, who wore a 1,100 navy trouser suit by US designer Veronica Beard, briefly rested her head on her husband's shoulder when they arrived back in the court after the lunch break. They failed to reappear in court after the ten-minute mid-afternoon break, when Mrs Vardy's legal team announced she had left because she was feeling unwell. It was the second day in a row that the 40-year-old left early. Wayne Rooney says Coleen became 'a different mother and a different wife' as she 'struggled' with fallout from her 2019 Wagatha Christie post Wayne Rooney arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday morning before he gave evidence Wayne Rooney claimed his wife Coleen Rooney had become a 'different mother and a different wife', adding that she had 'really struggled' with the fallout from her notorious 'Wagatha Christie' post three years ago. Rooney also revealed he was asked by England manager Roy Hodgson to request that Jamie Vardy asked his wife Rebekah to 'calm down' during Euro 2016 in France, as the 3million trial continued at the High Court in London. Court observers said there was 'lots of whispering' between Rebekah and Vardy during Rooney's evidence. Rooney, the side's captain, said he was pulled aside by Hodgson and his assistant Gary Neville and asked to raise the 'awkward' issue with Vardy over concerns that Rebekah was 'causing problems and distractions' for the team. He told the court about the conversation with Vardy, saying: 'We were in the games room, there was table tennis. I spoke to him, he had a can of Red Bull and I had a coffee, I remember those details because it was so awkward.' Speaking about Hodgson's request, Rooney said: 'They asked me to, as captain, would I be able to speak to Mr Vardy on issues regarding his wife and I think we all knew we spoke about it, it was an awkward subject.' Among the issues was the idea Rebekah had 'some kind of column in The Sun', the court heard. Rooney said the boss wanted him 'to ask his wife to calm down and not bring any issues off the field that were unnecessary'. Rebekah's lawyer Hugh Tomlinson QC asked him: 'Ask his wife to calm down... she wasn't dancing on tables?' Rooney - who had earlier sworn to tell the truth while holding a Bible in his hand - said: 'No, I wasn't aware of that. It was a lot of negativity amongst a lot of media coverage which as a group of players and as the manager of England he didn't want that to happen, so he asked would I be able to speak to Jamie and I went and done so.' Rooney added: 'I think there was a few things at the time with Rebekah which the leaders of the team asked me to speak to Jamie about. I was at the understanding Rebekah had a column in The Sun newspaper and as I state... I obviously had better things on my mind. It was obviously awkward for me.' Coleen's 'fake' Instagram posts about gender selection in Mexico and a flooded basement As part of the 'sting operation' Coleen Rooney planted three false stories on her private Instagram account, with the viewers restricted to only Rebekah Vardy's account, to see whether they would be leaked to The Sun newspaper. One of these stories was posted on April 8, 2019, with Coleen claiming she was travelling to Mexico to look into a procedure to determine a baby's sex. 'Let's go and see what this gender selection is all about,' Mrs Rooney posted, accompanied with a number of heart emojis The post that resulted in a newspaper article headlined 'Wayne and Coleen Rooney's 20million 'Morrisons mansion' flooded during Storm Lorenzo'. The court heard that the post, only visible to Rebekah's Instagram account, showed a bottle of wine and was captioned: 'Needed after today flood in the basement of our new house when it all seemed to be going so well' On January 22, 2019, Coleen Rooney posted a picture on her private Instagram, showing damage to her car after a collision. The next day Rebekah Vardy says in a WhatsApp message to Caroline Watt: 'She's a nasty b***h x' and 'I've taken a big dislike to her!... Would love to leak those stories x'. Rebekah claims her comments were not about Coleen The three stories posted by Coleen Rooney on her private Instagram account as part of her 'Wagatha Christie' investigation were revealed in court documents as the bomshell 3million libel trial continued. Coleen has said she planted the stories - two of which were fake - as part of a 'sting operation', with the viewers restricted to only Rebekah Vardy's account, to see whether they would be leaked to The Sun newspaper. The true one of these stories revealed in the High Court papers in London this morning was posted by Coleen on January 22, 2019 when she uploaded a picture on the private account, showing damage to her car after a collision. The next day Rebekah said in a message to her agent Caroline Watt: 'She's a nasty b***h x' and 'I've taken a big dislike to her!... Would love to leak those stories x'. Rebekah claims her comments were not about Coleen. Rebekah Vardy 'gave a photographer access to her Instagram account so he could sell stories' The court had previously heard Rebekah sat behind Coleen to 'maximise media attention' Rebekah Vardy gave a photographer access to her Instagram account so he could sell stories, the court heard. Public relations consultant Penelope Addarewa told how she was in a bistro with 'a well known' person who she overheard discussing the matter with photographer Danny Hayward. She said she was 'taken aback' after hearing the 'revelations. Mrs Addarewa said the claim was made during a 10-15 minute conversation which took place in the aftermath of Coleen Rooney's bombshell post and the 'media storm that followed in October 2019. She said: 'They were talking about Coleen and Rebekah and how it's all going off here'. Danny said Becky was keeping to her story or words to that effect. He was talking a lot about Becky. He was just so blaze. I was just taken aback. I was really surprised.' The mystery man, known only as 'Y' in the court, was speaking to Mr Hayward had not arrived at the meeting but the conversation took place on a speakerphone. She said in her statement: 'The topic of Mrs Rooney and Mrs Vardy came up during their 'chat'. 'I cannot recall what exactly got them on to the topic but I specifically recall Danny mentioning that he had a means of access to Mrs Vardy's Instagram account and how he had that means of access for a long time. 'Their discussion of this topic was promoted by Mrs Rooney's statement some days earlier. Danny seemed to be speaking as though he even had a means of access to Mrs Vardy's Instagram account at the time of the meeting. 'Danny also mentioned that he had been involved in the sale of stories using Mrs Vardy's Instagram account as the source for the story. 'Y and Danny did not discuss the specifics of any particular story but he spoke openly in general terms about the fact that stories were sold with Mrs Vardy's Instagram account as the source. 'I specifically recall Danny saying that Mrs Vardy was not only aware that Danny had a means of access to her account but also that she was well aware that access had been and was being used to take content and pass it to the press. 'This much was abundantly clear to me from listening to the exchange, though there was no express discussion of Mrs Vardy personally benefitting from a financial perspective and it would therefore be speculative for me to suggest so.' She said the 'boasts' were said in a 'blaze' way. Mrs Adaarewa added: 'From the discussions between them it was clear to me that they all worked closely together regularly, including Caroline Watt, who had been scheduled to attend the meeting but who had not in fact attended, and that they had worked and collaborated together on what seemed like a number of matters in the past. ' She declined to give the name of the mystery man saying it was 'unfair' and she did not want to 'upset his work'. She said the meeting was unrelated. Day 5 - Coleen lays bare her 'Scousetrap' plot that saw her accuse rival WAG Rebekah of leaking 'fake stories' Euro 2016 seating row behind Coleen that led to a FA official being told to 'f**k off' Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy at the 2016 Group B match between England v Wales at Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens Rebekah Vardy's evidence about why she sat behind Coleen Rooney at a football match is 'simply untrue', a former Football Association (FA) employee has told the High Court. Harpreet Robertson, a former ticketing manager and family liaison officer for the FA, was questioned over the seating arrangements at one of England's matches at Euro 2016. Ms Robertson told the court she believed Mrs Vardy made a 'choice' to sit in seats behind Mrs Rooney at the match, alleging in her witness statement that Mrs Vardy's evidence over this was 'simply untrue'. In her own witness statement, Mrs Vardy said: 'We went to a game one day and Coleen and her family were sitting in our seats. Rather than make a fuss we sat in the nearest seats available.' Mrs Vardy denied she had intentionally swapped seats to be seen near Mrs Rooney and in the pictures. However in her witness statement, Mrs Robertson said: 'Becky never expressly refused to take the seats that she had been allocated, her guests did this instead, but it appeared that she wanted to be sat in the seats that were right in the eye line of anyone looking at, or photographing, Coleen'. Ms Robertson added: 'The following morning, the tabloid papers were full of photographs of her sat directly behind Coleen. This was precisely the kind of media attention that the FA, and I, had tried to avoid.' In her witness statement, Ms Robertson also said that she would reserve seats at matches for her and FA security team members, but found a number of people already sat in those seats. She continued: 'I asked them to move but they refused and were incredibly rude and abusive to me, remarking words to the effect of 'we can sit where we like, f*** off'. 'Scousetrap' sting operation revealed by Coleen A sketch by court artist Priscilla Coleman of Coleen Rooney, watched by her husband Wayne, as she gives evidence at the Royal Courts Of Justice Coleen said despite never being friends with Rebekah, she became suspicious of the rival WAG when she began 'fishing for information'. She said the 'Scousetrap' sting was not 'plucked out of thin air', saying she had thought long and hard before making the now-infamous social media post accusing Rebekah. Describing how her investigation began to gain momentum, Coleen said: 'There were a number of things that added up with the others. I didn't just pluck it out of thin air. 'I suspected this person was having a relationship with The Sun so I googled it, looked at past articles and saw the connection between Rebekah Vardy and The Sun. 'This thing was not just thought of overnight. I did think of it for a long time. As I've said I'm not one who just jumps on things.' She said: 'I was trying to get more information and put it together with the information I already had. I came up with Rebekah Vardy. There was no other person who my private Instagram who was in a position to give this information to The Sun. She added she became suspicious of Rebekah as she would 'regularly' message Coleen when there was press coverage about Wayne Rooney's wife. Saying Rebekah was 'not in my circle', Coleen said: 'I felt like when she contacted me it was to try and get information out of me.' Coleen Rooney ramped up her Wagatha Christie 'sting' amid reports of husband Wayne's 'misbehaving' with a barmaid Coleen admitted for the first time that she split from her husband Wayne and feared her marriage was over after he was caught drink-driving with 'party girl' Laura Simpson (pictured) Coleen revealed how she personally doubled down in her secret 'Wagatha Christie' investigation when her husband Wayne was 'misbehaving' with a blonde barmaid during a ten-hour bender with teammates in Florida. Coleen also admitted keeping her probe secret from the former England captain - as well as lying to Rebekah Vardy after being asked why she had unfollowed her on Instagram, as the women's 3million libel trial continued. London's High Court heard the sting gathered momentum at a time when Rooney was 'misbehaving.' Asked if that was the case by Rebekah's barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC, Coleen replied: 'There's been a few unfortunate things that have happened and they have been publicised. It's happened quite a few times and I've dealt with it. We've dealt with it as a couple, as a family. There are a few things that have been publicised over a few years.' Speaking of Rebekah's response to her 'troubles', Coleen said: 'I did feel that when there's tough times going on, I felt Mrs Vardy would message more. I felt It's when there are things in the news, she would message me and say How are you?'. I felt like it was fishing for information.' The court heard one occasion when Rebekah went 'fishing for information' happened hours after her husband allegedly 'spent time' with the barmaid in Florida. Coleen told how Rebekah got in contact after The Sun told how she was threatening to quit the US and return to Britain after Rooney's encounter with Vicki Rosiek when he was playing for DC United in Washington. Making contact with Coleen at lunchtime on February 11 2019, the day after the article appeared, Rebekah wrote: 'Hi my love! Hope you are ok! Just saw another s***ty story online! Can they not just leave you guys alone...I don't know how you do it! It's relentless...stay strong. Sending hugs. Coleen replied: 'Thanks, just a pain in a**e...it's the kids half term so just gonna come home.' Messaging Coleen back, Rebekah wrote: 'It's a joke! Annoys me someone close to you is clearly selling you out! And for what...I don't blame you come home and be with your family'. Rebekah's 'evil' messages Texts between Caroline Watt and Rebekah Vardy in which they discuss Coleen unfollowing Rebekah and footballer Danny Drinkwater's arrest for drink-driving Talking about Rebekah's frequent exchanges with her publicist Caroline Watt about her private life, which emerged during the libel case, Coleen said: 'She's got no need to talk about me. I just felt that the messages that went on between them are evil and uncalled for'. These included Rebekah apparently calling Coleen a 'c***' for unfollowing her on Instagram. Coleen told the judge: They're totally the opposite of the truth. I'm not a bad person. It's totally untrue. I didn't think there was any need for it/'It's nothing to do with them.' She added of Rebekah: 'I didn't trust her - I didn't believe her. I did not believe a word that was coming out of her mouth.' She said she wasn't trying to portray Rebekah as 'a valiant' and thought much of the response to her post was 'ridiculous'. Coleen said she 'hated every minute' of the furore which erupted. She accepted she had images on her phone which made light of the matter including references to the Scooby Doo gang 'unmasking a villain' and comparisons with Agatha Christie. But she insisted she was not 'delighted' with the reaction to the post. Coleen said: 'No I wasn't. I have never craved press attention. I have had it and I have accepted it. I have never drawn attention to myself.' Coleen also told how she kept tabs on whether stories had been published about her during her investigation by making online checks. She said: 'Sometimes I do Google News and click my name in and articles come up.' And Coleen told of her shock at receiving a legal letter of complaint about a month after the Wagatha Christie post. She said: 'I was quite spooked by that, I've never been in a position to be sent a lawyer's letter before. Any lawyer's letter would be threatening to me, I've never had one before.' Asked about trolling directed at Rebekah after the post, she said: 'It was disgusting, I would never wish that on anyone.' Coleen Rooney claims she 'hated every minute' of Wagatha Christie fallout Coleen Rooney claimed that she 'hated every minute' of the Wagatha Christie fallout after accusing Rebekah Vardy of leaking 'fake' stories to the media, even though her 3million libel trial heard she saved a Scooby Doo meme about her 'unmasking the villain' saved on her phone. The 3million libel trial heard Coleen saved a Scooby Doo meme about her 'unmasking the villain' saved on her phone Rebekah's barrister last week claimed that fellow Wag Coleen had revelled' in the national reaction to her bombshell October 2019 post. But Wayne Rooney's wife told London's High Court that she thought much of the response to her post was 'ridiculous' and said she was 'not delighted' by the reaction. She insisted: 'I have never craved press attention in my life, I have had it and I have accepted it and I have tried to cope with it, and I have lived my life as best as I can in the public eye.' Rebekah's lawyer Hugh Tomlinson QC said Coleen had used her fame for 'commercial purposes', to which she answered: 'Yeah I have been fortunate that things have come my way and I have took the opportunities and used them. She said she had appeared in a Netflix documentary that was about Wayne, then added: 'I wanted to continue at school but the pressure became quite big at a young age. 'I felt like that was something that I could then control in a way and I think I have done a lot and obviously I haven't worked for a while because I have had children and I just wanted to be a mum. But I never wanted to be in the public eye, I was thrown into it and I have worked with it.' Coleen didn't confront Rebekah before Wagatha Christie post 'because she didn't believe a word that was coming out of her mouth' Coleen said she did not believe Rebekah would 'tell the truth anyway, even if I confronted her'. Asked whether the best thing to do would have been to warn her this was going on, she asserted that Rebekah had told a 'lot of lies'. Crucially, she added that not only did she think it was Rebekah's account that was leaking stories to The Sun, but also Rebekah herself was aware. 'I believe she knew all along', she said. In addition, Coleen told how she did not contact her rival after making her Wagatha Christie discovery as 'did not believe a word that was coming out of her mouth'. Explaining why she made her 'It's Rebekah Vardy's Account' post instead of contacting Rebekah, she told the court 'I thought maybe if I did approach her she might twist it and cover it up somehow and might not be truthful so I didn't give her the opportunity.' Asked about Rebekah's response to the post she said: 'She said she had zero interest in what was going on in my life which I didn't think was true because she talks about me a lot. So that was a lie.' Coleen used a photo of her niece to give Rebekah Vardy the false impression she was 'broody' Coleen Rooney used a photo of her niece as part of the sting operation, the High Court heard. She posted a photo of herself with her brother's daughter, captioned 'Broody', which she admitted under questioning from Rebekah's barrister Hugh Tomlinson, was to give the false impression to Rebekah that she longed for a baby girl. The photographs were of her niece, the court heard, but her family would 'not know what I was doing with them'. She said: 'I have photographs with the little girl but it doesn't say gender selection.' Coleen explained that around that time she accepted a friend request, [from footballer Tom Cleverley] which is why some stories show they have been viewed by two people - including Rebekah. Asked if she unblocked her other followers from her story shortly afterwards, Coleen said: 'Yes.' She said this was so she could carry on with her holiday, and post things that she would normally post. Coleen: I lied to Vardy when I unfollowed her - and wouldn't be bothered if she did the same to me Coleen Rooney has admitted keeping her 'Wagatha Christie' probe secret from husband Wayne - as well as lying to Rebekah Vardy after being asked why she had unfollowed her on Instagram, as their libel trial continued. Asked by Rebekah's lawyer Hugh Tomlinson QC at the High Court in London this morning why she had not told the ex-England captain about it, Coleen replied: 'One thing I don't do is put any troubles or worries on anyone else. 'I don't like to put pressure on anyone until I need to. That's what I've always done. I wanted to do it for myself without telling anyone. There's trust and there's trust. It was quite hard keeping it to myself but I had to do it if I wanted to find out who was doing it to me.' During cross-examination about her actions, 36-year-old Coleen also told Mr Tomlinson at the 3million trial: 'Yes I did lie, it was a cover-up for what I was investigating, I had my suspicions.' The court heard that Coleen unfollowed Rebekah in early 2019 and received a message a month later asking her if Rebekah had 'done something to offend you.' The court heard that on March 3 that year, Rebekah sent Coleen a note saying: 'I saw you had unfollowed me and I wasn't following you anymore on Instagram...just wanted to ask if I had done something or offended you in anyway? Literally only noticed the other day'. Coleen admitted she 'told her a fib' in her reply, saying she 'didn't even know' - adding that her children used her phone often and she would check to see what happened. In fact, the court was told that she had deliberately unfollowed her because of concerns that stories were being leaked from her account. Day 4 - Coleen reveals her marriage was on the rocks due to Wayne's naughtiness as Mrs Vardy breaks down in the dock over online hate My marriage almost fell apart after Wayne's drink-driving, Coleen Rooney tells court The Rooneys walking through a crowd of photographers as they left the Royal Courts of Justice on day four of the Wagatha Christie trial: Coleen made her first appearance in the witness box after Rebekah Vardy's tearful evidence One day four of the trial Mrs Rooney, pictured here with her husband Wayne in a court sketch, battled wits with Rebekah Vardy's lawyer Hugh Tomlinson, QC Coleen told the 'Wagatha Christie' libel trial how her marriage almost fell apart after her husband Wayne was caught drink-driving with a party girl. Taking to the witness stand for the first time on day four of the 3million trial at the High Court, Mrs Rooney recalled the aftermath of the incident involving former office worker Laura Simpson in 2017, when she and their children stayed with her parents. Mrs Rooney, who claims fellow Wag Rebekah Vardy leaked stories about her private life to the Press, said: 'I was in a vulnerable situation I didn't know how my marriage was going to work out. 'Me and Wayne were trying to figure out our relationship and where we were going. But I didn't want the public to know that... I hadn't settled on: 'This is it, we are getting back together.' She said she nearly split from former England striker Mr Rooney as she described the upset caused by a newspaper story stemming from a private Instagram post at the time, featuring her husband and their children in pyjamas. Coleen: Sarah Harding caught Vardy taking pictures inside her handbag Sarah Harding is said to have got into an argument with Rebekah after spotting her taking photos inside her handbag Rebekah got into a heated argument with Sarah Harding at the 2018 National Television Awards after the Girls Aloud singer spotted her rifling through her handbag, the High Court heard. The story - which was published in several tabloid newspapers at the time - was mentioned by Coleen Rooney in written documents she submitted to the High Court as part of the 3million Wagatha Christie libel trial. Coleen claimed: 'She got in a spat with former Girls Aloud group member Sarah Harding during the 2018 event because Sarah apparently caught Becky taking photographs of the contents of Sarah's handbag when Sarah had dropped it on the floor. 'Their dispute subsequently appeared in The Sun.' Message about my late sister made me 'sick', says Mrs Rooney On another day of bombshell revelations in the trial, Mrs Rooney, 36, said in written evidence that a message between Mrs Vardy, 40, wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, and her agent Caroline Watt referencing her deceased sister 'knocked me sick' when it was disclosed. Mrs Rooney wrote in her statement: 'While they were discussing her messaging me in order to cover her tracks, Becky says to Caroline Watt, 'Maybe I should say something about Rosie'. 'Rosie is a reference to my sister who suffered with Rett syndrome and passed away in 2013 at the age of just 14. 'The mere fact that Becky would suggest seeking to use Rosie's name in conversation with me in order to put me off the scent of suspecting Becky as the person responsible for leaking my private information to The Sun is really low and sad. It actually knocked me sick when I read that message from Becky to Caroline.' Rebekah: I was bullied and manipulated and need to clear my name Rebekah Vardy told London's High Court that she feels she has been 'bullied and manipulated' during the Wagatha Christie libel trial, and denied throwing her PR agent Caroline Watt 'under a bus'. Jamie Vardy's wife said she pressed on with legal action despite a letter from Coleen's solicitors which she perceived as a 'threat' because she 'didn't do anything wrong'. Asked how she has found giving evidence this week, Rebekah said: 'Exhausting, intimidating, I feel like I've been bullied and manipulated'. Explaining her motivation for suing Coleen for libel, she sobbed: 'I didn't do anything wrong - I wanted to clear my name, and not just for me, for my family and my children.' She also denied personally leaking information to The Sun, denied speaking to or messaging any journalists about any of Coleen's posts, denied asking her agent Ms Watt to pass on information and denied deleting messages from her WhatsApp. Rebekah also said said the suggestion that she had thrown under agent 'under a bus' in the case was 'not right'. I was scared I was going to lose the baby, emotional Rebekah tells High Court An emotional Rebekah Vardy said that she feared she was going to lose her fourth baby after Coleen Rooney accused the WAG of leaking stories to the Press in October 2019. London's High Court has heard how Rebekah was subjected to abuse and threats after Coleen's Wagatha Christie post to Instagram while Jamie Vardy's wife was heavily pregnant. Asked to describe her state of mind at the time the allegations were made, she told her laywer: 'Constant anxiety, panic attacks, and I was scared I was going to lose the baby'. She began sobbing again when asked about her state of mind when she had her fourth baby, barely two months after Coleen's Wagatha post. 'I wasn't in a good place,' she said. Asked when her daughter was born, she said, crying, 28th December, 2019 and repeated the date. She was offered the chance to compose herself, but continued giving evidence. Rebekah Vardy DENIED telling her PR agent to leak Coleen Rooney's car crash to the press Rebekah Vardy has denied instructing her agent Caroline Watt to view Coleen Rooney's private Instagram account to leak information about the WAG's 2019 car crash to the Press. London's High Court has heard how Ms Watt texted Rebekah admitting that she had given information about Coleen's crash in Washington DC to The Sun newspaper. Rebekah said it 'appeared' that Ms Watt was the source of the story, but said she didn't reply to her text because she was too engrossed watching Gemma Collins' Dancing On Ice 'faceplant'. Mr Tomlinson asked: 'Were you instructing Caroline Watt to go into the Instagram to obtain information to leak to The Sun?' Rebekah replied: 'No, I wasn't'. Day 3 - An emotional Mrs Vardy needs breaks after tears on the dock after admitting: 'I don't know who Davy Jones is' Rebekah Vardy on Davy Jones' Locker Rebekah (seen in a court sketch giving evidence) asked the High Court 'who's Davy Jones?' following a nautical reference by Coleen Rooney's barrister as the 3million Wagatha Christie libel trial continued for a third day London's High Court burst into laughter after Rebekah Vardy admitted she didn't know who Davy Jones was while being questioned over a missing mobile. Her agent Caroline Watt's phone was dropped in the North Sea after the court asked for it to be handed over for examination. Coleen's team have accused Rebekah of deleting key evidence that, it is said, would prove that Rebekah had been leaking stories to the media. Coleen's lawyer Mr Sherborne said: 'We know that Ms Watt's phone is now in Davy Jones' Locker, don't we, Mrs Vardy?' Rebekah then replied: 'I'm sorry, I don't know who Davy Jones is', saying didn't watch much TV. The judge then had to describe Mr Sherborne's nautical reference to the sea bed. Arguing with Coleen Rooney is as pointless as arguing with a pigeon: 'It's still going to s**t in your hair One of the highlights so far was Rebekah Vardy's comments about arguing with Coleen Rooney was 'as pointless as arguing with a pigeon'. Mrs Vardy gave to a newspaper after Mrs Rooney's 'Wagatha Christie' post, in which she denied being behind the leaks and said she was devastated by the abuse she received. Mrs Vardy told the Daily Mail, when asked if the pair had argued: 'That would be like arguing with a pigeon. 'You can tell it that you are right and it is wrong, but it's still going to s*** in your hair.' Gemma Collins' faceplant distracted me from WhatsApping my agent, says Mrs Vardy Rebekah Vardy has claimed that she was too distracted by Gemma Collins' Dancing On Ice 'faceplant' to respond when her PR agent admitted she was the source of the Coleen Rooney car crash leak. The court heard that Caroline Watt admitted she had been the source of the Honda car crash story. It came at the end of the pair's discussion when Ms Watt simply wrote: 'It was me.' Rebekah agreed that the message 'appeared to confirm Caroline Watt was the source of the story'. She said she did not respond to the message as it was the children's bath time then she was further distracted by 'Gemma Collins' faceplant' in Dancing on Ice. She was referring to the moment the celebrity tripped and fell face-first on the ice during one of the routines in the ITV show. Tears in the witness box Rebekah Vardy was accused of betraying her friends and her husband's teammates as she was grilled over WhatsApp messages in the 'Wagatha Christie' libel trial. She broke down repeatedly, leading to two emergency breaks in court. In five hours of gruelling cross-examination, which at one point left her in tears, Rebekah denied she encouraged her agent to 'stalk' Coleen Rooney's private Instagram and leak stories about her and other Wags. Rebekah, 40, was confronted with messages in which she discussed leaking and selling stories, and faced repeated accusations that she was lying to the court to protect the 'last shred' of her case against Coleen. She rejected accusations she had revealed 'juicy information' to settle scores with rival Wags, while courting positive publicity by arranging staged photographs and interviews to promote her image. 'If I'm honest, I'd been drinking': Rebekah blames booze for memory lapses Rebekah Vardy was dramatically accused of lying after she blamed heavy drinking for failing to remember the details of a 2018 World Cup paparazzi photo she allegedly helped to set up - as the Wagatha Christie libel trial entered its third day. She denied the allegation this morning. But when asked for details by barrister David Sherborne - acting for her rival Coleen Rooney - she said: 'If I'm completely honest I had been drinking quite a bit.' Mr Sherborne cuttingly replied: 'I would hope you're honest because you're sitting in a witness box.' He then added: 'Mrs Vardy, this is the first time that you have suggested that your recollection of events has been affected by drinking that's a lie, isn't it?' The High Court heard how Rebekah received a text from her agent, Ms Watt, announcing 'it was me' after Coleen first publicly claimed that someone had been leaking stories from her private Instagram. Asked by Mr Sherborne why did not challenge her, Rebekah said it was because she had been 'watching Dancing on Ice' and was distracted by Gemma Collins's infamous 'face-plant'. In another bizarre exchange, the barrister referred to Ms Watt's claim that she had lost her phone after it had fallen off a boat into the North Sea. He said it was now 'lying at the bottom of sea in Davy Jones' locker',' only for Rebekah to ask the court: 'Who is Davy Jones?' Earlier, Mr Sherborne quizzed Rebekah about a series of messages she exchanged with her agent which allegedly show them working together to organise the 2018 World Cup paparazzi photo. The group of WAGs in the snap included Marcus Rashford's girlfriend Lucia Loi, Kyle Walker's partner Annie Kilner and Harry Maguire's fiancee Fern Hawkins - who was left 'upset and embarrassed' when it emerged in the media. Rebekah said Ms Watt had arranged for a photographer to take pictures of her as she left her hotel but denied giving the photographer the location of either the hotel or the restaurant where the WAGs were having dinner. The court heard Rebekah texted Ms Watt about travel arrangements from the hotel to the restaurant. There were exchanges about last minute changes in travel arrangements on the night. Mr Sherborne suggested that a message to Ms Watt which said, 'I have bought about 10 minutes' referred to the fact Rebekah was delaying some of the women from posting a group photograph on social media because a photographer hiding in the bushes by the hotel had taken a picture of them all and they 'didn't want to lose their exclusive'. In response, Rebekah said, 'Well, it reads like that' but said she 'couldn't recall' the details due to the amount of alcohol she had consumed. 'The plans changed,' she added. 'I recall it may have been raining. No one wants to walk when they're dressed up in the rain.' Mr Sherborne accused Rebekah of changing her story about what happened and reminded her that she had signed a statement of truth when she made legal declarations, risking a contempt of court action if she lied. 'You can't get your story straight,' he said to her, adding that this was 'because you're lying'. Mr Sherborne asked Rebekah why she was 'pulling a face' when he said he was going to refer to a witness statement made by the FA's family liaison officer, Harpreet Robertson. Rebekah - who has claimed the representative took an instant dislike to her - said: 'Because it was Ms Robertson again.' Quoting from the statement, Mr Sherborne Ms Robertson said other members of the group and a member of the England squad were upset that they had been 'set up' as they were not looking to court publicity. Rebekah replied: 'This is the first that I've heard of it.' Rebekah denies making 'embarrassing' claims there was 'no sex ban' imposed on the 2018 England World Cup squad in newspaper article that branded her the 'unofficial leader of the WAGs' Mr Sherborne referred to a story in which Rebekah was alleged to have confirmed that there was no sex ban within the England squad during the 2018 World Cup. The article in The Sun had the headline: 'Becky Vardy reveals the secret to England's World Cup success is down to the lads getting to spend time with their WAGs. It said England's successful run in the tournament was down to Gareth Southgate 'giving the lads the freedom to score - with their wives and girlfriends.' Rebekah is said to have hinted that sex hadn't been explicitly forbidden as 'there is no proof it hinders performance' The article featured an apparently naked Rebekah draped inna flag of St George. The article described Rebekah as the 'unofficial leader of the WAGs. Asked if those were her words Rebekah denied the saying of the journalist who wrote the story: 'No it was his and it's quite an embarrassing statement.' During his cross-examination Mr Sherborne accused Rebekah of 'having selective amnesia'. WAGs 'had to wash their own clothes in the SINK at the hotel during the 2018 World Cup in Russia', Rebekah claims Rebekah has claimed that she and her fellow WAGs had to wash their own clothes in the sink at their hotel during the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The High Court heard that Rebekah gave an interview with The Sun during the football tournament as Coleen's lawyer accused her of trying to distance herself from the notion she had 'strong links' with journalists. Referring to this interview, Jamie Vardy's wife told the court: 'I was busy with the kids and under so much stress and we even had to wash our own clothes in the sink at the hotel.' The High Court heard messages Ms Watt sent Rebekah as she was setting up the interview. Ms Watt told her it was 'easy s**t' and that she should talk about how she is having a good time and 'backing the boys' but 'don't want any attention'. Rebekah 'used the anniversary of Coleen's sister's death as a peg to contact her after the WAG unfollowed her on Instagram' Rebekah allegedly 'used the anniversary of Coleen's sister's death as a peg to contact the WAG' after she unfollowed Jamie Vardy's wife on Instagram, the court heard. Coleen unfollowed Rebekah in January 2019 after the car crash story, suspecting she was the 'grass' who had leaked her information. In text messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt, Rebekah said she would like to contact Coleen and suggested 'saying something about' her sister Rosie, who died in 2013 aged 14. Mr Sherborne put it to Rebekah that she was going to 'use the anniversary' of Rooney's sister dying as 'the peg' to message her. Rebekah said: 'That's interpreted wrong'. In the event, Ms Watts suggested she use a different tack by saying she had recently been on Loose Women and the programme's booker asked if Coleen might want to appear on the show. Rebekah - pictured - continued to give evidence after her gruelling five-hour cross-examination was cut short by a fire alarm on May 12 A court drawing of Rebekah as she gave evidence on the third day of the Wagatha Christie trial 'She defo CRASHED': Rebekah denies leaking story about Coleen's 'bad car smash' in US Rebekah denied leaking information about Coleen's 2019 car crash in Washington DC to the media. Mr Sherborne quizzed Jamie Vardy's wife over an article in The Sun about how Coleen had narrowly escaped injury in a horror crash while husband Wayne was playing in the US. Coleen had posted a picture of her badly damaged Honda on her private Instagram account, the court heard. The story quoted a source who said: 'Coleen ended up having a bad smash when she was driving the family car. One side of the car was completely caved in. She couldn't drive it away and it looked like a total write off.' The day after the message was posted, Ms Watt sent a message to Rebekah saying: 'Am I imagining it or did you say yesterday that Coleen had crashed her Honda?' Rebekah replied: 'She defo has' - and instructed Ms Watt to go into Coleen's account. Ms Watt then sent another message saying: 'She must have taken whatever it is down as it's not there now.' Under cross-examination, Rebekah denied leaking the story. An Instagram post from Coleen showed a photo of the damaged vehicle, which the court has been told about previously. 'RIP' and 'half a Honda', the post says. Mr Sherborne referred Rebekah to an article written in The Sun about the car crash. 'Coleen Rooney narrowly avoids injury in car crash and wrecks 44 just weeks after Wayne's arrest for 'public intoxication' in Washington,' the article, which was published on 25 January 2019, is headlined. Mr Sherborne brought up the text messages between Rebekah and Ms Watt about the crash, which took place on the 23 January. Ms Watt asked her about Coleen crashing the Honda and told her she could no longer see the Instagram post. 'I would have tried to have done a story on Coleen but the evidence has been deleted,' Ms Watt said in a message to Vardy, the court hears. The previous evening, Rebekah had been at the National Television Awards. She and Ms Watts were in a box hosted by The Sun, the court heard, and the journalist who wrote the car crash article a few days later, Andy Halls, was also there. Mr Sherborne accused Rebekah of changing her story on whether or not she knew Halls was there. In her witness statement submitted to the court, she said: 'Andy Halls may also have been there but I don't remember seeing him.' Referring to the texts between her and Ms Watts about the car crash, Rebekah said at one point: 'I wasn't paying that much attention, not at half past eight at night.' Mr Sherborne said: 'But you don't say to her it's half past eight and I want to watch my favourite show on TV, do you?' 'I don't really watch television,' said Rebekah. Rebekah agrees Ms Watt 'appeared to be source' of story on Coleen's car crash after her agent admitted 'it was me' in text... but tells trial she didn't reply because she was distracted by 'Gemma Collins' faceplant on Dancing on Ice' Rebekah agreed her agent 'appeared to be the source' of a news story on Coleen's 2019 car crash after the agent admitted 'it was me' in a text message. But the WAG told the High Court that she did not reply to Ms Watt's message because she was distracted by Gemma Collins ' 'faceplant' on Dancing on Ice. Rebekah was referring to the moment the celebrity tripped and fell face-first on the ice during one of the routines in the ITV show. Coleen's lawyer David Sherborne read out two Instagram posts by his client in London's High Court about The Sun's article in the months before she embarked on her 'Wagatha Christie' investigation. In a public post, Coleen wrote: 'Someone on my private Instagram seen the picture and is telling or selling stories to a certain newspaper. It's happened several times now over the past couple of years. It's sad to think someone who I have accepted to follow me is betraying for either money or to keep a relationship with the press.' Mr Sherborne then took Rebekah to further texts sent between herself and her agent Ms Watt. 'Such a victim. Poor Coleen,' Ms Watt said to Rebekah at about 6.28pm on January 27, 2019. Just under 20 minutes later, she sent another message. 'And it wasn't someone she trusted. It was me'. Rebekah told the court: 'That seems to be what she's saying.' She said she didn't replying, adding 'at 6.35 I would have been bathing my children' at the time the message was sent. The court then heard that Rebekah allegedly tried to throw Coleen 'off the scent' with 'disingenuous messages' to her suggesting her account might have been hacked by journalists. Rebekah told Coleen in a private message: 'Oh my God. What the f*** is wrong with people. Why have they taken that one of you and the kids and not of Wayne in bed? That would have been an even better one in their eyes. D***heads. Hope you are OK.' Mr Sherborne suggested Rebekah sent the message as she 'knew the finger of suspicion' was going to be pointed at her. Her message continued: 'That is so bad! And The Sun of all people as well! Have you been through all your followers? No one with any celeb mag links? What about being hacked? I would be chomping if that was me! Not on at all.' 'This was totally disingenuous, Mrs Vardy,' Mr Sherborne said. 'You knew perfectly well that you had been the source of this story through Caroline Watt but you presented yourself to her as someone who hates the Sun. You're trying to throw Mrs Rooney off the scent, aren't you?' 'I don't hate the Sun', Rebekah interjected. 'But you knew Mrs Rooney did,' Mr Sherborne said, and Rebekah agreed. The trial continues. Rebekah 'tried to throw Coleen off the scent with 'disingenuous messages' to her suggesting her Instagram account might have been hacked by journalists' Rebekah allegedly tried to throw Coleen Rooney 'off the scent' with 'disingenuous messages' to her suggesting her account might have been hacked by journalists, the High Court heard. The WAG told Coleen in a private message: 'Oh my God. What the f*** is wrong with people. Why have they taken that one of you and the kids and not of Wayne in bed? That would have been an even better one in their eyes. D***heads. Hope you are OK.' Coleen's lawyer Mr Sherborne suggested Rebekah sent the message as she 'knew the finger of suspicion' was going to be pointed at her. Her message continued: 'That is so bad! And The Sun of all people as well! Have you been through all your followers? No one with any celeb mag links? What about being hacked? I would be chomping if that was me! Not on at all.' 'This was totally disingenuous, Mrs Vardy,' Mr Sherborne said. 'You knew perfectly well that you had been the source of this story through Caroline Watt but you presented yourself to her as someone who hates the Sun. You're trying to throw Mrs Rooney off the scent, aren't you?' 'I don't hate the Sun', Rebekah interjected. 'But you knew Mrs Rooney did,' Mr Sherborne said, and Rebekah agreed. Coleen leaving her London hotel earlier this morning - still wearing an orthopaedic boot on her left leg following an accident at home Coleen left the hotel holding a coffee and an iPhone in a pink case, while her husband Wayne carried a leather handbag with a file inside. Both smiled for the photographers Day 2: Rebekah's evidence continues about life as a WAG and anger at Coleen unfollowing her on Instagram A mock-up of Wayne Rooney walking to court with a court sketch overlaid on his face WAGs washing their smalls in the sink at the World Cup Rebekah Vardy claimed she and her fellow WAGs had to wash their own clothes in the sink at their hotel during the 2018 World Cup in Russia. As the Wagatha Christie trial entered a third day, Rebekah was quizzed by Coleen Rooney's barrister David Sherborne about the extent of her contacts with journalists during the tournament. In response, the WAG claimed she did not have any contact with the media because she was too busy washing her clothes in the sink. 'I was busy with the kids and under so much stress,' she said. 'We even had to wash our own clothes in the sink at the hotel.' Calling Coleen a 'c***' for unfollowing her on Insta Rebekah Vardy messaged her agent 'OMG what a c***' when Coleen Rooney unfollowed her on Instagram after 'fake' story about car crash was published, libel trial told Rebekah Vardy has been quizzed once again at the Wagatha Christie libel trial about a WhatsApp exchange which saw her brand Coleen Rooney a 'c***' after she unfollowed her on Instagram. Coleen, 36, accused Rebekah, 40, of leaking 'false stories' about her private life to the media in October 2019, after carrying out what she described as a months-long 'sting operation'. She publicly outed Rebekah in an Instagram post, claiming her fellow WAG had shared three 'fake' stories she had shared as bait on her personal account. Rebekah furiously denied this and launched her costly libel action which is now into its second trial day. Before the scandal broke, Coleen stopped following Rebekah on Instagram. 'OMG what a c***,' Rebekah texted her agent Caroline Watt after realising what had happened, according to texts read out to the High Court earlier in the trial. Day 1: From Peter Andre's 'chipolata' penis to fears she would lose her baby after being branded a 'grass': Rebekah Vardy's first day of evidence Peter Andre's 'chipolata' manhood Peter Andre's privates were among the unlikely highlights of the first day of the Wagatha Christie trial Peter Andre's privates were among the unlikely highlights of the first day of the Wagatha Christie trial. Rebekah Vardy was asked an interview she gave to the News Of The World about her claimed sexual encounter with singer Peter Andre. Coleen Rooney's barrister David Sherborne showed a print out of the article to Rebekah in the witness box before reading the headline: 'Peter's hung like a small chipolata, shaved, slobbery, lasts five minutes'. The barrister read excerpts from the article, in which it was claimed Mr Andre had managed 'just five minutes of sex with Rebekah' and in which she said he had 'the smallest trouser equipment I've ever seen' that was like a 'miniature chipolata'. Mr Sherborne suggested to Rebekah that the News Of The World was the 'highest circulating newspaper at the time', read by some four million people, and asked her whether it was 'respectful' of Peter Andre's 'right not to share this information'. She replied: 'I was forced into a situation by my ex-husband to do this. 'It is something that I deeply regret... It is not nice to read and I understand why this is being used and to me this is mudslinging and I was also threatened with mudslinging by Mrs Rooney's team.' Asked the question again by Coleen Rooney's barrister David Sherborne, Mrs Vardy said: 'The circumstances around it were completely different.' 'I feared losing my baby after Coleen said I was a grass', says Rebekah Coleen Rooney glared across a courtroom at Rebekah Vardy told how she feared she would lose her unborn baby after her rival Wag accused her of leaking stories. Meanwhile, Mrs Rooney's lawyer confronted Mrs Vardy with a newspaper interview in which she gave intimate details of a sexual encounter with pop star Peter Andre and mocked the size of his manhood. She said she was labelled a 'grass' and was subjected to vile abuse and death threats from trolls who said her baby should be 'put in an incinerator'. Rebecaa Vardy is aided by a security guard as she leaves the opening day of her libel case against Coleen Rooney Artist impression of Rebekah Vardy giving evidence (L) with Wayne and Coleen Rooney looking on (R) at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. May 10, 2022 She likened Mrs Rooney, the wife of former Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney, to a 'school bully' and said she had effectively turned the other footballers' wives and girlfriends against her. Mrs Rooney, 36, glowered at her rival as she denied she was responsible for the leaked stories, saying it was 'not nice' to betray other people's confidences. She described Mrs Rooney as 'cold and calculated' and said she had gloated to her close circle of other footballers' wives about her detective work, and had created a 'mob mentality' against her. Mrs Vardy said: 'I was not the source of the three articles Coleen accused me of leaking. I believe that Coleen posted her claims so as to cause me maximum damage. 'I will never forgive the way in which Coleen ruined my last weeks of pregnancy and the suffering she has caused to my children and my family but I hope that this claim will mean that the whole world will know that I did not betray Coleen's trust.' A training video is instructing civil servants that Britain is a 'racist' country and white officials should avoid clashing with people from ethnic minorities. The reel is currently being shown to workers in the department for levelling up, housing and communities. It tells bureaucrats they should be aware of their 'white privilege' and should strive to be 'allies', The Telegraph reports. But it was blasted by one Whitehall official, who called it 'divisive nonsense', adding that it is 'designed to brainwash thousands of civil servants with an ideological agenda'. The video states: 'When we become an ally, this primarily means acknowledging that we, ourselves, are part of a society, norm, culture or a system that is racist. 'For many of us who are white or white passing, meaning that we are often identified as white in public spaces, the colour of our skin, our race or ethnicity, has not had a negative impact on our lives. We call this "white privilege". The video, uploaded in 2019 to the website of the department for levelling up, housing and communities, caused anger among some employees in Whitehall 'You may experience many other struggles and challenges through life, but they are very unlikely to be related to your race. 'Because of this, adding your voice to anti-racism can help to amplify your message, support your colleagues, and five them time to heal and recover from a fight they've been have for their entire lives, often for generations.' The video, uploaded to the website of the department in 2019, caused anger among some employees in Whitehall. A Government source told The Telegraph: 'The civil service is running a parallel policy to the Government on diversity and inclusion in the name of social justice. 'The term white privilege has no place in Government. 'This divisive nonsense is designed to brainwash thousands of civil servants with an ideological agenda.' Permanent Secretary Jeremy Pocklington leads the department of levelling up, housing and communities. He was appointed to the role in March 2020 and has been a civil servant for 25 years. A spokesman from the department said: 'This video is nearly three years old and helps staff have important conversations about race. ;We keep all our material under review.' A government agency has raised eyebrows after promoting its diversity credentials by using a stock image also used in America. The NSW Liberal Party used the image on its Instagram account while announcing new interpreting graduates 'to help the state's diverse communities'. It shows a young family of two parents, a boy and a girl from a 'diverse' community. However, the same stock image was used by Supro Direct, a private medical company based in Indiana in the US. When approached by Daily Mail Australia, the NSW government declined to comment. However, a source suggested that it was just another example of the widespread use of stock photos in Australian politics, by all sides. The NSW Liberal Party used this stock image on its Instagram account while announcing new interpreting graduates 'to help the state's diverse communities' Alongside the post, the government bragged about how it is boosting the state's interpreting ranks. Minister for Multiculturalism Mark Coure said the new graduates will work with the state's interpreters. 'Multicultural NSW is Australia's leading provider of interpreting services, and each of these graduates has a chance to join its ranks and fill shortages in key languages,' Mr Coure said. 'The latest census data shows us that more NSW residents are speaking a language other than English at home. Those numbers will continue to grow as more of the world's citizens choose to find a brighter future in our great state. 'This scholarship program is about tapping into the availability of these languages in NSW, where we can create job opportunities for people to use their language skills and in turn help their communities.' The same image from a stock photography agency was used by Supro Direct, a private medical company based in Indiana in the US The gaffe is not the first time the Liberals have been caught using a stock photo. In April, the Victoria state Liberal party was caught using stock footage from Ukraine on its website urging residents to vote for 'Victoria's worst roads'. The footage was filmed in 2019 and is available from major stock photo and footage provider iStock. The party later removed it. Meanwhile, both parties were caught using a stock photo of an elderly woman to attack their opponents over pensions. The Labor Party used the image in Facebook campaigns in 2013, 2014 and 2015 to attack Tony Abbott over his government's aged pension reforms. In August 2018, Labor used the same photo of the woman to slam the Morrison Government over home care assistance. Meanwhile, in May 2018, the Tasmanian Liberals used the photo in a Facebook post targeting 'Labor's Granny Tax'. A girl has been rushed to hospital after she and her dog were attacked by two other dogs in front of horrified children near a school in Melbourne. Emergency services were called to a street near Berwick Fields Primary School in Melbourne's south-east on Wednesday morning following reports a 12-year-old girl and her nine-year-old dog were bitten by two dogs after they escaped from a nearby property. It's understood the girl was bitten on the hand during the morning school drop-off. She was assisted at the scene by an off-duty paramedic before being taken to Casey Hospital in a stable condition suffering minor upper and lower injuries. She has since undergone surgery and is understood to have been mentally traumatised by the harrowing ordeal, the Herald Sun reported. Pictured: one of the two dogs which attacked a 12-year-old girl and her pet outside a school Two dogs (one of them pictured) believed to be responsible for the attack have been seized by Council officers A young girl and her pet dog were attacked by two dogs near during school drop-off near Berwick Fields Primary School (pictured) on Thursday The injured dog is also recovering after undergoing a six-hour operation. The girl's father later took to social media to thank those involved in helping his daughter and her dog after the incident. 'Thank you to everyone who stopped to help today,' he said. 'The dogs have been caught and the owner has been identified. 'We will leave it in the hands of the law.' The girl's mother said she was grateful her daughter and their dog were both alive. The girl was taken by ambulance to hospital, where she has since undergone surgery Casey Council confirmed it seized two dogs and was investigating the incident. 'The City of Casey is currently investigating a dog attack that occurred in Bellevue Drive, Berwick on Wednesday 27 July, resulting in injuries to a 12-year-old girl and her dog,' a spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. Two dogs believed to be responsible for the attack have been seized by Council officers. 'This matter remains an active investigation and as such Council is unable to provide any further information at this time.' A model who tried to take cocaine into a concert 'internally' has compared herself with Paris Hilton as she apologises for sharing an offensive meme. Grace Evelyn escaped a prison sentence for carrying a small amount of cocaine wrapped in a condom inside her private parts in May. She provided Daily Mail Australia with a recount of the moment she was stopped and searched by police - insisting she is a 'nice girl'. On Friday, Ms Evelyn joked online that she was entering the 'Paris Hilton' era of her life as she was deluged with media requests. Meanwhile, in perhaps a sign of her newfound fame, she was forced to apologise after posting a meme of US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to Instagram saying: 'I'm gonna be honest ... I'm kind of ret***ed'. Police asked where Ms Evelyn (pictured) had stored the cocaine that their dogs could smell - and she had to tell them she was carrying it 'internally' The model jokingly compared herself to Paris Hilton (pictured) after news broke she received only a Conditional Release Order for attempting to smuggle cocaine into a music festival In perhaps a sign of her new fame, Ms Evelyn (pictured right) was forced to apologise after a local Sydney paper found an 'offensive' story post Ms Evelyn admitted the meme she used was in poor taste and has since taken the post down. The 24-year-old business student insisted publicly that she is a 'nice girl', after telling how she was waiting outside the exhibition hall for a DJ MaRLo concert at Sydney Olympic Park about 9pm on May 14 when sniffer dogs began to bark around her. When cops asked to strip-search Ms Evelyn outside, she began to cry. Instead of joining nearby revellers and dancing for the next three hours, she was left explaining to the police they wouldn't find her prohibited stash with a pat down. Grace Evelyn laughed she had entered her 'Paris Hilton era' amid coverage of her concert ordeal (pictured: A social media post by Ms Evelyn) Ms Evelyn took down an offensive meme (pictured) from her account, after attempting to make a remorseful joke at her own expense Ms Evelyn confessed to police she had a condom, tied off and containing a small amount of cocaine, stashed in her vagina, court documents said. She told police the illicit substance was for sharing between her and her girlfriends and that she herself had so far only taken a single 'bump' of cocaine. In a private room strip search, Ms Evelyn showed police the substance, telling them she had paid $300 for it - the typical street value of 0.7 to one gram of cocaine. Records stated she had 5.6 grams of cocaine, though it's unclear how much of the condom's weight was counted in official recordings. Police tactics have come under increased scrutiny after a photo emerged of passengers lined up in front of sniffer dogs ahead of the Splendour in the Grass festival. Never seen this before. Off the plane in GC for Splendour and police making everyone drop their bags for dogs. @zacseidler pic.twitter.com/ASXdO4xVh2 Zara Seidler (@zaraseidler1) July 22, 2022 The 24-year-old said she just 'wanted to have a little fun' not have a near career-ending ordeal interstate. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the two men with her in the photo above Ms Evelyn (pictured) said being searched by the police shook her up and made her cry on what should have been a night of partying Her original charge was supplying drugs - less than a commercial quantity. Ms Evelyn - escaped a conviction and was handed a 12-month conditional behaviour bond by a magistrate - told Daily Mail Australia the search was a horrible experience. 'I have never been in trouble before, I was very scared so I said the wrong things,' she said. 'I am a nice girl, I never intended to supply. It was really scary! 'I was so shaken up and I just wanted to do the right thing and be nice.' Grace Evelyn (pictured) was on her way to enjoy a concert when police dogs sniffed out a small and well concealed condom and cocaine The 24-year-old was waiting to get into the concert at Sydney Olympic Park (pictured) when a small amount of cocaine set off sniffer dogs Slater and Gordon and Redfern Legal Centre filed a statement of claim for a class action in the NSW Supreme Court last Friday, on behalf of the patrons who alleged they had been subject to invasive searches at music festivals. Samantha Lee, a solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre told the ABC she wanted to see sweeping changes to laws allowing searches. 'The legislation still allows for a child as young as 10 to be strip searched in New South Wales without a parent present,' Ms Lee said. 'It still provides no clarification around cavity searches and squatting and coughing.' 'It still allows police to strip search without a support person present. So we want to see not just internal policy changes, but some really significant changes to the law.' Young Greens initiative 'Sniff Off' also has a cult following on Twitter and Facebook, posting the whereabouts of police sniffer dogs. Australia is facing a dire labour shortage but few places are struggling as much as Queensland with barbers resorting to flying workers up from NSW and the government forking out $2million for an ad to try and attract tradies to move. The Queensland government hoped its flashy multimillion-dollar government advertising campaign would attract more than 1000 tradies but instead it was met with a miserable response, encouraging just two people to make the move. In April, the government announced it was spending $2million on the 'Tradies in Paradise' promotion, expecting to lure hundreds of tradies with the promise of warmer weather and a $1,750 cash bonus. The workers were desperately needed to help rebuild the state after record flooding in 2022 and the campaign was flagged by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in March and then formally launched a month later. A flashy multimillion dollar government advertising campaign designed to attract 1000 tradies has had a miserable response with just two people employed Australia's unemployment rate has dropped to 3.9 per cent - the lowest rate since 1974 (pictured is a Sydney cafe worker) 'We want you to run to paradise,' the premier said, apparently quoting the classic Aussie rock song by The Choirboys. Acting Premier Steven Miles bragged the marketing campaign would win over tradies 'stuck in traffic in Sydney or ... about to go through the long Melbourne winter'. But the campaign failed spectacularly, resulting in just two new hires. The workers were needed to help rebuild the state after record flooding in 2022 and the campaign was flagged by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who believed tradies would 'run to paradise' Barber chain ManCave, which has 13 stores on the eastern seaboard has had to fly NSW staff in to keep its new outlet at Indooroopilly running Master Builders Association CEO Paul Bidwell told the Today Show on Thursday the campaign showed there was a shortage of tradies everywhere, not just in Queensland. '[Labour] is absolutely stretched right the country, in fact right around the globe,' he said. Mr Bidwell admitted the campaign 'was always a long shot, but it was worth a crack'. He added the $1,750 cash incentive wasn't enough, given many tradies can earn $100,000 a year and the costs alone to move a family interstate were much more than $1,750. News of the job search disaster comes as shortages in Queensland have become so severe that some small businesses are flying in workers to keep trading. A Queensland barber shop is struggling so badly to find staff it is is having to fly workers in from NSW In April, Annastacia Palaszczuk's Queensland government announced its $2million 'Tradies in Paradise' promotion expecting to lure the tradies with the promise of warm weather and a $1,750 cash bonus Barber chain ManCave, which has 13 stores on the eastern seaboard, has had to fly NSW staff in to keep its new outlet at Indooroopilly running. 'It's not the best thing financially, but we have to put someone in the store,' ManCave Barbershop CEO Nimard Zahrah told the ABC. Mr Zahrah, who lives in Sydney, is one of the many NSW staff commuting to Queensland to work there. Aside from trades and barber shops, the health, hospitality and retail sectors are also battling, unable to find staff to fill vacancies. Job shortages are far from confined to Queensland though. A combination of limited immigration during the pandemic and Covid layoffs have put pressure on employers in almost all industries, including metropolitan and regional areas. Australia-wide, there were nearly 480,000 job vacancies in late June, compared to just 227,000 at the start of the pandemic. Australia's unemployment rate has dropped further than predicted to 3.5 per cent - the lowest rate since 1974 Meanwhile, 494,000 people remain unemployed. In June the 2022 Workforce Skills Survey found 93 per cent of NSW businesses face workforce shortages. The latest ABS Australian labour force figures released showed national unemployment fell to 3.5 per cent in June. That is the lowest rate since August 1974, when it was 2.7 percent. Tim Cook says that Apple will continue hiring new employees, but given the current economic situation, it would now be more "deliberate" than before. The Apple CEO Cook also believes that the Cupertino-based tech giant, known for its best-selling devices, such as the iPhone, MacBook, and Apple Watch, is moving forward with revenue acceleration. Tim Cook Says Apple to Continue Hiring While most firms have frozen hiring new recruits these days, Apple appears to be going against the tide, sort of. No less than the chief executive of the iPhone maker confirms that the tech behemoth is continuing to hire employees, as per the news story by Mac Rumors. The Apple-focused media site notes that the latest announcement of Cook subsequently comes as reports have revealed that the Cupertino giant is planning to slow down its hiring. The hiring slow down at Apple came to light early this July amid the growing fears of a looming economic recession. However, given the turbulence in the economy, the Apple CEO highlights that hiring at the tech giant would be in a very "deliberate" manner this time around. Cook says in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that they are "making deliberate decisions about where to invest our money." Nevertheless, Cook further notes that they are "continuing to hire, but we're just doing it in a very deliberate way." Read Also: Tim Cook Net Worth: Did He Get Richer After Apple Becomes $3 Trillion Company? Apple Revenue to Accelerate? Besides addressing the hiring slow down, the Apple CEO also assured its investors that the revenue of the iPhone maker is keeping up with the current situation. According to the latest report by 9to5 Mac, Cook believes that the revenue of the renowned tech firm is seeing an increase this third quarter of 2022. The big boss of the iPhone maker states that they "expect revenue to accelerate in the September quarter despite seeing some pockets of softness." It is worth noting that the next-generation flagship smartphone of Apple is set to see the light of day in the same month, September. Not to mention that the upcoming Apple Watch Series 8 is also gracing its list of new products at the same time. Both of these new product offerings might be the reason why the Apple boss still believes that the renowned tech giant is continuing with its revenue acceleration. It is despite the ongoing turbulence in the overall economy. Related Article: Apple iPhone 14 Rear Cameras Reportedly Facing 'Quality Issues' - Will This Cause Delays? At least 400 migrants escaped from a hot and airless tractor trailer abandoned by a smuggler in the Mexican coastal state of Veracruz on Thursday. The group was being ferried in the trailer that had logos stickers from Mexican transportation company Euro Logistic when they began to suffocate near the town of Acayucan. Villagers and workers from a nearby gas station heard the cries for help coming from the freight container and helped pry its doors open. About 94 migrants were treated by paramedics on the scene while the rest were able to flee. Some of the migrants broke holes in the cargo container to get out, while others escaped through the roof, according to Carlos Enrique Escalante, director of the National Institute of Migration state office in Veracruz. Smugglers used a tractor trailer that had logos from Mexican transportation company Euro Logistic to ferry 400 migrants who were left abandoned in the sweltering container on the side of a road in Acayucan, Veracruz, on Thursday. Some of the migrant were able to climb out through the top of the cargo box while others fled through the doors. At least 94 people were treated for injuries while the rest fled Paramedics treat some of the migrants who were among those found inside and around a tractor trailer ferrying at least 400 people that was abandoned on a road in Veracruz, Mexico, on Thursday Jose Dominguez, director of civil protection in nearby Oluta, said some of the migrants were found inside the truck and while others were spotted hiding in the nearby brush. Several migrants were treated for ankle or knee fractures as a result of the injuries they suffered from having to jump out of the trailer. 'They broke through the roof of the trailer because they were suffocating and since there was a gas station nearby, the employees there helped them escape,' Dominguez said. The migrants who were found at the scene were placed in custody of the National Institute of Migration. Paramedics load one of the migrants who was injured after jumping out of a tractor trailer that was abandoned by smugglers in the Mexican coastal state of Veracruz on Thursday. At least 94 migrants of the 400 who were being ferried were treated for ankle and knee injuries Mexican stories say paramedics were able to treat 94 migrants, including some who suffered knee and ankle injuries Thirty-two of those found were from Guatemala, while five Hondurans, four Ecuadorians, two Indians, one Salvadoran and one Nepali were among those on the trailer. Guatemala's foreign ministry issued a different number on Thursday, indicating there were 89 Guatemalans, including 55 adults. According to paramedic Kenya Diaz, some migrants sought help, while others decided to run away, making identification difficult. One official who declined to be identified told Reuters he believed the smuggler transporting the migrants was inexperienced because the trailer was abandoned before a toll booth where trailers are inspected. Smuggling networks normally use tractor trailers to transport migrants from the southern border region to the country's border towns across from the United States. On May 6, authorities found 137 migrants who were left locked inside a tractor trailer next to a highway in the northeastern city of Nuevo Leon. The driver and assistant were taken into custody. Two days earlier, security forces rescued 280 migrants who were discovered in an abandoned truck on a Cordoba, Veracruz, road near a gas station after someone within the trapped group called 911. A group of migrants board a bus after being rescued by Mexican authorities after being abandoned inside a trailer near the Veracruz town of Acayucan on Thursday Mexican security forces carry out an inspection of the tractor trailer that was found abandoned with 400 migrants on Thursday in the coastal state of Veracruz. Authorities said residents and workers at a gas station heard the group's cries for help and assisted them in getting out A total of 53 migrants died and 10 others were injured after they found inside a hot and airless tractor trailer that was abandoned in the outskirts of San Antonio on June 27 The rescue comes after 53 migrants died and 10 were injured after they were abandoned inside a sweltering tractor trailer on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, on June 27. At least four people, including the driver, have been charged for their roles in what is believed to be the deadliest migrant smuggling incident in United States history. A 20-year-old Guatemalan who survived the ordeal told The Associated Press that the smugglers had spread powdered chicken bouillon across the freight container's floor in a move to prevent U.S. Customs and Border Protection sniffer dogs from detecting the migrants at checkpoints. Other migrants have died along the border, some jumping from the wall that separates Mexico and the United States. Deaths on the border broke records last year, and are on track to be as bad or worse in 2022, according to the United Nations. At least 192 migrants have died this year while transiting through Central American and Mexico as part of their journey to reach the United States border, according to UN's International Organization for Migration. Fox News host Tucker Carlson jokingly announced plans to rename monkeypox 'schlong COVID' after a woke official deemed the existing moniker racist. Carlson announced the results of a Twitter poll on his Fox News show Thursday night, saying: 'So, monkeypox is about the coolest name ever for a disease. 'But they are changing the name because racism or something.' 'So, we had a vote,' Carlson then said: 'There was no ballot harvesting. You can trust our counting. And the new name for monkeypox is now officially and were declaring it schlong COVID. That won our audience election result with about 40% of the vote. So, let Rochelle Walensky at the CDC know.' Walensky is the director of the CDC, and one of the most public health officials in the United States' The term 'schlong COVID' appears to be a reference to the fact that around 95 per cent of people so-far infected by COVID have been gay men. Carlson's Twitter poll had more than 26,000 votes, with schlong COVID the favorite among 39 per cent of respondents. Midterm Variant was runner-up, with 24 per cent, while Adam Schiffilis came third, with 20 per cent, and Hunter Hives was fifth, with 17 per cent. Some progressive health officials have asked for monkeypox to have its name changed because the original title could be construed as racist. Last month, the World Health Organization said it would rename the disease, although it has yet to announce the replacement term. The results are in. Monkeypox will now officially be called Schlong Covid. pic.twitter.com/nEFZjvWAnV Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 29, 2022 Tucker Carlson said Thursday the winner of his Twitter poll to rename 'monkeypox' was 'Schlong covid,' in reference to the high rate of gay men contracting the disease Monkeypox has exploded in the US, with New York and California becoming the hardest-hit states. San Francisco's mayor declared a state of emergency over the disease, in part because of calls from LGBTQ leaders The jokes came as San Francisco, a city with a high population of gay people, declared a state of emergency due to the outbreak of the disease. Mayor London Breed's said her announcement would allow officials to cut through red tape and fight a public health crisis reminiscent of the AIDS epidemic that devastated the city in the 1980s. Monkeypox generally resolves itself with mild symptoms, while AIDS had an almost 100 per cent death rate for the first 15 years of the epidemic, up until the mid-1990s. Others have suggested that San Francisco is an overreaction. 'We are at a very scary place. And we don't want to be ignored by the federal government in our need. So many leaders of the LGBT community have also, weeks ago, asked for additional help and support and assistance,' said Mayor London Breed. The city is in 'desperate need of vaccines,' she said. The declaration, which takes effect Monday, was welcomed by gay advocates who have grown increasingly frustrated by what they called San Francisco's lackluster response to a virus that so far has affected primarily men who have sex with men, although anyone can get infected. 'San Francisco was at the forefront of the public health responses to HIV and COVID-19, and we will be at the forefront when it comes to monkeypox,' said state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat who represents the city. 'We cant and wont leave the LGBTQ community out to dry.' The city has 281 cases, out of about 800 in California and 4,600 nationwide, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. A national shortage of vaccine has resulted in people waiting in line for hours for scarce doses, often to be turned away when the shots run out. The United States has become the global epicenter of the monkeypox outbreak, overtaking Spain following a record-breaking 24 hours in which 1,048 new cases were confirmed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday that the uptick in cases was likely due to an increase in testing, after it expanded capacity from 10,000 to 80,000 swabs per week. But the infection rate in the U.S. is below many other European countries including the UK and Germany (both at three per 100,000). Experts fear the disease has already spilled over into more vulnerable groups, such as children under eight years old that health officials say are at high risk of severe disease. Two children in California and 'transiting through' D.C. have tested positive for monkeypox to date, the CDC says. America's response to monkeypox was slammed for being too slow to roll out tests and vaccinations at the start of the outbreak, especially to gay or bisexual men where most cases are being recorded. No deaths have been registered to date but several patients have been hospitalized. A restaurant famous for insulting its diners has been forced to apologise after a family accused a waiter of taking things too far. Stacey Howard was dining with his family when he was left 'disgusted' by a waiter at Karen's Diner in Westfield Chermside, Brisbane, on Sunday. The restaurant is well-known for its unique service where waiters are intentionally rude and customers are encouraged to talk back with their own insults. Mr Howard claimed the waiter serving his table overstepped his bounds by levelling several sexual insults at the family that included calling him a 'pedo', accusing him of incest and asking his 14-year-old daughter if she had an OnlyFans account. OnlyFans is subscription-based website where people pay money to access private photos and videos of a person, usually of a sexual manner. Stacey Howard was dining with his family when he was left 'disgusted' by a waiter at Karen's Diner in Chermside, Brisbane, on Sunday The restaurant is well-known for its unique service where waiters are intentionally rude and customers are encouraged to talk back with their own insults 'My daughter was doing a Facebook Live and this young guy came up and said, "Are you on OnlyFans you tart? Here's some content for you" and he pretended to w*** himself off and jizz on the table,' he told the Courier Mail. Mr Howard said his daughter was worried after the waiter called her father a 'pedophile' and said he was 'keeping it in the family'. 'My daughter sat on my lap because she was concerned and he said, "What are you a pedo? Are you all having sex with each other?"' The outraged father said the family stood up and left the diner feeling incredibly uncomfortable about the comments. He claimed a seven-year-old boy dining at the restaurant was also called a 'c***'. Mr Howard's family later phoned the restaurant demanding an apology. Karen's Diner may be known for its rude waiters but the restaurant lists a set of rules on its website that sets boundaries for customers and staff. 'No racism, no sexism, no homophobic comments, no body images comments, no ableist comments, do not touch our staff and no sexual remarks towards staff members,' the website reads. A Karen's Diner spokeswoman 'wholeheartedly' apologised to the family and told Daily Mail Australia the incident was being investigated. Karen's Diner may be known for its rude waiters but the restaurant lists a set of rules on its website that sets boundaries for customers and staff A Karen's Diner spokeswoman 'wholeheartedly' apologised to the family and told Daily Mail Australia the incident was being investigated 'This incident was raised to us directly and we are currently conducting a thorough investigation,' she said. 'As a venue, we are all about offering a fun experience for all patrons. We have strict guidelines in place for both staff and customers, so we were really disappointed to learn of this incident that occured on Sunday.' The spokeswoman said the restaurant had a 'thorough vetting' and training program for its staff. 'The actions of this particular staff member are inexcusable and are against everything we believe in as a brand,' she said. 'We are putting tighter training protocols in place immediately to ensure something like this never happens again.' A seven-year-old boy was found dead inside a washing machine at his parents' Texas home on Thursday morning, two hours after he had been reported missing to police. Troy Khoeler's body was found inside a top-loading washing machine in the garage of his family's Spring, Texas, home at 7:20am, after his adoptive parents called 911 to report him missing at about 5:20am. It is unclear if there was water in the machine or whether the lid was closed when Troy was found. He was fully clothed. His cause of death has still not been released. Police have not commented on whether foul play is determined, but a criminal investigation is underway and homicide detectives interviewed the parents after Troy's body was found. They are being interviewed separately, as is standard procedure during possible criminal probes. Troy was fostered and then adopted by his parents in 2019, police said. They said there were no prior records indicating that the home was an abusive one. Troy Khoeler's body was found inside a top-loading washing machine in the garage of his family's Spring, Texas, home at 7:20am, after his adoptive parents called 911 to report him missing at about 5:20am Harris County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Robert Minchew told reporters that they had not yet determined whether foul play was involved in Troy's death Speaking outside the Khoeler's home, Harris County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Robert Minchew told reporters that Troy could have been missing as early as 4am. 'We don't know what happened, but we intend to find out,' he said. 'Whether he was killed by the washing machine or killed and placed in it, we're just so far from that, I can't comment.' He said police had been interviewing the parents to fill out a missing persons report when they realized there was no signs of doors or windows having been left open. They then searched the home and discovered Troy's body. Minchew clarified that Troy was found fully clothed inside the washing machine, and it was unclear if he had climbed in or been put in it. Officials said Troy's father was at home during the hours when he was missing, and that they believe his mother was out and working at a nearby hospital. Troy lived alone with his parents and they had no other children. Minchew said the parents were separated when they were taken to the station to be interviewed, but noted that was merely a matter of protocol. Two young sisters escaped Saudi Arabia with $5000 during a family holiday, flew to Australia via Hong Kong and renounced Islam - five years before their decomposing bodies were found in a Sydney unit. That's according to new reports published in Middle Eastern newspapers on Friday. Esra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, were found dead in separate rooms of their first-floor apartment in Canterbury, in the city's south-west, when police conducted a welfare check on June 7. Detectives believe they died a month earlier in May, but have otherwise been left scratching their heads trying to work out what happened. No cause of death has been determined - there were no clear signs of injury, and no signs of forced entry into the building. However, news outlets based in Yemen have shed more light on the mysterious situation - reporting that the women fled their homeland with a wad of cash in 2017 due to a tumultuous relationship with their parents. Pictured: Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24. She and her sister were found dead in Sydney's south-west Pictured: Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23. Her body was found on June 7 in a Canterbury apartment According to Ana Yemenyi and Tomorrow's Yemen, the sisters were on a summer holiday with their family when they jumped on a plane to Sydney, via Hong Kong. They then renounced Islam and became atheists, the outlets claim. The sisters then connected with an Australian refugee organisation. It is understood they were on bridging visas in Australia. Local news outlets said their brother was expected to make a public appeal to encourage any potential killer to come forward, but the family have so far remained silent. The mysterious deaths have made waves on social media, with many Middle Eastern locals asking why the sisters felt the need to escape the Saudi Kingdom. One man said the women exposed themselves to danger when they left their homeland: 'Do not leave Saudi Arabia in search of freedom. You will not find it.' The sisters flew from Saudi Arabia to Sydney, via Hong Kong, with $5000 in their pocket (stock image of women in the Middle East) When they arrived in Sydney, they made contact with a refugee agency. Pictured: Their Canterbury apartment block, where they were found dead in June The Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Sydney has offered its condolences to the family, who are believed to be 'well connected'. Despite local reports, NSW Police say the family are cooperating with investigators and have 'no reason' to believe the Alsehli sisters fled their homeland. The Coroner has not released the bodies of the sisters to their family, although it is understood they could be buried in Sydney. At a press conference on Wednesday, Detective Claudia Allcroft confirmed police know very little about the women and renewed an appeal for public information - anyone who saw the sisters in their final days has been urged to come forward. While police told Daily Mail Australia in June that the toxicology tests had been fast-tracked, detectives said on Wednesday they were still waiting on the results. Toxicology reports are normally processed within four to six weeks. Forensic police scoured the unit (pictured) in the wake of the grisly discovery on June 7 - a month after the women died UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF THE SAUDI SISTERS - Fled Saudi Arabia as teens with $5000, during a holiday with their parents. - Had a troubling relationship with their parents. NSW Police say the family are cooperating. - Had access to money and drove a BMW. - Both had Australian business names, but police can't confirm what they did for work. - Filed an AVO, and then withdrew it. - BMW was keyed. - Three police welfare checks. - Stopped paying rent. - Bodies found a month after they died. - Cause of death unknown. Advertisement Eight weeks on from the grisly discovery, the case is still plagued with mysteries and inconsistencies. Both women registered ABNs in 2018 for sole trading to a Wetherill Park address, in Sydney's west, but police still can't confirm what they did for work. They also drove a black BMW coupe which normally costs upwards of $38,000, and lived in a modern, two-bedroom $490-per-week apartment. In 2018, Asra filed an AVO against a 28-year-old man, but the matter was withdrawn in court the following year and the details of the application are unknown. The sisters' car was also keyed in late 2021, but is unknown whether it was a coincidence or whoever damaged their property had malicious intent. The women regularly went to the local service station for coffee and energy drinks with workers describing them as 'cheerful' - but they noted the pair would only respond to questions, never starting a conversation. There were also three welfare checks carried out by police in the months before the girls were finally discovered in separate beds of their first-floor Canterbury unit as mail piled up outside their door. Police believe the women died in May - around the time they stopped paying rent. As detectives struggle to find out what the women were doing in Australia, police on Wednesday released their photos for the first time. 'We hope that someone may be able to assist our investigators,' Detective Allcroft said. 'Either through sightings, or those who knew the sisters and may have some information on their movements prior to their death.' A black BMW coupe covered in dust was removed from the garage of the apartment block the day after the bodies were found A killer has been sentenced to life in prison after stabbing a young woman to death at a caravan park after she had tried to break up a couple's fight. Antoinette Aleisha Winmar, 31, will serve a minimum of 16 years for killing Dusty Rose, 22, at the Caversham Caravan Park in Perth's north-east last year. Ms Rose checked into the caravan park just hours before she intervened in a dispute between Winmar and a 51-year-old man, who were staying next door to her. After Ms Rose left, Winmar picked up two steak knives and went to Ms Rose's unit, stabbing her and puncturing her heart and a lung. Ms Rose died two days later. On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Bruno Fiannaca described the attack as a senseless act of violence and said Winmar had shown no sign of remorse since the killing. Dusty Rose, 22, died after suffering three stab wounds to the chest at the Caversham Caravan Park in Perth's north-east last year He also said Winmar was well aware of what she was doing when she stabbed Ms Rose in the chest. 'A case like this highlights how fragile life can be,' Justice Fiannaca told the court. Winmar was around four months pregnant at the time and claimed the man she was arguing with was the father. In a statement, the man later said he told Winmar he wanted to take a paternity test. He thought that had been the last straw for Winmar, who was already agitated and had also been drinking. A park resident later told police: I dont think I have ever seen a woman that angry. After being stabbed, Ms Rose was taken to Midland Hospital before being transferred to Royal Perth Hospital. Her life support was switched off two days later. Last, year Perth woman Elise Hedvega remembered Ms Rose as 'a super lovely girl' who cared for others. Ms Rose checked into the caravan park just hours before she intervened in a dispute between Winmar and a 51-year-old man, who were staying next door to her 'My heart breaks for this situation, the missed opportunities and the loss of someone I once cared for,' she said. Other friends said she was 'an angel'. 'RIP Dusty Rose. You were so kind and fun. So sorry I didn't get to know you more before you passed. You deserved better,' one wrote. 'Cant believe you are gone Dusty Rose,' another said. Advertisement Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito last night mocked Prince Harry for wading into domestic US politics during his first public remarks since the decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Alito, one of the conservative judges on the bench, was speaking at the University of Notre Dame Law School in Rome last week. He roasted the foreign leaders who weighed on the SCOTUS decision, and joked that it was Harry's disapproval which 'wounded' him most. 'I had the honor this term of writing I think the only Supreme Court decision in the history of the institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders who felt perfectly fine commenting on American law. 'One of these was former PM Boris Johnson, but he paid the price. Others are still in office, President Macron and PM Trudeau are two. 'But what really wounded me was when the Duke of Sussex addressed the UN and seemed to compare the decision - whose name may not be spoken - with the Russian attack on Ukraine,' he said, prompting laughs from the audience. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito mocked Prince Harry to torrents of laughter during his first public remarks since the decision to overturn Roe v Wade. He said he'd brushed off criticism from foreign leaders over the decision but that Harry's remarks were what 'really wounded him' Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrive to celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, July 18 Alito added: 'Well, despite this temptation I am not going to talk about cases from other countries. PRINCE HARRY'S UN SPEECH ON NELSON MANDELA DAY, JULY 18 Prince Harry opened his speech by saying: 'This has been a painful year in a painful decade. We are living through a pandemic that continues to ravage communities in every corner of the globe.' 'Climate change wreaking havoc on our planet with most vulnerable suffering most of all. The few weaponizing lies and disinformation at the expense of the many.' 'And from the horrific war in Ukraine to the rolling back of constitutional right in the US we are witnessing a global assault on democracy and freedom the cause of Mandela's life.' Harry has said a photograph of Diana meeting Mandela in 1997 remains on his 'wall and his heart'. The Duke also revealed how he 'knew he had found a soulmate' in Meghan Markle, 40, on a visit to Africa. During his speech, he spoke about his love for the continent, which he first visited when he was 13 years old and explained he went there to seek solace following her death. It was then he called Meghan, who he whisked to Botswana on their third date, his 'soulmate'. Protesters also stood outside of the UN General Assembly in New York, with one holding up a sign which said 'why are they here'. The comments were heard by a mostly-empty room at the United Nations for Nelson Mandela Day. It is the first time the couple have been seen in public since jetting to the UK to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee last month, where they kept a low profile. Advertisement 'All I am going to say is ultimately, if we are going to win the battle to protect religious freedom in an increasingly secular society we will need more than positive law.' Alito has served on the Supreme Court since 2006 after being appointed by former President George W. Bush. He previously wrote a dissenting opinion which suggested a woman ought to be legally obliged to tell a baby's father before she sought an abortion. He has largely used his position on the bench to fight for religious rights. The Duke of Sussex's spoke to the general assembly of the UN on July 18 for Nelson Mandela Day, where Harry waded into US politics while describing a 'global assault on democracy and freedom.' He added: 'And from the horrific war in Ukraine to the rolling back of constitutional right in the US we are witnessing a global assault on democracy and freedom, the cores of Mandela's life.' The comment was a clear dig at the decision to overturn Roe, which guaranteed women across the US the right to abortion. Conservatives hit out at the Prince, with assistant professor of political science at Georgia Military College saying: 'If you owe everything you have in life to the title of nobility that was bestowed on you at birth, you should feel free not to lecture anyone about democracy and freedom.' Republican Nick Freitas said: 'Last I checked, we fought a revolution so we wouldn't have to care what Prince Harry thinks.' TV personality Meghan McCain added: 'Today was a missed opportunity to keep the focus on one of the truly great global leaders of all time, Nelson Mandela.' Numerous prominent world leaders have also expressed dismay at the overturning of Roe v Wade, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Alito called out President Macron by name in his speech, but he reserved an extra quip for Prime Minister Johnson. 'One of these was former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but he paid the price,' Alito joked, referring to Johnson's plans to step down following criticism of his leadership from within Britain's ruling Conservative Party. Aside from those references to Roe's foreign critics, Alito skirted the topic and focused instead on the conference's theme of religious liberty. 'Religious liberty is under attack in many places because it is dangerous to those who want to hold complete power,' he said. 'It also probably grows out of something dark and deep in the human DNA - a tendency to distrust and dislike people who are not like ourselves.' Alito has been characterized as one of the Supreme Court's most conservative judges Alito was speaking in Rome, close to the colosseum where he recalled the history of of Christians being torn apart by wild beasts and the palace where Roman Emperor Nero 'used torches to light up Christians at his garden parties. In the West, religious liberty is facing a different challenge than countries in the rest of the world as more people in the US and Europe turn away from religion, he said. Alito quoted polls where more people answered they identify as atheist or agnostic than ever before. He said it is hard to convince people of religious liberty if they dont think religion is a good thing that deserves protection. The challenge, Alito added, is to convince others that religious liberty is worth special protection which he said will not be easy to achieve. Alito said America should take pride in encouraging the UN to establish the universal declaration of human rights, emphasizing that the US should serve as an example to the rest of the world. Religious liberty has often fueled social reform he said, adding: It is not an accident that the leaders who moved to abolish slavery were very often men and women of faith. Alito spoke of Martin Luther King Jr.'s role as a 'reverend' who 'was able to speak to all American regardless of race. He also talked about the relationship between freedom of religion and freedom of speech, asking: If this can be suppressed then what is to stop the state from crushing other forms of expression? Religious liberty is so powerful it once helped bring down a powerful totalitarian state, he said, going on to speak about the fall of the Soviet Union. During my lifetime the People's Republic of China did its best to eradicate religion completely, and yet it failed, just like the Roman emperors who tried to outlaw Christianity failed,' he concluded. 'In China, there are now more Christians than there are in France or Germany. And if trends continue, the number of Christians in China may surpass those in the US. Alito, a Roman Catholic, has been characterized as one of the Supreme Court's most conservative justices. The conservative justice was nominated to the court by President George W. Bush in 2005. He began his service in 2006. In the July 18 UN address that prompted Alito's response, Harry quoted statistics from freedom house showing the world had grown less free for more than a decade and a half. It is not the first time the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have waded into American politics, finding themselves in hot water after commenting on the US election. During a Time 100 video in September 2020 they called on American voters to 'reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity' in 'the most important election of our life.' Markle told activist Gloria Steinem in June she is willing to go to Washington DC to join protests against the abortion ruling and urged people to vote in the November midterms. Members of the royal family are supposed to be politically neutral, when they stepped back from their roles the Sussex's vowed that 'everything they do will uphold the values of Her Majesty'. But Meghan and Harry recently hired Miranda Barbot, a former aide to former president Barack Obama who was central to his successful reelection campaign in 2012. Meghan's political ambitions have long been talked about since she and Harry emigrated from Britain including claims that she would 'seriously consider' running for president if her husband dropped his royal title. President Biden's sister, Valerie, 76, recently invited the duchess to join the Democratic Party and said she would 'of course' make a good presidential candidate. 'I think that she does see her future as possibly a congresswoman for California,' said Tom Bower, the author of a new book on Meghan and Harry, in an interview with Daily Mail Royals. He added: 'Her problem is twofold. One is that it is very badly paid, and Meghan needs a lot of money to live, the second is that you've got to be pretty tough in a political fight. You are up against a lot of competitors.' He also alleged that Meghan had become a close mentor to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who allegedly arranged philanthropic ventures for the couple. The couple spectacularly quit the royal family in January 2020, a seismic event for the British monarchy that some comedians dubbed 'Megxit'. They now live in a $13million mansion in Montecito, California, after striking deals worth tens of millions to produce content for Netflix and Spotify. A Netflix documentary about the Sussexes is set to be broadcast later this year, while a tell-all autobiography by Harry is due this fall. The couple are parents to a three year-old son called Archie and an 13 month-old daughter called Lilibet. Phone records from Donald Trump's acting Homeland Security Secretary and his deputy have been deleted, it emerged on Thursday - destroying vital evidence about what was happening in the run-up to the January 6 Capitol riot. Chad Wolf, the acting DHS chief, and his deputy Ken Cuccinelli, were at the heart of all discussions about potential threats to and plots against the country. On January 6 Wolf was in the Middle East on a pre-planned trip, but Cuccinelli was in DC and toured the Capitol the night of January 6 to survey the damage. The pair were required by law, as with everyone in government office, to keep their official correspondence for the National Archive. But on Thursday it emerged that their phones had been wiped. The news came a week after the same story was told about Secret Service agents on duty during the riot. Chad Wolf (left), the acting Homeland Security Secretary, and his deputy Ken Cuccinelli both had their phones wiped when they left their jobs in government - contrary to legal requirements Wolf and Cuccinelli's job was to be aware of threats against the U.S., and so their communications and briefing notes were of significant interest to the committee investigating the January 6 riot (pictured) Cuccinelli was in DC on January 6 2021, but Wolf was in the Middle East on an official visit The phones were wiped in what was termed a data 'reset' when they left their jobs in January 2021, and Joe Biden's team took over. The destruction of the records was reported to the Inspector General in February of this year. It is not clear why it took so long to inform the Inspector General of the breach of protocol. Four sources told The Washington Post, which first reported the data deletion, that the Inspector General did not demand to know why the DHS had destroyed the documentation, and did not attempt to recover it. The Inspector General did not inform Congress of the destruction of the records. Bennie Thompson, the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, who is chairing the Jan 6 select committee, said that the news of a second major lapse in document keeping - and one so significant to their work investigating the riot - was deeply worrying. 'It is extremely troubling that the issue of deleted text messages related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol is not limited to the Secret Service, but also includes Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli, who were running DHS at the time,' he said. 'It appears the DHS Inspector General has known about these deleted texts for months but failed to notify Congress. 'If the Inspector General had informed Congress, we may have been able to get better records from Senior administration officials regarding one of the most tragic days in our democracy's history.' Donald Trump is seen on July 26 in DC, speaking at the America First Policy Institute Agenda Summit Wolf was Trump's fourth Homeland Security Secretary, and said to be his favorite Both Wolf, a veteran official and lobbyist, and Cuccinelli, the former attorney general of Virginia, have not commented on the news of the destruction of their records. Wolf resigned five days after the attack on the Capitol, and cited 'recent events' as a reason, among others. Cuccinelli remained until the handover. Last week, the Secret Service confirmed that they too had deleted records - explaining in a letter to Congress that they were 'erased as part of a device-replacement program'. Secret Service phones were migrated to a new system in the weeks after the 2021 attack. The agency left it up to individual agents to decide what electronic records to keep and what to delete during the process. The deletion of the messages from DHS and the Secret Service has raised the prospect of lost evidence that could shed further light on Donald Trump's actions during the insurrection, particularly after testimony about his confrontation with security as he tried to join supporters at the Capitol. The Secret Service said 'the insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false.' The National Archives last requested more information about the 'potential unauthorized deletion' of texts and has given the agency 30 days to reveal which records were purged and the circumstances under which they were lost. It is unclear if they will make a similar request of the DHS. Secret Service texts sent around the time of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol (pictured) were deleted despite requests from Congress and federal investigators that they be preserved "The Secret Service adamantly denied that they were either stonewalling... or that the text messages were lost, and then when we subpoenaed those text messages, we have now received additional info. It...leaves us with a lot more questions" - @RepStephMurphy w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/TZZAK6gR0n Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) July 19, 2022 Investigators subpoenaed the Secret Service last week for text messages sent on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021. The committee also specifically requested 'all documents and communications related to actual or attempted conversations between any DHA official and President Trump and/or any other White House official' about the Jan. 5 rally and Jan. 6 riot. Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Democratic member of the Jan 6. panel, claims the agency produced an 'initial set of documents' to the House select committee, but excluded the requested texts. 'We received a letter today that did provide us with a lot of documents and some data. However, we did not receive the additional text messages that we were looking for,' she told MSNBC on Tuesday. 'They moved ahead with their efforts to migrate the devices and the data, and their process, as explained to us, was simply to leave it to the agent to determine whether or not there was anything on their phones worth saving that was necessary to save for federal records.' 'And as a result, today they did not receive any texts from their agents when they made that transition that was flagged for preservation.' The Secret Service acknowledged the erasure in a letter Tuesday, the Inspector General confirmed in his own letter to the Jan. 6 Committee (pictured) Congress told the Secret Service on January 16, 2021, that it needed to preserve documentation related to the January 6 attack, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN. The agency was reportedly given the same instruction on January 25. The insider also claimed the Secret Service phone migration - which Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said was 'part of a pre-planned, three-month system migration' - did not begin until January 27, 2021. 'Nobody along the way stopped and thought, "well, maybe we shouldn't do the migration of data and of the devices until we are able to fulfill these four requests from Congress,"' Murphy said on MSNBC. Secret Service agents were supposed to manually back up their texts before the migration, sources allege. If an employee failed to do so, their messages would've been permanently deleted during the process. 'Any message that was not uploaded by the employee as a government record would have been lost during the migration,' a Secret Service official told CNN Tuesday. The agency claims it is working to recover the lost messages. Investigators subpoenaed the Secret Service last week for text messages sent on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021. They were given until Tuesday to comply with the request Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (right on July 12) sent a letter to Secret Service Director James Murray (left in July 2019) requesting 'all documents and communications related to actual or attempted conversations between any DHA official and President Trump and/or any other White House official' about the Jan. 5 rally and Jan. 6 riot 'What they have also said is that they are going to continue to see if there are other ways in which they can secure the required and subpoenaed text messages that we have asked for,' Murphy said. 'My hope certainly is that they do find a way to find those texts and respond to the subpoena.' She added: 'The Secret Service adamantly denied that they were either stonewalling the Inspector General or that the text messages were lost, and then when we subpoenaed those text messages, we have now received additional info.' 'It just basically leaves us with a lot more questions and the need to continue to work with the agency to see if we can't get to the bottom of this.' Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari notified the panel of the Secret Service's response to the subpoena in a letter Tuesday. 'First, the Department notified us that many US Secret Service text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, were erased as part of a device-replacement program,' Cuffari wrote. 'The USSS erased those text messages after OIG requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our evaluation of events at the Capitol on January 6.' 'Second, DHS personnel have repeatedly told OIG inspectors that they were not permitted to provide records directly to OIG and that such records had to first undergo review by DHS attorneys.' 'This review led to weeks-long delays in OIG obtaining records and created confusion over whether all records had been produced.' Many Secret Service texts sent around the time of the riot were 'erased as part of a device-replacement program,' the agency claims. Secret Service agents are pictured on Jan. 6, 2021 Investigators were hoping to obtain 'real-time communications and reactions' from agents who directly interacted with Trump on Jan. 6 or helped coordinate his plans before and during the riots (pictured). However, people familiar with the Secret Service communication system claim even if those messages once existed, they are 'unlikely to ever be recovered' The National Archives, which is in charge of government record-keeping, asked the Secret Service to investigate the possible erasure of the messages and report back within 30 days The Secret Service has said all procedures were followed and pledged 'full cooperation' with the Archives' review. 'The United States Secret Service respects and supports the important role of the National Archives and Records Administration in ensuring the preservation of government records,' Guglielmi argued. 'We continue to scrutinize our records, databases, and archives to ensure full compliance with the Committee's subpoena,' he added in a statement. 'We are taking all feasible steps to identify records responsive to the subpoena, to include forensic examinations of agency phones and other investigative techniques.' The National Archives, which is in charge of government record-keeping, asked the Secret Service to investigate the possible erasure of the messages and report back within 30 days. 'Through several news sources, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has become aware of the potential unauthorized deletion of United States Secret Service (Secret Service) text messages,' Laurence Brewer, the chief record keeper for the US, said in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security. If it is determined any text messages were deleted, the agency must detail what records were affected, a statement on the reasoning for deletion, plan for establishing safeguards to prevent future loss as well as 'details of all agency actions taken to salvage, retrieve, or reconstruct the records,' the letter read. 'In fact, the Secret Service has been fully cooperating with the OIG in every respect - whether it be interviews, documents, emails, or texts,' Guglielmi said. Donald Trump speaks at the Stop The Steal rally on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson (pictured June 28) testified last month that Trump wanted to lead the mob of rioters to the Capitol and that he physically attacked a Secret Service agent who told him he could not go to the federal building The nine-member House Jan. 6 panel has taken a recent, renewed interest in the Secret Service following the dramatic testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson about Trump's actions on the day of the insurrection. She testified last month that Trump wanted to lead the mob of rioters from the Ellipse to the Capitol, knowing they were armed. The ex-aide also claimed a Secret Service team member told her Trump also physically attacked an agent who told him he could not go to the Capitol. However, she noted that she was not a witness to the alleged assail. Another former aide testified that Trump was informed by Secret Service ahead of the insurrection that his supporters were armed, but insisted they be permitted into his rally on the Ellipse regardless. Investigators were hoping to obtain 'real-time communications and reactions' from agents who directly interacted with Trump on Jan. 6 or helped coordinate his plans before and during the riots, likely to try and confirm the aides' allegations. Two people familiar with the Secret Service's communication system told The Washington Post that even if those messages once existed, they are 'unlikely to ever be recovered.' Disability advocates have criticised the federal government and opposition for not allowing a newly-elected senator to have an Auslan interpreter by his side during his first speech. Independent ACT senator David Pocock made the landmark request to the chamber after being asked by community members to consider having his speech live translated for people who are deaf or hearing impaired. Senate conventions require approval from the government, opposition and crossbench to have a 'stranger in the house', which Senator Pocock requested to ensure an interpreter could stand next to him and feature in the broadcast. It is understood the Greens consented to having an Auslan interpreter on the floor of the chamber but the government and the opposition refused the request, citing concerns for the precedent it would set. Independent ACT senator David Pocock made the landmark request to the chamber after being asked by community members to consider having his speech live translated for people who are deaf or hearing impaired The government and the opposition refused the request, citing concerns for the precedent it would set in both houses of parliament (pictured, the Senate during the opening of the 47th parliament) In a statement, Deaf Australia said it was deeply concerned by the lack of foresight and regard for accessibility by the government and opposition. The major parties have proven inclusion and accessibility is 'never a certainty in political settings', the statement said. With one in six Australians experiencing hearing loss, Senator Pocock said it was important for everyone to be more inclusive. 'People want a better, more collaborative parliament and that is what I want to help achieve,' he said in a statement on Friday. 'For me, that means making our parliament more inclusive. I don't want some people in our community to feel excluded or separate.' Auslan translation has been a regular feature of public communication during the pandemic with interpreters standing alongside state, territory and federal leaders during updates. 'People want a better, more collaborative parliament and that is what I want to help achieve,' the former Wallabies star now independent senator said in a statement While he appreciates the tradition and convention of the upper house, Senator Pocock said there was a strong case to update practice and better reflect community values. 'I am disappointed that the major parties have not supported my request to have an Auslan translator alongside me on the floor of the senate for my first speech,' he said. 'Not only would this have provided a practical solution, it would have also sent a strong message of inclusion.' The senator said he would work with the Department of Parliamentary Services and the Senate to ensure his first speech is accessible to anyone watching either remotely or in the public gallery. The family of a young man who went missing on an tropical north Queensland island almost three weeks ago refuses to accept he may be dead and are furious at police who they claim are giving up on him. Kaylene Bell, a family friend of missing Ben Chisholm, said his mother and sisters share a strong feeling the 'deeply spiritual' but bush-smart 22-year-old is alive somewhere on Magnetic Island. They fear he may have fallen into a crevice and become trapped after breaking a bone. Ben, who lives on the island, disappeared on July 13 and was last seen wandering towards trails leading to dense bushland. The waters around the island are known to be home to saltwater crocodiles and Tiger sharks. Ben Chisolm (pictured) was last seen wandering towards bush trails leading to dense bushland inland on Magnetic Island, QLD on July 13. The waters around the island are known to be home to saltwater crocodiles and Tiger sharks Queenslander Ben Chisholm went missing on Magnetic Island on July 13 but his family (pictured are his sisters Shiralee and Ellouize) insist they can tell he is still alive Police, the SES, Rural Fire Service and Parks and Wildlife teams are searching for Mr Chisholm, with his family fearing he may have fallen in the dense bushland 'We all feel he is alive not one of us feel he's not still alive,' Ms Bell, who is known to the family as 'aunty', told Daily Mail Australia. 'He's grown up in the bush his entire life, has been camping in and around the bush, he's not stupid he's watched lots and lots of survival shows, knows how to leave landmarks, how to find food and water. 'We all feel he's probably stuck somewhere slid into a crevice, broken a bone and can't get up.' Ms Bell said his mum Jackie Burgess, from Victoria, and sister Shiralee Rosario, who lives next door to Ben on Magnetic Island, are anxious as they wait for news but are convinced he will be found. Mr Chisholm's family believe he is still alive despite him being missing for 17 days Jackie Burgess (pictured front right) is remaining with her daughter Shiralee Rosario on Magnetic Island, in the hope that her son, Ben Chisholm, (kneeling, beside family and friends), will be found She said Mr Chisholm had experienced mental health issues and his behaviour was out of character the day before he went missing, but maintained 'he wouldn't deliberately do this to his mum or sisters'. Mr Chisholm was spoken to by police after neighbours complained when he randomly knocked on doors of residents in Nelly Bay on Magnetic Island. Other than that, Ms Bell said, he showed 'no signs of strangeness'. Mr Chisholm's family believe he may have slipped into a crevice on the island Police are scaling back the search for Ben Chisholm but his family have refused to give up 'Ben is a kind and happy person, a beautiful soul, very empathetic and spiritual. I'm sure he is speaking to the spirits, if he has the mind space he'll be asking for help,' she said. The day after he went missing his hat and some clothes were found then several days later his jacket and shorts. Ms Bell said the family had no explanation, but ruled out drugs playing a role - 'he doesn't get mixed up in that'. She said Ben's traumatised sister, Ms Rosario, was 'angry and frustrated' at Queensland police for how they are treating the family and handling the search. 'I just spoke to Shiralee, she's really angry and frustrated,' Ms Bell said. SES volunteers have spent up to 80 hours each searching for Ben Chisholm in the past 10 days 'She had an officer ring her and say they're scaling back the search even more. Then he hung up on her because he said she was talking over him. 'But she was speaking over him in her frustrations of trying to be heard and get some answers.' Ms Bell said the family is grateful for search efforts so far - which on July 20 and 21 totalled 80 people including police, the SES, Rural Fire Service, National Parks and Wildlife and even army cadets. But the family believes Queensland police have prematurely reduced the size of the search effort given their belief that Ben is still alive. 'Search efforts have been scaled back with minimal resources, with a focus on investigative outcomes as the search for Ben Chisholm continues on Magnetic Island,' Acting Inspector Mark Camilleri told Daily Mail Australia. On Friday Ms Bell said police flagged the prospect of ending the search. She said the family is upset police are considering calling off the search. They also accused police of refusing to allow volunteers into search areas because they hadn't undergone specialised safety training. 'We are being blocked from letting volunteers go anywhere. We've had specialist climbers ready to help but they've been turned away,' Ms Bell said. Ms Rosario has continuously posted social media updates thanking searchers and urged more people to join the search as official numbers have fallen. Two days ago she posted: 'We are still calling any SES Volunteers that can help come search for Ben. We have had some specialized high building/cliff climbing experts that have answered our plea.' A voluntary searcher and local kayaker, Craig, who has been live-streaming videos of his hunt for Mr Chisholm on TikTok also believes it is possible Mr Chisholm is alive. 'There is water, there is food, like Burdekin plums' in the bush on Magnetic Island, he said. 'There's a lot of unanswered questions [but] I think we're really close to it guys, so have faith, we'll do this, we'll bring him back home,' Craig said in a video posted on Friday. @crackajack9 Fingers crossed we hear more soon, still plenty of people searching all over the island #bringbenhome original sound - Crackajack9 The mystery of what happened to Mr Chisholm has only deepened since he went missing 17 days ago. Ms Bell said the family don't share the new theory that Mr Chisholm may have left the island on on a yellow Polycraft tender boat that went missing around the same time he did. 'The boat theory is being looked at but none of us feel it has anything to do with him,' she said. Daily Mail Australia approached Queensland police for comment. Helene Huby, the previous vice president of the European Service Module (ESM), says that Europe is five to 10 years behind the US. She has then shared the plans of The Exploration Company, a European start-up company, to produce a reusable spacecraft. ESM's Previous VP, Helene Huby, says Europe is behind the US in Space Scene According to Helene Huby, the European space scene is around five to ten years behind the American one. She is undoubtedly competent to provide such a judgment. At the prestigious European aerospace giant Airbus, where Huby spent a large portion of her career, one of her positions was vice president of the European Service Module (ESM). The Orion orbital vehicle, which NASA plans to use to send people back to the moon for the first time since the Apollo period, is powered and propelled by the ESM. Airbus fired Huby in August 2021 as she said As she tells it, "I didn't want to spend my life working on a vehicle that is not reusable, cannot be refueled." So she made the decision to create one independently. She and two other colleagues departed Airbus, Artur Koop, ESM propulsion subsystem lead, and Jon Reijneveld, deputy lead systems engineer. The Exploration Company is building a reusable, refuelable orbital spacecraft with Sebastien Reichstat and Pierre Vinet. Huby asserts that there is no direct rival in Europe, which presents a chance for a firm from the continent to compete on the global scene. Around 11.5 million ($11.6 million) has been secured for The Exploration Company, including a 5.3 million ($5.3 million) seed round that was co-led by Promus Ventures and included investment from Vsquared and Cherry Ventures. The company now employs around 30 workers. The firm is advancing quickly, and the haste is intentional. It plans to launch a demonstration on an Ariane 6 rocket in October. Although Huby emphasized that she learned all she knew at Airbus, she encountered a problem that has now nearly become a startup meme: the urge to move quickly and take risks in a setting where neither of those things may be encouraged. The Exploration Company will introduce "Bikini" this year, followed by a functioning prototype in 2024, which is 80% pre-booked, Huby stated. No consumer has paid a deposit, thus the reservations are not binding. Huby said the business is negotiating with particular consumers to sign contracts with down payments by October. Read Also: Senate Passes the CHIPS and Science Act to Assist American Semiconductor Production China's Reusable Long March 9 Prior to the news of The Exploration Company's development, China has reportedly contemplated creating a reusable Long March 9 mega-rocket product. Long Lehao, the head designer of the Long March rocket series, unveiled the new Long March 9 design at a public lecture in Chinese which might take flight as early as 2035. It will use methane-liquid oxygen, also known as methalox, the same fuel SpaceX's Starship used for long space missions. Although the two systems have similar heavy-lifting capacities and fuel, their structural differences go well beyond that. Methane-liquid oxygen improves performance and lessens soot generation and coking problems for reusability. The plans continue the trend of moving to fuel set by SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance. The Chinese reusable rocket is anticipated to be around 103 meters long, contain a 10-meter-diameter core, weigh 4,140 metric tons at liftoff, and be able to lift either 50 tons for trans-lunar injection or 140 tons to Low Earth Orbit. A twenty-six clustered 200-ton-thrust methalox engines would power the 10.6-meter-diameter launcher's first stage. At the same time, 150 tons of cargo may be transported into low-Earth orbit, 65 tons into geosynchronous transfer orbit, and 50 tons into trans-lunar injection. Related Article: A Chinese Rocket Uncontrollably Plummets to Earth; Crash is Still Undetermined by Specialists The family of a man shot dead by police in Melbourne's north have told an inquest forgive the officer who killed him. Gabriel Messo, who had diagnosed bipolar, was stabbing his mother Lilla Messo in her head and neck with a stick at John Coutts Reserve on the afternoon of July 16, 2020, when two officers arrived at the scene. Constable Emmanuel Andrew shot Mr Messo three times in the chest. The officer's partner Senior Constable Rebecca Churcher broke down while giving evidence at an inquest into Mr Messo's death on Thursday, where she recalled it was like he 'didn't even flinch' after the first shot, and advanced on them after the second. Const Andrew was on Friday excused from giving witness testimony at the inquest because of risks of self-incrimination, and the amount of evidence already before the coroner. Mr Messo's family gave evidence, telling the inquest they've lost faith in the mental health system, as the 30-year-old was brought to the Royal Melbourne Hospital under police guard the day before his death. Gabriel Messo (left) stabbed his mum Lilla (right) with a stick before he was shot dead by police in a reserve in Gladstone Park. His family have forgiven the officer who shot him dead He appeared either drug-affected or in a psychotic episode when he was arrested after an incident at his aunt and uncle's house earlier that morning, but was assessed as safe to be discharged. Mr Messo was later released on bail from Broadmeadows Police Station. His mother survived the attack at the reserve but now lives with an acquired brain injury. She is reminded of what happened every time she looks in the mirror, Gabriel's Messo's sister Mary said. Lilla Messo didn't initially realise how she'd ended up in hospital, with her family telling her six weeks into her long recovery her son had died. Mary Messo said the system needs to be 'flipped on its head'. Her brother also tried and failed to get in-person help for his mental health in the days leading up to his death. 'We know Gabby's case is not the first, and if nothing changes, it won't be the last,' she told State Coroner John Cain. 'We hope that they take a good look at themselves and learn from their mistakes. Lilla Messo (pictured) lights a candle for her late son Gabriel every day, the inquest heard 'They get to travel the world and live their lives - Gabby does not.' Her family couldn't comprehend why police released Mr Messo, and why he was not offered adequate assistance for his mental health. When Mr Messo was unwell, that wasn't his true nature, Mary Messo said. Instead, her family would remember him as a fun-loving, energetic, genuine person, who loved them unconditionally. 'Gabby won't be here for my wedding,' she said. 'He won't have an opportunity to be an uncle to any nephews or nieces, let alone have children of his own. 'His life was taken too early.' A police officer broke down while giving evidence at the Gabriel Messo inquest on Thursday. Pictured are police at the scene of the incident in July 2020 Fuat Messo said his wife Lilla lights a candle for their son every day, and they pray for him day and night. He told the coroner that, when people and organisations 'drop the baton', it can result in permanent scars, and on the day of his son's death, he believes he was frustrated with life. His family forgive Const Andrew, Fuat Messo said and acknowledge Sen Const Churcher, for they were only trying to do their best. Evidence in the inquest into Mr Messo's death wrapped up on Friday, with the parties to reconvene in September. A New Zealand media company has been forced to make a payout to Jacinda Ardern's partner Clarke Gayford after broadcasting unfounded rumours of his criminality. On Friday, Mr Gayford issued a statement confirming NZME will make a confidential payout following a broadcast from its youth broadcaster KICK in March. 'The statements were based on rumours about Mr Gayford that are baseless lies,' Mr Gayford said. 'NZME Radio has apologised to Mr Gayford for these publications and the hurt and distress they have caused and accepts that he has never been the subject of criminal charges and is not now the subject of criminal charges in any court in New Zealand.' The KICK broadcast, also available as a podcast, has been taken down though the tagline for the episode can still be seen. 'New ep of FRESH MUSIC FRIDAY is out now! Joel tables another conspiracy theory and Kate confesses her love for Enrique Iglesias of all people,' it reads. Clarke Gayford (pictured left with fiance and New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern right) has confirmed a kiwi radio station will award him a 'confidential' payout for airing 'baseless lies' TV host Clarke Gayford (pictured) and his prime ministerial partner Jacinda Ardern have been at the centre of conspiracy theories since the beginning of the pandemic It is not clear precisely what was broadcast about Mr Gayford, but both he and Ms Ardern have been increasingly targeted by conspiracy theorists following lengthy COVID-19 lockdowns. Anti-vaccine movements are awash with unsubstantiated rumours about Mr Gayford's supposed lawbreaking or infidelity. In April, a plane flew over Auckland with a banner reading 'Where is Clarke?', a reference to an alleged court appearance for Mr Gayford. The radio station NZME (pictured) forked over an undisclosed amount of money to Mr Gayford for comments made in a youth broadcast NZME-owned youth radio station KICK (pictured) reportedly aired comments which implied Mr Gayford was a criminal Such was the weight of public interest to media, police issued a statement saying he had not been charged or was the subject of any investigation. Mr Gayford was a well-known figure in New Zealand becoming first bloke, as a popular DJ and radio and television host, including the popular Fish Of The Day program. He and Ms Ardern had a child in 2018, Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford. The pair were engaged in 2019, though difficulties in planning events during the pandemic mean they have not yet tied the knot. Advertisement Liz Truss reignited her economic row with Rishi Sunak today as she accused the former chancellor of 'scaremongering' over his warnings about her economic plans for power. The Foreign Secretary has vowed to bring in tax cuts worth 20billion and increase defence spending by around 23billion if she becomes party leader and prime minister. Mr Sunak, in contrast, has been more cautious, warning that inflation - currently 9.4 per cent and still expected to rise - must come down before taxes are cut. He has also sited comments by Professor Patrick Minford, a Truss supporter, that her plans could see interest rates hit seven per cent, adding more than 5000 a month to the average mortgage. The different positions have helped Ms Truss lead polls of Tory members who will vote to put one of them in No10. Addressing the criticisms of her economic ideas, Ms Truss told the Conservative Home website: 'Frankly this is just scaremongering. Inflation is projected to come down next year. And the Bank of England is independent, it makes decisions about interest rates completely independently of government.' During a visit to Norfolk today, the Foreign Secretary was asked if she can actually deliver on all the pledges and promises she has made. Speaking to broadcasters, Ms Truss said: 'We can deliver. I will reverse the national insurance increase. We didn't need to do it. And we can afford that within our budget. I also think that by keeping taxes low, we will attract more business and investment into counties like Norfolk, which will help grow the economy and bring those tax revenues in.' She went on: 'And I'm also committed to challenging the current orthodoxy around investment spending. We need more of it going into rural areas. More of it going into left behind areas, more of it going into parts of Britain that don't have a good infrastructure yet, and that's what I'm committed to do.' It came as Cabinet minister Ben Wallace delivered a possibly fatal blow to Mr Sunak's hopes of becoming prime minister by backing rival Team Truss and castigating him for walking out on Boris Johnson's Government. The Defence Secretary is hugely popular with Tory members who will vote for the next party leader and was tipped to run himself. But after ruling himself out he finally went public to back the Foreign Secretary last night Mr Wallace, a former soldier, said she was 'authentic, honest and experienced' with the 'integrity' for the top job. He also said he was swung by her plan to increase defence spending and accused Mr Sunak of trying to block 'vital' money during his time as chancellor. And in an interview with the Sun and writing in the Times he laid into the former Chancellor, echoing supporter of Mr Johnson by suggesting he was pivotal in the PM's downfall. And speaking to Sky News today he said: 'Some ministers don't have the luxury of walking out. If you actually look at that article, I was asked why I didn't resign. And I said some ministers don't have the luxury of resigning because, fundamentally, we have duties and obligations.' The Foreign Secretary (pictured today at an event at Breckland Council) has vowed to bring in tax cuts worth 20billion and increase defence spending by around 23billion if she becomes party leader and prime minister Mr Sunak (pictured today in Tunbridge Wells) , in contrast, has been more cautious, warning that inflation - currently 9.4 per cent and still expected to rise - must come down before taxes are cut Today Liz Truss was in Norfolk continuing on her campaign trail in a bid to become the next leader of the Conservative party Mr Wallace hit out at the former Chancellor (right), questioning what would have happened if the markets crashed on the day he quit his role Mr Wallace finally went public to back the Foreign Secretary last night, after she had smoothly got through the first of 12 members' hustings The Defence Secretary is hugely popular with Tory members who will vote for the next party leader and was tipped to run himself Liz Truss looked to have increased her chances of beating Rishi Sunak and becoming prime minister tonight after coming out on top as they were grilled by Tory members for the first time She joked about her time in the city before vowing to beat 'patronising, plastic patriot' Keir Starmer at the next election if she becomes Prime Minister Mr Sunak was verbally attacked by one member for his role in 'stabbing Boris Johnson in the back', in the question and answer session A new poll today suggests a majority of Tory members want Mr Johnson out of Government. Only 40 per cent of those surveyed by YouGov wanted him in the next Cabinet. Kemi Badenoch, Mr Wallace and Suella Braverman rated the highest with only Jeremy Hunt less popular than the PM Asked if he would have liked to resign, he said 'no', adding: 'But I also made clear, and I made a tweet at the time for those colleagues who do want to express confidence in the Government, there's a very simple way of doing that. 'There was going to be a 1922 committee on the Monday the next week, a couple of days after Rishi resigned, and they could have done it that way. They could have voted the Prime Minister through confidence in the party.' He added: 'I just don't think triggering Cabinet ministers walking out at a time of a crisis is the right course of action. 'There were other mechanisms to do what they wanted. If Rishi Sunak didn't want the Prime Minister to be Prime Minister, there are other mechanisms to do that. And that goes for all the other ministers.' However a new poll today suggests a majority of Tory members want Mr Johnson out of Government. Only 40 per cent of those surveyed by YouGov wanted him in the next Cabinet. Kemi Badenoch, Mr Wallace and Suella Braverman rated the highest with only Jeremy Hunt less popular than the PM. It same after Ms Truss comfortably got through last night's Tory hustings in Leeds, the first of 12 they will face in the coming weeks. In contrast, Mr Sunak was attacked by one member for his role in 'stabbing Boris Johnson in the back', in the question and answer session. Wallace pulled out of the running to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, despite having been the bookmakers' favourite to win. The politician, 52, had topped a YouGov poll of potential runners to take over as Conservative Party leader and had put a campaign team together. But he announced on Twitter that he will not take part in the race, days after Boris Johnson announced his resignation. Mr Wallace said on Twitter: 'After careful consideration and discussing with colleagues and family, I have taken the decision not to enter the contest for leadership of the Conservative Party.' He added that it had not been an 'easy' choice to make, but said his focus is on his role as Defence Secretary and 'keeping this great country safe'. After the announcement, Wallace was said to be a 'kingmaker' in the Tory leadership race, but was said to be 'waiting until the final stages to announce who he is backing' to become Prime Minister. A friend of Mr Wallace told The Times at the time that he is a 'kingmaker' in the race due to his grassroots popularity in the party. The endorsement came after the candidates were quizzed separately on a vast array of policy areas - as well as their predictions for the Women's Euro 2022 final - as they sought to woo northern voters in the race for the top job. Liz Truss looked to have increased her chances of beating Rishi Sunak and becoming prime minister tonight after coming out on top as they were grilled by Tory members for the first time. The Foreign Secretary was more relaxed that previous slightly wooden outings in the campaign as she played up her local roots in her home city of Leeds. She joked about her time in the city before vowing to beat 'patronising, plastic patriot' Keir Starmer at the next election if she becomes Prime Minister. She was also applauded for saying she was proud to have worked for Boris Johnson - and for backing gender-specific toilets. In contrast Mr Sunak faced some difficult questions over his role in Mr Johnson's political demise. One party member told him that 'many people think you stabbed him in the back', adding: 'I'm not entirely sure what planet you are on.' Parts of the audience at the Conservative Party hustings clapped when host Nick Ferrari mentioned support for Boris Johnson to be included on the ballot. The LBC presenter referenced reports that around 14,000 members of the Conservative Party wanted Mr Johnson's name on the ballot, pausing as clapping and some cheers were audible from some in the audience. Asked what he would say to those members, Mr Sunak said: 'Whether he's on the ballot or not, ultimately you need to be able to command the confidence of your MPs in Parliament, and we got to a point where close to 60 of them had resigned from Government.' He also said he would not give outgoing PM Boris Johnson a job in his Cabinet, but vowed to back the return of grammar schools. Under questioning, Ms Truss played up her loyalty to Mr Johnson, saying she had been 'proud' to work for him and had 'always been a fan'. The hustings was the first of 12 allowing party faithful across the country to quiz the final two candidates before voting for the next party leader and prime minister closes on September 2. A child bride who killed the man she was forced to marry when she was 15 is among three women executed in Iran for murdering their husbands this week. Soheila Abadi, now 25, was hanged in prison after she was convicted of killing her husband over 'family disputes' according to the sentencing courts. Two other women executed on Wednesday were also convicted of murdering their husbands, Human Rights Watch said. A child bride who killed the man she was forced to marry when she was 15 is among three women executed in Iran for murdering their husbands this week (pictured: protesters demonstrating against Iranian capital punishment) Activists claim that most incidents of wives killing their husbands are sparked by domestic violence but the Iranian courts do not take this into account. The trio are among 32 people hanged in the country in just the past week. It comes amid a surge in executions across the country, with at least 251 people killed by the state killed in the first six months of the year, Amnesty International reported. The figure is more than double the number executed over the same period last year. The charity accused Iran of carrying out a 'horrific spree' of executions, with many of those sentenced to death not having had a fair trial. Of the 251 executed, 146 of them were for murder, and at least 86 were for drug offences which should not warrant the death penalty under international law. Diana Eltahawy, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said: 'The state machinery is carrying out killings on a mass scale across the country in an abhorrent assault on the right to life. 'Iran's staggering execution toll for the first half of this year has chilling echoes of 2015 when there was another shocking spike.' The true number of executions is likely far higher, with hangings often carried out in secret and not reported. Since the start of the year, authorities in Raja'i Shahr prison (pictured) which has one of the biggest death row populations, have been executing up to 10 people a week Since the start of the year, authorities in Raja'i Shahr prison which has one of the biggest death row populations, have been executing up to 10 people a week. Some have claimed the surge is due to a concerted effort to bring down prison numbers. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre for Human Rights in Iran found spikes in executions coincide with public statements from the authorities about the need to reduce prison overcrowding and wipe out the legal backlogs. At least 26 per cent of those executed this year are members of the impoverished Baluchi ethnic minority which makes up only five per cent of the total Iranian population. Roya Boroumand, executive director of the centre, said: 'The disproportionate use of the death penalty against Iran's Baluchi minority epitomizes the entrenched discrimination and repression they have faced for decades and further highlights the inherent cruelty of the death penalty, which targets the most vulnerable populations in Iran and worldwide.' Under Iranian law, the death penalty can be imposed for financial crimes, rape and armed robbery. Other activities protected by international human rights law such as homosexual acts, extramarital sexual relations and speech deemed 'insulting to the Prophet of Islam' as well as vaguely-worded offences such as 'enmity against God' and 'spreading corruption on earth' are also punishable by death. With estimated costs expected to approach 3m, the Wagatha Christie case will be one of Britains most expensive libel cases. Both Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney employed superstar barristers to plead their case, and it is believed both men will walk away with a hefty paycheck of up to 500,000 each. Coleens brief David Sherborne and Rebekahs QC Hugh Tomlinson are believed to charge at least 800 an hour and that includes preparing their case, not just for the time they spend in court. Each senior lawyer had an experienced junior barrister backed up by a team of solicitors. Coleens brief David Sherborne (left) and Rebekahs QC Hugh Tomlinson are believed to charge at least 800 an hour and that includes preparing their case, not just for the time they spend in court Even a year ago at a costs hearing in August 2021, the total pre-trial bill for the case was reckoned to be between 1.5m and 2m. At that point, documents showed a 300,000 difference in legal budgets by the warring WAGs and Coleens lawyers objected to the disproportionate costs racked up by Rebekahs side, describing it as Too many lawyers working far too many hours. Rebekahs side had budgeted 836,735, compared to Coleen's 537,029, making it 55 per cent higher. While that amount did include a projected fee for the trial costs, the case also took many unexpected turns after that stage with several hearings taking longer than expected. When Coleens side made an unsuccessful application to have Rebekahs former agent Caroline Watt to the action in February 2022, Coleen was ordered to pay 65,000 of Caroline Watts 70,000 costs just for that hearing and associated work. Rebekah and Jamie Vardy arrive at the Royal Courts Of Justice during the trial in May Rebekahs side had budgeted 836,735, compared to Coleen's 537,029, making it 55 per cent higher. Coleen is seen out and about in Alderley Edge, Cheshire in July Coleens own estimated legal costs for the two-day hearing were 163,926, while Rebekahs were between 100,000 and 143,000. Whatever the final bill, it wont match the stratospheric costs incurred in Britains longest defamation case, the David and Goliath McLibel trial, which cost McDonalds an estimated 10m (at 1997 prices). The multinational sued two penniless London Greenpeace supporters for a leaflet they were distributing and involved no fewer than 313 days of hearings at the High Court over 2 years. Although McDonalds won the case, it was regarded as a pyrrhic victory as the judgement did find some of the points in the campaigners literature proven, and the lawsuit had merely served to publicise the criticisms. Horrifying video has emerged appearing to show a Ukrainian prisoner of war being castrated by his Russian captors. The footage, which MailOnline is not publishing, shows a group of men wearing Russian camouflage pinning a soldier in Ukrainian fatigues down and using a box-cutting knife to remove his genitals and then hold them up to the camera. It is unclear exactly when or where the footage was taken, but some of the Russian soldiers who appear in it were filmed on the frontlines in Donbas back in June. Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun tweeted the footage, saying: 'Russia has to pay for it. Russian soldiers have filmed themselves castrating a Ukrainian prisoner of war, in footage thought to have been filmed in Donbas (file image, Russian soldiers in occupied Donbas) 'Give Ukraine the weapons we need to stop this nightmare once and for all. The world can't pretend like this isn't happening.' It is also unclear what happened to the Ukrainian soldier in the video, but it is unlikely he survived his injuries without immediate medical attention. Aric Toler, from investigative website Bellingcat which successfully identified the Salisbury poisoners, has told The Times that the video is likely genuine. There is no evidence that the video has been manipulated, he said, pointing to Russian state media that showed some of the same Russian soldiers in the city of Severodonetsk back in June - shortly after it was captured from Ukraine. Internet users are now attempting to identify the soldier seen doing the castrating, and believe he may have come from a Chechen unit that ultimately falls under the command of Putin crony Ramzan Kadyrov. Others have suggested the camouflage he is wearing is from a Rosgvardia unit - Russian national guard that report directly to Putin. Inna Sovsun, a Ukrainian MP, was among official figures to post the footage - saying that 'Russian must pay for it' The video is just the latest in a long line of evidence of war crimes being committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Perhaps the best-documented were in areas of northern Ukraine that Russia occupied early in the war before being forced to retreat. Bucha and Irpin, two cities on the outskirts on Kyiv, bore the brunt of the atrocities - with plentiful evidence left behind of kidnap, torture, and summary executions of civilians and soldiers. Anecdotal evidence suggests deliberate campaigns of rape and sexual assault were also carried out by Russian troops. Ukrainian officials have warned that similar atrocities are likely to have been carried out in other areas Russia occupies - such as Mariupol and Donbas - but Moscow has likely destroyed evidence of those crimes. More than a million Ukrainians are also thought to have been forcibly deported from areas that Russia has seized and taken via filtration camps. Soldiers, government officials, members of the emergency services, and their families have reported being sent to concentration camps on occupied territory where torture, sexual abuse, and mock executions are carried out. A Ukrainian soldier watches smoke from Russian bombs rise over the horizon in Severodonetsk, where the video is thought to have been filmed Those who do not end up in the camps are sent deep into Russia - some as far as the island of Sakhalin, off the coast of Japan - where they are forced into work. Ukraine says it is investigating more than 21,000 crimes by Russian forces, while international teams of prosecutors have gone to the country to assist. The first to be jailed was tank commander Vadim Shishimarin, 21, who admitted shooting 62-year-old Oleksandr Shelipov dead in the opening days of the war. Shishimarin said he was pressured to kill Shelipov by his comrades, fearing the elderly man - who was pushing his bike by the roadside - was about to report their location to Ukrainian troops. The International Criminal Court has described Ukraine as 'a crime scene' and has dispatched its largest-ever team to investigate. Massacres in cities such as Bucha and Irpin are under investigation, as are strikes on hospitals and other buildings where civilians were sheltering from bombs. Russia is now five months into what was supposed to be a days-long war to depose the government and install a puppet regime. Estimates of the civilian death-toll are near-impossible to come by, but Ukraine believes it runs into at least the tens of thousands. United Nations human rights chiefs have documented at least 5,000 deaths, but say there are likely many more that cannot be verified due to fighting. An Alabama inmate who shot his girlfriend dead nearly three decades ago was executed by lethal injection Thursday night after having a final phone call with his mother and despite pleas from the victim's family for clemency. Joe Nathan James Jr., 50, received a lethal injection at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore after the US Supreme Court denied his request for a stay despite desperate pleas from the victim's family to spare his life. James was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1994 shooting death of Faith Hall, 26, in Birmingham. Hall's daughters have said they would rather James serve life in prison, but Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday that she would let the execution proceed. Joe Nathan James Jr. (pictured), 50, received a lethal injection at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore on Thursday after the Supreme Court denied his request for a stay despite desperate pleas from the victim's family to spare his life James was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1994 shooting death of Faith Hall (pictured) in Birmingham James briefly dated Hall and became obsessed after she rejected him, stalking and harassing her for months before killing her, prosecutors said. Court records show in the year prior to Hall's murder, there were three harassment and one burglary police reports filed by Hall and her grandmother against James. The records document reports of James making threats to kill Hall, entering their home and damaging items, banging on windows, constant calling, sitting in the home's driveway and more, AL.com reports. On August 15, 1994, Hall was shopping with a friend and returned to that friend's apartment. When the pair got out of their car, they noticed James had been following them. The women ran inside the apartment, but James forced his way through the door, which the women were trying to barricade, armed with a gun. 'James demanded to know about a man he had seen with (Hall), while (Hall) asked him to put the gun awaywhich he did, briefly,' according to court documents that described the shooting. 'After a few minutes, however, James said 'f**k this s**t,' pulled his gun back out, and started shooting. (Hall) ran toward the bathroom and James chased her. James shot (Hall) three times: once in the abdomen, once through the arm and chest, and once in the top of the head, apparently after she had fallen to the floor. She died of her gunshot wounds.' Hall's children were at the home in southwest Birmingham they shared with their mom, great-grandmother, and uncle when the family learned about Hall's killing. Faith Hall (pictured) seen in this undated photo, was just 26 years old at the time of her murder A Jefferson County jury first convicted James of capital murder in 1996 and voted to recommend the death penalty, which a judge imposed. The conviction was overturned two years later when a state appeals court ruled a judge had wrongly admitted some police reports into evidence. James was retried and again sentenced to death in 1999, when jurors rejected defense claims that he was under emotional duress at the time of the shooting. ADOC Public Information Officer Kelly Betts said James had no visitors on Wednesday but spoke to his mother on the phone, according to AL.com. He was also observed eating regular lunch and dinner trays. The next day, Thursday, he received no visitors but spoke to three lawyers on the phone. He refused breakfast, which is usually served between 3am and 5am, ate lunch, and then refused his dinner meal. His breakfast, which he refused, consisted of grits, eggs, apple jelly, two biscuits, orange juice and a slice of bread. James did not want a last meal and had no last requests. The execution was scheduled for 6pm CDT, but was delayed for three hours. 'We are very deliberate in our process and making sure everything goes according to plan,' Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said. 'So if that takes a few minutes or a few hours, that's what we do. So, there was nothing out of the ordinary, but we just made sure we carried out the court order.' James did not open his eyes or show any visible movements before the execution began at 9pm. He did not move or speak when the warden asked if he had any final words. The death warrant was read at 9.03pm. Hall's daughters have said they would rather James serve life in prison, but Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday that she would let the execution proceed. Pictured: Alabama's lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility An IV that was attached to James' arm shook slightly with movement at 9.05pm and one minute later, he appeared to have labored breathing, AL.com reported. The labored breathing lasted until about 9.10pm when a correctional officer performed a consciousness check consisting of shouting James' name, flicking his eyelid and pinching his arm. While James' head moved to the side after the arm pinch, he did not respond to the motions. At 9.12pm, James appeared to stop breathing. The curtains to the viewing room closed six minutes later. He was pronounced dead at 9.27pm. While media witnesses were waiting in the van outside of Holman's Death Row, inmates inside stared out the windows from their cells. One inmate hung four pieces of paper in his window with handwriting that read, 'This is a murder' on the top page. The two pages directly below were not readable from a distance. The fourth paper read: 'Victim family says no.' Hall's two daughters, Toni Hall Melton, who was three, and Terryln Hall, who was six when their mother was killed, and her younger brother, Helvetius Hall, who was 24 at the time of the murder, had said recently that they would rather James serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. The family members did not attend the execution. 'If you were to tell me executing him would bring my mom back... but she's not coming back,' Toni said. 'You take his life, you're not bringing her back. You're doing this to another family... That's not justice at all.' 'I had 24 sweet, good years with her,' Helvetius Hall told AL.com. 'She was my rock. She was always there (for me), day or night, for her baby brother.' 'My sister had a heart of gold,' he said. The victim's daughter, Terrlyn (pictured left) and Hall's brother Obito (pictured right) tried to prevent James from execution and instead wanted him to serve a life sentence behind bars but their request was denied by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey 'Today is a tragic day for our family. We are having to relive the hurt that this caused us many years ago,' a statement issued through state Rep. Juandalynn Givan's office read. Givan was a friend of Hall's. 'We hoped the state wouldn't take a life simply because a life was taken and we have forgiven Mr. Joe Nathan James Jr. for his atrocities toward our family... We pray that God allows us to find healing after today and that one day our criminal justice system will listen to the cries of families like ours, even if it goes against what the state wishes,' the family's statement read. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said she would not intervene. In a statement Thursday night, Ivey said she deeply considers the feelings of the victim's family and loved ones, but 'we must always fulfill our responsibility to the law, to public safety and to justice.' 'Faith Hall, the victim of repetitive harassment, serious threats and ultimately, cold-blooded murder, was taken from this earth far too soon at the hands of Joe Nathan James, Jr. Now, after two convictions, a unanimous jury decision and nearly three decades on death row, Mr. James has been executed for capital murder, and justice has been served for Faith Hall. Tonight, a fair and lawful sentence was carried out, and an unmistakable message was sent that Alabama stands with victims of domestic violence.' James acted as his own attorney in his bid to stop his execution, mailing handwritten lawsuits and appeal notices to the courts from death row. A lawyer filed the latest appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on his behalf Wednesday. But the request for a stay was rejected about 30 minutes before the execution was set to begin. James asked the justices for a stay, noting the opposition of Hall's family and arguing that Alabama did not give inmates adequate notice of their right to select an alternate execution method. He also argued that Ivey's refusal violates religious freedom laws because the Koran and the Bible 'place the concept of forgiveness paramount in this situation.' The state argued that James waited too late to begin trying to postpone his execution and 'should not be rewarded for his transparent attempt to game the system.' 'Tonight, Joe James finally received his just punishment,' Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement after the execution. 'Joe James was put to death for the heinous act he committed nearly three decades ago: the cold-blooded murder of an innocent young mother, Faith Hall.' 'In the years since, Joe James has tried to blame everything and everyone in an attempt to escape the consequences of his crime. He has claimed that his highly experienced trial counsel was 'ineffective,' that his artful appellate counsel was 'deficient,' and in a demonstration of shocking cowardice and callousness that his victim bore the blame for her own murder,' Marshall stated. James was the second death row inmate executed in Alabama this year. In January, Matthew Reeves, 44, was put to death for the 1996 murder of Willie Johnson Jr, after the US Supreme Court rejected claims that he had an 'intellectual disability.' Tourists have been blasted after they flocked to the edge of a crocodile-infested river to watch on as the predators lurked just metres away. Footage emerged on Friday showing huge crowds including children at the notorious Cahill's Crossing in the Northern Territory, with many even dipping their toes into the water. Up to 200 tourists were seen hanging around the edges of the river bank unfazed, leaving ABC Radio presenter Leon Compton dumbfounded. 'Someone is going to die, given the behaviour I saw yesterday at the crossing it is only a matter of time,' Mr Compton, who was visiting the area, told the ABC. 'Someone is going to die': Shocking footage of tourists ignoring crocodile warnings in Kakadu Serious safety concerns have been raised after hordes of tourists were seen crowding around the banks of a crocodile-infested river in Kakadu National Park, where people have previously been killed. "Someone is going to die," Leon Compton said, who is holidaying in the Top End with his family. Leon Compton Full story: https://ab.co/3PLHN6U Get more Darwin news here: https://bit.ly/DarwinNews Listen to ABC Radio Darwin here: https://bit.ly/DarwinRadioLive Posted by ABC Darwin on Thursday, July 28, 2022 Cahill's Crossing (pictured) at Kakadu National Park is home to 120 crocs and one of the most dangerous waters in the country The Kakadu National Park site has seen tragedy with one man being killed in 2017 as he was trying to cross the hazardous area on foot (stock image) The waterlogged area is a well known spot to see crocodiles in action and attracts thousands of tourists each year outside the wet season Mr Compton said there is supposed to be a barricade at the spot to give space between visitors and the crocs but it was under construction. Despite there being signs the crossing was closed, he said many decided to go down to the water's edge. 'It was so ridiculous. It would have become a stampede if a croc had rocketed out of there,' he said. The Kakadu National Park site has seen tragedy in the past with one man being killed in 2017 as he was trying to cross the hazardous area on foot. In 1987, 40-year-old Kerry McLoughlin was decapitated after an encounter with a crocodile as he was fishing in the same area. Last year a group of tourists were forced to swim through crocodile-infested waters after their Subaru Forester got bogged in the river. They had to abandon their car and swim across the East Alligator River, which is notorious for being full of saltwater crocs. A driver had to stop and wait for crocodiles to pass by (pictured) at the notorious Northern Territory spot In September 2019 a tourist was left in a terrifying situation after their car became surrounded by more than 30 saltwater crocodiles. The car was forced to come to a complete stop for more than two minutes and wait for the reptiles to move off the road. Operations manager at Kimberley Off-Road Adventure Tours Lucy Periton told Daily Mail Australia at the time it's not unusual to see the reptiles sprawled all over the road. Cahills Crossing is only a few metres wide but is renowned as one of Australia's most dangerous bodies of water, home to about 120 crocodiles. It attracts thousands of tourists each year outside the wet season. Cars often make the hazardous crossing at the Kakadu National Park (pictured), where there have been five fatalities Advertisement Los Angeles County has shelved plans to bring back a universal indoor mask mandate as its Covid surge is subsiding and rates of hospitalizations have stabilized, the city's health director announced Thursday. Health director Barbara Ferrer had warned two weeks ago that the LA County Department of Public Health could reintroduce a face covering requirement if trends in hospital admissions continued under criteria set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But yesterday, in the much-anticipated weekly public health briefing, she announced that the nation's most populous county had swerved the need to re-impose the broad mask rule. 'We're on a decline right now, and it's hard for us to imagine reinstating universal indoor masking when we're on this significant of a decline,' Ferrer said. The decision was made after daily cases in LA County fell by 30 percent over the two week period that determined whether the order would go into place - from nearly 6,000 daily cases to 4,169 per day. Deaths halved as well, from eight per day to four across the Southern Californian county. It is likely that the county would have seen a rebellion on the matter had they tried to force citizens to wear masks indoors again, with Beverley Hills, Pasadena, El Segundo and Long Beach all having come out to say they would not have enforced the rule. Case and death figures have dropped across the country in recent weeks as America seems to have dodged what many warned would be a massive summer surge fueled by the budding BA.5 variant. After significant downward shifts in mid-July, America's case and death figure have steadied at 131,478 and 417 per day respectively. Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer (speaking at a May 8 public health briefing) has announced that the nation's most populous county will not be bringing in a universal indoor mask mandate The decision came as the county's level of community transmission remained at the CDC's 'high' level, but was forecast to drop to 'medium' in the coming weeks based on recent Covid data According to county guidelines, Los Angeles County is to reinstate an indoor mask mandate for all indoor public places if it reaches the level of 'high' COVID-19 risk per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) metrics for at least 14 consecutive days. On July 14, the city entered a level of high transmission, raising fears that it would be the first city to reinstate masks to deal with the BA.5 variant. A sharp turnaround in its Covid situation in the time since then has spared Angelenos. Updated figures Thursday night dropped the county back into the zone of 'medium' Covid risk. If orders had gone into place, it was likely that some individual sections of the county would have chosen not to abide by larger orders. 'My City Council colleagues and I strongly believe the decision to wear a mask should be the choice of the individual and should not be imposed by L.A. County,' El Segundo, a southern LA city that includes Santa Monica Bay, Mayor Drew Boyles said in a statement made before the announcement. Ferrer said that transmission has been dropping steadily since July 23, pointing to flat and declining data. Hospitalizations are also down, 'potentially signaling the beginning of a downward trend in cases.' However, she warned that the situation remained under constant monitoring and was subject to revision should the transmission and hospitalization rates start to go the other way. Ferrer reminded residents that even though not mandatory, face masks were still an effective and recommended tool for limiting the spready of Covid. The mask mandate for some indoor spaces, including health care facilities, Metro trains and buses, airports, jails and homeless shelters will remain in place. The new requirements, had they gone into effect, would have mandated masks be worn at all times in all indoor public spaces, including shared offices, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, retail stores, restaurants and bars, theaters and schools. Two people pictured wearing face coverings on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California, in May 2020 Lili Bosse, the Democratic mayor of Beverly Hills, told Fox and Friends yesterday that her city would ignore any mask mandate. She had previously struck down the possibility of enforcing an indoor mask mandate, and the council, led by herself, voted unanimously to not deploy resources. Beverly Hills Democrat mayor Lili Bosse (pictured) told Fox & Friends that her city would not enforce an indoor mask mandate if LA County makes it mandatory Both Long Beach and Pasadena, which fall within LA County but have their own health departments, had also said they would not enforce the mandate. 'The [Long Beach] Health Department strongly encourages people to practice personal responsibility and common-sense measures to protect themselves, their loved ones and the greater community from Covid-19,' according to a statement from Long Beach. 'People are advised to mask indoors when in public places, conduct rapid testing before and three to five days after social gatherings and choose outdoor activities where possible.' Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she was pleased with Ferrer's announcement because 'unenforceable mandates don't work.' 'I'm hopeful that we will now be able to move on from this heightened focus on masking mandates to what really matters focusing on promoting the efficacy of vaccines and boosters, improving access to COVID-19 treatments, and continuing to educate our county's residents on the benefits of masking,' Barger said in a statement Thursday. 'I am comfortable leaving this decision in the public's very capable hands.' The BA.5 variant has caused an uptick of Covid cases in many parts of America. Some experts even feared it would cause a summer surge similar to what struck the U.S. in both 2020 and 2021. It is feared to be the most transmissible version of the virus to take hold in the U.S. yet by health officials. It is also immune-evasive and can get around protections a person may have from previous Covid infection. Experts believe that a person could be re-infected with BA.5 within weeks of recovering from a different version of the Omicron variant. This is a potentially worrying prospect that changes the understanding many have of the pandemic. BA.5 has quickly grown in its prevalence across America and now makes up nearly four of every five cases in the U.S. While case figures did grow throughout the first half of July, the full fledged surge has yet to materialize. With major cities like Los Angeles and New York already seeing case figures stagnate and fall, it is likely that America has already weathered the storm. A documentary of Princess Diana's life is to be aired on Sky next month and is set to include footage of her interview with former BBC journalist Martin Bashir - despite Prince William arguing it 'should never be aired again'. The Princess, a documentary produced by Lightbox in collaboration with streaming service HBO and Sky, has already been shown in cinemas and is set to air on Sky on August 14. The interview, originally broadcast by Panorama in 1995, has since been debunked after it was revealed interviewer Martin Bashir gained access and trust of Diana using falsified information. It was watched by 23 million people and saw Diana declare 'there were three of us in this marriage', causing a worldwide media frenzy. It is thought to have contributed to her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996 - a year prior to her fatal car crash in the Tunnel de l'Alma in Paris. Bashir showed Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, false bank statements which suggested his former head of security had been receiving money from tabloids and the security services to spy on his sister. Diana during her interview with BBC journalist Bashir, who was later found to have tricked her by peddling a string of lies Sky says the documentary will tell Princess Diana's story exclusively through contemporaneous archive creating a bold and immersive narrative of her life and death Martin Bashir was found to have shown Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, false bank statements to gain access to the family Prince William has previously been an outspoken critic of the interview being aired by broadcasters Once he had gained access, Bashir told Diana a string of lies, convincing her that Prince Charles was having an affair with then royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke - now Alexandra Pettifer - and that she became pregnant and had an abortion as a result. Prince William has previously been an outspoken critic of the interview being aired by broadcasters. In May last year, he said: 'It is my firm view that this programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. 'It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.' He added that he was 'most saddened' Diana never learned she had been deceived. He said his mother was failed 'not just by a rogue reporter' but by BBC bosses. Meanwhile Prince Harry blamed a toxic media culture for his mother's death. The Prince and Princess of Wales at Buckingham Palace after their wedding at St Paul's Cathedral July 29, 1981 Fourteen years after their wedding, Diana described her marriage as 'crowded' in the infamous Panorama interview, believing Prince Charles was having an affair with their then-royal nanny Former nanny Alexandra Pettifer, better known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke, outside court after the BBC apologised and agreed to pay substantial damages for the false claims made about her in the run up to Bashir's interview Prince Harry said last year that his 'mother lost her life' because of the 'toxic media culture' which led to the interview, while William said the footage should never be aired again The Duke of Sussex said that the 'ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices' which ultimately took his mother's life. How the BBC was finally forced to admit Bashir deceit AUGUST 31, 1995: BBC Panorama journalist Martin Bashir meets Earl Spencer and shows him fake bank statements that freelance designer Matt Wiessler mocked up for him. SEP 19, 1995: The Earl introduces Bashir to Princess Diana. NOV 5, 1995: The sensational Panorama interview with Diana is broadcast. LATE NOVEMBER 1995: Wiessler expresses concern to Panoramas series producer that the fake bank statements may have played a role in obtaining the interview. Bashir is asked for clarification. DEC 22, 1995: Bashir passes a note from Diana to his bosses in which she says: I was not shown any documents nor given any information by Martin Bashir that I was not already aware of. MAR 23, 1996: Bashir admits to BBC bosses that he had lied about not showing the fake bank statements to anybody. Yet two months later, he is sent a note signed off by Tony Hall, then head of BBC News that his dealings with Diana were absolutely straight and fair. APR 7, 1996: The Mail on Sunday publishes a story about the fake statements. The BBC denies they were used to obtain the interview, but Hall opens an inquiry. APR 25, 1996: Hall tells BBC governors that Bashir commissioned fake statements because he wasnt thinking, adding: I believe he is, even with this lapse, an honest and honourable man. Bashir leaves the BBC, but returns in 2016 as religious affairs editor. AUG 28, 1996: Dianas divorce from Prince Charles is finalised. AUG 31, 1997: Diana dies in a car crash in Paris. NOV 3, 2020: The Daily Mail publishes a letter written by Earl Spencer in which he accuses the BBC of sheer dishonesty. NOV 18, 2020: The BBC asks former Supreme Court Justice Lord Dyson to independently investigate the scandal. MAY 20, 2021: Lord Dysons report condemns Bashir as dishonest and criticises Halls investigation as flawed. Prince William condemns the BBCs incompetence. JUL 21, 2022: The BBC pays about 200,000 to royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke and admits she was subjected to baseless smears by Bashir. Advertisement He expressed concern such practices 'are still widespread today', adding that it was 'bigger than one outlet, one network or one publication'. 'Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed. 'By protecting her legacy, we protect everyone, and uphold the dignity with which she lived her life,' he said. The Metropolitan Police considered whether to launch an investigation into a range of potential offences following a bombshell report by Supreme Court Justice Lord Dyson, including forgery, misconduct in public office and blackmail. But in September last year, the force said it had 'not identified evidence of activity that constituted a criminal offence and will therefore be taking no further action'. Last week the BBC paid out around 200,000 to the former nanny in recompense for the smears made against her at the time of the interview. It has also paid a substantial sum to a journalist who raised concerns over the interview at the time, and lost his job as a result. Issuing an apology to Ms Pettifer, the BBC pledged to never air or license out footage of the interview again, and urged other broadcasters to show 'similar restraint.' A BBC spokesperson said: 'There are no live or outstanding licences for any or all of An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales (Panorama, 20/11/95) granted by any part of BBC Studios.' A spokesperson for Sky told MailOnline: 'This feature documentary tells the story of Princess Diana exclusively through archive footage from the time, without commentary from today. 'As such a pivotal - if deeply unfortunate - moment in her life, this interview is featured briefly as a moment of historical record.' The new documentary by Lightbox will still air the interview on Sky from August 14. Some concerns were raised during the 1990s about the false bank statements having led to Bashir receiving an interview with Diana - but in 1996 he was sent a note signed off by Tony Hall, then head of BBC News that his dealings with Diana were 'absolutely straight and fair'. This was the end of the matter until 2020, when the Daily Mail published renewed revelations about the means used to gain Diana's trust. Then, in May 2021, Lord Dyson's damning report found that an internal inquiry into Bashir in 1996, led by Lord Hall, who was then head of news and current affairs and later became the Corporation's Director-General, had been woefully ineffective. Earl Spencer then said he was groomed by disgraced BBC reporter Martin Bashir, as he renewed his demand for Scotland Yard to investigate the broadcaster. Writing exclusively for The Mail on Sunday, Earl Spencer urged the Metropolitan Police to 'reconsider their responsibilities' and launch a probe as he revealed lawyers had told him that 'unlawful and criminal behaviour' had been committed by figures at the BBC. Tunnel de l'Alma in Paris, which was the site of the car accident that killed Princess Diana on August 31, 1997 Concerning the new documentary, Sky said online: 'The relationship between Diana and Charles, the Prince and Princess of Wales, has been well documented. 'From their seemingly fairy-tale marriage, to the fractured marriage that followed and ultimately Diana's tragic and untimely death, her life appears to have been explored in its entirety. However, The Princess reframes her story by taking an entirely immersive approach, drawing solely from audio and video footage from the time to take audiences back to these era-defining events as they happened, and in doing so, allows the narrative to unfold as if it were in the present.' The documentary is Academy Award-nominated Ed Perkin, and Sky added it is a 'fresh and bold account of Diana's life and death.' After receiving several backlashes regarding the changes on its platform, Instagram's CEO said that the company needs to regroup. Instagram's CEO said the Company Must "Regroup" After Complaints Some of the contentious modifications Instagram has made lately are being undone. Following the criticism, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said in a new interview that the firm has to "take a large step back and regroup." Instagram has received criticism from users all across the world, including the Kardashian sisters Kylie Jenner and Kim, voicing frustration that the app was overtly copying rival TikTok while distancing itself from its photo-sharing roots. With a video that effectively doubled down on the adjustments, including more Reels and videos on your feed. Although he admitted that Instagram will "continue to promote photographs," he also predicted that "over time, more and more of Instagram will become video." Additionally, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, recently said that over the next two years, Instagram and Facebook feeds would continue to display even more "suggested" content. According to Zuckerberg, the business intends to "more than double" the quantity of AI-recommended Instagram feed material. Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram, said Thursday (July 28) that the company would roll back the previously launched version of Instagram, which mostly showed videos that were suggested to users by an algorithm on their home screens. However, Mosseri made it clear that Instagram would continue to prioritize video and that, although temporarily reducing the amount of algorithmically suggested videos that users watch, that number will eventually increase if the business decides the technology has been enhanced. Kylie Jenner's Sentiments Over Instagram Modifications The photo-sharing service has drawn criticism for adjustments it has made over time. "Make Instagram Instagram again," said Kylie Jenner, a well-known Instagram user with 361 million followers, in a post on Monday (July 25). The petition's creator, Tati Bruening, wants Instagram to give artists a more sincere hearing. The platform's "recommendations" function, which displays content from accounts you don't follow on your feeds, has drawn criticism from users. In essence, it seems like Instagram is trying to match the success of the TikTok For You Page. Read Also: Senate Passes the CHIPS and Science Act to Assist American Semiconductor Production Instagram Announces New Features and Updates Instagram reportedly added new features to enhance the user experience. The Meta-owned social networking site included a photo "remix" to simplify user interaction. The company said any video shorter than 15 minutes would be uploaded as a Reel. The blog post claims that Instagram would soon allow users of public accounts to "Remix Photos" and enjoy more. Users of the site will also be able to choose from various "Remix Layouts." Public account users may pick a green screen, horizontal or vertical split-screen. A user may add a picture-in-picture response view to video comments on a Reel upload. The blog post said, "You may now put your clip after the original, so it plays sequentially. Instead of having your remix show simultaneously as the original Reel." With the introduction of Templates, users of the social photo-sharing app can now construct Reels by importing placeholders for audio and video clips instead of just adding new ones. Related Article: Instagram is Testing a Full Screen Feed - Here's What You Have to Know A English council is set to vote on whether to make growing up in care a legally-protected characteristic like age, race or religion. Cumberland Council, in the north west of England, will decide today on whether to back a motion recognising that 'care experienced people are an oppressed group who face discrimination'. It says that these people are often facing a 'postcode lottery' when it comes to accessing support, and they face 'discrimination and stigma across housing, health, education, relationships employment and in the criminal justice system'. If passed it would require the council to treat 'care experience' as if it's a protected characteristic and to 'call upon all other bodies to treat care experience as a protected characteristic until such time as it may be introduced by legislation'. It comes after a review into children's social care recommended the UK becomes the first country in the world to make growing up in, or having experience of, care a protected characteristic. The report, by Josh MacAlister, founder of children's charity Frontline, was published in May this year urged the government, councils, employers and educational settings to 'step up' and secure 'loving relationships; quality education; a decent home; fulfilling work and good health' for people who been in care. Cumberland council will vote on a motion today about whether to make growing up in care a protected characteristic. The motion states people from care settings are 'an oppressed group who face discrimination' (stock photo) It added that as part of this a wider range of organisations would have to 'act as corporate parents for looked after children'. If the motion is approved, Cumberland Council would become the first local authority to act on the report in line with its recommendations. The motion at the Labour-dominated council, which covers half of Cumbria including the city of Carlisle and the towns of Whitehaven and Keswick, says people from care settings do experience 'discrimination, stigma, and prejudice in their day to day lives'. It states: 'Public perceptions of care experience centre on the idea that children are irredeemably damaged and that can lead to discrimination and assumptions being made.' It added: 'This stigma and discrimination can be explicit, and often comes with assumptions about the likely characteristics of children and adults that have care experience. They can also be implicit and are evidenced in the way care experience is discussed in schools, workplaces, and the media. 'At its worst this can lead to care experienced people being refused employment, failing to succeed in education or facing unfair judgements about their ability to parent when they have children and families of their own.' It goes on to say it is 'clear that such discrimination can be similar in nature to other groups that have a legally protected characteristic' under the Equality Act. The motion says: ' So, while there may be ways that society can help reduce stigma and discrimination, including creating greater public consciousness on these issues, just as with other areas of equality, there is a case to go further. 'Therefore, the government should make care experience a protected characteristic. 'Making care experience a protected characteristic would provide greater authority to employers, businesses, public services, and policy makers to put in place policies and programmes which promote better outcomes for care experienced people. 'It will make the UK the first country in the world to recognise care experienced people in this way. As a measure, it will bolster and pave the way for a number of the recommendations in this chapter.' The council is currently made up of Allerdale Borough Council, Carlisle City Council and Copeland Borough Council, which will be merged to form the new unitary authority of Cumberland Council next year. The motion will be voted on by the council's Shadow Authority, which is responsible for overseeing the planning and preparation for the new unitary authority between May this year and April 2023. The council will vote on the motion at its Shadow Authority meeting this morning. British Airways' owner made an operating profit of 245million this spring - for the first time since the start of the pandemic. International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) suffered a 810million loss during the same period last year but expects the profit to be 'positive' for 2022 as a whole if there are 'no further setbacks' from Covid-19, government-imposed restrictions or 'material impacts'. Luis Gallego, IAG's chief executive, said there had been a 'strong recovery in demand across all our airlines' and hoped for a better situation by the end of the year 'if everything goes well'. Meanwhile airports across the UK have seen unprecedented delays, as passengers saw their luggage vanish, experienced thousands of cancelled flights and waited in massive queues. British Airways cancelled tens of thousands of flights this summer. British Airways' owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) made an operating profit of 245million this spring as passengers suffered unprecedented delays. Pictured: Passengers queue in Terminal 2 in Heathrow Airport Lord Deighton, chairman of Heathrow Airport, accused BA bosses of overseeing 'decade of slashing' before 'being refashioned as a service organisation by its new team'. He also blamed the disruption on Covid-era mass layoffs and cuts to the wages of baggage handlers - who typically earn between 15,000 and 28,000 - imposed by airlines during the pandemic. 'Ground handling is a highly competitive, labour intensive, low margin business, characterised by short term contracts,' the former Treasury official wrote in the Telegraph. 'Airlines have driven down costs over the years, and this was one of the first costs they slashed during the pandemic.' Many passengers have seen their luggage disappear this summer. Pictured: Hundreds of suitcases mounting up at Heathrow Terminal 2 On July 12, Heathrow introduced a cap of 100,000 daily departing passengers until September 11 due to a shortage of staff, leading to more flights being cancelled. Former British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh slammed the airport for imposing the unprecedented flight cap and even called for Mr Holland-Kaye, the CEO of Heathrow, to be fired if the chaos continues into next year. IAG said the 'challenging operational environment at Heathrow' meant British Airways' capacity was limited to 69.1% of pre-pandemic levels between April and June, compared with 57.4% during the previous three months. Mr Gallego told reporters that British Airways reduced its summer schedule at Heathrow as it realised its plan was 'going to be impossible because of the shortage of people there'. He went on: 'We decided to cap the capacity in order to get resilience to the operation and in order to protect our customers. 'I think it was the right movement. 'We were worried because the projections of the number of people at Heathrow didn't match the projections and the demand that we were expecting.' Luis Gallego, IAG's chief executive, said there had been a 'strong recovery in demand across all our airlines' and hoped for a better situation by the end of the year 'if everything goes well'. Pictured: Passengers queuing at Heathrow Terminal 2 British Airways plans to increase capacity to 75% between July and October. IAG's plans for overall passenger capacity are around 80% between July and October, and 85% for the final quarter of the year. That is a reduction of 5% for the second half of 2022 compared with previous guidance, which the group said is 'mainly due to the challenges at Heathrow'. Mr Gallego said: 'In the second quarter we returned to profit for the first time since the start of the pandemic following a strong recovery in demand across all our airlines. 'Our performance reflected a significant increase in capacity, load factor and yield compared to the first quarter. 'Premium leisure remains strong while business travel continues a steady recovery in all airlines.' 'Our industry continues to face historic challenges due to the unprecedented scaling up in operations, especially in the UK where the operational challenges of Heathrow Airport have been acute. 'I would like to thank those customers affected for their loyalty and patience and our colleagues for their hard work and commitment. Asked how long he believes restrictions will last at Heathrow, Mr Gallego said: 'I hope that if everything goes well, at the end of the year we will be in a better situation.' Britain's households will get more than 60 off their energy bills each month this winter, the Government said today as it revealed more about its support scheme. The money, which is part of a cost-of-living support package first announced in May, will come in six instalments over six months to some 29million homes. Families will see 66 taken off their energy bills in October and November, and 67 between December and March. The news marks the first detail of how the 400 support package announced in May to help with the crisis will be paid out. The support, which came alongside other targeted efforts for the poorest Britons, followed predictions of bills hitting 2,800 for the average household in October. But since then the forecasts have got even bleaker, with consultancy BFY saying bills could hit 3,420 per year from October - before rising further in January. Here, MailOnline looks at how the various parts of the Government's support scheme will work over the coming months and what you will be eligible for: The support will come in six installments over six months to some 29million households. What is the Energy Bills Support Scheme? The Government's Energy Bills Support Scheme will provide a 400 non-repayable discount to all eligible households to help with energy bills from this October. Who is eligible for the support? The scheme will help around 29million households across Britain, the Government said. It adds that all households with a domestic electricity connection in Britain are eligible for the 400 discount. How do you apply for the discount? The Government says there is no need to apply for the discount. Ministers say energy suppliers will deliver it to all British households with a domestic electricity connection over six months from October 2022. They add that there is no need to contact energy suppliers about the discount. How will you receive the discount? The Government says the 400 discount will be administered by suppliers and paid to consumers over six months - with payments starting from this October. Households will see a discount of 66 applied to their energy bills in October and November, rising to 67 each month from December through to March 2023. The discount will be provided on a monthly basis regardless of whether you pay monthly, quarterly or have an associated payment card. Households will start receiving 400 off their energy bills from October. This non-repayable government discount will be made in six instalments to help families through winter. Find out more about the Energy Bills Support Scheme Dept for BEIS (@beisgovuk) July 29, 2022 Will you need to provide bank details to get the discount? No. Households will never be asked for their bank details, and all Britons with a domestic electricity connection will not need to apply. What happens if you don't receive the first payment in October? The Government advises electricity bill payers to speak to their supplier if they have not received their first instalment by the end of October. Otherwise, Ministers say there is no need to contact your supplier because all domestic electricity customers will be automatically eligible. How will you get the payment if you're on a direct debit? Direct debit customers will receive the discount automatically as a reduction to the monthly direct debit amount collected. The Government says it could also be processed as a refund to the customer's bank account following direct debit collection during each month of delivery. Direct debit and credit customers will have the money credited to their account and the discount will be shown on the bill, whether it's a paper or online statement. How does it work for standard credit and payment card customers? Standard credit and payment card customers will see the discount automatically applied as a credit to standard credit customers' accounts in the first week of each month of delivery. The credit will appear as it would if the customer had made a payment. What about those on pre-payment meters? Smart prepayment meter customers will see the discount credited directly to their smart prepayment meters in the first week of each month of delivery. Traditional prepayment meter customers will be provided with redeemable vouchers or Special Action Messages (SAMs) in the first week of each month. These will be issued via text message, email or post. The Government says customers will need to take action to redeem these at their usual top-up point. Traditional prepayment meter customers must also ensure their supplier has their updated contact details so they receive their voucher and know how to redeem it. What about if you pay for energy as part of your rent? The Government says that landlords who have a domestic electricity contract with a licensed electricity supplier and then resell the electricity to their tenants based on energy usage must comply with the maximum resale price rules. The maximum resale price for electricity is currently set as the same price as that paid by the person reselling it. Under these circumstances, the Government says it expects landlords to pass on the discount received to each tenant. Landlords with a domestic electricity connection who charge 'all inclusive' rent, such as is the case for many student houses, where a fixed cost for energy costs are included in their rental charges, should also be passing on the discounted payments to tenants. What if you don't think your landlord is passing on the discount? The Government there are rules which can protect tenants and ensure they receive the benefit of this policy. Ofgem has published guidance here on how to ensure customers are being charged no more than they should when they buy the electricity through their landlord, including what to do if they think there has been a mistake. Is the support for all parts of the UK? The Energy Bills discount will apply to consumers in England, Scotland and Wales The UK government said it is 'urgently working to ensure the people of Northern Ireland receive the equivalent of this support as soon as possible'. Will you get the discount if you live in a park home, houseboat or are an energy consumer living off the grid? The Government said 1 per cent of UK households are currently ineligible to receive the discount because they do not have a domestic electricity meter and a direct relationship with an electricity supplier. But it said further funding will be available to provide equivalent support of 400 for energy bills for the 1 per cent of households who will not be reached through the discount. An announcement is expected on this in the autumn. What if you switch energy suppliers or your circumstances change? Electricity suppliers will apply the discount to bills from October. The Government says this will be done by meter points, so it won't matter if you switch supplier. The scheme will now provide six monthly payments based on six qualifying dates, rather than a single date in October. The Government says this allows new eligible households to benefit from the relevant portion of the total 400 because there will be multiple qualifying dates. What if your energy supplier goes bust? The Government said it will ensure that customers who switch payment methods, or whose energy suppliers fail, will not be penalised. If a supplier is not able to provide the discount to all its eligible customers, they must report to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Ofgem what steps they are taking to ensure it is delivered. What if you change payment method or tariff? The Government said eligible customers will receive their discount on a monthly basis regardless of their supplier, payment method or tariff. How will the scheme work for customers who are in arrears or debt? All households with a domestic electricity connection in Britain are eligible for the 400 discount, whether or not they are in debt on their bill. The Government said it expects and encourages suppliers to make it their priority to work actively to move customers with large arrears balances onto repayment plans wherever possible, adding that this is already a licence condition for suppliers. Why are people with second homes getting more than one payment? The Government said: 'We want to ensure households start to receive this support from October and taking action on second homes could risk the start date for delivering the Scheme as a whole for winter, which would have an impact on many more households including the most vulnerable. 'We acknowledge that delivering support at this scale and pace means there may be instances where people receive the discount multiple times if they are paying multiple electricity bills. 'However, any delay would further disadvantage consumers experiencing high energy bills, particularly those in lower income households who are most in need of the payment. 'Removing the discount from those with multiple meters could also stop people who are paying on behalf of elderly/disabled individuals from receiving a needed discount.' What about vulnerable households who need even more support? Households who are most in need will be eligible for further support in addition to the 400 discount. These are: a 650 one-off Cost of Living Payment for around 8 million households on means tested benefits a one-off 300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment for over 8 million pensioner households to be paid alongside the Winter Fuel Payment a payment of 150 for around 6 million people across the UK who receive certain disability benefits a 500 million increase and extension of the Household Support Fund Click here to find out whether you are eligible for any of these extra payments. Can I donate my 400 to charity instead? The Government said it is for individual households to decide if they do not wish to retain it. Any charitable donation is your own choice from your own assets. Met police officers are strip searching 800 children a year, with as many as 200 having 'intimate parts' exposed in the process, according to public data. The figures, from 2018 to 2021, reveals the scale of a police tactic that has been subjected to increased scrutiny since the case of Child Q, a 15-year-old black girl who was strip searched while menstruating when wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at her east London school. The local child safeguarding practice review, conducted by City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP), concluded the strip search should never have happened, was unjustified and racism 'was likely to have been an influencing factor'. According to an analysis carried out by The Conversation using Freedom of Information requests, Child Q's case was just one of between 6,000 to 9,000 strip searches carried out by police officers in London each year. Of those strip searches carried out under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 in London, nearly 60% targeted belonged to minority ethnic groups, while 3% targeted women. Met police officers are strip searching 800 children a year, with as many as 200 having 'intimate parts' exposed in the process. Pictured: People outside Stoke Newington Police Station in London protesting the treatment of a black 15-year-old schoolgirl who was strip searched by police while on her period Meanwhile, 500 to 800 (roughly 10%) of the Met's strip searches involved child suspects, with 100 to 200 having 'intimate parts' exposed in the process. In the majority of cases (58%), strip searches by police in London and outside of the capital lead to no further action - 'meaning that people are being humiliated and degraded when they were completely innocent', commented the report's author, Dr Matteo Tiratelli, a lecturer in Political Sociology at UCL. Strip searches most commonly occur after arrest, when the suspect is in police custody, with as many as 35,000 people subjected to the practice each year by London police. That is in contrast to strip searches that happen during the context of a stop-and-search check, where an arrest has not been made. Dr Tiratelli of UCL, who carried out the research into police strip searches, said it was much harder to analyse custodial strip searches, due to 'a huge amount of missing data'. He said: 'For example, in some years, more than half of cases were reported without a record of how old the person was. 'Still, it appears that nearly 60% of custodial strip-searches target BAME people, 5% or 6% target children, and about 10% target women.' Last month, the Met Police referred eight cases of strip searches of children carried out by its officers to the police watchdog, with the incidents to be reviewed involving children aged 14 to 17. Upon making the self-referrals, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor commented: 'We understand the trauma and lasting impact these types of searches can have on people, especially young people, and understand the public's concerns following several cases. Child Q's case sparked a wave of protests, with hundreds gathering at Hackney town hall (pictured), after it emerged the teenager was searched without another adult present and in the knowledge that she was menstruating 'In response we have already made a number of changes to the way we work to ensure that officers consider the child first and take a safeguarding approach. 'We are also in the process of reviewing complaints received over the past three years in relation to strip searches involving children under the age of 18. 'This includes searches outside the custody environment where intimate parts are exposed. 'Strip searches in custody and searches that expose more intimate parts outside of custody are important in ensuring the safety of the person being searched as well as protecting communities from drugs and weapons. 'But they must, of course, be carried out appropriately and in line with our policy.' A 25-year-old mother has died after falling out of bed at night and suffering from a seizure, leaving behind her two-year-old daughter. In the early hours of Sunday 3 July, Natasha Simpson, from Rhyl, north Wales, was airlifted over 100 miles to a specialist unit in a Stoke hospital after her fall, but on the way she suffered a 'catastrophic bleed'. Doctors found an aneurysm in her brain which had began to rupture and placed her on life support. The mother-of-one was rendered 'brain dead' and was pronounced dead two days later. Natasha Simpson, 25, from Rhyl, north Wales, pictured with her two-year-old daughter Naylah, died after falling out of bed in the early hours of Sunday 3 July and suffering from a seizure Her devastated family has agreed to donate the young mother's organs. The sister-in-law of Natasha's mother Debbie set up a GoFundme page to raise funds for Natasha's funeral and her two-year-old daughter Naylah who is 'completely destroyed at the loss of her mother'. Her mother, nicknamed Tasha, was described as 'so full of life with everything to live for'. The page adds: 'Debbie, Tasha's 59-year-old mother, is also having such a hard time both financially and emotionally. Doctors found an aneurysm in her brain which had began to rupture and placed her on life support before she was pronounced dead two days later. Her two-year-old daughter Naylah, pictured together, is 'completely destroyed at the loss of her mother' 'Not only has she lost her daughter and best friend but she now finds herself looking after Tasha's daughter who is also grieving. Debbie isn't in great health herself so is reliant on benefits. 'And, because no-one expects to lose their daughter at 25, no funeral plans had been put in place. 'We're just trying to raise some money to help with the funeral and to give Naylah a couple of days out. 'Maybe a little holiday once the funeral is over. Something nice for her to help ease the grief.' A convicted terror boss and a friend of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi has been told he can bid for freedom. Rochdale-born Abdalraouf Abdallah is expected to go before the Parole Board in November and could be back on the streets in the New Year. The fanatic was jailed in 2016 after being found guilty of helping people travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group. He was released on license in November 2020, but returned to jail a few months later for breaching strict conditions requiring good behaviour. Abdallah, now 29, was staying at an approved premises at the time and the rule breaches were not terror related. A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: 'We can confirm the parole review of Abdalraouf Abdallah has been referred to the Parole Board by the Secretary of State for Justice and is following standard processes. 'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community. Abdalraouf Abdallah (pictured), 29, received a nine-and-a-half-year extended determinate sentence in 2016 after being convicted of committing acts of terrorism, by facilitating travel and raising money to enable various others to participate in the civil war in Syria 'A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims. 'Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing. 'Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements may be given at the hearing. 'It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.' Abdallah received a nine-and-a-half-year extended determinate sentence in 2016 after being convicted of committing acts of terrorism, by facilitating travel and raising money to enable various others to participate in the civil war in Syria. The terrorist was paralysed from the waist down while fighting in the Libyan revolution of 2011. Abdallah, who was jailed in 2016, was twice visited by suicide bomber Abedi (pictured) in prison prior to the attack His trial at Woolwich Crown Court in south London heard that, from his wheelchair and mainly using a mobile phone, he arranged for the movement of money and fighters to Syria. Max Hill QC, prosecuting, said one of Abdallah's contacts in Brussels, known only as Obaida, was 'facilitating the movements of terrorists across mainland Europe'. He accused him of being 'at the centre of a jihadist network facilitating foreign fighters You were intent upon sending fighters to join groups in Syria who were committing terrorist acts in that country,' he said. When Abdallah was first arrested in 2014, his phone contained correspondence with Abedi about suicide and martyrdom, including the death of a senior al-Qaeda figure. Abedi then visited Abdallah in prison and communicated with him on an illegally held mobile phone during the period in early 2017 when the bomb was being prepared. The second visit came just four months before Abedi blew himself up at the Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017, killing 23 people including himself and injuring 1,017. Despite his conviction, Abdallah, from Moss Side, Manchester, continues to deny he was an Islamic State recruiter. Abedi twice visited Abdallah in prison the inquiry heard. They had discussed martyrdom and were in contact via a mobile phone smuggled into jail in the months leading up to the Manchester bombing on May 22, 2017, (pictured: Police at the scene) the inquiry has was told A expert on radicalisation commissioned for the Manchester Arena bombing public inquiry said he believes Abdallah was responsible for 'grooming Salman Abedi into the violent, Islamist, extremist world view'. Abdallah has denied having any involvement in the attack or grooming Abedi, and told the inquiry he is 'haunted' by the atrocity.' He was brought from HMP Wakefield to the inquiry in November last year to give evidence. Abdallah said text exchanges with Salman Abedi - recovered in November 2014 - in which they discussed martyrdom were 'normal chitchat'. The witness denied radicalising the bomber, saying: 'I don't even have an extreme mindset myself' and 'I am not a groomer and I was not grooming Salman to anything' Pete Weatherby QC, representing several bereaved families, said the prisoner's lengthy chats with Salman Abedi were 'about radicalisation, it was about discussing some kind of perverse death'. New laws were introduced in February 2020 after two attacks in three months were carried out by extremists who had been freed from jail. Now criminals with terrorism convictions must serve two-thirds of their sentence in jail, rather than one half, and their cases are reviewed by the Parole Board before release. Wayne Couzens is still set to die in prison after today losing his bid to reduce his sentence at the Court of Appeal. In May, senior judges heard challenges or appeals to the prison sentences of five convicted killers, including the whole-life terms of former police officer Couzens and double murderer Ian Stewart. Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes, who killed six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, also had their sentences reviewed, along with triple murderer Jordan Monaghan. Today, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and four other judges refused to lower Couzens' sentence. Last year, the former officer was handed a whole life term for the rape and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, the first time the sentence had been imposed for a single murder of an adult not committed in the course of a terror attack. The depraved killer used Covid powers to conduct a fake arrest of the marketing executive as she walked home from a friend's house in March 2021 before raping and murdering her. The 48-year-old, who used his warrant card and handcuffs to carry out the crime, had been planning for at least a month before abducting Ms Everard as she walked home from a friend's house in Clapham, south London. Scroll down for video. Wayne Couzens has lost his appeal against his whole-life sentence for kidnapping, raping and murdering Sarah Everard The 48-year-old, who used his warrant card and handcuffs to carry out the crime, had been planning for at least a month before abducting Ms Everard (pictured) Appealing against the whole-life term, Couzens' lawyers argued he deserved 'decades in jail' but said a whole-life term was excessive. However, in a summary read out in court, Lord Burnett said that the sentencing judge was entitled to impose a whole life order due to the facts of Couzens' case. Lord Burnett said that while the sentencing starting point in Couzens' case would be a minimum term of 30 years, he continued: 'Having regard to its aggravating features we are in no doubt that its seriousness is so exceptionally high such that a whole life order rather than a minimum term order should be made. 'We consider this to be the correct route to a just result in this case. 'It provides for its unique and defining feature, which was that Couzens had used his knowledge and status as a police office to perpetrate his appalling crimes against Ms (Sarah) Everard and for the extensive and extreme nature of the other aggravating features which were present: the significant and cold-blooded planning and pre-meditation; the abduction of Ms Everard; the most serious sexual conduct; the mental and physical suffering inflicted on Ms Everard before her death; and the concealment and attempts to destroy Ms Everard's body. 'We agree with the judge that having determined there should be a whole life order, given the misuse of Couzens' role as a police officer and the serious aggravating features of the offending the guilty pleas did not affect the outcome.' Reviewing the sentences of Arthur's killers, the Court of Appeal was previously told the child suffered an unsurvivable brain injury while in the sole care of Tustin, who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years. Tustin and Arthur's father, Hughes, who was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter, appealed against the length of their sentences which were also challenged as being unduly lenient. Today, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and four other judges refused to lower Couzens' sentence The judges refused to change Tustin's sentence, finding she should not be given a whole life order and that her current sentence was not unduly lenient. However, Hughes' sentence was found to be unduly lenient and was increased to 24 years. Double killer Stewart, who murdered his first wife six years before he went on to murder his fiancee, successfully appealed against his whole-life order. Stewart killed 51-year-old children's author Helen Bailey in 2016 and was found guilty of her murder in 2017. After this conviction, police investigated the 2010 death of Stewart's wife, Diane Stewart, 47, and in February he was found guilty of her murder. Amjad Malik QC, for Stewart, argued that the whole-life order he was given for the murder of his first wife was not justified in the circumstances of the case. In a ruling on Friday, Lord Burnett and the four other judges said Stewart was 'not one of the rare cases' where a whole life order should be imposed, reducing his sentence to life with a 35-year minimum term. Judges also reviewed the sentence of Jordan Monaghan, who was handed a minimum term of 40 years at Preston Crown Court after he murdered two of his children and his new partner. The Court of Appeal previously heard that between January 2013 and October 2016 he murdered three-week-old Ruby and 21-month-old Logan before murdering Evie Adams. In today's ruling, the judges found that while a whole life order should not be imposed, the sentence should be increased to life with a minimum term of 48 years. An RAF hero father-of-two has plunged 3,300ft headfirst to his death in the Himalayas during a climbing expedition 'without even crying out'. Wing Commander Gordon Henderson lost his balance while scaling the 26,414ft Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain in the world, on the border of Pakistan and China. The Afghanistan veteran from Dunfermline in Fife, who was accompanied by Italian mountain guide Francois Cazzanelli, was taking part in a British Services Mountaineering Expedition when he plummeted on July 19. Wing Commander Gordon Henderson has plunged 3,300ft headfirst to his death in the Himalayas during a climbing expedition 'without even crying out' Wing Commander Gordon Henderson lost his balance while scaling the 26,414ft Broad Peak (pictured), the 12th highest mountain in the world Cazzanelli said they were just 39ft from the summit when Henderson knocked his rucksack against a rock which made him lose his balance and topple over the edge. He told La Stampa: 'He disappeared without even crying out. I was speechless, rooted to the spot. 'He had a rucksack on his back, just as I did. He turned, preparing to start climbing. He took one step but his rucksack bashed against the rock face. 'He lost his balance and he was spun forward. He slid for just a moment, then he fell head first.' Cazzanelli then frantically descended to the nearest camp to alert his colleagues. The RAF said in a statement: 'The Royal Air Force is deeply saddened to announce that Wing Commander Gordon Henderson is missing, believed killed, on Broad Peak Mountain in Pakistan. 'Wing Commander Henderson went missing on July 19, 2022, whilst participating in the British Services Mountaineering Expedition. The mountain is found on the border of Pakistan and China and Henderson fell 39ft from the summit 'Our thoughts are with Wing Commander Henderson's family, friends and colleagues at this dreadful time. 'We would remind you that further speculation is unhelpful, and we ask that the family's privacy is respected.' Wing Commander Henderson, who studied at Heriot-Watt University and served in Afghanistan, is survived by his wife Kerry, with the family also understood to have links to San Antonio in Texas. The British Services Mountaineering Expedition's Pakistan 2022 mission was due to travel 'the length of the infamous Baltoro Glacier' before visiting the Broad Peak and K2 base camps and ascending the Gondogoro La pass at 18,400ft. Following a period of acclimatisation, the team, which included members of the Pakistani Armed Forces, was due to focus on the main ascent of Broad Peak. A statement from the RAF Mountaineering Association said: 'RAF Mountaineering is deeply saddened to announce that Wing Commander Gordon Henderson is reported missing, believed killed, on Broad Peak, Pakistan. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.' Australian war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith shared a passionate kiss with his girlfriend as he touched down in Brisbane after his 110-day defamation trial wrapped up. The 43-year-old was picked up by his partner Sarah Matulin from the airport with photos showing the couple laughing together inside her white Audi. Mr Roberts-Smith donned a blue t-shirt with the words 'Expect to self rescue' printed across the front. He paired the top with a pair of blue jeans, Nike sneakers and a black cap as he wheeled his luggage over to his partner's car. The former soldier had been fighting to clear his name in Sydney's Federal Court for over three months after suing The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times for defamation. Upon his return Ben Roberts-Smith shared a passionate kiss with girlfriend Sarah Matulin (pictured) Australian war hero Ben Roberts-Smith (pictured) touches down in Brisbane from Sydney as he returns from his 110 day defamation case The 43-year-old was picked up by his partner Sarah Matulin from the airport with photos showing the couple laughing together inside her white Audi The pair were happy to see each other after his defamation trial came to an end Roberts-Smith is suing The Age, SMH and Canberra Times in Federal Court for defamation over articles from 2018 which he says paint him as a war criminal Mr Roberts-Smith is suing the news outlets over articles from 2018 claiming he committed war crimes in Afghanistan including murder, and acts of bullying and domestic violence. He is also suing over claims he assaulted a woman in Canberra. The war hero's lawsuit was drawn out due to complications with Covid restrictions. The former SAS corporal denies all allegations while the newspapers used a 'truth defence'. Mr Roberts-Smith donned a blue t-shirt with the words 'Expect to self rescue' printed across the front wheeling his luggage over to his partner's car Mr Roberts-Smith is seen being greeted by his girlfriend at Brisbane Airport The couple share a laugh before driving off in Ms Matulin's white Audi The couple shared an intimate kiss as Mr Roberts-Smith landed in Brisbane The war hero's lawsuit was drawn out due to complications with Covid restrictions. The former SAS corporal denies all allegations with the newspapers using a 'truth defense' More than 40 witnesses were called to give testimonies in the defamation trial which cost upwards of $25million in legal fees. Some testified from Afghanistan while others were flown in from the United States or subpoenaed from distant military barracks. Justice Anthony Besanko - an experienced federal court judge who flew in from Adelaide to Sydney for the duration of the trial will deliver a written decision at a later time. The former soldier is seen waiting at the airport after landing on Friday Rishi Sunak last night pledged to encourage grammar schools to expand as he faced the fury of Tory members over his betrayal of Boris Johnson. He told the first leadership hustings in Leeds that he supported grammars because he believes in 'educational excellence'. Mr Sunak faced hostile questions from the party faithful over his decision to resign as chancellor. A Conservative Party member from West Yorkshire named Matthew said he had 'stabbed' Mr Johnson 'in the back'. 'You're a good salesman and you have many strong attributes, but many people continue to support Boris Johnson, who has delivered consistently through treacherous waters,' he told Mr Sunak. 'Many people unfortunately see that you've stabbed him in the back. He is the man who made you as a senior politician. And some people don't want to see that in No 10.' Mr Sunak said his decision to resign had been 'very difficult', but 'it wasn't one I took lightly'. Rishi Sunak told the Conservative leadership hustings in Leeds that he supported grammar schools because he believes in 'educational excellence' A Conservative Party member from West Yorkshire named Matthew said Rishi Sunak had 'stabbed' Boris Johnson 'in the back' He praised Mr Johnson for breaking the Brexit gridlock and winning the 2019 election but said he could not remain as his chancellor because they could not agree on how to tackle the economic challenges facing the country. He said he was 'left with no choice' but to quit after they failed to agree on what to say in a joint speech on the economy. Mr Sunak told the event he supported the return of grammar schools, but his campaign team last night said he was not pledging to overturn the ban on new grammar schools, which was imposed by Tony Blair in 1998. Instead, he wanted to allow existing schools to expand. Mr Sunak said: 'I believe in educational excellence, I believe education is the most powerful way we can transform people's lives. 'But I also think there's lots we can do with the school system as we have it. Now what Michael Gove did several years ago was transformative. And Michael took on some vested interests, challenged consensus, brought in some reforms that mean that millions of our children now are better off. 'But that's a Conservative way to do it. It's not about throwing more money at the problem, it's about reforming the system to get better outcomes. And that's what I would do with education as well.' 'I believe in educational excellence, I believe education is the most powerful way we can transform people's lives,' Mr Sunak told the hustings Opponents of grammar schools have argued that places are disproportionately taken by children from well-off families. Mr Sunak said he was 'having the time of my life' campaigning as he set out his vision to be the next Tory leader. The former chancellor added: 'I know the polls say that I'm behind in this race... I am going to fight for every single vote, I am going to fight for the Conservative values that are core to who I am and what I stand for. And I am going to fight hard for the argument that we should not mortgage our children and our grandchildren's future to make our lives easier today. 'And if you select me as your leader, as your next prime minister, I know we can build that better Britain.' The two candidates are due to take part in a further 11 official public hustings organised by the Conservative Party, which will be held across the country. A multi-app kiosk mode is now available in Build 25169 of Windows 11, which could enable users to approve workloads that need a particular set of apps and more. Windows 11 Introduces Multi-App Kiosk Mode in Build 25169 Build 25169 of Windows 11 has been made available by Microsoft to Insiders signed up for the Dev channel. This version doesn't include many changes, as we've seen over the last few weeks, but there is a significant inclusion for IT admins. On Windows 11, it is now possible to establish a multi-app kiosk mode intended for devices used in public places or as display units. Administrators may restrict access to a PC so it can only run specific programs using a multi-app kiosk. For instance, you could only want Microsoft Edge to be able to operate on a PC while it is being used for online surfing. Additionally, this enables you to allow workloads that call for a particular range of applications. Prior versions of Windows, including Windows 10, have this functionality, but Windows 11 is the first to provide it. This ought to be a significant step toward improving the operating system's suitability for use in professional settings. Microsoft also modified Settings' Windows Spotlight look that enables your PC to change visuals daily, so it never appears the same. With this new theme, you may set Windows Spotlight photographs as your background without accessing the Background tab in the Settings app. It will be shown with other themes with a revolving visual indication. Microsoft has moved away from the conventional Control Panel by enabling Steam and Steam-downloaded games to be managed in Settings. If you routinely write with a pen on your laptop, this update may be beneficial as the US English handwriting model has been enhanced. Read Also: European Start-up, The Exploration Company, Plans to Produce a New Reusable Spacecraft Microsoft Announces that Digital Licenses for Windows 11 Now Available in Microsoft Store Microsoft has recently introduced digital licenses for Windows 11 to the Microsoft Store, even though it has been available for over a year. Windows 11 Home or Windows 11 Pro digital licenses are now available for purchase for $139 and $200, respectively. Although Windows 10 users may upgrade to Microsoft's newest OS for free, many other users will need to buy new Windows licenses. For instance, anybody wishing to utilize a virtual machine or construct their PC will need to purchase one. Windows 11 licenses were previously accessible on USB sticks, but now PC customers have the option to buy digital permits as well. Microsoft emphasizes that the digital licenses are designed for PCs that need a new license and satisfy Windows 11's system requirements. It won't be possible for users of PCs that can't upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 to get around the limitation by using a digital license. Even if you buy a digital license, the easiest method to install Windows 11 on a PC is via a clean install, which requires a USB drive. After purchasing a digital license for the operating system, you can get started by following particular instructions for doing a clean installation of Windows 11. Related Article: Should You Switch to Windows 11? Pros and Cons of Windows OS Upgrade for Remote Workers Boris Johnson and Penny Mourdant have led the tributes pouring in for Sir Christopher Meyer after the former ambassador to the US died from a massive stroke aged 78 yesterday. The 'colourful' and 'dedicated' career diplomat had been watching a film with his wife Baroness Catherine Meyer, 69, at their second home in the village of Megeve in the French Alps, when tragedy struck. His wife of 25 years heard him drop his iPad and realised he had fallen ill, before raising the alarm. Paramedics rushed to the home and battled for around 50 minutes to save Sir Christopher's life, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, in what a family friend described as a 'huge shock'. Outgoing prime minister Mr Johnson said today that he was 'saddened' to hear of his death, adding in a tweet: 'He was a dedicated public servant throughout his career and devoted his life to international diplomacy. 'My thoughts are with his wife Catherine and his loved ones.' His sentiment has been shared with some of Britain's leading political figures. Sir Christopher Meyer (pictured) had been watching a film with his wife Baroness Catherine Meyer, 69, at their second home in the village of Megeve in the French Alps, when tragedy struck Paramedics rushed to the home and battled for around 50 minutes to save Sir Christopher's life, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, in what a family friend described as a 'huge shock'. (Pictured: Sir Christopher with former US President George W Bush) Boris Johnson remembered Sir Christopher as a 'dedicated public servant' in a tribute tweet on Friday His wife of 25 years (pictured together just three weeks ago) heard him drop his iPad and realised he had fallen ill, before raising the alarm Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is flanked by Sir Christopher Meyer (left), and former US Chief of Protocol Donald Ensenat (right), on his arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in 2002 Penny Mourdant, who made it to the final three of the Tory leadership race, described Sir Christopher as a 'great public servant and friend.' She added: 'I loved his passion for his country, his warmth and humour. Thoughts with his family and all who loved him.' Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said he was 'deeply saddened' by the news. He added: 'He was a formidable diplomat, who strengthened the UK/US special relationship, and a man of great acumen, wit and wisdom. My thoughts are with Catherine and his loved ones.' Just hours before he passed away, Sir Christopher was sharing his views on the Tory leadership race as he tweeted under the moniker 'SirSocks'. He had 32,600 followers and remained engaged in current affairs. He had married Baroness Meyer, a former businesswoman and charity boss, in 1997. Conservative MP for Chelsea & Fulham Greg Hands said he was 'very sorry' to hear of the death of the 'brilliant' Sir Christopher. He added: 'Always great company and an original thinker... thoughts with his equally brilliant widow Catherine at this time.' Penny Mourdant was among those to pay tribute to Sir Christopher following his sudden death from a massive stroke Christine Hamilton also took to social media to pay her respects. 'Deeply shocked to learn that 'Sir Socks' died suddenly yesterday,' she wrote. 'What a gloriously colourful character, great diplomat and dear friend... such a sad loss.' Sir Christopher had two sons from his first marriage and was also close to his wife's two children from her previous marriage. The couple met during her attempts to track down her sons, who had been abducted as children by their German father after their divorce. Baroness Meyer is being supported by her family in France today. Sir Christopher's funeral will be in France, where he will be buried. A long career as a diplomat culminated when he was made ambassador to the US in 1997, a post he held for six years. Previously he had been ambassador to Germany and had postings to the former Soviet Union, Spain and the European Union. Sir Christopher Meyer with his wife Baroness Catherine Meyer He was also press secretary to prime minister John Major between 1993 and 1996, press secretary to foreign secretary Lord Howe, and speech writer to three foreign secretaries James Callaghan, Anthony Crosland and David Owen. Sir Christopher led the Press Complaints Commission from 2003 to 2009. He had a fondness for red socks and was once described by Labour ex-deputy PM John Prescott as a 'red-socked fop' over his memoir DC Confidential, which included insights into the run-up to the Iraq War. In a 2019 interview with the Daily Mail, Sir Christopher said he had been 'determined to lead a monastic life, devoted to work' until he met Baroness Meyer. In 2018, he was beaten up at Victoria tube station in London. He later said he was glad his teenage attacker was spared jail. Vanessa Feltz took a final dance through the decades as she bid an emotional farewell to her early bird listeners during her final BBC Radio 2 show this morning. The 60-year-old presenter, whose salary of more than 400,000 makes her the BBC's eighth-highest earner, announced yesterday she was quitting her early morning breakfast show and Radio London show after nearly 20 years on air. Taking to Instagram, Ms Feltz shared details of her last early morning with her social media followers, as she wished them a final 3.50am good morning before enjoying a final 'dance through the decades' in the studio to 1977 Baccara hit 'Yes Sir, I Can Boogie'. Ms Feltz said she was stepping down to 'catch up on deficit of beauty sleep', and fellow Radio 2 broadcaster Zoe Ball said that Ms Feltz will be 'golden' wherever she goes next. Speaking after Ms Feltz announced her departure yesterday, the breakfast show presenter described her as 'always glamorous and quite possibly the cleverest person I know'. Ms Ball, 51, added: 'I'm not going to lie, we are all in tears at Radio 2. She's always been outrageous and the hardest working lass. 'Wherever she goes next, whatever she does, she will be golden at it and be very lucky to have her. We will give her the bumps at some point.' Fans have reacted to her final show online, with one saying the departure left her 'so sad', adding: 'For the past 12 years she has absolutely brightened up my mornings'. She will do her final BBC Radio London show on August 26, which she has traditionally presented straight after her early morning show on Radio 2. It is not yet known what Ms Feltz plans to do next although some online fans have suggested she could take up a role at TalkTV on TalkRadio. TalkTV declined to comment. Vanessa Feltz performs a final 'a dance through the decades' to Yes Sir, I Can Boogie during her final Radio 2 early morning show Rumours online suggest the presenter is tipped to become Jeremy Kyle's replacement on TalkRadio's drivetime show, as he leaves for a regular TV spot at the network Vanessa Feltz completed her final show on BBC Radio 2 for her devastated fans after announcing her shock exit from the corporation yesterday (July 28) Ms Feltz (left) said she had to step down 'to catch up on a much-needed decade's deficit of beauty sleep' and use her 'energy-boosting shut-eye' to 'frolic with her fiance Ben Ofoedu (right) who 'irritatingly remains 10 years younger than me' Posting on Instagram this morning, Vanessa bid her early birds a 3.50am good morning 'for the last time'. She said: 'It's the last time I think I'll see you at this time in the morning. 'Gosh I'm feeling very mixed emotions indeed, but I hope you have a lovely Friday morning. Big kiss.' She also made an emotional goodbye to a member of staff outside of the Radio 2 building. Approaching the man, who was wearing a high-vis jacket, she said: 'This is our last morning together you know. Did you know?' The staff member replies that he didn't know, and when Ms Feltz added it was her last morning on BBC Radio 2, he looked visibly shocked, saying: 'You're joking!' Ms Feltz said they have met every single morning as she gave him a tearful embrace. She gave him a card and bouquet of flowers, telling him: 'It brightens my day to see you'. Her fans were less surprised, but equally heartbroken by her departure at the end of the show. They said 'Lady V' had 'brightened their early mornings' and it was the 'end of an era.' One wrote: 'Farewell and thank you, Lady V. I'll forever be one of your Early Birds.' A second said they were left 'an emotional wreck' after the end of Vanessa's final show, while other suggested she should be made a Dame. Ms Feltz bid her early bird fans farewell on her way up to the studio in a series of posts on social media She also made an emotional goodbye to a member of staff outside of the BBC building, saying: 'This is our last morning together you know. Did you know?' Ms Feltz took to Instagram after the end of her final show, posting a photo of her listening to Craig David's Walking Away. The clip played the lyrics: 'I'm walking away, From the troubles in my life, I'm walking away, Oh, to find a better day.' She tagged singer Craig David and her former employer Radio 2 in the post. The 60-year-old presenter (pictured), whose salary of more than 400,000 makes her the BBC's eighth-highest earner, has quit her early morning breakfast show after nearly 20 years on air In an emotional statement yesterday, Ms Feltz said: 'I have loved every moment with my Radio 2 'Early Birds' and will miss my Lovely Listeners, Jolly Good Fellows and beloved friends and colleagues at Radio 2 with all my heart. 'However, after almost 12 blissful years, I now need to step down to catch up on a much needed decade's deficit of beauty sleep! 'It's been an honour and privilege to be the Breakfast voice of BBC Radio London for 20 years and although I'm leaving the show, I'll continue to expect hugs from my lovely listeners when I see them on the streets of London! 'I will enjoy a dollop of energy-boosting shut-eye to swing from zip-lines with my three effervescent grandchildren and frolic with my fiance Ben, who irritatingly remains 10 years younger than me!' Discussing the star's exit, Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2, said: 'For almost 12 years, Vanessa has made her live weekday Early Breakfast Show her very own kingdom, and I'd like to thank her wholeheartedly for the thousands of middle-of-the-night starts she's made to entertain the Radio 2 listeners. Chris Burns, Controller Local Audio Commissioning, added: 'Every weekday Vanessa has breezed straight from her Radio 2 programme into the Radio London breakfast show, barely pausing for breath. 'She has effortlessly entertained her "lovely listener" and sternly held the city's and country's decision makers to account. 'The brightest spark you could ever meet - no matter how early it is and what's going on in the news - to say Vanessa's voice will be missed is an understatement. We wish her well and thank her dearly for her incredible service.' 'On behalf of them, as well as everyone in Wogan House, I'd like to send Lady V our very best wishes for the future.' The broadcaster began presenting the Radio 2 Early Breakfast Show in January 2011, from 5am to 6.30am, which was extended to 4am from January 2021. Ms Feltz will cover for Jeremy Vine for two weeks as planned and bid farewell to Radio 2 listeners on Friday 26 August. Radio 2 and BBC Radio London will announce their new respective morning schedules at a later date. TalkTV and Vanessa Feltz's management have been contacted for comment. The poisoned British family in Bangladesh had eaten a takeaway burger and juice just hours before they all fell unconscious and two of them died, it has been revealed. Rafiqul Islam, who is in his 50s, and Mahiqul Islam, 16, were found dead in a rented flat locked from the inside in the Tajpur area of Sylhet on Tuesday. The Cardiff taxi driver's wife Hosne Ara Islam, 40, their daughter Samira Islam, 19, and son Sadikul Islam, 21, were also found unconscious and are still in hospital, with the teenager in a critical condition. Police have remained baffled as to the cause of the sudden mass illness, with the father and son allegedly found with brown and blue liquids inside their nose after police broke down the door of the flat. Now, it has emerged that the family of five bought burgers and juice from a nearby Taipur market which they ate together before falling unconscious, according to local news outlet Daily Sylhet. Rafiqul Islam, who is in his 50s, and Mahiqul Islam, 16, were found dead in a rented flat locked from the inside in the Tajpur area of Sylhet on Tuesday Mourners gather for the burial of the father and son in Bangladesh yesterday while other family members remain in hospital While no one else entered their flat, other relatives who live in the building ate rice and suffered no consequences. Anfar Ali, Rafiqul's father-in-law who lives in the building, also revealed that before the family came to the country earlier this month, Rafiqul specifically ordered him not to tell anyone including relatives their Bangladesh address nor the fact they were even in the country. Ali says he was given no reason why they wanted to be secretive, but the revelation sparks further mystery about the puzzling case. The family rented the flat in the same building as his in-laws on July 18 to help treat one of their sons who was sick. Police have confirmed they came to Bangladesh on July 12 and that they moved into the flat where they were found on July 18. Police carried out an autopsy on Rafiqul and Mahiqul on Wednesday and they are still waiting for the results, and yesterday the bodies were buried at a family grave site. Sylhet district superintendent of police Farid Uddin said: 'How were they poisoned? How did they die? We will be able to confirm after an investigation.' 'But, at first glance, it looks like murder using poison.' Police carried out an autopsy on Rafiqul and Mahiqul on Wednesday and they are still waiting for the results, and yesterday the bodies were buried at a family grave site The family rented an apartment in the same building that Hosne Ara Islam's family lived in the Osmani Nagar district of Sylhet of Bangladesh Rafiqul's brother-in-law Abdul Mumin Khan told the BBC: 'I didn't know what to do or what to say. 'Everyone is very sad. Everybody is crying. My wife, all the time, is crying. I am crying as well. 'I can't believe this has happened. This person is very friendly, a very nice guy. His son is very sweet and friendly. Everyone likes him and he likes everyone. His son is a very, very nice boy. Uddin told WalesOnline it was believed the incident is a case of poisoning but an investigation into the incident is ongoing. He said: 'After discussing the overall situation with the doctors and inspecting the scene we believe this may have been a case of poisoning. The investigation is ongoing into whether it is poisoning or something else.' He also confirmed that close relatives of the family lived in the same building. Police took Raiqul's father-in-law Anfor Ali, mother-in-law Badrunnesa, brother-in-law Delwar Hossain and Delwar's wife Shova Begum for questioning, said Uddin. Speaking to local media on Tuesday, he said: 'The other people in the building are close relatives of the victims. 'We questioned them. At the moment we believe they fell asleep after dinner last night. This must be investigated further.' The city of Sylhet (pictured) in east Bangladesh, where Rafiqul Islam, who is in his 50s, and his son Mahiqul Islam, 16, were found poisoned in a house along with three other members of their family who are currently in hospital After dinner on Monday, July 25, police say the family fell asleep in the same room. Between 10am and 10.30am on Tuesday their relatives tried to open the door to the flat. They called the police when they heard no sounds inside. Police found the door locked, broke it open, and recovered the five unconscious victims inside. District superintendent Uddin said the investigation was continuing. One neighbour of the family in Cardiff said: 'My [family member] called me in the morning saying two passed and that three members of the family were in hospital. 'I thought maybe it had been an accident and then we heard something about poisoning. What happened is just speculation at the moment. It's really sad. 'We've been living near them for more than 25 years. They are a quiet family who do their own thing. I couldn't believe it, I've been getting so many phone calls. They were just a nice, neat family. They've been away for a couple of weeks.' A second neighbour added: 'I'm a taxi driver as well and I've known them around 20 years. I know [Rofikul] - he's a really good guy. I found out on social media. We just thought they were going on holiday to Bangladesh.' Labour councillor for Riverside Kanaya Singh spoke to WalesOnline about the incident. He said: 'Clearly this is a worrying and tragic event. Everyone I have spoken to in the community speaks very highly of the family and our thoughts are with them. 'There is also a great deal of concern because many people from Riverside go to Bangladesh on a regular basis. I hope that the authorities are able to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible.' A lethal reptile that produced enough venom to kill 20 men could be one of the largest venomous snakes in Australia. 'Titan' the king brown snake was getting a health check at the Australian Reptile Park on the NSW Central Coast when a whopping 5.58g of venom was extracted from its mouth. The reptile, also known as a mulga snake, weighed in at a solid 7.8kg and measured almost 2.7m long. A king brown snake typically weighs up to 6kg and measures 2.5m. Billy Collett from the Australian Reptile Park (pictured with Titan) said he could tell the king brown snake was a solid weight - 'I could feel it when I was holding him'. Titan weighs close to 8kg and is 2.68metres long - one of the largest venomous snakes in Australia It is estimated the venom collected by the reptile park saves at least 300 lives per year (Titan giving a sample) Australian Reptile Park Operations Manager Billy Collett was dumbfounded at the Titan's mammoth size. 'Far out, he is 7.8kg and I can tell you I could feel it when I was holding him,' he said. Mr Collett said he expected a huge amount of venom to come from the snake, which has an extraction once a fortnight. The park is the only one in the world that milks Australian terrestrial snakes for their venom which is crucial for making anti-venom for those bitten by the reptiles. 'It is mind blowing to think that this bit of venom is actually going to contribute to saving human lives - what a massive yield of venom,' Mr Collett said. The snake expert said about 300 lives are saved each year because of the venom program at the reptile park. Staff at the reptile hub weigh and measure the snakes as a way of monitoring their health, as it is hard to gauge when they get sick. 'Titan' the king brown snake was getting a health check at the Australian Reptile Park on the NSW Central Coast when a whopping 5.58g of venom was extracted from its mouth The total venom extracted (pictured after Titan the king brown snake obliged with a sample)weighed a massive 5.58g - enough to do away with 20 men A Boots optometrist whose eight-year-old patient died after she failed to spot he had a fatal eye condition has apologised to his family for the first time as she was struck off more than a decade after his death. Honey Rose, 40, was struck off the optometry register as her case concluded this week - a decade after she 'dishonestly' recorded the results of Vinnie Barker's routine eye test and missed serious warning signs. The mother-of-three was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter in 2016 following a landmark trial and was handed a two-year suspended sentence. However, the conviction was quashed a year later at the Court of Appeal as the judge concluded that despite her 'serious breach of duty' her error did not post an 'obvious and serious risk of death' to eight-year-old Vinnie. After Ms Rose's conviction was quashed, Vinnie's parents Joanne and Ian Barker said: 'Not only has Vinnie been let down by an individual optometrist, today he has also been failed by the legal system.' Optometrist Honey Rose (pictured outside Ipswich crown court) was originally convicted of manslaughter in 2017 following a landmark trial. However, the conviction was quashed a year later at the Court of Appeal Ms Rose failed to notice that eight-year-old Vincent Barker (pictured) had swollen optic discs when she examined him In 2020, Boots optometrist Ms Rose was suspended from practising for nine months by her professional regulator. But last year the High Court ruled the suspension was too lenient. Now, at a new General Optical Council (GOC) tribunal, the 10 year ordeal has been brought to a close with Ms Rose being struck off the register. During the hearing Ms Rose apologised to Vinnie and his devastated family 'for my failings' which occurred during the eye examination at Boots in Ipswich in February 2012. The locum optometrist failed to notice Vinnie had swollen optic discs, an 'abnormality' which suggested he had a rare condition called papilloedema and is a symptom of fluid on the brain. Ms Rose had been looking at examination photos belonging to another patient instead of Vinnie's, and later 'dishonestly' gave an inaccurate recording of the examination. In her notes, she recorded Vinnie's peripheries - the edges of his retinas - were 'normal' - when in fact she had not examined either of them. Five months later, in July 2012, Vinnie fell ill at school and died hours later in hospital due to a build-up of fluid on the brain. Parents Joanne and Ian Barker (pictured outside Ipswich Crown Court in August 2016) said that if Rose 'had not breached her duty of care to our son he would still be with us today' At the latest tribunal, which ran from July 4 until Tuesday, July 26, Ms Rose apologised for the first time. She said: 'I would like to apologise to Vinnie and his family, and to everyone who has been affected in any way in this case, for my failings. 'I didn't ask Vinnie's mum for help [during the examination], but I would now. 'I didn't check the name on the photograph but would now. 'I would never make a record in the same way as I did for Vinnie's periphery again. 'I made a misleading and dishonesty (sic) entry in relation to the periphery. I recorded that the periphery was normal but the periphery had not been examined as I had been unable to complete ophthalmoscopy and it was not visible on the photographs. 'I therefore had no observable basis for writing that it was normal; I had made an assumption. 'I understand that the way I made the record would have given future practitioners the impression that I had examined the periphery when in fact I had not done so. 'If I was unable to examine the periphery, for whatever reason, I should have made this clear on the record and noted why this was so that other practitioners would known (sic) what had happened.' 'I would like to apologise to Vinnie and his family, and to everyone who has been affected in any way in this case, for my failings, Honey Rose said in her apology during her General Optical Council tribunal. Pictured: Honey Rose arriving at Ipswich Crown Court in 2016 for the start of her original trial, where she was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter - but the conviction was then quashed a year later on appeal Ms Rose has previously 'accepted that had she looked at the correct images she would have referred Vinnie to hospital for an urgent appointment'. When her gross negligence manslaughter conviction was quashed in 2017, Vinnie's family said they were 'devastated' and that it should have been upheld. At the High Court in 2021, when Ms Rose's suspension was successfully challenged, Mrs Justice Collins Rice said the GOC had 'failed to assess the gravity of the risk of the harm'. Now, at the latest GOC tribunal, the panel criticised Ms Rose, from London, for her 'grave' errors and 'casual' attitude to record-keeping. Chairwoman Jayne Wheat said: 'Rose abandoned her statutory duty to conduct a full internal examination of both eyes and relied on incorrect central retinal images because she had failed to identify the correct patient's images. 'This was serious in its own right. What made the situation worse was Ms Rose's unexplained recording of misleading, and on one occasion dishonest information. 'The Committee has clearly identified that Vinnie was put at an unwarranted risk of harm. 'Vinnie, through his age, was a vulnerable patient... Ms Rose was in a position of trust and was expected to conduct a full eye examination. 'The Committee recognised Rose's long-term commitment to the profession of optometry. 'It appreciated that her continued participation in the regulatory process has been throughout the course of an exceptionally long period of time. 'The Committee also recognised that the events that gave rise to the misconduct took place over one day. 'However, it could not ignore the serious nature of that misconduct and the fact that Rose is yet to provide an insightful explanation of how this misconduct occurred.' Honey Rose, who started training to become a financial adviser in 2019, argued she should not be struck off as her failings were 'not so serious as to be irremediable or incompatible with being a registered optometrist' Advertisement The nine-year-old girl who was stabbed to death on a street in Lincolnshire was today named by police as Lilia Valutyte - as police arrested two people amid a major murder investigation. Lilia, whose family were from Lithuania, was found on a quiet lane in Boston at around 6.20pm yesterday - with locals left in 'profound shock' and the local MP appealing for national assistance to catch the killer. Two people were arrested this morning in connection with the killing, with police saying it was an 'isolated' incident and they were not 'in a position' to name the victim. A small tent has been pictured at the murder scene near the town's historic St Botolph's Church as forensic officers bagged up evidence. A large object appeared to be covered in the middle of the alleyway, which was marked by small yellow signs. The UK is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic, with the latest figures for England and Wales showing offences involving knives are up by 10 per cent compared to the previous year. This weekend saw a wave of stabbings in London that saw three people killed in less than 24 hours and another badly injured. Horrifically, this is not the first time children have become victims of fatal stabbings in Britain, with 12-year-old Ava White murdered by a teenager in Liverpool last November. He was sentenced to a minimum of 13 years in jail. Scroll down for video. Emergency services rushed to the scene in Boston, Lincolnshire, at around 6.20pm on Thursday evening. The victim was today named as Lilia Valutyte (Pictured: Scene of horror killing on Friday morning) A forensic officer near the scene in Boston today where Lilia died yesterday from a suspected stab wound A woman leaves flowers near to the scene today. Police said they are giving support to Lilia's family An aerial view showing police at the scene of the stabbing in Boston, with a forensic tent seen behind a cordon The UK is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic, with the latest figures for England and Wales showing offences involving knives are up by 10 per cent compared to the previous year Two people were arrested this morning in connection with the killing. A small tent has been pictured at the murder scene near the town's historic St Botolph's Church as forensic officers bagged up evidence Fountain Lane, the scene of the killing, remained cordoned off by police tape on Friday morning Lincolnshire Police Chief Superintendent Kate Anderson said today: 'Officers were called to the scene of the incident at Fountain Lane, Boston, at around 6.20pm yesterday. 'A nine-year-old girl sadly died as a result of what we believe to be a stab wound. 'We have arrested two people in connection with the incident. Figures reveal how knife crime rate has shot up Last week it emerged police forces in England and Wales had recorded the highest number of offences in 20 years, driven by a sharp rise in fraud, rape and violent attacks. A total of 6.3million crimes were recorded in the year to March 2022 four per cent higher than the previous all-time high of 6.1million in 2019/20. It was also up 16 per cent on 2020/21, when crime levels were affected by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. The figures, which were published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed knife crime, theft and domestic abuse all increased in the 12 months to March. Police-recorded offences of fraud and computer misuse rose 17 per cent, from 828,364 in 2020/21 to 965,162 in 2021/22. Knife crime rose by 10 per cent to 49,027 offences in the year to March, compared to 44,642 in the previous 12 months though this is below the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20, which saw 55,078 offences. Advertisement 'We believe this to be an isolated incident. We are pursuing extensive lines of enquiry and have committed a number of resources to this investigation. You will see more officers patrolling the area, and we have a high number of specialist detectives who have been brought in to assist the investigation. 'Her parents are being supported by specially trained officers at this very difficult time, and I can only imagine the grief and pain that they are going through. Their welfare and the welfare of those who she knew is a priority for us.' Police cordoned off Fountain Lane, a street that backs onto Boston's Grade II listed old court building The Sessions House. A forensic tent could also be seen erected in the street while officers combed for clues at the scene which is also in the shadow of historic St Botolph's Church Lilia's body was found outside MS Agricultural Services along a quiet lane next to quaint cobbled streets lined with cafes and coffe shops. Much of the nearby area is commercial, with car parks, a high street and several boarded-up shops, but the street also runs alongside the end of a residential road. The local community was in a state of shock as they came to terms with the tragic news late on yesterday evening, with heartbroken residents calling it the 'most shocking tragedy ever to befall' the town. Arthur Smith, 66, who knelt down to say a prayer at the scene said: 'It is just so shocking. A poor little angel has lost her life. I feel so sorry for her and her parents. 'Whoever did it should be locked up for life and I mean life. When I was growing up, you could never imagine something like this happening.' Mother-of-four Fiona Raynor, 49, who works as a pub cleaner, said: 'This has broken my heart. I can't imagine what could have gone on. 'It is just horrendous that a little girl can be stabbed to death in the street in broad daylight. I feel awful for her family.' Other residents said they had seen armed police in nearby streets last night as police launched their investigation into the death of the girl. Mother-of-two Sara Stringer, 37, said: 'I saw armed officers and three police cars with blue flashing lights. 'I couldn't believe it when I heard that a little girl had been killed. It is disgusting.' Taxi driver Jonathan Newton, 55, said: 'We are a close knit community here and the town is rocked to the core by this tragedy. 'She was just a little girl, how could anyone do this to a nine-year-old? It's the most shocking tragedy to ever befall our little town. I'm just speechless.' Among the tributes left near the scene is a purple teddy bear. Police say they have arrested two people in connection with the incident A written tribute left to Lilia, who tragically died on Thursday night. It read: 'So sorry this cruel world has taken your life beautiful girl. May you be in the arms of the angels xxx' Another local resident, who did not want to be named, added: 'We're not sure what happened but its a quiet lane so I can't imagine too many people saw it. 'There are businesses though with CCTV cameras so I just pray whoever did this is caught fast. My heart is breaking for that girl's parents. 'I've seen people who don't even know the family in floods of tears today.' Police launch murder probe after girl's death Kate Anderson, chief superintendent of Lincolnshire Police spoke to the media this morning following the shocking killing. She said: 'This incident has shocked our community in Boston, and I would like to reassure the community that we're doing absolutely everything we can to progress the investigation and to support the family. 'It is a wide ongoing investigation and there is only so much I can tell people. But what I can offer is the reassurance that we are putting our very best detectives on this. 'We have a number of neighbourhood officers out speaking to members of the community. and we do have dedicated resources focusing all their efforts on bring the offenders to justice. 'At this moment in time it is too early to speculate on what charges may or may not be brought. I would say we are absolutely committed to finding those people responsible and holding them to account. 'Lincolnshire is incredibly safe. I know there have been incidents in the past and people must be concerned and I can only empathise with that. 'The investigation is ongoing and we have a number of lines of inquiry which are actively being pursued. 'What we want is the people responsible to be held to account. For the integrity of the investigation, we are only sharing information we can do. 'We are open minded about what happened, but we still do think there is more information the public can give us which is why we are appealing for witnesses 'People might have been driving through the area and have dashcam footage.' When asked about a possible motive, she said 't's very early and I would not want to speculate.' She added: 'We are treating it with the utmost seriousness. People have been working tirelessly on the investigation throughout the night. 'The fact that we have two people in custody has not stopped other inquiries. It is a fast paced investigation. It is a sad day for Lincolnshire and Boston. 'It is utterly shocking that such a young girl has been murdered.' Advertisement The Tory MP for Boston and Skegness, Matt Warman, said he had been in contact with the policing minister to ensure national assistance is available to the murder investigation. 'Profoundly shocking news in Boston this evening,' he said. 'I have spoken to senior officers locally and am hugely grateful for all the emergency services' work.' Many spoke of their shock and fear at a suspected murder happening so close to home, while one resident was left to openly ask if the area remain safe for her children. Another, posting on Facebook, commented: 'How many more of our children have to die before serious intervention takes place in this town? 'Why aren't the government and the councils doing more to make Boston a safe place to live when these diabolical news stories are far too frequent. This is a tragedy.' A third added: 'This is absolutely devastating and traumatic to read. Rest in peace little one, my thoughts go to all family and friends and thoughts to the officers involved as well as residents of Boston. 'How can we sleep at night knowing a 9 year old child has been murdered? Absolutely awful.' Edgar Buncis, whose young son Roberts was murdered in Boston nearly two years ago, has told how the schoolgirl's family will be going through 'hell' as he urged them to 'be strong.' Roberts was stabbed more than 70 times in a frenzied attack just days before his 13th birthday. Marcel Grzeszcz, 15, was convicted of Roberts' murder and jailed for a minimum of 16 years last November. Today Mr Buncis has today begged for answers after the latest tragedy. He said: 'Dear family, you will go through the hell, be strong, take any help you can get. 'My son was stabbed to death 12/12/2020 and I still live with that and think it never will end. It's so sad. 'Where are we going, what is wrong with this world, what is wrong with Boston I would tell you thousands of words but don't know what to say be strong, love those who you have.' The leader of Boston Borough Council, Paul Skinner, said: 'The town is united in mourning following the very sad and tragic death of a nine-year-old girl in Boston. 'We can't for one second imagine the pain the family and the young girl's friends are going through and our heartfelt condolences go out to them. 'I would like to thank the emergency services for their swift response and I would encourage anyone with any information to make contact with the police on 101. 'Lincolnshire Police has launched a murder inquiry and Boston Borough Council is working closely with officers as part of the investigation, including the sharing of CCTV footage from the area. 'I understand this incident has left many people shocked and worried. As a council, we remain committed to working with our partners to make Boston a safer community for all.' As a sign of respect to the family of the girl, the council will fly a flag from the Municipal Buildings at half-mast, Mr Skinner said. Forensic teams were working the scene on Fountain Lane (pictured) overnight and early on Friday morning Home Office figures from 2016 found the port town of Boston, a market town in Lincolnshire, was the murder capital of England and Wales (Pictured: Scene on Fountain Lane) Mr Warman said in a statement posted on Twitter: 'Profoundly shocking news in Boston this evening, I have spoken to senior officers locally and am hugely grateful for all the emergency services' work. I have also been in contact with Policing Minister Tom Pursglove to ensure that any national help that might be useful is made available as quickly as possible' A nine-year-old girl has died from a suspected stab wound in Lincolnshire. Pictured: Forensic analysts mark out the crime scene A police officer collects bags of evidence after a girl, aged nine, died from a suspected stab wound in Boston Home Office figures from 2016 found Boston was the murder capital of England and Wales. Boston came top of a list of the local authorities with the most cases of murder, attempted murder or conspiracy to commit murder per 100,000 people. There was a rate of 15 murderous crimes per 100,000 people up to September 2015 - ranking as the highest per person average in England and Wales and rivalling huge cities such as Birmingham or London. And the overall crime rate in the town for 2021 was recorded as 100 crimes per 1,000 people, making it among the most dangerous in Lincolnshire. The NHS could be barred from giving under 18s puberty blocking drugs after both candidates to be the next prime minister said that children should not be 'rushed' into making irreversible decisions. Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak both questioned the current system after a controversial transgender clinic revealed it will close after a damning report found it was 'not safe' for children. The gender identity service at Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust will be replaced by regional centres at existing children's hospitals, which will provide more holistic care with 'strong links to mental health services'. The clinic has been accused of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs by former patients who feel they weren't challenged enough. Last night, Ms Truss told the Telegraph: 'I believe passionately that adults should have the freedom to lead their lives as they see fit, but it is very important that while young people are still developing their decision-making capabilities that we protect them from long-term harm. 'We have a responsibility to those under 18 to shield them from irreversible decisions. As prime minister, I would review access to puberty blockers to ensure we are maintaining the right checks and balances in the system to protect our young people.' And Mr Sunak made a similar pledge, saying: 'This review has shone a light on some very serious issues. As a father of two children, I know there are immense pressures on young people, and I am instinctively cautious about children undertaking life-changing treatment. When clinicians are raising concerns and young people are saying they felt harried into treatment, we must listen.' Last night, Ms Truss told the Telegraph: 'I believe passionately that adults should have the freedom to lead their lives as they see fit, but it is very important that while young people are still developing their decision-making capabilities that we protect them from long-term harm. And Mr Sunak made a similar pledge, saying: 'This review has shone a light on some very serious issues. As a father of two children, I know there are immense pressures on young people, and I am instinctively cautious about children undertaking life-changing treatment' An ongoing review of Tavistock's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) clinic accused it of rushing children into life-altering treatment on puberty blockers. Keira Bell, 25, (pictured outside the Royal Courts of Justice in 2020) launched a lawsuit against Tavistock - the NHS' only child gender clinic - which she said rushed her into taking drugs Number of trans people receiving NHS treatment rises 75% in five years The number of adults in the UK being treated for gender dysphoria on the NHS has risen 75 per cent in five years, MailOnline can reveal. Recent figures for 2021 show more than 11,000 patients received care for the condition that causes sufferers to feel they were born the wrong gender. This is 74 per cent more compared to the 6,371 patients being treated in 2016. A gender dysphoria diagnosis is the first step to getting prescribed cross-sex hormone therapies that help trans people develop the characteristics of their preferred gender. MailOnline complied the data on gender dysphoria based on Freedom of Information (FOI) requests sent to 12 NHS gender clinics in the UK. Of these, 11 provided data on their patient numbers stretching back to 2016, or to when they first opened. Only four of the services were able to provide the number of patients prescribed oestrogen as part of their treatment, meaning the total is likely higher. Overall there were 11,085 gender dysphoria patients being treated in 2021/22, compared to 6,371 in 2016/17. Of the 2021 patients 1,592 were prescribed oestrogen. Advertisement Mr Sunak's spokesman adeed: 'Rishi believes that all children who are questioning their gender should have the time, space and proper support they need to consider their feelings. 'Children should not be rushed down irreversible medical pathways and under-18s should be protected from life-altering treatments.' An ongoing review led by senior paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, warned the gender clinic was 'not a safe or viable long-term option'. She found other mental health issues were 'overshadowed' in favour of gender identity issues when children were referred to Tavistock's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). Dr Cass has called for 'rapid' research on the use of the drugs after she found 'insufficient evidence' on their benefits. NHS England said it would set up two new centres run by specialist children's hospitals in London and the North West. They will take responsibility for all of Tavistock child trans patients and waiting lists with the aim to shut down the clinic by next spring. The controversial clinic has treated at least 9,000 children for gender dysphoria since it opened in 1989. The Cass review was commissioned by NHS England in 2020 amid concerns there was 'scarce and inconclusive evidence to support clinical decision making'. GIDS is the sole provider of gender dysphoria and gender identity services for children and young people across the whole of the UK. There have also been concerns about the sharp rise in referrals to GIDS. There were more than 5,000 referrals being made in the last year, compared to just a few hundred 10 years ago. The closure of the service for young people at Tavistock is likely to be seen as a victory by campaigners who have previously accused GIDS of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs. Former patient Keira Bell took the clinic to the High Court, claiming that she had not been challenged enough when she was prescribed the drugs at age 16. In a letter to NHS England expressing concern over the use of these drugs, Dr Cass said: 'Staff should maintain a broad clinical perspective in order to embed the care of children and young people with gender uncertainty within a broader child and adolescent health context.' As GIDS prepares to shuts its doors, NHS England will at first establish two other services for children and young people with gender dysphoria, with one in London and one in the North West. The London service will be run by a partnership between Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Evelina London Children's Hospital. In the North West, the service will be a partnership between Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. After these initial two, a further six or seven similar services could be opened in other parts of the country. Patients currently being treated at GIDS will continue to be treated by the service before their care is transferred to the new operators early next year. GIDS has said there are currently no plans to change access to puberty blockers until the research programme proposed by Dr Cass is designed. Dr Cass, an ex-president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, launched her review of Tavistock to probe several issues affecting the clinic. The first of these was the sheer number of referrals, which reached more than 5,000 in 2021/22 - climbing from just 250 in 2011/12. Another issue was the nature of the cases, particularly among those in their early teens, had also changed, with the majority switching from 'birth-registered males' to 'birth-registered females'. There were also concerns a 'significant number' of children were presenting with neurodiversity and other mental health needs and 'risky behaviours', which needed to be looked into deeper before setting them on the path of transitioning. The report reads: 'This has led to a lack of clinical consensus and polarised opinion on what the best model of care for children and young people experiencing gender incongruence and dysphoria should be; and a lack of evidence to support families in making informed decisions about interventions that may have life-long consequences. 'This has contributed to the current service being unable to meet the scale of rising demand.' In a letter to NHS England, Dr Cass also called for more research into the effects of puberty blockers on a young person's brain development. She wrote: 'A further concern is that adolescent sex hormone surges may trigger the opening of a critical period for experience-dependent rewiring of neural circuits underlying executive function (i.e. maturation of the part of the brain concerned with planning, decision making and judgement). 'If this is the case, brain maturation may be temporarily or permanently disrupted by puberty blockers, which could have significant impact on the ability to make complex risk-laden decisions, as well as possible longer-term neuropsychological consequences. 'To date, there has been very limited research on the short-, medium- or longer-term impact of puberty blockers on neurocognitive development.' She added: 'I would suggest that consideration is given to the rapid establishment of the necessary research infrastructure to prospectively enroll young people being considered for hormone treatment into a formal research programme with adequate follow up into adulthood, with a more immediate focus on the questions regarding puberty blockers.' In her interim report in March, Dr Cass said: 'It has become increasingly clear that a single specialist provider model is not a safe or viable long-term option in view of concerns about lack of peer review and the ability to respond to the increasing demand.' A spokesperson for GIDS said: 'The trust supports the need to establish a more sustainable model for the care of this group of patients given the marked growth in referrals.' 'The expertise that resides within the current GIDS service will be critical to the successful formation of these early adopter services and providing continuity in patient care. 'We will work closely with partners and commissioners to ensure a smooth transition to the new model of delivery.' They also added the team at GIDS were extremely proud of their work despite the 'intense scrutiny' they had been under. 'Over the last couple of years, our staff in GIDS have worked tirelessly and under intense scrutiny in a difficult climate. 'We are proud of them and thankful for their unrelenting patient focus and extraordinary efforts.' It follows an announcement last month that every child treated for gender dysphoria in the last decade will have their medical records scrutinised to see if NHS care is causing them more harm than good. Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid changed the law to allow researchers to study data on about 9,000 adolescents given counselling or drugs for the condition. Mr Javid said he wanted to know whether the treatment improves these children's lives or leads to further problems or regrets. It comes after a British man who had his genitals removed during gender reassignment surgery revealed he is suing the NHS over the operation. Ritchie Herron, 35, claims doctors did not warn him of the drastic outcome of the body-altering surgery which has left him infertile, incontinent and feeling like a 'sexual eunuch'. It is thought to be the first medical negligence case over NHS transgender care in this country. The NHS trust involved has not been named. This is the hilarious moment a drug gang's guard dog laid down on the ground alongside the criminal as they were arrested in Brazil during a drugs bust. Narcotics cops arrested three men on a ranch in Hortolandia, Sao Paulo state, on Thursday and footage of the raid shows them lying face-down on the floor with their hands cuffed behind their backs. And the gang's massive Rottweiler decided to surrender too and flopped down beside the three suspects. The officers seized 1,176 bricks containing 1.1 tonnes of marijuana from the property. Narcotics cops arrested three men on a ranch in Hortolandia, Sao Paulo state, on Thursday and footage of the raid shows them lying face-down on the floor with their hands cuffed behind their backs The officers seized 1,176 bricks containing 1.1 tonnes of marijuana from the property According to Narcotics Police, the drugs had been shipped to the house in Hortolandia from Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul state. But police had been monitoring the property and swept in when the delivery arrived. Cops believe the drugs were destined to be sold in and around Campinas, Sao Paulo state. Pablo EscoBARK: The gang's massive Rottweiler decided to surrender too and flopped down beside the three suspects According to Narcotics Police, the drugs had been shipped to the house in Hortolandia from Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul state The men, one of whom owns the house, were taken to the Narcotics Police headquarters in nearby Americana. The dog remained in the property with the female owner of the land around the house, who police say is not involved in drug trafficking. Cops will return to the ranch today to check on the Rottweiler and two other dogs to see if the the animal protection services need to be called. Advertisement A devastated Declan Donnelly was hugged by his best friend Ant McPartlin today as he paid an emotional farewell to his older brother, telling mourners at a funeral that his family 'can't believe he's gone' following his death aged 55. Catholic priest Father Dermott Donnelly was laid to rest following an emotional requiem mass at Newcastle's St Mary's Cathedral, where he once served as Dean. Hundreds gathered at the church, with more than 2,000 watching the service on a livestream. Dec helped carry his brother's coffin into the cathedral, while his Ant arrived separately. The pair hugged outside after the service, and there was applause from the mourners as the hearse pulled away. Father Dermott, 55, was best known for his work with young people and youth ministry. Mourners at his funeral heard he was a 'gifted priest' who 'dedicated himself every day to the service of others'. Paying tribute to his brother during the service, Dec fought back tears as he said: 'Unfortunately today our world is a slightly worse place because Dermott is no longer with us. He still had so much more he wanted to do, so many more lives he needed to change. 'We can't believe he's gone, we still can't understand why he's gone - but we trust God took him because his talents were needed elsewhere. We as a family will miss him immeasurably.' He thanked the congregation for 'all the amazing tributes and messages of support', saying the family had been 'simply overwhelmed by the kindness we've been shown'. He said Father Dermott had been the middle child of seven, and told how they grew up in a three-bedroom house in Newcastle, with the four boys in one room and the three girls in the other. 'Dermott and I, being the youngest boys, were confined to the bottom bunks, and on the occasions when my five or six-year-old overactive imagination created monsters under the bed, I would run out of bed, jump into Dermott's bunk and he would calm me down in the middle of the night with stories he invented,' he said. Dec praised his brother's 'fantastic sense of humour and fantastic sense of adventure', and said his wish to be a priest was 'definitely there from an early age' as their mother Anne remembered him wanting to 'play Mass' as a child. He said Father Dermott was passionate about his work with young people, 'giving [them] hope, spiritual guidance and a feeling of self-worth'. He also joked about his brother's extensive fundraising efforts, saying: 'You name it, Dermott monetised it.' Dec's face was etched with grief as he took his brother's coffin on his shoulder as one of the pall bearers who carried it into the cathedral in the centre of the city. His longtime TV partner and best friend Ant arrived a few minutes earlier with his wife Anne-Marie Corbett. Anne Donnelly, the mother of Dec and Father Dermott, also attended and was seen wiping her eyes as she entered the church - while dozens of other family members and friends queued up outside waiting to pay their respects. Also there were former Newcastle United and England footballer Peter Beardsley and millionaire businessman Graham Wylie, who worked with Father Dermott to launch the Mercy Hub to help homeless young people. Worshippers began waiting outside at 10am for the midday service and there was a long queue of wellwishers who wanted to pay tribute to the popular priest. The service was also beamed to mourners at St Michael's Church in Elswick, Newcastle, the area where Father Dermott and Dec, 46, were brought up in a family of seven children. Father Dermott is believed to have died from a bleed on the brain after suffering headaches in the days leading up to his death on July 8. Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly embrace outside St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle, following a Requiem Mass for his Father Dermott Donnelly Dec fought back tears as he paid tribute to his brother during the service, telling mourners: 'We can't believe he's gone, we still can't understand why he's gone' The pair had a brief chat following today's service, where hundreds gathered to pay tribute and more than 2,000 watched on a livestream Dec praised his brother's 'fantastic sense of humour and fantastic sense of adventure', before he was consoled by Ant outside the church The television stars hugged outside the church after the service, and there was applause from the mourners as the hearse pulled away Declan Donnelly carries the coffin into St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today for Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral Ant McPartlin arrives at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle this morning for the funeral of Father Dermott Donnelly Ant McPartlin (left) and Declan Donnelly (right) arrive in Newcastle for the funeral of Dec's brother Father Dermott Donnelly Anne Donnelly, the mother of Declan Donnelly and Father Dermott Donnelly, arrives at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today Mourners gather in Newcastle city centre this morning ahead of Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral at St Mary's Cathedral Declan Donnelly carries the coffin into St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today for Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral Ant McPartlin arrives at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle this morning for the funeral of Father Dermott Donnelly Declan Donnelly arrives today for the Requiem Mass for his brother, Father Dermott Donnelly, at St Mary's Cathedral Declan Donnelly carries the coffin into St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today for Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral Anne Donnelly, the mother of Declan Donnelly and Father Dermott Donnelly, arrives at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today In a tribute in the order of service, Dec's family said: 'Dermott wore many hats. he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a nephew, a cousin, a friend and a priest. 'To us, his family, Dermott was a gift from God. We had him on loan for 55 years, however God has now called him back home to be with him. Popular priest Father Dermott Donnelly had recently celebrated 30 years of service in the Catholic church 'He was our spiritual advisor and our conscience; he was full of great ideas and we as a family will miss him so very much. We love you Dermott and that will never change. Until we meet again may God keep you in the palm of his hand.' Bishop Robert Byrne paid tribute to Father Dermott as the service began. He said: 'The huge numbers of people here this morning joining us in this cathedral, and St Michaels by livestream as well, is an obvious testament to the life and ministry of a much loved priest.' He said Father Dermott was a 'much loved family member, friend and confidante' who devoted his life to the church's youth ministry team. The bishop added that the diocese would continue the youth work 'which Dermott so ably initiated'. During his homily, the Right Reverend Seamus Cunningham, Bishop Emeritus of Hexham & Newcastle, described Father Dermott as 'a quiet, unassuming man with no airs and graces'. Father Dermott's death was announced by Dec, who tweeted earlier this month: 'I am heartbroken to tell you that my darling brother Fr Dermott sadly passed away this afternoon. We are all beyond devastated. Thank you for your messages of sympathy and support, they are appreciated.' Ant McPartlin described Father Dermott as 'the kindest, wisest man I knew,' adding: 'Rest in peace my friend, you will never be forgotten.' The requiem mass was held at St Mary's Cathedral at lunchtime. Father Dermott's body had earlier been received into St Michael's Church in Newcastle's West End yesterday evening. Declan Donnelly carries the coffin into St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today for Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral The funeral cortege arrives at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today ahead of the requiem mass for Father Dermott Donnelly Declan Donnelly arrives at the cathedral in Newcastle this morning for the funeral of his brother Father Dermott Donnelly Declan Donnelly carries the coffin into St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today for Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral Ant McPartlin arrives at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle this morning for the funeral of Father Dermott Donnelly Declan Donnelly carries the coffin into St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today for Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral Declan Donnelly arrives at the cathedral in Newcastle this morning for the funeral of his brother Father Dermott Donnelly Declan Donnelly arrives today for the Requiem Mass for his brother, Father Dermott Donnelly, at St Mary's Cathedral Declan Donnelly carries the coffin into St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today for Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral Ant McPartlin arrives at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle this morning for the funeral of Father Dermott Donnelly Declan Donnelly carries the coffin into St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today for Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral Declan Donnelly arrives at the cathedral in Newcastle this morning for the funeral of his brother Father Dermott Donnelly Mourners arrive at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle this morning for the funeral of Father Dermott Donnelly Mourners arrive at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle this morning for the funeral of Father Dermott Donnelly Dec and Father Dermott shared a close bond, with the priest officiating at the star's wedding to Ali Astall at St Michael's Church in 2015. The Donnellys - Dermott, Dec, Martin, Eamonn, Camelia, Patricia and Moira - grew up in Cruddas Park and went to St Michael's as children. Saturday Night Takeaway host Dec was devastated Father Dermott didn't get to meet his newborn son Jack, who arrived on July 23 and was described by his father as 'a welcome ray of light'. Dec and Father Dermott were brought up by their parents Alphonsus and Anne, who moved from Northern Ireland in the 1950s to the tough Cruddas Park council estate in Newcastle's West End. Father Donnelly was parish priest at St Joseph's Church in Stanley, County Durham, at the time of his death. But his former flock at St Mary's Church in Blackhill, County Durham, where he first served as a priest, were stunned at his sudden passing. Church steward Brian Robinson led tributes, saying: 'He was sent to our parish as his first priesthood and he wasn't with us long enough. 'He served as youth minister and set up the Emmaus Youth Village just down the road from St Mary's, which has since hosted thousands of youngsters. 'He left St Mary's in Blackhill when he became Dean of St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle. As well as being a very gifted priest he was a fantastic human being, and his priesthood left a legacy at Blackhill. 'He will never be forgotten. It could be coincidence, but we had the biggest congregation since lockdown in church this weekend and all people wanted to talk about was Father Dermott.' Brian said Father Dermott had collapsed at the Emmaus Youth Village, adding: 'He had been complaining of a headache for a couple of days when he was involved at the Youth Festival in the Emmaus Village. 'A couple of people said that he should get it looked at, but before he had a chance, he collapsed while getting ready to carry out a mass for 350 young people at the festival. 'I think the medics knew that there was no hope really and his family were sent for as soon as he arrived at University Hospital North Durham. 'It is such a sad, sad loss. The Good Lord must have something in mind for him, but it's a sad loss for everyone and no one could step into the job of youth minister the way he did.' Excerpts from the order of service for Father Dermott Donnelly's funeral in Newcastle today are shown above Before the service Bishop Byrne said he was 'shocked' by the priest's death, saying: 'Father Dermott will be sorely missed for his energy, enthusiasm and ability to engage with all who met him. 'This is particularly true of his work with young people and youth ministry in the Diocese bringing many disadvantaged and dispirited young people to Christ and Catholicism. Father Dermott truly lived his faith, and in doing so gave so much to others.' Such were the numbers of mourners expected at the cathedral that the mass was being live-streamed to St Michael's. The priest was best known for his work with young people and youth ministry. Hexham and Newcastle Bishop Robert Byrne said: 'He truly lived his faith, and in doing so gave so much to others. It is with great gratitude that we will remember him and all he selflessly gave.' During his career, Father Dermott was a supporter of The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod) charity. Its head of education Monica Conmee said he had been a 'great friend of Cafod', adding: 'Fr Dermott chose to stand in the light, and through his immense talent and gifts, so generously guided thousands of young people to experience the love and light of God in their own lives, inspiring them to share this with others.' In 2014 Father Dermott featured on Songs Of Praise alongside CBBC's Hacker T Dog to answer questions about the church that CBBC viewers had sent in. In April he visited Downing Street and joined other religious leaders praying for peace. A statement from Hexham and Newcastle diocese just after his death said: 'It is with great sadness that we have to inform you of the death of Fr Dermott Donnelly, who died peacefully this afternoon in hospital. 'This has come as a great shock to all of us. Please pray for the repose of his soul and keep his family, especially his mother, in your prayers at this difficult time.' Advertisement Prince Harry has been openly mocked by a US Supreme Court judge for wading into American politics yet again by attacking the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade - which he compared to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Duke of Sussex used a 'virtue-signalling' speech at the UN last week to criticise the 'global assault on democracy and freedom', in a thinly-veiled swipe at the USA's highest court. During his own speech in Rome, Justice Samuel Alito singled out Prince Harry along with Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron for criticising the opinion. 'What really wounded me, what really wounded me,' the justice said to laughter, 'was when the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to compare the decision, whose name may not be spoken, with the Russian attack on Ukraine.' Addressing a largely empty UN General Assembly last Tuesday as part of a celebration of Nelson Mandela, Harry mentioned Roe v Wade - which hands back decisions over abortion rights to US states - in the same breath as the war in Ukraine. He said: 'From the horrific war in Ukraine to the rolling back of constitutional rights in the US we are witnessing a global assault on democracy and freedom, the cores of Mandela's life.' It came after his wife Meghan - who accompanied him to the UN and is rumoured to harbour political ambitions - described how the Duke had a 'gutteral' reaction to the Supreme Court's bombshell overturning of the 1973 ruling. The Sussexes have made a string of high-profile interventions in recent years, from urging voters to 'reject hate speech' before the 2020 US presidential election - a clear swipe at Donald Trump - to Meghan's personal lobbying campaign in favour of paid parental leave. Alito - one of the Supreme Court's most conservative judges - also called out Mr Trudeau and Mr Macron in his speech, while reserving extra quip for Prime Minister Johnson. 'I had the honor this term of writing I think the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders who felt perfectly fine commenting on American law,' he said. Alito added: 'One of these was former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but he paid the price,' in a light-hearted reference to the PM's plans to resign after a Tory party rebellion. Alito was speaking at a July 21 conference on religious liberty in Rome hosted by the University of Notre Dame Law School. Notre Dame posted the footage online last night. Scroll down for video. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito mocked Prince Harry to torrents of laughter during his first public remarks since the decision to overturn Roe v Wade Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrive to celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, July 18 Harry's speech was not the first time he or the Duchess of Sussex have waded into American politics. During a Time 100 video in September 2020, they called on American voters to 'reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity' in 'the most important election of our life.' In June, Ms Markle told activist Gloria Steinem she is willing to go to Washington DC to join protests against the abortion ruling and urged people to vote in the November midterms. In an interview with Vogue, Meghan also urged men to be 'more vocal' with their anger at the repealing of Roe v Wade. Members of the royal family are supposed to be politically neutral and when they stepped back from their roles the Sussex's vowed that 'everything they do will uphold the values of Her Majesty'. But Meghan and Harry recently hired Miranda Barbot, a former aide to former president Barack Obama who was central to his successful reelection campaign in 2012. Meghan's political ambitions have long been talked about since she and Harry emigrated from Britain including claims that she would 'seriously consider' running for president if her husband dropped his royal title. Alito also joked that Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured on July 28, torpedoed his political career by speaking out against the end of Roe Alito was nominated by George W Bush and is seen as one of the Supreme Court's most conservative judges (he is pictured with President Trump in 2019) Harry and Meghan's frequent forays into US politics 2020 - During a September video shot for Time 100 before the presidential election, Harry and Meghan called on American voters to 'reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity' in 'the most important election of our life,' which was viewed as a not-so-veiled rebuke of President Donald Trump. Critics of the formerly-royal couple's comments included none other than her majesty's family, who noted the Sussexes vowed that 'everything they do will uphold the values of Her Majesty' - values that are supposed to include not picking sides in political matters. Buckingham Palace was forced to distance itself from Harry's remarks by saying that 'the Duke is not a working member of the royal family' and describing his comments as 'made in a personal capacity'. A Source close to the Sussexes also noted Meghan was keen to keep her American citizenship after she became a royal in case she ever wanted to go into US politics. The source told Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl that Meghan 'would seriously consider running for president' after she gave up her royal title. 2021 - Meghan is revealed to have been calling Republican senators on their personal phones and using her former royal title to urge them to vote in favor of a paid paternal leave legislation. 'This is Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex,' Markle reportedly said to West Virginia senator Moore Capito. She also did the same with Senator Susan Collins of Maine. 'Much to my surprise, she called me on my private line and introduced herself as the Duchess of Sussex, which is kind of ironic' said Collins. 'I was happy to talk with her, but I'm more interested in what people from Maine are telling me about paid leave,' she told Politico. She also submitted a 1,030 word letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in which she made made a plea for the parental legislation. The letter was written on Duchess of Sussex letterhead. In the letter, the former duchess wrote that the US's economic systems were 'past their expiration date' and 'too many Americans are forced to shortchange themselves when it comes to what matters to them.' 2022 - In May, Markle chartered a private jet to travel 1,400 miles to Texas where she laid a bouquet of white 'peace' roses at a memorial to the 19 children and two teachers slain at Robb Elementary School by murderous maniac Salvador Ramos. She also made a surprise visit to a blood center with two crates of food and drinks for donors, volunteers revealed, as one admitted: 'I had no idea who she was' and another confused her with a neighbor. Though cameras and news crews surrounded the memorial on Thursday, Markle did not make any remarks to the press. Then in an interview with Vogue following the overturning of Roe v Wade, Meghan also urged men to be 'more vocal' with their anger at the repealing of Roe v Wade and said that Prince Harry's response to the Supreme Court's decision last Friday was 'guttural.' 'My husband and I talked about that a lot over the past few days. He's a feminist too,' she said, adding 'We have to channel that fear into action. We can start this November in the midterms. We have to vote, every time.' Markle said she was willing to travel to Washington DC to join in on pro choice marches. Conservative Georgia congressman Rep. Buddy Carter chimed in on Markle's comments, saying 'I think Americans made it pretty clear in 1776 that they don't want members of the British Royal Family making decisions for them.' In earlier in the spring, the Sussexes hired Miranda Barbot, a former aide to president Barack Obama who was central to his successful reelection campaign in 2012. Advertisement Two years ago, a friend of the Duchess told Vanity Fair magazine that one of the reasons she did not give up her American citizenship when she married into the Royal Family was to allow her to keep open the option of entering politics. President Biden's sister, Valerie, 76, recently invited the duchess to join the Democratic Party and said she would 'of course' make a good presidential candidate. 'I think that she does see her future as possibly a congresswoman for California,' said Tom Bower, the author of a new book on Meghan and Harry, in an interview with Daily Mail Royals. He added: 'Her problem is twofold. One is that it is very badly paid, and Meghan needs a lot of money to live, the second is that you've got to be pretty tough in a political fight. You are up against a lot of competitors.' He also revealed Meghan had become a close mentor to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who allegedly arranged philanthropic ventures for the couple. Back in Britain, Harry has been battling the Home Office for police protection when his family are in the UK - a case estimated to have cost the taxpayer 100,000 so far, it emerged yesterday. The Duke has been taking legal action against the department after being told he would no longer be given the 'same degree' of personal protective security when visiting from the US. His representatives have previously told of how he wants to bring Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet to visit from the US, but that they are 'unable to return to his home' because it is too dangerous. The case is understood to have cost the Home Office 90,094.79 from September 2021 and May earlier this year. That sum is understood to include 55,254 on the government's Legal Department, 34,824 on counsel and 16.55 on couriers, The Sun reports. Two hearings have taken place at the High Court in London since May, so it is predicted that the total bill will surpass 100,000. And that figure will rise further after a judge granted Harry's legal team permission for part of his claim to have a judicial review into the Home Office's decision. The cost to the taxpayer would be reduced if the Home Office is awarded its costs back by the court and the Whitehall department run by Priti Patel has already said it will demand their legal costs back from Harry if his High Court battle fails. MailOnline has asked Schillings, the Duke of Sussex's UK lawyers, and the Home Office to comment. Meanwhile, the Sussexes are facing a second court battle in America where Meghan has gone head to head with her estranged half-sister, Samantha. Samantha is suing Meghan for allegedly peddling a 'rags to riches' tale in her Oprah interview, and also over comments in Finding Freedom, the book penned by Meghan's close friend Omid Scobie. She has argued it was dishonest for Meghan to claim she grew up as an only child, claiming it is how she feels despite her technically having two half-siblings. In response, the Duchess's lawyers claimed it is a 'feeling' and not a 'fact' that she grew up as an only child. 'It is hard to imagine a more personal and subjective feeling than how one views their own childhood. Moreover, Plaintiff's opposition completely ignores the context of the statement, where Ms Winfrey asked Meghan about her 'relationship' with Plaintiff (to whom Ms Winfrey referred as her 'half-sister on her father's side'). 'Meghan's response to that question that she 'grew up as an only child' was obviously not meant to be a statement of objective fact that she had no genetic siblings or half-siblings.' She also dismisses Samantha's complaints about information in Finding Freedom, a book by Omid Scobie, saying Meghan can't be blamed for that because she didn't write the book. 'Meghan did not make the statements; she cannot be liable for them. It is that simple,' her lawyers say. China's foreign trade bucks trend, sets new records 09:04, July 29, 2022 By Kong Dechen ( People's Daily Engaged in the cross-border e-commerce business, Tang Sheng has worked on a very tight schedule in a recent couple of months. Photo shows a busy terminal at a port in Nansha district, Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province, July 10, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Wei Jinsong) "I sell tools on Amazon. In the first quarter this year, my business performance was poor due to the rising price of raw materials and COVID-19 resurgence in China," he said. Fortunately, an upsurge of orders arrived in May and June. "I'm happy though I'm kept busy," Tang told People's Daily. After Amazon announced the date of its Prime Day this year, an annual deal event exclusively for the e-commerce giant's Prime members, Tang stocked up in advance. "I got a lot more orders this year. Ports in Guangzhou see a busy logistics," Tang said. According to him, the shipping price has been significantly lowered, from the peak point of around 30 yuan ($4.45) to 18 yuan per kilogram. It has greatly relieved the cost pressure for foreign trade companies. According to customs statistics, China's foreign trade of goods jumped 9.4 percent year on year in the first half of this year. The total imports and exports in May and June grew 9.5 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively, reversing the decline in growth in April led by the COVID-19 resurgence. The month-by-month growth signified a V-shaped rebound in China's foreign trade and has laid a solid foundation for the whole-year performance. Single track trains to be exported to Thailand are assembled in a workshop in Wuhu Economic and Technological Development Zone, east China's Anhui province, July 21, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Xiao Benxiang) Apart from the upturn, China's foreign trade also set two new records. In the January-June period, the country's total imports and exports of goods hit a record of over 19.8 trillion yuan. The number in June stood at over 3.7 trillion yuan, with total exports exceeding 2.2 trillion yuan, the highest monthly figures ever. While the growth picks up, the quality of foreign trade is also improving. The proportion of general trade continues expanding, and the trade with major trading partners is on a rise. Besides, foreign trade entities have become more active and there's a steady growth in the imports and exports of major products. As of June this year, China's foreign trade had recorded positive growth for eight consecutive quarters. The month-by-month growth in the total foreign trade volume came from the stable macro economy, including the robust domestic demand for production and the rapid recovery of foreign trade in certain regions of the country. The V-shaped rebound couldn't have been achieved without the country's supportive policies. For instance, to ensure smooth logistics of COVID-19 vaccines, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) has launched whole-process monitoring during customs clearance and carried out advanced verification of declaration documents, so that vaccine products don't need to be unpacked during the process and fast clearance is ensured. "The rebound of China's exports in May was indeed recovery growth following the pandemic," said Huo Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies. "It was inseparable from China's efforts to eliminate negative factors troubling the foreign trade sector, such as opening green channels and prioritizing the shipments of foreign trade enterprises, In general, the policies to promote work resumption and straighten logistics are effective," he explained. Clothes to be exported are produced in a workshop of a garment factory in Fanchang district, Wuhu, east China's Anhui province, July 20, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Xiao Benxiang) Liang Ming, director of the institute of international trade at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank of the Ministry of Commerce, told People's Daily that promoting the stability and quality of foreign trade is a focus of China in the next phase. While maintaining a stable size of its trade and steady share in the international market, China will improve the quality and economic benefits of foreign trade, so as to achieve high-level opening up, Liang said. So far, the GAC has launched special campaigns and rolled out facilitation measures in 10 cities across China. It has also worked to shorten the time of customs clearance and guided more than 90,000 enterprises to apply for customs declaration registration with the streamlined method that integrates multiple procedures into one consolidated business license. It has promoted integrated reform in all services and further improved trade facilitation. "The fundamentals sustaining China's economic resilience, potential and long-term growth remains unchanged, and the country's foreign trade is expected to embrace further growth," said Li Kuiwen, spokesperson of the GAC. (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) The International Space Station (ISS) might just yet have a new lease on life. The US Congress has recently given its approval for the NASA Authorization Act of 2022, which s part of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act of 2022, giving the ISS ten more years to remain in space, per NASA. NASA previously planned to retire the ISS by the end of the 2020s by plunging it straight into the Pacific Ocean after having commercial space stations take their post in Earth's orbit, per Space.com. ISS-CHIPS Act Connection Details NASA mentioned in its announcement that US Congress had passed the NASA Authorization Act of 2022, which is the first authorization for the space agency in five years. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson described the act's passing in Congress as a demonstration of continued bipartisan support of the space agency's many missions, which include its Moon to Mars approach through the Artemis missions and the extension of the US' participation in the International Space Station to 2030. He also stated that due to the act's passing, NASA would continue to advance scientific discoveries, enable sustainable aviation, address climate, and many more. "As we work to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon under Artemis, I'd like to specifically recognize Senators Maria Cantwell, Roger Wicker, John Hickenlooper, Cynthia Lummis, as well as Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson, Frank Lucas, Don Beyer, and Brian Babin, for their leadership in passing this bill," Nelson added. "This generation - the Artemis Generation - is part of a sustainable exploration program that will last decades." Read More: Apple's Safari Technology Preview 150 has Arrived with Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements The act's passing is crucial for NASA as it gives Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Nanoracks and Northrop Grumman time to further develop their commercial space stations and close the predicted gap that would happen if things remained as they were. You may remember that NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) was greatly concerned over the predicted gap between the ISS' retirement and the launching of the space stations as the latter would be launched too late to replace the ISS in Earth's orbit. ASAP's concern isn't without merit. NASA suffered its first gap with the retirement of its space shuttles, which NASA used to send astronauts to space in the past. Astronomy.com stated that when the shuttles were retired in 2012, NASA astronauts were forced to go to space using Russian rockets, which is a situation many were uncomfortable with. But Wait - There's More However, there is a catch. Although the US has given the extension NASA needs, the program's other partner agencies must also commit to the extension, per a separate Space.com article. Unfortunately, Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, isn't at all keen on providing its support for the extension as it already announced its intention to withdraw from the ISS after 2024. However, there is reason to count on Russian support as the country's own space station won't be up and running until 2028 at the earliest, meaning that they are likely to remain in the ISS until then. Related Article: Is Russia Really Leaving After 2024? New Report Suggests It Won't Happen Until 2028 A Metropolitan Police Officer who joked about raping a colleague in a group WhatsApp with Sarah Everard' killer has told a court it has been 'blown out of proportion'. Joel Borders also claimed a message he sent to a group of other police officers in which he said he 'felt like a spot on a domino' when in Feltham was actually a 'positive celebration' of the area's ethnic diversity. The 45-year-old also admitted to making jokes about his dementia-hit mother to cheer up his father when he took to the stand at Westminster Magistrates' Court today. Defending himself against accusations he sent 'grossly offensive' messages in a group chat which had killer cop Wayne Couzens as a member, Borders claimed he was 'exemplary' at his job and described the court case as 'absolutely ridiculous'. The court heard that Borders, along with two co-defendants, had sent offensive messages in a group chat which had killer cop Wayne Couzens as a member. They were found on a group chat called 'Bottle and Stoppers', which contained seven officers who had transferred to the Met from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). Joel Borders (left), pictured here arriving at Westminster Magistrates' Court today, said he was 'exemplary' at his job PC William Neville, pictured here arriving at Westminster Magistrates' Court today, was also part of the WhatsApp group PC Jonathon Cobban (centre), pictured here arriving at court today, was one of seven people in the WhatsApp group They came to light after investigators seized the phone of Couzens while they were investigating the rape and murder of Sarah Everard, though the court has not made direct reference to this due to other ongoing hearings. Among the messages found were 'jokes about raping a 15-year-old girl and sexually assaulting domestic violence victims', as well as comments about going on 'pussy patrol' and describing part of west London as a 'f****** Somali s*** hole', the court heard. Borders has denied charges relating to improper use of a public electronic communications network between April 5 and August 9 2019, as have co-accused serving Met constables Jonathon Cobban, 35, and William Neville, 34. Borders had worked for the CNC from March 30, 2014, and transferred to the Met on February 11, 2019. The group chats existence was revealed when police searched the phone of Wayne Couzens (pictured) during their investigation into the rape and murder of Sarah Everard Joel Borders, pictured here outside Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday, said the messages were 'dark humour' He left the force on December 9, 2020, for unrelated reasons and before he was told about Couzens or that he was being investigated for misconduct in August 2021. In messages previously read to the court, Borders, from Preston, Lancashire, said: 'I can't wait to get on the guns so I can shoot some c*** in the face', and suggested tasering people with Down's Syndrome. Speaking about a female colleague, he also said she would 'lead me on then get me locked up when I rape and beat her! Sneaky b****'. During cross-examination by his lawyer Nicholas Yeo on Friday, Borders told the court that he was 'well thought-of on the job' and his 'joke' messages, had been 'blown out of proportion'. 'I was saying she's the sort of person who would lead you on, sleep with you, then make a false allegation against you,' he said. 'So really the rape and beat should have been in quotations, but it's text isn't it it's never grammatically correct. 'This has totally been blown out of proportion.' 'I was an exemplary officer,' he added. 'I always turned up to work early, I always dressed smart, made sure my boots were clean. 'My image was perfect and I behaved perfectly with people. 'I know that's me saying this, but I was well thought-of on the job. People actively wanted to be partnered with me because I was good at the job. 'There's a lot of officers who are not good at their job and it makes it difficult to be partnered up with them on a case.' Borders added: 'I admit that I was naive when I first joined the Met. I had a different sense of humour then. 'But meeting people on the job, being involved in delicate matters, it changed what I find funny. 'I still have a dark sense of humour, I still laugh at things that maybe I shouldn't laugh at.' He said his jokes were not intended to offend the people who they were about, and gave the example of a joke he made about his mother, who has dementia, after she suffered a fall and broke her hip a few months ago. Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of (left to right) serving Metropolitan police officers Pc William Neville, and Jonathon Cobban, along with former police officer Joel Borders appearing in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court in March Borders said that to cheer his 75-year-old father up who was 'exhausted' but did not want to miss a hospital visit, he said: 'Don't go, and just tell her you went - she won't remember.' He said: 'You might say that's offensive to people with dementia, but it made my dad laugh, and all of a sudden his mood changed - his whole attitude changed.' When asked about a message in which he said 'I bet [DV victims] all [have] one thing in common - women that don't listen', he accepted that this message could be offensive, 'depending on who reads it'. But he added: 'Just because I'm a victim of something doesn't mean I let that thing beat me or upset me - I laugh about it. The messages in the group chat were found by detectives investigating the murder of Sarah Everard (pictured), after she was killed by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens 'So someone who's a victim of DV may be offended by it, they may not be offended by it.' When asked about a message he said he felt like 'a spot on a domino' in Feltham and Hounslow being 'twinned with Baghdad', he said it was in fact a 'positive celebration' of the racial and ethnic diversity of these towns rather than a condemnation. Clearly agitated, Borders said: 'I regret being in the group because of the harm this has caused to the general public and the police service. 'This has got out of hand. This is absolutely ridiculous.' During a later, heated exchange with prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward, Borders said: 'You are trying to criminalise innocent police officers.' Indicating his former colleagues in the dock, he said: 'Those officers in there are probably going to lose their jobs, just because you take exception to certain jokes.' Some of the messages found in the WhatsApp group chat by police investigating the murder of Sarah Everard Giving evidence afterward Cobban, from Dicot, Oxfordshire, defended sending messages in which described a hospital patient he was dealing with as an 'attention seeking, self-harming f*g', and Hounslow, a diverse area of London, as a 'Somali s******'. Following this second comment, he added: 'There goes pussy patrol... more like FGM (female genital mutilation) patrol.' Cobban said the 'pussy patrol' joke took inspiration from Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners, and his FGM comment was not related to the ethnic diversity of the area. Cobban said that, like many emergency services workers, he had 'developed a dark sense of humour'. In the chat Cobban had responded to jokes about police performing sex acts on domestic violence victims by saying: 'That's alright, DV victims love it... that's why they are repeat victims more often than not.' In court he said this comment was 'quite obviously sarcastic' and a way of 'venting frustrations after attending domestic abuse calls where callers would not co-operate with police once they arrived'. The officer said that in these cases 'more often than not the allegations are false'. A selection of messages made by the three Metropolitan Police Officers on the WhatsApp group chat Cobban said: 'Since then, I have been to many domestics and some of them are heart-breaking. I would not find that joke funny now.' On Thursday, Neville was accused of 'acting out a rape fantasy' by prosecutor Edward Brown QC after he described the time he 'pinned a 15-year-old girl going mental on the floor' as deploying a 'struggle snuggle'. In the chat Cobban had responded to this by saying: 'Haha struggle snuggles are always useful...good skills!' In court today he claimed it was a 'slang term for a Home Office approved restraint technique'. 'It was a technique that I've been taught in the Metropolitan Police Service,' he said. 'It's very similar to a term used - 'met bundle'. 'A met bundle is a multiple officer restraining technique where multiple officers restrain a person who perhaps has extreme strength and the term 'struggle snuggle' is just a single officer restraining someone, if that makes sense. 'Given the context I've just explained to the court, I don't see it as being offensive in any way.' PC Cobban (pictured), 35, shares a modern detached house in Oxfordshire with his wife. He alleged described Hounslow as a 'f****** Somalian s*** hole' And when challenged about his description of someone he 'hospital guarded' as an 'attention-seeking self-harming fag', he said he had had no evidence the person was gay. He said: 'Yes, I said fag, but that was a non-targeted derogatory comment. But it was literally no more than a name-calling exercise. 'The self-harm, as far as I'm aware, could have been nothing more than alleged. The person might well have been seeking attention, so that's a fact.' He claimed his best friend was gay, and told the court: 'He has many times in his life been called a fag and he said he is not and has never been grossly offended by that.' Cobban continued: 'I don't for one second believe [these messages] are grossly offensive. 'For me, something grossly offensive is so descriptive that it makes you physically sick. 'To be offended is something which is so subjective. I might be offended by something which you are not. 'I think the messages I sent were a mistake and I can see absolutely how they can be taken out of context, but they were sent without any thought. 'I am utterly embarrassed by the mistakes I made. I'm a police officer but I'm also a human. 'I've had a misconduct hearing and, let's face it, there's a good chance that I'm going to lose my job.' One of the defendants PC William Neville (pictured), 33, lives in Surrey in a modern block of flats with his wife Taking to the stand this afternoon, Neville, of Weybridge, Surrey, denied his use of the words 'snuggle struggle' in a message referring to a 15-year-old girl had an sexual conotations. Neville accepted he had received extensive training on diversity and equality and dealing with vulnerable victims, but denied he had this in mind when sending the messages. He told the court: 'We've spent more time looking at the Code of Ethics in this court room than I have in my whole career.' In one set of messages Neville and Cobban discussed the 'landmarks' on their 'patch', with Cobban saying 'London's biggest mosque' was on his. Neville responded: 'Haha! That's useful if you need to execute a warrant, you'll know where they are.' In court Neville confirmed he was referring to a warrant under the Terrorist Act, but denied that he had implied all Muslims were terrorists. He said: 'For me, with the dark sense of humour that's been referred to before, I'm not saying every Muslim is a terrorist. 'Would I say it out loud? Depending on the person I was saying it to, for sure, because to some people it could be offensive. 'I'd just like to say that a close friend, an almost family member, of ours is a Muslim. PC Neville (pictured) is alleged to have described pinning a 15-year-old girl to the floor as a 'struggle snuggle' 'I've made this reference and said this joke and they've laughed because they've understood the humour of myself and my family, the background I've had and my childhood. 'It's a joke.' The court also heard from Owen Graham, a Met Police Sergeant who worked with Neville from January 2020 and described him as an 'excellent officer', who said 'struggle snuggle' was a term used in officer training. 'I've also heard struggle cuddle,' he said. 'It refers to a bear-hug type restraint used on vulnerable people. 'It's an informal term used by instructors [and] I'd say it's used on quite a few occasions - quite commonly in 2009 [when he joined the service] but perhaps not as much in the past three or four years. 'It's not an expression even used as a joke, it's just a way the instructors help us remember.' Cobban, of Didcot, Oxfordshire, and Borders, of Preston, Lancashire, deny five counts each of sending by public communication network an offensive matter. Neville, of Weybridge, Surrey, denies two identical charges. The case was adjourned until September 26. Weather forecasters have been the target of 'unprecedented levels of trolling' this month, as keyboard warriors took to social media to accuse TV meteorologists of spreading hysteria during the heatwave. The BBC's weather team said they were inundated with comments on social media telling them to 'get a grip', while others questioned the accuracy of their reports as the nation sweltered in heat that got as high as 40C. Social media trolls seemed whipped up by reports linking the heatwave with secular trends caused by climate change, according to the Royal Meteorological Society who said their forecasters were also targeted along with forecasters from the Met Office. The mercury hit an unprecedented 40.3C (104.5F) in Coningsby and 40.2C (104.4F) at London Heathrow Airport at 12.50pm on July 19 - around an hour after a reading of 39.1C (102.4F) in Charlwood, Surrey, beat the previous all-time UK high of 38.7C (101.7F) in Cambridge in July 2019. As temperatures hit all time highs, 15 fire services declared a state of emergency as they struggled to extinguish blazes that were springing up with a frightening rapidity. Meteorologists have been the target of 'depressing' amounts of trolling in July, as keyboard warriors accused them of spreading hysteria during the heatwave. Pictured: BBC meteorologist Matt Taylor said the abuse had been 'depressing' According to the Met Office, climate change made the heatwave ten times more likely - although it is not possible to conclude causation definitively. BBC meteorologist Matt Taylor said he had found the amount of online abuse levelled at him this month 'depressing'. He said: 'It's a more abusive tone than I've ever received. 'I switched off a bit from it all as it became too depressing to read some of the responses.' The Royal Meteorological Society also weighed in on the pushback received by their members during the heatwave. The society's chief executive Professor Liz Bentley said members had faced 'public ridicule, accusations of lying or suggestions of being blackmailed'. The mercury hit an unprecedented 40.3C (104.5F) in Coningsby and 40.2C (104.4F) at London Heathrow Airport at 12.50pm on July 19 Social media trolls seemed most whipped up by reports linking the heatwave with secular trends caused by climate change, according to the Royal Meteorological Society Many social media users dismissed July's heatwave as being 'no different' to that experienced in the UK in the summer of 1976 - a claim that the BBC called 'false' 'Anecdotally, abusive comments increase when the message about climate change is intrinsic to the story', she said. The Met Office's lead meteorologist Alex Deakin urged trolls to 'show a bit of respect' for his beleaguered colleagues. He told the BBC: 'I find it more frustrating and offensive for my colleagues - some of the great minds in climate science. 'Show a bit of respect and do a bit more research rather than just believe Bob down the pub or Tony on YouTube.' Some viewers took to Twitter to write personal, venom-filled attacks on BBC meteorologists. One wrote: 'When will you be apologising for such pathetic, absurd fear mongering nonsense?' 'Of [sic] perhaps you should resign in disgrace?' Another shared a conspiratorial interpretation of events, alleging without any evidence that the heatwave had been caused by 'aircraft dispersing substances that blocked the sun and created a heat dome to trap heat within it in order to give off a greenhouse effect so gov can use these statistics to justify their climate change agenda'. Many social media users dismissed July's heatwave as being 'no different' to that experienced in the UK in the summer of 1976. The BBC said that claim was 'false', pointing out that the peak temperature in 1976 was 35.9C, more than four degrees lower than the 40.3C reached on July 19 this year. According to the Met Office, nine of out 10 of the hottest days ever recorded in the UK have occurred since 1990, with the peak of 1976 ranking only 13th on that list. A BBC spokesperson said: 'It is completely unacceptable for any member of staff to receive abuse on social media simply for doing their job.' Vladimir Putin and his friends are making preparations to flee Russia should his army be defeated in Ukraine, according to a Telegram channel that claims to come from inside the Kremlin. With his Donbas offensive stalling, Ukraine preparing to re-capture Kherson and his economy crumbling, the Russian dictator is 'aware of the possibility of a sharp change of mood in the country.' Last week, the General SVR channel reported that the 69-year-old had suffered from 'severe nausea' overnight, with doctors at his bedside for around three hours. Following on from that report, they claim that 'Putin himself and his entourage are preparing plans for evacuation from Russia.' It is thought that any plane carrying Putin and his family out of Russia would head to fellow dictatorship Syria, the nearest friendly state and whose leader, Bashar al-Assad, Putin bailed out by intervening in the Syrian civil war in 2015. Any flight from Russia to Syria, however, would have to fly through the airspace of Turkey, a NATO member. Vladimir Putin and his friends are reported to be making preparations to flee Russia should his army be defeated in Ukraine It is thought that any plane carrying Putin and his family out of Russia might head to fellow dictatorship Syria, whose dictator Bashar al-Assad (pictured left) Putin bailed out by intervening in the Syrian civil war in 2015 Were Turkey's strongman leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to refuse permission to the plane carrying Putin and his family to enter his airspace, it would effectively scupper the Russian tyrant's quickest and perhaps only getaway route. Erdogan and Putin have a complex relationship, having been friends and enemies at various times over the past decade as each leader tries to navigate their country through a challenging geopolitical neighbourhood. Iran is another regional power - and Western foe - that would be interested in Putin's fate. 'In principle, it is beneficial for Iran and Turkey to keep the Russian president in exile in reserve, using him, depending on the situation, as a lever or as a bargaining chip,' the channel states. Although Turkey is a member of the Western military alliance, under Erdogan's leadership the country has cut its own diplomatic path in international relations. Earlier this month Putin met with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in Tehran, ostensibly to discuss Syria. It is not too much of a stretch to imagine that Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi discussed in private the possibility of Putin requiring asylum from a coup or revolution at home. Putin, met with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, and Turkish president Erdogan in Tehran - to leaders who would have a strong interest if Putin needed asylum Erdogan (left) and Putin (right) have a complex relationship, having been friends and enemies at various times over the past decade as each leader tries to navigate their country through challenging geopolitical times Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces were said yesterday to be gaining momentum near the occupied city of Kherson. Air strikes have destroyed several bridges leaving the remaining Russian troops cut off, and a counteroffensive to re-take the only major city that Russia managed to capture is expected in the coming weeks. Back home for Putin, Yale experts state that Russia is losing the economic war with the West and its economy is in catastrophic and irrevocable decline. Russia is on the ropes, with business in retreat and sanctions catastrophically crippling their economy, they claim. Every single sector of the Russian economy is in trouble - both its imports and its exports are down and its allies are not helping, and in some cases actively taking advantage. With the cataclysmic state of the Russian economy in mind, it is no wonder that Putin might be considering retirement in Syria. But even then it is questionable whether he will receive the medical care that he reportedly needs. The Russian army has used the Antonivskiy bridge over the Dnipro River as a key resupply route into Kherson, now blown up by Ukrainian missiles as they prepare a counteroffensive The General SVR channel, which claims to be run by a former officer from Russias Foreign Intelligence Service, said earlier this week: 'Putin on the night of Friday July 22 to Saturday July 23 needed urgent medical care. 'At about 1am, the medical workers on duty at [his] residence were summoned to the president. Putin complained of severe nausea. 'Twenty minutes later, an additional team of doctors with the president's attending physicians was called. 'It is known that doctors provided assistance and were near Putin for three hours, and after the president's condition improved, they left his chambers.' It claimed a decision was made that in some events this week 'he will be replaced by a double'. The body double theory was backed up by head of Ukrainian military intelligence, who speculated that a Vladimir Putin body 'double' may have been used for his arrival at the Tehran summit. While the Russian leader looked awkward as he came down the steps of his presidential plane in Tehran, Ukrainian sources noted he moved unusually quickly and was more alert than in prior public appearances. The Russian premier looked animated when greeting the waiting party, before removing his jacket and clambering into a heavily armoured limousine. It was only the second time Putin had been abroad since launching his brutal invasion of Ukraine five months ago. The General SVR channel has previously claimed that Putin is suffering from a series of serious illnesses including cancer, Parkinson's disease and a schizoaffective disorder. She said Brisbane Airport couldn't print her boarding passes for all her flights She was told her entry was denied and sent back home on a plane five hours later She was asked whether or not she was pregnant or had recently had an abortion Australian cat sitter blames Brisbane airport for being detained in the US An Australian woman who travelled to the United States before she was detained and asked by authorities whether she'd recently had an abortion has claimed an Australian airport was to blame for the ordeal. Madolline Gourley, from Brisbane, stopped over in Los Angeles on June 30 on her way to Canada where she planned to cat sit in exchange for free accommodation. While in the airport, she was approached by US border officials and taken to a detention room where she was patted down, fingerprinted, photographed, and interrogated - including being asked if she was pregnant. Ms Gourley allegedly breached her visa conditions and was sent home on the next flight to Brisbane. She has now blamed a mistake at Brisbane Airport for her detainment, saying staff sent her on her way despite being unable to print out all of her boarding passes. Madolline Gourley (pictured), from Brisbane, stopped over in Los Angeles on June 30 on her way to Canada for a holiday, where she planned to cat sit in exchange for free accommodation. She claimed last week prior to being detained and ultimately deported back to Australia, US immigration officials patted her down and interrogated her, asking whether she was pregnant or had recently had an abortion Her ticket from Brisbane to LA was able to be printed but she was told her passes for her next two flights couldn't be. 'It sounded like it was a known issue. It didn't sound like it was specific to my situation,' she told news.com.au. Ms Gourley said staff eventually decided that not having boarding passes for all three flights wouldn't be a problem. She then boarded her plane with just her luggage receipt as proof for her connecting flights to Philadelphia and Montreal. Ms Gourley said she believes she would have been able to stay in the US if she had all three tickets. She said the immigration officer in LA was convinced she was up to no good because she didn't have physical copies of her boarding passes. 'I did all the right things, but he just wasn't having a bar of it,' she said. Her ordeal at the US airport made headlines as it followed the US Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade which allows states to ban abortions. At the time, she claimed an official at LA Airport asked her more than once if she'd terminated a pregnancy. 'I don't know if she had forgotten, or she wanted to work out if I was lying or something. I said no, and she looked at me again and said, ''Have you recently had an abortion?'',' she told The Guardian. 'I don't know the thought process behind that I just thought, ''What's the relevance of that to my situation?'' She now says the whole ordeal occurred because Brisbane Airport were unable to print out her boarding passes for two of her three flights, setting her on her way with just her luggage receipt as proof Ms Gourley was told her entry had been denied as she had breached the conditions of the visa waiver program, which allows Australians and citizens of many other countries to travel to the US for short trips without getting a visa. Since arriving home in Australia, Ms Gourley was contacted by a US Border Protection official investigating her treatment at the airport - but she said that didn't help the situation. 'They asked me why I didn't raise the inappropriate questioning with the supervisors and why I didn't ask for a manager to intervene,' she said. Despite the turn of events, Ms Gourley says she is still keen to head back overseas but is struggling to get any assistance. The website she had been using for more than five years to cat sit in all over the world, Trusted Housesitters, has also said they could not help her and it was up to immigration officials to make decisions on where she could travel. Now Ms Gourley's only remaining option to have her denial of entry into the US overturned is to submit a freedom of information request. Advertisement Brianna Kupfer was stabbed 26 times all over her body when she was attacked at random while working in a furniture store in January, her autopsy report has revealed. Shawn Laval Smith, 31, stabbed her 11 times in the chest, five in her left arm, three in her left leg, and one in her pelvis. She was also stabbed in her abdomen, right arm and right leg, according to the report obtained by the New York Post. Despite the brutality of the attack, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon's office has suspended criminal proceedings against Smith so he can undergo a mental health evaluation. Shawn Laval Smith, 31, stabbed her 11 times in the chest, five in her left arm, three in her left leg, and one in her pelvis. She was also stabbed in her abdomen, right arm and right leg, according to the report which was obtained by the New York Post The furniture store in Los Angeles where Kupfer was working when she was stabbed in January The potential result of that is for him to be found not guilty of the crime by way of insanity, and put in a psychiatric facility rather than in a prison. Kupfer's parents have not yet reacted to the decision by Gascon's office. They previously blamed woke politicians for their daughter's death. Smith was a career criminal with dozens of arrest records in multiple states. He was out on bail at the time of the murder. Smith had previously been arrested and charged with violent crimes in at least three states. At the time of Kupfer's murder, he was free on a $50,000 bond after allegedly firing a weapon toward an occupied vehicle in Charleston, South Carolina, in November 2019. An indictment in that case was handed down on March 16, 2020, just before COVID-19 paralyzed the courts, and the docket shows no further action on the case. In January, Kupfer's father said: 'I blame what's endemic in our society right now, is that everybody seems to be oriented on giving back rights and bestowing favor on people that rob others of their rights.' The grieving dad said he is not blaming any politicians by name, but he argued that their job is 'to make communities better, to make people care more, not to tear down communities by exposing them to people that are falling out the bottom, that really don't care about other human beings and just think they can do whatever they like in our society.' Todd Kupfer said he wants his daughter to be remembered 'as a person, a human being and a caring, loving and devoted family member and a great friend and just a rising star.' Smith is seen in Charleston mugshots (left to right) in November 2018 on charge of contempt of court; March 2019 on charges of entering a premises after warning; June 2019 on charges of entering a premises after warning; and November 2019 for firing into an occupied vehicle, a charge for which he is still free on a $50,000 bail more than two years later Smith is seen in Charleston mugshots (left to right) in July 2015 on charges of driving without a license, expired registration, and careless driving; March 1, 2016 on charges of trespassing; March 5, 2016 on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest A grieving couple have welcomed a baby boy into the world five days after their one-year-old daughter died when she contracted Covid. Queensland toddler Ruby Grace Edwards tested positive to the virus on July 14 but the illness triggered a 'rare auto-immune condition' which caused her immune system to attack her brain. It's understood she developed Acute Hemorrhagic Leukoencephalitis (AHLE) - an inflammatory disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. She died on Sunday. Her heartbroken father Steven Edwards shared a photo of his newborn son, Levi Grayson Edwards, who was born on Friday. 'His big sister Ruby is watching over us as he was safely guided into this world,' Mr Stevens wrote on Facebook. 'Levi brings with him hope and light, a promise of happy times as we look to the future. We're just in awe of him. 'We've got a long road ahead of us but each day with him in our arms and Ruby in our hearts, it will get easier.' The family of toddler Ruby Grace Edwards who died from Covid are seen with their newborn son. A stuffed rabbit with Ruby's name embroidered on it can be seen nearby 'We've got a long road ahead of us,' Ruby's father Steven Edwards wrote on social media of his family (pictured on Friday) Mr Edwards shared a photo of his newborn son, Levi Grayson Edwards, who was born on Friday Photos shared to social media show Mr Edwards with his wife and son at the Redland Mater Private Hospital in Brisbane's south east suburbs. A stuffed rabbit with Ruby's name on it can be seen on her mother's hospital bed. Ruby was just two weeks shy of her second birthday when she became severely unwell. Her death left her parents shattered as they prepared for the birth of Levi. Ruby Grace Edwards tested positive to the virus on July 14 but the illness triggered a 'rare auto-immune condition' which caused her immune system to attack her brain 'She fought long and hard but unfortunately, the condition was too aggressive, ruthless and relentless,' Mr Edwards wrote on Facebook at the time. 'Thanks to her treatment, we don't believe she suffered any pain during her fight and was able to leave this world peacefully. 'It feels like the world is falling apart for us right now 'This is supposed to be such a happy time where our family would become complete but is now so broken.' Mr Edwards said he and his family were all hurting and urged parents to hug their kids 'a little tighter'. He said despite dealing with Covid himself and sleep deprivation he wanted to be strong for his son. 'I only have to hope there is another side, where this means something, where there is hope, where there is happiness and peace,' the father said. 'I want to get there so desperately, I want to shield our son from this, I want him to only know of love and joy.' A GoFundMe page was set up to help the Edwards family move forward and is close to hitting the $30,000 goal. Mr Edwards said on Friday after Levi's birth (pictured): 'Mum and bub are happy and healthy, resting peacefully' 'Ruby was such a loving, caring little girl, always smiling,' friend Sarah Watton, who set up the fundraiser said. 'She touched the hearts of everyone she met and will be sadly missed by everyone who met her.' Ruby is only the 14th person aged nine or under to lose their life after contracting the virus in Australia and is the youngest to die with Covid in Queensland. Anthony Albanese is set to announce the country's first referendum in 20 years, with Australians to be asked if they support an Indigenous voice in the Constitution to advise the parliament on issues affecting First Nations people. The drafted question is: 'Do you support an alteration to the constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?' The Prime Minister will on Saturday unveil how the Constitution could be changed at the Garma Festival in the Northern Territory. The Federal Government will recommend three sentences be added to the Constitution with the first reading: 'There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.' Anthony Albanese is set to announce the country's first referendum in 20 years, with Australians expected to be asked if they support enshrining a Voice for First Nations people in the Constitution Mr Albanese will tell Indigenous leaders, campaigners and advocates gathered at northeast Arnhem land about the 'straightforward proposition'. 'A simple principle,' he will say. 'A question from the heart. 'Enshrining a Voice will be a national achievement. It will be above politics.' If the referendum goes ahead it would be the first in more than 20 years. Only eight out of 44 Australian referendums have succeeded since 1901. If the referendum goes ahead it would be the first in more than 20 years. Pictured is Anthony Albanese with Yothu Yindi board member Djaawa Yunupingu during the Garma Festival in northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory Mr Albanese will acknowledge the risk of failure of the referendum amid concerns opponents of Indigenous recognition were deliberately creating confusion among the public. 'A referendum is a high hurdle to clear, you know that and so do we,' he will tell those gathered. 'We recognise the risks of failure but we choose not to dwell on them - because we see this referendum as a magnificent opportunity for Australia.' At a moving ceremony at the festival on Friday, Mr Albanese said Australians should 'cherish' and celebrate its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. 'We should recognise it in our national birth certificate, the Constitution of Australia,' he said to cheers and applause from the crowd of about 600 people. 'My government will be taking up your generous offer of the Uluru Statement to walk with First Nations people towards reconciliation, to take that journey. 'To accept the generous and gracious offer, which is beyond what could have been reasonably expected given the history of this great island continent since 1788.' He will also add the reform would end '121 years of commonwealth governments arrogantly believing they know enough to impose their own solutions on Aboriginal people'. The Federal Government will recommend three sentences be added to the Constitution with the first reading: 'There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Wiradjuri man Geoff Scott said the opportunity for a voice had arrived and if missed it may not return for another generation. 'It has been something that's been developing over 30 years and the time is right now for change,' Mr Scott told AAP at the festival on Friday. 'We are on the verge of something very monumental, and spectacular.' Mr Scott said a Voice to parliament would help Indigenous people focus on closing the gap, and every Australian should want that. At a moving ceremony at the festival on Friday, Mr Albanese said Australians should 'cherish' and celebrate its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture 'We do not want to lose another generation. That is what the Voice is about,' he said. Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price earlier said a Voice to parliament would further divide black and white Australia. 'This government has yet to demonstrate how this proposed Voice will deliver practical outcomes and unite rather than drive a wedge further between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia,' Ms Price said. Mr Albanese shut the suggestion down and said it wouldn't be about 'special treatment'. 'It will be an unflinching source of advice and accountability,' he said. The parents of Archie Battersbee have made a 'last-ditch' application asking the United Nations to intervene after losing a court battle against doctors who want to turn off his life-support. The 12 year old's mother and father, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, are asking the UN's Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNRPD) to stop doctors withdrawing mechanical intervention. The 'devastated' couple lost fights in the High Court and the Court of Appeal in London where they asked for doctors to keep his treatment going. Yesterday the Supreme Court rejected an appeal where they asked for medics to be barred from turning off his life-support machine until they can lodge an appeal. Since then they have held discussions with bosses at Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, where he is being treated, in an effort to seek assurances this won't happen while they appeal to the UNRPD. Paul Battersbee and Hollie Dance outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London last Friday. they are going to the United Nations to try and keep their son Archie Battersbee on life support Doctors have been given permission to turn off Archie's life support machine, but his parents are trying to continue the fight. Pictured is Archie in hospital They are expected to argue that the UNRPD protocol allows 'individuals and families' to make complaints about violations of disabled people's rights. The UK has joined the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, which allows the UNRPD to ask the UK government to delay the withdrawal of life support while a complaint is investigated. The family argue that stopping treatment would be in breach of the UK's obligations under Articles 10 and 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children. Speaking as they launched their last-ditch appeal today, Ms Dance said: 'Words cannot describe how devastated we are. 'The pressure put on us from the beginning to rush through the process of ending Archie's life has been disgraceful. ' All we have ever asked for is for more time. The urgency from the hospital and the courts is unexplained when other parties have been happy for us to have more time. 'I don't believe there is anything 'dignified' about planning Archie's death. For me, this would be the most traumatic outcome. 'Parents need support not pressure. It is exhausting what we have been through. 'We should not have to endlessly battle the hospital in the courts for what we believe is right for Archie. Archie, pictured, was found with a ligature over his head in April and has not regained consciousness Archie with his mother Hollie Dance (left), brother Tom Summers and sister Lauren Summers 'Top judges have told us, however, that this is the law, if this so, the law must change. 'We will continue fighting for Archie, we will not give up and now await the response from the UNRPD.' Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which has been supporting the family, said: 'A system with 'the best interests of a child' truly at its heart, would never force the child's parents into such an ordeal. 'A civilised system would work gently with the parents, respecting life, faith, and liberty. 'This case has addressed fundamental legal issues on defining death. 'To weaken protections at the end of life, with humanist concepts of 'best interests to die' and 'dignity in death' running paramount will weaken those protections. 'We continue to pray for, support and stand with Archie's parents who have faced no alternative but to turn to the UN as they continue to fight for Archie's life.' Judges have heard that Ms Dance found Archie unconscious with a ligature over his head on April 7. She thinks he might have been taking part in an online challenge. The youngster has not regained consciousness. Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, think he is brain-stem dead and say continued life-support treatment is not in his best interests. Bosses at the hospital's governing trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, had asked for decisions on what medical moves were in Archie's best interests. A High Court judge, Mrs Justice Arbuthnot, initially considered the case and concluded that Archie was dead. But Court of Appeal judges upheld a challenge by his parents against decisions taken by Mrs Justice Arbuthnot and said the evidence should be reviewed by a different High Court judge. Republican Sen. Susan Collins said the Democrats' surprise deal to revive parts of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan may have doomed Republican support to codify gay marriage. 'I think the timing could not have been worse and it came totally out of the blue,' Collins told HuffPost, referring to Wednesday's announcement that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin had agreed on a $430 billion reconciliaiton bill, which included a number of healthcare, climate and tax provisions. The announcement came in the hours after the Senate passed the CHIPS Act, which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had threatened to derail if Democrats tried to bring Build Back Better back. Republican Sen. Susan Collins said the Democrats' surprise deal to revive parts of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan may have doomed Republican support to codify gay marriage Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin shocked Republicans by outmaneuvering them - waiting for the bipartisan CHIPS bill to pass before announcing they had resurrected parts of Build Back Better Republicans were blindsided, as press reports suggested that negotiations between Manchin and Schumer had soured. 'After we just had worked together successfully on gun safety legislation, on the CHIPs bill, it was a very unfortunate move that destroys the many bipartisan efforts that are under way,' Collins said. Among those bipartisan efforts was an effort to find 10 Republican senators to break the filibuster on a House-passed bill that would legalize same-sex marriage nationally. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which overruled 49 years of precedent throwing abortion laws back to the states, LGBTQ+ advocates feared gay marriage could be next. The Supreme Court's 2015 landmark decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, that legalized gay marriage was based on the same 'right to privacy' justices had used to justify legalizing abortion in 1973 in Roe v. Wade. In a concurring Dobbs opinion, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas argued that the same rationale that the court used to overrule Roe should be used on cases involving contraception, same-sex sexual relations and same-sex marriage. Since last month's dissolution of federal abortion rights, Democrats in Congress have worked to pass legislation protecting a woman's right to choose, access to contraception and gay marriage. The Senate looked on track to possibly pass a the House's gay marriage bill with four moderate Republicans saying they'd vote in favor of it: Collins, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. A fifth, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson - who is facing a tough re-election fight in a state that voted for Biden - said he wouldn't block it. But with Republicans shocked that Democrats for once out-maneuvered them, it's unclear if there would be five additional GOP votes. HuffPost asked Collins if she thought the bill would have to wait for the fall - as the Senate is about to go on its traditional August recess. 'I don't know and I'm going to continue to work for support for the bill,' the Maine Republican said. At Friday's press briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted a number of things the Manchin-Schumer compromise bill would accomplish. 'The fact that Republicans are turning away from this, it's, you know, it's shameful actually,' she said about the reconciliation bill. She then pointed out that Biden has long supported marriage equality. 'And we're going to continue to have those conversations with with congressional members and members of Congress to make sure that that moves forward,' she said. Advertisement Casinos and hotels are semi-underwater in flash flooding in Las Vegas while children are feared dead in Kentucky after the state was hit with its worst deluge in history. Chaotic weather systems are battering states across the US, including torrential flooding and danger-to-life thunderstorms in Kentucky, Missouri, and intense downpours in Nevada. St Louis has been drenched in a raging storm that obliterated a 100-year record for rainfall - reaching dangerous levels as trapped children and families were rescued from submerged buildings. It comes less than a week after 85million Americans were sent sweltering in record-breaking heatwaves that were 13F above the average - killing two people in New York and Pennsylvania. We round up the intense weather conditions Americans are currently facing in different states. LAS VEGAS: The bright lights of the city illuminate the intense downpours and flash flooding LAS VEGAS: A road crew blocks the flooded Charleston Blvd. at South Spencer Street as a powerful storm moves through the area on Thursday, July 28 Driver Miguel Reyes checks out his vehicle stuck in a construction hole due to flooding along Charleston Blvd. adjacent to Tacos El Gordon as a powerful storm moves through the area on Thursday, July 28, in Las Vegas Nevada DOT workers work to clear flood waters from West Washington Ave. near North Main St. on Friday LAS VEGAS: Water is shown pouring through the roofs of a casino and soaking the carpet while and people were filmed drenched by the torrential rain LAS VEGAS: Rainwater could be seen pouring though casinos after the torrential rain in Sin City Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas has been engulfed in intense deluges - sending many buildings, parking lots, and the iconic Strip under inches of floodwater. Some of the world's most famous casinos and hotels were submerged after thunderstorms soaked residents and caused flashed flooding in Las Vegas. Heavy rain pummeled the city, as streets turned into streams of water and roads became impassable. Authorities warned last night that more flooding is on the way as the storm continues to rage on. The iconic Caesars Palace was flooded, online video showed. Rainwater was seen pouring through the roofs of a casino and soaking the carpet while people were filmed drenched by the torrential downpour. Cars wade through floodwaters near the Strat Hotel in downtown Las Vegas in another video while a woman gasps in shock. 'Electric surges set the fire alarms of several buildings off, causing fire responders to have to head out into the storm to respond to them,' Las Vegas resident Alexander Wolf told The New York Post. Some vehicles were almost fully submerged in the floods, the footage showed. There was also flooding inside Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip, with water coming through the room of the building. Cars wade through floodwaters near the Strat Hotel in downtown Las Vegas in another video while a woman gasps in shock Hotel residents filmed their yards filling up with water as rain battered the doors and windows through the night. The monsoon season in Nevada happens between July and September, although flashfloods in Vegas itself are rare Footage shows a torrent of water cascade through the roof after the storm dislodged one of the panels, according to punters who filmed the bad weather. Another panel gives way, prompting shouts from the crowd below. Hotel residents filmed their yards filling up with water as rain battered the doors and windows through the night. The monsoon season in Nevada happens between July and September, although flashfloods in Vegas itself are rare. No injuries have yet been reported. ST LOUIS: A firefighters checks on a car stalled out in chest-deep water flood water on Goodfellow Boulevard during a thunderstorm on Thursday, July 28 ST LOUIS: Brian Kreitner, a laborer, at Third Degree Glass Factory looks down at broken pieces of glass in the flood water after a door holding back the water gave way and water rushed in the glass art studio knocking over displays and shattering artwork on Thursday, July 28 St Louis, Missouri Missouri's St Louis has seen catastrophic flooding this week with rainfall reaching an all-time high for the past 100 years. The raging flash floods over the week have washed out the century-old record of 6.85', which was previously set on August 20th 1915. The region has seen major flood damage - and city officials said that they are preparing for even more rain to fall. Two people have so far died in the St Louis floods after a mans body was found on Wednesday about a mile from his abandoned semi-trailer truck. A second man in his 60s was found dead on Tuesday after his car was found covered in more than 8 feet of rainwater. Drivers were left stranded by the once-in-a-century deluge - while other parts of the country have been scorched in coast-to-coast record-breaking heatwave during a week of tumultuous weather alerts. Yesterday, six children and 14 adults were rescued from a St Louis daycare center after it was inundated with four foot floodwaters - and electrical sockets began to spark after the water touched them. St. Louis firefighters with Company 29 were able to rescue 10 to 20 people, including at adult camp counselors, at the Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church in what was described by fire spokesman Nick Dunne as 'thigh-high water.' A fire department spokesman said six children were rescued, while the others freed were adults. The National Weather Service of St Louis has issued a Flash Flood Emergency for the city and advised residents to seek higher ground and avoid walking or driving through flooded areas. They recorded 8.81 inches of rainfall from midnight Monday to 9am Tuesday morning after the thunderstorms eased across the area by mid-morning. Terrified residents posted alarming videos and photos of submerged cars and flooded basements on social media as the catastrophic flood levels continued to rise. Images of Forest Park DeBaliviere Metrolink station in St Louis showed the tracks and platforms completely under water - with just half of the information boards and steps still visible. Interstate 70 east of Mid Rivers Mall Drive near Costco was also rendered completely impassable by the flash flooding. Highway 61 near Flint Hill also was closed due to the high water. The Fire Department reported that several cars were stranded on the Interstate 44. Firefighters in St Louis were scrambling to search for stranded people in flooded vehicles. ST LOUIS: A pedestrian walks across Clarendon Avenue as a massive amount of flood water rushes down the street towards Delmar Boulevard during a thunderstorm on Thursday, July 28, in St. Louis ST LOUIS: Multiple children were trapped inside St Louis daycare center by rising flood waters, as firefighters rush to save them ST PETERS: Abandoned cars are scattered by flooding across a shuttered Interstate 70 at Mid Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peters, Missouri after heavy rain fell through the night and into the morning on Tuesday, July 26 Kentucky The catastrophic downpours have obliterated entire towns in Kentucky - submerging houses, cars, and buildings in deadly flood water as emergency services desperately scramble to save those who are trapped. Disastrous flash floods in the area have killed at least 16 people in Kentucky on Friday. The death toll is expected to double, and children are expected to be among the deceased. Raging thunderstorms have pummeled the area, causing mudslides and years worth of damage in what has been Kentucky's most devastating flood in history. It's feared that waterlocked, saturated ground will continue to swell while rivers and creeks are expected to burst their banks with additional downpours this morning. KENTUCKY: Lexington Firefighters Jeremey Miller and Captain Scott Butler warm up the engine before heading up Troublesome Creek to rescue people that have been stranded since Wednesday night in Lost Creek, Kentucky KENTUCKY: A house is seen almost completely submerged off of the Bert T Combs Mountain Parkway on July 29 in Breathitt County, Kentucky. At least 16 people have been killed and hundreds had to be rescued amid flooding from heavy rainfall Kentucky's 'catastrophic' flood kills 15 - as Gov Beshear warns death toll will double and children are feared among the dead KENTUCKY: Flooding from the North Fork of the Kentucky River came over Bert T Combs Mountain Parkway outside of Jackson, Kentucky on July 29 Aerial view of homes submerged under flood waters from the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Jackson, Kentucky, July 28 Aerial view of homes submerged under flood waters from the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Jackson It will take the hundreds of people whose homes have been submerged in the dire flooding years to rebuild and recover from this cataclysmic disaster, Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear said on Friday. Devastating images show the catastrophic destruction the flooding has caused, with vehicles floating through streets which now resemble rivers and lakes. Homes and businesses have been nearly submerged up to their rooves in the unrelenting deadly torrent - as 18 more hours of rainfall is expected on Friday before the deluge eases on the weekend. Residents have been forced to climb trees and scramble to rooftops to look for safety as many locations in eastern Kentucky exceeded 10 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. A series of storms drenching the eastern part of the state has dropped water that has yet to crest, leaving damage that could take years to repair, said Beshear. KENTUCKY: Lexington Firefighters' swift water rescue teams head up overflowed Troublesome Creek to rescue people that have been stranded since Wednesday night in Lost Creek, Kentucky on July 29 Members of the Morehead Fire Department conduct search and rescue operations downtown on July 28, 2022 in Jackson, Kentucky Facebook user Terry Adams post a photo of his daughter Chloe on top of a house that was completely submerged from flood water in Kentucky Tonya Smith, whose trailer was washed away by flooding, reaches for food from her mother Ollie Jean Johnson to give to Smith's father, Paul Johnson, as the trio used a rope to hang on over a swollen Grapevine Creek in Perry County The Governor declared a state of emergency in six counties on Thursday morning. Rain water was as high as the leaves of nearby trees and power poles were sticking up from greenish brown water, images from the destruction revealed. Yesterday, the state activated the National Guard and the state police to use helicopters and boats to rescue people marooned among the floodwaters. Dramatic drone footage over Hindman, one of the hardest hit cities in eastern Kentucky, shows several homes and buildings almost completely submerged by the flooding, with only their rooftops of some visible. Breathitt County Emergency Management Director Chris Friley, who is overseeing the damage in one of the hardest hits areas, said on Thursday that the damage over the last day went beyond what previous flooding had done in recent years. The news comes after six children and 14 adults were rescued from a St Louis daycare center after it was inundated with four foot floodwaters - and electrical sockets began to spark after the water touched them. West Virginia Parts of West Virginia, especially those bordering Kentucky, have been put on flood watch after thunderstorms brought intense downpours to the area. Ethan Wriston, a watch center associate with the West Virginia Emergency Management Division, said that there had not been any deaths related to the floods recorded in his state on Friday morning. Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia has deployed the states National Guard to help Kentucky respond to the ravaging floods there. But despite the rainfall, there are no active shelters currently in place, and no reports of homes being flooded or washed away in West Virginia. Bill Gates is leading an investment round in a startup that's looking to change the air conditioning industry for good. Global warming is heating up countries all over the world and while air conditioning is keeping people cool, it's also contributing to climate change and rising temperatures. One startup is attempting to change that, with the help of Bill Gates. Gates' clean tech investment fund called Breakthrough Energy Ventures is now leading a $20 million investment round in Blue Frontier, a South Florida based cleantech startup that is looking to revolutionize air conditioning systems and make them more environmentally-friendly and sustainable, CNBC reported. But first, how does conventional air conditioning work and why does it impact climate change? How Traditional Air Conditioning Works Traditional air conditioning units use a vapor compression cycle to cool the air. It also uses refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons to cool the air. However, these products are being phased out as it depletes the ozone layer. There are several alternatives to chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, but they also significantly impact global warming. Moreover, air conditioners use up a lot of energy to over-cool the air, including about 531 million tons of carbon dioxide just to cool the air and 599 million tons more to remove the humidity. Today's air conditioners account for almost 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, scientists from the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center said in a study released in March. Researchers expect such emissions to get worse as people in countries such as India, China, and Indonesia try to deal with the increasing heat. Read Also: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Kickoffs His Earth Fund with First Batch of Grantees' Announcement How Blue Frontier Wants to Change Air Conditioning to Be More Environmentally Sustainable Blue Frontier is a cleantech startup in Florida that is led by CEO and co-founder Daniel Betts, who has served in the energy technology and advanced energy systems field since 1997. The company he co-founded has developed an air conditioning technology that offers better efficiency and less environmental impact in terms of climate change. Blue Frontier is able to do this by using just one-third to one-fifth the amount of refrigerants present in conventional systems because of the way the machine is constructed. The result is an 85% to 87% reduction in the system's impact on global warming. Interestingly, the technology used in Blue Frontier's air conditioning was discovered during research on methods to airborne anthrax, a bioterrorism weapon. The company's machines are based on liquid desiccants, which work to lower the level of vapor pressure than water. When humid air passes over the liquid desiccant, water gets pulled out to dehumidify the air. Moreover, Blue Frontier's liquid desiccant can be stored inside the air conditioning machine, which is essential in storing the cooling capacity for use at a later time. Betts explained that this allows them to "consume the bulk of our energy when renewable energy is abundant and when electric grid congestion is low." Blue Frontier has caught the attention of Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures, as the cleantech startup announced on Thursday that it has raised a $20 million Seris A equity investment led by Gates' investment fund, as well as 2150 Urban Tech Sustainability Fund and VoLo Earth Ventures. Blue Frontier's commercialization partnerModern Niagara, was also part of the funding round. In a press release, Breakthrough Energy Ventures founder and managing partner Carmichael Roberts commended Blue Frontier's sustainable air conditioning, describing it as an "important" project that offers "improved flexibility" as it works in "reducing overall load and better utilizing renewable energy." Related Article: Turntide Technologies Power Saving Electric Motor Backed by Robert Downey Jr., Bill Gates! A Connecticut mother who strangled her three young children to death before hanging herself in a triple-murder suicide left a note for her husband. 'Sorry, Pedro I take my kids with me,' the note read, according to family member Digna Naulaguari, who told The New York Post. Pedro still hasn't finished the two-page letter written by his wife, Sonia Loja, 36, after she killed herself and her three kids - Junior Panjon, 12, Joselyn Panjon, 10, and Jonael Panjon, 5 - at their home in Danbury on Wednesday around 6.30 p.m. It was later revealed that Loja had battled depression and was in distress after being cited multiple times for illegally operating a child-care center. Naulaguari said the caretaker didn't have health insurance and couldn't afford mental health treatment. 'Her job was baby-sitting, but the city closed her business down, they said it was illegal. She was not working,' Naulaguari said, 'Then she was crying, she was so sad. She would say, I need to work, but she had three kids, so she wanted to work from home. She wanted to stay and take care of her kids and the other kids.' PICUTRED: From left to right - Jonael Panjon (five), father Pedro Panjon, Junior Panjon (12), mother Sonia Loja (36), and Joselyn Panjon (10). Loja allegedly strangled the three children before killing herself A suicide note reveals Loja strangled her three children to death in her Connecticut home Loja called her sister on Monday to tell her she was experiencing stress and hadn't slept,' Nalulaguari explained. Her sister said she would visit Loja and her family on the weekend. Loja took her life two days later. 'I feel terrible,' Pedro told The New York Post on Friday. 'There was nothing wrong with how Sonia was acting.' Pedro - who works in landscaping - arrived at his home Wednesday afternoon after calling police and requesting a wellness check after not hearing from his wife all day. Naulaguari explained Pedro knew something was off when his kids didn't run out the door to greet him like they do everyday. 'When Pedro came home from work, the kids would always rush out to his car and yell, "Daddy! Yay! My daddy came back!," especially the girl, Joselyn,' she said. The day of the incident, Pedro went to the door and noticed it was locked - which was unusual for the family. Naulaguari said 'his heart broke' as he noticed something wasn't right. He quickly discovered the letter on the kitchen counter before dropping it to search for his children. Pedro found his son, Junior, in a bedroom with his daughter, Joselyn, on the bed. His five-year-old son, Jonael, was found in a separate room with cords around his neck. 'He took the cables off, hoping he'd hear life, but it was too late, Naulaguari said. Pedro quickly called the police and ran outside to ask a neighbor to speak to a dispatcher who was having a hard time understanding him. Loja was found in the back shed on the family's Connecticut property. Police say she committed suicide by hanging herself after killing her family Pedro 'fainted to the ground' upon discovering the bodies of his three children after his wife strangled them before hanging herself in their Connecticut home. He was later taken to the hospital. 'He called the cops and asked them to do a wellness check and then he came here and he beat the cops here,' neighbor Elvis Espinal told The New York Post. 'He went inside and like a couple minutes later he came out and he called 911 and just fainted to the ground.' A neighbor says the father, Pedro Panjon, called police to conduct a wellness check after he hadn't heard from his wife all day. Panjon beat police to his home where he discovered the bodies of his three children. Shortly after he came out of the home and fainted Police later found Loja hanging from the ceiling of a shed the family built themselves during their nearly five years of living at the residence located at 10 Whaley St, according to Espinal. He described the family as being 'quiet' while recalling the short and friendly gestures they'd exchange. 'We'd say "Hi" and wave but they kept to themselves,"' Espinal said. 'They had parties on the weekend, picnics. Just family. They kept the yard nice, they built that shed.' Espinal described Loja as 'even-tempered,' adding that his family never noticed anything strange about the 36-year-old. 'She was always nice to me,' he said. 'No attitude or anything. The kids were always very friendly, well-behaved.' Espinal told the Post that he's 'had a knot' in his stomach ever since he learned what happened to his quiet neighbors. 'I still have no appetite. Im not in shock, its more than shock, its like horror or like devastation. 'I cant stop seeing the little boys face,' he said, recalling 5-year-old Jonael. Neighbor Elvis Espinal told the New York Post that Loja (pictured) was 'very friendly' and 'well-behaved.' He recalls never noticing anything out of the ordinary about the 36-year-old The family was described by a neighbor as being 'quiet.' The family would exchange brief friendly gestures with neighbors. Pictured: police working on the scene Loja ran an illegal daycare out of her Danbury home where the murder suicide occurred. On Wednesday the caregiver called parents and told them to not drop their children off - the same day the horrific incident unfolded. '[Wednesday] morning, just before 10, a guy came to drop off his kid and she came to the door and said, "No, sorry, I can't watch him today."' neighbor Espinal recalled. 'She explained that she'd called all the rest of them, all the rest of the parents of the kids she watches, and she couldn't get a hold of one, to tell them not to come that day.' He added, 'The kids she watched, they would always be outside playing, like all day,' he said. 'She has a swing set in the back and she never yelled! Never really even raised her voice. Not even like, you know, getting them to come in, or anything like that. She was quiet.' Nube Sucuzhanay, 33, who has sent her two kids to Loja's daycare for about seven years, said she was shocked when she heard about the incident. 'I can't believe Sonia did this,' Sucuzhanay told The New York Post. 'I don't believe what's happened. Sonia was a good person. She loved and looked after her kids and was good with the kids she looked after. Sucuzhanay attended a vigil for the family outside of the home on Thursday. She explained that 15 years ago Loja immigrated to the US from Ecuador. 'I was very comfortable leaving my children with Sonia,' she said. A classmate of 10-year-old Joselyn also attended the vigil and recalled her classmate from Saint Peter School as being 'smart' and a good friend. 'Joselyn was a very smart, creative and helpful person,' Katelyn Jimenez, 11, told the Post. 'Joselyn was always there when you needed her. She would comfort anyone going through a tough time.' She continued, 'To me, it seemed like she lived a good life. She was very positive. She was great at art and music, but she was also very smart at math. I'm feeling sad. She was a good classmate and friend.' Loja ran a daycare from her home. She called parents prior to the incident and told them not to bring their kids in on Wednesday - the day of the horrific incident The day of the incident, a parent arrived to drop off their child after not receiving Loja's message. Loja told the parent she couldn't watch the child, a neighbor said A neighbor said he would always see the kids playing in their backyard and around the house. He said Loja was 'quiet' and never raised her voice A mom who has enrolled her two kids in Loja's daycare said she is shocked by the incident and trusted the mother with her kids Loja and her three kids lived at the home with two other adults - who were not at the address when police arrived on Tuesday evening. Since the death of his family, Pedro has posted photos on Facebook in tribute to his family. Another photo displays a black ribbon with the words in Spanish, 'Rest in Peace, now you are in a better place with God.' The father, Pedro, has posted photos of his deceased family on Facebook since the horrific Wednesday incident. His wife and three kids, pictured above, are seen eating cake as frosting sticks to their faces. Pedro updated the photo above as his profile picture On Wednesday, chief of police Patrick Ridenhour said: 'At approximately 6:33 pm officers responded to a well-being check call at 10 Whaley St. The caller was distraught and crying. 'Upon arrival officers went inside the single family residence and discovered three deceased persons, all juveniles. 'While conducting a further check of the premises they found a deceased female in a shed in the backyard.' Police responded to the scene around 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday after receiving a request for a wellness check. Chief of police Patrick Ridenhour said the caller was distraught and crying Ridenhour announced on Wednesday that they found three dead children in the home and a woman dead in the shed behind the house Detective Captain Mark Williams said in a statement Thursday: 'We can now confirm the identities of the deceased as Sonia Loja, 36, Junior Panjon, 12, Joselyn Panjon, 10, and Jonael Panjon, 5. 'Ms. Loja is the mother of the three children, and they all resided at 10 Whaley Street. The children all appear to have died by strangulation, and the mother's suspected cause of death is asphyxia by hanging. 'Pending an official autopsy, preliminary findings indicate that Ms. Loja strangled her three children before killing herself. However, this is still an active investigation. 'Investigators had learned that the mother and children lived at the residence with two other adults, who were not present when the police arrived. They and other extended family members have been contacted and advised of the incident. The scene at 10 Whaley Street shows the home with police cars outside the crime scene. The three children lived in the home with their parents and two others Mayor Dean Esposito, who responded to the scene to offer support, said 'a truly horrible event occurred in our city yesterday and we mourn the tragic loss of life. 'In the coming days, mental health and counseling services will be provided through collaboration with the Danbury Public Schools and the City of Danbury. 'Our community grieves for the innocent lives taken from us. We will get through this together'. One neighbor, Tom Neville, said that the event has rattled locals in what is usually a quiet area. He told NBC Connecticut on the night of the incident: 'At 5 o'clock tonight, I was watering my flowers and nothing. Nothing looked like suspicious was going on or anything.' Another neighbor, who remained anonymous, told News12Connecticut that 'they'd often see the kids playing at a park nearby.' Twitter's bid to hold Elon Musk to his $44 billion deal for the social media platform will head to a five-day trial beginning October 17, a Delaware judge ruled; he has until end of business Friday to counterclaim. Musk, the world's richest person and chief executive of Tesla Inc, has until 5 p.m. on Friday to file any counterclaims, according to the order signed late Thursday by Chancellor Kathleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery. Musk's lawyers have said he might file - essentially his own lawsuit against Twitter - in which he could seek financial damages for the disputed deal. The Tesla CEO and SpaceX chief said he was walking away from the deal on July 8, blaming Twitter Inc for breaching the merger agreement by misrepresenting the number of fake accounts on its platform. He even tweeted a meme of himself gradually laughing hysterically earlier in July in reaction to the court ordering Twitter to disclose its 'bot info.' Elon Musk, who retrieved himself from a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter earlier in July, will have a five-day showdown against the social media giant in court starting on October 17. He has until the end of today to file counterclaims regarding the collapse of the attempted takeover Twitter sued days after Musk backed out of the deal, as the company said the billionaire was contractually obliged to complete the merger at $54.20 per share. Pictured: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Twitter sued days later after Musk announced he was retrieving from the deal, calling the fake account claims a distraction and saying the billionaire was bound by the merger contract to close the deal at $54.20 per share. The company's shares were up 1.4 percent in morning trading on Friday at $41.45. McCormick fast-tracked the case to trial last week, saying she wanted to limit the potential harm to Twitter caused by the uncertainty of the deal. Musk had initially requested for a February trial to have the time he needed for a thorough investigation of spam bots on Twitter. Musk celebrated the news that Twitter had been ordered to disclose the number of bots on its platform by a Delaware court after he said one of the reasons he pulled out of buying Twitter was because the company didn't comply with his demands for data Twitter's shares were up 1.4 percent in morning trading on Friday at $41.45 after a trial date for its failed acquisition by Musk was announced late on Thursday Twitter, on the other hand, has blamed the court fight for slumping revenue and causing chaos within the company. The two sides had basically agreed to an October 17 trial, but were at odds over the limits of discovery, or access to internal documents and other evidence. Musk accused Twitter this week of dragging its feet in response to his discovery requests, and Twitter accused him of seeking huge amounts of data that are irrelevant to the main issue in the case: whether Musk had violated the deal contract. The chief judge in her order appeared to anticipate discovery disputes to come. 'This order does not resolve any specific discovery disputes, including the propriety of any requests for large data sets,' said McCormick. A letter on behalf of Musk's lawyer earlier this month asked the judge to order Twitter to immediately produce what it called 'core documents,' require Twitter to produce all raw data by August 1, and require the company to produce documents within 18 days of a request. Musk also faces a weeklong trial in Wilmington, Delaware, beginning October 24. A Tesla shareholder is seeking to void as corporate waste and unjust enrichment the CEO's record-breaking $56 billion pay package from the electric vehicle maker. Musk has denied any allegations reporting that he had an affair with Nicole Shanahan (left), wife of Sergey Brin (right), prior to their ongoing divorce Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal claimed Musk slept with Sergey Brin's wife Nicole Shanahan, 33, which allegedly served as a catalyst for their divorce. The Tesla CEO tweeted on Wednesday that as a 'public person,' he himself would not be able to win a defamation lawsuit against a news organization, but that Shanahan should sue. 'As a "public person," standard to win a defamation lawsuit against a news org is almost impossible,' he wrote. 'They could say I'm Satan and the "source" is their psychic! Nicole is not a public person, so could win. I hope she sues them.' Musk tweeted Wednesday that Shanigan should sue the Wall Street Journal, as she 'is not a public person,' and before later sharing in another tweet the 'media is a click-seeking machine dressed up as a truth-seeking machine' A couple hours later, Musk wrote that the 'media is a click-seeking machine dressed up as a truth-seeking machine' and said he had spoken to Sergey who confirmed he had not talked to the WSJ. Shanahan's lawyer came out swinging this week and denied his client had an affair with Elon Musk. 'Make no mistake, any suggestion that Nicole had an affair with Elon Musk is not only an outright lie but also defamatory,' attorney Bryan Freedman told DailyMail.com in an exclusive statement. Divorce negotiations between Shanahan and Brin are ongoing. A mother has told of her devastation as she and her family 'lost everything' when her house burned down on Britain's hottest day in history. Zoya Shumanska, 32, has recalled the horrific moment her house in Dagenham went up in flames after a blaze broke out in a park nearby and her husband's heroic actions as he attempted to save their pets. The incident took place on 19 July, Britain's hottest ever day on record, with temperatures soaring to 40.3C (104.5F) caused by a plume of hot air from north Africa and the Sahara. Dagenham reached highs of over 36C (97F) that day. There were 15 fire engines and 100 fire fighters at the scene, with several other houses in the neighbourhood also having been destroyed. At the time, the mother-of-two was at the airport, on her way to Bulgaria to visit her parents when she received a call that her property was on fire. Zoya's husband, Lyuben Velov, 34, was already at the scene. A family from Dagenham have been left in 'absolute shock' after a fire tore through their home which left them with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Pictured, Zoya, 32, right, husband Lyuben, 34, left, with their two sons Zoya Shumanska, 32, has recalled the horrific moment her house went up in flames after a blaze broke out in a park nearby and her husband's heroic actions as he attempted to save their pets. Pictured, the home after the fire Watching their home burn, the father was desperate to enter the house to save the family's dog, Mia, and two cats, Muci and Michelle, which were trapped inside. Ignoring police advice to stay well back, in a panic, Lyuben went around the corner and jumped the fence to enter the burning house to try and get the animals out. 'All I could think only about was how my cats and dogs could be burning alive and I started crying,' Zoya told NeedToKnow.online. Although he was anxious to get the couple's cats out too, the situation was deemed too dangerous by fire fighters who held him back. Zoya said: 'They asked him not to go and save anything else as he could lose his life, as the fire was already on the door step. The incident took place on 19 July, Britain's hottest ever day on record, with temperatures soaring to 40.3C (104.5F) caused by a plume of hot air from north Africa and the Sahara. Dagenham reached highs of over 36C (97F) that day. Pictured, the smoke from the burning home The mother-of-two was at the airport, on her way to Bulgaria to visit her parents when she received a call that her property was on fire. Zoya's husband, Lyuben Velov, 34, was already at the scene (pictured, the aftermath of the fire) 'He listened to them and they helped him climb the fence again and leave the property. I logged into my house camera from the airport and I could see how my car was on fire and the fences on the left. 'All I could think about was how absolutely everything was in flames. 'I was so shocked that I left my bags in front of the gate screen and went to the boarding gate without my bags and holding only my kids.' Zoya had to board her flight to Bulgaria with her two sons, aged two and seven, not knowing what was left of her family home. The mother-of-two watched the house go up in flames through her doorbell camera which captured footage the fire, but was destroyed before she could download it. The fire was started after a blaze broke out in a park nearby in Dagenham. Pictured, the house following the fire which completely destroyed the family's home Zoya had to board her flight to Bulgaria with her two sons, aged two and seven, not knowing what was left of her family home. Pictured is what she saw while on video call with her husband Zoya's doorbell camera captured the fire, but was destroyed before she could download the footage She later found out that the blaze had taken everything and that her two cats were still nowhere to be found. Zoya said: 'We lost everything; photos, albums, hard drives, laptops, documents, our clothes, some savings, jewellery, my car. 'My husband has been left only with the clothes on him and his car. He even lost his IDs and passports. 'I managed to save three bags of clothes which are my kids' summer clothes and some of mine [as we had it with us on the trip]. 'Everything else burned, unfortunately I found out that even my fish in the pond are most likely to have died because of the fire. 'The firefighters advised us that there were no dead cats in the whole fire, however we are still looking for them.' Zoya, who works as an accountant, is currently staying in Bulgaria while Lyuben remains in London. He is visiting the home every day with the hopes of finding their two cats. Zoya (centre left), who works as an accountant, is currently staying in Bulgaria while Lyuben (right) remains in London Pictured at Easter, Zoya and Lyuben's two sons, aged seven and two, were in the airport with their mother on the day of the fire Ignoring police advice to stay well back, in a panic, husband Lyuben went around the corner and jumped the fence to enter the burning house to try and get the animals out. Pictured is the family dog Mia which Lyuben managed to save The morning after the fire, Zoya posted a public message in her community Facebook group to ask people to keep an eye out for her cats (pictured left, Muci, and right, Michelle, who have not yet been found since the fire last week) The mother said: 'As long as we are alive, fit and in a good health, everything is possible. 'I am also very lucky that my kids and I are with my family in Bulgaria and my kids are not witnessing what has happened.' The morning after the fire, Zoya posted a public message in her community Facebook group to ask people to keep an eye out for her cats. 'There are people going out every day to look for my cats and giving me an update,' she continued. Since the fire, the family have been looking for places to rent while their home gets rebuilt. Two British drug smugglers have been jailed for more than 20 years each for their role in a bungled international plot to import a tonne of drugs worth half a billion pounds into Australia. Graham Palmer, 37, and Scott Jones, 38, were part of the ring which tried to smuggle cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy into the country before their yacht ran aground and an elephant seal blocked them as they tried to flee from police. The pair were sentenced in the Australian Supreme Court today alongside US citizen Jason Lassiter, 47, and Angus Jackson, 53, from New South Wales after their comical heist led them into the hands of police. The group attempted their daring plot in September 2019 after hatching the plan in Thailand, and Palmer, along with skipper Antoine Dicenta, 53, who has admitted his guilt but not yet been sentenced, set sail from Madagascar. Their yacht named Zero picked up 380kg of cocaine, 344kg of MDMA and 171kg of methamphetamine at a South African port worth an estimated one billion Australian dollars (570billion), then-police commissioner Chris Dawson said. Jason Lassiter, Angus Jackson, Scott Jones (from left to right) have been jailed for their plot to smuggle a tonne of drugs into Australia The yacht Zero is seen listing as it ran aground in the Abrolhos Islands during the bungled drugs transfer Police found 40 duffel bags containing the individually wrapped drugs packages among the seaweed But during the transfer of the drugs, Dicenta accidentally started recording his phone as he discussed the plot. He was heard saying: 'You have to put it inside before the other boat comes this is not cocaine, this is the other thing, it's not heavy at all.' Prosecutors later described it as the 'worst butt dial in history'. The pair travelled by sea for six weeks through treacherous conditions, eventually arriving in the Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Geraldton in western Australia, where they planned to transfer the haul to a local boat. Lassiter, Jackson and Jones were waiting on the other vessel named DW 140 in the archipelago which is notorious for shallow reefs, with its name roughly translating to 'open your eyes' in Portuguese as a warning to sailors. Dicenta and Palmer's yacht Zero predictably ran aground as they approached, and their tonne of drugs was left stranded with them. Their yacht named Zero picked up 380kg of cocaine, 344kg of MDMA and 171kg of methamphetamine at a South African port The passengers on the two separate boats desperately sent each other messages, with one saying: 'Drifted a mile we have no control where we end up.' Fearing they were exposed on their yacht, Dicenta and Palmer transferred the drugs themselves on to a small tender and made their way to Burton Island and tried to hide the drugs in seaweed overnight. The comical plot then had another twist as their conspirators' DW 140 boat coming to their rescue also ran aground and was forced to wait until the tide rose. When dawn came, fishermen spotted the abandoned Zero yacht and alerted authorities, prompting a rescue mission. A group sailing nearby then spotted one of the pair on Burton Island waving at them and approached, only to see he was in fact shooing them away. The witnesses alerted police and Dicenta and Palmer tried to flee but they were unable to, with an elephant seal blocking their way. They woke up the large animal which bared its chest and bellowed at the now terrified smugglers, who chose to surrender to police instead of trying to take it on. Police discovered an unmanned 15ft yacht (pictured) stuck on a reef before launching a sea search which allegedly led them to the drug on nearby Burton Island Police also found 40 duffel bags containing the individually wrapped drugs packages among the seaweed. While they were being taken to custody, police saw the DW 140 boat and noted it down and traced it to Jackson, with the other trio arrested the following day. They denied any knowledge of the drug deal, saying they were simply on a 'boys' fishing trip'. But now, all of them have been found guilty in court. Palmer was given a 22-year sentence with a non-parole period of 15 years, and Jones was given 25 years with a 17-year minimum. Jackson and Lassiter were each handed a 33-year sentence and must serve a minimum of 23 years behind bars. Previous police assistant commissioner Col Blanch said the drugs would have made their way into Australia were it not for the bumbling smugglers. Justice Corboy said the men were not the kingpins of the operation but had acted as couriers in the 'highly sophisticated' network which was undermined by their errors. The NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says there is no place for bullying and harassment in the workplace amid allegations against one of his ministers. Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos, who is responsible for keeping the state's workplaces safe, rejects accusations of improper conduct linked to her office. She is accused of allegedly berating staff and calling one 'retarded' and 'stupid'. 'I value my staff and endeavour to provide a professional and safe environment for them,' she told AAP on Friday. Embattled Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos (pictured) said she valued her staff and 'endeavour to provide a professional and safe environment for them' - after allegations came to light she had called staffers 'stupid' and 'retarded' Dominic Perrottet (pictured in South Korea this week) said there was zero tolerance for bullying in any workplace and backed up the minister in the wake of the alarming claims Mr Perrottet earlier said there was zero tolerance for bullying in any workplace, including the NSW government, and he had spoken to Ms Petinos after a complaint was made. 'I raised those allegations that I had received. She denied those allegations,' Mr Perrottet told reporters in India where he's on a trade mission. The premier said the complaint and the process that followed proved the system for workplace complaints worked. 'I have implemented as premier the strongest public workplace procedures and practices anywhere in the country ... to ensure confidence, particularly for people who are in a workplace where they don't feel safe,' Mr Perrottet said. He denied the allegations against Ms Petinos. The minister has denied the allegations as has Mr Perrottet 'It's just hell,' one unnamed staffer told News Corp when describing the working conditions in the minister's office, adding 'I felt unsafe'. The same report claimed one of Ms Petinos' former advisers lodged a complaint with the Department of Premier and Cabinet about being 'relentlessly bullied' by others while at work. Ms Petinos has had up to eight staff members leave in the past seven months, according to the reports. In a statement to AAP, the department said it had not received any complaints about Ms Petinos' office. 'I take my responsibilities as a local member and minister seriously and expect that my staff are as committed in delivering for my constituents and the people of NSW as I am,' Ms Petinos said who is on annual leave. Labor Leader Chris Minns called the allegations 'horrific' and said Ms Petinos needs to provide an explanation. 'There wouldn't be a workplace in any part of this country where someone wouldn't be immediately fired if these allegations are true,' he said on Friday. Labor frontbencher Courtney Houssos labelled the reports as troubling. 'I'm particularly concerned about the impact that these would have had on young women in her office, perhaps during their first political job,' she said. A gunfight broke out between NYPD officers and robbers outside of a New York City club early Friday morning. Police officers were notified of a suspected robbery at Club Doux, located in the city's upscale Chelsea neighborhood, by a bouncer around 3am on Friday. When plainclothes officers wearing NYPD windbreakers arrived on scene, the robbers allegedly opened fire. Officers shot back at the suspects, who then fled in a silver Audi sedan westbound toward West 21st Street and 7th Avenue. They were last seen wearing black hoodies, police said. There was multiple partiers in the street at the time of the shootout. One of the bullets struck an Uber, however no injuries were reported. No arrests have been made as of Friday afternoon. Plainclothes NYPD officers were involved in a shootout with suspected robbers outside of Club Doux in Chelsea on Friday morning around 3am. No one was reported injured Plenty of people (pictured) were in the street when the shooting happened. The suspects were allegedly trying to rob someone when a bouncer called for law enforcement. They began shooting at officers when they tried to intervene A police presence was still seen in the area in the late morning The Chelsea street where the club is located was also the location of a July 18 shooting that injured a man and struck a police cruiser. The victim of the shooting was found conscious and alert. The suspect fled the scene. It is unknown if he was apprehended. The Friday morning shooting comes as New York City has seen an increase in crime in recent years. July 18 turned out to be a major night for criminals, as nine other crimes took place throughout the five boroughs, leaving two dead and 12 injured. Overall crime and robbery is up a shocking 39 percent. Rape and assault are also up 11 and 19 percent, respectively. Police inspect a car that was hit by a stray bullet during the shootout A bullet hit an Uber (pictured) during the shootout on Friday morning in NYC Police were seen going through a vehicle struck during the early morning shootout Overall crime and robbery is up a shocking 39 percent. Rape and assault are also up 11 and 19 percent, respectively. NYPD on the scene after officers and robbers had a shootout out front a Chelsea nightclub The shooting occurred in Manhattan's upscale Chelsea neighborhood, and on the same street as another shooting that took place earlier this month New York City Mayor Eric Adams, 61, has promised New Yorkers time and time again that he will crack down on crime, and even ran his election campaign on it. A few weeks ago, he promised citizens again, stating: 'We're going to turn this crime thing around, and when we do so, people are going to really see the progress we've made in other parts of the city.' He also went on to blame the city's criminal justice system for the increase in violence. 'It is unfortunate the climate we're working under where the entire criminal-justice apparatus has turned away from the public and the rights of the public to live safe in their city,' he said. 'We took almost 3,800 guns off the streets, and many of the people who had carried those guns were able to return to the streets.' The Supreme Court also struck down NYC's gun laws last month, overturning a 108-year-old law that required New Yorkers to have a 'proper cause' to carry a concealed weapon. The 6-3 ruling on Thursday reversed a lower court's opinion, which had upheld the law restricting licenses to carry concealed weapons in public only to those demonstrating 'proper cause.' Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the majority opinion, writing that the New York law prevented law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights. New York is not alone in severely limiting who can get a license to carry a concealed weapon in public, and the new ruling will likely make it easier to legally carry a gun in major cities including Los Angeles, Boston and Baltimore. Advertisement Will Smith issued another groveling apology to Chris Rock on Friday and revealed his former friend still hasn't forgiven him for slapping him on-stage at the Oscars. Smith said he'd taken the last three months to 'work' on himself and realized now how many people he hurt when he smacked Rock on stage at the awards. 'I've reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he's not ready to talk when he is, he will reach out. So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk.' He also apologized to Rock's mother and his entire family, specifically Rock's mother and his younger brother Tony. 'I just didn't realize how many people got hurt in that moment, so I want to apologize to Chris's mother. I want to apologize. 'I want to apologize to Tony Rock... Tony Rock was my man and this is probably irreparable,' he said. He also apologized to Jada Pinkett Smith, his wife whose honor he claimed to be defending with the outburst, and said she had 'nothing to do with it'. Scroll down for video The actor posted the video on Instagram on Friday where said he was 'fogged out' during his acceptance speech, and that is why he did not apologize to Rock. 'I've reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he's not ready to talk when he is, he will reach out The slap heard round the world: Smith slapped Rock on March 27 at the 94th Academy Awards Smith said he'd spent the last three months 'reflecting' on his behavior and had come to realize how many people he hurt 'I spent the last three months replaying and understanding the nuances and the complexities of what happened in that moment. Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith had recently revealed that she was suffering alopecia and had shaved her head. Rock joked during his hosting set that she looked like 'G.I. Jane' 'I'm not going to try to unpack all of that right now but I can say to all of you, there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment. 'There is no part of me that thinks that's the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults.' Rock, who was hosting the show, joked that Smith's wife Jada looked like 'G.I. Jane' because of her bald head. She had recently revealed that she suffers from alopecia. Smith stormed the stage and slapped Rock after fuming: 'Keep my wife's name out of your f*****g mouth.' He went on to win Best Actor for his role in King Richard that night, but he did not specifically apologize to Rock. Insisting that his wife had nothing to do with the slap, he went on: 'I made a choice of my own from my own experiences from my history with Chris. 'Jada had nothing to do with it. I'm sorry, babe. 'I want to say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I brought on all of us. 'To all my fellow nominees, this is a community. 'It's like, I won because you voted for me and it breaks my heart to have stolen and tarnished your moment.' Smith went on to claim that 'disappointing people' is his 'central trauma'. 'I can still see Questlove's eyes. You know it happened on Questlove's award. You know, it's like. 'I'm sorry really isn't sufficient. 'Disappointing people is my central trauma. I hate when I let people down so it hurts. 'It hurts me psychologically and emotionally to know I didn't live up to people's image and impression of me, and the work I am trying to do is I am deeply remorseful. 'And I'm trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. I'm human and I made a mistake and I'm trying not to think of myself as a piece of s**t. 'I would say to those people I know it was confusing, I know it was shocking, but I promise you I am deeply devoted and committed to putting light and love and joy into the world. 'And, you know, if you hang on I promise we'll be able to be friends again,' he said to the fans he had let down. Rock only recently addressed the controversy at a Madison Square Garden show, where he laughed it off. 'Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,' he told the crowd. Smith issued his first apology to Rock back in March. He posted a lengthy statement on Instagram where he said 'violence in all its forms' was wrong. Chris Rock was spotted in Hollywood drinking with fellow comedians and actors at the Zoj restaurant London's High Court rejected Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's latest efforts to control 800million of bullion, making up around half the country's gold reserves. A High Court judge ruled in favour of Juan Guaido on Friday after analysing arguments at a London hearing, saying there was 'no basis' for the 'recognition of judgements upon which the Maduro Board lies'. Two rival boards of the Central Bank of Venezuela - one appointed by Mr Guaido and another appointed by Mr Maduro - are battling to secure the release of the gold in the Bank of England's vaults. The court ruled that previous decisions by the Maduro-backed Venezuelan Supreme Court aimed at reducing opposition leader Juan Guaido's say over the gold should be disregarded. Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido (pictured left in 2020) won the latest round in a battle over 800,000 of gold bullion in Bank of England vaults over president Nicolas Maduro (pictured right during a rally in 2019) Mrs Justice Cockerill considered whether judgements made by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela, the highest Venezuelan constitutional court, should also be recognised by British judges. A spokesman for the Maduro Board, Lawyer Sarosh Zaiwalla, said an appeal is being considered and that it was an 'unfortunate ruling' that rests on a 'narrow issue of law' about recognising foreign judgements. Guaido has won a series of legal clashes over the bullion after the British government recognised him rather than Maduro as the Latin American country's president. Guaido has won a series of legal clashes over the bullion after the British government recognised him rather than Maduro as the Latin American country's president. Pictured: The gold vault at the Bank of England In December Supreme Court justices ruled that UK judges must accept that the UK Government recognises Mr Guaido as president of the Latin American country. Five Supreme Court justices, based in London, said Mr Maduro is not recognised by the UK Government as president of Venezuela 'for any purpose'. Maduro's legal team has said he would like to sell some of the 31 tonnes of gold to finance Venezuela's response to the pandemic and bolster a health system gutted by years of economic crisis. Guaido's opposition has alleged that Maduro's cash-strapped administration wants to use the money to pay off his foreign allies, which his lawyers deny. A spokesman for Mr Guaido said the interim president welcomed the ruling. Mr Guaido added: 'This decision represents another step in the process of protecting Venezuela's international gold reserves and preserving them for the Venezuelan people and their future.' The British government joined dozens of nations in early 2019 in backing Guaido after he declared an interim presidency and denounced Maduro for rigging the 2018 elections. Jared Kushner's forthcoming memoir details furious accusations from inside the Trump White House over leaking and Bannon's threat to 'break you in half' if the president's son-in-law went against him. But it culminates with Kushner telling the president he didn't oppose a presidential pardon for Bannon, who had been charged with a fraud scheme related to an effort to raise private funds to build border wall. 'Steve was incredibly destructive to your first year in office, but he was there for you on the first campaign when few were,' Kushner told the president, he writes. The excerpts, which were obtained by DailyMail.com, are contained in Kushner's new book, Breaking History: A White House Memoir, which is out next month, and where he labels Bannon a 'toxic' presence in the White House. Donald Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner lays out angry clashes with Steve Bannon inside the Trump White House in his new book Bannon became an outsized presence in the Trump White House, where he served as chief strategist with a wide portfolio and where he kept a white board filled with Trump campaign promises while battling people he viewed as 'globalists' and swamp creatures. At one point, Gary Kohn, chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisors, turned to Kushner for help because 'Bannon is leaking on me nonstop. I'm not going to take this. I know how to fight dirty.' Kushner took the matter to Bannon directly, although he acknowledged he should have stayed out of it. 'Steve, you gotta stop leaking on Gary. We're trying to build a team here,' Kushner says he told him. 'Cohn's the one leaking on me,' Bannon shot back, according to Kushner. 'Jared, right now, you're the one undermining the president's agenda,' Kushner writes, saying Bannon's eyes were 'intense and voice escalating into a yell.' 'And if you go against me, I will break you in half. Don't f***with me,' Bannon told him. 'If you go against me, I will break you in half. Don't f***with me,' Bannon told Kushner, according to the president's son-in-law The book recounts internecine battles inside the Trump White House Kushner and first daughter Ivanka Trump were unpaid senior advisors to the president Happier times. Aide Stephen Miller (r) joked about splitting up Bannon's leaking responsibilities after he was forced out, according to Kushner Bannon had 'declared war,' Kushner wrote, calling himself 'woefully unprepared.' The book's telling of the clash with Bannon, which was first reported by CNN, was among a series of internecine rivalries that characterized Trump's term. Kushner, who kept a low public profile as an unpaid senior advisor to Trump throughout his four years in office, titles a section 'Thoughts on Bannon,' who would later come back into Trump's orbit after being pushed out, start a podcast, and have contacts in a 'war room' before Jan. 6th amid Trump's election overturn effort. 'The same skills that made Bannon valuable as a fighter during the campaign made him toxic in the White House. Even though he was only with the campaign for the final eighty-eight days, he positioned himself as the keeper of the Trump flame,' wrote Kushner.' He described the 'public-relations mess' when Trump signed an order barring travel to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries. It would immediately lead to chaos at airports and a court fight. Kushner defended the policy, even as the trashed the way Bannon pushed it through. 'The seven countries covered by the policy were Muslim-majority, but nothing changed with dozens of other Muslim countries around the world that had better vetting standards and controls in place,' Kushner writes. 'At a time when ISIS remained strong, and national security experts were concerned about domestic terrorist attacks, this policy made sense. Yet Bannon bulldozed it through the approval process, keeping it hidden from me and most of the senior staff until the president had already signed the document. The lack of planning caused confusion about how and when federal agencies should implement the travel ban,' he wrote. He said the former campaign team was now playing with 'live ammunition,' and says he told Bannon staff should 'keep our heads low,' as well as 'take blame for mistakes, and make sure the president received the credit for any success.' He describes another incident where Trump headed down to Mar-a-Lago, and told Bannon and former chief of staff Reince Priebus not to come. 'Why are you coming to Florida for the day? I don't need you there,' Trump quotes Trump as saying. He writes that the president then said 'There was no reason for Sessions to recuse himself, and this is going to unleash a disaster,' in reference to his first AG's decision to back away from the Russia probe. Then, Kushner says he tried to tamp down a New York Times story that Priebus and Bannon 'were in trouble with the president.' Minutes later, Bannon phoned him. 'How f***ing dare you leak on me? If you leak on me, I can leak out on you twenty-eight ways from Sunday,' Bannon told him, according to Kushner. He says he pushed back hard. 'Steve, are you f***ing kidding me? This wasn't a leak.' He said he phoned because Priebus had asked him to defend Bannon. He says the two briefly patched things up when Bannon apologized. Trump himself branded Bannon with the 'leaker' label late in his tenure, according to Bannon. Trump did so in an Oval Office meeting where he praised then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who had phoned in. 'We couldn't hear what Pompeo was saying, but at one point the president said to him, 'You are a star. We have some real stars in this administration,' writes Kushner. 'He paused for dramatic effect, looked across the room at Bannon, and then continued, 'We also have some real losers and leakers as well, but that will change.' Trump 'fired' Bannon on August 18th, Kushner writes, prompting a quip from longtime aide Stephen Miller about splitting up his workload by leaking to three reporters, according to Kushner. At one point Kushner joked to a close friend about what he had accomplished without any major policy success to show yet. 'At least I was able to get Steve Bannon fired,' he quipped. He said it 'saves the world from immediate disaster.' Even so, Kushner got behind the Pardon, which came weeks before Bannon and other loyalists helped Trump try to remain in office. Trump pardoned Bannon and dozens of other people hours before leaving office. He had been charged in August with duping donors into diving funds to 'We Build the Wall' and accused of diverting more than $1 million in funds. He denied wrongdoing and hadn't yet faced trial. Kushner didn't raise any substantive issues relating to Bannon's case. 'I havent reviewed his case, but I dont oppose him getting a pardon based on our past. You know me. I'm a softy. I err on the side of mercy,' Kushner told the president. 'Seriously?' Trump pressed him, even 'after everything he did to you?' 'I don't forget, but I do forgive,' I said. 'If you think it's a good idea,' he told his father-in-law. 'I'm okay with it,' Kushner said. 'Steve was incredibly destructive to your first year in office, but he was there for you on the first campaign when few were,' he told the president. He wrote: 'He played dirty and dragged me into the mud of the Russia investigation. But now that he was in trouble, I felt like helping him was the right thing to do. I hadn't forgotten the lesson I learned from my father's situation. Nothing is achieved from harboring resentment. It's better to forgive and let God be the judge of the rest,' he writes, referencing Charles Kushner, who also got a Trump pardon. A female gorilla was seen introducing her new baby to visitors at the Calgary Zoo in a heartwarming moment. The footage, shared online Thursday by ViralHog, shows the mom grabbing her baby's arms and lifting it in the air before cradling it and kissing the new gorilla's forehead, melting the hearts of visitors who witnessed the moment. 'Oh my goodness!' one person can be heard saying on the video. 'Did she just give it a kiss?' Another woman then tells the gorillas: 'Thank you for showing us!' The Instagram video has wracked up more than 16,000 likes and 233 comments on Friday. An adorable video show a female gorilla at the Calgary Zoo in Canada lifting her baby up to introduce it to visitors before wrapping it up in its arms and cradling it The baby received a ton of kisses from its mother, melting the hearts of visitors witnessing the interaction 'Omg I love this sooo much! Thank you for brightening my day,' one Instagram user commented. 'Momma loves her little baby!How sweet and heart warming to see,' another person shared. 'Reminds of nurses in hospital with newborns...' another person joked. Some people, however, called for the animals to be free, while others seemed to be annoyed by the women's comments in the video. 'It is surprising that these women are shocked that a mother of any species apart from the human cares for and lives their babies,' an Instagram user wrote. 'Of course they do,' she added. 'Sad these animals should be free!!!' another person commented, while another person wrote: 'They don't belong there.' Calgary's Zoo is home to six adult gorillas; another one of whom welcomed a newborn in April. More than 30 million people have viewed the footage of Juba's reaction to Olivia's arrival in March. Some said the reflection in the window made it look like Juba was holding the infant in his arms The birth of the zoo's newest gorilla is particularly joyous occasion as gorillas are a critically endangered species. According to Calgary Zoo, wild gorilla populations have decreased by 80 percent over the past 30 years. That, the zoo says, is due to poaching and habitat destruction, mostly by the mineral coltan, which is necessary for cell-phone production. In March, another heartwarming gorilla video captured was captured in Dallas, Texas, when a zookeeper on maternity leave introduced her baby daughter to one of the gorillas she looked after. Mary Kate Findley brought her two-month-old daughter, Olivia, to the gorilla compound to show her off to 20-year-old Juba. The footage, which has been shared on TikTok, has been viewed more than 30 million times. The passage of time is a constant march, but so too are the advancements in our knowledge and application of science and technology. Back in the early 2000s, we went from using MP3 players, VHS tapes, and floppy disks to iPods, VCDs, and USB flash drives, per Business Insider. However, these transitions did not come smoothly. There were still people that cling to the old ways, either due to economic concerns or because they were too used to what was becoming obsolete. The same is true with our scientific knowledge. Back in the early 2000s, the whole world accepted Pluto as the ninth planet of our solar system, which was a piece of information widely accepted by the scientific community and the rest of the world since the 1930s, per the University of Southern Maine. However, the discovery of another planet changed what we know of the solar system for days to come, which would stir much disagreement and debate. Here's what happened the day the dwarf planet Eris was discovered. A Quick Summary Of The Discovery Of Eris It all began in 2005 when a team made up of astronomers Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David Rabinowitz were studying photographs taken by the Samuel Oschin Schmidt telescope at Palomar University to look for large objects in the other solar system, per ABC27. During that time, they found a small object that changed position while being photographed. Careful examination of the object revealed that it was a planet three times further from the sun than Pluto. The discovery was made public on July 29, 2005, and soon after, the planet had a moon and that the planet was roughly bigger than Pluto. Read More: Apple iPhone 12 Refurbished Starts Selling in the US How Much is it Priced? The International Astronomical Union (IAU) soon named the planet Eris, after the Greek goddess of strife and discord, while its moon was named Dysnomia, after Eris' daughter and the Greek goddess of lawlessness. The IAU couldn't have chosen a more apt name. Thanks to this Eris' discovery, the IAU was forced to redefine what it is to be a planet. The new definition came with three requirements: It is orbiting the sun It is massive enough to form a roughly spherical shape (also known as "hydrostatic equilibrium") it has "cleared the neighborhood," which means that no other object of similar size is in the planet's orbit The redefinition made people angry as the IAU not only made the definition of a planet "confusing" and "complicated," but also because of the "demotion" of Pluto from the ninth planet of the solar system to a dwarf planet. Unfortunately, both Eris and Pluto didn't clear the third requirement, per Encyclopedia Britannica and the California Institute of Technology. Eris - A Summary Of Facts Eris, which was once named 2003 UB313, is about 722 miles wide or one-fifth of the Earth's radius, per NASA. It is also the farthest celestial object in our solar system, with the planet being 68 astronomical units away from the sun or 6.29 billion miles away. Additionally, it takes Eris 557 years to revolve around the sun while it takes 25.9 hours to rotate around its axis. Its moon, Dysnomia, obits around Eris for about 16 days and is possible 22 times smaller than the planet it is orbiting around, making it 100 kilometers in diameter., per a separate page from the California Institute of Technology. Related Article: Did You Know That Charon, Pluto's Largest Moon, was Discovered on This Day in 1978? Spaniards have been told to take off their ties at work to cool down rather than relying on air con as Europe struggled to get to grips with its energy crisis today. Pedro Sanchez, appearing tie-less in front of reporters at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, said he has encouraged all public officials to ditch the neck-wear ahead of an announcement of more energy-saving measures on Monday. 'I'd like you to note that I am not wearing a tie. That means that we can all make savings from an energy point of view,' he said. EU states are desperately trying to find ways to cut their energy use before winter arrives, after Russia began throttling gas supplies to the continent. Germany has already begun turning off street lights in Berlin while Hanover will shut off hot water in public buildings. Oktoberfest and Christmas markets also face being scrapped, politicians have admitted, and breweries could be closed. In Austria, the city of Linz has stopped lighting historic landmarks at night while Salzburg is drawing up plans to follow suit. Berlin turns off the lights which typically illuminate a statue of Frederick the Great, as the city attempts to save power amid a looming energy crisis Berlin Cathedral is only partially illuminated overnight as Germany desperately tries to find ways to save energy, with Russia throttling gas supplies Europe is facing an acute energy crisis as Putin weaponises energy supplies in apparent retaliation for leaders defying him over Ukraine. The continent typically gets around 40 per cent of the gas it uses from Russia, but is now facing the reality of a winter without it or with very restricted supplies. Germany will be the worst-hit because it is overly-reliant on Russia - getting more than half of the supplies it used in a typical year piped in direct from Moscow. And, unlike other EU countries, it does not have ports capable of getting gas shipped in from elsewhere. It is building two, but they won't be ready until the New Year. In order to avert shortages, it is restarting mothballed coal-fired plants and is looking to extend the life-spans of its three remaining nuclear plants which were due to be taken out of service at the end of the year. Similar moves are underway in Belgium, where talks are ongoing between the government at a French contractor which runs two nuclear plants to extend their lifetimes by another ten years. However, the firm has said the plants cannot come back online until 2026 at the earliest - far too late to help in the coming crisis. In France itself, which has one of the biggest and most-advanced collections of nuclear power plants anywhere in the world, there are also problems. Half its reactors are currently offline because of an unexpected problem with their cooling systems, and there is no set date for them to be powered back up. In the meantime, EDF - the firm which runs them - is being forced to run up huge debts buying energy from elsewhere in Europe to bridge the gap. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez - appearing without a tie - says he is encouraging all workers to ditch the neck-wear to stay cool instead of relying on air con The situation has become so severe that Emmanuel Macron's government is floating the idea of nationalising the company in order to get the plants operational again. Countries are also trying to stockpile as much gas as possible before winter arrives, which has driven up prices to near-record levels. Households in both the UK - which buys gas from Europe - and Germany have been warned bills could triple, while Germans also facing paying an additional 'gas surcharge' to stop supplies going bust. The exact amount has yet to be announced, but economy minister Robert Habeck has warned it will definitely be in the 'hundreds' of euros while some experts have calculated it could be as much as 1,000 extra per year. The charge will take effect from October, and last until at least March 2024. It will affect about half of German homes that use gas boilers. While the energy crisis has been brewing for some time, things escalated this week when Russia reduced the amount of gas coming through the Nord Stream 1 pipe - the main route into Germany - to 20 per cent capacity. Officially, Moscow says flows are being choked off because of repairs to turbines which pump the gas, but Germany says this is merely an excuse. Instead, most believe Putin is exacting revenge on European leaders for defying him over the war in Ukraine. The move is a desperate one. Russia relies on revenue from energy to keep its economy afloat, and will almost certainly face a deep recession without it. But Putin appears to be betting that European unity over Ukraine will break before the worst effects are felt back home. If Kyiv loses its Western backing, then it may be forced to seek a peace deal that would favour Putin - or may lose more ground to his troops. Linz, in Austria, will turn off the lights on dozens of historic buildings overnight to save power, with Salzburg set to follow suit France is considering nationalising energy provider EDF in order to get around half the country's nuclear power plants back online, which are closed for maintenance European leaders have struck a voluntary deal to cut gas use by 15 per cent this winter - an admission that there will not be enough to go around otherwise. But the Union's own diplomats have been briefing that the pact 'looks like Emmental cheese' because of the number of exemptions it contains. It appears almost half of EU countries could dodge the voluntary reduction as things stand - while more will be able to opt-out if they manage to hoard enough gas before winter hits. Specific industries could also be made exempt. At least eight states are expected to dodge the cut based on exemptions laid out in the deal: Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Ireland, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Reasons range from poor interconnection to Europe's gas or electricity networks - meaning they cannot easily swap gas or energy with their neighbours - to reliance on Russia's power grid for energy, in the case of the Baltics. Spain is known to have been particularly irked by demands for a gas cut, with diplomats saying ahead of talks that the country had 'done its homework' by building infrastructure that was not linked to Russian supply lines. France, though not expected to seek an exemption, is know to have supported Spain's position. Meanwhile Hungary is likely to simply ignore the agreement - which is voluntary, at least for the time being - having voted against the move, calling it 'unjustifiable, useless, unenforceable and harmful'. Poland voted in favour of the plans but has voiced opposition, saying EU members should not be forced to cut their industrial output to help other countries who are reliant on Russia. That could be an early hint that Warsaw intends to use another opt-out contained within the treaty, which exempts countries that are 'heavily dependent on gas as a feedstock for critical industries'. The treaty also contains provisions for countries such as Germany and Italy to reduce the voluntary target if they manage to store enough gas before winter hits. The CEO of the world's largest industrial real estate firm was mugged by two gunmen outside his $15 million home in crime-ridden San Francisco and is calling on Mayor London Breed to end an 'unacceptable level' of crime and violence. Hamid Moghadam, president of real estate giant Prologis which has $58 billion in assets, revealed that he had been robbed and assaulted by two armed men outside his Pacific Heights home on June 26, the San Francisco Business Times reported. Shaken up by the incident, Moghadam said he has sent a letter to Breed, the city's Board of Supervisors and California Governor Gavin Newsom, calling on elected officials to crackdown on soaring crime in the city. 'I recognize we live in an urban environment, but the level of crime, including violent behavior, has become absolutely unacceptable,' Moghadam wrote. 'I am deeply concerned that our city may be so far down the path toward decline that we may never recover or at least not for a long, long time.' 'I would say, right this second, San Francisco is probably the most dysfunctional city in America,' he added. Hamid Moghadam (above), CEO and president of real estate giant Prologis, revealed he was robbed by two gunman outside his home on June 26 He said the thieves assaulted him in front of his $15 million home and took his coveted Patek Philippe watch. The luxury watches can go anywhere from $12,000 to $2 million Moghadam said the incident has inspired him to advocate for the city, which has seen homelessness and violent crime run rampant over the last two years Speaking about last month's robbery for the first time, Moghadam told the Business Times that it lasted just 30 seconds. 'This car comes out. The guy jumps out with a hoodie and a gun,' Moghadam told the publication, adding that he fell back and re-injured his back and knee. 'His friend comes out with another gun.' 'They were using a bunch of choice words. Mostly starting with 'm' and 'f,'' he added. 'They were attacking me. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to get scared.' The brazen thieves made off with Moghadam's coveted Patek Philippe watch. The luxury watches can go anywhere from $12,000 to $2 million. The wealthy Pacific Heights neighborhood where the incident took place has housed several elite individuals, including Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison, tech investor Peter Thiel and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The Prologis CEO, whose net worth is at least $207 million. He said his wife Christina still has nightmares about the robbery, and the incident has inspired him to advocate for the city he founded his company in four decades ago. Moghadam warned Breed that the reputation of The Golden City was in peril, and that it could see a fall like the ones experienced by Detroit and Cleveland. 'I told the mayor very, very directly, 'Look, I'm sure in the early '60s, Cleveland and Detroit were wonderful communities with the auto and steel industries going strong, and they were the center of the universe. Obviously, something happened,'' Moghadam told the Business Times. He added that the current state of San Francisco might also push away businesses that caused the city to boom in the first place. 'Ten years ago, we acquired a larger company that was headquartered in Denver, but I insisted we keep our headquarters in San Francisco,' Moghadam wrote in the letter. 'Today, I am not sure I would make the same decision.' Moghadam, pictured with wife Christina, said she still suffers nightmares over the robbery. He warned that rising crime has diminished the reputation of The Golden City Last month, citizens fed up with the state of their city - more than 70,730 people out of roughly 118,000 citizens - voted to oust woke District Attorney Chesa Boudin, whose anti-incarceration policies have been widely panned as causing the ongoing crisis. He was originally elected on a platform of criminal justice reform, but his notoriously progressive laws have been widely blamed for rising crime and homelessness in the Bay Area since the start of the pandemic. During Boudin's time in office, 'smash-and-grab' robberies became commonplace, with thieves brazenly raiding store shelves in broad daylight, only to avoid charges thanks to Boudin's lax policies. He has since been replaced by Brooke Jenkins, 40, who cleaned house after taking her old boss' job as both she and Breed vowed to crack down on soaring crime and increasingly prevalent open-air drug markets in the city. Chesa Boudin (left) was ousted from his position as District Attorney in June, after critics accused him of not doing enough to keep residents and business owners safe amid a crime wave. Brooke Jenkins (right) has since taken over and fired 15 members of Boudin's team Earlier in the summer, Breed announced that the city's official open-air drug market, at the heart of San Francisco's civic center, will close at the end of the year. It came after it was revealed that the facility that's said to have cost $19 million in taxpayer cash treated just one in every 1,000 users and failed to cut fatal overdose numbers. But while the site is being shutdown, public drug use appears to be on the rise as a shocking video posted in July shows school children navigating through streets filled with homeless people, with some of the men doing drugs out in the open. The video, posed by Ricci Wynne, showed the elementary school kids filing off the 14 transit line in the Golden Gate City at 8th Street and Mission by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company building past dozens of sickly users nodding out on the sidewalk. 'This is no back ally,' Wynne wrote in the tweet. 'This is the main artery of the city that has been hijacked bye [SIC] drug dealers and now is Pure filth,' Wynne said in the tweet. 'I'm just trying to bring the images of the streets and the conditions to [the public],' he said in a separate video. 'Bring the awareness up...I'm trying to push for a change and try to see if we can get the streets back because we're losing out here.' A shocking video released earlier this month showed school children having to navigate their way through one such market, a filthy, open-air drug den of homeless addicts, after getting off a school bus at the end of the day The video, posed by Ricci Wynne, showed the elementary school kids filing off the 14 transit line in the Golden Gate City at 8th Street and Mission by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company building past dozens of sickly users nodding out on the sidewalk School children were forced to file passed homeless addicts who gathered on the sidewalk at 8th Street and Mission to do drugs Earlier this month, it was revealed that office vacancy in the Bay Area has risen to a startling 24.2 percent in the most recent earnings quarter - up from 23.8 percent in the prior period. The statistic illustrates the city's failure to recover following the initial spread of the coronavirus, with homeless encampments and open-air drug markets becoming commonplace on its streets the past two years. As crime continues to surge, office workers continue to feel increasingly unsafe, electing to work from the safety of their homes instead of venturing outside for a conventional commute. That recent gravitation toward remote work - coupled with mass firings - while saving money for big tech, has left small businesses in the region struggling, as they rely on the presence of the now-absent workers to turn a profit. Deepening the struggle are recent hiring freezes implemented as of late by some of the region's biggest companies, such as Google - leading to even less foot traffic in the city's now crime-ridden hubs. Advertisement A royal biographer today warned Prince Harry to 'mind his own business' after he was publicly mocked by a US Supreme Court justice for attacking the court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade. The Duke of Sussex used a 'virtue-signalling' speech at the UN last week to criticise the 'global assault on democracy and freedom', in a thinly-veiled swipe at the USA's highest court. During his own speech in Rome, Justice Samuel Alito singled out Prince Harry along with Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron for criticising the opinion. 'What really wounded me, what really wounded me,' the justice said to laughter, 'was when the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to compare the decision, whose name may not be spoken, with the Russian attack on Ukraine.' Royal expert Angela Levin said the embarrassing spectacle 'served Harry right'. 'He's behaving in such a ridiculous manner - he shouldn't be telling the United States what to do,' she told MailOnline. 'Frankly this just isn't his business. He's still an English prince and if he wants to go into politics along with Meghan - which will be laughable - then he should drop his royal title. 'He's becoming a laughing stock. His popularity has already sunk here and it shows he could be going the same way in America.' Tom Bower, the author of Revenge, a new biography of Meghan, added: 'Harry doesnt understand the American constitution or the Supreme Courts ruling on Roe v Wade.' Addressing a largely empty UN General Assembly last Tuesday as part of a celebration of Nelson Mandela, Harry mentioned Roe v Wade - which hands back decisions over abortion rights to US states - in the same breath as the war in Ukraine. He said: 'From the horrific war in Ukraine to the rolling back of constitutional rights in the US we are witnessing a global assault on democracy and freedom, the cores of Mandela's life.' It came after his wife Meghan - who accompanied him to the UN and is rumoured to harbour political ambitions - described how the Duke had a 'gutteral' reaction to the Supreme Court's bombshell overturning of the 1973 ruling. The Sussexes have made a string of high-profile interventions in recent years, from urging voters to 'reject hate speech' before the 2020 US presidential election - a clear swipe at Donald Trump - to Meghan's personal lobbying campaign in favour of paid parental leave. Scroll down for video. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito mocked Prince Harry to torrents of laughter during his first public remarks since the decision to overturn Roe v Wade Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrive to celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, July 18 Alito - one of the Supreme Court's most conservative judges - also called out Mr Trudeau and Mr Macron in his speech, while reserving extra quip for Prime Minister Johnson. 'I had the honor this term of writing I think the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders who felt perfectly fine commenting on American law,' he said. Alito added: 'One of these was former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but he paid the price,' in a light-hearted reference to the PM's plans to resign after a Tory party rebellion. Alito was speaking at a July 21 conference on religious liberty in Rome hosted by the University of Notre Dame Law School. Notre Dame posted the footage online last night. Harry's speech was not the first time he or the Duchess of Sussex have waded into American politics. During a Time 100 video in September 2020, they called on American voters to 'reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity' in 'the most important election of our life.' In June, Ms Markle told activist Gloria Steinem she is willing to go to Washington DC to join protests against the abortion ruling and urged people to vote in the November midterms. In an interview with Vogue, Meghan also urged men to be 'more vocal' with their anger at the repealing of Roe v Wade. Members of the royal family are supposed to be politically neutral and when they stepped back from their roles the Sussex's vowed that 'everything they do will uphold the values of Her Majesty'. But Meghan and Harry recently hired Miranda Barbot, a former aide to former president Barack Obama who was central to his successful reelection campaign in 2012. Meghan's political ambitions have long been talked about since she and Harry emigrated from Britain including claims that she would 'seriously consider' running for president if her husband dropped his royal title. Alito also joked that Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured on July 28, torpedoed his political career by speaking out against the end of Roe Alito was nominated by George W Bush and is seen as one of the Supreme Court's most conservative judges (he is pictured with President Trump in 2019) Harry and Meghan's frequent forays into US politics 2020 - During a September video shot for Time 100 before the presidential election, Harry and Meghan called on American voters to 'reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity' in 'the most important election of our life,' which was viewed as a not-so-veiled rebuke of President Donald Trump. Critics of the formerly-royal couple's comments included none other than her majesty's family, who noted the Sussexes vowed that 'everything they do will uphold the values of Her Majesty' - values that are supposed to include not picking sides in political matters. Buckingham Palace was forced to distance itself from Harry's remarks by saying that 'the Duke is not a working member of the royal family' and describing his comments as 'made in a personal capacity'. A Source close to the Sussexes also noted Meghan was keen to keep her American citizenship after she became a royal in case she ever wanted to go into US politics. The source told Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl that Meghan 'would seriously consider running for president' after she gave up her royal title. 2021 - Meghan is revealed to have been calling Republican senators on their personal phones and using her former royal title to urge them to vote in favor of a paid paternal leave legislation. 'This is Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex,' Markle reportedly said to West Virginia senator Moore Capito. She also did the same with Senator Susan Collins of Maine. 'Much to my surprise, she called me on my private line and introduced herself as the Duchess of Sussex, which is kind of ironic' said Collins. 'I was happy to talk with her, but I'm more interested in what people from Maine are telling me about paid leave,' she told Politico. She also submitted a 1,030 word letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in which she made made a plea for the parental legislation. The letter was written on Duchess of Sussex letterhead. In the letter, the former duchess wrote that the US's economic systems were 'past their expiration date' and 'too many Americans are forced to shortchange themselves when it comes to what matters to them.' 2022 - In May, Markle chartered a private jet to travel 1,400 miles to Texas where she laid a bouquet of white 'peace' roses at a memorial to the 19 children and two teachers slain at Robb Elementary School by murderous maniac Salvador Ramos. She also made a surprise visit to a blood center with two crates of food and drinks for donors, volunteers revealed, as one admitted: 'I had no idea who she was' and another confused her with a neighbor. Though cameras and news crews surrounded the memorial on Thursday, Markle did not make any remarks to the press. Then in an interview with Vogue following the overturning of Roe v Wade, Meghan also urged men to be 'more vocal' with their anger at the repealing of Roe v Wade and said that Prince Harry's response to the Supreme Court's decision last Friday was 'guttural.' 'My husband and I talked about that a lot over the past few days. He's a feminist too,' she said, adding 'We have to channel that fear into action. We can start this November in the midterms. We have to vote, every time.' Markle said she was willing to travel to Washington DC to join in on pro choice marches. Conservative Georgia congressman Rep. Buddy Carter chimed in on Markle's comments, saying 'I think Americans made it pretty clear in 1776 that they don't want members of the British Royal Family making decisions for them.' In earlier in the spring, the Sussexes hired Miranda Barbot, a former aide to president Barack Obama who was central to his successful reelection campaign in 2012. Advertisement Two years ago, a friend of the Duchess told Vanity Fair magazine that one of the reasons she did not give up her American citizenship when she married into the Royal Family was to allow her to keep open the option of entering politics. President Biden's sister, Valerie, 76, recently invited the duchess to join the Democratic Party and said she would 'of course' make a good presidential candidate. 'I think that she does see her future as possibly a congresswoman for California,' said Tom Bower, the author of a new book on Meghan and Harry, in an interview with Daily Mail Royals. He added: 'Her problem is twofold. One is that it is very badly paid, and Meghan needs a lot of money to live, the second is that you've got to be pretty tough in a political fight. You are up against a lot of competitors.' He also revealed Meghan had become a close mentor to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who allegedly arranged philanthropic ventures for the couple. Back in Britain, Harry has been battling the Home Office for police protection when his family are in the UK - a case estimated to have cost the taxpayer 100,000 so far, it emerged yesterday. The Duke has been taking legal action against the department after being told he would no longer be given the 'same degree' of personal protective security when visiting from the US. His representatives have previously told of how he wants to bring Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet to visit from the US, but that they are 'unable to return to his home' because it is too dangerous. The case is understood to have cost the Home Office 90,094.79 from September 2021 and May earlier this year. That sum is understood to include 55,254 on the government's Legal Department, 34,824 on counsel and 16.55 on couriers, The Sun reports. Two hearings have taken place at the High Court in London since May, so it is predicted that the total bill will surpass 100,000. And that figure will rise further after a judge granted Harry's legal team permission for part of his claim to have a judicial review into the Home Office's decision. The cost to the taxpayer would be reduced if the Home Office is awarded its costs back by the court and the Whitehall department run by Priti Patel has already said it will demand their legal costs back from Harry if his High Court battle fails. MailOnline has asked Schillings, the Duke of Sussex's UK lawyers, and the Home Office to comment. Meanwhile, the Sussexes are facing a second court battle in America where Meghan has gone head to head with her estranged half-sister, Samantha. Samantha is suing Meghan for allegedly peddling a 'rags to riches' tale in her Oprah interview, and also over comments in Finding Freedom, the book penned by Meghan's close friend Omid Scobie. She has argued it was dishonest for Meghan to claim she grew up as an only child, claiming it is how she feels despite her technically having two half-siblings. In response, the Duchess's lawyers claimed it is a 'feeling' and not a 'fact' that she grew up as an only child. 'It is hard to imagine a more personal and subjective feeling than how one views their own childhood. Moreover, Plaintiff's opposition completely ignores the context of the statement, where Ms Winfrey asked Meghan about her 'relationship' with Plaintiff (to whom Ms Winfrey referred as her 'half-sister on her father's side'). 'Meghan's response to that question that she 'grew up as an only child' was obviously not meant to be a statement of objective fact that she had no genetic siblings or half-siblings.' She also dismisses Samantha's complaints about information in Finding Freedom, a book by Omid Scobie, saying Meghan can't be blamed for that because she didn't write the book. 'Meghan did not make the statements; she cannot be liable for them. It is that simple,' her lawyers say. China fired its most direct warning shot yet amid reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may visit Taiwan on Friday, saying that if the speaker's plane is accompanied by U.S. fighter jets, they would not rule out shooting them down. 'If US fighter jets escort Pelosi's plane into Taiwan, it is invasion. The PLA has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosi's plane and the US fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down,' Hu Xijin, a commentator with the Chinese state-affiliated Global Times, wrote on Twitter. Earlier China warned the U.S. against crossing a 'red line' as it released not-so-subtle warnings against the speaker, which China has reasoned is number three in line in U.S. government, from visiting Taiwan. The U.S. must be prepared to 'bear all consequences' if Pelosi chooses to visit Taiwan, Chinese foreign minister Zhao Lijian said in a briefing Friday. National Security Spokesman John Kirby said Friday the Pentagon has seen no indication of a military threat. 'We just don't have any concrete indications of something happening from a military perspective on the Chinese part,' Kirby said. 'There's no reason for it to come to come to blows, to come to increased physical tension. There's no reason for that because there's been no change in American policy,' he added. The speaker has not confirmed whether she will visit the island democracy during an Asian tour that includes stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. In response to a question about the potential Taiwan trip on Friday, Pelosi only said:'I don't talk about my travel because it's a security issue.' Speaker Pelosi has not confirmed whether she will visit the island democracy during an Asian tour that includes stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore The speaker added: 'The President earlier this term talked about a strong emphasis on the Asia Pacific ... and the Congress of the United States will be part of that initiative.' Still, tensions have mounted over the possibility, with the Chinese navy monitoring the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier's activities in the South China Sea. The Reagan and its strike group left Singapore on Monday and headed to the South China Sea. The nuclear-powered warship was cruising about 185 km (115 miles) from the contested Fiery Cross Reef on Thursday, according to the South China Post. If the vessels continue in the direction they are headed, they will reach the Taiwan Strait. Two other vessels - identified by Vietnam-based maritime observer Duan Dang as a Chinese Type 052D destroyer and a Type 054A frigate - were seen 27km and 23km away. Meanwhile the Chinese navy is conducting military exercises off its southern coast near Guangdong, following exercises in nearby Hainan province. President Biden said last week the Pentagon thought a Taiwan trip was 'not a good idea.' 'Well, I think that the military thinks it's not a good idea right now,' Biden said in response to a question about Pelosi's reported trip. 'But I don't know what the status of it is.' President Joe Biden posted an image to his Twitter from a two-hour call Thursday morning with Chinese President Xi Jinping the fifth between the two since Biden took office Xi warned Biden on the call, according to Chinese state media: 'Those who play with fire will only get burnt. Hope the U.S. side can see this clearly' The call comes as Taiwan ramps up its largest ever military drills while neighboring China isn't pleased with prospective visit to the island by House Nancy Pelosi. Pictured: Taiwanese navy launches a US-made Standard missile from a frigate during the annual Han Kuang Drill, on the sea near the Suao navy harbor in Yilan county on July 2 Biden and President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone Thursday, where China claimed to have offered a stiff warning ahead of the unconfirmed trip. Chinese state media released some excerpts from the call, including Xi telling Biden: 'Those who play with fire will only get burnt. Hope the U.S. side can see this clearly.' The leader of the People's Republic of China also said he firmly opposes Taiwan independence and the interference of external forces. On the other hand, Biden expressed the U.S. stance on the issue has not changed, according to a read out of the meeting. 'On Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States policy has not changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,' the readout states. When asked to weigh in on whether this statement was an escalation in tensions, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre deflected and declined to comment. 'They had a very direct conversation. They've known each other for some time. President Biden has known President Xi for about four decades,' Karine detailed during her daily briefing on Thursday. Further pushed on if the call helped lower tensions, Jean-Pierre reiterated that the call was 'straight forward,' but wouldn't comment further. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) accused the White House of lying when Jean-Pierre said 'genocide' and 'human rights abuses' came up on the call. 'According to White House Press Secretary, genocide' & 'forced labor came up in last nights call between Chinese & US Presidents. That is disinformation,' MFA spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a statement. 'Pure lies,' he added. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory, though Taiwan sees itself as a self-ruled territory. The U.S. has long practiced 'strategic ambiguity' - deliberately not revealing whether or not it would come to Taiwan's aid should China invade and maintaining only unofficial relations. In recent years, those unofficial relations have grown tighter and Biden has repeatedly slipped up in committing to Taiwan's defense, before White House officials backtrack and say that the U.S.' posture has not changed. Video shows a helicopter tail spinning before colliding into the side of a mountain in Georgia and exploding as it tries in vain to reach stranded paragliders. The emergency team was attempting to help two people who became trapped on the cliff face when it crashed in Gudauri, a popular ski resort which becomes a hot spot for hang gliding and paragliding in the summer. Medics and rescue workers were onboard. Local media reported that rescue workers were injured, though MailOnline could not independently verify the claims. APA reported there were five people on board, two pilots and three rescue workers at the time of the crash. Video shows a helicopter tail spinning before colliding into the side of a mountain in Georgia and exploding as it while trying to rescue paragliders. Medics and rescue workers were onboard when it crashed The emergency team was trying to help two people who became stranded on the cliff face when it crashed A plume of black smoke ascends after the crash. Helicopter crashes are not uncommon in Georgia, with the UK's foreign office warning travelers of the safety standards in the country People filming the crash can be heard gasping as it crashes into the mountainside, exploding in a cloud of black smoke and flames. 'A helicopter belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was helping to rescue paragliders in Gudauri, lost control and fell down,' said the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 'In addition to crew members of the helicopter, there were paramedics and medics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.' 'All the details about the incident are getting accurate and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will provide additional information to the public.' Helicopter crashes are not uncommon in Georgia, with the UK's foreign office warning travelers of the safety standards in the country. 'Be aware that, in some instances, safety standards may not be adequately observed,' said the Foreign Office in its travel advice section. 'For example, several people were injured when a ski lift at Gudauri malfunctioned in March 2018 and a tourist helicopter crashed near Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) in spring 2019.' Another three people died in 2019 after a helicopter belonging to a ski-resort hotel crashed in the same region of Georgia. Two of those were crew members while the third person was an employee of Rooms Hotel Kazbegi. A Brazilian man became the first person to die of the monkeypox virus in the South American country, the Health Ministry announced Friday. The 41-year-old man had serious immune system complications and was hospitalized at the Eduardo de Menezes Hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, at the time of his death Thursday. The Health Ministry did not release the man's name, and little is known about when he contracted the monkeypox and how long he had been infected for. A total of 22,124 cases had been reported as of Friday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Europe has reported 70 percent of those cases, while 25 percent have been tallied in the Americas. Seven deaths have now been reported as part of the outbreak, with Spain reporting its first fatality in the hours following the news from Brazil. The five other deaths all occurred in African nations where the virus is endemic. A total of 22,124 cases had been reported as of Friday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Europe has reported 70 percent of those cases, while 25 percent have been tallied in the Americas. Six deaths have been reported: Three in Nigeria, two in the Central African Republic and one in Brazil. Symptoms of the virus include fever, aches and pus-filled skin lesions. Some people tend to recover within two to four weeks, according to the WHO Three deaths have been reported in Nigeria and the other two came in the Central African Republic. Brazil, an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America, has reported more than 1,073 monkeypox cases in 15 states and the Federal District as of Friday. The southern state of Sao Paulo has been the worst impacted, with 818 confirmed cases. Three teenagers between the ages of 13 and 14 tested positive on Thursday. Brazil's Health Ministry held a session Thursday to announce the opening of an emergency operation center to monitor the spread of monkeypox. Brazil has reported more than 1,073 monkeypox cases in 15 states and the Federal District as of Friday A 41-year-old man, the first to die from monkeypox in Brazil, had serious immune system complications and was hospitalized at the Eduardo de Menezes Hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, at the time of his death Thursday The Health Ministry revealed Thursday it would open an emergency operation center to monitor the spread of the virus and that it was revising a vaccine plan against monkeypox. 'The immunization schedule must be two doses with an interval of 30 days between them,' Health Ministry Secretary Arnaldo Medeiro said. 'We are already in negotiations with the manufacturers to acquire the immunizers. The (emergency operation center) will monitor the entire pandemic process in relation to monkeypox.' WHO declared monkeypox a 'global health emergency' on July 23. The above graph shows the total number of cases of monkeypox confirmed in the United States. This week the tally shot up by more than 1,000 in 24 hours, which officials said was down to 'historic' cases finally being recorded Symptoms of the virus include fever, aches and pus-filled skin lesions. Some people tend to recover within two to four weeks, according to the WHO. Anyone can spread monkeypox, but the current outbreak outside of Africa is concentrated almost exclusively among men who have sexual intercourse with men. The virus spreads primarily via intimate skin-to-skin contact, usually with someone who has an active rash, as well as via contact with contaminated clothes or bedding. It is not as easily transmitted as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that spurred the COVID-19 pandemic. 'COVID is spread by respiratory route and is highly infectious. This doesn't appear to be the case with the monkeypox,' said Dr. Martin Hirsch of Massachusetts General Hospital. Chrissy Powell's decomposing body went unnoticed for three weeks in her car in a mall parking lot, DailyMail.com can reveal The decomposing body of missing Texas mom Chrissy Powell sat unnoticed for nearly three weeks in the parking lot where she was eventually found, DailyMail.com can disclose. The mom-of-two was last seen at 10.34am on July 5 and was captured in haunting doorbell footage as she headed to her paralegal job. DailyMail.com can reveal her 2020 Nissan Rogue was caught on camera 30 minutes later, entering the lot at the upscale Huebner Oaks Mall in San Antonio, Texas, just after 11am. Powell, 39, was finally found on July 23, slumped in the front passenger seat of her black SUV by a security guard who first spotted the car on July 11 but didn't check it until he realized it hadn't moved for 12 days. According to the San Antonio Police Department, the guard noticed a foul odor when he approached the vehicle and called in cops at 6.45pm after seeing Powell inside the car. Security video, obtained from a nearby jewelry store by the cops and described to DailyMail.com by Powell's mother Claudia Mobley, 70, showed that no one got in or out of the vehicle after it arrived on July 5 and that Powell was alone in the car. The Bexar County Medical Examiner is yet to announce a cause of death but Mobley told DailyMail.com they believe Powell died from hyperthermia or overheating. On July 5, San Antonio was roasting in 93F heat with temperatures climbing to 100F on July 11 when the car was first spotted. By the 23rd when Powell was found, the temperature had dropped slightly to 95F. In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Mobley said she believes her daughter, who suffered from anxiety, must have felt unwell and was overcome by the heat. She does not believe her daughter committed suicide or intended to die and said she was furious that security guards took so long to check the car. Chrissy's vehicle was found in the parking lot of the Huebner Oaks strip mall in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday July 23. A security guard said he first spotted the car on July 11 but didn't check it until July 23 when he realized it hadn't moved for 12 days Chrissy vanished from her home on July 5. She drove four miles to the Huebner Oaks Center strip mall which appears to be in the opposite direction from her job at the law firm Sanchez and Wilson Powell's car was seen on security camera arriving at the lot at the Huebner Oaks Mall in San Antonio, Texas, 30 minutes after she left home in a rush on July 5 Powell, who was driving a black 2020 Nissan Rouge, left her iPhone at home in her rush out the door. She called her job to let them know she was running late but never showed up Mobley said: 'I don't understand how the car could have been there two-and-a-half weeks and they didn't even notice it until July 11. 'That was that particular security guard's first day, I'm told. First day at work. It is shocking, it really is. It just makes me quite sick to think about it.' Powell has a 12-year-old son and a three-year-old. She and her 12-year-old were living with her mother She added: 'It does seem wrong but I don't know what to do about it.' It was only the officer's second day on the job when he discovered Powell's body. His first day, he had just taken note of her parked SUV. Security at Huebner Oaks is provided by Waco-based firm Pro Security Group Inc which is owned by Denise Nicholson, 53, and Jason Kuykendall, 46. Nicholson holds multiple licenses, including as a commissioned security officer, a private investigator and an expert at installing alarm systems. She is also licensed to teach security guarding courses and was handed an award for outstanding customer service by Associated Security Services and Investigators of Texas (ASSIST) in 2012. Kuykendall is a reserve police officer in Marlin, Texas, and holds multiple licenses including as a security officer and private investigator. The firm's tagline is 'your safety is our priority' while its website boasts of its 'unparalleled customer service', its 'excellent security services' and a '24-hour communication center'. Signs posted at the entrance to the mall claim 24/7 security and note that cars that stay too long will be removed by Bexar Towing a local firm. Her mother Claudia Mobley said: 'I don't understand how the car could have been there two-and-a-half weeks and they didn't even notice it until July 11' Powell's heartbroken mother wrote on Facebook on July 25 that her daughter had been found dead. Mobley had used social media to plead for information about her whereabouts after she vanished Signs posted at the entrance to the mall claim 24/7 security and note that cars that stay too long will be towed Powell's Nissan is shown in the spot where it had been parked for three weeks before she was found inside on July 23 When DailyMail.com visited the mall on two separate days, the reality appeared to be very different with local business owners saying guards are only onsite between 10am and midnight. Cursory checks done from inside a marked security car were carried out roughly once an hour by the single guard on patrol at any one time and both guards spoken to DailyMail.com were recent hires. One was on his first day at Pro Security Group Inc while the other was in his first week and told DailyMail.com that the guards don't work regularly at Huebner Oaks but are assigned to random patrol sites on a day-to-day basis. Photos taken by DailyMail.com show the security vehicle driving in the area of the parking lot where Powell's body was found on Wednesday and Thursday. Police tape can still be seen attached to the base of a street lamp. Pro Security Group Inc has been approached for comment by DailyMail.com. Mobley said: '[The car] was there the whole time. I do wonder why it took that security guard so long he said he noticed it on the 11th and it was the 23rd before he checked it. 'That seems like a long time to me.' She told DailyMail.com how she had frantically toured parking lots looking for Powell in the days after she vanished but didn't check Huebner Oaks and said her daughter had no particular connection to the mall. When DailyMail.com visited the mall on two separate days, local business owners said guards are only onsite between 10am and midnight. Police tape can still be seen attached to the base of a street lamp Security at Huebner Oaks is provided by Waco-based firm Pro Security Group Inc. Photos taken by DailyMail.com show the security vehicle driving in the area of the parking lot where Powell's body was found Mobley said: 'It is off I-10 where she may have been on her way to work. Maybe she didn't feel good. I don't have any idea why she went there. I wish I did.' The grandmother told how she initially had trouble getting police to take her daughter's disappearance seriously, with cops only starting their search after she emphasized her diagnoses of anxiety and depression. Despite Powell's mental health battle, Mobley says she doesn't believe her daughter set out to die telling of her happiness in her new job and revealing that she was wearing her Apple smartwatch when she was found. She said her daughter had just got a new job and she had two new dogs. 'I don't think she was wanting to run away or get away from anything.' Mobley now faces bringing up her 12-year-old grandson Powell's older son alone. She said: 'It comes and goes, the pain and sadness. The three-and-a-half-year-old is with his dad. His dad and I are talking we have a good relationship. 'The 12-year-old is with me and I guess I'll have to figure out how to raise a 12-year-old at my age. Right now, he's saying he's fine but it probably hasn't really sunk in yet.' She added: 'I want things to just settle down. We'll never get back to normal but I want to try. It's horrible. It's been terrible.' The two largest US oil companies, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, posted record revenue and profits on Friday, bolstered by surging crude oil and natural gas prices. Exxon outpaced its rivals with second-quarter net income of $17.9 billion, several billion dollars ahead of its previous record in 2012 and tantamount to profits of $2,270 every second of every day. Chevron made a record $11.62 billion in profit on quarterly sales totaling $65 billion. The oil industry has been booming in recent months as prices for its products soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But for consumers, the result has been painfully high gas prices, which set a record of more than $5 per gallon last month before easing back down in recent weeks. Exxon outpaced its rivals with second-quarter net income of $17.9 billion, several billion dollars ahead of its previous record in 2012 Surging oil prices have boosted Exxon's profits, but also raised the price of gas for drivers Soaring energy prices have rattled consumers and become a heated political flashpoint ahead of the key midterm elections. President Joe Biden has blamed sky-high gas prices in part on greedy corporations, saying last month that 'Exxon made more money than God this year. ' Biden's critics argue that his policies have constrained US oil production, forcing American to rely more on foreign imports and contributing to higher global prices. In the US, the average price of regular gasoline was $4.26 per gallon on Friday, according to AAA. It marked relief from the record average of $5.02 set last month -- but a gallon of gas is still 34 percent more expensive than it was a year ago. Exxon and Chevron, along with UK-based Shell and France's TotalEnergies, combined to earn nearly $51 billion in the most recent quarter, almost double what the group brought in for the year-ago period. All four have ramped up share buybacks in recent months, capitalizing on high margins derived from selling oil and gas. The fifth major oil company, BP, reports next week. Chevron made a record $11.62 billion in profit on quarterly sales totaling $65 billion The companies posted strong results in their production units, helped by the surge in benchmark Brent crude oil futures , which averaged around $114 a barrel in the quarter. High crude oil prices can cut into margins for integrated oil majors, as they also bear the cost of crude used for refined products. However, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and numerous shutdowns of refineries worldwide in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, refining margins exploded in the second quarter, outpacing the gains in crude, adding to earnings. 'The strong second-quarter results reflect a tight global market environment, where demand has recovered to near pre-pandemic levels and supply has attritted,' said Exxon Chief Executive Darren Woods, in a call with analysts. 'Growing supply will not happen overnight.' The results from the majors are sure to draw fire from politicians and consumer advocates who say the oil companies are capitalizing on a global supply shortage to fatten profits and gouge consumers. Earlier this month, Britain passed a 25 percent windfall tax on oil and gas producers in the North Sea. U.S. lawmakers have discussed a similar idea, though it faces long odds in Congress. A windfall tax does not provide 'incentive for increased production, which is really what the world needs today,' said Exxon Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Mikells, in an interview with Reuters. Exxon stock jumped on Friday after the company reported record quarterly profits Chevron shares also popped as the oil industry raked in record profits The companies say they are merely meeting consumer demand, and that prices are a function of global supply issues and lack of investment. The majors have been disciplined with their capital and are resisting ramping up capital expenditure due to pressure from investors who want better returns and resilience during a down cycle. 'In the short term (cash from oil) goes to the balance sheet. There's no nowhere else for it to go,' Chevron CFO Pierre Breber told Reuters. Worldwide oil output has been held back by a slow return of barrels to the market from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, including Russia, as well as labor and equipment shortages hampering a swifter increase in supply in places like the United States. Exxon earlier this year more than doubled its projected buyback program to $30 billion through 2022 and 2023. Shell said it would buy back $6 billion in shares in the current quarter, while Chevron boosted its annual buyback plans to a range of $10 billion to $15 billion, up from $5 billion to $10 billion. Exxon shares were up 3.2 percent to $95.60 in morning trading. Chevron shares rose 6.5 percent to $160.06. A Russian spy has been charged with bankrolling three American activist groups to spread pro-Putin propaganda and try to meddle in US elections. Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, 32, was indicted by the US Justice Department Friday, although he remains in Moscow, and took to Facebook to moan about the charges. His alleged behavior reflects what U.S. officials say are ongoing Russian government efforts to meddle in the American political process, to shape public opinion and to sow discord and dissent on hot-button social issues. Ionov is believed to spy for Russia's feared FSB security services, the successor to its infamous KGB. His main target was an African rights' group based in St Petersburg, Florida, with whom he held a YouTube seminar to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He is also accused of funding a group who support California's secession from the United States, and a third group who targeted California-based social media firms for censoring Russia in the wake of Putin's invasion. He is a resident of Moscow. Prior to the announcement of the charges against him, Ionov wrote on Facebook: 'I don't care about sanctions. I love my country, my people and my president!' The suspect later confirmed he was charged saying: 'The United States Attorney General filed a criminal case against me.' FBI Special Agent in Charge David Walker in Tampa called the latest Russian efforts to destabilize American society 'some of the most egregious and blatant violations weve seen.' Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov pictured at an event in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Ionov pictured during a Zoom meeting with Akile Anai, who describes herself as director of agitation and propaganda for the African Peoples Socialist Party Prior to the announcement of the charges against him, Ionov wrote on Facebook: 'I don't care about sanctions. I love my country, my people and my president!' 'The Russian intelligence threat is continuous and unrelenting,' Walker said. 'Todays actions should serve as a deterrent.' On the day that Ionov's indictment was announced, the FBI raided the headquarters of the African People's Socialist Party in St. Petersburg, Florida. The group was not named in the indictment but documents describe one of them as a St. Petersburg, Florida group whose leaders were aware that Ionov and his group were agents of a foreign government. Prosecutors say Ionov in 2015 directed the group to write a petition alleging that the U.S. had committed genocide against African people in America, and to send it to the United Nations, the White House and to Change.org. The document, titled 'Petition to the United Nations on Crime of Genocide against African People in the United States,' notes Americas history of slavery and denial of civil rights for Black people. It argues the U.S. government still fails 'to protect our health and well-being as expected under full citizenship' and inflicts 'state or state-supported violence and terror on us.' The petition, which is still available online, is labeled as being from the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, a Black international socialist organization. At the time of writing, the petition has over 110,000 signatures. A Change.org petition that Ionov was behind remains online and has achieved over 110,000 signatures Akile Anai pictured at a press conference following the raid on her group's headquarters. She described her organization as being in support of Russia Ionov wrote in the caption for this photo: 'A bad peace is better than a good war!' He posted it as the Russian invasion of Ukraine began The lengthy petition reads in part: 'The U.S. government is responsible for mass murders, mass and discriminatory imprisonment, and oppressive conditions in nearly every aspect of life, including state-sanctioned violence and murders, education, family life, reproduction, employment, healthcare and freedom of political assembly for African people in the U.S.' Representatives from the group said the FBI raided their center in St. Petersburg on Friday. Akile Anai, who describes herself as director of agitation and propaganda for the African Peoples Socialist Party, said agents searched her car and took her cellphone and laptop computer on Friday in addition to raiding the Uhuru House. The Uhuru Movement is part of the African People's Socialist Party. Their movement seeks to united 'African people as one people for liberation, social justice, self-reliance and economic development.' Anai said her organization had never received money from Ionov or any other members of the Russian intelligence service. U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announcing the indictment against Ionov in St. Petersburg on July 29 Ionov described himself on Facebook as 'leading the anti-globalist movement in Russia' Members of the Uhuru movement first met Ionov in Russia when they were invited to an anti-globalization conference, and Anai said she also had been in contact with Ionov via email and also a webinar after Russia invaded Ukraine since 'we were getting one side of the story on Russian and Ukraine.' In one meeting, documents say that Ionov said during meetings that anyone supported Ukraine following the Russian invasion was a white supremacist. Officials alleged Friday that Ionov sought to inject himself into local politics in by supporting group members for office. In 2017, the group put forth candidates for mayor and city council, and again in 2019 for a city council race. The candidates lost. Any money the campaigns received outside the U.S. was returned, Anai said. 'Their premise is these were Russian campaigns. Its a really insulting statement,' Anai said. 'It was the Black community that ran the campaigns in our own interests. It's an insulting notion that Black people cant do anything for ourselves.' Documents say that Ionov said during a meeting with a US political group that anyone supported Ukraine following the Russian invasion was a white supremacist While another leader of the group, Eritha 'Akile' Cainion, spoke at a fiery press conference after the raid. Cainion said: 'We can have relationships with whoever we want this revolution possible. We are in support of Russia. ' She also said: 'Russia is not in your community causing you to starve. Russia is not in your community pushing you out. Russia is not the St. Pete police department that killed TyRon Lewis in 1996.' The former political candidate added: 'It was not Russia, it was the U.S. government that did that.' In 1996, 18-year-old TyRon Lewis was shot dead by the St. Petersburg Police Department. The group's leaders are not mentioned in the indictment but the complaint makes multiple references to 'unindicted co-conspirators.' Despite being a Russian citizen, Ionov posts regularly about US politics on his Facebook page In recent months, Ionov has posted multiple times in criticism of Joe Biden's presidency Ionov wrote in a lengthy statement on Facebook on Friday: 'There are no specific references in the documents to persons in the Russian government for whom I allegedly worked. I was particularly struck by the fact that I allegedly work for the special services. He went on: 'At the same time, the names and officials are not called. I consider these accusations destructive.' Ionov that he is 'leading the anti-globalist movement in Russia' and that he is an 'ideological person' who works 'with various leftist organizations.' He added: 'The political situation in the USA has changed a lot, you need external enemies, but I am not an enemy, I have many friends both in the USA and in other countries with whom I have long-standing political and personal relations!' Ionov wrote in a lengthy statement on Facebook on Friday: 'There are no specific references in the documents to persons in the Russian government for whom I allegedly worked Ionov also said: 'I am not an enemy, I have many friends both in the USA and in other countries with whom I have long-standing political and personal relations!' He stressed that he is not an enemy of the USA, the real enemies are ' those who infringe on women's reproductive rights, create unbearable conditions for migrants, and also oppress people on racial grounds!' Ionov concluded by saying: 'I have been and will be a friend of many Americans, if you see me as your enemy, then this is your right, but it is not on the side of justice!' Authorities say, Ionov from 2014 until March 2022 recruited political groups in Florida, Georgia and California and directed them to spread pro-Russia talking points. In February 2022, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Ionov sent an email to the other co-conspirators that read: 'The war with Ukraine has began.' He wrote: 'Russia has exhausted all possible tools to prevent conflict.' Ionov continued: 'We must remember that the war began 8 years ago, when the US and the EU brought new leadership to power in Kiev.' He also paid for group members to attend government-funded conferences in Russia named the 'Dialogue of Nations,' as well as a protest in the U.S. against social media efforts to suppress online support for Moscow's Ukraine invasion, the indictment says. Following the conference, internal emails from the African Peoples Socialist Party discussed the likelihood that Ionov was a Russian government operative. One email said that it was 'more than likely' that the suspect's group was attempting to exploit divisions in the United States. 'As court documents show, Ionov allegedly orchestrated a brazen influence campaign, turning U.S. political groups and U.S. citizens into instruments of the Russian government,' Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the head of the Justice Departments national security division, said in a statement. Ionov worked under the supervision of the Russias Federal Security Service, or FSB - which conducts domestic intelligence and counterintelligence activities - and reported his activities back to the agency, prosecutors say. He I am not an enemy, I have many friends both in the USA and in other countries with whom I have long-standing political and personal relations! group that prosecutors say is funded by the Russian government and that advocates for a fully sovereign Russia. Ionov is also accused of being a point of contact for other political activities in Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland Ionov's group advocates for 'the full sovereignty of nation-states including sovereignty of Russia as an independent player on the political, economic and cultural world stage.' The indictment, in federal court in Tampa, charges him with conspiring to have U.S. citizens act as illegal agents of the Russian government. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. Separately on Friday, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Ionov, accusing him of efforts to 'manipulate and destabilize the United States and its allies and partners.' Prosecutors say Ionov also exercised control of a separate organization in California that promoted secession by the state from the rest of the U.S, and helped fund a 2018 demonstration at the state capitol building. According to the indictment, he sent news coverage about the California secession movement to one of his FSB contacts and said that the officer had asked for 'turmoil' and 'there you go.' More recently, prosecutors say, Ionov paid for the travel of members of an unnamed Georgia group to fly from Atlanta to San Francisco to join a protest outside a social media company in California that had placed content restrictions on posts supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He's also accused of being a point of contact for other political activities in Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The case is part of a much broader Justice Department crackdown on foreign influence operations aimed at shaping public opinion in the U.S. In 2018, for instance, the Justice Department charged 13 Russian nationals with participating in a huge but hidden social media campaign designed to sow discord during the 2016 presidential election won by Republican Donald Trump. Russian government officials, and state-run media, often highlight anti-government protests in the U.S. and other Western countries, prominently commenting on political and social discord, racial riots, labor demonstrations, and mass shootings. The officials contrast the happenings in the U.S. with what they claim is the lack of such unrest in Russia. The daycare owner who shot her husband after learning of allegations that he'd been molesting the children in her care was denied bond today despite growing pleas from her family for her to be freed. Shanteari Weems, 50, shot her husband James Weems Jr, 57, on Thursday July 21 at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington DC. She had just been told by one of the mothers whose child attends her daycare that James, a retired cop and security guard, molested their child. It was the second time such an accusation had been made against him; Baltimore Police started investigating him earlier this month over other abuse claims. Weems' attorney told DailyMail.com that she drove to the hotel to confront her husband but that when she arrived, he became 'violent'. She shot him, allegedly in 'self-defense', and then was arrested an hour later. He was taken to the hospital and survived, and he is now facing child abuse charges himself. On Friday, Shanteari appeared before a judge at the Superior Court in Washington DC, supported by her adult children but the judge deemed her a safety risk and denied her bail. Daycare owner Shanteari Weems, 50, in a photo provided to DailyMail.com. She has spent 20 years working in childcare before her husband was accused of child molestation earlier this month Shanteari Weems, 50, and her husband, James Weems Jr., 57. Today, she is in custody on intent to kill and weapons charges after shooting him, and he is in the hospital. He has been arrested with child sex offenses relating to alleged abuse at the daycare center his wife has run since 2015 Prosecutors argued that she could not be trusted in society because she had written a manifesto which read in part 'on my way to shoot James'.' Weems' son Andrew Barrett was visibly outraged by the decision. Speaking to DailyMail.com afterwards, family attorney Tony Garcia said: 'It's ironic that they think she is a safety risk when the only reason she's in jail is because she was trying to protect the safety of children.' He added that she was 'relieved' her husband had been charged with child sex crimes because it proves 'she was right'. 'She is remorseful but it's a relief that law enforcement believes he molested children. 'He was denying it, but now that it's been confirmed. She was right. He was molesting them. And in fact, it's worse than what she thought because there are three children involved, not two.' Weems will return to court on August 9. There are growing calls for her to be freed by many who do not blame her for shooting her husband in light of the heinous allegations against him. GoFundMe removed a fundraising page set up to pay her legal fees last week. Weems, a mother herself who has spent 20 years working in childcare, drove from her home in Randallstown, Maryland, to DC in a frenzy after being told by one of the parents at her daycare that her husband had abused their child. It was the second accusation against him; the first shuttered Lil Kidz Kastle, the daycare Shanteari runs where her husband worked as a bus driver. Andrew Barrett, the son of daycare owner Shanteari Weems, visibly upset outside court on Friday The woman's family had gone to court in a show of support, begging the judge to free her Shanteari's lawyer Tony Garcia told DailyMail.com she used her own gun to shoot her husband but that she takes it 'everywhere'. He said she was remorseful about shooting him, but was determined to protect the kids at her daycare center When Shanteari heard the second allegation, she drove 50 miles south to Washington to confront him in his room. Her lawyer claims he became violent, and that is when she fired a weapon at him in self-defense. It remains unclear whose weapon it was. Now, Shanteari's lawyer and family are fighting for her to be freed, while James awaits his first court date on child sex abuse charges. 'She is in hell. This is a woman who was completely and utterly traumatized by having these mothers come to her. 'She did not want him to touch another child... not on her watch - that's for damn sure. 'She has been doing this for 20 years. She built this business from scratch. Her whole life's work is that mothers trust her and allow her to care for their kids while they go to work. To have this happen... and it is not even an employee. 'It's her husband,' attorney Tony Garcia told DailyMail.com. Weems is shown outside the daycare center in Owings Mills, Maryland. She was furious when the center was closed earlier this month after the first allegation against her husband An interior of the Lil Kidz Kastle Child Development Center. Shanteari's attorney told DailyMail.com: 'She has been doing this for 20 years. She built this business from scratch. Her whole life's work is that mothers trust her and allow her to care for their kids while they go to work. To have this happen... and it is not even an employee. It's her husband' Weems runs the daycare center near Baltimore for infants up to kids of school age The first allegations were made against James Weems earlier this month. As a result, the daycare was closed abruptly. Weems is a 57-year-old retired cop who had been working in private security, and who had been helping at the daycare by driving a bus. Before the incident at the hotel on Thursday, the daycare center in Owings Mills, Maryland, was shut down by the first allegation against him. It's unclear whether all of the children involved are boys or girls but there are believed to be three separate allegations against Weems now. On Thursday, he was in DC and his hardworking wife, who also volunteers for a street-cleaning nonprofit, heard from another mother. 'She wanted to see him to ask him if it was true or not so she drove to DC. Now he is a retired marine, he is a former cop, he's worked in executive security and he is armed. She went hoping that the allegation was not true. 'He responded violently to being accused and she had to defend herself.' What exactly happened inside the room for the next hour is unclear. Police arrived after an alarm in the room was triggered. During a one-hour standoff inside, James cried out that he had been shot in the leg and in the head. The couple had been at the $400-a-night hotel in Washington DC for James, a retired cop, to attend an event Daycare owner Shanteari Weems, 50, is shown being taken into custody on July 20 after shooting her husband in the head. She had just been told that he was molesting some of the kids in her daycare Shanteari started writing down notes which included her desire to 'paralyze' her husband. She said she wanted him to 'pay' for what he had done to the kids, and her only regret was 'not putting a bullet through his head'. Eventually, she was arrested and he was taken to the hospital, where he remains with a broken femur. He is conscious and is expected to survive the incident, despite claiming to have been shot in the head. Shanteari's friends and family are rallying behind her, vowing to fight for her freedom on social media and launching GoFundMe campaigns to pay her legal fees. 'We hope to get bail, that is our hope,' her attorney said. She will appear in court on Friday. The details of the allegations against Weams remain scarce. Maryland Child Protective Services declined to comment on the case citing privacy laws. A spokesman for the Department of Education would not confirm when specifically it received complaints against Weams. Shanteari Weems, 50, is the owner of Lil Kidz Kastle in Owing Mills, Maryland The Baltimore County Police Department said it had been investigating Weems since earlier this month. 'Baltimore County detectives began to investigate Weems earlier this month after they were notified of the abuse. Weems faces multiple charges. 'He currently remains hospitalized in police custody in Washington D.C. pending extradition. 'Baltimore County detectives continue to work closely with detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department as well as members of the Baltimore County States Attorneys Office, the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Department of Human Services, Child Protective Services,' a spokesman said. Meanwhile the woman's friends are fighting for her to be freed. 'Shanny and I have been friends for 32 years... for the last few years she has supported my student-workers and Baltimore Clean Streets program. 'Shanny provided catered lunch and holiday stipends - $75/student-worker x 30 - each of the last two years,' Sean Stinnett, who runs the program, told DailyMail.com. Her adult children set up a GoFundMe account dedicated to raising money for her defense but it was torn down at the last minute. When it comes to space exploration, we cannot argue that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is one of the world's leading institutions. The agency is carrying the long tradition of pushing the physical and mental boundaries of humanity. NASA is well known for pushing the frontiers of aeronautics, and for bringing the first human to the moon. The agency is responsible for the many satellites and spacecrafts that made it into space. It's also thanks to NASA that we have the International Space Station. In the last fifty or more years, NASA recorded many milestones. Much of what we know about the secret of the universe and space science are all thanks to the agency. Let's look back at NASA's beginning. The Birth of NASA On July 29, 1958, the U.S. Congress passed a legislation establishing NASA. It is a civilian agency in charge of coordinating the country's activities in space, as per History. Since its establishment, NASA has led space expeditions, both human and mechanical. These space expeditions gathered significant information about the solar system and the universe. The agency is also responsible for launching numerous earth-orbiting satellites, which are proven to be very useful when it comes to weather forecasting, navigation, and global communications. NASA is the U.S. response to the Soviet Union's launching of its first satellite, Sputnik I, on October 4, 1957. In that year, Sputnik I orbited the earth in 98 minutes, as per NASA. The launch of Sputnik came as a surprise to the U.S. It also built fears among the Americans that the Soviets might be "capable of sending missiles with nuclear weapons from Europe to America," according to History. Priding itself to the leader when it comes to technology, the launch of Sputnik I embarrassed the U.S. As a response, NASA became dedicated to become the forefront in space explorations. This signaled the beginning of the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Read Also: NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei Sets Record With the Longest Spaceflight: Here's More of His Contribution NASA's Milestones in Space Science As the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union continue, the Soviets launched Sputnik II on November 3, 1957. The space vehicle is carrying a dog named Laika. Not wanting to be left behind, the U.S. attempted to launch its own satellite in December of that year. However, Vanguard didn't make it to space as it exploded shortly after takeoff. Things started to get better for the U.S. as Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite successfully orbit Earth on January 31, 1958. In July 1958, Congress passed the legislation that officially established NASA from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and other government agencies. This is an affirmation of U.S.' commitment to winning the space race. In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy made an ambitious declaration that the country will put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Thus, on July 20, 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 created history and made Kennedy's declaration a reality. Neil Armstrong became the first human to land on the moon, famously saying "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Since then, NASA keeps on making great advances in space exploration. It played a major part in the construction of the International Space Station. Today, NASA remains to be one the forefront in space science. Related Article: Today in History: NASA Launches Skylab 3 Mission, What Happened to Skylab? The parents of Archie Battersbee have been handed a last-minute lifeline in their fight to keep their son alive after the United Nations issued an injunction to stop his life support from being removed. The 12-year-old's mother and father, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, had asked the UN's Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNRPD) to reverse UK doctors' decision to withdraw the schoolboy's mechanical intervention. The 'devastated' couple lost fights in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal in London where they asked for doctors to keep his treatment going. His family had argued that stopping treatment would be in breach of the UK's obligations under Articles 10 and 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children. Today, speaking after the news was announced, Ms Dance revealed her gratitude to be handed another chance to keep her son alive. She said: 'I am so grateful to the UN for their response and acting so quickly for my son. 'We have been under so much stress and anxiety; we are already broken and the not-knowing what was going to happen next was excruciating. To get this news now means everything. 'This is the first time this has ever happened in history of this inhumane system in the UK. 'There have been so many ups and downs, but we have put on the full armour of God, gone into the battle and now we have given Archie time, that is all we have ever asked for.' Paul Battersbee and Hollie Dance outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London last Friday. The 'devastated' couple lost fights in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal in London where they asked for doctors to keep Archie Battersbee's treatment going Doctors have been given permission to turn off Archie's life support machine, but his parents are trying to continue the fight to keep him alive. Pictured is Archie in hospital Yesterday the Supreme Court rejected an appeal where they asked for medics to be barred from turning off his life-support machine until they can lodge an appeal. Since then they have held discussions with bosses at Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, where he is being treated, in an effort to seek assurances this won't happen while they appeal to the UNRPD. Archie's parents had argued that the UNRPD protocol allows 'individuals and families' to make complaints about violations of disabled people's rights. The UK has joined the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, which allows the UNRPD to ask the UK government to delay the withdrawal of life support while a complaint is investigated. The family argue that stopping treatment would be in breach of the UK's obligations under Articles 10 and 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children. Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre who have been supporting the families' case, said: 'We are delighted with the response from the UN. It is high-time that the UK's processes around proactively ending children's lives came under international scrutiny. 'We now hope and pray that the UN Committee may do justice to Archie and his family, as well as to other disabled people in UK hospitals in future cases. 'Life is the most precious gift we have. 'We have stood with the family from the beginning three months ago following the tragedy and now continue to pray for this beautiful boy, Archie, and for everyone involved.' Archie, pictured, was found with a ligature over his head in April and has not regained consciousness since Archie with his mother Hollie Dance (left), brother Tom Summers and sister Lauren Summers Judges have heard that Ms Dance found Archie unconscious with a ligature over his head on April 7. She thinks he might have been taking part in an online challenge. The youngster has not regained consciousness. Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, think he is brain-stem dead and say continued life-support treatment is not in his best interests. Bosses at the hospital's governing trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, had asked for decisions on what medical moves were in Archie's best interests. A High Court judge, Mrs Justice Arbuthnot, initially considered the case and concluded that Archie was dead. But Court of Appeal judges upheld a challenge by his parents against decisions taken by Mrs Justice Arbuthnot and said the evidence should be reviewed by a different High Court judge. Speaking as they launched their last-ditch appeal today, Ms Dance said: 'Words cannot describe how devastated we are. 'The pressure put on us from the beginning to rush through the process of ending Archie's life has been disgraceful. ' All we have ever asked for is for more time. The urgency from the hospital and the courts is unexplained when other parties have been happy for us to have more time. 'I don't believe there is anything 'dignified' about planning Archie's death. For me, this would be the most traumatic outcome. 'Parents need support not pressure. It is exhausting what we have been through. 'We should not have to endlessly battle the hospital in the courts for what we believe is right for Archie. 'Top judges have told us, however, that this is the law, if this so, the law must change. 'We will continue fighting for Archie, we will not give up and now await the response from the UNRPD.' A couple have said they are devastated after their young daughter could be 'left blinded' in one eye by her scooter. Coral Allan, four, was wheeling along to nursery alongside her mother Amanda Allan, 39, last month when she crashed and jabbed the handlebars into her left eye. Her injuries didnt seem severe at first as there was no blood and she wasnt experiencing any pain. But Corals eye looked swollen, so Amanda decided to take her home and see how her injury developed. As the day went on, Coral started complaining that something was stuck in her eye and her vision had become blurry. The next morning, Coral claimed she couldnt see out of it at all - and Amanda and father Ryan, 29, rushed her to her local opticians. Coral Allan (pictured), four, was wheeling along to nursery alongside her mother Amanda Allan, 39, last month when she crashed and jabbed the handlebars into her left eye Corals eye looked swollen, so Amanda (right) decided to take her home and see how her injury developed There they were told Corals injury was extremely serious and they should drive straight to hospital to see a specialist. Amanda, a hairdresser from Stevenston, Scotland, said: 'The situation has developed so quickly, from the accident to where we are now. 'When Coral fell she seemed a bit shaken and her eye looked slightly sore but she reassured me she wasnt in any pain. 'Throughout the day I kept asking her if she could see okay and at first she said she could. 'It wasnt until later her vision started to blur, and in the morning when she woke up, she couldnt see at all. 'Hearing the concern in the opticians voice is every mums worst nightmare - it was so worrying.' On their arrival at hospital, Amanda was informed that her daughter would need emergency surgery to stitch together multiple lacerations on her eyeball. Coral was transferred to Glasgows Royal Hospital for Children where she was then operated on the same afternoon. As the day went on, Coral started complaining that something was stuck in her eye and her vision had become blurry The next morning, Coral claimed she couldnt see out of it at all - and Amanda and father Ryan, 29, rushed her to her local opticians There they were told Corals injury was extremely serious and they should drive straight to hospital to see a specialist Despite the severity of her injury, she is still not in any pain, and post-surgery signs are looking promising. But, Corals vision is still hugely impaired, and she will have to have another operation in the next few weeks after doctors have monitored her progress. Mother-of-three Amanda, said: 'The eye specialists operated on Coral and now she is wearing a huge glass contact lens to protect the stiches. 'Theyve told us theyre going to do the best they can to get her vision fully back, but shell likely need several operations in the future. 'And, its unlikely that well see the results of her recent operations for six to eight months because her wounds need time to heal. 'Were still trying to get our heads round how this has happened. 'We havent slept for a week worrying about the long lasting effects this could have on our daughter.' On their arrival at hospital, Amanda was informed that her daughter would need emergency surgery to stitch together multiple lacerations on her eyeball Amanda is now keen to raise awareness of the risks every day activities can pose and to promote the wider use of eye protection amongst children Doctors have laid out a worst case scenario for Coral which would see her blind in one eye for the rest of her life Doctors have laid out a worst case scenario for Coral which would see her blind in one eye for the rest of her life. And Amanda is now keen to raise awareness of the risks every day activities can pose and to promote the wider use of eye protection amongst children. 'This situation has made us see the dangers that surround our children on a daily basis,' she said. 'We want to raise awareness for this kind of incident so other parents dont have to suffer what were now going through. 'We have learnt our lesson, and in the future my kids will be wearing goggles when doing activities which pose a risk to their optic health. 'Im praying Coral will turn a corner soon and that this accident wont hang over her for the rest of her life - but well just have to wait and see.' Advertisement Horrifying new details surrounding the death of a nine-year-old schoolgirl emerged this morning as it was claimed she had been playing in the street with her sister, five, just yards away from their mother before tragedy struck. Lilia Valutyte, whose family were from Lithuania, was found on a quiet lane in Boston at around 6.20pm on Thursday - with locals left in 'profound shock' and the local MP appealing for national assistance to catch the killer. It is believed little Lilia was playing with her younger sister at the time of the appalling attack, as their mother, Lina Savicke, worked on her tablet as she tried to keep a watchful eye over her girls. The nine-year-old died after suffering a single stab wound on a quaint high street lane, just outside a recruitment agency that Ms Savicke had worked for. Lincolnshire Police declined to comment on whether they believe the attack was linked to her role there. Devastated residents described seeing a discarded toy pram, understood to belong to Lilia's sibling, at the crime scene late on Thursday. Others said Ms Savicke had been spent several months working from a desk near to the murder scene and had often let the children play outside as it was usually 'a quiet street'. The spot is just a 15-minute walk from the family home and near to premises where the mother had links to a business. One source told the Sun: 'I think they had a hula-hoop and dollys pushchair. Im sure she [Ms Savicke] would have been inside'. Heartbreaking pictures of the schoolgirl in happier times that emerged on Friday show the little girl smiling as well as one image in which she is seen wearing wings and celebrating her eighth birthday with a huge balloon. One local resident said they had seen an overturned doll's pushchair on the side of the road as emergency services rushed to the scene after the attack. Locals were left in 'profound shock' and with the area's MP appealing for national assistance to catch the killer. One devastated man spoke for the community as he pleaded 'She was just a little girl, how could anyone do this to a nine-year-old?' Police were this morning still quizzing two men in connection with the killing of little Lilia, with police describing the stabbing as an 'isolated' incident. Police are understood to be trawling through CCTV of the area after a man was spotted running from the scene of the stabbing, The Telegraph reports. A local woman told the newspaper: 'The little girl was playing in the street with her younger sister when it happened. They had some toys out. 'I'm sure her mum wouldn't have been far away as she always checked on them. She was a very quiet girl, and I just can't understand it.' A small tent was pictured at the murder scene near the town's historic St Botolph's Church as forensic officers bagged up evidence earlier yesterday. A large object appeared to be covered in the middle of the alleyway, which was marked by small yellow signs. Scroll down for video. Lilia Valutyte (pictured)was found on a quiet lane in Boston at around 6.20pm on Thursday. Two people remain in custody in connection with her death, police say Two people were arrested yesterday morning in connection with the death of Lilia (pictured), with police describing the stabbing as an 'isolated' incident The death of the nine-year-old girl, whose family were from Lithuania, has locals left in 'profound shock' and the local MP appealing for national assistance to catch her killer Police have said Lilia's parents are being supported by specially trained officers 'at this very difficult time' and that their welfare is the force's priority A forensic officer near the scene in Boston earlier today as a police cordon remains in place following the stabbing at around 6.20pm on Thursday A forensic officer near the scene in Boston today where Lilia died on Thursday evening from a suspected single stab wound A woman leaves flowers near to the scene yesterday after the tragic death. Police said they are giving support to Lilia's family Police launch murder probe after girl's death Kate Anderson, chief superintendent of Lincolnshire Police spoke to the media this morning following the shocking killing. She said: 'This incident has shocked our community in Boston, and I would like to reassure the community that we're doing absolutely everything we can to progress the investigation and to support the family. 'It is a wide ongoing investigation and there is only so much I can tell people. But what I can offer is the reassurance that we are putting our very best detectives on this. 'We have a number of neighbourhood officers out speaking to members of the community. and we do have dedicated resources focusing all their efforts on bring the offenders to justice. 'At this moment in time it is too early to speculate on what charges may or may not be brought. I would say we are absolutely committed to finding those people responsible and holding them to account. 'Lincolnshire is incredibly safe. I know there have been incidents in the past and people must be concerned and I can only empathise with that. 'The investigation is ongoing and we have a number of lines of inquiry which are actively being pursued. 'What we want is the people responsible to be held to account. For the integrity of the investigation, we are only sharing information we can do. 'We are open minded about what happened, but we still do think there is more information the public can give us which is why we are appealing for witnesses 'People might have been driving through the area and have dashcam footage.' When asked about a possible motive, she said 't's very early and I would not want to speculate.' She added: 'We are treating it with the utmost seriousness. People have been working tirelessly on the investigation throughout the night. 'The fact that we have two people in custody has not stopped other inquiries. It is a fast paced investigation. It is a sad day for Lincolnshire and Boston. 'It is utterly shocking that such a young girl has been murdered.' Advertisement The killing comes less than two years after Roberts Buncis, 12, was stabbed more than 70 times by a teenager in a frenzied attack in the same market town. In 2016 Boston had the highest murder rate of any comparable town in England and Wales. It follows a wave of stabbings in London that saw three people killed in less than 24 hours and another victim badly injured. Last November Ava White, 12, was murdered by a teenager in Liverpool after going into the city to watch the Christmas lights being switched on. The father of murdered Roberts showed his support for Lilias family as he asked: What is wrong with this world, what is wrong with Boston? Edgar Buncis added: I would tell you thousands of words but dont know what to say. Be strong, love those who you have. Among the residents paying their respects at the scene was Arthur Smith, 66, who said: It is just so shocking. When I was growing up, you could never imagine something like this happening. Mother of four Fiona Raynor, 49, said: It is just horrendous that a little girl can be stabbed to death in the street in broad daylight. I feel awful for her family. This has broken my heart. The UK is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic, with the latest figures for England and Wales showing offences involving knives are up by 10 per cent compared to the previous year. This weekend saw a wave of stabbings in London that saw three people killed in less than 24 hours and another badly injured. Horrifically, this is not the first time children have become victims of fatal stabbings in Britain, with 12-year-old Ava White murdered by a teenager in Liverpool last November. He was sentenced to a minimum of 13 years in jail. Lincolnshire Police Chief Superintendent Kate Anderson said today: 'Officers were called to the scene of the incident at Fountain Lane, Boston, at around 6.20pm on Thursday. 'A nine-year-old girl sadly died as a result of what we believe to be a stab wound. 'We have arrested two people in connection with the incident. 'We believe this to be an isolated incident. We are pursuing extensive lines of enquiry and have committed a number of resources to this investigation. You will see more officers patrolling the area, and we have a high number of specialist detectives who have been brought in to assist the investigation. 'Her parents are being supported by specially trained officers at this very difficult time, and I can only imagine the grief and pain that they are going through. Their welfare and the welfare of those who she knew is a priority for us.' Police cordoned off Fountain Lane, a street that backs onto Boston's Grade II listed old court building The Sessions House. A forensic tent could also be seen erected in the street while officers combed for clues at the scene which is also in the shadow of historic St Botolph's Church Lilia's body was found outside MS Agricultural Services along a quiet lane next to quaint cobbled streets lined with cafes and coffee shops. Much of the nearby area is commercial, with car parks, a high street and several boarded-up shops, but the street also runs alongside the end of a residential road. The local community was in a state of shock as they came to terms with the tragic news late on Thursday evening, with heartbroken residents calling it the 'most shocking tragedy ever to befall' the town. Arthur Smith, 66, who knelt down to say a prayer at the scene said: 'It is just so shocking. A poor little angel has lost her life. I feel so sorry for her and her parents. 'Whoever did it should be locked up for life and I mean life. When I was growing up, you could never imagine something like this happening.' Mother-of-four Fiona Raynor, 49, who works as a pub cleaner, said: 'This has broken my heart. I can't imagine what could have gone on. Two people were arrested this morning in connection with the killing. A small tent has been pictured at the murder scene near the town's historic St Botolph's Church as forensic officers bagged up evidence An aerial view showing police at the scene of the stabbing in Boston, with a forensic tent seen behind a cordon The UK is in the grip of a knife crime epidemic, with the latest figures for England and Wales showing offences involving knives are up by 10 per cent compared to the previous year 'It is just horrendous that a little girl can be stabbed to death in the street in broad daylight. I feel awful for her family.' Other residents said they had seen armed police in nearby streets last night as police launched their investigation into the death of the girl. Mother-of-two Sara Stringer, 37, said: 'I saw armed officers and three police cars with blue flashing lights. 'I couldn't believe it when I heard that a little girl had been killed. It is disgusting.' Taxi driver Jonathan Newton, 55, said: 'We are a close knit community here and the town is rocked to the core by this tragedy. 'She was just a little girl, how could anyone do this to a nine-year-old? It's the most shocking tragedy to ever befall our little town. I'm just speechless.' Another local resident, who did not want to be named, added: 'We're not sure what happened but its a quiet lane so I can't imagine too many people saw it. 'There are businesses though with CCTV cameras so I just pray whoever did this is caught fast. My heart is breaking for that girl's parents. 'I've seen people who don't even know the family in floods of tears today.' Emergency services rushed to the scene in Boston, Lincolnshire, at around 6.20pm on Thursday evening. The victim was today named as Lilia Valutyte (Pictured: Scene of horror killing on Friday morning) Among the tributes left near the scene is a purple teddy bear. Police say they have arrested two people in connection with the incident A written tribute left to Lilia, who tragically died on Thursday night. It read: 'So sorry this cruel world has taken your life beautiful girl. May you be in the arms of the angels xxx' Figures reveal how knife crime rate has shot up Last week it emerged police forces in England and Wales had recorded the highest number of offences in 20 years, driven by a sharp rise in fraud, rape and violent attacks. A total of 6.3million crimes were recorded in the year to March 2022 four per cent higher than the previous all-time high of 6.1million in 2019/20. It was also up 16 per cent on 2020/21, when crime levels were affected by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. The figures, which were published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed knife crime, theft and domestic abuse all increased in the 12 months to March. Police-recorded offences of fraud and computer misuse rose 17 per cent, from 828,364 in 2020/21 to 965,162 in 2021/22. Knife crime rose by 10 per cent to 49,027 offences in the year to March, compared to 44,642 in the previous 12 months though this is below the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20, which saw 55,078 offences. Advertisement The Tory MP for Boston and Skegness, Matt Warman, said he had been in contact with the policing minister to ensure national assistance is available to the murder investigation. 'Profoundly shocking news in Boston this evening,' he said. 'I have spoken to senior officers locally and am hugely grateful for all the emergency services' work.' Many spoke of their shock and fear at a suspected murder happening so close to home, while one resident was left to openly ask if the area remain safe for her children. Another, posting on Facebook, commented: 'How many more of our children have to die before serious intervention takes place in this town? 'Why aren't the government and the councils doing more to make Boston a safe place to live when these diabolical news stories are far too frequent. This is a tragedy.' A third added: 'This is absolutely devastating and traumatic to read. Rest in peace little one, my thoughts go to all family and friends and thoughts to the officers involved as well as residents of Boston. 'How can we sleep at night knowing a 9 year old child has been murdered? Absolutely awful.' Edgar Buncis, whose young son Roberts was murdered in Boston nearly two years ago, has told how the schoolgirl's family will be going through 'hell' as he urged them to 'be strong.' Roberts was stabbed more than 70 times in a frenzied attack just days before his 13th birthday. Marcel Grzeszcz, 15, was convicted of Roberts' murder and jailed for a minimum of 16 years last November. Today Mr Buncis has today begged for answers after the latest tragedy. He said: 'Dear family, you will go through the hell, be strong, take any help you can get. 'My son was stabbed to death 12/12/2020 and I still live with that and think it never will end. It's so sad. 'Where are we going, what is wrong with this world, what is wrong with Boston I would tell you thousands of words but don't know what to say be strong, love those who you have.' Forensic teams were working the scene on Fountain Lane (pictured) overnight and early on Friday morning Home Office figures from 2016 found the port town of Boston, a market town in Lincolnshire, was the murder capital of England and Wales (Pictured: Scene on Fountain Lane) Mr Warman said in a statement posted on Twitter: 'Profoundly shocking news in Boston this evening, I have spoken to senior officers locally and am hugely grateful for all the emergency services' work. I have also been in contact with Policing Minister Tom Pursglove to ensure that any national help that might be useful is made available as quickly as possible' A nine-year-old girl has died from a suspected stab wound in Lincolnshire. Pictured: Forensic analysts mark out the crime scene A police officer collects bags of evidence after a girl, aged nine, died from a suspected stab wound in Boston The leader of Boston Borough Council, Paul Skinner, said: 'The town is united in mourning following the very sad and tragic death of a nine-year-old girl in Boston. 'We can't for one second imagine the pain the family and the young girl's friends are going through and our heartfelt condolences go out to them. 'I would like to thank the emergency services for their swift response and I would encourage anyone with any information to make contact with the police on 101. 'Lincolnshire Police has launched a murder inquiry and Boston Borough Council is working closely with officers as part of the investigation, including the sharing of CCTV footage from the area. 'I understand this incident has left many people shocked and worried. As a council, we remain committed to working with our partners to make Boston a safer community for all.' As a sign of respect to the family of the girl, the council will fly a flag from the Municipal Buildings at half-mast, Mr Skinner said. Home Office figures from 2016 found Boston was the murder capital of England and Wales. Boston came top of a list of the local authorities with the most cases of murder, attempted murder or conspiracy to commit murder per 100,000 people. There was a rate of 15 murderous crimes per 100,000 people up to September 2015 - ranking as the highest per person average in England and Wales and rivalling huge cities such as Birmingham or London. And the overall crime rate in the town for 2021 was recorded as 100 crimes per 1,000 people, making it among the most dangerous in Lincolnshire. Advertisement Sergey Brin has been spotted whisking his blonde date away in a Tesla after a cozy date with a mystery blonde in Malibu last night. The Google co-founder has been stoically silent during the past week where the spotlight shone on the breakdown of his marriage to his estranged wife Nicole Shanahan, 33. On Sunday the Wall Street Journal claimed Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, 51, was having an affair with Shanahan, something the pair strenuously deny. Musk even published a photograph of himself seemingly partying with Brin on a boat the day after the allegations were made public. Brin, 48, was seen for the first time since the bombshell claims, enjoying dinner with illusionist David Blaine and a mystery blonde woman in Nobu, last night. The trio were seen leaving the luxury restaurant in California, appearing to be in high spirits as they smiled and chatted. Illusionist Blaine donned a smart cap and sunglasses with a navy-blue jacket, while tech giant Sergey wore blue checked shirt with dark slacks and trainers. Brin went to collect the keys to his vehicle from the valet outside of the restaurant, while the woman, who paired her outfit with laid back sandals, smiled as she spoke to Blaine. He and the blonde, who was dressed in a while linen jumpsuit, both jumped into his white Tesla adding weight to Musks previous claims that the pair were on good terms and partying together. DailyMail.com's exclusive photos of Brin's night out come as The Wall Street Journal defends it's reporting and sources used in the article alleging the affair. The newspaper also claimed Musk's online attacks against senior editor Michael Siconolfi were 'unwarranted' because he was 'not part of the editing team for this story.' All three looked in high spirits as they left the plush Nobu restaurant in Malibu. It is thought to be the first time that Brin has been seen in public since the bombshell affair allegations Brin's female companion was all smiles in her while jumpsuit as he chatted to the valet to get the keys to his Tesla before heading off Brin drove himself and his mystery blonde woman in the Tesla Model 3, worth up to $62,990 for the performance model, away from the restaurant last night The unidentified blonde clutched her purse as she waited, smiling fondly at the Google co-founder as she chatted to illusionist David Blaine On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal published a story claiming that Elon Musk slept with Sergey Brin's wife Nicole Shanahan (pictured) at Art Basel in December last year She smiled as she chatted to David Blaine, who had joined the pair for dinner before going his separate way after they had finished eating They then drove the Tesla Model 3, worth up to $62,990 for the performance model, away from the restaurant with his new companion in the passenger seat. Brin has been at the center of an alleged love triangle with his now estranged wife Nicole Shanahan and pal Elon Musk. The Wall Street Journal claims that Musk slept with his wife, in a move that reportedly caused a rupture in the two tech giants relationship. They also claimed that the pair were romantically involved at Art Basel in December last year, and it was the catalyst for Shanahan and Brin to divorce. Google founder Sergey filed for divorce in January, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split and the pair share a four-year-old daughter. But the worlds richest man has strenuously denied that he ever had a relationship with Shanahan which reportedly took place while the couple were separated last fall. Musk taunted The Wall Street Journal's Investigations Editor on Monday morning, tweeting a photo of himself partying with Sergey Brin yesterday in an effort to disprove the newspaper's bombshell claim. The Google co-founder chatted away as he paid the valet $15 dollars to retrieve his car outside of the Japanese restaurant Illusionist Blaine donned a smart cap and sunglasses with a navy-blue jacket, while tech giant Sergey wore blue checked shirt with dark slacks and trainers Google founder Brin filed for divorce in January, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split, but the WSJ claims that The woman smiled and clutched her face while speaking to Brin, with Blaine listening in intently to the converstation It is unclear if Brin is dating the woman, but they seemed cozy after they jumped into the luxury car together - with Blaine heading off on his own Elon Musk tweeted this photo in response to a Wall Street Journal editor on Monday after the paper claimed he and Sergey Brin were not on speaking terms because of Musk's apparent affair with Brin's wife His companion was quick to smile and giggle during the encounter, and it is not the first time since his split with Shanahan that Brin has been seen with a pretty blonde He and the blonde, who was dressed in a while linen jumpsuit, both jumped into his white Tesla adding weight to Musks previous claims that the pair were on good terms and partying together Brin appeared to clutch his valet ticket as the three of them left the restaurant, a famous haunt for celebrities to dine in California The Wall Street Journal is standing by its story, with a spokesman for the newspaper telling DailyMail.com; 'We are confident in our sourcing, and we stand by our reporting. Replying to Investigations Editor Michael Siconolfi, Musk shared the photo of himself and Sergey Brin and long with pants and fire emojis in a playful reference to the childish saying 'liar, liar, pants on fire'. The newspaper, in a statement to DailyMail.com Friday said: 'Recent attacks on Michael Siconolfi are unwarranted and unfounded. Mike is a celebrated and widely respected editor and reporter in our industry. 'He has overseen a wide array of impactful stories with integrity and high standards for The Wall Street Journal over many decades. For the record, Mike was not part of the editing team for this story.' Musk's photo shows him standing with Sergey and two other women. It's unclear where exactly it was taken - Musk was last seen in Mykonos last week - but his jet flew from Austin, where he lives, to San Jose on Saturday. It comes after Nicole Shanahans lawyer told DailyMail.com in an exclusive statement that she did not have an affair with the Tesla founder - calling it an 'outright lie'. Bryan Freedman said: Make no mistake, any suggestion that Nicole had an affair with Elon Musk is not only an outright lie but also defamatory. Shanahan is a Stanford-educated lawyer who works at the firm Bio-Echa, an investment firm that pours money into projects like bolstering 'reproductive longevity.' Brin has not yet commented on the Journal's claims, but both Shanahan and Musk have denied reports of the affair. Shanahan's lawyer told DailyMail.com that the story was 'defamatory' Brin has been at the center of an alleged love triangle with his now estranged wife Nicole Shanahan and pal Elon Musk. He is the only one of the trio to not respond to the claims Brin is shown in March this year, three months after filing for divorce, looking cozy on the red carpet with an unidentified blonde at the Vanity Fair Oscars party The Wall Street Journal claimed that Musk and Shanahan were romantically involved at Art Basel in December last year, and it was the catalyst for their divorce Brin drove off with his unidentified female companion in the passenger seat. He appears to be adding weight to Musk's claims that the pair had been partying last week by driving the Tesla CEO's Tesla 3 Sergey Brin and Nicole Shanahan are shown on Lake Como in July last year. She said in January when their divorce was announced: 'I hope for Sergey and I to move forward with dignity, honesty and harmony for the sake of our child. And we are both working towards that' His date showed off her perfectly manicured hands and feet, wearing casual sandals with her white colored jumpsuit last night Musk with Brin (far right) in the early 2000s. The Wall Street Journal claimed the 'affair' brought an abrupt end to the Brins' marriage and his friendship with Musk Google founder Sergey filed for divorce in January, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split and the pair share a four-year-old daughter When the divorce proceedings were launched in January, Nicole said: 'I hope for Sergey and I to move forward with dignity, honesty and harmony for the sake of our child. 'And we are both working towards that.' The Wall Street Journal article also claimed that Sergey was selling off all of his interests in Musk's companies. The pair have been friends for years, with Sergey giving Musk $500,000 in 2008 to help him fund Tesla at the peak of the Global Financial Crash. He also lent Musk the Google Party Plane for the Tesla CEO's wedding to actress Talulah Riley in 2010. Sergey and Nicole were married for four years before he filed for divorce in January, with proceedings still currently ongoing. He is the eighth richest man in the world with a net worth of $95billion. Brin is said to own multiple interests in Musk's many businesses, all of which he has ordered his aides to sell. Brin has not yet commented on the Journal's claims, but Musk has been denying the claims in a frenzy on Twitter accusing the newspaper - which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp - of launching 'hit pieces' against him all year. He has also claimed that Shanahan should sue the Wall Street Journal over the claims, and win, but he could not because he was a public person. A Good Samaritan has described the dramatic moment a man threatened to shoot her when she stopped him from throwing his baby daughter off of an I-95 overpass. The father, later identified as Raheem Murphy, 35, was holding his child over the 40-foot drop on Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia when a brave onlooker stopped her car and tried to rescue the young girl from the frightening height. Murphy screamed that he was armed and threatened to shoot the brave passerby - who hauled her car over on the highway and tried to negotiate with him when she spotted the chaos unfold. Christine King has been hailed a hero and said she would 'do it again' as she reflected on the chaos yesterday. She told NBC10 she was driving along the interstate when she saw a man arguing with a woman, before he then grabbed the child and tried to throw her over the bridge. Good Samaritan Christine King described the dramatic moment a man threatened to shoot her with a gun when she tried to stop him throwing his baby daughter from an I-95 overpass in Philadelphia Officers rushed to the scene after the father threatened to shoot when he was confronted by the passerby. The child's stroller can be seen in the center of the image The child, who can be seen in a stroller, was held over the edge of the overpass by her father during an alleged argument between him and the mother The father can be seen being taken into custody at the back of a police van following the frightening ordeal After the standoff with police, the man released the baby and was taken into custody King said: 'I saw that the man grabbed the baby and tried to throw her over the bridge. That's when I hit the brakes on my car and went out to stop him. 'I said, "just let the baby go, just give me the baby."' She shouted at the man in a bid to get him to release the child to safety, but he pushed and threatened to shoot her. After several minutes trying to negotiate, the child's mother came from behind and took Murphy's gun. Officers arrived at the scene, but they also struggled to get Murphy to hand over the baby - who was still being held over the 40ft overpass drop. After the standoff with police, he released the baby. After returning the child to safety, Murphy resisted arrest and assaulted the state police trooper before being taken into custody, according to the District Attorney. Speaking about the ordeal, King said: 'I would do it again. I didn't see no gun, but when she took the gun for him, that's when I saw it.' King claims that the mother told her the situation started after she told the man she wanted to break up with him. Police have not confirmed the reports. According to WPVI-TV, investigators said the dramatic scene began with a domestic dispute. Murphy allegedly pulled a gun on the mother of his child, kidnapped the woman and baby, then drove them to the overpass where he threatened to kill the child. It's not known if the child - who was seen later being put back into a stroller - was injured during the ordeal. Murphy is now facing a number of charges including aggravated assault, kidnapping, and endangering the welfare of a child. He is being held on $1.5 million bail, and must undergo a mental health evaluation, the DA's office said. The woman, who stopped as she was driving to work, has been praised for her bravery after she spotted the situation unfold on the overpass The House passed an assault weapons ban Friday evening looking to give Democrats a last-minute win on their way out the door for August recess. Five Democrats voted against the measure - Reps. Kurt Schrader, Ore., Vicente Gonzalez, Texas, Rep. Jared Golden, Maine and Rep. Ron Kind, R-Wisc. Two Republicans voted for the measure - Reps. Chris Jacobs, N.Y., and Brian Fitzpatrick, Pa. The ban cleared a procedural hurdle that allowed the House to move forward with expedited debate on Friday afternoon, with a final vote expected to follow. Three Democrats - Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, Texas, Jared Golden, Maine, and Kurt Schrader, Ore., voted 'no' with all Republicans, but the resolution passed 217 -211. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meanwhile broke out a floor sign advertising AR-15s for children as she urged members to vote in favor of the ban. 'JR 15: Get 'em one like yours,' the ad reads, along with a photo of a child-sized AR-15. 'Our goal was to develop a shooting platform that was not only sized correctly, and safe, but also looks, feels and operates just like mom and dad's gun,' the ad continues. The weapons manufacturer Wee 1 Tactics unveiled the 'JR-15' in January. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., expressed support for the child's semi-automatic weapon on Twitter. 'The kids at Uvalde needed JR-15s to defend themselves from the evil maniac that didnt care about laws. At least they could have defended themselves since no one else did, while their parents were held back by police,' she wrote in response to Pelosi's floor chart. The House had passed a resolution Friday morning allowing same-day authority, so that leadership can fast-track key priorities. The chamber approved the resolution that will allow a same-day vote on the ban 218-206. Golden and Schrader were the only Democrats to vote against the resolution. Golden, who represents a red-leaning district, previously said he would not vote for a ban on semi-automatic weapons. 'I don't support any version of that.' Schrader, who lost his Democratic primary to a progressive and won't be returning to Congress, called an assault weapons ban a 'death wish' for Democrats. 'This is a bill that destroyed the in '94. I guess, do we really have a death wish list as Democrats?' he told Politico last week. The bill is unlikely to go anywhere in the Senate. The House Judiciary Committee advanced the assault weapons ban last week, the first time in over 20 years a congressional panel had advanced legislation to outlaw the possession, sale and transfer of assault weapons. Congress enacted an assault weapons ban in 1994 which expired a decade later. Democrats had initially planned to move on the assault weapons ban and community safety legislation in tandem, but have now punted a police funding bill down the line. Progressives, particularly those in the Congressional Black Caucus, had voiced concerns about police funding legislation that did not have guardrails to steer law enforcement toward more humane behavior. Pelosi said the House will now pass the community safety bill when lawmakers return in the second week of August. Congress passed its first major gun reform in 30 years in June, enhancing background checks for potential gun buyers under the age of 21 and increasing funding to encourage states to enact red flag laws and mental health services. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi broke out a floor sign advertising AR-15s for children as she urged members to vote in favor of the ban The kids at Uvalde needed JR-15s to defend themselves from the evil maniac that didnt care about laws. At least they could have defended themselves since no one else did, while their parents were held back by police. Give the guns to the government & theyll protect you. pic.twitter.com/E4lQom1QbB Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) July 29, 2022 A sign advocating for an assault weapons ban hangs in front of a King Soopers grocery store where 10 people died in a mass shooting in late March Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, Fla., talks with GOP Rep. Mike Johnson, La., during a House Judiciary hearing on an assault weapons ban A visual aid behind Committee Chairman Representative Jerry Nadler during the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on an assault weapons ban The bill, which garnered bipartisan support, fell short of what Biden and Democrats have been pushing for, and last Wednesday's Judiciary hearing got heated as chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney demanded gun manufacturers apologize for mass shootings. Maloney asked Marty Daniel, CEO of arms manufacturer Daniel Defense, how many more children need to die for his company to stop selling assault-style weapons. 'I believe that these murders are local problems that have to be solved locally,' Daniel said. 'Is there any number of shootings in schools that would convince you to stop selling weapons of war to civilians?' Maloney asked Christopher Killoy of Ruger. 'Respectfully, Congresswoman, I don't consider the modern sporting rifles that my company produces to be weapons of war,' he said, 'and like all Americans I grieve when we read about these tragic incidents.' Republicans on the panel objected to Maloney's line of questioning, with Rep. Jody Hice, Ga., saying that blaming gun manufacturers for gun violence was like blaming spoon and fork makers. Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana suggested that legislation banning assault-style rifles could result in violence between gun owners and law enforcement agencies who try to confiscate their guns from their homes. 'When those gun fights happen, that blood will be on your hands,' said Higgins, addressing the Democratic members of the committee. Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia tore into Higgin's prediction, yelling, 'We will not be threatened with violence and bloodshed because we want reasonable gun control!' The Chinese government tried to create a 'stealth account' on TikTok targeting Western audiences with pro-China propaganda, but company executives pushed back, according to a new report. The April 2020 request from a Chinese government entity responsible for public relations met with resistance from TikTok executives in the West, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday. TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has struggled to distance itself from allegations of Chinese state influence. A spokesperson for TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Friday afternoon. The Chinese government tried to create a 'stealth account' on TikTok targeting Western audiences with pro-China propaganda, according to a new report According to Bloomberg, a TikTok employee flagged a 'Chinese government entity that's interested in joining TikTok but would not want to be openly seen as a government account as the main purpose is for promoting content that showcase the best side of China (some sort of propaganda).' TikTok executives discussed the request, which they described in internal messages as 'sensitive,' and ultimately rejected it. The executives involved in the decision included Elizabeth Kanter, TikTok's head of government relations for the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Israel, and US-based Erich Andersen, global head of corporate affairs and general counsel. A TikTok spokeswoman downplayed the incident to Bloomberg, describing it as an informal request from a friend of an employee. 'We declined to offer support for this request, as we believed the creation of such an account would violate our Community Guidelines,' the spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman said that TikTok has rules against 'coordinated inauthentic behavior,' in which accounts conceal their true identity to exert influence or sway public opinion. Elizabeth Kanter (left), TikTok's head of government relations for the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Israel, and US-based Erich Andersen (right), global head of corporate affairs and general counsel were among the execs who pushed back on the request However, TikTok does allow verified government accounts to share content on the platform, including the Chinese embassy to the US, which shares clips of Chinese athletes and cultural attractions alongside state-sanctioned news videos. An handful of world leaders also have verified TikTok accounts, including the presidents of France and El Salvador. The Chinese request for a 'stealth account' occurred during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when China was under harsh global scrutiny over the origin and handling of the earliest outbreak. Later in 2020, then-President Donald Trump attempted to ban TikTok in the United States if ByteDance did not sell or spin off the social media platform. In an executive order, Trump claimed there was 'credible evidence' that led him to believe that ByteDance 'might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.' Though TikTok considered spinning off the American portion of its business, Trump's order became hung up in court challenges, and was ultimately revoked by President Joe Biden. On June 28, Brendan Carr, commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), posted on Twitter urging Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices TikTok has more than 1 billion global users, and has quickly emerged as a competitor to legacy social media platforms such as Facebook. TikTok has frequently denied any association with or undue influence from China's government, but has faced concerns about data privacy. To address these concerns, TikTok said earlier this year that it migrated the information of its US users to servers at Oracle, an American company. Last month, a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission urged the CEOs of Apple and Google to kick TikTok out of their app stores. Brendan Carr, the FCC commissioner, said in a letter to the CEOs, dated June 24 and sent on FCC letterhead, that video-sharing app TikTok has collected vast troves of sensitive data about US users that could be accessed by ByteDance staff in Beijing. A TikTok spokeswoman said at the time the company's engineers in locations outside of the United States, including China, can be granted access to US user data 'on an as-needed basis' and under 'strict controls.' The adult migrant daughter of a couple that had crossed the United States-Mexico border was found dead in the desert by U.S. Border Patrol agents in west Texas on Wednesday. Her parents were taken into custody after they were encountered by the National Guard near U.S. Highway 90 in Sanderson, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement Friday. The concerned parents provided the location where they had left their daughter behind. Border agents assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol's Big Bend Sector and west Texas law enforcement agent were dispatched but found the woman dead upon reaching her. A view of a ravine that undocumented migrants used to enter the United States near Sanderson, Texas. A migrant woman was found dead in the area Wednesday after she was left behind by her parents, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Her death was caused by dehydration, officials said. Her name, age and nationality were not released by CBP. Big Bend Sector chief patrol agent Sean L. McGoffin lamented the migrant woman's death after the border agents and cops tried to save her life. 'The passing of this young lady is tragic,' McGoffin said. 'I would like to stress how dangerous the terrain and weather can be for migrants or anyone in this region.' Migrant deaths along the 1,954 mile border have increased in recent years. Border Patrol agents approach a man who got injured after crossing a river at the United States-Mexico border and reaching the San Rosendo Canyon on January 30, 2020 near Sanderson, Texas. At least 650 people died crossing the border in 2021, the most since 2014, when the United Nations' International Organization for Migration started collecting data on migrant deaths. Most of the deaths, according to CBP, have been caused by heat exposure. At least 290 migrants died during the first six months of 2022, including the 53 who died after they were found abandoned in a locked tractor trailer on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, on June 27. At least 32 deaths were registered along the U.S. Border Patrol's Big Bend Sector, which is responsible for securing 165,154 square miles throughout 77 counties in Texas counties and the entire state of Oklahoma. Agents also cover 517 miles of river front along the Rio Grande. CBP reported 557 migrants deaths in fiscal year 2021, an increase from 254 in fiscal year 2020 and 300 deaths in fiscal year 2019. Lily-Mai Hurrell Saint George weighed little more than a few bags of sugar when she was born prematurely at 31 weeks in Londons Barnet Hospital. This is one of the first pictures of her. After two months hooked up to tubes in the neonatal unit, receiving specialist care due to medical complications associated with her birth, she appears to have made good progress. She is seated in her pink baby carrier wearing a matching pink bonnet and cardigan. Just days possibly only a matter of hours after that photograph was taken, Lily-Mai was dead. She suffered a fatal brain injury, 18 rib fractures and a broken leg. Lily-Mai, who was just ten weeks old, had been shaken violently to death. How many times have we been here? In this case though, no one will spend a single day in jail over what happened to her. Her mother Lauren Saint George, 25, was convicted of infanticide this week, but found not guilty of murder or manslaughter a verdict which recognised that her mind may have been disturbed by a failure to recover from childbirth. As a result, the judge assured her she will receive no more than a suspended sentence. Saint George, seen smiling on her mobile phone outside court at a previous hearing, is not someone who easily engenders sympathy. Lily-Mai Hurrell Saint George (pictured) weighed little more than a few bags of sugar when she was born prematurely at 31 weeks Lauren Saint George pictured walking outside of Wood Green Crown Court in north London. She was found guilty of infanticide However, she and Lily-Mais father, Darren Hurrell, also 25 who was cleared of any crime were not the only ones on trial at the Old Bailey. Social workers from Haringey, the local authority with perhaps the worst record for child protection failures in the country, were metaphorically speaking at least in the dock too. Almost every staff member who looked after Lily-Mai in hospital doctors, nurses, midwives were opposed to her being discharged into the custody of her parents. In the words of the prosecutor, the couple who had been homeless for several years were woefully unsuited to care for her. Saint George was not a normal mother, social workers were told, and appeared to be incapable of putting her daughters needs before her own or bond with her in any meaningful way or even show any interest in her. They were told all this how Saint George used to stand with her back to Lily-Mai speaking on her mobile phone in the special care unit; how she blamed Lily-Mai for not letting her sleep; how she moaned about the groaning noises Lily-Mai made (when she was battling to survive) and wished she would just cry. The red flags about her behaviour went beyond the anecdotal. Reports were written, meetings were held, and the hospital made a referral directly to Haringey expressing concern about the potential safety and wellbeing of Lily-Mai under the present domestic arrangements for her. It was revealed that Saint George suffers from depression and was sectioned for a brief time and that she has another child who resides with the father. Haringey must have known this too. Yet the warnings were not taken seriously enough. Six days after leaving Barnet Hospital with her parents in January 2018, her mother called 999 to report that her baby had stopped breathing. The reason for the delay in bringing criminal proceedings was that the Metropolitan Police initially claimed there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. They only acted when, after an inquest last year, the coroner ruled that Lily-Mai had been unlawfully killed. For those who loved Lily-Mai during her fleeting time in this world it has been five long years. Her (paternal) great-aunt, teacher Jane Sweeting, who spoke to us after the trial ended, laid bare the familys feeling in a powerful, handwritten open letter: In our hearts we knew that Lily-Mai was brutally and cruelly taken from our family by the one person who should have protected her most her mother Lauren. Lily-Mai was just ten weeks old and we should be watching her growing up. She would have been five years old now. Darren Hurrell pictured outside Wood Green Crown Court last month. He was also cleared of murder and manslaughter A police custody picture of Hurrell Saint George, who was spared a prison sentence over the death of Lily-Mai Lauren was aggressive, violent and stroppy. Lily-Mai was premature. When in neonatal care, Lauren refused to visit her because she was having her dinner. We attended her funeral and travelled miles to be there, but where was Lauren? No sign of her. She failed to attend her own daughters funeral. Not one member of her familys side went. At her home in Lowestoft, Suffolk, there is a shelf with tributes dedicated to Lily-Mai in the living room. Her husband, Shaw, is building a summer house which they are going to name after her. We never met her, said Jane, 45, who has two children of her own. When she was in the neonatal unit we just thought we would let her come away from there. They took her home [they were then living in a North London flat] and we just thought wed let her settle down before we visited. That day of course never arrived. If Haringey had done its job properly, she said, Lily-Mai would still be here today. Haringey Council should be ashamed of themselves for allowing Lily-Mai to continue her days with her parents, knowing that she was high risk, Jane wrote in her heartfelt letter. Why not take Lily-Mai when they had the chance? Yet another child slipped through the net at the hands of Haringey Council. When will it end? The council, which issued an apology at the end of the trial, accepted that Lily-Mai did not receive the care and protection she deserved and that there were clearly lessons to be learned. The public were assured that improvements which could have better protected Lily-Mai were now in place. Had this happened anywhere but Haringey, the public might be able to have more confidence that those words actually meant something. But they have been deployed so often in Haringeys lamentable history that there is a danger of them becoming platitudinous, to quote a High Court judge who, just two years ago, condemned Haringey for allowing the mother of two boys to develop a relationship with a paedophile. The same soundbite was trotted out after Haringey social workers let 17-month-old Peter Connelly universally known as Baby P live with his abusive mother who was jailed over his death from 50 injuries in 2007. It was also repeated after eight-year-old Victoria Climbie was starved, tortured and eventually murdered in Haringey in 2000, despite the council having been alerted seven months earlier. There have also been a string of other horror stories in between like the aforementioned paedophile scandal which have received little or no coverage. Social workers, it is true, carry workloads that are often far too heavy. Funding cuts have placed an unprecedented squeeze on resources, resulting in high staff turnover and a damaging lack of continuity. Sometimes those on the front line doing a job few of us, in all honesty, would wish to do are damned if they do and damned if they dont. They have often become scapegoats for a broken system and decisions made by senior managers. Saint George (pictured) was not a normal mother, social workers were told, and appeared to be incapable of putting her daughters needs before her own The social worker at the time of Baby Ps death was juggling 18 different cases. The social worker allocated to Lily-Mai had 41 cases and just two years experience. This should be borne in mind. However, even so, the failings which ended in Lily-Mais death are hard to excuse. The world she arrived into could not have been more dysfunctional. Her parents were teenagers when they met in 2017. Saint George, who never knew her mother and was brought up by her late father, was homeless at the time. It is unclear how she slipped through the net but her background (not ever knowing her mum) suggests life couldnt have been easy. By the time she got together with Hurrell, who had also recently been made homeless, he was living in a housing association flat somewhere in North London. When Saint George an habitual user of marijuana, according to relatives moved in, they were both evicted for breaching the tenancy agreement. The couple were eventually given temporary accommodation in Enfield before being found a ground-floor flat in a converted Edwardian terrace in a part of London called Ducketts Green. Saint George, whose father was a television installer at one time, has never worked but Hurrell got a job as a shift manager at a nearby KFC outlet. Neighbours told of constant rows, with the police being called on one occasion. They were pretty much arguing every day, said one resident who remembers them. You could hear them shouting. She would get emotional and he would try to calm her down. I remember him saying on one occasion, Lauren, Lauren, Lauren, and she would be screaming. At Barnet Hospital, Saint George caused alarm from the start. One incident was particularly concerning and epitomised her disinterested and uncaring attitude towards her daughter. Lets go and see Lily-Mai, a nurse suggested to Saint George who was being kept in hospital herself following the birth. No, Im having my dinner, came the reply. Such incidents became an almost daily occurrence and were logged in a nursing report compiled by a community neonatal sister attached to the hospital. One entry read: Mum had been informed that Lily-Mai needed blood transfusion but they did not either phone or visit until father came on his own the evening the next day. Also recorded in the log was this: Mum was very open about the fact that she gets angry very easily. And it was causing concern as to how she would manage if it was Lily-Mai who had perhaps caused the trigger. Nevertheless, not long afterwards on January 22, 2018, a discharge planning meeting was held in which hospital staff, social services and the parents of Lily-Mai met to discuss her care going forward. There was no robust discharge plan to safeguard Lily-Mai, Sithembile Dzingai, a manager in charge of allocating health visitors to families in Haringey and herself a former health visitor, would later tell the Old Bailey. In my 12 years as a health visitor I have never had such a feeling of anxiety about a case as much as I did about Lily-Mai being discharged. The hospital had no legal powers to detain Lily-Mai so three days after the meeting and despite the potential risk she was discharged into the care of Saint George and Hurrell. The reason became apparent when lead social worker Theresa Ferguson, who had qualified as a social worker just two years earlier, gave evidence. She broke down in the witness box as she recalled how she had gone above her manager at one point to voice the strength of her concern that Lily-Mai might be at risk. She was overruled. You have to be guided by those more experienced than you, she explained when questioned by a barrister. He repeated her answer back to her: You even went above your manager at one point. But your hands were tied by what you could personally achieve. Yeah, she told him tearfully. The day before Lily-Mais eventual discharge on January 25, 2018, police were called to the parents flat over a domestic row. Social services were said to have assured nurses they would visit the family daily. Yet no visits were made to the family on January 27, 28, and 29. Two days later, on January 31, Miss Ferguson returned to see Lily-Mais parents and informed them that it had been decided that all three of them must stay in a social services-monitored residential centre or Lily-Mai, who had developed pale and mottled skin, would be removed. By the time the couple got together Hurrell (pictured), who had recently been made homeless, was living in a housing association flat somewhere in North London You want to take her, then take her, Saint George angrily replied, swearing at her. Saint Georges temper, remember, had been highlighted in the nursing report at Barnet Hospital which questioned what might happen if Lily-Mai was the trigger. Five hours after Miss Ferguson left, Saint George did snap and attacked Lily-Mai in a fit of rage. At the emergency department at North Middlesex University Hospital, her parents were told that Lily-Mai might die. Hurrell responded by crying. Saint George had a brief smile on her face, which the doctor thought was an abnormal reaction. Lily-Mai was subsequently transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where her life support machine was switched off two days later. A post mortem found evidence of forcible shaking and gripping on the sides of Lily-Mais chest as well as twisting and pulling of her leg which could be explained on the basis of a single episode of violence. Yet the Met decided they didnt have enough evidence to prosecute and dropped the investigation. It was reopened only after the inquest into Lily-Mais death last year. Haringey was singled out for severe criticism. I have heard the evidence of several professionals who were charged with the care of Lily-Mai, the doctors and nurses at Barnet Hospital, who were extremely concerned about her and they did not believe it was safe for her to be discharged in the care of her parents, said senior coroner Mary Hassell. There were other parents who were of the same view. And yet Haringey childrens services did facilitate that discharge and that is ultimately bewildering to me. This is a very, very sad story and Im afraid it is not the first time that the story has been told. A Prevention of Future Deaths notice (PFD) was made against Haringey because, the coroner said, there is a risk that future deaths might occur unless action is taken. It was a damning indictment of Haringeys handling of the case. There probably isnt a social services department in the country that hasnt been the subject of criticism at one time or another. But the failures in Haringey would appear to go much deeper. This is apparent from the number of Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) following the Baby P scandal. One involved ten children from a family who were found filthy, starving and covered in a lice by police. The youngsters had been known to Haringey for seven years before they were rescued. By 2013, there had been at least five such SCRs, including the case of a three-year-old who was beaten so badly with a belt, stick and cable that he was hospitalised yet he was still returned to the family home where the abuse continued. The following year, childrens services in Haringey were given one of the lowest rankings (requires improvement) by Ofsted which concluded the authority is not yet delivering good protection and help and care for children. The authority received the same requires improvement rating from inspections in October and November 2018. Then, in 2020, Haringey Councils cabinet member for children was sacked over an alleged failure to communicate key information about child protection to the council leader. The parents of Lily-Mai have now split up. Saint George now lives in a flat in a multi-storey block on an estate in Enfield. Answering the door in a cropped work-out top and shorts, she said she was still depressed and politely declined to comment further. Her daughter, it should be stressed, was killed by her mother, and no one else, but her babys family believe she would still be alive if Haringey had responded differently. This is the wider scandal behind the death of Lily-Mai. Korea Investment & Securities' headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul / Yonhap By Lee Min-hyung Kim Nam-goo, chairman of Korea Investment Holdings, the parent company of Korea Investment & Securities / Yonhap Railway manager Simon Isherwood was so passionate about his job with West Midlands Trains, he was known to his line manager as Mr Northampton. There was nothing he didnt know about train services to and from the market town. Starting his career more than 11 years ago as a train conductor, Mr Isherwood, 60, had risen through the ranks twice winning awards along the way for going beyond the call of duty in customer service. As manager of a diverse team of around 25 conductors, he liked to think of himself as someone who has always treated everyone fairly and equally regardless of colour, creed, gender or sexuality. It was his idea to invite everyone in his team to take part in a morale-boosting feel-good video during lockdown, set to the Billy Ocean song When The Going Gets Tough, which attracted 4,400 views on YouTube. Railway manager Simon Isherwood liked to think of himself as treating everyone fairly Northampton railway manager Simon was summarily dismissed for gross misconduct last year When the company then asked him to put forward two conductors for a poster campaign welcoming commuters back after lockdown, Mr Isherwoods first choice was a young man from Pakistan simply because he was his best employee. I loved my job and there was nothing I wouldnt have done for that company, says Mr Isherwood, proud of the way he as a manager judged others on merit and job performance alone. From the day I started Id never had anything but promotion, praise and awards. They knew that if something went wrong Id be the first one on the scene. So Mr Isherwood was devastated when he was sacked by West Midlands Trains from his 49,000-a-year job for gross misconduct at a disciplinary hearing in March last year. Simon was devastated when he was sacked from his 49,000-a-year job at West Midlands Trains after forgetting to turn his mic off His crime? Hed forgotten to turn off his microphone following a diversity and inclusion online webinar, which he attended voluntarily at home after his morning shift at the station, on the subject of white privilege. To his acute embarrassment, other managers still logged on after the team talk ended overheard Mr Isherwood saying to his wife: I couldnt be a***** because I thought, you know what, Ill just get f***ing angry. The private conversation went on: You know what I really wanted to ask . . . and I wish I had, do they have black privilege in other countries? So, if youre in Ghana? Suspended the same day following a complaint by a manager from sister company East Midlands Trains, which organised the webinar, a mortified Mr Isherwood apologised profusely to his bosses for the microphone lapse, his swearing and any unintended offence. He insisted the first part of the conversation did not relate to the webinar at all but was in response to a note his wife had placed in front of him, asking, Have you phoned the oven man? because their appliance was broken. Yes, he admitted, hed felt a little annoyed and insulted by some aspects of the webinar, presented by an outside consultant who was white, which seemed to him at least to suggest that all white people are born inherently racist. His question about black privilege he maintained was not intended as criticism or mockery of the webinar, but as a genuine one intended to help him understand better. Wed been asked to think of questions and I was just doing what I was told, he says. White privilege, as Mr Isherwood understood it, refers to unearned benefits automatically bestowed on those born white in a largely white society; benefits unconsciously or otherwise denied other ethnic groups. So, hed wondered out loud to his wife whether there was an equivalent concept of black privilege in a country such as Ghana, where the population is 98 per cent black and 2 per cent white. Simon had wondered aloud whether there was 'black privilege' in Africa during the Zoom call His explanations, however, fell on deaf ears. He was sacked after West Midlands Trains (WMT) ruled he had caused offence, brought the company into disrepute and breached our equality, diversity and inclusion policy and the code of conduct. He internally appealed in April last year but this was rejected and no further right of appeal was allowed. This week, however, in what is now being hailed as a landmark victory for free speech, an employment tribunal ruled that Mr Isherwood had been unfairly sacked. In his ruling, employment judge Stephen Wyeth said: Freedom of expression, including a qualified right to offend when expressing views and beliefs [in this case regarding social issues], is a fundamental right in a democratic society. It simply cannot be right that employees are not allowed to have views that they privately express about courses they attend, however odious or objectionable others might consider them to be if they come to know of those views. Toby Young, founder and general secretary of the Free Speech Union, which supported Mr Isherwood through the tribunal process, added: Im delighted we were able to help Simon win a landmark victory for free speech. I hope this sends a message to other employers: you cannot dismiss staff for gross misconduct for mocking woke diversity training. Workers have rights, including the right to free speech. Today, in his first interview since the ruling, Mr Isherwood is filled with relief at his vindication, but far from jubilant following his victory. I may have won the employment tribunal, but have I really won? Absolutely not. I feel completely destroyed, says Mr Isherwood, who adds that the 16 months since his sacking have been a nightmare for him, his wife of 37 years and family. I was unfairly sacked in disgrace from the best job Ive ever had and I cant even look back at those 11 years with any affection because of the way I was treated. I was left feeling like some kind of criminal when Id done nothing illegal. Im not racist and never have been but because of this there will always be a stigma attached and some people who will think there was no smoke without fire. Of course I regret accidentally leaving the microphone on and that people heard me swearing, that is never nice to hear but though its no excuse its a fact of life that swearing can sometimes seem almost like a second language on the railways. I remember receiving a letter, issued to all train crew from WMTs HR director, stating they accepted members of train crew swore. But do I regret asking that question about privilege? Some people might say it was contentious, but it was not racist. Even the webinar organiser later told the investigation that it was a good question and, had I asked it during the session, it could have sparked a conversation about the British Empire. I never set out to offend and I am very upset that anyone was. But, in a democratic society which values free speech, no one has the right not to be offended. But WMT not only took away my job and my livelihood, they took away my reputation and my whole future. Who is going to employ me now? A WMT director stated at the tribunal they wont even give me a reference, despite my years of loyal, unblemished service. I was a valued manager, well-liked by my team, other managers and customers. Thered never been a single complaint about me. Then, almost overnight I became a pariah. Mr Isherwood never imagined when he started his railway career that one day hed end up cancelled much like one of those trains halted in their tracks because of the wrong type of leaves on the line. Having worked in management roles in building societies and recruitment, before redundancy forced a change in career, Mr Isherwood says he had a long history of working with diverse cultures. The irony of his situation, he says, is that he fully embraced and supported WMTs commitment to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion, enthusiastically signing up to management courses. I think staff surveys carried out twice a year had shown a problem with discrimination within WMT. They really wanted to do something to show they were tackling it, which is right and I fully supported that, he says. I think this whole situation with me fell into their lap at the same time and, quite frankly, I feel I was used to set some kind of example to other employees. Was it a coincidence, he asks, that shortly after he was sacked, WMT won Most Improved Organisation at the 2021 FREDIE Awards FREDIE standing for Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement run by the National Centre for Diversity? Sometimes, I like to think that I helped them win that award . . . by getting sacked, he says. Certainly, Mr Isherwood believes that the punishment he received far exceeded his misdemeanour. When the webinar ended, the presenter said to us, you can all go now and some people started logging off. I stayed because I wanted to thank the presenter as Im polite and Id genuinely found it interesting, he says. The only reason I hadnt raised my question during the session was because I was taking part on my phone rather than my company laptop, which Id had problems with, and couldnt find the wave button to indicate I had a query. Although I accept that white privilege exists, I wasnt sure it existed in quite the way it was being presented to us and so I had a lot of questions after the presentation ended. He told us a second time the webinar was over and more people logged off. I thought I had too when I walked into the kitchen, where my wife was working from home, but somehow Id only switched off the camera. I only realised the microphone was still on when a friend phoned me and said, We can hear you effing and jeffing. By this time there were still about 30 people logged on and I was horrified. I immediately switched off the microphone. Not long after, Mr Isherwood received a phone call from his immediate boss telling him he was being suspended on full pay with immediate effect, pending an investigation following a complaint. When she asked what had happened, he did his best to explain, apologised profusely and hoped his bosses would take his exemplary working record into consideration with regards to this one regretted lapse in professionalism. He would later find out that one webinar participant, who he didnt personally know, had emailed the course organiser to say she was quite shocked by what shed heard and that it was awful. She said something along the lines of, I didnt want to make this formal, however, this is exactly the type of behaviour we should be trying to stamp out. She called me uneducated and my comments disgraceful, says Mr Isherwood, of what he learned from disclosure documents before his tribunal. By the time of Mr Isherwoods investigation meeting, the complainant had decided that what shed overheard was the most appalling thing I have ever heard. What upset me the most is that the conversation she thought shed heard, and had been so offended by, differed quite significantly from the conversation which had actually been recorded, he says. Of course I was embarrassed when they played back my words to me because I couldnt remember exactly either, and I said to them, I can understand why some people might have got upset. No one likes to hear swearing. But I felt it was almost as if it didnt really matter to them how accurate the complainants memory was. It seemed enough for them that she was offended by what she thought shed heard rather than what was actually said, its context or what was meant. As far as Im aware, no one else had formally complained, but a couple of people had been commenting on it on an East Midlands Trains chat room. However the conversations were about what people thought theyd heard and not my exact words. Peoples ears prick up when they hear swearing in the background, even more so when they hear the word black in the next sentence. Its very easy to jump to the wrong conclusion, put two and two together and come up with five, based on a misremembered conversation. Mr Isherwood is relieved that the employment tribunal judge made the correct calculation after hearing all the evidence from both sides that he had the right to express a personal opinion, within the law, regardless of whether it offended another without being sacked. A West Midlands Trains spokesman said after the employment judges ruling: We respect the decision of the Tribunal. West Midlands Trains is an inclusive employer and there is no place for discriminatory behaviour within the rail industry. A date for a remedy hearing to decide compensation or whether Mr Isherwood can have his job back has yet to be set, but he cant see himself returning to the role he once loved and still misses. Id planned to work until I was at least 65, says Mr Isherwood. So by my reckoning Ive lost 250,000 in earnings, not to mention pension contributions, but Ive lost so much more than that. Its been so devastating that not a day has passed since my sacking that we, as a family, havent talked about all the what ifs and if onlys, adds Mr Isherwood. The only thing thats kept me going is the support of my family, friends, colleagues, the Free Speech Union and my barrister, Paul Diamond all those who know the real me. Theyve never doubted me or believed I could ever do what I was being accused of. That means the world to me. This week I saw the very best of policing. I attended the first anniversary of the dedication of the UK Police Memorial in Staffordshire. Talking to the loved ones of officers who made the ultimate sacrifice was deeply moving. Everyone who wears the uniform is a human being treasured by others. Thats why the Police Covenant our pledge to better help police officers and their families is so important. Policing is itself a family. I met some new members at a passing out parade in Hertfordshire. It is very reassuring that people are stepping forward to serve their communities, the Crown, and our country. Meeting the very highest standards starts with getting the basics right. As Home Secretary, I have ensured the police have the necessary resources and powers to do just that. The dedicated service of the majority is less newsworthy than the appalling conduct of a minority. Public trust in the police is vital. I launched a major inquiry into the terrible murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer that will also consider other cases of police misconduct. We must confront all failings head on. Meeting the very highest standards starts with getting the basics right. As Home Secretary, I have ensured the police have the necessary resources and powers to do just that. Under my unprecedented recruitment drive, we have 13,790 additional officers and are well on the way to 20,000. I fought for and won a record 17billion of investment in policing, supporting successes like Violence Reduction Units and the Safer Streets Fund. Officers are better protected and have greater powers, such as through the expansion of stop and search and letting special constables carry Tasers. The Police Covenant our pledge to better help police officers and their families is so important. Policing is itself a family. The polices priorities should be the peoples priorities. The Governments Beating Crime Plan has a relentless focus on cutting serious violence, homicide and neighbourhood crime. We now have the first national policing lead on violence against women and girls, Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth. I have made it crystal clear to police chiefs that they must visit crime scenes and speak to victims. Burglary is an especially destructive crime and I am working closely with police leaders, force by force, to make sure that happens. Chief Constable Stephen Watson of Greater Manchester Police has pledged that his officers will attend every burglary. Some other forces are doing the same, but the public will feel that all forces must. Illegal drugs kill more people annually than all knife crime and road traffic accidents combined. Supported by the Home Offices County Lines Programme, police forces have closed more than 2,400 county lines, made more than 8,000 arrests, and protected more than 9,500 vulnerable people since November 2019. Meanwhile, the Public Order Bill will help the police combat protesters guerrilla tactics. Police officers dont join up so that they can investigate rude messages on social media. They want to make our streets, homes, and public spaces safer and I back them all the way. A woman who was sexually-assaulted by a New York neurologist during treatment told of her relief after he was convicted of sex attacks against six women. Hillary Tullin spoke out after Ricardo Cruciani, 68, was convicted of 12 attacks on Friday, which included sexual assaults and rapes. He faces life behind bars. Tullin told the New York Times she was 'beyond happy' and added: 'To finally be vindicated, to finally know that this man will never hurt another person, to finally know that I might be able to sleep at night its a great sense of relief.' Tullin, a former ABC producer who was attacked after seeking treatment for chronic pain, added: 'As much as Ive gone through trauma counseling and therapy. 'I dont think it was until I got this verdict that I could finally say, I can start healing. I can start trying to rebuild my life again.' She spoke after jurors agreed that Cruciani got his patients hooked on powerful opioids and sexually assaulted them at their most vulnerable. The attacks that he faced trial over all happened around 2021, and took place at Beth Israel Medical Center, now known as Mount Sinai Beth Israel. Cruciani worked at the group's offices in Union Square, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. New York neurologist Ricardo Cruciani was found guilty on Friday of hooking his female on powerful opioids and demanding sex in exchange for prescriptions. We entrust doctors to respect our bodies and health when we go to them for help, yet Dr. Cruciani utterly violated that duty, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg One of the earlier victims, Hillary Tullin, told a psychologist at Beth Israel that Cruciani 'forcibly grabbed her face and stuck his tongue down her throat,' according to the suit. The psychologist never reported the accusation When the women resisted Ricardo Cruciani's advances (pictured leaving court with his wife, pediatrician Nora Cruciani, in 2018) - which included forcing patients to touch his penis, masturbate him, give him oral sex, allow him to grope and digitally penetrate them - he withheld their doses of pain medications, which were so overprescribed that other doctors wouldn't match his prescriptions Cruciani, who has been supported throughout the case by his pediatrician ex-wife Nora, used his background in psychiatry to get close to patients, asking them intimate questions about their childhood and personal lives. Cruciani reportedly stroked their hair and complimented them before forcibly kissing and groping them and compelling the women to have sex with him. He was sentenced Friday to one count of predatory sexual assault, one count of attempted rape, one count of sexual abuse, two counts of rape, and seven counts of criminal sexual act, and will be sentenced on September 14. 'Ricardo Cruciani abused his power as a medical professional and knowingly took advantage of his patients pain, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. We entrust doctors to respect our bodies and health when we go to them for help, yet Dr. Cruciani utterly violated that duty, he continued in the news release. Cruciani, seen here in court with his wife, Nora, in September 2018 after being arrested on charges of multiple counts of indecent assault and a single count of indecent exposure. He was only given seven years probation in the case At one point, she said in an interview with the New York Times, plaintiff Tanisha Johnson was prescribed a heady dose of 1,300 pain pills per month. Over the course of several months in Cruciani's care, the doctor's behavior escalated from putting an arm around her during his first consultation to exposing his penis, masturbating in front of her and forcing her to perform oral sex Cruciani purposefully gave his patients high doses of opioids to increase their reliance on him, leaving them with crippling opioid addictions along with sexual trauma. 'Although we can never undo his horrific actions, I hope this conviction serves as a measure of justice for the brave survivors who came forward to share their stories and endured this long and painful trial,' said Bragg. A lawsuit against Cruciani was originally filed in July 2021 by six of his victims, who also said there was a failure of hospital staff to report the Ivy League-trained neurologist. '[The hospitals] knowingly ignored their reporting and oversight duties... and knowingly let [Cruciani] walk out the door so that he could continue his predatory sexual misconduct... at subsequent healthcare systems,' reads the lawsuit. Tullin, told a psychologist at Beth Israel that Cruciani 'forcibly grabbed her face and stuck his tongue down her throat,' according to the suit. The psychologist never reported the accusation. 'I told her, 'I want you to report it,''Tullin told The Times. Tullin, a former producer with ABC and CBS, experienced severe chronic pain, which said said '15 or 18' doctors failed to treat before she went to see Cruciani at Beth Israel Medical Center (now Mount Sinai Beth Israel) who diagnosed her with full-body complex regional pain syndrome, which is not well understood. She said the doctor began to call her on a daily basis, telling her about his personal and family life, complimenting her appearance and telling her that he was thinking of her. He began embracing her during sessions, which soon escalated into extended touching and then sexual assault, she said. 'These hospitals created this perfect storm of opportunity for him to victimize so many patients,' she said. 'The system failed.' Another victim, Tanisha Johnson, told the New York Times how she began seeing Cruciani at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York for her repeated migraines. She said Cruciani overprescribed her a heavy dose of 1,300 pain pills per month, and then began to exhibit inappropriate behavior. Another patient, Nella Vince (pictured), reported Cruciani's sexual assault in 2013 to the New York City Police Department and offered evidence: a shirt with his semen on it, according to the New York Times Over the course of several months he allegedly went from putting an arm around her during his first consultation, to exposing his penis, masturbating in front of her and forcing her to perform oral sex, according to the suit. When she attempted to refuse, Cruciani threatened to withhold the cocktail of medications that she had become dependent on. 'The first week of opioid withdrawal is excruciatingly painful,' she told The Times. On one occasion in 2010 or 2011, according to the lawsuit, a nurse at Beth Israel walked into the room when Johnson was in Cruciani's office and his penis was exposed. Yet, Cruciani was never reported to the New York Board for Professional Medical Conduct. The lawsuit against Cruciani stated that multiple patients across the hospitals he worked told nurses that they had been sexually assaulted. Several patients said they repeatedly asked nurses or other staff members to stay in the room with them during consultations, but the requests were usually turned down. In a statement at the time of Cruciani's 2017 arrest, a Mount Sinai Beth Israel spokesman told DailyMail.com: 'We are deeply disturbed to learn about these charges and have been working closely with the investigation being led by the District Attorney's office Another patient at Beth Israel, Nella Vince, reported Cruciani's sexual assault in 2013 to the New York City Police Department and offered evidence: a shirt with his semen on it, according to the Times. She was even preparing to wear a wire but the case was dropped, with the police citing Vince as 'uncooperative.' In an interview, she said that they did not take her accusation seriously because, they told her, Cruciani had no criminal record. Later in 2013, Cruciani abruptly resigned from the New York hospital and went to work at Capital Institute in Hopewell, New Jersey - many of his patients, including ones that were abused, followed him there, unable to get other doctors to prescribe the amounts of medication he would. In a statement at the time of Cruciani's 2017 arrest, a Mount Sinai spokesman told DailyMail.com: 'We are deeply disturbed to learn about these charges and have been working closely with the investigation being led by the District Attorney's office. 'The Mount Sinai Health System is committed to a safe environment for all patients, faculty, staff, students, trainees and visitors.' In 2014, a patient at Capital and her mother approached Dr. Steve Boyland, who also worked at the hospital, to report that Cruciani had forcibly groped and french kissed her. Boyland, the lawsuit said, never reported the behavior. The next year, according to the lawsuit, an unnamed victim messaged Capital Nurse Ann Friedland on Facebook to report Cruciani's behavior, which the victim said made her feel 'uncomfortable.' The woman specifically asked the nurse whether Cruciani had abused any other women at the Capital Health facility. Friedland replied that she 'didn't know of any circumstances [where Cruciani was] inappropriate with patients,' but that she 'did suspect it.' ''We were shocked and saddened when these allegations came to light,' a statement issued by Capital Health's press office regarding Ricardo Cruciani's sexual misconduct said The nurse also told the unnamed woman that, while Cruciani was 'flirtatious' with her, she 'kept him at arms length.' Friedland, the lawsuit alleges, did not share this information with Hopewell detectives when the neurologist's behavior was under investigation. After Cruciani left Capital for Drexel in 2016, Friedland allegedly told another unnamed woman that she knew Cruciani had been 'sexual with other women in the office' and that she had urged him not to be alone in examination rooms with female patients. Another patient's husband reported that Cruciani was overmedicating and sexually abusing his wife at Capital through the hospital's Patient Advocacy Office, the lawsuit alleges- the office never reported the allegation to the state of New Jersey. Representatives of Capital Health denied that numerous members of its staff were approached about the abuse, saying that the hospital received no complaints about Cruciani from patients while he worked there. 'We were shocked and saddened when these allegations came to light,' a statement issued by Capital Health's press office said. In 2015, the disgraced doctor transferred to Drexel amid mounting accusations. By February of 2017, at least five patients and at three staff members came forward, forcing Drexel t initiate an investigation into the doctors behavior, according to the lawsuits filed in 2018 in Philadelphia. Drexel representatives blamed Cruciani's former hospitals for failing to raise the alarm. 'Drexel hired Cruciani after conducting a thorough background check, as is done with all potential employees, that did not reveal any improper or illegal conduct,' the statement said. In September 2017, Cruciani was arrested on charges of multiple counts of indecent assault and a single count of indecent exposure. Two months later, he was sentenced to serve seven years probation in connection with the allegations in Philadelphia. While he avoided jail time, he was forced to give up his license and to register as a sex offender. He was also fired from Drexel University following his conviction. During his sentencing, Cruciani apologized for the pain he had caused victims. Months later in February, Cruciani was arrested for the set of disturbingly similar allegations out of New York. Azza AbuDagga, a researcher with Public Citizen's Health Research Group, told the New York Times that Crucianis ability to continue seeing patients despite the slew complaints against him isn't atypical. 'Weve been calling for zero tolerance for sexual abuse by health care providers against patients,' said AbuDagga. 'If that standard isnt adopted, were not going to be anywhere close to solving the problem.' More than 60 a month will be cut from energy bills through winter under the Governments cost-of-living support package. In October and November 29million households will have their fuel bills reduced by 66, with four more reductions of 67 from December to March. The 400 of support, alongside targeted efforts for the worst off, came after predictions that energy bills would rise to 2,800 a year for the average household in October. But forecasts have got bleaker since then. The consultancy BFY believes bills could hit 3,420 from October and rise again in January. In October and November 29million households will have their fuel bills reduced by 66, with four more reductions of 67 from December to March As details of the support package were announced yesterday, Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said it will go some way to help millions of families over the colder months. Those with a domestic electricity meter paying for their energy by card and direct debit will receive an automatic deduction to bills. Prepayment meter customers will be provided with discount vouchers in the first week of each month, issued via text message, email or post. It comes after consumer champion Martin Lewis said Boris Johnsons zombie government was failing to address the crisis. He urged the Prime Minister and Tory leadership contenders to come together now to agree a package to help consumers. Charges on single-use plastic carrier bags have cut their usage by a staggering 97 per cent since 2014, statistics show. And last year saw a particularly dramatic fall when the 5p charge increased to 10p in May 2021. First introduced in large retail stores in October 2015, all businesses are now required to charge customers for single-use plastic carrier bags. The number used fell by more than 20 per cent from 627million in 2019-2020 to 496million in 2021-2022, data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) shows. Englands main supermarkets Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsburys, the Co-operative Group, Tesco and Waitrose sold 197million single-use plastic carrier bags in 2021-2022 compared with 271million sold in 2019-2020 a reduction of 27 per cent. Charges on single-use plastic carrier bags have cut their usage by a staggering 97 per cent since 2014, statistics show This was also a 97 per cent reduction from the 7.64billion single-use bags handed out in England by the main retailers in 2014, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) charitys figures show. Defra also revealed that a person in England now buys on average about three single-use carrier bags each year from the main supermarkets, compared with around 140 in 2014. Back in 2008, the Daily Mail led calls for a crackdown on single-use plastic bags to help protect the planet, with the launch of its Banish The Bags campaign. Environment minister Steve Double praised the papers superb support of the charge, saying: Mail readers will be well aware of the perils of plastic its destructive for our wildlife and blights our towns, beaches and countryside. Our carrier bag charge something the Mail has superbly long-shown support for has been really successful in curbing plastic consumption and making people think twice about their purchases. But there is still more we need to do. Through our world-leading plastic packaging tax and deposit return scheme for drinks containers, we are committed to turning the tide on plastic for good. In 2021-2022 data, 42 per cent of retailers also reported on how they chose to donate proceeds from the charge, giving a total of 10million to good causes. Adam Herriott, from Wrap, said: Were now at a point where the tide is turning. Today, nearly 5,000 stores nationwide have front-of-store collections where people can drop off their bags once they reach their end of life. A multi-agency police operation across NSW and Queensland has led to multiple arrests and the dismantling of a drug lab, according to police. Police have seized millions of dollars worth of illicit drugs and dismantled a clandestine drug lab in a major multi-agency covert operation targeting organised crime in NSW and Queensland. Operation Viking, launched 12 days ago, led to police confiscating $4.5 million in drugs - including cocaine, methylamphetamine and cannabis - $150,000 in cash, seven firearms, luxury cars and jewellery. Police have seized millions of dollars worth of illicit drugs and dismantled a clandestine drug lab in a major multi-agency covert operation targeting organised crime in NSW and Queensland Operation Viking, launched 12 days ago, led to police confiscating $4.5 million in drugs - including cocaine, methylamphetamine and cannabis The raids also seized $150,000 in cash, seven firearms, luxury cars and jewellery, and uncovered a bikie's 'den' (pictured) near Tweed Heads, NSW The operation, which concluded on Friday, dismantled a clandestine drug lab and discovered significant amounts of chemicals used to manufacture drugs. A Mongols bikie's 'den' was also uncovered near Tweed Heads, NSW, allegedly hidden behind a trap door. NSW Police launched Operation Viking to target organised crime networks operating across the Northern Rivers and Gold Coast Border towns. The Australian Federal Police played a key role due to its ability to gather intelligence across state lines, AFP Assistant Commissioner Northern Command Lesa Gale said. 'Our message to organised crime is simple. We will not stop in our mission to outsmart you and protect the Australian community,' she said. NSW acting assistant commissioner Jason Weinstein said the two-week covert operation was aimed at better understanding organised crime in the border town area. 'We know criminal organisations were establishing themselves across the north coast because of its lucrative drug market and a perceived idea the area is relatively free of scrutiny from law enforcement,' he said. 'I'm confident that following these two weeks that perception has changed. As we continue to work closely through joint operations to prevent, disrupt and respond to organised crime.' NSW Police launched Operation Viking to target organised crime networks operating across the Northern Rivers and Gold Coast Border towns Among the operations, police said a crime scene was declared after they visited a home at Ewingsdale to a serve a 44-year-old man with a Firearm Prohibition Notice, and later seized luxury watches, $10,000 in cash and electronic devices from the man's home. Another 53-year-old Tweed Heads man was charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime and drug offences after police allegedly discovered cannabis, 130 grams of white powder believed to be cocaine and $18,000 in cash at his property. He was granted conditional bail and will appear in Tweed Heads Local Court next month. A 27-year-old was also charged with firearm offences after police allegedly discovered a loaded rifle at his Tweed Heads home on Tuesday, and will appear in Tweed Heads Local Court in September. Advertisement A field in Gloucestershire that is now filled with English Longhorn cattle was once home to a range of marine animals, a new study has revealed. An incredible selection of stunningly well-preserved fossils has been uncovered in a famer's field near Stroud, dating back 183 million years. The weird and wonderful creatures include fish, squids, ancient marine reptiles, and rare insects, which were all preserved within limestone concretions. Dr Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist and a Visiting Scientist at The University of Manchester, who was part of the team studying the site, said: 'The site is quite remarkable, with numerous beautifully preserved fossils of ancient animals that once lived in a Jurassic sea that covered this part of the UK during the Jurassic. 'Inland locations with fossils like this are rare in the UK. 'The fossils we have collected will surely form the basis of research projects for years to come.' An incredible selection of stunningly well-preserved fossils has been uncovered in a famer's field near Stroud, dating back 183 million years Pachycormus by ThinkSee3D on Sketchfab The Loch Ness Monster's existence is 'plausible' The Loch Ness Monster's existence is 'plausible', according to scientists, after fossils revealed that plesiosaurs may have lived in fresh water. Nessie enthusiasts have long believed that the creature of Scottish folklore, which is often depicted with a long neck and small head, could be a prehistoric reptile. However, cynics argue that even if plesiosaurs had survived the asteroid strike that wiped out the dinosaurs, the creatures could not have lived in Loch Ness because they needed a saltwater environment. Now researchers from the University of Bath, University of Portsmouth, and Universite Hassan II in Morocco, have discovered fossils of small plesiosaurs in a 100-million year old river system in the Sahara Desert. The discovery suggests that some species of plesiosaur did live in freshwater - lending credibility to the Loch Ness Monster legend. Advertisement The fossils were found by fossil collectors Sally and Neville Hollingworth, in an inland rock layer that was last exposed more than 100 years ago. While the farm is covered in grass today, 83 million years ago it would have been deep underwater. Sally and Neville explained: 'These fossils come from the Early Jurassic, specifically a time called the Toarcian. 'The clay layers exposed at this site near Stroud have yielded a significant number of well-preserved marine vertebrate fossils that are comparable to the famous and exquisitely preserved similar fauna of the Strawberry Bank Lagerstatte from Ilminster, Somerset a prehistoric site of exceptional fossil preservation. 'Excavations at Kings Stanley over the last week have revealed a rich source of fossil material, particularly from a rare layer of rock that has not been exposed since the late 19th Century.' A team of eight scientists spent four days studying the site, where they used a state-of-the-art sediment processing machine to extract small teeth and bones from the clay. One of the most impressive finds was a fish head belonging to a species called Pachycormus, with stunning details of its scales, fins and even eyeballs still preserved. Nigel Larkin, specialist palaeontological conservator and Visiting Research Fellow at Reading University, who was part of the team said: 'Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. 'Give a palaeontologist a fossil fish and they will tell you the species, the age of the rock, the climate of the time when the fish was alive plus the water depth and salinity and plenty of other information. The fossils were found by fossil collectors Sally and Neville Hollingworth, in an inland rock layer that was last exposed more than 100 years ago. While the farm is covered in grass today, 83 million years ago it would have been deep underwater A team of eight scientists spent four days studying the site, where they used a state-of-the-art sediment processing machine to extract small teeth and bones from the clay 'This site - already an interesting farm in a beautiful setting - is one big outdoor classroom and the lessons now include geology, palaeontology, evolution and climate change. 'They tell farmers to diversify but this goes one step beyond!' A lack of encrusting animals or burrows in the sediment suggests that the fossils were rapidly buried, according to the researchers. The original sediment layering is still preserved around the skeletons, which would have helped to preserve the fossils in their 3D forms. Dr Lomax said: 'The site is quite remarkable, with numerous beautifully preserved fossils of ancient animals that once lived in a Jurassic sea that covered this part of the UK during the Jurassic. 'Inland locations with fossils like this are rare in the UK. The fossils we have collected will surely form the basis of research projects for years to come.' The original sediment layering is still preserved around the skeletons, which would have helped to preserve the fossils in their 3D forms The team now hopes to study the fossils using imaging techniques to understand them in better details The team now hopes to study the fossils using imaging techniques to understand them in better details. Sally and Neville added: 'This is the only current exposure in the UK of the same horizon that was internationally famous for the fossils it produced in the 19th Century, which is no longer accessible. 'The potential of this site to produce a suite of exceptional fossil material and the opportunity for a multidisciplinary integrated research programme to collect material in situ is remarkable.' Many of the specimens will then be donated to the local Museum in the Park, Stroud. Alexia Clark, the museum's Documentation and Collections Officer said: 'We're excited to expand our knowledge of the geology of the Stroud District and we are looking forward to a time when we can share these amazing finds with our members and visitors.' Advertisement While face masks were once rare sightings, their use soared during the coronavirus pandemic, and they even became compulsory in many countries around the world. Now, a study has warned of the impact that this surge in single-use plastic had on animals around the world. Researchers from Dalhousie University scanned social media platforms to collect photos of wildlife tangled in face masks and disposable gloves. In total, the team recorded 114 incidents in 23 countries from April 2020 to December 2021, with a significant majority of encounters involving birds. 'It is crucial that we identify opportunities to improve our waste management infrastructure, so that we can prevent similar leakages during the inevitable future pandemics,' the researchers wrote in their study. Researchers from Dalhousie University scanned social media platforms to collect photos of wildlife tangled in face masks and disposable gloves. Pictured: a mute swan in Italy with a mask in its mouth In total, the team recorded 114 incidents in 23 countries from April 2020 to December 2021, with a significant majority of encounters involving birds. Pictured: a Eurasian oystercatcher in the Netherlands Personal protection equipment (PPE) proved vital amid the pandemic, with masks, disposable gloves, testing kits and hygienic wipes widely used to stem the spread of the disease. Pictured: a black bittern in Singapore 25,000 tonnes of PPE has entered Earth's oceans More than 25,000 tonnes of PPE and other types of Covid-related plastic waste has entered Earth's oceans, a study estimates. Researchers have developed a computer model simulating the fate of plastic waste as it leaves beaches, drifts along the water and fragments into pieces. They estimate that 8.4 million tons of pandemic-related plastic waste has been generated by 193 countries, from the start of the pandemic to August 2021. Almost three quarters 71 per cent is likely to wash up on beaches by the end of the year, the model suggests. Advertisement Personal protection equipment (PPE) proved vital amid the pandemic, with masks, disposable gloves, testing kits and hygienic wipes widely used to stem the spread of the disease. Estimates suggest that a whopping 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves were used monthly during the pandemic. However, without a proper waste management system in place, much of this PPE ended up as litter. 'With widespread presence in the environment, such items pose a direct threat to wildlife as animals can interact with them in a series of ways,' the researchers wrote. In the study, the researchers set out to examine the extent of the problem. The team scanned Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to see if they could use social media platforms as a tool to collect photos of wildlife entangled in PPE. In total, the team recorded 114 incidents of animals being affected by PPE debris in 23 countries from April 2020 to December 2021. The most commonly reported species were mute swan, herring gull, Australian white ibis, red kits, and Eurasion coot all species of birds. Meanwhile, the most common mammal recorded entangled in PPE was the eastern grey squirrel, followed by the European hedgehog and red fox. Estimates suggest that a whopping 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves were used monthly during the pandemic. Pictured: a mute swan in Ireland 'With widespread presence in the environment, such items pose a direct threat to wildlife as animals can interact with them in a series of ways,' the researchers wrote. Pictured: red kits in Germany Without a proper waste management system in place, much of this PPE ended up as litter. Pictured left: a mallard in the US, while pictured right: a Serotine bat in the Netherlands Of the 114 sightings, nine were found dead in direct contact with PPE. The majority of the sightings were made in the US (29), followed by England (16), Canada (13), Australia (11) and the Netherlands (10). The researchers hope the findings will encourage authorities to improve their waste management systems for PPE. 'Despite the termination of mask mandates across different regions of the world, the billions of disposable pandemic-related debris items mismanaged during COVID-19 will remain in our terrestrial and aquatic environments for decades to come,' they wrote. 'Therefore, it is necessary to learn from this event, and assess the full impact that plastic waste from the pandemic has had on our global fauna and environments. The team scanned Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to see if they could use social media platforms as a tool to collect photos of wildlife entangled in PPE. Pictured: a razorbill in Scotland In total, the team recorded 114 incidents of animals being affected by PPE debris in 23 countries from April 2020 to December 2021. Pictured: a common coot in the Netherlands The most commonly reported species were mute swan, herring gull, Australian white ibis, red kits, and Eurasion coot all species of birds. Pictured: a herring gull in Canada 'It is crucial that we identify opportunities to improve our waste management infrastructure, so that we can prevent similar leakages during the inevitable future pandemics,' the researchers wrote. Pictured: a red kite in Germany 'It is crucial that we identify opportunities to improve our waste management infrastructure, so that we can prevent similar leakages during the inevitable future pandemics.' The study comes shortly after a study estimated that more than 25,000 tonnes of PPE and other types of Covid-related plastic waste has entered Earth's oceans. Researchers in California developed a computer model simulating the fate of plastic waste as it leaves beaches, drifts along the water and fragments into pieces. They estimate that 8.4 million tons of pandemic-related plastic waste has been generated by 193 countries, from the start of the pandemic to August 2021. Almost three quarters 71 per cent is likely to wash up on beaches by the end of the year, the model suggests. Most of the offending Covid-related plastic is from medical waste generated by hospitals, the researchers say, which 'dwarfs' the contribution from PPE and packaging from online shopping giant like Amazon and eBay. The researchers hope the findings will encourage authorities to improve thir waste management systems for PPE. Pictured: an osprey in the US The majority of the sightings were made in the US (29), followed by England (16), Canada (13), Australia (11) and the Netherlands (10). Pictured: a hamerkop in the US Advertisement An out-of-control Chinese rocket booster will hurtle back to Earth this weekend and could hit land in populated areas in Asia, Africa or North America, experts say. The falling space debris is the result of the Long March 5B launch on July 24 to deliver the Wentian module to China's Tiangong Space Station. Weighing around 22 metric tons (about 48,500 lb), it's set to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at 18:26 BST on Saturday, give or take six hours either way, according to Aerospace Corporation The US nonprofit, which is tracking the debris, has highlighted a huge area of Earth where the debris could fall, but said it's still exactly where is unknown. As of Friday afternoon, the most recent prediction suggests it will re-enter over China, but 'it is too soon to predict a meaningful debris footprint', the firm told MailOnline. Western Europe (including the UK) is not included in the area, meaning Brits are unlikely to see debris rain down this weekend. Aerospace Corporation has highlighted a huge area of Earth where the debris could fall, spanning thousands of miles north and south of the equator. The yellow icon denotes where the rocket debris will be midway along its re-entry window - a possible point where the debris will hit Earth Our latest prediction for #CZ5B rocket body reentry is: 30 Jul 2022 18:26 UTC 6 hours Reentry will be along one of the ground tracks shown here. It is still too early to determine a meaningful debris footprint. Follow this page for updates: https://t.co/SxrMtcrMrs pic.twitter.com/mjg0F8k1qX The Aerospace Corporation (@AerospaceCorp) July 29, 2022 According to Aerospace Corporation, 18:26 BST on Saturday is the centre of a predicted re-entry window with six hours either side, so it could also hit Earth Saturday lunchtime UK time (12:26) or in the early hours of Sunday (00:26). Given that almost all of this 12-hour-long window is during Saturday, it seems re-entry is more likely to be Saturday than Sunday. CHINA'S LONG MARCH 5B ROCKET On Sunday (July 24), China launched a new module for its space station on a Long March 5B rocket. Unfortunately, the rocket's booster - which weighs 22 metric tons (about 48,500 lb) - has already reached low orbit and is expected to tumble back toward Earth. Aerospace Corporation says the rocket booster is set to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at 18:26 BST on Saturday, give or take six hours either way. Aerospace Corporation said 'there is a non-zero probability' that the debris will land in a populated area in other words, it's not impossible so it could happen. Advertisement As the debris gets closer and closer to Earth, predictions of when it will hit get more and more accurate. The firm had previously estimated re-entry to be at 00:24 BST on Sunday, in an area that covers more than 88 per cent of the worlds population. Aerospace Corporation told MailOnline on Friday afternoon that it's now less than 88 per cent, although it couldn't give a 'meaningful prediction now given the uncertainties'. However, its new map shows Africa, India, Australia, Central America, South America and North America and more are still in the danger zone. Aerospace Corporation said 'there is a non-zero probability' that the debris will land in a populated area in other words, it's not impossible so it could happen. 'A re-entry of this size will not burn up in the Earths atmosphere,' said Aerospace Corporation, which is based in El Segundo, California. 'The general rule of thumb is that 20-40 per cent of the mass of a large object will reach the ground, though it depends on the design of the object.' But according to Aerospace Corporation consultant Ted Muelhaupt, the overall risk to people and property on the ground is fairly low, as 75 per cent of Earth's surface in the potential re-entry area is water, desert or jungle. Speaking during a briefing livestreamed to Twitter on Thursday, Muelhaupt also said there's a '99.5 per cent chance that nothing will happen'. 'Personally, if this were coming down on my head, I'd run outside with a camera to watch it, because I think it would be more of a visual [opportunity] than an actual risk,' he said. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, added: 'The worst case in this event is going to be less serious than a single cruise missile strike that we've been seeing every day in the Ukraine war, so let's put it in some perspective here.' It's possible part of the 21-ton Long March 5B rocket may fail to fully burn up as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere. It would then plummet to the surface in an uncertain location and at great speed several hundred miles per hour. The problem with China's rockets is rooted in the risky design of the country's launch process. Usually, discarded rocket stages re-enter the atmosphere soon after liftoff, normally over water, and don't go into orbit. However, the Long March 5B rocket does. The firm had previously estimated re-entry to be at 00:24 BST on Sunday, over the Middle East A Long March-5B Y3 rocket carrying China's space station lab module Wentian blasts off from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on July 24, 2022 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China China has previously rejected accusations of irresponsibility, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry saying the likelihood of damage to anything or anyone on the ground is 'extremely low'. Many scientists agree with China that the odds of debris causing serious damage are tiny, although others think launch designs like the Long March 5B pose an unnecessary risk. Last May, one of the country's Long March 5B rockets broke up on re-entry above the Indian Ocean, north of the Maldives. The Long March 5B had sent Tianhe, the first building block of China's new space station, into orbit in April. There were concerns that it could smash into a populated area on land, although it ultimately fell into the ocean. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson criticised Beijing and insisted it was 'critical' for China and other countries to 'act responsibly and transparently in space'. 'Spacefaring nations must minimise the risks to people and property on Earth of re-entries of space objects and maximise transparency regarding those operations,' he wrote in a statement. The Wenchang Space Launch Center, from which the Wentian module was launched on July 24, is a rocket launch site on the island of Hainan, China China's Tiangong space station, currently under construction, is seen in this artistic rendering Wentian, a research lab dedicated to science and biology experiments, has already docked with the main body of the space station, called Tianhe. It is set to be followed by a second research lab module, Mengtian, due to be launched in October this year. When Mengtian attaches to the rest of Tiangong, the space station's construction will finally be complete, although Beijing also plans to launch Xuntian, a space telescope that would co-orbit with the space station, in 2024. Tiangong (meaning 'heavenly palace') will rival the ageing International Space Station (ISS), which is operated by the space agencies of the US, Canada, Russia, Japan and Europe. It will comprise three modules, although another two spacecraft Shenzhou and Tianzhou which transport crew and cargo respectively, can also dock at the station. Once completed, Tiangong space station will weigh some 66 tons, far smaller than the ISS, which launched its first module in 1998 and weighs around 450 tons. It is expected to have a life span of at least 10 years. NASA is one step closer to putting human boots on Mars after Congress passed the first authorization bill for the American space agency in five years, which includes funding for the Artemis mission to not only continue its work to the moon but also soar to the Red Planet. Within the 1,054 page document is the 'National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2022' that includes the section 'Moon to Mars Program' that must be established 120 days after the act goes into effect. This includes implementing processes to ensure a lunar base and orbiting outpost are constructed, spacesuits are made and designs for human habitats on Mars are in the works. However, the bill does not state the exact amount of funds set to be given to NASA to make it all happen. The last time Congress passed funding for NASA was back in 2017, which came with the NASA Transition Authorization Act. The American space agency received $19.5 billion in funding, with most of it set for public-private partnerships with commercial spaceflight companies, and to start gearing up for the trip to Mars. Scroll down for video NASA is going to Mars: Congress passes bill that will provide the American space agency with funds to put humans on the Red Planet The announcement was tucked into the 'Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS), which was passed by the House on a 243187 vote July 28 and includes $52 billion funds to be allocated between making chips and exploring space. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson released this statement Thursday following approval of the act: 'I am incredibly pleased Congress has passed the NASA Authorization Act of 2022 the first authorization for our agency in five years. 'This act shows continued bipartisan support of NASA's many missions, including our Moon to Mars approach, as well extension of U.S. participation in the International Space Station to 2030.' The bill notes that the program will include a 'human Mars orbital mission and a human mission to the surface,' which could mean that NASA will send a group to Mars, circle it and then head back to Earth before landing them on the surface. The bill states that the space fairing heroes will launch aboard the Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule, which will also take he first woman and person of color to the moon The document also states that the Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule will be used to shuttle humans to the Red Planet. Both of the craft are taking the first woman and person of color to the moon - this could happen by 2025. While the bill does not specify funds for the Moon to Mars program, it does show it is giving chip manufactures a boost to compete with China. Grants totaling $52 billion, as well as an investment tax credit for chip plants estimated to be worth $24 billion, with be allocated to US manufactures over the next five years. NASA, however, is making moves with its existing Mars program that has its Perseverance rover and Ingenuity chopper currently exploring the Martian surface. The American space agency announced plans Wednesday to send two more mini choppers to Mars in 2027 to collect samples on the Red Planet that will be brought back to Earth in 2033 and analyzed for ancient signs of life. The new innovations pull inspiration from Ingenuity, which is already on Mars, but will be fitted with wheels and grappling arms to help it scoop up rocks and Martian soil. The samples will then be collected by the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission that was initially set to bring a second rover to the Red Planet. However, NASA is riding on the successful curtails and believes eyes in the Martian sky will be a great addition to the search. By Yoon Ja-young As the nation's total population decreased for the first time last year, with the birthrate falling to the world's lowest, a study showed that soaring housing prices are one of the main reasons. According to a study by Kang Dong-ik and Song Kyung-ho, both researchers at the Korea Institute of Public Finance, a 100 percent hike in housing prices slashes the number of kids each household has by 0.1 to 0.3 for the next 8 years. Korea's fertility rate, or the number of babies born per woman, fell to 0.81 last year, which is the lowest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. The research was done by surveying workers at state-run enterprises, which are known to offer stable jobs. For those who don't own houses, the number of children they give birth to for the next eight years decreased by between 0.15 and 0.45. That means the higher the price of housing, the less likely couples are to have a child. The study also shows that the ownership of a house has an even greater impact on childbirth. Housing prices also affected marriage. The study showed that a 100-percent increase in housing prices between 2013 and 2019 pulled down the likelihood of people getting married by between 4 and 5.7 percent. The research comes as Statistics Korea released the 2021 census Thursday, which showed that the country's total population dropped 0.2 percent from the previous year to 51.74 million. It was the first year-on-year decrease since 1949 when the statistics agency started compiling such data. "Soaring housing prices have a considerable level of negative impact on marriages and childbirths. It means it is important to stably control the housing market," the researchers noted. A brilliant light detected by NASAs James Webb Telescope (JWST) three billion light years from Earth is believed to be the $10 billion scopes first observation of a dying star exploding. Formally known as a supernova, it is the last hurrah that occurs when the star runs out of fuel. This causes the pressure to drop, in which the cosmic object expands to at least five times the mass of our sun which is the size of about 333,000 Earths and then detonates, releasing tons of debris and particles. The stellar explosion occurred in the galaxy, SDSS.J141930.11+5251593, where JWST snapped images showing the light of an object get dimmer of a span of five days - a clue that sparked the theory of a supernova. What is additionally exciting is the fact that JWST was not designed to find and detect new transients, Mike Engesser of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), told Inverse that first reported on the discovery. Scroll down for video Not only did James Webb spot a supernova, but astronomers are baffled by the discovery because the telescope is not designed to find dying stars The potential supernova was captured with the NIRCam instrument that is designed to detect light from the earliest stars and galaxies by using a broad range of infrared light. NIRCam is equipped with coronagraphs, instruments that allow astronomers to take pictures of very faint objects around a central bright object, like stellar systems or in this case, stellar explosions. JWST was investigating the distant galaxy, so capturing the supernova was by luck, Engesser told Inverse. The dying star, which appears as a small bright dot in images, was not present in pictures of the galaxy snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2011. The team used software to analyze the James Webb picture against the same picture snapped by the Hubble in 2011, which is how they identified he small, bright light Engesser and his team used software designed to spot differences in the photos which led to the bright speck. JWST has proved it is money well spent even just a week after it went live. Not only did it deliver its first official deep-space pictures on July 12, but a week later scientists announced it had uncovered a 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy that is now the oldest in the universe seen by human eyes. The galaxy, called GLASS-z13 (GN-z13), formed just 300 million years after the Big Bang that occurred 13.8 billion years ago. The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble Telescope in 2015, was GN-z11 that dates back 400 million years after the universe birthed. JWST captured a look at GN-z13 using its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument, which is capable of detecting light from the earliest stars and galaxies. JWST has proved it is money well spent even just a week after it went live. Not only did it deliver its first official deep-space pictures on July 12, but a week later scientists announced it had uncovered a 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy that is now the oldest in the universe seen by human eyes While investigating the area are GN-z13, JWST also spotted GN-z11. Scientists from the Harvard and Smithsonian Centre of Astrophysics in Massachusetts note that although they are both old, each of the galaxies are very small, New Scientist reports. GN-z13 is around 1,600 light years across and GLASS z-11 is 2,300 light years. This is compared to our own Milky Way that is around 100,000 light years in diameter. The paper, published in arXiv, notes that both galaxies have a mass of one billion suns, which is because they formed shortly after the Big Bang occurred. The team suggests this occurred as the galaxies were growing and gobbled up stars in the region. 'These two objects already place novel constraints on galaxy evolution in the cosmic dawn epoch,' researchers shared in the paper. 'They indicate that the discovery of GNz11 was not simply a matter of good fortune, but that there is likely a population of UV luminous sources with very high star-formation efficiencies capable of compiling.' Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly told Manchester United that he does have an offer on the table to leave the club this summer. The Sun have claimed that the Portuguese superstar who wants to leave Old Trafford, has urged United chiefs to name their price for him, so he can trigger a move away by the end of the transfer window. This comes despite a number of Europe's top clubs, including Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, distancing themselves from signing the 37-year-old and United not receiving any enquiries. Cristiano Ronaldo had reportedly informed Manchester United that he does have an offer The Portuguese superstar is said to have told the club to name their asking price for him Ronaldo, alongside his agent Jorge Mendes, have held showdown talks with United's hierarchy this week - after telling the club of his intentions to leave earlier this summer. It's said that Mendes informed the club that Ronaldo has a 'live offer' and that a transfer fee must be named for his star. The report does not claim which side are interested in signing Ronaldo. As well as Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, the likes of Chelsea and Napoli have also been linked with Ronaldo this summer. It was reported by Sportsmail on Wednesday that Ronaldo had asked to be released from his 360,000-per-week contract ahead of its final year. Ronaldo only returned to Carrington this week and has not been immersed to Erik ten Hag's methods United have countered that they have no desire to sell him and have maintained that there was no change in their stance, nor have they received any enquiries. The Sun have added that the Red Devils have 'balked' at the suggestion they should let Ronaldo leave on a free by ending his contract, because of what was described as his 'loyalty' to the club. Ronaldo only returned to Carrington on Tuesday after missing all of United's pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia. The club had hoped to win over Ronaldo but talks have failed to change his mind about wishing leave - although he will carry on in a professional manner. Talks have failed to change the 37-year-old's mind about wishing to leave but he will carry on in a professional manner. Clubs including Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich have distanced themselves away from moves for Ronaldo He underwent medical tests and then trained on Wednesday before watching his team-mates in a behind-closed-doors friendly match against Wrexham. It was thought this weekend's double-header of friendlies against Atletico Madrid on Saturday in Oslo and Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford on Sunday may come too soon. But it's believed Ronaldo may have an eye on the Rayo Vallecano one, which will feature more of a second string side. He has been working hard in the gym having been excused from the tour for family reasons. But as a result, Ronaldo has not been immersed in Ten Hag's methods ahead of the new season and will have to be reintegrated gradually. Manchester City have threatened to walk away from negotiations with Brighton for left back Marc Cucurella until next summer. The reigning Premier League champions previously made a 30million bid for the Spaniard and the Seagulls rejected it as they value him at 50m. City deem that valuation to be too high even though Cucurella is keen on the move. Meanwhile, Brighton have offered the player an improved contract to stay at the club. Manchester City are close to walking away from negotiations with Brighton for Marc Cucurella The Seagulls rejected City's initial 30m bid as they value the left back at 50million City's alternative targets at left back include Benfica's Alex Grimaldo and Stuttgart's Borna Sosa. Cucurella made 35 appearances for Brighton last season, following his 15m move from Getafe. He signed a five year contract, and the Seagulls have ambitions to hold onto their man for a little while longer - unless City stump up. City's alternative targets include Benfica's Alex Grimaldo (left) and Stuttgart's Borna Sosa City and Brighton entered negotiations after the former sold Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal for 32m, with the Ukrainian leaving the Etihad after six years with the Citizens. Cucurella, who won an Olympic silver medal with his nation last year, is adept with the ball at his feet and is able to provide assistance in the final third when Brighton offer him the chance to get forward. He scored his first goal for the Seagulls in May's 4-0 win over Manchester United. City's only recognised left-back is Joao Cancelo, so they will be keen for another - which ultimately leaves Brighton able to drive up the price, as they have no need to sell. Barcelona president Joan Laporta has vowed to do all he can to re-sign Lionel Messi next summer when the PSG star's contract expires. Messi, 35, exited the Nou Camp to join the French giants on a free transfer in 2021, calling an emotional end to his 21-year Barcelona career. Laporta, who admitted he feels 'indebted' to the Argentine superstar, is set to do everything in his power to lure him back to the Catalan club next year. Joan Laporta has vowed to do all he can to re-sign Barcelona legend Lionel Messi next summer The Nou Camp chief feels 'indebted' to Messi after his 21-year career with the Spanish giants 'I feel indebted to Leo Messi,' he said. 'I would like him to end his career in a Barca shirt, and be applauded at all the stadiums. 'I feel partially responsible for how things ended, and I feel that this is a temporary end and that we will make this dream a reality. At least that is the dream.' It certainly was a bitter end for Messi at the Nou Camp, as he submitted a transfer request via burofax after Barca were thumped 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League back in 2020. The Barcelona superstar scored 670 goals in 776 appearances before leaving for PSG in 2021 He pursued a move away all summer and was involved in tense talks with the club's hierarchy as he insisted that his contract permitted him to leave on a free transfer - though after a legal battle Barca forced him to stay for another season, with the player claiming the club had broken promises to him. It appeared Messi was set for a remarkable U-turn the following summer after agreeing to prolong his stay with his beloved Barca. However, ongoing financial problems - worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic - prevented Barcelona from offering Messi anywhere close to his 500,000-a-week contract in 2021 - which prompted the forward to seek fresh pastures in France. His Barcelona days came to an emotional end after forcing through a transfer from the club Messi broke down in tears during his exit interview but could now be set for an equally emotional return in 2023 if Laporta is able to orchestrate a deal. He notched 670 goals and 302 assists in 776 games during his two-decade spell with the LaLiga giants. Barcelona have seemingly managed to turn their problematic financial situation around through TV rights sales this summer, splurging over 140million on Sevilla defender Jules Kounde, Leeds winger Raphinha and Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski. Original Neighbours star David Clencie, 57, has branded the producers of the show a 'disgrace' for allegedly stealing his idea for a new storyline and 'shafting him' when he complained. Clencie, who played Danny Ramsay in 1985 and 1986, claims Neighbours bosses failed to attribute his idea, which was used in recent episodes for Shane Ramsays (Peter OBrien) return, to him. Shane recently made a comeback to the soap after a near four-decade absence, making Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) a proposition to buy Lassiters from him. Original Neighbours star David Clencie (pictured here on the show in the 80s) has branded the shows producers a disgrace for allegedly stealing his idea and 'shafted him' when he complained Clencie, who uttered the first ever words of dialogue on the show when it started on October 27, 1986, claims his idea was ripped off after he floated it in an article he wrote for The Perfect Blend', which he says is often read by the show's producers. 'In 2020 I did an article for a website called Neighbours the perfect blend,' he wrote on Facebook. 'In this Q&A I was asked what were my thoughts as to where my character would be today. Clencie (pictured here recently) uttered the first ever words of dialogue on the show when it started on October 27, 1986, and is bitter about the action of the show's bosses and labelled them 'not very nice people' 'I wrote that I thought he (Danny) wouldve been very successful in business and still been very community minded and very loyal to his family, the Ramsay's. I was then asked if I would ever make a return and if so what would be a storyline that could be good for a Danny Ramsay return. I wrote that I doubt Id ever return except if the timing and other cast members like Peter OBrien who played my brother were there also. 'A great story line idea I had was that Danny & Shane return to Ramsay St with the intention of buying Lassiters complex from the age old family enemy Paul Robinson. And in turn buy no 24 the Ramsays old home. Clencie is pictured on the set of Neighbours with his trademark long mane This would make for a very interesting plot with plenty in it and Danny who had made a lot of money from his business and real estate dealings would lead the takeover and Shane his tradie brother could step in and smooth things over with Paul. 'I authored this idea on the Perfect Blend which is known and read by producers. Well, fast forward to the last week and the ending of the show after 37 years. The storyline only involves Shane who had unbelievably made millions from bitcoin. Clencie claims he was 'completely shafted' after he 'approached' Neighbours producers and offered his services for the finale. 'They were so rude, arrogant and disrespectful,' he said. 'What a nasty slap in the face that was to an original cast member and beggars belief really.' David also took issue with the fact that his character Danny could be seen in a flashback clip used during Neighbours final episodes and he was not 'offered a fee' for it. Clencie concluded his Facebook rant by claiming he 'deserved better'. 'I believe I deserved much better and probably gives an insight as to why the show is ending,' he said. Daily Mail Australia has reached out the Channel 10 for comment. Neighbours finished on Thursday night with an hour-long outing that celebrated everything that fans hoped to see. Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan are seen taking a selfie together on the set of the Neighbours Finale Neighbours finished on Thursday night with a hour-long outing that celebrated everything that fans hoped to see. The shows biggest drawcards Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan returned to the set for the finale amidst much fanfare from fans. Guy Pearce, Delta Goodrem and Natalie Bassingthwaighte were also among the galaxy of stars who returned for the shows final scenes. Margo Robbie was unable to travel back to Melbourne due to her ongoing Hollywood commitments but appeared via zoom. Big Oil v The World Rating: Train Truckers Rating: James Lovelock, the eccentric genius who first proposed the Gaia theory that Earth is a gigantic living organism, had the answer to climate change. A colossal parasol in space could deflect the suns heat, suggested the environmentalist, who died this week on his 103rd birthday. He wasnt joking. A sunshade in a heliocentric orbit [always facing the sun] would diffuse a few per cent of sunlight from the Earth, he claimed. Youd hardly notice it was there . . . I think a big Nasa programme could almost certainly do it. It could save our bacon. James Lovelock, the eccentric genius who first proposed the Gaia theory that Earth is a gigantic living organism, had the answer to climate change Mind you, Lovelock was also the man who devised a method of flash-freezing hamsters so they could be stored in a refrigerator and later defrosted in a microwave and resuscitated. Yes, hamsters. At least he offered a solution, which is more than the three-part documentary Big Oil v The World (BBC2) can do. This glum excoriation of the American energy industry sets out to convince us that the time to save the world has already passed. George W. Bushs administration had no interest in reducing carbon emissions and the good intentions of Barack Obamas government were blocked by militant climate deniers. Next week, the series examines what Donald Trump did to rescue humanity from overheating and its hard to imagine this will make cheerful viewing either. There was much breast-beating and wringing of hands. Jerry Taylor, a regular on the U.S. talk network Fox News, described himself proudly as a gunslinger in TV debates, but admitted hed got the arguments all wrong. Climate geoscientist Bill Heins, who worked for petroleum giant ExxonMobil, said he knew the damage pollution did to the planet but I averted my gaze. The perspective was relentlessly American and this, of course, is half the problem. Politicians, talk show pundits and protesters in the States are so filled with self-importance that they are oblivious to the existence of the rest of the world. The UN has described climate change as a Code Red for humanity. But, watching this, youd think only one nation was involved. Public transport is often cited as an effective tool to cut greenhouse gases but not if the trains travel by road. Haulage company Allelys was transporting a 1960s diesel locomotive on a supersized trailer in Train Truckers (Yesterday), from the yard where it was restored in Crewe, to a heritage railway in Derbyshire In fact, little can be done about climate change without the active co-operation of China, India and Russia a fact this documentary didnt address. We were left with the spectacle of retired oil company execs and lobbyists, chatting to cameras in their living rooms and refighting battles from their glory days. Whatever saves us from global warming, it wont be a parade of old bores pumping out hot air. Public transport is often cited as an effective tool to cut greenhouse gases but not if the trains travel by road. Haulage company Allelys was transporting a 1960s diesel locomotive on a supersized trailer in Train Truckers (Yesterday), from the yard where it was restored in Crewe, to a heritage railway in Derbyshire. This meant manoeuvring through the narrow streets of a village on the edge of the Peak District, along lanes where no juggernaut was designed to go. Basil the Class 47 engine was almost twice the length of a double decker bus and weighed 115 tons. A hairy ten minutes saw Zach the lorry driver inch past a VW hatchback on the kerb, while his assistant steered the trailers rear wheels via a handset. One slip and that VW was going to lose more than a wing mirror. Narrator Simon Chadwick tried to inject more jeopardy: The team have got 22 hours to deliver Basil to its destination and the clock is ticking! But we dont watch these shows for the tension. There are few things more relaxing than seeing other people at work. Overload of the week: After Wimbledon and the Womens Euros, we saw yet more sport on BBC1 with the opening of the Commonwealth Games. Does it have to monopolise the main channel? Why not just turn BBC3 into BBC Sport and have done with it? Nadiya Bychkova has revealed she plans to rescue her family members from war-torn Ukraine as soon as she gets the opportunity. After months of tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on February 24. Strictly dancer Nadiya, 32, who was joined by her boyfriend Kai Widdrington at the National Reality Television Awards at Porchester Hall Thursday night - spoke exclusively to Mail Online at about her war-ravaged country. Heartbreking: Nadiya Bychkova revealed her plans to rescue her family from Ukraine at the National Reality Television Awards on Thursday as she was joined by her beau Kai Widdrington 'I think were all affected by it,' she said. 'I still have my father there and my grandparents, a lot of friends, its a very tough subject to talk about. Its so difficult.' 'The war has been going on since 2014 when my family was involved all the time so its been very long for me.' She added: Im in touch with them and I help as much as I can. I couldnt get my father and my grandmother anywhere close to me but theyre there and theyre safe at the moment so as soon as I will get the chance to get them Ill do that. Heartbreak: Speaking about her family Nadiya said: 'Im in touch with them and I help as much as I can. I couldnt get my father and my grandmother anywhere close to me but theyre there and theyre safe at the moment so as soon as I will get the chance to get them Ill do that' Gong: There was better news on the night for Nadiya as she bagged the award for - Winner winner: The couple looked thrilled as they left the venue taking home a gong and some goody bags Handsome: Kai cut a dapper figure in a black suit while dressing up the look with a grey tie Loved-up: The pair looked smitten as they held hands while walking into the Bayswater venue There was better news on the night for Nadiya as she took home a much sought after award on the night. The professional dancer looked a vision in a light blue chiffon gown, featuring an elegant trail. The dress also featured a belt element round the waist, drawing in her petite frame. Dressed to impress, she swept her blonde hair into an updo and accessorized with a salmon clutch. Timeless: Neil Jones was also in attendance on the night looking suave in a black suit. Meanwhile, Kai cut a dapper figure in a black suit while dressing up the look with a grey tie. The couple looked smitten as they held hands while walking into the Bayswater venue. Their strictly co-star Neil Jones was also in attendance on the night looking suave in a black suit. Wow: 2021 Love Island star Amy Day turned heads on the night wearing a clinging busty blue corset style dress Ab-tastic: TOWIE favourite Dani Imbert looked sensational as she flashed her abs in a daring white co-ord with thigh slit 2021 Love Island star Amy Day turned heads on the night wearing a clinging busty blue corset style dress. TOWIE favourite Dani Imbert looked sensational as she flashed her abs in a daring white co-ord with thigh slit. Elsewhere, TV legend Anne Hegarty looked worlds away from her 'chaser' self as she got dressed to the nines in a floral print dress. Pretty in pink: TV legend Anne Hegarty looked worlds away from her 'chaser' self as she got dressed to the nines in a floral print dress Also turning heads on the night was Too Hot To Handle's Beaux Raymond who sizzed in a yellow feather trimmed dress. Love Island beauty Rebecca Gormley caught the eye in a plum satin number with daring thigh slit. TOWIE newcomer Junaid Ahmed was all smalls on the night as he dazzled in a purple velvet suit for photographers. Chic: Also turning heads on the night was Too Hot To Handle's Beaux Raymond who sizzed in a yellow feather trimmed dress Beauty: Love Island beauty Rebecca Gormley caught the eye in a plum satin number with daring thigh slit Going all out: TOWIE newcomer Junaid Ahmed was all smalls on the night as he dazzled in a purple velvet suit for photographers Smooth: Making a grand entrance on the night was Giovanni Pernice who looked suave in a timeless black suit Making a grand entrance on the night was Giovanni Pernice who looked suave in a timeless black suit. Antique dealer David Dickinson MBE stepped out in style wearing one of his signature white tuxedo jackets. The Dickinson's Real Deal host toasted success on the night after the winning Outstanding Contribution to Television 2022 at the awards. Actor Armie Hammer saw his career derailed last year amid accusations of 'cannibalistic' sexual preferences and a serious allegation of assault. Hammer, 35, spent seven months in rehab for sex and drugs issues and then retreated to the Cayman Islands, where his family are based. But earlier this month, pictures of the star of Call Me By Your Name and The Social Network selling timeshares and working at a hotel went viral. Now he's back in Tinseltown thanks to the generosity of pal Robert Downey Jr, who is lending him a place to stay in LA, as well as, according to Vanity Fair, having funded his rehab. And I hear that he is considering a comeback, scandal notwithstanding, 'when the time is right'. Actor Armie Hammer saw his career derailed last year amid accusations of 'cannibalistic' sexual preferences and a serious allegation of assault In fact, sources close to Hammer say he never considered giving up his chosen profession. 'He will come back to acting in due course,' I am told. There is talk that film producers are already seeking him for roles in small-budget films. But Hammer's first move will be to find an agent. Perhaps he aims to emulate pal Downey Jr, who has become one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors after a period when he was in and out of jail and rehab. Hammer's downfall started after he separated from wife of ten years Elizabeth Chambers, in 2019, after she reportedly found evidence of a dalliance (one version of events suggests he sent her a 'raunchy' message intended for someone else). Then, in January 2020, the Instagram account @houseofeffie started to publish messages alleged to have been sent from Hammer. One read: 'I want to eat you . . . I am 100% a cannibal.' Others talked about eating a woman's ribs and cutting off her toes. As the scandal grew, the actor's ex-girlfriend Paige Lorenze claimed he had carved the letter 'A' into her skin using a knife. Then Effie Angelnova held a press conference with lawyer Gloria Allred at which she accused Hammer of rape and physical abuse during a four-year affair. Hammer called the allegations 'bulls***', with his lawyer Andrew Brettler adding: 'All interactions between Mr Hammer and his former partners were consensual. They were fully discussed, agreed upon in advance with his partners and mutually participatory.' But Hammer was dropped by his talent agency and publicist; and fired from a number of high-profile films. The LAPD investigated the rape accusation, but no charges have been brought. This week a representative for the LA District Attorney said that the office had not yet received the findings of the case. Hammer's lawyer said there was 'no update'. He said his client has not been charged with any offences. His estranged wife Ms Chambers has since said of Hammer: 'I think he's happy . . . and that's good.' She added: 'Everybody needs help.' Taylor-Johnson, from Bucks, who plays Tangerine (left, with co-star Brian Tyree Henry, far left), wears a three-piece Savile Row suit with pocket square, an antique St Christopher medal and a pinkie ring Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as a Cockney assassin alongside Brad Pitt in action-comedy Bullet Train and costume designer Sarah Evelyn 'leaned in' to every cultural reference for him to look the part. Taylor-Johnson, from Bucks, who plays Tangerine (left, with co-star Brian Tyree Henry, far left), wears a three-piece Savile Row suit with pocket square, an antique St Christopher medal and a pinkie ring very much from the Guy Ritchie gangster playbook. Observant viewers may also glimpse a flash of a pair of West Ham United socks! Havers craves Stones film satisfaction Telling the full, extraordinary story of the infamous 1960s drugs bust at Rolling Stone Keith Richards' home when Marianne Faithfull was said to have been found wearing just a fur rug has been a preoccupation for actor Nigel Havers for more than a decade. Havers' father, Sir Michael, was the most expensive barrister in London at the time and defended Richards and Mick Jagger, who were both convicted and given prison sentences, which were later lifted. The actor, who recalls getting to know the Stones as a teen, first mooted the project with the BBC in 2004. Now it looks to be finally moving forward. Havers said: 'We are at the point of casting and Hugh Bonneville is playing my dad!' The question of who will play Jagger makes Havers laugh nervously. He quips that Sir Mick is in such great shape, perhaps he can play himself. Telling the full, extraordinary story of the infamous 1960s drugs bust at Rolling Stone Keith Richards' home when Marianne Faithfull was said to have been found wearing just a fur rug has been a preoccupation for actor Nigel Havers for more than a decade But since Jagger celebrated his 79th birthday this week, it is more likely the role will be taken by a rising charismatic young Brit, such as Anson Boon, who played Johnny Rotten in the TV series Pistol and shares a love of snake-hipped fashion with the Stones' frontman. The film will be called The Butterfly And The Wheel, after the famous leader column in The Times newspaper which asked (using a line borrowed from poet Alexander Pope): 'Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?' Havers said: 'The Times, edited by William Rees-Mogg [MP Jacob's dad] ran a leader column. He was the first to say: 'Don't go after Mick and Keith.' 'It's a ridiculously good article, which steered the judge.' Havers added: 'My father took the case on and became liberal. He never again wore a stiff collar to court. It changed his whole personality, which is amazing. During the raid on Redlands, Richards' country estate in Sussex, in 1967, Jagger, Richards and Faithfull were apparently coming down from an acid trip. Havers' father, Sir Michael, was the most expensive barrister in London at the time and defended Richards and Mick Jagger, who were both convicted and given prison sentences, which were later lifted Police found a handful of amphetamine pills, plus some heroin belonging to a friend, as well as some cannabis. Jagger and Richards pleaded not guilty but were convicted. Jagger was given a 200 fine and three months imprisonment for possessing four amphetamine tablets. Richards was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to a year in prison and a 500 fine. Both were released on bail after a night behind bars, pending appeal. Two days later, the op-ed appeared in The Times, with Rees-Mogg asking whether 'Mr Jagger received a more severe sentence than would have been thought proper for any purely anonymous young man'. He later said: 'Nobody else would have been sent to prison for what was essentially a sea-sickness tablet'.' Will it be Sir Simon the squire? Not so long ago, Simon Cowell epitomised a rather downmarket kind of flash driving megabucks cars, holidaying with hot girls in bikinis, hanging out with pop star Sinitta and hypnotist Paul McKenna. But it seems that the music mogul has entered a new, respectable, 'country squire' period which some of his old pals say is borne out of his 'desperation' for a knighthood. Cowell, 62, was spotted earlier this month at the crashingly middle-class Cornbury Festival in Oxfordshire (where David Cameron gets his groove on). He's also been hanging out at nearby Soho Farmhouse. And his fiancee, Lauren Silverman, and their son Eric, eight, are regular guests of Amanda Holden at her house in the Cotwolds. (Holden recently posted footage on TikTok of a Cowell/Holden family handstand challenge at her picturesque country home.) I'm told: 'Lauren really wants to be Lady Cowell; and one of the reasons for the wedding is that they both crave respectability.' Cowell proposed to his long-term girlfriend on Christmas Eve last year, but the wedding won't happen until at least September, as Cowell's about to fly to the U.S. to film the new series of America's Got Talent. One pal says: 'Nobody has been invited and quite a few of Simon's friends are complaining it's so hard to speak to him these days, which is rather sad.' On the honours front, Cowell hasn't even got an MBE, although colleagues such as David Walliams and Ant and Dec have previously been summoned to the Palace. In 2018, Cowell said: 'Having seen the others get it, now I've started to think that I need at least an O, M or whatever it is. 'An S would be better.' Gugu plunges into breathtaking role in underwater drama Gugu Mbatha-Raw is not one to flinch from a challenge. In Surface, a bingeable new offering from Apple TV+, Mbatha-Raw plays Sophie, a woman who has lost the memories of a lifetime after apparently throwing herself from the deck of a ferry. The question is: did she jump, or was she pushed? And who is she, really? The RADA-trained actress spent hours in a tank of water to shoot the arresting opening sequence for the show the first three episodes of which will air tonight. And she reveals that even though she had a stunt double, 'I did a chunk of it myself, which was really intense'. Made by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine TV company, like her previous mega-hit Big Little Lies, Surface offers a gripping, twisting psychological mystery, told in the context of an oh-so-aspirational lifestyle this time in San Francisco. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is not one to flinch from a challenge. In Surface, a bingeable new offering from Apple TV+, Mbatha-Raw plays Sophie Less desirable, though, were the dousings. 'Every week, Sophie would get soaked in a very dramatic way,' Mbatha-Raw said. 'Like, it would be either the underwater sequence, or a bath scene, or a shower scene, or it was raining or we were on a boat. 'Water is thematically the element that runs all the way through the show. I've never done any underwater acting before and it's way more challenging than it looks I think because you're literally out of your element. 'All of the usual tools that you use how you move your face, how you breathe, all the basic things that you hopefully forget about when you're normally acting are completely contorted underwater. Your eyes are bulging, you're focused on staying alive. 'I worked with a free dive expert, who trained me in breath-holding techniques, but it was definitely one of the more challenging stunt sequences I've done.' In an earlier interview, the Brit said when the going gets tough, she tells herself: 'Come on, Gugs!' Mbatha-Raw has recently finished filming Seacole, a drama based on the life of pioneering Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole, who cared for wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War. The RADA-trained actress spent hours in a tank of water to shoot the arresting opening sequence for the show the first three episodes of which will air tonight Matthew Modine Eleven's creepy 'Papa' in Stranger Things has written a thought-provoking essay about working with the late Stanley Kubrick on Full Metal Jacket. Modine played Private Joker in the 1987 war drama and, in the script, he was meant to be killed off. However, he reveals that Kubrick rewrote the ending after asking his star what he thought about how things panned out. The actor said he told the legendary director: 'The real horror of war is having to live the rest of your life with that in your head.' And so his character's fate was changed. The essay appears in A Rabbit's Foot, a newly launched 'bookazine' from film producer and publisher Charles Finch. Judi names growly bear after Blades Furniture restorer Jay Blades may have replaced 007 in the affections of legendary actress Dame Judi Dench. Dench, who played MI6 boss M in seven Bond films, developed a soft spot for TV presenter Blades, 52, after they met in March while she was appearing in a one-off Repair Shop sketch for Comic Relief. The actress (below) says: 'I collect teddy bears I have a collection of about 200 and they had one in the workshop that they had just repaired . . . and I went: 'Oh that bear!' And then, we were talking about them. 'They made a new one for me and it arrived a few weeks later. And he is a proper growler! 'All my teddies have names and, of course, I've named this one. He's called JB. After Jay Blades. He is really a remarkable man.' Comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders appeared in the sketch, too, and the pair didn't fail to spot Dench's admiration. French recalls that Judi said: 'Oh, he stole my beating heart!' Margot Robbie is arguably the biggest star to come out of Australian soap Neighbours. So some fans may have been disappointed that her appearance as Donna Freedman in the show's finale on Thursday was just a 14-second pre-recorded video message. The 32-year-old Oscar nominee did the best she could, given that she's currently busy filming the Barbie movie in America. Margot Robbie is pictured during her brief cameo in the Neighbours finale Margot plays the titular character in the big-screen adaptation of the famous Mattel doll. She stars alongside Ryan Gosling in the comedy, which is set to be released on July 31, 2023. Despite her busy schedule, Margot still made time for a quick cameo in the Neighbours finale. The last episode centred around Toadie's (Ryan Moloney) wedding to Melanie (Lucinda Cowden). The 32-year-old did the best she could given that she's currently busy filming the Barbie movie Many familiar faces reunited for the picturesque lakeside ceremony and street party afterwards, while other pals - including Margot's Donna Freedman - sent their well wishes in sweet video messages to mark the big day. 'Have an amazing wedding day, Toadie,' Margot gushed in her video message. 'The years living on Ramsay Street were honesty some of the best of my entire life,' she added. Despite her busy schedule, Margot still made time for a quick cameo in the Neighbours finale on Thursday night Margot is pictured as her character Donna Freedman with co-star Jackie Woodburne, who played Susan Kennedy, in 2009 Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Jason Donovan, Natalie Imbruglia and Holly Valance are among the other celebrities who returned to Neighbours to appear in the send-off of the Melbourne-based drama that helped launch their careers in acting and music. Natalie and Holly filmed a scene together from the UK, which saw them bump into each other at a park before discovering they both once lived on Ramsay Street. Neighbours was once a major hit in Australia and a bigger success in Britain, but has fallen victim to waning ratings in recent years. They're the stunning Aussie sisters who both rose to fame on the iconic soap Neighbours. And on Thursday, Olympia and Holly Valance celebrated the highly-anticipated finale of the hit show all the way in Mykonos. Olympia, 29, who is ten years younger than her sister, shared a picture of the pair in Greece where she's currently honeymooning with AFL star Thomas Bellchambers. Stunning sisters Olympia and Holly Valance celebrated the Neighbours finale in Mykonos on Thursday 'WOW. So that's it, the last episode ever of Neighbours. What an end of an era for us all,' Olympia said. She added in reference to their characters on the show: 'Big love from Greece, Flick and Paige.' The pair were pictured drinking champagne at sunset, with Olympia stunning in a yellow bustier dress while Holly, who is married to British billionaire property developer Nick Candy, looked chic in a floral frock. Holly, 39, began her career on Neighbours as Felicity 'Flick' Scully back in 1999. Pictured Holly, 39, began her career on Neighbours as Felicity 'Flick' Scully back in 1999. She left the soap in 2002 to begin her music career, producing hits including Kiss Kiss and Down Boy. However, she's mostly retreated from the spotlight since marrying billionaire Nick Candy. Olympia meanwhile played Paige Smith on Neighbours from 2014 to 2017, but reprised her role in 2020 for the 35th anniversary of the show. Both sisters returned to the show for the finale this week, which also saw the likes of Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Guy Pearce return. Both sisters returned to the show for the finale this week, which also saw the likes of Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Guy Pearce return. Pictured with Natalie Imbruglia 'Neighbours has always felt like home to me,' Olympia recently told Greek publication Neos Kosmos. 'There is a reason why everyone refers to Neighbours as the best training ground in the world.' She said news of the show's cancellation in March, following the loss of its main UK broadcast partner Channel 5, left her extremely sad. 'I feel like I grew up on Neighbours...it's incredibly special to step back into the shoes of Paige as Australia farewells it's most iconic television program,' she added. Credit card spending in Korea jumped in the second quarter, buoyed by eased antivirus measures, data showed Friday. Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards came to 280.7 trillion won ($216.2 billion) in the April-June period, up 14.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association (CREFIA). During the cited period, the number of approved card settlements climbed 11.4 percent on-year to 6.61 billion cases. "The eased COVID-19 curbs, along with increased travel and offline gatherings, helped invigorate domestic demand, pulling up card use," CREFIA said. Despite the recent COVID-19 resurgence in the country, health authorities said they are not considering a rollback of the antivirus restrictions. (Yonhap) Neighbours stars Holly Candy and Natalie Imbruglia looked ageless as they returned to film the soap's highly anticipated series finale in London. The close friends, who both pursued pop music careers following their exit from the show, wore matching pink Neighbours hats as they posed for a photo with ne'er a wrinkle in sight. Natalie, 47, shared the selfie on Instagram alongside several other snaps, including pictures of her playing Beth Brennan in the '90s. Neighbours stars Holly Candy, 39, (right) and Natalie Imbruglia, 47, (left) looked ageless as they returned to film the anticipated finale of the soap in London She captioned them: 'Such a laugh filming Neighbours final episode with Holly Candy in London. 'I have so many happy memories from my time on Neighbours and I wouldnt be where I am today without it! End of an era.' On the show, Beth married Brad Willis, played by Scott Michaelson, and was the mother of Ben Hall's character Ned Willis, though they never appeared on screen together. The close friends, who both pursued pop music careers following their exit from the show, wore matching pink Neighbours hats as they posed for a photo with ne'er a wrinkle in sight. (Pictured: Natalie performing at the Flackstock Festival in Reading, England, on Monday night) Natalie, 47, shared the selfie on Instagram alongside several other snaps, including pictures of her playing Beth Brennan in the '90s. (Pictured with Melissa Bell, who played Lucy Robinson) Meanwhile, Holly, 39, who is married to billionaire property developer Nick Candy, starred as Felicity 'Flick' Scully from 1999 to 2002. She was last seen on screen in 2005 and now lives in Hollywood. The actors-turned-pop stars weren't the only special guests who returned to Ramsay Street on Thursday evening to say goodbye to the soap after 37 years on air. The characters Harold Bishop (Ian Smith), Shane Ramsay (Peter O'Brien), Izzy Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaighte) and Mike Young (Guy Pearce) all featured heavily in the show's swansong. They were joined by returning favourites Joel Samuels (Daniel MacPherson), Joe Mangel (Mark Little), Amy Greenwood (Jacinta Stapleton), Nina Tucker (Delta Goodrem) and Des Clarke, memorably played by Paul Keane. On the show, Beth married Brad Willis, played by Scott Michaelson, and was the mother of Ben Hall's character Ned Willis, though they never appeared on screen together. (Pictured: the cast and crew of Neighbours) Kylie Minogue, best known for playing Charlene Robinson, and Jason Donovan, who played Scott Robinson, also reprised their roles, as did Melissa Bell, who portrayed Lucy Robinson. Holly's younger half-sister Olympia Valance, who portrayed Paige Smith, was also involved in the finale. They were joined by Jane Harris (played by Annie Jones), Donna Freedman (Margot Robbie) and the ghost of the late Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston). Neighbours announced in March that production would cease on the long-running soap due to lack of financial backing after losing their 'key broadcast partner in the UK', Channel 5. Holly, who is married to property developer Nick Candy (right), starred as Felicity 'Flick' Scully from 1999 to 2002. She was last seen on screen in 2005 and now lives in Hollywood Below Deck star Rachel Hargrove stunned Bravo fans by revealing how there's allegedly been bad blood between herself and Southern Charm's Austen Kroll. The chef, 39, took to Twitter and wrote, 'Cheers to the most narsasitic [SIC] tw** on @BravoTV,' on Tuesday, July 26, after sharing a story about Kroll's beer company Trop Hop. 'I'm at home and have time,' she shot back when asked by her fans why she had been 'so insulting' to her fellow Bravo star lately, as reported by Us Weekly. Bad blood: Below Deck star Rachel Hargrove took aim at fellow Bravo star Austen Kroll, calling the Southern Charm star 'the most narsasitic [SIC] tw** on @BravoTV' on Twitter Another commenter suggested that the reality star might get along well with Madison LeCroy, who once dated Kroll, 35. 'I've never met her. But I did have the unfortunate experience of being around him,' Rachel tweeted about her connection to the Southern Charm cast. The Below Deck alum - who starred in season eight and nine of the reality show - went on to elaborate about their alleged encounter at the recent NBC Upfronts in May in a since deleted post. In the post, she alleged Kroll and Shep Rose searched her bag at the occasion. Reality wars: Hargrove revealed the bad blood with Kroll in a tweet on Tuesday She also claimed that she previously met Kroll in Florida where she had a bad experience at a party with the fellow Bravo personality. Hrgrove not only kept the tweet but lso criticized the network, Below Deck, nd BrvoCon. She wrote, 'I don't sit down; I stnd up. I'm sick of the BS; I won't ttend @BrvoCon2022.' longside severl screenshots of the alleged communiction with Brvo. Hargrove went on to share a screenshot of the Instagram DMs she allegedly had with Kroll, who appeared surprised by her recent social media commentary. And in a sign that she's not looking to be hired back on Below Deck, the Florida native tweeted out, 'F**k Below Deck on Wednesday, July 27. She went on to tweet, 'I will no longer be accociated [sic] with organizations I don't believe in.. #belowdeck #bravoco #wwhl #ANTM', anding, 'anyone else wants to piss me off this week? Let's f***ing go....' So far Kroll has not publicly addressed the growing feud between the reality stars. In the past, Hargrove also had some issues with her co-star Eddie Lucas, after the first officer expressed his concerns about her alleged excessive drinking and her rash decision to quit the show right before starting her first season. She would eventually return to the boat the next day to resume her job as chef. 'For me, grudges mean that I would actually have to care and give significance to that issue or that individual. I don't,' Hargrove told Us Weekly in October 2021 about Lucas's comments about her alcohol consumption in season nine. 'Also if you work in restaurants and in kitchens, my behavior is nothing different than anybody else's. It's just a little bit extra emphasized.' Done: Hargrove gave more than a hint that she's not expecting to be back on Below Deck by posting that she no longer wants to be 'associated with organizations I don't believe in', which was followed by hashtags that singled out Below Deck and the Bravo network Bella Hadid put her supermodel physique on display as she shared her new campaign for Michael Kors on Thursday. The Vogue cover girl, 25, took to Instagram and shared different promotional clips and behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot. The star flaunted her trim midriff in a black triangle shaped bikini while posing next to a yacht, before slipping into two glamorous dresses. Strutting her stuff: Bella Hadid put her supermodel physique on display as she shared her new campaign for Michael Kors on Thursday The runway phenomenon paired her bikini look with a pair of black, cross-over strap heels to match the swimwear. She further accessorized with a chunky gold Cuban chain around her neck, and a matching gold bracelet. The star wore her brunette tresses slicked into a ponytail, and shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of gold sunglasses. Hot stuff: The Vogue cover girl, 25, took to Instagram and shared different promotional clips and behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot Stunner: The star wore her brunette tresses slicked into a ponytail, and shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of gold sunglasses Kors previously posted a bikini shot of the model to their Instagram page in May, writing: 'Some like it haute'. The beauty also shared a snap of her wearing a summer white dress with a floral pattern, and a pair of matching white heels. Adding a pop of color to the look was the chic salmon pink purse slung over her shoulder. If you've got it: Hadid flaunted her trim midriff in a black triangle shaped bikini while posing next to a yacht Cool gal: She further accessorized with a chunky gold Cuban chain around her neck, and a matching gold bracelet Bella also added a touch of bling to the look with oversized gold hoop earrings and gold bangles. Another stunning shot showed her posing in a figure-hugging orange dress and holding a matching studded orange purse from the brand. She also sported a bronzed and dewy makeup look with a nude lip for the snaps, as she strutted her stuff. Summer vibes: The beauty also shared a snap of her wearing a summer white dress with a floral pattern, and a pair of matching white heels Form-fitting: Another stunning shot showed her posing in a figure-hugging orange dress and holding a matching studded orange purse from the brand She also shared some behind-the-scenes snaps with her fellow model Alton Mason, 24, as they lounged on the yacht and formed a heart with their hands. In another shirtless snap Alton showed off his impressive muscles while posing in front of the picturesque ocean view. In yet another snap Bella was seen relaxing on a yacht from a bird's-eye view. Cute: She also shared some behind-the-scenes snaps with her fellow model Alton Mason, 24, as they lounged on the yacht and formed a heart with their hands Buff: In another shirtless snap Alton showed off his impressive muscles while posing in front of the picturesque ocean view Lounging: Bella was also seen relaxing on a yacht from a bird's-eye view The official account for Michael Kors commented on the snaps, writing: 'Jet, set, glam,' and adding a black heart emoji. Aside from her campaign, Bella's been busy with other endeavors, and recently joined the metaverse with an NFT [Non-Fungible Tokens] collection called CY-B3LLA - featuring artworks based on 3D scans of her body. The fashionista told Reuters she was intrigued by shared virtual world environments and said that she wanted to make 'cool versions' of herself after becoming obsessed with video games during the COVID-19 lockdown. Jason Momoa has appeared to confirm that Ben Affleck will be reprising his role as Batman in the upcoming movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, as he shared a snap of the star filming together in California on Thursday. The Aquaman star, 42, shared a snap of the newlywed from the set of the film, along with a fun video where he surprised fans while they toured the Warner Bros. studio lot where you can see Ben's initials on the door of his trailer. 'REUNITED bruce and arthur,' Jason captioned the shot, referring to their DC superhero alter ego names of Bruce Wayne and Arthur Curry. Surprise! Jason Momoa has appeared to confirm that Ben Affleck will be reprising his role as Batman in the upcoming movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom He added: 'Love u and miss u Ben.' The screen star was also seen outside of Affleck's trailer, laughing as he was spotted by a group of people taking the Warner Bros. studio tour, who therefore discovered Ben's return. 'WB studio tours just explored the backlot alright,' he said, adding 'busted on set all great things coming AQUAMAN 2 all my aloha j.' Back together! The actor shared a snap alongside the newlywed while they took a break from filming together, writing in the caption they were 'reunited' Amusing: In the post Jason also shared a video of fans discovering the film's set during a tour of the Warner Bros. studio lot He laughed as he faced a group of fans on a tram, saying, 'Well it's not a f***ing secret anymore is it? Sorry children. 'That's what happens Warner Bros, when you walk out of your set and there's our fans, hey guys, have a good time... well, we tried to keep it a secret.' The Instagram post received responses from a number of Momoa's show business colleagues, including Josh Brolin, who wrote, 'Hahahahahaha,' while Ian Somerhalder wrote, 'F***ing BOSSES.' Meanwhile, as Ben gets back to work in California, his new wife Jennifer is continuing her European travels in Capri, Italy following on from their French honeymoon. The singer, 53, was showed off her legs in pink patterned shirts and matching kimono as she stepped out with 14-year-old child Emme - who uses they/them pronouns. Caught out! He joked that Ben's return wasn't a secret anymore, with fans struggling to contain their excitement as they caught a glimpse of Jason at work There he is! A sign on the set also included Ben's initials, hinting at his return to Justice League universe Iconic: Ben first played the caped crusader in the 2016 film Batman vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice, before returning to the role in 2017 for Justice League The On The Floor singer strutted down the sidewalk in a pair of gold flip flops that coordinated with the shiny gold watch on her wrist, with Jen finishing the look with rose-tinted round sunglasses. Affleck, who tied the knot with Jennifer earlier this month in Las Vegas, is also playing Batman in the upcoming film The Flash. He spoke about reprising the role in an interview with The Herald Sun, calling it 'a really nice finish on my experience with that character.' He added, 'I have never said this - this is hot off the presses - but maybe my favorite scenes in terms of Batman and the interpretation of Batman that I have done, were in the Flash movie. I hope they maintain the integrity of what we did because I thought it was great and really interesting - different, but not in a way that is incongruent with the character. The holiday continues! Meanwhile, as Ben gets back to work in California, his new wife Jennifer is continuing her European travels in Capri, Italy following on from their French honeymoon Just the two of us: The singer, 53, was showed off her legs in pink patterned shirts and matching kimono as she stepped out with 14-year-old child Emme - who uses they/them pronouns Style: The On The Floor singer strutted down the sidewalk in a pair of gold flip flops that coordinated with the shiny gold watch on her wrist, with Jen finishing the look with rose-tinted round sunglasses 'Who knows? Maybe they will decide that it doesnt work, but when I went and did it, it was really fun and really, really satisfying and encouraging and I thought, "Wow - I think I have finally figured it out."' Ben first played the caped crusader in the 2016 film Batman vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice, before returning to the role in 2017 for Justice League. In 2019 it was revealed that Ben was quitting the role despite being in the midst of preparations for a Batman solo movie, which was eventually revamped with Robert Pattison in the lead role, and released in March 2022. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is currently undergoing reshoots following test screenings in June, amid heavy speculation that star Amber Heard was being edited out of the film following her high-profile legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp. However a spokesperson for Heard quickly shut down any rumours about their client's axing from the movie, telling DailyMail.com: 'The rumour mill continues as it has from day one - inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane.' The Project host Carrie Bickmore looked ageless as she booked a hotel room at the swanky Kimpton Margot Sydney before a night out with Fifi Box on Thursday. The pair appeared ready to cut loose at the start of the evening with Carrie, 41, looking as youthful as ever and Fifi, 45, clad in a busty emerald dress. The Gold Logie winner shared the snap on Instagram along with several others throughout the night, before revealing the next morning Fifi had a hangover. The Project host Carrie Bickmore, 41, (left) looked ageless as she booked a hotel room at the swanky Kimpton Margot Sydney before a night out with Fifi Box, 45, (right) on Thursday It comes after Carrie's recent return to The Project following her 'family adventure' in Britain, which some viewers suspected had been cut short. Many had expected her to be gone for six months or more, and some even suspected she hoped to get a job in the UK, so they were understandably confused when she slipped back into her role on the panel without fanfare on July 11. Fans of the newsreader had been in the dark about her trip, as she had never indicated a specific return date. The pair appeared ready to cut loose at the start of the evening with Carrie, 41, looking as youthful as ever and Fifi, 45, clad in a busty emerald dress Instead, Bickmore simply said she was 'going to be taking a few months off' from April with her partner Chris Walker and their three children, travelling across Europe while being mostly based in London. 'Chris and I and the kids are heading off on a family adventure together,' she said at the time. 'We've been wanting to do it for a while but lots of reasons, timing hasn't been right, but we figure it's never going to be the perfect time to go.' The Gold Logie winner shared the selfie on Instagram along with several others throughout the night, before revealing the next morning Fifi had a hangover It comes after Carrie's recent return to The Project following her 'family adventure' in Britain, which some viewers suspected had been cut short 'It's something we really want to do before my son starts his final years at school so we're doing term two in the UK. So I will be off for a couple of months,' she added. As it turned out, returning in 'a few months' is precisely what Bickmore did. Yet during her sabbatical some viewers feared she would never return to the Channel 10 current affairs show, pointing to various 'clues' suggesting she was planning a more permanent move. For example, Bickmore said she had been inspired by fellow Project panellist Kate Langbroek, 56, who spent two years living in Bologna, Italy, with her family. Bickmore said she had been inspired by fellow Project panellist Kate Langbroek, 56, (right) who spent two years living in Bologna, Italy, with her family Furthermore, Bickmore had sold her five-bedroom family home in Melbourne just days before announcing her extended leave. Some fans speculated this was because she and her family were hoping to buy a place to live in England. Yet none of these theories came to fruition, as Bickmore returned to The Project on July 11, just three months after jetting abroad. Advertisement Zoey Deutch opted for a spectacular all-blue look while attending the premiere of her latest film, Not Okay, at Angelika Film Center in New York on Thursday. The 27-year-old actress - the daughter of actress Lea Thompson and film director Howard Deutch - was a vision in a sapphire blue mini dress that showed off her toned legs, and featured a plunging neckline and playfully frilly sleeves. Joining her at the premiere was the film's director Quinn Shephard, as well as her co-stars Dylan O'Brien, Nadia Alexander, and Sarah Yarkin among others. A frill! Zoey Deutch opted for a spectacular all-blue look while attending the Not Okay premiere at Angelika Film Center in New York on Thursday Deutch slipped her feet into a pair of blue Manolo Blahnik Hangisi satin pumps with a crystal buckle, that matched her eye-catching dress. Keeping up with the sky blue theme, the star sported blue nail polish on her fingers, and a delicate shade of light blue eyeshadow on her lids. The blonde beauty wore her tresses parted in the middle and slicked back into a chic bun, and accessorized the look with a pair of dangling earrings. A gem: The 27-year-old actress - the daughter of actress Lea Thompson and film director Howard Deutch - was a vision in a sapphire blue mini dress that showed off her toned legs, and featured a plunging neckline and playfully frilly sleeves Blondie: The blonde beauty wore her tresses parted in the middle and slicked back into a chic bun, and accessorized the look with a pair of dangling earrings While on the red carpet she was spotted posing with writer and director of the film Quinn Shephard, 27, who looked phenomenal in a saucy bustier style champagne and black lace form-fitting silk gown. Shephard paired the daring look with open-toe black heels and a sizable gold chain. The star also rocked a slicked-back wet hair look. As for glam, she drew attention to her piercing gaze with sparkly silver eyeshadow on the inner corners of her eyes. Matching: Deutch slipped her feet into a pair of blue Manolo Blahnik Hangisi satin pumps with a crystal buckle, that matched her eye-catching dress Saucy: While on the red carpet she was spotted posing with writer and director of the film, Quinn Shephard, 27, who looked phenomenal in a saucy bustier style champagne and black lace form-fitting silk gown Bright: The ladies were also spotted mingling with Dylan O'Brien (who plays Colin in the film). The 30-year-old actor was a bright vision, sporting a neon pink suit over a black tank top The ladies were also spotted mingling with Dylan O'Brien, who plays Colin in the film. The 30-year-old actor was a bright vision, sporting a neon pink suit over a black tank top. He paired the outfit with black and white slip-on shoes, a silver chain, and orange-tinted sunglasses. The New Yorker also sported a scruffy beard for the occasion. Meanwhile Shephard was also seen taking a photo with Nadia Alexander, 28 - who plays the role of Harper - who looked chic in a pinstripe suit, black bustier, and matching pointed-toe heels. Unique: He paired the outfit with black and white slip-on shoes, a silver chain, and orange-tinted sunglasses Scruffy: The New Yorker also sported a scruffy beard for the occasion Stylish gals: Shephard was also seen taking a photo with Nadia Alexander, 28, who looked chic in a pinstripe suit, black bustier, and matching pointed-toe heels Sarah Yarkin, 29, who plays Julie in the film, sported a trendy grey, white, and black crop top and matching skirt, which she paired with white socks and black boots. Negin Farsad, 44, put on a funky display in a geometric pattern dress and white platform sandals. The actress - who portrays Susan in the movie - paired the look with orange frame reading glasses, white dangling earrings, and a matching white purse. Dash Perry, who plays Larson, sported a striped black shirt and faded blue jeans along with black boots to the event. Trendy: Sarah Yarkin, 29, sported a trendy grey, white, and black crop top and matching skirt, which she paired with white socks and black boots Funky: Negin Farsad, 44, who plays Susan in the movie, put on a funky display in a geometric pattern dress and white platform sandals Fun look: Dash Perry, who plays Larson in the film, sported a striped black shirt and faded blue jeans along with black boots to the event Men's fashion: Karan Soni, 33, wore a summer-friendly short-sleeve floral shirt, brown pants and burgundy sneakers, while Brennan Brown, 53, looked casual cool in a black blazer, white t-shirt and brown boots He accessorized the laid-back outfit with a black belt featuring a silver buckle. Karan Soni, 33, sported a summer-friendly short-sleeve floral shirt, brown pants and burgundy sneakers, while Brennan Brown, 53, looked casual cool in a black blazer, white t-shirt and brown boots. The cast and Searchlight Pictures President Matthew Greenfield also posed for a photo together. All together: The cast and Searchlight Pictures President Matthew Greenfield also posed for a photo together The comedy drama follows Deutch as Danni Sanders, a young woman desperate to become known for something... which happens when she fakes being sent to Paris for a writer's conference... just before a deadly terror attack. Sanders then becomes an international sensation for seemingly surviving the attack - despite never having set foot in Paris - as her influencer career takes off on a lie. Not Okay is set to premiere on the streaming service Hulu on July 29. Brazilian bombshell Alessandra Ambrosio showcased her phenomenal 5ft9in figure during a lunch date with boyfriend Richard Lee at Howdy's in Malibu on Thursday. The 41-year-old CAA Model wore a white corseted bra-top with matching wide-leg suspender pants and brown sandals as she toted a matching brown purse. Alessandra and the black-clad Wilhelmina Model - who began dating on December 14, 2020 - also picked up groceries at Whole Foods while visiting the strip mall called The Park at Cross Creek. Still going strong! Brazilian bombshell Alessandra Ambrosio showcased her phenomenal 5ft9in figure during a lunch date with boyfriend Richard Lee at Howdy's in Malibu on Thursday On July 19, Ambrosio and Lee demonstrated a 'Brazilian kiss' while taking the couples challenge on Matheus Mazzafera's YouTube vlog. The genetically-blessed couple had to take a shot of vodka for every wrong answer about their relationship, which was difficult considering he 'doesn't drink alcohol.' When asked which of Alessandra's body parts was Richard's favorite, she replied: 'My belly?' 'No,' Lee responded before joking, 'Your vagina. No, no, no!' Summer style: The 41-year-old CAA Model wore a white corseted bra-top with matching wide-leg suspender pants and brown sandals as she toted a matching brown purse Errands: Alessandra and the black-clad Wilhelmina Model - who began dating on December 14, 2020 - also picked up groceries at Whole Foods while visiting the strip mall called The Park at Cross Creek 'Is it my eyes?' Ambrosio asked. The Utah native replied: 'Sweetheart, you know that.' The GAL Floripa co-founder clapped back: 'I don't know that. You're always kissing my belly. You're not kissing my eyes.' Richard is Alessandra's first public romance since ending her two-year relationship with Alanui co-designer Nicolo Oddi in the winter of 2020. 'It's more passionate!' On July 19, Ambrosio and Lee demonstrated a 'Brazilian kiss' while taking the couples challenge on Matheus Mazzafera's YouTube vlog 'You don't have to!' The genetically-blessed couple had to take a shot of vodka for every wrong answer about their relationship, which was difficult considering he 'doesn't drink alcohol' When asked which of Alessandra's body parts was Richard's favorite, she replied: 'My belly?' 'No,' Lee responded before joking, 'Your vagina. No, no, no!' When Ambrosio asked, 'Is it my eyes?' the Utah native replied: 'Sweetheart, you know that' The GAL Floripa co-founder clapped back: 'I don't know that. You're always kissing my belly. You're not kissing my eyes' Ambrosio has two children - daughter Anja Louise, turning 14 on August 24; and son Noah Phoenix, 10 - from her decade-long romance with ex-fiance - Re/Done denim co-founder Jamie Mazur - which amicably ended in 2018. The Alexander Wang catwalker keeps busy running her second swimwear brand GAL Floripa, which she co-founded with her younger sister Aline and best friend Gisele Coria in March 2019. Alessandra previously ran her eponymous swimwear line ale by Alessandra from 2014-2018. May 7 family portrait: Alessandra has two children - daughter Anja Louise (L), turning 14 on August 24; and son Noah Phoenix (3-R), 10 - from her decade-long romance with ex-fiance - Re/Done denim co-founder Jamie Mazur (R) - which amicably ended in 2018 '#miamiswimweek': Ambrosio keeps busy running her second swimwear brand GAL Floripa, which she co-founded with her younger sister Aline and best friend Gisele Coria in 2019 (pictured July 21) 'Work from @thecenturyplaza Great place, great people!' Meanwhile, Richard's last gig was modeling for the revamped Century City hotel, Fairmont Century Plaza Residences Ambrosio broke out on her own after officially retiring her Victoria's Secret Angel 'wings' with the San Francisco bra brand in 2017 after 12 years. Meanwhile, Lee's last gig was modeling for the revamped Century City hotel, Fairmont Century Plaza Residences. The 6ft silver fox - who's in his 40s - has also modeled for brands like Lands' End, DITA Eyewear, Stitch Note, and johnnie-O. Eva Longoria was every inch the fashionista as she enjoyed some quality time with her family on Thursday. The former Desperate Housewives actress, 47, doted on her four-year-old son Santiago as she grabbed lunch with her husband Jose Baston in Beverly Hills. Eva beamed with joy as she stepped outside, holding hands with her little tyke. Fashionista! Eva Longoria looked incredible as she enjoyed some quality time with her family in Beverly Hills on Thursday The actress was the picture of style in a striped summer dress that cinched into her slender waist. She rocked a high ponytail and a pair of large, flat-edge shades. Eva added a pop of color with her hot pink purse and matching high heels. She cast a tender gaze at her little one as she stood outside of the eatery, hand in hand with him. Summer stunner! The actress was the picture of style in a striped summer dress that cinched into her slender waist Meanwhile, her handsome husband opted for a fitted black collared top, rolled up grey slacks, and taupe shoes. Eva wed her third husband, Televisa executive Jose in May 2016, in a ceremony attended by her close pals Victoria and David Beckham. The couple initially met on a December 2015 blind date arranged by a mutual friend in Mexico City, with Eva revealing her future husband had no idea who she was. In December 2017, the couple confirmed they were expecting their first child and in June 2018 they welcomed their first child, their son Santiago Enrique Baston. Aww: The duo were joined by Eva's husband, businessman Jose Baston Santiago is the first child for Eva, but the fifth for Jose, who was previously married to Mexican actress Natalia Esperon. When asked in a 2019 interview what the secret is to her happy marriage, Eva explained that she and her husband have respect for each other, and support each other's goals and dreams. The star said: 'When I was younger it was so much about what I needed to accomplish. 'I've accomplished so much already that I can really sit back now and enjoy the success and continue to dream bigger with a partner.' Tyler Radziszewski was dumped from the villa on Thursday's episode of Love Island USA on Peacock followed by the arrival of new guys Bryce Fins and Jeff Christian Jr. The ninth episode of season four opened with the islanders learning they must vote off either Tyler, 23, or Zeta Morrison, 29, of Surrey, United Kingdom, following the latest recoupling. The couples who voted debated separately before deciding to save Zeta. Voted off: Tyler Radziszewski was dumped from the villa on Thursday's episode of Love Island USA on Peacock Tyler immediately received a text that read, 'Tyler, you are now single and dumped from the island. Please say your goodbyes.' Zeta cried as she gave Tyler a hug goodbye. Sereniti Springs, 28, of Clovis, California, took his departure hard after they were previously coupled and embraced him. 'I wish nothing but the best for you, ok,' Tyler whispered to her. New additions: Two new guys Bryce Fins and Jeff Christian Jr. arrived at the villa Tough vote: Tyler and Zeta Morrison awaited their fate as the islanders had to vote on which one of them should be dumped He wheeled his luggage away and admitted to having mixed emotions. 'I'm feeling a little bit of everything. Sad, happy for the experience. I feel like my time was a little bit cut short, but my experience in the villa truly will change how I am as a person for the rest of my life. I definitely will not forget my time in the villa,' Tyler said in a confessional. Zeta afterward thanked the women for saving her and Timmy Pandolfi, 29, of New York City, thanked the guys for keeping Zeta as their relationship was in flux. Mixed emotions: 'I'm feeling a little bit of everything. Sad, happy for the experience. I feel like my time was a little bit cut short, but my experience in the villa truly will change how I am as a person for the rest of my life. I definitely will not forget my time in the villa,' Tyler said in a confessional The latest recoupling involved siblings Bria Bryant, 24, and her brother Chazz Bryant, 21, picking partners for each other. Bria afterward said she was happy with Chazz's decision to couple her up with Timmy. Zeta in a confessional said she wasn't happy about losing Timmy to Bria and wasn't looking forward to sleeping alone. Not happy: Zeta in a confessional said she wasn't happy about losing Timmy to Bria and wasn't looking forward to sleeping alone Bria and Timmy talked privately about their relationship status and they agreed to keep getting to know each other. Sereniti meanwhile was crying about Tyler leaving when Chazz came over to console her. Chazz suggested she take her time to gather herself and they started cuddling on a couch. Emotional time: Sereniti meanwhile was crying about Tyler leaving when Chazz came over to console her Sereniti in a confessional said she was going to make the effort to get to know Chazz. Timmy gave Zeta a hug goodnight before climbing in bed with Bria. Black-and-white surveillance video showed Bria and Timmy kissing under the sheets while Zeta was in bed alone. In bed: Black-and-white surveillance video showed Bria and Timmy kissing under the sheets while Zeta was in bed alone. Andy Voyen, 23, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, reached out to Mady McLanahan, 26, of Dallas, after his relationship with Sydney Paight, 22, of Houston, fizzled out and they didn't rule out getting back together as a couple. Chazz brought breakfast over to Sereniti as he continued to show his interest in her. Timmy also talked to Bria and admitted that Zeta's feelings were still in the mix. Hope alive: Andy Voyen, 23, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, reached out to Mady McLanahan, 26, of Dallas, after his relationship with Sydney Paight, 22, of Houston, fizzled out and they didn't rule out getting back together as a couple Breakfast plate: Chazz brought breakfast over to Sereniti as he continued to show his interest in her Zeta and Timmy also chatted and he apologized for his role in Zeta being put up for being dumped from the villa. In a confessional, Zeta admitted that she no longer trusted Timmy. Bria and Zeta also had a candid conversation about Timmy that got heated as they both accused each other of being dismissive toward one another. Heated conversation: Bria and Zeta also had a candid conversation about Timmy that got heated as they both accused each other of being dismissive toward one another 'Nice talking to you,' Bria said as she stormed off. 'Wish I could say the same,' Zeta told her. The tide turned for the women toward the end of the episode as newcomers Jeff and Bryce arrived holding bottles of champagne for the women as the guys looked on. Big entrance: The tide turned for the women toward the end of the episode as newcomers Jeff and Bryce arrived holding bottles of champagne for the women as the guys looked on Bryce, 30, described himself as an 'Italian stallion' and vowed that he would not let 'bro code' get in the way of finding a connection with somebody. Jeff, 25, walked in wearing black leather pants and said the guys in the villa should be intimidated because he was coming in to take their girl. 'If I like what I see, I'm gonna get it,' Jeff declared. Good times: The women danced around as the new guys walked into the villa The women were delighted as Bryce and Jeff walked up. 'It's about damn time,' Mady said in a confessional. Love Island USA will return on Friday on the Peacock streaming service. Police were seen at the Southern California home of Shanna Moakler Thursday after her daughter called 911 to report a 'domestic disturbance' involving Moakler and boyfriend Matthew Rondeau. Moakler's daughter called 911 to report that Rondeau was shouting at her, sources with the Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday told TMZ. The former Miss USA, 47, and Rondeau, 30, were donning 'skimpy clothes' when they answered the door at her San Fernando Valley home, sources told the outlet. Both Rondeau and the Providence, Rhode Island-born beauty were questioned by officers separately, police told the outlet, noting that each said that nothing had happened and that there was no disagreement. The latest: Police were seen at the Southern California home of Shanna Moakler, 47, after her daughter called 911 to report a 'domestic disturbance' involving Moakler and boyfriend Matthew Rondeau, 30 Sources said that neither Rondeau or Moakler sported any physical marks, and that there was no broken furniture or objects on the premises. The daughter who contacted the outlet about the purported incident was not present at the house when police arrived, sources said, adding that law enforcement believes there was miscommunication in the exchange. Moakler is mother to son Landon, 18, and daughter Alabama, 16, with ex Travis Barker, 46, who she was married to from 2004 to 2008; and daughter Atiana De La Hoya, 23, from her former engagement to boxer Oscar De La Hoya, 49. It was not immediately clear which daughter called authorities in regards to the alleged incident Thursday. Moakler was seen in a glamorous Instagram shot this past April The former Miss USA was seen posing in a black bikini last month Rondeau was seen on a vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico last month for his 30th birthday Rondeau had been arrested in connection with an incident with Moakler February 24 in connection with felony domestic violence after he was accused of physically abusing the Celebrity Big Brother star. In the exchange, sources told the outlet that Moakler and Rondeau had fought over his accusations of her being unfaithful to him; after she departed the premises, she returned the following morning and they continued to argue, with things getting physical. Rondeau in late February took to social media with a clip in which he accused her of being unfaithful to him and vowed they would not reunite as a couple. Moaklers manager David Weintraub told Page Six following Rondeau's arrest that 'social media saved her life' after Rondeau's clip was 'flagged immediately and police were called.' Weintraub said that Moakler was 'OK and survived this traumatic experience' and that she had requested to be 'given her space to adjust to life after this trauma.' Rondeau, who has dated Moakler on-and-off since 2020, subsequently took to Instagram after his arrest and claimed that Moakler had made him 'out to be the villain' and denied physically abusing Moakler. Moakler earlier this week told TMZ she was 'not pressing charges' against Rondeau, adding she was 'hoping the city attorney respects my wishes and drops everything as well' 'You know Id never lay a hand on another woman,' he said. 'My mother is my angel and my best friend. She raised me right.' In a police report obtained by US Weekly following Rondeau's arrest, a police officer said that Rondeau had 'grabbed [the] victim by the hair' and swung 'her by hair on the ground.' The officer said that Rondeau had 'grabbed [Moaklers] face and neck, threw chair at victim and urinated on [her], leaving visible injuries' in the aftermath. The officer said that firearms were confiscated in the wake of the incident, and that Rondeau was ordered not to contact Moakler 'by any means,' or harass, attack, strike, threaten, [or] assault' her. Authorities issued the Pacific Blue actress a protective order from Rondeau following the arrest, ordering him to stay at least 100 yards away from her, but the pair subsequently rekindled their relationship. Rondeau described himself as 'an admirable person, an amazing son, and a very respectable and loving partner' in a statement to TMZ this week about his legal case Rondeau had been arrested in connection with an incident with Moakler February 24 in connection with felony domestic violence after he was accused of physically abusing the Celebrity Big Brother star Rondeau was subsequently charged by the Los Angeles City Attorney with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and vandalism in connection with the incident, which he entered a not guilty plea to earlier this week, Page Six reported. He is slated to appear in court Monday in connection with the charges. Moakler earlier this week told TMZ she was 'not pressing charges' against Rondeau, adding she was 'hoping the city attorney respects my wishes and drops everything as well.' She added, 'I will be supporting Matthew 100 percent. This has disrupted our lives enough. We have both learned from this experience we never wish to have been public, and we would like to move forward in a positive and peaceful manner.' Rondeau described himself as 'an admirable person, an amazing son, and a very respectable and loving partner' in a statement to the website. 'I havent even spoken or made a comment because I am so saddened and disgusted with the narrative the media has portrayed me as,' he said. 'I pray that the city of LA allows me to show them they made the right choice on dropping all charges against me.' North Korean leader Kim Jong-un lays a wreath at the Friendship Tower to pay tribute to the fallen Chinese soldiers fought in the war, Thursday, in this photo released by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the following day. Yonhap North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country's ties with China, "sealed in blood," will further develop for generations to come as he marked the anniversary of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War, state media said Friday. On Thursday, Kim visited the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang and paid tribute to the fallen Chinese soldiers that fought in the war, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The Korean War armistice was signed July 27, 1953, a little over three years after the North invaded the South, backed by China and the then Soviet Union. Calling the conflict the Great Fatherland Liberation War, the North has designated the anniversary as Victory Day. Kim stressed that the "brilliant combat merits and feats of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) officers and men, obviously recorded in the history of the great victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, would be immortal," according to the KCNA. He added that the North's friendship with China, "sealed in blood and further cemented in all sorts of trying ordeals of history, would be carried forward and developed generation after generation along with the dynamic advance of the socialist cause." Top officials accompanied Kim, including Jo Yong-won, secretary for Organizational Affairs of the ruling party's Central Committee, and Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. North Korea has recently stressed its friendly ties with China amid a prolonged deadlock in nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington and an escalating Sino-U.S. rivalry. Meanwhile, Kim also separately held photo sessions with war veterans that participated in a national conference earlier this week and with lecturers responsible for the ideological education of the youth regarding the war, the KCNA said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, meets a group of veterans of the Korean War who took part in a national conference to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the war armistice, which falls on July 27, as he joins a group photo session with them in front of the Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War in Pyongyang, Thursday, in this photo released by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the following day. Yonhap Neighbours launched the careers of some of Australia's biggest talents, from Margot Robbie and Kylie Minogue to Natalie Imbruglia and Delta Goodrem. And the Aussie soap was also famous for its stunning female cast, with many of the stars unafraid to dabble in modelling during their time on the show. From FHM covers to Playboy centerfolds, many of Ramsay Street's raunchy residents were more than happy to embrace the men's mags that were popular throughout the 1990s and 2000s. The stars of Neighbours fully embraced the men's mag culture while the show was airing in the 1990s and 2000s. Holly Valance is pictured on the cover of FHM Holly Candy (nee Valance), who played Flick Scully on the soap, is arguably the most popular cover girl from that era. The stunner graced the cover of FHM multiple times during her heyday, before later appearing nude in the music video for her hit single 'Kiss Kiss'. She did the lads' mag circuit for years after leaving Neighbours, before eventually hanging up her crown for a more conservative lifestyle with billionaire husband Nick Candy. Long before Holly, it was Emma Harrison who was the reigning queen of provocative pictorials. Holly Candy (nee Valance), who played Flick Scully on the soap, is arguably the most popular cover girl from that era The busty blonde got her start as the bubbly Joanna Hartman on Neighbours in 1995, but launched a full-fledged career as a professional glamour model after departing the soap in 1997. Emma modelled in FHH, Ralph, Maxim, Loaded, Inside Sport and more, and even got her gear off in the 1997 issue of Australian Playboy. Years later, she would admit that her confidence in front of the camera was all fake. 'I'm more confident in my forties than I was in my twenties, which sounds strange but I was completely faking it back then it was all pretend,' she told Woman's Day in 2015. Long before Holly, it was the busty Emma Harrison (pictured) who was the reigning queen of provocative pictorials The busty blonde got her start as the bubbly Joanna Hartman on Neighbours in 1995, but launched a full-fledged career as a professional glamour model after departing the soap in 1997 'I felt very self-conscious when I was younger, even when I was doing all those magazine shoots,' she confessed. 'They would style me and tell me to act sexy and hot, but I acted it I didn't feel it back then,' she added. Another '90s favourite was Kimberley Davies, who played the villainous Annalise Hartman on Neighbours from 1993 to 1996. At the height of her popularity, she was touted as Australia's answer to Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson. Another '90s favourite was Kimberley Davies (pictured), who was touted as Australia's answer to Pamela Anderson at the time Kimberley's sultry appeal not only landed her multiple magazine covers, it also gave her a successful acting career in the States. After leaving Neighbours, she appeared on Friends and Ally McBeal, and even fronted Aaron Spelling's short-lived Melrose Place knock-off Pacific Palisades. Breaking up Ramsay Street's blonde bombshells was brunette beauty Nicola Charles. She played the scandalous Sarah Beaumont on the series, who is best remembered as Dr Karl Kennedy's first (but not last) extra-martial fling. Breaking up Ramsay Street's blonde bombshells was brunette beauty Nicola Charles (pictured) Sarah's good looks helped her profile soar in the UK, where she was voted by readers to be the 2nd Sexiest Woman in the World in FHM's annual list in 1998 and again in 1999. Outside of FHM, she appeared topless on the cover of Loaded magazine. Since leaving Neighbours full-time in 1999, Nicola has set up her own business working with claims and insurance and penned several books. Sarah's good looks helped her profile soar in the UK, where she was voted by readers to be the 2nd Sexiest Woman in the World in FHM's annual list in 1998 and again in 1999 Sarah dared to bare in this raunchy photoshoot, donning nothing but a fur coat After Karl cheated on Susan Kennedy with sexy secretary Sarah, he would go on to stray again with Izzy Hoyland, played by Natalie Bassingthwaighte. While Natalie is best known for her music career with the Rogue Traders, she did dabble in glamour modelling by gracing the cover of FHM in 2009. Imogen Bailey, who played Nicola West in 2008, had a much bigger career as a centerfold than an actress, modelling for FHM, Maxim, Zoo, Ralph and more. Actress Nicky Whelan has appeared in Maxim magazine and covered Inside Sport (pictured) Imogen Bailey (pictured), who played Nicola West in 2008, had a much bigger career as a centerfold than an actress, modelling for FHM, Maxim, Zoo, Ralph and more Die-hard Neighbours fans may remember the gorgeous Carmella Cammeniti, played by Natalie Blair. Her relationship with Connor O'Neill made her a fan favourite, earning her the Logie for Most Popular New Female Talent in 2005. Despite this, she was bumped from the cover of FHM's 2007 issue for former child star Nikki Webster, who posed for the magazine to mark her 18th birthday. Neighbours wrapped up on Thursday night after 37 years on air. Natalie Bassingthwaighte, who played Izzy Hoyland, took the plunge and finally posed for FHM in 2009 Natalie Blair (top left) was bumped from the main cover of FHM for former child star Nikki Webster (pictured), who was posing to celebrate her 18th birthday at the time Margot Robbie, Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Jason Donovan, Natalie Imbruglia and Holly Valance are among the celebrities who returned to fictional Ramsay Street to appear in the send-off of the Melbourne-based drama that helped launch their careers in acting and music. Robbie, Imbruglia and Valance made remote video appearances. The program was once a major hit in Australia and a bigger success in Britain, but has fallen victim to waning ratings in recent years. The closing scenes saw the residents celebrating the wedding of Toadie (Ryan Moloney) and Melanie (Lucinda Cowden), with some characters preparing to move away from their beloved Ramsay Street. Australian model Laura Csortan flaunted her incredible figure as she bathed in the sun on a boat on Thursday, just off the coast of Mykonos, Greece. The blonde beauty, 45, lounged back on some cushions wearing nothing but black designer sunglasses and a skimpy blue bathing suit. She posted the photos, alongside other holiday snaps, to her Instagram with the caption reading, 'GR,' next to white and blue heart emojis that represented the Greek flag. Australian model Laura Csortan, 45, (pictured) flaunted her incredible figure as she bathed in the sun on a boat on Thursday, just off the coast of Mykonos, Greece Later, she walked the streets of the white city wearing a matching, light weight shirt to cover up with a black bag, hat and sandals to complete the look. Travelling with a group of friends, Laura and her pal Larry Emdur were living it up on Monday during their Mykonos getaway as they rocked out at a restaurant. In videos, which were posted to Instagram Stories, Laura worked her dance moves to an Abba song playing at the venue. The blonde beauty, 45, lounged back on some cushions wearing nothing but black designer sunglasses and a skimpy blue bathing suit Later, she walked the streets of the white city wearing a matching, light weight shirt to cover up with a black bag, hat and sandals to complete the look Throwing her arms in the air, the model showed off her incredible figure in a maroon crop top and matching fitted skirt. Larry, 57, got down too, flaunting his daggy dance moves as he shimmied alongside the table. The Morning Show host was dressed for vacation in a long sleeved cotton shirt and sunglasses. 'Stick a fork in me,' Laura joked in the caption on her Instagram Stories posts. Travelling with a group of friends, Laura and her pal Larry Emdur (right) were living it up on Monday during their Mykonos getaway as they rocked out at a restaurant In videos, which were posted to Instagram Stories, Laura worked her dance moves to an Abba song playing at the venue Both Laura and Larry have been sharing clips from the idyllic location, as they enjoy waterside eateries and luxury accommodation. Larry and his wife, Sylvie Emdur, are on the trip together, along with a large group of friends. The television host joked this week that he is 'defrosting' on the sunny island after dealing with the unusually cold Australian winter. Both Laura and Larry have been sharing clips from the idyllic location, as they enjoy waterside eateries and luxury accommodation. He joked this week that he is 'defrosting' on the sunny island after dealing with the unusually cold Australian winter Laura meanwhile has been showing off her figure in bikinis as she indulges in all the fun the location has to offer. Posing in skimpy orange swimwear earlier this week, she captioned the image shared to Instagram: 'Not too shabby Mykonos'. 'Just... Pinching myself,' she captioned another post, which detailed the gorgeous blue water in the region. Ava Phillippe turned heads as she attended Louis Vuitton's 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition in LA on Thursday. The 23-year-old socialite opted for a black vest and shorts for the affair, which was held in Beverly Hills. She looked gorgeous with her frosty blonde locks in a long, shaggy cut with face-framing curtain bangs and a bold red lip. Eye-catching: Ava Phillippe turned heads as she attended Louis Vuitton's 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition in LA on Thursday Ava's long tresses fell over her chest in a center part that gave way to loose waves. She showed off her doll-like beauty with perfectly shaped eyebrows and mascara-coated lashes. Her big, blue eyes popped with the addition of sleek black liquid eyeliner that gave her a subtle cat eye. Underneath her intricately embellished vest - which was adorned with gold tassels -she styled a white, ribbed tank top. Stylish: Underneath her intricately embellished vest - which was adorned with gold tassels -she styled a white, ribbed tank top Her matching shorts were high-waisted and she rounded out the look with open-toe black sandals. The leather footwear was boot-like, rising over her ankles and covering most of her feet. She bared several small tattoos between each of her arms in the summer appropriate ensemble. 200 Trunks, 2000 Visionaries is a traveling exhibition whose latest stop is in Southern California. Striking look: Her matching shorts were high-waisted and she rounded out the look with open-toe black sandals Ava flashed her megawatt smile while walking the event's step-and-repeat solo on Thursday evening. The display will be available to see from July 29 to September 6 on LA's famed Rodeo Drive, which is lined with luxury stores. The last stop was in Singapore and the mobile presentation debuted in France's Asnieres-sur-Seine. The showcase pays homage to the legendary fashion house's iconic and recognizable trunk fixtures. Pretty! She looked gorgeous with her frosty blonde locks in a long, shaggy cut with face-framing curtain bangs and a bold red lip Family: Phillippe is the firstborn child of former couple and Hollywood vets Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, 46 and 47; seen with her mom in 2018 Phillippe is the firstborn child of former couple and Hollywood vets Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, 46 and 47. The two actors were married from 1999 to 2008, and they share a son, Deacon Phillippe, 18, in addition to Ava. Fans often marvel at Ava'a uncanny resemblance to her mother, as the two share many of the same features. In a gushing Mother's Day post earlier this year, the young star wrote, 'happy happy mothers day to my gorgeous, thoughtful, strong, & fun mama! I am so lucky to love & be loved by a mom like you.' Advertisement Nina Dobrev and Shay Mitchell led the glamour at the opening of Louis Vuitton's latest exhibition at the luxury brand's Beverly Hills flagship store on Rodeo Drive. Titled '200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition,' the new installment is in celebration of 'the bicentennial of Louis Vuitton's founder's birth.' For the occasion, Dobrev showed off her long legs in black high-waisted gingham shorts and a pair of patent leather stilettos with a chrome cap-toe. Arrivals: Nina Dobrev and Shay Mitchell led the glamour at the opening of Louis Vuitton's latest exhibition at the luxury brand's Beverly Hills flagship store on Rodeo Drive. Titled '200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition,' the new installment is in celebration of 'the bicentennial of Louis Vuitton's founder's birth' The Vampire Diaries star, 33, tucked a black and white Louis Vuitton sweater top into the waistband of her shorts. Giving her look a bold pop of color, Dobrev carried her essentials in a bubblegum pink clutch. Her dark brown hair was styled in a low bun with pieces left out to frame her face. Mitchell also put on a leggy display in a classic black mini skirt styled with a red and black form-fitting sweater. Leggy: For the occasion, Dobrev showed off her long legs in black high-waisted gingham shorts and a pair of patent leather stilettos with a chrome cap-toe Chic: The Vampire Diaries star, 33, tucked a black and white Louis Vuitton sweater top into the waistband of her shorts It had Louis Vuitton's iconic moniker printed on the chest and convenient thumb hole sleeves. The Pretty Little Liars actress, 35, had a silver pillowed purse with gold hardware and leather details tucked under her arm as she posed. She added height to her petite frame in a pair of black ankle boots which, like Dobrev's, had edgy chrome toes. Classic: Mitchell also put on a leggy display in a classic black mini skirt styled with a red and black form-fitting sweater Details: It had Louis Vuitton's iconic moniker printed on the chest and convenient thumb hole sleeves. Mitchell's hair was slicked back into a bun and she fastened a pair of silver drop earrings to her ears for the star-studded evening. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe's daughter Ava Phillippe strutted her stuff in a pair of leather sandals that climbed up her ankles and a bizarre crushed velvet vest. The 22-year-old influencer layered her unique outerwear over a white tank top tucked into a pair of black high-waisted shorts. Unique: Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe's daughter Ava Phillippe strutted her stuff in a pair of leather sandals that climbed up her ankles and a bizarre crushed velvet vest Closet staples: The 22-year-old influencer layered her unique outerwear over a white tank top tucked into a pair of black high-waisted shorts. Her long blonde hair was parted down the middle and flowed down her chest in wavy strands Pop of color: Ava rocked a bold red lip but kept the rest of her makeup minimal Her long blonde hair was parted down the middle and flowed down her chest in wavy strands. Ava rocked a bold red lip but kept the rest of her makeup minimal. Jurnee Smollett flashed her enviably toned tummy in a pair of white trousers with exaggerated hips. The actress paired the pants with a white crop top and an oversized black vest with coattails. Ab fab: Jurnee Smollett flashed her enviably toned tummy in a pair of white trousers with exaggerated hips. The actress paired the pants with a white crop top and an oversized black vest with coattails Samara Weaving also bared her sculpted midriff in a kaki crop top with short bell sleeves and a pair of matching pinup-style shorts. The Ready Or Not star, 30, wore her sandy blonde hair straight and tucked her essentials away in a bright yellow Louis Vuitton purse. Iris Apatow let her inner fashionista shine in a white pleated skirt and a super cropped black top with similar sleeves to Weaving's. The daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, 19, strolled the event's royal blue carpet in a pair of black patent leather Mary Jane heels. Stylish coord: Samara Weaving also bared her sculpted midriff in a kaki crop top with short bell sleeves and a pair of matching pinup-style shorts Fashionista: Iris Apatow let her inner fashionista shine in a white pleated skirt and a super cropped black top with similar sleeves to Weaving's. The daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, 19, strolled the event's royal blue carpet in a pair of black patent leather Mary Jane heels Jaden Smith oozed confidence in a floral button-up shirt and low-rise denim jeans that were slightly oversized. The Karate Kid star slipped his feet into a pair of white sneakers and carried a piece of brown Louis Vuitton luggage with him. Kaitlyn Dever took the plunge as she went shirtless beneath a knee-length patterned vest and black tapered trousers. Floral: Jaden Smith oozed confidence in a floral button-up shirt and low-rise denim jeans that were slightly oversized. The Karate Kid star slipped his feet into a pair of white sneakers and carried a piece of brown Louis Vuitton luggage with him Diverse looks: Kaitlyn Dever took the plunge as she went shirtless beneath a knee-length patterned vest and black tapered trousers. Meanwhile, Maria Bakalova leaned into her sporty side by rocking a green Louis Vuitton letterman-style jacket and a pair of flared denim jeans that hugged her curves Effortless: Ava DuVernay looked effortlessly chic as she posed in a structured beige jacket lined in silky fabric featuring Louis Vuitton's iconic moniker The Booksmart star, 25, completed her fashion-forward look with some patent leather platforms and a box-like black leather clutch. Maria Bakalova leaned into her sporty side by rocking a green Louis Vuitton letterman-style jacket and a pair of flared denim jeans that hugged her curves. Ava DuVernay looked effortlessly chic as she posed in a structured beige jacket lined in silky fabric featuring Louis Vuitton's iconic moniker. Party time! Once the red carpet wrapped, the stars headed inside the store to celebrate; Shay Mitchell pictured The acclaimed director threw on some black tapered trousers and a plain white tee to complete the look. As part of Louis Vuitton's '200 TRUNKS, 200 VISIONARIES: THE EXHIBITION,' the outside of the brand's Beverly Hills store has a 'facade that makes reference to the first Maison's trunk motif. 'The dynamic exhibit offers a stage for the imaginative trunks created by 200 visionaries,' according to Louis Vuitton's Instagram. The display will be available to see from July 29 to September 6 on LA's famed Rodeo Drive, which is lined with luxury stores. Exhibit: As part of Louis Vuitton's '200 TRUNKS, 200 VISIONARIES: THE EXHIBITION,' the outside of the brand's Beverly Hills store has a 'facade that makes reference to the first Maison's trunk motif; Ava DuVernay, Jurnee Smollett and Alexandra Mandelkorn pictured Telling the full, extraordinary story of the infamous 1960s drugs bust at Rolling Stone Keith Richards' home when Marianne Faithfull was said to have been found wearing just a fur rug has been a preoccupation for actor Nigel Havers for more than a decade. Havers' father, Sir Michael, was the most expensive barrister in London at the time and defended Richards and Mick Jagger, who were both convicted and given prison sentences, which were later lifted. The actor, who recalls getting to know the Stones as a teen, first mooted the project with the BBC in 2004. Now it looks to be finally moving forward. Havers said: 'We are at the point of casting and Hugh Bonneville is playing my dad!' The question of who will play Jagger makes Havers laugh nervously. He quips that Sir Mick is in such great shape, perhaps he can play himself. Telling the full, extraordinary story of the infamous 1960s drugs bust at Rolling Stone Keith Richards' home when Marianne Faithfull was said to have been found wearing just a fur rug has been a preoccupation for actor Nigel Havers for more than a decade But since Jagger celebrated his 79th birthday this week, it is more likely the role will be taken by a rising charismatic young Brit, such as Anson Boon, who played Johnny Rotten in the TV series Pistol and shares a love of snake-hipped fashion with the Stones' frontman. The film will be called The Butterfly And The Wheel, after the famous leader column in The Times newspaper which asked (using a line borrowed from poet Alexander Pope): 'Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?' Havers said: 'The Times, edited by William Rees-Mogg [MP Jacob's dad] ran a leader column. He was the first to say: 'Don't go after Mick and Keith.' 'It's a ridiculously good article, which steered the judge.' Havers added: 'My father took the case on and became liberal. He never again wore a stiff collar to court. It changed his whole personality, which is amazing. During the raid on Redlands, Richards' country estate in Sussex, in 1967, Jagger, Richards and Faithfull were apparently coming down from an acid trip. Havers' father, Sir Michael, was the most expensive barrister in London at the time and defended Richards and Mick Jagger, who were both convicted and given prison sentences, which were later lifted Idea: Actor Nigel Havers, who recalls getting to know the Stones as a teen, first mooted the project with the BBC in 2004 Police found a handful of amphetamine pills, plus some heroin belonging to a friend, as well as some cannabis. Jagger and Richards pleaded not guilty but were convicted. Jagger was given a 200 fine and three months imprisonment for possessing four amphetamine tablets. Richards was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to a year in prison and a 500 fine. Both were released on bail after a night behind bars, pending appeal. Two days later, the op-ed appeared in The Times, with Rees-Mogg asking whether 'Mr Jagger received a more severe sentence than would have been thought proper for any purely anonymous young man'. He later said: 'Nobody else would have been sent to prison for what was essentially a sea-sickness tablet'.' Gugu Mbatha-Raw is not one to flinch from a challenge. In Surface, a bingeable new offering from Apple TV+, Mbatha-Raw plays Sophie, a woman who has lost the memories of a lifetime after apparently throwing herself from the deck of a ferry. The question is: did she jump, or was she pushed? And who is she, really? The RADA-trained actress spent hours in a tank of water to shoot the arresting opening sequence for the show the first three episodes of which will air tonight. And she reveals that even though she had a stunt double, 'I did a chunk of it myself, which was really intense'. Made by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine TV company, like her previous mega-hit Big Little Lies, Surface offers a gripping, twisting psychological mystery, told in the context of an oh-so-aspirational lifestyle this time in San Francisco. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is not one to flinch from a challenge. In Surface, a bingeable new offering from Apple TV+, Mbatha-Raw plays Sophie Less desirable, though, were the dousings. 'Every week, Sophie would get soaked in a very dramatic way,' Mbatha-Raw said. 'Like, it would be either the underwater sequence, or a bath scene, or a shower scene, or it was raining or we were on a boat. 'Water is thematically the element that runs all the way through the show. I've never done any underwater acting before and it's way more challenging than it looks I think because you're literally out of your element. 'All of the usual tools that you use how you move your face, how you breathe, all the basic things that you hopefully forget about when you're normally acting are completely contorted underwater. Your eyes are bulging, you're focused on staying alive. 'I worked with a free dive expert, who trained me in breath-holding techniques, but it was definitely one of the more challenging stunt sequences I've done.' In an earlier interview, the Brit said when the going gets tough, she tells herself: 'Come on, Gugs!' Mbatha-Raw has recently finished filming Seacole, a drama based on the life of pioneering Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole, who cared for wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War. Advertisement Shalom Brune-Franklin looked strikingly different while filming on set for the first time for the adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel Great Expectations. The Line Of Duty star, 27, donned an extravagant 1860's costume as she transformed into Estella while shooting scenes at Carey Lane in London. She stood out in the period attire, made up of a purple dress with a poncho over the top, white lace gloves and black boots. New look: Shalom Brune-Franklin looked strikingly different while filming on set for the first time for the adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel Great Expectations Shalom added a matching headpiece to the look, while her brunette locks were styled in a fancy updo. She plays an orphan and is subject to abuse by her adoptive mother, Miss Havisham (played by Olivia Colman). In Estella's case it is psychological rather than physical abuse. She is brought up to despise men but to use her beauty to attract them and then break their hearts. Shalom will appear in the six-part limited series alongside a stellar cast including Olivia, Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle, Rudi Dharmalingam and Matt Berry. Bold: The Line Of Duty star, 27, donned an extravagant 1860's costume as she transformed into Estella while shooting scenes Different: She stood out in the period attire, made up of a purple dress with a poncho over the top, white lace gloves and black boots Wow! Shalom added a matching headpiece to the look, while her brunette locks were styled in a fancy updo Star: Shalom is well known for playing DC Chloe Bishop in the BBC series Line Of Duty Top Boy actor Ashley will take on the role of lawyer Jaggers while Johnny is set to play escaped convict and Pip's benefactor Magwitch. Great Expectations is the coming-of-age story of an orphan nicknamed Pip. Olivia's character - Miss Havisham - is a wealthy woman who, since being stood up on her big day, insists on always wearing her wedding dress. The role was previously played by Martita Hunt in the 1946 film version while Gillian Anderson took on the role in 2012. Talented: Shalom plays an orphan and is subject to abuse by her adoptive mother, Miss Havisham (played by Olivia Colman) Original: Charles Dickens first released the work in a series of weekly chapters beginning in December 1860, before it was subsequently published as a novel Star-studded: She will appear in the six-part limited series alongside a stellar cast including Olivia, Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle, Rudi Dharmalingam and Matt Berry She lives with her daughter Estella in a darkened, decrepit mansion, following the heartbreak two decades prior. Charles Dickens first released the work in a series of weekly chapters beginning in December 1860, before it was subsequently published as a novel. Dickens' famous novel follows the story of Pip, who lives with his sister Mrs Joe Gargery and her blacksmith husband Joe. New: Oscar-winning actor Olivia, 48, will play the role of wealthy spinster Miss Havisham in the six-part series Steven Knight will write and executive produce Great Expectations, which will also be executive produced by Tom Hardy, Ridley Scott, Dean Baker, David W. Zucker, Kate Crowe the team behind 2019s A Christmas Carol - and Tommy Bulfin for the BBC. Great Expectations will be produced by FX Productions in association with the BBC, Scott Free and Hardy Son & Baker. This is the second Dickens adaptation penned by Knight, following the hit limited series A Christmas Carol. Great Expectations will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Susanna Reid flashed a beaming smile after bagging herself the Celebrity Personality of the Year gong at the National Reality Television Awards on Thursday. The Good Morning Britain presenter, 51, who made a statement in a bold red blazer dress, put on a very animated display while departing London's Porchester Hall. Ensuring to clutch onto her trophy, the elated star chatted away with friends outside the venue, while elevating her height with sparkling silver heels. In her element: Susanna Reid flashed a beaming smile after bagging herself the Celebrity Personality of the Year gong at the National Reality Television Awards on Thursday Elsewhere during the night, Nadiya Bychkova revealed she plans to rescue her family members from war-torn Ukraine as soon as she gets the opportunity. After months of tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on February 24. Strictly dancer Nadiya, 32, who was joined by her boyfriend Kai Widdrington - spoke exclusively to Mail Online at about her war-ravaged country. 'I think were all affected by it,' she said. 'I still have my father there and my grandparents, a lot of friends, its a very tough subject to talk about. Its so difficult.' Wow! The Good Morning Britain presenter, 51, who made a statement in a bold red blazer dress, put on a very animated display while departing London's Porchester Hall Gorgeous: Ensuring to clutch onto her trophy, the elated star chatted away with friends outside the venue Stunning: Her gorgeous chocolate locks tumbled down her back in bouncy curls Details: She accessorised her outfit with a selection of dazzling silver bracelets 'The war has been going on since 2014 when my family was involved all the time so its been very long for me.' She added: Im in touch with them and I help as much as I can. I couldnt get my father and my grandmother anywhere close to me but theyre there and theyre safe at the moment so as soon as I will get the chance to get them Ill do that. There was better news on the night for Nadiya as she took home a much sought after award on the night. The professional dancer looked a vision in a light blue chiffon gown, featuring an elegant trail. Towering: She elevated her height with sparkling silver heels while talking with a pal Laughing: The journalist let out a chuckle while chatting away to her entourage Hot stuff: The broadcaster flashed her legs in the thigh-skimming number The dress also featured a belt element round the waist, drawing in her petite frame. Dressed to impress, she swept her blonde hair into an updo and accessorized with a salmon clutch. Meanwhile, Kai cut a dapper figure in a black suit while dressing up the look with a grey tie. The couple looked smitten as they held hands while walking into the Bayswater venue. Heartbreaking: Strictly's Nadiya Bychkova revealed her plans to rescue her family from Ukraine as she was joined by her beau Kai Widdrington Their strictly co-star Neil Jones was also in attendance on the night looking suave in a black suit. 2021 Love Island star Amy Day turned heads on the night wearing a clinging busty blue corset style dress. TOWIE favourite Dani Imbert looked sensational as she flashed her abs in a daring white co-ord with thigh slit. Elsewhere, TV legend Anne Hegarty looked worlds away from her 'chaser' self as she got dressed to the nines in a floral print dress. Timeless: Neil Jones was also in attendance on the night looking suave in a black suit Also turning heads on the night was Too Hot To Handle's Beaux Raymond who sizzed in a yellow feather trimmed dress. Love Island beauty Rebecca Gormley caught the eye in a plum satin number with daring thigh slit. TOWIE newcomer Junaid Ahmed was all smalls on the night as he dazzled in a purple velvet suit for photographers. Making a grand entrance on the night was Giovanni Pernice who looked suave in a timeless black suit. Antique dealer David Dickinson MBE stepped out in style wearing one of his signature white tuxedo jackets. The Dickinson's Real Deal host toasted success on the night after the winning Outstanding Contribution to Television 2022 at the awards. As Love Island nears it's last days, the epic final dates got underway during Thursday's episode. And continuing into Friday evening's episode, Gemma Owen is set to open up to partner Luca Bish as they enjoy a romantic courtyard date, with the 19-year-old admitting she 'loves' that they can 'wind each other up'. While Tasha Ghouri and Andrew Le Page will embark on a rose-filled beach date, mimicking Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's iconic proposal with the same setup. Spoiler alert: Love Island's final dates continue on Friday as Gemma Owen will admit that she loves that her and Luca Bish 'wind each other up' As Gemma and Luca set out for their final date, the pair will head to a private courtyard, before being serenaded by a mesmerising six-piece ensemble. The couple will take their seats at a floating table in the pool of the courtyard, Luca will admit: 'Did I actually think Id meet someone like you that makes me want to move to the other side of England for? No.' Will Gemma will finally open up and admit: 'We are literally the same person, its crazy. We wind each other up. But we both love it. Sweet: While Tasha Ghouri and Andrew Le Page will embark on a rose-filled beach date Sereneaded: As Gemma and Luca set out for their final date, the pair will head to a private courtyard, before being serenaded by a mesmerising six-piece ensemble Private: The couple will take their seats at a table in the centre of a pool in the romantic location Falling: The couple will take their seats at a floating table in the pool of the courtyard, Luca will admit: 'Did I actually think Id meet someone like you that makes me want to move to the other side of England for? No' 'You know I find it hard being lovey-dovey, but I feel like Im quite more lovely-dovey with you than anyone really before I always find myself gravitating towards you. I always want to be near you and in your company.' Gemma's revelation of 'loving' the 'wind up' banter between her and Luca comes as the latter has been subject to a wave of controversy, with fans slamming him for displaying 'toxic masculinity'. Referencing his 'childish' behaviour and 'over-protective' tendencies over Gemma, fans have been taking to social media to display their discomfort. Getting personal: Will Gemma will finally open up and admit: 'We are literally the same person, its crazy. We wind each other up. But we both love it' Getting there: Gemma will continue: 'You know I find it hard being lovey-dovey, but I feel like Im quite more lovely-dovey with you than anyone really before I always find myself gravitating towards you. I always want to be near you and in your company' But with the couple still going strong inside the villa, talks turn to their future when they leave the show, as Luca will admit that he's hoping to put a label on the relationship soon. 'Listen, I feel like we know what we are anyway, and we aint put a label on it, but obviously one of them surprises [back home] might be putting a label on it when were ready. Just waiting for the right moment. Hopefully I get the right answer.' Tasha and Andrew will also get their own fairytale ending with a beach date, taking place in the middle of a giant 3D heart made of roses. Meanwhile, Tasha and Andrew will also get their own fairytale ending with a beach date, taking place in the middle of a giant 3D heart made of roses Inspiration: Tasha and Andrew's date (left) is inspired by Travis Barker's romantic beach proposal to Kourtney Kardashian (right) The Kardashian-inspired setup paid tribute to Kourtney and Travis's romantic proposal setup on a beach in Montecito, California. And unable to believe the setup, Andrew dubs it 'insane', as he jests that Tasha 'wanted a lot of roses'. Reminiscing on their time in the villa, the real estate agent gushed to the dancer: 'I literally adore you'. Insane: And unable to believe the setup, Andrew dubs it 'insane', as he jests that Tasha 'wanted a lot of roses' Sweet: Reminiscing on their time in the villa, the real estate agent gushed to the dancer: 'I literally adore you' While Tasha will admit: 'I never thought Id ask a guy to be my boyfriend. I felt it had to be me to do it, to prove to you, to show you, Im willing to do this, Im ready to be 100% for you and all for you. That shows to me how it should be.' Recalling his favourite moment from the villa, Andrew admits it has to be when Tasha revealed her hearing impairment to him, explaining: 'When you told me about your superpower. Youre incredibly brave and thats a quality that I love about you. I want to be there for you no matter what, support you. I got you. I got you babe.' 'All I ever wanted was a guy to just love me for me, the fact that you are like that, just makes me feel so lucky to have you,' Tasha replies. Candid: While Tasha will admit: 'I never thought Id ask a guy to be my boyfriend. I felt it had to be me to do it, to prove to you, to show you, Im willing to do this, Im ready to be 100% for you and all for you. That shows to me how it should be' Loved up: 'All I ever wanted was a guy to just love me for me, the fact that you are like that, just makes me feel so lucky to have you,' Tasha will add Finally, Andrew will sweetly round things off by telling her he has 'hit the jackpot'. As the islanders reflect on their epic final dates, the romantic bliss will be disturbed with a shock dumping - forcing the islanders to vote for the couple they think is least compatible. Love Island continues Friday at 9PM on ITV and ITV Hub. Drama time: As the islanders reflect on their epic final dates, the romantic bliss will be disturbed with a shock dumping - forcing the islanders to vote for the couple they think is least compatible The Australian soap airs its final ever episode on Channel 5 in the UK on Friday night. And just hours before, Neighbours icon Alan Fletcher surprised EastEnders fans as he swapped Ramsay Street for Albert Square in a special farewell clip posted to social media. As well as clever interaction which saw Alan playing himself in a scene with some cast members of the BBC soap, stars sent heartwarming messages to the cast and crew of the Aussie show. Surprise! Neighbours icon Alan Fletcher surprised EastEnders fans as he swapped Ramsay Street for Albert Square in a special farewell clip posted to social media, on Friday In the short video, Linda Carter, played by actress Kellie Bright, is sat expressing her sadness over Neighbours coming to an end. When actor Alan - who recently revealed he has been diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss - unexpectedly pops into Bridge Street Cafe looking for a taxi in order to make a 'swift exit,' Linda is stunned. She leaps to her feet and, after confirming that it's 'Dr Karl Kennedy', swiftly asks Whitney Dean, played by Shona McGarty, to take a photograph of her with the Australian soap star. Following the scene, many EastEnders actors and actresses are shown in turn saying meaningful goodbyes to Neighbours. Swift exit! Alan pops into Bridge Street Cafe looking for a taxi to make a 'swift exit' Delighted! In the short video, Linda Carter, played by actress Kellie Bright, is sat expressing her sadness over Neighbours coming to an end when actor unexpectedly Alan pops in Those who sent messages included Natalie Cassidy, who plays Sonia Fowler, who thanked Neighbours for giving people '37 years of joy.' EastEnders actress Charlie Brooks, who plays Janine Butcher, sent her own well wishes and told cast and crew to be 'really proud.' Danny Dyer, who stars as Mick Carter in EastEnders wished everyone good luck and admitted he was 'gutted' to see the Aussie soap go. Neighbours: The Finale is being broadcast at 9pm on Friday July 29, 2022 on Channel 5 as a double episode special. Sad: Those who sent messages included Natalie Cassidy, who plays Sonia Fowler, who thanked Neighbours for giving people '37 years of joy' Be proud! EastEnders actress Charlie Brooks, who plays Janine Butcher, sent well wishes The send-off promises to have something for everyone, spanning all generations and decades from the opening scene in 1985, to the final episode in 2022. The beleaguered soap opera faced an uncertain future following its cancellation by original network Channel 5, where it has spent the last 14 of its 37 years on British TV. And Fremantle Media, the production company responsible for its development confirmed it would be taken off-air indefinitely over the summer after an 'extensive search for alternative funding' ended in failure. News of the finale air date comes after it was reported that the stars of Neighbours will reportedly embark on a 'farewell tour' of the UK after the finale episode. Gutted! Danny Dyer, who stars as Mick Carter in EastEnders wished everyone good luck Farewell! A message flashed up to wish Neighbours a fond farewell Alan's EastEnders cameo comes after he recently revealed he has been diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss but said he finds his new look 'fun.' It can affect hair on any part of the body and can happen to anyone at any age it can be triggered by stress. Earlier this year the Neighbours actor addressed fans' concerns about his health after he recently debuted a bald head. Alan reassured fans he's okay in a video posted to the show's Twitter account in May as he explained his diagnosis. 'I started to lose hair into my beard and then on my scalp in patches. So eventually I shaved my beard off, and then my hair became so patchy on my head, I had to get rid of most of that as well,' he explained. Legacy: Actor Alan - who has starred as Karl Kennedy since 1994 - recently revealed he was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss (throwback snap) A synopsis for the Neighbours finale reads: 'Jane gives Mike a tour of all the Ramsay Street houses before the go under the hammer. As old feelings stir, Clive's jealousy leads to a shocking confrontation. 'Harold asks Karl and Susan to be the custodians of the history book. Faced with her beloved friends and neighbours leaving, Susan struggles with her feelings. 'As Toadie and Melanie's wedding gets underway, Terese and Paul confront their unresolved feelings.' Neighbours released a heartwarming finale trailer ahead of its last ever episode, teasing that fans will be in for an emotional hour as some of the stars bid farewell, while others return to the iconic Ramsay Street. The 40 second video starts with a shot of the iconic Ramsay Street sign while Harold Bishop reflects on his time in Erinsborough by saying: 'It certainly feels like the end of an era. It all goes so quickly.' Finale: The send-off promises to have something for everyone, spanning all generations and decades from the opening scene in 1985, to the final episode in 2022 (Pictured: Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan as Charlene and Scott) The trailer shows that Kylie Minogue and her real-life ex Jason Donovan have finally reunited to play Scott and Charlene one last time for their final scenes on Neighbours. The couple are seen leaning against their car, as they take in the surroundings and reminisce on their time together in the town. In the 80s, the show was unstoppable with Kylie and Jason's onscreen wedding as Scott and Charlene was watched by two million Australians on July 1, 1987. Their union was an even bigger attraction when it aired in the UK a year later, drawing 19.6 million viewers, making it Britain's third most-watched show of 1988. Kylie and Jason, who were dating in real life at the time were household names in both countries, and would each go on to launch music careers in the UK. Elsewhere in the trailer, a number of Neighbours legends return to our screens including Joel Samuels (Daniel McPherson) and Mike Young (Guy Pearce). It ends with a shot of the street and Susan Kennedy saying: 'We might be leaving the street, but we're always going to be in each other's lives. Always.' And Margot Robbie is set to return to her old stomping ground of Neighbours in a cameo filmed over Zoom, news.com.au reported on Sunday. The 32-year-old, who played Donna Freedman on the soap between 2008 and 2011, was reportedly unable to fly home to shoot the scenes. Instead, she recorded an appearance over video link, and sent pricey Champagne to the cast as thanks. The publication reported that former stars Delta Goodrem, Kym Valentine, Carla Bonner and Jesse Spencer are all set to return too. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is surrounded by war veterans during an event celebrating the 69th anniversary of end of the Korean War (1950-53) in front of the Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, in this photo released Friday by the official North Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap Kim honors Beijing's support on 69th anniversary of end of Korean War By Jung Min-ho North Korea may postpone its next nuclear weapons test for several months until the end of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the country's most important event in years, according to experts Friday. The North has completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test, intelligence reports show. But it has not taken action for months. Experts say China is most likely the reason behind the delay as Pyongyang's test will certainly take away the world's attention from the crucial political event and might lead to the worst-case scenario for Chinese leaders, especially President Xi Jinping, who seeks to secure a precedent-defying third term in power there. In Wednesday's speech on the 69th anniversary of the end of the Korean War (1950-53), North Korean leader Kim Jong-un honored the Chinese soldiers who "shed their blood with our military" in the conflict against South Korea and United Nations Command. "All of North Korea's nuclear weapons tests in the past were conducted when either it was isolated, including from its allies such as China, or there were technical and political needs," Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told The Korea Times. "After mentioning the Chinese military's contribution to the war, Kim paid his respects to the Chinese soldiers the next day at a monument symbolizing the alliance of the two nations. The North must be thinking how its nuclear test would affect the relations, especially ahead of the critical event for Xi." North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits a monument symbolizing the Pyongyang-Beijing alliance in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, in this photo released Friday by the official North Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap In that speech, Kim said his armed forces were completely prepared to respond to any crisis, threatening to "annihilate" the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and South Korea's military. But there was no suggestion that he is about to order a nuclear weapons test, Hong noted. "Throughout his message, Kim takes on a passive and defensive posture It is possible that the North would respond militarily when South Korea and the U.S. conduct their joint drills in August. But it will most like be launching short-range missiles, not another nuclear test," he added. The worst-case scenario for Beijing, especially before the party congress expected to be held in September or October, is giving Seoul a reason to justify its move to install additional U.S. anti-ballistic missile defense systems, simply known as THAAD, on its soil, said Cheong Seong-chang, director at the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, a think tank. It was one of Yoon's key campaign pledges. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this June 20, 2019, file photo provided by the official Korean Central News Agency. AP-Yonhap Neighbours star Rebekah Elmaloglou revealed she hosted an emotional series wrap party on Thursday evening for 40 cast and crew. The 48-year-old, who starred on Neighbours for ten years as Terese Willis, appeared on The Project on Friday and said she hosted a 'jam packed' going away party at her house. She said it was a bittersweet affair where both champagne and tissues were freely flowing. Neighbours star Rebekah Elmaloglou (pictured) revealed she hosted an emotional series wrap party on Thursday evening for 40 cast and crew 'It was huge I had all the cast over to my house. I hosted the farewell party. It was a bit jam packed. 'We had 40 people. All the cast and their partners and some of the directors and producers. And it was wonderful. It was amazing. 'The tissues were being flung around the room. And lots of champagne was flowing. It was very emotional. But amazing. Amazing.' Rebekah said it was a bittersweet affair where both champagne and tissues were freely flowing Rebekah explained it was an incredible moment where key series personnel united to watch the finale as it was broadcast on Thursday night. The series veteran said it was a huge affair and was coy when asked what time she went to bed, quipping, 'I'm not going to say that'. While Neighbours was initially a ratings smash in both Australia and the UK it had received dwindling ratings over the past decade. The beleaguered soap opera faced an uncertain future following its cancellation by original network Channel 5, where it has spent the last 14 of its 37-years on British TV. 'The tissues were being flung around the room. And lots of champagne was flowing. It was very emotional. But amazing. Amazing' she said In a statement issued to MailOnline earlier this year, Network 10 and production company Fremantle confirmed: 'It is with sadness that after nearly 37 years and almost 9000 episodes broadcast, we are confirming that Neighbours will cease production in the summer. 'Following the loss of a key broadcast partner in the UK, and despite a search for alternative funding, we currently have no option but to rest the show. 'Everyone at Neighbours has been overwhelmed by the love and support from the audience since the news came out. 'But as this chapter of Ramsay Street comes to a close, we promise to do everything we can to give the show the send-off it deserves.' Vernon Kay took to Instagram on Friday to share a glimpse of his and wife Tess Daly's romantic Ibiza getaway. The presenter, 48, cosied up to the Strictly host, 53, with whom he shares two daughters, as they enjoyed the amazing sunset. Beaming for the camera Vernon gushed: ' A beautiful place with awesome people!'. 'Awesome place and awesome vibes': Vernon Kay, 48, and Tess Daly, 53, have enjoyed sunsets and a romantic boat trip on their sun-soaked Ibiza getaway this week In the snap the duo appear to have been surfing as they settle to take in the spectacular views across the calm waters. Vernon went topless as his long dark locks were wet from a swim as he cuddled up to his wife of 19 years. Tess looked gorgeous as she shielded her eyes behind retro inspired shades while her blonde tresses cascaded to her shoulders. The beauty accessorised the look with large hoop earring as well as a carefully chosen gold pendant. Out to sea: In another post the radio personality shared a selfie from a luxurious boat ride where he donned a pair of 300 Gucci aviator shades Getaway: Vernon captioned the sweet snap: 'Superb few days in Ibiza! A beautiful place with awesome people and great vibes' Vernon captioned the sweet snap: 'Superb few days in Ibiza! A beautiful place with awesome people and great vibes'. In another post the radio personality shared a selfie from a luxurious boat ride where he donned a pair of 300 Gucci aviator shades. He also ventured to the famous Cafe Mambo, where he enjoyed another sunset as well as the party atmosphere. Party: He also ventured to the famous Cafe Mambo, where he enjoyed another sunset as well as the party atmosphere He wrote: The iconic @mamboibiza sunset thank you @javiermamboking @mambobrothers your hospitality knows no boundaries! You guys tok' [sic]. It comes after Denise Van Outen revealed recently that she turned down the chance to present Strictly Come Dancing - and thinks it was one of her best career moves. The entertainer, 48, was asked by late Strictly legend Bruce Forsyth to host the show alongside him, but declined as she thought it sounded 'really boring', with Tess later getting the job. Lucky: The lucky tourist enjoyed another of the islands spectacular sunsets Loving life: He wrote: The iconic @mamboibiza sunset thank you @javiermamboking @mambobrothers your hospitality knows no boundaries! You guys tok' [sic] Speaking on The Matt Haycox Show podcast, the actress and presenter admitted she initially regretted the decision when the BBC show became a huge hit, but told how she 'wouldn't have had such a varied career if Id taken it.' The TOWIE narrator told how she's now glad as she's been able to have more varied opportunities in her career, whereas 53-year-old Tess is firmly 'associated' with the show and has not branched out as much as Denise. The former Big Breakfast presenter, who starred in Chicago in the West End and on Broadway, herself competed on Strictly alongside James Jordan, finishing runner up in 2012. No thanks: It comes Denise Van Outen has revealed she turned down the chance to present Strictly Come Dancing - and thinks it was one of her best career moves (pictured earlier this year) She explained to Matt: 'I was offered Strictly Come Dancing. I knew Bruce Forsyth really well. And I've done a few shows with him. 'We used to sing together. And he came to me and approached me to be sidekick in the new Strictly Come Dancing. 'He said to me, "there's this show, it's all ballroom, it's gonna be celebrities. I want to open the show with a song and dance with you, and close it with you" - because he knew that I danced and sang. 'And I remember sitting there and I went to him "Bruce, it sounds really boring'". Denise then want to add though she initially regretted her decision, the star noted that she was pleased that she did say no as it allowed her to branch out into other career paths. She went on: 'So, they gave it to Tess Daly. And then it became a huge hit, and I was thinking maybe I was an idiot turning that down. 'But, actually, when I look back, Tess has done it so well for many years, but just kind of does that, and she's associated with it. 'Whereas, I went on to do Broadway, I've done film, I've done theatre in the West End - I've done so many other things.' THE WANDERING HEARTS Wild Silence (Decca) Theres an appealing rawness to this debut. A male-female quartet with a folk-rock penchant, their harmonies will elicit comparisons with Fleetwood Mac, but the acoustic instrumentation looks more to country, with Fire And Water a lively hoedown and Burning Bridges a nostalgic ballad. Louis Tomlinson is currently in Australia on his world tour. On Friday, the former One Direction star hit the stage at HBF Stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The 30-year-old kept things casually chic, donning what appeared to be a Burberry brand sweater. Louis Tomlinson (pictured) is currently in Australia on his world tour He paired it with black trousers and chunky boots as he put on an animated performance. The pop star played his biggest solo hits, whipping the crowd up into a frenzy as he worked the mic. Louis' Australian tour was originally delayed for two years due to Covid. On Friday, the former One Direction star hit the stage at HBF Stadium in Perth, Western Australia The 30-year-old kept things casually chic, donning what appeared to be a Burberry brand sweater He paired it with black trousers and chunky boots as he put on an animated performance He wrote on Instagram when announcing his new tour dates in May last year: 'I can't wait to see you all soon, it's going to be special.' Louis has five dates in Australia, performing in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth this month. It comes after Louis took a swipe at The Project hosts Peter Helliar and Carrie Bickmore when they referred to Liam Payne's recent interview about his time in One Direction during an appearance on the show. The pop star played his biggest solo hits, and was feeling quite rebellious as he flipped the bird Louis was whipping the crowd up into a frenzy as he worked the mic Louis' Australian tour was originally delayed for two years due to Covid Liam hit the headlines when he appeared on Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast last month when he discussed his strained relationships within the group and other infamous moments. During Louis' appearance on Channel 10's The Project this week, Peter asked Louis if there was any 'beef' with the other boys, prompting the star to accuse the hosts of trying to stir things up. Peter asked: 'There's been a bit of 1D beef recently thanks to Liam who's been speaking out about the band a little bit. When you look back on your experience about the band, how do you feel about your experience of those days?' He wrote on Instagram when announcing his new tour dates in May last year 'I can't wait to see you all soon, it's going to be special' he told his fans Louis has five dates in Australia, performing in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth this month It comes after Louis took a swipe at The Project hosts Peter Helliar and Carrie Bickmore when they referred to Liam Payne's recent interview about his time in One Direction during an appearance on the show A suspicious Louis replied: 'Oh, so the fishing's begun already! Yeah, I see what you're doing. No, listen, I'm immensely proud, as I know Liam is, I'm immensely proud of those days, obviously. 'It was an incredible thing to do, especially at such a young age and I have amazing memories, amazing memories.' Pushing Louis further, Carrie asked if he ever gets fed up that he's still linked to One Direction despite their split in 2016. A suspicious Louis replied: 'Oh, so the fishing's begun already! Yeah, I see what you're doing. No, listen, I'm immensely proud, as I know Liam is, I'm immensely proud of those days, obviously.' Pictured on The Project Liam (pictured) hit the headlines when he appeared on Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast last month when he discussed his strained relationships within the group She asked: 'Louis, when you say, "Aw, the fishing's begun," I imagine it is so annoying having to answer retrospective questions like that. Do you want to talk about that time in your life to the media versus how much you never have to want to talk about it again?' Louis responded: 'I'm more than happy to talk about it in every interview. It's something I'm immensely proud of, as I'd already said, it's just when you mentioned the beef before, it sounded like you were getting ready to stir some s**t up, that's all I'm saying.' Peter chimed in: 'No, I'm not a s**t stirrer Louis, do I look like a s**t stirrer?' He's known for his love of quirky fashion. And Lewis Hamilton turned heads once more as he walked the paddock prior to practice ahead at the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary in Budapest on Friday. The racer, 37, channelled the 90s in a 490 Lacoste shell suit and a pair of 205 Jimmy Choo Hawaii high-top sneakers. Flashback: Lewis Hamilton channelled the 90s in a 490 Lacoste shell suit as he walked the paddock prior to practice ahead at the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary in Budapest on Friday The sportsman wore a pair of Police shiny black glasses after arriving on site, with the Grand Prix lasting from Friday until Sunday. Looking focused, Lewis strolled through the grounds layered in gold necklaces and a statement piece watch. He wore his signature braids in a high ponytail as he showed off his collection of rings, inducing a Cartier ring retaining at 4,180. Cool: The sportsman wore a pair of Police shiny black glasses after arriving on site, with the Grand Prix lasting from Friday until Sunday He wore his signature braids in a high ponytail as he sauntered through the paddocks The outing comes after Lewis showed his support behind the climate activists who invaded the track at this year's British Grand Prix earlier this month, where he took a record 13th podium at a single race. Northamptonshire Police said seven people were arrested after the invasion on the opening lap of the Silverstone contest, after five protestors stormed the Wellington Straight before sitting down. The race had already been suspended following Zhou Guanyu's high-speed crash, followed by a 53-minute delay before the restart in a high octane, action-packed day at Silverstone. Confident: Looking focused, Lewis strolled through the grounds layered in gold necklaces and a statement piece watch Bling: Ge showed off his collection of rings, inducing a Cartier ring retaining at 4,180 Edgy look: Looking focused, Lewis strolled through the grounds layered in gold necklaces and a statement piece watch Lewis backed the protests on Twitter - understood to be from climate activist group Just Stop Oil - although he warned that storming the track on race day was far too dangerous. The seven-time world champion said: 'As we've seen today, this is a very dangerous sport. 'I wasn't aware of the protests today, and while I'll always support those standing up for what they believe in, it must be done safely. Stylish: He wore his signature braids in a high ponytail as he showed off his collection of rings Sunny: He shielded his eyes with a pair of round black sunglasses and sported a well-groomed beard 'Please don't jump onto our race circuits to protest, we don't want to put you in harm's way.' The quintet were swiftly dragged away by marshals to huge cheers from the watching crowd. But in a race that saw ambulances and emergency crews called to the scene, there could very nearly have been further incidents after the protestors stormed the fastest part of the track. Frequent collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese will be reuniting again for an adaptation of the non-fiction novel The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder. The movie's rights were picked up by Apple Original Films, according to The Hollywood Reporter. To date Leonardo, 47, and Martin, 79 have worked on five films together - making this project their sixth. The novel, which was penned by David Grann, is not even out yet and is currently scheduled to be released in April of next year. They're back! Frequent collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese will be reuniting for an adaptation of the non-fiction novel The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder; they are seen in 2019 The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder is set in the 1740s and is centered on a group of sailors who became famous for surviving a shipwreck and landing on the coast of Brazil after spending time on a remote island. However, the arrival was complicated when, six months later, another group of survivors landed in Chile and alleged that the men were mutineers. A special trial was later convened by the British Admiralty in order to find out what really happened during the sailors' time in the wild. The media outlet noted that the trial would expose 'a story of not just a captain and crew struggling to survive while battling some the most extreme elements on the planet, but also battling their own human natures.' Storyline: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder is set in the 1740s and is centered on a group of sailors who became famous for surviving a shipwreck and landing on the coast of Brazil after spending time on a remote island; the collaborators are seen in 2018 In addition to starring in and directing the feature, DiCaprio and Scorcese will serve as the feature's producers. The Wager's release date has not been revealed to the public as of yet. The much-celebrated duo initially began collaborating during the production of 2000's Gangs of New York. The two went on to reunite for The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street. All together now: The pair also collaborated with Scorcese's longtime friend, Robert De Niro, for the 2015 short feature The Audition, which also starred Brad Pitt; DiCaprio is seen with De Niro in May The pair also collaborated with Scorcese's longtime friend, Robert De Niro, for the 2015 short feature The Audition, which also starred Brad Pitt. The director and the actor are currently preparing for the release of their newest film, Killers of the Flower Moon. The feature is based on the 2017 novel of the same name, which was also written by Grann. The film is set in the 1920s and is centered on an investigation into the mysterious murders of several members of the Osage tribe of Native Americans. Getting ready: The director and the actor are currently preparing for the release of their newest film, Killers of the Flower Moon; the latter is seen in 2020 DiCaprio will star as Ernest Burkhart, while De Niro, 78, will portray cattleman William Hale. Also set to appear in the forthcoming movie are Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser and John Lithgow. Physical production on the feature commenced last April, with filming primarily taking place in Oklahoma. Killers of the Flower Moon is currently scheduled to be released at an unspecified date in 2023. Bella Hadid opted for preppy chic as she stepped out to grab a drink while enjoying a day out in New York City. The 25-year-old supermodel sported a sleeveless sweater and shades as she strolled about the big apple, with her pal and comedian, Ramy Youssef, joining her. The beauty has been checking off a busy schedule, and recently starred in a new Victoria's Secret campaign and also launched her own NFTs. Stunning: Bella Hadid, 25, sported a sleeveless sweater and I.AM.GIA jeans as she walked about New York City The Vogue model donned a casual yet stylish outfit for her summer outing. She wore a sleeveless mustard-colored sweater that was zipped up to her neck. She slipped into a pair of low-waist I.AM.GIA jeans that showed a glimpse of her toned abs and added black high-heeled boots to pull the look together. Bella threw on a pair of thin, black sunglasses in case the sun peaked through the overcast sky. Staying refreshed: The model carried an iced green drink in hand to keep herself hydrated throughout some of the day Summer outing: The beauty was all smiles as she strolled through the bustling streets of Manhattan So stylish: Bella is often known for her fashionable streetwear looks when she is out and about in the city The fashion influencer wore a cross-shoulder black bag instead of carrying a large purse in her hand. Her brunette hair was parted in the middle and fell down naturally past her shoulders. Her bangs were slightly curled and styled on her forehead. In her hand, she carried a delicious green-colored iced drink to keep herself hydrated during the daytime outing. Happy: Bella looked relaxed as she walked around the city, taking a small break between her busy schedule Friends: Bella and comedian, Ramy Youssef, were spotted together sharing a laugh during the afternoon Later on, Bella's close friend and stand-up comedian, Ramy, joined the stunning model. The pair were seen sharing smiles and laughs as they held light-hearted conversations. The actor also kept his look casual, wearing a dark navy, short-sleeved T-shirt and blue pants. He slipped into a pair of white sneakers and added a black cap to cover his hair. Having fun: The two friends appeared to be having a blast as they hung out together in Manhattan Co-stars: Bella will be making her television acting debut in season three of the hit Hulu comedy, Ramy The supermodel was recently cast with a recurring role in season three of the Hulu comedy series, Ramy, according to Variety. The show was not only created by Ramy himself, but is also written, directed, executive produced, and stars the talented award-winner. Bella will have her television acting debut in the series, and additional information of her role and character has yet to be revealed. Big step: The supermodel is making a huge milestone in her career, and will step into the world of acting with a recurring role in the Hulu show, Ramy Neighbours (Channel 5, last night) Rating: Hankies at the ready: The Neighbours are leaving. The residents of Erinsborough, that fictional paradise of suburban Melbourne, are selling up as they abandon both the most beloved address in Australia... and us. Last night, on the final episode of the soap that caught our imagination for 37 years, each For Sale sign hammered into the double-garage driveways of Ramsay Street was like a dagger in my heart. Crikey, some of us had spent half a lifetime watching the show, but we didnt expect the producers to turn our beloved set into a ghost town. And yet the characters reasons for leaving marriages breaking up, new dreams pursued in other countries, getting older, downsizing as homes had grown too big were all bittersweet. Full of emotion: Annie Jones, Jason Donovan and Kylie in last nights finale It reminded me of the pain we Platells felt on leaving our family home in Reynolds Road, Perth, after 50 years: The scene of my childhood and my teenage years. Filling that skip with what I have to admit was a lot of old tat but deeply precious nonetheless was as gut-wrenching as it was for me last night, watching Susan Kennedy, the soaps teacher married to GP Karl since 1994, preparing to leave Ramsay Street for ever. The mood was nostalgic and poignant. Packing up her belongings, Susan (Jackie Woodburne) spoke for all of us not just her fellow characters when she cried: Time is running out. It all goes so quickly. How right she was! Harold Bishop, an on-off Neighbours fixture since 1987, caught the same tone when he said: Its the end of an era, the whole streets on the market, younger people become older people and older people just become older. And what happens to older-older people? Well, even they can still find a home: Harolds sainted wife Madge (Anne Charleston), who died in 2001, returned as a ghost! As Susan said, remembering lost friends: Everyone deserves a place in Ramsay Street, even those who watch us from above. Other much-loved former cast members took a victory lap round the set, including Guy Pearce now a Hollywood star, of course reprising his role as the eye-wateringly hunky Mike Young, which he first performed in 1986 as a teenager. Mike had come back to Ramsay Street to settle there with daughter Sam, who has Downs syndrome, but ended up realising he still loved his sweetheart Jane Harris. Who doesnt go nuts for a young romance rekindled: A Plain Jane with a big brain who metamorphises into a beauty and finally gets her leather-jacketed prince? The shows farewell message to viewers For me, the best moment of all was when Mike was trying to woo Jane, while Janes estranged and alcoholic husband Clive was attempting to win her back. Clive picked up a discarded bedside lamp thrown out as rubbish and asked Jane: See this lamp, why is it chucked out? Like me, its a bit old and tired but it can still be turned on. Aussie seduction at its best. And as for the shows biggest stars Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan they returned for their inevitable three-minute cameos, bizarrely looking as youthful as ever. As Charlene and Scott, they were still just as crazy for each other as they were in 1987, when 20 million fans watched them get hitched. That Neighbours tradition of an over-the-top wedding continued as Toadie and Mel tied the knot. The producers had clearly decided to go out with a bang, designing the most garish ceremony, which included a multi-coloured love arch with streams of gay-friendly ribbons that reminded me of the strip screens we had on the doors back home to keep the flies out. Plus: the most hideous outfits Ive seen in my life. And having grown up in Australia and been to quite a few weddings including my own that was some achievement. But the tears truly flowed when Toadie and Mel asked each guest to write down a word describing what marriage meant to them. Loyalty, unity, devotion, romance, patience, respect, were some of the answers, but the most fitting was memories. And thats what Neighbours did: It made memories for millions. Why did so many of us come to love this show and why do we now mourn its passing? Because it spoke to the quiet lives of countless people raised in the simple comforts of suburbia with, for audiences on this rainy little island, a bit of Aussie sunshine thrown in. For almost 40 years, through good times and bad, this great and shifting cast loved, laughed, lived and died together, and we followed their journeys right up to last nights oh-so happy ending. For sure, they were good Neighbours but they became good friends to us all as well. Kimberley Garner put on a leggy display as she posed by the pool as she enjoyed an evening out in Capri on Friday. The Made In Chelsea star turned swimwear designer, 31, looked incredible in a black and tan dress with a lace floral pattern. Businesswoman Kimberley's garment was cinched in at the waist by a black ribbon belt, with the star showing of her long leg through the thigh-high split on one side. In style: Kimberley Garner, 31, put on a leggy display as she posed by the pool as she enjoyed an evening out in Capri on Friday She wore a pair of open-toed silver-strapped shoes to add a few inches to her stature. The television personality accessorised with a silver necklace which glistened in the light and a matching bracelet. She was seen brushing her wavy hair off her face to showcase her glamorous make-up look. Fashion focus: The Made In Chelsea star turned swimwear designer looked incredible in a black and tan dress with a lace floral pattern In the detail: The television personality accessorised with a silver necklace which glistened in the light and a matching bracelet Kimberley flew out to the Italian island of Capri after enjoying a break in Ibiza, Spain earlier this month. Despite now enjoying huge fame as a swimwear designer, Kimberley has previously revealed how she used to pretend to be an intern when she first started the business as nobody took her seriously. However, the property heiress insisted she's more than just the face of her line Kimberley London and is involved with every aspect of creating her sell-out swimwear range. Her reality: Businesswoman Kimberley's garment was cinched in at the waist by a black ribbon belt, with the star showing of her long leg through the thigh-high split on one side Looking good: She was seen brushing her wavy hair off her face to showcase her glamorous make-up look She told MailOnline: 'I think people sometimes think that Im only the face, but I am responsible for every bit of the business. 'I was 18 when I started my first company - I came up with an idea, stayed up for days learning how to register the company and teaching myself. It became very successful overnight.' She explained: 'However, as I was only 18, no one ever imagined it was mine. I was a young blonde girl with a soft voice. Standing tall: She wore a pair of open-toed silver-strapped shoes to add a few inches to her stature Jet set: Kimberley flew out to the Italian island of Capri after enjoying a break in Ibiza, Spain earlier this month 'No one would take me seriously or realise it was my company. So, I pretended to be the Intern! 'I handled all the meetings, phone calls, and emails for the company. When it became a success, I put all the revenues into starting Kimberley London.' She explained: 'However, as I was only 18, no one ever imagined it was mine. I was a young blonde girl with a soft voice. 'No one would take me seriously or realise it was my company. So, I pretended to be the Intern! 'I handled all the meetings, phone calls, and emails for the company. When it became a success, I put all the revenues into starting Kimberley London.' Gen. Paul LaCamera / UPI-Yonhap U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera stressed the importance of strengthening the U.S.-South Korea alliance Thursday, one day after the countries marked the 69th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War. The four-star U.S. general insisted the alliance provides the "strategic depth" and "legitimacy" to deal with any global challenges, including North Korea. "I see an opportunity for the alliance to extend its reach and become a global comprehensive strategic alliance, beyond the Korean Peninsula," LaCamera said in a dinner event in Washington, D.C., jointly hosted by the Korea Defense Veterans Association and the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation, to mark the anniversary. "However, let us not forget that the Korean War has not ended," he added. "While the peninsula is still on an armistice, the DPRK continues to develop capabilities that threaten not only South Korea, but regional allies and partners and the United States." DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said earlier this week that the Seoul government and its military will face "annihilation" if they make any "dangerous attempt." LaCamera said a future conflict on the Korean Peninsula would impact the entire globe. "If the conflict were to resume, its impact will reverberate throughout the world. That is because a conflict on the peninsula will not be isolated. It will be a global challenge," said LaCamera, who also heads the United Nations Command in Korea and the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command. He said his best "military advice" for the allies is to further strengthen their alliance. "The alliance embraces coalitions. Coalition of forces gives us strategic depth and embodies international legitimacy that is based on international rules and arrangements," LaCamera said. He also underscored a need to expand the bilateral alliance into a "multinational" and "multidimensional coalition." "This will enable us to better deter DPRK and maintain a rules-based international order with an eye on China and Russia," the USFK commander said. (Yonhap) Chinese, Uzbek FMs hold talks on deepening cooperation Xinhua) 09:06, July 29, 2022 TASHKENT, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks here on Thursday with Uzbekistan's Acting Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov on deepening bilateral cooperation in various fields. During their talks, Wang said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 30 years ago, China-Uzbekistan relations have withstood the test of the changing international situation and grown stronger; their friendship has overcome challenges and become increasingly unbreakable; their cooperation has yielded fruitful results and gained more vitality. Wang attributed the success to the strategic guidance of the two heads of state and the joint efforts of the people of the two countries. China firmly supports Uzbekistan in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and social stability as well as continuing to follow the path of development and revitalization in line with its national conditions, and opposes any external interference in its internal affairs, he said. Wang said that China stands ready to follow the important consensus reached by the two heads of state to push forward the leapfrog development of bilateral relations and open up the next three decades of greater friendship, higher level of mutual trust, common development and shared prosperity between China and Uzbekistan. Calling Uzbekistan and China good brothers and friends, Norov said over the past 30 years, the two countries have consistently respected each other, treated each other as equals, set an example of mutually beneficial cooperation and served as a stable anchor for regional peace and development. Norov said that Uzbekistan welcomes and supports the important initiatives put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping, including the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative. Norov briefed Wang on Uzbekistan's preparations for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit to be held in autumn and thanked China for its strong support. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) U.S. Deputy National Security Advisory for Cyber and Emerging Technologies Anne Neuberger speaks during a press briefing in Washington, D.C., in this Feb. 17, 2021, file photo. UPI-Yonhap A senior White House official visited South Korea this week to discuss ways to enhance the countries' cooperation in countering cybercrimes committed by actors such as North Korea, the White House National Security Council (NSC) said Thursday. Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor (DNSA) for cyber and emerging technologies, traveled to Seoul from Monday through Wednesday, according to NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson. "During her meetings with Korean counterparts, DNSA Neuberger highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to working with our partners to secure critical infrastructure and government systems; prepare for cyber incidents; reinforce respect for international law and norms of responsible behavior; and cooperate to deter disruptive and destabilizing cyber activity," Watson said in a press release. "She also highlighted the U.S. commitment to cooperation with the ROK to combat cybercrime and associated money laundering, secure cryptocurrency, build capacity, and share information," she added. ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name. Neuberger underscored the need to address cyber threats posed by North Korea. "They use cyber to be, we estimate, up to a third of their funds to fund their missile program," the NSC official said of North Korea's illegal cyber activities, also calling it a "major issue." "So given that cyber is such a core driver of revenue, it's something we must address," she added, while speaking in a webinar hosted by the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank. Speaking on her recent trip to Seoul, Neuberger said her discussions there included talks on how the U.S. and South Korea can "work together to make it harder for DPRK, North Korea to gain funds to support its missile program." "We also talked about how to better protect against various nation, state actors and highlighted some of the current areas where we can partner and improve our partnership together," she said. The U.S. has said North Korea is becoming increasingly engaged in illicit cyber activities to secure sources of hard currency that will help finance its illegal weapons programs. Washington currently has dozens of North Korean individuals and entities that it says are "state-sponsored cyber actors" on its sanctions list. Neuberger's trip to Seoul follows President Joe Biden's visit there in May for a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, less than two weeks after Yoon took office. The NSC spokesperson noted Biden and Yoon had agreed to expand their "bilateral cooperation on regional and international cyber issues and confront cyber threats, including from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," referring to North Korea by its official name. (Yonhap) A police officer, requesting anonymity, said that a video shot by the accused of the crime will be placed against them by the prosecutors. Representational Image/DC Hyderabad: The Jubilee Hills police on Thursday filed a chargesheet against six persons in the case of a minors gangrape that took place on May 28. Calling the chargesheet foolproof, the police said the chargesheet against five minor accused, including a legislators son, was filed with the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), while the chargesheet against prime accused Mohammed Saduddin Malik was filed with the metropolitan magistrate court in Nampally. Both the documents have the same content, they said. As many as 24 witnesses are mentioned in the chargesheet. Currently, all the minor accused are out on bail while Malik is lodged in Chanchalguda jail, after his bail plea was dismissed by the High Court on Wednesday. ACP M. Sudarshan, who is the investigating officer in the case, filed the chargesheet within 56 days from the date of the crime. A police officer, requesting anonymity, said that a video shot by the accused of the crime will be placed against them by the prosecutors. We have given priority to this case and are confident that the accused will be convicted, as during the test of identification parade (TIP), the victim identified the accused, the officer said. Further, the sequence of events, as per the evidence collected, matches the sequence of the crime along with the date and time, a second police official said. The technical team collected the evidence from the mobile phones of the accused, CCTV camera footage and other scientific evidence, the official said. The victim was raped on May 28, in a stationary car, near the Pedamma Temple in Jubilee Hills, following which she, accompanied by her father, filed a complaint with the police on May 31. The police immediately arrested all the accused, reconstructed the scene of the crime, performed a potency test on June 10 and held the identification parade on June 27. Hyderabad: Transactions in crores and lakhs of rupees, as payments to Tollywood and Bollywood actors for endorsing casino events organised by one Chikoti Praveen Kumar in Goa and neighbouring Nepal, are under the enforcement directorates (ED) lens. The organiser has been called for questioning over suspected illegal monetary transactions. According to information received by the ED, Kumar paid Rs 1 crore to Mallika Sherawat, Rs 40 lakh to Eesha Rebba, Rs 20 lakh to Ganesh Acharya and Rs 15 lakh to Mumaith Khan for appearing in promotional videos. These payments are being probed. The ED is also investigating the possibility of Kumar using the actors presence to mask hawala transactions during the casino events. As many as 10 actors attended a casino event organised by Kumar and one Madhav Reddy in Hotel Mechi Crown, in Jhapa of Nepal, bordering West Bengals Siliguri district, from June 10 to 13, following which the ED initiated a probe earlier this month. The ED officials suspect that the accused transported money, received from hawala transactions, to India. Besides the actors, Kumar is also alleged to have links with more than 16 MLAs in Indian states. After searching the residences of Praveen and Reddy in Saidabad and Bowenpally, the ED officials served notices to Kumar, asking him to appear on Monday for questioning. ED officials seized mobile phones, laptops and other electronic gadgets from Kumar in its probe, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Kumar is alleged to be an agent for a Chennai-based jewellery merchant for transporting unaccounted cash. For the event in Nepal, Bollywood actor Amisha Patel did a promotional video that went viral on social media. In the video, she said she would be appearing at the event and asked the guests to have fun. Other actors who have done promotional events for Kumars casino events include Meghana Naidu, Wilson and Govinda. Responding to the ED's notices, Kumar said that he would appear before the ED on Monday. The ED officials have doubts and I will clarify it by attending the questioning. Casinos are legal in Nepal and Goa, in India, Kumar said. Madhav Reddy, meanwhile, is alleged to have used an MLA sticker of Telangana minister Malla Reddy. Responding to the allegations, the minister said that his MLA sticker was misused by Madhav Reddy and denied association with the accused. The MLA sticker, in March 2022, was removed from the vehicle and thrown out. Unknown persons might have used it, the minister said. The crane was carrying the container which had material to put in pillars. The rope snapped and the material fell on the victims. (Representational Image: PTI) HYDERABAD: Five workers died on the spot after a container that was being carried by a crane fell on them at a workspot of the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme (PRLIS) located at Redamanagadda locality of Kollapur police limits in Nagarkurnool district. The victims are natives of Bihar and Jharkhand. Kollapur inspector B. Venkat Reddy said about 1,000 workers were working at the site when the container fell at the pump house of the project. The crane was carrying the container which had material to put in pillars. The rope snapped and the material fell on the victims. Venkat Reddy said a case of negligence causing death was registered and a probe was taken up. The bodies of five persons were shifted to Osmania Hospital mortuary for post mortem. The police would hand over bodies to their family members. The deceased were identified as Srinu, Praveen, Kamlesh, Sonu and Balanath, natives of Bihar and Jharkhand. Another worker suffered serious injuries. BJP state president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar expressed grief over the deaths of the construction workers and demanded that the state government provide compensation for the families of the victims. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president and MP A. Revanth Reddy also demanded compensation for the victims family members and said the government should take action on the officials for their negligence. This undated file photo shows enlisted soldiers in Korea. A number of cases have surfaced of low-ranking soldiers facing abusive and violent treatment at the hands of their superiors. Korea Times file By Ko Dong-hwan A Korean Marine Corps member has been hospitalized after one of his division superiors abused him last month, inflicting a concussion and leaving him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a civilian watchdog reported Thursday. A corporal at the 2nd Marine Division based in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, on June 19 targeted a lance corporal who couldn't recall the ranks of his superiors in the division when he was asked. As a punishment, the corporal took the victim to an area inside the camp out of the view of security cameras and assaulted him for 40 minutes. The attacker also called the victim an animal and ordered him to make noises like a dog, a cat and a sheep, according to the Center for Military Human Rights Korea (MHRK). That evening, the corporal, discovering that the victim had taken a shower earlier than he had, ordered him to strip naked and apologize to each of his superiors in the camp. The abuse continued on June 22, when the victim lost consciousness while again being beaten by the same assailant. MHRK said the victim was taken to a nearby hospital with a concussion but the camp didn't inform the hospital of the fact that his injuries were the result assault by his superior. He was ultimately hospitalized. The watchdog further accused other members of the camp of inflicting secondary abuse on the victim by causing him additional psychological distress when the victim was discharged from the hospital and returned to the camp. Some of the soldiers taunted the victim and criticized him for being weak. The corporal, following the victim's hospitalization, was transferred to a different division. He then called the victim after his discharge from the hospital and explained his violent behavior, claiming he had "wanted to train the lance corporal to be tough." The MHRK said the incident proves that an unethical group culture is deeply rooted across the country's Marine Corps divisions discouraging members from reporting abuse against lower-ranking officers and shunning whistleblowers. "The victim has been suffering from PTSD, depression and mental disorientation until late this month," the MHRK said. "He has been admitted to a hospital again to receive psychological treatment." The human rights watchdog group, at a press conference on Thursday, urged the Republic of Korea Marine Corps based in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to penalize not only the corporal but also those who stood by while the abuse was occurring. The Marine Corps said following the press conference that they separated the harasser and the victim after the incidents and put the victim in a private hospital as he had requested. "Military police are investigating the case right now and we expect it will be strictly assessed from a legal standpoint," said the authority. Doctors held a meeting in Guntur on Friday and decided to express their unwillingness to join APVVP by arguing that they were working at present under the control of the directorate of medical education and do not want any change. (Representational Photo: DC Photo) Vijayawada: Nearly 300 government doctors and tutors in 11 government medical colleges are proposed to be assigned to the AP Vaidya Vidhana Parishad. However, the doctors and nurses are resisting this and would boycott work for an hour a day. The state health administration proposed to assign the resident medical officers, casualty medical officers and tutors working in government medical colleges and allied hospitals, with the good intention of availing their services in PHCs, CHCs, area hospital and district hospitals that are working under APVVP. Doctors held a meeting in Guntur on Friday and decided to express their unwillingness to join APVVP by arguing that they were working at present under the control of the directorate of medical education and do not want any change. They would submit representation to respective medical superintendents informing them about their move to skip work for an hour daily until their issue gets resolved. Their representatives rushed to health principal secretary Muddada Ravichandra and health minister Vidadala Rajani in Visakhapatnam and tried to argue their case. The doctors claim that out of the 408 sanctioned posts of doctors in 30 government hospitals, 167 were lying vacant. So was the case with tutors in five government medical colleges, that have a strength of 158 against a sanctioned strength of 255. The doctors urged the state government to fill up the vacancies on priority basis. Moreover, they say they got the opportunity to get absorbed in the directorate of health from the directorate of medical education in 2006 and 2010. They preferred to remain so. Our shift to APVVP will deprive us of our seniority in service, they said. Doctors association convener Dr Jayadheer said, We intend to continue our talks with the government to resolve the issue amicably. HYDERABAD: With Independence Day just three weeks away, flag makers from the city are being flooded with orders for making the national flag. This has come as a bonanza for several persons as work is given away as sub-contract and to women, who are making an extra buck stitching them. Most of the smaller units that have been given sub-contracts are based in Chappal bazar, Golnaka and Amberpet. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has called for a 15-day celebration of the countrys 75 years of independence. He wished for a flag atop every house to commemorate the milestone implying that there was a requirement for 1.20 crore flags. There are around ten such flag-making units in the city. One of them at Chappal Bazar is promoted by Aekkala Nandu. It has a work-force of 100 employees. This is the first time we have got such a big order for the national tricolor. We are refusing many orders so that we can deliver on time. The basic size of the flag is 3.5 ft x 2 ft, whereas the orders placed are for 20 inches by 30 inches and 21 inches by 14 inches. Padmawathi Parikala has a tailoring unit at Golnaka that employs 60 women who stitch the flags. Sunitha D, a tailor, it is a good augury as many small tailors are getting work. They all can make a decent earning. HYDERABAD: With Muharram slated for August 9, city police commissioner C.V. Anand on Thursday held a coordination meeting with Shia community members at Salarjung museum and took their opinions on security, traffic and other arrangements. The city police have already conducted internal meetings and discussed elaborate bandobast. Along with Rapid action force, police platoons and SHE teams will be deployed to keep a watch on eve-teasers. He apprised them about the G.O. issued by the state government to provide an elephant for the procession and urged them to take measures for the safety of the animal. Thousands of Shia Muslims will be taking part in the mourning procession, a 400-year tradition marking the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. It will start from Bibi-ka-alam, Dabeerpura and pass through CharminarGulzar house, Purani Havel, Darulshifa before culminating at Chaderghat. The BJP state chief opined that the MPs remark indicated that the Congress party was not happy to make a tribal woman as the President of India. He slammed the Congresss narrow-mindedness toward the tribals. PTI Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party BJP president Somu Veerraju demanded stringent action against Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary for his Rashtrapatni remark on President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday. Speaking to media persons, he said that the Congress MPs remark humiliated the highest constitutional post and asked as to why he was not expelled from the Congress party. He opined that the MPs remark indicated that the Congress party was not happy to make a tribal woman as the President of India. He slammed the Congresss narrow-mindedness toward the tribals and particularly, a tribal woman who became inspirational to scores of people by holding such a highest constitutional post in the country. The BJP senior leader called upon the party cadre to stage a protest at all district headquarters against the Congress. IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Friday castigated the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, as ITIR project for Hyderabad stood scrapped. (Photo: Twitter) HYDERABAD: IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Friday castigated the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, terming it as a curse on Telangana, following a statement by the Union government in Parliament that the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) project for Hyderabad stood scrapped. The BJP government at the Centre was indulging in cheap politics, Rama Rao said, adding that the Modi government scrapped the ITIR project because the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) was politically opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Calling scrapping of the ITIR shameful, Rama Rao said the statement of Union minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Parliament clearly showed how the Modi government had cheated the people of the country. Severely criticising the Centre, Rama Rao said there was no truth in its claim that it granted other projects to compensate for the ITIR project. He said it was incorrect on the part of the Centre to say that the ITIR was scrapped because it sanctioned smart cities and industrial corridors to Telangana. He ridiculed the BJP government for claiming to have scrapped a project dedicated for IT sector development in lieu of other non-IT projects. Telangana did not benefit even from the schemes that the Union government claims to have extended. This shows the intellectual bankruptcy of the Modi government, Rama Rao added. The BJP-governed states like Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh received huge funds under various Central schemes. But when it comes to Telangana, every penny is counted and shown as a reason to scrap projects, Rama Rao said. What has the Modi government given to Hyderabad as ITIRs replacement? The Prime Minister must answer, he demanded. Lying was in the BJPs DNA, he said, and added that Union minister Chandrasekhar effortlessly did the same now. Despite several pleas to the Prime Minister and other Union ministers during visits to Delhi by him and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, there was no positive response even after continuous persuasion from their side, he said. Rama Rao also said after witnessing the Centres inaction, he gave multiple representations to announce any scheme that would boost Hyderabads IT sector, on the lines of ITIR project. But not a single penny was sanctioned for Hyderabads IT sector, he added. Modi must apologise to the youth of Telangana for failing to deliver on his promises, Rama Rao said. An artist paints a mural based on Covid-19 coronavirus safety protocols on the walls of an underpass during an ongoing weekend curfew imposed in New Delhi. (Photo: AFP) It is a global warning. The cosy thought that it-cant-happen-here is past its expiry date. It can, and it will. African researchers have been sounding the alarm about monkeypox outbreaks for years. It was shrugged off as an African problem. Today, it is spreading across the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the disease a global health emergency. More than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported from 78 countries. At the time of writing, there have been four cases in India, the most recent one in New Delhi. The patient has no history of foreign travel. Another telling development -- the United States just reported its first polio case in nearly a decade. Then, there are heatwaves, exacerbated by climate change. These are no longer confined to countries fabled for their hot weather. This summer, Europe, which is known for its temperate climate, has been frying in devastating heat. Nearly 2,000 people are reported to have died of intense heat in the Iberian Peninsula alone this year. Do the converging public health and environmental crises offer teachable moments? The short answer -- a resounding yes! First, traditional labels like developing country and developed country no longer apply in many situations. We know this from our experience, and we should remember it as we brace ourselves for another public health emergency while continuing to grapple with the long shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. Second, the health and environmental crises of today with their attendant economic, political and cultural impacts recognise no borders. Everyone is affected, though not equally. No one can afford to think that he or she is somehow immune to whatever is ravaging denizens of poorer and distant lands. Third, it is time to accept that no country in the world is fully prepared for the uncertainties of the present and the foreseeable future, and that the Global South and the Global North do not exist in silos. Both can and must learn from each other. Preparedness, to the extent possible, is critical and collaboration will be key to survival. Heat is Europes deadliest natural disaster. In the last four decades, between 76,000 and 128,000 people have died in heat waves, said an article in Politico, citing European Economic Area data. What is interesting is that high heat-related fatalities over the past decades have been recorded not just in Spain or Italy, but also in Germany. In a recent report titled How can Europe adapt to extreme heat, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) explored solutions that other regions have used to alleviate the risks of extreme heat. Europe has stepped up preparedness since the deadly summer of 2003, when temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius led to hospitals in France being overwhelmed by patients, particularly the elderly, the report said. Now, many European cities have surveillance systems and heat action plans. The DW report cautioned against treating high temperatures as a novelty and flagged good practices from countries more experienced in dealing with extreme heat. It cited the example of Ahmedabads heat action plan, set up in 2013 in response to a heat wave in 2010 that led to over 1,000 deaths. Ahmedabad in western India, which suffers from regular bouts of extreme heat, has developed a series of Heat Action Plans in the last decade that coordinate responses between the state and local communities. When a heat alert is issued, warnings are delivered by TV, radio and text message, and a special heat hotline is advertised in public spaces. Community health groups are tasked with reaching the vulnerable; employers are urged to provide shade and rest for workers, many of whom labour outdoors; and temples, libraries and bus stops are repurposed as cooling centres and water distribution points, it said. Employers in Europe will have to change their attitudes to working outdoors or in poorly ventilated spaces, even if it comes at the cost of productivity, the DW report noted. As the climate crisis continues to trigger heatwaves around the world and temperatures shoot up, rich and poor countries are faced with the question of how to remain liveable. Some can temporarily protect themselves with air-conditioning and working indoors but this is not sustainable. Extreme and unseasonal heat also impacts agriculture as we saw with the wheat crop in northern India. Soaring temperature poses risks to critical infrastructure too. In London, Luton airport had to suspend flights after heat damaged the runway. In France, nuclear power plants had to modify their operations as the cooling water became too warm. What can India learn from these converging crises? The key takeaway -- we cannot afford to be complacent and preparedness is everything, whether in dealing with monkeypox or heatwave or the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. India lost tens of thousands of people during the HIV and AIDS epidemic because many in decision-making positions at that time believed it cant happen here and that it was a problem of the West and Africa. We were proved wrong. It is important to remember that in the time of monkeypox. The affected numbers are still very small but in this interconnected world, nothing is far. In many countries, monkeypox is being framed as a gay disease. That kind of labelling is unhelpful and fuels stigma. What needs to be stressed is that some cases have been identified through sexual health clinics in communities of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, but it is important to note that the risk of monkeypox is not limited to men who have sex with men, WHO points out. The key message -- anyone who has close contact with someone who is infectious is at risk. The last case of polio in India was reported in Howrah, West Bengal, on January 13, 2011. Since then, India has been polio-free. But the recent polio case in the United States is a reminder that one can never say never and yet another signal that more disease tracking is critical. It is also a clarion call to all countries to invest in better surveillance networks, including wastewater monitoring. In the time of pandemics and climate change, no problem can be dismissed as someone elses headache. All countries are at risk of frequent extreme weather events. Diseases dont recognise demarcations between the Global North and the Global South. Vaccines and drugs developed for smallpox may work well against monkeypox but as with Covid-19, equitable distribution and access to vaccines will be the key issue. The vulnerabilities are global. The response has to be necessarily global. Or else all of us will be much worse off. The Narendra Modi government, which saw Air India and the civil aviation business as no longer viable or sustainable for public investment and chose to exit, sees a very significant social purpose in the huge investment the need to extend 4G services to the rural market. DC Image With an approach contrasting with the case of Air India, or potential plans for some financial PSUs ahead, the Central government has decided to continue to bet, and bet big, on a loss-making public sector behemoth, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), by deciding to invest Rs 1.64 lakh crores to absorb all its debts. Out of the total bailout package, Rs 1.2 lakh crores would be non-cash, and the remaining nearly Rs 44,000 crores would be in cash. The Narendra Modi government, which saw Air India and the civil aviation business as no longer viable or sustainable for public investment and chose to exit, sees a very significant social purpose in the huge investment the need to extend 4G services to the rural market. This is line with a policy to have one major PSU in each crucial sector of the economy where the government realised private players would not be able to play a role in non-profitable endeavours for a larger cause. Earlier, the MTNL was merged into BSNL, too, moving towards the integration of all public investments within the sector. In the decision to revive the BSNL, the government would also merge another PSU, the Bharat Broadband Network Ltd, with the former. The government is expressing a welcome conviction to connect every gram panchayat in India with high speed Internet, which is a step towards building infrastructure for inclusion of villages. As the minister proclaimed, both market stability and national security were key considerations behind the move. The decision demonstrates that the Modi government, while being a votary of continuing liberalisation and reforms, approaches it with a pragmatic mindset rather than an ideological either-or viewpoint. Such a moderate approach bodes well. India on Thursday tacitly conveyed its concerns over Chinas purported plan to send a research ship to Hambantota Port of Sri Lanka for about a week, apparently for surveying the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean. New Delhi is assessing the implications of the proposed visit of Chinas scientific research vessel Yuan Wang 5 to Hambantota Port of Sri Lanka on the security and economic interests of India. A source in New Delhi said that India had also taken up the issue with the new Sri Lankan government led by Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. Beijing has since long been known for using its research ships not only for collecting hydrographic data but also for maritime surveillance and gathering intelligence, be it in the South China Sea or the East China Sea, or in other locations in the Indo-Pacific. New Delhi is particularly concerned over Chinas bid to build strategic maritime assets around India and its Peoples Liberation Army Navys repeated forays in the Indian Ocean region. We are aware of the reports of a proposed visit of this vessel at Hambantota Port in August, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), told journalists in New Delhi. He was responding to a question on Indias view about the proposed visit of the research vessel of China. The government carefully monitors any developments having a bearing on India's security and economic interests, and takes all necessary measures to safeguard them. I think that should be a clear message, added the MEA spokesperson. Chinas debt-trap diplomacy had earlier made Sri Lanka lease out its Hambantota Port for 99 years, causing security concerns for India. After the Rajapaksa Clan had regained power in Colombo with Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa taking over as president and prime minister in 2018 and 2019 respectively, China had restarted its attempts to pull the Indian Ocean nation into its orbit of geopolitical influence. Apparently, at the behest of China, the government led by the Gotabaya and Mahinda scrapped a trilateral treaty Sri Lanka had earlier signed with India and Japan for the development of the East Container Terminal of the Colombo Port. It had also got Sri Lankan Parliament pass the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill, which would eventually create an overseas colony of China less than 300 kilometers away from the southern tip of India. New Delhi, however, had reached out to the Rajapaksa Clan in its bid to claw back the strategic space Xi Jinpings Middle Kingdom had wrested from it in the Indian Ocean nation. It had managed to get Sri Lanka award the contract for the West Container Terminal to Adani Group of India in September 2021. After Sri Lanka plunged into an economic crisis early this year, India has so far provided assistance worth over US $ 3.8 billion to help the cash-strapped island nation and also sent consignments of food, fuel, medicines, fertilizers and other essentials. The PLA navy had deployed its 35th Task Force in the Indian Ocean region in April 2020 just a few days before the military stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China in eastern Ladakh had started. China had also deployed a fleet of underwater drones (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles) in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Navy had earlier in September 2019 spotted and chased away Chinas research vessel Shiyan 1 in the Exclusive Economic Zone of India near the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Chinese PLAN had also deployed submarines in the Indian Ocean, including Shang class Type 093 nuclear powered ones. Though Beijing publicly said that the deployment was intended to step up patrolling on the sea lanes to protect vessels from pirates, New Delhi has been suspicious about the PLA Navys moves in the region. Track latest news and updates from India and across the world, only with DH. A recent sit-in protest by a group of people, in front of a ruling CPI(M)-controlled co-operative bank with the body of a woman, alleging that it denied money for her treatment although the family had deposited lakhs of rupees in it, has snowballed into a political controversy, following which Kerala Social Justice Minister R Bindhu offered to support the depositors. Cooperative Minister V N Vasavan, however, rejected the charge of the deceased woman's family that the bank had refused to give them money despite repeated plea, and said as much as Rs 4.60 lakh had been provided from their deposit based on requests. He also said a total of Rs 38.75 crore, deposited by people in the Karavannur Cooperative bank in this district, which is now facing charges, had already been returned. The Cooperative bank has been in news for the last one year after a Rs 100 crore loan scam was reported there and also over the protest staged by investors demanding their money back. Bindhu, who represents Irinjalakuda in the state Assembly where the bank is located, said the matter was taken up with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Co-operative Minister V N Vasavan assured to give Rs 25 crore to the bank immediately to resolve its issues. Read | Kerala: Co-operative banks put investors in dire straits "As the bank is located in my constituency, it is my responsibility to stand with the affected people.... The Co-operative minister informed that Rs 25 crore will be made available to the Karavannur Bank," she told reporters here. Her assurance came a day after she was widely criticised for her comments justifying the authorities of the scam-hit bank, saying it had already released money for the treatment of Philomina, a 70-year-old depositor who died early this week following an infection in brain. Bindhu had called the protest 'politically motivated' and said it was not right to use a person's dead body for political gains. "A section of the media has shown only edited portions of my statement and presented it in a bad light," she said, adding that her remarks were misinterpreted. Vasavan, in a press meet, said action would be taken on the complaints lodged by the family of the deceased woman depositor after considering the joint registrar's report in this connection. Cooperative additional registrar was entrusted with the inquiry into their allegations of rude behaviour displayed by the bank employees when they were approached for money for Philomina's treatment, he said. On a question, the minister also said there are 164 groups in the state cooperative sector which are unable to return the invested amount to the depositors due to various reasons and majority of them were welfare societies, residence association cooperative societies and labour cooperative societies. Meanwhile, CPI district leadership criticised the government for the delay in constituting a consortium as promised to protect the bank when the scam was detected a year ago. "Since the beginning, the CPI has taken a stand that the deposits of the people should be protected and it should be given back to them on time. We also demanded that legal proceedings be initiated against the accused in the case," CPI district secretary K K Valsaraj said. Following our stand, the minister had given assurance in the state Assembly that no depositor would lose their money. It is almost a year now but the assurance to form a consortium to address the concerns of depositors is yet to be fulfilled, he said and requested the concerned ministers to speed up steps in this regard. Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan said it was not just the issue of Karavannur co-operative bank, but depositors of as many as 164 such banks across Kerala are facing serious circumstances of not getting their invested money back. "For the last one year, the opposition UDF has been demanding guarantees for the money deposited in co-operative banks. Despite mere assurances that necessary steps will be taken in this regard, the government has not taken any action so far," he said. Targeting Minister Bindu over her remarks on Philomina's death, Satheesan said it was "unfortunate" and "condemnable". He also urged the Left government to give assurances to the depositors of all the 164 co-operative banks, which are in crisis, to return their deposit at the earliest. An alleged Rs 100 crore loan scam was reported in Karavannur co-operative bank here in July 2021, following which a case was registered against six bank officials and inquiry launched. After several people including local customers raised apprehensions about the bank's functioning, an audit was conducted there recently, in which the charges were reportedly found to be true. During the inspection, it was also found that loans were sanctioned on the property pledged by local customers without their knowledge and the loan amount was credited multiple times to the selected account. Following the allegations, the 13-member committee of the Marxist party-ruled bank was disbanded. An Audi sedan, in which a 10-year-old girl and her parents were found dead, is raised from waters in Wando County, South Jeolla Province, June 29. Police concluded that the parents took sleeping pills and plunged the vehicle into the water to kill themselves and their daughter. Newsis By Ko Dong-hwan The number of murder-suicides committed by Korean parents against their young children is rising as a tragic new social concern, prompting experts to urge the government to come up with safety nets to protect vulnerable families. In one of the latest incidents in late June, a family of three was found dead inside their sedan that plunged into the waters of Wando County in South Jeolla Province. A police investigation found traces of sleeping pills inside their bodies and concluded the parents had acted to kill themselves and to take the life of their 10-year-old daughter. Authorities also found the family from Gwangju was suffering from financial hardship. On July 25, a Seoul district court sentenced a 44-year-old woman to 20 years in jail and a 10 year employment ban from working with children for strangling her two sons, aged 9 and 10, to death in the city's Geumcheon District in April this year. Suffering from economic hardship resulting from her husband's huge debt, she killed her children and then attempted to kill herself three times. She turned herself in to police two days after the murders. The number of people taking the lives of their children and their own accounts for only a small percentage of the overall suicides in the country. According to records from 2013 to 2017, there were 269 deaths of parents who killed their children 0.44 percent of the overall suicides during the period. The figure translates to 0.11 for every 100,000 members of the population. It is difficult to compare internationally as only few countries have official statistics in this regard. According to state-run TV broadcaster KBS, the Netherlands compiles such statistics and the figure is 0.05 for every 100,000 members of the population, leading experts to believe that the rate in Korea is relatively high. Other data from the state-run Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice show that the number of deaths in murder-suicides including cases of attempted suicides from 2000 to 2019 was 426 and that 58 percent of those deaths were of a murdered spouse or child. The issue has become a flashpoint after experts have pointed out that the country has been neglectful in keeping records of murder-suicides and preparing precautionary measures. Experts say that the top cause was chronic economic hardship more frequent than feeling despair and encountering a financial problem and many of the parents couldn't bear the thought of their children being left alone and helpless after the parent's suicide. The Korean courts also have been handing out lighter sentences to parents who kill their child, which could have contributed to the increase of murder-suicides. During the past decade, 29 people in the country were indicted for killing their children and attempting to kill themselves. Only five of them received a penalty generally considered "heavy" prison terms of 16 years or longer and four of them received suspended penalties. The courts saw the parents' "remorse" as a reason for reducing the severity of their punishments. Experts say such decisions by judges are problematic, adding that their point of view is more aligned with the murderers than the victims. Parents' recognition of their children as their "property" in Korean society is considered another reason behind the high number of murder-suicides, according to experts. "Parents, no matter how desperate the situation they are in, don't have the right to control the lives of their children," said an official from international NGO Save the Children. "The core problem is that they don't see their children as independent human beings." The official also referred to examples in advanced countries where the killing of children is dealt with seriously and, upon identification of parents' motivations, preventive measures are actively devised and introduced. "We need to start building a database accounting for these deaths and use it as a basis to set up a safety net of our own," said the official. A student association on Friday alleged that the seats reserved for OBC, SC and ST categories were not filled up while admitting students to the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) for the academic year 2021. Members of the Students Association of FTII also staged a protest on campus against the "gross mockery of reservation" at the country's premier film and television training institute. The FTII published its final merit list for the academic year 2021 on July 26, 2022, the association said in a release. The admission process took place after a year's delay, said a student. "Many seats, as well as waitlist positions in the OBC, SC and ST categories, have not been filled, citing reasons of ineligibility," the association alleged. Students staged protests at the gate of FTII by holding placards with messages such as "Inequality in Admission", "Resist Attack on Reservation", "Discrimination" and "Don't Subvert Reservation". FTII authorities told the association that many candidates in the reserved cateogry did not secure the cut-off percentage, it claimed. The FTII director's office did not respond to a request for reaction to the allegations. Youth delegates from 13 tiger range countries met virtually on Friday, coinciding with the Global Tiger Day, advocating action for inclusive tiger conservation. We need youth to call out, fight for and take action for tigers because when we save tigers, we save so much more. You dont have to be a conservationist to have a positive impact on nature or tigers, said Dr Sejal Worah, Programme Director, WWF India. Also Read: India lost over 1,000 tigers since 2012; Madhya Pradesh saw maximum deaths You can have a positive impact on tigers in any capacity as a lawyer, artist, businessperson, writer, bureaucrat, engineer, poet or doctor. All can contribute to conservation as long as your belief and desire to protect nature remains strong and firm,'' Dr Worah said at the International Tiger Youth Summit (ITYS) 2022. The student delegation consisted of representatives from each of the 13 tiger range countries Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. The Indian delegation was represented by Chinmayi Ramasubramanian, a 17-year-old class 10 student from Bengaluru, and Soumil Nema, a 20-year-old college student from Hyderabad. Youth representatives had an interactive session with the panel of tiger experts to discuss critical conservation challenges and get a wider perspective of tiger conservation across the globe. The key point of the Summit was the student delegates announcing their recommendations highlighting the need to protect the tiger and contributing to the preparation of the 2022-23 Global Tiger Recovery Programme. Also Read: Wayanad tiger now famous in France through tales, online game The young leaders called on the governments of their respective countries to consider their recommendations for the prevention of tiger poaching and the restoration of their entire ecosystem. They advocated the creation of job opportunities for local communities near protected areas, to better protect these areas from poaching, to ensure that there is no conversion of tiger habitat for other purposes, and to increase forested areas and monitor the ecological base upon which the tiger depends. The event was graced by the presence of renowned experts and advocates of tiger conservation from around the world speaker Stuart Chapman, Lead, Tigers Alive Initiative; panelists Dr Rajesh Gopal, Secretary-General, Global Tiger Forum; Sophia Lim, CEO of WWF Malaysia; Dr Henry Chan, Conservation Director of WWF Malaysia; Dr Sejal Worah, Programme Director, WWF India; Dr Dipankar Ghose, Director, Landscapes & Habitats, WWF India; Tshering Tempa, Head, Bhutan Tiger Centre; and Emmanual Rondeau, filmmaker and photojournalist. During my several visits to the Indonesian island Java, I have been drawn to the Museum Nasional Indonesia in Jakarta because of its rich collections of Hindu-Buddhist sculptures, inscriptions and ethnographic objects. This museum is in a Dutch colonial building west of Merdeka Square near the Arjuna Wijaya fountain in central Jakarta. In the front hall of the museum, the first sculpture that one comes across among numerous Hindu-Buddhist deities is a seated Ganesha statue from the eighth century AD. The statue is made of andesite stone and was once enshrined in an ancient temple called Candi Banon in Central Java near Borobudur. In Bahasa language, Candi means temple, and Banon means brick. Statues were recovered from central Java in 1904 and then transferred to the Jakarta museum. Four other slightly larger-than-life statues of Hindu deities in Candi Banon are Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva Mahadeva and Agastya. Because of their iconic nature, one can find images of the Ganesha and Vishnu statues on Indonesian postage stamps. The seated Ganesh statue's feet touch together, displaying a Javanese element. The garments and girdles on the Vishnu statue resemble the Pallava-early Chola style of south India. Leiden University's digital collection shows that a finely carved statue of Garuda was mounted behind the Vishnu statue, which had been lost. Unlike the other statues, the lower body of the Brahma statue had also been lost. The face of the Shiva statue is partly damaged, but the bull below him identifies him as Shiva. The statue of the Hindu sage Agastya has a pointed beard and a pot belly, reflecting a style that has its roots in Southern India. Early records of excavation work at the Candi Banon site in 1904 suggest that it was located about two kilometres east of Borobudur in Central Java. It was a west-facing temple. The disappearance of the main structure of the Candi Banon temple was reported by the Dutch historian N. J. Krom as early as 1923. In a 1976 publication, deceased Indonesian archaeologist R. Soekmono placed the temple ruin location more precisely northwest of the existing Pawon temple on the west coast of the Progo river in Magelang regency of Central Java. After my trips to this neighbourhood in Central Java, I found a rare picture of the excavated ruin in a 1987 publication of R. Soekmono. Probably this picture was taken much earlier, possibly in the early 1900s. Only the brick foundation of the temple, pedestal-like structures and architectural fragments are seen in this picture. Art historians believe that Candi Banon was made of perishable organic materials like wood and was open on all sides like a pendopo or pendhapa (a cognate to Sanskrit mandapa). Essentially a pavilion-like construction with a square or rectangular base made of bricks with wooden pillars supporting the roof. The disappearance of the Candi Banon temple is believed to be due to erosion of perishable materials used in the temple's construction and the possible pilferage of bricks by locals. Several Hindu deities and ritual objects were unearthed in Java in the last decade while digging for construction projects. A notable discovery in 2009 was a ninth-century AD Shiva sanctuary with Ganesha and linga in the courtyard of the library (pustakasala) of the Islamic University of Indonesia at Yogyakarta. It was renamed from Pustakasala temple to Kimpulan temple after the name of the nearby village Kimpulan. Unlike the Candi Banon temple, the remains of this Shiva temple are kept at their original site, and the ritual objects are displayed in an adjacent museum. (The author is a New York-based writer with a deep interest in Asian art, architecture and cultures of maritime and land Silk Roads) "The murder of district Yuva Morcha Leader Praveen Nettaru is not being seen as a mere murder case but as a systematic act of terrorism aimed at destroying democracy and rule of law," stressed Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, adding that the investigation is also proceeding on the same direction. "Prima facie this is a pre-planned murder. The assailants with the support of anti-social elements have boldly executed the murder," the CM asserted after interacting with the grieving members of Praveen's family in Nettaru near Bellare village on Thursday. The case is being investigated under the directions of ADGP (Law and Order) Alok Kumar. The interrogation of anti-social elements engaged in crimes for decades has begun and the role of organisations and their nexus with these anti-social elements are being monitored, he said. Bommai did not rule out the possibility of Praveen's assailants escaping to Kerala. Investigations are underway and suspects are being interrogated. Based on their information all accused involved in the murder will be arrested soon, the CM assured. He clarified that the murder's relation to the Masood murder case will be known after investigation. BJP leaders from Kasargod, Kerala met Bommai and urged him to suspend police officials who had caned a senior BJP leader P Ramesh from Kasargod. Party workers who were present at the spot again shouted slogans against BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel. Police expecting trouble from Hindu activists had beefed up security at Praveen's house in Nettaru and Bellare. After the arrival of CM Bommai, only a few relatives were allowed to enter the house. Home Minister Araga Jnanendra was also present. 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 who stored the gun used in the killing of Lyra McKee has been refused bail. Niall Sheerin, 29, from Tyrconnell Street in Derry appeared via videolink before Belfast Crown Court on Thursday. Sheerin applied for bail on the grounds of compassionate leave to help his wife with their newborn son. In May, Sheerin admitted the "second limb" of a charge of possessing the gun used in Ms McKee's killing. Ms McKee was observing rioting in Derry's Creggan estate when she was shot dead on 18 April 2019. She was 29 years old. Sheerin is in custody ahead of his sentencing, which is due on September 2. His barrister told the court Sheerin was going through a "particularly difficult time". He said Sheerin would "comply with any conditions that the court would impose on him for this short period of compassionate leave". However, the prosecution opposed bail, telling the court that it was a very serious offence, and it was not an appropriate application to make. The judge agreed and denied bail. A County Derry woman who was widowed at the age of 28 after her husband died from injuries he sustained in the Claudy bombing says she will never forget the horror and devastation she witnessed on that day. Artie Hone, an insurance collector, was seriously injured when the first bomb went off in Claudy. He died in hospital 12 days later. On what should have been a normal working day for the popular 38 year-old, the British Army also began 'Operation Motorman'. The operation took place in the early hours of July 31, 1972 with troops moving into 'no-go areas' in Belfast, Derry and other large towns. At that time, the father-of-two was working in Derry's Bogside, however when word came through that the bridge was closed off, he decided to go down into the village to make a phone call to his employers to inform them he couldn't get into work. As Artie, a talented musician who played in a band at Dungiven Castle, scooped up his daughter Michelle, then aged four, and placed her in the car, his wife Anne asked him to call into McElhinney's shop on the way back to buy some mince for dinner. When Artie was making his way back from the shop to get into the car, the first bomb went off. Michelle (pictured right) with older brother Paul was in her father's car when the first bomb went off. Recalling the terror she felt after hearing the explosion from their home at the top of the brae on Claudy's Main Street, Anne and her six year-old son Paul made their way on foot down the street towards the carnage. I was here in the house when it went off and I thought 'that's a bomb', said Anne, who met Artie while he was playing violin and she was an Irish dancer. I took Paul with me and I ran down the street. I left Paul at the intermediate school and told him to stand there. I ran on down and I met the local headmaster just at the entrance to what we call the cow market square. "He wouldn't let me go down the street. I think he knew that Artie was very badly injured. I stood there and then some woman came along carrying Michelle. "Brendan Burns came back to tell me that Artie was badly injured and that he was going to hospital. He wouldn't let me down because it was all head injuries that he had. Holding Michelle tightly in her arms, a frantic Anne made her way towards the cow market where moments later a second bomb went off. A large piece of debris from the vehicle which had exploded just seconds earlier narrowly missed the pair, landing at their feet. There was so much panic, continued Anne. The street was covered in glass and rubble and there was black smoke everywhere it was surreal. Concerned for the safety of her son, Anne attempted to make her way back towards the school where she had left Paul. I remember when the second explosion went off and all I could think of was 'how am I going to get back up home and up to Paul?' I knew I couldn't get back up by Eakin's Garage as that was on the Main Street and there was a bomb there," she said. "I went over by the chapel grounds, the old school and the parochial house was there at that time. I went up by there and Paul was still standing there. Artie and Anne pictured on their wedding day. "I was so relieved to get to the house and then my father just appeared at the door. He was actually coming into Claudy from Park that morning but he wasn't there when the bomb went off. Remarkably, Michelle just sustained a small cut behind her ear and her dress was covered in glass after the roof of the car caved in on her. Artie, meanwhile, was taken by ambulance to Altnagelvin Hospital. My uncle Fr McGaughey was a priest in the Longtower at that time. My father phoned him to tell him what happened and he said 'don't come into the hospital until four o'clock because Artie is away to theatre', said Anne. We did go in at four o'clock and I didn't recognise him. His face was swollen, his head was all covered in bandages. I spoke to him and he definitely did move his hand at that time but 12 days later he was gone. "He never improved any. I think my father was told that he had lost so much brain fluid that if he had lived he would have been left in a vegetative state. Widowed at the age of 28 with two young children, the pain of staying in Claudy was too much for Anne and she moved back to her parents' home in Park for six weeks. However, with a hairdressing business in the village and a young family to provide for, Anne had no choice but to return to her work in September. Artie was a devoted and loving father to his two children Paul and Michelle. Artie's untimely death had a massive impact on the family with the children missing having their father there for all the important milestones in their lives. Michelle kept asking for a long time afterwards where her daddy's feet were and I couldn't figure out what that was about, Anne continued. We were talking it over with my mother and father and it seems Artie was lying on the footpath and she must have seen his feet when she was lifted out of the car. That was what she was talking about. For a long time when I was coming down the Main Street and there was parked cars on the two sides of the street I was a bit scared passing them because I was always thinking about the bombs. Sometimes you think to yourself if it had been ten minutes this way or ten minutes that way he would have been back up home again. I had sent him into the shop to get a message and I would often think to myself if I hadn't sent him to the shop he would have been alright. Twenty eight years after the atrocity, Anne met Ballerin man Michael Bradley who she later married. I was 28 when Artie was killed and I was 28 years on my own before I met Mickey. Paul and Michelle, who are very, very good to me, were both married and they had their own families and had moved on by then. I was here on my own and I am very lucky that I met Mickey, she continued. Despite the passage of time, Anne still bears the emotional scars from that dark Monday 50 years ago. Until the day I die I will never forget that day, she added. This weekend will be an extremely poignant one in the city and in the village of Claudy as families and communities gather to remember those who died in the Claudy massacre and Operation Motorman. Sunday, July 31 marks the 50th anniversary of both events and a series of commemorative events has been organised for the coming days. Speaking to Derry News, Margaret Brady (nee Hegarty) said her family was erecting a plaque outside their childhood home, 114 Creggan Heights, to mark the 50th anniversary of the murder of their brother Daniel during Operation Motorman. The unveiling will take place at 2.00pm and everyone will be welcome as the family would be glad of the support. Daniel Hegarty (15) and Seamus Bradley (19) were shot dead by British soldiers during Operation Motorman. Daniels cousin, Christopher, and another man were also shot and critically wounded. The Bradley family are holding a commemoration at Bishop's Field on Sunday at 12.00 noon in memory of Seamus. A second commemoration for Seamus Bradley has been organised by the Creggan Monument Committee. Inviting the community to take part, a post on social media said: There will be a commemoration organised by the Creggan Monument Committee to mark the 50th anniversary of Oglach Seamus Bradley, murdered by the British Army during Operation Motorman, on Sunday, July 31, 1.00pm at the Creggan Monument. All welcome. Fuair se bas ar son saoirse na hEireann. The Claudy massacre saw three bombs rip through the County Derry village, claiming the lives of nine innocent people and injuring numerous others. The victims of the Claudy bombing were: William Temple (16); Patrick Connolly (15); Joseph McCloskey (38); Kathryn Eakin (8); James 'Jim' McClelland (65); Rose McLaughlin (52); David Miller (60); Arthur 'Artie' Hone (38); and Elizabeth McElhinney (59). South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) has been supporting the families over the past year to develop a range of projects and events designed to honour their memory. There will be a public service at the Claudy Memorial and within the main car park at Claudy commencing at 3pm. A publication featuring contributions from the families will also be launched on the day of the anniversary. According to Kenny Donaldson, SEFF's director of services, the bereaved families have shared their lived experiences over recent months with an appointed project facilitator. He added: The schools have also developed a digital-project, working together, in partnership looking at Claudy, the present and what they desire for the future. Plans are also afoot to develop the existing memorial. Students attend a class at an elementary school in Dobong District, Seoul, in this Nov. 22, 2021, file photo. Joint Press Corps Starting as early as 2025, all children in Korea will likely be allowed to enter elementary school one year earlier, according to an education ministry report Friday. Reporting this year's key policy plans to President Yoon Suk-yeol, the ministry said it will soon begin full-fledged discussions on lowering the school starting age from six to five. The ministry said the lowering of the school entry age by one year is expected to go into effect in 2025 at the earliest if there is social consensus. Despite the planned school age change, the nation's current 6-3-3-4 education system six years in elementary school, three years each in middle school and high school, and four years in university will remain unchanged, the ministry said. Under the system, the nine years of elementary and middle school are compulsory. The ministry said the new school age system, if finalized, will be gradually enforced over a period of four years in consideration of limitations in the supply of teachers and school space. "At first, an enforcement period of two years was proposed for the new school age system, but the proposal was abandoned due to an enormous possible confusion," Education Minister Park Soon-ae said. She said whether parents will agree to the new school age system is another variable and her ministry will fully listen to the opinions of school officials, education experts and parents. The minister also said the government will push to integrate kindergartens and child care centers, which are now separately supervised by the education and health ministries, respectively. Child care centers usually accept children who are several months old to five years of age, while kindergartens usually accept children from three years old to around pre-school age. The integration of the two institutions has long been discussed as part of efforts to narrow social disparities. Other policy plans unveiled by the education ministry include strengthening education support for people with disabilities, creating 444 new school classes for multicultural students, providing customized mentoring to the children of North Korea defectors and fostering 1 million digital professionals by 2027 through the establishment of additional vocational high schools, known as "meister" schools, and specialized high schools. (Yonhap) When Derry News advertising manager, Carol O'Hagan, said she would never forget where she was on the day of Operation Motorman, it was not for the same reason as most Derry people. There may have been 1,000 British soldiers and 100 armoured vehicles removing the barricades around Derry's Bogside and Creggan 'no go areas', not to mention and a gun boat on the River Foyle, but Carol was a guest at the wedding of Rose (nee McConnell) and Johnny Killen. I remember the wedding was in the Long Tower Chapel and I wore a dress which was green, white and orange, she smiled. Speaking to Derry News on the occasion of their 40th Wedding anniversary, Johnny and Rose said they had known a number of days prior to the wedding the British army was going to move in. We knew about it all right. The whole of Derry did, but we were still hoping they would put it off so that we could go through with the wedding, said Johnny. Then in the early hours of the wedding day, we heard all the shooting and the bother breaking out, and we knew that was it. Our wedding was at ten o'clock in the morning at the Longtower Chapel and Fr Denis Bradley came straight there from attending young Seamus Bradley." The barricades and checkpoints erected around the city made it impossible for the entire wedding party to attend the ceremony. Rose was living in the Waterside at the time so she was coming over to her mothers at the Lone Moor Road. I was living in Southway, and nothing was getting through. So I went down to the barricade in my suit and flowers, and asked them to let the car through. They relented and allowed one car through the checkpoint, but the whole wedding party, my family and Roses family, had to get in just so we could get to the chapel, said Johnny. Rose said the wedding ceremony itself had been surreal. Father Bradley was conducting the ceremony, and we could all hear the sounds outside of shots and petrol bombs, and the chapel grounds were just filled with soldiers. With the rings exchanged, the happy couple and their guests then faced the daunting task of making their way to the former Quigleys Hotel in Foyle Street for the reception. Johnny recalled: We got back in the same car and drove down Bishop Street as Abercorn Road was blocked off because of the bridge, and then we had to walk along Foyle Street with all our gear on us. So the few of us that were there got our breakfast and we were leaving to go over to Roses mothers house on the Lone Moor, but I was stopped and searched by a soldier. He gave me the full search in the rain and I was drenched. A reporter from The Mirror was there and he asked if could take our picture and do a story on us, and we said all right. But he told us not to smile when the picture was taken. That night the couple left for their honeymoon with Johnnys relatives in East Anglia, but not before an interesting encounter with another Derry couple at the airport. There was a couple at the airport from Creggan, and they had got married that day too, so we were chatting to them how they got on. Weve never seen them since, but Ill always remember that, said Johnny. At the time you were angry, but there really wasnt much you could do about it, you just had to get on with it. The only regret is that a lot of people couldnt actually get to the wedding because of the barricades. But there was never any question of us not going through with it, Rose was up that morning and determined to do it. We were just living in interesting times I suppose. And we never got our deposit back for the reception, Rose added. People in Northern Ireland need clarity on how they will receive a 400 payment in the autumn to help with energy costs, an Alliance Party MLA has said. Kellie Armstrong said Northern Ireland risked being left behind with the scheme due to the lack of a functioning executive at Stormont. It came as the Government revealed households in Great Britain will get more than 60 off their energy bills each month throughout winter as part of its cost-of-living support measures. The money, which is part of a package announced in May this year, will come in six instalments over six months to some 29 million households. Households will see 66 taken off their energy bills in October and November, and 67 between December and March, the Government said. However, there has been uncertainty on how Northern Ireland households will receive the payment to help with energy costs. The region is currently without a functioning executive or Assembly as part of the DUPs protest against the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol. Ms Armstrong said: With repeated energy company price increases, households are concerned how they will be able to afford to heat their homes this winter. The proposed 400 energy support scheme provided some hope for homes. But without a functioning executive working to take decisions, we remain unclear as to how the support payments will be made here this autumn. Questions remain around issues, including if the money is paid to energy companies, how will the public see the benefit? Or will tenants who pay electric money to a landlord be able to see if it has been applied further? She added: Northern Ireland is being left behind because of the lack of a government. The DUP needs to end its boycott, allow the formation of an Executive and let us gain clarity for these support schemes. Earlier this month Stormont Finance Minister Conor Murphy expressed confidence that an agreed mechanism for distributing the cash in Northern Ireland would be found. He said work with Treasury officials on the issue was ongoing. Meanwhile, SDLP MLA Matthew OToole has written to all the caretaker Executive ministers asking them to use every option available to them to support people through the cost-of-living crisis. Mr OToole said: We are in a desperate situation and our politicians are letting people down. I have written to every Executive minister and department asking them if they are doing everything they can to support struggling families. Has a cost-of-living taskforce been established? What support schemes are being put in place and how are we going to deal with winter and the pressures it will bring upon our health service and families? I acknowledge that because of the actions of the DUP our Executive isnt functioning at full capacity, but ministers remain in place and retain significant powers to help and plan for the future. When our institutions are restored we need to be ready to act, we need plans in place to tackle these issues and not the dither and delay that has permeated the halls of Stormont for far too long. One good thing about modern weekend culture is that even if you dont have exciting plans to look for, the abundance of good shows and movies on different over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video keeps things engaging and boredom-free. So, first of all, we will go through some content suggestions for the upcoming weekend and thence get on to the shows and movies releasing this August. Movies And Shows Releasing In OTT This Weekend 1. Masaba Masaba Season 02 (Netflix) In this playful, fictional snapshot into their lives as fashion and film stars, mom-daughter duo Neena and Masaba Gupta play versions of themselves. 2. 777 Charlie (Voot Select) Dharma's negative and lonely lifestyle is keeping him stuck in a rut and he spends every day surrounded by loneliness. A pup named Charlie enters his life and gives him a new perspective. 3. Koffee With Karan Season 7 Episode 4 (Disney+ Hotstar) Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday share their dating stories, the formers B'wood journey, and who they hung out with at KJo's birthday party. There's no holding back for the Liger co-stars as they share it all. 4. Rocketry (Amazon Prime Video) In 1994, Nambi Narayanan, an ISRO scientist, was arrested and accused of being a spy. Despite being free, he continues to seek justice, with the police officials who falsely accused him still at large. 5. Good Luck Jerry (Disney+ Hotstar) The film is an official remake of the 2018 Tamil movie Kolamaavu Kokila, which involves an innocent girl who gets trapped in the world of cocaine smuggling. Movies And Shows Releasing In OTT This August 1. Khuda Haafiz 2 (Zee5): August 8 In this sequel to the 2020 movie, Sameer and Nargis have finally found some happiness and hope in their lives as little Nandini enters their life. But that happiness doesnt last long as Nandini goes wrong. 2. Indian Matchmaking Season 2 (Netflix): August 12 We follow Matchmaker Sima Taparia and her endeavor of finding the right match for their clients in the U.S. and India. We get to see more of the modern lavish arranged marriage process. 3. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Disney+ Hotstar): August 17 We are being introduced to Jennifer Walters, a single, 30-something attorney whose life is complicated by her being a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered Hulk. The show also features her uncle Bruce Banner and possibly Daredevil and other Marvel characters. 4. House of the Dragon (Disney+ Hotstar): August 21 The prequel to the very popular Game Of Thrones (2011-19) shows the family history of the House Targaryen and especially the war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra over the throne after their father Viserys I passes away. 5. Delhi Crime Season 2 (Netflix): August 26 We start from where we left off in the first season as the Delhi Police investigation was very close to finding the culprits of a crime thats based on the Nirbhaya case. 6. Darlings (Netflix): August 5 Darlings stars Alia Bhatt who happens to be the director of the movie too. The story revolves around the lives of a daughter and mother who find the courage to challenge a toxic man in the formers life. 7. Shamshera (Expected to arrive on Amazon Prime Video on August 22) It is the story of the leader of the Khameran tribe, Shamshera, and his son Balli who are fighting to free their tribe from the shackles of the British Empire. In the movie, their main antagonist is Shudh Singh, a cruel and bigoted officer of the Imperial Army. 8. Never Have I Ever Season 3 (Netflix): August 12 We continue on the coming-of-age journey with Maitreyi, an American Indian high-schooler. 9. Star Wars Andor (Disney+ Hotstar): August 31 A prequel series to the 2016 Star Wars film Rogue One wherein we see the adventures of thief-turned-Rebel spy Cassian Andor. The show is five years before the events of the movie. 10. The Sandman (Netflix): August 5 An epic fantasy involving magic and otherworldly elements. The less we say, the better about this Neil Gaiman book turned series. As for other news, reviews, feature stories, buying guides, and everything else tech-related, keep reading Digit.in. Apple recently announced that they performed "better than expected" in their third quarter, netting $83 billion as a result. Apple CEO Tim Cook pointed out that the success was thanks in part to a very successful June quarter, with developing and emerging markets showing sizable growth. He mentioned Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, and a near doubling of growth in India. When asked about the factors powering the iPhone's growth in an earnings call with analysts, Cook said, "Its the product and the innovation within the product thats driving it. The other key variables such as size of the installed base have been growing significantly. We also set a June quarter record for switchers with strong double-digit growth that is fuelling the additional install base. We continue to execute across some significant geographies with low penetration of iPhones between Indonesia, Vietnam and India where we did quite well. iPhone tends to be the engine for those markets, particularly at the beginning of creating the market there for Apple products." According to Apple CFO Luca Maestri, Apple services has set "all time records'', in many countries around the world, including the US, Mexico, Brazil, Korea and India. He highlighted that enterprise adoption was pushing Apple in these markets. Companies like Wipro, with increasing investment in Apple products were helping attract and retain new Apple users. Wipro, another large mobile enterprise customer, is investing in MacBook Air with M1 as a competitive advantage when recruiting new graduates globally- thanks to its superior performance and lower total cost of ownership, he added. According to Maestri, Apple believes that its year-over-year revenue growth will accelerate even more during the September quarter, this would be despite the "approximately 600 basis points of negative year-over-year impact from foreign exchange. He added that he expected the supply constraints to be lower next quarter than in the June quarter. Specifically related to Services, we expect revenue to grow but decelerate from the June quarter due to macroeconomic factors and foreign exchange. According to Cook, the majority of the supply constraints last quarter were because of the COVID restrictions which in turn led to the closure of plants and plants running at less capacity for parts of the quarter. Cook also believes that the silicon constraints will be less in the September quarter than they were in June. As reported by Platformer, Instagram is rolling back some features after it was criticized for looking too much like popular Chinese app TikTok. The change comes a day after popular celebrities and influencers took to social media to talk about the recent changes on the social media platform. The features that have been rolled back include Instagram's new full-screen video posts in feeds, and they've even reduced the number of recommended posts popping up in user feeds based on algorithms. This was in addition to the Instagram Reels section which already existed for such posts. Users were complaining that they were seeing a lot more posts from strangers who they weren't following on the platform. Why Meta decided to rollback the new Instagram features In a statement, Meta said, We recognize that changes to the app can be an adjustment, and while we believe that Instagram needs to evolve as the world changes, we want to take the time to make sure we get this right. Meta has bowed down to app users with this rollback, for now. As per their statement, however, it doesn't look like they're going to stop trying to push more such features in the future. Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri released a video a few days ago where he explained why Instagram was pushing new features, however, the majority of the users even then were against the new features. Many users have requested the developers to Make Instagram Instagram Again. While this has led to the current rollback, like we mentioned there's no telling when they might pop-up again. The popular Chinese social media app TikTok is banned in India due to security concerns, as a result, Instagram has been the most popular alternative in the country. However, even Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly acknowledged TikTok's growth in recent years so it makes sense that he's attempting to implement similar features in his own app. Subscriber content preview By DARKO BANDIC Associated Press AP Photo [enlarge] A man waves the Croatian flag next to 'Nevera' electric car parked near the newly built Peljesac Bridge in Komarna, southern Croatia. The country is marking the opening of a key and long-awaited bridge. ZAGREB, Croatia Popular tourist destination Croatia on Tuesday opened a long-awaited bridge connecting two parts of the country's Adriatic Sea coastline while bypassing a small sliver of Bosnia's territory. . . . Members of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) carry a banner in front of the Supreme Court in Seoul, Thursday, to welcome the court's ruling for POSCO to grant the status of regular employees with job security to irregular contract workers dispatched from its subcontractors. Courtesy of KMWU By Park Jae-hyuk Business lobby groups warned that the domestic manufacturing industry will suffer from a sharp rise in labor costs, due to the Supreme Court's latest order for POSCO to hire irregular contract workers who were dispatched from its subcontractors as its regular employees with job security. Upholding the appellate court's ruling, the top court ruled on Thursday in favor of the workers, who filed lawsuits in 2011 and 2016 to demand the status of being regular employees from the steelmaker. According to the Act on the Protection of Temporary Agency Workers, a company should convert dispatched contract workers who have worked for more than two years for the company into regular workers. The justice judged the workers from POSCO's subcontractors to be dispatched workers, dismissing the company's claim that they were not under its direct supervision. The Korean Metal Workers' Union welcomed the ruling, threatening to file additional lawsuits for thousands of other irregular contract workers at POSCO so that they can also be converted into regular employees of the company. POSCO acknowledged the Supreme Court's ruling, saying that it will take follow-up measures in compliance with the court's order. The Korea Iron & Steel Association, where POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo serves as the chairman, however, expressed concerns about potential negative impacts from the ruling. "It will be inevitable that costs will rise in the steel industry, weighing on its productivity," the association said in a statement. The Korea Enterprises Federation criticized the court for not giving enough consideration the nature and characteristics of the contracts with the subcontractors, changing the industry ecosystem and failing to see the reality of the nation's job market. "If the court makes similar judgments, there will be negative impacts on the global competitiveness of Korean companies, as well as on the job market," the federation said in a statement. The Federation of Korean Industries called for a revision in the nation's labor law, claiming that it does not correspond to global standards. At this moment, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, Kia, GM Korea and Hyundai Steel are awaiting the Supreme Court's decisions on similar lawsuits. The lower courts ruled against the three carmakers, supporting irregular workers. If all companies lose in their legal disputes, they are expected collectively to spend at least 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) on wages for their regular employees who have been converted from irregular contract workers. Maharashtra to allot land for $22 bn Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project Maharashtra cabinet is reported to have decided to allot land required for the $22 billion semiconductor and display fabrication project proposed to be jointly implemented by mining and natural resources group Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics major Foxconn. The report comes a day after senior officials of Vedanta and Foxconn called on Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at Mantralaya on Tuesday. We are bringing a proposal before the state cabinet on Wednesday to facilitate investment of Vedanta-Foxconn in Maharashtra. They will bring an investment of over Rs1,58,000 crore in the state," an Indian Express report quoted state's additional chief secretary (industries) Baldev Singh as saying. Vedanta Electronics and Foxconn delegation called on Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mantralaya, this afternoon, to discuss joint venture Vedanta semiconductor and display fabrication city project," deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a Twitter post on Tuesday. AvanStrate Global MD Akarsh K Hebbar, various Foxconn state leadership and investor teams, MIDC and GoM officials were present," he added in another tweet. AvanStrate is a subsidiary of Anil Aggarwal led Vedanta group. Vedanta is in active discussion with the government of Maharashtra for their proposed manufacturing facility for semi-conductors and display fabs. With a high concentration of skilled manpower, connectivity to the port, seamless domestic supply-chain and highly developed industrial infrastructure, Talegaon in Pune has emerged as a prominent option for Vedanta and Foxconn for their $22 billion investment that can generate more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs," the report quoted a press note issued by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) as saying. Earlier, in February this year, Foxconn and Vedanta entered into a joint venture chaired by Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal, where Vedanta will hold 60 per cent. Vedanta group plans to invest up to $15 billion over 5-10 years to make displays and semiconductor chips in India, Group chairman Anil Agarwal said early this year. Separately, Foxconn, the worlds largest contract manufacturer of consumer electronics, had earlier, in 2015, decided not to go ahead with its commitment to invest around $5 billion (over ?35,000 crore) in the state to set up a mobile phone manufacturing unit and allied facilities. The project, which was expected to create 50,000 jobs, was scrapped in 2020 deal could not be carried out owing to Foxconns internal dispute with Apple Inc. The investment commitment made by Foxconn is not coming through, Subhash Desai, industries minister in the previous Maharashtra government said early in January this year. It will not happen in the future as well. While they had taken up land near Navi Mumbai to set up initial facilities, it seems like multiple factors have led to their exit from Maharashtra, he said. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Ltd, trading as Foxconn Technology Group, is a multinational electronics contract manufacturing company with its headquarters in Tucheng, New Taipei, Taiwan. Today, it is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer and the fourth-largest information technology company by revenue. The company is the largest private employer in Taiwan and one of the largest employers worldwide. Foxconn manufactures electronic products for major American, Canadian, Chinese, Finnish and Japanese companies. Notable products manufactured by Foxconn include the BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Kindle, Nintendo 3DS, Nokia devices, Xiaomi devices, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Xbox One. As of 2012, Foxconn factories manufactured an estimated 40 of all consumer electronics sold worldwide. The rate of homelessness in Ireland has risen by more than 30% in the past year, figures show. There were 10,492 adults and children in homeless emergency accommodation at the end of June, according to the latest figures from the Department of Housing. There were 2,478 more people recorded as homeless in June compared to the same period last year when 8,014 people were homeless. This represents an almost 31 per cent increase. The total figure of 10,492 is just shy of the highest homeless figure (10,514) recorded by the Department in October 2019. In total, there were 7,421 homeless adults and 3,071 homeless children recorded in the country last month. In comparison, in June last year, there were 5,847 adults and 2,167 children experiencing homelessness. Housing Minister Darragh OBrien said: The continuing increase in the numbers accessing emergency accommodation is a serious concern. The Government, local authorities and those in our NGO sectors are making every effort to reduce homelessness. Key to this is the delivery of new social housing and boosting overall supply. Social Democrats TD Cian OCallaghan described the figures as a shocking indictment of the Governments failed housing policy. The partys housing spokesman said: Homelessness is near an all-time high. This is a disaster for everyone living in emergency accommodation who does not have a place they can call home. Homelessness has increased by over 31% in the past year while child homelessness is up by 41% during the same period. These figures are a shocking indictment of the Governments failed housing policy. These figures do not include people sleeping rough on our streets, in tents and on couches. There is a complete lack of urgency by the Government in their approach to housing. Homeless organisation, the Simon Communities, called on the Government to take action to move homelessness beyond crisis. The charity has urged the Government to bring 5,000 vacant properties back into use through the Repair and Lease Scheme, for people in homelessness and on the social housing waiting list. It also wants increasing funding towards homeless prevention and reforming HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) rates. Simon Communities head of policy and communication Wayne Stanley said: Were calling on Government to take the necessary steps to move beyond the crisis. Our first priority is to see Government grasp the opportunity that our high vacancy rate affords us, to give relief to some of those men, women and children struggling in homelessness or the thousands more in hidden homelessness. These actions will also build greater capacity in local authorities and create some breathing space in the social housing system while the direct build homes committed to in the Governments strategy Housing for All, come online. Dublin Simon Community spokeswoman Caoimhe OConnell said: It is beyond frustrating to see the number of people residing in emergency accommodation in Dublin climb upwards for yet another month. We have now broken a record we never wanted to reach, with the increase recorded in the June 2022 Homeless Report coming at a time when homeless services are beyond capacity, while housing applications are suffering extreme delays. Ms OConnell also said it is currently taking on average five months for housing applications to be processed. Thats five months of waiting just to get on the waiting list, which can then take several years to yield a house, depending on your situation, she said. The recommended stay in emergency accommodation is six months. She added: We are getting to the point where homelessness is becoming tantamount to a life sentence. Urgent intervention is required to mitigate the long-term impact on the lives of those currently in the system and those who are barely clinging on to their homes as the cost of living and housing crises continue to squeeze them out. Homeless charity Focus Ireland said the homeless figures edging towards a historic high must ignite urgent Government action as the nation faces a social emergency. The organisation said most emergency homeless accommodation is now full, resulting in hidden homelessness where people have to stay in precarious and unsuitable accommodation and it is not reflected in the figures published on Friday. Focus Ireland director of advocacy Mike Allen said: As homelessness rises month on month, it must be clear to everyone that just keeping on doing what we are already doing will not be enough. Local authorities across the country are being driven into desperate attempts to open new homeless shelters when we know that emergency accommodation is not the answer, housing is the answer. People are being urged to take care on or near bodies of water over the August Bank Holiday Weekend. The Irish Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland issued a joint safety statement ahead of the long weekend, as mixed weather including warm sunny spells is expected by Met Eireann. The organisations are asking water users to be particularly mindful by taking preparatory actions such as checking weather forecasts and tide times, and knowing how to spot and safely handle a rip current. Advice includes telling someone your location, wearing a lifejacket, never swimming alone and carrying a reliable means of raising alarm should you get into difficulty (such as a VHF radio or PLB as well as a mobile phone in a waterproof pouch ). Water users should only swim in areas that are supervised by lifeguards or in familiar areas. Kevin Rahill, RNLI Water Safety Lead said, "This weekend will see spring tides so we would encourage anyone planning a walk or activity near the coast to check tide times before venturing out to avoid becoming cut off. "The RNLI is also urging everyone to remember to Float to Live if they do get into trouble in the water this weekend. To do this: lean back, using your arms and legs to stay afloat. Control your breathing, then call for help or swim to safety. In a coastal emergency, call 999 or 112 for the Coast Guard." Irish Coast Guard Operations Manager Micheal OToole also commented, stating, "We wish to thank the public for their cooperation and support and for the responsible approach displayed when participating in any water based or coastal activity. We would also advise people to avoid bringing inflatable toys to the beach, rivers or lake side as users can easily get swept away from the shore." Water Safety Irelands Acting CEO, Roger Sweeney said, "We would advise anyone planning on entering the sea to watch out for rip currents which can be difficult to spot. Rips are sometimes identified by a channel of churning, choppy water on the seas surface. The best way to avoid them is to swim at lifeguarded beach between the red and yellow flags. "Should you find yourself caught in one, dont try to swim against it or you will get exhausted. If you can stand, wade, dont swim. If you can, swim parallel to the shore until free of the rip and then head for the shore." Should anyone get into difficulty or see someone else in trouble, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard Louth Senator Erin McGreehan has welcomed moves by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to strengthen Brexit contingencies for our coastal communities in Louth. In the last number of days, Minister McConalogue has announced a 20m Brexit Sustainable Aquaculture Growth Scheme and a liquidity aid scheme for fisheries cooperatives. Senator McGreehan said: I very much welcome these important contingencies put in place to protect our farming and fishing sectors against the impacts of Brexit. When the Minister visited Louth on his Backing Rural Ireland tour he listened carefully to the people at the coalface of the industry and I hope that our thriving coastal industries can benefit from these opportunities Minister McConalogue visited Louth a few months back and met with the Ferguson family in Cooley Oysters, in Greenore and the Lynchs in Dundalk Bay Seafoods in Clogherhead. These were a small sample of the family businesses in Co. Louth who have been working incredibly hard in their businesses and their communities for decades. The Brexit Sustainable Aquaculture Growth Scheme is based on the Seafood Task Force and will provide 20 million in funding for capital investments to accelerate the sustainable growth of the Aquaculture Sector. While the Brexit Fisheries Cooperative Transition Scheme will introduce liquidity aid of 7.5% of the reduction in fish sales for fishery Co-operatives. These are important investments to grow the sector while protecting coastal communities from Brexit." On Monday 1st August, An Taisce will be hosting a pop-up beach hub event at Templetown Beach for local community members of all ages to engage in coastal environment education and awareness. Louth County Council is encouraging the public to attend the event, which will showcase marine artefacts and have volunteers from An Taisce's Clean Coasts Programme on hand to discuss marine biodiversity, sand identification, tides, and other upcoming Clean Coasts initiatives. Templetown Beach, one of Co. Louths three Blue Flag Status Beaches, will be the first to trial the event before the stand travels to Port beach on the 13th August. 2022 was a record-breaking year for Irish beaches as An Taisce's Coastal Programmes awarded 95 Blue Flags and 62 Green Coast Awards. A Blue Flag award requires several criteria to be met, including lifeguards, safety, excellent water quality, and parking. The Blue Flag standard achieved is a testament to the Local Authority in Co Louth and the various volunteer groups that maintain and clean the beach. You can visit the free beach hub at Templetown beach on Monday 1st August from 11am and at Port beach on Saturday 13th August from 11am. To find out more about Clean Coasts various projects and upcoming campaigns, please visit: www.cleancoasts.org. There has been widespread anger among farming communities over the Governments decision to agree a 25% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector. Many farmers said they have been working towards a target of slashing emissions by 18%, with many hoping it would be capped at 22%. However, the Government confirmed on Thursday that it had settled on the compromised 25% target for the agriculture sector, sparking anger from farming families. Farmers have described it as a unrealistic target, with some cattle farmers believing they will be forced to cull their cattle herd. While the agriculture cuts are incentivised and voluntary, many farmers say there is no clear path on how they will meet the targets. Cork farmer Alan Jagoe said there is a mix of frustration and anger among farmers. There is a lack of information about what does it actually mean for us, he told the PA news agency. Im involved in Irish Farmers Association in Cork at a local level and weve met politicians here over the last couple of weeks and the point we made them was, lets all work together to have an achievable target for farmers. The target that weve been working towards has been 18%, maybe 22% but not 25%. Were producing food on our farms. Were not taking fossil fuels off the ground, we are not mining, we are producing food that we all eat. That has been lost in this debate. We had a pathway and a direction, and I cannot overemphasise enough that the work it would take to get to an 18% target would be absolutely massive. Its a fundamental change in the way we farm, the way we apply our fertilisers, the way we apply our slurry. This is a fundamental policy shift to get to 18% and we were prepared to work towards it, but now we have been given 25%. Its an an unrealistic target to be set. Mr Jagoe, a diary and tillage farmer, is based in the Minane Bridge area of Cork and is in a farm partnership with his brother. The farm has been in his family for several decades. They milk 250 cows, which supports three farm families. I do think there is a bright future in agriculture in Ireland, for farmers, for young people coming in, he added. We want to be able to hand the farm over to the next generation, the same way my dad handed to it us and in the same way his dad handed over to him. Our government said to us that we have to cut back emissions by 25%, with no plan, no direction. What does it mean for us? Are we cutting back by 5% in cows, does it mean any cutback in cow numbers? They have given us no indication of what the future path is. Its just so frustrating to hear the way the tone has turned on particular diary farmers over the last couple of weeks. Mr Jagoe said that every farmer wants to do their bit to make the necessary changes to help the country meet its climate targets. But he warned that the 25% cut in emissions is unachievable. Every farmers wants to do their bit, but do it in a realistic way and reach targets that can be actually be met, he added. Theres no point in setting unachievable targets. To get to 18% was a fundamental shift on the way we farm, and now we have to get to 25%. We are doing all we can. But give us realistic targets that can be met. There are around 130,000 farm families around the country, with many cattle farmers looking after herds of 100 cows or fewer. Cavan farmer Thomas Duffy said reaching the 22% target was going to be a challenge. Mr Duffy, who has 100 diary cows, is the third generation farmer after his grandfather purchased their land in the 1930s. The young farmer is also in a farm partnership with his family. He is sceptical of how the farm community can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. The 22% target was going to be a major challenge for the sector, a very transformative challenge to the sector, he added. It would require widespread uptake of all the measures but we knew that we could achieve 22% if all of the technology became available, and we had 100% adoption. There is a difference in this 3%. The question is whether its going to require a reduction in the national herd, and what form that will take, whether farmers will be obliged to reduce their herd or limit their herd size. If that that is the case, and if we are forced to do that, what will the level of compensation be for the loss of income because it is a loss of income to support our families. Farmers are certainly aware of the change we had to make to reach 18%, but once you go above 18% its difficult. We know we have to change the type of fertiliser that were using, and wed have to reduce the amount of nitrogen that were using and adopt a more clover-based one. Potentially we may have to go one step further and go into multi-species grasslands, which is challenging because we still dont know a lot about how to manage them and how to actually implement them. Mr Duffy said meeting targets will also depend on the advancement of, and implementation of, technology. I will wait to see what the (government) plan is, and we will scrutinise it. If it isnt sufficient, I think we will see major problems coming from the farming community and very angry farmers, he added. One of the other big challenges that we need to face up to is generational renewal. There are more farmers over the age of 75 than there are under the age of 35. In any other sector, that would be a massive red flag. So the question is here, what is the minister going to do about that? Members of the South Chungcheong branch of the Korea Dairy & Beef Farmers Association pour out milk into a basin at a protest in front of the South Chungcheong Provincial Office, July 11. Korea Times file By Lee Kyung-min Fears of a milk supply disruption are mounting, fueled by an impasse between the government and dairy farmers over a move to lower the prices of milk supplied to the confectionery and coffee-making industries, according to officials and the farmers' association, Friday. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs seeks to revise the current supplier-friendly price methods, a move dairy farmers characterized as "irresponsible railroading with total disregard of the far-reaching implications for the agricultural business." The ministry says milk prices remain elevated despite sinking market demand, due in large part to price setting methods tied to production costs, long embraced and demanded by farmers. Farmers are refusing to accept the ministry's plan to lower the per-liter price of milk for processed dairy product makers to 800 won ($0.62), down from 1,100 won, a level farmers currently charge for retail and wholesale milk products. They also oppose the ministry's plan to provide processed milk product makers 200 won in government subsidies for every 1 liter purchase. They dismiss the government's claim that the lower input costs will create demand, backed by many consumers favoring locally produced dairy products over imported ones. Deadlocked negotiations The ministry said negotiations between representatives of the Korea Dairy & Beef Farmers Association will be halted, Thursday, citing "a lack of trust on both sides." "It is meaningless to continue talks when the relationship between the two negotiating parties is defined by distrust," the ministry said in a statement. "We will not resume negotiations until after the trust issue is fully resolved," it added. The deadlock fans concerns of a rapid fall in the self-sufficiency ratio of raw milk production over the past two decades. The percentage fell to 48.1 percent in 2020 from 77.3 percent in 2001. The number of dairy farms slumped to 4,929, down 61.1 percent from 12,827 over the same period. The number of livestock decreased to 410,000, down 25.2 percent from 548,000. Per-capita milk consumption in the same period fell to 31.8 kilograms in 2020, down 12.9 percent from 36.5 kilograms in 2001. In contrast, the figure for processed dairy products including cheese, butter and ice cream rose to 83.9 kilograms over the period, up 31.3 percent from 63.9 kilograms. The rising demand for processed milk products led to local milk production sinking to a total of 2.03 million tons in 2021 from 2.34 million tons in 2001. It pushed up imported milk to 2.51 million tons from 650,000 tons during the same period. EBRD invests 10 million in Croatias first sustainability-linked bond Meritus Ulaganja raising finance for business expansion while committing to social and environmental advancement Investment supports local capital market development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the development of capital markets in Croatia by investing in the countrys first sustainability-linked bond. The Bank is investing 10 million in a 40 million issue by Meritus ulaganja d.d., a leading business process outsourcing (BPTO) provider in south-eastern Europe, active in call centres, information technology and employment services. The holding company and its subsidiaries, which operate under the umbrella of M+ Group, will use the funds to finance further business expansion through acquisitions, while committing to green and sustainable growth. The investment will support the groups plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2027 and to increase the participation of women in management positions to 51 per cent by the end of 2030. Croatias first sustainability-linked bond is also Meritus Ulaganjas debut bond issue. The introduction of sustainability-linked financing to M+ Groups portfolio of financial instruments is a natural step in the groups growing commitment to sustainability and transformation, to ensure that it has a greater positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact. Victoria Zinchuk, EBRD Director for Croatia, said: M+ Groups sustainability-linked bond is a milestone for Croatia as the first instrument of its type issued locally. By issuing this bond, which underpins an ambitious sustainability strategy, the group signals its strong commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, as well as to promoting gender equality in the workplace. We are proud to support M+ Group in its sustainability journey. Darko Horvat, President of the Management Board of Meritus ulaganja, said: M+ Group is strongly committed to sustainability as a crucial element of our business. As a company, we focus on people our employees, clients and their customers. Therefore, we strive to promote equality and diversity, while minimizing our environmental impact. We already proved that by starting regular reporting on sustainability and now we are taking a step further. I am very proud of the fact we were able to pioneer the sustainability-linked bond in the Croatian market. M+ Group is very appreciative of the EBRDs contribution as an investor in this bond, as well as to the development of the Croatian capital market in general, and would like to thank everyone who made this achievement possible. Headquartered in Zagreb, M+ Group is a prominent multinational BPTO service provider, with more than 11,000 employees. Serving a large customer base, it has a broad geographic footprint, operating in 12 countries and catering to close to 60 markets, with a leading position in south-eastern Europe. The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Croatia. The Bank has invested more than 4 billion in the country to date. Its focus in the country is on supporting private-sector competitiveness, developing capital markets and promoting the commercialisation of public companies. Its investments are combined with support for policies that promote a more enabling business environment. Improving access to finance for micro- and women-led enterprises outside Pristina Funds to support investments by small businesses and female entrepreneurs Donor support from Sweden The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is backing women entrepreneurs and small businesses in Kosovo with a new financing package to Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK), a microfinance institution. Some 2 million of the loan package will be allocated to supporting investments by women-led businesses. The funding is secured under the EBRDs Women in Business programme, which promotes womens entrepreneurship and their participation in business by providing access to finance and know-how. The Women in Business programme is supported by the government of Sweden and, since its launch in the Western Balkans in 2014, has reached more than 4,800 female entrepreneurs. The facility will build on the success of the first Women in Business loan extended to AFK back in 2019, which saw investments in production facilities, equipment and improved services. In addition, 2 million will be on-lent to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in an effort to expand access to finance for private firms across the country. AFK aims to reach businesses outside the capital city of Pristina, in particular, and offer financing to new clients. Neil Taylor, EBRD Head of Kosovo, said: The gender gaps remain far too high and limit the countrys economic potential. With support from Sweden, we are pleased to partner again with AFK to reach more women-led businesses, helping them to grow and change the status quo. Supporting MSMEs and addressing inclusion challenges are key priorities for us here. Vahdet Anadolli, Executive Director of AFK, said: AFK is privileged to continue its cooperation with the EBRD with these funds dedicated to the development of small business and women entrepreneurs, segments that are in vital need of sustainable financial support and technical assistance. Together with the EBRD, AFK is able to fulfil its core mission of nurturing Kosovos micro-enterprises. AFK is the fourth-largest microfinance institution in Kosovo. Headquartered in Peja and operating since 2000, it currently serves more than 22,000 customers, the majority in rural areas of the country, through a network of 25 branches and 233 employees. The EBRD has invested 623 million in Kosovo since it began operating there in 2012. The Banks strategic priorities in the country are to promote the green economy, support the competitive development of the private sector and foster regional integration. MIDLETON man Bunny ORiordan is taking an epic month long motorbike trip to every county in Ireland, to raise funds for The Midleton Hub, and raise awareness about the hubs approach to community-based mental health supports. Founded by Bunny four years ago, The Midleton Hub provides community and peer led supports for peoples wellbeing and mental health, particularly for those dealing with suicide bereavement. When Bunnys son Cian died by suicide in 2009, aged 17, he said there was a lot missing in terms of a support network. There are elements of people around for suicide intervention, but for the people left behind, theres actually very little, and theres very little on a long term basis, so thats what we set up, he said. What started as The Midleton Bike Project, a group coming together to support Bunny in restoring a motorbike he had promised to Cian for his 18th birthday, soon grew into a strong community of people supporting each other through their own difficult times. The Midleton Hub now provides wellbeing and mental health support, including bereavement support groups, signposting to professional therapeutic services, courses and community mindfulness gatherings. Bunny O'Riordan of The Midleton Hub who will drive around the 32 counties of Ireland on his late son Cian's bike with a support team to raise funds and awareness for 'living with suicide' pictured with some of the equipment for the trip. The Hub is safety. Its a very safe, welcoming place, said Bunny. While the main emphasis is around wellness from suicide, lots of other people attend that wouldnt have any connection to suicide, but they would, as I think everybody on the planet does, have some connection to mental health and wellbeing. Everybody has some challenge in their life, and we find that the people that come in for reasons that we never anticipated tend to stay, he said. While the Hub has an open door policy and doesnt keep records of how many people come and go, Bunny estimates that between 60 and 80 people attend services regularly, with a turnout of 20 to 30 people each day theyre open. Sunday cafes that are open to the public can attract up to 80 people every week. With an ever-growing community, Bunny now hopes his charity road trip will help to raise funds to improve and expand the Hubs facilities, He hoped to winter-proof a warehouse section of the Hub, that currently cant be heated or used for five months of the year, and divide it into a yoga/meditation space, offices, and an emergency therapy room for people who may present to the hub in need of immediate support. Bunny O'Riordan of The Midleton Hub who will drive around the 32 counties of Ireland on his late son Cian's bike with a support team to raise funds and awareness for 'living with suicide'. Bunny is aiming to visit all 32 counties in Ireland in 32 days, starting on Monday next, August 1, riding Cians motorbike, whose memory inspired the beginnings of the Midleton Hub. Bunny hopes to raise 100,000 to complete refurbishments of the Hub, and also spread awareness about the benefits of the hub to other communities around Ireland. Its going to be an amazing experience. The fundraising will allow us to branch out with our services. he said. Bunny is appealing to people to sponsor a brick in the refurbished centre for 100, or donate what they can, to help the Hub provide support to everyone who needs it. All are welcome at the Midleton Hub on Monday 1 August from 10:30am for Bunnys send-off, as he is set to take off on his journey around 12:30pm, or to meet him along the way as he passes through Midleton, Carrigtwohill, Little island, and then up through the City as he heads for West Cork. THE Munster chairman of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) said farmers being asked to reduce carbon emissions by 25% by 2030 represents a bad day for farming. Courtmacsherry native Harold Kingston was speaking to The Echo after new Sectoral Emissions Ceilings were announced by the Government today. Mr Kingston said the 25% target is bad for farmers who had campaigned for a 22% reduction in agricultural emissions. Anything over 22% is going to be bad for farmers. We estimate that for every 1% over 22% you are looking at 90,000 breeding animals a mix of sucklers and dairy cows." "Right now, that looks like they are taking out the production of 300,000 breeding animals. It is a bad day for farming. We dont know what plan is there, he said. Mr Kingston said farmers will now be considering whether to continue farming on a full-time basis or cut down their farming completely. It doesnt matter what size of a farm you have. It will be tougher if you are on the average because you will be wondering if am I going to stay full-time or go part-time and cut down completely. We know there are things we need to do. We can see climate change happening. It is not just grass growth, it is trying to keep water to cows and there are changes happening in terms of weather patterns. "Without having a pathway and knowing how we will get from 22% to 25% it is a very bad day for agriculture that we have to cut production, he added. The Governments Climate Action Plan 2021 set out a 22-30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions target for the agriculture sector, as part of Irelands aim to reduce its total emissions by 51% by 2030. On Thursday afternoon, ministers signed off on the targets for each sector. A reduction in the range of 62-81% was outlined for electricity, with a 42-50% reduction in transport and a 25% target agreed for agriculture. Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue said the agriculture target reflected a very challenging, but ultimately achievable, ambition for the sector. He said: I will back farm families and this Government will too, over the course of the next decade, to reach for ambitious targets. We will support them every step of the way. People Before Profit/Solidarity TD Paul Murphy said that the 25% target set for agriculture was yet another Green Party failure. Agriculture accounts for 37% of Irelands emissions. A 25% reduction by 2030 is hopelessly inadequate, he said. Social Democrat TD Jennifer Whitmore said: Unfortunately it appears Government ministers and TDs were more interested in protecting their seats rather than protecting the environment and the future of our rural communities." IFA president Tim Cullinan said the 25% reduction in emissions is a potentially devastating blow for Irish farming. This deal between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and the Green Party is all about the survival of the Government rather than the survival of rural Ireland." "The Government has agreed to a target without any pathway to getting there or any budget to assist farmers to reduce emissions," he added. IRISH Rail has agreed in principle to support Cork County Councils application for funding for the reopening of three railway stations in Buttevant, Mourneabbey and Rathduff. The council wants new stations opened on the Cork - Limerick line at Mourneabbey and Rathduff, and the station at Buttevant reopened. The commitment was made in a recent letter to Cork County Council by Iarnrod Eireann chief executive Jim Meade who said Irish Rail will lend its support to any effort the council might make to get funding through the National Development Plans (NDP) Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF). Mr Meade said capital investments are funded through government and/or local development contributions but added that Iarnrod Eireann would lend its support to an application for funding on the basis of a positive business plan. The chief executive however stressed that it would be a matter for the local authority to source the matching funds. In response to the letter, it was agreed following a proposal from Fianna Fail councillor Gearoid Murphy that the council would seek to arrange a meeting with the various stakeholders such as Irish Rail, the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, and communities in North Cork to progress the opening of the stations. Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden said it is important all the stakeholders get together. We need to be a part of this as well. To progress this, it is important all the stakeholders sit down and discuss this. His Fine Gael colleague Cllr John Paul OShea said continued engagement needs to be held in relation to the updating and upgrading of rail services right throughout Cork County. Fianna Fail councillor Gearoid Murphy was pleased with the positive nature of the letter from the CEO of Irish Rail. It is a positive letter. It suggests there is a way for Cork County Council to progress this ourselves. If there is an opportunity for us to do this, I would definitely like us to take that. Chief Executive of Cork County Council Tim Lucey said the council will work with Iarnrod Eireann. We will work with Iarnrod Eireann in terms of any information they require that will support a business plan." "The opening of the railways along those lines is very much dependent on population growth and a business case put forward by Iarnrod Eireann so that they can secure the funding. Fianna Fail councillor Pat Hayes said light rail and services are needed to connect north Cork and east Cork to the bigger urban areas. High Court reporters The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal aimed at halting the pending trials of Gerry Hutch and ex-Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall before the non-jury Special Criminal Court (SCC). In what was a unanimous decision on Friday morning, the five-judge Supreme Court cleared the way for the trials to proceed before the SCC. Hutch (58), who was extradited from Spain, and former Dublin City councillor Dowdall (44), of Navan Road, Dublin, are both charged with the murder of David Byrne (33) at the Regency Hotel in Dublin on February 5th, 2016. They deny the charges. The men's lawyers had argued that their trials before the SCC would be unlawful because the SCC has become a de facto permanent court when the relevant legislation only provides that it be temporary. The argument was made in an appeal by the two men, who are charged with murder, against an earlier High Court decision rejecting their challenge over the trials being heard before the SCC. The High Court found the temporary/permanent argument was a political question and therefore not justiciable before a court. Supreme Court decision In its decision, the Supreme Court comprised of Chief Justice Mr Justice Donal O'Donnell, Mr Justice Peter Charleton, Ms Justice Iseult O'Malley, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan and Mr Justice Brian Murray upheld the High Court's findings and dismissed the appeal. Giving the Supreme Court's decision, the Chief Justice said that the 1939 Offences Against the State Act does not contain "a test of permanence" by which to gauge the lawfulness of the existence of the SCC. The Chief Justice said the test of lawfulness of the SCC, which is contained in the law, was whether or not the Government is of the opinion that the ordinary courts are adequate to secure the administration of justice and the preservation of public peace and order. The Supreme Court also found that no duty attaches to Dail Eireann to continuously review the necessity of the SCC. The formal review process of the SCC contented for by the applicants in this case, the Chief Justice said, was not required. The court in its decision also ruled that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission did not meet the legal requirements to be formally joined as an amicus curiae or friend to the court in the proceedings. More to follow... BUILDING a house in Cork costs three times more than it does in England, a letter writer to the Echo claimed 100 years ago today on July 29, 1922. J.E. OFlynn wrote: The building of houses for the working classes is, naturally, an absolutes necessity for the welfare of the community. But Robert Day (Labour parliamentary representative) and George Nason (Cork Workers Council), well versed in this complex topic, have as yet said little regarding price differentials between Cork and other places It being a mater of interest to me, I have taken the trouble to find out price particulars for similar type houses. They are as follows: Cork, 1,100, Isleworth 388, Northampton 360, Nottingham 349. It therefore appears that to build a house in Cork it costs three times more than in other places. Surely this state of affairs requires elucidation, and the men of the hour are the Labour Party, who ought to find out, if they do not know already know, the cause of the impasse which so sorely stops the building of houses the citizens demand. Rural Sanitary Inspections A joint meeting of Cork Corporation and the Cork Rural District Councils was held in the Court-house to-day to confer on the inspection of dairy cowsheds and slaughterhouses. The Corporation explained it is anxious to secure powers of inspection outside the city borough in order that the milk supply coming in is as pure possible, and that best hygienic considerations are kept in the slaughter of animals. Mr Goulding (R.D.C.) said the rural districts presently have 14 medical officers, seven sanitary inspectors, a veterinary inspector and a dairy inspector for these very purposes. Inspections are conducted to the minutest detail and producers could not suffer any further restrictions. Mr Barry (Corporation) maintained the Corporation Inspectors should have as much right to inspect dairies and slaughterhouses in the country. The citys sole anxiety was cleanliness in the interests of public health. The bulk of the meat in the city was coming in from rural slaughterhouses. Discussion continued and the Cork Rural Council reps were asked to report favourably on the matter to their councils. Rescued from Drowning Dear Sir, Two evenings ago, I witnessed a young chap, aged 9 or 10, fall into the river at North Mall. An alarm was raised and a crowd collected. A young man immediately jumped into the water off the railing and caught the boy. He was struggling in the water and being carried away by a strong ebbing tide. The young man failed in his efforts to bring him to a vessel close by and drifted with him to the steps near the North Gate Bridge. A second youth now jumped in, but his assistance did not appear to be required. A life buoy on an adjacent lamp post was also availed of. I expected to see some report of this heroic episode in the press. I heard the name Begley mentioned as the rescuer. I hope some person better acquainted with fuller particulars of this highly commendable act will bring it before the Corporation with a view to due recognition and suitable reward. Yours, A Spectator. Purse stolen in church Christopher Collins, 16, appeared in court charged with the larceny of a purse the property of Mrs Downey. Police Officer OSullivan deposed that he arrested accused in St Augustine Street yesterday evening. Mrs Downey said she had been praying before the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin in St Augustines Church when the prisoner kneeled beside her. When she stood up to put her hand in her pocket to get money for candles, she found her purse had disappeared. She ran out after the prisoner onto the Grand Parade, raising the cry: Stop Thief! A young man pursued the prisoner and captured him. Mrs Downey wanted to take him before the priest, but he appealed to her in Gods name not to. Inspector Fitzgerald said the prisoner was out of gaol less than a month. The prisoners mother told the Bench that the accused had gone completely beyond her control, and she was unable to do anything with him. Accused was remanded for the attendance of Inspector Fitzsimons, N.S.P.C.C. Complaint about hospital At Tuesday nights Cork County Board meeting, serious allegations were made against one of our hospitals arising out of the manner in which a hurler who had been injured at Riverstown on Sunday had been received. The Boards Secretary has been directed to put all the facts of the case in writing and put it before the next meeting of the hospitals management. Municipal Band Parade The Lee Pipers will play the following programme on the Marina on Sunday at 4pm - The Men of the West, Glendaruel, Our Boys Brigade, Farewell to Gibraltar, The Butchers March, Bogs of Waul and An Pibroch Bawn. Blue Aqua signs MoU to deploy shrimp farming tech in Oman Singapore's Blue Aqua International has penned a memorandum of understanding with Fisheries Development Oman (FDO) to deploy Blue Aqua's shrimp farming tech across Oman's aquaculture sites. The company will start with a project in the city of Shinas. The MoU formalises mutual interaction and strengthens the existing relationship between Blue Aqua and FDO. The collaboration will tap on Blue Aqua's expertise in shrimp farming technology for technical assistance on FDO's existing shrimp farming operations across Oman. FDO was established as a joint commitment between Oman's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Recourses and Oman Investment Authority (OIA) to develop a sustainable commercial aquaculture and fishing sector in the country. "With a vision "to be a world-class leader for growth and driving a sustainable fisheries future", we are pleased to collaborate with Blue Aqua International to transfer the best practices in aquaculture and its technology for enabling the growth of this business and attracting investment," said said Nabil Salim al Bimani, group chief executive officer of FDO. "This MoU with no doubt will open up a great opportunity to flourish the aquaculture in Oman." FDO will also review an investment offering into Blue Aqua, aligning with its plans to invest in Oman's aquaculture and fisheries sector. Dr. Farshad Shishehchian, chief executive officer and founder of Blue Aqua International, said: "We look forward to solidifying our efforts in sustainable aquaculture technology with the project in Oman. With FDO's support, I believe we will be able to build a successful and sustainable model for urban farming globally." - The Fish Site Not much health impact on UK from Brazilian poultry tainted with salmonella, study finds Salmonella from imported Brazilian poultry doesn't cause much illnesses in the UK consumers, according to a study. Long-term surveillance data collected in the United Kingdom showed no rise in two types of salmonella following the increase of these serovars in Brazilian poultry. Scientists from the Quadram Institute, University of East Anglia, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in the UK and the University of Sao Paulo tracked how changes in chicken rearing in Brazil impacted the profile of salmonella circulating within the poultry industry. Brazil produces almost 14 million tonnes of chicken meat each year and is the largest exporter. Previous studies have shown the presence of salmonella on meat imported into the UK and European Union. Scientists wanted to know if the strains of salmonella in Brazil were causing food poisoning in countries that import the products. Researchers compared 183 salmonella genomes collected from chickens in Brazil from 2012 to 2018 and 357 genomes from humans, domestic poultry and imported Brazilian poultry in the UK. They also looked at more than 1,200 genomes of the two main types of salmonella found in Brazil. Findings were published in the journal PLOS Genetics. A survey of Brazilian poultry found dozens of different types of salmonella, with Heidelberg and Minnesota, the most dominant. Of 318 samples from meat sent to the UK, 91% were either Heidelberg or Minnesota with most being the former. The team looked at the types of salmonella behind infections from samples going back 15 years. About one in 200 were attributed to Heidelberg or Minnesota, and some could be linked to recent foreign travel. There was no official data on salmonella infections in Brazil to assess the scale of the impact of these serovars on Brazilian public health. By comparing the Brazilian Heidelberg and Minnesota genomes with others collected around the world, it was clear they formed a distinct subgroup separate from human cases. Work with the Animal and Plant Health Agency showed the Brazilian-associated salmonella were not found in UK chickens. Introduction of a salmonella vaccine and increased antibiotic usage by Brazilian farmers led to the rise of strains that are more antibiotic-resistant, but less likely to cause disease in humans. Intensive farming techniques used in Brazil to produce large amounts of chicken meat involves the use of antimicrobials. Salmonella Heidelberg and Minnesota had a combination of genes conferring resistance to different classes of antimicrobials: sulphonamides, tetracyclines and beta lactams. This likely gave them a competitive advantage in the poultry production environment in Brazil. The team found that the two main Salmonella types developed in Brazil around 2006, a few years after the country introduced a salmonella Enteritidis vaccine for poultry. Despite the rise, these antibiotic-resistant bacteria have caused very few cases of salmonella in the UK and have not spread to domestic chickens. Alison Mather, from the Quadram Institute, said they looked at how changes in chicken rearing in Brazil affected the profile of salmonella in the poultry sector. "Whilst this poses no immediate health risk to importing countries like the UK, the bacteria were resistant to antimicrobial drugs, and this highlights the importance of taking a One Health approach that sees the connections between the health of people, animals and the environment, especially when assessing global food supply chains," Mather said. - Food Safety News After Meta's revenue shrank for the first time in its history, the company has reportedly told publishers it will no longer pay for content to run in Facebook's News Tab, according to Axios. "Most people do not come to Facebook for news, and as a business it doesn't make sense to over-invest in areas that don't align with user preferences," a spokesperson said in a statement. Facebook spent around $105 million on such deals, paying $20 million to The New York Times, $10 million to The Wall Street Journal and $3 million to CNN, according to Axios. Facebook struck the deals back in 2019 as it boosted its investment in news and even hired journalists to direct traffic to the news tab. Facebook also promised to pay partner sites including The Guardian and The Economist for news in the UK when it launched the News Tab there late in 2020. Shortly after that, it signed a deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp to pay for content in Australia, after the Australian Parliament passed a law requiring Facebook and Google to do so. 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 Along with Google, Facebook has taken criticism for drawing ad dollars away from dedicated news sites. That has contributed to the failure of a quarter of US news sites over the last 15 years, according to Poynter, with the professional journalism vacuum often been filled by false or misleading news on Facebook. Twitter has published its 20th transparency report, and the details still aren't reassuring to those concerned about abuses of personal info. The social network saw "record highs" in the number of account data requests during the July-December 2021 reporting period, with 47,572 legal demands on 198,931 accounts. The media in particular faced much more pressure. Government demands for data from verified news outlets and journalists surged 103 percent compared to the last report, with 349 accounts under scrutiny. The largest slice of requests targeting the news industry came from India (114), followed by Turkey (78) and Russia (55). Governments succeeded in withholding 17 tweets. As in the past, US demands represented a disproportionately large chunk of the overall volume. The country accounted for 20 percent of all worldwide account info requests, and those requests covered 39 percent of all specified accounts. Russia is still the second-largest requester with 18 percent of volume, even if its demands dipped 20 percent during the six-month timeframe. 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 The company said it was still denying or limiting access to info when possible. It denied 31 percent of US data requests, and either narrowed or shut down 60 percent of global demands. Twitter also opposed 29 civil attempts to identify anonymous US users, citing First Amendment reasons. It sued in two of those cases, and has so far had success with one of those suits. There hasn't been much success in reporting on national security-related requests in the US, however, and Twitter is still hoping to win an appeal that would let it share more details. Calls for data spiked starting in early 2020, and this latest transparency report indicates that they're only continuing to climb. Twitter sees the attempts to target journalists as a mounting threat to freedom of the press. We'd add that the situation is volatile, at least in the near term. Russia cut off access to Twitter following that country's invasion of Ukraine, and the company is suing India to resist an order to block accounts. Don't be surprised if the next report paints a significantly different picture. The US federal courts' document filing system was attacked by three hostile foreign actors, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler has told fellow lawmakers. According to Politico, Nadler made the first public disclosure of the cyberattack at a committee hearing on oversight of the Justice Departments National Security Division (NSD). The attack happened as part of a bigger security breach that led to a "system security failure" way back in 2020. Nadler has admitted during the hearing, however, that the committee only learned about the "startling breadth and scope" of the breach this March. Matthew Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, has testified at the hearing and said his division is "working very closely with the judicial conference and judges around the country to address this issue." As you can guess, lawmakers are worried about how many cases were impacted by the breach and how exactly the issue had affected them. "[T]his is a dangerous set of circumstances that has now been publicly announced, and we need to know how manywere dismissed," committee member Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee told Olsen. When asked if the breach had affected any of the cases the NSD had handled, Olsen said he couldn't think of any in particular. There's still a lot of information about the breach that's kept under wraps Senator Ron Wyden even wrote to the Administrative Office of the US Courts to express concerns about the fact that "the federal judiciary has yet to publicly explain what happened and has refused multiple requests to provide unclassified briefings to Congress." As Politico notes, though, the US Courts admitted in January 2021 that its Case Management/Electronic Case Files system was breached and even changed its filing procedures for sensitive documents. The publication also points out that this breach wasn't a part of the massive SolarWinds hacks, which are being blamed on a Russian state-sponsored group known as Nobelium. 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 Olsen said the Justice Department's investigators will keep the committee updated about any new developments, so we'll likely hear more information about the data breach in the future. Howard "Howie" Kleinberg, "Top Chef" contestant, died. He was 46. On Monday, Kleinberg's mother, Susan, informed Miami Herald that the restaurateur passed away over the weekend. "I am just finding out how many lives he touched," she said. "He was married to his passion in life, which was his cooking." Howard Kleinberg's cause of death was reportedly due to a heart attack. It remains unknown whether he had any underlying diseases before his passing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a heart attack - also called a myocardial infarction - happens when a part of a patient's heart muscle fails to get enough blood. Coronary artery disease is currently the main cause of heart attack, and it can stop blood flow to the heart muscle after a severe spasm and sudden contraction. Kleinberg famously appeared on the 2007 season of "Top Chef: Miami." He ended up securing a seventh place in the competition. Still, he was a fan favorite because of the interaction he had with Anthony Bourdain. He attended culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in North Miami and previously worked at the Hotel Intercontinental Miami's kitchen. Following his appearance on the cooking show, he opened his own restaurant in Miami, Bulldog Barbeque, before having more fine dining endeavors. Kleinberg also reserved some of his time to annually attended the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. He shared his blessings with Taste of the Nation, an organization that raises money to address hunger among children. It also provides pet shelters. With his death, his mother and family are asking that donations be made in his memory to the pet rescue organization Bullies-N-Beyond Rescue or Feeding South Florida. Howard Kleinberg Honored After His Death After the confirmation of Howard Kleinberg's death, his fans and colleagues paid tribute to him and expressed their heartbreak. Top Chef wrote, "The #TopChef family is saddened to learn about the unexpected passing of Howard Kleinberg from season three. Howie's passion for cooking filled so many and our deepest sympathy goes out to his family and friends." Another young soul bites the dust from a attack from, um, coincidence so many young are dying lately Top Chef's Howard "Howie" Kleinberg Dead at 46 https://t.co/eqUOJpnVKs Unacceptable Views (@RealityZone3121) July 27, 2022 READ ALSO: Princess Diana's Death Caused THIS Shocking Aftereffect to Monarchy Before his death, he left powerful advice to up-and-coming chefs through an interview with the Broward Palm Beach New Times. "Once you pay your dues, the knowledge is yours. No one can take away your determination or your work ethic. Be willing to go the extra mile. Always treat the customer well; make them feel welcome. Never lose your passion for food," he said. READ MORE: Tony Dow Cause of Death: Actor Dead After Premature Announcement Childbirth in South Asia: Old Challenges and New Paradoxes edited by Clemence Jullien and Roger Jeffery, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2021; pp 342, $75 (hardback). I have known Roger Jeffery and Patricia Jeffery for about three decades, first as scholars whose empirically rich work I read and taught. Later, they were friends whose friendship I value indeed. They were both visiting professors at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, where I taught for three decades. They lectured in our centre, over the years, on various themes they had researched in a village in Uttar Pradesh (UP). They were, what we called, old India hands. I have had the privilege of working with them over many years, and Roger and I have been partners in a project out of which emerged the wonderful book edited by William Sax and Claudia Lang (2021), The Movement for Global Mental Health: Critical Views from South and Southeast Asia (Amsterdam University Press), among other remarkable publications. We also hosted a workshop together Safe Motherhood Initiatives: Contributions from Small Scale Studies. Childbirth in South Asia: Old Challenges and New Paradoxes is extremely important because India continues to have an unconscionably high maternal mortality rate, made probably worse during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In 2015, India still accounted for more than two-thirds of the total maternal deaths in the region, or 17 per cent of global maternal deaths. (p 10) While the maternal mortality rate has indeed declined around the globe, it is not clear how much this has been because of programme interventions. As the editors point out in their Introduction, Bangladesh has lower levels of institutional delivery than India and Nepal, yet MMR has declined more quickly. (p 12) There are so many other factors involvedmaternal nutrition, physical infrastructure, roads and ambulances, human resources, effective referrals, and, above all, emergency obstetric care at the institution. All of these need sustained and significant investments in public health and not the divestments we have had. Institutionalisation of Childbirths In an absolutely brilliant Introduction, the editors point out what the global policy framework has been, what policy interventions have been advocated, and what the problematic underlying assumptions are. For instance, it was assumed that the institutionalisation of childbirths would translate into better natal and neonatal care. This institutionalisation was to be achieved through both demand and supply initiativesthe former through cash incentives and the latter through improving facilities. Across South Asia, these measures have seen sharp increases in institutional births. Yet, maternal care particularly suffered because of lack of trained human resources poor referral and blood bank linkages and major deficiencies in physical resources. (p 19) One of my students did a study of the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) in rural UP with a sample of about 172 pregnant women (Verma 2015), predominantly from the lower castes and classes who had availed of the scheme. Not one of them have had their blood pressure taken, or abdomen palpated, or urine tested by the local auxiliary nursing midwifery (ANM) or accredited social health activist (ASHA), and 158 of them had been referred to private ultrasound facilities for ultrasound screenings. This normalisation of unnecessary technology not only leads to increasing costs but also clandestine sex selective abortions despite the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 and a further skewing of the sex ratio at birth. This gets reflected in the child sex ratio too that declined from 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001 to 919 girls per 1,000 boys in 2011 in India. Thus, an institutional birth does not necessarily amount to good quality care. As the editors note, In India, for example, Dalit and Adivasi women, along with poor Muslims, are particularly likely to experience poorer quality of care and treatment. (p 20) This compels the editors to raise the issue of obstetric violence with pregnant and birthing women reporting both physical and verbal abuse. The medicalisation of childbirth has also meant an enormous increase in cesarean sections (C-sections). In 199889 only 7.1 per cent of all births in India were C-sections. This increased to 9 per cent in 200506 and then shot up to 18.1 per cent in 201516. (p 20) This figure elides the sharp differences between the public and private sectors in C-section rates. In some high-end corporate sector hospitals, C-section rates exceed 70% of all births. Does the performance of unnecessary C-sections amount to obstetric violence? The volume comprises 12 essays in addition to the Introduction. The authors are all well-known historians, anthropologists, and medical sociologists from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Why Sri Lanka is left out in a volume on South Asia is a mystery. The essays are uniformly well-researched and well-written, with a careful scrutiny of the relevant primary data. Obviously, I cannot comment in detail on all the essays in the volume. There are essays by anthropologists on birthing in rural Pakistan, Forms and Ethics of Baloch Midwifery: Contesting the Violations of Biomedicalized Childbirth in Pakistan by Fouzieyha Towghi and in urban India, Since Its a Pleasure to Save Somebodys Life, I Do This: Midwifery and Safe Motherhood Practices in Urban India by Helen Vallianatos, and Childbirth in Transit: Motherhood and Migration at Taljai, a Slum in Pune by Deepra Dandekar, which show striking similarities. One is the continuing relevance of the so-called traditional birth attendants (TBAs). While a general shift has taken place to institutional births, people are acutely aware of staff shortages, the lack of medicines and infrastructure, and the costs of such care even in public institutions. Those who can afford it, therefore, prefer private institutions. Not that it guarantees quality of care as is revealed in another chapter of the volume. The poorest, of course, cannot access these services. Thus, even as there are efforts towards institutionalisation, there are simultaneous efforts to train TBAs (see Training Birth Attendants in India: Authoritative Knowledge, Social Forms, Practices and Paradoxes by Pascale Hancart Petitet) for home births. At the same time, elites in urban areas access birthing salons for natural births. A water birth in one of these costs a minimum of 1.25 lakh. Sadly, there is no chapter on this. Colonial Legacies Samiksha Sehrawats astonishing essay Colonial Legacies and Maternal Health in South Asia explains how the afterlife of colonial policies continues to shape policy and practice in the countries of South Asia. She argues that the medicalization of childbirth in the 1920s and 1930s took place amidst rising concerns regarding conditions of childbirth in eugenicist and maternalist ideologies internationally. (p 41) The other two features that shaped policy was scientism as a sign of modernity ushered in by medical professionals in international health organisations. Thus, it was agreed that the high maternal mortality rate was a result of the deplorable cultural traits of the people and the dirty and ignorant dai who conducted childbirths. Colonial policy that caused poverty and hunger, along with the lack of investment in health, were effectively whitewashed away as causes. The Association of Medical Women in India (AWMI) came up as a solution to the problem of unemployment among women medical doctors in Britain but contributed to tropes that represented the medical needs of dumb Indian women oppressed by Indian patriarchal traditions (p 46). In the post-independence period, the new civilising mission was led by the United States (US) initiatives in development, hand-maidened by the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. Indeed, the discipline of tropical medicine was viewed as a proof of the benefits of Western imperialism (p 49). In short, in addition to scientism and culturalism, we have technological solutions to social problems. Two essays discuss technology in childbirth. One is an ethnography of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in Bangladesh, Discourses of Childlessness in Bangladesh: Power and Agency by Mirza Taslima Sultana, which reveals quite a high failure rate. The second important finding is the aversion to third-party assisted reproduction as in surrogacy. We do know of course that Bangladeshi women, like Indian women, are moved to Nepal for surrogacy. The other paper Digitalizing Community Health: Mobile Phones to Improve Maternal Health in Rural India by Marine Al Dahdah and Alok Kumar takes us to a natal dystopia where a mobile phone with pre-recorded messages replaces a health worker. The essay on Nepal, Politics of Childbirth in Nepal: The Case of Maternal Mortality Ratio by Jeevan Sharma and Radha Adhikari has something salutary for the rest of South Asia. Nepal only legalised abortion in 2002 (India did in 1971), largely driven by population control considerations. Nepal is the only country offering abortion irrespective of age or marital status. This is something India urgently needs to emulate. Illegal abortions in India are estimated to contribute 8% to the maternal mortality; a substantial number of these would be young unmarried women. Three essays discuss issues related to doctors, especially the problem of getting doctors to work in rural India. One of these essays, Cares Precarity and Professionalisation of Health Workers in Private Maternal Clinics in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, India, reveals that private nursing homes, run by entrepreneurial doctors, are in fact staffed by unqualified nurses and orderlies, some of them with fake degree certificates. Indeed, in one case, births are conducted not by the doctor running the enterprise but a ward cleaner. Yet, these doctors claim victimhood. One of the best essays in the volume, based on extensive ethnographic work at multiple sites, is Neha Madhiwalas Protocols and Set-Ups: Producing Professional Obstetrical Knowledge in the Periphery of Mumbai, India. Reservations have meant that high quality medical education has become accessible for disadvantaged students (p 212). But lacking financial and cultural capital, the challenge of facilitating their assimilation into historically upper-caste metropolitan sub-culture of education remains (p 214). One extremely important finding is that once they obtain admission, the students in the reserved category do as well as those so-called merit students. Interestingly, Dalit and Adivasi students agreed that discriminatory attitudes among senior faculty, which they encountered in regional colleges, were not in evidence in Mumbai. (p 223) Armed with good degrees, a lack of fluency in English and a discomfort with the suit and tie culture (p 236) made them hesitate to go into metropolitan private practice where they would confront modernized forms of untouchability (p 234). But most of them did indeed want to set up their own nursing homes, when they could afford to do so, acutely aware of the difficulties in competing with corporate hospitals. This is an extremely rich and nuanced study that merits a monograph in itself. Another ethnographic study, Outsiders in the Village: Class, Space and the Shortage of Women Doctors in Rural Rajasthan by Jocelyn Killmer has a young woman doctor explaining why she cannot work in rural Rajasthan. She says, You cant find people who have similar thoughts to you. You spend time with village people and you become jangli [wild or uncivilized] within six months. (p 180) A fascinating paper, Son Preference in India: Stigmatisation and Surveillance in Maternity Wards in Jaipur, Rajasthan by Clemence Jullien finds pervasive son-preference among both the patients in a maternity ward and the staff. Women are taking help from priests and unofficial doctors prescribing injections to conceive a male child. The paper concludes, though doctors systematically mention son preference as a shameful attitude of the lower social classes, the medical community is more involved in the phenomenon of son preference and the practices of sex-selective abortion than they appear. (p 254) The volume is a veritable feast of information and acute analysis. It is a must-read for all medical students, students of public health, policymakers, workers in maternal and child health, and anthropologists and sociologists of health and gender studies. All of us reading this book will come back immensely enriched. Reference Verma, Chandrika Prasad (2015): Access and Barriers to Institutional Birth Schemes: A Study of Janani Suraksha Yojana in Sultanpur District, Uttar Pradesh, unpublished MPhil dissertation submitted to the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Scholars of Faith: South Asian Muslim Women and the Embodiment of Religious Knowledge by Usha Sanyal, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2020; pp xvi + 394, `1,496 (hardcover). Reeling in an ambience of burgeoning global Islamophobia and the raging controversy over the hijab (veil), Usha Sanyals, Scholars of Faith: South Asian Muslim Women and the Embodiment of Religious Knowledge underscores a silver lining. Generally, two discourses about Muslims have a predominating influence on the imagination of people across the globe. One strand of literature conjures up images of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, while the other is intrigued by its abysmally low socio-economic development; the yardstick of both being Muslim men. In the aftermath of the grim exposes of the Sachar Committee report, Sanyal posits that in spite of the absence of corroborative data on all counts, one may safely assume that there has been a national upsurge in Muslim girls education in India, both secular and religious, as purported by several studies. Why are South Asian Muslim girls and women seeking opportunities to acquire religious learning today? she inquires. The book reflects upon the increased access of Muslim girls and women to religious education and the purposes sought by them to which they could put this learning. The study hones its thrust upon ethnographic fieldwork in two institutions of religious learning, namely the Jamia Nur madrasa in Shahjahanpur, North India and Al-Huda International Welfare Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that offers online courses on Islam, especially the Quran and the shariah. Sanyal argues that Islamic religious education, today, is thoroughly modern and it is this modernity that is reflected in old and new interpretations of Islamic texts, which allows young South Asian Muslim women to evaluate and redefine their place in traditional structures of patriarchal authority in the public and private spheres in novel ways. The objectification and functionalisation of Islam is a legacy of the colonial government that was bequeathed to posterity as a coherent system of secular mass education. Both the madrasa and the institution (Al-Huda) are representative of this legacy in their own private capacities. These are often inferred as an outcome of reformist trends in South Asia in the 18th century and symptomatic of rationalisation of religious belief and practice. Sanyal elaborates the idea of functionalisation in Chapter 8 where she explores the work of the Al-Huda and the aspect of functionalisation unfolds in the discourse of Farhat Hashmi, co-founder of the institution. Hashmi emphasises in her discussions that science and scientific knowledge, she believes, are implicit in specific verses of the Quran. A highly loaded term modern needs further explication. Sanyal opines that modernity in Islamic religious education indicated the rupturing of religious authority. It is also attested that in South Asia, Muslims are internally divided along denominational lines and the religious institutions they generate reflect these divisions. Besides, it is heartening to learn that changes in modern Muslim education are a common global phenomenon today. Coupled with this, several studies corroborate that contrary to the belief that the ulama (scholars) had become redundant, they yielded place to change and stepped into their new roles to address the new audiences. Religious Education as a Choice In the first part of her book, Sanyal endeavours to trace the relevance of madrasa education in the lives of Muslim women, particularly the Barelwi women and grapples with several gripping issues that appear grossly anachronistic at times. The optimism displayed by these women in finding practical application of the religious education imparted to them by the madrasa is the bracing factor that endeared this case study to the author. Besides, the importance bestowed upon a better afterlife (life after death) by following the tenets or teachings of the book (the Quran) was also a fulfilling and motivating aspect for these women. In the second part of the book, she focuses on the institute, the Al-Huda International Welfare Foundation, and in the process, compares and contrasts the related issues, wary of their discrete economic backgrounds, education, and exposure to a wider audience. With the aid of online and onsite classes, Sanyal had the opportunity of getting acquainted with Muslim women across the globe. She harps on the phenomenal impact the internet has had, in enabling this mode of education, and which eventually aided in disintegrating the authority of the ulama, substantially. The strength of the study unfolds in its holistic treatment of Muslim religious education under the umbrella of the madrasas, especially in North India, wherein this school of education is gradually waning for the Muslim male population, as attested by recent research. This was primarily due to its inability to train oneself for the job market since its medium of instruction is Urdu or Arabic. Hence an elementary madrasa education was followed by a transfer to a secular school for the Muslim boy. This, in turn, became the educational refuge of the Muslim girl child, who was once scorned or scoffed at. Sanyal, however, posits that this was indeed no motivation for the Muslim girls to pursue the madrasa education and what could have possibly goaded the leaders to opt for this format of education when girls lagged behind boys alarmingly. Stray voices, which later garnered support, had also appealed for an overhaul of the curriculum to salvage the remnants of its existence. Besides, it has also been argued that it was propagated that women should be better wives and mothers. Sanyal took cognisance of two different madrasas in order to have a comprehensive view of the different forms of education in vogue. One had an elevated fee structure and the other catered to the middle- or low-income groups. In both the cases, the phenomenal rise in the number of girls attending madrasas is an important signifier. Sanyal infers that this indicated a continuous process whose origins can be traced to the 19th century reform movement, harping on education as a key to regaining the lost elan, the ulama. It is also reassuring to learn from Sanyals study and other recent works under the purview of this book that the teachings imparted by these educational institutions were not limited exclusively to religious education. On the contrary, even a madrasa located amidst the populous Nizamuddin area catered to a five-tiered education that can be dubbed, largely secular or even inclusive. Besides the training in religion, the inmates received a fair amount of training in Hindi in a school of national repute and an exposure to Hindu festivals, like Diwali for inculcating a sense of cultural assimilation. The training in Islamic law (shariah) and jurisprudence (fiqh), also evident in the Barelwi madrasa, drew considerable interest since it imparted knowledge in civil laws, namely marriage, divorce, and inheritance rights. In denominational terms, the madrasa has a large section of inmates who are from a rural background, primarily from middle- and low-income groups. Housed amidst a bustling town in Shahjahanpur district (Uttar Pradesh [UP]), it began its journey with 300 boarders and a handful of day scholars in 2003. This is reminiscent of Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossains endeavours in the 19th century and Sanyal clarifies that the boarding school helped the girls avoid travelling and an unwarranted gaze from the public sphere. In Chapter 2, Sanyal delineates the commendable role played by some women custodians in administering this institution. Their endeavours, however, received due recognition from the founder father, Sayyid Sahib. There were a few older women who are integral to the madrasa administration. These women were required to play the role of wardens and live at the madrasa with the students for an academic year. Fatima, being one of the favourites and popularly known as khala ammi (aunt mother). Fictive kinship is the term used by Sanyal to describe this relationship. Fatimas indomitable energy and courage in withstanding the odds in personal life won many hearts, including that of Sayyid Sahib and as a mark of appreciation for her services she had been retained as an employee for a sizeable period of time. Sanyals personal acquaintance with some of the wardens, like Zeenat, unravelled the hurdles women, particularly Muslim, had to encounter in their daily pursuits and in the process reveals the other side of the story. Some of them, like Safiya, were accomplished women with substantial work experience and were found to be at loggerheads with the management possibly due to their liberal overtures. Sanyal, however, does not elaborate on this aspect. Instead, she draws an interesting contrast between the stories of the teachers and wardens to unveil the discrete patterns evident in society. While the teachers were young women contemplating marriage or already married overwhelmed with expectations, the wardens were older women jilted or abused, struggling to regain respect and a livelihood. The crux of the issue, however, was the increasing number of female students at the madrasas which Sanyal opines should be underscored since that could be inferred as an important signifier for instilling the change in society. Democratising Knowledge Harping on the idea of the growing penchant for religious education among Muslim women, she compares and contrasts other schools for Muslim girls with madrasa education. The Islamic Public School, for instance, imparted education on a curriculum certified by the UP Board of Education with specific adherence to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) books. However, Sanyals alumni surveys attest that what endeared them to the school were the lectures on religious education, since they emphasised that these conveyed the idea of a meaningful and disciplined existence. In her concluding remarks on madrasa education, Sanyal analyses this growing trend in its historical context that owed its origins in South Asia in the late 19th century, inducing young women to graduate into educated wives and mothers as a last resort in enhancing self-preservation of the community. Sanyal, however, laments the absence of such a united endeavour on part of the maslaks (Deobandi, Barelwi, Ahl-e-Hadith, the Jamaat-e-Islami, and Shia) in encountering the divisive tendencies, unleashed by certain sections of the society, in the context of the present political scenario in the country. The empowerment of women through religious education constitutes an engrossing section that forms the second part of the book. The Al-Huda International Welfare Foundation imparted lessons on Quranic studies in Pakistan which later on spread among the Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and parts of West Asia like Qatar. The women were encouraged to internalise the message of Quran and use it as a guide for personal transformation. Sanyal argues that the emergence of the Al-Huda International Welfare Foundation at the present historical juncture was part of a broader worldwide phenomenon of womens movements in the Muslim world. Her study is based not only on her personal experiences as an enrolled online student, but also on the works of three authors who were admonished by the orthodox sections. The founders of this institution owed their intellect to reformist backgrounds. The women, Sanyal was acquainted with, were educated and primarily working women who challenged the old order (the ulama), who posed to be the custodians of religion for generations. Comprehending the language (Arabic) was the basic prerequisite for this. The women, mostly South Asian in origin, braved this course with infallible determinationdecoded and reread the interpretations of religious texts. Sanyals commendable fieldwork and surveys that illuminate the spectrum of Muslim society depict some heartening vignettes. The positive vibes emitted by the study deserve unequivocal support and appreciation. Despite this, one is tempted to read a nuanced view of religious education imparted by the Tablighi Jamaat and similar institutions in the Indian context that could apparently appear regressive in outlook. The book hones its thrust primarily on illuminating the positive vibes generated by endorsing a progressive education system by specific institutions on the one hand and focuses on madrasas/women who are bestowed with a discerning eye for rereading/reinterpreting the Quranic verses on the other. In its penchant for glossing over the stigmas/superstitions prevalent in Muslim society, it underscores several questions that would refrain from painting an over-complacent picture of a society still grossly riddled in contradictions. Numerous congregations bear testimony to the importance bestowed upon the purdah (veil); segregation of female and male audience in public gatherings and restrictions on intermingling in the public sphere are recommended as well as propagated. The reformation initiated by the progressive men and upheld by the ulama in the 19th century fell short of equally progressive Muslim leaders in the subsequent period; the cumulative effect of it was evident in the Mohammed Ahmad Khan v Shah Bano Begum (famous as Shah Bano case). The rise in Hindu nationalism has been reciprocated by an equally focused rise in Islamic fundamentalism which, too, has augured ill for the women. In her concluding chapter, Sanyal hints at some of them but evades controversial issues and focuses on the transitions that nurtured the proclivities of modern education in fomenting a revolution from below. The optimistic tenor of the book is undeniably the need of the hour where evil forces of fundamentalism wreak havoc intermittently, threatening the very notion of India. STOCKHOLM, July 29, 2022/PRNewswire/ -- Quant Chile SpA ("Quant Chile") has signed a ten-year total maintenance partnership contract with Arauco, a global manufacturer of forest products. The maintenance contract concerns the Licancel and Constitucion mills in Chile. In its quarterly report for the third quarter of 2022 Quant will increase its contract portfolio value with EUR 30 million, which is an estimate of the average revenue for the first years of the contract. Quant Chile and global forest product manufacturer Arauco has signed a total maintenance partnership contract regarding two mills, Licancel and Constitucion, in Chile after a tender process. The contract scope includes maintenance execution, spare parts, subcontracted services and shutdowns. This award shows that Arauco acknowledges the global know-how that Quant has in the industrial maintenance service and pulp and paper industry, as well as the strong local Chilean track record and presence in industrial maintenance. The maintenance contract is the first step in our joint collaboration and Quant is focusing to continue to bring the added value to Arauco, says Maximiliano Aqueveque, SVP Regional Manager for Region Americas. Stockholm, 29 July 2022 Quant AB (publ) For further information, please contact: Maximiliano Aqueveque, SVP Regional Manager Americas, +55 9 92995544 Andre Stromgren, CFO: +46 708 410 796 E-mail: ir@quantservice.com Quant AB (publ) is a global leader in industrial maintenance. For over 30 years, we have been realizing the full potential of maintenance for our customers. From embedding superior safety practices and building a true maintenance culture, to optimizing maintenance cost and improving plant performance, our people make the difference. We are passionate about maintenance and proud of ensuring we achieve our customers' goals in the most professional way. The group operates internationally in close to 20 countries world-wide, employing more than 2,500 people. The parent company is located in Stockholm, Sweden. For additional information about the group, please visit www.quantservice.com. This information is information that Quant is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 19:30 CEST on 29 July 2022. CONTACT: This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/quant-ab/r/quant-signs-maintenance-contract-with-arauco,c3608528 The following files are available for download: A nyone interested in the history of watchmaking will also be familiar with the literary corpus of Swiss historian Pierre-Yves Donze, a professor of business history at Osaka University in Japan. Thanks to his talent for telling the complex history of watchmaking in an effective and simple way, some of his books have become references in the genre (see his complete bibliography here). One of his latest books, The Business of Time: a global history of the watch industry, has just been translated from French into English, an opportunity not to be missed by watch professionals and aficionados, as well as by anyone interested in how an industry can develop over time. In addition, it makes very good use of some of the Europa Star archives that we have digitised over the last five years! The starting point of this book is quite provocative: the fact is that today, the Swiss watch industry does not exist... or, to be more precise, it no longer exists! Certainly, there are many watch companies established on Swiss territory and Switzerland is the main producer of watches (in value). However, at the beginning of the 21st century, a national character for this business is difficult to discern. First of all, the nationality of the companies should be discussed, since companies are the basic units of industries. The composition of the shareholding makes it possible to distinguish various models, including companies controlled by Swiss capital and headquartered in Switzerland (such as Swatch Group and Rolex), companies with foreign capital and headquarters but which control Swiss watch manufacturers (LVMH or Citizen, for example), and companies established in Switzerland and controlled by foreign capital (Richemont) - clearly, a long way from a homogeneous national industry. Moreover, all these companies, regardless of their ownership structure, are integrated into production systems organised on a global scale. Some of them have subsidiaries in Europe and Asia for the manufacture of components. Others are supplied by independent subcontractors, mostly based in China and Thailand. Under these conditions, it is difficult to define exactly the nature of the Swiss character of the watch industry present in Switzerland. This preliminary remark does not apply exclusively to Switzerland. A similar observation can be made today for other countries with watch industries, particularly Japan, Germany, and China. Watchmaking is now a globally organised industry, although some activities are concentrated in particular territories, such as Switzerland for luxury watches or China for other watches. However, until the middle of the 20th century, the nation was the scale on which various watch industries were organised and competed on world markets. The Swiss watch industry was made up of companies with their headquarters in Switzerland, controlled by Swiss capital, and producing all their components in Switzerland. The model was similar in Germany, France, Japan, the USSR and, to some extent, the USA. Global competition was based on companies deeply rooted in national territories, sometimes supported and protected by states. This led to situations in which the Swiss watch industry was competing, for example, with American watchmaking (last third of the 19th century) or Japanese watchmaking (1960s1980s). The aim of this book is therefore to analyse the way in which the process of globalisation has taken place in the watch industry. How did the large, often multinational, companies that dominate this industry today come into being? This is the main question that this book answers. The book has three main features. First, it is organised chronologically, with eight chapters running from the early 19th century to the present day (see below contents). Second, it offers a global panorama of watch production, based as much as possible on original sources. The author used archival material from Switzerland, France, and the US, as well as newspapers, directories, and other documents published in various countries (France, Germany, India, Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the US, and the USSR). Thus, a wide range of material has been gathered in order to write a truly global history of watchmaking. Third, each chapter opens with a statistical estimate of world watch production, in order to give a general overview of the industry for each period. Providing the reader with statistics regarding world watch production was necessary, if difficult, to identify the major manufacturing countries and the dynamics of national rankings over time. Contents Introduction 1. The situation in the mid-nineteenth century 2. Responding to the American challenge, 1870-90 3. A first phase of technological and industrial diffusion, 1890-1914 4. The transformation of the watch industry, 1914-45 5. A first wave of foreign direct investment, 1945-70 6. The impact of electronics, 1970-85 7. Reorganisation of global value chains since 1985 8. Epilogue: the world watch industry in 2017 Conclusion Index The author Pierre-Yves Donze is professor of business history at Osaka University (Japan) and visiting professor at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and at EM Normandie Business School (France). ORDER THE BOOK HERE This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Speaking to people after a traumatic experience can be challenging, but firefighters in Alamo Heights have found that talking things out is often what people need most. A handful of Alamo Heights firefighters travel the state to provide peer support to other first responders after they witness catastrophes on the job. Members of the Alamo Heights Fire Departments Critical Incident Stress Management Team, formed in 2018, lead group discussions to help first responders process and cope with tragedies. For Evan Jennings, seeing the look on peoples faces as they thank the group for their work is a great part of being on the team. That probably means the most to me, said Jennings, 30. You see relief. You can see theyre really tense at first, and then theyre laughing, theyre smiling at the end, saying, That really helped. On ExpressNews.com: What do Alamo Heights police officers do all day? We crunched the numbers to find out. There are three other firefighters and a chaplain on the Alamo Heights Fire Department CISM Team. Members dont typically travel as a full pack, but when other departments call upon them, a couple of members at a time hit the road to put to work the skills they learned through training from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. The team has helped individuals who are affected by a myriad of circumstances, from the Kerrville drag racing crash last year to mass shootings in the El Paso Walmart in 2019 and the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde in May. Conference Bexar County District 7 Fire & Rescue is hosting a CISM and Peer Support Conference in San Antonio from Oct. 31 through Nov 2. For more information, contact CISM Director Denise Thompson at dthompson@d7fr.org. Thompson is a faculty member of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and teaches courses in the San Antonio area and throughout the U.S. See More Collapse The team members also make themselves available to local needs, helping people within their own department and in the San Antonio area. Sometimes the team members will refer people to licensed mental health professionals. And the Alamo Heights team members arent alone in their efforts. There are about 300 personnel trained by the international foundation in the region and about 50 teams throughout the state of Texas, said Denise Thompson, who coordinates a 13-county CISM team out of Bexar County. Thompson is Bexar County District 7 Fire & Rescues director of resiliency and peer support. She trains people, including those on the Alamo Heights CISM team, using the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation course materials. Some departments choose to be trained to help people within their community alone, while others go the Alamo Heights route and make themselves available to assist in other cities. Thompsons team includes first responders from departments in Leon Springs, Bulverde, Converse, Boerne and elsewhere. The San Antonio Fire Department also has similar programs within its department to help employees and their families when someone is dealing with the stresses of the job. The Alamo Heights CISM Team is something Fire Chief Michael Gdovin has been passionate about for years. He said he first became interested in helping people who witnessed tragic events after he was called out to a car crash involving five Trinity University students a few years before creating the CISM team. Gdovin said he recalls thinking it would have been helpful to be trained for how to talk to first responders in that situation, so he got the gears in motion to establish the team soon before becoming chief in 2018. The guys go out of here all the time on somebodys crappiest day to save people, Gdovin said. Someones got to look after them. On ExpressNews.com: Alamo Heights ISD, police eye more school security officers Although there are multiple organizations that provide training for CISM-type teams, officials at the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation said its the go-to source for course materials. In the first quarter of this year, the foundation trained 6,885 people, said Michelle Parks, CISM peer support team manager. In 2021, it trained 23,227 people. I know from personal observation and personal involvement that this saves lives, foundation CEO Rick Barton said. And if not directly saving someones life, it saves life quality. People can actually get over what these incidents are doing to them. They never forget, theyre never 100 percent over them, but it helps them cope with it and live with it. Ben Huser, 38, is another member of the Alamo Heights team. He said fellow paramedics and firefighters tend to appreciate talking to people who understand what they go through on a daily basis rather than getting advice from people who do not fully understand the pressure of the job. I think people dont hold back as much whenever you talk to them, Huser said. Its almost like talking to a buddy with another department. On ExpressNews.com: 82-year-old triathlete: Outlive the competition When departments reach out to the Alamo Heights CISM Team to request that it come talk to first responders, they go through Chaplain Bobby Contreras, pastor at Alamo Heights Baptist Church. Sometimes the team is called to help just a couple of people or a larger group of about 20 first responders at once, he said. At least once a month, the Alamo Heights team is called upon to assist people in other departments. We have a desire to just be a resource for those that need us, Contreras said. Jennings Christian faith plays a role in how he approaches the task of helping others. He said assisting others as they work through their struggles helps him in a way, too, by taking his focus off of himself. The Lord says its better to give than receive, and I feel like when Im going through difficult things and I have bad calls, I could say I need my time. But going out of your way to help someone else - its healing to your own mind and heart. megan.rodriguez@express-news.net Imagine walking from the Alamo to the Frost Tower, or from the Shops at Rivercenter mall to the Alamodome, all under one roof. You could do something like that in the half-mile-long distribution center that San Antonio-based USAA Real Estate and partner McDonald Property Group are building in Southern California. The 1.8 million-square-foot facility, which started construction last month, will serve as a manufacturing and distribution center for New York-based United Legwear & Apparel Co., according to the Press-Enterprise, a newspaper serving the area. USAA Real Estate will serve as landlord of the facility, which is being built in Beaumont, Calif., a city in Southern Californias Inland Empire about 70 miles east of Los Angeles. United Legwear operates brands such as Puma, Champion and Sketchers, its website says. Spanning 85 acres, the facility will be one of the largest industrial buildings in Southern California, according to the Commercial Observer, which covers commercial real estate. Construction is expected to take about 18 months. The facility will be part of the master-planned Crossroads Logistics Center, which USAA Real Estate and McDonald are building near the crossing of Interstate 10 and two state freeways. Samira Bitar, a spokeswoman for USAA Real Estate, and representatives of McDonald, of Laguna Beach, Calif., didnt respond to requests for comment. I have enjoyed the opportunity to develop some sizable and unique projects in my career, but none as large from a construction perspective as this, Bruce McDonald, president and CEO of McDonald, told the Observer. S.A. VOTES Voter Guide: What to know for the Texas runoff election A breakdown of key state and local races and candidates in the May 24 primary runoff. USAA Real Estate has a complicated relationship with USAA, the local insurance company. In 2020, USAA sold its controlling stake to the companys management and a group of investors, while keeping a minority investment. At that time, USAA Real Estate managed a property portfolio valued at more than $30 billion. Last year, USAA Real Estate sold the luxury La Cantera Resort & Spa on the Northwest Side to affiliates of Ohana Real Estate Investors, a hospitality firm from the San Francisco Bay Area. Earlier this summer, the company and a partner, the Houston firm Patrinely Group, purchased about 125 acres of vacant land southeast of Rolling Oaks Mall on the Northeast Side. Music will bring people together for many reasons this weekend, from spiritual to festive. Heres a look at the weekends entertainment highlights. Balcones Heights Jazz Festival: This 28th annual festival continues with a show by British guitarist Peter White, who worked with Al Stewart on songs such as Time Passages before he became a star on the smooth jazz scene. Johnny P and the Wiseguys are opening. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Wonderland of the Americas, 4522 Fredericksburg Road. Free, reachfortheheights.org. Unite: San Antonio: Worship and revival event featuring Crowder, Passion, Scott Dawson, For King & Country, Christine DClario, DJ Morph and Evan Craft. 6:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Alamodome, 100 Montana St. Free, unitesdea.org. Jason Banks: Comedian Banks has made the rounds on shows such as Laff Mobs Laff Tracks and Kevin Harts LOL Network. His style is laid-back and often self-deprecating. Banks also performs skits on TikTok about exaggerated interactions between him and his fictional son Derek. 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 NW Loop 410. $60-$240, improvtx.com. Muscadine Bloodline: This Southern country duo recently released its sophomore effort, Dispatch to 16th Ave., with a sound inspired by their hometown of Mobile, Ala. Exploring everything from heartbreak to calling out the music industry, the duo experiments with limited instrumentation while maximizing the message on songs such as Dead on Arrival and My Side of Town. 7 p.m. Friday, Floores Country Store, 14492 Old Bandera Road. $20, liveatfloores.com. Benise: Celebrate 20 years of this performers combination of Spanish guitar and dance. Benise will take the audience through a journey exploring dance and musical styles from flamenco and salsa to Brazilian samba and Parisian waltzes. 8 p.m. Friday, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle. $35-$60, tobincenter.org. High Ground PR / Contributed photo Saturday You, Gods Music Showcase: The finals of this Christian music singing competition will take place in San Antonio. In addition to the five finalists, there will be a performance by former American Idol contestant Danny Gokey. 7 p.m. Saturday, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle. $20-$60, tobincenter.org. San Antonio Reggae Festival: Junior Reid, who sang in the great reggae band Black Uhuru, is the big name at this years festival. The lineup also includes Alex Marley and Carlton Pride & Mighty Zion. The event also will feature food trucks, art and cultural merchandise vendors. 2-11 p.m. Saturday, Rosedale Park, 303 Dartmouth St. $31, Facebook: @sanantonioreggaefest. Sean McConnell: Roots rock musician McConnells 14 album, A Horrible Beautiful Dream, longs for simpler times while grappling with the strife of the current day. 8 p.m. today, 9 p.m. Saturday, Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road. $20, gruenehall.com. STRFKR: This indie rock band is known for albums that navigate a hazy, dreamlike state with the soft melodies of Future Past Life or the psychedelic soundscape of Ambient 1. 7 p.m. Saturday, Paper Tiger 2410 N. St. Marys St. $22, papertigersatx.com. Bobby Bank, Contributor / Getty Images Sunday Kurtis Conner: A comedian whose roots go back to the video site Vine, Conner is now a YouTube sensation who dissects reality TV, weird products and other pop culture at length. His debut stand-up special Hot Jokes was released independently in 2017. 7 p.m. Sunday, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle. $35-$75, tobincenter.org. Sleeping With Sirens: Crosses, featuring Spencer Chamberlain of Underoath, is the hard-charging single off Complete Collapse, the forthcoming album by rockers Sleeping With Sirens. Also on the bill are Don Broco, Point North and Garzi. 6 p.m. Sunday, Vibes Live in the Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St. $30-$32, Facebook @Vibes. Metalachi: This one-of-a-kind cover band is here to remake favorite classic rock tracks with mariachi horns and strings, plaintive vocals and folk dance rhythms. The band has made three albums Uno, Dos and Tres filled with lovingly altered tracks such as Queens Bohemian Rhapsody Ozzy Osbournes Crazy Train. 7 p.m. Sunday, Paper Tiger 2410 N. St. Marys St. $10, papertigersatx.com. Mozart Festival: The Mozart Festival of Texas artisan string quartet will perform the celebrated composers String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat major (The Hunt), as well as works by Hugu Wolf and Tchalkovsky. 3 p.m. Sunday, University of the Incarnate Word, 4301 Broadway. $15-$100, mozartfestivaltexas.org. Rating: Solid neighborhood option No one knows whose portrait hangs in the back room at Scratch Kitchen. The tinted photo of the woman with baleful eyes and a close-cropped bob was in the crawl space when Becky Medellin and her husband Jack Salmon took over the old Victorian house where they opened their bakery and European-style cafe in Alta Vista in 2017. The house has been a hair salon and an attorneys office, and Medellin said a few of her customers told her theyd once lived there. Now its home to a breakfast-and-lunch cafe where pastries, kolaches and quiches fill a case in the front room and a cat with a corkscrew tail patrols the shaded tables in the courtyard looking for crumbs and affection. Mike Sutter/Staff Medellin and Salmon started Scratch in the South Texas town of Edinburg in 2014 before moving to San Antonio. Cupcakes were the focus at first, but the operation grew to incorporate her dads bread recipes and desserts using her moms techniques for brownies, lemon bars and pecan sandies. While juggling their roles as restaurant owners, parents of two toddler girls and Salmons full-time job as an attorney, the couple have built Scratch Kitchen into a destination for sandwiches, soups, salads, breakfast quiches, coffee and more than two dozen baked goods on any given day. All of them made from, well, scratch. On ExpressNews.com: Bird Bakery has sweet success with red velvet cupcakes and an A-list turkey sandwich Mike Sutter/Staff Best sandwich: Scratch Kitchens ham and brie sandwich is like that portrait in the back room: timeless, beautiful, classic. Assembled on house-baked toasted white bread, it brought together the right ratio of lightly salted ham, lush melted brie, the tang of Dijon mustard and the childlike joy of Bonne Maman apricot jam for something as sweet as a memory. It costs $12 at brunch with salad and fruit, and $12.75 at lunch with two sides and a mini dessert. Other sandwiches: Scratch Kitchen is open for breakfast and lunch every day, but the weekends are for croque madame ($13.50 with potatoes and sauteed vegetables). It began as a simple grilled ham and havarti cheese sandwich with Dijon mustard on good white bread. But the croque madame formula demands a perfect fried egg and a Mornay sauce richer than queso at a Thomas J. Henry party, and Scratch delivered, with a side of diner-quality fried potatoes and sauteed vegetables for color and decorum. Mike Sutter/Staff Four-grain bread at Scratch is some of the best sandwich bread in this series, with a sturdy structure and a surprisingly light bite. It was the best part of a chicken salad sandwich that rang the flat neutral notes of a preparation most of us expect from chicken salad even as we hope for something more exciting. It rings in at $12 with chips and salad at brunch, and $12.75 at lunch with two sides and a mini dessert. Mike Sutter/Staff In this nation of all-day breakfast, Scratch does its part by offering a breakfast sandwich for breakfast, brunch and lunch ($7 a la carte; $13 at brunch with fruit and potatoes). Its an egalitarian union of fried egg, havarti cheese, bacon, avocado and tomato on a house-baked bun, with every element pulling its weight for an all-day winner. After more than three decades, an Austin man was arrested in connection with the stabbing death of his grandmother in her Pennsylvania home, police said. Police in Erie, Pennsylvania, said advances in technology allowed them to match Jeremy Brock's DNA to evidence found at the scene of the murder of 77-year-old Helen Vogt. The now 55-year-old was arrested in Austin on Monday. On ExpressNews.com: Two men found shot dead at apartment complex near Harlandale High School On July 23, 1988, Vogt was found by a neighbor in her blood-soaked townhouse, beaten and stabbed more than 50 times in her hands, neck, face and back, Erie County Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny said in a news conference Tuesday. I got upstairs and I looked over the kitchen sink and there was blood all over the kitchen sink, all over everywhere. I ran around and went upstairs, and as I went upstairs, I found her laying on the floor, Vogt's neighbor told YourErie.com. The neighbor told police they saw someone in Vogt's 1988 Buick LaSabre backing out of her garage and speeding away. Police said Vogt's townhouse had been ransacked, but there was no forced entry. There was a trail of blood leading to the bathroom, with more blood found on a towel, the hamper and a wet, bloody washcloth in the shower, indicating the suspect had tried to wash the blood off, Spizarny said. Police discovered that a briefcase usually filled with money and savings bonds was empty and other expensive items from the home were missing. On ExpressNews.com: Three men face charges in fatal robbery outside a Northeast Side hookah bar Two knives and a two-prong fork were found with blood on them and placed back in a kitchen drawer, police said. In 1990, officials obtained Brock's DNA, but the results were inconclusive. Brock's DNA samples were retested this year and were found to match evidence found at the scene, officials said. Brock is now facing homicide and theft charges. He is being held at the Travis County Jail before his extradition to Erie County. taylor.pettaway@express-news.net Jack Andersen/Getty Images A Texas city is going hog wild for a local bacon company's 100th anniversary and is renaming itself "Bacon City, USA" for two days in September. The Wright Brand, known for its thick-sliced hickory bacon, started in the back of a small grocery store in Vernon, Texas, in 1922, so the company thought it would be an ham-azing way to celebrate a century in the business by renaming the city where it all began. Vernon is located near the Texas-Oklahoma border. Police raided five Houston homes and a storage facility on Thursday as part a large-scale investigation to crack down on catalytic convertor thefts, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The raids which were done in conjunction with the Harris County Sheriffs Office, the Houston Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety led to the arrests, the seizure of more than $484,000 in cash and the discovery of more than 100 catalytic converters authorities believe had been cut off vehicles and were in the process of being fenced, according to a press release. The men are accused of participating in a theft ring that was connected to three men who have already been arrested and charged with murdering Harris County Sheriffs Office deputy Darren Almendarez, the release also stated. For far too long, violent criminal networks and organized theft rings like this have bred chaos and terror in our communities, said Mark Dawson, the special agent in charge for the Houston office of Homeland Security Investigations. Together with our fellow law enforcement partners, HSI Houston is committed to bring every resource to bear to vigorously pursue these dangerous criminal elements and will not rest until we can restore peace and order for the hard-working and law-abiding residents of Houston. The arrested men were identified as Jose Martinez, 19; Armando Martinez, 18; Isaac Castillo, 21; Terance Elder, 20; and Armando Martinez Sr., 39; all residents of Houston, and Jose Sanchez, a 21-year-old resident of Dayton, Texas. The Department of Homeland Security didnt provide the exact charges against them, and said the men were arrested on state warrants. Almendarez was shot and killed on March 17, while confronting a group of men who were allegedly stealing a catalytic convertor off his Toyota Tundra in a grocery store parking lot. Joshua Stewart, 23; Fredarius Clark, 19; and Fredrick Tardy, 18, have been charged with capital murder in connection to Almendarezs death. The men are accused of working together to first try to cut the convertor off the truck, and then shooting Almendarez when he confronted them. Almendarez was off-duty when he was shot. He was at the grocery store to buy groceries for his sisters birthday party, according to testimony presented at a bond hearing in May. Catalytic convertor thefts in recent years have reportedly been rising in the greater Houston area and around the country. The car parts are targeted because they contain precious metals, including palladium, platinum and rhodium, that can be sold at high prices as scrap, according to authorities. john.ferguson@chron,com China, Africa work to build security community 09:10, July 29, 2022 By He Yin ( People's Daily China has always worked to develop relations with Africa, with a commitment to upholding the greater good in the pursuit of shared interests and following the principles of sincerity, pragmatism, affinity and good faith, said Chinese President Xi Jinping in a congratulatory letter to the second China-Africa Peace and Security Forum on July 25. The second China-Africa Peace and Security Forum is held via video link, July 25. Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe attended the meeting. (Photo/Li Xiaowei) Xi noted that the country is ready to work with its African friends to adhere to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. China will work with Africa to safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core, uphold international fairness and justice, promote the implementation of the Global Security Initiative, and build a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era, Xi said. Xi's congratulatory letter fully indicated the high attention attached by China on China-Africa peace and security cooperation. It has charted the course for the two sides to enhance cooperation and solidarity and achieve common security. Africa has been facing a number of uncertainties in its security situation, as well as untraditional security threats such as terrorism, COVID-19, climate change and food security. Against such a background, to enhance China-Africa peace and security cooperation is of more practical significance. The second China-Africa Peace and Security Forum was attended by 50 ministerial-level officials and high-level representatives from the African Union (AU) and African countries. They said China is a reliable friend, partner and brother of Africa and expressed their thanks to China for assisting and supporting Africa's peace and security. They are ready to enhance solidarity and cooperation with China, and make positive contributions to build a China-Africa community with a shared future. The second China-Africa Peace and Security Forum is held via video link, July 25. Photo shows Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe delivering a keynote speech at the meeting. (Photo/Li Xiaowei) Realizing enduring peace and universal security is a common aspiration of the Chinese and African peoples. Peace and security cooperation is an important part of China-Africa cooperation. At the 2015 Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the 2018 Beijing Summit of the FOCAC, and the eighth FOCAC ministerial conference held the last year, President Xi personally planned and promoted China-Africa peace and security cooperation. He raised a series of important initiatives on peace and security and proposed to set up the China-Africa Peace and Security Forum to build a platform for the two sides to enhance communication in the specific field. The peace and security cooperation carried out by China and Africa under the framework of the FOCAC is an important measure of them to build a China-Africa community with a shared future. Different from other major countries outside Africa, China, when participating in Africa's peace and security affairs, fully respects the wills of regional countries, never interferes in their domestic affairs and follows the basic norms governing international relations. China supports African countries and the African Union to play a leading role in Africa's peace and security affairs, supports Africa to enhance its independent capability to maintain peace and stability and fight terrorism, supports African countries and regional organizations including the African Union to implement the "Silencing the Guns initiative, and supports the UN to provide capital assistance for the African Union's independent peacekeeping actions. China is actively joining Africa's efforts to advance peace and security capacity building. The recently-concluded First China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference marked an important step of China and Africa to implement the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa, and provided important assistance for regional countries to independently solve regional peace and security issues. To implement the China-Africa peace and security program proposed at the eighth FOCAC ministerial conference, China will launch 10 peace and security projects for Africa and keep providing military aid for the African Union. China supports African countries to independently safeguard regional peace and fight terrorism, and will launch China-Africa joint drills, training and light weapon management for peacekeeping. China is committed to helping Africa improve its independent development capability. The country insists that Africa should put equal emphasis on development and security so as to achieve sustained security and eliminate hotbeds of all types of insecure factors. An engineer detachment of the 9th Chinese peacekeeping contingent to Mali recently passed an equipment inspection held by the UN. The UN inspection team came to a unanimous conclusion that the main equipment and self-sustaining equipment of the detachment all fit the UN standards and could fully satisfy the requirements for combat and peacekeeping tasks. (Photo from the official page of People's Liberation Army Daily) China's active role in development, peacekeeping and mediating hotspot African issues is widely commended. "China doesn't interfere in African countries' domestic affairs, and our cooperation is based on equality and mutual benefit," said John Mulimba, Uganda's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Cooperation. China and Africa have always been sharing a same future. They should offer each other mutual assistance in security to build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future. As the world is going through profound changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century and entering a period of new turbulence and transformation, the two sides should uphold the spirit of China-Africa friendship, put in practice the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative, and march toward the aspiration of building a security community, so as to make bigger contributions to tackling global security deficits and promoting world peace and development. (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) Les membres du gouvernement ont pris note que le Fisheries and Marine Resources (Marine Protected Areas) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 sera promulge, quaura lieu lInternational Conference on Archipelagic Memory: Intersecting Geographies, Histories and Disciplines, quil y avaot 385 cas actifs de la Covid-19 dans le pays ainsi que les resultats des elections des membres de la Mauritius Society of Authors entre autres . 1. Cabinet has taken note that the Fisheries and Marine Resources (Marine Protected Areas) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 would be promulgated with a view to allowing the exemption, waiving or refund of the Interference Permit and any other fee payable under the Regulations by any Ministry or statutory body as most requests relate to projects for the protection of the environment. Interference Permit fees are payable for the installation of permanent or temporary structures in Marine Protected Areas. 2. Cabinet has agreed to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Mozambique on arts and cultural heritage for the period 2022-2023. The objective of the Memorandum of Understanding is to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between both countries in the fields of arts and cultural heritage. The main areas of cooperation of the Memorandum of Understanding are, inter alia, to: (a) encourage exchange visits by cultural and artistic groups to participate in international cultural and artistic activities held in their respective countries; (b) encourage exchange on subjects related to museums, archives, libraries and art galleries in both countries; and (c) exchange documents and conduct research in the fields of slavery and heritage. 3. Cabinet has taken note of the signature of a Project Cooperation Agreement Amendment No. 3 between the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in respect of the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) for Low Carbon Island Development Strategy project, reflecting an extension of the project to 31 January 2024 and implementation of new activities. The objective of the project is to ensure a low carbon path for Mauritius and which would culminate into the formulation of a first National Climate Change Mitigation Strategy and Action Plan in line with the Climate Change Act. The NAMA project would thus play a pivotal role in the conduct of detailed assessments and setting up of mitigation targets for sectors such as energy, transport, industrial processes and product use, agriculture, waste management (solid and liquid) and forestry. 4. Cabinet has taken note of the main outcome of the Sixth Compliance Committee meeting and the Ninth Meeting of Parties of the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA) that were held in Reunion Island recently. The SIOFA is a multilateral agreement adopted in July 2006 by the Food and Agriculture Organization for the conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources in the waters beyond national jurisdiction in the Southern Indian Ocean region. The Compliance Committee is a subsidiary body of the Meeting of Parties which advises it on compliance matters. Mauritius has been nominated as the official chair of the Meeting of Parties as from 04 July 2022. The next Meeting of Parties and the Compliance Committee would be held in Mauritius in May 2023. 5. Cabinet has agreed to the Office of Public Sector Governance conducting seven reviews in Ministries and Government Departments for the period August 2022 to June 2023 on the basis of the findings and shortcomings noted in the Report of the Director of Audit on the Accounts of Government for Financial Year 2020/2021. 6. Cabinet has agreed to the holding of the International Conference on Archipelagic Memory: Intersecting Geographies, Histories and Disciplines, to be organised by the University of Mauritius, in collaboration with Kings College of London and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa from 2 to 4 August 2022. The Conference would aim, inter alia, at: (a) exploring the connected histories across seas and oceans, with a view to prompting theoretical dialogue and thinking on cultural production; (b) considering future trajectories in individual, collective, as well as national identity in archipelagic spaces and cultures; and (c) exploring connected histories and developing an analytical framework to allow for reflection linked to narratives of historical, national and cultural development. Around 75 participants, including 54 international academics, students, organisers and volunteers would attend the Conference. 7. Cabinet has taken note that Moodys Investors Service has revised Mauritius sovereign credit to Baa3. Mauritius remains in the investment grade. Moodys has also changed the outlook from Negative to Stable on the basis that the fiscal and debt metrics will further improve. 8. Cabinet has taken note that an e-platform known as the Project Management Information System (PROMIS) has been set up by the Ministry of National Infrastructure and Community Development for the effective monitoring of all capital building projects. PROMIS is already operational. 9. Cabinet has taken note that the Ministry of Health and Wellness, in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would hold a Regional Training Course to Train the Trainers in Radiation Safety Culture from 17 to 21 October 2022 in Mauritius. The objective of the event is to strengthen capacity for training of trainers in radiation safety culture. Regional experts would provide training at country level by utilising the traits handbook developed by the IAEA. Some 30 participants from IAEA Member States are expected to participate in the event as well as five local participants in the field of Nuclear Medicine and Radiopharmacy. 10. Cabinet has taken note of the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic prevailing across the world. Some 578.8 million cases have been reported globally, of which 548.8 million persons have been successfully treated. With regard to Mauritius, as at 27 July 2022, there were 385 active cases of COVID-19, out of which 46 were admitted at the New ENT Hospital. Over the period 21 to 27 July 2022, four deaths were attributed to COVID-19. Cabinet has also taken note that the National Vaccination Committee has recommended the administration of the second booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine for persons aged 18 years and above. Cabinet has further taken note of the COVID-19 cases detected in Agalega and the Preparedness Plan being implemented by the Ministry of Health and Wellness. 11. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent official visit of the Minister of Energy and Public Utilities to Rodrigues. The Minister, inter alia, co-chaired with the Chief Commissioner, a High-Level Working Session in Rodrigues on the water sector to take stock of the actual water situation in Rodrigues and, based on previous experience, chart out appropriate actions that could be implemented in the short, medium and long term with a view to averting the anticipated water crisis. Various proposals and recommendations were made at the High Level Meeting to address the water situation in the immediate term. The Rodrigues Regional Assembly (RRA) launched, on 23 July 2022, the Rodrigues Public Utilities Corporation, which would be the executive arm of the RRA, primarily in the field of water production. During his visit, the Minister visited one Power station and four CEB Renewable Energy projects on the island. 12. Cabinet has taken note that the elected members on the Board of the Mauritius Society of Authors (MASA) following the election held on 10 July 2022, are: (a) two members from the Category of Music Author, Composer and Performer Mr Steve Kersley Clarence Henri Augustin and Mr Gunesshun Hurry; (b) two members from the category of Audio-visual/Theatrical Mr Darmalingum Mootien and Mr Jean Alexandre Michael Martin; (c) one member from the category of Literary Author Mr Sedley Richard Assonne; (d) one member from the category of Publisher Mr Jean Denis Jimmy Veerapin; and (e) one member from the category of Other Works Mr Jonathan Christophe Becherel. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires Batman and Robin. Peanut butter and jelly. David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Dynamic duos appear in all facets of our lives, from pop culture to food and beyond. It makes sense that San Antonians would want to form a duo of their own with the naming of their cats. Using data from San Antonio's Animal Care Services Department, we found hundreds of cat pairings with cute combo names, from "Bean" and "Cheese" to "Bernie" and "Sanders." We found 137 combos in all. We found these names through microchipping data. All San Antonio dogs, cats and ferrets are required to have a registered microchip in them. Microchips do not need to be registered with the city or ACS, only with a chip manufacturer. But pet owners can get a free microchip through ACS. During the appointment, cat parents fill out a form with their pets' names. We requested data for cats registered between Jan. 1, 2021 thorough May 13 of this year. During this time frame, 600 cats were registered with ACS, sporting 499 unique names. Luna happens to be the most common name of dogs registered through ACS, too. A Floresville woman has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for driving drunk and killing a man who had pulled over to check on a vehicle he was towing, the Bexar County District Attorneys Office said Wednesday. Blanca Juanita Torres was 38 when she was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter after she hit Mauricio Rodriguez Zuniga on Oct. 16, 2018, as he attempted to get out of his vehicle on Northwest Loop 410 near Vance Jackson Road. Zuniga, 26 and the father of two, died at University Hospital. According to police, he was pulling a sedan with a tow strap when his car broke down around 10:30 p.m. He pulled over to the side of Loop 410, and as he emerged to check on his vehicle was hit by Torres and thrown several feet from the impact. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio man indicted on charge of intoxication manslaughter in dragging death of teen girl At the time of the crash, police said Torres failed to maintain (her) lane of travel, drove onto the improved shoulder and struck Zuniga, his car and the car he was towing. Officers conducted a field sobriety test and arrested Torres. Torres blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was .017, more than twice the legal limit. As part of an agreement reached between prosecutor Sade Mitchell Bogart and defense attorney Jonathan Watkins, Torres in March entered a plea of no contest to intoxication manslaughter. State District Judge Jennifer Pena later found her guilty. The Docket: Local crime and courtroom news, delivered to your inbox weekly In a pre-sentence investigation hearing conducted Wednesday, Torres, now 42, expressed remorse to the Zuniga family. She admitted to the court that she had continued drinking after participating in several treatment programs, and added that she had been demoted at her place of employment for drinking while on the job. Online court records indicate that Torres sought probation but was denied. Bexar County District Attorney Joe D. Gonzales said in a statement that he hopes the family can find some peace and closure now that Torres accepted responsibility and has been sentenced. When people make the decision to get behind the wheel after drinking, innocent lives can be ruined, he said. Mr. Zunigas family will never forget that night. ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 The principal of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where 19 students and two teachers were slaughtered two months ago, will keep her job after vigorously contesting some findings of a Texas House committee report that faulted school officials for security lapses. Principal Mandy Gutierrez was placed on administrative leave with pay Monday, pending a review of security measures at the school. The leave was lifted Thursday after she met with district officials as part of the review and submitted a letter to the House committee in response to its findings. On ExpressNews.com: Video shows hour-plus wait to enter classrooms during Uvalde massacre Hal Harrell, superintendent of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, told Gutierrez in a letter, As a result of the review, you will be allowed to return to work. He added that with mutual agreement, you will continue to serve the district in an administrative capacity. She will no longer be principal at Robb, however. The district plans to demolish the school and rebuild the campus. Students who otherwise would have returned to Robb this fall are being sent to other campuses. Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer On ExpressNews.com: Uvalde gunman discussed bad memories of school before storming Robb Elementary Gutierrezs lawyer, Ricardo Cedillo, said via email that her administrative leave with pay has been lifted and she has been fully reinstated to her position, where she will continue to discharge her duties and continue to serve all the families of UCISD. On May 24, a teenage gunman, armed with a military-style rifle he had purchased from an online retailer, entered Robb Elementary through an unlocked door and killed 19 students and two teachers. The school served grades two through four. On ExpressNews.com: Morning of chaos: how the Uvalde massacre unfolded The three-member Texas House Investigative Committee on the Robb Elementary Shooting found that security lapses made it easier for the gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, of Uvalde to get inside the school and the two interconnected classrooms where he slaughtered his victims. Culture of noncompliance With hindsight we can say that Robb Elementary did not adequately prepare for the risk of an armed intruder on campus, the committee said in its report, released July 17. While the school had adopted security policies to lock exterior doors and internal classroom doors, there was a regrettable culture of noncompliance by school personnel who frequently propped doors open and deliberately circumvented locks, the report said. At a minimum, school administrators and school district police tacitly condoned this behavior as they were aware of these unsafe practices and did not treat them as serious infractions requiring immediate correction. In fact, the school actually suggested circumventing the locks as a solution for the convenience of substitute teachers and others who lacked their own keys. The report said teachers and student knew the door to Room 111, one of the classrooms where Ramos killed his victims, was ordinarily unsecured and accessible. The door could be locked, but an extra effort was required to make sure the latch engaged, the committee said. School district police warned the teacher in Room 111 about the faulty lock, and the problem was reported to school administration, yet no one placed a written work order for a repair, according to the report. It also noted that in violation of school policy, no one had locked any of the three exterior doors to the west building of Robb Elementary on the morning of the massacre. As a result, the attacker had unimpeded access to enter. Horrific ordeal Gutierrez has worked at Uvalde CISD for more than two decades, starting as a fourth-grade teacher at Robb. She became the schools assistant principal in 2018 and was promoted to principal in 2021. She testified before the committee during its investigation. In a letter she submitted to the panel Wednesday, Gutierrez defended her handling of security at the school and said the lock to Room 111 did in fact work and was checked the night before the shooting. Custodians at Robb checked all school doors nightly to ensure they were locked, she said. The teacher in charge of that classroom complained on more than one occasion that because the door DID lock, his workday was interrupted because the printer for several classrooms was located in that room, Gutierrez said in her letter. Referring to the committee report, Gutierrez said the teacher, Arnulfo Reyes, seems to recall that he complained about the door not locking to me for the last three years. She wrote that taking into account his horrific ordeal, I point out that I am in my first year as principal, and my predecessor has no recollection or record of those complaints. The committee report said that on the morning of the shooting, Gutierrez did not issue a lockdown order over Robb Elementarys public address system after receiving word that a gunman was crossing the school yard and heading toward one of the campus buildings. In her letter to the committee, Gutierrez said she had been trained that using the PA system could cause panic and alert shooters, possibly leading to more casualties. Shut it down The committee report also said Robb Elementary had poor Wi-Fi connectivity, which sometimes hobbled the schools web-based danger notification alert system, called Raptor. Gutierrez said she successfully worked around a weak Wi-Fi signal that day to issue a Raptor alert about the gunman. As proof that it went through, she said, school district police Chief Pedro Pete Arredondo told her by phone that hed received the notification. In her testimony to the committee, Gutierrez said Arredondo told her, Shut it down, Mandy. Shut it down. guillermo.contreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate There are members of the congressional class of 2020 who went to Washington to become high-profile trolls. Tony Gonzales was not one of them. The San Antonio Republican and former Navy cryptologist gets in a fair number of partisan social media jabs, particularly when it comes to what he regards as overly lax border policies from President Joe Biden. But you get the sense that he went to Congress to produce tangible results, rather than to score rhetorical points. Gonzales innate practicality might be his best attribute. It was on full display last week when he hosted U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, a Florida Democrat, on a mini-tour of Gonzales sprawling congressional district. Sotos visit was organized by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a D.C.-based think tank which pairs two members of Congress from opposing parties to visit each others districts, in an effort to broaden their perspectives. In April, Gonzales visited Sotos central Florida district. Last week, Soto returned the favor. Gonzales and Soto hung out on San Antonios River Walk, witnessed a change of command at Laughlin AFB, met with Border Patrol officials in Del Rio, visited a ranch about 10 miles north of Uvalde, talked with Uvalde civic leaders about mental-health services and carried wreaths to the Town Square memorial for the victims of the May 24 Robb Elementary shooting. Gonzales and Soto were a natural fit: two Latino lawmakers in their early 40s who represent districts that depend on agriculture. Both of them are members of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan congressional group, composed of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, that works to find a middle ground on contentious issues. Gonzales biggest goal when he headed to Congress was to help break the perennial gridlock on much-needed comprehensive immigration reform. His first 18 months in office have taught him that the most realistic approach might be to break off smaller, individual pieces of the immigration puzzle and concentrate on those. At the J. Allen Carnes Ranch, Gonzales and Soto talked with farmers and ranchers over a barbecue lunch. They listened while the farmers and ranchers talked about how their production has diminished over the past 20 years because of a lack of workers. Gonzales and Soto came away committed to collaborating on a plan that would enhance this countrys work-visa program, allowing for longer worker stints and processing on the border. As soon as you start talking about amnesty or a pathway to citizenship, it just kills the conversation and it gives people a reason why to say no to it, Gonzales said to the farmers and ranchers. One of the things that Darren and I were talking about this morning is, Hey, how do we just whittle it down to where it just makes sense? Maybe its not this big deal. Maybe its a small movement forward and you start building towards where you need to be. At Uvaldes Our Health/Nuestro Centro de Salud, Gonzales and Soto held a conference-room gathering with a group that included Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin and Sheriff Ruben Nolasco. Gonzales reaffirmed his support for a proposed $25 million mental-health facility that could serve Uvalde and other South Texas rural communities. Soto offered his backing. Last year, Gonzales helped secure $2 million in funding for the facility, and when he hosted Biden in Uvalde five days after the school shooting, he asked the president for more federal help with the project. Gonzales absolute commitment to addressing mental health has been admirable. It has also been frustrating, because it tends to exclude serious consideration of the fact that it was the possession of an assault-style firearm that enabled the Uvalde shooter to bring so much destruction to that community. Gonzales is stubbornly opposed to major gun restrictions, but he deserves some credit for backing last months bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which includes an enhanced review process for gun buyers under 21 years of age and funds state red-flag laws. Thomas Insel, the former director of the Institute of Mental Health, said last week on Ezra Kleins podcast that the Safer Communities Act is probably the most consequential bill for people with mental illness that weve seen in decades. In particular, Insel cited the new laws $8 billion investment in the Medicaid Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics program, which has been available in only 10 states but will now be able to go nationwide. Gonzales also bucked his party last week when he was the only Texas Republican in the U.S. House to vote in favor of codifying same-sex marriage. Hell never satisfy ideologues in either party, but he seems OK with that. ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470 The record-breaking heat Texas is experiencing this summer may become the new normal in the coming decades, according to officials. A recent Texas Monthly article explores the possibility that this summer may actually be the coldest summer for the foreseeable future. San Antonio is in the middle of what is shaping up to be the warmest summer on record. According to the National Weather Service, June was the warmest in recorded history for the Alamo City. So far this year, San Antonio has experienced 47 triple-digit temperature days, only 12 shy of the record set in 2011. On ExpressNews.com: CPS Energy bills jump more than 50 percent in June as temperatures and gas prices rise On average, South Central Texas experiences 14 days in which temeratures reach triple-digits. Texas 2036, a nonprofit think tank, said in a 2021 report that the number of 100-degree days in the region will double by 2036. Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M, told Texas Monthly that while this is the hottest summer since 2011, an 11-year gap between such hot summers, those gaps may shorten with another record-setting summer in "eight years, and then six years, and so on." The summers of the near future might not be as hot as this year has been, according to Keith White, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service for San Antonio and Austin. On ExpressNews.com: Texas firefighters battle massive flames from a wildfire "Last summer was a cooler summer, and given how we're seeing the hottest summer on record, there will be some summers over the next decade that don't get that hot," White said. "Decades in the future will be this hot, but likely not next year or three years from now." While there's no guarantee of summers filled with extreme heat like this year moving forward, the risk of extreme heat is increasing, White noted. That's due in part to the dryness seen across Texas, including in San Antonio. Drought conditions are expected to continue, intensifying the heat, through September. On ExpressNews.com: Jacob's Well runs dry for just fourth-time in recorded history "The sun is putting its energy into heating the air instead of evaporating moisture," White said. "La Nina conditions, which we're still under, typically bring us warmer, dryer conditions in the fall, winter, into the early spring. It was the hottest December on record, but we saw that in January and February, there was some cooler weather, but the heat returned with the hottest May and June on record." White attributed it to climate change. Observational data and modeling studies also show that both drought and flood risks have increased as the NWS has updated its 30-year models, which could have an effect on summer temperatures. "Just by swapping out the 1980s for the 2010s, the number of days with measurable rainfall went down, but days with an inch or more of rain went up," White said. "Droughts and floods increase as the climate warms." White said the best San Antonio residents can do is to follow local water restrictions in place. "Those restrictions may continue to increase as reservoirs are dropping quickly," White said. "Lake Medina, for example, is at its lowest level since at least 2015." shepard.price@express-news.net | @shepardgprice Over the past year and a half, as his physical ailments mounted, Carey Latimore would joke with his wife, Almie Pachoco-Latimore, saying, I think Im too nice. I think I need to be bad. Why? shed ask. So I would have a longer life. Bad people dont get sick, and they have longer lives. Looking at the man with whom she planned on sharing golden years and silver hair, Almie would say, Thats not a bad idea. No one who knew Carey Latimore can imagine him as bad any more than they can accept him as gone at age 46. Latimore died from multiple myeloma Tuesday in the couples new home in Somerset. A Ph.D., he was an associate professor of history at Trinity University focusing on the African American experience and Black history in the United States. He was also an adviser on the Alamo Citizens Advisory Committee, which will offer a more expansive and inclusive history of the Alamo. A country boy from Virginia, Latimore was one of San Antonios most influential and best-known academics, one who could break down a subject and make it understandable to everyone. He kept history alive, preserved traditions and strengthened communities through stories and psalms of remembrance. More Information Visitation and funeral: A memorial service for Carey Latimore will be on Tuesday at Mt. Zion First Baptist Church, 333 Martin Luther King Jr.. Visitation will be at 9 a.m. Funeral will be at 10 a.m. For more information, visit www.lewisfuneralhome.com/obituary/Carey-Latimore See More Collapse Carey is a San Antonio griot of African American History, said Aaronetta Pierce, tri-chair on the Alamo citizens panel and a close friend of Latimores. She and her husband, Joe, met Latimore when he arrived at Trinity in 2004. He studied it, respected it, cherished it and shared it, she said. That alone made him a valuable teacher to his students, congregations and humanity. But what set him apart was his extraordinary virtue as a mediator of often convoluted histories that helped others find the bridges, the overpasses and the catwalks that led to the common good. In his new book, Unshakable Faith: African American Stories of Redemption, Hope and Community, Latimore wrote: My ancestors could not run from their history. They had to remember it. Its a powerful and inspiring book that could have only been written by someone as steeped in history and Christianity as Latimore, an associate pastor at Mount Zion Baptist Church. Through the lives of historic and famous Black figures from Phillis Wheatley, Harriet Tubman, Duke Ellington and Fannie Lou Hamer to Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar, Latimore illustrates the role faith has played in helping Black people not only sustain and survive generations of racial injustice and terror but to overcome and triumph. Latimore was a man of deep scholarship and deep faith: faith in God; faith in people to rise above discord through grace, forgiveness and redemption; faith in democracy; faith that an honest telling of history, the beautiful and disturbing, was essential to democracy and the reconciliation of its people. Speaking of her husbands beliefs, which are also hers, Almie, a teacher, said, We people are hesitant to build relationships with other people because we do not know the person, and if we only gave time to listen to the other without looking at their color or their background or their beliefs, we could know them and should be able to love them. Latimore listened deeply without judgment and spoke passionately, with humility. He was a model of empathy. Lawrence Scott, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, was a close friend and protege of Latimores. Most of our conversations would be about building bridges between disparate groups and how we could unify our country, as well as the simple, mundane issues of life, Scott said. You could not be around Latimore without being aware of his many gifts: his intellect, his eloquence, his calm presence and strength, his ability to connect. And you couldnt be unaware that his greatest gift was Almie, whom he married in 2011. They were soulmates whose spirits matched, and they built a marriage like few will ever know, Pierce said. Together, Almie helped Carey accomplish a lifetime of achievements. Almie said, We really didnt have enough time. He was a gift to me. I cant complain too much that I only had him for 10 years. I lost a very special person, and he was just so loving, and I feel love. In June, Latimore was diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis seemed promising and he was positive, telling Almie, I can overcome this, and Ill be able to influence people and give them hope that they can survive cancer. I want to ring that bell of remission. In the year and a half leading up to that diagnosis, it was as if Latimore sensed he was running out of time. Despite pain and fatigue, he continued writing, speaking and planning new projects. On July 8, Carey and Almie moved into the dream home theyd built in Somerset, where theyd marvel at the rising and setting of the sun. Latimores last Facebook post was a 22-second video on July 21 called Sunrise in Somerset, Tx. Take it as a lesson from the great teacher that darkness makes way for light, night is followed by morning and despair is replaced by hope. Theres always hope, Almie said. That was his theme. Dont complain, be the solution. He wanted to build unity with others irrespective of whether they had the same ideas. Theres so many things he wanted to do, Almie continued, including writing about the beauty of Somerset. Theres beauty in every single place, in every single person. We just need to find it. And Carey always found the beauty. Those of us who knew, loved and mourn Carey Latimore should ask ourselves, which of the many things he wanted to do can we take on to continue his legacy of teaching, listening, building community and seeing each other like the sisters and brothers we are? Look for the beauty he saw. cary.clack@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The past is never dead. Its not even past. William Faulkner Faulkners words ring true this summer as the ghost of Emmett Till returned to our collective awareness. The Till case reminds us that our past not only shapes the present but can haunt as well. Till, just a month past his 14th birthday, was the Black boy from Chicago visiting relatives in Money, Miss., on Aug. 24, 1955, when he entered Bryants Grocery & Meat Market. Inside was Carolyn Bryant, the 21-year-old wife of Roy Bryant and mother of two young boys. What happened inside the store has been told in numerous and conflicting versions. We know Till gave her a wolf-whistle, a violation of Southern race relations, once outside the store, as his cousins witnessed and attested. We also know around 2 a.m. Aug. 28, 24-year-old Roy Bryant and 36-year-old J.W. Milam abducted Till at gunpoint from the home of Moses Wright, Tills great-uncle. Carolyn Bryant was most likely with them, although staying in their truck. A few days later, Tills body, weighted down by a cotton gin fan, was discovered in the Tallahatchie River. He had been severely beaten and shot in the head. His mutilated body was returned to Chicago, where his mother demanded the casket be open to let the people see what they did to my boy. Photos of Tills body were published in Jet magazine and seen by thousands. Three weeks after the murder, Bryant and Milam stood trial in Sumner, Miss. Carolyn Bryant testified that Emmett made lewd comments and physically assaulted her. After roughly an hour of deliberations, the all-white, all-male jury found Bryant and Milam not guilty. So, how has Emmett Tills ghost returned this summer? First, in June, an arrest warrant for Mrs. Roy Bryant, issued in late Aug. 1955, was discovered in the basement of the Leflore County (Miss.) Courthouse. It had never been served. Importantly, Carolyn Bryant now Carolyn Bryant Donham is alive and living in North Carolina. She is 88. The second development is the leak to the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting in July of Donhams 109-page memoir, I Am More Than a Wolf Whistle. The memoir was dictated in 2008 to her daughter-in-law. She portrays herself as a victim. I always felt like a victim as well as Emmett, she wrote. Deborah Watts, a cousin of Tills and head of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, has said the memoir and the arrest warrant show Donhams involvement. Watts daughter, Teri Watts, said simply, Serve it and charge her. Earlier this month, I spoke with Devery Anderson, author of the definitive 2015 account of the case, Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement. No one is too old to be tried, but you (prosecutors) better have a rock solid case. Otherwise, you embarrass yourself, Anderson said. There is a difference between being out for justice and being out for blood. I want justice, but it has to be based on evidence. And they (prosecutors) dont have it. Noting that the case has been the subject of past grand jury hearings and FBI investigations, Anderson points out: The FBI has talked to her (Donham) and nothing has happened. In July, the chief of staff for the Mississippi attorney general reported there was no plan to prosecute Donham, citing no new evidence. The Department of Justice closed its most recent review of the case last December. And there has been no indication, as of this writing, that the Leflore County district attorney plans any action in the case. Carolyn Bryant Donham has spent the last 67 years of her life hiding from the public. Maybe even hiding from herself. I asked Anderson what he would ask her. I would ask her details about what happened inside the store, he said. We know Emmett whistled at her, but what really happened inside the store? Only two people know the answer to that. One has been dead for nearly 70 years and the other will take an honest answer to her grave. Roger C. Barnes is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of the Incarnate Word. The splintered and grieving community of Uvalde, reeling from the May 24 mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, shouldnt have to ask Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session on gun safety. Without any urging, Abbott should breathe in the heartache and pain in this small, rural community and call a special session for lawmakers to raise the purchase age of assault weapons from 18 to 21 and consider other commonsense safety reforms. The Uvalde City Council and the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District recently passed resolutions asking the governor to take such action, knowing very well that he wont. In a subsequent interview with Len Cannon of KHOU 11, Abbott said of a special session: There is no agreement on anything like that whatsoever. He then promptly pivoted to the tired talking points of mental health, mental health and mental health. An aside: Even if one truly believes mental health is the root issue in gun violence, wouldnt that underscore the need to have tighter gun safety laws? And while Texas should do more to improve mental health care and access to treatment, why would that preclude gun safety laws? Beginning with his initial inaccurate statements about the Robb Elementary School massacre, Abbotts response to Uvalde has been a model of failure. He has not visited the grieving community since June 5, did not attend any funerals, and his office has not intervened in the poor handling of a state-funded resilience center, which has failed to support grieving families. His comments to Cannon were the first since the shootings aftermath, besides a tepid guest column in these pages that used many words but said very little. Abbott has talked big about healing and accountability in Uvalde, but his rhetoric is always incomplete because he will not include gun safety in that conversation. We will bind up the wounds of the people of Uvalde and once again restore the luster to a community known for its warmth, its friendship and its values, he said on May 27 in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. But those comments were made in a prerecorded speech at the National Rifle Associations conference in Houston, a speech in which he reassured attendees there would be no new gun laws. Now that Uvalde, grieving and wounded, has called for raising the purchase age of assault weapons, a new gun law, Abbott is delivering for the NRA. So much for binding those wounds. You dont bite the hand that feeds you, unfortunately, in this case, Uvalde City Councilman Hector Luevano said, citing NRA donations to Texas lawmakers. What officials in Uvalde have requested is hardly unreasonable or extreme in response to the magnitude of grief there. The shooter was 18. A purchase age of 21 might have prevented tragedy. A national poll from Quinnipiac in June showed three-quarters of Americans support raising the purchase age for a gun to 21. This includes 59 percent of Republicans. Other polling done before Uvalde shows most Texans support universal background checks and red flag laws. Responding to the nations second-worst school shooting with an emphasis on gun safety isnt an extreme position: Its a moral and humane one. The extreme view is to deny Uvaldes humanity and to conclude that gun violence can be addressed without ever considering guns. Its a bit like promising to help Uvalde heal but then never visiting. NEWS FLASH Air Serbia will boost operations between Belgrade and Istanbul this July, while Turkish Airlines will deploy its widebody aircraft on the route after the two carriers signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Doha during the 78th IATA Annual General Meeting to explore deeper cooperation. Under the agreement, Air Serbia will add an extra three weekly flights to Istanbul for a total of ten. The carrier will introduce the additional frequencies from July 12, each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Flights will depart the Serbian capital at 00.40, arriving in Istanbul at 03.20 local time, before beginning their return journey at 05.00 for a 05.40 arrival into Belgrade. The additional services are primarily targeting transfer passengers. Turkish Airlines will maintain three daily flights between Istanbul and Belgrade but will deploy widebody aircraft between the two cities twice per week. As a result of the new services, Belgrade and Istanbul will boast 35 weekly flights from mid-July, operated by Air Serbia, Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines. Turkish Airlines has held talks with the Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of Economic Affairs, Fatmir Bytyqi, and a delegation from the country, including airport operator TAV Macedonia, concerning their expansion on the market. The Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines, Ahment Bolat, said, During our meeting with the North Macedonian delegation headed by Fatmir Bytiki, Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of the Economy, we had a productive meeting regarding increasing our flights to Skopje and strengthening our presence in the country with new routes. We thank them for their visit and hope that our cooperation will continue to grow. Turkish Airlines has held talks with the Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of Economic Affairs, Fatmir Bytyqi, and a delegation from the country, including airport operator TAV Macedonia, concerning their expansion on the market. The Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines, Ahment Bolat, said, During our meeting with the North Macedonian delegation headed by Fatmir Bytiki, Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of the Economy, we had a productive meeting regarding increasing our flights to Skopje and strengthening our presence in the country with new routes. We thank them for their visit and hope that our cooperation will continue to grow. Turkish Airlines is already Macedonias busiest legacy and transfer carrier and has recently grown its presence in the country through its lower cost unit AnadoluJet, which maintains seasonal operations from Antalya and Bodrum to Skopje. However, Turkish has seen increasing competition from its local competitors on the Macedonian market. Pegasus Airlines has increased its capacity between Istanbul and Skopje, as well as introduced a new summer service from Izmir, while several other carriers have launched scheduled seasonal flights from the Turkish coast, including SunExpress and Corendon Airlines from Antalya. On the other hand, despite its strong appeal to travellers, Ohrid currently has no nonstop flights to Turkey. The Macedonian Ministry for Transport and Communication has previously said it has discussed the possibility of Turkish Airlines operating transatlantic flights from Skopje as well, although there has been no further progress on the matter since. Macedonia and Turkey have an Open Skies Agreement in place with both the United States and Canada, which permits for a Turkish carrier to be issued fifth freedom rights by regulators from all parties involved. "As TAV Airports, we are actively promoting both Skopje and Ohrid airports in various fields in order to attract new airlines and expand the route network and passenger numbers. We have always established close relationships with our airline clients through our world-wide airport operations. This is also the case in Macedonia, and we are ready to provide the utmost support to an airline which would consider flying transatlantic from Skopje. Skopje Airport is operationally capable to handle such transatlantic flights and ready to support carriers which would consider operating", TAV Macedonia said at the time. Sixty-six new Customs Officers have been appointed by the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA). After the successful completion of their one-year intensive training programme on Customs issues, laws and processes, and physical training, they received their letter of offer on Wednesday 20 July 2022 during a Passing Out ceremony. The event was held at the Integrated Customs Clearance Centre (ICCC) at Plaine Magnien, in the presence of Mr. D. Ramdin, MRA Acting Director-General, Mr. V. Ramburun, Director of Customs, Mr. D. Maunikum, Director of Human Resources & Training, and close relatives of the new recruits. In his address, Mr. D. Ramdin emphasised on MRA core values namely integrity, responsiveness, fairness, transparency and accountability. He underscored the importance of the MRA Oath of Confidentiality to sustain their daily task. Commitment and lifelong learning are the key drivers, he said. The wearing of the coveted Customs uniform should be a matter of pride and honour, he added. Mr. D. Ramdin commended the newly appointed Customs Officers and wished them a long and fruitful career in MRA Customs On his part, Mr. D. Maunikum congratulated the new recruits for their hard work and dedication involved during their one-year training. He made an appeal to them to serve the MRA and the nation with diligence and honesty for a promising future. Mr. V. Ramburun explained the challenges that Customs Officers face in their career. He underlined the evolution of the tasks of a Customs Officer from revenue collection to border protection and the protection of society at large against money laundering and drug trafficking. During the ceremony, the Customs Officers made a solemn pledge by way of an Oath of Confidentiality and Commitment, to truly serve the MRA to the best of their abilities and to fulfil their obligations with professionalism, diligence, integrity and honesty. The MRA has a workforce of approximately 1500 people out of which 637 Customs Officers including the new recruits. It is worth underlining that, since its inception in 2006, the Organization has been living up to its commitment of being an equal opportunity employer. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires A promise to advocate for farm support but a push for farmers to engage with new schemes was the message from Defra farming minister Victoria Prentis when she addressed the National Sheep Association (NSA) key event. While I am farming minister I will advocate for the best support for farming, Minister Prentis pledged, speaking at NSA Sheep Event 2022. Various elements of the event provided opportunity for visitors to better understand the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme, the successor to the BPS for England, with alternatives being designed separately in Wales, Scotland and NI. Defra was also at the event to speak about the new Animal Health & Welfare Pathway, a smaller funding stream running alongside SFI. Minister Prentis encouraged farmers to be proactive in taking up such schemes, making it clear that now was the time to accept SFI was coming, rather than taking a wait and see approach. She also urged UK lamb producers to be vocal about their work, through general farming practices and participation in new schemes. There is an obligation on British farmers to reach beyond the farm gate when promoting the high standards and quality of British food," she said. This came with a warning about what might happen if the UK sees a change of government at the new election. Ms Prentis added: Without the EU and CAP regulation, there is no guarantee from future governments on farming or farming support. The reference to a general election was tied up in comments about the ongoing Conservative Party leadership race something that NSA chief executive Phil Stocker particularly picked up on from Minister Prentiss address. He said: On many issues covered by Minister Prentis, through her speech and her responses to various questions, it was made clear the government is struggling to progress real issues impacting agriculture due to the internal government turmoil. "In addition, although we may well have left the EU, I cannot agree that Brexit is done. The relationship between this government and the EU is making negotiations tough. "And it is evident there is little power to address issues with the live animal Border Control Posts in France, or the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol to ease trading relations. NSA is concerned the lack of stability and continuity within the current Government will lead to more uncertainty and a lack of ability to make good decisions with inadequate consideration of the food and farming sector an example being the lack of proper parliamentary scrutiny on the Australia free trade agreement. Minister Prentis also raised the issue of food security, saying it was top of the global agenda and was now being though of as a national security issue for the UK. As such, she said, it was never 10 minutes from my mind. Mr Stocker said it was 'encouraging' to hear the Minister state her recognition of the importance of food, food security and the farming sector. "I share her views that, as a farming industry, we need to constantly do more to think, reach and act beyond the farm gate," he said. "There is a strong case to be made that the success of our future farming schemes, and funding for agriculture, will be best achieved by farmers engaging with schemes particularly when there is a keenness to make them work for farmers. The world is changing around us. Our climate, our natural resources, our ability to feed ourselves and others, international relations and trade, economies, human behaviour and trends. "The sheep industry needs to and will change accordingly, but I feel strongly that we need to be part of leading that change. Bangladeshs ready-made garment (RMG) exports to Japan crossed the $1 billion mark in fiscal 2021-22 (July-June) after a decline in the previous two fiscals. But it still accounts for a very small share in the Japanese apparel retail market, which was pegged at $84.30 billion in 2021. Japanese retail market growth is volatile and slow post-COVID. Bangladeshs apparel exports to Japan doubled in the last decade, due to exporters relentless efforts to meet Japanese standards and the governments policy support like cash incentive. The rise in exports is also attributed to Japan's China plus one policy and laxity in its rules of origin. Locally made knit items have been enjoying duty-free facility in the Japanese market since April 2011 and woven items since April 2014, although raw materials are imported. According to data of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the country exported apparel items worth $1.098 billion, registering over 16 per cent growth in FY22. This was in spite of several issues raised by Bangladeshi exporters while shipping goods to Japan. These include zero-tolerance policy on quality adopted by Japanese importers, language barrier, and need for timely shipment. Bangladesh's ready-made garment (RMG) exports to Japan crossed the $1 billion mark in fiscal 2021-22 (July-June) after a decline in the previous two fiscals. But it still accounts for a very small share in the Japanese apparel retail market, which was pegged at $84.30 billion in 2021. Japanese retail market growth is volatile and slow post-COVID.# Japans apparel retail market is expected to regain $90 billion in 2025 from $84.30 billion of 2021, according to Fibre2Fashions market insight tool TexPro. The segment peaked at $93.81 billion in 2019, but it shrunk to $81.50 billion in 2020 due to the dent of COVID-19. The market was recorded at $90.26 billion in 2017, and $92.06 billion in 2018. As per TexPro, Bangladesh share was mere 4.90 per cent ($1.165 billion) in Japans total apparel import of $23.804 billion during 2021. It is the third largest supplier of apparel to Japan. China enjoys the top position with export of $13.878 billion (58.30 per cent) and Vietnam the second position with shipment of $3.450 billion (14.49 per cent) to the Far Eastern country. Cambodia and Indonesia were also among the top five suppliers during the last year. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL) With this $13.8 million loan, Proparco, the French Development Finance Institution, is supporting Ananta Huaxiang Limited (AHL), a subsidiary of Ananta Group in Bangladesh, to increase its sweater manufacturing capacity through the expansion of its production facility in Narayanganj. Bangladesh is the second largest ready-made garment exporter in the world. This operation will allow AHL to emerge as a large volume sweater manufacturer and strengthen its competitiveness in the international market. In this context, AHL ranks among the top 10 sweater producers in Bangladesh exporting mostly to Europe for various international brands. With this project and the increase in high-end sweater manufacturing capabilities, AHL will be better able to serve its customers by producing over 10 million pieces of sweaters by 2023 at a higher quality level and price points than before. It gives us immense pleasure to support AHL, a responsible actor in Bangladeshs garment industry committed to gender diversity. By supporting the growth of a job-creating company committed to the well-being of its employees, women empowerment as well as the sustainable use of resources, Proparco is supporting the largest exporting sector of Bangladesh, said Diane Jegam, regional director South Asia, Proparco. With this $13.8 million loan, Proparco, the French Development Finance Institution, is supporting Ananta Huaxiang Limited (AHL), a subsidiary of Ananta Group in Bangladesh, to increase its sweater manufacturing capacity through the expansion of its production facility in Narayanganj. Bangladesh is the second largest ready-made garment exporter in the world.# Due to the quality of AHLs working conditions and its various commitments towards women empowerment, the project qualifies for the 2X Challenge, a global gender finance initiative that Proparco has been contributing to since its launch in 2018, Proparco said in a press release. The project also addresses 3 Sustainable Development Goals: SDG#9 by developing operations at best standards, SDG#8 due to above average salary package, and to SDG#5 due to the women-dedicated programme that will be implemented. This partnership with Proparco will greatly support our vision of sustainable factories scoring high on environmental and social compliance standards. Moreover, the new capacity expansion financed by Proparco has been completed in record time and the factory is already in operation employing a gender balanced workforce and contributing to the export earnings of the country. Further, we are delighted to work with Proparco and look forward to growing this partnership in the coming year, said managing director of the Group, Sharif Zahir. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR) At the ministerial meeting of thein Dhaka recently, members agreed to begin implementing thesigned by them by October this year and cooperate multilaterally to maximise business prospects and opportunities. All members except Egypt have ratified the PTA, which became effective on August 25, 2011. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Turkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nigeria are D-8 members. Issues related to food and energy crises were also discussed at the meeting. At the ministerial meeting of the Developing-8 (D-8) club of nations in Dhaka, members agreed to begin implementing the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) signed by them by October this year and cooperate multilaterally to maximise business prospects and opportunities. All members except Egypt have ratified the PTA, which became effective on August 25, 2011.# Virtually inaugurating the 20th session of the D-8 council of ministers from her official residence, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the D-8 countries celebrating the 25th anniversary of the bloc should focus on specific areas like implementation of the PTA, a D-8 Economic Zone, diversified agriculture to ensure food security and alternative sources for addressing energy crisis. She also invited D-8 members to invest in Bangladeshs special economic zones. The PTA implementation would help promote intra-country trade, remove barriers, and boost economic cooperation among the member states. A D-8 ministerial meeting on energy would be organised in the wake of the global energy crisis and Iran is keen to cooperate in the energy sector, Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi media reports. The D-8 countries are home to about 13 per cent of the world population and account for almost $4 trillion worth gross domestic product and $1.5 trillion of export. Foreign ministers of Iran, Pakistan and Turkiye participated in the hybrid meeting virtually while deputy ministers and representatives from other countries joined in person. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) Chinas National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently allocated 2.4 billion yuan ($355 million) to save energy and reduce carbon emissions to boost efforts to shift to a greener economy. The funds will be used to develop innovative technology in low carbon, zero carbon, carbon removal and energy saving, and to promote a circular economy, NDRC said. China aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The money will support the establishment of development strategies for major regions, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area being given preference. A balanced development across regions is being considered, the countrys top economic regulator said. China's National Development and Reform Commission recently allocated 2.4 billion yuan ($355 million) to save energy and reduce carbon emissions to boost efforts to shift to a greener economy. The funds will be used to develop innovative technology in low carbon, zero carbon, carbon removal and energy saving, and to promote a circular economy, NDRC said. NDRC will also strengthen supervision and management on the implementation of the investment plan, guide and urge relevant regions to speed up project construction and see tangible progress as soon as possible, leverage the investment benefits, and promote green and low-carbon development, official Chinese media reported. The move follows an announcement by NDRC earlier this month to allocate 7 billion yuan to support projects related to sewage treatment, utilization of sewage as a resource, and urban waste sorting and treatment. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) Expatriate Employees and Self-employed Individuals in the Republic of Mauritius will benefit from the CSG Income Allowance of Rs 1000, announced by the Government. This monthly Income Allowance will be paid to eligible workers for the months of July 2022 to June 2023, and one additional month as bonus in December 2022, by the MRA. Criteria of Eligibility: To benefit from the monthly CSG Income Allowance of Rs 1000, the Expatriates should meet the following criteria: A. Expatriate Employees Expatriate employees should have paid their social contributions for the month of May 2022 and subsequent months, and Their monthly taxable emoluments should not exceed Rs 50,000. B. Expatriate Self-employed Individuals Expatriate Self-employed Individuals should be registered at the MRA for the social contributions by 07 June 2022, They should have paid their social contributions for the month of May 2022 and subsequent months, and Their monthly total net income should not exceed Rs 50,000. How can Expatriates benefit from the CSG Income Allowance? The Non-citizen individuals must use their NCID number, that is their Non-Citizen ID. To enable MRA to effect payment of the allowance, eligible Expatriate Employees and Self-employed Individuals should provide their bank account number using the facility available on the MRA website: www.mra.mu Their bank accounts will be directly credited with the income allowance of Rs 1000 if they meet the eligibility criteria. The potential beneficiaries must ensure that they have the following documents at hand before filing. i. Their NCID, i.e the Non-Citizen ID; ii. Their mobile phone; and iii. Their Bank Account details. Expatriates are reminded that they should enter these important information in order to proceed further. How to proceed? Step 1 Go to MRA website : www.mra.mu Step 2 A pop-up appears on the homepage. Click on the pop-up SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION (CSG) INCOME ALLOWANCE. Step 3 Detailed information on SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION (CSG) INCOME ALLOWANCE will appear. The potential beneficiaries should click on Click here to submit your bank details. Step 4 Insert your NCID (Non-Citizen ID) and your mobile number. Step 5 You will be asked to prove that you are not a robot by entering the correct value in the third box on the webpage. Click on Send OTP. A one-time password (OTP) will be sent instantly on the mobile number provided. Step 6 Insert the OTP. Then, click on Continue. You will be directed to a dashboard. Step 7 Click on Click here to submit your bank details to MRA. A form will appear. Step 8 Fill in the form to supply required information. Fields marked with asterisk (*) are mandatory and should be filled in to complete the process. Step 9 You will have to tick the box under the Declaration Section to confirm that the information provided is true and correct, and that you are authorising MRA to credit the CSG Income allowance to your bank account. Step 10 Verify all information, then click on Submit. You will receive an acknowledgement message both on the computer screen and on the mobile number. When will the payment be effected? The CSG Income Allowance will be paid at the beginning of each month. Any delay in providing the bank details will result in a delay in the payment of the allowance. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires Therecently concluded that revoking the existing anti-dumping duty orders on import of polyester staple fibre (PSF) from South Korea and Taiwan would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time. As a result, the existing orders on import of this product from the two economies will remain in place. The action came under the five-year (sunset) review process required by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, which requires the US department of commerce to revoke an anti-dumping or countervailing duty order, or terminate a suspension agreement, after five years unless the department and the USITC determine that doing so would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping or subsidies and of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time. The commissions institution notice in five-year reviews requests that interested parties file responses concerning the likely effects of revoking the order under review as well as other information. The US International Trade Commission has concluded that revoking the existing anti-dumping duty orders on import of polyester staple fibre (PSF) from South Korea and Taiwan would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time. So the existing orders on PSF import from the two economies will remain in place.# If responses to the USITCs notice of institution are adequate, or if other circumstances warrant a full review, the commission conducts a full review, which includes a public hearing and issuance of questionnaires. The sunset review concerning PSF import from South Korea and Taiwan was instituted on January 3, 2022. On April 8, the commission voted to conduct expedited reviews. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) 28 July 2022 Oxford Instruments plc Annual General Meeting 2022 results The Annual General Meeting (the "AGM") of Oxford Instruments plc (the "Company") was held at Tubney Woods, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX13 5QX, on 28 July 2022 at 11am. All resolutions were decided on a show of hands and the resolutions proposed at the AGM were all passed by shareholders with the necessary majorities. The full text of each resolution is contained in the Notice of Annual General Meeting, which is available on the Company's website (oxinst.com). The number of proxy votes for and against each of the resolutions put before the AGM and the number of votes withheld were as set out in the table below. Resolution Votes for % Votes against % Total votes cast (excluding withheld) % of issued share capital voted* Votes withheld** 1. To receive the 2022 Annual Report and Financial Statements 45,545,789 99.78 98,583 0.22 45,644,372 79.13 172,519 2. To approve the Directors' Remuneration Report 45,101,685 98.45 712,185 1.55 45,813,870 79.43 3,021 3. To declare a final dividend 45,816,764 99.99 25 0.01 45,816,789 79.43 102 4. To re-elect Neil Carson as a director of the Company 43,035,926 94.16 2,669,208 5.84 45,705,134 79.24 111,757 5. To re-elect Ian Barkshire as a director of the Company 45,816,168 99.99 621 0.01 45,816,789 79.43 102 6. To re-elect Gavin Hill as a director of the Company 45,816,168 99.99 621 0.01 45,816,789 79.43 102 7. To re-elect Richard Friend as a director of the Company 45,655,382 99.65 161,407 0.35 45,816,789 79.43 102 8. To elect Nigel Sheinwald as a director of the Company 45,544,564 99.99 1,390 0.01 45,545,954 78.96 270,937 9. To re-elect Mary Waldner as a director of the Company 45,653,791 99.64 162,998 0.36 45,816,789 79.43 102 10. To re-elect Alison Wood as a director of the Company 44,505,258 97.14 1,311,530 2.86 45,816,788 79.43 103 11. To re-appoint BDO LLP as auditor of the Company 45,813,202 99.99 3,587 0.01 45,816,789 79.43 102 12. To authorise the Audit and Risk Committee to agree the auditor's remuneration 45,816,242 99.99 547 0.01 45,816,789 79.43 102 13. To authorise political donations and expenditure 45,393,097 99.08 423,692 0.92 45,816,789 79.43 102 14. To authorise the Board to allot shares 45,759,174 99.88 56,965 0.12 45,816,139 79.43 752 15. To authorise the disapplication of pre-emption rights *** 45,809,787 99.98 6,902 0.02 45,816,689 79.43 202 16. To authorise the additional disapplication of pre-emption rights *** 45,492,280 99.29 324,509 0.71 45,816,789 79.43 102 17. To authorise the purchase of own shares *** 45,536,329 99.40 274,300 0.60 45,810,629 79.42 6,262 18. To authorise the calling of a general meeting of the Company on not less than 14 days' notice *** 45,668,641 99.68 148,148 0.32 45,816,789 79.43 102 * For all resolutions, as at close of business on 26 July 2022, being the time at which shareholders who wanted to attend, speak and vote at the meeting were required to have their details entered in the register of members, the issued share capital of the Company with voting rights consisted of 57,681,478 ordinary shares of 5 pence each. The Company did not hold any shares in treasury. Ordinary shareholders have one vote for each ordinary share held. ** Please note a "vote withheld" is not a vote under English law and is not counted in the calculation of votes "for" or "against" a resolution. Votes "for" and "against" are expressed as a percentage of votes received. Votes "for" include those at the Chairman's discretion. *** Indicates a special resolution. In accordance with UK Listing Rule 9.6.2R, a copy of all the resolutions passed have been submitted to the Financial Conduct Authority via the National Storage Mechanism and in due course will be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism. This notification is made in accordance with UK Listing Rule 9.6.3R. LEI number of Oxford Instruments plc: 213800J364EZD6UCE231 Enquiries: Sarah Harvey Company Secretary +44 (0) 1865 393448 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 28, 2022 / SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX:SGQ, HK:1878) ("SouthGobi" or the "Company") announces that, this announcement is made by SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (the "Company") pursuant to Rules 13.09 and 13.51(1) of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities (the "Listing Rules") on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, paragraph 3.42 of the Guidance Letter HKEX-GL-112-22 (the "Guidance Letter") and the inside information provisions under Part XIVA of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong). 1. VOLUNTARY DELISTING 1.1 Background Reference is made to the Company's announcement dated April 21, 2022 (Hong Kong time) ("Announcement"). Unless otherwise specified, capitalized terms used in the Announcement shall have the same meanings when used herein. 1.2 Delisting from a Recognised Stock Exchange and Receipt of the Exchange Acknowledgment The Company has been primarily listed on the TSX (Stock Code: SGQ) since December 2009 and secondary listed on the HKEX (Stock Code: 1878) since January 2010. In April 2022, the Company approved plans for a voluntary delisting from the TSX and listing of its shares on the TSX-V and proceeded with the relevant preparatory work and necessary procedures to complete such process. Since TSX-V is not one of the Recognised Stock Exchanges (as defined under the Listing Rules), such change in the Company's listing status from TSX to TSX-V constitutes a voluntary delisting from its Recognised Stock Exchange of primary listing (i.e. TSX) for the purpose of Rule 19C.13A of the Listing Rules. The Company has applied to the TSX for the voluntary delisting ("Delisting") and to the TSX-V for the listing of the Company's shares on the TSX-V. In accordance with Section 720(b) of the TSX Company Manual, the Company will not need to obtain shareholder approval as a condition of acceptance of the voluntary delisting because it will list its shares on the HKEX and TSX-V concurrent with the voluntary delisting from the TSX. As disclosed in the Announcement and the Management Proxy Circular, the Company has submitted a written notification to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ("Notification") in relation to the proposed Delisting detailing, among other things, that it was anticipated that the Delisting shall become effective on July 29, 2022 and the Company will fully comply with the applicable Listing Rules from the Effective Date, save for certain exceptions and waivers as detailed in this announcement. On July 28, 2022, the Company received an acknowledgment from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in respect of the Delisting issued pursuant to paragraph 3.34 of the Guidance Letter ("Exchange Acknowledgment"), which informs the Company on the dis-application of the stock marker "S" on the Effective Date and, upon the Delisting, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will regard the Company as having a primary (rather than secondary) listing status on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange pursuant to Rule 19C.13A of the Listing Rules. While it was disclosed in the Management Proxy Circular that the anticipated effective date of the Delisting would be July 29, 2022, the Company wishes to update its Shareholders and investors that, subject to obtaining the said approvals from the TSX and TSX-V, the Company is targeting to complete the Delisting prior to mid-September 2022. The Company will provide further updates to the Shareholders and the public on the date on which the Delisting is to be completed (the "Effective Date"). 1.3 Reasons for the Delisting As disclosed in the Announcement, the Company's board of directors ("Board") determined that it is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders ("Shareholders") as a whole to seek a listing of the Company's common shares on the TSX-V, and to voluntary delist from the TSX, as a listing on the TSX-V offers more flexible listing requirements for an existing TSX-listed issuer seeking a listing on the TSX-V as a Tier 2 mining issuer in relation to minimum working capital or financial resources and business activity, which better accommodate the Company's current operational and financial position, while still providing Shareholders with continued liquidity on a stock exchange which is recognized for its leadership in mining issuer listings. 1.4 Compliance with the Listing Rules upon Delisting Upon the Effective Date, it is expected that the Company will be able to comply with all the relevant Listing Rules applicable to a primary listed issuer, including the Listing Rules where exceptions, waivers and exemptions had been granted to the Company as a secondary listed issuer on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (the "Existing Waivers") which are expected to be withdrawn or will no longer be applicable upon the Effective Date, unless otherwise separately waived or exempted by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Company intends that, save as otherwise being exempted or waived by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as detailed in paragraphs 1.5 and 1.6 below, it has taken and will take all reasonable and prudent steps to comply with all the relevant Listing Rules applicable to the Company following the Effective Date by making all necessary arrangements ("Arrangements") to effectuate the Delisting, as obliged by the applicable Listing Rules requirements. The Arrangements include, amongst other things: amendments ("Articles Amendments") to the Articles of Continuation of the Company ("Articles") to satisfy the requirements pursuant to Appendix 3 to the Listing Rules, which were approved by the Shareholders at the Company's annual general and special meeting held on July 21, 2022 (the "Shareholders Meeting") and shall be effective upon the Delisting; amendments ("EIP Amendments") to the Company's existing Employee's and Directors' Equity Incentive Plan ("Equity Incentive Plan"), which were approved by the Shareholders at the Shareholders Meeting and shall be effective upon the Delisting; review of the existing internal control policies and adoption of all necessary internal control measures, including the new Corporate Governance Policy approved by the Board prior to the Effective Date, to ensure, inter alia, its ongoing compliance with applicable requirements under Chapters 13, 14 and 14A of the Listing Rules, as well as rules governing the disclosure of inside information, share repurchase, potential conflict of interest and dealing in the listed securities by the Directors; amendments to charters of its Audit Committee and Compensation and Benefits Committee to comply with Appendix 14 to the Listing Rules; and arrangement for suitable training for the Directors following the Delisting to ensure that they participate in continuous professional development to advance and refresh their knowledge and skills as directors of a HKEX-listed company. Please refer to the Management Proxy Circular of the Company dated June 22, 2022 published on the Stock Exchange's website (www.hkexnews.hk) and the Company's website (www.southgobi.com) (the "Management Proxy Circular") for, amongst others, details of the Articles Amendments, the EIP Amendments and the Equity Incentive Plan. At the Shareholders Meeting, amongst others, the Shareholders passed a special resolution to approve the Articles Amendments and passed ordinary resolutions to approve the EIP Amendments. Please refer to the poll results announcement of the Company dated July 22, 2022 (the "Poll Results Announcement") for further details of the results of the Shareholders Meeting. 1.5 Waiver from Listing Rules on "Two-way" Voting Requirements under the Listing Rules Rule 13.38 of the Listing Rules requires that the Company sends, with the notice convening a meeting of holders of listed securities to all persons entitled to vote at the meeting, proxy forms with provision for "two-way" voting, i.e., the Shareholders are provided with options to vote "for" or "against" the resolutions, on all resolutions intended to be proposed at a meeting. Reasons for applying the waiver Pursuant to applicable British Columbia corporate laws, the election of Directors or the appointment of auditors of the Company ("Auditors") are conducted through "plurality voting" method, i.e., Shareholders are only able either to vote for the resolution or to withhold from voting. Shareholders are not provided the opportunity to vote against the resolution, and the "withheld" votes are not counted in the tally of votes, meaning that, for example, a resolution can be passed if only one vote is cast "for" such resolution, even where the majority of Shareholders have withheld from voting. As such, the proxy forms will state that the Shareholder is only able either to vote for the resolution or withhold from voting. The Company is prohibited under the applicable law to amend the Articles and override the relevant statutory provisions, and this precludes the use of "two-way" voting for the election of Directors and the appointment of Auditors. Therefore, the Company would conflict with applicable British Columbia corporate laws to strictly comply with Rule 13.38 of the Listing Rules. Given the preclusion of the use of "two-way" voting for the election of directors under the British Columbia corporate laws and as a requirement for TSX-listed company, the Company has adopted a majority voting policy to uncontested meetings (i.e., the number of nominees for election is equal to the number of Directors to be elected as set out in the Company's management information circular for the particular meeting) for the election of the Directors (the "Majority Voting Policy"). Pursuant to the Majority Voting Policy, each Director must be elected individually (rather than as a slate) by a majority (50% plus one vote) of the votes cast (i.e., more votes 'for' than votes 'withheld') with respect to his or her election. They are required to deliver a pre-executed resignation to the Company, which would be used immediately if a Director nominee is not elected by at least a majority of the votes cast with respect to his or her election, effectively tendering his or her resignation to the Board. The Majority Voting Policy is intended to provide shareholders of TSX-listed companies with an ability to vote "against" a Director nominee. On the other hand, the Majority Voting Policy adopted by the Company for election of the Directors does not apply to appointment of Auditors. The reason is that if the Majority Voting Policy applies to the appointment of Auditors, a newly elected auditor whose appointment is not approved by a majority vote (i.e., the 'for' votes are less than the 'withheld' votes) will be forced to resign and a vacancy will thus be created. Furthermore, under the applicable British Columbia corporate laws, the Majority Voting Policy cannot bind outside parties like the Auditors and the Auditors are under no obligations to abide to the Majority Voting Policy implemented by the Company. Waiver application The Company has applied to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for a waiver from strict compliance with Rule 13.38 of the Listing Rules, subject to the Delisting becoming effective and to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's approval on the following bases: the Company has already established the Audit Committee (all members of which are independent non-executive Directors) and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (all members of which are independent non-executive Directors) which will determine and make recommendations on, with delegated responsibilities and in compliance with the requirements of the Listing Rules and on an annual basis, the appointment of Auditors and the nomination of Directors. Each of the independent non-executive Directors is also subject to re-election by the Shareholders in each annual meeting of the Shareholders; under the British Columbia corporate laws, it is not possible to amend the Articles to achieve the same effect of the Majority Voting Policy. The Company undertakes that, upon the Delisting, it will continue to voluntarily adopt the Majority Voting Policy in uncontested elections of Directors, which is consistent with the standard practice for TSX-listed companies in Canada. The Company will also extend the applicability of the Majority Voting Policy to contested elections of Directors, which is permitted under Canadian corporate law; where the number of the 'withheld' votes exceeds that of the 'for' votes of the elected Auditors which gives rise to concerns of the Directors regarding the appropriateness of such Auditors' appointment, the Directors will, upon consulting the Audit Committee, call a special meeting of the Shareholders and propose ordinary resolutions to the Shareholders to consider removing the elected Auditors and appointing replacement Auditors in its stead for the remainder of its term. The Company considers that this arrangement will allow the Shareholders to express their objection to the appointment of the Auditors, and at the same time ensure that the Company will not be bereft of Auditors; and Shareholders who hold in aggregate not less than 1/20 (5%) of the issued voting shares of the Company may requisition a general meeting of Shareholders. Upon receiving a valid requisition, the Board must call a general meeting within four months after the date of requisition to transact the business stated in the requisition. Directors and Auditors can be removed by ordinary resolutions at a meeting of Shareholders in favour of such removal, where Shareholders will have the option to vote 'for' or 'against' such a resolution to remove a director or an auditor at such meeting. If the Directors do not, within 21 days after the date on which the requisition is received by the Company, send notice of a general meeting, the requisitioning Shareholders, or any one or more of them holding, in the aggregate, more than 1/40 of the issued Shares that carry the right to vote at general meetings, may send notice of a general meeting to be held to transact the business stated in the requisition. 1.6 Waiver from certain continuing connected transaction requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules Background of the continuing connected transactions The Convertible Debenture and the Cooperation Agreement Prior to the secondary listing of the Company on the Stock Exchange, the Company, upon the approval by the Shareholders, issued the convertible debenture ("Convertible Debenture") to Land Breeze II S.a.r.l ("Land Breeze"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Investment Corporation ("CIC"), on November 19, 2009 to provide necessary financing to support the Company's expansion plans in Mongolia, repayment of debt due, and other general corporate purposes. As negotiated and entered into in conjunction with, and as a condition to the CIC's subscription of the Convertible Debenture, the Company and CIC (through Fullbloom Investment Corporation ("Fullbloom"), its wholly-owned subsidiary) also executed a cooperation agreement ("Cooperation Agreement") on the same date, pursuant to which both parties agreed to use their best endeavours to improve cross-border commerce in order to facilitate improved access to the China market for Mongolian commerce, and vice versa. The key terms of the Convertible Debenture and the relevant accounting treatment and policies were set out in the prospectus of the Company dated January 15, 2010. Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement On April 23, 2019, the Company and CIC (through Land Breeze) entered into a deferral agreement ("2019 Deferral Agreement") pursuant to which Land Breeze agreed to a deferral and revised repayment schedule in respect of the outstanding cash interest and payment in kind interest shares payable under the Convertible Debenture ("Deferral"). On the same day, the Company amended and restated the Cooperation Agreement ("Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement", together with the Cooperation Agreement, the "Cooperation Agreements") with CIC (through Fullbloom) to clarify the original intent of the parties for calculating service fee payable by the Company under the Cooperation Agreement, pursuant to which a service fee would be calculated based on revenues derived by the Company and all of its subsidiaries which derive sales into China ("Net Revenues") (rather than the net revenues realised by the Company and its Mongolian subsidiaries). Such amendment to the Cooperation Agreement was minimal and did not trigger Shareholders' approval requirement at the time. The 2019 Deferral Agreement and the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement were disclosed in the announcement of the Company and the management proxy circular of the Company dated April 23, 2019 (the "Disclosure Documents"), and the 2019 Deferral Agreement and the Deferral were approved at the general meeting of Shareholders on May 30, 2019. Sale Transaction On May 27, 2022, the Company announced that CIC has entered into an agreement ("Sale Transaction") to sell the Sale Shares (as defined below) to JD Zhixing Fund L.P. ("Fund"). In connection with the Sale Transaction, the Fund would be assigned with all of CIC's rights in and obligations under, among the others: (i) the Convertible Debenture; (ii) the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement; and (iii) the deferral agreements (including the 2019 Deferral Agreement) between CIC, the Company and certain of its subsidiaries in connection with the deferral of interest payments and other outstanding fees under the Convertible Debenture and the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement. Assignment of rights and obligations under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement by CIC to the Fund required consent from the Company (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), and the Company provided such consent. The Company expects the completion of the Sale Transaction ("Completion") shall take place prior to the Effective Date. Listing Rules implications Prior to Completion and at the date of this announcement, CIC holds 64,766,591 Shares ("Sale Shares"), representing approximately 23.62% of the total share capital of the Company. Accordingly, the Fund (and its associates) will become connected persons of the Company following Completion and upon Delisting. As such, pursuant to Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules, the continuing transactions under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement shall constitute continuing connected transactions of the Company upon Delisting. Pursuant to paragraph 1.2 under Appendix to the Guidance Letter HKEX-GL-112-22, since the Company had already entered into continuing transactions under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement which remained subsisting as at the date of the Notification, and such transactions are expected to continue after the Delisting becomes effective, the Company is required to fully comply with the applicable Listing Rules on such transactions. The Company cannot rule out the possibility that the highest applicable percentage ratios (other than the profits ratio) under the Listing Rules in respect of the service fee payable under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement would exceed 5% for most part of the remainder of the Term. As such, the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, unless otherwise exempted, will be subject to the reporting, annual review, announcement, circular, independent financial advice, and Shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. Waiver application The Company has applied to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for a waiver from strict compliance with (i) the independent Shareholders' approval requirement under Rule 14A.36 of the Listing Rules in respect of the transactions under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement; and (ii) the requirement under Rule 14A.53 of the Listing Rules to set an annual cap expressed in monetary terms for the fees payable by the Company under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement. The Directors consider that it would be unduly burdensome and impracticable if the continuing connected transactions under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement are subject these requirements for the following reasons: (A) The Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement is an agreement for a fixed period with fixed terms The key terms of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement are as follows: CIC would provide, among others, advice and services to the Company on matters that include coal products sales, procurement of transportation and logistics services, marketing of coal products, procurement of goods and services, and creation of economies of scale (the "Services"); CIC would receive a customary commercial payment for such Services in an amount equal to 2.5% of all Net Revenues, which would be calculated and paid by the Company in quarterly instalments; and coterminous with the Convertible Debenture, the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement has a term of 30 years from November 19, 2009 ("Term") subject to earlier termination with both of the following conditions fulfilled: the Convertible Debenture is fully converted into Shares or otherwise fully repaid; and following such conversion or repayment, CIC holds less than 15% of the total issued and outstanding Shares. Effective upon Completion, the Fund has agreed to waive certain service fee payable by the Company under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement (the "Fee Waiver"), effectively reducing the service fee payable from 2.5% to 1.5% of all Net Revenues. Having discussed with the Fund, save for the Fee Waiver, both the Company and the Fund have a mutual understanding that they have no plan or intention to vary the terms of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement in the foreseeable future. The Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, combined with the Fee Waiver, remain an agreement for a fixed period with fixed terms. Despite the Sale Transaction which triggered the assignment of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, there has been no change to the scope of the Services and the Term of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement. The Company will continue to benefit from the provision of Services by the counterparty (i.e., CIC, and following Completion, the Fund) throughout the Term of the agreement at a fixed service fee rate of Net Revenues. No separate agreement is required to be entered into between the Company and the Fund for the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement to take effect. (B) Continuation of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement is fundamental to the Company's business operations (i) Relationship between the Cooperation Agreement and the Convertible Debenture The Convertible Debenture and the Cooperation Agreement are coterminous with each other. The Cooperation Agreement stipulates that it was entered into "in connection with" the issuance of the Convertible Debenture. In addition, both agreements were approved by the Board as well as the Shareholders at the same time prior to their respective execution. In furtherance of the above, any breach of the Company's payment obligation under the Cooperation Agreement may constitute an event of default under the Convertible Debenture, accelerating repayment obligation of the Convertible Debenture. Also, the Company has no definitive right to terminate the Cooperation Agreement (and hence the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement) before the expiration of the Term unless the Convertible Debenture is repaid. It would be impracticable for the Company, and not in the best interest of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole, to repay the above outstanding amount before the expiry of the Term and to terminate the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement. (ii) Support and services provided to the Company under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement The Company is a prominent coal producer in Mongolia, focusing on mining and exploration of coking coal and thermal coal. The Company's flagship mine is located approximately 40 kilometres from the China-Mongolia border. Due to the strategic location of its mine, the Company sells almost all its coal products to customers in China as part of its business model. The success of the Company's business model was and continues to be dependable on the growth of its target customers, which are all within China. CIC is a wholly state-owned company mainly engaged in foreign exchange investment management businesses. As set out in the Cooperation Agreement (as amended and restated by the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement), the service provided by CIC during the term of the Cooperation Agreement includes, among others, (i) marketing of products, including identification of, and introduction to, potential new customers for the products of the Company; (ii) procurement of transportation and logistics services within the PRC; and (iii) procurement of goods and services within the PRC for the mining projects of the Company, including identification of, and introduction to, potential new suppliers and service providers. Other benefits brought to the Company by the Cooperation Agreement and the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement include: CIC has been advising the Company on its operations since 2009, including the setting up of the mine site, wash plant and purchasing of mining equipment; and The Company's sales channel was initially limited to local areas. Over the years, CIC assisted with reconfiguring the Company's sales, marketing and procurement strategies and the establishment of certain subsidiaries under the Company in China, which enabled the Company to sell its coal products directly to local customers in China at higher prices thereby improving the Company's gross profit margin as a whole. On the other hand, the Fund is an exempted limited partnership formed under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The Fund's general partner and limited partner are JD Dingxing Limited and Inner Mongolia Tianyu Trading Limited, respectively. To the Company's best knowledge and belief, the ultimate beneficial owner of the limited partner is Mr. An Yong (??) and that of the general partner is Ms. Zhu Chonglin (???). Mr. An Yong is the founder and Chairman of Tianyu Group, and he has been conducting business in Inner Mongolia since 1998. Ms. Zhu Chonglin is responsible for managing the Fund, and is also the CFO of Tianyu Group. Tianyu Group was established in 2010 and it is based in Wuhai City, which is known to be one of the major sales hubs for the coal market in Inner Mongolia. To the best of the Directors' knowledge, Tianyu Group is a leading enterprise group with integrated coal mining, coal washing and coking, kaolinite mining, research and development, real estate, warehousing, logistics, investment, and other industries, with high-efficiency production and operation capabilities. It is expected that the Fund will provide the Services under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement following Completion. The Company believes that the Fund is resourceful in the PRC and has strong synergetic value to provide the Company with the Services under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement. The Company expects to benefit from the Fund's well-established connections, sales and supply chain network as well as sector experience, that they will help improve the profit margin of the Company by referring new customers in China to the Company and enhancing the efficiency of the Company's logistics network to further its customer reach. Based on the above, the Directors are of the view that the continuation of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement is fundamental to the Company's business operations. Given such essentiality to the Company, it was and remains to be in the interest of the Company to secure such long-term business collaboration relationship. Upon Delisting, the Company will continue to utilize the Services provided by the Fund under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, which are essential to the Company's ordinary and usual course of conducting its mining business. (C) Relevant transactions were approval by independent Shareholders and disclosed in public documents The Cooperation Agreements were entered into and was approved by the Shareholders in 2009 which is prior to the initial listing of the Company's shares on the Stock Exchange. The adoption of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement and the key terms thereof were disclosed in the Disclosure Documents. The 2019 Deferral Agreement was also approved by the Shareholders at the general meeting of the Shareholders dated May 30, 2019. Accordingly, the Directors believe that the investors should be well aware of such terms, and it would be unduly burdensome and impracticable if the continuing connected transactions under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement are subject to strict compliance with the requirements set out under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules, including, among others, the requirement to obtain approval from the independent Shareholders and the requirement to set an annual cap expressed in monetary terms pursuant to Chapter 14A the Listing Rules. (D) The Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement is on normal commercial terms or better The Company engaged DL Securities (HK) Limited to act as the independent financial adviser (the "Independent Financial Adviser") to advise the Board in connection with the Cooperation Agreement and the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement. In order to provide its opinion and recommendation, the Independent Financial Adviser has, amongst other things, conducted the following: reviewed the Cooperation Agreement, the Amended Restated Cooperation Agreement and other related documents which the Independent Financial Adviser deemed necessary; reviewed the Convertible Debenture issued by the Company dated November 19, 2009; reviewed relevant extract of the transaction documents in relation to the Sale Transaction; the financial statements of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2021; reviewed the prospectus of the Company dated January 15, 2010; and reviewed certain continuing connected transactions announced by companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange which are comparable to the transactions contemplated under the Cooperation Agreement (as amended and restated by the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement) and identified similar agency arrangement, long term sales arrangement and cooperation arrangement entered into between companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with their connected persons. Having thoroughly considered the opinion and recommendation made by the Independent Financial Adviser to the Board, the Board (including the independent non-executive Directors) are of the view that the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement is on normal commercial terms or better, which are fair and reasonable and are in the interests of the Company and its Shareholders as a whole, based on the following: the nature of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement is closely related with the Convertible Debenture. Consideration was given to the large-scale fundraising of the Convertible Debenture vis-a-vis the financial performance and operational scale of the Company, both at the time of the initial subscription of the Convertible Debenture and at present; as well as the fact that the continuation of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement is fundamental to the Company's business operations as explained above; the Directors also believe the scope of "Net Revenues" was carefully crafted to exclude extraordinary items, such as certain permissible deductions which include royalties that had been paid or accrued during the period. The service fee payable under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, calculated and paid by the Company in quarterly instalments (where Company is required to make payment within 45 days after the end of each quarter), is a realistic financial commitment for the Company in its ordinary course of business. Further, the Directors are of the view that, among others, (a) the existing 2.5% service fee rate does not significantly deviate from the comparable transactions of relevant listed companies, (b) the lowering of the service fee rate from 2.5% to 1.5% represents a more favourable commercial term for the Company, (c) the service fee only accounts for a relatively small portion as compared to the increment in gross profit margin on the sales revenue, and (d) it is expected that the Fund will utilize the comprehensive sales network of Tianyu Group in Inner Mongolia which would assist the expansion of the Company's customers base. the Cooperation Agreement shares similarities with offtake arrangements which are common for mining companies. Under offtake arrangements, mining companies receive financial support from the off-takers through financing or investment in the mining operation as well as operational support from the off-takers, such as in the form of joint venture and/or jointly operate the mining projects. These offtake arrangements usually cover the life of the corresponding joint venture and/or the useful life of the mine. Hence, it is normal business practice for agreements in the nature of cooperation agreements to have a long duration with a fixed term to provide stability to the Company's business in achieving its long-term goals. Due to the size and caliber of the counterparty to the Cooperation Agreement, the Directors consider significant synergetic value from a long-term strategic cooperation with CIC and following Completion of the Sales Transaction, the Fund. With such long Term of 30 years from the date of entering into the Cooperation Agreement, it would be impracticable for the Company to estimate the annual caps expressed in monetary terms for the remainder of the Term; the maximum aggregate annual value of the agreement, which was set at a pre-determined percentage of Net Revenues (instead of setting an annual cap expressed in monetary terms), is consistent with normal industry practice; and going forward, the Company shall comply with all applicable annual reporting requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules in relation to the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement. In addition, the Company shall comply with all applicable reporting and shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules in the event of any renewal or amendment of material terms of the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement. 1.7 Impact and the Way Forward The Company is continuously assessing the legal, financial, and operational impact of the Delisting to the Company. The Company wishes to advise the Shareholders and potential investors that, if the Delisting is accepted by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the "S" stock marker is expected to cease to be affixed to the Company's Chinese and English stock short name on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on the Effective Date. As of the date of this announcement, the Company believes the Delisting will not bring about any material impact to Shareholders and potential investors trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In the event the Company is unable to demonstrate full compliance with an applicable Listing Rule in time (where no waiver has been granted by the Stock Exchange) upon the Effective Date, the Stock Exchange may request the Company to delay the Effective Date. For the avoidance of doubt, notwithstanding the Notification or receipt of the Exchange Acknowledgment, the Company will continue to be entitled to the Existing Waivers before the Delisting becomes effective provided that it remains primary listed on the TSX. Such Existing Waivers include, among others, the following specific waivers granted by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, exemption and ruling granted by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong ("SFC"), on an individual basis: Rules Subject matter Rule 13.09(2) of the Listing Rules General obligation of disclosure Rules 13.11 to 13.22 of the Listing Rules Advances to entities and financing arrangements etc. Rule 13.28(7) of the Listing Rules Disclosure of identities of placees Rule 13.38 of the Listing Rules Notice of a meeting of holders of listed securities and proxy forms Rule 13.39(4) to (5) of the Listing Rules Voting by poll and poll results announcement Rule 13.44 of the Listing Rules Voting by directors with material interests on board resolutions Rules 13.46(2) and 13.48 of the Listing Rules Distribution of annual and interim reports Chapter 14 and Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules Notifiable and connected transactions Chapter 17 of the Listing Rules Share option schemes Appendix 3 to the Listing Rules Articles requirements Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance ("SFO") Disclosure of interests under Part XV of the SFO Details of the aforementioned Existing Waivers are set out in the prospectus of the Company dated January 15, 2010. The aforementioned Existing Waivers will be withdrawn upon the Effective Date, and the Company is expected to fully comply with the relevant Listing Rules and provisions of the SFO. The Company has been observing The Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Share Buy-backs (the "Codes") as approved by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (as amended from time to time) since June 2014 when the Takeovers and Mergers Panel issued a ruling that the Company should be considered a "public company in Hong Kong" within the meaning of the Codes. Please refer to the Panel Discussion published by the Takeovers and Mergers Panel on June 30, 2014, for further details. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE ARTICLES Certain amendments have been made to the Articles in anticipation of the Delisting. Please refer to the Management Proxy Circular for a summary of the key Articles Amendments, which mainly serve the purpose of complying with Appendix 3 to the Listing Rules, and a full set of the new Articles reflecting all the Articles Amendments. At the Shareholders Meeting, Shareholders passed a special resolution to approve the Articles Amendments. Please refer to the Poll Results Announcement for further details. The new Articles will come into effect upon the Delisting becoming effective, which will be published on the websites of the Stock Exchange (www.hkexnews.hk) and the Company (www.southgobi.com). 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN The Company adopted the Equity Incentive Plan in 2003, which was last amended, restated, and approved by the Shareholders in June 2021. The Equity Incentive Plan has three components: (i) a share option plan (the "Share Option Plan"), which provides for the grant to eligible participants of incentive stock options ("Options") exercisable to purchase Shares; (ii) a share bonus plan (the "Share Bonus Plan"), which provides for awards of fully paid Shares to eligible participants as and when determined by the Board to be warranted on the basis of past performance; and (iii) a share purchase plan (the "Share Purchase Plan"), under which eligible participants have the opportunity to purchase Shares through payroll deductions which are supplemented by additional contributions by the Company. The EIP Amendments were made in order to comply with Chapter 17 of the Listing Rules, the rules and policies of TSX-V, requirements regarding the Delisting and customary market practices. The EIP Amendments include: (i) amending the terms of the existing Share Option Plan to comply with applicable Listing Rules; (ii) removing the Share Bonus Plan component from the Equity Incentive Plan; and (iii) amending the terms of the Equity Incentive Plan generally to comply with applicable rules and policies of the TSX-V. The EIP Amendments have subsequently been approved by the Shareholders at the Shareholders Meeting, details of which are available in the Poll Results Announcement. The EIP Amendments shall become effective upon completion of the Delisting. 4. UPDATE ON EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE DELISTING Despite the receipt of the Exchange Acknowledgement, the Delisting remains conditional upon the Company obtaining approvals from the TSX and the TSX-V in connection with the Delisting. While it was disclosed in the Management Proxy Circular that the anticipated effective date would be July 29, 2022, the Company wishes to update its Shareholders and investors that, subject to obtaining the said approvals from the TSX and TSX-V, the Company is targeting to complete the Delisting prior to mid-September 2022. The Company will keep the Shareholders and the public informed about the progress of the Delisting. There may exist certain uncertainties as to whether and when the Delisting will proceed. Shareholders who have any queries about the implications of the Delisting are advised to obtain appropriate professional advice. Shareholders and potential investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the securities of the Company. The Company will closely monitor the development of the aforesaid matters and keep the Shareholders and potential investors informed of any material development in connection with the above matters by way of periodic announcements and/or further announcement(s) as and when appropriate. If there is any inconsistency or discrepancy between the English version and the Chinese version, the English version shall prevail. About SouthGobi SouthGobi, listed on the Toronto and Hong Kong stock exchanges, owns and operates its flagship Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in Mongolia. It also holds the mining licences of its other metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in South Gobi region of Mongolia. SouthGobi produces and sells coal to customers in China. Contact: Investor Relations Office: +852 2156 1438 (Hong Kong) +1 604 762 6783 (Canada) Email: info@southgobi.com Website: www.southgobi.com Forward-Looking Statements Certain information included in this announcement that is not current or historical factual information constitutes forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including information regarding including the Company's application to the HKEX to convert its current listing on the HKEX to a primary listing, and the Company's continued listing on the TSX while the Delisting is under review by the HKEX, respectively. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "could", "should", "seek", "likely", "estimate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions including, among other things, the ability of the Company to satisfy the ability of the Company to satisfy the HKEX's primary listing requirements and the HKEX approving the Delisting and other similar factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from what the Company currently expects. Actual results may vary from the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue importance on forward-looking statements, which speaks only as of the date of this disclosure, and not to rely upon this information as of any other date. While the Company may elect to, it is under no obligation and does not undertake to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, further events or otherwise at any particular time, except as required by law. Additional information concerning factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those in such forward-looking statements is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and can be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. SOURCE: SouthGobi Resources Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/710222/1-Inside-Information-and-Announcement-Pursuant-To-Rule-1309-of-the-Listing-Rules-in-Relation-to-Voluntary-Delisting-2-Amendments-to-the-Articles-of-Continuation-and-3-Amendments-to-the-Equity-Incentive-Plan HIROSHIMA, Japan, July 29, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - Mazda Motor Corporation's production and sales results for June 2022 and for January through June 2022 are summarized below.I. Production1. Domestic Production(1) June 2022Mazda's domestic production volume in June 2022 increased 1.3% year on year due to increased production of passenger vehicles.[Domestic production of key models in June 2022]CX-5: 35,989 units (up 1.3% year on year)CX-30: 7,152 units (up 9.3%)MAZDA3: 6,589 units (down 39.6%)(2) January through June 2022Mazda's total domestic production volume in the period from January through June 2022 decreased 20.7% year on year due to decreased production of passenger vehicles.[Domestic production of key models in the period from January through June 2022]CX-5: 161,963 units (down 8.6% year on year)MAZDA3: 38,027 units (down 36.1%)CX-30: 31,484 units (down 19.1%)2. Overseas Production(1) June 2022Mazda's overseas production volume in June 2022 increased 16.5% year on year due to increased production of passenger vehicles.[Overseas production of key models in June 2022]CX-30: 12,398 units (up 9.2% year on year)MAZDA3: 7,847 units (up 13.2%)MAZDA2: 4,503 units (up 15.2%)(2) January through June 2022Mazda's total overseas production volume in the period from January through June 2022 decreased 12.9% year on year due to decreased production of passenger and commercial vehicles.[Overseas production of key models in the period from January through June 2022]CX-30: 60,140 units (down 4.4% year on year)MAZDA3: 46,242 units (down 4.3%)MAZDA2: 24,068 units (down 10.1%)II. Domestic Sales(1) June 2022Mazda's domestic sales volume in June 2022 increased 21.4% year on year due to increased sales of passenger vehicles.Mazda's registered vehicle market share was 4.7% (up 1.6 points year on year), with a 1.8% share of the micro-mini segment (unchanged) and a 3.5% total market share (up 0.9 points).[Domestic sales of key models in June 2022]CX-5: 1,937 units (up 64.6% year on year)MAZDA2: 1,935 units (up 115.5%)CX-30: 1,413 units (up 2.8%)(2) January through June 2022Mazda's domestic sales volume in the period from January through June 2022 decreased 12.6% year on year due to decreased sales of passenger and commercial vehicles.Mazda's registered vehicle market share was 5.0% (up 0.2 points), with a 1.9% share of the micro-mini segment (unchanged) and a 3.8% total market share (up 0.1 points year on year).[Domestic sales of key models in the period from January through June 2022]CX-5: 15,481 units (up 24.3% year on year)MAZDA2: 11,771 units (down 7.7%)CX-30: 8,163 units (down 29.9%)III. Exports(1) June 2022Mazda's export volume in June 2022 decreased 8.4% year on year due to decreased shipments to North America, Oceania and other regions.[Exports of key models in June 2022]CX-5: 31,761 units (up 7.7% year on year)CX-30: 5,578 units (up 57.9%)MAZDA3: 4,905 units (down 49.6%)(2) January through June 2022Mazda's export volume in the period from January through June 2022 decreased 25.4% year on year due to decreased shipments to North America, Europe, Oceania and other regions.[Exports of key models in the period from January through June 2022]CX-5: 143,004 units (down 11.0% year on year)MAZDA3: 30,186 units (down 44.2%)CX-9: 24,959 units (down 20.2%)IV. Global Sales(1) June 2022Mazda's global sales volume in June 2022 decreased 36.8% year on year due to decreased sales mainly in the U.S., China, Europe and other regions.[Global sales of key models in June 2022]CX-5: 19,146 units (down 43.3% year on year)CX-30: 14,424 units (down 28.2%)MAZDA3: 11,416 units (down 44.8%)(2) January through June 2022Mazda's global sales volume in the period from January through June 2022 decreased 22.0% year on year due to decreased sales mainly in the U.S., China, Europe and other regions.[Global sales of key models in the period from January through June 2022]CX-5: 181,662 units (down 13.2% year on year)MAZDA3: 94,282 units (down 22.9%)CX-30: 89,380 units (down 24.8%)Source: mazdaCopyright 2022 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. LONDON, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This press release is being disseminated as required by National Instrument 62-103 in connection with the filing of an Early Warning Report regarding the acquisition of securities of SDX Energy plc (the "Company"). During the period from June 15, 2022 and July 21, 2022, Aleph Commodities Ltd. (the "Acquiror"), acting in concert with several other parties (the "jointactors") acquired, through a series of acquisitions, an aggregate of 52,570,590 ordinary shares of the Company ("Ordinary Shares"), representing approximately 25% of the issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares. The acquisitions were made through off-market transactions that were completed with pre-arranged parties located outside of Canada, as well as a small number of Ordinary Shares (representing less than 0.3% of the total issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares and less than 1.5% of the total number of Ordinary Shares acquired by the Acquiror and joint actors) that were acquired through the facilities of the AIM Exchange. Immediately prior to these acquisitions, neither the Acquiror, nor any of the joint actors held any Ordinary Shares. Upon completion of the acquisitions of the Ordinary Shares, the Acquiror, along with the joint actors, hold and control 25.70% of the issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares. The Ordinary Shares were acquired for the purpose of affecting the outcome of a shareholder vote on a proposed transaction to be voted upon at a meeting of the shareholders of the Company to be held on July 29, 2022, at which it is the Acquiror's intention, and the intention of the joint actors, to vote against the proposed transaction. The Acquiror intends to engage with the Company's management and the board of directors to explore alternative opportunities of providing the Company with financial, commercial and technical support to ensure the growth of the Company and its production base, with minimal dilution. The Acquiror and the joint actors do not have any current intentions to significantly increase or decrease their beneficial ownership of, control or direction over, any additional securities of the Company. The Acquiror and the joint actors, may, from time to time, and depending on market and other conditions, acquire additional securities of the Company, dispose of some or all of the existing or additional securities it holds or will hold, or may continue to hold its current position, depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or relevant factors. The Acquiror, together with the joint actors, first collectively acquired greater than 10% of the Ordinary Shares, and the requirement to file an early warning report under National Instrument 62-103 first arose, on July 7, 2022, however the Acquiror did not at that time file an early warning report or otherwise make necessary disclosure pursuant to National Instrument 62-103. A copy of the Early Warning Report to be filed by the Acquiror will be available on SEDAR under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. This early warning news release is issued under the early warning provisions of Canadian securities legislation, including National Instrument 62-104 - Take-Over Bids and Issuer Bids and National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues. Aleph Commodities Ltd., Richard Usher - Principal, Tel: +44 7738 296143, Email: richard.usher@alephcommodities.com About Lhyfe Created in Nantes in 2017, Lhyfe produces and supplies renewable green hydrogen for mobility and industry. Its production plant and its commercial pipeline will allow access to renewable green hydrogen in industrial quantities and form part of a virtuous energy model benefitting the environment. It is a member of France Hydrogene and Hydrogen Europe. Lhyfe inaugurated its first green hydrogen industrial production site in September 2021. It currently has 93 projects in its pipeline across Europe, of which 20 in advanced development by 2026, to contribute in mobility and industry decarbonization. A research program started in 2019 should also lead to the start of a test phase in real conditions for the world's first floating electrolyzer linked to a floating wind farm planned for fall 2022. For more information go to Lhyfe.com Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Regulatory News: The partnership between TotalEnergies (Paris:TTE) (LSE:TTE) (NYSE:TTE) and ADNOC has been further strengthened following the signing by ADNOC Distribution of an agreement to acquire a 50% stake in TotalEnergies Marketing Egypt LLC for a consideration of approximately $200 million. This new transaction follows the signing of the strategic partnership agreement signed by TotalEnergies and ADNOC on the occasion of the state visit in Paris of His Highness Sheikh, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates. Established in 1998, TotalEnergies Egypt operates about 7% of service stations in Egypt. The contemplated partnership between TotalEnergies, a leading global multi-energy company, and ADNOC Distribution, the UAE's largest fuel retail distributor, includes a portfolio comprising 240 fuel retail stations, as well as wholesale fuel activities, an aviation fuel business, and lubricants sales. The Acquisition is expected to complete in Q1 2023 pending satisfaction of certain conditions, including customary regulatory approvals. Thierry Pflimlin, President Marketing Services at TotalEnergies, said, ''TotalEnergies is pleased to join forces with ADNOC Distribution in Egypt. The rich experience of an experienced fuel distributor in the GCC region will bring a significant added value to TotalEnergies Marketing Egypt. We look forward to collaborating with ADNOC Distribution in a combined growth strategy.'' Bader Saeed Al Lamki, CEO of ADNOC Distribution, said, "TotalEnergies Egypt is a well-established business with a solid track record of operational excellence and in-depth knowledge of the Egyptian fuel and retail sector. This move aligns with our vision to establish ADNOC Distribution as a regional leader in the fuel distribution sector. We look forward to providing the best possible service to customers in Egypt, and working with TotalEnergies to accelerate our international expansion in Egypt and beyond". About TotalEnergies TotalEnergies is a global multi-energy company that produces and markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity. Our more than 100,000 employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, cleaner, more reliable and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies puts sustainable development in all its dimensions at the heart of its projects and operations to contribute to the well-being of people. @TotalEnergiesTotalEnergiesTotalEnergiesTotalEnergies About ADNOC Distribution ADNOC Distribution is the leading fuel distributor and convenience store operator in the UAE. ADNOC Distribution operates 464 retail fuel stations, 350 convenience stores as of 31 March 2022 and is the leading marketer and distributor of fuels to commercial, industrial and government customers throughout the UAE. ADNOC Distribution is the only fuel retailer operating in all seven emirates in the UAE, and in 2018 expanded its retail fuels operations internationally in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where it operates 55 retail fuel stations as of 31 March 2022. To find out more, visit www.adnocdistribution.ae. Cautionary Note The terms "TotalEnergies", "TotalEnergies company" or "Company" in this document are used to designate TotalEnergies SE and the consolidated entities that are directly or indirectly controlled by TotalEnergies SE. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" may also be used to refer to these entities or to their employees. The entities in which TotalEnergies SE directly or indirectly owns a shareholding are separate legal entities. This document may contain forward-looking information and statements that are based on a number of economic data and assumptions made in a given economic, competitive and regulatory environment. They may prove to be inaccurate in the future and are subject to a number of risk factors. Neither TotalEnergies SE nor any of its subsidiaries assumes any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information or statement, objectives or trends contained in this document whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Information concerning risk factors, that may affect TotalEnergies' financial results or activities is provided in the most recent Universal Registration Document, the French-language version of which is filed by TotalEnergies SE with the French securities regulator Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), and in the Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220728006132/en/ Contacts: TotalEnergies Contacts Media Relations: +33 (0)1 47 44 46 99 l presse@totalenergies.com l @TotalEnergiesPR Investor Relations: +33 (0)1 47 44 46 46 l ir@totalenergies.com Tikehau Capital has successfully raised a record 3.3 billion for the fifth generation of its direct lending strategy, up 57% compared to the previous vintage. Within this strategy, Tikehau Capital's flagship fund received 2.1bn in capital commitments, a significant upsizing from the previous generation. The capital raise received strong support from high-quality institutional investors globally with more than 35% of commitments received from outside of Europe. Regulatory News: Tikehau Capital (Paris:TKO), the global alternative asset manager, today announces that it has raised a record 3.3bn for the fifth generation of its direct lending strategy. The fundraise comprises Tikehau Direct Lending V ("TDL V"), the flagship vehicle for the Group's direct lending strategy, which has reached a final close, and bespoke mandates and side vehicles. The record fundraise reflects Tikehau Capital's position as one of the most established direct lenders in Europe and signals continued strong appetite for the asset class from institutional investors globally. The 3.3bn raised for the fifth generation of the direct lending strategy exceeds by 57% the 2.1bn raised for the previous generation in 2019. The capital raise received strong support from a variety of investors globally, including family offices, pension funds and insurance companies. The strategy attracted capital from investors already present in the previous vintage and which increased their commitments by c. 60% in the fifth generation, as well as a growing number of new international LPs, which shows a wide recognition of Tikehau Capital's expertise and is a testament to the Group's global expansion strategy. In addition, 83% of capital commitments were received from LPs based outside of France, and more than 35% outside of Europe. Launched at the end of 2020, TDL V aims to provide a wide range of bespoke financing solutions to European SMEs. Tikehau Capital is a pioneer in the European private debt market having launched its direct lending strategy in 2007. Since then, the Group has developed a best-in-class platform which offers in depth expertise and a diverse range of financing solutions including stretched senior, unitranche, mezzanine financing and PIK notes and played a leading role in ESG considerations applied to private debt. This latest generation direct lending fund has already invested in 55 SMEs across Europe to build a highly diversified portfolio, including Benelux, Spain, Italy, Germany, UK and France, as well as Canada. Since inception, Tikehau Capital's private debt team has continued to focus on maintaining its highly disciplined approach towards attractive risk-return profiles and the creation of diversified portfolios. Cecile Mayer-Levi, head of Private Debt for Tikehau Capital, declared: "The successful closing of TDL V is tribute to the work of Tikehau Capital's experienced private debt team and its capacity to finance highly diversified operations in Europe. It also illustrates the support of new and existing LPs and partners globally with investors in the fourth vintage reinvesting in this latest generation. This is testament to Tikehau Capital's disciplined investment approach and solid long-term track record. We have a very strong pipeline of opportunities and will continue to focus on deploying the fund's capital to finance Europe's leading SMEs." ABOUT TIKEHAU CAPITAL Tikehau Capital is a global alternative asset management group with 36.8 billion of assets under management (at 30 June 2022). Tikehau Capital has developed a wide range of expertise across four asset classes (private debt, real assets, private equity and capital markets strategies) as well as multi-asset and special opportunities strategies. Tikehau Capital is a founder led team with a differentiated business model, a strong balance sheet, proprietary global deal flow and a track record of backing high quality companies and executives. Deeply rooted in the real economy, Tikehau Capital provides bespoke and innovative alternative financing solutions to companies it invests in and seeks to create long-term value for its investors, while generating positive impacts on society. Leveraging its strong equity base (3.1 billion of shareholders' equity at 30 June 2022), the firm invests its own capital alongside its investor-clients within each of its strategies. Controlled by its managers alongside leading institutional partners, Tikehau Capital is guided by a strong entrepreneurial spirit and DNA, shared by its 725 employees (at 30 June 2022) across its 13 offices in Europe, Asia and North America. Tikehau Capital is listed in compartment A of the regulated Euronext Paris market (ISIN code: FR0013230612; Ticker: TKO.FP). For more information, please visit: www.tikehaucapital.com. DISCLAIMER: This fund is managed by TIKEHAU INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SAS (on behalf of the funds that it manages), a portfolio management company approved by the AMF since 19/01/2007 under number GP-0700000006. This document does not constitute an offer of securities for sale or investment advisory services. It contains general information only and is not intended to provide general or specific investment advice. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future earnings and profit, and targets are not guaranteed. Certain statements and forecasted data are based on current forecasts, prevailing market and economic conditions, estimates, projections and opinions of Tikehau Capital and/or its affiliates. Due to various risks and uncertainties. actual results may differ materially from those reflected or expected in such forward-looking statements or in any of the case studies or forecasts. All references to Tikehau Capital's advisory activities in the US or with respect to US persons relate to Tikehau Capital North America. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220728006128/en/ Contacts: PRESS: Tikehau Capital: Valerie Sueur +33 1 40 06 39 30 UK Prosek Partners: Henrietta Dehn +44 7717 281 665 USA Prosek Partners: Trevor Gibbons +1 646 818 9238 press@tikehaucapital.com SHAREHOLDER AND INVESTORS: Louis Igonet +33 1 40 06 11 11 Theodora Xu +33 1 40 06 18 56 shareholders@tikehaucapital.com BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - AbbVie (ABBV) announced Friday that the European Commission has approved RINVOQ (upadacitinib 15 mg, once daily) as an oral treatment for adults with Active Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis or axSpA. axSpA is a chronic, progressive and disabling inflammatory rheumatic disease that causes joint inflammation, leading to back pain and stiffness. With this approval, RINVOQ is the first and only Janus Kinase or JAK inhibitor approved to treat patients across the spectrum of axial spondyloarthritis in the European Union. The approval is for the treatment of active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis or nr-axSpA in adult patients with objective signs of inflammation, as indicated by elevated C-reactive protein or CRP and/or magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, who have responded inadequately to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs. The company noted that the approval is supported by data from the Phase 3 SELECT-AXIS 2 pivotal clinical trial in which RINVOQ delivered meaningful disease control with nearly half of nr-axSpA patients achieving ASAS40 at week 14 compared to placebo. AbbVie previously disclosed topline results from the Phase 3 SELECT-AXIS 2 nr-axSpA clinical trial and the full results have been published in The Lancet. With the EC Marketing Authorization for nr-axSpA, RINVOQ is approved in all member states of the European Union, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Northern Ireland and Norway. For More Such Health News, visit rttnews.com Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. AMSTERDAM (dpa-AFX) - The following are some of the healthcare companies that reported quarterly financial results and provided an update on their pipeline progress on Thursday. 1. ALNY Q2 Loss Widens, Revenue Miss Estimates Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALNY), which reported lower-than-expected results for the second quarter, has reiterated its outlook for the year. The company has 3 marketed drugs - Onpattro, Givlaari, and Oxlumo - and a robust pipeline of investigational RNAi therapeutics. On a non GAAP basis, net loss for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, widened to $245.8 million or $2.03 per share from $153 million or $1.30 per share in the year-ago period. Wall Street analysts expected the company to incur a loss of only $1.63 per share for Q2, 2022. The total revenue, including net product revenue, net revenues from collaborations and royalty revenue improved to $224.8 million in Q2, 2022 from $220.5 million in the year-ago quarter, but fell shy of the analysts' consensus estimate of $255.88 million. The product revenue from the company's 3 marketed drugs accounted for $213.5 million in the second quarter of 2022, up from $160.8 million in the year-ago period. The company's top-selling drug Onpattro accounted for product revenue of $153 million in Q2, 2022, an increase of 35%, followed by Givlaari's $45 million, which registered a growth of 47%. Oxlumo contributed $14.9 million to the product revenue in Q2, 2022, a decline of 9% over the year-ago quarter. For full year 2022 the company continues to expect combined net product revenues to range between $870 million and $930 million. Near-term Catalyst: A pivotal phase III trial of Patisiran in ATTR amyloidosis patients with cardiomyopathy, dubbed APOLLO-B, is underway, with topline results expected to be available within the next three weeks. Some anticipated events in mid- and late-2022 -- Plans for phase III clinical development of Cemdisiran in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy are expected to be finalized, with the potential to initiate a program by late 2022. -- Report topline results from Part B of a phase I study of ALN-HSD in patients with NASH. -- Launch Vutrisiran in the EU, assuming a favorable adoption of the CHMP opinion by the European Commission, for the treatment of hATTR amyloidosis patients with polyneuropathy. Vutrisiran was approved in the U.S as recently as June 13, 2022, for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated (hATTR) amyloidosis in adults. -- Initiate a phase III study of Vutrisiran in patients with Stargardt Disease. -- Report preliminary results from a phase I study of ALN-APP in patients with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. -- Report preliminary results from a phase I study of ALN-XDH in patients with gout. ALNY closed Thursday's trading at $143.52, up 1.09%. 2. Argenx braces for a busy year argenx SE (ARGX) has a couple of regulatory and clinical trial events lined up for the coming months. The European Commission is expected to announce its decision on VYVGART, intended for the treatment of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody positive generalised Myasthenia Gravis, this quarter. The drug was recently approved in the U.S. and Japan, and it generated global net product revenues of $75 million for second quarter of 2022. The company expects to start a registrational trial of SC Efgartigimod, dubbed ALKIVIA, for three subtypes of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, including immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy, anti-synthetase syndrome and dermatomyositis, this quarter. The Biologics License Application for SC Efgartigimod for generalized myasthenia gravis is on track to be filed by end of 2022. Topline data from a registrational trial of SC Efgartigimod for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, dubbed ADHERE, is expected in first quarter of 2023. Topline data from a second registrational trial of SC Efgartigimod for primary immune thrombocytopenia, dubbed ADVANCE-SC, are expected in second half of 2023. Topline data from a registrational trial of SC Efgartigimod for pemphigus vulgaris and foliaceus, dubbed ADDRESS, are also expected in second half of 2023. ARGX closed Thursday's trading at $372.97, up 4.22%. 3. CVRx Expects FY22 Revenue to Grow 6-8% CVRx Inc. (CVRX), a commercial-stage medical device company, has revised its business outlook for full-year 2022 and has provided third-quarter revenue outlook. Looking ahead to full year 2022, the company now expects total revenue to range between $20.5 million and $23.0 million compared to prior guidance of $20.0 million and $23.0 million. Total revenue was $13.0 million for the full year ended December 31, 2021. Wall Street analysts have pegged the consensus revenue estimate at $21.27 million for the year. Gross margin is now anticipated to be between 75% and 76%, up from prior guidance of 74% and 76%. For the third quarter of 2022, the company expects to report total revenue between $5.5 million and $6.0 million while the analysts' consensus estimate is $5.53 million. Total revenue for the third quarter 2021 was $3.4 million. CVRX closed Thursday's trading at $7.55, up 4.43%. 4. Ekso Bionics Q2 Revenue Jumps 53% Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. (EKSO) reported a wider loss for the second ended June 30, 2022, even as revenue jumped 57% year-over-year. Net loss applicable to common stockholders for the second quarter of 2022 widened to $3.0 million or $0.23 per share from $1.3 million or $0.11 per share for the same period in 2021. The company operates in two segments - EksoHealth and EksoWorks. Revenue was $3.5 million for the second quarter of 2022 compared to $2.2 million for the same period in 2021. EksoHealth segment accounted for revenue of $3.2 million while EksoWorks contributed $0.2 million to total revenue in Q2, 2022. Last month, the company received FDA clearance to market its EksoNR robotic exoskeleton for use with Multiple Sclerosis patients. EKSO closed Thursday's trading at $1.73, up 1.17%. 5. LeMaitre Guides Q3, FY22 EPS Below Estimates LeMaitre (LMAT), a provider of vascular devices, implants and services, has forecast earnings for the third quarter and full-year 2022, well below the analysts' consensus estimate. LeMaitre has forecast earnings per share of $0.24 to $0.29 for Q3, below the analysts' consensus estimate of $0.31. For the third quarter of 2022, the company expects sales in the range of $39.0 million to $41.0 million while the analysts' consensus estimate is $40.12 million. The company had reported earnings of $0.30 per share and revenue of $38.4 million in Q3, 2021. Looking ahead to full-year 2022, LeMaitre anticipates EPS in the range of $0.99 to $1.05 and sales in the range of $162.7 million to $165.3 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are expecting earnings of $1.18 per share and revenue of $162.6 million. The company had reported sales of $154 million and earnings of $1.25 per share for full-year 2021. LMAT closed Thursday's trading at $48.83, up 1.54%. 6. Novocure To Report LUNAR Study Data In Q1 Novocure (NVCR) expects to reach a number of clinical and product development milestones in the next 18 months. -- Data from phase 2 pilot EF-33 study with high-intensity arrays in recurrent GBM in 2022. -- Data from phase 3 pivotal LUNAR study in NSCLC in early Q1 2023. -- Data from phase 3 pivotal INNOVATE-3 study in recurrent ovarian cancer in 2023. -- Data from phase 3 pivotal METIS study in brain metastases in 2023. -- Data from phase 3 pivotal PANOVA-3 study in locally advanced pancreatic cancer in 2024. NVCR closed Thursday's trading at $70.24, down 5.03%. 7. Seagen Boosts FY22 Revenue Outlook Seagen Inc. (SGEN) has boosted its full-year 2022 revenue outlook on the back of increased net sales expectations for its drug Adcetris, as well as higher collaboration and license agreement revenues. The company now expects total revenue for full year 2022 to range between $1,710 million and $1,795 million, up from its earlier forecast range of $1,665 million to $1,745 million. Total revenue in full-year 2021 was $1,574 million. Wall Street analysts have pegged the consensus revenue estimate at $1.79 billion for the year. SGEN closed Thursday's trading at $177.43, up 0.36%. For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX SEAGEN-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de A Herbal-based brand NUVITON will be distributed across the kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaching more than 300 ecommerce stores. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- YUMMYLOOKS SDN BHD ("YUMMYLOOKS" or the "Company"), the herbal based supplement division of YUMMYLOOKS, is pleased to announce its progress in launching their brand NUVITON to over 300 ecommerce stores in Saudi Arabia and will be covering most cities by September 2022. Saudi Arabia is an attractive destination to distribute merchandise via ecommerce channels. Saudi Arabia is the 27th largest market for eCommerce with a revenue of US$7.7 billion in 2021, placing it ahead of Belgium and behind Norway. Developed by athletes, formulated by doctors, and clinically proven for optimal performance, NUVITON is a premium plant-based supplement founded by former dentist and serial entrepreneur Dr. Saleh Nabil. The ecommerce stores in the kingdom will begin selling NUVITON at all online stores in August 2022. The first batch ingredients of NUVITON product that will be available in the kingdom includes: Physta Tongkat Ali Extract - features 100mg of complete plant-based ingredient, as well as clinically studied Physta backed by 17 clinical studies for a range of benefits for healthy ageing. - features 100mg of complete plant-based ingredient, as well as clinically studied Physta backed by 17 clinical studies for a range of benefits for healthy ageing. Cordyceps Extract - delivers 75mg of complete, plant-fueled benefits of potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. - delivers 75mg of complete, plant-fueled benefits of potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Ginseng Extract - provides vegan 50mg of panax ginseng to reduce soreness and recovery time. - provides vegan 50mg of panax ginseng to reduce soreness and recovery time. Maca Root - features clinically proven ingredients to strengthen the immune system, and provide superior energy boost, proven to fuel the daily active lifestyle. "The nature of the ecommerce companies in the kingdom are SMEs and their target audience aligns well with YUMMYLOOKS premium products, so our partnership with these SMEs ecommerce companies will further our growth as we continue to bring our disruptive brand to consumers looking for best-in-class plant-based performance and wellness solutions," says Dr. Saleh Nabil, YUMMYLOOKS CEO. The partnership with ecommerce SMEs in Saudi Arabia continues to align with YUMMYLOOKS's distribution growth strategy based on a strong digital presence and strong aftersales support. Earlier this year, YUMMYLOOKS also announced its partnership for distributing its disposable glove brand MEDRUX with NAHDI MEDICAL, one of the largest ecommerce retailers in Saudi Arabia. Capital for Colleagues plc - Portfolio Update - TPS Investment Holdings Capital for Colleagues plc / EPIC: CFCP / Market: AQSE / Sector: Investment 29 July 2022 CAPITAL FOR COLLEAGUES PLC ('Capital for Colleagues', 'C4C' or the 'Company') PORTFOLIO UPDATE - TPS INVESTMENT HOLDINGS LIMITED Capital for Colleagues, the investment vehicle focused on opportunities in the Employee Owned Business ('EOB') sector, is pleased to announce that it has increased its shareholding in portfolio company, TPS Investment Holdings Limited ('TPS'). TPS sources, markets and distributes a specialist range of pipes, valves, fittings and other associated products for the public utility markets throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, with particular focus on the water market. Capital for Colleagues has acquired an additional 962 ordinary shares in TPS for cash consideration of 500,240. The shares were acquired from the 2 executive directors of TPS. Following this acquisition, C4C is interested in a total of 2,212 ordinary shares in TPS, representing 27.6% of TPS' issued equity capital, with the balance of 72.4% continuing to be held by executive management at TPS. The Company's interest in TPS is valued at 1.202m. Alistair Currie, Chief Executive of Capital for Colleagues, said: 'We are pleased to have increased our interest in TPS, a company we have supported since 2014. This new investment further aligns our interests with those of TPS' management and employees. The Directors of the Company are responsible for the contents of this announcement. **ENDS** For further information, please visit www.capitalforcolleagues.com or contact: CAPITAL FOR COLLEAGUES PLC Richard Bailey, Chairman Alistair Currie, Chief Executive John Lewis, Director 01985 201 980 PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED Mark Anwyl 020 7469 0930 Capital for Colleagues Capital for Colleagues is an investment company focused on the UK EOB sector. The Company has a proven management team, with a wide network of contacts and affiliates, as well as established access to investment opportunities, enabling the Company to execute its strategy and capitalise on EOB-focused investment opportunities. In addition, the Company educates and assists companies that are looking to launch employee ownership schemes, advising them, amongst other things, on how to secure investment and achieve their objectives. Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation EU 596/2014 as it forms part of retained EU law (as defined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018). Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. - Vodafone Germany and RingCentral jointly launch 'Vodafone Business UC with RingCentral' in the German market - Solution combines team messaging, video meetings and cloud phone system on one platform - New platform helps companies embrace hybrid work, enabling an optimized user experience on any device, for anyone, anywhere Vodafone Germany and RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG), a leading provider of global enterprise cloud communications, video meetings, collaboration, and contact center solutions, today unveiled to the German market 'Vodafone Business UC with RingCentral,' a powerful communications platform that brings together RingCentral's flagship offering RingCentral Message Video Phone (MVP) with Vodafone's mobility and 5G capabilities. The solution gives companies more choice, flexibility and simplicity in how their employees communicate and collaborate in the office, at home or on the go. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005086/en/ Martin Grabowski, Director Marketing Products Business at Vodafone Germany: "Especially in today's hybrid world, collaboration between employees across different locations is a real advantage. Together with RingCentral, we are now pleased to offer a unified communications solution that fills a real need in the modern business world. Vodafone Business UC with RingCentral will help businesses and employees work together effectively and securely, no matter where they are or what devices they use." Marco Meier, Area Vice President, Global Service Providers DACH, RingCentral said: "At RingCentral, we are focused on making business communications effortless for everyone. By combining Vodafone's strengths with RingCentral's leading expertise in cloud-based unified communications, we're enabling people to work from anywhere, on any device, while improving productivity thanks to our open platform integrations with third-party business apps. Finally, our co-innovation and co-creation strategy with Vodafone Germany will improve workflows and enable businesses to drive long term sustainable value and differentiation." To support hybrid work, German companies need a secure, reliable, and flexible cloud communications platform one that enables their employees to work from anywhere with a single app for team messaging, video meetings and a cloud phone system. Vodafone Business UC with RingCentral meets these requirements and delivers a flexible yet reliable solution to meet the challenges of everyday work. This allows employees to work productively no matter where they are. This new unified communications solution from Vodafone Germany and RingCentral offers businesses the ability to migrate from their existing infrastructure to the cloud. This highly secure solution includes call recording, HD video meetings, and many other new features to simplify communications and collaboration. In addition, end-users will benefit from the many unique and differentiated features including AI-based Advanced Meeting Insights, Whiteboard, Live Transcription, and dynamic end-to-end encryption. All features can be run standalone or integrated with various business applications, including Microsoft 365, leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Helpdesk services ensuring everything works in sync. For more details on Vodafone Business UC with RingCentral, visit https://www.vodafone.de/business/loesungen/ucc-ringcentral/. About Vodafone Germany Vodafone is one of the leading communications groups. Every second German is a Vodafone customer whether they surf, make phone calls or watch TV; whether they network their office, farm or factory with Vodafone technology. Vodafone networks connect Germany: families and friends as well as politics, business and society. They also help keep crucial sectors like education and healthcare running, especially in times of COVID-19. The Dusseldorf-based company supplies Internet, mobile communications, fixed-network and TV from a single source. As a digitization partner of the German economy, Vodafone counts start-ups, SMEs and DAX corporations among its customers. Vodafone is the #1 in German mobile communications: No other company in Germany networks more people and machines via its mobile network. No other German company offers more gigabit connections in the fixed network than the Dusseldorf-based company. And no other company has more TV customers in the country. With more than 30 million mobile customers, almost 11 million broadband customers, more than 13 million TV customers and numerous digital solutions, Vodafone Germany and its 16,000 employees generate total annual revenues of around 13 billion euros. As a gigabit company, Vodafone is driving infrastructure expansion in Germany: Today, Vodafone reaches more than 24 million households in its nationwide cable fiber-optic network, more than 23 million of them with gigabit speeds. In 2022, Vodafone will provide two-thirds of all Germans with gigabit connections. With its 4G network, Vodafone reaches more than 99% of all households in Germany. Vodafone's machine network (Narrowband IoT) for industry and commerce transmits on almost 97% of the German territory. Since mid-2019, Vodafone has also been operating the first 5G network in Germany, reaching over 45 million people. By 2023, Vodafone will roll out 5G to 60 million people. Vodafone Germany is the largest national company in the Vodafone Group, one of the largest telecommunications groups in the world, accounting for around 30% of total revenue. Vodafone has more than 300 million mobile customers worldwide, more than 28 million fixed-network customers, 22 million TV customers and connects more than 150 million devices to the Internet of Things. Vodafone connects people and machines worldwide. And is creating a better future for everyone. Because: Technology paves the way for a digital tomorrow. To achieve this, Vodafone is working to operate its business sustainably and protect the environment. The goals: To become climate-neutral by 2025 and emission-free by 2040. To achieve these, Vodafone is using 100% green power, electrifying its vehicle fleet, relying on a green supply chain, and ensuring that its network technology is fully reused, resold, or recycled. In addition, Vodafone helps other companies minimize their C02 footprint with smart IoT technologies. Diversity is firmly anchored in Vodafone's corporate culture and is promoted through numerous measures. These include offers for balancing family and career as well as networks for women, fathers or LGBT's up to diversity trainings for executives. Vodafone respects and values all people: regardless of ethnic origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, beliefs, culture or religion. For more information: www.vodafone-deutschland.de or www.vodafone.com. *Gender Note. For ease of reading only, the grammatically masculine form is often used. This always refers to people of any gender identity. About RingCentral RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG) is a leading provider of business cloud communications and contact center solutions based on its powerful Message Video Phone??(MVP) global platform. More flexible and cost-effective than legacy on-premises PBX and video conferencing systems, RingCentral empowers modern mobile and distributed workforces to communicate, collaborate, and connect via any mode, any device, and any location. RingCentral offers three key products in its portfolio including RingCentral MVP, a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platform including team messaging, video meetings, and cloud phone system; RingCentral Video, ?the company's video meetings solution with team messaging that enables Smart Video Meetings; and RingCentral cloud Contact Center solutions. RingCentral's open platform integrates with leading third-party business applications and allows customers to customize business workflows easily. RingCentral is headquartered in Belmont, California, and has offices worldwide. 2022 RingCentral, Inc. All rights reserved. RingCentral, Message Video Phone, MVP, RingCentral MVP, RingCentral Video, Smart Video Meetings, and the RingCentral logo are trademarks of RingCentral, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005086/en/ Contacts: Media Contacts: Vodafone Business Media Relations GroupMedia@vodafone.com RingCentral Brett Smith brett.smith@ringcentral.com 980-580-2430 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 29, 2022 / With the evolution of human beings and societies, also comes the evolution of communication. From letters to fax, to home phones and cell phones; from radio to TV and now smartphones and social media platforms like Instagram, Linkedin, Tik Tok and many more. Communications media and platforms have had a fundamental role in the development of human beings as species. Their main objective has been to offer a channel to inform about the news live, and inform about other people's and brands' news as well. This is why nowadays, more and more companies are including a communications strategy in their planning, and are also looking for customized marketing consulting. How can a company stay up to date with all the changes in the communications world while sending the message it wants to send to its target client? Manah specializes in Marketing Communications Strategies, Comprehensive Event Development, and International Press, among other services. This brand stands out by its cultural understanding without leaving the individual behind. It understands all its clients, and with that, it's able to transmit the message that represents him/her, generating a positive impact in the public. Manah was founded in 2019 by Estela Rotmistrovsky , an expert in the development of Marketing Communications Strategies focused on achieving business profitability. The company is based in Argentina, and they recently opened offices in Paraguay. It currently has scope in Latin America, Israel, Spain and is achieving strong development in the US Hispanic market. Nowadays, Manah is innovating by working by the philosophy of Mindful Marketing, which consists of creating marketing with the objective of generating a positive social outcome. It is aligned with the consumers' most important values. Two of the most common are solidarity and taking care of the environment. This means that a company's actions must surround these values, from their packaging to their personnel and the development of their marketing strategy. This is how the enterprise stops being just a business and transforms itself to a company with values, contributing to an improvement of society based on its consumers' and their necessities. It's good for society, but it's also good for business. Actually, Tredwatching establishes that around 92% of millennials prefer to buy brands that are considered ethical and eco-friendly. Every day that passes, being updated and informed about consumers' tendencies are even more important for entrepreneurs. In Estela's words: "media's relationships are vital because they represent one of the best options for people and enterprises to have presence, impact and growth in their market. This is why it is key to consider the messages we transmit as leaders, on a personal and professional level, in the publicity market and must ensure that they are aligned with our values and beliefs. I invite you to work together to create a positive impact". You can learn more about Manah's work and services on their website: www.manah.us You can also contact Estela through her email address: restela@manah.us CONTACT: Paula Henderson 561-768-4444 phendersonnews@gmail.com SOURCE: Manah View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/710239/Estela-Rotmistrovsky-CEO-Founder-of-Manah-Helps-Your-Company-Have-Presence-Impact-Grow-with-Marketing-Communications-Strategies TAIPEI (dpa-AFX) - Chung Hwa Telecom Co. Ltd. (CHT) reported Friday that its second-quarter net income attributable to stockholders of the parent increased 8.1 percent to NT$9.68 billion from last year's NT$8.95 billion. Basic earnings per share were NT$1.25, up from NT$1.16 a year ago. EBITDA for the quarter increased 5.5 percent from last year to NT$ 21.97 billion, while EBITDA margin dropped to 41.90 percent from 41.99 percent a year ago. Chunghwa Telecom's total revenues increased 5.7 percent to NT$ 52.44 billion from NT$49.60 billion in the prior year. Total mobile service revenue increased 6.1 percent. As of June 30, Chunghwa Telecom had 12.23 million mobile subscribers, a 6.4 percent year-over-year increase. The number of broadband subscribers slightly increased 0.2 percent to 4.37 million. Looking ahead, Chi-Mau Shieh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, 'Our global expansion plan remains in progress. ...We remain confident in our high-quality services and products and believe in our long-term strategies and goals.' For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - Plant&Co. Brands Ltd. (CSE: VEGN) (FSE: VGP) (OTCQB: VGANF) ("Plant&Co." or the "Company"), a company focused on organic growth and accelerating growth through the acquisition of businesses that have great tasting foods, is pleased to announce it is expanding beyond plant-based to enable the company to participate in the broader food category. "Plant-based eating will continue to grow and gain greater importance in the food category, and we are absolutely committed to continue building our plant-based brands and business. Our Plant&Co portfolio includes five (5) plant-based brands (on July 25th we announced the 5th as a binding LOI to acquire Lettuce Love), and from a business perspective the expansion beyond plant-based will enable the Company to accelerate growth by expanding our offerings and reach," said Shawn Moniz, CEO. To facilitate the expansion, and subject to the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange, the Company intends to change its name to "Happy Belly Food Group" and its ticker to "HBFG". "The expansion is very significant for the Company," said Sean Black, Chief Investment Officer. "From the day I joined Plant&Co and looked at the M&A landscape across the various food and beverage verticals, it seemed like a no brainer to leverage the board of directors' experience, in addition to my own, in successfully operating and scaling brands in both the plant-based and non-plant sectors. We had tremendous success when we operated 'Fresh Plant Powered' Restaurants at the same time as we operated a very successful burger brand called 'The Burger's Priest'. The same recipe of success is being instilled here at Happy Belly. We have successful track-records implementing this framework, and I look forward to repeating our previous success at Happy Belly." "Our expansion immediately brings opportunities to the Company which will expand the M&A pipeline with accretive transactions. My previous experience as Chief Development Officer at MTY (TSX: MTY) which operates over 70 brands was a great example of what can be achieved as a consolidator in the restaurant sector. Now Happy Belly Food Group can provide entrepreneurs another option to consider as a new home for their plant and non plant-based business if they are looking for a JV partner to help them grow or to have someone acquire their brand outright. We are very excited to show our investors what we can do going forward with the newly expanded business. Organic & inorganic growth is our focus with brands built on great food and great people." The Company anticipates the name change and ticker symbol update to take effect within the next 30 days. Plant&Co. Brands Ltd. Shawn Moniz Chief Executive Officer FOR FUTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: ir@plantandco.com (833) 375-2682 Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, and include management's expectations related to the accretive nature of the Acquisition as well as the future performance of the Company or of Heal Wellness, management's anticipated growth of Heal Wellness through existing and new locations being established throughout 2022 and 2023, the successful sourcing of suitable new Heal Wellness locations by the Company, the success of the Company's discussions with respect to the potential of expanding the Heal Wellness stores via corporate and franchise locations, and any announcements related thereto, the introduction of new Heal Wellness products, as well as the Company's continuing search for accretive opportunities in 2022. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the business plans for Plant&Co. described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132293 OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Magna International Inc. (MG.TO, MGA) said it now expects fiscal 2022 total sales in a range of $37.6 - $39.2 billion, revised from prior guidance range of $37.3 - $38.9 billion. The company continues to project adjusted EBIT margin in a range of 5.0% - 5.4%. Second quarter adjusted earnings per share was $0.83 compared to $1.40, previous year. Net loss attributable to Magna was $156 million compared to profit of $424 million, last year. Loss per share was $0.54 compared to profit of $1.40. The loss per share of $0.54 included $1.24 of non-cash impairment charges related to the investment in Russia. Second quarter sales were $9.4 billion, an increase of 4% from prior year, as global light vehicle production increased 2%, largely driven by a 14% increase in North America. The Board of Directors declared a second quarter dividend of $0.45 per share, payable on August 26, 2022 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 12, 2022. For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Shares of Standard Chartered Plc were gaining around 3 percent in the morning trading in London after the British bank reported Friday higher second-quarter results, and updated its forecast for fiscal 2022 income growth. The bank also announced a new $500 million share buyback to start imminently. Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive, said, 'We've posted a strong set of results for the first half of the year, with income up 10 percent on a normalised basis, supported by continued positive momentum in the second quarter, in which we grew income 11 percent. We remain disciplined on expenses, with significant savings delivered and maintained a strong capital position, with a CET1 ratio of 13.9 percent.... We remain confident in the delivery of the financial targets we set out in February.' The company said the start to 2022 has been strong, albeit external conditions remain difficult to predict. For the full year, the bank now expects income ex-DVA growth of around 10 percent at constant currency. The company earlier expected income growth to slightly exceed the 5-7 percent range. Standard Chartered also said it is on track to deliver 10 percent return on tangible equity by 2024 if not earlier. For the second quarter, profit before tax went up 12 percent to $1.28 billion from last year's $1.15 billion. Earnings per share increased 23 percent to 27.2 cents from 22.1 cents a year ago. Underlying profit before taxation was $1.32 billion, compared to prior year's $1.24 billion. Underlying earnings per share were 28.2 cents, compared to 24.8 cents last year. Underlying operating profit before impairment and taxation went up 19 percent to $1.30 billion. Operating income increased 7 percent to $3.93 billion from $3.69 billion in the previous year. Operating income grew 11 percent at constant currency. Underlying operating income of $3.93 billion grew 6 percent from last year. In the quarter, net interest income went up 8 percent from last year to $1.85 billion, and the growth was 13 percent at constant currency. Net interest margin improved to 1.35 percent from 1.22 percent last year. In London, Standard Chartered shares were trading at 580.80 pence, up 2.5 percent. In Hong Kong, the shares settled on Friday at HK$56.05, up 0.27 percent. For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX STANDARD CHARTERED-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Governments may soon find that the scale of the challenge of decarbonisation leaves them no choice but to work with oil and gas companies, argues Paul Beijer, head of GR-IQ. DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, July 29, 2022, hosted by United Renewablesand London Business School. 'Their skill at doing big projects is what governments now require,' Beijer says, citing the infrastructure challenge that the 'systemic transition' to net-zero presents. 'It's not enough to tinker around with a subsidy level I see [that governments will] take central control and all of a sudden those large companies, that know how to do large projects, are at the table. Because they have the expertise.' Beijer, who worked as VP of Government Relations at oil major Shell until 2019, also cited the value of these company's legacy assets and large balanced sheets to fund investment. Shell has a market cap of $185 billion dollars at time of press. Big Oil's Sincerity in Question Christopher Caldwell, CEO of United Renewables and host of the Conversations on Climate episode that Beijer appears on this week, pushed back against the idea, asking 'Isn't it like asking Philip Morris how to give up smoking?' Fossil Fuel firms have been widely criticised for resisting action on climate change, through lobbying, funding climate denialand spreading disinformation. Public attempts to rebrand by oil majors - such as BP's 'Beyond Petroleum' campaign - have largely been judged a failure. But this time is different for fossil fuel firms, argues Beijer, because 'as long as you believe that there is an irreversible trend towards renewables they realise it's an existential crisis if they stick to their guns.' Making use of existing infrastructure Building out a hydrogen network to power clean industry was one use case discussed by Caldwell and Beijer. A 209 IEA reportidentified hydrogen as a transition fuel for industries which are difficult to decarbonise, such as chemicals, iron and steel, as well as the lowest-cost option for storing renewable energy. 'Hydrogen is just another gas you can use some of the existing infrastructure that energy companies are actually operating at the moment, to distribute hydrogen,' says Beijer. Without the cooperation and coordination of the fossil fuel companies who manage these networks, rolling out hydrogen distribution across the economy may prove prohibitively expensive or time-consuming. That alone is a reason for legacy energy firms 'to stay involved in this particular transition, and be taken seriously.' Conversations on Climate invites leading academics and business leaders to offer their expertise to bring a new angle to the climate change debate. Previous guests include Sir Andrew Likiermanand Kritika Kumar. The latest episode, featuring Paul Beijer, will be released on 29th July 2022. The full video of the interview will be available here. All previous episodes can be found here. CONTACT Isabella Hawke - Sales and Marketing Consultant COMPANY United Renewables PHONE +447624457139 EMAILIIhawke@unitedrenewables.co.uk (mailto:IIhawke@unitedrenewables.co.uk) WEB unitedrenewables.co.uk/resources EMBARGOED FOR Friday 29th 2022, 9 am A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1517e62e-31c1-48da-bcd2-cf601599404a DGAP Post-admission Duties announcement: Haier Smart Home Co.,Ltd. / Third country release according to Article 50 Para. 1, No. 2 of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act] Haier Smart Home Co.,Ltd.: Announcement on the Change in Share Capital of H-Share 29.07.2022 / 12:29 Dissemination of a Post-admission Duties announcement according to Article 50 Para. 1, No. 2 WpHG transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Third country release according to Article 50 Para. 1, No. 2 of the WpHG Announcement on the Change in Share Capital of H-Share Qingdao / Shanghai / Frankfurt / Hongkong, 29 July 2022 - Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (the "Company" or "Haier Smart Home", D-share 690D.DE, A-share 600690.SH, H-share 06690.HK) published an announcement on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with regard to the Change in Share Capital of H-Share. The details are set out as follows: Conversion status of H-share related convertible bonds: During the period from 1 July 2022 to 29 July 2022, a cumulative amount of HKD 52,000,000 H-Share related convertible bonds were converted into H-Shares of the Company, and the cumulative number of H-Shares formed as a result of the conversion was 2,798,706 shares, accounting for 0.030% of the total share capital of the Company before the conversion of H-Share related convertible bonds in this month. As of 29 July 2022, a cumulative amount of HKD 7,770,000,000 H-Share related convertible bonds were converted into H-Shares of the Company, and the cumulative number of H-Shares formed as a result of the conversion was 412,683,435 shares, accounting for 4.37% of the total share capital of the Company before the conversion of H-Share related convertible bonds in this month. Status of outstanding convertible bonds: As of 29 July 2022, the amount of H-Share related convertible bonds not yet converted was HKD 223,000,000, accounting for 2.79% of the total number of H-Share related convertible bonds issued. Progress of the repurchase of H-shares: In the month of July 2022, the Company has repurchased a total of 1,435,600 H-shares, representing 0.015% of the total share capital of the Company, with the highest price of HKD 27.80 per share and the lowest price of HKD 25.60 per share, and the amount paid was HKD 38,688,210.00. Since the commencement of repurchase of H-shares in July 2022 and as at the end of July 2022, the Company has repurchased a total of 1,435,600 H-shares, representing 0.015% of the total share capital of the Company, with the highest price of HKD 27.80 per share and the lowest price of HKD 25.60 per share, and the amount paid was HKD 38,688,210.00. The aforementioned repurchased shares will be cancelled (as of the end of July 2022, 885,600 shares have been cancelled). I. Background of the issuance and listing of convertible bonds On 27 October 2020, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued the Approval of Haier Smart Home Co.,Ltd. to Issue Overseas Listed Foreign Shares and Convertible Corporate Bonds (CSRC License [2020] No. 2768), approving: (1) Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Company") to issue not more than 2,856,526,138 overseas listed foreign shares (including additional shares issued upon exercise of conversion rights by holders of convertible bonds of not more than HKD 8 billion or equivalent in foreign currencies), with a par value of RMB 1 per share, all of which are ordinary shares. Upon completion of this issuance, the Company may list on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (hereinafter referred to as "HKSE"); (2) The Company's wholly-owned overseas subsidiaries, guaranteed by the Company, will issue overseas corporate bonds not exceeding HKD 8 billion or its equivalent in foreign currency convertible into overseas listed foreign shares of the Company (hereinafter referred to as "H-share convertible bonds"). On 23 December 2020, 2,448,279,814 H-Shares of the Company were listed and traded on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and the relevant exchangeable bonds to convertible bonds program became effective and operational after the listing, the total amount of effective H-share convertible bonds was HKD 7,993,000,000. II. Background of the repurchase of H-shares On 28 June 2022, the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of 2021 and the First Class Meetings of Shareholders in 2022 considered and approved the Proposal to Grant the General Mandate To Repurchase H-Shares. III. Changes in Share Capital As of 29 July 2022, the changes in the Company's share capital were as follows: Class of shares Before the changes 31 May 2022 Number of the current changes (shares) After the changes 29 July 2022 Number of shares (shares) Proportion Number of convertible bonds to shares Number of repurchased shares cancelled Number of shares (shares) Proportion Listed domestic shares (A-shares) 6,308,552,654 66.78% - - 6,308,552,654 66.77% Overseas-listed shares (D-shares) 271,013,973 2.87% - - 271,013,973 2.87% Overseas-listed shares (H-shares) 2,867,225,343 30.35% +2,798,706 -885,600 2,869,138,449 30.37% Total number of shares 9,446,791,970 100.00% +2,798,706 -885,600 9,448,705,076 100.00% Note: This Announcement has been prepared in both Chinese and English. Should there be any discrepancies or misunderstandings between the two versions, the Chinese version shall prevail. IR Contact: Haier Smart Home Hong Kong T: +852 2169 0000 Email: ir@haier.hk Press Contact: CROSS ALLIANCE communication GmbH Sara Pinto Sven Pauly pi@crossalliance.de T: +49 (0) 89 1250903 35 About Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd.: Haier is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household appliances with a focus on smart home solutions and customized production. Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. develops, produces and distributes a wide range of household appliances. These include refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, air conditioners, water heaters, kitchen appliances as well as small household appliances and an extensive range of intelligent household appliances. The Company distributes its products through leading household brands such as Haier, Casarte, Leader, Candy, GE Appliances, AQUA and Fisher & Paykel. Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. has launched Smart Home Experiential Cloud, which connects homes, users, enterprises and ecosystem partners, and facilitates the integration of Haier's online, offline and micro-store businesses and supports user interaction to further optimize the user experience. 29.07.2022 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - Torr Metals Inc. (TSXV: TMET) ("Torr" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the completion of Phase 1 geochemical surveys on its 100% owned highway-accessible 689 km2 Latham Copper-Gold Project, located within the prolific Golden Triangle region of northern British Columbia. Torr has also completed ~60% of a 4.3 km2 induced polarization ("IP") survey (see July 7th, 2022 news release) that will complement soil sampling and de-risk planned drilling within the Dalvenie Zone in 2022. The purpose of the geochemical program was to test potential along-strike extensions to copper-gold-silver mineralization through extensive soil sampling within and peripheral to the Dalvenie occurrence (the "Dalvenie Zone"), as well as conducting reconnaissance rock grab sampling throughout the Latham Project. The rock grab sampling program was designed to confirm and test multiple known historical mineral occurrences as well as newly identified exploration targets that exhibited highly-prospective mineralization, alteration, or geophysical characteristics (Figure 1). The results will aid in confirming values reported by historical sampling as well as test district-scale corridors of mineralization. To-date evidence suggests two major mineralized corridors with a strike-length defined by multiple mineral occurrences; with the 37 kilometre (km) northeast-southwest Hu Trend located within the northwest portion of the property and 20 km north-south Dalvenie Trend within the eastern portion along Highway 37 (Figure 1). Malcolm Dorsey, President and CEO, commented, "I am very pleased with the rapid progress we have made within 3 weeks of initiating our field exploration program. Our initial geochemical surveys have also been very effective in giving us the opportunity to identify the many different styles of mineralization, alteration, and host rock that exist throughout the Latham Project; in addition to de-risking and refining our 2022 drill targets. We anticipate that this data will prove essential in continuing to showcase the significant scale of exploration potential that exists on the Latham Project." Figure 1. Map of the Latham Project showing locations of 2022 rock grab sampling. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6794/132281_56720a60144c094b_001full.jpg 2022 Field Program Highlights (Figure 2) Collection of 275 rock grab samples throughout the property (assays pending). Collection of 1214 soils samples covering 16.5 km 2 at the Dalvenie Zone as well as 104 soil samples covering 2.4 km 2 of a prospective high-magnetic anomaly at Dalvenie East (assays pending). at the Dalvenie Zone as well as 104 soil samples covering 2.4 km of a prospective high-magnetic anomaly at Dalvenie East (assays pending). Completion of ~60% of the IP survey over the Dalvenie occurrence as of July 29, 2022. Figure 2. Map outlining 2022 soil grids, IP survey, and select historical rock grab sample at Dalvenie and Dalvenie East (see July 7th, 2022 news release). To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6794/132281_56720a60144c094b_002full.jpg Change of Auditor Torr is pleased to announce that it has changed its auditors from Dale Matheson Carr-Hilton Labonte (the "Former Auditor") to MS Partners LLP (the "Successor Auditor") effective July 25, 2022 (the "Effective Date"). At the request of the Company, the Former Auditor resigned as auditor of the Company and the Board of Directors of the Company appointed the Successor Auditor as the Company's auditor to hold office until the next annual meeting of the shareholders of the Company. There were no modified opinions in the Former Auditor's reports in connection with the two most recently completed fiscal years of the Company. There are no "reportable events" (as that term is defined in National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations) between the Company and the Former Auditor. In accordance with National Instrument 51-102, the resignation of the Former Auditor, the Appointment of the Successor Auditor, the notice of change of auditor, together with the required letters from the former auditor and the successor auditor, have been reviewed and approved by the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors and has been filed on www.SEDAR.com under the Company's profile. Qualified Person The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., a consultant to the Company who is a qualified person defined under National Instrument 43-101. About Torr Metals Torr Metals is a Vancouver-based mineral exploration company focused on defining and developing the substantial exploration and resource potential of the ~689 km2 Latham Copper-Gold Project, located within the prolific Golden Triangle of northern British Columbia. Year-round access is provided by Highway 37 with the project being favourably located 16 km south of the regional airport in Dease Lake. For further details about the Latham Copper-Gold Project, please refer to the Company's website or current geological Technical Report (August 24, 2021) filed on November 25, 2021 under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors Torr Metals Inc. "Malcolm Dorsey" Malcolm Dorsey President, CEO and Director For further information: Malcolm Dorsey Telephone: 236-982-4300 Email: malcolmd@torrmetals.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Company's recently completed financings, and the future plans or prospects of the Company. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to business, market and economic risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Other factors which could materially affect such forward-looking information are described in the risk factors in the Company's most recent annual management's discussion and analysis which is available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132281 TOKYO, July 29, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Power, a power solutions brand of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), has received an order from The Hongkong Electric Co., Ltd. (HK Electric) for re-provision of gas turbine power generation equipment, specifically GT5, GT6, and GT7 at the Lamma Power Station. This project will realize more efficient re-provision through effective use of the existing facilities, the core components of which are Mitsubishi Power's M701DA gas turbines, contributing to Hong Kong's energy security as a backup power source. The re-provisions are scheduled for successive completion, with resumption of operations, from 2025 onwards.The Lamma Power Station is located on Lamma Island, southwest of Hong Kong Island. The three gas turbine systems, GT5, GT6, and GT7, use Mitsubishi Power's M701D series gas turbines as their core components. Mitsubishi Power supplies the power generation systems. The generators are manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.HK Electric is one of the leading power companies in Hong Kong, and the sole electricity provider to Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island. Mitsubishi Power has had business relations with HK Electric for many years, having delivered numerous core power generation system components for the Lamma Power Station, including gas turbines, steam turbines, and boilers. While the power station continues to put into operation high-output gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power generation systems, the need for re-provision of key existing facilities as a backup power source has become evident, leading to this contract.Mitsubishi Power has supplied HK Electric with approximately 98% of its generating equipment on an output basis. This latest contract reflects the high regard held by HK Electric for the reliability of these systems, demonstrated by the high level of performance and results.Going forward, by further focusing on a diverse range of thermal power generation equipment, including GTCC, as well as facilities powered by fuel derived from renewable energy, Mitsubishi Power will advance the energy transition strategy adopted by the corporate group with the aim of sustainability, in order to contribute to the stable supply of energy and conservation of the global environment.About MHI GroupMitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world's leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com.Source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Copyright 2022 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. TORONTO, July 29, 2022, offering customers the ability to configure, pre-order, test drive and arrange delivery of the Electric MOKE. MOKE International has officially announced the launch of its consumer web platform. The website completes the MOKE brand's offering of an end-to-end customer experience, extending from the real world experience offered by the recently opened flagship store Casa MOKE in St Tropez. This online experience gives customers the ability to experience the brand's highest level of service, from pre-sales, purchase and aftersales. This website offers customers the ability to pre-order an Electric MOKE, with a deposit order of GBP990 required to secure a spot. The site also offers delivery options including Casa MOKE in Saint-Tropez, the Hendy Group's dealership location based on the UK's south coast, or delivery directly to their home in the UK or Europe. In addition, the configurator feature on the website allows customers to style their own vehicle, from choosing from an extra canopy, and five playful colorways are currently available including; Granite Grey, Sunlight Yellow, Sunset Orange, Scuba Blue and Wave Blue. MOKE International's new direct-to-consumer web platform The MOKE brand was founded in 1964 by Sir Alec Issigonis and is synonymous with care-free living and treasured for its unique styling. The MOKE brand quickly gained its own celebrity status, with many icons of the era being pictured behind the wheel and gained in exclusive Caribbean and French locations, such as Brigitte Bardot, The Beach Boys, and James Bond. During its conception, nearly 50,000 MOKE vehicles have been sold to a global market that includes the USA, Europe, UK, Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand. Isobel Dando, CEO of MOKE International said "The future is a seamless omni-channel experience for customers. That is why we are so pleased to be able to offer the ease of purchasing an Electric MOKE through our new website, complemented by the ability to feel and touch our product in our flagship store of 'Casa MOKE' in Saint-Tropez. We want to offer deep personalisation to the experience - whether that is using our configurator to select your favourite colour, or booking in for a test drive on the French Riviera at your convenience." Wouter Witvoet, CEO and founder of EV Technology Group added "It is key that the Electric MOKE offers a customer experience worthy of the iconic MOKE brand. Starting from their first visit to the website to experiencing in store. The brand's fun spirit is contagious, and the MOKE International team have really captured this in our online platform." EV Technology Group EV Technology Group was founded in 2021 with the vision to electrify iconic brands - and the mission to redefine the joy of motoring for the electric age. By acquiring iconic brands and bringing beloved motoring experiences to the electric age, EV Technology Group is driving the EV revolution forward. Backed by a diversified team of passionate entrepreneurs, engineers and driving enthusiasts, EV Technology Group creates value for its customers by owning the total customer experience - acquiring and partnering with iconic brands with significant growth potential in unique markets, and controlling end-to-end capabilities. To learn more visit: https://evtgroup.com/ MOKE MOKE and the MOKE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of MOKE International Limitedhttps://mokeinternational.com Media Rachael D'Amore rachael@talkshopmedia.com +1519-564-9850 Investor Relations Dave Gentry dave@redchip.com +14074914498 EV Technology Group Wouter Witvoet CEO and Chairman of the Board wouter@evtgroup.com Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements including, but not limited to: the direct-to-consumer website of MIL, online orders for the Electric MOKE and the definitive agreement between EV Technology Group and the shareholders of MIL. Often, but not always, these Forward-looking Statements can be identified by the use of words such as "estimated", "potential", "open", "future", "assumed", "projected", "used", "detailed", "has been", "gain", "planned", "reflecting", "will", "containing", "remaining", "to be", or statements that events, "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-looking Statements, including those factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the filing statement of the Company. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-looking Statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements involve significant risk, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except where required by law. There can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. THE NEO STOCK EXCHANGE DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c5614b17-2ef5-4842-b249-56adf2ea7ac4 Wejo becomes one of a growing list of companies to join the Consortium in a united front for mobility innovation Wejo, a global leader in Smart Mobility for Good and cloud and software solutions for connected, electric, and autonomous vehicles, today announced it has joined the MONET Consortium, an organization actively promoting collaboration and innovation for mobility services in Japan. As part of the MONET Consortium, Wejo will have the opportunity to work with companies selected from the hundreds of diverse and industry-leading members to drive forward mobility innovation and the mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) market, which could be worth $61 billion in 2030, according to Yano Research Institute. Bringing its groundbreaking solutions to the table, Wejo will provide new perspectives and ideas to the collective conversation while extending its influence in Japan which has the 3rd largest economy in the world and a high level of urbanization, making it naturally incentivized to develop smart mobility innovations. Japan, according to Statista's "Automobile Sector in Japan" report, also produces 8.1 million vehicles per year, which aligns with Wejo's aim to make a more globalized impact with its connected vehicle data and Smart Mobility for Good technology. "With the anticipated growth of MaaS offerings in Japan, we see the potential for a nearly three-billion-dollar addressable market by 2030 for Wejo Smart Mobility for Good products and services," said Richard Barlow, founder and CEO at Wejo. "We're honored to be a part of the MONET Consortium and be part of the conversations that will help accelerate mobility innovation in Japan." Founded in March 2019 by MONET Technologies, Inc., a jointly sponsored venture between SoftBank Corp., Toyota Motor Corporation and other mobility-focused companies, it includes organizations from a wide range of industries such as construction, finance, education, and real estate. With this assortment of member companies, the MONET Consortium takes advantage of a diversity of thought that can enhance and better serve the mobility technology used by governments and businesses today, as well as those being developed for the governments and businesses of the future. Through MaaS business development in anticipation of autonomous solutions, the MONET Consortium aims to drive next-generation mobility services, address social issues in mobility, and create mobility values. Wejo's role in the MONET Consortium will be to offer expert input for the betterment of the mobility ecosystem. In return for its contributions, Wejo hopes to draw valuable insights from fellow member companies to craft a more holistic suite of data analytics products so that they can better address the needs of potential customers. To learn more about the MONET Consortium, visit https://consortium.monet-technologies.com/. About Wejo Wejo Group Limited is a global leader in cloud and software analytics for connected, electric, and autonomous vehicles, revolutionizing the way we live, work and travel by transforming and interpreting historic and real-time vehicle data. Wejo enables Smart Mobility for GoodTM smarter mobility by organizing trillions of data points collected from approximately 13 million vehicles and 76.7 billion journeys to date, across multiple brands, makes and models, and then standardizing and enhancing those streams of data on a vast scale. Wejo partners with ethical, like-minded companies and organizations to turn that data into insights that unlock value for consumers. With the most comprehensive and trusted data, information and intelligence, Wejo is creating a smarter, safer, more sustainable world for all. Founded in 2014, Wejo employs more than 300 people and has offices in Manchester, UK and in regions where Wejo does business around the world. For more information, visit: www.wejo.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For more information, please follow this link: https://www.wejo.com/forward-looking-statements View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005025/en/ Contacts: Media: Ben Hohmann, Wejo ben.hohmann@wejo.com Danielle Montana, Peppercomm on behalf of Wejo dmontana@peppercomm.com Investors: Tahmin Clarke, Wejo tahmin.clarke@wejo.com Collaboration aims to drive innovation and nurture talent that could help power sustainable business growth for the company HONG KONG, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- EuroEyes International Eye Clinic Limited ("EuroEyes" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group", HKEX: 1846) announced on 27 July that it has signed a tri-party agreement of mutual cooperation ("AMC") with the Eye Center of Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University Eye Hospital and The David J. Apple International Laboratory for Ocular Pathology & International Vision Correction Research Centre (IVCRC), University Eye Clinic of the Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg. The AMC aims to establish closer cooperation between eye care professionals in the PRC and Germany that could foster new innovations in ophthalmology, and enhance the skills of surgeons at EuroEyes and in the two countries who could contribute to the continued development in eye care. The online signing ceremony was co-chaired by Prof. HUANG Jian, Executive Vice President of The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine and Prof. Dr. Gerd U. Auffarth, Chairman of University Eye Clinic of the Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg. Other representatives from China include Prof. WANG Jian'an, Head of The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine; Prof. YAO Ke, and JIN Xiuming, the Chair and Deputy-Chair of Eye Center of The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine; YANG Mingli, Director of International Affairs Office of The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine and Mr. Michael ZHANG, COO of China of EuroEyes International Clinics. The German representatives are Dr. med. Jrn S. Jrgensen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of EuroEyes and Prof. Dr. Michael Knorz, EuroEyes Senior Vice President and Professor of Ophthalmology at University of Heidelberg, Medical Faculty Mannheim. The AMC includes joint participation in respective scientific and educational activities, such as research projects and publication of findings, advocacy campaigns, and organisation of conferences, all of which to help discover breakthroughs in ophthalmology. All parties will also establish an exchange programme for young doctors to conduct scientific research, improve surgical skills, and share experiences in the different locations. Ophthalmologists from EuroEyes, Heidelberg University Eye Clinic and Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine will have the opportunity to pursue a 3 to 6 months fellowship in the PRC and Germany. Participants from the PRC will be able to pursue a PhD thesis and gain experience at an EuroEyes clinic in Germany; those from Germany will be able to participate in research projects and are enabled to perform surgery to improve their experiences in intraocular lens surgery, laser vision correction and cataract complication management. Dr. med. Jrn S. Jrgensen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of EuroEyes, said: "We are excited to foster the alliances of medical and science development among EuroEyes, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine and Heidelberg University Eye Clinic. We believe the collaboration will help EuroEyes identify talented students and surgeons in the PRC, offering them with local understandings, postgraduate experiences and knowledge exchanges in Germany. Meanwhile, surgeons in Germany will be given opportunities to possess a wealth of on-the-ground experience in the PRC. This programme could help EuroEyes address any unmet medical needs in both markets, while at the same time help nurture a new generation of eye doctors. We will put a lot of effort into this collaboration and we look forward to working together." Professor Yao Ke, Chair of Eye Center of Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University Eye Hospital, said: "Zhejiang University has kept a close relationship with Heidelberg University and the experts from EuroEyes for the past decades, and today we are pleased to witness this crucial moment of taking our collaboration to a next level. The new fellowship programme will help train a large number of medical students and refractive surgeons, furnish them with excellent trainings and years of surgical experiences from both countries. This would allow us to share the best practices and together discover medical breakthroughs in ophthalmology, all of which will benefit patients worldwide." Professor Dr. Gerd U. Auffarth, Chairman of University Eye Clinic of the Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg, said: "This AMC is an all-win situation for the three parties and we are pleased to be part of it. It is a remarkable achievement to gather ophthalmology, education and entrepreneurship at this high level. With the support from Dr. Jrgensen, who is the creative power behind the collaboration, the exchange between PhD students and doctors from all parties could be carried out in a more formalised way. As Dr. Jrgensen brought the excellence of German ophthalmology to China, we are delighted to have Chinese ophthalmologists in Germany to share their expertise and know-hows. This AMC will certainly lead us to a bright future and we look forward to working together." Dr. Jrn S. Jrgensen added: "Despite the challenges brought by severe COVID-19 situations in China and unfavourable global environment in the first half of the year, we managed to remain resistant to the external challenges. We have been prudent in our expansion plan, strive to improve our profitability, and maintain a healthy cash flow. With our far-reaching geographical coverage with operations in Germany, China, Denmark and United Kingdom, which helps diversity potential business risks from a single market, we are confident in the sustainable growth of the Group." For more information, please contact: Hume Brophy Communications - Ashley So / Jane Hung / Connie Chan, euroeyeshk@humebrophy.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1869137/Top__Prof_WANG_Jian_an__Bottom_left_right__JIN_Xiuming__Prof.jpg DGAP-News: Hot Chili Limited Quarterly Report Period Ending 30th June 2022 29.07.2022 / 14:09 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Costa Fuego Delivers Outstanding Copper-Gold Drill Results o 552m grading 0.6% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.2g/t Au, from 276m depth down-hole (Cortadera) including 248m grading 0.8% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.2g/t Au, from 574m depth o 658m grading 0.6% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 232m depth down-hole (Cortadera) including 134m grading 0.8% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 470m depth down-hole including 130m grading 0.9% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 662m depth o 484m grading 0.5% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.1g/t Au) from 548m depth down-hole (Cortadera) including 56m grading 1.0% CuEq (0.8% Cu, 0.3g/t Au) from 644m depth, o 45m grading 1.2% CuEq (1.0% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 280m depth downhole (Productora) including 8m grading 3.6% CuEq (3.0% Cu, 0.8g/t Au) o 39m grading 1.1% CuEq (1.0% Cu, 0.1g/t Au) from 36m depth downhole (Productora) including 12m grading 1.5% CuEq (1.4% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) Development Study Drilling Complete & Exploration Drilling Continues Drilling Underway Across High Grade Satellite Deposits at San Antonio & Valentina Pre-feasibility Study Expanded and On-Track for Q1 2023 Cash Position of A$23.6 million at end of Q2, fully funded into late 2023 * Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the drill holes at Cortadera were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery) + (Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery) + (Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery) + (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For Costa Fuego, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=83%, Au=53%, Mo=69%, and Ag=23%. SUMMARY OF OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES Development Study Drilling Boosts High Grade Growth Potential at Cortadera A significant drilling programme dedicated toward the collection of metallurgical, hydrological, and geotechnical data for the company's Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) was completed during the quarter. Assay results from this programme have exceeded expectation and confirmed further high grade growth ahead of a planned resource upgrade for Costa Fuego later this year. A total of six development study diamond drill holes have been completed at Cortadera this year. Stand-out drill results reported from Cortadera during the quarter include: o 552m grading 0.6% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.2g/t Au, from 276m depth down-hole (CORMET003)including 248m grading 0.8% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.2g/t Au, from 574m depth o 658m grading 0.6% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 232m depth down-hole (CORMET005) including 134m grading 0.8% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 470m depth down-hole including 130m grading 0.9% CuEq (0.6% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 662m depth o 484m grading 0.5% CuEq (0.4% Cu, 0.1g/t Au) from 548m depth down-hole (CORMET004)including 56m grading 1.0% CuEq (0.8% Cu, 0.3g/t Au) from 644m depth, and including 206m grading 0.7% CuEq (0.5% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 800m depth. All four development study drill holes reported from the main porphyry at Cortadera (Cuerpo 3) confirm expansion of the high-grade core. Results from drill hole COREMTE001 also outperformed expectation with the hole ending in 6m grading 0.6% copper below the current mineral resource extent of Cuerpo 1. Metallurgical Drilling at Productora Records Strong Intersections Four diamond drillholes have been completed for metallurgical testwork across the Productora resource (three into the Productora central pit area and one into the Alice satellite pit area). The goal of this testwork is to confirm the processing flowsheet (based on work completed since the 2016 Productora PFS), with a particular focus on material that will be extracted in the first three years of production at Productora. While only the intervals to be used in the metallurgical testwork program have been assayed, every hole drilled achieved impressive intersections, including: o 45m grading 1.2% CuEq* (1.0% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 280m (MET027 - Productora) including 8m grading 3.6% CuEq* (3.0% Cu, 0.8g/t Au) from 280m o 39m1 grading 1.1% CuEq* (1.0% Cu, 0.1g/t Au) from 46m (MET028 - Alice porphyry)including 12m grading 1.5% CuEq* (1.4% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) (1including 3m unsampled outside of metallurgical test area) from 60m o 39m 0.9% CuEq* (0.7% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 141m (MET026 - Productora) o 39m 0.8% CuEq* (0.7% Cu, 0.2g/t Au) from 78m (MET025 - Productora) * Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the resource were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery)+(Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery)+(Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery)+ (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For Productora, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=84%, Au=47%, Mo=47%, and Ag=0%. Resource Definition Drilling Underway at San Antonio and Valentina A total of 27 drill holes have been completed at the high grade Valentina copper mine during the quarter. Initial drilling confirmed a strong visual drilling intersection approximately 120m south of the underground mine workings. Drilling is being finalised shortly and first assay results from this programme are expected shortly. Work is underway to create detailed geological and mineralisation models to asses the resource potential of Valentina ahead of a maiden Mineral Resource estimate later this year. A further 9 drill holes are complete at the San Antonio high grade satellite resource during the quarter. Assay results are pending and four holes remaining to be drilled. San Antonio's maiden Inferred resource, reported in March 2022, extends from surface and already stands at 4.2Mt grading 1.2% CuEq (1.1% Cu, 2.1g/t Ag) for 48kt Cu and 287koz Ag. Drilling at San Antonio is designed to upgrade the categorisation of the resource from Inferred to Indicated, as well as testing for down-plunge mineralisation extensions. Both high-grade satellite deposits will be included in the next Mineral Resource upgrade and subsequent PFS open pit mine schedule, expected in Q1 2023. Regional Exploration Update Platform and access clearing across the Santiago Z exploration target were completed this quarter and Hot Chili is poised to commence first-ever drilling on the 4km long by 2km wide potential porphyry footprint in early August. PFS Expansion and Updated Timeline Pre-feasibility studies (PFS) are now expected in Q1 2023 following an expansion to capture additional metallurgical testwork opportunities across all deposits at Costa Fuego and an extension of preliminary mine planning to allow the incorporation of new resource growth from drilling in 2022. Technical drilling for the development study is complete and the Company has reduced its drilling operations from three drill rigs (5-shifts of drilling per day) to one drill rig (1-shift of drilling per day) along with implementing other cost rationalisation initiatives. The revised timeline ensures the company is now fully funded into late 2023. Refer to ASX Announcement "Costa Fuego Becomes a Leading Global Copper Project" (12th October 2020) for JORC Table 1 information related to the Cortadera JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimate by Wood and the Productora re-stated JORC compliant Mineral Resource estimate by AMC Consultants. * Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the resource were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery) + (Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery)+(Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery)+ (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For Costa Fuego, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=83%, Au=53%, Mo=69%, and Ag=23%. For Productora, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=84%, Au=47%, Mo=47%, and Ag=0%. For Cortadera, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=82%, Au=55%, Mo=82%, and Ag=37%. For San Antonio, the average Metallurgical Recoveries were: Cu=88%, Au=72%, Mo=88%, and Ag=69%. ** Reported on a 100% Basis - combining Cortadera and Productora Mineral Resources using a +0.25% CuEq reporting cut-off grade Significant intercepts are calculated above a nominal cut-off grade of 0.2% Cu. Where appropriate, significant intersections may contain up to 30m down-hole distance of internal dilution (less than 0.2% Cu). Significant intersections are separated where internal dilution is greater than 30m down-hole distance. The selection of 0.2% Cu for significant intersection cut-off grade is aligned with marginal economic cut-off grade for bulk tonnage polymetallic copper deposits of similar grade in Chile and elsewhere in the world. Down-hole significant intercept widths are estimated to be at or around true-widths of mineralization. * Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the drill holes at Cortadera were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery)+(Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery)+(Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery)+ (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For Cortadera, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=82%, Au=55%, Mo=82%, and Ag=37%. Significant intercepts are calculated above a nominal cut-off grade of 0.1% Cu. Where appropriate, significant intersections may contain up to 30m down-hole distance of internal dilution (less than 0.1% Cu). Significant intersections are separated where internal dilution is greater than 30m down-hole distance. The selection of 0.1% Cu for intersection cut-off grade above is selected on the basis of exploration significance and is not meant to represent potential marginal economic cut-off grade for bulk tonnage polymetallic copper deposits of similar grade in Chile and elsewhere in the world. Down-hole significant intercept widths are estimated to be at or around true-widths of mineralisation * Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the drill holes at Productora were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery) + (Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery) + (Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery) + (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For Productora, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=84%, Au=47%, Mo=47%, and Ag=0%. SUMMARY OF CORPORATE ACTIVITIES Summary of Options Exercised The Quarter saw the expiry of a tranche of $1.25 Options. 2,491,477 options were exercised during the quarter under review. Inflows for the quarter from option conversion was $3,114,346. The number of securities that expired without exercise was 2,691,307, or 45% of the options issued. Filing of NI 43-1-1 Technical Report for Costa Fuego Copper-Gold Project in Chile The Company has filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report ("The Report") for its Costa Fuego copper-gold project in Chile. The Report titled "Resource Report For the Costa Fuego Copper Project Located in Atacama, Chile Technical Report NI43-101" and dated May 13, 2022, with an effective date of March 31 2022, was prepared pursuant to Canadian National Instrument 43-101. It is available for review on both SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and the Company's website (www.hotchili.net.au). Issuance of Shares for Convertible Notes The Company issued 33,704 ordinary fully paid shares during the quarter to certain holders of convertible notes on conversion of 555 Convertible Notes issued on 22 June 2017 and 8 September 2017. The deemed price for the conversion of notes was $1.6665 per share as per the terms and conditions of the notes. Maturity of Convertible Notes and Interest Payment During the quarter, the Company issued 6,473,671 ordinary fully paid shares to holders of convertible notes on final maturity of 59,758 Convertible Notes issued on 22 June 2017 and 8 September 2017. The deemed price for the conversion of notes was $0.92309 per share as per the terms and conditions of the notes. A further 114,455 fully paid ordinary shares in the company, at the deemed issue price of $0.92309 each, were issued in settlement of accrued interest in the amount of $105,658. Additional ASX Disclosure Information ASX Listing Rule 5.3.2: There was no substantive mining production and development activities during the quarter. ASX Listing Rule 5.3.3: Schedule of Mineral Tenements as at 30 June 2022 The schedule of Mineral Tenements and changes in interests is appended at the end of this activities report. ASX Listing Rule 5.3.4: Reporting under a use of funds statement in a Prospectus does not apply to the Company currently. ASX Listing Rule 5.3.5: Payments to related parties of the Company and their associates during the quarter per Section 6.1 of the Appendix 5B totaled $3,220,062. This is comprised of directors' salaries and superannuation of $155,795. and payments to Blue Spec Sondajes, a company controlled by Mr Murray Black, former chairman of Hot Chili Limited, for rents of $6,682 and drilling services of $3,057,585. ASX Waivers. The Company applied for and was granted a waiver for the issue of up to 167,090 shares to unrelated parties and up to 14,996 shares to related parties in consideration for the payment of interest of 8% per annum on Convertible Notes, payable quarterly through the issue of shares ("Interest Shares") over the 12 month period from the date of the Company's Annual General Meeting held 14 December 2021 in respect to the quarters ending on 31 December 2021, 31 March 2022 and the period to 22 June 2022. Interest Shares issued during the quarter: Health, Safety, Environment and Quality Hot Chili's sustainability framework ensures an emphasis on business processes that target long-term economic, environmental and social value. The Company is dedicated to continual monitoring and improvement of health, safety and the environmental systems. Importantly, the Company has implemented COVID safety measures and procedures to ensure the safety of its staff, consultants and contractors during these challenging times. This has been critical in allowing for continuation of drilling and other field activities during the quarter. The Company has refined these protocols and ensured adequate manning of each operational shift to maintain strong productivity at its operations, there is no greater importance than ensuring the safety of our people and their families. No safety incidents were recorded this quarter. Field operations during the period including geological reconnaissance activities, RC and diamond drilling, core-testing and logging, field mapping, and sampling exercises across the Cortadera, El Fuego and Productora landholdings. El Fuego field activities are run from the Cortadera operations centre and safety statistics are combined for reporting. The Company's HSEQ quarterly performance is summarised below: Tenement Changes During the Quarter During the Quarter, there were the following changes to the Company's tenement holdings during the quarter, also shown in Figure 6: SM Frontera SpA acquired 100% (with no further commitments or royalties) of the following mining rights for the El Fuego tenements: o Dona Felipa 1 al 10. o Elenor Rigby 1 al 10. o Peggy Sue 1 al 10. SM El Aguila added a small lease titled Julieta 1 al 4 to the Productora tenements. Qualifying Statements The Mineral Resource summary for the Costa Fuego Project is presented in Table 5. Tables 6 to 8 present the individual deposits that combine to form the Costa Fuego Project. Table 5. Costa Fuego Copper-Gold Project Mineral Resource Estimate, March 2022 1 Reported on a 100% Basis - combining Mineral Resource estimates for the Cortadera, Productora and San Antonio deposits. Figures are rounded, reported to appropriate significant figures, and reported in accordance with CIM and NI 43-101. Metal rounded to nearest thousand, or if less, to the nearest hundred. Total Resource reported at +0.21% CuEq for open pit and +0.30% CuEq for underground 2 Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the resource were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery)+(Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery)+(Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery)+ (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For Costa Fuego, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=83%, Au=53%, Mo=69%, and Ag=23%. 1 Reported on a 100% Basis - combining Mineral Resource estimates for the Cortadera, Productora and San Antonio deposits. Figures are rounded, reported to appropriate significant figures, and reported in accordance with CIM and NI 43-101. Metal rounded to nearest thousand, or if less, to the nearest hundred. Total Resource reported at +0.21% CuEq for open pit. 2 Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the resource were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery)+(Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery)+(Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery)+ (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For Productora, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=84%, Au=47%, Mo=47%, and Ag=0%. 1 Reported on a 100% Basis - combining Mineral Resource estimates for the Cortadera, Productora and San Antonio deposits. Figures are rounded, reported to appropriate significant figures, and reported in accordance with CIM and NI 43-101. Metal rounded to nearest thousand, or if less, to the nearest hundred. Total Resource reported at +0.21% CuEq for open pit and +0.30% CuEq for underground 2 Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the resource were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery)+(Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery)+(Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery)+ (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For Cortadera, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=82%, Au=55%, Mo=82%, and Ag=37%. 1 Reported on a 100% Basis - combining Mineral Resource estimates for the Cortadera, Productora and San Antonio deposits. Figures are rounded, reported to appropriate significant figures, and reported in accordance with CIM and NI 43-101. Metal rounded to nearest thousand, or if less, to the nearest hundred. Total Resource reported at +0.21% CuEq for open pit 2 Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the resource were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery)+(Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery)+(Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery)+ (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For San Antonio, the average Metallurgical Recoveries were: Cu=88%, Au=72%, Mo=88%, and Ag=69%. Competent Person's Statement- Exploration Results Exploration information in this Announcement is based upon work compiled by Mr Christian Easterday, the Managing Director and a full-time employee of Hot Chili Limited whom is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG). Mr Easterday has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a 'Competent Person' as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' (JORC Code). Mr Easterday consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears. Competent Person's Statement- Costa Fuego Mineral Resources The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources for Cortadera, Productora and San Antonio which constitute the combined Costa Fuego Project is based on information compiled by Ms Elizabeth Haren, a Competent Person who is a Member and Chartered Professional of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Ms Haren is a full-time employee of Haren Consulting Pty Ltd and an independent consultant to Hot Chili. Ms Haren has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration and to the activities undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code of Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Ms Haren consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on her information in the form and context in which it appears. For further information on the Costa Fuego Project, refer to the technical report titled "Resource Report for the Costa Fuego Technical Report", dated December 13, 2021, which is available for review under Hot Chili's profile at www.sedar.com. Reporting of Copper Equivalent Copper Equivalent (CuEq) reported for the resource were calculated using the following formula: CuEq% = ((Cu% Cu price 1% per tonne Cu_recovery)+(Mo ppm Mo price per g/t Mo_recovery)+(Au ppm Au price per g/t Au_recovery)+ (Ag ppm Ag price per g/t Ag_recovery)) / (Cu price 1% per tonne). The Metal Prices applied in the calculation were: Cu=3.00 USD/lb, Au=1,700 USD/oz, Mo=14 USD/lb, and Ag=20 USD/oz. For Costa Fuego, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=83%, Au=53%, Mo=69%, and Ag=23%. For Productora, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=84%, Au=47%, Mo=47%, and Ag=0%. For Cortadera, the average Metallurgical Recoveries combine leach and flotation and were: Cu=82%, Au=55%, Mo=82%, and Ag=37%. For San Antonio, the average Metallurgical Recoveries were: Cu=88%, Au=72%, Mo=88%, and Ag=69%. Disclaimer Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. About Hot Chili Hot Chili Limited is a mineral exploration company with assets in Chile. The Company's flagship project, Costa Fuego, is the consolidation into a hub of the Cortadera porphyry copper-gold discovery and the Productora copper-gold deposit, set 14 km apart in an excellent location - low altitude, coastal range of Chile, infrastructure rich, low capital intensity. The Costa Fuego landholdings, contains an Indicated Resource of 725Mt grading 0.47% CuEq (copper equivalent), containing 2.8 Mt Cu, 2.6 Moz Au, 10.4 Moz Ag, and 67 kt Mo and an Inferred Resource of 202 Mt grading 0.36% CuEq containing 0.6Mt Cu, 0.4 Moz Au, 2.0 Moz Ag and 13 kt Mo, at a cut-off grade of +0.21% CuEq for open pit and +0.30% CuEq for underground. The Company is working to advance its Costa Fuego Project through a preliminary feasibility study (followed by a full FS and DTM), and test several high-priority exploration targets. Certain statements contained in this news release, including information as to the future financial or operating performance of Hot Chili and its projects may include statements that are "forward-looking statements" which may include, amongst other things, statements regarding targets, estimates and assumptions in respect of mineral reserves and mineral resources and anticipated grades and recovery rates, production and prices, recovery costs and results, and capital expenditures and are or may be based on assumptions and estimates related to future technical, economic, market, political, social and other conditions.These forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Hot Chili, are inherently subject to significant technical, business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results reflected in such forward-looking statements. Hot Chili disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, circumstances or results or otherwise after the date of this news release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, other than as may be required by law. The words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "indicate", "contemplate", "target", "plan", "intends", "continue", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", "schedule" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Contact Details Investor Relations Graham Farrell +1 416-842-9003 Graham.Farrell@harbor-access.com Investor Relations Jonathan Paterson +1 475-477-9401 Jonathan.Paterson@harbor-access.com Managing Director Christian Easterday admin@hotchili.net.au Company Website https://www.hotchili.net.au/investors/ News Source: News Direct 29.07.2022 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de 29 July 2022 REDDE NORTHGATE PLC ("Redde Northgate" or the "Group" or the "Company") Redde Northgate plc Annual Report and Accounts, notice of annual general meeting and related documents Redde Northgate's annual general meeting (the "annual general meeting") will take place at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday 27 September 2022 at the offices of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, Governor's House, 5 Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0BR. The Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 April 2022 and the notice of annual general meeting, including details of how shareholders can appoint a proxy, are being sent to shareholders today and, in accordance with paragraph 9.6.1 of the FCA Listing Rules, have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism where they will shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism . A copy of the Company's Annual Report and Accounts and the notice of annual general meeting can be accessed from the investor relations section of the Company's website at: https://www.reddenorthgate.co.uk/ara-2022 (Annual Report and Accounts); and https://www.reddenorthgate.co.uk/agm-2022 (Notice of annual general meeting and related documents). This announcement is made in accordance with DTR 6.3.5R(1A). For further information contact: James Kerton Company Secretary Telephone: 01325 467558 Redde Northgate plc LEI:213800B3ZUTDOZYVJB41 BAY HARBOR, FL / ACCESSWIRE / July 29, 2022 / American Films, Inc. (OTC PINK:AMFL) today announced updates to its board of directors. Craig Campbell, a director since 2020, was elected as chairman of the board, and John Carty has stepped down from the board, effective July 27, 2022. "On behalf of American Films' board of directors and employees, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to John for his many contributions and long-time support of the company. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors," said Geoff Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Films. "We are delighted with the election of Craig to chairman of the board. Craig's tenure and wealth of knowledge will help support the company as we continue to execute our global strategy around IP protection and monetization," continued Lee. About American Films American Films owns, develops, and acquires intellectual property, which it seeks to monetize at higher rates through proprietary technology, litigation, and asset digitization. Its unique proprietary processes and technology include FACTERRA, a web-based evidence gathering program that identifies instances of copyright infringement and allows American Films to pursue intellectual property protection litigation on behalf of copyright owners. American Films supports the creative process and protects intellectual property in the film and music industries. For more information, visit https://americanfilms.us/ . American Films Media Contacts Tom Murphy (508) 579-4716 info@americanfilms.us Follow American Films on: LinkedIn Twitter Facebook SOURCE: American Films, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/710218/American-Films-Announces-Updates-to-its-Board-of-Directors TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 29, 2022 / IC Capitalight Corp. (CSE:IC) ("Capitalight" or the "Company") announces it has repaid the outstanding balance from the credit facility provided by FMMC Private Yield Fund LP II ("FMMC"), a shares for debt settlement, and the grant of long-term incentives to employees, officers and directors. The Company has repaid the $760,705.61 outstanding balance on the credit facility provided by FMMC plus all accrued interest and early repayment fees. All obligations in relation to the credit facility have now been settled and all security that was pledged to obtain the credit facility is in the process of being released. The Company has settled total indebtedness and accrued liabilities of $166,827 by issuing 2,566,569 common shares ("Shares"). The settlement resulted in 1,412,723 common shares issued to employees and consultants pursuant to employment and consulting agreements and 1,153,846 common shares issued to a company controlled by a Director and Officer of the Company pursuant to their consulting agreement. The Company has granted 1,800,000 stock options under the Long-Term Incentive Plan, consisting of 400,000 stock options granted employees and consultants and 1,400,000 stock options granted to directors and officers. All the stock options vested immediately, have an exercise price of $0.065 per common share and are exercisable for a period of five years unless terminated pursuant to the terms of the LTIP. All common shares issued in connection with the shares for debt settlement will be subject to a minimum four-month hold period as required by Canadian securities laws. The Company has obtained conditional approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") for the listing of all common shares and the settlement is subject to receipt of final approval of the CSE. About IC Capitalight Corp. The Company operates as a merchant bank that pursues value-based investment opportunities in accordance with its internal investment policies. The Company currently holds an investment portfolio consisting of common shares, and the Blue Lake mineral exploration property in Quebec. The Company also owns Capitalight Research Inc., which operates a subscription research business focused on providing gold, silver, copper and nickel, lithium, and rare earth price forecasts as well as Canadian preferred share and economic research. To learn more about the Company please contact us at info@capitalight.co or visit our websites at www.capitalight.co or www.capitalightresearch.com This press release was approved by: Brian Bosse CEO and Director P: 866.653.9223 SOURCE: IC Capitalight Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/710237/IC-Capitalight-Announces-Repayment-of-Credit-Facility-Shares-or-Debt-Settlement-and-Grant-of-Long-Term-Incentives WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The House of Representatives passed the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 with bipartisan support, paving the way for President Joe Biden to sign the Bill into law. Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, which will further boost U.S. manufacturing sector and global competitiveness, was approved by 243-to-187 votes. The Bill received the support of 24 House Republicans, an indication of broader support for efforts to kickstart domestic semiconductor production in the United States. The CHIPS & Science Act will invest $280 billion in domestic semiconductor manufacturing sector and science and technology innovation. It includes provisions that will help lower costs for American consumers by alleviating the shortage of chips that has driven up prices across the nation; Create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs building advanced manufacturing facilities in the United States; End American dependence on foreign manufacturers, especially China; bolster the United States' scientific research and technological leadership, and strengthen economic and national security. The bill provides a 25 percent tax credit for U.S. facilities that produce semiconductors or chip making equipment and $52 billion in funding for new semiconductor programs. The funding includes $39 billion for grants available to semiconductor manufacturers as well as equipment and materials suppliers and $11 billion for federal semiconductor research programs. The United States has been depending heavily on foreign manufacturers for semiconductors that are key components in the production of several essential goods - from military equipment to cars, to microwaves. President Biden, who is a staunch proponent of the legislation, said the House passed a bill that will make cars, appliances and computers cheaper. 'The CHIPS and Science Act is exactly what we need to be doing to grow our economy right now. By making more semiconductors in the United States, this bill will increase domestic manufacturing and lower costs for families. And, it will strengthen our national security by making us less dependent on foreign sources of semiconductors. This bill includes important guardrails to ensure that companies receiving tax payer dollars invest in America and that union workers are building new manufacturing plants across the country,' he said in a statement. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said, 'For the last several years, we've been outstripped by foreign manufacturers who've invested billions of dollars in critical fields, while American investments have failed to keep up. Today, we are moving to close that gap.' The CHIPS and Science Act is supported by national business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM); national labor unions including North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) and United Auto Workers (UAW); and SEMI, the industry association serving the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de The new facility will be Coho's sixth and is centrally located in Lower Gibsons, British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - Coho Collective (TSXV: COHO) ("Coho" or the "Company"), creator of Canada's premier commissary kitchen and food production spaces, will officially open its new facility in Lower Gibsons ("Coho Gibsons") in early August 2022. Located at 292 Gower Point Road, Gibsons, British Columbia, the shared kitchen space will join a diverse and burgeoning coastal culinary community. "We thank the community of Gibsons for welcoming our team with open arms, and we can't wait to open the doors to our commissary and restaurant for everyone to enjoy," says Andrew Barnes, CEO of Coho Collective. "Opening our sixth location is a major milestone for Coho, and even more so, our third facility this summer. Now, more than ever, enabling entrepreneurship through access to flexible production space is critically important to sustaining and growing local economies. We are thrilled to be expanding our ability to empower more entrepreneurs throughout our home province of British Columbia." Coho Gibsons is only a 40-minute ferry ride away from Metro Vancouver, and features 16 potential work stations to support up to 32 different community companies. The 8,445 square foot space is already filling fast, with notable community brands joining Coho's membership including Smokin' Dragon Hot Sauce, Mamma Musey's Pierogi, and Little Spoon Ice Cream. Coho Gibsons also features Coho's first restaurant, Brassica, a community-to-table restaurant highlighting the local bounty of the coast and Pacific Northwest. Brassica is expected to officially open in mid-September. "Coho Collective continues to invest and grow discerningly into high potential, underserved markets, and what's great about our business model is that Coho works in both small and large communities," adds Barnes. "The Sunshine Coast has a rich and proud history of artisans and makers. The economy here is growing and we're excited to be a part of facilitating the growth of their businesses. In addition, this expansion in Western Canada will further our goals of providing a variety of food companies with space to create and reach new audiences." Coho's presence on the Sunshine Coast also includes a Sechelt facility located at 4748 Sunshine Coast Highway, Sechelt, British Columbia ("Coho Sechelt"). Coho Sechelt is a mixed-use facility that includes Beach Day, a restaurant, and also commissary kitchen space. For more information, please visit www.cohocommissary.com or www.cohocommissary.com/gibsons. About Coho Coho is a growth stage, community-driven, commercial real estate and food technology company that provides private and shared kitchen and production space to food companies from start-ups to restaurant groups seeking turnkey solutions and business services. Each of the Company's customers, called "Members", are revenue generating companies that have signed a membership agreement with Coho for an agreed upon term. The concept falls in line with a rapidly growing trend in the food-delivery industry for delivery-only and/or virtual restaurant concepts. For more information about how Coho is growing and innovating in the commissary space, visit https://www.cohocommissary.com. Investor Relations Contacts: Andrew Barnes, Chief Executive Officer andrew@cohocommissary.com (778) 877-6513 Investor Relations invest@cohocommissary.com (604) 243-7355 Forward-Looking Information This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflect management's current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Coho's ability to open the locations described in this press release substantially in accordance with the timelines indicated above, the ability of the Company to execute on its strategy and the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the final long-form prospectus of the Company dated May 27, 2022. Coho disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132273 Salt Lake City, Utah--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - Gaensel Energy Group, Inc. (OTC Pink: GEGR) ("Gaensel" or the "Company"), a diversified holding company, is pleased to announce Metro VR Studios (MVRS) has announced its initial roster of VR and PCVR titles launching in early 2023. MVRS of Boston, MA has been recognized as an early innovator in feature-length VR titles. It's flagship title, ORION13TM (www.orion13vr.com) met with critical acclaim after it released in early 2020. MVRS had a stable of games in its pipeline when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, followed by disruptive changes in hardware led by Oculus, owned by Meta. That move, to focus VR hardware toward mobile VR, has had a dramatic impact on VR developers worldwide. "We pivoted our strategy, recognizing the fundamental switch from delivering VR experiences on a high-end computer with a connected headset to mobile units," said Michael Clebnik, CEO of MVRS. "While painful for developers, the Oculus Quest has already sold 15M units, so the installed base is now there for developers to capitalize on. But delivering compelling games across these very different platforms creates significant challenges in game function and graphical appearance. Last year, we announced our proprietary toolkit that specifically addresses these challenges," added Clebnik. "Now we are returning to our roots and focusing on creating truly unique games and experiences through a broader addressable audience lens." MVRS plans for an extended-release schedule of multiple games that will be available on PC-based VR, standalone Oculus Quest, and traditional flatscreen PC platforms. MVRS has redesigned its Quest of the Pirate KingTM and Kid Air CombatTM titles and is reconfiguring the ORION13TM Arena Battle for Quest in PvP mode, and its newest titles Galactic JackTM and SnakebiteTM will be part of the release stream. "Gamers love games, and they play on every headset and every platform imaginable. How we onboard them into our games is now the real challenge," said Scott Matalon, CTO of Metro VR, "VR has changed dramatically in these past 2 years, especially the great technology divide between PC-based VR and the rise of low-power standalone headsets like Quest. And, not everyone has a headset yet. We believe it's important for our titles to reach the broadest audience possible, and that anyone, no matter which device they're on, should be able to play our games with their friends." "We don't have all the luxuries which giant studios enjoy but as a result we're nimble, we're able to bring great products to market quickly, and we can respond faster than anyone," Matalon continued. "We are already demonstrating never-before-seen functionality in our unique flying saucer beta and in the cooperative AI of our other games, and we are excited to bring these to market." Virtual reality (VR) in the gaming market was valued at USD 7.7 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 42.50 billion by 2025. According to NewGenApps, by 2025, the worldwide user base of AR and VR games is expected to grow to 216 million users. Metro VR Studios, LLC. is a subsidiary of Gaensel Energy Group, Inc. (GEGR) and a VR development company located in Boston, Massachusetts, focused on creating high-quality action & adventure games for virtual reality on Oculus, SteamVR, PlayStation VR and traditional flat screen PC. About Metro VR Studios, LLC. MVRS has been developing consumer VR titles since its inception in 2017. In 2020, MVRS released ORION13TM, an acclaimed feature-length PCVR 'hack-and-slash' sword fighting game available worldwide on the Oculus and Steam platforms, followed in 2021 by the VR Music Video 'Me To You' for the artists Matt Bunsen and Dani Poppitt. For more information, please visit http://metrovrstudios.com. About Gaensel Energy Group, Inc. (OTC Pink: GEGR): Gaensel Energy Group, Inc. (OTC Pink: GEGR) is an international holding company with assets exceeding $55.6 Million. In 2021, the company grossed $77.9 Million in sales at a healthy 46.3% operating margin. Gaensel's interests are diversified across several industries with double-digit projected annual growth rates over the next five years. Our asset base includes proven revenue producing companies in Biotech, Commodities, Health, Beauty - Fashion, Green Renewable Energy, Technology, and the Metaverse. More about MetroVR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn5i0ARP2gg Gaensel Energy Group, Inc. 57 West 200 South Suite 300 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 admin@gegrgroup.com Phone: +1 518-567-3649 https://www.gegrgroup.com https://twitter.com/gegrgroup To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132307 MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - Russia said Foreign Minister level talks proposed by the State Department to discuss a substantial offer by the Biden administration to secure the release of two Americans who have been detained in Russia will be considered when time permits. At a news conference Wednesday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that in the coming days, he expects to speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the first time since the war against Ukraine began. Blinken said he plans to raise the issue of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner as a follow up to a substantial proposal that Washington made weeks ago to facilitate their release. 'Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal. And I'll use the conversation to follow up personally and, I hope, move us toward a resolution,' he told reporters. However, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as saying that Lavrov will 'pay attention' to the US request when 'time permits.' 'Now he has a busy schedule with international contacts: the SCO Ministerial Council in Tashkent, bilateral meetings.' she added. Earlier, State Department spokesperson Ned Price had said, 'Foreign Minister Lavrov is in the midst of travel so I don't have any update to provide in terms of when they may be able to connect. But we continue to discuss that in the appropriate channels.' According to a CNN report, Washington has offered to release convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout in exchange for Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, but the White House and the Department of State refused to reveal details of the proposed deal. Dubbed the merchant of death, Viktor Bout is an arms dealer currently serving a 25-year jail term on charges of arming a Colombian rebel group to kill Americans. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Tikehau Capital (Paris:TKO) today announced the release of the English version of its half-year financial report as at 30 June 2022. This document includes inter alia the business report for the first half-year 2022, the half-year consolidated financial statements as at 30 June 2022, the related Statutory Auditors' Report and the declaration by the persons responsible for the half-year financial report. The half-year financial report can be consulted and downloaded on the Company's internet site (www.tikehaucapital.com, under the heading Shareholders/Regulated Information/Half-year Financial Reports). ABOUT TIKEHAU CAPITAL Tikehau Capital is a global alternative asset management group with 36.8 billion of assets under management (at 30 June 2022). Tikehau Capital has developed a wide range of expertise across four asset classes (private debt, real assets, private equity and capital markets strategies) as well as multi-asset and special opportunities strategies. Tikehau Capital is a founder led team with a differentiated business model, a strong balance sheet, proprietary global deal flow and a track record of backing high quality companies and executives. Deeply rooted in the real economy, Tikehau Capital provides bespoke and innovative alternative financing solutions to companies it invests in and seeks to create long-term value for its investors, while generating positive impacts on society. Leveraging its strong equity base (3.1 billion of shareholders' equity at 30 June 2022), the firm invests its own capital alongside its investor-clients within each of its strategies. Controlled by its managers alongside leading institutional partners, Tikehau Capital is guided by a strong entrepreneurial spirit and DNA, shared by its 725 employees (at 30 June 2022) across its 13 offices in Europe, Asia and North America. Tikehau Capital is listed in compartment A of the regulated Euronext Paris market (ISIN code: FR0013230612; Ticker: TKO.FP). For more information, please visit: www.tikehaucapital.com DISCLAIMER: This document does not constitute an offer of securities for sale or investment advisory services. It contains general information only and is not intended to provide general or specific investment advice. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future earnings and profit, and targets are not guaranteed. Certain statements and forecasted data are based on current forecasts, prevailing market and economic conditions, estimates, projections and opinions of Tikehau Capital and/or its affiliates. Due to various risks and uncertainties. actual results may differ materially from those reflected or expected in such forward-looking statements or in any of the case studies or forecasts. All references to Tikehau Capital's advisory activities in the US or with respect to US persons relate to Tikehau Capital North America View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005371/en/ Contacts: PRESS CONTACTS: Tikehau Capital: Valerie Sueur +33 1 40 06 39 30 Image 7: Florence Coupry Juliette Mouraret +33 1 53 70 74 70 press@tikehaucapital.com SHAREHOLDER AND INVESTOR CONTACT: Louis Igonet +33 1 40 06 11 11 Theodora Xu +33 1 40 06 18 56 shareholders@tikehaucapital.com La Plaine Saint Denis, July 29, 2022 - Showroomprive, a leading European online retailer, specialising in fashion for the Digital Woman, has published and filed with the French securities regulator, the Autorite des marches financiers its Half Year Financial Report at June 30, 2022. It can be consulted on the website of the Company: https://showroomprivegroup.com ABOUT SHOWROOMPRIVE Showroomprive is an innovative European player in the online private sales industry, specialized in fashion. Showroomprive offers a daily selection of more than 3000 brand partners via its mobile apps or website in France and six other countries. Since its launch in 2006, the company has enjoyed quick growth. Showroomprive is listed on Euronext Paris (code: SRP) and reported gross revenue of almost 1 billion incl. VAT[1] in 2021, and net revenue of 724 million. The Group is headed by David Dayan, the co-founder, and employs over 950 people. For more information: https://showroomprivegroup.com CONTACTS Investor Relations Communication Sylvie Chan Diaz, Investor Relations investor.relations@showroomprive.net Anne Charlotte Neau-Juillard, Communication anne-charlotte.neau-juillard@showroomprive.net Taddeo presse.showroomprive@taddeo.fr +33 1 83 97 41 48 [1] Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) is the total amount transactions invoiced, including all taxes. It therefore includes gross online sales, including sales on the Marketplace, other services and other income ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: nGlvlMZtlJnGnp1wZJltmmFnnGqSk2iXZWfLxGhvaJ/IbW5ixmxqbcfKZnBmnWZq - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-75814-cp-de-mise-a-disposition-rfs-depot-amf_en.pdf SynergisticIT is a Software Development and Tech Skill enhancement organization. Recently, the company has launched its enhanced Data Science Track and Java Track to assist Job Seekers in entering the tech industry. Fremont, California--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - SynergisticIT is an established Software Development and Tech Skill Enhancement organization in Fremont, California. In the recent development, the company have revamped its tech upskill programs and curated two different career tracks, namely Data Science Track and Java Track. Furthermore, SynergisticIT is also pleased to announce the launch of its new logo, which was modified to highlight the technical prowess of our candidates. The S in the logo stands for their Super candidates who are technically more robust and competent than other job seekers. These career tracks are structurally designed to help fresh college graduates seeking entry-level positions. It also assists job seekers from other countries trying to get employment in the US and professionals seeking a career change to acquire coding skills and technical competency in the following programs: Java, MERN Stack, Full Stack, Azure, AWS, Data Science, Data Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Python. Organizations can simplify the process of hiring employees by using SynergisticIT services. These Enhanced Tech Upskill programs minimize the mismatch and gap between the client requirements and candidates' skill levels. It helps companies save resources in training or hiring unqualified candidates by pre-boarding skilled candidates per their unique hiring needs. Candidates start contributing to the organization from day one with minimum downtime and increasing their profitability. SynergisticIT sources numerous candidates from the open job market and evaluates their skills through multiple assessments like aptitude tests, personality tests, and mock technical interviews before any candidates are forwarded to clients. SynergisticIT To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8621/131963_dff03e3804aa0852_001full.jpg SynergisticIT To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8621/131963_dff03e3804aa0852_002full.jpg The Java Track at SynergisticIT centres on Java training, MERN Stack training, Azure/AWS, data structures, algorithms, and problem-solving training. It can help job seekers in mastering the core programming concepts and development practices like OOPs concepts, Exception Handling, Servlets, Hibernate, Encoding-Decoding, Multi-threading, Spring, JavaScript, JSON, Rest Webservices, Microservices, JPA, REST APIs, MongoDB, Express.js, Nodejs, React.js, Cassandra, Redux, AWS, etc. To enroll for the Java career track, a Jobseeker needs a Computer Science or Engineering degree with some programming experience in JavaScript, Java, or C++. Attending SynergisticIT's Java Track can enhance career prospects and open doors to various lucrative tech jobs such as Java Developer and other programmers. The Data Science track at SynergisticIT consists of Data Science training, Azure/AWS training, Machine Learning training, and Python training. It introduces learners to Data Science through Python programming. After completing Data Science Track or Java Track, candidates get intensive interview preparation drills, including technical mock tests, coding, and soft skills training. SynergisticIT provides job placement and certification support to ensure each enrolled candidate lands a job. SynergisticIT offers its services in the following areas: Software Development: The company has catered to an extensive range of small to large scale IT projects. They maintain transparency in dealing with their clients. The firm fosters the software development needs with: Reduced Turnaround Time Excellent Quality of Services Real-Time Communication Flexible and Scalable Deployment Technology Up-Skills Programs: Data Science Track Java Track Python AWS MERN Stack Machine Learning / AI IT Staffing: The company provides its assistance in dealing with the recurrent technological changes & streamline the transition to a new infrastructure, platform, or end-user workspace. Their solutions include: Direct Hire Contact-To-Hire, Permanent Hire Contract hire SynergisticIT To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8621/131963_dff03e3804aa0852_003full.jpg SynergisticIT intends to make quality tech upskilling easily accessible to everyone. Job Seekers can join SynergisticIT by making an initial payment of $3000 -$10000 (Depending on qualification for the program). The balance is payable once the candidates get a job and earn $75,000 or higher. The payments are paused until candidates meet the minimum income threshold. SynergisticIT assists Job seekers in beginning their tech career by enrolling them in the Data Science Track or Java Track at SynergisticIT. For any media, client, or other inquiries, intending users and prospect programmers can reach out to the company at the following link: https://www.synergisticit.com/contact-us SynergisticIT To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8621/131963_logo1.png Media Details Name; David Harding / Avi Singh - SynergisticIT Email: media@synergisticit.com Contact # 510-550-7200 Address; 39141 Civic Center Dr Suite 201, Fremont, CA 94539C Website: https://www.synergisticit.com/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/131963 Ghent, Belgium, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Press release - regulated information Biotalys NV, today announced that 57,500 new shares were issued on 19 July 2022 as a result of the exercise of warrants. In view hereof, and in accordance with article 15 of the Belgian Act of 2 May 2007 on the disclosure of major shareholdings (the "Belgian Act"), the outstanding share capital and outstanding voting securities of the Company can be summarised as follows: Share capital: EUR 82,188,605.18 Total number of securities carrying voting rights: 30,939,663 (all ordinary shares) Total number of voting rights (= denominator): 30,939,663 (all relating to ordinary shares) Number of rights to subscribe for securities carrying voting rights not yet issued: 2,374,404 "ESOP Warrants", entitling their holders to subscribe for a total number of 2,374,404 profit certificates which will, if and when issued, automatically convert into a total number of maximum 1,187,202 securities carrying voting rights (all ordinary shares) 1,759,241 "ESOP IV Warrants", entitling their holders to subscribe for a total number of maximum 1,759,241 securities carrying voting rights (all ordinary shares). 6,500 share units, awarded in aggregate to the independent directors of the Company in the framework of its remuneration policy. Each share unit contains the obligation - subject to vesting of all share units - to subscribe to one new share of the Company at an issue price of one EUR per share-unit. Cash settlement is possible. The conditions of the share units are described in the remuneration policy of the Company. Pursuant to the Belgian Act, a notification to the Company and the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is required by all natural and legal persons in each case where the percentage of voting rights attached to the securities held by such persons in the Company reaches, exceeds or falls below the threshold of 5%, 10%, and every subsequent multiple of 5%, of the total number of voting rights in the Company. For further information, please contact: Toon Musschoot, Head Investor Relations & Communication T: +32 (0)9 274 54 00 E: Toon.Musschoot@biotalys.com About Biotalys Biotalys is an Agricultural Technology. Attachments DGAP-News: Marcel Lux III SARL / Key word(s): Acquisition Marcel Lux III SARL: Marcel LUX III SARL intends to opportunistically purchase shares in SUSE S.A. 29.07.2022 / 18:26 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Marcel LUX III SARL 51A, Boulevard Royal L-2449 Luxembourg R.C.S. Luxembourg B225723 Marcel LUX III SARL intends to opportunistically purchase shares in SUSE S.A. 29 July 2022 - Marcel LUX III SARL (Marcel LUX III), a company indirectly owned by funds advised by EQT AB Group, intends to opportunistically increase its stake in SUSE S.A. (SUSE) by purchasing SUSE shares (ISIN LU2333210958). The purchases are scheduled to start on or around 8 August 2022 and are expected to be completed within nine months. Marcel LUX III intends to purchase SUSE shares for up to 100 million in the aggregate. Share purchases can be executed on-exchange and off-exchange. Any on-exchange purchases are intended to be implemented in a manner limiting the impact on the SUSE share price on the relevant trading venues. The volume of SUSE shares to be purchased on-exchange on any given day is expected not to exceed 25% of the respective average daily trading volume. To this end, Marcel LUX III has commissioned Morgan Stanley as broker to carry out these purchases and who will make its decisions in relation to the timing of the share purchases independently of, and without influence from Marcel LUX III. The share purchases may be discontinued, suspended and resumed at any time in accordance with all relevant laws, including notification obligations. Individual transactions executed will not be disclosed. As of the date hereof, Marcel LUX III holds approximately 76% of all SUSE shares outstanding. Contacts EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334 About Marcel LUX III Marcel LUX III is a company indirectly owned by funds advised by EQT AB Group. About EQT EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 77 billion in assets under management across 36 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 280,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership. Important note To the extent any announcements in this document contain forward-looking statements, such statements do not represent facts and are characterized by the words "expect", "believe", "estimate", "intend", "aim", "assume" or similar expressions. Such statements express the intentions, opinions or current expectations and assumptions of Marcel LUX III. Such forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and forecasts, which Marcel LUX III has made to the best of its knowledge, but which they do not claim to be correct in the future. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and usually cannot be influenced by Marcel LUX III. These expectations and forward-looking statements can turn out to be incorrect and the actual events or consequences may differ materially from those contained in or expressed by such forward-looking statements. Marcel LUX III does not assume an obligation to update the forward-looking statements with respect to the actual development or incidents, basic conditions, assumptions or other factors. 29.07.2022 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "a-" (Excellent) of UnipolSai Assicurazioni S.p.A. (UnipolSai) (Italy). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect UnipolSai's balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. UnipolSai's balance sheet strength is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation, which was at the strongest level at year-end 2021, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). AM Best expects the company's risk-adjusted capitalisation to be maintained at least at the very strong level over the medium term. Factors also supporting the balance sheet strength assessment include the company's low reinsurance dependence, good internal capital generation and good financial flexibility. An offsetting factor is the concentration, albeit reduced by over 4% from year-end 2020, of UnipolSai's investment portfolio in Italian government bonds (38% of investments at year-end 2021), which exposes its risk-adjusted capitalisation to volatility. UnipolSai's solvency capital requirement ratio under Solvency II stood at 278% at the end of Q1/2022. The risk-adjusted capitalization level for UnipolSai's holding company, Unipol Gruppo S.p.A. (Unipol Gruppo), stood at the very strong level at year-end 2021. The holding company is considered to have a neutral impact on the ratings, although it has a higher level of financial leverage than UnipolSai. AM Best expects UnipolSai's technical performance to remain strong, driven by strong technical performance on non-life business, and for the life business, a healthy margin between average segregated accounts yield and average minimum guarantee of 2.03% (at Q1/2022). A track record of good non-life underwriting performance is demonstrated by the company's five-year average combined ratio of 91.7% (2017-2022) (as calculated by AM Best). Non-life technical performance was strong in 2021, with a combined ratio of 93.3%, which is in line with the company's track record. Life revenues increased considerably in 2021 (24.4% year-on year) mainly as a result of the expansion of the BPER Banca agency network. UnipolSai is the second largest non-life insurer in Italy, with a particularly strong position in the motor market there. Performance is supported by the company's access to data and sophisticated pricing capabilities, as well as its extensive use of telematics applied to the non-life segment. However, the concentration of its business portfolio in Italy exposes the company's operations to any adverse changes in the economic, political and regulatory environment in the country. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best's Credit Ratings, Best's Performance Assessments, Best's Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best's Ratings Assessments AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com Copyright 2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005425/en/ Contacts: Jose Berenguer Senior Financial Analyst +31 20 308 5429 jose.berenguer@ambest.com Dr. Angela Yeo Senior Director, Analytics +31 20 308 5421 angela.yeo@ambest.com Christopher Sharkey Manager, Public Relations +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159 christopher.sharkey@ambest.com Jeff Mango Managing Director, Strategy Communications +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5204 jeffrey.mango@ambest.com La Plaine Saint Denis, July 29, 2022 - Showroomprive (SRP Groupe), a European group specialising in smart shopping, announces that it has today purchased 4 million SRP Groupe shares from TP Invest, at a price of one (1) euro per share, through an off-market transaction, as part of the coverage of its existing free share plans in favour of the Group's employees and managers. This purchase is made in accordance with the agreement announced on June 21, 2022. Update on other disposals of the Company's shares by Thierry Petit The Company has been informed that Eric Sitruk's[1] acquisition of 3 million shares in the Company from TP Invest was also completed today at a price of one (1) euro per share, through an off-market transaction, in accordance with the agreement announced on June 21, 2022. Eric Sitruk, who already held approximately 5% of the Company's share capital, has informed the Company that he is not acting in concert with either the Founders or Carrefour. As a result of this transaction, he has increased his shareholding and now holds approximately 7.5% of the Company's capital. In addition, the Autorite des marches financiers (AMF) has granted today a waiver from the obligation to file a public offer which would have resulted from the reclassification by Thierry Petit and TP Invest of their remaining stake in the Company in favor of David Dayan[2], i.e. 13,932,963 shares of the Company, representing approximately 11.7% of the Company's share capital, as well as a waiver of the obligation to file a tender offer related to the obtention on the 7 August 2022 of double voting right by David Dayan2. This sale, which is conditional on obtaining the final decision from the AMF, waiving the obligation to file a final public offer, is expected to be completed during the month of August. Following these operations, the shareholding of the Company will be as follows[3]: Actionnaires Nombre d'actions ordinaires % du capital social Nombre de droits de vote theoriques % des droits de vote Founders Ancelle Sarl(1) 44.195.668 37.17% 73.283.373 47.81% Victoire Investissement Holding Sarl(2) 2.335.460 1,96% 4.670.920 3,05% Cambon Financiere Sarl(3) 2.079.930 1,75% 4.159.860 2,71% Thierry Petit(4) - - - - Total Founders(5) ....................................................................... 48.611.058 40.88% 82.114.153 53,57% CRFP 20(6)..................................................... 10.386.255 8,74% 10.386.255 6,78% Total Group acting in concert (7)............... 58.997.313 49,62% 92.500.408 60,35% Eric Sitruk(8) 8.955.000 7,53% 8.955.000 5,84% Autres actionnaires(9)..................................... 50.950.596 42.85% 51.821.497 33,81% TOTAL.......................................................... 118.902.909 100% 153.276.905 100% Entity controlled by David Dayan. Entity controlled by Eric Dayan. Entity controlled by Michael Dayan. Including TP Invest Holding Sarl (Company controlled by Thierry Petit) Shareholder agreement entered into on 29 October 2015 (as amended) as part of the initial public offering of the company. Entity controlled by entity Carrefour Nederland B. V., itself controlled by Carrefour. Shareholder agreement entered into on 10 January 2018. Directly and via the entities Pierre Renovation Tradition and Financiere du Sud. Of which SRP Groupe (4.000.000 shares to be allocated to beneficiaries of free share plans). FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains only summary information and is not intended to be comprehensive. This press release may contain forward-looking information and statements about the Group and its subsidiaries. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "goal" or similar expressions. Although the Group appreciates that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors and the Group's shareholders are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of the Group, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in filings with the Autorite des Marches Financiers (France's financial markets authority) made or to be made by the Group (particularly those detailed in Chapter 4 of the Company's registration document). The Group makes no commitment to publicly update its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. ABOUT SHOWROOMPRIVE Showroomprive is an innovative European player in the online private sales industry, specialized in fashion. Showroomprive offers a daily selection of more than 3000 brand partners via its mobile apps or website in France and six other countries. Since its launch in 2006, the company has enjoyed quick growth. Showroomprive is listed on Euronext Paris (code: SRP) and reported gross revenue of almost 1 billion incl. VAT in 2021, and net revenue of 724 million. The Group is headed by David Dayan, the co-founder, and employs over 950 people. For more information: https://showroomprivegroup.com CONTACTS Investor relations Communication Sylvie Chan Diaz, Relations Investisseurs investor.relations@showroomprive.net Anne Charlotte Neau-Juillard, Communication anne-charlotte.neau-juillard@showroomprive.net Taddeo presse.showroomprive@taddeo.fr +33 1 83 97 41 48 +33 6 58 53 45 91 [1] Directly or through entities it controls [2] Through its holding company Ancelle S.a r.l. [3] Based on the total number of shares and voting rights as of 30 June 2022, adjusted for the destruction of double voting rights owed by the sellers and the acquisition of double voting rights by Ancelle that should occur on 7 August 2022. ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: xmptYMlplJnFmG1yaJhtamlkmm9oyJbFbmTHyWNrY8ecbmtgl26TmZebZnBmnWhu - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-75838-pr-29.07.22-share-buy-back-update_vfinal.pdf STOCKHOLM, July 29, 2022/PRNewswire/ -- Quant Chile SpA ("Quant Chile") has signed a ten-year total maintenance partnership contract with Arauco, a global manufacturer of forest products. The maintenance contract concerns the Licancel and Constitucion mills in Chile. In its quarterly report for the third quarter of 2022 Quant will increase its contract portfolio value with EUR 30 million, which is an estimate of the average revenue for the first years of the contract. Quant Chile and global forest product manufacturer Arauco has signed a total maintenance partnership contract regarding two mills, Licancel and Constitucion, in Chile after a tender process. The contract scope includes maintenance execution, spare parts, subcontracted services and shutdowns. - This award shows that Arauco acknowledges the global know-how that Quant has in the industrial maintenance service and pulp and paper industry, as well as the strong local Chilean track record and presence in industrial maintenance. The maintenance contract is the first step in our joint collaboration and Quant is focusing to continue to bring the added value to Arauco, says Maximiliano Aqueveque, SVP Regional Manager for Region Americas. Stockholm, 29 July 2022 Quant AB (publ) For further information, please contact: Maximiliano Aqueveque, SVP Regional Manager Americas, +55 9 92995544 Andre Stromgren, CFO: +46 708 410 796 E-mail: ir@quantservice.com Quant AB (publ) is a global leader in industrial maintenance. For over 30 years, we have been realizing the full potential of maintenance for our customers. From embedding superior safety practices and building a true maintenance culture, to optimizing maintenance cost and improving plant performance, our people make the difference. We are passionate about maintenance and proud of ensuring we achieve our customers' goals in the most professional way. The group operates internationally in close to 20 countries world-wide, employing more than 2,500 people. The parent company is located in Stockholm, Sweden. For additional information about the group, please visit www.quantservice.com. This information is information that Quant is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 19:30 CEST on 29 July 2022. CONTACT: This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/quant-ab/r/quant-signs-maintenance-contract-with-arauco,c3608528 The following files are available for download: Miami, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - The Miami New Times recently released their annual "Best Of Miami 2022" issue and named Okami the best Nikkei Restaurant in the city. It would only be fitting that they are introducing the next level of their culinary journey by announcing the launch of its exclusive Omakase dining experience presented by Chef Manuel Tenguan Asato. Cannot view this video? Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxsPTHerqeI Droplet To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8700/132322_okamifig1.jpg. As the newest trend in fine dining begins to expand into Miami, Chef Manuel Tenguan Asato gives us a front-row seat to a one-of-a-kind sensory experience that will test the limits of your palate. For those of us not fluent in Japanese, Omakase is a Japanese phrase, used when ordering food in restaurants, that means "I'll leave it up to you." Omakase Chef To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8700/132322_okamifig2.jpg. Omakase usually refers to an extended sushi dinner, ideally eaten at the sushi counter, where the chef prepares one piece of fish at a time, announces its name and origin, answers your questions, and guesses what else you might enjoy and how much more you'd like to eat. The extraordinary part of Omakase is that it consists of 16 courses and each plate is a work of art, both in presentation and in flavors. Okami may not be the first to introduce this amazing culinary trend, but they are definitely taking it to new heights and flying in specialty fish and Wagyu beef all the way from Japan. They are the only Omakase in the city that offers tantalizing bites that will melt in your mouth, all you have to choose is whether you want to book a Wygu delicacy experience or a Nikkei seafood experience, unlike anything you have seen. Torch To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8700/132322_okamifig3.jpg. Chef Manuel Tenguan Asato is a third-generation Japanese descendant raised in Peru, where he mastered his Nikkei cooking techniques for over 25 years and went on to helm restaurants all over the world. Chef Manuel Tenguan Asato menu offers Nikkei Omakase, including nigiri sushi using the freshest ingredients full of umami flavors. A vast array of sushi, sashimi, nigiri, and fresh seafood is artfully prepared each night we offer Nikkei Omakase platters and Kaiseki-style plates as highlights. Okami is also the only one to also offer a Wagyu Omakase in the country and flies their special selections of Wagyu beef directly from Japan. To book your reservation please go to www.okami-miami.com for social media updates go to instagram.com/okamimdd. For press inquiries or interview opportunities please contact: Betancourt PR Nick Betancourt Nick.betancourt@yahoo.com 786.287.1725 News Source: PinionPartners To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132322 LONDON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --Zeelo, the UK's largest smart bus platform with live operations in three continents and strong growth has today announced the termination of its previously-announced transaction with Swvl Holdings Corp, a global provider of tech-enabled mass transit solutions. The acquisition transaction was announced on April 28, 2022 and was expected to close on May 24, 2022. All pre-completion obligations were met, but following financial market volatility, Swvl and Zeelo mutually agreed to terminate the planned transaction. Zeelo, which has seen over 1000% growth since the start of 2020, will continue to focus on profitable growth in developed markets, in particular the UK, South Africa and the US, to provide sustainable rides for commuters and students based in transport-poor areas. Zeelo taps into a developed markets opportunity to modernise shared mobility which is worth US$40 billion. The company currently transports over 150,000 riders each month, serving over 150 clients in the Corporate and Education space. About Zeelo Zeelo is a smart bus platform for organisations. The global tech company is modernising daily bus commutes for frontline workers and students so that they can get to work and school in a faster, smarter, and much greener way. Zeelo serves large businesses and independent schools and moves nearly 150,000 riders each month across the world. Zeelo's tech-optimised bus routes not only reduce carbon emissions by 78% by replacing 30 cars for every bus journey, but also offset 100% of each Zeelo bus journey. Its innovative transport management software system comprises a SaaS platform, proprietary routing algorithms, and multiple consumer apps, and 24 / 7 customer service support (4.9 TrustPilot rating) that ensure people located in transport deserts have a regular, subsidised and sustainable bus service for their daily commute, wherever they are based. Headquartered in London with over 170 employees, an R&D team in Spain and live operations in the UK, South Africa and the US, Zeelo was founded in 2016 by Sam Ryan, Barney Williams and Dani Ruiz. It closed its Series A in 2018 and has raised over US$ 30 million in funding, including VC-backed investment from ETF Partners, InMotion Ventures and Dynamo. The co-founders previously sold their pioneering ride-sharing app JumpIn to Addison Lee in 2014. For additional information, please visit www.zeelo.co Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1748924/Zeelo.jpg Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - Bear Creek Mining Corporation (TSXV: BCM) (OTCQX: BCEKF) (BVL: BCM) ("Bear Creek" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a promissory note (the "Note") with Auramet International LLC ("Auramet") in connection with a one-year USD $5.0 million loan facility (the "Facility"). Anthony Hawkshaw, Chief Executive Officer of Bear Creek states, "The proceeds of the Facility will provide Bear Creek with additional working capital that the Company will use to fast-track production improvements at our recently acquired Mercedes gold-silver mine in Mexico, on continuing early works construction projects related to our Corani silver project in Peru and for general and administrative expenses." Pursuant to the Note, the Facility is due on the first anniversary of the Note, such date being July 28, 2023, and the Company may repay the Facility, in minimum incremental amounts of USD $1.0 million, either in whole or in part, from time to time without penalty, subject to any accrued interest. The Facility is subject to an original issue discount fee of 2.5%, which was deducted from the advance of the Facility. Interest accrues on the unpaid principal amount at a rate of 6.00% per annum plus the greater of (i) the USD Secured Overnight Financing Rate or (ii) 1.00% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears. As partial consideration for the Note, the Company entered into an offtake agreement (the "Offtake Agreement") with Auramet whereby the Company has agreed to sell to Auramet 100% of the outturn from the Mercedes gold-silver Mine in Mexico (the "Mercedes Mine") less the amount of gold and silver sold by the Company pursuant to existing royalty and stream agreements (the "Applicable Product") until the Note is paid in full and, thereafter, 50,000 troy ounces of the Applicable Product. The Facility is secured by a pledge by the Company of all of the outstanding shares of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Bear Creek Mining S.A.C. About Bear Creek Mining Bear Creek Mining is a precious metals producer with a world-class development asset. Our Corani silver-lead-zinc deposit in Puno, Peru is one of the largest fully permitted silver deposits in the world and is highlighted by its substantial reserves and resources, overwhelming community support, 15-year mine life and low All-In-Sustaining Costs. Our Mercedes gold-silver mine in Sonora, Mexico, acquired in April 2022, is a cash flow generating gold mine with a strong track record of reserve replacement and exciting blue sky exploration potential. About Auramet Auramet is one of the largest physical precious metals merchants in the world. Auramet provides a full range of services to all participants in the precious metals chain, from extraction and production to manufacturing and consumption including physical metals trading and merchant banking, lending, advisory services, plus royalties and streams. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Anthony Hawkshaw Chief Executive Officer For further information contact: Barbara Henderson - VP Corporate Communications Direct: 604-628-1111 E-mail: barb@bearcreekmining.com www.bearcreekmining.com Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding: the Company's use of net proceeds obtained through the Facility; the Company's ability to fast-track production improvements at its recently acquired Mercedes Mine; the Company's ability to continuing early works construction projects related to its Corani silver project in Peru (the "Corani Project"); the Company's ability to re-pay the interest and principal amounts of the Facility when due; the Company's ability to meet its obligations under the Offtake Agreement; and other statements regarding future plans, expectations, exploration potential, guidance, projections, objectives, estimates and forecasts as well as the Company's expectations with respect to such matters. These forward-looking statements are provided as of the date of this news release, or the effective date of the documents referred to in this news release, as applicable, and reflect predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events based on the Company's beliefs at the time the statements were made, as well as various assumptions made by and information currently available to them. In making the forward-looking statements included in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to: the timing and cost of planned capital expenditure projects at the Mercedes Mine; and the timing and cost of early works construction projects at the Corani Project. Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions on which they are based do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the expectations expressed in them. These risk factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions expressed above do not occur, but specifically include, without limitation, risks relating to general market conditions and the additional risks described in the Company's latest Annual Information Form, and other disclosure documents filed by the Company on its SEDAR page at www.sedar.com. The foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. Investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on behalf of the Company, except as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132382 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - Deveron Corp. (TSXV: FARM) ("Deveron" or the "Company"), a leading agriculture data company in North America, announces that in connection with its previously announced acquisition of the assets of Stealth Ag, Inc. ("Stealth"), as set out in its press releases of May 27, 2021, August 30, 2021 and June 29, 2022, Stealth has exceeded gross revenues of US$1,000,000 during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. As a result of achieving this milestone, the Company has made the one-time payment of US$140,000, satisfied through the issuance of an aggregate of 330,909 common shares ("Common Shares") in the capital of the Company at a deemed price of $0.55 per Common Share. All Common Shares issued are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities legislation. In addition, the Company announces that at the annual and special meeting of its shareholders on June 28, 2022 (the "Meeting"), shareholders approved the Company's stock option plan (the "Stock Option Plan"), as amended. The Stock Option Plan, as amended, is further described in the Company's information circular, a copy of which can be found on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. On November 24, 2021, the TSX Venture Exchange adopted a new policy governing security-based compensation (the "New Policy 4.4"). In accordance with the New Policy 4.4, a number of amendments have been made to the Stock Option Plan. These changes include amendments allowing option holders to exercise options on a "cashless exercise" or "net exercise" basis, as now expressly permitted by the New Policy 4.4. "Cashless exercise" is a method of exercising stock options in which a securities dealer loans funds to the option holder or sells the same shares as those underlying the option, prior to or in conjunction with the exercise of options, to allow the option holder to fund the exercise of some or all of their options. "Net exercise" is a method of option exercise under which the option holder does not make any payment to the issuer for the exercise of their options and receives on exercise a number of shares equal to the intrinsic value (current market price less the exercise price) of the option valued at the current market price. Under the New Policy 4.4, the current market price must be the 5-day volume weighted average trading price prior to option exercise. "Net exercise" may not be utilized by persons performing investor relations services. About Deveron: Deveron is an agriculture technology company that uses data and insights to help farmers and large agriculture enterprises increase yields, reduce costs and improve farm outcomes. The company employs a digital process that leverages data collected on farms across North America to drive unbiased interpretation of production decisions, ultimately recommending how to optimize input use. Our team of agronomists and data scientists build products that recommend ways to manage fertilizer, seed, fungicide and other farm inputs better. Additionally, we have a national network of data technicians that are deployed to collect various types of farm data, from soil to drone, that build a basis of our best-in-class data layers. Our focus is the US and Canada where 1 billion acres are actively farmed annually. For more information and to join our community, please visit www.deveronuas.com/register or reach us on Twitter @Deveron. David MacMillan President & CEO Deveron Corp. dmacmillan@deveronuas.com Tel: 647-963-2429 Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that phrase under Canadian securities laws. Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various degrees of risk. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current views with respect to possible future events and conditions and, by their nature, are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific to the Company. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements: changes in the world-wide price of agricultural commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in agriculture, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. Additional information regarding the material factors and assumptions that were applied in making these forward looking statements as well as the various risks and uncertainties we face are described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of our annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis of our financial results and other continuous disclosure documents and financial statements we file with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update this forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. The Company relies on litigation protection for forward looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132313 Sedibelo Resources Limited (formerly Sedibelo Platinum Mines Limited) ("Sedibelo") has publicly filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in the United States of America relating to the proposed initial public offering ("IPO") of its ordinary shares. The proposed IPO includes the primary listing of Sedibelo's ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and inward listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange ("JSE"). We expect to commence the proposed IPO following the completion of the SEC, NYSE and JSE respective review and approval processes (as may be required), subject to market and other conditions. Evercore Group L.L.C. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as Global Coordinators of the proposed IPO. The proposed IPO will be made only by means of a prospectus in the United States and elsewhere outside South Africa and a pre-listing statement ("PLS") in South Africa. Copies of the preliminary prospectus and PLS related to the proposed IPO may be obtained, when available, from Evercore Group L.L.C., attention: Equity Capital Markets, 55 East 52nd Street, 35th Floor, New York, NY 10055, by telephone at (888) 474-0200 or by e-mail at ecm.prospectus@evercore.com; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or telephone: 1-866-803-9204 and J.P. Morgan Equities South Africa (Pty) Ltd, attention: Thembeka Mgoduso, 1 Fricker Road, Illovo, Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or subscribe for these securities, nor shall it constitute the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, subscription or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005533/en/ Contacts: Juanita Barnard jbarnard@sedibeloplatinum.com +2712 661 4280 VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwengas former wife, Marry Mubaiwa yesterday said she cannot be tried in Zimbabwe for an offence that was allegedly committed in South Africa. In her application for exception to charges of attempting to kill her former husband made through her lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, Mubaiwa questioned the Zimbabwe courts jurisdiction of the matter which is alleged to have happened in the neighbouring country in 2019. The offence with which the accused is charged allegedly took place in Pretoria, South Africa, an area well outside the territorial jurisdiction of this court, Mubaiwa submitted. No element of the offence is alleged to have taken place within the courts jurisdiction, nor does the section under which the accused has been charged have extra-territorial operation which would clothe the court with jurisdiction. The accused contends that from the States allegations, the alleged offence was wholly committed outside the borders of Zimbabwe and there is no allegation or other legal contention that the alleged offence had impact or intended impact on Zimbabwe which would clothe the court with the necessary jurisdiction. There is, therefore, nothing before the court which clothes it with jurisdiction and the court is obliged to decline jurisdiction. Harare magistrate Florence Chakanyuka will deliver her ruling on August 5. George Manokore was representing the State. Allegations are that on June 22, 2019, Chiwenga was airlifted to South Africa for emergency medical attention. He was in the company of Mubaiwa and his security team, including Health and Child Welfare deputy minister John Mangwiro. It is alleged that upon arrival, Mubaiwa forced Chiwenga to stay at Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria for more than 24 hours without taking him to hospital, resulting in his health worsening. Chiwengas security details claims to have forcibly taken him to Netcare Hospital in Pretoria where was subsequently admitted in the intensive care unit under the care of one Dr Sieling. Weeks later, he was transferred to a private ward within the same hospital where he was subjected to 24-hour monitoring by the hospital medical team and his security personnel. On July 8, 2019, at about 8pm, Mubaiwa allegedly told the security team to leave the private ward, indicating that she wanted privacy with the VP. Mubaiwa allegedly removed the life support instruments, forced Chiwenga off the bed and tried to flee but was intercepted by security personnel. After the alleged incident, Chiwenga was flown to China for further treatment and returned to Zimbabwe after he had fully recovered where he lodged charges against Mubaiwa. Mubaiwa was recently convicted of trying to forge a marriage certificate with Chiwenga. She is also facing assault and money-laundering charges. Newsday Students Gain Professional Experience Through Third Archaeology Field School at Fort Mose Flagler College's Dr. Lori Lee (Department of Humanities), alongside James Davidson of University of Florida and Liz Ibarrola of University of Texas at Austin (Co-Project Investigators), have been working on an archaeology research project at Fort Mose. They recently finished their third field season at the historically significant site, which was the first legally sanctioned free Black town in the present-day United States and is a critically important site for Black American history. Five Flagler field school students assisted, where they immersed themselves in what the lives of the multicultural community who lived and worked at Fort Mose from 1752-1763 were like. To uncover more details, the team searched for the households where free black women, men, children, and some indigenous family members lived. They also wanted to understand climate change's impact on the site, human impacts such as the dredging by Henry Flagler in the late nineteenth century, wake action from boat impacts, and cultural remains. Many community and stakeholder partnerships have helped mold this project together. In 2021, the research team brought maritime archaeologists on board from the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program - Chuck Meide, Nick Budsberg, and Airielle Cathers. They're currently investigating the underwater components of Fort Mose through a collaborative science project and are supported by grants. "Our community partnerships are critical to the success of this research project," stated Dr. Lee. "Through these partnerships, we hope to continue to engage our students with community-based collaborative research that inspires them to engage in climate and social justice issues through their actions and words." Another partnership, The Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN), led Dr. Lee's students on a walking tour of Lincolnville and the freedom trail - related to Martin Luther King's civil rights actions in downtown St. Augustine. FPAN worked with them on lab day to teach them photogrammetry and how to create models of artifacts. The students spent the other half of their lab days at the St. Augustine Lighthouse, where they processed flotation samples and engaged in public archaeology about the research with lighthouse tourists. "Through these projects, our students learned field techniques at an archaeological site and the site's historical context. Also, how unique the fleeting period of freedom was at Fort Mose compared to enslavement in some Spanish, British, and American periods in downtown St. Augustine, just a few miles away," stated Dr. Lee. "That makes the legacy of freedom at Fort Mose even more remarkable, and this was the story they were able to share through public archaeology with tourists." The Fort Mose Historical Society is 25 years old, a foundational stakeholder, and an outstanding community partner for the project. In honor of the society, the team will record stories of members to learn more about how they got involved with Fort Mose, what that involvement has looked like over the years, and what they want to see happen through research at Fort Mose. It'll let students learn a vital research skill of how to interview people and the process of deciding with the stakeholders what becomes of those interviews. The team has received an American Battlefields Preservation Planning grant for 2022 and 2023. The grant allowed Dr. Lee and collaborators to hire a field and lab teaching assistant. It even lets them expand on their project in various ways that enrich the student experience. "One of our goals with this grant was to make archaeology field school more accessible for people with limited economic means and particularly students with diverse identities in an attempt to further diversify our discipline," stated Lori Lee. "We were able to do that by offering professional experience--field tech positions, to six students interested in pursuing archaeology." Since Archaeology field school is a crucial step to becoming an archaeologist, students acquire practical experience to qualify in cultural resource management as field technicians. Working 40 hours per week in the field for six weeks will help each student advance in their career. "Our field school students worked alongside our field techs to complete the excavation of five excavation units that are helping us understand the location, size, and purpose of structures at the site," stated Dr. Lee. "We want to know where people lived at the fort and what their daily lives were like, and students are helping us uncover the evidence that will help us answer these questions. And that is just the field component." Watch this video to learn more about Fort Mose and why our faculty and students are learning so much from this archaeological site. Tagged As THE Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency 2022 Population Census preliminary results are finally out, with the countrys second largest city grappling with more evidence that its citizens have lost the spark in the bedroom. Although the results show that Zimbabwes population has increased by two million in 10 years, that is, from 13 million that was recorded in 2012 to 15 million which constitutes a 16 percent increase, it definitely reveals Bulawayos dwindling sex life. The results show that Bulawayos population has increased to 665 940 from 653 337 in 2012 which is an increase by 12 603 people. Tellingly, the share of people in Bulawayo apparently wanting to have sex without babies, has reached a record high, if the results are anything to go by. Although B-Metro cant establish the reasons behind Bulawayos dwindling bedroom habits, the results seem to suggest that most people in Bulawayo are in sexless marriage or partnership. The results, however, elicited mixed reactions on Twitter with some disputing them while others said it was a concrete reflection of the citys bedroom habits. Wrote Mbongeni Ndlovu: Iqiniso is asilamali so asizali. (The truth is we dont have money so cant have children) Mina Im 33 with one child. Will have another isimo. Wamambo responded: Mina ngile 4. The other question izitabane kaziyandanga Na? (Are gays and lesbians not many this side?) Jobe ka Matshana said: Lesimo asisavumi ukuthi sizale nomakanjani. Ubondle ngani usubagcwalise umuzi? Kunzima bafethu (The situation that we are facing right now doesnt allow us to have children. If you give birth to so many children, what will you feed them with, when the economy is tough like this? Things are hard). Pumpkin Escobar wrote: They could be right I mean almost every household in Bulawayo has an expatriate, especially in SA and Botswana. Supported Butholezwe W Siziba: Most of the young working force in SA and Bots. Ezindlini kusele the old folks who no longer have energy to work but with the way people are giving birth 12 000 sounds below par. Tau Tawengwa said: People in Skies move a lot To Botswana, RSA, even Harare. That stat could have been a casualty of migration (sic). Past census results once left Bulawayo men outraged after they revealed that they were more reluctant to marry their partners, compared to other provinces. The report showed that 40 percent of marriageable people have never tied the knot in Bulawayo. The figure was way above the national average of 29 percent. Commenting on the 2012 results, marriage counsellor, Reverend Paul Damasane, said the poor marriage rate in Bulawayo could not be discussed without referencing the economic situation in the province. He said the state of the economy in Bulawayo might explain the failure to commit with men unable to meet the demands of their high- maintenance girlfriends. The expectations of the Bulawayo woman are not being met by the non-committal Bulawayo man, Rev Damasane told our sister paper The Chronicle. As a result, some of the women would choose to be in weird situations with men from outside the city for the sake of survival. He bemoaned the destruction of the conventional family structure, adding that the church and social leaders needed to step in and deal effectively with the issue. B Metro THE Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) has claimed that it did not cook figures for ward 20 in Matobo district, Matabeleland South province after preliminary census results showed that the area has no females. In its preliminary 2022 Population and Housing Census report, ZimStat said the ward has a total population of only 85 males and 60 households. The revelations triggered a social media storm with critics accusing the agency of cooking figures. Taking this census data seriously is just difficult, Zimbabwe National Students Union secretary-general, Tapiwa Chiriga, reacted. But ZimStat public relations and communication manager Mercy Chidemo said there was nothing amiss about the statistics claiming the area called Emlageni, along Shashe River, has no permanent residents. Residents from neighbouring communal areas practice partial nomadic life. When feed for their animals diminishes in their usual areas of habitation, some locals take their animals to ward 20 for grazing, Chidemo said in a statement on Friday. They put up temporary structures as shelter. They will reside in this area for months and then go back to their usual places of residence when summer sets in. When our enumerators entered the ward, they accounted for 85 males who spent the census night, April 20, in these temporary structures in ward 20 of Matobo area. Kindly note that the census was conducted using the de-facto method that entails enumeration of persons who slept at a given place on the census night irrespective of their place of usual residence. According to Chidemo, enumerators recorded a total of 15 females and 49 males during the 2012 census in the ward. Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) co-ordinator Khumbulani Mpofu, buttressed Chidemos claims saying previous visits to the area confirmed the low population. I followed that area for the two past elections. I got so worried about what kind of a community this is with so few people. It used to have 20 people, and I am actually shocked that the population is now increasing, Mpofu said. Meanwhile, Mpofus MIHR has written to ZimStat demanding answers as to why there were no statistics of people who have left the country for greener pastures. Considering that ZimStat sought to establish, through one of its questionnaire questions, the number of family members who had migrated outside the country, why did the Preliminary Report not give an indication of the number of emigrants per ward juxtaposed with the total ward statistics?, the letter dated July 28 read in part. This information is critical for understanding the overall population statistics and it is critical now at a time when Zimbabwe is having policy debates on diaspora remittances and their contribution to the realisation of National Development Strategy goals and targets. This was also going to be critical in the understanding and appreciation of the Preliminary Census Report. We also wish to understand why it was not included in the preliminary report. Chidemo yesterday said they were yet to receive the MIHR letter. Newsday China-Brunei military cooperation part of strategic cooperative partnership: defense attache Xinhua) 09:14, July 29, 2022 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The military cooperation between China and Brunei is an important part of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, Defense Attache of the Chinese Embassy Dai Qilin said on Thursday. Speaking at a reception marking the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Dai said China is committed to peaceful development and pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and a defensive national defense policy. "The PLA will resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests, and promote world peace and development," Dai told the guests at the reception. He also said the PLA and the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) have always maintained friendly and cooperative relations. "China is ready to work with Brunei to actively implement the consensus reached by the leaders of two countries, expand cooperation in high-level exchanges, institutional dialogue and professional exchanges, and enrich the connotation of bilateral strategic cooperative partnership," Dai said. About 100 guests from the Brunei government, armed forces, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the Chinese societies in Brunei attended the event, including RBAF's Acting Commander Brigadier General Mohammad Sharif. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) Having spent 10 days in our sister city of Uzhhorod, Ukraine, last month, I wanted to share some of my observations. The trip was to support efforts of the Corvallis Sister Cities Associations Uzhhorod Council to assist the many refugees who have fled to Uzhhorod from Eastern and Central Ukraine. Most of CSCAs work in Uzhhorod is conducted by a team of resolute volunteers from CSCAs counterpart organization in Uzhhorod who visit the centers on almost a daily basis. Because of COVID-19, I had not been to Uzhhorod since 2019. The city initially looked similar to the way it did during many visits I had made in prior years. However, there were obvious differences; the most noticeable was that across the street from my hotel was the largest flagpole and Ukrainian flag I had ever seen! Sky blue- and sunflower yellow-themed messages of patriotic support proved to be everywhere. There was an increase in the number of people and amount of traffic throughout the city, as many people have relocated to Uzhhorod, which is viewed as a safe place. However, the daily air-raid alerts were continual reminders that the war is real. The most impactful observations were from the many people I interacted with during the visit, including refugees, local citizens, volunteers, professionals, elected officials and longtime friends. Every public/nonprofit facility that could house people, including churches, schools, gymnasiums, university dormitories and nonprofit agency buildings, was filled with refugees who have lost everything in their flight from the East. Seeing three-generation refugee families who have lost everything living in small cubicles with walls made from sheets and the only furniture being mattress-covered shipping pallets serving as beds was heart-wrenching. Much of CSCAs investment in Uzhhorod has been to purchase stoves, refrigerators, washing machines and mattresses essential items we take for granted every day. Corvallis substantial generosity was greatly appreciated; it is making a difference and was mentioned by everyone I met! There was a wide range of reactions during conversations with refugees. Some were still trying to come to grips with the initial trauma they experienced seeing the war in person, the ongoing challenges of their current situation, and an uncertain future for their families, communities and nation. Others were grateful to be in a safer space and hopeful their situation would improve. All hoped to return home, which for many may not be possible for a long time. The level of unity and support among citizens of Uzhhorod for their countrys efforts to combat the Russian invasion was phenomenal. The high level of volunteerism in everyone from schoolchildren to seniors, all working to support Ukraine, was impressive. Many were donating personal funds, hosting refugees, raising funds, volunteering at refugee centers and/or serving in the Territorial Defense Army. Overall, the level of optimism is high, but Uzhhorod residents know even if the war ends tomorrow, the recovery will be difficult, long and expensive. Billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild the substantial number of cities destroyed and the shattered lives of many families and individuals adjusting to a new life. Uzhhorod will need our continuing support to help the many refugees who are opting to stay permanently in Uzhhorod. Like the people of Uzhhorod, I am grateful for the generous financial support from our incredible community, enabling CSCA to make a difference in Uzhhorod. CSCA will continue to Stand with Uzhhorod on its challenging journey, and I am confident Corvallis will respond accordingly! By Britta DeVore | Its been a rough week for longtime and well loved members of Hollywood passing on from this life and today, weve had our hearts broken all over again. Legendary actress Mary Alice, who was well known for her work both on and off the stages of Broadway passed away yesterday with varying sources stating her age as 80, 84, and 86. While she held a number of memorable television and film roles, those of a younger generation will most likely recognize Alice for her work as the all knowing character, The Oracle in The Matrix Revolutions, through whom Neo (Keanu Reeves) is able to see the truth. Mary Alice got her start on Broadway back in 1969 as a swing member of the cast of No Place To Be Somebody. Her talent would shine as she took over the shows leading role by 1971. Though she was a well liked stage actress, she would earn critical acclaim for her role in August Wilsons drama Fences, for which her take on the Maxon family matriarch Rose, would earn her the 1987 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Following her Broadway debut, Mary Alice would begin picking up screen credits with 1974s The Education of Sonny Carson and would end up in living rooms across America by 1975 nabbing guest appearances in Sanford & Son, Good Times, and Police Woman. By 1976, the actress landed a career changing role in Sparkle where she was seen portraying Effie Williams, the mother of three daughters who begin a career in R&B and soul music akin to The Supremes. Due to her laundry list of credits, its no shock as to why Mary Alices career only kept climbing from here. Soon, she would be seen in some of televisions top shows of the time including All My Children, The Women of Brewster Place, L.A. Law, Cosby, Touched By An Angel, Providence, Soul Food, Oz, Line of Duty, The Jury, and Kojak. Having the best of all worlds, Alice appeared in multiple genres during her decade spanning career. Her performances were so celebrated that in 1993 she would earn an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work in Ill Fly Away. The actress would return to her initial love of Broadway during the 90s, starring in productions including 1994s The Shadow Box as well as 1995s Having Our Say, which landed her critical acclaim and a Tony nomination. As for film, along with her notable roles in Sparkle and The Matrix Revolutions, Mary Alice has appeared in more movies than you can count. From Down in the Delta to Awakenings, Malcolm X and so many more, Alices career on the big screen is the stuff of legends. While Mary Alice may be gone, her legacy will live on. Celebrated by performers like Colman Domingo and Viola Davis, those touched by Alices incredible career have been reaching out to share their condolences and reflect on what the pioneer actress meant to them. Today, were sending our condolences out to Alices friends and family. English French Voltalia (Euronext Paris, ISIN code: FR0011995588), an international player in renewable energies, launches the construction of the Karavasta site, a 140-megawatt photovoltaic plant The groundbreaking ceremony for the Karavasta Solar site in Albania will take place this morning in the presence of the Prime Minister, Mr. Edi Rama, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Mrs. Belinda Balluku, and the French Ambassador to Tirana, Mrs. Elisabeth Barsacq. Voltalia has won a 30-year concession for the Karavasta photovoltaic power plant in 2020. The 140-megawatt project was awarded to Voltalia by decision of the Albanian Council of Ministers on January 21, 2020, following the competitive bidding process launched by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - EBRD. According to the terms of the tender, Karavasta will sell 50% of the electricity through a 15-year sales contract to the Albanian public operator, while the remaining production will be sold through long-term contracts to private operators. The plant is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2023. The plant will cover the annual electricity consumption of 220,000 inhabitants, twice the consumption of Albanian cities such as Vlora or Kamza. It will avoid the emission of more than 96,500 tons of CO 2 per year, the equivalent of 9.5% of the emissions from the industrial sector in Albania. "We are particularly proud to support the Albanian energy transition. By its size, the Karavasta project is a major element of this policy aimed at increasing the country's energy independence through an economically competitive and environmentally efficient energy. I would like to thank all our teams in Albania and Europe who are supporting this project," said Sebastien Clerc, CEO of Voltalia. Voltalia in Albania Voltalia has been present in Albania since 2018 through turnkey construction contracts for third-party customers for three photovoltaic power plants (7.5 megawatts) located 10 kilometers from the future Karavasta plant. In May 2021, Voltalia won a second solar project, called Spitalla, with a capacity of 100 megawatts in Albania, in the Durres region on the Adriatic coast. Voltalia, as for Karavasta, will be the developer, builder and operator of the project. For Spitalla, the public operator will receive 70% of the electricity over a period of 15 years. The rest of the energy will be sold under long-term contracts at a market price. Commissioning is scheduled for 2024. Albania, which has growing energy needs and an already fully renewable energy mix, continues to diversify its renewable energies, focusing on solar and wind power. These projects are further illustrations of the competitiveness of renewable energy in the region. Next on the agenda: Q2 2022 revenues on July 20, 2022 (after market closing) About Voltalia (www.voltalia.com) Voltalia is an international player in the renewable energy sector. The Group produces and sells electricity generated from wind, solar, hydraulic, biomass and storage facilities that it owns and operates. Voltalia has generating capacity in operation and under construction of more than 2 GW and a portfolio of projects under development representing total capacity of 11.1 GW. Voltalia is also a service provider and supports its investor clients in renewable energy projects during all phases, from design to operation and maintenance. As a pioneer in the corporate market, Voltalia provides a global offer to private companies, ranging from the supply of green electricity and energy efficiency services to the local production of their own electricity. The Group has more than 1,300 employees and is present in 20 countries on 3 continents and is able to act worldwide on behalf of its clients. Voltalia is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Paris, compartment B (FR0011995588 VLTSA) and is part of the Enternext Tech 40 and CAC Mid & Small indices. The Group is also included in the Gaia-Index, an index for socially responsible midcaps. Loan Duong, Head of Communications & Investor relations Email: invest@voltalia.com T. +33 (0)1 81 70 37 00 Actifin Press Contact: Jennifer Jullia jjullia@actifin.fr . T. +33 (0)1 56 88 11 11 Attachment Pune, India, July 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global small hydropower market size is projected to grow from 170 GW in 2018 to more than 214 GW in 2026 at a CAGR of 3.06 in the forecast period. As per recent research studies, currently there are about 83,000 small hydropower dams worldwide. The number of small hydropower projects is expected to increase, thus favoring growth in the global small hydropower market. Small hydropower is a clean and renewable source of energy. It is a reliable, low-cost, and has better capacity than large hydropower systems. Fortune Business Insights provided this information into the latest published report titled Small Hydropower Market Report 2022. Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/sample/small-hydropower-market-100214 Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2021-2028 Forecast Period 2018 to 2026 CAGR 7.2% 2026 Value Projection 214 GW Base Year 2020 Market Size in 2018 170 GW Historical Data for 2015-2017 No. of Pages 140 Segments covered By Capacity (Below 1 MW, 1 10 MW) and Regional Forecast Growth Drivers Asia Pacific to Hold a Lions Share Owing to Continuous Developments by China RusHydro to Build Two Small Hydropower Projects, Each with an Installed Capacity of 24 MW Increasing industrialization in BRIC nations, governments are focusing on remote areas to efficiently supply electricity. Owing to the unavailability of grids in such areas, the demand for small hydropower generators is likely to increase. This will further impact the small hydropower market demand. Moreover, small hydropower plants are mainly suitable in areas with poor grid connectivity. Small hydropower or SHP generates electricity at low prices than other off-grid technologies. SHP is highly flexible and easily adaptable to several infrastructural and geographical circumstances. Enabled by this, the small hydropower market growth is expected to increase in the foreseeable future. SHP is categorized into different capacities. These are mini-hydro (100kW to 1MW), micro-hydro (5 kW to 100 kW), and pico-hydro (100 Watts 5kW). Among these, micro-hydro is expected to lead the global market as it covers around 80% of the share. Click here to get the short-term and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/small-hydropower-market-100214 Asia Pacific to Hold a Lions Share Owing to Continuous Developments by China From a geographical standpoint, the small hydropower market in Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the global SHP market through the forecast years. The rising developments made by the Chinese government for the construction of small hydropower plants. As per installed capacity, Pacific region accounts for the lowest share of SHP, whereas Asia holds the maximum share of SHP. Together, Asia Pacific covers over 65% of the installed capacity of small hydropower, stated a lead analyst at Fortune Business insights. The market in India is likely to witness growth between 2018 and 2026. Government initiatives such as Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana and SHP Programme by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) are expected to expand the small hydropower market size. Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana promotes utilization of renewable energy sources and electrification in rural areas, whereas SHP Programme by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) encourages small hydropower development. The small hydropower market in Europe is anticipated to grow considerably over the projected horizon. Europe accounts for over 45% of the installed capacity of SHP. The rising trend of adopting renewable technologies is contributing to the growth of the market in this region. In addition to this, better resource availability is another factor stimulating growth in the market in Europe. Following Europe, Latin America and North America are third and fourth leading regions in the market. The U.S. had over 50% of the installed capacity of SHP, however, currently, it is stagnant. The market is expected to emerge in North America owing to the upgradation of several SHP projects in the U.S. Quick Buy - Small Hydropower Market Size Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100214 RusHydro to Build Two Small Hydropower Projects, Each with an Installed Capacity of 24 MW Several international organizations are conducting initiatives to promote the use of small hydropower across the world. This will create enormous small hydropower market potential in the years to come. Use of SHP has reduced carbon emissions, thus improved the living standards of people. Several companies are planning to construct small hydropower plants, especially in remote areas to promote use of SHP. For instance, a Russian energy company called RusHydro started the construction of two SHP plants in June 2019. These plants called Krasnogorskaya 1 and Krasnogorskaya 2 have an installed capacity of 24.9 MW and are built on the Kuban River in Russia. The chairman of the company made a statement by saying that small hydropower development has always been an integral part of our business. He added that this project will create 700 new jobs between the start and end of this plant construction. The report profiles some of the other leading companies operating in the small hydropower market. These include Innergex, Blue World Power Energy and Resources, SN Aboitiz Power, Inc., Pernix Group, Inc., Gravity Renewables, Dulas Ltd, Voltalia, and Green Highland Renewables Ltd, Velcan Energy. Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: Innergex Blue World Power Energy and Resources Gravity Renewables Pernix Group, Inc. Dulas Ltd Voltalia Velcan Energy SN Aboitiz Power, Inc. Green Highland Renewables Ltd Voith Group Mavel a.s. RusHydro Marubeni Corporation PNOC Renewables Corporation Statkraft Renewable First Ltd Energy Eastern Europe Power GmBH Him Urja Private Limited Vindhyachal Hydro Power Pvt. Ltd. Key Benefits for Small Hydropower Market: The Small Hydropower market analysis covers in-depth information of major industry participants. Porters five forces analysis helps to analyze the potential of buyers & suppliers and the competitive scenario of the industry for strategy building. Major countries have been mapped according to their individual revenue contribution to the regional market. The report provides an in-depth analys is of the Small Hydropower market during the forecast period (2018 2026). The report outlines the current market trends and future scenario of the global Small Hydropower market to understand the prevailing opportunities and potential investment pockets. The key drivers, restraints, and opportunities and their detailed impact analysis is elucidated in the study. Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/small-hydropower-market-100214 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Contact Us: TOKYO, July 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Digital Twin Market Size was valued at USD 6,985 Million in 2021 and is predicted to be worth USD 134,058 Million by 2030, with a CAGR of 39.3% from 2022 to 2030. Digital twin technology is among the most rapidly evolving Industry 4.0 technologies. A digital twin is a computerized counterpart of a physical thing that is performed in a simulation platform to verify its efficiency and competence. The major factors boosting the digital twin market expansion are the development of the Internet of Things and cloud technologies, as well as the desire to minimize costs and speed up product design and development. Engineers may now test and connect with sensors embedded within a corporation's running products, providing real-time insights into the system's functionality and assuring timely repair. Digital twins are digital replicas of actual devices that analytics scientists and IT professionals can be used to run simulations prior to building and deploying actual hardware. Real-time IoT data can also be used by digital twins to optimize performance using artificial intelligence technology and data analytics. One of the most inherent benefits is that it provides engineers with access to a precise, nuanced image of a physical commodity that may be located far away. It helps them to predict maintenance failures using reconstruction models that collect data on many risk variables. It also assists entrepreneurs to develop new product-as-a-service business practices and driving innovation in production, R&D, inventory control, service, and logistic support. The leading organizations in the digital twin market include Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, ANSYS, PTC, Siemens, General Electric, as well as Dassault System. Request For Free Sample Report @ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/3054 Report Coverage: Market Digital Twin Market Market Size 2021 USD 6,985 Million Market Forecast 2030 USD 134,058 Million CAGR During 2022 - 2030 39.3% Analysis Period 2018 - 2030 Base Year 2021 Forecast Data 2022 - 2030 Segments Covered By Type, By End-use, And By Geography Regional Scope North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa Key Companies Profiled ABB Group, Ansys Inc., Bosch Rexroth AG, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Siemens AG, Accenture Plc, Autodesk Inc., Capgemini SE, Infosys Ltd., Oracle Corporation, and Wipro Ltd. Report Coverage Market Trends, Drivers, Restraints, Competitive Analysis, Player Profiling, Regulation Analysis Customization Scope 10 hrs of free customization and expert consultation Global Digital Twin Market Dynamics Technological development is a crucial trend that is gaining traction in the digital twin industry. To enhance the existing presence in the digital twin market, major corporations in the field are focusing on inventing innovative technology solutions. The increased usage of 3D printing technology, the strong growth for related technologies in the pharmaceutical and healthcare enterprises, and the increasing proclivity to adopt IoT technologies across multiple industries are expected to drive such technology acceptance throughout the forecast timeframe. With increasing interconnection, the threat of cyber protection, information security, and adherence has also accelerated. This is among the most significant factors inhibiting the development of the digital twin industry. Furthermore, numerous company owners who are comfortable with digital twin technology are concerned about the potential of misrepresenting the technology or product they seek to mimic using this innovation. Many organizations avoid employing digital twin technology as there is no reliable confirmation of how accurate it is in relation to its physical counterpart. Check the detailed table of contents of the report @ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/table-of-content/digital-twin-market Rising Usage of IoT-based Technologies Drives Market Expansion The global need for digital twin technologies is being driven by the trend for networked environments across sectors. Over 41 billion linked IoT devices are anticipated to be in operation by 2025, demonstrating the massive adoption of digital technologies. Increased throughput for each part or "thing" is required for the proper adoption and operation of IoT, which would be made feasible via digital twin technologies. In order to improve systems, there is a growing global desire for digital twin technologies since a system's performance and satisfaction over its existence depend on its components. Furthermore, suppliers and product managers are demonstrating a growing need for the digital image in order to decrease operational expenses and develop new business models. Market Segmentation According to Acumen Research and Consulting, the worldwide digital twin market is segmented by type and end-use. In term of type, the segment has been categorized into component, system, and process. According to end-use, the segment is divided into manufacturing, automotive & transportation, agricultural, healthcare & life sciences, retail & consumer goods, telecommunication, energy & utilities, residential & commercial, aerospace, and others. Digital Twin Market Regional Overview The market for digital twin is divided into five regions: North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to be the leading region in the digital twin market by 2021. This is mostly due to the region's robust IT backbone and growing prevalence of 5G, Automation, IoT, and artificial intelligence technologies across numerous industries, including aerospace, automobiles, energy & utilities, and electronics industries. This region includes economically developed nations such as Canada and the United States, where huge investments in Research and development activities are discovered, thereby attributing to technological innovations such as 3D printing, edge analytics, smart sensors, and digital twin. Furthermore, supportive federal programs, such as linked de-icing equipment at airlines, smart lighting, and intelligent traffic projects related to data security, cybercrime, and infrastructure investment, are helping to drive market expansion in the region. Buy this premium research report https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/3054 Digital Twin Market Players Some of the prominent digital twin market companies are ABB Group, Ansys Inc., Bosch Rexroth AG, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Siemens AG, Accenture Plc, Autodesk Inc., Capgemini SE, Infosys Ltd., Oracle Corporation, and Wipro Ltd. Browse More Research Topic on Process Control and Automation Industry: The Global Lab Automation Market accounted for USD 4,790 Million in 2021 and is estimated to reach USD 9,371 Million by 2030, with a significant CAGR of 7.9% from 2022 to 2030. The Global Workflow Automation Market accounted for USD 12,161 Million in 2021 and is estimated to reach USD 78,811 Million by 2030, with a significant CAGR of 23.4% from 2022 to 2030. The Global Intelligent Process Automation Market accounted for USD 10,935 Million in 2021 and is estimated to reach USD 27,990 Million by 2030, with a significant CAGR of 11.2% from 2022 to 2030. About Acumen Research and Consulting: Acumen Research and Consulting is a global provider of market intelligence and consulting services to information technology, investment, telecommunication, manufacturing, and consumer technology markets. ARC helps investment communities, IT professionals, and business executives to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and develop firm growth strategies to sustain market competition. With the team size of 100+ Analysts and collective industry experience of more than 200 years, Acumen Research and Consulting assures to deliver a combination of industry knowledge along with global and country level expertise. For Latest Update Follow Us on Twitter and, LinkedIn Contact Us: Mr. Richard Johnson Acumen Research and Consulting USA: +13474743864 India: +918983225533 E-mail: sales@acumenresearchandconsulting.com Seoul, South Korea, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per industry analysis by Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, the global spinal surgery products market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 4.3% and reach a market value of US$ 15.5 billion by the end of 2030. The market is divided into degenerative disc disease, traumas & fractures, complicated deformities, and others based on disease indication. Due to the rising number of disc replacement procedures and the increased demand for artificial discs, degenerative disc disease is predicted to hold the largest share of the market in 2022. One of the most common problems in the world today is lower back pain, which is predicted to favour the growth of the degenerative disc disease market. For Critical Insights on Spinal Surgery Products Market, Request a Sample Report https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=7559 Increase in the number of births with abnormalities causing modification or misalignment in the spinal column and rising elderly population are predicted to drive the complicated deformity sector. The traumas & fractures market is expected to grow significantly between 2022 and 2030 due to the rise in spinal injuries and fractures, attractive reimbursement scenario, and the need for less invasive procedures. Which Regions Should Spinal Surgery Product Manufacturers Focus On? Presence of Key Market Players & High Prevalence of Chronic Illnesses Driving Sales of Spinal Surgery Equipment in North America & Europe The market is anticipated to be dominated by North America throughout the forecast period. The reasons for North America's dominance in the global market are new product releases, strategic alliances, increasing biologics research, and an increase in the prevalence of spinal illnesses. The main factors driving market expansion in Europe include favourable health reimbursement, strong demand for medical equipment in Germany and the U.K., and rising rates of spine surgery. It is anticipated that government funding and active investment will dominate the Europe market. Due to the rising geriatric population, increasing prevalence of degenerative illnesses, and lower back discomfort, the demand for orthopedic spine devices in the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to soar during the projected period. One of the main factors boosting the spine surgery products market in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa is the expansion of prominent manufacturers' distribution networks in emerging countries and rising healthcare spending. To learn more about Spinal Surgery Products Market, you can get in touch with our Analyst at https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=AE&rep_id=7559 Key Segments Covered in the Spinal Surgery Products Industry Survey B y Device : Fusion Devices Non-fusion Devices Others B y Disease Indication : Degenerative Disc Disease Complex Deformity Traumas & Fractures Others B y End Use : Hospitals Ambulatory Surgery Centers Specialty Clinics Others B y Region : North America Latin America Europe East Asia South Asia & Oceania MEA Competitive Landscape Key players are engaging in a variety of strategic measures to increase their market shares, including mergers and acquisitions, technology partnerships, collaborations, and the creation and introduction of cutting-edge products. Cohere TLIF-O implant and Cohere TLIF-A implant for posterior spine surgery were both introduced by NuVasive in October 2021. Stryker declared a definitive merger agreement in January 2022, under which, it would pay US$ 79.25 per share, or a total equity value of roughly US$ 2.97 billion, and a total estimated value of roughly US$ 3.09 billion, to procure all the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Vocera Communications, Inc. Get Customization on Spinal Surgery Products Market Report for Specific Research Solutions https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RC&rep_id=7559 Key players in the Spinal Surgery Products Market Zimmer Biomet Stryker Corporation Depuy Synthes Medtronic Globus Medical Inc. RTI Surgical Holdings Ulrich GmbH & Co. KG B. Braun Melsungen AG Seaspine Holdings Corporation Key Takeaways from Spinal Surgery Products Market Study The global spinal surgery products market is set to reach a valuation of US$ 15.5 billion by 2030. Demand for spinal surgery products is expected to rise at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2022 to 2030. Due to the rising number of Americans experiencing lower back pain and other ailments related to the spine each year, the United States currently holds a dominant position in the North America market for spinal surgery devices. As more spinal fusion procedures are performed, spinal fusion equipment is expected to hold the highest market share in 2022. High growth has been brought on by technological advancements in spine fusion surgeries, whether internal fixation is used or not. Fact.MRs Domain Expertise in Healthcare Sector Our healthcare consulting team guides organizations at each step of their business strategy by helping you understand how the latest influencers account for operational and strategic transformation in the healthcare sector. Our expertise in recognizing the challenges and trends impacting the global healthcare industry provides indispensable insights and support - encasing a strategic perspective that helps you identify critical issues and devise appropriate solutions. Explore Fact.MR's Coverage on the Healthcare Domain- Gene Therapy Market- The global gene therapy market is slated to acquire a valuation of US$ 1.85 Billion in 2022, up from US$ 1.55 Billion in 2021, representing a Y-o-Y increase of 19.3%. From 2022-2032, the market is poised to register a CAGR of 18.5%, reaching a valuation of US$ 10.1 Billion. Diagnostic Imaging Services Market- Demand for diagnostic imaging services reached a valuation of US$ 555 Million in 2021, and is projected to reach US$ 585 Million in 2022, exhibiting a Y-o-Y growth rate of 5.4%. From 2022 to 2032, the industry is poised to grow at a CAGR of 5.51% to reach a valuation of US$ 1 Billion. Drug Delivery Systems Market- The worldwide drug delivery systems market was worth around US$ 40 Billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 7.8% from 2022 to 2032, reaching roughly US$ 80 Billion by 2032. Medical Waste Management Market- The global medical waste management market, which projects market growth at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2021 to 2028. Revenue from medical waste management services accounted for US$ 15.3 Bn in 2020, and is estimated to surge to US$ 25.2 Bn by the end of 2028. Heart Attack Diagnostics Market- The heart attack diagnostics market is predicted to grow at a moderate CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period of 2022 to 2032. The global heart attack diagnostics market is estimated to reach a value of nearly US$ 22.2 Billion by 2032 by growing from US$ 10.4 Billion in 2021. Drug Discovery Services Market- The drug discovery services market is forecasted to reach US$ 50 Billion by 2032, up from US$ 19 Billion in 2022, at a CAGR of 10.1%. A Y-o-Y growth rate of nearly 12% is expected for the market in 2022. As of 2021, the market was valued at US$ 17 Billion. Lab Automation Market- Demand for lab automation services experienced a Y-o-Y expansion rate of over 11% in 2022 compared to 2021, rising from US$ 1.8 Billion to US$ 2 Billion. Going forward, the market is poised to flourish at a 7% value CAGR from 2022-2032, reaching a valuation of nearly US$ 4 Billion. Patient Engagement Solutions Market- The global patient engagement solutions market, the market is gaining traction steadily, rising at an 8.6% CAGR through 2032, exceeding a valuation of around US$ 29 Billion by 2022. As of the end of 2032, the market is expected to reach US$ 66.4 Billion. Smart Implants Market- The global smart implants market is estimated at US$ 3.9 billion in 2022, and is forecast to surpass a market value of US$ 22.2 billion by 2032. Smart implants are expected to contribute significantly to the global implants market, with demand surging at a CAGR of 19% from 2022 to 2032. Facial Implants Market- The global facial implant market was valued at US$ 2.7 Billion in 2022, and is expected to rise at a 7.7% value CAGR, likely to reach US$ 5.6 Billion by the end of the 2022-2032 forecast period. About Us: Market research and consulting agency with a difference! Thats why 80% of Fortune 1,000 companies trust us for making their most critical decisions. While our experienced consultants employ the latest technologies to extract hard-to-find insights, we believe our USP is the trust clients have on our expertise. Spanning a wide range from automotive & industry 4.0 to healthcare & retail, our coverage is expansive, but we ensure even the most niche categories are analyzed. Our sales offices in United States and Dublin, Ireland. Headquarter based in Dubai, UAE. Reach out to us with your goals, and well be an able research partner. Contact: Mahendra Singh US Sales Office: 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20852 Email: sales@factmr.com Tel: +1 (628) 251-1583 Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Dublin, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Livestock Monitoring Market (2022-2027) by Components, Application, Livestock Type, Farm Type, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Livestock Monitoring Market is estimated to be USD 5.13 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 8.34 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 10.21%. Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Livestock Monitoring Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals. As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks. Company Profiles The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are Afimilk Ltd, Allflex Livestock Intelligence (Subsidiary of Msd Animal Health), Boumatic, Cainthus, Connecterra B.V., etc. Countries Studied America (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, United States, Rest of Americas) Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Rest of Europe) Middle-East and Africa (Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Rest of Asia-Pacific) Competitive Quadrant The report includes Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc. Ansoff Analysis The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Livestock Monitoring Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach. The analyst analyses the Global Livestock Monitoring Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position. Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, The analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth. Why buy this report? The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Livestock Monitoring Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies. The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry. The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report. The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies. The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's Proprietary competitive positioning tool. Key Topics Covered: 1 Report Description 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Market Dynamics 4.1 Drivers 4.1.1 Growing Focus on Livestock Monitoring and Disease Detection 4.1.2 Increasing Adoption of Advanced Technologies Such as IoT and AI by Dairy Farmers 4.1.3 Substantial Cost-Saving Achieved Through Adoption of Advanced Livestock Monitoring Products 4.2 Restraints 4.2.1 High Cost of Livestock Monitoring Solutions 4.2.2 Limited Skillsets and Technology Understanding among Farmers 4.3 Opportunities 4.3.1 Rise in Number of Dairy Farms and Cattle Population 4.3.2 Increasing Adoption of Livestock Monitoring Technology in Developing Countries 4.4 Challenges 4.4.1 Stringent Regulations and Trade Barriers 4.4.2 Environmental Concerns and Global Warming 5 Market Analysis 5.1 Regulatory Scenario 5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5.3 Impact of COVID-19 5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis 6 Global Livestock Monitoring Market, By Components 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Hardware 6.2.1 Sensors 6.2.1.1 Temperature Sensors 6.2.1.2 Accelerometer Sensors 6.2.1.3 Motion Sensors 6.2.1.4 Environmental Humidity Sensors 6.2.1.5 Others 6.2.2 Cameras 6.2.3 RFID Tags & Readers 6.2.4 GPS 6.2.5 Others 6.3 Software 6.3.1 Cloud Based 6.3.2 On Premise 6.4 Services 6.4.1 Integration & Deployment 6.4.2 Maintenance & Support 6.4.3 Managed Services 7 Global Livestock Monitoring Market, By Application 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Milk Harvesting 7.3 Breeding Management 7.4 Feeding Management 7.5 Animal Health Monitoring & Comfort 7.6 Heat Stress 7.7 Behavior Monitoring 7.8 Others 8 Global Livestock Monitoring Market, By Livestock Type 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Cattle 8.3 Poultry 8.4 Swine 8.5 Equine 8.6 Others 9 Global Livestock Monitoring Market, By Farm Type 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Small 9.3 Med-sized 9.4 Large 10 Americas' Global Livestock Monitoring Market 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Argentina 10.3 Brazil 10.4 Canada 10.5 Chile 10.6 Colombia 10.7 Mexico 10.8 Peru 10.9 United States 10.10 Rest of Americas 11 Europe's Global Livestock Monitoring Market 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Austria 11.3 Belgium 11.4 Denmark 11.5 Finland 11.6 France 11.7 Germany 11.8 Italy 11.9 Netherlands 11.10 Norway 11.11 Poland 11.12 Russia 11.13 Spain 11.14 Sweden 11.15 Switzerland 11.16 United Kingdom 11.17 Rest of Europe 12 Middle East and Africa's Global Livestock Monitoring Market 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Egypt 12.3 Israel 12.4 Qatar 12.5 Saudi Arabia 12.6 South Africa 12.7 United Arab Emirates 12.8 Rest of MEA 13 APAC's Global Livestock Monitoring Market 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Australia 13.3 Bangladesh 13.4 China 13.5 India 13.6 Indonesia 13.7 Japan 13.8 Malaysia 13.9 Philippines 13.10 Singapore 13.11 South Korea 13.12 Sri Lanka 13.13 Thailand 13.14 Taiwan 13.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific 14 Competitive Landscape 14.1 Competitive Quadrant 14.2 Market Share Analysis 14.3 Strategic Initiatives 14.3.1 M&A and Investments 14.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations 14.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements 15 Company Profiles 15.1 Afimilk Ltd 15.2 Allflex Livestock Intelligence (Subsidiary of Msd Animal Health) 15.3 Boumatic 15.4 Cainthus 15.5 Connecterra B.V. 15.6 Cowlar 15.7 Cowmanager B.V. 15.8 Dairymaster 15.9 ENGS Systems 15.10 Faromatics 15.11 Fullwood Packo 15.12 Gallagher Group Ltd 15.13 Herdinsights (Subsidiary of Datamars) 15.14 Hokofarm Group 15.15 Icerobotics 15.16 Moocall 15.17 Nedap NV 15.18 Sensaphone 15.19 Serket 15.20 Smaxtec Animal Care GmbH 15.21 Stellapps Technologies 15.22 Sum-It Computer Systems 15.23 VAS 15.24 Zoetis 16 Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4ivepl Attachment Dublin, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Nanowire Battery Market (2022-2027) by Components, Material, Industry, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Nanowire Battery Market is estimated to be USD 67.5 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 292.72 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 34.1%. Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Nanowire Battery Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals. As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks. Market Segmentations The Global Nanowire Battery Market is segmented based on Components, Material, Industry, and Geography. By Components, the market is classified into Common Cathode Materials, Common Anode Materials, Electrolytes, Separators, and Other Materials. By Material, the market is classified into Silicon, Germanium, Transition Metal Oxides, and Gold. By Industry, the market is classified into Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Aviation, Energy, and Medical Devices. By Geography, the market is classified into Americas, Europe, Middle-East & Africa and Asia-Pacific. Company Profiles The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are Amprius Inc, Boston Power Inc, Enevate Corp, Envia Systems Inc, Imprint Energy Inc, LG Chem, Lithium Werks, NEI Corp, Nexeon Novarials Corp, OneD Material, Panasonic, Pellion Technologies, Prieto Battery Inc, Samsung SDI, Sila Nanotechnologies Inc, Targray, XG Sciences, Xilectric Inc, etc. Countries Studied America (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, United States, Rest of Americas) Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Rest of Europe) Middle-East and Africa (Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Rest of Asia-Pacific) Competitive Quadrant The report includes Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc. Ansoff Analysis The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Nanowire Battery Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach. The analyst analyses the Global Nanowire Battery Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position. Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, The analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth. Why buy this report? The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Nanowire Battery Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies. The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry. The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report. The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies. The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's Proprietary competitive positioning tool. Key Topics Covered: 1 Report Description 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Market Dynamics 4.1 Drivers 4.1.1 Rising Demand for Batteries With High Charge Retention Capacity 4.1.2 Increasing Expenditure on R&D Activities By Automotive Companies 4.1.3 Growing Consumer Electronics Industry 4.2 Restraints 4.2.1 High Volume Change of Silicon Nanowires During Charge and Discharge Cycles 4.3 Opportunities 4.3.1 Emergence of Electric Vehicles 4.3.2 Need for High-Performance Batteries in Electric Grid Storage Applications 4.4 Challenges 4.4.1 Presence of Substitute Battery Technologies 4.4.2 Operational Obligations Such as Conducting Pilot and Safety Tests 5 Market Analysis 5.1 Regulatory Scenario 5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5.3 Impact of COVID-19 5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis 6 Global Nanowire Battery Market, By Components 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Common Cathode Materials 6.2.1 Lithium Iron Phosphate 6.2.2 Lithium Cobalt Oxide 6.2.3 Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt 6.2.4 Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum 6.3 Common Anode Materials 6.4 Electrolytes 6.5 Separators 6.6 Other Materials 7 Global Nanowire Battery Market, By Material 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Silicon 7.3 Germanium 7.4 Transition Metal Oxides 7.5 Gold 8 Global Nanowire Battery Market, By Industry 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Consumer Electronics 8.2.1 Smartphones 8.2.2 Laptops 8.2.3 Digital Cameras 8.2.4 Wearables 8.3 Automotive 8.3.1 Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) 8.3.2 Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) 8.4 Aviation 8.5 Energy 8.6 Medical Devices 9 Americas' Global Nanowire Battery Market 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Argentina 9.3 Brazil 9.4 Canada 9.5 Chile 9.6 Colombia 9.7 Mexico 9.8 Peru 9.9 United States 9.10 Rest of Americas 10 Europe's Global Nanowire Battery Market 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Austria 10.3 Belgium 10.4 Denmark 10.5 Finland 10.6 France 10.7 Germany 10.8 Italy 10.9 Netherlands 10.10 Norway 10.11 Poland 10.12 Russia 10.13 Spain 10.14 Sweden 10.15 Switzerland 10.16 United Kingdom 10.17 Rest of Europe 11 Middle East and Africa's Global Nanowire Battery Market 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Egypt 11.3 Israel 11.4 Qatar 11.5 Saudi Arabia 11.6 South Africa 11.7 United Arab Emirates 11.8 Rest of MEA 12 APAC's Global Nanowire Battery Market 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Australia 12.3 Bangladesh 12.4 China 12.5 India 12.6 Indonesia 12.7 Japan 12.8 Malaysia 12.9 Philippines 12.10 Singapore 12.11 South Korea 12.12 Sri Lanka 12.13 Thailand 12.14 Taiwan 12.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific 13 Competitive Landscape 13.1 Competitive Quadrant 13.2 Market Share Analysis 13.3 Strategic Initiatives 13.3.1 M&A and Investments 13.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations 13.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements 14 Company Profiles 14.1 Amprius Inc 14.2 Boston Power Inc 14.3 Enevate Corp 14.4 Envia Systems Inc 14.5 Imprint Energy Inc 14.6 LG Chem 14.7 Lithium Werks 14.8 NEI Corp 14.9 Nexeon Novarials Corp 14.10 OneD Material 14.11 Panasonic 14.12 Pellion Technologies 14.13 Prieto Battery Inc 14.14 Samsung SDI 14.15 Sila Nanotechnologies Inc 14.16 Targray 14.17 XG Sciences 14.18 Xilectric Inc 15 Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/uhd4by Attachment Dublin, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Crypto ATM Market (2022-2027) by Type, Offering, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Crypto ATM Market is estimated to be USD 46.45 Mn in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 472.18 Mn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 59.01%. Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the Global Crypto ATM Market stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals. As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding the growth and reducing the risks. Market Segmentations The Global Crypto ATM Market is segmented based on Type, Offering, and Geography. By Type, the market is classified into One Way and Two Way. By Offering, the market is classified into Hardware and Software. By Geography, the market is classified into Americas, Europe, Middle-East & Africa and Asia-Pacific. Company Profiles The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are Bcash Greece Inc, Bitaccess Inc, Bitcoin Depot, Bitstop, Bitxatm, BTCPoint, Cash Cloud Inc, Coin ATM, Radar Coinme Inc, Coinsource, Covault LLC, etc. Countries Studied America (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, United States, Rest of Americas) Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Rest of Europe) Middle-East and Africa (Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Rest of Asia-Pacific) Competitive Quadrant The report includes Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc. Ansoff Analysis The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Crypto ATM Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach. The analyst analyses the Global Crypto ATM Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position. Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, The analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth. Why buy this report? The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Crypto ATM Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies. The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry. The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report. The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies. The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's Proprietary competitive positioning tool. Key Topics Covered: 1 Report Description 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Market Dynamics 4.1 Drivers 4.1.1 Growing Fund Transfers in Developing Countries 4.1.2 Fluctuating Monetary Regulations 4.1.3 Increasing Installations of Crypto ATMs in Restaurants, Bars, General Stores, and Gas Stations 4.2 Restraints 4.2.1 Uncertain Regulatory Status of Cryptocurrencies 4.2.2 Lack of Awareness and Technical Understanding Regarding Cryptocurrency 4.3 Opportunities 4.3.1 Significant Growth Opportunities in Developed Markets 4.3.2 Acceptance of Cryptocurrency Across Industries 4.4 Challenges 4.4.1 Concern Regarding Security and Privacy 4.4.2 Technical Challenges Pertaining to Scalability 5 Market Analysis 5.1 Regulatory Scenario 5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5.3 Impact of COVID-19 5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis 6 Global Crypto ATM Market, By Type 6.1 Introduction 6.2 One Way 6.3 Two Way 7 Global Crypto ATM Market, By Offering 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Hardware 7.2.1 Display 7.2.2 ATM Printer 7.2.3 QR Scanner 7.2.4 Others 7.3 Software 8 Americas' Global Crypto ATM Market 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Argentina 8.3 Brazil 8.4 Canada 8.5 Chile 8.6 Colombia 8.7 Mexico 8.8 Peru 8.9 United States 8.10 Rest of Americas 9 Europe's Global Crypto ATM Market 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Austria 9.3 Belgium 9.4 Denmark 9.5 Finland 9.6 France 9.7 Germany 9.8 Italy 9.9 Netherlands 9.10 Norway 9.11 Poland 9.12 Russia 9.13 Spain 9.14 Sweden 9.15 Switzerland 9.16 United Kingdom 9.17 Rest of Europe 10 Middle East and Africa's Global Crypto ATM Market 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Egypt 10.3 Israel 10.4 Qatar 10.5 Saudi Arabia 10.6 South Africa 10.7 United Arab Emirates 10.8 Rest of MEA 11 APAC's Global Crypto ATM Market 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Australia 11.3 Bangladesh 11.4 China 11.5 India 11.6 Indonesia 11.7 Japan 11.8 Malaysia 11.9 Philippines 11.10 Singapore 11.11 South Korea 11.12 Sri Lanka 11.13 Thailand 11.14 Taiwan 11.15 Rest of Asia-Pacific 12 Competitive Landscape 12.1 Competitive Quadrant 12.2 Market Share Analysis 12.3 Strategic Initiatives 12.3.1 M&A and Investments 12.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations 12.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements 13 Company Profiles 13.1 Bcash Greece Inc 13.2 Bitaccess Inc 13.3 Bitcoin Depot 13.4 Bitstop 13.5 Bitxatm 13.6 BTCPoint 13.7 Cash Cloud Inc 13.8 Coin ATM 13.9 Radar Coinme Inc 13.10 Coinsource 13.11 Covault LLC 13.12 General Bytes 13.13 Genesis Coin Inc 13.14 GPD Holdings LLC 13.15 KUNA (Cryptomat) 13.16 Kurant GmbH 13.17 Lamassu Industries AG 13.18 Orderbob 13.19 RockitCoin 13.20 Rusbit 13.21 Tembusu 14 Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/njt5gp Attachment Chicago, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Polylactic Acid Market size is projected to grow from USD 1.0 billion in 2021 to USD 1.9 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 12.2% between 2021 and 2026, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The major factors driving the market are rising demand of PLA in packaging industry, stringent waste management regulations in Europe, increased focus of government on green procurement policies, and shift in consumer preference toward eco-friendly and biodegradable plastic products. Moreover, development of new applications, high potential in emerging countries of APAC, and multi-functionalities of PLA is expected to drive the market during the forecast period. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=29418964 Browse in-depth TOC on Polylactic Acid Market 115 Tables 47 Figures 188 Pages Major players in the PLA Market include: NatureWorks LLC (US), Total Corbion PLA (Netherlands), BASF SE (Germany), Futerro (Belgium), COFCO (China), Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation (Japan), Danimer Scientific (US), UNITIKA LTD.(Japan), Evonik Industries (Germany), and TORAY INDUSTRIES, INC (Japan) are some of the leading players in the market. These players have adopted various growth strategies to expand their presence in the market further. New product launch, investment & expansion, and merger & acquisition have been the leading strategies adopted by the major players in the last five years to strengthen their competitiveness and broaden their customer base in the global PLA market. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=29418964 NatureWorks LLC is one of the leading manufacturers of Polylactic Acid Market. The company has manufacturing plants in the North America, and Asia Pacific. In recent years, in recent years, NatureWorks LLC has adopted several business strategies to strengthen its position in the market. It has adopted various growth strategies, including investment & expansion, and new product launch, to maintain its position in PLA market. For instance, In June 2021, NatureWorks LLC invested USD 600 million for a PLA facility in Thailand. The company is focusing on increasing its annual PLA production capacity to 75,000 tons for Ingeo PLA grade. Total Corbion PLA is one of the major player operating in PLA market. The company has manufacturing facilities in Asia Pacific, and planning to manufacture a new PLA production plant Europe which is expected to become operational by 2024. The company has adopted new product launch, investments & expansion, and collaboration strategies in order to broaden its product portfolio and maintain its position in the market. For instance, In October 2021, Total Corbion PLA developed a new grade of PLA derived for recycled waste as Luminy rPLA to strengthen its PLA product portfolio. Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=29418964 Browse Adjacent Markets: Resins and Polymers Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: Biodegradable Plastics Market by Type (PLA, Starch Blends, PHA, Biodegradable Polyesters), End-Use Industry (Packaging, Consumer Goods, Textile, Agriculture & Horticulture), and Region (APAC, Europe, North America & RoW) Bioresorbable Polymers Market by Type (Polylactic Acid (PLA), Polyglycolic Acid (PGA), Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), Polycaprolactone (PCL)), Application (Orthopaedic Devices, Drug Delivery), and Region Governments may soon find that the scale of the challenge of decarbonisation leaves them no choice but to work with oil and gas companies, argues Paul Beijer, head of GR-IQ. DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Paul Beijer speaking on the Conversations in Climate podcast, hosted by United Renewables and London Business School. Their skill at doing big projects is what governments now require, Beijer says, citing the infrastructure challenge that the systemic transition to net-zero presents. Its not enough to tinker around with a subsidy level I see [that governments will] take central control and all of a sudden those large companies, that know how to do large projects, are at the table. Because they have the expertise. Beijer, who worked as VP of Government Relations at oil major Shell until 2019, also cited the value of these companys legacy assets and large balanced sheets to fund investment. Shell has a market cap of $185 billion dollars at time of press. Big Oils Sincerity in Question Christopher Caldwell, CEO of United Renewables and host of the Conversations on Climate episode that Beijer appears on this week, pushed back against the idea, asking Isnt it like asking Philip Morris how to give up smoking? Fossil Fuel firms have been widely criticised for resisting action on climate change, through lobbying, funding climate denial and spreading disinformation. Public attempts to rebrand by oil majors such as BPs Beyond Petroleum campaign have largely been judged a failure. But this time is different for fossil fuel firms, argues Beijer, because as long as you believe that there is an irreversible trend towards renewables they realise its an existential crisis if they stick to their guns. Making use of existing infrastructure Building out a hydrogen network to power clean industry was one use case discussed by Caldwell and Beijer. A 209 IEA report identified hydrogen as a transition fuel for industries which are difficult to decarbonise, such as chemicals, iron and steel, as well as the lowest-cost option for storing renewable energy. Hydrogen is just another gas you can use some of the existing infrastructure that energy companies are actually operating at the moment, to distribute hydrogen, says Beijer. Without the cooperation and coordination of the fossil fuel companies who manage these networks, rolling out hydrogen distribution across the economy may prove prohibitively expensive or time-consuming. That alone is a reason for legacy energy firms to stay involved in this particular transition, and be taken seriously. Conversations on Climate invites leading academics and business leaders to offer their expertise to bring a new angle to the climate change debate. Previous guests include Sir Andrew Likierman and Kritika Kumar. The latest episode, featuring Paul Beijer, will be released on 29th July 2022. The full video of the interview will be available here. All previous episodes can be found here. CONTACT Isabella Hawke Sales and Marketing Consultant COMPANY United Renewables PHONE +447624457139 EMAIL IIhawke@unitedrenewables.co.uk WEB unitedrenewables.co.uk/resources EMBARGOED FOR Friday 29th 2022, 9 am A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1517e62e-31c1-48da-bcd2-cf601599404a New York, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Leukemia Therapeutics Global Market Report 2022" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06310833/?utm_source=GNW , MorphoSys AG, Otsuka Holdings Company Ltd., and Lupin Ltd. The global leukemia therapeutics market is expected to grow from $13.88 billion in 2021 to $15.27 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.07%. The leukemia therapeutics market is expected to reach $20.77 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 7.99%. The leukemia therapeutics market consists of sales of the leukemia therapeutics by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that are used for the treatment of leukemia.Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow and proceeds to uncontrolled blood cell growth. The type treatment for leukemia depends on various factors such as age, overall health, type of leukemia, its current condition within the body and others. The main treatment types in leukemia therapeutics are chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and other treatments.Immunotherapy is a method of leukemia treatment that stimulates the bodys immune system to recognize and eliminate malignant cells. These are used to treat acute lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, and other type of leukemia using small molecules and biologics. The various end users of leukemia therapeutics are hospitals, homecare, specialty clinics, and other end-users. North America was the largest region in the leukemia therapeutics market in 2021.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the leukemia therapeutics market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa. The leukemia therapeutics market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides leukemia therapeutics market statistics, including leukemia therapeutics industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a leukemia therapeutics market share, detailed leukemia therapeutics market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the leukemia therapeutics industry. This leukemia therapeutics market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenario of the industry. The rising prevalence of leukemia is driving the growth of the leukemia therapeutics market.Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow and proceeds to uncontrolled blood cell growth. The increased accessibility of medical treatment to leukemia patients across the globe and the growing availability of treatment options have contributed to increased demand for leukemia therapeutics.For instance, according to the National Cancer Institute, the number of new leukemia cases in the United States increased from 60,530 cases in 2020 to 61,090 cases in 2021. Therefore, the rising prevalence of leukemia is contributing to the growth of the leukemia therapeutics market. Combination therapies is new trend gaining popularity in the leukemia therapeutics market.In combination therapies, two or more modalities are tested in combinations with other immunotherapies or targeted therapies that promise to deliver long-term survival benefits that may be unavailable with current approaches. For instance, in September 2021, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a US-based cancer treatment, and research institutes clinical research team reported that a combination of three molecularly targeted drugs including an inhibitor of BCL-2 (venetoclax), a second-generation inhibitor of BTK (acalabrutinib), and a CD20 inhibitor (obinutuzumab) are effective against chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In November 2021, Pfizer Inc., a US-based pharmaceutical company acquired Trillium Therapeutics for approximately $2.22 billion. With this acquisition, Pfizer aims to boost itss oncology portfolio with the addition of next-generation immuno-therapies of Trillium. Trillium Therapeutics is a Canada-based clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing therapies for the treatment of cancer. The countries covered in the leukemia therapeutics market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06310833/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Dublin, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "North America Cabinet LED Lighting Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type and Application" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The North America cabinet LED lighting market size is expected to grow from US$ 1,983.30 million in 2021 to US$ 3,691.22 million by 2028. It is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.3% from 2022 to 2028. Cabinet LED lighting is an energy-efficient technology, and demand for ENERGY STAR-rated products has risen in recent years in the US. Light fixtures must use 1/4th energy of traditional lighting, have lower energy bills and bulb replacements, have a lifetime of at least 10,000 hrs, and have even light distribution; these are factors considered to receive an Energy Star rating. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the growth of the construction of houses in North America. However, there will be an increase in the construction of houses in 2022. For instance, as per the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban development for new residential construction in March 2022, the privately-owned housing units authorized by building perm building permits, housing starts, and housing completions are 1873000, 1793000, and 1303000, respectively. Development in residential sector will positively create more demand for LED lights, and thus in turn impacting the cabinet LED lighting market growth. As per the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), in 2022, the construction of house sales will increase due to the government's favorable policy for buying homes. For instance, the Canadian government created real estate investment trusts (REITs) which investors widely use because they are easier to liquidate than traditional real estate investments. REITs also allow investors to diversify their holdings. For example, investors can invest US$ 1 in a portfolio of 100 properties instead of investing US$ 100 in a single property. The Canadian government has proposed a budget for 2022-2023 that focuses on achieving a goal of 100,000 net new housing units. As a result, a new Housing Accelerator Fund has been established. The increasing usage of cabinet LED lighting in growing residential and commercial spaces is one of the prime drivers of cabinet LED lighting market growth. With the rise in urbanization, consumers are more inclined toward adopting energy-efficient products and services. Thus, the uptake of cabinet LED lighting is rising among end users, such as office spaces, hotels, restaurants, public administrative buildings, shopping malls, and recreational facilities to enhance decor and save electricity bills, driving the cabinet LED lighting market. Over the next five years, the government will invest US$ 4 billion in housing development support, such as an up-front funding or annual per-door incentive or for investments in municipal housing planning and delivery processes, which in turn will accelerate the development of housing in the coming years. Further, Canada Budget 2022 proposes spending US$ 1.5 billion over the next 2 years, beginning in 2022, extending the Rapid Housing Initiative, ensuring that more affordable housing can be built quickly. ~6,000 new affordable housing units are expected to be built with this new funding. Favorable government policies pf North America region is supporting the growth of cabinet LED lighting market. Further, US $389.39 million (CAD$ 500 million) was relocated from the National Housing Co-Investment Fund on a cash basis to launch a new Co-operative Housing Development Program aimed at expanding co-operative housing in Canada. The Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada and the co-operative housing sector will collaborate on this new program. The Canada budget 2022 also proposes the additional US$ 1billion in loans reallocated from the Rental Construction Financing Initiative to support coop housing projects. The Canadian financial service provider BMO and the Canadian government have announced that both will invest US$ 9.4 billion (CAD 12 billion) until 2030. Such initiatives will support the affordable housing constructions in Canada, augmenting the cabinet LED lighting market share over the next few years. Hafele America Co., Acuity Brands Lighting LLC, Kichler, WAC Lighting, and SGi Lighting are the cabinet LED lighting market players in North America profiled in this market study. Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Key Takeaways 3. Research Methodology 4. North America Cabinet LED Lighting - Market Landscape 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 PEST Analysis 4.2.1 North America 4.3 Ecosystem Analysis 4.4 Expert Opinion 4.5 Premium Insights 4.5.1 List of LED Manufacturers 4.5.2 Supply Chain Analysis 5. North America Cabinet LED Lighting - Market Dynamics 5.1 Market Drivers 5.1.1 Growing Construction of Residential and Commercial Buildings in North America 5.1.2 Rising Demand for Interior Designs and Increasing Disposable Income 5.2 Market Restraints 5.2.1 Overheating Leads to Reduced Life of Cabinet LED Lighting 5.3 Market Opportunities 5.3.1 Energy-Consuming Products and Services with Higher Efficiency and Lower Costs 5.4 Future Trends 5.4.1 Rising Penetration of IoT Connected-Cabinet LED Lighting 5.4.2 Government Stringent Regulations Toward Green Sustainability 5.5 Impact Analysis of Drivers and Restraints 6. North America Cabinet LED Lighting Market - Market Analysis 6.1 North America Cabinet LED Lighting Market Overview 6.2 North America Cabinet LED Lighting Market Revenue Forecast and Analysis 6.3 North America Cabinet LED Lighting Market: Market Positioning - Five Key Players 7. North America Cabinet LED Lighting Market Analysis - by Type 7.1 Overview 7.2 North America: Cabinet LED Lighting Market, by Type 7.3 In-Cabinet Lighting 7.3.1 Overview 7.3.2 In-Cabinet Lighting: Cabinet LED Lighting Market Revenue and Forecast to 2028 (US$ Million) 7.4 Under-Cabinet Lighting 7.4.1 Overview 7.4.2 Under-Cabinet Lighting: Cabinet LED Lighting Market Revenue and Forecast to 2028 (US$ Million) 8. North America Cabinet LED Lighting Market Analysis - by Application 8.1 Overview 8.2 North America: Cabinet LED Lighting Market, by Application 8.3 Residential 8.3.1 Overview 8.3.2 Residential: Cabinet LED Lighting Market Revenue and Forecast to 2028 (US$ Million) 8.4 Commercial 8.4.1 Overview 8.4.2 Commercial: Cabinet LED Lighting Market Revenue and Forecast to 2028 (US$ Million) 8.5 Retailer 8.5.1 Overview 8.5.2 Retailer: Cabinet LED Lighting Market Revenue and Forecast to 2028 (US$ Million) 8.6 Hospitality 8.6.1 Overview 8.6.2 Hospitality: Cabinet LED Lighting Market Revenue and Forecast to 2028 (US$ Million) 9. North America Cabinet LED Lighting Market - Country Analysis 10. North America Cabinet LED Lighting Market - COVID-19 Impact Analysis 10.1 Overview 11. Industry Landscape 11.1 Overview 11.2 Market Initiative 11.3 Merger and Acquisition 11.4 New Product launch 12. Company Profiles 12.1 ACUITY BRANDS, INC. 12.1.1 Key Facts 12.1.2 Business Description 12.1.3 Products and Services 12.1.4 Financial Overview 12.1.5 SWOT Analysis 12.1.6 Key Developments 12.2 Kichler Lighting LLC 12.2.1 Key Facts 12.2.2 Business Description 12.2.3 Products and Services 12.2.4 Financial Overview 12.2.5 SWOT Analysis 12.2.6 Key Developments 12.3 Hafele America Co 12.3.1 Key Facts 12.3.2 Business Description 12.3.3 Products and Services 12.3.4 Financial Overview 12.3.5 SWOT Analysis 12.3.6 Key Developments 12.4 GM Lighting 12.4.1 Key Facts 12.4.2 Business Description 12.4.3 Products and Services 12.4.4 Financial Overview 12.4.5 SWOT Analysis 12.4.6 Key Developments 12.5 Savant System Inc 12.5.1 Key Facts 12.5.2 Business Description 12.5.3 Products and Services 12.5.4 Financial Overview 12.5.5 SWOT Analysis 12.5.6 Key Developments 12.6 Black+Decker Inc. 12.6.1 Key Facts 12.6.2 Business Description 12.6.3 Products and Services 12.6.4 Financial Overview 12.6.5 SWOT Analysis 12.6.6 Key Developments 12.7 SGi Lighting Inc. 12.7.1 Key Facts 12.7.2 Business Description 12.7.3 Products and Services 12.7.4 Financial Overview 12.7.5 SWOT Analysis 12.7.6 Key Developments 12.8 RAB Design Lighting 12.8.1 Key Facts 12.8.2 Business Description 12.8.3 Products and Services 12.8.4 Financial Overview 12.8.5 SWOT Analysis 12.8.6 Key Developments 12.9 Phantom Lighting Systems 12.9.1 Key Facts 12.9.2 Business Description 12.9.3 Products and Services 12.9.4 Financial Overview 12.9.5 SWOT Analysis 12.9.6 Key Developments 12.10 WAC Lighting 12.10.1 Key Facts 12.10.2 Business Description 12.10.3 Products and Services 12.10.4 Financial Overview 12.10.5 SWOT Analysis 12.10.6 Key Developments 12.11 Hera Lighting 12.11.1 Key Facts 12.11.2 Business Description 12.11.3 Products and Services 12.11.4 Financial Overview 12.11.5 SWOT Analysis 12.11.6 Key Developments 12.12 JESCO Lighting 12.12.1 Key Facts 12.12.2 Business Description 12.12.3 Products and Services 12.12.4 Financial Overview 12.12.5 SWOT Analysis 12.12.6 Key Developments 12.13 Advanced Lighting Concepts, LLC d.b.a Environmental Lights 12.13.1 Key Facts 12.13.2 Business Description 12.13.3 Products and Services 12.13.4 Financial Overview 12.13.5 SWOT Analysis 12.13.6 Key Developments 12.14 Legrand North America, LLC 12.14.1 Key Facts 12.14.2 Business Description 12.14.3 Products and Services 12.14.4 Financial Overview 12.14.5 SWOT Analysis 12.14.6 Key Developments 13. Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/idzcg3 Attachment New York, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Energy Storage Technologies (EST) Market Report 2022-2032" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06310789/?utm_source=GNW The Energy Storage Technologies (EST) Market Report 2022-2032: This report will prove invaluable to leading firms striving for new revenue pockets if they wish to better understand the industry and its underlying dynamics. It will be useful for companies that would like to expand into different industries or to expand their existing operations in a new region. Governments from All Across the World Are Taking Action to Promote Energy Storage The storage industry is primed for rapid expansion. Owners of energy storage systems will be able to generate income from an increasing number of sources thanks to new market regulations, including postponed transmission and distribution upgrades, the incorporation of intermittent resources, decreased demand or increased generating capacity to handle peak loads, the offering of ancillary services, and improved grid reliability and resiliency. Storage used to fit like a square peg into a round hole called historical regulation. The federal regulation that is now in place for wholesale power sales and transmission in interstate commerce was created for a world that had any meaningful energy storage. Even while pumped-storage hydroelectricity has been around for a while, it differs significantly from more recent storage technologies like batteries, flywheels, and thermal energy storage projects in terms of its properties. Governments from all across the world are taking action to promote storage. The US Department of Energys focused loan and incentive programmes, as well as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions initiatives to open up a road to participation in the wholesale market, have helped storage on a global scale. Deal Between BMW Group and Our Next Energy (ONE), an Energy Storage Business The deal between BMW Group and Our Next Energy (ONE), an energy storage business with headquarters in Michigan, calls for the integration of ONEs Gemini Dual-Chemistry battery technology into the BMW iX electric SUV. According to ONE, the BMW iX will be able to go 600 miles (965 kilometres) on a single charge because to its exclusive long-range Gemini technology, which it first showed in January 2022 on a Tesla Model S that travelled 752 miles on a single charge. The iX prototype car, which is expected to be finished by the end of the year, will have nearly double the range of the standard BMW iX xDrive50, which has the greatest EPA-rated range in the lineup at 324 miles (521 kilometers). Through its Silicon Valley-based venture capital arm BMW I Ventures, which recently oversaw a $65M investment round, BMW is a shareholder in ONE. What Questions Should You Ask before Buying a Market Research Report? How is the energy storage technologies market evolving? What is driving and restraining the energy storage technologies market? How will each energy storage technologies submarket segment grow over the forecast period and how much revenue will these submarkets account for in 2032? How will the market shares for each energy storage technologies submarket develop from 2022 to 2032? What will be the main driver for the overall market from 2022 to 2032? Will leading energy storage technologies markets broadly follow the macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual national markets outperform others? How will the market shares of the national markets change by 2032 and which geographical region will lead the market in 2032? Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period? What are the energy storage technologies projects for these leading companies? How will the industry evolve during the period between 2020 and 2032? What are the implications of energy storage technologies projects taking place now and over the next 10 years? Is there a greater need for product commercialisation to further scale the energy storage technologies market? Where is the energy storage technologies market heading and how can you ensure you are at the forefront of the market? What are the best investment options for new product and service lines? What are the key prospects for moving companies into a new growth path and C-suite? You need to discover how this will impact the energy storage technologies market today, and over the next 10 years: Our 316-page report provides 194 tables and 189 charts/graphs exclusively to you. The report highlights key lucrative areas in the industry so you can target them NOW. It contains in-depth analysis of global, regional and national sales and growth. It highlights for you the key successful trends, changes and revenue projections made by your competitors. This report tells you TODAY how the energy storage technologies market will develop in the next 10 years, and in line with the variations in COVID-19 economic recession and bounce. This market is more critical now than at any point over the last 10 years. The report delivers exclusive COVID-19 variations and economic data specific to your market. Forecasts to 2032 and other analyses reveal commercial prospects In addition to revenue forecasting to 2032, our new study provides you with recent results, growth rates, and market shares. You will find original analyses, with business outlooks and developments. Discover qualitative analyses (including market dynamics, drivers, opportunities, restraints and challenges), cost structure, impact of rising energy storage technologies prices and recent developments. This report includes data analysis and invaluable insight into how COVID-19 will affect the industry and your company. Four COVID-19 recovery patterns and their impact, namely, V, L, W and U are discussed in this report. Segments Covered in the Report Market Segment by Application Stationary Energy Storage Application Transportation Energy Storage Application Market Segment by Stationary Type Industrial and Military Use Grid-Related-Utility Grid-Related-Residential Market Segment by Utility Type Ancillary Services Peaking Capacity Energy Shifting Transmission and Distribution Level Market Segment by Industrial Type Uninterruptible Power Source (UPS) + Data Telecom Backup Power Air Conditioning/ Refrigeration Hydrogen Refueling Stations Other Industrial/Military Uses Market Segment by Technology Pumped Storage Hydropower Lithium-ion Batteries Leadacid Batteries Compressed-Air Energy Storage (CAES) Redox Flow Batteries (RFBs) Other Technologies In addition to the revenue predictions for the overall world market and segments, you will also find revenue forecasts for four regional and 20 leading national markets: North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany Spain United Kingdom France Italy Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India Australia South Korea Rest of Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa Turkey Brazil Saudi Arabia South Africa Rest of Middle East and Africa South America Brazil Mexico Rest of South America The report also includes profiles and for some of the leading companies in the Energy Storage Technologies Market, 2022 to 2032, with a focus on this segment of these companies operations. Leading companies and the potential for market growth Altair Nanotechnologies Eguana Technologies Inc. Electrovaya Inc., Exide Industries Limited Fluence Energy, Inc. Furukawa Battery Co., Ltd. General Electric Company Langley Holdings plc (Langley) LG Chem Ltd Samsung SDI Co Ltd Schneider Electric SE Showa Denko K.K. SK Holdings Co Ltd, SMA Solar Technology AG Tata Power Company Limited Overall world revenue for Energy Storage Technologies Market, 2022 to 2032 in terms of value the market will surpass US$14,380 million in 2022, our work calculates. We predict strong revenue growth through to 2032. Our work identifies which organizations hold the greatest potential. Discover their capabilities, progress, and commercial prospects, helping you stay ahead. How will the Energy Storage Technologies Market, 2022 to 2032 report help you? In summary, our 316-page report provides you with the following knowledge: Revenue forecasts to 2032 for Energy Storage Technologies Market, 2022 to 2032 Market, with forecasts for application, stationary type, industrial type, technology and company size, each forecast at a global and regional level discover the industrys prospects, finding the most lucrative places for investments and revenues. Revenue forecasts to 2032 for four regional and 20 key national markets See forecasts for the Energy Storage Technologies Market, 2022 to 2032 market in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and LAMEA. Also forecasted is the market in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, UK, Italy, China, India, Japan, and Australia among other prominent economies. Prospects for established firms and those seeking to enter the market including company profiles for 15 of the major companies involved in the Energy Storage Technologies Market, 2022 to 2032. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06310789/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Edmonton, AB, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hotel ownership, management, and development firm Hotel Equities (HE) continues to grow its management portfolio in Canada as it assumes management of the Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre, located in Edmonton South, Alberta. The 136-room hotel, owned by 2430776 Alberta Ltd, offers spacious, pet-friendly accommodations, and is conveniently located just 20 minutes from the Edmonton International Airport. Sawridge is also just a short drive from some of the capital city's most popular attractions including West Edmonton Mall, Old Strathcona and South Edmonton Common. Hotel Equities could not be more excited to be managing the hotel on behalf of its new owners, said Hotel Equities Senior Vice President of Business Development, Ryan McRae. With HEs regional Canadian offices in Edmonton, Sawridge will have access to industry leading support and resources provided by our team of experts. The Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre is a terrific addition to our Edmonton hotels, said Martin Stitt, Senior Vice President of Operations at Hotel Equities. Its high traffic gateway location from the airport and Calgary, combined with its full-service amenities, provides significant opportunity to attract hotel, meeting, and social catering guests. In addition, we look forward to activating the restaurant and lounge with compelling offerings for both hotel guests and the local community. Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre caters to both leisure and business travelers and specializes in group travel. Guests may enjoy the hotel's 24-hour fitness center, as well as complimentary Wi-Fi and parking. The hotel is the perfect setting for business and social events, with more than 9,000 square feet of meeting and event space for up to 200 guests. The hotel's onsite wedding and event planners are available to help with every detail. ### About Hotel Equities Hotel Equities is an award-winning full-scale hotel ownership, management, and development firm with a portfolio of over 250 hotels and resorts throughout the United States and Canada. Fred Cerrone, CHA, serves as Founder and Chairman; Brad Rahinsky serves as President and CEO. Hotel Equities is an affiliate of 33 Degrees, an integrated management platform combining market knowledge and industry experience across a broad range of CRE assets including office, restaurant, retail, mixed-use and multi-unit residential. For more information on Hotel Equities, visit www.hotelequities.com. Attachment Detroit, Michigan, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions, Inc., (OTCPK:AITX), along with its wholly owned subsidiary Robotic Assistance Devices, Inc. (RAD) today announced the selection of the initial 5 recipients of its school firearm detection campaign. The program, Baileys Gift, is named in memory of Bailey Holt, who was shot and killed by a gunman during the January 23, 2018, Marshall County High School shooting in rural Kentucky. The campaign was initially designed to provide 10 ROSA security robots with firearm detection capabilities to underfunded or vulnerable K-12 schools in the US. On July 26th, the Company announced that it was expanding the number of donated units to as many as 45, by directing net proceeds from its continuing ROSA NFT sales to support the Baileys Gift campaign. Were pleased to have selected the first group of amazing schools that are eager to embrace solutions that will change and save lives, said Steve Reinharz, CEO of AITX and RAD. Two of the schools selected are here in Detroit and in great need of enhanced security. Applications keep coming in, and we will soon announce the next group of selected and deserving schools, spanning the entire country. I want to thank RAD for finding common sense solutions applying technology to school applications, said Christopher Lynch, President of Detroit Cristo Rey High School. We hope to minimize any threat of violence around the school while maintaining a welcoming, inclusive learning environment with strong security. The ROSA solution seems to strike a nice balance, without an overt sense of policing at our school that traditional metal detectors convey." Also selected to receive ROSA units were 2 schools in Kentucky, plus a Northern California high school. "I am so blessed to be a part of this beautiful campaign, said Secret Holt, mother of school shooting victim Bailey Holt. I am so excited for these schools, their faculty, and students. Bailey will be with you every single day, and that makes my heart smile." Every school that has been awarded a Baileys Gift ROSA is so appreciative and excited, said Doug Clemons, Chief Marketing Officer at RAD. These schools have been yearning for a tangible defensive advantage that can help keep them secure. We expect to be able to identify all awarded schools once they have completed the acceptance process. The Company believes that there are over 100,000 K-12 schools that could immediately benefit from this firearm detection technology. RADs solution deploys quickly and provides a non-biased level of early detection and deterrence to potential firearm related events in and around these buildings. RAD is continuing to accept applications for Baileys Gift. Schools are encouraged to apply for consideration at radsecurity.com/baileys-gift. Conditions apply, see website for details. The ROSA NFT is available for purchase online at www.mint.aitxnft.com. To review additional details regarding the ROSA NFT, please visit www.aitxnft.com. RADs parent company AITX has filed for uplisting to the OTCQB. Future announcements will be made regarding the status of the OTCQB application. ROSA is a multiple award-winning, compact, self-contained, portable, security and communication solution that can be deployed in about 15 minutes. Like other RAD solutions, it only requires power as it includes all necessary communications hardware. ROSAs AI-driven security analytics include human and vehicle detection, license plate recognition, responsive digital signage and audio messaging, and complete integration with RADs software suite notification and autonomous response library. Two-way communication is optimized for cellular, including live video from ROSAs dual high-resolution, full-color, always-on cameras. RAD has published two Case Studies detailing how ROSA has helped eliminate instances of theft, trespassing and loitering at car rental locations and construction sites across the country. Robotic Assistance Devices (RAD) is a high-tech start-up that delivers robotics and artificial intelligence-based solutions that empower organizations to gain new insight, solve complex security challenges, and fuel new business ideas at reduced costs. RAD developed its advanced security robot technology from the ground up including circuit board design, and base code development. This allows RAD to have complete control over all design elements, performance, quality, and the users experience of all security robots whether SCOT, ROSA, Wally, Wally HSO, AVA, ROAMEO, CASSIE, or RAD Light My Way. Read about how RAD is reinventing the security services industry by downloading the Autonomous Remote Services Industry Manifesto, and request a copy of the recently published Navigating the New Economy: Jobs & Automation, Challenges & Opportunities. CAUTIONARY DISCLOSURE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this news release other than statements of historical fact are "forward-looking statements" that are based on current expectations and assumptions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the ability of Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions to provide for its obligations, to provide working capital needs from operating revenues, to obtain additional financing needed for any future acquisitions, to meet competitive challenges and technological changes, to meet business and financial goals including projections and forecasts, and other risks. Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement(s) and/or to confirm the statement(s) to actual results or changes in Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions expectations. About Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions (AITX) AITX is an innovator in the delivery of artificial intelligence-based solutions that empower organizations to gain new insight, solve complex challenges and fuel new business ideas. Through its next-generation robotic product offerings, AITXs RAD, RAD-M and RAD-G companies help organizations streamline operations, increase ROI, and strengthen business. AITX technology improves the simplicity and economics of patrolling and guard services and allows experienced personnel to focus on more strategic tasks. Customers augment the capabilities of existing staffs and gain higher levels of situational awareness, all at drastically reduced cost. AITX solutions are well suited for use in multiple industries such as enterprises, government, transportation, critical infrastructure, education, and healthcare. To learn more, visit www.aitx.ai, stevereinharz.com, www.radsecurity.com and www.radlightmyway.com, or follow Steve Reinharz on Twitter @SteveReinharz. ### Steve Reinharz 949-636-7060 @SteveReinharz Attachment CHICAGO, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Marketing Association Chicago (AMA Chicago) has announced a new award for brand marketers: Marketer of the Year. The award is open to any in-house marketer based in the Chicagoland area, though their employer does not need to be local. Nominees' current responsibilities must focus on the branding, marketing, and communications aspects of their company's brand, including nonprofits, small businesses, and companies of all sizes. Nominations can be submitted through midnight on Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. "The Marketer of the Year award is an exciting opportunity for brand marketers," said Chris McGuire, president-elect of AMA Chicago. "We're looking to honor a marketer who has overcome a business obstacle, or turned something around for their brand, or dealt with a lot of challenges and still came out ahead. Chicago is home to incredible brands, and AMA Chicago is thrilled to honor an outstanding professional in our field." The honoree will be recognized for their strategy, results, vision, and leadership in marketing. Examples include marketers who have evolved a brand and changed how consumers view them; marketers who made headlines and built engagement and awareness of their brand; marketers whose specific campaigns yielded remarkable results. "This is a great opportunity for agencies to nominate our clients," said McGuire, who is also Director of Client Growth and Engagement at McGuffin Creative Group, Inc. "These types of honors matter and offer credibility. The Marketer of the Year award is the perfect way to honor and give back to our clients who are doing the day-to-day work of leading a brand." Nominations are open through August 15 at amachicago.org/marketer-of-the-year. The process is simple, requiring the nominee's LinkedIn profile and a short narrative (300-1,000 words). The narrative must address the three categories of criteria: Strategy, Results, Vision & Leadership. The nominee needs to have completed the work outlined in the narrative within the last 12-18 months. For more information on the Marketer of the Year award or to find out more about the AMA Chicago chapter, visit the website at AMAChicago.org. American Marketing Association Chicago AMA Chicago, the largest professional chapter in the American Marketing Association's North American network, is 85 years strong. AMA Chicago provides ongoing development opportunities for Chicagoland marketers to expand knowledge, improve skills, and grow careers through access to innovative marketing thought leaders and cutting-edge programming. Marketers from agencies, brands, small businesses, non-profit organizations, and consultancies are invited to join AMA Chicago to make connections with marketers from every industry and skill set. Visit amachicago.org to learn more and join. Media Contact: Karolyn Raphael Karolyn@wingermarketing.com Related Images Image 1: AMA Chicago Marketer of the Year Award 2022 The American Marketing Association Chicago (AMA Chicago) has announced a new award for brand marketers working in Chicago: Marketer of the Year. Nominations are due by August 15, 2022. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. Attachment Newport, Rhode Island, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On August 17th, RM Sothebys and Linkage Magazine, the magazine geared for the Automotive Life, will team up for a unique, multi-media seminar where a panel consisting of automotive all-stars will discuss History, Intellect, PassionWhat Connects Collectors to Cars. with a deep dive on the 1956 Ferrari 410 Sport and 2008 Lamborghini Reventon, feature lots of RM Sothebys Monterey 2022 auction. The seminar will take place at 3:00 p.m.in the Colton Rooms at the Monterey Conference Center. The all-star panel includes: Donald Osborne, Publisher, Linkage magazine, CEO of the Audrain Group, noted automotive author, appraiser, and host of the Assess and Caress segments on Jay Lenos Garage. Miles Collier is a collector, enthusiast, writer, and artist who founded the Revs Institute in Naples, Florida, regarded as one of the greatest repositories of automobile resources in the world and home to the Collier Collection. He is well-known as an advocate of the automobile as being among the most important technological artifacts of the twentieth century. Steve Serio has been in the enthusiast auto business since 1987 and is the owner of the Bond Group which buys and sells all marques of classics from Astons to Ferrari, Porsches, and more. A professional photographer, he has always been passionate about cars. Formerly the owner of Lotus and Aston Martin dealerships, today he also is an active contributor to many publications. At most collector car auctions, you can learn a lot about the particular cars on offerwhen they were made, their special features, how people connect emotionally to them, and, eventually, what the market says theyre worth, said Linkage Publisher, CEO of Audrain Group, and noted automotive author, Donald Osborne. But thats not the whole story. We will take seminar participants in a time machine, back to when the cars were designed, built, and driven, and find out a bit of why these cars have transcended their time to become icons. Tickets can be purchased directly at www.Linkagemag.com/events For more information regarding Linkage Magazine please visit www.linkagemag.com. #LinkageMag Instagram Facebook About Linkage Magazine Linkage Magazine is a quartlerly magazine put out by Audrain Motorsport that is geared for the Automotive Life. The classic car world is driven by passion, and Linkage is your connection to the Experiences, Opinions and Values that power that passion. Each of our glossy, quarterly print issues takes you on a journey into the car world you know and the car world you dont. Each 180-page issue dives deep into the car world, with features that cover everything from the glamour of great roads in Italy to the grit of your local Saturday night grudge races. Its about Experiences. Your favorite automotive personalities are here including Jay Leno, Simon Kidston, Donald Osborne and Zak Brown joined by others who are destined to be your next favorites. Its about Opinions. Beyond that, we cover classic car auctions around the world, giving you insight on whats going on in the market for the classics and collectibles you already own, as well as the ones you still dream of owning. its about Values. FOR MORE NEWS FROM RM SOTHEBYS: #RMSothebys #RMMonterey Visit: rmsothebys.com Instagram Twitter Facebook YouTube About RM Sothebys RM Sothebys is the world's largest collector car auction house by total sales. With over 40 years of proven results in the collector car industry, RMs vertically integrated range of services, from auctions (live and online) and private sales to estate planning and financial services, coupled with an expert team of Car Specialists and an international footprint, provide an unsurpassed level of service to the global collector car market. RM Sothebys is currently responsible for six of the top ten most valuable motor cars ever sold at auction. Media Information High-res images of all cars offered in the auction are available from rmsothebys.com when logged in as a registered media contact. For further information and interview opportunities, please contact a member of RM Sothebys PR department. RM Media Contacts UK/Europe: Peter Haynes phaynes@rmsothebys.com | +44 (0) 7738 883 259 North America: Kate Clendenning kclendenning@rmsothebys.com | +1 519 365 8450 North America: Ethan Gibson egibson@rmsothebys.com | +1 313 590 5764 Attachments Charleston SC, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the second consecutive year, the College of Charleston has been chosen as the exclusive academic partner for the Charleston Literary Festival. The internationally renowned festival, which runs Nov. 4-13, 2022, will feature a host of world-class writers and thinkers exploring todays most pressing issues and ideas. The College of Charleston is honored to partner with this extraordinary festival again, says Suzanne Austin, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. This collaboration offers a unique opportunity for our students, faculty and staff to connect with a wide range of top-quality speakers promoting the power of great writing, ideas and creativity. As the academic partner, the College of Charleston and its Alumni Association will provide financial, promotional and logistical support to the festival. In addition, the Colleges faculty members will be among the interlocutors in the conversations. And in keeping with festival tradition, students will have the opportunity to intern, volunteer and attend the programs. Lastly, the College will provide guest housing for lecturers and host the festivals Opening Night party in the Cistern Yard featuring award-winning jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon on Nov. 5, 2022. In August, information on sponsorships and ticket packages will be available on the festival website, charlestonliteraryfestival.com. Leading topics of the festival will include utopian to bohemian societies, racial injustice, challenges to democracy, generational trauma, the war in Europe, combating misinformation, what humans can learn from apes, and the survival story of a royal family, among many others. Most of the events will be held in person at iconic Charleston venues, including the Circular Congregational Church, Dock Street Theatre and the Charleston Library Society. Programming revolves around lively conversations between authors and interviewers and encourages audience participation. To partner with the College of Charleston, a nationally recognized liberal arts and sciences university redefining education through innovation, aligns seamlessly with our mission to bring important ideas not only to the Lowcountry community but to a national audience as well and do it in a meaningful way, says Walter Fiederowicz, president of the Charleston Literary Festival. The preliminary list of confirmed authors includes: Sandy Hook , from The New York Times writer Elizabeth Williamson, is a landmark investigation of the aftermath of a school shooting, the work of Sandy Hook parents who fought to defend themselves, and the truth of their childrens fate against the frenzied distortions of online deniers and conspiracy theorists. , from Elizabeth Williamson, is a landmark investigation of the aftermath of a school shooting, the work of Sandy Hook parents who fought to defend themselves, and the truth of their childrens fate against the frenzied distortions of online deniers and conspiracy theorists. The Palace Papers , Tina Brown, award-winning writer and editor of Tatler , Vanity Fair and The New Yorker , picks up where The Diana Chronicles left off, revealing how the royal family reinvented itself after the traumatic years when Dianas blazing celebrity ripped through the House of Windsor like a comet. , Tina Brown, award-winning writer and editor of , and , picks up where left off, revealing how the royal family reinvented itself after the traumatic years when Dianas blazing celebrity ripped through the House of Windsor like a comet. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author of Begin Again: James Baldwins America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, is one of the nations most prominent scholars and passionate educator, author, political commentator and public intellectual who examines the complex dynamics of the American experience. Named one of the best books of the year by Time , The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune , Begin Again is where Glaude finds hope and guidance in James Baldwin as he mixes biography with history, memoir and poignant analysis of our current moment to reveal the painful cycle of Black resistance and white retrenchment. one of the nations most prominent scholars and passionate educator, author, political commentator and public intellectual who examines the complex dynamics of the American experience. Named one of the best books of the year by , and the , is where Glaude finds hope and guidance in James Baldwin as he mixes biography with history, memoir and poignant analysis of our current moment to reveal the painful cycle of Black resistance and white retrenchment. By Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks, Horse is based on the true story of record-breaking 19th-century thoroughbred Lexington, who became Americas greatest stud sire. It is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, the bond between people and animals, and an unfinished reckoning with racial injustice throughout different American history periods. is based on the true story of record-breaking 19th-century thoroughbred Lexington, who became Americas greatest stud sire. It is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, the bond between people and animals, and an unfinished reckoning with racial injustice throughout different American history periods. The Latecomer, by Jean Hanff Korelitz, The New York Times bestselling author of The Plot, touches on grief and guilt, generational trauma, privilege and race, traditions and religion, and family dynamics. It is a profound and witty family story from an accomplished author known for the depth of her character studies, expertly woven storylines and plot twists. The Charleston Literary Festival is an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a distinct transatlantic focus. The festival takes place each November in Charleston, South Carolina, and has a distinctive international ethos that offers attendees the opportunity to engage with renowned authors in unique settings and to contribute to conversations that revolve around outstanding books and illuminating ideas. Attachments TORONTO, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX:K; NYSE:KGC) (Kinross or the Company) today announced the appointment of Claude Schimper as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Paul Tomory, Executive Vice-President and Chief Technical Officer, will be leaving the Company on August 31, 2022 to pursue new opportunities. In his new role, Mr. Schimper will be responsible for the operational success of the Companys recently re-positioned portfolio, with approximately 70% of Kinross production now based out of the Americas. Mr. Schimper has more than 30 years of mining experience and first joined Kinross in 2010, holding progressively more senior operational roles within the Company, most recently as Executive Vice-President, Operations with oversight of the Russia and West Africa regions. He was also Vice-President and General Manager, Kupol before assuming the leadership of the Companys Russia region in 2014. Previous to Kinross, Mr. Schimper was the Chief Operating Officer for Balkan Resources Inc., and also held positions at Placer Dome, Canada, and several South African mines including AngloGold Ashanti's Mponeng gold mine. Mr. Schimper received a South African National Higher Diploma in Metalliferous Mining from the Technikon Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. With this new appointment, Claude will take charge of our re-positioned portfolio, and bring an enhanced focus on our operational commitments while continuing to prioritize safety. He is a veteran of this industry whose significant experience and insights will be invaluable as we look to further optimize our operations to ensure we safely deliver on our goals, said J. Paul Rollinson, President and Chief Executive Officer. On behalf of our employees and the Board, I would like to thank Paul Tomory for his leadership and many important contributions to Kinross, from the successful completion of the Tasiast Phase One expansion, to the development of our major project pipeline, and wish him success in his future endeavours. Ned Jalil will take on an expanded role as Senior Vice-President, Technical Services, to lead Kinross Technical Services function, reporting directly to Paul Rollinson. He will oversee project development, exploration, geology, mine planning, operations strategy and the supply chain functions, bringing his technical expertise and over 25 years of international leadership and experience in strategic operations and engineering to his role. Mr. Jalil rejoined Kinross in January 2022, having previously held various leadership roles, most notably directing the strategic planning and technical services of the Companys tier one Paracatu mine and delivering the sites successful asset optimization initiative. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Atlantic Nickel and Mineracao Vale Verde, where he oversaw the Santa Rita nickel mine and the Serrote copper project. These new appointments will enhance oversight of our operations, projects and technical services groups as we optimize our re-positioned portfolio and move ahead with our growth strategy, said Mr. Rollinson. With the increased operational technical bench strength and expertise on our leadership team, we will be prioritizing thoughtful, balanced planning to consistently deliver on our commitments. These commitments include an expected production increase next year and an average of two million gold ounces of production per year over the remainder of the decade. About Kinross Gold Corporation Kinross is a Canadian-based global senior gold mining company with operations and projects in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile, Ghana and Canada. Our focus on delivering value is based on our core principles of responsible mining, operational excellence, disciplined growth and balance sheet strength. Kinross maintains listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol:K) and the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:KGC). Media Contact Louie Diaz Vice-President, Corporate Communications phone: 416-369-6469 louie.diaz@kinross.com Investor Relations Contact Chris Lichtenheldt Vice-President, Investor Relations phone: 416-365-2761 chris.lichtenheldt@kinross.com Cautionary statement on forward-looking information All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained or incorporated by reference in or made in this presentation, including but not limited to any information as to the future performance of Kinross, constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including the provisions of the Securities Act (Ontario) and the provisions for safe harbor under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this presentation. Forward-looking statements contained in this presentation include, without limitation, statements with respect to guidance for production and project development. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Kinross as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, legislative and competitive risks and uncertainties and contingencies. Many of these risks and uncertainties and contingencies can affect, and could cause, Kinross actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward looking statements made by, or on behalf of, Kinross. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: operational or technical difficulties in connection with development, mining or processing activities; the volatility of prices of gold and silver; uncertainty of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; the speculative nature of gold exploration and development including, but not limited to, the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and risks associated with operating in foreign jurisdictions, including government relations risks. There can be no assurance that forward looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. All of the forward looking statements made in this presentation are qualified by these cautionary statements, and those made in our filings with the securities regulators of Canada and the U.S., including but not limited to those cautionary statements made in the Risk Factors section of our most recently filed Annual Information Form, the Risk Analysis section of our FYE 2021 Managements Discussion and Analysis, and the Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information in our news release dated July 27, 2022, to which readers are referred and which are incorporated by reference in this presentation, all of which qualify any and all forwardlooking statements made in this presentation. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Kinross. Kinross disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forwardlooking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forwardlooking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. Source: Kinross Gold Corporation NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) between September 2, 2020 and July 21, 2021, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), of the important August 15, 2022 lead plaintiff deadline. SO WHAT: If you purchased Unilever securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Unilever class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=7063 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than August 15, 2022. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually handle securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that in July 2020, Ben & Jerrys board passed a resolution to end sales of its ice cream in Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as the risks attendant to the boards decision. Additionally, Unilevers s description of its legal risks was materially false and misleading because Unilever acknowledged that complying with all applicable laws and regulations was important but omitted discussing Ben & Jerrys boycott decision, which risked adverse governmental actions for violations of laws, executive orders, or resolutions aimed at discouraging boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel adopted by 35 U.S. states (Anti-BDS Legislation). On July 19, 2021, Unilever and its hand-picked Ben & Jerrys CEO, finally operationalized the Ben & Jerrys boards resolution to boycott. Ben & Jerrys announced on its website and through its Twitter account that, upon the expiration of the current licensing agreement by which its products had been distributed in Israel for decades, Ben & Jerrys would end sales of its ice cream in Occupied Palestinian Territory but Ben & Jerrys would purportedly continue to sell its products in Israel. Ultimately, the states of New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona announced decisions to divest their pension fund investments in Unilever due to violations of their Anti-BDS Legislation. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the Unilever class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=7063 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 lrosen@rosenlegal.com pkim@rosenlegal.com cases@rosenlegal.com www.rosenlegal.com The Group is presenting the first two track sections for testing autonomous vehicles and assistance systems at the new BMW Group Future Mobility Center in Sokolov, the Czech Republic. At the new test site, the BMW Group will continue to advance electrification, digitalization and automated driving. The proving ground in the Karlovy Vary region is about two-and-a-half hours drive from the BMW Groups main development site, the Research and Development Center (FIZ), in Munich. With the launch of the two test tracks and an exclusive insight into its testing operations, the BMW Group will showcase the first results of its 300-million investment in Sokolov. The testing facility is expected to be fully operational by mid-2023 and will have more than 100 employees working on site. The New Technology Area, an approx. 90,000 m homologation-capable area with three separate run-up tracks, provides optimal conditions for testing assistance systems and behavior in cross traffic as well as emergency braking and evasive situations. The tests are prepared and controlled from the adjoining control room with temporary workstations. In the immediate vicinity of the New Technology Area is the six-kilometer Autonomous Driving Highway, a motorway-style circuit with on- and off-ramp scenarios for testing autonomous vehicles on motorways. The test motorway has been equipped with two functional lanes and an emergency stop lane as well as gantries and a straight stretch measuring more than 1,000 meters. Iberdrola and bp intend to form a strategic collaboration to expand fast EV public charging infrastructure significantly as well as to develop large-scale green hydrogen production hubs in Spain, Portugal and the UK. Accelerating EV fast charging. Iberdrola and bp plan to form a joint venture that intends to invest up to 1 billion to roll-out a network of up to 11,000 rapid and ultra-fast EV public charge points across Spain and Portugal, significantly expanding access to charging for consumer and fleet customers thus accelerating electric mobility. The plan includes installing and operating an initial 5,000 fast charge points by 2025, and up to a total of 11,000 by 2030, including bp and Iberdrolas existing and future fast charging hubs. The companies are also looking at options to jointly serve EV customers in the UK. Iberdrola offers comprehensive mobility services to cover the needs of electric vehicle users: residential, business and public charging, including solutions for urban and heavy transport (electrification of buses and trucks). Iberdrola leads the public charging infrastructure in Spain and Portugal with more than 2,500 points in operation and others under development, with renewable energy to decarbonize transport end-to-end. bp aims to rapidly expand its EV charge points globally and continues to invest in rapid and ultra-fast charging. Customers already have access to its European network of over 10,000 charge points, mainly in UK and Germany. bp expects to use some of its extensive and conveniently located network of 1,300 retail sites in Spain and Portugal as locations for charging hubs for the joint venture. EV drivers would be able to charge in safe locations with access to additional convenience services. Integrated large scale green hydrogen production. The companies also plan to form a joint venture for large-scale integrated green hydrogen production in Spain, Portugal and the UK as well as production of derivatives such as green ammonia, and methanol, that can be potentially exported into Nothern Europe. This strategic collaboration will combine Iberdrolas world-class track record in renewables development and its global customer base, with bps experience in gas processing, trading and its global customer portfolio. The companies aim to jointly develop advantaged hydrogen production hubs in Spain, Portugal and UK, with total capacity of up to 600ktpa, integrated with new renewable power. The green hydrogen project at bps Castellon refinery will be part of the agreement. The two companies, together with the Instituto Tecnologico de la Energia, have submitted the Castellon project to the Spanish governments hydrogen value chain PERTE call. Likewise, Iberdrola and bps industrial hydrogen projects under development, as well as new projects, will be part of the agreement.Based on this collaboration in Spain, Portugal and UK, Iberdrola and bp intend to explore potential future opportunities for green hydrogen production in other geographies. bp and Iberdrola aim to finalise both joint venture agreements by end 2022, subject to regulatory approvals. A study led by UCLA researchers developed a method for predicting platinum alloys potency and stabilitytwo key indicators of how they will perform as catalysts in hydrogen fuel cells. Then, using that technique, they designed and produced an alloy that yielded excellent results under conditions approximating real-world use. The findings are published in the journal Nature Catalysis. A critical technological roadblock to the widespread adoption of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells is the development of highly active and durable platinum-based catalysts for accelerating the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction, which has largely relied on anecdotal discoveries so far. While the oxygen binding energy E O has been frequently used as a theoretical descriptor for predicting the activity, there is no known descriptor for predicting durability. Here we developed a binary experimental descriptor that captures both the strain and Pt transition metal coupling contributions through X-ray absorption spectroscopy and directly correlated the binary experimental descriptor with the calculated E O of the catalyst surface. This leads to an experimentally validated Sabatier plot to predict both the catalytic activity and stability for a wide range of Pt-alloy oxygen reduction reaction catalysts. Based on the binary experimental descriptor, we further designed an oxygen reduction reaction catalyst wherein high activity and stability are simultaneously achieved. Huang et al. Huang et al. Fuel cells generate power using oxygen from the atmosphere and hydrogen. A key step in the process is using a catalyst to break the bonds between pairs of oxygen atoms. The catalysts that work best are highly active, in order to drive the reaction, while also being stable enough to be used for long periods of time. And for those designing fuel cells, finding the best catalysts has been a major challenge. Platinum is the best element for the purpose, but its rarity makes the technology prohibitively expensive for large-scale adoption. An alloy combining platinum with a more readily accessible metal or metals would reduce the cost, but there has never been a practical, real-world method for quickly screening which alloy would make the best catalyst. As a result, advances in the technology have come through trial and error so far. This is a decisive step forward toward the rational design, down to the microscopic scale, of catalysts with optimal performance. Nobody has ever come up with a method, either theoretical or experimental, to predict the stability of platinum alloy catalysts. Alessandro Fortunelli of Italys National Research Council, co-corresponding author The new method predicts both the potency and the stability of platinum alloy catalysts. It was developed using a combination of experiments, complex computation and X-ray spectroscopy, which allowed the investigators to precisely identify chemical properties. The researchers then created catalysts combining precise amounts of platinum, nickel and cobalt in a specific atomic structure and configuration based on their experimental measure. They showed that the alloy they designed is both highly active and highly stable, a rare but much-needed combination for fuel cell catalysts. Co-corresponding author Yu Huang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, said that the method could be applied to potential catalysts mixing platinum with a subset of metals beyond nickel and cobalt. The papers other co-corresponding authors are chemist Qingying Jia of Northeastern University and theorist William Goddard of Caltech. Huang, whose UCLA laboratory was primarily responsible for designing and testing the catalyst, said the collaboration with scientists and engineers at other institutions was vital to the studys success. Huangs group is now collaborating with Toyota Motor Corp. to develop fuel cell catalysts with possible real-world applications. The research was supported by the US Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation. Resources Carissa Elise Byars, 28, died a year ago on July 22, 2021 at her home. The cause of death was congestive heart failure. Carissa was born on August 23, 1992 in Rock Springs, WY, to Nadine Frances (Haines) Byars and James Roger Byars, Jr. She attended schools in Rock Springs and graduated in the top ten of her class from Rock Springs High School in 2010. She then moved to New York City and graduated, with honors, from New York University in 2014. She created her own major in the field of Environmental Sustainability. Carissa was optimistic about life, always willing to try something new, and able to find humor in things. Even living with daily pain, numerous medical issues, and rapidly diminishing health she would joke about earning an honorary medical degree after all the time she had spent in doctor's offices, hospitals and reading medical studies. Carissa was never afraid to stand up for herself, or others, or to voice her opinions, of which she has many. Her broad range of interests led to much in-depth research in a variety of subjects. Her friends and family could always count on her for good conversation, honest advice, and frequently a passionate debate. Carissa had a unique aesthetic. She enjoyed bright colors and bold patterns and this was reflected in her makeup, hair, and outfits she wore. She enjoyed a variety of music genres, both listening and performing and had a beautiful singing voice. She enjoyed traveling, meeting people from all cultures, trying their foods, and learning their languages. Her years of living in New York City allowed her to develop a diverse group of friendships and her curiosity and quest for knowledge allowed her to thrive there. Carissa is survived by her parents, Nadine and Jim Byars and her brother Aidan Byars, all of Rock Springs. She is also survived by six aunts, two uncles, and ten cousins residing in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Her special rescue dog Hazy also survives her. She was preceded in death by both her maternal and paternal grandparents as well as two maternal uncles. "Our Joys will be greater, our love will be deeper, our life will be fuller because we shared your moment." -Unknown Condolences may be held at http://www.foxfh.com. Currently Reading Alert: Alabama inmate has been executed for 1994 murder of former girlfriend despite pleas from victims family to spare him (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Edward D. Melillo, Amherst College (THE CONVERSATION) On a crisp autumn morning in 1908, an elegantly dressed African American man strode back and forth among the pin oaks, magnolias and silver maples of OFallon Park in St. Louis, Missouri. After placing a dozen dishes filled with strawberry jam atop several picnic tables, biologist Charles Henry Turner retreated to a nearby bench, notebook and pencil at the ready. Following a midmorning break for tea and toast (topped with strawberry jam, of course), Turner returned to his outdoor experiment. At noon and again at dusk, he placed jam-filled dishes on the park tables. As he discovered, honeybees (Apis mellifera) were reliable breakfast, lunch and dinner visitors to the sugary buffet. After a few days, Turner stopped offering jam at midday and sunset, and presented the treats only at dawn. Initially, the bees continued appearing at all three times. Soon, however, they changed their arrival patterns, visiting the picnic tables only in the mornings. This simple but elegantly devised experiment led Turner to conclude that bees can perceive time and will rapidly develop new feeding habits in response to changing conditions. These results were among the first in a cascade of groundbreaking discoveries that Turner made about insect behavior. Across his distinguished 33-year career, Turner authored 71 papers and was the first African American to have his research published in the prestigious journal Science. Although his name is barely known today, Charles Henry Turner was a pioneer in studying bees and should be considered among the great entomologists of the 19th and 20th centuries. While researching my book on human interactions with insects in world history, I became aware of Turners pioneering work on insect cognition, which constituted much of his groundbreaking research on animal behavior. Humble beginnings Turner was born in Cincinnati in 1867, a mere two years after the Civil War ended. The son of a church custodian and a nurse who was formerly enslaved, he grew up under the specter of Jim Crow a set of formal laws and informal practices that relegated African Americans to second-class status. The social environment of Turners childhood included school and housing segregation, frequent lynchings and the denial of basic democratic rights to the citys nonwhite population. Despite immense obstacles to his educational goals and professional aspirations, Turners tenacious spirit carried him through. As a young boy, he developed an abiding fascination with small creatures, capturing and cataloging thousands of ants, beetles and butterflies. An aptitude for science was just one of Turners many talents. At Gaines High School, he led his all-Black class, securing his place as valedictorian. Turner went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Cincinnati, and he became the first African American to receive a doctorate in zoology from the University of Chicago. Turners cutting-edge doctoral dissertation, The Homing of Ants: An Experimental Study of Ant Behavior, was later excerpted in the September 1907 issue of the Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology. Despite his brilliance, Turner was unable to secure long-term employment in higher education. The University of Chicago refused to offer him a job, and Booker T. Washington was too cash-strapped to hire him at the all-Black Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. Following a brief stint at the University of Cincinnati and a temporary position at Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University), Turner spent the remainder of his career teaching at Sumner High School in St. Louis. As of 1908, his salary was a meager US$1,080 a year around $34,300 in todays dollars. At Sumner without access to a fully equipped laboratory, a research library or graduate students Turner made trailblazing discoveries about insect behavior. Probing the minds of insects Among Turners most significant findings was that wasps, bees, sawflies and ants members of the Hymenoptera order are not simply primitive automatons, as so many of his contemporaries thought. Instead, they are organisms with the capacities to remember, learn and feel. During the early 1900s, biologists were aware that flowers attracted bee pollinators by producing certain scents. However, these researchers knew next to nothing about the visual aspects of such attractions, when bees were too far from the flowers to smell them. To investigate, Turner pounded rows of wooden dowels into the OFallon Park lawn. Atop each rod, he affixed a red disk dipped in honey. Soon, bees began traveling from far away to his makeshift flowers. Turner then added a series of control rods topped with blue disks that bore no honey. The bees paid little heed to the new flowers, demonstrating that visual signals provided guidance, when the bees were too distant to smell their targets. Although a honeybees ability to detect red remains controversial, scientists have determined that Turners bees were likely responding to something called achromatic stimuli, which allowed them to discern among various shades and tints. Lasting legacies of an underappreciated pioneer Turners astounding range of findings from three decades of experiments established his reputation as an authority on the behavioral patterns of bees, cockroaches, spiders and ants. As a scientific researcher without a university position, he occupied an odd niche. In large part, his situation was the product of systemic racism. It was also a result of his commitment to training young Black students in science. Alongside his scientific publications, Turner wrote extensively on African American education. In his 1902 essay Will the Education of the Negro Solve the Race Problem? Turner contended that trade schools were not the pathway to Black empowerment. Instead, he called for widespread public education of African Americans in all subjects: if we cast aside our prejudices and try the highest education upon both white and Black, in a few decades there will be no Negro problem. Turner was only 56 when he died of acute myocarditis, an infectious heart inflammation. He was survived by two children and his second wife, Lillian Porter. Turners scientific contributions endure. His articles continue to be widely cited, and entomologists have subsequently verified most of his conclusions. Despite the colossal challenges he faced throughout his career, Charles Henry Turner was among the first scientists to shed light on the secret lives of bees, the winged pollinators that ensure the welfare of human food systems and the survival of Earths biosphere. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/charles-henry-turner-the-little-known-black-high-school-science-teacher-who-revolutionized-the-study-of-insect-behavior-in-the-early-20th-century-184030. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH The Greenwich Public Schools announced the appointment Friday of two veteran educators to serve as interim principals at two elementary schools. Kerry Gavin, an assistant principal at Western Middle School, will lead Cos Cob School as interim principal. Diane Chiappetta Fox, administrator of Greenwich High Schools Windrose program, will take on the role of interim principal at Hamilton Avenue School. Cos Cob School Gavin begins his new role immediately, replace of Gene Schmidt, who retired at the end of the school year alongside his wife Angela Schmidt, the former principal of North Mianus School. Kerry Gavin has proven to be one of the most passionate and inspiring administrators Greenwich Public Schools has to offer, and we are thrilled to now have him lead Cos Cob School, Superintendent Toni Jones said in a statement. He has superior communication and collaboration skills, and I am confident that he will continue to carry on the great educational traditions the Cos Cob community is accustomed to having. Gavin is known for his enthusiasm for the St. Baldricks Foundation fundraiser, an event he hosts in which volunteers shave their heads and raise money for childhood cancer research. He joined Greenwich Public Schools in 1994 as a paraprofessional. He has held the roles of French teacher at Greenwich High School and Western Middle School, an assistant dean, interim world language coordinator and summer school program site supervisor. I am honored to have this opportunity to be the interim principal of Cos Cob School, Gavin said. Having grown up in the town of Greenwich, I am well aware of Cos Cobs tremendous history and I am elated to have the opportunity to continue a tradition of excellence in this great community. I look forward to working with the amazing staff and establishing a partnership in the service of the children and families of Cos Cob. He earned a bachelors degree in French from the College of the Holy Cross and a masters degree in teaching and curriculum from Fairfield University. He holds an educational leadership program endorsement and sixth-year degree from the University of Bridgeport. Hamilton Avenue School Chiappetta Fox is presiding over Hamilton Avenue School, one of the districts four magnet elementary schools. Hamilton Avenue specializes in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, or STEAM, and has a Suzuki violin program and STEAM design lab. Diane Chiappetta Fox has been a respected member of the Greenwich school community for decades, first as a student and then as an educator, administrator, and mentor, Jones said. The staff, students, and families of Hamilton Avenue School are getting a leader with tremendous dedication and commitment to our educational programs. The love of her hometown of Greenwich, and especially on the west side, is evident in her passion and excitement to now be at Hamilton Avenue. Chiappetta Fox joined Greenwich Public Schools in 1995 as a speech and language pathologist, a position she held through 2006. Then, she switched to Greenwich Highs director of student activities for 12 years before serving as the assistant dean of student life for the schools Cantor House. She was employed with Westport Public Schools and Stamford Public Schools as a speech and language pathologist before she was hired by GPS. I am absolutely thrilled to have been given the opportunity to lead this great school, Chiappetta Fox said. I am looking forward to working alongside the extremely talented and dedicated staff and being with an amazing community of families and students. She earned a bachelors degree in communicative disorders from the University of Rhode Island and a masters degree in communication disorders from Southern Connecticut State University. She took classes in educational administration and leadership from Sacred Heart University and holds an intermediate administration certification, a professional educator certificate in speech and language pathology and a Connecticut Department of Public Heath license in speech and language pathology. annelise.hanshaw@hearstmediact.com Motorola is bringing the Edge X30 Pro smartphone on August 2. It will have a 200MP main camera and a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, and now we also know what the phone will look like. We have one big lens and two smaller ones below in a small rectangular setup on the back. Moto Edge X30 Pro promo materials The new flagship will support 100W charging rates. Back in March, one GM at Lenovo posted a photo of a 125W adapter on their Weibo, revealing the brick weighs only 130 grams. We expect it to break ground next week and we could even see it in the retail box. The phone is also reportedly on TENAA with up to 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. The OS will be Android 12, and Motorola listed the phone in nine colors but we doubt well see all of them during the launch. Source (in Chinese) | Via Kneeling on plastic protecting the floor from paint splatters, Guam Museum curator Michael Lujan Bevacqua painted leaves sprouting from a coconut on a large mural taped to the wall of the East-West Center Gallery in Honolulu as a dozen others watched and contemplated what they would be contributing to the design. The perfection of things is not what were going after, said Meleanna Aluli Meyer, a Native Hawaiian visual artist and filmmaker who was guiding the group on the mural project. When complete, the work will visually represent the Pacific Island cultures of those in the room, members of a professional development program that launched in January with six months of virtual classes. The program, Weaving a Net(work) of Care for Oceanic Collections: A Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Museum Institute, was organized by the East-West Center in partnership with the University of Hawaii at Manoas Department of American Studies. Following the twice weekly virtual sessions, the participants from Guam, the Northern Marianas Islands, American Samoa, Aotearoa, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Samoa joined their Hawaiian counterparts in Honolulu for a monthlong, in-person institute that culminates in an exhibit opening Sunday at the centers gallery. Members of the cohort, who work in museums and cultural heritage centers, have been visiting historic institutions and learning from experts on collections care, conservation and exhibitions. What I had hoped to gain was one, just knowledge of the types of equipment we need to best preserve the materials that we hold and that we are generating and collecting, which includes to CHamoru language materials, said Elyssa Santos, special projects coordinator at the Kumision i Fino Chamoru who manages the commissions CHamoru Archive. So theres the practical side of things, but Im also interested in learning about indigenous ways of collections care, which is what I love about this program, Santos said. They always allowed us to compare Western practices as well as Indigenous or Pacific practices in collections care. So basically, Im interested in how to indigenize these practices in our space back home. And, as the name of the program indicates, the creation of a network across the Pacific that will continue beyond July has been one of the institutes primary goals. For those of us who come out of like academia and work in Western institutions, we dont often get the space to be able to share openly our challenges, the microaggressions and sometimes our cultural values that are central to the kind of work that we do, Santos said. This program really provides us the space to kind of unpack all that. So, whats great is that we learn from each other and we also see a lot of like parallels in our experiences, and were able to find solutions just in sharing and crying and talking through things together. The depth and impact of these newly created bonds among cohort were visible even to program organizers. The biggest surprise was how quickly they formed a sense of togetherness and support for one another, said project director Noelle Kahanu, an associate specialist in Public Humanities and Native Hawaiian Programs within the American Studies Department. And that it has very clearly crossed cultural boundaries. Its like coming together as a people, as a community, and thats been evident in so many ways. I didnt really understand what it means to bring them together to see these relationships form, to see like, people laughing and crying and joking around, Kahanu said. We know that well have succeeded because we created a network, and so when theres a typhoon in American Samoa theyll have us, but theyll also have each other to reach out to. Its been such a powerful, amazing, blessed, wonderful project beyond measure. She discovered a precedent for the program at the university: about 50 years ago, the East-West Center had offered a six-month training in ethnomusicology, museology and archives management to individuals from the Asia Pacific region, according to a flyer about the institute. The center agreed to co-host the 21st century version of the institute, and with the help of the Pacific Islands Museums Association, they developed a focus and format based on a needs assessment of regional institutions. In the Pacific, we have issues regarding climate control, so even just caring for your collection is so difficult because you have infestations, you have mold issues, and so just even having the professionals that theyre talking to about conservation issues, its incredible for them to now have these resources, these professionals they can go to and know what to do about those kinds of things, said Annie Reynolds, exhibitions and collections curator for the East-West Center Arts Program. The U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn the abortion rights guaranteed in Roe v. Wade was a dark day for women, according to Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, who said she will make sure abortion is legal in Guam and veto any bill which takes away womens rights. Leon Guerrero, during a gubernatorial debate Thursday evening, said the abortion question should be put to a referendum of Guam voters, but she believes Guam residents support womens reproductive rights and their right to medical privacy. Guam Del. Mike San Nicolas declined to say how he would handle the abortion question if he is elected governor, and said he would wait for the results of a referendum on the issue. We need to put the question to the people, he said during the debate, which was sponsored by the Guam Medical Association. Lets get clear guidance. Leon Guerrero and Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio, who are running for a second term, debated San Nicolas and running mate Sabrina Salas Matanane, who are their opponents in the Aug. 27 Democratic Primary Election. The debate was held at the Hilton Guam Resort and Spa. Medical theme The debates questions were limited to the issue of medical care on Guam, and many of the questions were similar, asking about the candidates plans to help recruit and retain different types of medical professionals on Guam and to provide greater access to medical care. Leon Guerrero and Tenorio said they: expanded Medicaid enrollment, including enrolling thousands of regional migrants; increased nurse pay and provided additional resources to the universitys nursing school; and increased spending at the mental health agency. The governor said Guam currently brings medical specialists to the island on a rotating basis, through partnerships with private medical providers. The medical professionals Ive spoken with have shared with me that the investments that weve made thus far are not adequate, San Nicolas said. This administration has had emergency powers to be able to do those things. Theyve had enormous amounts of funding to be able to do those things, and for us to be having a conversation now that that isnt resolved is very, very disheartening. Salas Matanane said the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center does not have enough full-time psychiatrists to treat patients, and she accused the administration of fixing an election, by hiring nonessential workers at the agency. Tenorio said the mental health agency has excellent staff, and said San Nicolas failed to take action in Congress to expand Guams access to mental health workers. If you want to be part of the problem, then be part of the problem, Tenorio said. Im part of the solution. Hospital location Leon Guerrero and San Nicolas said they agree that Guam needs to replace the Guam Memorial Hospital facility, but they disagreed about where it should be built. The Navy and the Department of Land Management last December signed a two-year license agreement that provides access to military land at Eagles Field, in Mangilao, so GovGuam can prepare to build a new medical complex and hospital there. We would like to have a hospital in the east side of the island that is more accessible to the south, Leon Guerrero said, adding there already is a hospital in the north. She said patient convenience is a factor in choosing the location. The Army Corps of Engineers has said to use the life of our current hospital is only five years, so its very urgent that we build a new hospital. Health care workers leave Guam for better pay and a better working environment, the governor said, and building a new hospital is one way to retain them. San Nicolas said the hospital should instead be built at Oka Point, in Tamuning, near the existing hospital and medical clinics in that village. The doctors want to be able to get to a hospital faster because their existing operations for the most part are more along the Tamuning central part of the island, he said. Ethics probe Although the debate focused on medical issues, San Nicolas brought up his congressional ethics investigation during one of his responses. The House ethics committee, in a report issued in June, found there is substantial evidence of potential crimes by San Nicolas. According to the report, there is evidence San Nicolas violated campaign finance laws in connection with the 2018 election by knowingly accepting a large cash contribution. The committee found he may have violated several campaign finance laws, federal conspiracy law and laws against witness tampering and obstruction of Congress. The ethics committee initially examined other allegations, including allegations that San Nicolas had a sexual relationship with a member of his congressional staff, but the final investigation report states the interests of justice would be best served by prioritizing the substantial evidence about illegal campaign contributions, the conspiracy to hide that money, and witness interference. I have some experience with unsubstantiated claims I know how they can hurt families, San Nicolas said Thursday. Unsubstantiated claims have no business being put out there in ways that are going to be harmful to you or to your families. What the congressman is talking about is the ethics report, Leon Guerrero said in response. And if you read the ethics report, the report says that they have found substantive evidence. We are in this race without a cloud over our heads. We are in this race without having to answer questions about our integrity, Leon Guerrero said during her closing remarks. Ask yourself this question do you want a leader that gives you hope or hopelessness? Do you want a leader thats experienced or just learning? Do you want a leader that is responsible or reckless? Theres a difference between hopelessness and discussing the realities that people are facing, San Nicolas said. Adopting a philosophy of hope because we want four more years is the same politics weve been having Its not hopelessness to talk about what people are experiencing. Its not hopelessness to talk about what we need to plan and prepare for and the realities that are associated with that. U.S., Britain, Australia urged to reverse decision on nuclear submarine cooperation Xinhua) 09:46, July 29, 2022 BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday called on the United States, Britain and Australia to respect the will of regional countries and revoke the decision to carry out nuclear submarine cooperation to avoid harming regional and global peace and security. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on the U.S.-Britain-Australia nuclear submarine cooperation. The three countries have submitted relevant working paper to the 10th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to defend its nuclear submarine cooperation. Noting that the announcement of nuclear submarine cooperation between the three countries has aroused serious concerns from the international community, Zhao said that the Chinese side has stated its opposition on several occasions and submitted a working paper to the 10th Review Conference of the NPT in December 2021. The Chinese side noted that Indonesia has also submitted a working paper to the 10th Review Conference, putting forward many concerns about nuclear proliferation risks arising from cooperation on nuclear-powered submarines, Zhao added. Regrettably, the three countries have yet to face up to and address the concerns of various parties, the spokesperson said, adding that no matter how the three countries argue, they cannot change the basic fact that the trilateral cooperation has serious nuclear proliferation risks and violates the purpose of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Meanwhile, there are huge differences in the international community on the issue of nuclear submarine power reactor safeguards arrangement, Zhao noted, adding the relevant safeguards arrangement will set a precedent and involve the interests of all member states of the IAEA, which should be discussed and decided by all interested countries. Under China's efforts, the IAEA's Board of Governors has put the nuclear submarine cooperation between the United States, Britain and Australia on the formal agenda three consecutive times. China advocates launching an intergovernmental process under the framework of the IAEA in accordance with established practice to discuss political, legal and technical issues related to nuclear submarine cooperation, the spokesperson stressed. Zhao said that the three countries and the IAEA secretariat should not negotiate the safeguards arrangement for nuclear submarine cooperation without authorization until all parties reach a consensus. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) Police have identified the pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run accident on Route 3 by Swamp Road earlier this month as Matthew Jonathan Rosario. Guam Police Department spokeswoman Officer Berlyn Savella said investigators are still looking for information about the crash. Rosario, 35, of Dededo, was found on the road unconscious and unresponsive at 7:15 a.m. July 16. Police said he was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene. Family members were located and later identified Rosario, Savella said. The case was turned over to Highway Patrol, and officers are conducting follow-up interviews and investigating possible leads. We continue to reach out to the community, asking their assistance, if anyone may have information regarding the fatal crash, Savella said in the release. She said the crash occurred sometime between 1 and 7 a.m. Anyone with information can contact Guam Police Department Dispatch at 671-475-8615 thru 17, or call any GPD police precinct. Peter R. Sgro Jr. is an attorney and member of the Guam Bar Association. Haiti - FLASH : Illegal Haitian migrants found dead off Puerto Rico Thursday, July 28, 2022 in the morning, the lifeless bodies of 5 Haitian migrants were found in the waters off the island of Mona, an uninhabited island located between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, announced the United States Coast Guard. In addition, the Coast Guard has located 66 other Haitians safe and sound on the island, including two minors. The smugglers had landed them on the island making them believe that they had arrived in Puerto Rico.... a scam that is not uncommon https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12484-haiti-social-70-haitian-abandoned-in-mona-island.html Let's recall that 6,100 Haitian migrants have been intercepted by the US Coast Guard since October 2021, an increase of nearly 300% compared to the 1,527 Haitian migrants intercepted during the 2020/2021 fiscal year against only 418 Haitians during the 2019/202 fiscal year. See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-36984-icihaiti-rescue-27-haitians-rescued-on-a-desert-island-in-puerto-rico.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12484-haiti-social-70-haitian-abandoned-in-mona-island.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9374-haiti-social-again-57-haitians-abandoned-on-a-desert-island.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9156-haiti-social-84-haitian-abandoned-on-a-desert-island.html S/ HaitiLibre Haiti - FLASH : Jean Price Mars Diplomatic Academy Competition, registrations open The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that the Diplomatic Academy Jean Price Mars (ADJPM) is organizing a competition to recruit 30 students. Successful candidates will be admitted to the Master II Program in Diplomacy and International Cooperation provided in partnership with the National Institute of Administration, Management and Advanced International Studies (INAGHEI). Admission requirements : Hold a bachelor's degree, preferably in International Relations, Law, Political Science, History or Economics; Be at least 30 years old; Be in good physical and mental health; Have a good written and oral French expression. Fluency in a foreign language (English or Spanish would be an asset). Documents to submit at the time of Registration : Birth certificate or extract from the archives; Originals and copies of diplomas; Certificate of good character issued by the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ); Health certificate; Four (4) recent photos; A cover letter. Registrations will be received at the General Secretariat of INAGHEI from July 25 to August 5, 2022. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Cap-Haitien : $24M from USAID to modernize the land infrastructure of the Port Tina Balin, Deputy Director a.i. of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Latin America and the Caribbean, at the head of a delegation visited the Port of Cap-Haitien to testify of the commitment of the United States vis-a-vis Haiti. She recalled that USAID, at the request of the Government of Haiti had accepted a revision of the specifications to modernize and improve land infrastructure to the tune of $24 million. The objective of this modernization will allow more frequent and efficient exports from the Caracol Industrial Park, which currently pass through the Dominican Republic, due to greater reliability and security procedures for exports to the USA via the accelerated "Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism" system The works, which will last 18 months, include a new administrative building of 760 m2 on one level; expanding and securing the container park; improving access to the bulk wharf and lighting. Installation of a new 1MW generator; a fresh water fire-fighting system; a new toilet block; the renovation of the harbor master's office; a new modular customs office; new access barriers, control booths, security fencing, cameras and solar perimeter lighting. TB/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... A patrol attacked, 1 police officer killed, another injured Thursday, July 28, 2022, in the Artibonite, in Morne Saline in the locality Savane Carre, 6th communal section of Gros-Morne, heavily armed individuals attacked a police patrol killing Anthony Dumas a police officer member of the Departmental Unit for Maintenance of the Order of the 27th promotion and wounding another Warrant to bring against illegal fuel sellers The Me Ronald Richemond Commissioner of the Government of Les Cayes, informs having issued warrants to bring against several people accused of illegal sale and clandestine storage of fuel. Junior Charles of the "Krache Dife" gang arrested Tuesday Junior Charles alias "Ti Junior", of the "Krache Dife" gang operating in downtown Port-au-Prince was found in a house in Belladere serving as a refuge with his partner Freda Ravix. Both were arrested. Orlando Mobile Consulate The Consulate of Haiti in Orlando informs the Haitian Community of Central Florida and the Press in particular and informs them that the next "Mobile Consulate" in Jacksonville will take place on Wednesday, August 3, 2022 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. p.m. at the Jacksonville Evangelical Church located at 570 Ellis Rd, Jacksonville, Fl 32254. For all information, please contact the Consular Post at (407) 897-3232. Port-de-Paix : The PNH is looking for the recipient of the ammunition As part of the continued investigation into a shipment of weapons and ammunition seized at the Port-de-Paix Customs https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37058-haiti-flash-seizure-of-tens-of-thousands-of-ammunition-at-the-wharf-of-port-de-paix-video.html , the named Wilfrid Pauliard is actively sought by the National Police of Haiti (PNH). According to the information available to investigators, he was the recipient responsible for receiving the cargo https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37108-haiti-flash-seizure-of-120-000-ammunition-me-michelet-virgile-releases-the-alleged-traffickers.html Did you know ? It has been 51 years since the Centrale de Peligre was inaugurated under the Presidency of Jean-Claude Duvalier, more precisely on July 22, 1971. HL/ HaitiLibre Du erhaltst in Kurze per E-Mail deinen Rabatt von 10 % fur deinen nachsten Einkauf in unserem Webshop. Undrafted free agent rookie Gabe Brown is signing an Exhibit 10 contract to go to training camp with the Nuggets, according to Adam Zagoria of NJ.com (Twitter link). Brown, who declared for the draft this spring after spending four years at Michigan State, became a full-time starter for the Spartans as a senior in 2021/22, averaging 11.6 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a .382 3PT% in 36 games (28.9 MPG). His performance earned him a spot on the All-Big 10 Third Team. Brown suited up for the Thunders Summer League team this month, recording 11.0 PPG and 3.5 RPG on .421/.370/1.000 shooting in four Las Vegas contests (21.8 MPG). Zagoria reported last month that Brown would be signing a partially guaranteed contract with Oklahoma City and Jake Weingarten of StockRisers.com later said it would be an Exhibit 10 deal, but based on Zagorias newest report, it seems as if that deal fell through. An Exhibit 10 is a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract that counts toward a teams 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesnt count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. It can be converted into a two-way contract or can make a player eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if hes waived and joins his teams G League affiliate. Denver doesnt currently have a two-way slot available, so the team may envision Brown as an affiliate player for the Grand Rapids Gold. Epicurean Hotel in the trendy Hyde Park historic district of South Tampa announced today the return of Jon Atanacio as executive chef. Atanacio will direct daily culinary operations at the hotel's signature Elevage SoHo Kitchen & Bar, and EDGE Rooftop Cocktail Lounge, while also overseeing food and beverage offerings for the Epicurean's 5,200 square feet of function space for meetings, corporate parties, local catering events and special occasions. Atanacio became a member of the Mainsail Lodging & Development family in 2013, serving on the hotel opening team as chef de cuisine at Epicurean Hotel for five years, and as the opening executive chef at The Karol Hotel in Clearwater for one year. Prior to joining the Mainsail family, Atanacio honed his craft and worked his way up through various esteemed restaurants in New York City, where he gained much of his culinary experience.v With nearly 20 years of culinary experience, Chef Atanacio draws on his Puerto Rican and Italian heritage to continue to raise the bar in the local dining scene. Atanacio was most recently culinary director at Bern's Steak House in Tampa, where he oversaw the culinary and pastry departments while managing the entire culinary operation on a daily basis. Before moving to Tampa, he worked nearly 15 years in New York City as chef de cuisine at Aquagrill Restaurant and chef de cuisine at Olives in the W Hotel, Union Square by Todd English. Key Takeaways Airbnb compiled the top destinations in the United States and Canada for long-term guests and their Hosts, based on affordability, hospitality, popularity and Host income. Airbnb is working with destinations across North America to make it easier to live and work anywhere. With millions of people now more flexible about where they live and work, guests are spreading to thousands of towns and cities this summer over 72,000 cities and towns, to be exact with many even living on Airbnb for the entire season. About one in five guests reported using Airbnb to work remotely while traveling in 2021 a trend that has continued into Q1 2022. For those looking to plan their own long-term adventures this summer or for those considering the opportunity to earn by hosting digital nomads Airbnb is today sharing some of the top destinations in the United States and Canada for long-term guests and Hosts, based on affordability, hospitality, popularity and Host income. Top Earning for Long-Term Stays The trend of living and working from anywhere is an opportunity not only for digital nomads, but also for current and prospective Hosts who have the space to share with them. Earnings from hosting continue to support families across the US and Canada amidst a rising cost of living, with 41 percent of Hosts in the US and 45 percent in Canada sharing that one of the reasons they host is to earn money to help navigate rising prices. In fact, Hosts in the US earned a combined total of more than $2 billion from long-term stays alone, from Q1 2021 through Q1 2022 and Hosts in Canada earned more than $280 million from long-term stays over the same time period. In addition, Airbnb has identified the top destinations in both countries for Hosts to earn by welcoming long-term stays guests, based on median Host earnings income in Q1 2022. In the US: La Quinta, California Delray Beach, Florida Marco Island, Florida Palm Springs, California Indio, California And in Canada: Whistler, British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia Mont-Tremblant, Quebec Toronto, Ontario Kitchener, Ontario Those interested in getting started in hosting long-term or short-term guests can visit airbnb.com/host. Best Equipped With Hosts across the US and Canada already earning by welcoming long-term stays guests, Airbnb has pulled together the destinations with the highest share of long-term stay ready listings, based on cities and towns with at least 1,000 active listings as of Q1 2022. In the US: Irvine, California Los Angeles, California Cincinnati, Ohio Cambridge, Massachusetts Seattle, Washington And in Canada: Toronto, Ontario Vancouver, British Columbia Edmonton, Alberta Gatineau, Quebec Victoria, British Columbia Still, guests are not limited to destinations with a high share of long-term ready listings. In May, Airbnb introduced Split Stays, an innovative feature that provides more options for longer stays by splitting a trip between two homes. When searching a specific destination, Split Stays automatically appear in search results meaning guests will typically see around 40 percent more listings when looking for longer stays. Most Hospitable Airbnb looked at cities across the US and Canada with some of the highest percentages of five-star reviews from long-term stays, identifying some of the most hospitable cities for digital nomads. In the US: Bend, Oregon (93.7%) Santa Fe, New Mexico (91.7%) Boulder, Colorado (91%) Key West, Florida (90.2%) Fresno, California (90%) And in Canada: Halifax, Nova Scotia (92.6%) Winnipeg, Manitoba (87.7%) Nanaimo, British Columbia (87.1%) Surrey, British Columbia (86.1%) Kelowna, British Columbia (86.1%) Most Affordable Airbnb studied the average price per night for long-term stays, considering destinations that had 1,000 or more long-term stay nights booked in Q1 2022, to determine some of the most affordable destinations for nomadic living in the US and Canada. In the US: Tulalip, Washington ($16.9 USD per night) Catlett, Virginia ($21.8 USD per night) Garretson, South Dakota ($24.3 USD per night) Lamberton, Minnesota ($24.4 USD per night) Angleton, Texas ($24.5 USD per night) And in Canada: Trois-Rivieres, Quebec ($35.6 USD per night) Medicine Hat, Alberta ($41.3 USD per night) Gatineau, Quebec ($44.5 USD per night) Thorold, Ontario ($46.9 USD per night) Quebec City, Quebec ($48 USD per night) Most Popular Finally, Airbnb compiled the destinations with some of the most long-term stay trips booked in Q1 2022. In the US: Los Angeles, California New York, New York San Francisco, California Houston, Texas Seattle, Washington And in Canada: Toronto, Ontario Montreal, Quebec Vancouver, British Columbia Calgary, Alberta Victoria, British Columbia Guests are returning to cities once more and are choosing to not only stay, but live from them. Gross nights booked to high-density urban destinations grew 80 percent in Q1 2022, compared to Q1 2021. Along with highlighting these destinations, Airbnb is partnering with 20 destinations around the world to make it easier to live and work anywhere including Palm Springs, California; Tampa Bay, Florida; and Tulsa, Oklahoma in the US. Over the next few months, Airbnb will work closely with each of these destinations to create dedicated custom-built hubs, showcasing the best of local long-term stay listings as well as important information relating to entry requirements and tax policies. Airbnb will also partner with the destinations on educational campaigns to promote responsible hosting and traveling as a remote worker. Airbnb has also recently announced its own remote-working policy, where co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky told employees they could work from anywhere. In the first week following the announcement, Airbnb received more than 1 million visitors to our career page reinforcing the appetite people have to live and work anywhere. About Airbnb Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals across over 220 countries and regions. Travel on Airbnb keeps more of the financial benefits of tourism with the people and places that make it happen. Airbnb has generated billions of dollars in earnings for Hosts, most of whom are individuals listing the homes in which they live. Among Hosts who report their gender, more than half are women, and one in five employed Hosts are either teachers or healthcare workers. Travel on Airbnb also has generated more than $4 billion in tax revenue around the world. Airbnb has helped advance more than 1,000 regulatory frameworks for short-term rentals, including in 80% of our top 200 geographies. In late 2020, to support our continued expansion and diversification, we launched the City Portal to provide governments with a one-stop shop that supports data sharing and compliance with local registration rules. We continue to invest in innovations and tools to support our ongoing work with governments around the world to advance travel that best serves communities. About Airbnb.org Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc."s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org"s charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows Hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, Hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform. Airbnb Press Airbnb Press Office Airbnb Members of conservation tourism coalition The Long Run are delighted to launch Impact Statements for guests - clear labels, showing how the cost of each stay benefits people and the environment. The Long Run offers gold standard sustainability recognition to ecolodges which support nature protection, but members have become aware that consumers find it hard to identify genuinely green certifications given the sheer volume of greenwash - especially online. 1. At the same time an increasing number of travellers want to make conscious choices and are willing to spend more to travel sustainably. 2. These potential guests are actively looking for reassuring information they can trust. By launching the 4C Impact Statements, The Long Run is responding to this increased consumer need for transparency and strong data around environmental issues, alongside the desire for greener travel. The Long Run exists to support measurable and holistic nature based solutions to climate crisis and biodiversity loss among its members, who are at the front line of conservation. They are pioneers in sustainability, committed to doing things differently by leveraging the power of their business for the health of the planet and the well-being of people. Impact Statement launch members include: Members in the process of creating Impact Statements include: The 4C Impact Statement is open to all Long Run members on a voluntary basis and many more are in the process of joining. Each one breaks down how guests' money is spent supporting positive impact at each location using graphics and percentages. The Long Run hopes this transparent approach will help travellers to make good, green decisions, safe in the knowledge that their visit will support genuine conservation and community efforts. The statements also demonstrate how much money stays in the destination. The Long Runs Executive Director, Delphine Malleret-King, comments, The rising urgency of the climate crisis and proliferation of sustainability marketing claims makes accountability and transparency critical both to help travellers make informed choices as well as to help inform properties actions to strengthen impacts. We hope this is not only a step forward for our members, but will inspire the whole travel industry. The statement is based around the 4 core values at the heart of every Long Run member: Conservation Community Culture Commerce Make a positive impact when you Travel, thanks to The Long Run. Photo by The Long Run Make a positive impact when you Travel, thanks to The Long Run. Photo by The Long Run These are examples of what a guest will receive, based on a stay at Borana Ranch in Kenya and Tswalu Kalahari in South Africa: The 4C Impact Statement breakdown The 4C Impact Statement is broken down in three levels of granularity to ensure utmost transparency while bringing members holistic positive impact to life with stories and examples. The pie chart shows how each guest night fee is spent in %: The Team includes: salaries, benefits, training, and welfare. Sales and Marketing includes: PR, marketing, and communications. Commission includes: agents, DMCs, company fees, and designer fees. Guest well-being includes F&B and all suppliers and services related to the guest experience. Other operation expenses includes: maintenance of infrastructure, refurbishment, and administration. Profit & reserve is the surplus. Further investment in nature and people includes: social development, cultural stewardship, and conservation work that comes out of bed night fee e.g. through conservation levy or a 4C fee. Geographical expenditure shows % of guest money that stays in local area and country: Local is total expenditure in immediate community (the distance depends on the property). National is total expenditure in the destination country. Other is international expenditure. How does your stay directly contribute to local projects? Conservation includes: conservation efforts, species protection, carbon sequestration, and establishment of conservancies beyond infrastructure and maintenance for guest benefit. Community includes: projects that support local development, empowerment, and entrepreneurship (excluding benefits and salaries for employees). Culture includes: projects that celebrate local skills and cultural expression, support or generate income for neighbouring communities, contribute to preserving or capturing local culture. Russel Binks, General Manager, and Julie Cheetham, group CEO for Nianova, from Long Run member Tswalu Kalahari in South Africa say they hope the 4C Impact Statement will help them to communicate more effectively and stand out in the marketplace: We love that The Long Run has created and given guidance on this disclosure, to ensure complete transparency and legitimacy of our impact position and we carry the objective endorsement of The Long Run for all of the efforts Tswalu is making to do better and better. This also helps us to communicate our balanced vision to our team and guests. Conservation isnt the only imperative, and to see all 4C aspects accounted for is exciting. Micheal Dyer from Long Run member Borana Conservancy and Lodge in Kenya hopes the 4C Impact Statement will influence guest behaviour and purchasing habits: Globally todays guests and future guests will be travelling more consciously and their generosity will become progressively more important. Travellers are becoming aware of the impacts good and bad of travel and our guests are alive to the positive impact of their visit both environmentally and socially. The Impact Statement gives guests reassurance that significant portions of the cost of their stay are delivering resilience and contributing to our ability to protect wilderness along with the positive impact on communities. The Long Run adds the layer of credibility and verification showing transparently how these economic benefits flow and should influence guests' decisions about where to stay, how long to stay, and enable them both to return and to promote the property as a trusted contributor to a local and worldwide conservation philosophy. Impact Statements are also a fantastic resource for tour operators and travel designers. Jarrod Kyte from Steppes Travel(a Travel Partner member of The Long Run) says: With a growing number of clients eager to enhance the positive impact of their travels, it is essential for tour operators to substantiate their claims that travel can be a force for good. The Long Runs Impact Statement provides a platform from which to quantify where clients money goes and where the benefits of travel are most palpable. This level of transparency is key to helping the whole value chain measure and improve the positive impact of its operations and in doing so, instil confidence in the market that travelling sustainably is both imperative and credible. Whats the story behind the 4C Impact Statement? The idea of an Impact Statement for Long Run members was initiated by member Mehdi Rheljari, owner of Kasiiya Papagayo, Costa Rica, who was inspired by several sustainable hotel bills which show how guestss money is spent, such as Fogo Islands (Canada) Economic Nutrition Bill. This concept was then adapted and tested for scalability by Long Run members Borana Lodge in Kenya and Tswalu Kalahari in South Africa. So what exactly is a 4C Impact Statement and how does it work? The 4C Impact Statement shows where the money paid by a guest staying at a specific Long Run member goes and how their stay impacts the whole destination. It highlights particularly how their stay contributes to the local economy, the well-being of people, to protecting nature, and celebrating culture. All figures are expressed in percentages (%) based on annual forecast or quarterly actuals depending on the property. This means that the 4C Impact Statement shows how the member intendeds to spend the funds generated through the guests stay. Credibility: Long Run members, including accounting teams, provide The Long Run team with the figures, these are discussed to enable The Long Run team to vet the categorisation. A random check will be carried out toThe Long Run carries out a yearly random check to ensure expenses are categorised as agreed and tally up with members annual accounts. This allows members to use a Long Run seal for a small fee, demonstrating that an external entity has reviewed and vetted the categorisation of expenses. Why create an Impact Statement for members of the Long Run to give to guests? For The Long Run to continue pushing the boundaries, stand out, and showcase how to demonstrate impact meaningfully, we are introducing a 4C Impact Statement to be shared with guests. This will: Demonstrate how Long Run members distinguish themselves specifically. Put tangible facts and figures to sustainability speak (walking the talk). Empower guests to make more informed decisions and choose meaningful travel options. Enable guests to become ambassadors for The Long Run and the 4Cs. Prove that guests can contribute to positive change through travel. change through travel. Showcase the 4Cs in action. 1 https://globalnews.booking.com/bookingcoms-2021-sustainable-travel-report-affirms-potential-watershed-moment-for-industry-and-consumers/ 2https://travelweekly.co.uk/in-depth/comment/comment-consumers-are-willing-to-pay-more-for-sustainable-travel Borana Ranch Borana lodge is a GER (highest sustainability ranking) member of The Long Run and the ranch is located at the foot of Mt Kenya just North of the equator. Resting on the Laikipia Plateau, an arid landscape lies to the north and ancient indigenous forests sprawl as far as the eye can see to the south. This 32,000-acre conservation area is home to both Black and White Rhino and a wide variety of other endangered species. Tswalu Kalahari Tswalu Kalahari is a Fellow Member of The Long Run, located in South Africa. The word Tswalu means a new beginning reflecting Tswalu Kalaharis vision to restore and conserve its natural environment, and to empower and celebrate its community. The large-scale conservation project protects the regions unique biodiversity, and safe-guards a number of rare and endangered species. Tswalu has created a model of conservation supported by ecotourism, so that it can be sustained indefinitely; its holistic approach corrects past mistakes, laying the groundwork for long-term ecological and economic viability. Tswalu is now poised to enter a new decade of progress, aspiring to even higher levels of sustainability. About The Long Run The Long Run, hosted by Preferred by Nature, is a community of properties, travel partners and experts committed to protecting and regenerating ecosystems for the benefit of all. The organisation supports, connects, and inspires members to operate according to a balance of the 4Cs Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce. By supporting members on this journey, The Long Run ensures that travel experiences have a positive impact, and that conservation is socially and financially sustainable. Collectively, Long Run members safeguard over 23 million acres of ecosystems, protect more than 400 endangered species, and improve the lives of 750,000 people. www.thelongrun.org Naomi McKee Naomi McKee PR The Long Run 1. Inclusion and diversity are top of mind for DMOs in their organizations and in their marketing efforts Destinations International themselves is committed to inclusion and shares best practices and tools based on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) principles to empower destinations to excel. During the convention, they spoke about their EDI assessment tool, which gives destination organizations the opportunity to assess their own workplace dynamics, operations and policies, vendor selection, community engagement, and accessibility-related strategies. Destinations International also has an EDI Committee for strategic planning and programmatic initiatives and opportunities to enable structural social change, which our Vice President of Marketing for Media Solutions, Monya Mandich, sits on. This was a key theme throughout many of the sessions and we heard some great examples from DMOs who are addressing this in a variety of ways including Explore Brookhaven that developed a Belong Here tagline, Discover Los Angeles works closely with a community advisory group to engage with minority groups and partners with local business associations to offer minorities free memberships. Visit Mesa includes pages dedicated to accessibility and inclusion to potential travelers on their website, and the Greater Lansing CVB built itineraries for various groups including autistic travelers to feature sensory-friendly activities. The research we shared in our own Insights Summit validates the importance of inclusion in travelers decision making. Our Inclusive Travel Insights Report shows that consumers are paying attention to inclusion, accessibility, and diversity when making travel decisions. Not only are they looking for inclusive options, theyre willing to pay more for them 7 in 10 consumers said they would be willing to pay more for travel options that are inclusive to all types of travelers. Whats more for DMOs to consider 78% of survey respondents said they have made a travel choice based on promotions or ads they felt represented them through messaging or visuals. This research shows that consumers are actively looking for inclusive options, and destinations need to meet their expectations. Source: Expedia Group Media Solutions 2. Cultural experiences are important to visitors, and good for business Something that came up in many of the sessions was the travelers desire to connect with local communities and cultures. Caroll Rheem, Founder and CEO of iolite group, shared new research on cultural diversitys impact on travel intent. They found that travelers prefer to mix and match a broad array of popular/iconic activities with multicultural, off the beaten path experiences. The group also wanted to investigate whether promoting multicultural experiences is better for business. To do this, they put together a Culture Index, which calculated a trip spend by person by night, comparing culturally conscious travelers against everyone else. They found that for U.S., Canadian, and UK travelers, culturally conscious travelers spend more on average per trip than their counterparts. Showcasing cultural diversity is not only the right moral thing to do, its the right business thing to do, - CAROLL RHEEM, FOUNDER AND CEO OF IOLITE GROUP. To best capture these culturally conscious travelers, its important to showcase multicultural experiences in your destination during the travel research phase to inspire travelers as they are searching for trips on travel sites. Source: Expedia Group Media Solutions 3. The transition from destination marketing to destination management The COVID-19 pandemic changed many things in the travel industry, including the focus on residents and the community among destination marketing organizations. From the opening keynote and throughout many of the sessions, there was talk of how destination marketers is seeing a shift in responsibility and focus from solely the traveler to how they can support and uplift their own communities. Tourism Kelowna representatives spoke about their first-hand experience with shifting focus from solely visitors to becoming a community hub. During the pandemic, they took on the role of ensuring that residents felt safe in their communities and were heard. In 2021 alone, over 60% of traffic to the visitor center was residents. Visit Stockholm has also made the shift to destination management by being the first city DMO in Europe to introduce placemaking, a people-centered approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Through this, they engage all stakeholders, including residents, partners, and visitors to provide the best experience. Its essential to recognize that the primary audience of a destination is its residents. Listening to residents, even if its something you dont want to hear, is necessary in order to understand their issues and concerns in addition to their wants and needs. Speaking to residents about what they enjoy about the destination can also be telling for what visitors will experience at your destination. Source: Expedia Group Media Solutions 4. Sustainability continues to rise in importance for all destinations While destination marketers are not scientists tasked with solving climate change issues, they do have a responsibility to encourage and promote sustainable travel in authentic and accountable ways. Especially as the demand is growing and travelers are increasingly looking for sustainable options, as our recent research shows. In fact, 7 in 10 people have avoided a travel destination or transportation option due to skepticism that the commitment to sustainable practices wasnt genuine. DMOs dont have the resources to stop climate issues, but they can educate and facilitate conversations with travelers around how to be sustainable. Additionally, DMOs do have the opportunity to work with companies and governing bodies to achieve sustainable outcomes. As Michael Halle from the Niagara Escarpment for Sustainable Travel noted, DMOs are often left to pick up the slack when it comes to encouraging governing bodies to make a difference, as they have the power to identify the most sustainable products and offerings. The key is to find authentic ways to support sustainability for your destination, including the communities and cultures you support as well as the travelers you are looking to attract. 5. Pay attention to emerging platforms, including TikTok for user generated content TikTok is no longer a COVID-19 fad its an avenue where many travelers seek inspiration and make travel decisions, especially for younger travelers. Many DMOs are taking advantage of the opportunity. Visit Orlando spoke about how they pursued an influencer strategy by allowing travel influencers to come to Florida to create their own experiences to share with their followers. West Virginia Department of Tourism shared their new campaign with Vrbo in our Insights Summit, in which they worked with an influence popular on TikTok and other social channels to explore the state through vacation rentals and share her experiences to her engaged followers on the platform. Similarly, Global Tourism Development San Francisco Travel sponsored a pride-themed influencer trip to connect user generated content with diverse perspectives. DMOs are becoming much more serious about their focus on TikTok, with several hiring staff members dedicated to the platform. We hope this post gave you some insight into the major themes that DMOs are focused on right now and into the near future. If you are interested in learning more about the new Inclusive Travel Insights Report we shared during the convention, make sure to download the study for more insights, and register for our upcoming virtual Insights Summit to learn more about how we work with destination marketing organizations and other travel brands to reach our audience of travelers. Download the Report. About Expedia Group Media Solutions Expedia Group Media Solutions, the advertising organization of Expedia Group, offers industry expertise and digital marketing solutions that allow brands to reach, engage and influence its qualified audience of travelers around the world. Through its vast network of leading travel brands and global points of sale, Expedia Group Media Solutions provides marketing partners with proprietary data-driven insights about traveler behaviors during every stage of the purchase journey, along with dynamic advertising solutions, to deliver strategic campaigns and measurable results. For more information, visit www.advertising.expedia.com. 2022 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. CST: 2029030-50 View source Meg ONeill leads Australias largest independent oil and gas company, but she traces the start of her career in energy to Houston. The Woodside Energy CEO grew up in Colorado, and after going to college in Boston, she joined Exxon Mobil in 1994. ONeill spent more than two decades moving up the ranks of the Texas-based supermajor, but in 2018 she moved to Perth, Australia, to take over as chief operations officer at Woodside. Then last August, ONeill was elevated to the companys top job. In her first year as CEO, ONeill helped guide the business through a merger with BHP Petroleum, the oil and gas arm of Melbourne, Australia-based BHP, one of the worlds largest mining companies, placing Woodside among the 10 largest global independent producers. Since the merger closed in June, its been a boon to Woodsides financial performance. The company now trades on the New York and London stock exchanges in addition to the Australian equivalent. Revenues more than doubled to $3.4 billion in the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago, and production increased by 49 percent to 33.8 million barrels of oil equivalent a day during that time. On HoustonChronicle.com: How oil changed its ways and may have changed Midland for the better On a recent trip to Houston, ONeill discussed the effects of the merger, challenges ahead for the oil and gas industry, and the opportunities she sees for the Australian company now that it has a bigger presence in the U.S. The interview has been edited for space and clarity. What does the BHP merger mean for Woodside? We'll go from a company that was about 85 percent gas to about 70 percent gas, but significant oil production in the Gulf of Mexico as well as pipeline gas in Australia. So increasing our product mix, and then, from a financial perspective, the assets or the BHP business come across with no debt, so from a financial perspective they significantly strengthen our balance sheet. What do you see the relationship with Houston being like? Houston will be a very significant hub for us. My leadership team is 10 senior executives. Six of them will be based in Perth, four of them will be based in Houston. We think the business opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico, and North America more broadly, are quite attractive and we're also very excited to be part of the energy transition in the U.S., which is one of the world's biggest energy markets. If you think about where to invest to help the transition happen, this is going to be one of the places. The industry has seen particularly uncertain times in recent years. From your perspective, what are the challenges ahead? There are two very significant challenges facing the energy industry. One is climate change and the role the energy sector plays in addressing climate change, which is one of the most significant issues facing the planet today. The second issue that we have a role to play in is ensuring energy security. Now the challenge for us, of course, is to respond to those two challenges and we see ourselves as an energy company having a really unique role to play. We need to be decarbonizing our own business. We need to be investing in products that have lower carbon emissions when they're used. But we also have a role to play to continue to meet the world's near-term energy needs by producing from countries that are safe and stable, like the U.S. and Australia. On HoustonChronicle.com: What you need to know about carbon capture, and how companies plan to use it Tell me more about your lower carbon goals and how Woodside is investing in new energy technology? One of the things we've communicated to the market is that we are targeting an investment of $5 billion in new energy lower carbon products and services between now and 2030. So we want to be investing in a significant way in this space. We have three different hydrogen projects that we're working on, one in Oklahoma and two in Australia. And those are projects where we see the opportunity to provide liquid hydrogen for ground transportation. That's the focus of the U.S. project. The two Australian projects would produce either ammonia or liquid hydrogen, and that's for power customers in largely Japan and or Korea. Do you anticipate a time when Woodside will focus on other forms of energy besides oil and gas? What does your path to 2050 look like? I'm not sure I'd put my crystal ball out to 2050. A lot of people, of course, as they describe what 2050 might look like even in a net zero 2050 world there is still oil and gas, because it's net zero. It's not absolute zero. Perhaps the best way to articulate where we want to go is going back to that $5 billion target. I've challenged the team, I've told the team that I'd be happy if we spent more, assuming it continues to be good investments for the company, because those are the steps that are required to shape what our production and our revenue streams look like out into the 2030s. And again, if we can build up a bit of momentum in the 2020s, I think the 2030s could be a decade where we really build out that third pillar and we talk about three pillars: oil, gas and new energy. Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer In a city with virtually no official zoning, the ability for residents to create a historic district in their neighborhood is supposed to be a key tool Houstonians can use to preserve the character of a place. But in the case of one historically Black community in Houstons Third Ward, called Riverside Terrace, residents were convinced a proposed historic district would actually lead to more unwanted change gentrification not less of it. The controversy earlier this year over the proposed historic district roiled the usually quiet Third Ward neighborhood. It prompted widespread opposition among residents most of them Black, many of them with deep roots in Riverside Terrace who said the proposed historic district isnt necessary and would drive up expenses and property values. They feared the move could price out longtime residents. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Here a smashburger, there a smashburger. The latest contender in the burgeoning Houston burger category comes from Cafe Louie, the charming East End bakery/cafe that recently opened for dinner service, too. Thats when the dry-aged, double-double cheeseburger makes its appearance on the trim little menu. Im already a big Cafe Louie fan. I admire the pastries and baked goods from Lucianna Emiliani shes the Louie in question and the savory items from her brother Angelo, whose pop-up pizzas blew me away during the pandemic. The terrific pastas and classic brick chicken in the style of San Franciscos fabled Zuni on the new dinner menu told me I had to go back for the burger, pronto. Heres how it went. PRICE: $16 for the double-double cheeseburger. You can add waffle fries for another four bucks. ORDERING: A host will seat you in the big, airy dining room, with a view of the glassed-in kitchen in the back. A server will take your order. ARCHITECTURE: No salad stuff. On a house-made brioche bun goes a layer of sweet-and-sour pickles, a bed of caramelized onions, then twin smashed patties, each topped with a melt of American cheese. Lastly comes a drapery of grayish black-garlic aioli, which gives the burger a disconcerting gothic quality. QUALITY: Um, wow. The contrapuntal flavor and texture dance of this burger really grabbed me, and the lacy frizzles of the smashed patty edges proved irresistible. Sweet pickles in a crunchy, half-sour style cut through the rich savor of super-caramelized onion. The soft ooze of unassuming American cheese, punchy black-garlic aioli and buttery brioche set off the crisp-rimmed patties and the forward 21-day dry-aged flavor. The beef is from RC Ranch in Angleton, and the grind is short rib, brisket and chuck. OOZE RATING: Mostly condiment based, but the thin, medium patties have some juice. LETTER GRADE: Solid A. VALUE: Fair, considering the quality of the ingredients and the overall excellence. VEGETARIAN OPTIONS: Not on the burger side, but there are some delightful vegetable small plates and salads. BONUS POINTS: The waffle fries are surprisingly light on their feet, and theyre good with a side of that black-garlic aioli for dipping. And the wines by the glass list, featuring offbeat natural producers, might yield a zippy Slovenian red blend thats primarily Blaufrankisch and served nicely chilled for summer. LOCAL COLOR: The young crowd mixes downtown and midtown professionals with artsy Second Ward neighborhood denizens. You might spot a frazzled seafood vendor knocking on the kitchen door with a cooler full of the days redfish, or share the dining room with a celebratory party of young women who embody the diverse face of Houston 2022 all to a backdrop of Roy Orbison and crisp aqua wall graphics that conjure up the mid 20th century. Former Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) Coordinator Doris Lockey returned to one of her favorite topics for a recent Rotary Club of Lake Conroe meeting introducing current RYE students to her club. We had a special program this week for our current Rotary Youth Exchange Students, Doris reported. We had our Short-Term Exchange Student, Aubrey McGilvray and her paired host sister Yoko Saillard and our Long Term (School Year) student Zachary Smith at our meeting. Aubreys Mom, Debbi Madvig also attended our meeting. Aubreys grandfather, RCLC Rotarian Joe Bechelli was more than proud of his granddaughter. Doris continues with her recap, telling us Aubrey is a student at Magnolia High School and just returned from her three weeks in France with her host sister Yoko. Yoko is from Normandy France. The girls shared their experiences together in Normandy and Paris and plans for Yokos three weeks in USA. They shared a short video of their exchange. Yoko just arrived in Texas on Saturday. Zachary (Zach) Smith is a student at Lake Creek High School. He leaves Aug. 12 for his school year exchange in Taiwan. Zach has been busy learning Mandarin and preparing for his year abroad. Zach committed to keeping us up on his exchange and sharing his experience when he returns next summer. His parents, Scott and Leigh Ann Smith also attended our meeting. Doris worked hours and hours each week for RYE for decades and only stepped down when Rotary International called upon her to work on the Council of Legislation. But we always knew her heart was still with RYE. RCLC always enjoys hearing from the RYE students she said. We know these young ambassadors of goodwill do promote better understanding among people of different cultures...It was one of the most fun programs Ive presented! The RYE program was halted due to COVID-19 for the last two years. In fact, visiting students who were in the midst of their year in 2020 had to return home early, which was such a painful decision for the RYE Committee. That situation must certainly make this years return to normalcy all the more special. A very special round of applause for all the RYE students. At that same club meeting, Doris was honored as the clubs Rotarian of The Month for her leadership during the prior year. This was a well deserved honor, and were sure it added yet another wonderful memory to the meeting. Congratulations Doris! Polio Update - Weve worried for years that polio, long absent from our country, was just a plane ride away from The USA in our globetrotting world. And now it has happened. The first case in the USA since 1970 has been confirmed. The patient is in New York State, and has been stricken with Type 2 VDPV. Translation an unvaccinated person came into contact with a person who was vaccinated with the live Polio Virus Vaccine. This type of vaccine is not given in our country, but it is used in other parts of the world. A plane ride and the right set of circumstances and Polio raised its ugly head again. This has been a sad but important reminder that the work of Rotary to eradicate Polio continues to be important and urgent. We must not grow tired; we must not forget. Rattled by the recent invoices with questionable expenses, including one at Twin Peaks restaurant, Conroe city council is now scrutinizing other expenditures, including an $1.46 million agreement with a local developer for sewer improvements for a new residential development. As the city awaits for results of an independent audit related to Twin Peaks, council members now want to audit payments and expenditures from Municipal Utility District No. 149 per the utility agreement the city signed in June of 2019. Councilman Howard Wood, who took office in May, earlier this month asked to table a $56,000 payment to MUD No. 149 for the improvements to the sewer portion of a lift station for the Chapel Run subdivision. Wood requested to table the payment at a July 14 meeting and also asked for a list of expenditures and how much the city had already paid to the district. At a council workshop on Wednesday, Wood said he had not received the data, adding that he was frustrated with the lack of information provided to the council by staff and requested the issue be tabled a second time. Ill be honest, Im not happy with the product I am getting, Wood said during the councils workshop meeting. I asked for an audit and I get log-in info for our accounting software with 4,000 entries. Thats not my skill set. City Attorney Gary Scott advised against the council delaying the payment a second time. Scott said according to the agreement with MUD No. 149 the city agreed to help fund up to $1.426 million for water and sewer facilities including a force main to Tejas Boulevard. To date, he said, the city has paid the district $834,176. We agreed if they came back with more costs, the city would share those costs, Scott said, adding per the contract the city had 60 days to make the $56,000 payment. We are pushing that 60-day time period. The council ultimately agreed to make the payment to the district. The costs of the independent audits were not available. Steve Williams, chief financial officer, said they would be funded through the current budget. Meanwhile, council has added $150,000 to the 2023 budget for potential third-party audits, after Wood requested that amount at the July 14 meeting. The invoices that included expenses at Twin Peaks were submitted by contractor California-based DPR Construction and were related to the construction of the new Hyatt Regency Hotel and Convention Center. The invoices included more than $2,000 to restaurant in Shenandoah; $530.50 to Taco Veloz; $538.04 to Corkscrew BBQ; $347.34 to Chuys; $302.79 to Chick-Fil-A; $852.25 to Sams Club; $595.30 for Oakley Sunglasses; and $4,069.60 to Sportex Apparel for T-shirts. This submission of invoices is egregious, said Councilman Harry Hardman. If this is what is being submitted on a regular basis this is unconscionable. The council also earlier agreed by a 5-0 vote to defer payment on those invoices submitted by DPR Construction pending that audit. cdominguez@hcnonline.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate With school bells set to ring in Montgomery County in a few weeks, some eager students and parents got a jump on their back-to-school shopping courtesy of the Salvation Army. A group of about 15 students were treated to a back-to-school shopping spree Friday at the Conroe Walmart courtesy of the Womens Auxiliary of the Salvation Army of Greater Houston. Each student was given $100 to buy school supplies and whatever fun extras they could fit into $100. The Salvation Army Womens Auxiliary of Houston was founded in 2003. Their biggest fundraiser is the Chic Boutique fashion fundraiser where volunteers take in donated clothes and hosts a pop up sales event. On YourConroeNews.com: Conroes Salvation Army preps for high temps The do a great job. This year they raised either nearly or over $1 million, said Lt. James Guzman who leads the Conroe Salvation Army with his wife, Lt. Claudia Guzman. The group reached out to Guzman and asked what the nonprofit could help with. His thoughts immediately went to those returning to school soon. The participants are either a part of the Salvation Army, attended vacation bible school there this week or benefit from the services of the Salvation Army. He said in the past, the Conroe Salvation Army would buy school supplies in bulk and put them together in bags to give out. But that didnt always cover all the needs of a specific grade level. In addition to Friday mornings event, the Conroe Salvation Army is also accepting donations of school supplies like pens, paper, pencils, backpacks, etc. Those items will be grouped and handed out at the center on an as needed basis. Any extra donations could result in a larger back-to-school giveaway event. Call James Guzman at 936-760-2440 if back-to-school assistance is needed. Conroe ISD and Willis ISD begin on Aug. 10. Montgomery ISD schools start Aug. 11. On YourConroeNews.com: Guzmans welcomed at Conroe Salvation Army As the high temps in Conroe continue, the Salvation Army is offering a cooling station and will continue to accept donations of bottled water. Last week The Rotary Club of Conroe donated a pallet of water to the group and they also received a sizable donation of water from a local church. Call James Guzman at 936-760-2440 to donate bottled water to the Salvation Army. Following back to school time, the nonprofit will begin getting ready for their Halloween and Christmas programs. Guzman said they are planning some sort of fall festival or trunk-or-treat event for October. They were unable to have the event in 2021 because of COVID-19 so he said theyre really looking forward to bringing the event back. Their registration to receive assistance from the Angel Tree program will begin the third week of September according to Claudia Guzman. The Salvation Army Angel Tree program helps provide Christmas gifts for hundreds of thousands of children around the country each year. Once a child or senior adult has been registered and accepted as an angel their Christmas wish list is shared with donors in your community who purchase gifts of new clothing and toys. The gifts are distributed to the family to place under their family Christmas tree. Registration will open a week earlier than normal, she said. Last year the registration was fully online because of COVID-19 and it worked so well that they will continue to conduct this program online in 2022. Not only did it work very well, it freed up the building from having a lot of people coming and going during COVID-19 times, she said. On YourConroeNews.com: Joy of children brings longtime bell ringers back Businesses and organizations in the community can contact Claudia Guzman at 936-760-2440 to host and Angel Tree at their business. James Guzman is already making preparation for the Salvation Armys Red Kettle program. Major planning for the Red Kettle fundraiser begins in October and residents will start seeing the red kettles and bell ringers outside of their favorite stores the week before Thanksgiving. Donations collected in the red kettles during Christmas time fund the programs at the Salvation Army all year long. Visit https://www.facebook.com/TheSalvationArmyConroeTxMontomeryCounty/ for more about the Conroe Salvation Army. shernandez@hcnonline.com Even after 36 years in public education, Tomball ISD Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora begins each school year excited about the same thing. Every year this year is not any different I look forward to the excitement and the opportunity that a new year can bring, and I cant imagine starting this new year anywhere else but Tomball with this amazing team of staff members that we have here, she said. DISTINGUISHED ALUM: Tomball ISD superintendent honored by Texas A&M University-Kingsville School will start in Tomball ISD on Tuesday, Aug. 16, bringing with it new programs, growing enrollment, and additional security measures. Here are some things to know heading into the 2022-23 school year: CTE offerings expanded Tomball ISD Several new career and technical education programs are set to roll out in August, providing students with opportunities to get a head start on achieving their career goals. Tomball ISDs new CTE programs will include aviation, cybersecurity, legal services, and law enforcement pathways. We really want to ensure in Tomball ISD that our students are college, career and/or military ready and meet them wherever we need to for their future, Salazar-Zamora said. MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Tomball teen launches foundation in fathers memory to help local students The programs will be housed at the new Tomball Innovation Center, along with the districts early college high school, Tomball Star Academy. The TIC campus was the former headquarters of BJ Services in Tomball. The district purchased the property which included 11 existing facilities and 20 acres for future development for $38.5 million last year after BJ Services filed for bankruptcy. More projects such as a new elementary school are planned at the center in the future, funded by the districts $567.56 million bond voters approved in November. Enrollment growth continues Tomball ISD While some school districts experienced a decline in enrollment during the pandemic, leaders in Tomball ISD have been pleasantly surprised to see a different trend. The first day of school of the 2019-2020 school year saw over 18,000 students enrolled. By the start of school last year, that number had surpassed 20,000. This school year, Tomball ISD anticipates beginning the fall semester with 21,342 students enrolled. We are a fast growth school district by definition and continue to increase at a very high pace, Salazar-Zamora said. As a matter of fact, we were almost at 9 percent growth this past year. Salazar-Zamora said the district continues to work with demographers to project future growth trends, which dont look like theyll be slowing down. Our student demographics do show that our growth will continue into the next school year at a very fast pace, said Salazar-Zamora, who is on the executive committee of the Fast Growth School Coalition. I serve as vice president of that state organization, and I continue to advocate at the state level for full funding for what we need for fast growth school districts. As of course you know: more students, the need for additional dollars is always important. Securitys being strengthened Gustavo Huerta, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Prioritizing safety and security isnt new for Tomball ISD, according to Salazar-Zamora. Safety has always been of high importance, but that continues to rise to the top as we see incidences in our community and in our great nation of concern when it comes to student safety or just safety in general, she said. Salazar-Zamora said Tomball ISD will continue to revisit its school safety plan and is adding more school resources officers, as well as a new district-level position focused on school safety. The district also has existing security vestibules at campuses and is exploring more safety enhancements to implement in the future. I want our families to drop their children off or see them walk to the bus stop feeling as if they know their kids are going to a safe place, she said. It has always been a focus, but it continues to be ever more a challenge and a focus. Job openings are available Tomball ISD Tomball ISD saw fewer applicants per position this year, however Salazar-Zamora said the district has been able to fill nearly all their vacancies. Were doing quite well in that area which I attribute to the administrators in Tomball who got out front early, interviewed and filled any vacant positions, she said. But I do know it is a challenge at the state and national level, and it certainly concerns me, although were not fully seeing that here in Tomball. She anticipates the district will be able to fill the remaining positions before the start of school. The positions for which Tomball ISD is experiencing the greatest need are in the areas of special education and transportation. A list of open positions, along with job descriptions and salary ranges, may be found at tomball.tedk12.com/hire. Those interested in a position may apply through the site. We would welcome anybody whos interested to apply and even if we dont have an opening in that position, we certainly will keep that in mind for future opportunities, Salazar-Zamora said. COVID guidance hasnt changed, but could Tomball ISD The districts guidance for students and staff who test positive for COVID, or have family members that test positive, remains the same as last school year. Of course, this is a fluid situation that will ebb and flow as we see cases. If we see a rising number of cases, we may have to look at how we are handling this, but at this time we plan to continue with similar (guidance) to how we ended the school year, Salazar-Zamora. As of July 28, Tomball ISDs COVID guidance is as follows: Individuals that test positive for COVID-19 must isolate themselves for a minimum of 5 days after symptom onset or positive test date (whichever occurred first). In order for the students absence during isolation to be exempted, a student must provide a physicians note or a positive COVID-19 lab result to the school within one week of returning to school. If an individual who has been in a school is confirmed to have COVID-19, the following notification procedures will be followed: County: Harris County Public Health will be notified when a student/staff is confirmed with COVID-19. State: By 5:00 p.m. each Monday, the COVID-19 Public School Case Report form will be submitted to the Texas Education Agency with positive case notifications from the prior Monday through Sunday for students/staff who were on a campus within 48 hours of symptom development or positive testing. Individuals who exhibit symptoms consistent with illness will be evaluated by the school nurse and will be excluded in accordance with TISD communicable disease exclusion criteria. Close contacts to individuals who tested positive should regularly monitor themselves for symptoms to ensure they remain symptom-free and take appropriate precautions (e.g., consider mask usage, maintain appropriate distance) for the duration of the 10-day period. Students and staff have counseling access Tomball ISD Salazar-Zamora said mental health continues to be a focus in Tomball ISD both for students and staff. We have additional counseling opportunities. We continue to tweak and work our plan for how we address (mental health), she said, noting resources such as mental health clinics, teletherapy, and the Emotional Backpack Project. Canyon Pointe Elementary, which employs the Emotional Backpack Project, describes the program on its website as an awareness campaign meant to give families and teachers the resources needed so children can lead happy, healthy lives. We have various opportunities at various levels to say, Im here for you, what do you need? You just need to ask, Salazar-Zamora said. We have trained individuals that are aware and looking for signs that others may not see in the event that somebodys having a moment where they just need to be heard or they need to be lifted up. Achievement is a priority Tomball ISD Providing an environment that fosters student success continues to be a primary focus in Tomball ISD, according to Salazar-Zamora. Our top priority is to make sure that every child finds a place to belong, a passion to pursue and a love for learning that serves them well beyond the years that they are with us, she said. That is our top priority that regardless of all the other factors and everything else that may be happening in the world around us, that our students come to school ready to learn and that they have a fabulous educational experience this coming school year. Though the Texas Education Agency has not officially released district and campus ratings for the 2021-2022 school year, Salazar-Zamora said the district anticipates Tomball ISD will be a straight-A rated school district. Because of the work that our staff, our students, our community put into this, our students outperformed their pre-COVID scores, she said. Its an accomplishment she takes pride in considering the academic challenges facing many school districts in terms of learning loss and achievement gaps brought on by the pandemic. The successes that were looking to build on is our legacy of high performance, high achievement, and that we continue to lead not just our surrounding districts but districts throughout the state in student achievement, Salazar-Zamora said. mfeuk@hcnonline.com PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) The mayor of Portland, Oregon, warned the Pacific Northwest could see the most dangerous part of an extended heat wave this weekend as Portland and Seattle appear to be on track to break records for extended scorching temperatures. As the Northwest nears the sixth day of an intense hot spell, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said the weekend marks a new phase that could pose the highest risk to our most vulnerable community members. Were reaching the most important phase of this heat emergency, Wheeler said Friday. Temperatures have neared the triple digits in Portland the entire week, hitting a high of 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 Celsius) on Tuesday. Forecasters predict temperatures could top 100 F (37.8 C) once again on Saturday. On Friday the Oregon State Medical Examiners Office said it was investigating an additional possible heat fatality from suspected hyperthermia, bringing the total to five. The deaths were reported in Multnomah County, which is home to Portland, Umatilla County in the eastern part of the state, and Marion County, which includes the state capital Salem. The deaths occurred Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The state medical examiners office said the heat-related death designation is preliminary and could change. The heat wave has lasted longer than forecasters initially predicted, prompting Multnomah County to extend an emergency declaration that was set to expire on Saturday through Monday morning. Earlier in the week we did not anticipate that it would be this long or this severe, said Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury. The countys four emergency overnight cooling shelters were at 70% capacity on Thursday with around 220 people spending the night, Multnomah County said in a statement. Kafoury said officials will be watching very carefully to see whether the shelters will need to remain open through Sunday night, which we had not originally planned to do. Portland will probably need additional capacity over the weekend, said Shad Ahmed, director of the citys Bureau of Emergency Management, adding that his office is working to ensure that we have the logistics, supply and staffing necessary to address that. The National Weather Service has extended excessive heat warnings in Portland and Seattle through Sunday evening. On Tuesday, Portland set a daily record of 102 F (38.9 C). Forecasters said the city appears to be on track to at least tie previous heat wave duration records, which currently stand at six consecutive days of 95 degrees or warmer. Sunday would break the record if temperatures that day hit 95 degrees, said David Bishop, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Portland. Seattle on Tuesday also reported a new record daily high of 94 F (34.4 C). If temperatures rise above 90 F (32.2 C) through Sunday in Seattle, that would be six straight days of the mercury topping 90 something forecasters say has never happened before in the city. Courtney Lewis and Rylee Griffin were visiting Seattle this week during the hot snap. I mean it is nice, like to help get a tan. But its just hot. Very hot, Griffin said. Forecasters predict there will be no relief until Monday when cool air from the Pacific Ocean blows in. Climate change is fueling longer heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts. Residents and officials in the Northwest have been trying to adjust to the likely reality of longer, hotter heat waves following last summers deadly heat dome weather phenomenon that prompted record temperatures and deaths. About 800 people died in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia during that heat wave, which hit in late June and early July. The temperature at the time soared to an all-time high of 116 F (46.7 C) in Portland and smashed heat records in cities and towns across the region. Many of those who died were older and lived alone. While the current heat wave will not see such high temperatures, it remains very serious nonetheless, said Andrea Hamberg, interim director of Environmental Health Services at the Multnomah County Health Department in Oregon. This heat event might not feel as severe as the June 2021 heat dome. But in many ways it is, Hamberg said, warning of a scorching day six and a day seven that is forecast to be even hotter. "To compound that risk, we are not getting the overnight lows our homes need to cool and our bodies need to recover, said Hamberg. Forecasters predict the low in Portland Friday night will not dip below 70 F (21.1 C). Due to the long duration of the heat spell, officials have urged residents to check in on people who are more at risk of heat-related illness, such as older people and those who live alone. During the 2021 heat dome, 78% of those who died in Multnomah County were 60 or older, and 71% lived alone, Hamberg said. She added that 94% of people died in their own homes. The heat wave stretches south into Northern California and Nevada, where records fell for the second day in a row Friday in Reno with a high of 104 F (40 C). Even in the mountains around Lake Tahoe above elevations of 6,200 feet (1,890 meters), South Lake Tahoe, California followed Thursdays record-high of 92 F (33.3 C) with a high of 91 F (32.8 C) on Friday, tying the previous mark set in 1988. ___ Associated Press videographer Manuel Valdes contributed from Seattle. ___ Claire Rush is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A jury is expected to decide whether defendant Robert Soliz is guilty or innocent in the death of Houston Police Department sergeant Sean Rios during a November 2020 shootout. Soliz faces a murder charge in the veteran law mans death. Testimony from fellow officers throughout the week has recapped the fateful events that happened nearly two years prior as Rios was heading to an afternoon shift. Another week of testimony is expected. Both sides, prosecutors and Soliz's defense team have attempted to explain what happened to prompt Rios and Soliz's fateful encounter but very little evidence has concretely explained what led up to the fatal shooting along the North Freeway. How did the Rios shooting transpire? The shooting unfolded on the afternoon of Nov. 9, 2020, as Sgt. Sean Rios was driving to a 2 p.m. shift at Bush Intercontinental Airport. He had lunch with another officer earlier in the day and was heading to work via Interstate 45 when he exited the highway for an unknown reason. He and another driver then exchanged gunfire outside the Cactus King nursery along the feeder road. During the melee, Rios was shot and staggered into the lobby of the nearby Taj Inn & Suites. He collapsed and died. The alleged shooter, Robert Soliz, was apprehended alongside his lawyer Paul Looney later that week on the Katy Freeway, with his lawyer telling reporters that he was driving his client to the Harris County District Attorneys Office to secure his surrender. Did Rios' death happen in the line of duty? Within hours of the shooting, Houston police leaders revealed at a news conference that Rios was likely responding as a police officer to an act of criminal activity. Despite having been off-duty and on his way to work at the time of the shooting, former police chief Art Acevedo declared Rios death as having happened in the line of duty. No witness testimony or security videos from the area of the shooting has been divulged to determine what prompted the two men to clash. Video of their vehicles from nearby businesses were shown Thursday to jurors. The footage shows both vehicles traveling at reasonable speeds on the freeway and then exiting toward Stuebner Airline Road. The defense has argued that Rios was not acting as a police officer. Early in the case, prosecutors accepted a murder charge -- rather than a capital murder of a police officer offense. Did Rios identify himself as law enforcement? It took at least a half hour for police responding to the shooting to realize that the man lying dead in the hotel lobby was a veteran sergeant with their department. Rios did not identify himself to the manager of the hotel who called 911. Officers testified on Tuesday that they took note that Rios tactical pants were similar to their own. It was not until an officer opened Rios car and found his HPD uniform that investigators realized that the shooting victim was law enforcement. Rios apparently dropped his phone in the rush to leave his car and did not call dispatch or 911 to alert someone of the encounter. The defense for Soliz have not said whether Soliz heard any remarks from Rios at the time of the shooting. What did Soliz do after the shooting? Prosecutors have shown jurors two videos from Soliz, which were taken in the hours following the fatal shooting. One video shows Soliz reacting to a near-death encounter and showing off his gun, which apparently jammed. Another shows Soliz assessing the damage to his Mercedes-Benz vehicle at a nearby auto shop, where investigators found the vehicle on the same day of the shooting. Neither video indicates who Soliz clashed with or why. A judge is expected to determine whether jurors will see additional videos of Soliz that show him brandishing a gun and driving on the highway with the weapon in others -- months before the fatal shooting. Who is Soliz? According to authorities, the 25-year-old defendant is known to be a member of the Sauce Factory gang and has posted photos of guns and stacks of cash to his social media accounts. He retained Looney to represent him in the murder case before his arrest, having known the lawyer since he was a child. Solizs mother used to work for Looney. After the shooting, Soliz and a friend dropped his Mercedes-Benz vehicle off at an auto transmission shop owned by the father of his girlfriend, according to court records. Who was Sean Rios? Sean Rios, 47, worked with the Houston Police Department for nearly 25 years after a stint in the Marines in the mid-1990s. Following assignments in the Eastside and then Southeast division, he was dispatched to work at Bush Intercontinental Airport and had been commuting there for about two months at the time of his death. He is survived by four children, Isabella, Tristan, Luca and Giuliana. Does anyone else face charges in Rios' death? Prosecutors suggested in opening arguments that a second individual helped Soliz escape the aftermath of the shooting. That man, Jason Vasquez, is believed to have been a friend of the defendant and was spotted on surveillance footage together at the transmission shop. Police identified him as a person of interest early in the case but he has not faced any charges in connection to Rios death. He is listed as a potential witness in Solizs case. nicole.hensley@chron.com UPDATE: Houston lifted its pause on new appointments for the monkeypox vaccine late Thursday night, citing upcoming shipments of 16,780 doses. Call 832-393-4220 for more information, or to book an appointment if you are eligible. A slow, confusing rollout of the monkeypox vaccine has caused mounting frustration as Houstonians who have been exposed to the virus struggle to receive a shot from a limited supply. I really do feel helpless, said Adrian Ruiz, who is eligible for the shot, and who as of Wednesday had been thwarted in multiple attempts to receive it. That most of monkeypoxs victims have been gay and bisexual men has heightened his sense of urgency and his sense of injustice as he confronts a potentially painful and disruptive illness. We are being treated as second class citizens, he said. I have never felt that in my life. Cases in the U.S. have jumped from 351 four weeks ago to 4,639 this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The current risk to the general public is low, but experts say uncontrolled spread may leave a wider swathe of the population vulnerable. The Houston Health Department on Thursday temporarily paused new appointments, days after it expanded eligibility, until it receives more vaccines. The pause does not affect the 1,146 appointments already booked through Aug. 8. Among those who have already scheduled appointments, a computer glitch sent nine people to the wrong address, according to the city. Some waited long beyond their appointment time for the vaccine to arrive at the clinic. Others in the eligible group say lackluster public health messaging and inconsistent direction has led to widespread confusion about who qualifies in the first place. The complaints have mostly been centered around the city health department, which has handled the bulk of vaccine administration. Dr. Janeana White, the deputy local health authority with the Houston Health Department, said the computer glitch has been fixed. During a virtual Q&A session Thursday, White broadly acknowledged the confusion and said the health department has worked diligently to make some improvements for individuals who may have had some challenges. The health departments director, Stephen Williams, was not available for an interview on Thursday. Federal officials so far have shipped roughly 320,000 JYNNEOS vaccines one of two vaccines authorized by the FDA to prevent smallpox and monkeypox throughout the country, prioritizing New York and California, where nearly half of all nationwide cases have been reported. Texas received about 14,000 doses, of which 5,000 were distributed to the Houston Health Department last week. The department gave about 1,500 doses to the county. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner wrote to the CDC on Thursday, pleading for more vaccines. Federal officials on Wednesday announced plans to distribute 800,000 more doses from Denmark, where JYNNEOS vaccines are produced. But its not yet clear when Texas will receive its allotment, said Chris Van Deusen, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services. It sounds like theyre not going to ship it to states and territories all at once, but will hold most of it back, he said in an email. Before the latest shipment, eligibility in Houston was confined to people with a confirmed exposure or people who attended an event or venue where there is a high risk of exposure through skin-to-skin sexual contact. The expanded criteria, posted in a PDF on the Houston Health Department website, includes people diagnosed with gonorrhea or early syphilis within the past three months; people who are on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); and anyone who attended or worked at a commercial sex venue where they had anonymous sex or sex with multiple partners within the last 21 days. The runaround Adrian Ruiz fell into the first group. The 30-year-old Houston resident learned he was exposed to monkeypox two weeks ago, when he and his husband spent the weekend in Austin among friends. They floated down the Colorado River and dined in downtown, crashing on their friends couch each night. When they returned to Houston, however, they learned three members of their group had tested positive for monkeypox. Adrian Ruiz and his husband began freaking out, he said. While his husband, a doctor in training, was likely protected, having been vaccinated against smallpox, he was not. On July 21, Adrian Ruiz developed a set of red bumps near his armpit. He called the Houston Health Department the next day. First, he said, the contact tracer told him they would send a vaccine to his primary care provider at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic. But after a three-day wait, the contract tracer called back, saying Kelsey-Seybold declined to administer the shot. Kelsey Seybold is not administering the monkeypox vaccine at any of its locations and is not one of the approved vaccine distributors in Houston, said Rachelle Khalaf, director of public relations and communications for Kelsey-Seybold Clinics. The Houston contact tracer next directed Adrian Ruiz to one of our four city-run clinics to receive his vaccine. But when he called a clinic on Tuesday to schedule an appointment, Adrian Ruiz said he was put on hold for nearly an hour, only to be redirected back to the main Houston Health Department office. He now had less than three days to get the first vaccine dose within the two-week post-exposure window. Waking up early on Wednesday, he again waited on hold with the Houston Health Department for what he said was 30 minutes. He was told he could not receive the monkeypox shot. Leave your name and number, he recalls the administrator saying. We will contact you next week. Maybe. Meanwhile, his friends in Austin who had contracted monkeypox sent him photos of the painful lesions sprouting on their bodies. One, he said, developed sores on their throat so painful they could barely swallow water. The red bumps on Adrian Ruizs arm turned out to be bed bugs, he said. As of Wednesday, he had not received his first monkeypox vaccine dose. He decided to share his story after witnessing what he described as government inaction and inefficiency in the face of a rapidly worsening outbreak, which the World Health Organization this week declared a public health emergency of international concern. White, the deputy health authority, said she takes concerns such as Adrian Ruizs very seriously. Waste of my time Austin Ruiz (who is not related to Adrian Ruiz) was eager to schedule his vaccine appointment earlier this week. As someone taking PrEP, he recently became eligible. He called the Houston Health Department registration line on Tuesday and, with the help of a staff member, chose the most convenient location, the Northside Public Health Center in the Eastex/Jensen area. He then received a confirmation text with a different address: 8000 Stadium Drive, Houston Health Department headquarters. He drove to the headquarters but quickly learned he was in the wrong place. He then traveled 25 minutes to the Northside Public Health Center. Now late for his appointment, Austin Ruiz waited to more two hours, because the staff said they had not yet received any vaccine doses. Its a huge, colossal waste of my time, he said. Im lucky Im able to work a flexible schedule but not a lot people have the luxury to sit there and wait. It was pretty frustrating. Austin Ruiz, a member of the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus, has heard other concerns from people who say the eligibility criteria is not being applied uniformly. Some of his friends living with HIV have been denied appointments because they were not on PrEP, he said. Other friends with HIV have been told they do qualify, he said. Health department officials say people with HIV may qualify if they meet any of the criteria laid out on the website. However, people do not qualify based on their HIV status alone, officials said. For Austin Ruiz, the ongoing COVID pandemic compounds his frustration around yet another virus threatening his daily life. It seems like were already having missteps in responding to this crisis in the middle of a global pandemic, he said. Dylan McGuinness contributed to this report Tiffany Rachal politely asked Houston Police Chief Troy Finner about policies and procedures, but eventually the grieving mother could hold it in no longer. She asked the question that was on many peoples minds: With Black people, why do officers shoot first and ask questions later? Finner couldnt answer. When we say why is it mostly African Americans or people of color getting shot, I dont know the answer, but Ill tell you one thing: we need to look at each shooting scene as independent, Finner said. It was one of many questions posed to Finner on Thursday night as he met publicly with Jalen Randles friends and family for the first time since a Houston police officer killed Randle, 27, in April. Body camera footage released by the police department weeks later appears to show the officer, Shane Privette, open fire on Randle while serving an arrest warrant, before Randle can comply with demands to show his hands. The town hall meeting on Thursday was light on specifics; Finner said he couldnt comment on the particulars of the fatal shooting until an internal investigation was completed, and the two dozen or so participants largely respected that. The meeting was originally scheduled for early July but was pushed back after Finner contracted Covid-19 Over the course of about 90 minutes, audience members at the Judson Robinson Sr. Community Center asked about department policies, how Finner plans to build trust in Black communities and what he is doing to weed out violent officers, among other things. Finner said we live in a racist society with a lot of problems and that, despite the reforms Houston police have made to achieve more equitable policing, the problem wouldnt be solved until society as a whole confronted this reality. He agreed to hold more forums in communities of color across the city, and said that hes committed to firing any officer who has proven to be a bad actor. Occasionally, though, participants confronted Finner on the specifics of the incident. Randles brother, who did not share his name, asked about the dueling autopsies Harris Countys said Randle was shot in the front of the neck, while the familys independent autopsy says the bullet entered through the back. He also asked why Privette appeared to say oh st after shooting Randle. Oh st, thats what you say when you spill some coffee, he said. Finner again declined to go into specifics. Young brother, I feel your pain. Its not going to happen tonight but I want to work with you and hear from you, Finner said. I want to get you some answers, I just cant get them to you tonight, but one thing Ill say is that Jalen didnt die in vain. Also present at the town hall were Jules Johnson and Kimberly Clark from the civil rights division of District Attorney Kim Oggs office, along with a representative for City Council Member Tarsha Jackson of District B and Judson Robinson III, president of the Houston Area Urban League. Johnson explained that his team will review the police departments internal investigation and then present evidence to a grand jury, which will decide whether or not to charge Privette. Audience members questioned why the internal investigation was taking so long, when the evidence is seemingly present in the form of bodycamera video. Johnson said in sensitive cases, he wants to provide an airtight case to a grand jury to leave no room for doubt. It takes a little bit longer and leaves the wound open a little bit for the family, but our hope is that at the end of the day, we can give you a good job and a complete investigation, Johnson said. After the town hall, Randles loved ones said they appreciated that Finner took time to meet with them, but that they still felt their questions had gone unanswered. Im glad he came to us to offer his condolences, which he hadnt done in the past, and that to me meant a lot, but as far as the meeting, Im still confused. I feel a lot of the questions we had, we just didnt get an answer, said Rachal, Randles mother. sam.kelly@chron.com A 24-year-old Richmond man facing charges of conspiracy to support ISIS was accused by federal prosecutors in a Friday detention hearing of helping spread the organizations propaganda, stealing credit card information and forging travel documents and identification. Abdulrahman Al Qaysi, who was indicted in December 2020 but not arrested until earlier this summer, had ties to the United Cyber Caliphate, a group of hacking organizations that supports ISIS, prosecutors said. For years he used Facebook to share propaganda such as videos of beheadings and photoshopped images of the Statue of Liberty flying an ISIS flag, they added. On at least two occasions he shared a so-called kill list to dox U.S. military and State Department personnel, said Homeland Security special agent H. Albert Wittliff in his testimony. Prosecutors argued Al Qaysi, an Iraqi refugee who came to the United States when he was 10, was a flight risk because of the money he receives monthly from an uncle overseas and what they said was a history of creating fake U.S. passports for himself and others. He has the means to run, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani. Not only in cash but in IDs. On HoustonChronicle.com: Richmond man facing federal charges amid allegations of conspiring to help ISIS In his testimony, Wittliff said he worried Al Qaysi, a permanent U.S. resident who was in the process of applying for citizenship, could use a forged Iraqi passport and his American residency card to get into Canada or Mexico. But the 24-year-olds defense attorneys saw it differently. Hes got family ties here and has never left the country, one defense lawyer argued, adding that Al Qaysi would surrender his residency card and agree to electronic monitoring as a condition of his bond. Al Qaysi, who has been on Wittliffs radar for more than six years, is a caretaker and breadwinner for his wheelchair-using mother and his father, who recently had surgery. Before his arrest, Wittliff spoke to Al Qaysi twice, his lawyers said. His defense lawyers were also frustrated with prosecutors considering Al Qaysi a flight risk given how long federal investigators took to arrest him. He was interviewed twice by a federal agent, the attorneys argued, and still didnt try to leave the country. Its somewhat disingenuous to be concerned of flight when youve investigated a guy since 2016, you indict him 2020 and you dont do anything (until his June 2022 arrest). Those arguments didnt sway U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison, who ruled that Al Qaysi be detained until his trial begins on Aug. 22. The most troubling issue, the judge said, is the issue of passport forgery. On HoustonChronicle.com: NCIS agent accused of helping suspected terrorist ex-lover found guilty Although Al Qaysi didnt know he was under investigation until the day he was arrested, Hamdani said investigators found deleted search history on his seized computer that included Am I on the watchlist? Wittliff, when asked by defense attorneys, couldnt confirm that it was Al Qaysi who made the search. On top of the conspiracy charge, Al Qaysi is also accused of making a false statement in a naturalization application. Court documents allege he falsely answered no when asked if he had in any way ever been associated with a terrorist organization or if he ever helped any group that used a weapon against any person or threatened to do so. Also charged are Al Qaysis cousin, 26, and a 32-year-old man from Sugar Land. An indictment alleges the three men falsely answered no to a question on the naturalization application that asked whether they had ever committed, assisted with or attempted to commit a crime for which they were not arrested. The three face additional charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and Al Qaysi is accused of committing aggravated identity theft. If convicted, Al Qaysi faces up to 20 years in federal prison for allegedly conspiring to help ISIS, along with a mandatory two years for the identity theft charge, which must be served consecutively to any other sentence. Making a false statement in a naturalization application and attaining citizenship unlawfully carry possible sentences of five and 10 years, respectively. The three men, if found guilty, are also facing up to 20 years for allegedly conspiring to commit wire fraud. jhair.romero@chron.com The man charged in the fatal shooting of an off-duty Houston Police Department sergeant recorded multiple videos in the hours that followed the gun battle and in the profanity-laced footage, he noted his close call with death. In a video shown to jurors, defendant Robert Soliz can be seen showing off a bloody wound on his upper arm in a car, going on to hold up a semi-automatic handgun to say that the 40mm-caliber firearm jammed up and that he could no longer trust the weapon. Almost got my life taken, Soliz continued The 25-year-old defendant does not appear in the videos to elaborate on the circumstances of why he fired the gun and with whom he clashed. Authorities soon linked him to the death of Sgt. Sean Rios in a November 2020 shootout along an Interstate 45 feeder road, prompting a murder charge in the officers death. The trial started Tuesday and is expected to last two weeks. The first cell phone video and another was among the evidence ranging from crime scene photos and surveillance footage shown Thursday to jurors. A second round of footage Soliz recorded at an auto shop where he and a friend rushed to after the shooting was also played in the court. The brief clip showed his Mercedes-Benz vehicle with a bullet hole in the windshield. Throughout the trial in the 179th District Court, the defense has doubted whether Rios identified himself as law enforcement or acted as such. He was driving to his 2 p.m. shift at Bush Intercontinental Airport at the time of the incident. Police found his HPD badge and uniform in his personal vehicle, which was left running, according to testimony. The sergeants cell phone was found on the ground next to Rios car, suggesting that he got out of the vehicle in a hurry and dropped it. Solizs lawyer, Paul Looney, questioned the detective who initially investigated the shooting. He turned his attention to remarks that former police chief Art Acevedo, flanked by city officials and his command staff, made to news reporters in the aftermath. During that news conference, Acevedo said Rios, despite being off-duty, died in the line-of-duty after having engaged a suspect in a gun battle suggesting that he was intervening in an act of criminal activity. The Mercedes-Benz vehicle, by then, had already been found at the auto shop. What remains unknown though is why Rios exited Interstate 45 and exchanged gunfire with Soliz a mystery that Acevedo acknowledged then. When youre taking police action, and youre in a shootout I think its safe to say youre taking police action, the then-chief said at the time. This is considered a line-of-duty death. The detective, Sgt. Maria Greenhaw, had not spoken to Acevedo, she testified, by the time the news conference happened and was unaware of what he said or that the command staff had made that conclusion to share that narrative. Looney noted that it was also possible that Rios may have done something improper though Greenhaw said she was not aware of that having happened. In the opening arguments, the defense suggested that Rios could have instigated the shooting. Surveillance footage from nearby businesses also captured the movement of Soliz and Rios vehicles as they traveled on Interstate 45 and exited to a feeder road. In one video, Rios sedan appeared to trail Soliz separated by multiple lanes of traffic. By the next video, the sedan had passed Soliz and continued to stay ahead of him for a time. Another detective testified that both vehicles appeared to travel at normal speeds. Testimony from Tuesday showed that officers who rushed to the scene did not know Rios was a police officer until about 30 minutes into the investigation when an officer found his HPD work shirt and badge in the abandoned vehicle. A fellow sergeant has since testified that Rios was absent from roll call at 2 p.m., and about 10 minutes later, a supervisor notified him that Rios was involved in an incident on the freeway and that he might have been killed. After the jurors left for the day, prosecutor Sarah Seely asked the judge to allow extraneous offenses and additional video of Soliz another one which also appears to show him brandishing a gun while driving to be shown to the jurors. Judge Ana Martinez is expected Friday to rule on the motion. nicole.hensley@chron.com A dinner turned into a brawl Friday, July 15, on the River Walk after one patron started a fist fight over his bill, San Antonio police said. The man, who was dining at The Original Mexican Restaurant, became upset over the establishment's service and then began arguing with the staff before the altercation became physical, according to police. Police said they were responding to reports of a disturbance call from The Republic of Texas when an officer saw patrons fleeing from the Original Mexican Restaurant. LONE STAR STATE: Texas is the second-worst state to live in, according to report Employees of Original Mexican Restaurant told police that the disturbance erupted after a customer complained of hair in his food and looked as if he would leave without paying, according to a police report. Employees told the man he was cut off from the bar and needed to pay his tab. A fight broke out, and the customer punched a restaurant manager in the face and threatened the manager with a broken margarita glass, the report said. The man then headed for the Republic of Texas Restaurant, where the altercation continued, the report said. When officers questioned him, the customer said that when had complained about hair in his food, employees at Original Mexican Restaurant offered to discount the cost of the item but insisted he pay the rest of his food and drink bill. In a video posted to Twitter on Sunday, July 17, half a dozen individuals can be seen throwing punches, hitting one another with chairs and throwing glasses as the fight spilled over to neighboring establishments before San Antonio police officers run up and tackle several people to the ground. Terrified screams can be heard as patrons in a Go Rio River Walk boat stop and watch the events unfold. A 30-year-old man was arrested on assault charges. No major injury was reported. taylor.pettaway@express-news.net Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported where the physical altercation began. Sign up for The Brief, the Texas Tribune's daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. At least 30 people have been killed in state police car chases connected to Texas expansive border security operation since it began last March, according to a new complaint by civil rights groups. The death tally, which includes five people not involved in the chases, was compiled from news reports and sent Thursday to the U.S. Department of Justice in an official complaint of alleged civil rights violations. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project are pleading for federal intervention to halt policing practices under Gov. Greg Abbotts multibillion-dollar Operation Lone Star, including the deadly car chases and an abundance of traffic stops and searches that disproportionately target Latinos. The Texas Department of Public Safety reported in December that in the nine months after troopers flooded the region searching for people smuggling drugs or people into the United States, its officers engaged in more than 1,000 vehicle pursuits in border communities. In recent years, police chases have been scrutinized nationwide, and policing experts have encouraged departments to narrow their use, citing the danger they pose to police, suspects and bystanders. A DPS policy from 2017 and a spokespersons comments in December indicated the agency does not restrict when officers can chase a car, leaving the decision up to the individual officer. The civil rights groups also allege troopers excessively pull over Latinos who make up the vast majority of border county populations for minor traffic violations. They argue troopers prolong stops of Latinos to search for illegal activity based solely on their ethnicity. The allegations come on the heels of a state-imposed review of 2021 traffic stops released Monday. The analysis by Tarleton State University flagged DPS as possibly racially profiling Hispanics based on a disproportionate number of stops and searches, despite finding less contraband in cars with Hispanic drivers than white ones. There is significant evidence that DPS is engaged in racial profiling discriminating against Latinx drivers and passengers in these stops, reads the federal complaint penned by the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project. And, troublingly, the stops turn into deadly vehicle pursuits with alarming frequency. DPS did not respond to questions sent Wednesday about its chase policies or complaints of racial profiling. Neither DPS nor Abbotts office immediately responded to the complaint Thursday. Operation Lone Star was launched by Abbott to combat a rise in illegal immigration and what he argued were lax federal policies. Border counties said they were overwhelmed and either wanted humanitarian assistance for migrants or increased law enforcement, typically depending on whether they were in more Democratic or Republican areas. Abbott has focused on enforcement, but his operation to catch-and-jail migrants and accused smugglers has been marred by controversy and an ever-expanding price tag. The civil rights groups complaint follows one they sent with other groups in December, which called for the DOJ to investigate the operation for its practice of arresting migrants en masse on potential trespassing charges and jailing them for weeks and months in state prisons. Congressional Democrats have also called for a federal investigation after repeated wrongful arrests, illegal detentions and due-process violations in the new criminal justice system for migrants were reported by The Texas Tribune. This month, state records obtained by the Tribune and ProPublica revealed the federal agency is investigating the operation. Now, the civil rights groups want the same officials to also consider alleged civil rights abuses by DPS for its fatal car chases and alleged racial profiling. Federal action is critically necessary to protect Black and Brown individuals caught up in the OLS migrant arrest program and Latinx drivers and passengers in South Texas communities, the groups said in their complaint. Texas governors have repeatedly sent law enforcement south for border security operations throughout state history. Although the increased police presence is meant to tackle human smuggling and drug trafficking, border residents also see a rise in traffic citations as police say they pull people over to investigate possible other crimes. A KRGV-TV analysis of citations in the Rio Grande Valleys Starr County revealed there was a more than 1,000% increase in the number of citations for having things like stickers or tinting on a car windshield in the first months of Operation Lone Star. This is an old tool being pulled out once again from the state to make a political point, said Erin Thorn, a senior attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project. It just feels like a systemized way to further entrench that militarization, which affects border communities with harassment and fines and fees they cant afford. The civil rights groups argued that DPS uses ethnicity alone as a reason to conduct more thorough searches after a traffic stop. From a sample of human smuggling arrest reports the groups received, they alleged there were multiple instances of officers prolonging a minor stop to investigate possible smuggling based on the occupants being Hispanic. In one instance, an officer further investigated smuggling because he smelled an odor he said was distinct to undocumented immigrants due to sweat and being exposed to the environment. The civil rights groups argue the justification was plainly outrageous, and it is bias-based policing. The allegations align with findings from a statewide study of traffic stop data initiated by the Texas Legislature. The Institute for Predictive Analytics in Criminal Justice of the Texas A&M University System showed DPS officers in 2021 were more likely to search Hispanic drivers than white ones, despite the searches of Hispanic drivers being less likely to turn up contraband than white drivers. If you have a significant number of searches that you make on minorities, but most of them dont result in contraband being found, that is a big, big red flag for us, said Alex del Carmen, the director of the institute. Racial profiling is not necessarily based on who the officer stops, but what the officer does once the stop is made. In Kinney County, whose leaders are vocal supporters of Abbotts operation and have jailed by far the most migrants for allegedly trespassing, a sheriffs spokesperson said residents are more tolerant of increased traffic stops. Matt Benacci said the community is aware drug cartel operatives have cloned vehicles, as was the case in San Antonio last month, when 53 migrants died after being trapped in a sweltering tractor-trailer imitating a Texas company truck. But even residents who want more statewide enforcement of immigration in the Hispanic-majority county are unhappy with what seems to be daily high-speed chases through their sleepy town. A lot of people are terrified that these kids are going to get run over, Benacci said. There are safety concerns about chases in the city limits and police driving over the speed limit without lights and sirens. Those fears have come to light in other border communities. Of the 30 people killed and more than 70 injured in police chases involving DPS reported by the civil rights groups, five were in other vehicles but just happened to be on the same road as the pursuit. Other bystanders were hospitalized, including a child. The groups argue that the departments lack of restrictions on chases has led to the tragedies, which surpassed the 23 deaths connected to U.S. Border Patrol in the entire southern border, from California to Texas, in 2021, according to ACLU data. DPS spokesperson Chris Olivarez said at a briefing in December that chases increased because smugglers are getting bolder. Were starting to see this more often, a lot of these crashes, especially not only with the innocent bystanders as far as motorists, but were also seeing illegal immigrants that are being killed because of the way these human smugglers are transporting them, he said. The departments most recently released policy for vehicle pursuits from 2017 is minimal, leaving the decision of chasing a fleeing person entirely up to individual officers without specific guidelines. The policy, which an agency spokesperson said in December was still in effect, does not meet best practices set by national policing groups, which suggest only chasing violent suspects who pose an imminent danger. You have to ask yourself, what is the threat? said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum in Washington, D.C. Is the threat worth endangering the people youre chasing and the police officer who is chasing them? If something should happen, or a third party should somehow cross the street while this chase is going on and you kill that person, does that justify the pursuit? In cases where officers suspect a car full of people are being brought into the country illegally, Wexler said a chase puts all at risk. Without clear guidelines from the law enforcement agency, officers may make the wrong decision. Cops need to know whats expected of them, Wexler said. And if you dont tell them, youre basically opening the door to potential tragedies. Disclosure: The ACLU of Texas and the Texas A&M University System have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here. When you join us at The Texas Tribune Festival Sept. 22-24 in downtown Austin, youll hear from changemakers who are driving innovation, lawmakers who are taking charge with new policies, industry leaders who are pushing Texas forward and so many others. See the growing speaker list and buy tickets. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/28/texas-dps-pursuits-profiling/. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. Social media exploded Friday morning over the release of Beyonce's latest album "Renaissance," her seventh solo album. The album, which Chronicle music critic Joey Guerra described as "a love letter to the queer community," pays homage to decades of dance music and had people all over the world bopping well into the night. Houstonians, in particular, felt close to "Renaissance" because Beyonce has proven she's "always down for the H," Guerra wrote ahead of the album's release. Since the album's midnight release, many said tracks like "Church Girl" and "Thique" had them dancing at home. You can listen to instant reactions from Chronicle staffers to the album's release in our Twitter Space from last night. Guerra wrote in his review that the album "at its essence is about freedom" and for those who "spent endless nights with friends and lovers, hands high in the air, under the swirl of a disco ball." TIMELINE: How Beyonce has given back to her hometown of Houston through the years It seems almost guaranteed that Houston bars and clubs will be playing nonstop Beyonce in the coming days. See what other social media users in Houston had to say about the album's release below. It is my great shame in life that I never properly learned Spanish. Honestly, though Im not Hispanic, I have no excuse. As a child I went to a military school in Indiana where half the children came from wealthy families in Mexico. When I first got there, I was issued a uniform with the name Eduardo stitched on the chest. My roommate, Joaquin, was from deh effeh D.F. the initials often used to refer to Mexico City. The first phrases I learned to speak in Spanish were taught to me by my classmates and so vulgar as to land me enough demerits to get paddled that is, spanked with a large wooden paddle with holes drilled in it. (Did I forget to mention it was a Catholic military school run by monks?) Lets all agree that the psychological effect of that paddling was the main reason I didnt learn fluent Spanish, and not my lack of intellect. You see, I did eventually go on to have a half-dozen years of formal instruction in Spanish. I have lived in Houston for 18 years, I work frequently in Mexico and Latin America. I even co-founded a magazine about Spanish-language books, authors and publishing. Again, I have no excuse. I felt a flush of shame about my inability to speak Spanish when I learned of the death of my friend Bobby Byrd, who died on July 11. Bobby was a poet and the publisher of Cinco Puntos Press, a book publishing company in El Paso. Cinco Puntos was among the first and few publishers to see the value in the work of writers and artists who straddle the U.S.-Mexico border. He published bilingual English-Spanish childrens books, and incorporated vernacular Spanish into the companys books well before it was fashionable. It was the language we heard on the streets, Byrd told me once. Whats more, Byrd deliberately didnt italicize Spanish words a common signifier of otherness that is still practiced in many publications. You may have heard of some of the books first published by Cinco Puntos, including La Llorona/The Weeping Woman by Joe Hayes, about the ghost story that every Mexican and Mexican American kid grows up hearing. And you may know some of the work by authors Bobby first championed, including Benjamin Alire Saenz, Dagoberto Gilb, Sonia Patel, and Luis Alberto Urrea, to name just a handful. There is the one by Beto ORourke, co-written with Susie Byrd (Bobbys daughter), called Dealing Death and Drugs: The Big Business of Dope in the U.S. and Mexico, which makes the case for legalizing marijuana. Bobby was a risk-taker. Someone who realized that treating Spanglish with the literary respect it deserved would help extend the same respect to those who spoke it. A non-native Texan he was born in Memphis he grew up in the then-segregated South, where he was raised by his mother and the familys African American maid (his father died in a plane crash when Bobby was 3). Bobby was present at the speech Martin Luther King gave the night before he was assassinated. He said that these experiences motivated him to fight racism and helped shape his professional literary agenda, which was to bridge the gulf between English and Spanish literary cultures. This is more radical than you might think, because Spanish tends to command less global cultural and academic esteem than that of French, German and Italian despite having an equally long and rich literary patrimony. Not to mention more people speak Spanish on the planet than all those who speak French, German and Italian combined. Texas is one of the few places outside of Spain, Mexico and Latin America, of course where Spanish-language literature is getting its due. Here in Houston, the University of Houston has been at the vanguard of Spanish-language education and Latino publishing. It is home to Arte Publico Press, which was founded in 1979 and gave a home to Latino writers dismissed by mainstream publishers, as well as Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project, which locates, preserves and publishes lost Latino writings that date from the American colonial period through 1980. UH is also responsible for launching the first doctoral program in Spanish Creative Writing in the United States. Theres more here too: Houstons the home of Literal Publishing, which publishes a prestigious bilingual literary journal, and of the activist literary organization Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say which created the notion of librotraficantes book smugglers, who trafficked Spanish-language books and related titles to states that banned their use in schools. (Founder Tony Diaz describes some of these episodes of activism in his new book The Tip of The Pyramid: Unearthing Community Cultural Capital, to be published next month by University of New Orleans Press.) All of this only underscores the importance of Bobby Byrd, who reminded me just how impactful one man (well, one man and his equally important and influential wife Lee, with whom he co-founded and ran the press) can be in advancing the culture in which we live, making it more inclusive and welcoming to all. The last time I saw Bobby in person, at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference in San Antonio in 2020, just as the pandemic was starting, he was eager to get me to read Bloody Seoul by Sonia Patel , a novel about a Korean teenage gang written by a Hawaiian-born Gujarati American hed recently published. Bobbys books were multicultural, inclusive and diverse long before those labels became familiar, and he kept breaking boundaries. When he died, his family, friends and a small group of literary-minded admirers including me mourned. His legacy may seem modest Cinco Puntos published some 130 books but through its influence, it is likely to extend to generations. The next time you see a Spanish word appear in an English-language publication and it is not italicized, please quietly thank Bobby Byrd. Adios Bobby. And gracias. Ed Nawotka is a Houston writer. He is the international editor of Publishers Weekly and co-founder of Publishers Weekly in Espanol. China steps up investment in rural transport infrastructure Xinhua) 09:58, July 29, 2022 BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China stepped up investment in roads and other transport infrastructure in rural areas in the first half of this year as part of the efforts to vitalize the countryside. The country had completed fixed-asset investment worth 183.65 billion yuan (about 27.24 billion U.S. dollars) in rural roads in the January-June period, up 15.9 percent over one year ago, Gu Zhifeng, an official with the Ministry of Transport, told a press conference on Thursday. Some 60,000 km of rural roads and 3,283 unsafe bridges had been reconstructed during the period, up 17.7 percent and 9.2 percent year on year respectively. The reconstruction projects on rural roads had created some 49,000 temporary jobs for the rural population via work relief schemes in the first half of this year, according to Gu. More rural people will benefit from such work relief projects as the country plans to rebuild 150,000 km of rural roads and 8,000 unsafe bridges in rural areas this year. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) Wait! Before you go Please sign up for our Evening Digest and Breaking Newsletters Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. 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 proposal would bring the aquarium up one floor and use the current auditorium as integrated space for art and natural history, following the museum's established mission. An illustration of how the aquarium would curve through the space. Attendees were able to ask questions after the presentation. The project is third phase of a $10 million renovation and upgrade of the 120-year-old museum. The auditorium would be become a integrated display area with the aquarium. PreviousNext Aquarium Reimagined as Berkshire Museum's 'Heart' Tomomi Itakura and Yugon Kim, founding partners IKD architects, explain their vision to a gathering at the Berkshire Museum. PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Berkshire Museum plans to bring its aquarium from the basement to its main floor and create a unified space for art and natural history displays. On Tuesday, the museum gave a presentation on the third phase, or "block," of its approximately $10 million capital improvement plan. The nearly 120-year-old building has so far received renovations to its sewer lines, foundation, freight elevator and second floor. Project architects Tomomi Itakura and Yugon Kim, founding partners of IKD of Boston and San Francisco, explained that they want to break up the "black box" of the auditorium in the center of the main floor and create an interconnected space that allows for free-flowing exploration. "One of the first things we noticed that was really impactful for us is this inscription that's at the top of the entrance to the building that says Museum of Natural History and Art and this really finds us at the very foundation of what makes the Berkshire Museum unique. It's that natural history and art come together in this building," Itakura said. "And it's not really something that's super common, you know, all of these museums have inscriptions or things written on top, too, but none of them say natural history and art and so we really wanted to take this very foundational concept of what Zenas Crane was thinking when he established this museum and to keep that spirit alive." This concept brings the aquarium currently located in the basement of the museum to the ground floor in place of the auditorium. The Crane Room on the second floor is set to absorb some of the auditorium's use and the new aquarium is designed with open space in the center. There was also talk of possibly partnering with another local theater for uses that are beyond the Crane Room. The design is centered around a geometric aquarium between various interconnected rooms of museum space that include art and natural history. A system of curved displays snakes through the rooms to create continuity. "In many ways, we started thinking of this living core as the beating heart of the museum," Kim said. "So its kind of this central space that all the galleries are adjacent to that can circulate in. There's not a one path that you travel through the building is more than a place of exploration, which is what a museum should be." The designers felt it was important for guests to experience the museum in a holistic way rather than in segregated sections. During a question period, Kim pointed out that there are places in the world where art can be viewed in isolation but the point of this project was to show the relationship between art and natural history. IKD has worked with a large list of museums and educational institutions, including the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Isabella Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Denver Art Museum and the Presidio in San Francisco. Earlier this week, the museum announced the appointment of longtime museum administrator Kimberley Bush Tomio as executive director. iciHaiti - Insecurity : Intense exchanges of fire in Port-au-Prince, the PNH increases its presence Thursday, July 28, 2022, due to the intense exchanges of automatic weapon fire heard in downtown Port-au-Prince and in other areas of the capital following the violent inter-gang clashes, the National Police of Haiti (PNH) has increased its presence for a few days already through the streets to reassure the population. The PNH, which understands the feeling of concern felt by the inhabitants and more particularly the commercial and university sector because of this climate of tension, wishes to clarify that the police have not remained passive in the face of this situation. In fact, special units were quickly deployed in certain neighborhoods and were reinforced in others to prevent these criminals from creating panic by using terrorist methods to attack the lives of peaceful citizens or to destroy public property or private. Several of these thugs, armed with assault rifles, were fatally injured in exchanges of fire with the Police in downtown Port-au-Prince on Wednesday July 28, 2022, while others were apprehended and will be brought before Justice. The police authorities invite the population to remain calm and call for everyone's collaboration in efforts to maintain public order. IH/ iciHaiti Over the course of the last year, the demands placed on IT have irreversibly changed, in no small part due to the vast acceleration of digital transformation through remote working. This means uptime has never been more important for preventing commercial and consumer disruption, as well as avoiding financial losses. In fact, The 2021 Uptime Institute Global Survey of Data Center Managers found that 40% of outages now cost between $100,000 and $1 million, not to mention their reputational price. To minimise the likelihood of outages and their consequences, data centre managers must be able to assess potential risks like never before. Their focus on making their facilities resilient is essential. And to achieve this, its imperative that they can pre-empt and avoid potential downtime triggers, in addition to minimising the impact of failure scenarios. Using a digital twin to understand the impact of infrastructure changes One sure-fire way to mitigate the chance of an outage is to deploy a data centre digital twin. This is a virtual representation of the physical facility which uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to simulate air flow through the facility, and to reveal thermal challenges which could cause downtime in the future. Using this technology, operators can trial and assess the impact of any given change in the digital realm before they apply it to the real-life facility. This mitigates risk and reduces the chance of outages as potential issues can be identified before they occur. Conducting chaos engineering through a digital twin First coined by Netfilx during their move to AWS in 2011, chaos engineering is the principle of breaking things on purpose to test systems reliability in the face of unexpected and challenging disruptions. In the application layer this means performing experiments like deliberately failing servers and clusters, dropping packets, and filling up hard drives. According to chaos engineering provider Gremlin this results in increased systems availability and reduced Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) for incidents. However, running chaos engineering experiments at the physical layer in the data centre is hard to do safely, and some questions are simply not possible to answer with physical testing. Say you want to have some insight into how the facility will respond to a complete failure of the chiller plant? Or you want to test what happens when the racks running the passive half of an active-passive redundant application ramp up, when the local cooling unit has failed, and it is the hottest day of the year? Tricky, but these are the kind of black swan events that cause painful outages, and this is where the digital twin comes into its own. Using digital twin software, the data centre can be put in any configuration and simulated to see what would happen in the event of unplanned, problematic and even catastrophic data centre conditions such as series of cooling or airflow units failing, or circuit breakers malfunctioning. Consequently, operators can uncover and resolve weaknesses, as well as understand how much time they would have to rectify problems in a disaster situation. This ultimately empowers them to safely simulate resilience and bolster their incident response to reduce the likelihood of extended downtime with its associated impacts. Looking ahead The damage caused by outages can be severe. Take the Microsoft Azure outage at the end of last year as an example. The UK facility was brought offline due to cooling-related challenges, with serious implications for those relying on it, including the UK governments Covid-19 information portal. Its clear that taking the necessary measures to avoid data centre outages must continue to remain a top priority. The good news? Deploying a digital twin will enable operators to prepare for failure scenarios in addition to planning for the safe implementation of changes. As a result, they can keep their systems up and running, serving customers efficiently as demand continues to grow. Dave King is a Product Manager at Future Facilities and has over 15 years of experience with data center simulation. His knowledge of data center cooling techniques and thermal performance helps data center managers get the most out of their facilities. YouTube just announced a partnership with Shopify. Now, creators can link to products from their Shopify stores directly in their livestreams on YouTube. Consider a homebrewing tutorial, where you see each product link pop up as the creator demonstrates them live. Then, you can buy them right there, without leaving the video. Alphabet is far from the first Fortune 100 company to prioritize social selling. Amazon Live, Instagram Live and Facebook Live all include tools that help businesses use the platforms for live commerce. U.S. retail giants have been slowly moving in this direction too. Earlier this year, Walmart partnered with Talkshoplive to add regularly scheduled live shopping experiences on their website. Target is beta-testing livestream shopping directly on their site too and in February, Lowe's announced DIY-U, a combination of livestream tutorials with featured products and in-store workshops. While livestream selling is gaining ground here, it's a much more mature concept in China, where sales through live commerce are expected to reach $423 billion this year. As a consumer, what's your typical buying process like today? If I was looking to buy a new wallet, I'd go to the Amazon app to start my search, pick through about 30 items that look roughly the same to find one that I like and that has good reviews. Then, I'd check out and wait for the next-day delivery. You might think that sounds pretty normal but if I described that process to a consumer in China, they might look at me like I have two heads. What kind of antiquated buying process is that? How can you keep up with the latest trends, recommendations and ideas? Instead, they would say, you should be buying directly from your social media apps, as promoted by various brands and influencers. Social selling is the shopping experience of the future. If you're a retailer who isn't selling products via live sales on social media or your own website, it's time to start. Here's why: It's a better buying experience. People want to know how products are used and how they fit before they buy them but they shouldn't have to look far for that information. People don't buy something on Amazon without checking reviews and looking at users' real life photos. Livestream shopping takes that experience one step further, allowing users to not only see the products being used but to ask questions about them and get answers in real time. Third party endorsements work. Third party endorsements are a marketing technique as old as word of mouth itself. Having an influencer or customer talking about your product boosts your credibility and encourages buying. It gets you to additional revenue fast. Livestream commerce is a great way to bring in a lot of revenue quickly. It gives people a reason to look and buy at a specific time, whether you time your video with a new product release or an upcoming holiday. One of our customers recently shared that a 30 minute influencer-led event on a well-known makeup website drove an extra $30,000 in net new revenue. Consider leveraging livestreaming events right on your website, enabling your customers to have an "experience" with an influencer or even an employee while driving brand awareness. For beauty, that could be a 30 minute event with an influencer where they showcase how to use your skincare products. Customer engagement can be enhanced by creating interactive opportunities through questions, polls, chats, buy-now links and positive emoticons. You can also increase revenue opportunities by selling VIP or small group experiences to select individuals with large wallets. Take a small step in this direction today by planning, hosting and promoting a live shopping event on your Instagram, YouTube or Facebook channel using their existing tools. After starting there, you can use technology that allows you to distribute a livestream, embedded on your website, to various social media platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram Live and even Twitch. Starbucks is making big changes. Despite coming off a near record earnings year, the company is dealing with dissatisfied employees, many of whom have been pushing for unionization. This is just one of the challenges that has brought Howard Schultz back as chief executive, a position he returned to just a few months ago. In a letter to employees, Schultz admitted that the company is not currently satisfying the needs and expectations of either employees or customers. "Today, we find ourselves in a position where we must modernize and transform the Starbucks experience in our stores and recreate an environment that is relevant, welcoming, and safe, and where we uplift one another with dignity, respect, and kindness," wrote Schultz. "We need to reinvent Starbucks for the future." Schultz's letter reveals five steps to its reinvention strategy, most of which appear to be typical PR speak. Interestingly, though, much of Schultz's letter focuses on just one of those steps, namely, redesigning the company's partnership with employees. According to Schultz, Starbucks is using direct feedback from employees--in the form of stories, experiences, and ideas--to "inspire a set of principles for a new partnership at Starbucks." While Schultz's ability to deliver on what he's promising remains to be seen, done right, this would be an example of an excellent strategy that has a foundation in emotional intelligence: It involves something called the Ikea effect. What is the Ikea effect? And what lessons can business owners learn from it? Let's break it down. (If you find value in the lessons in this article, you might be interested in my full emotional intelligence course -- which includes 20 rules that will help you develop your emotional intelligence. Check out the course here.) How Starbucks Is Using the Ikea Effect The term "Ikea effect" first appeared in a research paper published by Harvard Business School. The paper highlighted a study in which two sets of subjects were asked to price a set of Ikea self-storage boxes. The first group had built the boxes themselves, while the second group simply examined the furniture before coming up with a price. The result? The persons who built the boxes themselves placed significantly higher value to the finished product, leading to the authors' conclusion: "When people imbue products with their own labor, their effort can increase their valuation." In other words, when you build something yourself, you value it more. Well, just as customers place greater value on furniture that they assemble themselves, your team will find more value on solutions that they had a hand in creating. As just one example of this, Starbucks recently made the decision to close 16 stores in cities across the country, citing "a high volume of challenging incidents that make it difficult to create a safe and welcoming environment," as reported by The Washington Post. In a separate statement, Starbucks senior vice presidents Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelsen cited employee feedback regarding challenges such as personal safety, racism, a growing mental health crisis, and rising drug use. "Your input directly shapes our policies, programs, and benefits to ensure you feel more supported and empowered," wrote Stroud and Nelsen. In his letter, Schultz mentions other ways the company plans to use employee feedback to rekindle its relationship with them. "We built this company on the power of partner ideas and voice," Schultz writes. "Our Reinvention must even more deeply ... share accountability in building a shared future and benefit all of us when the company succeeds. We aim to be a wholly new kind of company in our industry, setting a new standard." What will that new standard include, exactly? Several years ago, Starbucks set itself apart from other retailers with the benefits it offered even part-time employees, including a stock equity reward program. Will we see dramatic improvements to that program, or something similar? I guess time will tell: Schultz says that in the weeks ahead, the company will provide "greater clarity" around new resources and programs. Regardless, employers can take a lesson from Starbucks's proposed strategy. When listening happens, learning begins. So, give your employees a forum to share their challenges, needs, and even wants. Doing so will allow you to better identify problems and solutions. Sarah LaFleur started her womenswear business, M.M.LaFleur, in 2013, she couldn't have imagined that, less than a decade later, people would start wearing sweatpants to work en masse. "The pandemic was brutal for our business," she told Beatrice Dixon, co-founder of The Honey Pot Company, in an exclusive Inc. streaming event. "I had people who I really, really respect and whose opinion I trust say to me, 'Sarah, this wouldn't be a bad time to call it quits. You built an amazing brand, an amazing company. Why not let this be the end?' And I couldn't." M.M.LaFleur laid off employees, closed all of M.M.LaFleur's nine stores, and had to figure out how, exactly, to attract customers when the rise of remote work completely changed the way many people got dressed each day. Fortunately for the company, LaFleur has always believed in running a lean operation. She was able to keep her business running and saw demand start to uptick in 2021. Then, she realized that it actually had an opportunity: As people went back to their offices, they wanted help refreshing their wardrobes and navigating new, relaxed dress codes. M.M.LaFleur's professional stylists were ready to help. "I think that's one of the silver linings of the pandemic is that we learned how to connect with other people virtually over Zoom," LaFleur says. Today, shoppers can also stop by the brand's two re-opened showrooms in New York City and Washington, D.C. With a possible recession on the horizon, business isn't back to normal, but LaFleur is confident that her company can weather whatever storm may be brewing--and she's committed to sticking with her brand for the long haul. Here, she shares her entrepreneurial journey, and the advice she has for fellow business owners. On navigating change: On taking care: On growing a team: In a tragic incident, two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots were killed when their twin-seater MiG-21 trainer aircraft crashed during a training sortie near Barmer in Rajasthan on Thursday night. The IAF said the aircraft was on a sortie from Utarlai air base and the accident took place at around 9:10 pm in which both the pilots lost their lives. ANI What happened in Barmer "A twin seater MiG-21 trainer aircraft of the IAF was airborne for a training sortie from Utarlai air base in Rajasthan this evening," the IAF said in a statement. "Around 9:10 pm, the aircraft met with an accident near Barmer. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries. The IAF deeply regrets the loss of lives and stands firmly with the bereaved families," it said. The IAF said a court of inquiry was ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. MiG -21 aka flying coffin Thursday's crash has again put the spotlight on MiG-21 aircraft of the IAF, which has been termed as flying coffins and widow makers by some for its poor safety records. BCCL/ File According to official data, the Soviet-era aircraft has been involved in around 200 accidents since their first induction in the early 1960s. In March, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhat said in the Rajya Sabha that 42 defence personnel were killed in accidents involving aircraft and helicopters of the three services in the last five years. Five MiG-21s crashed in 2021 2021 was mainly a horrible year for the IAF's MiG-21 fleet. MiG-21 Bison, an upgraded variant of the fighters inducted in the 1960s, was involved in five crashes in 2021, leaving three pilots dead. BCCL/ File Before the induction of the British-origin Hawks, MiG-21s accounted for half of the total flying hours of the IAF. It is also worth mentioning that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was flying a MiG-21 when he took to the air on 27 February 2019 to intercept an intrusion by Pakistan Air Force in Jammu and Kashmir. In the following dogfight, Abhinandan shot down a much advanced and modern F-16 before his aircraft crashed inside POK. BCCL IAF to retire MiG-21s Last year, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said that MiG-21s could be retired in the next couple of years. "We have four squadrons of the MiG-21s, and the drawdown will happen in the next three to four years," he had said. For more on the news, sports, and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Since 2010, July 29 has been celebrated as Global Tiger Day to raise awareness about this magnificent but endangered big cat, which is also India's national animal. In 2010, governments of 13 countries that have tiger ranges had come together in St. Petersburg, Russia, to cooperate and help double the population of wild tigers by 2022. BCCL Tigers make a comeback globally And the efforts seem to have paid off as tigers, once on the brink of going extinct, are making a comeback globally. According to the latest International Union for Conservation of Natures (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species Assessment, the global tiger population has stabilized and potentially increased for the first time in decades. The new data suggests a potential 40% increase in tiger numbers, from 3,200 in 2015 to 4,500 in 2022, despite extreme threats like poaching that feeds the illegal wildlife trade and habitat loss. Just a century ago, more than 100,000 tigers roamed Asia. BCCL/ Representational Image South Asia leads in tiger count "Representing 76% of the global tiger population, South Asias tigers are gaining numbers, particularly in India and Nepal, from where new population estimates are expected any day. In Northeast Asia, numbers are relatively stable in Russia and likely increasing along the border with China. Of all regions, however, Southeast Asias tigers are faring the worst, with tigers having been lost from Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam since the turn of the century," Panthera, an organisation that is devoted exclusively to preserving wild cats, and was part of the study said. Protected area population increases in India, Nepal, and Thailand are particularly encouraging as they demonstrate that the recipe for saving tigers can be tailored and replicated across the species range. If progress continues in the last decade, I fully expect tigers to be reclassified as Vulnerable by the next IUCN Red List Assessment in seven to ten years, Panthera Chief Scientist and Tiger Program Director, Dr. John Goodrich said. BCCL India achieved the 2022 target in 2018 India has been the global leader in saving the tigers from extinction. According to the latest estimate, in 2018, India had a tiger population of 2,967. While India has managed to reach the goal of doubling the tiger population by 2022, four years in advance, the rising number of big cat deaths remains a concern. Tiger deaths in India India has lost 1,059 tigers since 2012, with Madhya Pradesh, known as the 'tiger state' of the country, recording the highest number of deaths (270) according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). BCCL Madhya Pradesh, which has six tiger reserves, has logged 27 tiger deaths this year so far. Last year, it lost 41 striped felines. According to the NTCA, Maharashtra has recorded 183 tiger deaths, followed by Karnataka (150), Uttarakhand (96), Assam (72), Tamil Nadu (66), Uttar Pradesh (56), and Kerala (55). Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh saw 25, 17, 13, 11, and 11 tiger deaths, respectively. For more on the news, sports, and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Last year, the RBI had issued a guideline for banks to implement Positive Pay System (PPS) for all modes of cheque payments (Cash/Transfer/Clearing) w.e.f 01.01.2021. But not all banks and customers had adopted it timely and on a compulsory basis. So now, many banks have made it mandatory for customers to do PPS registration, effective August 1, 2022, i.e. Monday. So what exactly is PPS, how does it work and affect your cheque transactions? "The concept of Positive Pay involves a process of reconfirming key details of large value cheques. Under this process, the issuer of the cheque submits electronically, through channels like SMS, mobile app, internet banking, ATM, etc., certain minimum details of that cheque (like date, name of the beneficiary/payee, amount, etc.) to the drawee bank, details of which are cross-checked with the presented cheque by CTS (Cheque Truncation System)," the RBI website mentions. shutterstock So, under PPS, the person who issues a high-value cheque will be required to submit the details including the date of issuance, name of beneficiary etc to the drawee bank. This can be submitted electronically via email, mobile banking app, and internet banking, the report mentioned. Later, when the cheque is presented to another bank for payment processing, the details will be verified. If the details match, the amount will be given to the depositor. Otherwise, the cheque will be returned unpaid. This process is developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). "While availing of this facility is at the discretion of the account holder, banks may consider making it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of Rs 5,00,000 and above", the RBI had added. Following this, several banks have set the limit of Rs 5 lakh or above for mandatory PPS registration, effective August 1, 2022. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had made it mandatory for cheques worth Rs 5 lakh or above to follow the Positive Pay System (PPS) to be encashed. If the rules are not followed, the banks are allowed to refuse clearance of such cheques. Several banks including the Bank of Baroda (BoB) and the State Bank of India (SBI) have issued notifications to help the customers complete the PPS formalities, as per Business Standard report. Last month, BoB issued guidelines stating that W.e.f. 01.08.2022, Positive Pay confirmation is proposed to be made mandatory for cheques issued for Rs.5.00 lacs & above. That means, cheques issued for these values shall be returned in the clearing/Intersol without payment, if positive pay confirmation is not provided on or after 01.08.2022. In its circular, BoB mentioned that the path for providing Positive Pay confirmations can be done through the following channels/modes- Mobile Banking, Net Banking, Branch visit, SMS and Call Center. Whereas SBI on its website mentions that lodgment of cheques (PPS) can be done through any of the branches or through alternate channels such as internet banking, mobile banking/app, and SMS. shutterstock Also Read: Costly Calculation: A 'Copy Paste' Error By One Bank Employee Led To 1.5 Crore Fuss, Here's How Why PPS? RBI had mentioned in its circular earlier in 2020 To further augment customer safety in cheque payments and reduce instances of fraud occurring on account of tampering of cheque leaves, it has been decided to introduce a mechanism of Positive Pay for all cheques of value 50,000 and above. Under this mechanism, cheques will be processed for payment by the drawee bank based on information passed on by its customer at the time of issuance of cheque. While availing of this facility is at the discretion of the account holder, banks may consider making it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of 5,00,000 and above." Details that are required to be furnished with the bank, include account number, cheque number, cheque date, cheque amount, transaction code, beneficiary name and MICR code. For the latest and interesting financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here Home insurance group Hippo acquired the startup at the end of 2020 and has continued the company as a subsidiary. First Connect president Aviad Pinkovezky (pictured) explained that the platform gives independent agencies a valuable way to expand their reach. The relationship that First Connect has with different insurance carriers allows independent agencies to get access to those carriers without necessarily meeting production volume and so on, which in many cases could be difficult to obtain, Pinkovezky said. Pinkovezky was previously Hippos chief product officer, helping it to develop technology tools and products that bring its policies and services to market. The former LinkedIn executive and ex-Israeli intelligence officer was Hippos first employee and helped the company enter and expand in the US homeowners market. He became president of First Connect in February 2022. Now the company has more than 40 carrier partners and thousands of independent insurance agency or agent customers. Pinkovezky is focused on helping both sides of the business grow, but with an asterisk. The focus here is not necessarily just [growth], because you want to make sure you have the right kind of carriers that provide the availability of the insurance product in the best way that is possible, which means they are able to provide support for the scale of agents that we have, Pinkovezky said. Quality takes priority over everything else. Beyond home insurance, First Connect also provides carriers access to agents in auto, life and commercial insurance part of its expanded reach after Hippos acquisition. Earlier in July, First Connect added Cowbell Cyber to its platform an MGA insurtech focused on providing cyber coverage to small- and medium-sized businesses. When I joined the leadership team of First Connect, we started to double down on growing the business, taking it further, Pinkovezky said. First Connect generates revenue by splitting agent commissions paid with the sale of carrier policies, a standard practice in the industry. Agents pay zero access fees. Quick connections First Connects core technology centers around APIs and quick connections independent agents can make with different insurance carriers, Pinkovezky explained. Instead of going through different carriers, the agents have quick access to all of them from the first time, so they can manage their permissions and admissions and so on, and also track the commission payments, he said. They get the commission payment also handled by First Connect. API driven integrations with multiple insurtechs and carriers are a primary technology focus for First Connect. The goal is to create a better experience for agents so they can give their customers better service. In other words, the key ingredients are APIs and the cloud-based access First Connects platform provides. Independent agents would not necessarily have the same tech capabilities, Pinkovezky said. Usually these are family-owned businesses that dont have access to those cutting-edge technology resources, he said. They are, in a way, left outside of the technology play because there is no solution in the market that connects the insurer to them easily. The value proposition, he said, comes from leveling the playing field nationally so smaller and medium-sized independent agencies can build their business by connecting to the platform. Carriers, he added, wouldnt necessarily link with individual independent agencies on their own. Carriers wont integrate with different agencies one by one, because of their size, obviously, Pinkovezky said. What were doing is providing these agencies [access] that usually [dont] have the technology and dont benefit from scale. We provide them with the same kind of experience, productivity and API integration that larger players would have access to. Carrier integrations To integrate with carriers, First Connect initially focuses on how they provide access to agencies. Based on those processes and preferences, First Connect provides an integration plan bridging from its portal to an API that provides the full suite of quoting and binding options with as few keystrokes as possible, Pinkovezky said. After the technical integration, First Connect communicates the new addition to its agents and carrier panel. There are also tutorials and webinars co-hosted between the company and new carriers, introducing the new carrier option for agents. Next, First Connect starts providing agents access to the new carrier based on their level of interest. At that point, agents can connect with the new carriers, see quotes and reach into the carrier website seamlessly to service their customers. Integration with carriers ranges from a few weeks to a few months, Pinkovezky said. Its been a very streamlined and positive experience, he added. Were pleased to partner with APCIA to spread the word about the wonderful career options the insurance industry has to offer, said Whinee Dillard, executive director of Invest and Big I diversity. With the average age of an agency principal at 55 years old, according to the most recent Agency Universe Study, attracting the next wave of insurance professionals is key to continuing to strengthen the independent agency distribution channel. Read next: Big I launches risk management website Advancing insurance education is a key priority for APCIA and our members, said Tamra Johnson, associate vice president of public affairs for APCIA. We look forward to working with the Invest team to expand access to economic educational resources and helping future policyholders learn how to establish financial security by protecting their investments. APCIA is the latest on a long list of insurance companies and industry groups partnering with Invest, including: AIG, Applied Systems, Chubb Insurance, CNA, Chromium, Donegal Insurance Group, Dryden Mutual, First Choice Agents Alliance, Foremost and Farmers, Frederick Mutual, Hanover Insurance, HSB and Munich Re, The Hartford, the Big I, The Institutes, Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance, National General, Nationwide Insurance, Progressive Insurance, Selective Insurance, State Auto, Travelers, Westfield, and Vertafore. Segment H1 2022 net income/(loss) H1 2021 net income/(loss) Property & casualty reinsurance $316 million $1.3 billion Life & health reinsurance $2 million $(129 million) Corporate solutions $220 million $262 million Consolidated $157 million $1 billion Swiss Re attributed the plunge in consolidated net income to significantly lower investment results and to the $283 million in reserves established in the first quarter for the war in Ukraine. The reserves were not increased in Q2 a period in which Swiss Re posted a net income worth $405 million. After a challenging start to the year, Swiss Re returned to profitability in the second quarter, noted group chief executive Christian Mumenthaler. This was supported by strong results in life & health reinsurance and corporate solutions, as well as robust underwriting performance in property & casualty reinsurance. Thanks to the actions we have taken over the past years, all our businesses are well positioned and focussed on achieving their segmental targets for the year Our very strong capital position and excellent client franchise enable us to capture further profitable growth opportunities in a supportive pricing environment. On July 01, the P&C reinsurance business renewed contracts with $4.8 billion in treaty premium volume, achieving a price increase of 12% in the renewal round. This post is part of a series sponsored by Old Republic Surety. Large surety accounts arent handled as mere transactions. They require a relationship based on mutual trust in which the independent agent plays a critical role. Any definition of surety will list the three signing parties in a contract surety relationship: the principal (or contractor), the obligee (or owner of the project) and the surety. But often overlooked is the trio of surety players who work together for mutual benefit: the surety, the principal and an independent agent. Steve Hanson, recently retired independent surety agent, Eugene, Oregon, describes that three-way surety relationship as a trust triangle. He observes that the trust derived from shared experience and evolving (over time) mutual respect, both professional and personal, is the most important building block of a business relationship. That is especially true for large surety contract accounts because they are not handled transactionally. In fulfilling their roles in the trust triangle, Hanson explains that surety producers and underwriters recognize what the other needs in order to properly and effectively do our jobs and roles in supplying surety for the contractor. We each strive to provide the information and tools that enable one another to fulfill our duties while working effectively toward mutual goals in good faith with one another. As the backbone of any contract project, each of the three must consider the circumstances and best interests of the other two all while serving the best interests of the project owner/obligee. They establish mutual trust and understanding through personal visits, project site visits, and attendance at the agents and the contractors association events, among other learning opportunities. Inexperienced surety underwriters sometimes do not fully understand the role of the independent surety agent in the trust triangle. As my longtime friend and mentor, Hanson demonstrated that valuable producers serve several roles. First, the agent acts as advisor and facilitator for the principal. Second, the agent functions as a matchmaker, connecting a contractor/principal with the most appropriate surety company and underwriter. The agent also helps sell the contractors business plan and its potential to the surety company. Mike Gale of the Buckner Company in Ogden, Utah another longtime friend and surety partner offers this practical illustration of the agents value in the surety relationship: The surety person might know all there is to know about surety, but if he or she does not know the market the agent resides in, it is difficult to build a relationship that benefits the surety, agent and client. The underwriter must be respectful and receptive to learning about the agent and contractor and to learning from them expecting that respect and receptiveness to be reciprocated. Topics Agencies Surety New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! Massachusetts lawmakers approved a sweeping abortion bill Tuesday aimed in part at building a firewall to protect access to the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month. The bill would protect abortion providers and people seeking abortions from actions taken by other states, including blocking the governor from extraditing anyone charged in another state unless the acts for which extradition was sought would be punishable by Massachusetts law. The bill also states that access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care services is a right protected by the Massachusetts Constitution; requires the states Medicaid program, known as MassHealth, to cover abortions; allows over-the-counter emergency contraception to be sold in vending machines; and requires public colleges and universities to create medication abortion readiness plans for students. A unique Texas law banning most abortions after about six weeks is enforceable through lawsuits filed by private citizens against doctors or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion. Another item in the Massachusetts bill addresses the question of permitting an abortion for a pregnancy the has lasted 24 weeks or longer. Under the bill, the abortion would be allowed if, in the best medical judgment of a physician, it is: (1) necessary to preserve the life of the patient; (2) necessary to preserve the patients physical or mental health; (3) warranted because of a lethal fetal anomaly or diagnosis; or (4) warranted because of a grave fetal diagnosis that indicates that the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside of the uterus without extraordinary medical interventions. The vast majority of abortions occur before 20 to 21 weeks of pregnancy, experts said. In 2019, almost 93% of abortions occurred at or before 13 weeks gestation, while only 1% of abortions occurred at 21 weeks or later, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other portions of the bill would allow any licensed pharmacist to dispense emergency contraception and require the Public Health Department to identify areas in the state without access to abortion within a 50-mile radius and recommend ways to ensure access to abortion in those areas. The House approved the bill on a 137-16 vote. The Senate backed the measure 39-1. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Charlie Bakers desk. Baker, who supports abortion rights but has differed with lawmakers on specific policies, said hes hoping to hold a signing ceremony. Ive only read about half of it, but Im hoping that well be able to have a ceremony for that one too, Baker told reporters as lawmakers were debating the bill, adding that one piece of the bill he hadnt yet read was the portion dealing with abortions at 24 weeks and longer. The bill in part echoes an executive order signed by Baker immediately after the Supreme Court decision barring state agencies from assisting another states investigation into people or businesses receiving or delivering reproductive health services that are legal in Massachusetts. Abortion rights advocates praised the bill. The overturning of Roe v. Wade was a direct attack on a persons fundamental right to make decisions concerning their own body, Amy Rosenthal, executive director at Health Care For All, said in a written statement, calling the bill approved by lawmakers a bold step to guarantee that residents in Massachusetts will continue to have access to all the health care services they need. (Editors Note: Bakers office announced on Friday that he signed the bill. Massachusetts remains steadfast in its commitment to protect access to reproductive health care services, especially in the aftermath of the Supreme Courts decision overturning Roe v. Wade, said Baker.) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Massachusetts New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! A Baltimore family is suing a Sesame Street-themed amusement park for $25 million over claims of racial discrimination, alleging multiple costumed characters ignored a 5-year-old Black girl during a meet-and-greet event last month. The lawsuit comes in the wake of a video, shared widely on social media, showing two other Black girls apparently being snubbed by a costumed employee during a parade at the park in Langhorne, outside Philadelphia. Sesame Place apologized in a statement and promised more training for its employees after the video went viral earlier this month. The suit, which seeks class action status, was filed in a federal court in Philadelphia against SeaWorld Parks, the owner of the Sesame Place, for pervasive and appalling race discrimination. The lawsuit alleges four employees dressed as Sesame Street characters ignored Quinton Burns, his daughter Kennedi Burns and other Black guests during the meet-and-greet on June 18. The lawsuit says SeaWorlds performers readily engaged with numerous similarly situated white customers. During a press conference held Wednesday, one of the familys attorneys, Malcolm Ruff, called for transparency from SeaWorld and for the company to compensate the Burns family. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! On-demand delivery drivers for Grubhub are subject to the companys mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled in overturning a lower court that found the drivers were entitled to an exemption under federal law. The states high court ruled that delivery drivers are not involved in interstate commerce in the manner required for an exemption under the Federal Arbitration Act. The opinion by Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt discusses whether delivery drivers, who deliver takeout food and various prepackaged goods from local restaurants, delicatessens, and convenience stores to Grubhub customers, fall within a residual category of workers namely, any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce - who, like seamen and railroad employees, are exempt from arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act. The Bay States high court joined the numerous courts that have addressed the same question and concluded that the delivery drivers are not exempt from arbitration. It ruled the arbitration agreements between the drivers and Grubhub are binding. The drivers all worked in Massachusetts and did not cross state lines in their work for Grubhub. In February 2017, Grubhub distributed an arbitration agreement to its drivers through an online portal. The plaintiffs each signed the agreement electronically. The agreement included a provision requiring the drivers to submit all past, present or future disputes arising out of or related to [e]mployees . . . employment and/or separation of employment, including any claims based upon or related to . . . retaliation . . . [and] wages or other compensation, to final and binding arbitration. The agreement further provided that the terms of the agreement were governed by the FAA and included a class action waiver stating that [t]here will be no right or authority for any dispute to be brought, heard, or arbitrated as a class action. In October 2019, the plaintiffs sued Grubhub in the Superior Court, alleging that Grubhub violated the wage act, the tips act, and the minimum wage act, and that Grubhub unlawfully retaliated against drivers who complained about their wages. In May 2020, Grubhub moved to compel arbitration and to dismiss the complaint, asserting that each plaintiff had entered into an agreement to arbitrate, which was enforceable under the FAA. Following a hearing, a Superior Court judge denied Grubhubs motion. The judge found that the plaintiffs entered into the arbitration agreement; however, the judge concluded that the plaintiffs, by virtue of their transportation and delivery of prepackaged food items, some of which were manufactured outside Massachusetts, fell within the definition of workers who are exempt from arbitration under the FAA. Grubhub appealed, and the states high court transferred the case from the appeals court. The drivers insist that they fall within the residual category of exempt workers because even though they do not cross state lines, they transport goods, such as prepackaged chips or soda, that are in the flow of interstate commerce because some of the goods have moved across state or national lines. But the high court said they are not involved in interstate commerce in the way required to qualify for the FAA exemption. The exemption requires that the class of workers must be connected not simply to the goods, but to the act of moving those goods across state or national borders. The court concluded that the Grubhub drivers are not involved in the continuous interstate transmission of these goods. The court noted that all courts that have considered the applicability of the residual clause to delivery drivers similar to the plaintiff delivery drivers in this case have reached the same conclusion. [A]t the moment the goods at issue here entered the flow of interstate commerce, the destination was not the address of the Grubhub customer ordering the takeout food or convenience items for delivery. At most, the goods were destined for the local restaurants, delicatessens, and convenience stores that ordered them. Any subsequent journey taken by the goods in the hands of the Grubhub drivers, as part of the takeout meal, was not part of the ongoing and continuous interstate transmission of these goods, the judge wrote. The drivers further complained that Grubhubs online process for the arbitration agreement did not allow for reasonable communication and assent. .Grubhub argued that the opportunity to review the agreement before signing constituted sufficient notice, and that the plaintiffs manifested their assent to the arbitration agreement. Again, the court sided with Grubhub, noting that Massachusetts courts have routinely concluded that clickwrap agreements whether they contain arbitration provisions or other contractual terms provide users with reasonable communication of an agreements terms. Topics Legislation Massachusetts Personal Auto New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! A disbarred New York lawyer was sentenced yesterday to 36 months in prison for defrauding investors in his now bankrupt litigation finance firm called Cash4Cases. According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jaeson Birnbaum previously pled guilty to securities fraud for misappropriating investors funds and pledging the same lawsuit recoveries as collateral to multiple parties, contrary to his representations. U.S. District Paul A. Crotty imposed the sentence in Manhattan federal court. According to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams and statements in the public filings and in court, over several years Birnbaum obtained more than $3 million in investments for Cash4Cases based on fraudulent misrepresentations. These investments were in the form of promissory notes, which purported to provide the investors with a security interest in the recoveries associated with certain specified lawsuits that were ostensibly purchased by Cash4Cases. However, in fact, in some instances, the lawsuits that were either never funded by Cash4Cases or Birnbaum had previously pledged their recoveries to other parties, according to the U.S. attorney. To help carry out his fraud, prosecutors said Birnbaum directed an employee to falsify his companys books to make it appear that the recoveries from lawsuits that had already been paid out were still available to be pledged as collateral to new investors. Prosecutors said he also misappropriated a substantial portion of investors funds for his personal use and to make promised payments to earlier investors in Ponzi-like manner. In one case, he misappropriated $530,00 for the down payment on a house in New Jersey, prosecutors said. Birnbaum was also sentenced to a three-year term of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution to his victims in the amount of $2.6 million, according to tcourt documents. As a lawyer Birnbaum understood the importance of honest dealings and putting his investors first. Instead, Birnbaum chose to lie to his investors in order to steal their money and cover up his fraud by doctoring company records, Williams said in announcing the sentencing. According to court documents, Birnbaum also owned another litigation firm called Liberty Bridge. In 2020, both Cash4Cases and Liberty Bridge filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. In connection with the bankruptcy, creditors, including victims of the charged criminal offenses and other investors and lenders, filed claims totaling approximately $61.5 million. To date, prosecutors told the court, based on information provided by the bankruptcy trustee, claimants in the bankruptcy case have received recoveries totaling only $19.8 million of the $61.5 million in claims, including an aggregate of $183,662 payments to the victims of the charged criminal offenses. According to Birnbaums attorney, assets liquidated in the bankruptcy case will be used to repay investors of his defunct companies. Birnbaum lawyers told the court that Birnbaum currently resides in Boca Raton, Florida, with his sister, and is currently launching three companies that offer shared platform business contract models, e-commerce, and social media advertising and marketing. Birnbaum is hopeful that these ventures will take off and he will generate income to help satisfy his restitution obligations, his lawyer stated in a sentencing memorandum. According to his attorney, Birnbaum has had issues with excessive alcohol use and has been receiving treatment. His attorney told the court that Birnbaum made clear in his guilty plea and in his statement to probation, he fully accepts responsibility for his criminal conduct and its consequences. Topics Lawsuits New York New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! The industrys blockchain project, B3i, has ceased activities and filed for insolvency following unsuccessful funding rounds. The directors, following consultation with the shareholders, have collectively concluded that there was not sufficient support to continue with the venture at this stage, said an announcement on the companys website. I think it was a very quality effort, but at the end of the day, we did not see the volumes in the demand that would have justified continued investment in this platform, according to John Dacey, group CFO for Swiss Re, which was an original investor in the B3i initiative. Conceptually, I think it remains a very interesting opportunity for the industry. It may be that at some point in time, somebody breaks the code, but at this point of time with this platform, it didnt seem like it was going to go forward in a profitable way, said Dacey during a Swiss Re media call to discuss the reinsurers first half results. B3i, which stands for The Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative, began life when five insurers and reinsurers came together in 2016 to explore the potential use of distributed ledger technology, known informally as blockchain. The original consortium consisted of five insurers: Aegon, Allianz, Munich Re, Swiss RE and Zurich, which were joined in 2017 by another 10 companies: Achmea, Ageas, Generali, Hannover Re, Liberty Mutual, SCOR, Sompo, RGA, Tokio Marine and XL Catlin (now AXA XL). Willis Towers Watson also was a member of the strategic advisory board. In 2018, B3i formed a company called B3i Services AG in Zurich, which by 2020 was supported by 20 major re/insurer investors. During the Swiss Re media briefing, Christian Mumenthaler, Group CEO, speculated on a way that blockchain could be successful. We would need an end-to-end view, he said. It would need all insurance companies to basically create smart contracts at the beginning, at the origin. And then, a digital reinsurance contract could be created afterwards, which would create full end-to-end efficiency, Mumenthaler added. The problem, he noted, is that all insurers would have to switch their IT systems to be able to create smart contracts. B3i was trying to improve the interface between insurance companies and reinsurers, but not at the original risk, allowing for end-to-end contracts. You just dont get to the efficiency you need, if you just start with that, Mumenthaler said. Insurers and reinsurers that invested in B3i had hoped that blockchain technology used in insurance transactions would help reduce costs and contract uncertainties. An example often cited was the case of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The coverage for the World Trade Center had just been agreed but the paperwork wasnt finalized when the planes hit the towers. Years of legal proceedings followed. If blockchain solutions had been available and the policy had been entered into one common, underlying ledger where both parties acceptance could have been verified, then the lengthy legal wrangling could have been avoided or at least that was the working theory. Howden, the London-based international insurance broker, announced it had agreed to acquire C.R.F. Conseils (CRF), an independent broker that specializes in financial lines. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. This is Howdens first acquisition in France since appointing Nicolas Aubert as CEO of Howden France, and will enable Howden to launch operational capabilities in this key market. Founded in 1999, CRF focuses on financial lines, a key area of the future of Howdens offering in France both for local and international clients. Established in 1999, CRF Conseils is a leading French broker for both Financial Institutions & Tech Companies. With specialities in professional indemnity (PI), directors and officers (D&O), employment practices liability (EPL), cyber & crime, CRF operates from Paris and employs 16 people. This acquisition is the best way to launch ourselves in France as a credible and differentiating alternative, commented Aubert. The CRF team have best-in-class backgrounds and reputations in the market and their decision to join Howden is a signal to the market of our commitment to build a new broker in France, which is founded on expertise and quality of talent and that brings value to all of our stakeholders, including entrepreneurial talent, clients and insurance partners, Aubert added. We have been approached several times to sell our business, which we have always declined. Why? Our autonomy and the entrepreneurial side of our business are essential, said Didier Arminjon, CEO, CRF. We strongly believed that we would only join a group that shares our DNA and having had the opportunity to meet the leaders of Howden on various occasions, and to listen to them talk about their culture, their values, their priorities, their vision, we knew that Howden could be the ideal partner for us, Arminjon continued. We are certain that by joining Howden, we will be stronger and better able to support our clients by delivering ever more sophisticated solutions, with the same listening and attention, the same professionalism that we have always had, but leveraging Howdens international presence and expertise, said Didier Seigneur, deputy CEO, CRF. Finally, we will be in a better position to recruit the future talent that our customers need. The opportunities in the market are significant; we will have the means to seize them to strengthen our growth, Seigneur noted. In a market that is crying out for European-focused alternatives our strategy is simple: to develop a strong territorial presence in Europe and offer a unique range of specialty solutions for our clients, according to Luigi Sturani, CEO, Howden Europe. We will accomplish this by attracting the best entrepreneurial talent and like-minded companies, and by growing organically. The acquisition of CRF is a great initial step in our ambition to position ourselves among the leading brokers in France and I am looking forward to welcoming the team to Howden, said Sturani. Upon completion and subject to regulatory approval, Didier Arminjon will remain CEO of CRF, while Didier Seigneur will remain as deputy CEO of CRF and also assume the title of director of Financial Lines, Howden France. Recently, Eric Demange, Adrien Laplane and Delphine Voltolini have joined Howden France as commercial director and deputy CEO, CFO and director of Operations, respectively. Source: Howden Topics Mergers & Acquisitions France An Illinois freight broker has filed a lawsuit accusing Liberty Mutual of overcharging it by demanding payment of workers compensation premiums for independent contractors who are ineligible for benefits. Virnich Corp., which does business in West Chicago, says in a civil complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court on July 18 that the insurer is seeking $134,576 in extra premium after auditing the companys 2019-20 and 2020-21 policies. Liberty Mutuals illegal premium calculation includes individuals and companies who are independently licensed motor carriers, not employees, the company says. Virnich does not assign jobs to these independent contractors, the lawsuit says. Rather, Virnich tenders offers to these motor carriers to perform transportation services under negotiated freight terms. Virnich said Liberty Mutual made a similar demand in July 2020 after auditing its 2019-20 policy. The carrier initially asked for $303,366 in premiums for classification 7219, which covers trucking employees, but dropped its demand after Virnich disputed the audit. The carrier reduced the premium to $5,608. But last July, Liberty Mutual conducted a new audit of the 2019-20 policy and the 2020-21 policy. It demanded that Virnich pay an additional $134,576. The company said the insurer once again sought to collect premium for independent contractors who could not make a workers compensation claim. Liberty Mutual charged Virnich the same for these trucking companies as they would charge fro trucking employees that were direct, W-2 employees of a trucking company, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit says Liberty Mutual has notified Virnich that it also intends to audit its 2021-22 policy. Virnich said the premiums violate the Illinois insurance law because they are excessive. The lawsuits says the company has refused to pay the extra premiums and Liberty Mutual has threatened to sue to collect. The company seeks a declaration from the court that Liberty Mutual cannot charge premiums for independent contractors. Virnich is represented by attorneys Howard L. Teplinsky and Katherine A. Grosh with the Levin Ginsbury firm in Chicago and by attorney Scott M. Priz in Riverside. Topics Lawsuits Agencies Workers' Compensation Trucking The detective who led the investigation into the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School attack testified Tuesday that there are three types of people who deny that it happened and harass the victims families: the mentally ill, those who believed bad or incomplete information, and those who knew the truth but twisted it for their own power or money. Investigators put conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in that final group. They were the most dangerous. Thats where we put Alex Jones, Connecticut State Police Detective Daniel Jewiss told the jury on the first day of testimony in a Texas trial to determine how much Jones, who hosts Infowars, owes for defaming the parents of one of the children who died in the deadliest school shooting in American history. Its absolutely horrific the amount of trauma theyve had to endure in the wake of having lost a loved one, said Jewiss, who called supporting the Sandy Hook families the most honorable thing hes ever been part of. Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse was killed in the attack on the Newtown, Connecticut, school, are seeking $150 million for emotional distress and reputational damage that Jones caused them, and more money in punitive damages, their lawyer, Mark Bankston, told the court during his opening statement as Jones looked on, shaking his head at times. Jones repeatedly lied and attacked the parents of murdered children when he told his Infowars audience that the shooting was a hoax, Bankston said. He created a massive campaign of lies and recruited wild extremists from the fringes of the internet who were as cruel as Mr. Jones wanted them to be to the families of the 20 first-graders and six educators who were killed, the lawyer said. Jones tapped into the explosive popularity of Sandy Hook conspiracy stories that became an obsession for the website, even years after the shooting, said Bankston, who played video clips of Jones claiming on his program that the shooting was a hoax and the whole thing was completely fake. It just didnt happen. Anticipating that Jones lawyers would argue that what Jones said about Sandy Hook was speech protected by the First Amendment Jones arrived at the courthouse wearing tape over his mouth with the message Save the 1st printed on it Bankston told the jury, This has nothing to do with the Constitution. Defamation is not protected by freedom of speech. Speech is free, but lies you have to pay for. During the defenses opening remarks, Jones lawyer Andino Reynal called Jones one of the most polarizing figures in this nation, who made statements about Sandy Hook that we dont dispute were wrong. But he said Jones has already been punished for those statements when he was kicked off of Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Twitter for violating their hate speech policies. Jones has already been cancelled and lost millions of dollars, said Reynal, who called on the jury to limit the damages to $1. Reynal painted a picture of a talk show host who tries to give an alternative view but who was duped by some of his guests. Alex Jones was wrong to believe these people, but he didnt do it out of spite. He did it because he believed it. He believed a citizen has a right to get on Infowars and talk about what their questions are, Reynal said. He also called the case an important one for free speech. I believe in his right to say it, and I believe in every Americans right to choose what they watch, and listen to, and believe, Reynal said. Between the two sides opening statements, Jones stepped outside of the courtroom to rant to reporters, calling it a kangaroo court and show trial that was an assault on the First Amendment. He didnt return to the courtroom for the afternoon start of testimony, which included Infowars producer Daria Karpova taking the stand. Jones media company designated Karpova to testify about Infowars audience reach, and some of the video produced by the website after the Sandy Hook shooting. The trial took a break for the rest of the day before she finished planned testimony. The jury could deal Jones a major financial blow that would put his constellation of conspiracy peddling businesses into deeper jeopardy. In addition to being banned from major social media platforms, he claims hes millions of dollars in debt a claim the plaintiffs reject. The Texas court and another in Connecticut found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax involving actors aimed at increasing gun control. In both states, the judges issued default judgments against Jones without trials because he failed to respond to court orders and turn over documents. In total, the families of eight Sandy Hook victims and an FBI agent who responded to the school are suing Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems. Jones has since acknowledged that the shooting took place. During a deposition in April, Jones insisted he wasnt responsible for the suffering that Sandy Hook parents say they have endured because of the hoax conspiracy, including death threats and harassment by Jones followers. Jones claimed in court records last year that he had a negative net worth of $20 million, but attorneys for Sandy Hook families have painted a different financial picture. Court records show that Jones Infowars store, which sells nutritional supplements and survival gear, made more than $165 million between 2015 and 2018. Jones has also urged listeners on his Infowars program to donate money. The tribal began Monday in Austin, Texas _ where Jones lives and broadcasts his show _ following months of delays. It also comes about two months after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, which is about 145 miles (235 kilometers) southwest of Austin. It was the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Indu Thomas found that while Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidlers rule temporarily banning credit scoring followed the Administrative Procedures Act, but he exceeded his statutory authority. In her ruling, Thomas said the record supplied by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner contained credible information that the use of credit scores is discriminatory. Todays decision confirms that the best place to permanently address this issue is in the legislature, Kreidler said in a statement. I hope legislators will listen to all policyholders impacted by this practice and not just the insurance industry. Kreidler said he will consult with the agencys legal representation within the Attorney Generals office on the appropriate next steps. Currently, there has been a stay on the credit scoring rule. Todays ruling leaves the stay in effect. The ban was challenged by several insurer groups, including the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. Erin Collins, NAMICs senior vice president, state and policy affairs, issued the following statement from the group: Todays decision is a win for Washington consumers, especially seniors, who will be able to continue paying lower insurance rates that more accurately reflect their risk. NAMIC is grateful to the court for recognizing that state insurance law should be decided by the people via the Legislature. We hope the judges decision will settle this matter and that Washingtons insurance companies can get back to serving their policyholders. Related: Topics Legislation Washington There has been widespread anger among farming communities over the Governments decision to agree a 25% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector. Many farmers said they have been working towards a target of slashing emissions by 18%, with many hoping it would be capped at 22%. However, the Government confirmed on Thursday that it had settled on the compromised 25% target for the agriculture sector, sparking anger from farming families. Farmers have described it as a unrealistic target, with some cattle farmers believing they will be forced to cull their cattle herd. Some of the herd owned by Cork farmer Alan Jagoe (Alan Jagoe/PA) While the agriculture cuts are incentivised and voluntary, many farmers say there is no clear path on how they will meet the targets. Cork farmer Alan Jagoe said there is a mix of frustration and anger among farmers. There is a lack of information about what does it actually mean for us, he told the PA news agency. Im involved in Irish Farmers Association in Cork at a local level and weve met politicians here over the last couple of weeks and the point we made them was, lets all work together to have an achievable target for farmers. The target that weve been working towards has been 18%, maybe 22% but not 25%. Were producing food on our farms. Were not taking fossil fuels off the ground, we are not mining, we are producing food that we all eat. That has been lost in this debate. We had a pathway and a direction, and I cannot overemphasise enough that the work it would take to get to an 18% target would be absolutely massive We had a pathway and a direction, and I cannot overemphasise enough that the work it would take to get to an 18% target would be absolutely massive. Its a fundamental change in the way we farm, the way we apply our fertilisers, the way we apply our slurry. This is a fundamental policy shift to get to 18% and we were prepared to work towards it, but now we have been given 25%. Its an an unrealistic target to be set. Mr Jagoe, a diary and tillage farmer, is based in the Minane Bridge area of Cork and is in a farm partnership with his brother. The farm has been in his family for several decades. They milk 250 cows, which supports three farm families. I do think there is a bright future in agriculture in Ireland, for farmers, for young people coming in, he added. We want to be able to hand the farm over to the next generation, the same way my dad handed to it us and in the same way his dad handed over to him. Our government said to us that we have to cut back emissions by 25%, with no plan, no direction. Ministers Martin Heydon, Charlie McConalogue, Eamon Ryan and Pippa Hackett speak about reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a press conference on Thursday (Government of Ireland/PA) What does it mean for us? Are we cutting back by 5% in cows, does it mean any cutback in cow numbers? They have given us no indication of what the future path is. Its just so frustrating to hear the way the tone has turned on particular diary farmers over the last couple of weeks. Mr Jagoe said that every farmer wants to do their bit to make the necessary changes to help the country meet its climate targets. But he warned that the 25% cut in emissions is unachievable. Every farmers wants to do their bit, but do it in a realistic way and reach targets that can be actually be met, he added. Theres no point in setting unachievable targets. To get to 18% was a fundamental shift on the way we farm, and now we have to get to 25%. We are doing all we can. But give us realistic targets that can be met. There are around 130,000 farm families around the country, with many cattle farmers looking after herds of 100 cows or fewer. Cavan farmer Thomas Duffy said reaching the 22% target was going to be a challenge. Mr Duffy, who has 100 diary cows, is the third generation farmer after his grandfather purchased their land in the 1930s. It would require widespread uptake of all the measures but we knew that we could achieve 22% if all of the technology became available, and we had 100% adoption The young farmer is also in a farm partnership with his family. He is sceptical of how the farm community can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. The 22% target was going to be a major challenge for the sector, a very transformative challenge to the sector, he added. It would require widespread uptake of all the measures but we knew that we could achieve 22% if all of the technology became available, and we had 100% adoption. There is a difference in this 3%. The question is whether its going to require a reduction in the national herd, and what form that will take, whether farmers will be obliged to reduce their herd or limit their herd size. If that that is the case, and if we are forced to do that, what will the level of compensation be for the loss of income because it is a loss of income to support our families. Farmers are certainly aware of the change we had to make to reach 18%, but once you go above 18% its difficult. We know we have to change the type of fertiliser that were using, and wed have to reduce the amount of nitrogen that were using and adopt a more clover-based one. Potentially we may have to go one step further and go into multi-species grasslands, which is challenging because we still dont know a lot about how to manage them and how to actually implement them. Mr Duffy said meeting targets will also depend on the advancement of, and implementation of, technology. I will wait to see what the (government) plan is, and we will scrutinise it. If it isnt sufficient, I think we will see major problems coming from the farming community and very angry farmers, he added. One of the other big challenges that we need to face up to is generational renewal. There are more farmers over the age of 75 than there are under the age of 35. In any other sector, that would be a massive red flag. So the question is here, what is the minister going to do about that? Police in Papua New Guinea have shot a young mother dead at a polling station in the capital, Port Moresby, in the latest violence to mar national elections, according to reports. Homicide detectives are investigating the fatal shooting which occurred on Monday, a police statement said. Annaisha Max, 22, was holding her one-year-old son when she was shot, the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) reported. They (police) came with force, excessive force. It was unprovoked, Emmanuel Kiangu, a community leader who was on the scene, told ABC. Police gave no warning they would open fire, according to Maxs friend, Anna Koip. They didnt even say a word. They switched their guns to auto and fired into the crowd, where a lot of us were waiting to vote, Ms Koip said through a translator. Since voting began on July 4, fights between rival groups have broken out over allegations of vote-fixing. Prime Minister James Marape has apologised to thousands of people who have been turned away from polling stations because of problems with the electoral roll. The crowd on Monday reportedly became agitated after waiting hours for voting to begin. Voters started casting ballots on Monday July 4 (AP) A group gathered around police cars asking where the ballot boxes were. Police called for reinforcements before the shooting started, ABC said. Police Metropolitan Superintendent Gideon Ikumu said in a statement on Tuesday that police reinforcements were sent to restore order when a rowdy and quarrelsome crowd threatened to harm election officials and disrupted polling. Rocks were hurled at police and gunshots were fired to disperse the unruly crowd, Mr Ikumu added. He said he had personally assured angry residents after Ms Maxs death that a police investigation would establish how the victim was killed and who was responsible for her death. Homicide detectives are now collecting evidence including video footage and statements from potential witnesses, Mr Ikumu said. Ms Max died in an electorate where polling had been delayed three times. A spokesman for Transparency International, a global movement to end corruption, said the election risked failing. Unfortunately, it hasnt been a successful and peaceful and safe election, he said. But I encourage all of our stakeholders out there, particularly the candidates and their supporters, to support the process, try and conclude the elections the best we can. Polling lasts weeks and the composition of the new government with more than 50 parties contesting 118 seats will not be known until parliament next sits in August. The top contenders to lead the new government are Mr Marape and his predecessor, Peter ONeill, who resigned in 2019. Since Papua New Guineas independence from Australia in 1975, elections in the nation of nine million have been marred by violence, fraud and bribery. At the outset of voting, police urged citizens not to sell their votes to any of the 3,625 candidates vying for election. Candidates in Papua New Guinea routinely pay poor constituents to vote for them. Papua New Guinea is a diverse tribal society of mostly subsistence farmers with more than 800 languages. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling a prison in a separatist eastern region that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of Mariupol in May. Russia said that Ukraine used US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers in the attack on the prison in Olenivka, in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region. Officials from Russia and the separatist authorities in Donetsk said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded 75. Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov described the strike as a bloody provocation aimed at discouraging Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. Smoke rises Azovstal plant in Mariupol (AP) He said that eight prison guards were also wounded by the shelling. The Ukrainian military denied any rocket or artillery strikes on Olenivka, insisting that it was not shelling civilian areas and only strikes Russian military targets. It accused the Russian forces of deliberately shelling the prison in Olenivka in order to accuse Ukraine of war crimes and also to cover up torture and executions there. The statement denounced the Russian claims as part of an information war to accuse the Ukrainian armed forces of shelling civilian infrastructure and the population to cover up their own treacherous action. Neither claim could be independently verified. Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed separatist leader, said the prison has 193 inmates. He did not specify how many of them were Ukrainian POWs. Ukrainian authorities in the Donetsk region said Russia has pressed on with the shelling of civilian targets in Ukrainian-held areas. The fighting in the region has been intensifying by the day, and civilians must evacuate while its still possible, said Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. The Russian army doesnt worry about civilian casualties. They are pummelling cities and villages in the region. The Ukrainian troops in Mariupol were taken prisoner after the fierce fighting for Ukraines Azov Sea port, where they had been holed up at the giant Azovstal steel mill. Their resistance has become a symbol of Ukrainian struggle against the Russian invasion that started on February 24. The Azov Regiment and other Ukrainian units defended the steel mill for nearly three months, clinging to its underground maze of tunnels. More than 2,400 surrendered in May under relentless Russian attacks from the ground, sea and air. Scores of Ukrainian soldiers were taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas such as the Donetsk region, a breakaway area in eastern Ukraine which is run by Russian-backed separatist authorities. (PA Graphics) Some have returned to Ukraine as part of prisoner exchanges with Russia, but families of others have no idea whether their loved ones are alive or if they will ever come home. In other developments: Ukrainian officials said Russian forces shelled the countrys second-largest city, Kharkiv. City mayor Ihor Terekhov said a central part of the north-eastern city was hit, including a two-storey building and a higher education institution. The State Emergency Service is already working they are sorting out the rubble, looking for people under them, Mr Terekhov said in a Telegram update. The Ukrainian presidential office said that at least 13 civilians were killed and another 36 were wounded in Russian shelling over the past 24 hours. In the southern city of Mykolaiv, at least four people were killed and seven others were wounded when Russian shelling hit a bus stop. The Russians have changed their tactics because of the Ukrainian forces successes in the south. They fire near a bus stop, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said. The Russian barrage also hit a facility for distribution of humanitarian assistance, where three people were wounded, officials said. Ukrainian officials also said at least four civilians were killed and another five were wounded in the eastern town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, which is the focus of the Russian offensive in the Donbas. More than 30 residential buildings and a kindergarten were damaged. Vessels off the East Coast of the US must slow down more often to help save a vanishing species of whale from extinction, the federal government said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) made the announcement via proposed rules designed to prevent ships colliding with North Atlantic right whales. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the two biggest threats to the giant animals, which number less than 340 and are falling in population. Efforts to save the whales have long focused on fishing gear, especially that used by East Coast lobster fishermen. The government is proposing a significant improvement in protections for North Atlantic right whales today, which are constantly at risk from speeding vessels The proposed vessel speed rules signal that the government wants the shipping industry to take more responsibility. Changes to the existing vessel speed regulation are essential to stabilise the ongoing right whale population decline and prevent the species extinction, say the proposed rules, which are due to be published in the federal register. The new rules would expand seasonal slow zones off the East Coast that require mariners to slow down to 10 knots (19km per hour). They would also require more vessels to comply with the rules by expanding the size classes that must slow down. The rules also state that the NOAA would create a framework to implement mandatory speed restrictions when whales are known to be present outside the seasonal slow zones. Federal authorities spent a few years reviewing the speed regulations used to protect the whales. The shipping rules have long focused on a patchwork of slow zones that require mariners to slow down for whales. Some of the zones are mandatory while others are voluntary. Environmental groups have made the case that many boats do not comply with the speed restrictions and that the rules need to be tighter. Environmental organization Oceana released a report in 2021 that said non-compliance was as high as nearly 90% in voluntary zones and was also dangerously low in the mandatory ones. The government is proposing a significant improvement in protections for North Atlantic right whales today, which are constantly at risk from speeding vessels, said Gib Brogan, a campaign director at Oceana. Its no secret that speeding vessels are rampant throughout North Atlantic right whales migration route, all along the East Coast. Many members of the shipping industry were aware the new speed rules were on the way. The London-based International Chamber of Shipping, which represents more than 80% of the world merchant fleet, has been working with the International Maritime Organisation and other stakeholders to better protect the right whales, said Chris Waddington, the chambers technical director. The chambers members are used to complying with speed limits in whale zones, he said. The shipping industry takes the protection of whales seriously and has undertaken measures to safeguard them, from engaging stakeholders to reducing speed and rerouting, Mr Waddington said. There is always more that can be done, and that is why we are working with the IMO and conservationists on reviewing maritime guidelines. Burma Detained Protest Leader Wai Moe Naing Defends Himself Against Myanmar Junta Charges Ko Wai Moe Naing at an anti-regime protest in Monywa. Detained anti-regime protest leader Ko Wai Moe Naing has mounted his own legal defense against Myanmar junta charges after both of his lawyers were unable to attend his trial. One lawyer was detained and the other has been in hiding for over a month after the junta issued a warrant, according to a family member. The 27-year-old was beaten and arrested in April last year for leading anti-regime protests in Monywa, Sagaing Region, following the Feb. 1, 2021 coup. He was beaten and dragged away by junta forces after his motorcycle was rammed during an anti-regime rally. He faces 10 charges, including alleged murder, wrongful confinement, abduction with intent to murder, sedition, unlawful assembly and armed robbery charges. On Wednesday, a junta court inside Monywa Prison, where the protest leader has been held for more than a year, heard the cases of sedition. His mother Daw Moe Sandar Kyu, who had not been allowed to meet him since his arrest, was a witness and got a chance to see her son. Daw Moe Sandar Kyu said her son told her not to worry and that he was in good health. Im worried for him as no one is safe in prison, she said. The six sedition charges are for leading rallies, encouraging public anti-regime cooperation, condemning civil servants working for the regime and for forming a public administration after the coup. Ko Wai Moe Naing previously decided that he would not cooperate with the court fully as he did not recognize the juntas legitimacy. However, he changed his mind as he wanted to record that he did nothing wrong, knowing it would not affect the courts decision. His mother shared his determination to join the revolution and bear the responsibility on his shoulders. Fears have grown for detainees after the junta executed four pro-democracy activists under terrorism charges, the first executions of political prisoners in nearly four decades. Since the coup, the junta has arrested more than 14,900 people, including elected leaders, lawmakers, activists, students, peaceful protesters and striking civil servants. Around 11,815 remain behind bars. Burma Myanmar Anti-Regime Resistance Vows to Step Up Attacks After Executions Anti-regime resistance fighters in Kayah State. / KNDF-B05 Myanmars resistance forces have vowed to eradicate the junta and bring justice for the execution of four anti-regime activists. The junta hanged former lawmaker of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, veteran democracy activist Ko Jimmy and two other men, Ko Aung Thura Zaw and Ko Hla Myo Aung both from Hlaing Tharyar Township in Yangon, during the weekend without notifying their families. It was the first time in four decades that political dissidents have been executed in Myanmar. Bo Ngagar, the commander of the Myanmar Royal Dragon Army, a prominent defense force, told The Irrawaddy that they must try to bring justice for the four martyrs and the innocent people killed brutally by the junta. It made our revolution stronger. We must rescue our people from these monsters. We must win freedom for the whole country before we die, he said. Three Northern Alliance ethnic armed groups, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Taang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army, warned the junta that the executions would intensify the civil war. The junta has to take responsibility for its actions, the groups statement said. The Karen National Union, Karenni National Progressive Party, Chin National Front and All Burma Students Democratic Front released a statement with the National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and NLD representing the federal democratic forces. It condemned the executions as terrorism and vowed to fight the fascist dictatorship by all means in the peoples revolution. The Kachin Political Interim Coordination Team, including the Kachin Independent Organization and Chinland Joint Defense Committee of 18 Chin armed forces, condemned the executions. The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force condemned the executions as war crimes and crimes against humanity and pledged to eradicate the regime. There was silence from the strongest ethnic armed group, the United Wa State Party, and the New Mon State Party, Restoration Council of Shan State and Shan State Progressive Party. Several peoples defense forces conducted revenge attacks on regime forces and informants, which killed about 20 junta personnel. The NUGs acting president Duwa Lashi La delivered an emergency speech on Thursday and asked the international community to provide weaponry, technological assistance and financial aid to the revolution. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Continue in Kayah State Hell Hounds Are Loose in Myanmar; Who Can Stop Them? Burma Myanmar Junta Backers Rally in Support of Democracy Activists Executions The pro-execution rally in Yangon on Friday A rally backed by the Myanmar military regime to show support for its recent executions of four democracy activists was held in Yangon on Friday morning. The pro-execution demonstration near City Hall in Yangons downtown area came as a majority of Myanmar people mourn the anti-regime activists, who were hanged over the weekend. The executions were strenuously denounced at home and abroad. The demonstration was joined by pro-regime mobs, members of the junta-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, and Buddhist nationalists including some monks. It is a common propaganda tactic of the Myanmar military to organize demonstrations whenever it faces local and international condemnation. When it staged a coup in February last year, it bused thugs and USDP members downtown to create a false impression for foreign observers that the takeover had popular support. The Friday rally was planned in advance, with the regime locking down the vicinity of City Hall hours before the demonstration and beefing up security in the area. Prior to the rally, pro-regime mobs attacked the Yangon homes of two of the four executed men, prominent activists Ko Jimmy and Ko Zeya Thaw, denouncing the pair while trying to intimidate their grieving family members. The junta also arrested and interrogated the mother of the youngest of the four executed activists, Ko Aung Thura Zaw, 27, for talking to the media. They also ordered the family of executed activist Ko Hla Myo Aung not to hold a funeral and to keep a low profile. Currently, 74 political prisoners are on death row across the country. The regime has said there will be more hangings. Burma Myanmar Military Bombs and Torches Resistance Camp in Sagaing Region Regime forces and a military helicopter during a drill. / Military regime website. A Peoples Defense Force (PDF) camp in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region was seized and burned down on Wednesday after the Myanmar military launched airstrikes and raided the camp. On Wednesday morning, regime forces airlifted by three helicopters raided the PDF base camp in Myinmu Township, while two Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter gunships attacked the camp, according to the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung (CDSOM). At the same time, more junta troops on foot attempted to block the area. The junta raid came after a pro-regime social media channel on Telegram reported the location of the PDF camp. Many CDSOM resistance fighters were at the camp during the raid, but all managed to escape from the area without any casualties, Ko Nway Oo, a CDSOM representative, told The Irrawaddy on Friday. The helicopter gunships also attacked nearby villages during the raid. One resident was reportedly injured in an airstrike. Several hundred people were forced to flee their homes because of the raid. Following the raid, junta soldiers also torched houses in three nearby villages, the CDSOM representative said. Myinmu Township is a stronghold of armed resistance against the military regime and is also a base for many PDFs from nearby townships. The combined PDFs are conducting daily raids, ambushes and aerial attacks with drones targeting regime forces in Myinmu Township. On Thursday, Zero Guerrilla Force, a resistance group from Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region, used a drone to bomb regime troops checking vehicles and their passengers outside a police station in Myinmu Township. Zero Guerrilla Force claimed their attack killed three regime soldiers. However, The Irrawaddy was unable to confirm the military casualties independently. Junta forces are currently facing daily attacks from PDFs and ethnic armed organizations across the country. Burma Myanmars Civilian Acting President Demands International Arms Assistance National Unity Government acting president Duwa Lashi La delivering his state of the union address on Thursday. Myanmars civilian National Unity Governments (NUG) acting president Duwa Lashi La has asked the international community to provide weapons to defeat Min Aung Halings regime. His state of the union address broadcast on Thursday followed the hangings of four political prisoners last weekend. I earnestly request technical support, arms and ammunition and finance for the people of Myanmar who are sacrificing their lives to fight against the fascist dictatorship, he said. He called on the international community to recognize the NUG as the legitimate government and support its administration, end recognition of the junta and cut its revenue sources. The NUG has received no material assistance from the international community and solely depends on peoples donations. Responding to the executions, the president said the sacrifices of the four martyrs will add great impetus to the revolution. He told the NUGs armed wing, the peoples defense forces, and other resistance groups to keep fighting the murderous junta. The ethnic Kachin president also urged ethnic armed groups to help bring down the regime. The time has come for us to crush the terrorist regime together by strategically using our manpower, weaponry, unitedly and attacking simultaneously. He called on regime personnel, militia members and border forces to escape and cooperate with the people. Formed as a parallel government on April 16 last year, largely by elected lawmakers from the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) and their ethnic minority allies, the NUG has enjoyed popular support at home and abroad. A majority of Myanmars people see it as their legitimate government, while the regime has branded it a terrorist organization. Since seizing power on Feb. 1 last year, the regime has killed at least 2,133 people, many of whom were engaged in anti-regime activism. The regime has killed numerous children and elderly people in its escalated terror campaign. Rights groups have reported more than 140 child deaths since the coup. The regime has burned down at least 18,800 civilian homes, with the resistance stronghold of Sagaing Region suffering the heaviest damage, according to the independent research group Data for Myanmar. The regime hanged four detained political detainees, including prominent veteran democracy activist Ko Jimmy, former NLD lawmaker Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw and two other men from Hlaing Tharyar Township in Yangon Ko Aung Thura Zaw and Ko Hla Myo Aung, in the countrys first executions of prisoners in nearly four decades. Commentary Myanmar Is the Country of Great Deaths Ko Jimmy (left) and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw (right) They died truly great deaths, because they gave their lives: for the people, in order to restore their rights and dignity; for the country, to end the horrific military dictatorship; and for future generations, to rebuild their battered country. Myanmars latest citizens to earn the distinction of dying great deaths are veteran pro-democracy activist Ko Kyaw Min Yu, known as Ko Jimmy; former National League for Democracy lawmaker and hip-hop star Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw; and anti-coup protesters Ko Hla Myo Aung and Ko Aung Thura Zaw. The four were hanged by Myanmars military regime during the weekend of July 23 and 24 inside Insein Prison. By ordering their executionsand reviving that awful method of punishmentMin Aung Hlaing attained a level of barbarism not seen in Myanmar in many decades, outdoing even his brutal predecessor. Until last weekend, no military regime had hanged a political activist since the 1970s. Information I have obtained from sources close to the military shine an interesting light on the mentality of Min Aung Hlaing. After the four were hanged, while some of the regime leaders deputies thought it wasnt necessary to make the news public immediately, Min Aung Hlaing insisted it be announced. Such was his eagerness to let the people of Myanmar and the world know that his regime had carried out the first executions in decades. It appears he was impatient to savor what he saw as a moment of triumph. This is the mentality of a psychopath. Of course, the regime has been committing extrajudicial killings on the streets, in interrogation centers and throughout the country since his coup on Feb. 1, 2021. It is nothing unusual for them. But the hangings of the four, including two respected pro-democracy activists, had a particular intent: They were an act of judicial revenge against all those who oppose Min Aung Hlaing, and against a world that has condemned his regime. The actions taken by Min Aung Hlaing since his coup demonstrate that he is a truly dangerous and ruthless ruler lacking any of the qualities that make one human, such as rationality, empathy and remorse. His primary motivations for ordering the four to hang and letting the world know immediately were: 1) to terrify the general public, who have defied him; 2) to demoralize the entire community of dissidents, most of whom knew the executed activists personally and regarded them with great fondness; and 3) to defy the entire international community, which had urged him to rescind his death orders. U Saw of the 21st century On Monday morning, the juntas announcement of the executions shocked and dismayed the people of Myanmar. Judging from the feelings expressed on the ground and on social media, it seems safe to say it was the saddest day the country has experienced since July 19, 1947, when independence leader Aung San and his cabinet members were assassinated by an extreme right-wing politician, U Saw, under British rule. In the eyes of the people, U Saw is still the arch traitor of Myanmar, having betrayed an entire nation. Min Aung Hlaing is the U Saw of the 21st century. In fact, he is crueler and more evil than U Saw, who plotted to have nine people killed. Min Aung Hlaings squads have killed more than 2,000 people in the one-and-a-half years since he seized power on Feb. 1, 2021. His regime has set out to annihilate all pro-democracy forces, dissidents and their families. The countrys fledgling democratic system has been demolished and the society destroyed. In the eyes of the people today, Min Aung Hlaing is the new arch traitor of the nation. Having killed the four, his regime and its squads of prison executioners now await further orders from him to hang more political activists on death row in various prisons across Myanmar. Right now, 76 political activistsincluding university students, young professionals and eight womenare on death row in prisons, and another 42 people have been sentenced to death in absentia. Sadly, we are likely to hear of more hangings in the near future. Min Aung Hlaing is without doubt crueler and more evil than U Saw. It seems there is nothing and no one who can stop Min Aung Hlaing, a serial killer who has used various means to murder his victims. His latest instrument of death is the gallows, a method calculated to haunt his living opponents. But across the country, freedom fighters like Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw have shown that they are not afraid to keep fighting Min Aung Hlaings brutal regime. Since the executions, almost all opposition groups, from the parallel civilian National Unity Government to various Peoples Defense Force groups to ethnic armed organizations, have vowed to escalate their fight to uproot the regime. How many more good citizenspeople like Ko Jimmy, Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, Ko Hla Myo Aung and Ko Aung Thura Zawwill our nation lose on the gallows? U Saw killed nine leading politicians; those who were killed became national martyrs. Min Aung Hlaing has killed thousands of pro-democracy activists and continues to kill: they too have become, and will become, martyrs. The battle between the dictatorial generals and Myanmars brave people is not over yet. People right across the country are waging a grand struggle for their future and they are brave enough to die great deaths. Under successive dictatorships over the past many decades, countless freedom fighters died great deaths in this great fight. Myanmar is a country of great deaths. Naing Khit is a commentator on political affairs. Guest Column Coup Leader Min Aung Hlaing has Turned Myanmar into a Murder Republic Regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing For a macabre military that has extra-judicial executions in what passes for its soul, Myanmars military regime, also known as the State Administration Council (SAC), has added the first judicial executions in over 30 years to its post-coup killing spree, with the state murders of anti-coup activists Ko Jimmy, Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, Ko Aung Thura Zaw and Ko Hla Myo Aung. Why has the hanging of four regime opponents evinced such shock and outrage, when the junta has killed at least 2,120 people, likely many more, since the military takeover? By some estimates, a third of those killed were murdered in custody, dying due to ill-treatment and torture. Now consider that 11,782 people remain in detention, including youth protestors, members of parliament, former chief ministers, journalists and others. Not all of them face charges that carry a death sentence. But what is certain anymore in Myanmar? Increasingly, it must be seen that the countrys 54 million-odd people could potentially be facing a death sentence. One possible answer why the executions were so shocking, and not just because of the high profile of Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, was that it was a form of torture, of suspense over whether the death sentence would be carried out since their arrest last year and sentencing in January. This is beyond cruel and unusual punishment: it is mental cruelty on a serial killer level. It shouldnt have taken the execution of four dissidents to think of coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaings regime now in the same category as Saddam Husseins Iraq or a 1980s Latin American dictatorship. That should have been evident since the day of the coup, given his decade-long killing spree during the so called transition. But Min Aung Hlaings Myanmar is a new category of repressive military junta: a murder republic. Why does a hanging seem more appalling than an airstrike? It shouldnt, and killing at a distance isnt as impersonal as people may believe. Its actually extremely personal because it says I want to kill all of you in that place and any strike, barrage or stray shell is equal when I dont care about any of you. Landmines and booby traps also seem impersonal, but when youre the one laying them you know exactly what it will do to the person who trips it, and there is an enforced intimacy in that even if you never see the person you kill or maim. The shoot on sight policies in ethnic conflict zones for many years and the use of thousands of convict porters left a trail of dead in the jungles across the eastern borderlands of Myanmar. The neo-medieval post-coup killing across the country, as the coup has sparked a wave of violence, now appears impossible to contain. The setting on fire of more than 30 unarmed civilians in vehicles last Christmas Eve in Kayah State. Torching a house with a learning-challenged teenage girl inside. The use of military snipers to kill unarmed protesters in Mandalay. The raising of death squads with the name Blood Drinkers Group. Hoarding corpses and extorting family members to buy them back. All of these atrocities and more are part of the same approach to repression as hanging four men at Yangons Insein Prison. Speculation has swirled in recent weeks predicting the demise of the Myanmar military, known locally as the sit-tat, and the looming victory of the Peoples Defense Forces of the National Unity Government, adding to a growing canon of aspirational analysis that has often misread the dynamics of a complex conflict. Some observers may see the hangings as an expression of the regimes desperation, setting an example for resistance cells to cease urban operations, or to intimidate the population to ensure no more support for the armed resistance movement. It could be seen not as strength but weakness. Or is it simply that Min Aung Hlaing and his senior colleagues have just expanded their killers repertoire? The symbolism of the executions is intended for the domestic audience. Perhaps the message of the executions is simply, we are willing to kill our way out of this, by any means. The murders of the four men also underscore that the architecture of international engagement is no longer fit for purpose. By executing them, Min Aung Hlaing has told the international community exactly what he thinks of it. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can stick it, that one-eyed killer Hun Sens entreaty to spare the condemned was simply sneered at. In Min Aung Hlaings twisted mind, Cambodias Prime Minister and dictator is retiring soon so that loser doesnt need any favors. Coming so soon after ASEAN Envoy Prak Sokhonns visit after which he expressed guarded optimism to Channel News Asia, it was clear that his pandering to the SAC achieved nothing. His plan to use Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during his next trip in September to help quell the violence was and is delusional: it is not impossible for her to end up on the gallows in the murder republic. For ASEAN, which has been unusually unsuccessful, even for them, the executions sparked a garble of messages between shock and whimper, a Chairmans statement claiming it denounces and is strongly disappointed by the execution of four opposition activists (t)his is an issue that ASEAN takes seriously (w)hile the complexity of the crisis is well recognized and the extreme bellicose mood can be felt from all corners of Myanmar (t)he implementation of the death sentences, just a week before the 55th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting is highly reprehensible as it created a setback to and present a gross lack of will to support the efforts [of ASEAN mediation]. What will the regional grouping do now? Likely more of the same tired commitment to the failed peace plan that is the Five-Point Consensus. But they should seriously consider expelling Myanmar from ASEAN, if they dont want to continue to be humiliated by the junta. As for the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy, if that droning non-entity Noeleen Heyzer wants to make a positive impact rather than issue formulaic statements of concern she should resign immediately and call on the UN Secretary General to construct a more robust campaign of pressure on the SAC. Continuing the same ineffectual approach is tantamount to endorsing the executions. It tells the SAC that they can indeed get away with murders across the land and not have them raised in anything other than general and dehumanized terms, lest they upset the sensibilities of the coup leader. Would she honestly go and shake hands with Min Aung Hlaing now, even if the regime gave her a visa? Just resign, and do so in a manner attuned to Myanmar public sentiment. Its the only good thing she could possibly do now. The statement issued by the UN Security Council days after the executions indicated absolute business as usual, by endorsing the role of the Special Envoy and, most galling to the point of an insult to the Myanmar people, reiterated their strong support to ASEAN and the efforts of the ASEAN Chair and echoed ASEANs call for concrete actions to effectively and fully implement the Five-Point Consensus. For activists calling for stronger Security Council action, the answer is a firm no. International human rights groups are just as irrelevant at times like this, bound to stagnant language exhorting the international community to act, articulating shock but expressing resigned helplessness. The international media just went through its tired motions. UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet was dismayed, while two UN Special Rapporteurs stated that: These depraved acts must be a turning point for the international community. What more must the junta do before the international community is willing to take strong action? Fine words, but will that actually happen? Nothing the UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews has said since the coup has been in any measurable way effective. The UN and international aid agencies inside Myanmar have become accessories to the murder republic: profiting from danger pay, but loving the freedom of long, lavish weekends partying in Bangkok and braying it all over social media like salt on a wound. The international community remaining in Yangon pretending things are stable or normal is dancing on the graves of dead Myanmar people. They are putting at risk, daily, routinely, with nonchalance, their Myanmar colleagues, especially the neo-colonial racist UN who pay national staff less to take more risk and shield overpaid ignorant foreign factotums to curry favor with the SAC. All of those UN officials schlepping up to Naypyitaw to fist-bump the SAC are defiling the very principles of neutrality they espouse. None of this connivance is in any way new, and I can just picture the pompous UN and international NGO mandarins around the office water cooler, or the Lotte Hotel lunch buffet, dismissing this criticism as just another well-worn rant. Well, thats because youre still committing a crime of complicity and you know youre still getting away with it. After the hangings, what are you still doing there? For all these covens and conclaves of international organizations and slimy advisors seeking solutions to reboot the peace process or seeing some slim chance of working with the SAC on the 2023 elections or maybe some technical fixes on a census here or there, you have crossed the line into active collaboration. Youre dealing with Min Aung Hlaing and his killer clique, your off ramps and exit lanes and entry points and incentivizing and inducement to mediation wont work. The executions may well spur urban resistance, in non-violent demonstrations and escalated targeted killings and bombings which have already risen in recent weeks. If Min Aung Hlaings vision is of a society tearing itself apart through increasing political violence, divided by class and comfort, or the green people [the military] and those starving and desperate, some driven to crime, riven by sectarian and ethnic animus, with the military atop the carnage, stoking it, eventually refulgent as the lords of the wasteland, he might be right. This is another feature of Min Aung Hlaing murder republic, turning a younger generation into killers themselves who see nothing wrong with gunning down members of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, a local official suspected of being dalan [a junta informant], or celebrating war criminals such as Ner Dah Mya for executing 25 unarmed men in Kayin State in 2021. The military would welcome a dystopian death culture of vengeance killings. But there is another permutation of that calculus of chaos. That the descent into unrestricted warfare on multiple fronts renders an eventual defeat of the military more likely. The more the disparate forces of anti-SAC resistance can work in their own ways to weaken the military and make their position untenable, their use of extreme atrocity no longer intimidating and their supplies of heavy weaponry exhausted, they will crumble. But as Milton wrote, long is the way and hard, that leads out of hell into the light. But there is one certainty to that victory scenario. Min Aung Hlaing and his inner circle will face justice eventually. It should ideally prove more humanistic than what the murderers of the SAC have meted out to the people of Myanmar. Which could be up against a wall facing a firing squad. Thats what tyrants should fear. David Scott Mathieson is an independent analyst working on conflict, humanitarian and human right issues. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Continue in Kayah State Hell Hounds Are Loose in Myanmar; Who Can Stop Them? Today Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 108F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 84F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 105F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Growing cohesion of SCO, attraction of Shanghai Spirit highlighted amid Russia-Ukraine conflict and US-led bloc confrontation By Zhang Hui, Wang Hengyi (Global Times) 10:22, July 29, 2022 The Russia-Ukraine conflict and the US' attempt to split the world and demolish the world order through promoting bloc confrontation highlights the growing importance and attraction of Shanghai Spirit, the core value of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that champions mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development, Chinese analysts said on Thursday as foreign ministers of SCO members gathered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan to discuss international and regional issues and SCO cooperation, including projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. Not only are member states of the SCO ready to deepen cooperation, but more Eurasian countries recognize this spirit and are willing to join the organization, they said. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is attending the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the SCO in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from Thursday to Friday and will also be visiting Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, at the invitation of the three countries' foreign ministers. During a meeting with Acting Foreign Minister Norov Vladimir Imamovich of Uzbekistan on Thursday, Wang said China firmly supports Uzbekistan in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and social stability, and continuing to follow the path of development and revitalization suited to its national conditions, and opposes any external interference in Uzbekistan's internal affairs. The two countries vow to speed up the feasibility study for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway, improve the capacity of the China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan Railway and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan expressway and jointly safeguard the safe and stable operation of the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline. The two countries will tap the potential of agricultural cooperation and build a China-Central Asia Agricultural Cooperation Center. The two sides will expand joint vaccine production, and China supports Uzbekistan in building a regional vaccine production and research center. The situation in Central Asia is facing new challenges due to internal and external factors. Regional countries share the hope to deepen cooperation with China, jointly pursue development and promote security, and look forward to more SCO contributions and commitments, Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday. Wang will attend other multilateral events and make full preparations for the SCO Samarkand Summit later this year with other foreign ministers of SCO member states, Zhao said. Chinese observers said the SCO foreign ministers will focus on regional issues including the Afghan issue and cooperation on economic recovery as the Russia-Ukraine conflict has worsened the global food and energy crisis. The foreign ministers will also discuss implementation of more BRI projects in the SCO members, Zhang Hong, an Eastern European studies expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday. Against the backdrop of challenges to the world order and an increasingly complex international situation, it is obvious to observers that the rapid development of the SCO's capability in safeguarding regional security and stability, and its attraction to many neighboring countries is becoming more prominent, Zhang said. After his trip to SCO founding states, SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming said on July 15 that a strong impression from his trip is that SCO members have a strong desire to adhere to the Shanghai Spirit and deepen solidarity of the SCO when dealing with changes in the international situations. It is likely that further discussions on the inclusion of new member states will be discussed at the foreign ministers' meeting so as to further promote the expansion and maturity of the SCO internal cooperation mechanism, Zhang Hong said. The SCO has received 11 applications to join the organization in one or another capacity or to upgrade the status of existing relations, Zhang Ming said on July 15. We expect the SCO heads of state to adopt a memorandum of obligations for the Islamic Republic of Iran to receive SCO membership at the meeting in September, the SCO Secretary-General said. The 2022 annual summit of the SCO Heads of State Council will reportedly be held on September 15-16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. As for the concrete format, Zhang Ming said be it online or offline, there are too many unknowns due to the pandemic to make a prediction. In reporting the expansion of the SCO, some Western media claimed it is because of NATO's expansion, but observers stressed that the essence of the SCO is not confrontation but regional cooperation, and when some SCO members maintain good cooperation with the West, it is malicious for some countries in the West to smear the SCO as a geopolitical tool. During the foreign ministers' meeting, Indian media reported that Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar may have a bilateral meeting with Wang to address border issues. Qian Feng, Director of the Research Department of the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Thursday that China and India share similar stances on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, dealing with the food and energy crises and stabilizing the region, and if the bilateral talks happen, Wang and Jaishankar may discuss cooperation to further boost the regional economy and security through the SCO platform as well as bilateral topics such as expressing the need of peacefully solving border issues and pushing forward the return of Indian students to China. Before Thursday and Friday's meeting, Wang and Jaishankar met in person this year twice as bilateral relations have shown a momentum of recovery. The two foreign ministers met on March 25 during Wang's visit to India and on July 7 on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting. Meanwhile, China and India on July 17 held the 16th commander-level talks, the third this year, which marked an overall positive atmosphere between the two neighbors. Some media said the SCO foreign ministers' meeting and following SCO Summit may lead to ice-breaking between China and India, but Qian said this will need more time and actions. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) Brussels, Belgium (PANA) The European Council has adopted two decisions extending the mandates of the European Union Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions in the Central African Republic (CAR): the civilian advisory mission EUAM RCA, and the military training mission EUTM RCA The judgment handed down by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), based in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, is historic. The African continents judicial institution ordered the Kenyan state to pay financial and moral reparations for the damage suffered by the indigenous Ogiek community over decades. According to the reparations judgment, Kenya must take all necessary measures to identify, in consultation with the Ogiek and/or their representatives, to delimit, demarcate and title Ogiek ancestral land and to grant de jure collective title to such land in order to ensure the permanent use, occupation and enjoyment, by the Ogiek, with legal certainty. In the event that on "objective and reasonable grounds" the Kenyan state is unable to return the land, it must enter into negotiations with the Ogiek through their representatives, for purposes of either offering adequate compensation or identifying alternative lands of equal extension and quality to be given for Ogiek use and/or occupation. Thirteen-year judicial battle The Ogiek people, whose name means "keeper of all plants and game", are one of the last hunter-gatherer communities in Kenya. Since time immemorial, this indigenous minority has lived in the Great Mau forest estate, a territory covering 400,000 hectares in the Rift Valley. But from the time of colonization to the present day, members of this community have been subject to evictions, often violent, resulting in the destruction of their property and even loss of life. For the Kenyan government, these evictions are aimed at curbing the degradation of this forest and protecting its water reserves. For the Ogiek, who see themselves as the protectors of the Mau Forest, the main causes of environmental degradation are encroachment by other non-indigenous groups and government decisions to establish settlements and grant logging concessions. Their legal battle before the ACHPR lasted nearly 13 years. The case was initiated in November 2009 by two NGOs -- Centre for Minority Rights Development (CEMIRIDE) and Minority Rights Group International (MRGI) -- who, acting on behalf of the Ogiek community, filed a complaint with the African Commission on Human Rights regarding an eviction notice that had just been issued by the Kenya Forest Service, requiring the Ogiek and others living in the Mau Forest to leave within 30 days. Citing the serious consequences of the eviction on the political, social and economic survival of the Ogiek community and the risk of irreparable harm, the Commission immediately asked the Kenyan government to suspend implementation of the notice. Then, given the silence of the Kenyan authorities, the Commission seized the African Court. First judgment has no effect In May 2017, the Court ruled that by evicting the Ogiek from their ancestral lands, the government of Kenya had violated seven of the articles of the African Charter on Human Rights including the rights to life, non-discrimination, property, access to natural resources, culture, religion and development. Pending its judgment on reparations, the Court then ordered Kenya to take all necessary measures within a reasonable time to remedy the violations found and to report to the Court on the measures taken within six months. In its reparations judgment, the ACHPR noted that the Kenyan state has not been forthcoming with information about the concrete steps that it has been taking towards the implementation of the judgment on merits. The Kenyan government did form a working group to review the implementation of the judgment. But the working group did not include any representatives of the Ogiek, nor were the Ogiek consulted in its work, contrary to the terms of the judgment requiring that in all matters affecting them the Ogiek must be consulted. The working group apparently never issued a report. Even worse, in July 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, 300 Ogiek families were evicted from their land by the Kenyan Forest Service, leaving their homes behind in ashes, according to Reuters news agency. More than 1.3 million dollars in reparations The material damages resulting from such evictions - loss of homes and farms, loss of livestock, loss of income from forestry - led the court to order Kenya to pay 57,850,000 Kenyan shillings (US$487,400), free from any government tax, as compensation for the moral prejudice suffered by the Ogiek. The Court also noted that the Ogiek suffered moral damages that "include both the suffering and distress caused to the direct victims and their families, as well as the damage to values that are very important to them. The refusal by the Kenyan State to recognize them as a full-fledged tribe, granted to other groups, the fact that they are prevented from continuing to practice their religion, and the expulsion from the area of the Mau forest where they carry out their activities and cultural practices, constitute this moral harm. For the Court, the violations found concern rights that are central to the very existence of the Ogiek. The State is therefore obliged to compensate the Ogiek for the moral damages caused to them, which the Court set at one hundred million Kenyan shillings (US$842,500). According to the judgment, the government of Kenya must establish a community development fund for the benefit of the Ogiek, which should be the repository of all funds ordered as reparations in this case. The Court further ordered that where concessions and/or leases have been granted on Ogiek ancestral lands to non-Ogiek and other private persons or companies, the State must engage in dialogue and consultation between the Ogiek and/or their representatives and other relevant parties with a view to agreeing on whether or not to allow the continuation of the activities of these non-Ogiek in the form of leases and/or royalty and benefit sharing with the Ogiek, in accordance with the Community Lands Act. In the event that land has been allocated to non-Ogiek and a compromise cannot be reached, the State must either compensate the third parties involved and return the land to the Ogiek or agree on appropriate compensation for the Ogiek. Representatives of the Ogiek people celebrate their judicial victory at the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. Credit : Balthazar Nduwayezu Only 10% of ACHPR decisions executed In its 2017 ruling, the Court had already recognized the Ogiek as an indigenous people who are part of the Kenyan population, with a special status and requiring special protection due to their vulnerability. Following this recognition, the Court ordered that the Kenyan state take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to effectively ensure full recognition of the Ogiek as an indigenous people of Kenya, including, but not limited to, full recognition and protection of their language and cultural and religious practices. The main challenge now is whether Kenya will implement the Court's decision. The ACHPR does not have the direct power to force the Kenyan government to implement its decisions. The court has ordered a report on the implementation of its orders within 12 months. A hearing will then take place. "We are hopeful that the government will implement the Court's decisions, although we know that there is still little political will to implement [its] decisions," said Daniel Kobei, director of the Ogiek People's Development Programme, when contacted by telephone. "We are even more pleased that the Court, in its ruling on reparations, made things clearer with regard to implementation of its decisions." Enforcement of its decisions is one of the biggest problems for the ACHPR. Only 10% of its decisions have so far been implemented, while only 33 of the 54 countries that have signed the Protocol have ratified it. Only eight countries have signed the declaration allowing their citizens and NGOs based in their territory to bring cases to the Court. Four countries - Rwanda, Tanzania, Benin, and Cote d'Ivoire - have withdrawn their declarations. The hopes of the Ogiek Kenyan authorities were not immediately available to comment on the ACHPR ruling. The Ogiek, however, are preparing for implementation of the Court's decisions in their favour. "Yes, the government has its part to play, but we are also preparing on our side, especially with regard to community land title and the community development fund," says Kobei. "With the capitalism and individualism in today's society, not everyone has the same understanding. So we have started awareness and explanation seminars in the Ogiek community so that everyone understands the meaning and interest of this community title, so that we can work together for our development," he says. Francisco Cali Tzay, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, also welcomed the ruling of the ACHPR. I welcome this unprecedented ruling for reparations and acknowledge that the decision sends a strong signal for the protection of the land and cultural rights of the Ogiek in Kenya, and for indigenous peoples rights in Africa and around the world, he said in a statement. A Ukrainian court on Friday reduced to 15 years a life sentence handed to a Russian soldier in May for pre-meditated murder in the country's first war crimes trial. "According to the result of the appellate review, the appeal filed by the defence was partially satisfied," a statement on the Kyiv court of appeals' website said, adding that Russian soldier "Vadim Shishimarin was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment." Shishimarin, who was 21 at the time of the ruling in May, was found guilty of war crimes for killing an unarmed civilian and handed a life sentence, in the first verdict of its kind of Russia's invasion. The sergeant from Siberia had admitted to killing a 62-year-old civilian, Oleksandr Shelipov, as he was riding his bike in the village of Chupakhivka in northeast Ukraine. Shishimarin claimed he shot Shelipov under pressure from another soldier as they tried to retreat and escape back into Russia in a stolen car on February 28. His lawyer Viktor Ovsyannikov had vowed to appeal the verdict, arguing that "societal pressure" weighed on the decision. Moscow and Kyiv on Friday accused each other of bombing a jail holding Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian-held territory, with Russia saying 40 prisoners and eight prison staff were killed. Russia's defence ministry said the Ukrainian strikes were carried out with US-supplied long-range missiles, in an "egregious provocation" designed to stop soldiers surrendering. It said that among the dead were Ukrainian forces that had laid down their arms after repelling Moscow's assault on the sprawling Azovstal steel works in Mariupol. The claims came as President Volodymyr Zelensky visited a port in southern Ukraine to oversee a ship being loaded with grain for export under a UN-backed plan aimed at ending a food crisis. Ukraine's presidency said exports could start in the "coming days" under the plan aimed at getting millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain stranded by Russia's naval blockade to world markets. - 'Petrifying war crime' - Following the strike on the prison, Russian state-television showed what appeared to be destroyed barracks and tangled metal beds but no casualties could be seen. Ukraine's military denied carrying out the attack saying its forces "did not launch missile and artillery strikes in the area of Olenivka settlement." It instead blamed Russia's invading forces for "a targeted artillery shelling" on the detention facility, saying it was being used to "accuse Ukraine of committing 'war crimes', as well as to hide the torture of prisoners and executions". "Russia has committed another petrifying war crime by shelling a correctional facility in occupied" Olenivka where it held Ukrainian POWs, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter. Ukraine's army said in a statement that the attack was "not coordinated with the leadership" of Russia's defence ministry and was used to conceal the "embezzlement of funds" allocated for Ukrainian POWs. Ukraine's forces in May ended a weeks-long siege of Azovstal, with around 2,500 combatants surrendering after calling a halt to their first resistance. Moscow's state media has reported that some officers -- including those from the controversial Azov regiment -- have been taken into Russia. Kyiv says it has captured thousands of Russian troops during the invasion and has begun putting some on trial for alleged war crimes. A Ukrainian court on Friday reduced the life sentence handed to a Russian soldier in May for pre-meditated murder in the country's first war crimes trial, instead jailing the serviceman for 15 years. - Mykolaiv strikes - Russian strikes elsewhere in Ukraine killed five people and wounded seven more on Friday on the heavily bombed city of Mykolaiv near the country's southern frontline, the regional governor said. "They shot at another area near a public transport stop," governor Vitaliy Kim said in a statement on social media. Mykolaiv, near the Black Sea, has seen roughly half of its estimated pre-war population of nearly 500,000 people leave and the city has been shelled daily for weeks. It is the largest Ukrainian-controlled urban hub near the frontlines in the Kherson region, where Kyiv's army has launched a counter-offensive to regain control of the economically and strategically important coastal territory. The Ukrainian presidency said Friday that Russian strikes on the city a day earlier had struck a humanitarian aid distribution point and injured three people. In the eastern Donetsk region, governor Pavlo Kyrylenko also said Friday that Moscow's forces had killed eight people and wounded 19 more in attacks over the previous day. - Grain ship loading - The ceaseless violence on the ground comes as Ukraine looks to push ahead with restarting crucial grain exports under a plan brokered by Turkey and the United Nations to lift Russia's Black Sea naval blockade. Ukraine's presidency released footage of Zelensky standing in front of Turkish ship Polarnet in the port of Chornomorsk on a visit to inspect grain being loaded. "The first vessel, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war," Zelensky said in a statement. Zelensky said Kyiv was "waiting for a signal" from Ankara and UN to start exports that it is hoped will help mitigate a global food crisis that has seen prices soar. According to Ukraine's infrastructure ministry, 17 ships had been loaded with grain in the ports of Chornomorsk and neighbouring Odessa with 10 ready for departure. The hike in food costs is just one of the shock waves that Moscow's war in Ukraine has sent reverberating around the world. Energy prices have also risen dramatically as Moscow has cut gas supplies to Europe and the turbulence has wracked the oil markets. The French presidency said that leader Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had agreed to work together to limit the impact of the war at talks in Paris. Macron took the meeting despite fierce criticism from rights groups in a bid to get major crude producer Saudi Arabia to up its production. burs-jbr-acl/har President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday the shelling of a prison in the separatist-controlled east holding Ukrainian servicemen was a "deliberate Russian war crime" that had claimed more than 50 lives. "Today I received information about the attack by the occupiers on Olenivka (the prison's location), in the Donetsk region. It is a deliberate Russian war crime, a deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war. More than 50 dead," he said in his daily address. Russia and Moscow-backed separatists had earlier on Friday accused Kyiv's forces of striking the jail, saying dozens of people died and scores were wounded. Ukraine denied targeting civilian infrastructure or prisoners of war. Russian television showed what appeared to be destroyed barracks and tangled metal beds. It also showed blurred images of what looked like human bodies. The Russian defence ministry said the Ukrainian prisoners of war included members of the Azov battalion, who defended the Azovstal plant in Ukraine's port city of Mariupol. Russia describes the former paramilitary unit, which has previous links to far-right groups, as a neo-Nazi organisation. Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The Moroccan government has categorically denied "false and unfounded allegations" contained in the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on Morocco published on Thursday Jung Woo Sung is one of the Korean celebrities who went from rags to riches. Despite living in an underprivileged family in Sadang-dong, Seoul, he became one of the most respected K-drama stars, not to mention his continued achievements. Curious about his net worth now? Then keep on reading! According to a media outlet, before trying out his luck in show business, Jung Woo Sung is a high school dropout. From High School Dropout to Sought After Star He never hid the fact that he struggled during his younger years and decided not to continue school because he had to work to support his family. Interestingly, because of Jung Woo Sung's height, he first debuted as a model and landed various commercials. He later broke into acting with his first ever public appearance for the 1994 movie "The Fox With Nine Tails." Two years later, his popularity skyrocketed after landing another lead role in the gangster movie "Beat." Since then, all eyes have been on Jung Woo Sung and his versatility as an actor. Jung Woo Sung's Net Worth With his 28-year-career as an actor and his slew of awards and recognitions, the "Athena: Goddess of War" surely made millions working in front of the camera. According to a report, Jung Woo Sung's net worth is around 3 million USD. While most of his earnings came from his acting career, he also has several endorsement deals, including Swiss luxury Longines, where he serves as a global brand ambassador, and LG Dio's refrigerators with Kim Tae Hee. Jung Woo Sung Launched Artist Company with Lee Jung Jae From being an actor, Jung Woo Sung established a talent agency alongside his good friend and fellow celebrity, Lee Jung Jae. In 2016, the duo launched Artist Company, which also serves as their talent agency. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Jung Woo Sung Reveals Surprising Reason Why He and Lee Jung Jae are a 'Good Match' However, a year later, he resigned as the CEO to focus on his acting career but didn't leave the company and took the director position. Jung Woo Sung as 'The Silent Sea's' Executive Producer Another role that Jung Woo Sung focuses on is producing great content. In 2021, Netflix introduced the star-studded series "The Silent Sea" with the renowned actor as the executive assistant. Lead stars Gong Yoo and Bae Doona praised Jung Woo Sung for being hands-on and often visited the set to check on them. In an interview, as noted by a media outlet, the 49-year-old star admitted that being a producer and "everything was a challenge." Moreover, he also said that "everything had to be done on a trial and error basis" to create a perfect scene for "The Silent Sea." The eight-part episode series was released on Christmas Eve and gained overwhelming praise for its visual effects and cast lineup. Apart from this, he is also headlining the upcoming movie "Hunt," which is Lee Jung Jae's directorial debut. KDramastars owns this article. Written by Geca Wills A few hours before its scheduled release, MBC dropped some spoilers about Lee Jong Suk and YoonA's struggle as husband and wife in "Big Mouth" episode 1. Want to know more about what to anticipate in the newest legal-romance drama? Then keep reading the article! 'Big Mouth' Synopsis "Big Mouth," also known as "Big Mouse," is a noir series introducing Lee Jong Suk and YoonA as main protagonists. Jong Suk is a third-rate lawyer who ends up in charge of a murder case that turns him overnight into an intelligent con artist. To save his career as a lawyer and protect his family, Park Chang Ho moves forward to expose the huge conspiracy of people in the upper classes. Park Chang Ho's wife, Go Mi Ho, is a confident and caring nurse who always believes in his capabilities. 'Big Mouth' Episode 1: Park Chang Ho Struggles With His New Court Trial The married couple Park Chang Ho (Lee Jong Suk) and Go Mi Ho (Im YoonA), who have been husband and wife for years, will face struggles as new problems at work begin to affect their relationship. In the drama cuts revealed by MBC, Park Chang Ho is sitting in the plaintiff's seat with his father-in-law Go Ki Kwang (Lee Ki Young) on his side as moral support. Chang Ho is a lawyer who should exhibit confidence and authority once he enters the courtroom. However, in his situation, Mr. Park disappoints himself and leaves the court with embarrassment. He is unsatisfied with his angry clients as he didn't get the desired result, causing him to regret as a legal consultant. This raises questions about whether Park Chang Ho will be able to overcome the unexpected trial. In particular, the trial is actually a decisive opportunity to resolve the rigid relationship between the couple Park Chang Ho and Go Mi Ho. Moreover, it gives the viewers a glimpse of the lawyer's fierce struggle in his career. Attention is also focused on whether Mr. Park, who is in a dilemma of getting a divorce from his wife, will be able to win the trial and return to his beloved wife and fix their relationship. 'Big Mouth' To Premiere on MBC and Disney+ Korea In addition, apart from MBC, the broadcasting company partners with Disney+ Korea, and "Big Mouth" will now officially premiere on both stations, respectively with different time slots starting this July 29. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Lee Jong Suk Decides to Star in 'Big Mouth' Because of THIS Factor Are you excited about Lee Jong Suk and YoonA's new drama "Big Mouth"? Share your comments with us! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars. Kdramastars owns this article. Shai Collins wrote this. Yoo Ah In is back on the big screen as the award-winning actor stars in Netflix's "Seoul Vibe." After two years since he filmed the movie "Voice of Silence," the 35-year-old star is showing off his versatility in the upcoming action crime film. Keep on reading for all the details. Netflix Drops Teasers for New Movie 'Seoul Vibe' The streaming giant teases fans with the official poster and trailer for Yoo Ah In's new movie. The South Korean A-lister gives a "Fast and the Furious" vibe as he sets off in a car chasing action scene in "Seoul Vibe." Set in 1988, the drivers of the Sanggye-dong Supreme Team get caught up in a slush fund investigation of an influential person during the opening of the year's Seoul Olympics. As seen in the "Seoul Vibe" trailer, Yoo Ah In, who is taking on the role of Dong Wook, rides an old remodeled car with a license plate that reads "Seoul 1988." IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Korean Actors Who Ace Buzz Cut Hairstyle: Jang Ki Yong, Ji Chang Wook, More Dong Wook and the Sanggye-dong Supreme Team embark on a mission to deliver a special package and show a ton of cash inside a van trailer. If the group completes the task, they are given 10 million won per delivery. 'Seoul Vibe' Release Date and Cast Lineup Joining Dong Wook in his exciting mission is Go Kyung Pyo to take the role of club DJ Woo Sam, Park Ju Hyun as the biker transformation genius Yoon Hee while Wanna One's Ong Seong Wu will portray Joon Gi. The group is known for their undisputed best driving skills, but this time, they are about to do an unforgettable mission. "Seoul Vibe" also includes a roster of talented and well-known stars, including Moon So Ri as Chairwoman Kang, a powerful second-in-command in the Republic of Korea. Adding to the cast lineup is Kim Sung Kyun will play the role of Director Lee, and Jung Woong In took the character of Chief prosecutor. Helmed by "As One" and "The King's Case Note" director Moon Hyun Sung, "Seoul Vibe" is slated to premiere on August 26 exclusively on Netflix. Yoo Ah In to Star in Multiple Films Besides his comeback movie "Seoul Vibe," Yoo Ah In is also set to headline back-to-back movies. The 35-year-old actor will be joining the cast of the upcoming sports-themed film "The Match" with Lee Byung Hun and Moon Jung Hee. The upcoming movie is based on the real-life story of two legendary players, Cho Hun Hyun, played by Lee Byung Hun, and his protege Lee Chang Ho, portrayed by Yoo Ah In, who ends up as his rival. In addition to the actor's upcoming projects, Yoo Ah In will also headline "High Five," a supernatural action movie that depicts a story of five ordinary people with superpowers. Joining him in the upcoming movie are Ra Mi Ran, Ahn Jae Hong, Lee Jae In, Oh Jung Se, and more. KDramastars owns this article. Written by Geca Wills Fans can't contain their feelings for the Whale Couple as "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" episode 10 takes its fans on a beautiful journey where everyone's hearts flutter! In the brand new episode of the series, Park Eun Bin and Kang Tae Oh share their first real kiss. Read more! 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' Episode 10: Woo Young Woo Takes Another Case With Choi Su Yeon In "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" episode 10, Woo Young Woo (Park Eun Bin) takes on a new case involving a young woman with a mental disability. Along with Choi Su Yeon (Ha Yoon Kyung), they try to defend the defendant who was accused of raping his girlfriend, who is mentally challenged. However, the defendant refuses to plead guilty to his charges. He claims that the two of them are in love with one another. The victim also confesses that she and the defendant are in a very serious relationship and that there's no sexual assault that happened. Even though their stories support one another, the victim's mother is determined to send the defendant to prison for what he did to her daughter. She also argues that her daughter is mentally challenged and doesn't know how to love. Woo Young Woo, who has deep feelings for Lee Jun Ho (Kang Tae Oh), sees herself in confusion. Meanwhile, Kwon Min Woo (Joo Jong Hyuk) learns about Woo Young Woo's relationship with Taesan CEO Tae Su Mi (Jin Kyung). Woo Young Woo and Lee Jun Ho Go On A Date Determined to set the record straight, Woo Young Woo searches for things to do on a date. She presents it to Lee Jun Ho and asks him to get to know one another better before committing to a serious relationship. Elated, Lee Jun Ho walks Woo Young Woo home and holds her hand with her consent. Lee Jun Ho then sees familiar faces and introduces Woo Young Woo to his acquaintances. Unfortunately, she was greeted with a frown and disapproving looks. Lee Jun Ho's friends are not amused with their relationship, even asking Lee Jun Ho to meet other women who are of his caliber. Because of his anger, he sends a forceful punch to the guy who badmouths Woo Young Woo, showing his sincerity and pure intentions to the attorney. On the other hand, Choi Su Yeon goes to a club and enjoys her single life while trying to meet eligible bachelors. Woo Young Woo and Lee Jun Ho Share Their First Real Kiss Although the defendant and victim are in a relationship, the victim's statement doesn't hold a candle in court as she's considered a person who couldn't speak for herself. With this, the poor defendant was sentenced to two years and more imprisonment for sexually assaulting a person with a disability. After work, Lee Jun Ho shows his apartment to Woo Young Woo. In the lobby, Lee Jun Ho expresses his sincerity to Woo Young Woo and tells her how deserving she is to be loved. Woo Young Woo gathers a huge amount of courage and closes the gap between their lips. At the end of the episode, Tae Su Mi visits Woo Young Woo's father, asking him to fly to Boston with their daughter as her past will totally ruin her legacy and career. KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. Apart from the drama's intriguing themes and criminal cases, fans are drawn to Park Eun Bin and Kang Tae Oh's budding relationship in "Extraordinary Attorney Woo." Many are now wondering if the series will be renewed for a second season. Curious? Then keep on reading! In the drama's second half, the two finally confessed to one another, heralding a new romance. The series writer shared her thoughts on the Whale Couple's relationship. In particular, fans' curiosity about a possible new season for the drama increases. Read to know more! 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' To Highlight Whale Couple's Budding Romance As the drama enters its second half of the broadcast, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" greets its viewers with a more intense love line between the lead actors Park Eun Bin and Kang Tae Oh. "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" is a court drama that depicts the story of autistic lawyer Woo Young Woo (Park Eun Bin), who seeks justice and defends the truth with her abilities. During the premiere, fans were curious whether the drama would showcase Woo Young Woo's romantic affairs considering her mental situation. In a recent interview, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," writer Moon Ji Won commented on the romantic connection between Woo Young Woo and Lee Jun Ho (Kang Tae Oh) in the drama. Moon Ji Won shared that she created Woo Young Woo's character to show her improvement in the emotional aspect. In the drama, it is said that autistic people tend to focus more on themselves rather than being empathetic towards other people. Moon Ji Won stated, "The second half of the series shows how Woo Young Woo learned to love and care for others." When asked why a romantic touch was needed in the series, the writer reasoned, "I want to show that mentally challenged people can also adapt and learn new things, including love." Moon Ji Won confessed that she struggled to incorporate the romantic aspect into the series. Thankfully, the first half of the drama successfully introduced the precious relationship of Woo Young Woo and Lee Jun Ho: how their hearts fluttered and how they ended up liking one another. The writer of the series asks viewers to brace themselves for a more intense romance between the Whale Couple-from how a person with autism dates others and the meaning of falling in love with someone with autism. In addition, fans are also curious about the potential new season of the "Extraordinary Attorney Woo." Will 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' Be Renewed For Season 2? Despite receiving low viewership and little to no buzz initially, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" quickly climbed to the top and became one of the biggest K-Dramas this year. With just six episodes, the drama broke its own records and achieved milestones after milestones, including double-digit ratings, entering Netflix's global chart, and more. Fans couldn't wait to see more of the characters and what happened to them after the show ended. With the series' great success, it is reasonable to get a new season. Director Yoo In Shik talked about the possibility of extending the show, saying, "It's very rare for K-Dramas to get multiple seasons, and indeed a blessing." "Renewing a drama for a new season needs to be commercially worthwhile," he said. "It also requires a lot of arrangements. However, the discussion for season 2 is not closed yet." The director shared that everyone in the production unit, as well as the cast ensemble, loves and cares for Woo Young Woo. Currently, there are no discussions for season 2, but it is 100% possible to be renewed in the near future. At the moment, fans can enjoy the webtoon version of "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" on Naver Webtoon. Furthermore, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 9:00 p.m. KST on Netflix! KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. Aydin Coban is shown in this handout photo from the time of his arrest by Dutch police, entered into an exhibit at his trial in British Columbia Supreme Court in New Westminster. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-DUTCH POLICE **MANDATORY CREDIT** Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday on a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for three months The Supreme Court of Canada is seen in Ottawa on May 11, 2022. The court will release a decision today that is expected to clarify how the use of a condom during sex relates to consent in sexual assault law. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Its Chicken Wing Day and Lasagna Day ... which makes us hungry! Good thing we can head Downtown to the Taste of Wisconsin! The Taste of Wisconsin Festival with food from several vendors and music on four stages is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. today (and Saturday) on 54th Street at the lakefront. Admission and parking are free. For more details, go to tasteofwi.com. The Kenosha History Centers Homecoming Car Show events continue today: The Homecoming Car Show Swap Meet in Kennedy Park is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. An Ice Cream Social at Nash Elementary School is 1 p.m. (6801 99th Ave.). The Homecoming Car Show Parade travels from the Southport Beach House parking lot through Downtown, ending up at the Kenosha Homecoming Block Party at the Kenosha History Center, 4 to 8 p.m. at 220 51st Place. Start your morning outside with the Kenosha Library System on the lawn of Fire Station No. 6, 2615 14th Place (across 27th Avenue from the Northside Library parking lot). An outdoor Preschool Storytime starts at 10:30 a.m. The half-hour program, with rhymes and songs, takes place in the park on the north side of the library parking lot. Admission is free. The program is aimed at 3- to 5-year-old children; bring a blanket or towel to sit on. Note: Do NOT park at the fire station. Park at the library, across the street. The Movie Night in the Park series continues tonight in Petrifying Springs Park next to the Biergarten, on the south end of the park, 5555 Seventh St. Tonights film is Beetlejuice. Admission is free. The movie starts at dusk, and bug spray is always recommended! Washington, DC, US (PANA) - The US says it shares concerns expressed by many Tunisians that the process of drafting the new constitution limited the scope for genuine debate and also that the new constitution could weaken the country's democracy and erode respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms 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 South East Technological University (SETU) Waterford are inviting early-stage entrepreneurs from Kilkenny to apply for their award-winning 'New Frontiers' programme. The four week programme starts in September 2022 and is the ideal platform for early-stage entrepreneurs from across the South East. New Frontiers is ideal for early-stage entrepreneurs who have an innovative business idea or an innovative technology that has the potential to be developed into a high-growth start-up company. New Frontiers offers a supportive yet challenging environment to help entrepreneurs plan and launch their new business. South East Technological University (SETU) Waterfords New Frontiers programme, which is funded by Enterprise Ireland, is based at the ArcLabs Innovation Hub at SETU West Campus in Carriganore, Waterford. The New Frontiers Programme Manager at SETU Waterford, Dr Eugene Crehan, was quoted saying the free course has saved past participants from making wrong financial decisions in relation to their business, as well as giving them the tools to take their idea or start-up to the next level. The impact of the pandemic will inspire innovation in digital solutions for businesses and society and new ways of doing things. Phase 1 of the programme will help entrepreneurs and innovative start-ups to develop their business ideas. Some participants will go onto Phase 2 which starts in December 2022. New Frontiers is a highly impactful programme, particularly for participants who go on to Phase 2 of the programme. Eugene explains, In a review of SETU Waterfords New Frontiers programme for the five year period 2016 to 2021, the 48 participants of Phase 2 created 88 jobs in the region and have generated annual sales of over 4M. Between them they have secured 19.8M in follow-up funding and supports, 2.5M from private investors, 6.7M from an IPO and approximately another 10M in other state supports through Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices, the NDRC and the European Space Agency (Irl). Successful applicants to Phase 2 are eligible for financial support up to 22,500, to further develop their innovative business start-up. This financial support gives people the chance to develop their business while getting paid to do so. The deadline for applications for the next New Frontiers is 10 September 2022 apply online at 'www.wit.ie/newfrontiers'. The time commitment for Phase 1 is just two evenings per week, starting from 20 September 2022. PAWS Animal Rescue fears that Ireland is experiencing the start of an animal welfare crisis caused by a rise in pet ownership rates colliding with cost-of-living pressures. The charity is seeing an increase in animals coming into its care with many Irish centres already full and others close to capacity, as rehoming slows down and more people are looking to give up their pets. The Tipperary based charity, that rescues and rehomes abandoned dogs from all over Ireland has rehomed 126 dogs thus far in 2022, compared to 191 by the same date in 2021.They currently have 105 dogs in their care and an outstanding vet bill of over 48,000. At the core of what the charity does is the prevention or relief of suffering for animals. As many dogs rescued or surrendered are suffering due to illness, accidents, or ill treatment, a necessary part of their care requires veterinary treatment. Paws did receive some support via the Covid Employers Wage Subsidy Scheme, but didnt qualify for any other Government Covid supports. This assistance kept their small team operating throughout the pandemic. However, the subsidy was based on income being 30% below the equivalent period in 2019, an almost impossible task for charities to predict. After a couple of one-off appeals and a legacy Paws has been informed that they did not qualify for some of the periods, and they now find themselves in the unenviable position of having to repay 25,000 to revenue in 2022. Recent research by the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) shows that demand for rescue dogs has declined in the past year while the number of dogs being abandoned is higher in 2022 than 2021 and 2020. Although there seems to be a variation in the evidence for cat abandonments there is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest that there is a similar trend for cats. 70% of ADCH member rescues surveyed, report an influx of dogs with behavioural issues. This is in line with studies indicating that inexperienced dog owners are giving up dogs they acquired during lockdown and are now unable to care for, due to a variety of factors. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that there are similar reasons for the relinquishments of cats. This could be for many reasons including post lockdown lifestyle changes and the rise in the cost of living which directly affects the ability for owners and new adopters to be able to pay for the care of their animal. Paws has seen an increase in relinquishment due to owners struggling to pay vet fees and a significant increase in the number of unwanted litters. Many animal rescues are now struggling to cope, and are at breaking point. Halita Obineche, Executive Director of ADCH, said: There was a huge surge in people getting pets in lockdown and we are dealing with the fallout. Inexperienced owners unable to manage pets with behavioural issues caused by poor training and a lack of socialisation; workers returning to the office; and now the rising cost of living, all combining to create a national animal welfare crisis. Our members emerged from lockdown struggling with a lack of funds and a dearth of experienced staff. They are overburdened both in terms of space and the emotional toll of dealing with an epidemic of dog abandonment. Animal charity PAWS has expressed fears that an animal welfare crisis is being caused by a rise in pet ownership rates colliding with cost-of-living pressures. The charity is seeing an increase in animals coming into its care with many Irish centres already full and others close to capacity, as rehoming slows down and more people are looking to give up their pets. The Tipperary-based charity, that rescues and rehomes abandoned dogs from all over Ireland has rehomed 126 dogs thus far in 2022, compared to 191 by the same date in 2021. We currently have 105 dogs in our care and an outstanding vet bill of over 48,000. "At the core of what we do is the prevention or relief of suffering of animals. As many of the dogs rescued or surrendered to us are suffering due to illness, accidents, or indeed ill treatment, a necessary part of their care and welfare requires veterinary treatment," the charity said. "We did receive some support via the Covid Employers Wage Subsidy Scheme, but we didnt qualify for any other Government Covid supports. all of which were afforded to human charities. This assistance kept our small team operating throughout the pandemic. However, the subsidy was based on income being 30% below the equivalent period in 2019 (an almost impossible task for charities to predict) and in our case, a couple of one-off appeals and a legacy meant that we have been informed that we did not qualify for some of the periods, and we now find ourselves in the unenviable position of having to repay 25,000 to revenue in 2022." Recent research by the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) shows that demand for rescue dogs has declined in the past year while the number of dogs being abandoned is higher in 2022 than 2021 and 2020. Although there seems to be a variation in the evidence for cat abandonments there is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest that there is a similar trend for cats. Some 70% of ADCH member rescues surveyed report an influx of dogs with behavioural issues. This is in line with studies indicating that inexperienced dog owners are giving up dogs they acquired during lockdown and are now unable to care for, due to a variety of factors. Anecdotal evidence from members also suggests that there are similar reasons for the relinquishments of cats.This could be for many reasons such as post lockdown lifestyle changes and the rise in the cost of living which directly affects the ability for owners and new adopters to be able to pay for the care of their animal. The charity says it sees an increase in relinquishment due to owners struggling to pay vet fees and a significant increase in the number of unwanted litters. "The rescues are now struggling to cope, and we are now at breaking point," they say. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Lunar pits, and caves to which they may lead, would make thermally stable sites around a comfortable 17 degrees Celsius (63 degrees Fahrenheit) for lunar exploration compared to areas at the Moons surface, which heat up to 127 degrees Celsius (260 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and cool to minus 173 degrees Celsius (minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit) at night. Pit craters are formed from the collapsed ceilings of subsurface void spaces, such as natural caves or lava tubes. Collapse pits have been found on every major rocky body of the inner Solar System. However, distinct overhangs have only been observed on Earth and the Moon. They are typically the result of a structural instability triggered by seismic activity, tectonism, and/or impacts. Since the discovery of lunar pits by JAXAs SELENE spacecraft in 2009, there has been interest in whether they provide access to caves that could be explored by rovers and astronauts. About 16 of the more than 200 pits are probably collapsed lava tubes, said lead author Tyler Horvath, a doctoral student at the University of California, Los Angeles. Two of the most prominent lunar pits have visible overhangs that clearly lead to caves or voids, and there is strong evidence that anothers overhang may also lead to a large cave. Humans evolved living in caves, and to caves we might return when we live on the Moon, said co-author Dr. David Paige, a researcher in the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. To find out if the temperature within the lunar pits diverged from those on the surface, the study authors analyzed data from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment aboard NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Focusing on a roughly cylindrical 100-m- (328- foot) deep depression in the Mare Tranquillitatis, they used computer modeling to analyze the thermal properties of the rock and lunar dust and to chart the pits temperatures over time. Their results revealed that temperatures within the permanently shadowed reaches of the pit fluctuate only slightly throughout the lunar day, remaining at around 17 degrees Celsius (63 degrees Fahrenheit). If a cave extends from the bottom of the pit, as images taken by LROs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera suggest, it too would have this relatively comfortable temperature. The shadowing overhang is responsible for the steady temperature, limiting how hot things gets during the day and preventing heat from radiating away at night, the researchers said. A day on the Moon lasts about 15 Earth days, during which the surface is constantly bombarded by sunlight and is frequently hot enough to boil water. Brutally cold nights also last about 15 Earth days. The teams paper was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. _____ Tyler Horvath et al. Thermal and Illumination Environments of Lunar Pits and Caves: Models and Observations From the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment. Geophysical Research Letters, published online July 8, 2022; doi: 10.1029/2022GL099710 slide 2 of 6 ATEEZ meets over 180,000 fans through their world tour "THE FELLOWSHIP: BEGINNING OF THE END" in the first half of the year. The global boy group also just hit their first million-seller album. ATEEZ held a media showcase to commemorate the release of the new album "THE WORLD EP.1 : MOVEMENT," which exceeded 1.1 million pre-orders, at Daeyang Hall, Sejong University, Seoul on July 28. Health Carousel's Earl Dalton was recently recognized for his continued commitment to healthcare excellence via Cincinnati Business Courier award nomination. Healthcare excellence can take a variety of forms. Bold entrepreneurs drive industry innovation, navigating obstacles while remaining focused on their vision. Skilled physicians and nurses provide superb patient care, often under challenging circumstances. Hospital and medical office support teams contribute to each facility's smooth operation. Each year, the Cincinnati Business Courier honors individuals and organizations that have contributed to better-quality healthcare in Greater Cincinnati. In 2021, these Health Care Hero finalists included Health Carousel's Chief Nursing Officer Earl Dalton. The Story Behind Earl Dalton's Nomination In choosing its Health Care Hero, the Cincinnati Business Courier considers professionals who have positively impacted the region's health care in multiple ways. Each finalist has exhibited a deeply felt concern for patients while also demonstrating superior management skills. This health care professional has also developed career-enhancing employee programs while maintaining a strong dedication to industry-enhancing research. Earl Dalton's Contributions to the Nursing Profession During Earl Dalton's 20+ years of hospital health care experience, he has demonstrated extensive clinical knowledge. At the same time, he has shown a compassionate and reassuring bedside manner with his patients. At Health Carousel since 2016, Earl Dalton's Registered Nurse credentials have enabled the company to view the nurse staffing industry from a real-world nurse's perspective. Most importantly, he keenly understands the importance of placing the right nurse in the right role at the right time. Through his efforts, he has reduced Health Carousel's nurse termination rate by 75 percent. Earl Dalton also takes a large-scale view of the nurse staffing industry. He remains aware of the challenges inherent in managing a wide-ranging clinical staff during labor shortages and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic challenges. At the same time, clinical and patient care standards must not be compromised. Toward that end, Dalton guides a skilled nurse manager team focused on maintaining high clinical quality standards. These dedicated professionals also offer clinical guidance and mentorship to staff members working at client locations. During his Health Carousel tenure, Earl Dalton has helped to achieve industry-leading nurse and client satisfaction. Providing Early-Pandemic Staffing Leadership During the COVID-19 pandemic's early weeks, many virus hot spots popped up across the United States. At the same time, many nurses became sick themselves, rendering them unable to care for rising numbers of patients. Recognizing that a large-scale crisis was at hand, Earl Dalton and his nurse managers quickly put a plan into action. Dalton worked with Health Carousel's client service professionals, enabling the nurse management team to screen nurses on each client's behalf. Earl Dalton's proactive response resulted in hundreds of new Rapid Response assignment billables and large-scale revenue increases. Most importantly, COVID-19 patients were able to receive consistent professional care despite many extraordinary challenges. Putting His Extensive Clinical Expertise to Work With many Health Carousel clinical staff and corporate team members on remote assignments, it was necessary to establish COVID-19 safety protocols to protect their health. Not surprisingly, Earl Dalton stepped up to the challenge. He also worked with the company's leadership team to develop in-office work protocols for "essential employees." Finally, he ensured that sick or quarantined Health Carousel team members were paid appropriately. He also took measures to help Health Carousel employees prioritize their mental health during such a challenging time. Earl Dalton's Industry Knowledge and Education Make the Difference Through Earl Dalton's skilled leadership, Health Carousel's clients have been able to overcome significant workforce development challenges. His intensive knowledge of the travel nurse industry provides an excellent foundation for his efforts. Without his real-world expertise, significant factors may have been overlooked. Earl Dalton's Master of Health Administration and Master in the Science of Leadership degrees have also helped him to interpret complex scenarios and identify the best solution for each challenge. His unmatched analysis and management skills have also enabled Health Carousel to realize higher revenues and profits. Fiercely Supportive of Health Carousel's Nurses This company leader's nursing background has made him aware of the profession's unique challenges. To illustrate, during the pandemic he learned that frontline caregivers were experiencing high levels of stress and not practicing good self-care. To address these issues, Dalton teamed with HealthStream to create a Nurse Burnout/Resilience Program. Through his efforts, nurses were better able to focus on self-care rather than coping in unhealthy ways. Enabling Health Carousel's Enhanced Industry Standing Because of Earl Dalton's notable contributions, Health Carousel has gained the respect of many leading United States hospitals and health systems. Through articles in respected publications, and speaking engagements in the United States and abroad, he has become a respected thought leader for the nursing industry. In 2020, Health Carousel received formal recognition from the staffing industry. Specifically, the company was named "Best in Staffing'' relative to client and talent satisfaction. Finally, under Earl Dalton's leadership Health Carousel has become the 9th largest United States health care staffing company. When he began his tenure in 2016, Health Carousel was ranked in 34th place. Driving Health Carousel's Internal Education Programs Health Carousel's Chief Nursing Officer Earl Dalton has also played a key role in enhancing clinical staff's knowledge and skills. He engineered a partnership with HealthStream, a major online learning company offering a wide range of nursing programs. Since the program's 2016 inception, about 4,000 nurses have taken over 50,000 HealthStream classes. Earl Dalton also designed the "Clinical 101 Program" for the company's non-medical employees. Now, administrative staff can better comprehend health care professionals' feedback on a variety of subjects. In fact, this well-received program is now included in Health Carousel's standard onboarding and orientation procedures. Earl Dalton's "Light the Way" Program Leadership Earl Dalton's passion for nurse recognition extends beyond Health Carousel's corporate boundaries. As leader of the company's "Light the Way" Program, he partners with the DAISY Foundation to recognize nurses' contributions to communities across the globe. He has specifically recognized nurses' efforts in Ghana and Uganda. In addition, Dalton learned that most Ugandan nurses are generalists who lack specialty training. In response to this need, he partnered with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (or AACN) and HealthStream. Now, Ugandan nurses are receiving vital critical care training that enables them to care for seriously ill patients. About Health Carousel Health Carousel is a rising star in the United States' health care staffing industry. Founded in 2004, this Cincinnati-based company serves hospitals and medical practices throughout the United States. Health Carousel's clients benefit from carefully chosen candidates for permanent, temp-to-perm, and contract assignments. Finding qualified workers in today's competitive health care marketplace is a complex undertaking. Health Carousel meets that challenge by utilizing the latest recruitment technology and digital methodologies. Equally importantly, the company always adheres to rigorous ethical recruitment standards. In fact, Health Carousel is frequently recognized for its ethical recruitment practices. Travel Nursing Services Travel nurses have long been an integral part of health care staffing solutions. When medical facilities experience staffing shortages, skilled travel nurses step in to meet diverse patient care needs. Health Carousel Travel Nursing (or HCTN) has a finely tuned management structure that enables fast, efficient responses to unplanned staffing needs. Travel nurse candidates often receive short- to mid-duration assignments with multiple starting dates. Locum Tenens Physician Services Hospitals and other medical facilities rely on physicians and advanced practitioners to provide high-level patient care. Sometimes, these professionals take time off for personal or professional reasons. When this occurs, the Health Carousel Locum Tenens (or HCLT) Team fills these temporary vacancies with qualified medical professionals. To accomplish this goal, HCLT recruiters comb their database of physicians and advanced practitioners in every state. Upon each candidate's hire, HCLT team members address all credentialing and assignment onboarding details. Patients benefit from more complete service offerings, faster care turnarounds, and improved health care. Targeted Workforce Solutions Services Each hospital or medical practice has specific health care staffing needs. Cookie cutter staffing practices won't provide the tailored solutions clients deserve. Fortunately, Health Carousel Workforce Solutions (or HCWS) can deliver an efficient, cost-effective answer to each workforce solutions challenge. The HCWS Chief Nursing Officer manages a team of clinical experts who drive each targeted solution. Workforce management specialists put each program in place. Once each solution is operational, the specialists perform beneficial adjustments as needed. Managed Services Provider Solutions Health care staffing challenges don't occur in a vacuum. Instead, each one is impacted by multiple factors and constraints. To identify each problem's source, the Health Carousel Managed Services Provider (or MSP) Team uses its multifaceted expertise. Once the Team has defined the challenge, clinically directed workforce specialists apply technology and industry insights toward a solution. The team implements a targeted staffing plan that will address the core issue. Once that occurs, the client should have less need for a contingent workforce. Lower expenses, better revenue generation, and higher workforce satisfaction should result. Satisfied workers will likely deliver better patient care. Health Carousel International For longer-term health care staffing solutions, Health Carousel International (or HCI) partners with international health care workers seeking to work in United States hospitals or medical practices. The HCI PassportUSA Program assists credentialed Registered Nurses, physical and occupational therapists, and medical technologists from diverse countries. From start to finish, HCI handles all recruiting and hiring tasks. After PassportUSA participants begin their United States assignments, HCI clinical team members help to facilitate each worker's professional development. The clinical team also ensures that each individual maintains their professional credentials and/or certifications. Finally, HCI maintains a commitment to ethics-inspired global nurse recruitment. To that end, HCI takes steps to facilitate originating countries' skilled nurse development programs' longevity. Health Carousel Earns the "Certified Ethical Recruiter" Designation Health Carousel has often been recognized for its ethical, sustainable recruitment initiatives. The firm's "Light the Way" Program is a key component of these efforts. To illustrate, Health Carousel is a strong advocate of its nurses' achievement of graduate and postgraduate degrees. The Alliance for Ethical Recruitment Practices has also named Health Carousel a "Certified Ethical Recruiter." This notable non-profit organization advocates for transparent, fair recruiting of global medical professionals seeking United States health care careers. Sanya Hello Kitty Resort shines at 2nd China International Consumer Products Expo People's Daily Online) 13:08, July 29, 2022 Photo shows the exhibition area of Sanya Hello Kitty Resort at the second China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital of south Chinas Hainan Province. (Peoples Daily Online/Pan Huiwen) The exhibition area of Sanya Hello Kitty Resort has attracted many visitors at the second China International Consumer Products Expo, which kicked off on July 25 in Haikou, capital of south Chinas Hainan Province. The exhibition area provides a unique experience for visitors with many popular animation characters developed by Japanese animation powerhouse Sanrio, including Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, Badtz-maru, My Melody, and Kuromi. The exhibition area also showcases a dazzling array of Sanrio products. Many fans of Sanrio characters and visitors said that they are looking forward to the opening of the Sanya Hello Kitty Resort. (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) Prospa Group Limited (ASX:PGL) (Prospa or the Company or the Group) is pleased to provide a trading update for the quarter ended 30 June 2022 (4QFY22), with another set of record-breaking results across all key metrics as small business customers invest in recovery and growth. Group highlights: Full-year EBITDA of c.$12 million (FY21 $0.5 million ) was driven by the growth of the business and investments in core technology. Originations of $245.7 million in 4QFY22, up a significant 35% on the prior corresponding period (pcp) (4QFY21: $182.5 million). Demand from small businesses continues with Prospas highest month ever recorded for originations reaching $104.6 million in June 2022. Closing Loan Book of $701.3 million, up 64% against pcp (4QFY21: $427.1 million). Revenue reached $53.9 million , up 61% against pcp (4QFY21: $33.4 million). Total active customers increased to ~16,100, an additional ~2,100 from the prior quarter and with continued market-leading Net Promoter Score of over 80. Prospas growth was supported by a strong balance sheet and funding platform of $702.0 million in available third-party facilities ($59.2 million in available undrawn facilities) and $105.8 million in cash ($49.9 million is unrestricted). FY22 operating cashflow was an impressive $58.8 million (FY21 $33.1 million , up 78%), showing the strong cash generation of the underlying business. Full-year expected credit loss provision of 7.2% (FY21: 7.9%), of which 5.9% is the base provision, a prudent coverage for the current economic environment. Credit losses expected to remain within the board-mandated loss rate range of 4-6%. Growth strategy progress continues with full market launch of New Zealand Line of Credit. 4QFY22 Financial Performance Prospa observed significantly higher demand for funds from small businesses across Australia and New Zealand. The momentum enabled the Company to achieve its highest ever month of $104.6 million for originations in June 2022. This has led the Company to achieve the highest ever quarter for originations of $245.7 million over 4QFY22, an increase of 35% on pcp (4QFY21: $182.5 million). The New Zealand business contributed originations of $39.8 million over the period after successfully scaling the new Line of Credit product into the region, with full launch of the product on 4 July 2022. In line with originations growth, the Closing Loan Book increased to $701.3 million, up 20% from the prior quarter (3QFY22: $583.6 million) and up 64% against pcp (4QFY21: $427.1 million ). Average Gross Loans reached $633.4 million for the quarter, an increase of 16% from the prior quarter (3QFY22: $546.6 million ). Total revenue increased to $53.9 million for the period, with yield holding steady at 34% for the period (4QFY21: 34%). Prospas continued focus on technology through digital and real-time enhancements has further improved the credit assessment process and the customer journey. These investments have enabled the Company to achieve EBITDA of c. $12 million over FY22 while remaining within the Board mandated loss rate range of 4-6%. Additionally, total active customers increased to ~16,100, up ~2,100 from March 2022, while maintaining an industry-leading Net Promoter Score above 80. Adrienne Begbie, Managing Director, Prospa New Zealand, said: We are delighted to see record-breaking results for the quarter, a true testament to Kiwi SMEs growth and resilience over the past few months. In New Zealand this has translated into a strong $38.9 million originations in June. Our broker partners work tirelessly to champion small businesses and collaborate with us to find solutions to meet their clients needs. Were proud to support the recovery of small businesses in New Zealand and help them continue to prosper and grow their business. Were seeing a higher demand for funds and are pleased to offer a new Line of Credit product to Kiwi SMEs allowing businesses to tap into revolving credit, giving them the flexibility to manage their cash flow and promote growth. Ross Aucutt, Chief Financial Officer said: The investments in our technological capabilities and credit decision engine have supported our strong results. We are financially well positioned to support the ever-increasing demand for funds, with continued investment in scaling our funding products, executing prudent decision-making for our growth prospects despite uncertain macro-economic conditions across Australia and New Zealand. Funding enhancements As of 30 June 2022, the Group had $702.0 million in third-party facilities ($59.2 million in undrawn facilities). The Company is well positioned to fund ongoing growth propelled by the strong demand for funds from small businesses across Australia and New Zealand. In June 2022, Prospa increased the total facility limit of the Kea 2021-2 Trust from NZ$63 million to NZ$90 million to support the strong momentum for future book growth within New Zealand, with an option to further upsize to NZ$126 million. On 1 July 2022, the Propela Trusts facility limit was expanded from $67.5 million to $135 million to support future book growth in Australia. Closing cash was $105.8 million , of which unrestricted cash was $49.9 million (FY21 $80.4 million total cash, $39.8 million in unrestricted cash). Buy Back On 16 February 2022, Prospa announced an on-market share buy-back programme of up to 10% of PGLs issued share capital over 12 months. The Groups ongoing strong performance led to the Boards decision to return capital to shareholders. Prospa has repurchased 690,876 ordinary shares up to 30 June 2022. It is intended to recommence the programme following the release of full-year results, and it will continue to be funded by Prospas existing level of unrestricted cash. Quarterly key metrics Financial and operational performance (A$m)1 4Q21 Results 1Q22 Results 2Q22 Results 3Q22 Results 4Q22 Results % Change from prior quarter % Change on 4Q21 Total originations (Aus & NZ)2 182.5 128.4 186.6 172.0 245.7 423% 35% Closing Loan Book 427.1 442.2 514.6 583.6 701.3 20% 64% Revenue3 33.4 37.8 40.7 45.9 53.9 17% 61% Active customers (000s)4 11.9 12.2 13.2 14.0 16.1 14% 35% 1. United management accounts. Quarterly totals may not add up precisely due to rounding. 2. Originations from 1 April 2021 include lending under the NZ Business Finance Guarantee Scheme (BFGS), which ended on 30 June 2021. Small retrospective changes in origination figures may occur due to backdated cancellations or modifications to support customer outcomes. 3. Revenue before transaction costs. 4. Total active customers at the end of each reported period. This announcement has been authorised for release by the Board. For further information, contact: Company Secretary Investor Relations and Media Ross Aucutt CFO and Interim Company Secretary Email: ross.aucutt@prospa.com Sharon Chang Corporate Communications Manager Email: sharon.chang@prospa.com About Prospa Prospa Group Limited (ASX: PGL) is a financial technology company and a leading provider of cash flow products and services that help small businesses to grow and prosper. Headquartered in Sydney, the Company operates across Australia and New Zealand and employs more than 270 people. Prospa builds cash flow products and services that allow small businesses to grow and run their businesses and help them pay for goods and services through a single app. Prospas unique, purpose-built credit decision engine quickly assesses small business credit applications using proprietary technology and analytics to deliver fast and informed credit decisions and approvals, with high levels of risk controls in place. The Company has been recertified as one of Australias Great Places to Work in 2022. Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: FPH - Notification of Issue of Securities Fletcher Building reports FY22 result, final dividend 22cps NZA - Resignation of Auditor August 17th Morning Report CMC - Retirement and Appointment of Directors Senior Leadership Team Changes CHI - Half Year Results and Audio Conference Details Mercury results reflect transformative year PGW - Annual Results Announcement to 30 June 2022 August 16th Morning Report Page Content The Honorable Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Mr. Omar Ottley, met with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Director of the Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, Mr. Dennis Zulu, during a recent courtesy visit to Sint Maarten. This visit was a great opportunity to further deepen cooperation with the ILO in bringing further emphasis on the Decent Work Agenda. Labor related matters such as; labor market information system (LMIS), replacing the Cessantia fund with the introduction of an unemployment benefit system, wages and productivity, short term labor agreement amendments, training and employment creation, promotion and improvement of the labor dispute settlement system and more were discussed in which technical assistance from the ILO will be requested to further enhance policy development and or legislation as it relates to the labor market of Sint Maarten. This is with the aim of building a more secure and resilient labor market on Sint Maarten in the best interest of both workers and employers alike. It was a privilege to meet with Mr. Zulu and given the opportunity to discuss such important labor related matters. The discussion was brief but highlighted a few short term changes that can be made to benefit the population. While the majority of the changes will require legislative amendments and will have a longer trajectory, we are committed to finding a solution that complies with local and international labor laws. Said Ottley The Wisconsin Department of Health Services on Thursday announced expanded eligibility for the monkeypox vaccine. To date, DHS has been allocated 1,486 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine from the federal government, which is enough vaccine for 743 people to complete the two-dose series. As of July 28, DHS has identified 14 cases of orthopoxvirus, presumed to be monkeypox, in Wisconsin, including one in Kenosha County. Due to a limited vaccine supply, DHS is currently following the federal governments recommendation to prioritize the JYNNEOS vaccine for individuals at the highest risk of infection, said DHS Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake. At the same time, we encourage all Wisconsinites to be aware of the signs and symptoms of monkeypox and take precautions to prevent the spread. In Wisconsin, vaccination is now recommended for people who had known exposure to someone with monkeypox and people with certain risk factors who are more likely to be exposed to the virus. This includes: People who know that a sexual partner in the past 14 days was diagnosed with monkeypox. People who attended an event or venue where there was known monkeypox exposure. Gay, bisexual, trans, and any other men who have sex with men, who have had multiple sexual partners in the past 14 days. DHS encourages anyone who had a known monkeypox exposure to talk with their health care provider to learn if they are eligible to receive a vaccine. If you do not have a regular source of health care, confidential support finding health care and community resources near you is available by dialing 211 or 877-947-2211, or texting your ZIP code to 898-211. Online resources are available at 211Wisconsin.org(link is external). As vaccine becomes more available, DHS will keep the monkeypox vaccination webpage updated with the latest information on eligibility and where to get the vaccine. It is important to remember that the virus that causes monkeypox does not spread easily from person to person, and the overall risk to the public remains low. People who have recently been infected due to the current outbreak have reported having close, sustained physical or intimate contact with other people who have monkeypox. While most cases nationwide have occurred among gay, bisexual, trans, and other men who have sex with men, anyone can develop monkeypox infection if they have close contact with someone who is sick. To prevent the spread of monkeypox, DHS encourages all Wisconsinites to: Know the symptoms and risk factors of monkeypox. Anyone with a rash that looks like monkeypox should talk to a health care provider about whether they need to get tested, even if they dont think they had contact with someone who has monkeypox. Avoid skin-to-skin contact with people who are showing a rash or skin sores. Dont touch the rash or scabs, and dont kiss, hug, cuddle, have sex, or share items such as eating utensils or bedding with someone with monkeypox. In areas where monkeypox is spreading, 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 a doctor or nurse to talk about whether you need a vaccine to prevent disease. Monitor your health for fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes and a new, unexplained rash, and contact a healthcare provider if any of those occur. If you become ill, avoid contact with others until you receive health care. If you are sick with monkeypox, isolate at home until the rash has fully resolved, the scabs have fallen off, and a fresh layer of skin has formed. DHS urges anyone to contact a healthcare provider immediately if they develop a new or unexplained rash. The JYNNEOS vaccine is currently only available by appointment at designated health care locations in Wisconsin. For free, confidential support finding health care and community resources near you, dial 211 or 877-947-2211, or text your ZIP code to 898-211. Find resources online at 211Wisconsin.org. Lakeland School student athletes received a proper send-off to the Special Olympics Wisconsin 50th Celebration Games, July 29. Seventeen students from Lakeland School, W3905 County Road NN in Elkhorn, are participating in the Wisconsin Special Olympics competition, which is being held July 29 through July 31 at Carroll University in Waukesha. Ten of the students will be participating in swimming, and seven will be competing in track and field. Lakeland School Principal Trish McCullough said she is pleased with the number of students who will be participating in this year's state competition. "We're sending a good number of kids this year, especially with COVID going on," McCullough said. "This is a good bunch of kids going." The students qualified for the state competition by participating in local events and submitting their scores. The students who have the highest scores in their event qualify to participate in the state competition. McCullough said the students have been preparing for the state competition for about a year. "They had to submit their scores virtually through the past year," McCullough said. "So we're really excited that they can send then in person." Lakeland School officials conducted a send-off event for the students, July 29. The student athletes were named and then participated in a "torch run" with representatives from the Walworth County Sheriff's Office around the school's gymnasium. The students then boarded a school bus and were escorted down County Road NN to Downtown Elkhorn by the Walworth County Sheriff's office before heading to the state competition. Undersheriff Dave Gerber said he enjoys honoring the students who are participating in the event. "We're proud to do this. It's an annual event," Gerber said. "We're proud to show support for the athletes here. I wish them the best of luck at the state games." Gerber said many Elkhorn residents enjoy watching the athletes heading out to the competition. "A lot of people will come out and wish them the best of luck as they head out to the summer games this weekend," Gerber said. McCullough said she plans to attend the event June 30 to watch the students compete. "It's inspiring to watch them compete," McCullough said. "It's neat to see them use all their skills to work toward a goal like relays or the skills that they worked on for that whole year." McCullough said participating in Special Olympic events help the students develop life skills. "It teaches them teamwork. It also teaches them how to follow a schedule, follow directions, how to be a team player," McCullough said. "It really helps their skills in life, self esteem and pride in their school and in themselves." Lakeland School serves students with disabilities and has an enrollment of about 200 students. New Delhi [India], July 29 (ANI): India received its highest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow of Rs 6,31,050 crore in Financial Year 2021-22 said Som Parkash, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The FDI Equity inflow in manufacturing sectors has increased to Rs 1,58,332 crore in the financial year 2021-22 from Rs 89,766 crore in the previous year, making it an increase of 76 per cent. Also Read | Bank Holidays in August 2022 List: Banks To Remain Closed for 18 Days Next Month; Check Complete Dates of Bank Holidays. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a type of investment wherein an investor from one country establishes or significantly influences a business entity in another economy. The increase in FDI inflows is a result of the measures taken by the Government on FDI policy reforms, stated the official statement. A transparent and liberal policy was adopted in order to attract Foreign Direct Investment. Strategically important sectors are open for 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route. Also Read | Scotland vs New Zealand 2nd T20I 2022 Live Streaming Online: Get Free Live Telecast of SCO vs NZ Cricket Match on TV with Time in IST. Foreign investment in the manufacturing sector is under the automatic route. Manufacturing activities may be self-manufacturing by the investee or contract manufacturing in India with a legal basis. This is subject to the provisions of the FDI Policy. A manufacturer can also sell its products through wholesale or retail, including through e-commerce, without obtaining government approval. Measures undertaken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to enhance foreign exchange inflows include exemption of incremental Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) and Non-Resident (External) Rupee deposits from Cash Reserve Ratio and Statutory Liquidity Ratio and allowing of Foreign Portfolio Investment in commercial paper and non-convertible debentures with an original maturity of up to one year, amongst others. (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 29 (PTI) Over 1,10,670 Indians and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholders visited Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan using the cross-border Kartarpur corridor, the government said on Friday. The corridor linking Dera Baba Sahib in India's Gurdaspur with the gurdwara in Pakistan's Kartarpur was thrown open in November 2019 in a historic people-to-people initiative. Also Read | Moto S30 Pro Spotted on TENAA Website, Check Expected Price & Other Details Here. "Since its inauguration on November 9, 2019, the Kartarpur corridor has been used by more than 1,10,670 Indians and OCI card holders to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur," Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said in Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question. Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine. Also Read | Punjab: Cooperative Bank Employees Held in Ropar for Embezzling Rs 1.24 Crore. It is the final resting place of the Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev, who had spent the last 18 years of his life in Kartarpur. Muraleedharan said representations have been received to make the visit to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib using the corridor passport-free. However, he added that the bilateral agreement signed between India and Pakistan in October 2019 mandates that pilgrims shall travel on valid passports. The minister said India has consistently urged Pakistan that in deference to the wishes of the pilgrims, it should not levy any fee or charge on those who visit the Gurudwara through the corridor. "Pakistan, however, continues to levy USD 20 per head for each visit," he said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) About 91 per cent or Rs 113.791 crore of the total donations received by regional political parties in the country have gone to five entities, according to poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). A report prepared by the ADR focuses on the donations declared by the regional parties during the financial year 2020-21 to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Also Read | Bihar Judge Says, Suspended for Fast-Tracking Justice; Supreme Court Issues Notice to Patna High Court, State Government. The top five regional parties in terms of donations declared are the Janata Dal (United), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). The report said 91.38 per cent or Rs 113.791 crore of the total donations received by the regional parties have filled the coffers of these five parties. Also Read | Delhi LG VK Saxena Orders ACB Probe Into Corruption in Transport Department. While the JD(U), the DMK and the TRS have declared an increase in their donations, the AAP and the IUML have reported a decrease in the donations as compared to FY 2019-20. The DMK, the TRS, the JD(U) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) saw the maximum percentage increase in their income from donations between FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21. Of the 54 regional parties covered in the report, only six submitted their donation reports to the ECI within the stipulated time period. Twenty-five other parties delayed their submission by three days to 164 days. The total amount of donations declared by 27 regional parties, including both above and below Rs 20,000, was Rs 124.53 crore from 3,051 donations. No donations were declared by the JMM, the NDPP, the DMDK and the RLTP for FY 2020-21. In terms of the donations received, the JD(U) occupies the top spot with Rs 60.155 crore from 330 donations, followed by the DMK, which has received Rs 33.993 crore from 177 donations. The AAP declared receiving Rs 11.328 crore -- the third highest among the regional parties. The IUML and the TRS have declared donations of Rs 4.165 crore and Rs 4.15 crore respectively. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chennai, Jul 29 (PTI) Deposed leader O Panneerselvam on Friday exuded confidence that 'Dharma will triumph' in his ongoing legal battle with Edappadi K Palaniswami, the AIADMK's interim general secretary. Also Read | West Bengal SSC Scam: Three Companies With Partha Chatterjee's Son-in-Law Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya as Director Under ED Scanner. After seeing off Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport here, Panneerselvam told reporters that the former enquired about his health and he replied that he is doing well. Popularly known as OPS, Panneerselvam is leading the rebel AIADMK camp and he was recently treated for coronavirus. Also Read | MSBTE Result 2022: Summer Diploma Result Declared at msbte.org.in, Know How To Check Scorecard. Asked on matters in court following his expulsion on July 11 from the party, he quoted a popular Tamil verse which could be roughly translated as: "Dharma may be engulfed by a cunning ploy, but Dharma will eventually win." Last month, ahead of a party meet, Panneerselvam had quoted the same verse that begins with the word 'Dharma'. The Supreme Court on Friday directed AIADMK rival factions, led by expelled leader Panneerselvam and Palaniswami to maintain status quo with regard to the party's affairs and asked the Madras High Court to adjudicate upon the pleas of the OPS faction against the general council meeting in three weeks. (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 29 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice to Delhi Police on two petitions moved by Sharjeel Imam against the two orders passed by the trial court denying interim bail and stay of trial in a sedition case. The matter is connected with a case related to alleged seditious speeches during anti-CAA-NRC protests. Sharjeel Imam had moved the trial court in view of the direction of the Supreme court on the law of sedition. Also Read | West Bengal SSC Scam: Three Companies With Partha Chatterjee's Son-in-Law Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya as Director Under ED Scanner. A division bench of justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal issued notice to Delhi Police and called for a status report within two weeks. The petitions have been listed for 25 August for further hearing. Advocate Talib Mustafa, counsel for Sharjeel Imam, submitted before the bench that these petitions are against the trial court order denying interim bail and stay of trial in the sedition case. Also Read | MSBTE Result 2022: Summer Diploma Result Declared at msbte.org.in, Know How To Check Scorecard. Sharjeel Imam has moved the petitions through advocate Ahmad Ibrahim challenging the orders of the trial court passed on 23 July 2022. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat of Karkardooma Court, while dismissing the interim bail plea and the oral prayer for a stay on trial had referred to the order passed by the Supreme Court. He said, "Thus, there is no total embargo on the continuance of trial in a case involving various offences including Section 124A (Sedition) Indian Penal Code (IPC)." The Court had said, "In the present case, the trial is continuing against accused Sharjeel Imam not only in respect of offence under Section 124A IPC but also for the offence under Section 153A, 153B, 505 of IPC and 13 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) . The apex court had said that all pending trials, appeals and proceedings with respect to the charge framed under Section 124A of IPC be kept at abeyance. Adjudication with respect to other Sections, if any, could proceed if the Court is of the opinion that no prejudice would be caused to the accused. Advocate Talib Mustafa and Ahmad Ibrahim, counsels for the accused, had submitted that in view of the direction passed by the Supreme Court on May 11, 2022, in the case of SG Vombatkere Vs. Union of India, all pending trials with respect to the charge framed under Section 124A IPC have been kept in abeyance. It was submitted by the special public prosecutor that in the present case, apart from section 124A IPC, other provisions of the law are also invoked including Section 13 of UAPA and the trial can proceed without causing prejudice to the accused by examination of many witnesses. Delhi Police had registered a case against JNU's former student Sharjeel Imam for the alleged seditious speeches during the anti CAA-NRC protest. Delhi Police Crime Branch has filed a charge sheet and charges have been framed under section 124A IPC along with 13 of UAPA. While arguing on bail plea advocate Talib Mustafa had argued that in the light of direction given by the Supreme court on Sedition law, the trial should have been stayed and Sharjeel Imam should be released on interim bail. On the other hand, the special public prosecutor argued that though the proceedings under sedition law are stayed by the Supreme court but the section of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) is invoked. These sections cannot be ignored. In these circumstances, the accused should not be granted interim bail. The Supreme court had directed to keep all pending appeals and proceedings with respect to the charge framed under section 124A (Sedition) of the Indian Penal Code in abeyance. The bail application had stated that his bail application was dismissed by the trial court because it found that a prima facie offence under section 124A was made out against him. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Friday is scheduled to hear a case about the pendency of criminal cases against members of Parliament (MPs) and Legislative Assemblies (MLAs). The matter, which will be heard by a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Subramonium Prasad, was instituted in October 2020 by the court on its own after the Supreme Court's direction to all high courts to monitor the pending criminal cases against lawmakers. Also Read | Monsoon Session | Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Kumar Gives Zero-hour Notice on the Issue of Latest Tweet by ANI. The Supreme Court had issued the direction after observing that there has been no substantial improvement in disposal of pending criminal cases against sitting and former lawmakers. The high court will also hear a plea by the Public Works Department (PWD) challenging an order of the deputy conservator of forests imposing a fine of Rs 38.7 lakh on it for allegedly failing to do de-concretisation of trees in Vasant Vihar here. Also Read | Road Accident Deaths in India: 5.82 Lakh People Lost Lives in 17 Lakh Road Accidents in 4 Years, Says Nitin Gadkari in Parliament. The petition is listed for hearing before Justice Yashwant Varma. The department in its plea has said the fine was imposed inspite of work for de-concretisation of trees having been completed and information having duly been submitted before the high court through various status reports/compliance affidavits. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mahasamund, Jul 29 (PTI) Five women were killed and six others injured, one of them critically, after being struck by lightning in a village in Chhattisgarh's Mahasamund district on Friday, police said. Also Read | Punjab: Cooperative Bank Employees Held in Ropar for Embezzling Rs 1.24 Crore. The deceased were working in a paddy field in Ghatkachhar village under Saraipali development block when the incident took place at around 1 pm, a senior official said. Also Read | YouTube Allows Creators To Turn Their Longer Videos Into Shorts, Here's How. "The deceased women were identified as Janki, Laxmi Yadav, Basanti Nag, Jamovati and Noharmati. Six other women sustained burn injuries and have been hospitalised. One of them is in a critical condition and has been shifted to a medical facility in Mahasamund," he said. On Thursday evening, a man and his son were killed by lightning strike in Jashpur district. (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 29 (PTI) The government on Friday said it is exploring collaboration with a foreign defence major for co-production of engines for a medium combat aircraft. India is working on an ambitious USD 5 billion project to develop the fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). Also Read | Delhi: BSF Cook-Turned-Fraudster Held for Duping People of Over Rs 100 Crore in Three Years. "Indigenous capability exists with DRDO and Indian industries for design, development and manufacturing of 80kN combat jet engine," Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said in Lok Sabha. He was replying to a question. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Man Booked for raping Woman on Pretext of Marriage. "Collaboration with a foreign engine house is being explored for co-development and co-production of the higher class thrust engines for AMCA," he said. "The cost including technology transfer for manufacturing the jet engine can be known after further progress," Bhatt added. India's confidence for the development of the AMCA saw a significant jump after the development of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. Manufactured by state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the Tejas aircraft is a potent platform for air combat and offensive air support missions while reconnaissance and anti-ship operations are its secondary roles. In February last year, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for procurement of 83 LCA Tejas fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF). To another question on whether the government proposes to revamp the Sahayaks system, Bhatt said "no". Sahayaks in the Indian Army are soldiers and their duties include protecting the officers, maintaining their weapons and equipment and helping them in carrying out their responsibilities. Sahayaks are also known as "buddies". "In the Indian Army, a buddy has clearly defined military duties and forms an integral part of the organisation structure of a unit and has specific functions during war and peace," Bhatt said. "During operations in the field areas, he and the officer/ JCO (junior commissioned officer) act as buddies in arms," he said. "One covers the movement of the other buddy and protects him in operations where support has to be total, whether mental or physical or moral," Bhatt 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 29 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Friday heard several matters including BJP leader Smriti Irani's civil defamation suit in which summonses were issued to Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera, and Netta D'Souza who were asked to take down tweets and other social media posts on allegations levelled against the union minister and her daughter. Irani, the Minister for Women and Child Development, has sought damages of over Rs 2 crore from the Congress leaders for allegedly making baseless and false accusations against her and her 18-year-old daughter. Also Read | Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Apologises to President Droupadi Murmu over Rashtrapatni Remark, Latest Tweet by ANI Digital. The high court further passed an order on a lawsuit by a media house against online news portal Newslaundry for allegedly ridiculing and defaming its news broadcast and anchors through its content. It refused to grant any interim relief to the plaintiff media house and dismissed its application for an interim injunction. Also Read | MSBTE Result 2022: Summer Diploma Result Declared at msbte.org.in, Know How To Check Scorecard. The high court said the right to comment on content on social media or TV channels is a facet of free speech under the Constitution and it will be in the interest of the public that every broadcaster has the right to criticism and review even concerning programmes created by others The high court also sought the stand of the Delhi Police on JNU student Sharjeel Imam's plea seeking interim bail in a 2020 riots case involving allegations of sedition. It issued notice on his appeals challenging the trial court order refusing to release him on interim bail and staying the ongoing proceedings in the case. The high court dismissed a petition challenging the regulation prescribing a minimum 50th percentile in the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) as a mandatory requirement for admission to post-graduate medical courses, saying there cannot be any compromise on the issue of quality of doctors as it involves a risk to human lives. The high court granted time to its administrative side to file a status report on the number of criminal cases pending before it involving sitting or former MPs and MLAs. It was hearing a plea initiated by it on the direction of the Supreme Court to all the high courts to monitor pending criminal cases against MPs and MLAs. In another case, it also set aside an order of the Deputy Conservator of Forests putting in abeyance the permission granted to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for transplantation of over 600 trees for the construction of stormwater drain at Dwarka's sector-8 to cater to water discharge from the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The court allowed the plea by DDA seeking permission for transplantation of 637 trees and felling of 56 others and asked the Deputy Conservator of Forests to supervise the felling or transplantation of trees by DDA for its project.PTI SKV ADS (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 29 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday said that heinous crimes, which are not private in nature and have a serious impact on society, cannot be quashed based on a compromise between the offender and the complainant or the victim. The apex court said orders quashing FIRs or complaints relating to the grave and serious offences only based on an agreement with the complainant, would set a "dangerous precedent" where complaints would be lodged for oblique reasons to extract money from the accused. Also Read | #UPDATE | Delhi Govt Revises Statement: Delhi Govt Welcomes Lokayuktas Order Seeking Our Latest Tweet by ANI. "Furthermore, financially strong offenders would go scot-free, even in cases of grave and serious offences such as murder, rape, bride-burning, etc. by buying off informants/complainants and settling with them, a bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and V Ramasubramanian said in its judgement. The top court set aside the Gujarat High Court orders, including the one which had quashed an FIR lodged in March 2020 for the alleged offence of abetment of suicide. Also Read | Assam: Bhanumati Baroi, 85-Year-Old Woman To Prove Her Citizenship One More Time After 21 Years. While referring to previous judgements of the apex court, the bench said before exercising its power under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to quash an FIR, criminal complaint, or criminal proceedings, the high court has to be circumspect and have due regard to the nature and gravity of the offence. "Heinous or serious crimes, which are not private in nature and have a serious impact on society cannot be quashed on the basis of a compromise between the offender and the complainant and/or the victim," it said. The apex court observed that crimes like murder, rape, burglary, dacoity, and even abetment to commit suicide are neither private nor civil and such crimes are against society. "In no circumstances can prosecution be quashed on compromise, when the offence is serious and grave and falls within the ambit of crime against society," it said. The bench said orders quashing FIRs or complaints relating to the grave and serious offences only based on an agreement with the complainant would render otiose the provisions, such as sections 306, 498-A, 304-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which were incorporated as a deterrent with a specific social purpose. While section 306 of the IPC deals with the abetment of suicide, section 498-A relates to the offence of a husband or relative of a husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty. Section 304-B of the IPC deals with the offence of dowry death. The apex court noted that the only question in the appeal before it is whether applications filed by the accused under section 482 of CrPC could have been allowed and an FIR under section 306 of the IPC could have been quashed based on a settlement between the complainant and the accused named in the FIR. The bench observed that an FIR under section 306 of the IPC cannot even be quashed based on any financial settlement with the informant, surviving spouse, parents, children, guardians, caregivers, or anyone else. It noted that the high court had erred in declining the prayer of the appellant for recalling its order, which was passed without hearing the wife of the deceased only because the original informant or complainant, a cousin brother, and an employee of the deceased had been heard. "Hearing a cousin-cum-employee of the deceased cannot and does not dispense with the requirement to give the wife of the deceased a hearing," it said. The bench noted that the wife of the deceased would have greater interest than cousins and employees in prosecuting accused persons charged with the offence of abetting the suicide of her husband. It said the inherent power of the high court under section 482 of the CrPC to interfere with criminal proceedings is wide and such power has to be exercised with circumspection, in exceptional cases. The top court noted that in exceptional cases, the high court might exercise its inherent powers under section 482 of the CrPC to quash criminal proceedings to prevent abuse of the process of the court. It said offence under section 306 of the IPC of abetment to commit suicide is a grave and non-compoundable offence. It said in criminal jurisprudence, the position of the complainant is only that of the informant and once an FIR or criminal complaint is lodged and a criminal case is started by the State, it becomes a matter between the state and the accused. "The State has a duty to ensure that law and order are maintained in society. It is for the state to prosecute offenders," the bench said. "In our considered opinion, the criminal proceeding cannot be nipped in the bud by the exercise of jurisdiction under section 482 of the CrPC only because there is a settlement, in this case, a monetary settlement, between the accused and the complainant and other relatives of the deceased to the exclusion of the hapless widow of the deceased," it 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, Jul 29 (PTI) The Indian Air Force has drawn up a timeline of three years to phase out the remaining four MiG-21 fighter squadrons with one of them likely to retire from service in September, people familiar with the development said on Friday. The IAF also plans to start the phasing out of the three squadrons of MiG-29 fighter jets in the next five years, they said. Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Shocker: Zomato Delivery Man Stabbed to Death, Robbed in Indore. At the same time, they added that the plan to phase out the Soviet-origin aircraft fleet is part of the IAF's modernisation drive and it not related to the accident of a MiG-21 in Rajasthan's Barmer last night. Wing Commander M Rana and Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal, the two pilots of the jet, were killed in the crash that once again put the spotlight on the ageing fleet. Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Police Constable Caught on Camera Thrashing Elderly, Suspended (Watch Video). The plan is to retire all the four MiG-21 squadrons by 2025, people familiar with the development said. The Srinagar-based No 51 squadron will be number-plated on September 30. The number plating refers to the retirement of a squadron that generally comprises 17-20 aircraft. The squadron, also known as 'Swordarms' was part of Operation Safed Sagar' during the Kargil conflict in 1999 as well as to repulse Pakistan's retaliatory operation on February 27, 2019, a day after India's Balakot air strike inside the neighbouring country. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was from the No 51 Squadron, downed an enemy jet during the aerial combat and was later conferred with the Vir Chakra award by then President Ram Nath Kovind. Varthaman is now a Group Captain. Currently, the IAF has around 70 MiG-21 aircraft and 50 MiG-29 variants. We are also planning to retire the MiG-29 fleet and the process will start in the next five years. MiG-21s were the mainstay of the IAF for a long time. However, the aircraft has had a very poor safety record of late. The first fleet of the MiG variant was inducted into the IAF in 1963 and India procured over 700 MiG-variants in the subsequent decades. To help the IAF replace its ageing fighter fleet, the defence ministry in February last year sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for the procurement of 83 Tejas fighter aircraft. The IAF is also in the process of procuring 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA). In March, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhat said in the Rajya Sabha that 42 defence personnel were killed in accidents involving aircraft and helicopters of the three services in the last five years. The total number of air accidents in the last five years was 45 out of which 29 involved IAF's platforms. (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 29 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Friday issued summons to Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D'souza in a civil suit filed by Union Cabinet Minister Smriti Irani. The court also directed the congress leaders to remove the post, videos, tweets, retweets, and morphed pictures of the plaintiff and her daughter along with the allegations and stop their recirculation regarding allegations made against her and her daughter. Union Minister Smriti Irani has filed civil defamation seeking permanent and mandatory injunction along with damages of over Rs 2 crore. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh: 'Killer' Pitbull Returned to Its Owner, Whose Mother Was Mauled to Death by the Canine, With Conditions in Lucknow. Justice Mini Pushkarna stated, "I am of the prima facie view that slanderous allegations were made against the plaintiff without verifying actual facts". "Grave injury has been caused to the reputation of the plaintiff in view of the tweets and retweets carried out due to the press conference of the defendants", the court added. Plaintiff has made out prima facie case and balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants. I deem it proper to pass an interim injunction directing Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D'souza to delete and remove the allegations made during the press conference from all social media platforms including Youtube, Facebook and Twitter inc. Also Read | OnePlus Ace Pro Confirmed To Come With 150W Fast Charging. They are also directed to remove the post, videos, tweets, retweets, morphed pictures of the plaintiff and her daughter along with the allegations and stop their recirculation. If defendants 1-3 fail to comply with the directions within 24 hours of this order, defendants 4-6 (social media platforms) are directed to take down the material, the court added. Union Minister Smriti Irani has filed a civil defamation seeking permanent and mandatory injunction along with damages of over 2 crores rupees and stated that congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D'souza conspired with other unknown individuals to launch a series of scathing and belligerent personal remarks to malign and defame a young child of the plaintiff who even not lives in the country. On the Delhi HC proceeding on Friday congress leaders, Jairam Ramesh tweeted that, "The Delhi High Court has issued notice asking us to formally reply to the case filed by Smriti Irani. We look forward to presenting the facts before the court. We will challenge and disprove the spin being put out by Irani.". (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 29 (PTI) There is an urgent need to address the global energy and food crisis triggered by disruptions arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at a meeting of the SCO in Tashkent on Friday. Jaishankar made the comments in presence of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Pakistan's Bilawal Bhutto and his counterparts from other member nations of the influential grouping. Also Read | Assam: Bhanumati Baroi, 85-Year-Old Woman To Prove Her Citizenship One More Time After 21 Years. In his address, the external affairs minister also reiterated India's position on Afghanistan and highlighted its humanitarian support including supplies of wheat, medicines, vaccines and clothing. Jaishankar also underlined the potential of Chabahar port for the economic future of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Also Read | West Bengal SSC Scam: Three Companies With Partha Chatterjee's Son-in-Law Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya as Director Under ED Scanner. The foreign ministers of the grouping held extensive deliberations on pressing global issues and reviewed preparations for the upcoming summit of the grouping in Samarkand that is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the bloc. "Participated in the SCO Foreign Ministers' Meeting at Tashkent. Highlighted that world faces an energy and food crisis due to disruptions from the Covid pandemic and Ukraine conflict. This needs to be urgently addressed," Jaishankar tweeted. He said India will give the "fullest support" for the success of the Samarkand summit. "Reiterated India's position on Afghanistan and highlighted our humanitarian support: wheat, medicines, vaccines and clothing. Underlined the potential of Chabahar port for SCO's economic future," Jaishankar said in another tweet. The SCO, seen as a counterweight to NATO, is a key economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017. SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence. India was made an observer at the SCO in 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Samba (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], July 29 (ANI): The security forces detected an anti-tank mine near the Bandh Tip area of the Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. The anti-tank mine, which was found buried in the field was later defused by Bomb Disposal Squads (BDS). Also Read | Nitish Kumar-Led Bihar Government To Give Subsidy on Diesel To Woo Farmers. In May, the Punjab Police recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) equipped with RDX packed in a metallic black coloured box weighing approximately 2.5 Kg from Naushehra Pannuan village in the Tarn Taran district and arrested two persons. Earlier in January, the security forces recovered and destroyed more than 200 detonators in the Shindra area of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir. Also Read | Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) Removed From Google Play Store & Apple App Store in India. The operation was carried out by a joint team of the Indian Army and Bomb Disposal Squads (BDS) of the Army and police. A suspected bag was found hidden alongside a route by the patrol of the Army in the village Shindra area of Poonch. Thereafter, BDS teams of Army and Police, from DPL Poonch, reached the spot, recovered the bags and destroyed more than 200 detonators on the spot. A major incident has been averted by the alert teams of the Army in recovering these detonators which could have been planned to disrupt NH-144 and long-lived peace in the region of Poonch by the inimical elements. The Jammu and Kashmir Police earlier this month spotted yet another drone flying near the Samba International Border in Jammu and Kashmir 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. 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 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. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India] July 29 (ANI): The Karnataka government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday decided to hand over the Praveen Nettaru murder case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Speaking to media persons in Bengaluru, Bommai said that his government had decided to hand over the case related to the killing of the BJP worker Nettaru to the NIA. Also Read | Infinix Smart 6 Plus Debuts in India, Check Price & Other Details Here. He said that the state government was taking several other measures to ensure a robust law and order situation across districts. "A high-level meeting would be held today with top police officials with regard to taking some strong measures in the coastal region including Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. The meeting would look into issues like vigil at 55 roads connecting the Kerala border and other aspects. We will discuss taking some tough decisions," he added. Also Read | West Bengal SSC Scam: Partha Chatterjee Recites Conspiracy Theory, Arpita Mukherjee Breaks Down (Watch Video). Bommai said that during the visit to Nettaru's home, he had come to know about the killing of another youth. Overall, the police is looking at three such cases. "The state government has taken all 3 cases of killing very seriously. For us, the life of every person is important. Investigation is on. Such acts should not happen. There is also political instigation from anti-social forces. There are multiple dimensions to these incidents. We are taking stringent measures to control all these," Bommai added. Further talking about the other killings in the state he informed, "Killers of Masood have been arrested. The hunt is on for the culprits in the other two cases. It is not a simple murder. There are nefarious organisations behind the incidents. These outfits would be crushed. People will come to know about the measures in the next few days". Earlier on Thursday Karnataka Police said that they have arrested two people in connection with the murder of BJP Yuva Morcha worker Nettaru. Superintendent of Police (SP) of Dakhshin Kannada while speaking to ANI said that till now, a total of 15 people were questioned, out of which 2 people were arrested. He further added that they are also probing the possibility of a Kerala registration of vehicle used in the crime. Praveen Nettaru, a young BJP worker, was attacked with lethal weapons by unidentified people on a bike in Bellare in Dakshina Kannada late Tuesday evening. Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra while making a statement on the incident said that the involvement of the extremist Popular Front of India (PFI), and its political arm Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), was suspected. (ANI) (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 29 (PTI) The National Medical Commission (NMC) has accorded sanction to open the government medical college in Kerala's high range district of Idukki with the admission of 100 MBBS students, a long pending demand of the southern state. Also Read | Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) Removed From Google Play Store & Apple App Store in India. The state government, which managed to secure sanction for the same through years-long efforts, said all the required procedures would be completed at the earliest and steps would be taken to begin classes by this year itself. Also Read | Road Accident Deaths in India: 5.82 Lakh People Lost Lives in 17 Lakh Road Accidents in 4 Years, Says Nitin Gadkari in Parliament. The Idukki Medical College, which began its operations during the time of the previous Congress-UDF government, had lost the then Medical Council of India (MCI) recognition in the year 2016 as it didn't have any adequate amenities including required number of beds, academic block, staffs and accommodation facilities for students and employees. The LDF government later shifted all the students admitted there, to other medical institutions to ensure their continuity in studies, Health Minister Veena George said. The ruling LDF has now managed to secure the recognition again through collective effort and meticulous planning. Informing the media about the NMC's sanction, George said the state government has arranged all required facilities, appointed enough staff and started IP (in-patient) services after completing the construction of the new building. "It is a great achievement that sanction has been received now for 100 seats. It was just 50 before," the minister said. The government's plan is to bring more advanced facilities at the medical college in the coming days, she added. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Palghar, Jul 29 (PTI) A three-year-old girl fell to death from the seventh floor of a residential building in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Friday, police said. Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Police Constable Caught on Camera Thrashing Elderly, Suspended (Watch Video). The incident took place at a housing society in Vasai town around 7 am, an official from Manickpur police station said. Also Read | Telangana: Girl Students of Government Tribal Residential School Fall Ill After Consuming Adulterated Food. The child, Shreya Mahajan, was asleep in the seventh floor apartment, as her mother had gone to drop her elder sibling at the entrance of the building for the school bus, he said. The girl woke up and started looking for her mother and on not finding her, she took her mobile phone and went to the balcony, the official said. The mobile phone slipped and fell from the girl's hands and to get the device, she leaned out from the balcony and fell, he said. The child was found lying in a pool of blood, and was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared her brought dead, the official said. A case of accidental death has been registered in this regard, 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) Ahmedabad, Jul 29 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit India's first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) near Gandhinagar on Friday. Also Read | Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) Removed From Google Play Store & Apple App Store in India. During his visit, Modi will launch 'India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX)', the country's first international bullion exchange, the Gujarat government said in a release. Also Read | Road Accident Deaths in India: 5.82 Lakh People Lost Lives in 17 Lakh Road Accidents in 4 Years, Says Nitin Gadkari in Parliament. This exchange will facilitate efficient price discovery with the assurance of responsible sourcing and quality, apart from giving impetus to the financialisation of gold in India, a statement by the IFSC Authority said. The prime minister will also lay the foundation stone for the headquarters building of the International Financial Services Centres Authority. Apart from that, Modi will launch NSE IFSC-SGX Connect platform. Under this system, all orders on Nifty derivatives placed by members of Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) will be routed to and matched on the NSE-IFSC order matching and trading platform. The Connect platform will deepen liquidity in derivative markets at GIFT-IFSC. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister of Home Affairs and Co-operation Amit Shah, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Ministers of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad will attend the events, the release said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, July 29: Congress MPs staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament on Friday to demand an apology from the government following the face-off between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union minister Smriti Irani. On Thursday, the raging row over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury calling President Droupadi Murmu "rashtrapatni" escalated with the opposition party accusing BJP MPs of subjecting its president to "brutal heckling, verbal assault and physical intimidation" in the Lok Sabha. Rashtrapatni Remark Row: 'Sonia Gandhi, You Sanctioned the Humiliation of Droupadi Murmu', Says Smriti Irani in Lok Sabha. Congress MPs, protesting against the alleged misbehaviour with Gandhi, were joined by their colleagues from the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Chowdhury's remark on India's first tribal president has drawn a fresh battleline between the Congress and the BJP, which has demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi. As the Lok Sabha adjourned soon after 12 noon on Thursday, Gandhi walked across to the treasury benches and sought to know from BJP member Rama Devi why she was dragged into the issue. Irani intervened and was seen gesturing towards Gandhi and apparently protesting Chowdhury's remark. Gandhi tried to ignore Irani's protestations, but was soon seen gesturing towards the minister and speaking angrily. (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 29 (PTI) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday met Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav at his residence here and discussed national politics. During the hour-long meeting, the two leaders discussed the prevailing political situation and other national issues, according to an official statement. Also Read | Punjab: Cooperative Bank Employees Held in Ropar for Embezzling Rs 1.24 Crore. SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav was also present in the meeting. The chief minister, who was in the national capital for the last three days, held several meetings with his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs and discussed various issues concerning the state. He is also expected to meet farmers' union representatives. Also Read | YouTube Allows Creators To Turn Their Longer Videos Into Shorts, Here's How. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, Jul 29 (PTI) Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) on Friday said it has signed a concession agreement with a consortium which won the bid for the privatisation of its container terminal. The consortium of J M Baxi Ports and Logistics and CMA Terminals bagged the contract for the privatisation of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT) at an investment of Rs 872 crore. Also Read | Apple Saw New Doubling of Revenues in India in Q2, Says CEO Tim Cook. "The new name of the container terminal will be Nhava Sheva Freeport Terminal Pvt Ltd," JNPA said in a statement. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port has five terminals. Of these, JNPCT was the only self-operated terminal. Of the remaining four terminals, two are operated by Dubai government-owned DP World, one by PSA International and another by APM Terminals Management. Also Read | Moto S30 Pro Spotted on TENAA Website, Check Details Here. For the container terminal tender, the equal joint venture between J M Baxi Ports and Logistics Ltd and CMA Terminals offered a royalty price of Rs 4,520 per TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) for the concession period. The concessionaire has to upgrade, operate, maintain and transfer the terminal on PPP basis in two phases. The first phase of the project will be completed in 18 months, at an investment of Rs 591.99 crore, from the date of award of the concession agreement. The development of the second phase will commence after achieving 1.02 million TEUs or seven years, whichever is earlier, as per JNPA. The second phase is to be completed within 18 months at an investment of Rs 280.17 crore, it said. JNPA chairman Sanjay Sethi said the authority will continue to develop and provide new infrastructure. The container terminal currently handles 9,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) capacity vessels, and with the upgradation, it can handle 12200 TEUs capacity vessels. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Nagpur, Jul 29 (PTI) A 14-year-old boy died after he fell into a nullah (major drain) while fishing in Nagpur's Parseoni area, a police official said on Friday. Also Read | MSBTE Result 2022: Summer Diploma Result Declared at msbte.org.in, Know How To Check Scorecard. Sameer Admachi fell after he and three others went into the drain with a fishing net on Thursday, he said. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi To Launch Revamped Power Distribution Scheme on July 30. The boy's body has been brought out, the Parseoni police station 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) Jackson (US), Jul 29 (AP) Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard searched Friday for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America. Kentucky's governor said 16 people have died, a toll he expected to grow as the rain keeps falling. We've still got a lot of searching to do, said Jerry Stacy, the emergency management director in Kentucky's hard-hit Perry County. We still have missing people. Also Read | Invasive Frog and Snake Species Cost World Economy $16 Billion, Study Shows Latest Tweet by Reuters. Powerful floodwaters swallowed towns that hug creeks and streams in Appalachian valleys and hollows, swamping homes and businesses, trashing vehicles in useless piles and crunching runaway equipment and debris against bridges. Mudslides marooned people on steep slopes and at least 33,000 customers were without power. Governor Andy Beshear told The Associated Press Friday that children were among the victims, and that the death toll could more than double as rescue teams search the disaster area. Also Read | Afghanistan: Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada Calls for Implementation of Sharia Law. The tough news is 16 confirmed fatalities now, and folks that's going to get a lot higher, the governor said during a late-morning briefing. He said the deaths were in four eastern Kentucky counties. Emergency crews made close to 50 air rescues and hundreds of water rescues on Thursday, and more people still needed help, the governor said: "This is not only an ongoing disaster but an ongoing search and rescue. The water is not going to crest in some areas until tomorrow. Determining the number of people unaccounted for is tough with cell service and electricity out across the disaster area, he said: This is so widespread, it's a challenge on even local officials to put that number together. More than 200 people have sought shelter, Beshear said. He deployed National Guard soldiers to the hardest-hit areas. Three parks set up shelters, and with property damage so extensive, the governor opened an online portal for donations to the victims. President Joe Biden called to express his support for what will be a lengthy recovery effort, Beshear said, predicting it will take more than a year to fully rebuild. Biden also declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency appointed an officer to coordinate the recovery. Beshear had planned to tour the disaster area on Friday, but postponed it because conditions at an airport where they planned to land are unsafe, his office said. More rain Friday tormented the region after days of torrential rainfall. The storm sent water gushing from hillsides and surging out of streambeds, inundating roads and forcing rescue crews to use helicopters and boats to reach trapped people. Flooding also damaged parts of western Virginia and southern West Virginia, across a region where poverty is endemic. There are hundreds of families that have lost everything, Beshear said. And many of these families didn't have much to begin with. And so it hurts even more. But we're going to be there for them. Poweroutage.us reported more than 33,000 customers remained without electricity Friday in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia, with the bulk of the outages in Kentucky. Rescue crews also worked in Virginia and West Virginia to reach people in places where roads weren't passable. Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six counties in West Virginia where the flooding downed trees, power outages and blocked roads. Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration, enabling Virginia to mobilize resources across flooded areas of southwest Virginia. With more rainfall forecasted over the next few days, we want to lean forward in providing as many resources possible to assist those affected, Youngkin said in a statement. While some floodwaters receded after peaking Thursday, the National Weather Service said flash flooding remained possible through Friday evening in places across the region. The hardest hit areas of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches over a 48-hour period ending Thursday, said Brandon Bonds, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Jackson. Some areas got more rain overnight, including Martin County, which was pounded with another 3 inches or so leading to new a flash flood warning on Friday. The North Fork of the Kentucky River rose to broke records in at least two places. A river gauge recorded 20.9 feet (6.4 metres) in Whitesburg, more than 6 feet (1.8 metres) over the previous record, and the river crested at a record 43.47 feet (13.25 metres) in Jackson, Bonds said. Bonds said some places could see more rain Friday afternoon, and begin to dry out on Saturday before things pick back up Sunday and into next week. Krystal Holbrook already had enough on Thursday, as her family raced through the night to move vehicles, campers, trailers and equipment as the rapidly rising floodwaters menaced her southeastern Kentucky town of Jackson. "Higher ground is getting a little bit difficult to find, she said. In Whitesburg, Kentucky, floodwaters seeped into Appalshop, an arts and education centre renowned for promoting and preserving the region's history and culture. We're not sure exactly the full damage because we haven't been able to safely go into the building or really get too close to it," said Meredith Scalos, its communications director. We do know that some of our archival materials have flooded out of the building into Whitesburg streets. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad, Jul 29 (PTI) Pakistan's Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has reached out to the US for the early disbursal of the nearly USD 1.2 billion loan from the IMF, a media report said on Friday, as the cash-strapped country grapples with dwindling foreign reserves. Bajwa called US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman earlier this week and reached out to the White House and the US Treasury Department to push the international lender to expedite the early release of the nearly USD 1.2 billion loan, Nikkei Asia reported. Also Read | German Cities Impose Cold Showers, Turn Off Lights on Monuments To Reduce Energy Consumption As Russian Gas Crisis Looms. Bajwa's initiative came after meetings between senior civilian Pakistani and American officials failed to make progress on the negotiations for an early disbursement of IMF funds, it said. The lack of progress in those meetings spurred Gen. Bajwa to get Washington's attention when other emissaries could not deliver, the report quoted unnamed sources as saying. Also Read | Men Who Have Sex With Men Advised To Reduce Number of Sexual Partners To Limit Exposure to Monkeypox Virus: WHO. Earlier this month, the IMF said Pakistan was at a challenging economic juncture, after it reached a preliminary Staff-Level Agreement on the combined seventh and eighth reviews for a USD 6 billion loan facility for the country. The agreement paves the way for the release of the much-awaited USD 1.17 billion loan tranche that had been on hold since earlier this year. The deal materialised after Pakistan met the IMF's demand that the country achieve a primary budget surplus of PKR 152 billion to revive the bailout package, according to the Dawn newspaper. Three years ago, the Pakistan government under Prime Minister Imran Khan had inked a 39-month USD 6 billion programme with the IMF. Out of this, barely 50 per cent of the amount has been disbursed so far as the country repeatedly failed to meet its targets. The IMF programme was put on hold following Khan's ouster in April. Higher prices of energy imports have put Pakistan on the brink of a major balance of payment crisis. Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves continued to plummet sharply due to external debt and other payments. According to the central bank, State Bank of Pakistan's estimates, Pakistan's foreign exchange has fallen below USD 9 billion as on July 22, while the current account deficit widened to touch USD 2.3 billion for the month of June. Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee continued its downward slide against the US dollar, closing at a record-low at 239.94 against the greenback in the intra-bank market on Thursday. The restrictions on the import of completely built-up automobiles has led to the country's two leading car assemblers -- Toyota and Suzuki --- to plan partial shutdowns due to the severe paucity of raw materials. New York-based ratings agency S&P Global on Friday revised Pakistan's long-term ratings from 'stable' to 'negative' due to higher commodity prices and tighter global financial conditions. Finance Minister Ismail Miftah has assured that the country would not default after subsidies on petroleum products imposed by the erstwhile Khan government were abolished. (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 29 (ANI): Pakistan is at a crossroads as most paths lead to further disaster than seen in the last six months. Politics, so used to arbitration, isn't finding one at the moment. There exists a little possibility for political players to come together in consensus on critical issues, reported The Express Tribune. Also Read | Afghanistan: Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada Calls for Implementation of Sharia Law. Moreover, the army and its leadership were maligned at will for the most part of the last six years. This comes after any insinuation of the army's leadership amounts to deliberate subversion, sedition and disruption in the military order. It is now a daily fodder, reported The Express Tribune. However, the military politicised itself so much as to be a fair game is something for it to ponder over and deal with. Also Read | Twitter vs Elon Musk: Legal Battle Over Cancellation of $44 Billion Takeover Deal To Start From October 17. But in a country where institutions have had to lend a hand in governance, their need to arbitrate when politicians feud will never go away. With such malicious and vicious attacks on it, the military has been literally neutralised, said The Express Tribune. Further, making courts controversial is the next ploy. The focus is on subverting the judiciary in public non-cooperation to contrive decisions of a side's liking. A political system's inability to resolve its own predicaments means that courts are asked to arbitrate. They are then framed for activism and judicial coups in the public narrative when decisions don't go their way. This is patent blackmail, said The Express Tribune. In an environment where the economy is on the verge of crashing, the threat of default looms, 120 million people of Punjab have been without a functioning government for the last four months, the military is fighting a rear-guard action against terrorism in its midst, and the international environment is tenuous, fragile and laden against us politically and economically, governance is a non-functioning entity while politics is at best fratricidal and predatory. There isn't an institution left that has not been tarnished. So complete is the insinuation and slander. The crisis meanwhile only deepens and engorges us from all sides. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], July 29 (ANI): The Centre on Friday appointed Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Pranay Kumar Verma as the next High Commissioner of India to the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Verma, a 1994-batch IFS officer, is currently serving as Ambassador of India to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and is replacing Vikram Doraiswami for the Bangladesh High Commission post. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly. Also Read | Apple Faces Lukewarm Demand in China After Quarterly Revenue Drop -analysts Latest Tweet by Reuters. Outgoing envoy Doraiswami, a foreign service officer of the 1992 batch, was appointed as India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh in the year 2020. Earlier, Doraiswami was working as the Additional Secretary in the MEA. He is expected to join a new assignment in London. Also Read | Men Who Have Sex With Men Advised To Reduce Number of Sexual Partners To Limit Exposure to Monkeypox Virus: WHO. Meanwhile, Mustafizur Rahman became the new High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India. "The Government has decided to appoint Mr Md. Mustafizur Rahman, the serving Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Offices in Geneva and the Ambassador to Switzerland, as the next High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India. He will be replacing Mr. Muhammad Imran in this capacity," Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Ambassador Rahman is a career diplomat belonging to the 11th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Foreign Affairs cadre. The Bangladesh government has appointed Bangladesh's current High Commissioner to India Muhammad Imran as its next ambassador to the US. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) United Nations, Jul 29 (PTI) India has voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution that recognises the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right, but dissociated itself from an operative paragraph of the text and voiced its concerns over the procedure and substance of the resolution. The 193-member General Assembly adopted the resolution on Thursday with 161 votes in favour and abstentions by Belarus, Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Syria. Also Read | Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer Says 'Embargo on Russian Gas in European Union Impossible'. While India voted in favour of the resolution, it voiced its concerns over the procedure and substance of the resolution. The resolution recognises the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right and "affirms that the promotion of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment requires the full implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements under the principles of international environmental law. Also Read | Monkeypox Declared Global Health Emergency; WHO Chief Advices Gay Men to Reduce Sexual Partners. India stands ready to support any effort for a better environment and to further international cooperation for environmental protection. In this context, India voted in favour of this resolution, Counsellor in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Ashish Sharma said, delivering the explanation of the vote in the UNGA. However, considering that our concerns remain outstanding, we are, therefore, constrained to dissociate ourselves with the operative paragraph 1 of the resolution, he said. The operative paragraph 1 of the resolution reads that the UNGA Recognises the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right. He requested that this statement be included in the official records in the meeting. He asserted that the UNGA resolutions do not in themselves create binding obligations, and it is only through conventions and treaties that State parties commit to a new human right and undertake appropriate obligations for the realisation of such a right. Further, there is no clear understanding and agreed definition of terms clean', healthy' and sustainable'. Currently, these terms remain open to subjective interpretations and thereby dilutes the very objective of the recognition proclaimed in the present resolution, Sharma said. He voiced regret that the text of the resolution fails to have a clear reference to the foundational principle of equity in international environmental law. Noting that India attaches great importance to the promotion and protection of human rights, including in the context of environment, Sharma said New Delhi had expressed its concerns on the resolution both in terms of procedure and substance. India had also expressed its concerns clearly and repeatedly, and made constructive proposals to achieve a common ground. We sincerely believe that some of these proposals could have helped in bringing us closer to the consensus. He said India also remains concerned that even after strong support by many member states for the inclusion of preambular paragraph 8 of the Human Rights Council resolution 48/13, which forms the basis of the current resolution, the decision of the core group was otherwise. It is an important paragraph that reaffirms the importance of international cooperation, on the basis of mutual respect, in full compliance with the principles and purposes of the Charter, with full respect for the sovereignty of States while taking into account national priorities, Sharma said. Sharma referred to the preambular paragraph 8 of the Human Rights Council resolution that pertained to The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.' He also noted that throughout the negotiations, India engaged constructively with an aim to reach the consensual outcome. While appreciating the efforts of the core group - Costa Rica, the Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia and Switzerland - he said India believes that providing more time to discussions could have helped in bridging the differences and addressing the concerns of various delegations. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the adoption of the historic resolution, saying it demonstrates that the member states can come together in our collective fight against the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. The international community has given universal recognition to this right and brought us closer to making it a reality for all. He however noted that adoption of the resolution is only the beginning and urged states to make the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment a reality for everyone, everywhere. "The resolution will help reduce environmental injustices, close protection gaps and empower people, especially those that are in vulnerable situations, including environmental human rights defenders, children, youth, women and indigenous peoples. The resolution will also help states accelerate the implementation of their environmental and human rights obligations and commitments. President of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid said in a tweet that the UNGA adopted a historic resolution that recognised for the first time, that everyone, everywhere, has a human right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Sharma stressed that environment protection is part of India's cultural values and our traditions have for long stressed the importance of living in harmony with nature. He pointed out that at COP26, the United Nations Climate Change conference in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed a one-word movement, LIFE, a mass movement that influences lifestyle for environment, promoting mindful and deliberate utilisation of resources instead of mindless and destructive consumption. India is making rapid strides towards inclusive and overall sustainable development. This is being done both at the national level and globally through international partnerships, he said. He said that India has worked with partners for significant global initiatives for environmental protection that include the International Solar Alliance, the focus on One Sun, One World, One Grid, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and Leadership Group for Industry Transition. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New York [US], July 29 (ANI): At United Nations Security Coucil (UNSC) briefing on Ukraine, India's Charge d'affaires to UN, R. Ravindra, called for immediate cessation of hostilities and noted that no solution can be arrived at cost of innocent lives. "Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, India has consistently called for immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to the violence. India has called upon both sides to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue, and also expressed its support for all diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. We believe that no solution can be arrived at the cost of innocent lives." Also Read | Afghanistan: Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada Calls for Implementation of Sharia Law. He highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also spoken to the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia on multiple occasions and reiterated India's position. The envoy said that India continues to remain concerned over the situation in Ukraine. Also Read | Twitter vs Elon Musk: Legal Battle Over Cancellation of $44 Billion Takeover Deal To Start From October 17. "The conflict has resulted in loss of lives and countless miseries for its peoples, particularly for women, children and elderly, with millions becoming homeless and forced to take shelter in neighbouring countries. Reports of deaths of civilians in the ongoing conflict are deeply disturbing. We reiterate our grave concern in this regard." Noting that the impact of the Ukraine conflict is not just limited to Europe, the envoy said, "The conflict is exacerbating concerns over food, fertilizer and fuel security, particularly in the developing countries. It is necessary for all of us to adequately appredate the importance of equity, affordability and accessibility when it comes to food grains. Open markets must not become an argument to perpetuate inequity and promote discrimination." India welcomed the recent development towards ensuring the safe and secure export of grains and fertilizers. "We hope these agreed measures will be implemented by all parties earnestly. We believe these measures alone may not be sufficient to address the food insecurity concerns," he added. Indian Charge d'affaires said that India is committed to working constructively in mitigating the adverse impact of the conflict on food security. "India has been providing financial assistance as well as supplying food grains to countries to meet their food security needs and based on the request of their governments. India has exported more than 1.8 million tons of wheat to countries in need, including to Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen in the last three months." United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has also acknowledged that export of wheat from India has emerged as a key supply line for Yemen in the wake of the Ukraine conflict. India is continously helping its neighbour Sri Lanka to ensure their food security. "We are trying to increase the production of fertilizers in India. There is also a need to focus on the availability of fertilizers and keep the supply chains of fertilizers smooth at a global scale. Similarly, efforts should be made to ensure stability in the global supply of fuel commensurate with the demand." India reiterated the importance of UN Guiding Principles of Humanitarian Assistance. Humanitarian action must always be guided by the principles of humanitarian assistance, i.e., humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. The envoy stated that these measures should never be politicized. India continued to reiterate that the global order is anchored on international law, UN Charter and respect for tentorial integrity and sovereignty of states. (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, Jul 29: Pakistan has decided to pay over USD 11.5 million in compensation to 36 Chinese nationals working on a major hydropower project who either died or were injured in a terrorist attack in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province last year. The decision on the quantum of compensation to be paid was taken on Thursday at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet presided over by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail.German Cities Impose Cold Showers, Turn Off Lights on Monuments To Reduce Energy Consumption As Russian Gas Crisis Looms. The committee approved tenders for 200,000 tonnes of wheat at about USD 408 a tonne and allowed USD 11.6 million goodwill compensation for the Chinese casualties at the Dasu hydropower project in July last year, the Dawn newspaper reported on Friday. On July 13 last year, 10 Chinese nationals, mostly engineers, were killed and 26 others were seriously injured after a suicide attack on a bus that was ferrying them to the work site of the Dasu Hydropower Project in Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Men Who Have Sex With Men Advised To Reduce Number of Sexual Partners To Limit Exposure to Monkeypox Virus: WHO. The 4,320-MW Dasu Hydropower Project is being constructed by China Gezhouba company with funding from the World Bank and is not part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the multi-billion-dollar scheme launched in 2015. The Chinese were livid after the attack. They suspended construction work and also postponed a key meeting on the CPEC, demanding foolproof security and compensation for the victims. The issue was settled when both demands were accepted by Pakistan and the Chinese experts resumed work in January this year on the key hydropower project. Initially, Chinese contractor China Gezhouba had demanded a compensation of USD 37 million, which was 500 per cent more than what China pays to its nationals if killed in a similar attack in their own country, according to government sources. But the two sides sorted out the matter through bilateral talks, leading to the resumption of work on the project. Cash-strapped Pakistan agreed to compensate the Chinese nationals despite it not being legally bound to pay anything to the killed or wounded in the attack. Also, the amount is more than what China normally pays its citizens dying in similar attacks in China. Four Pakistani nationals were also killed in the terrorist attack and it is not clear if their families would also be compensated. Earlier, The Express Tribune newspaper reported in January, that Pakistan worked out four different compensation amounts ranging from USD 4.6 million to USD 20.3 million, despite there being no legal or contractual obligation on the government. Pakistan, while paying the compensation, took into consideration the amount paid to Chinese workers in 2004. But the old amount was inflated by using purchasing power parity-based GDP per capita. The Pakistan government had initially tried to downplay the terror attack, saying the incident took place because of gas leakage. But later Islamabad acknowledged that it was a terrorist attack. China had also sent a group of experts to probe the attack. (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 29 (ANI): Pakistan's army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has sought help from the US to secure an early loan dispersal from the International Monetary Fund at a time when the country is battling with dwindling foreign reserves, media reports said. Nikkei Asia while quoting sources, who requested anonymity, said that Pakistan's most powerful man Bajwa made an appeal for the White House and Treasury Department to push the IMF to immediately supply nearly USD 1.2 billion that Pakistan is due to receive under a resumed loan program. Also Read | Afghanistan: Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada Calls for Implementation of Sharia Law. Furthermore, sources from US and Pakistan confirmed the media portal that Bajwa held a telephonic conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in a highly unusual move earlier this week. Bajwa's appeal to the US comes as he is putting out efforts to pull out Pakistan out of its economic mess. As dwindling foreign reserves spark a scramble in Islamabad Bajwa is reaching out to US to avoid a default. Also Read | Twitter vs Elon Musk: Legal Battle Over Cancellation of $44 Billion Takeover Deal To Start From October 17. In an ideal situation the appeals should have come from Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif but here the case in point was different. Shehbaz Sharif does not have much credibility or political capital beyond Islamabad. PM Shehbaz also faces persistent pressure from former Prime Minister and arch rival Imran Khan. As per Pakistani observers power lies with Bajwa, 61, an infantry officer who was supposed to retire three years ago but who managed to stay on through years of backroom politicking. On Thursday, S&P Global downgraded Pakistan's outlook to negative from stable. The U.S. is the largest shareholder in the IMF, founded in 1945. While Washington has voted for funding Pakistan in the past, the Trump administration openly expressed its reservations about the country using IMF loans to pay back China, as per the media portal. General Bajwa's appeal comes in the wake of separate meetings between senior civilian Pakistani and American officials in July, none of which managed to negotiate an early disbursement of funds. "Several senior Pakistani officials have met with U.S. and other key stakeholder nations in the IMF and World Bank in the past week to register concerns about the timing of IMF Executive Board decisions, pressing to expedite review of Pakistan's progress on prior actions," said an official familiar with the proceedings. According to sources, the lack of progress in those meetings spurred Gen. Bajwa, commander of the 650,000-strong military, to get Washington's attention when other emissaries could not deliver. "This reflects the Pakistan army's concerns about the state of the economy," said Hussain Haqqani, Pakistan's former ambassador to Washington and currently the director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute in Washington. "It also reflects that the Pakistan army chief is the authority with whom the global players feel the final word rests." (ANI) (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 29 (PTI) Sri Lanka's exports grew 21 per cent during the first six months of the year and earned USD 5 billion for the crisis-hit country, according to official figures released on Friday. Sri Lanka's exports to India too witnessed an over 21 per cent increase assisted by increased exports of animal feed (19.26 per cent), Arecanuts (95.96 per cent) and textile (47.76 per cent) during January to June, the Export Development Board said. Also Read | Twitter vs Elon Musk: Legal Battle Over Cancellation of $44 Billion Takeover Deal To Start From October 17. India is placed third behind the US and UK as the biggest export market for Sri Lanka. Exports to the United States, Sri Lanka's single largest export destination, increased by 46.16 per cent to USD 323.65 million compared to the month of June 2021. The better performance was led by an increase in exports of apparel & textile (29.68 per cent) and coconut-based products (26.8 per cent), according to a press release. Also Read | Pakistan To Pay USD 11.6 Million in Compensation to 36 Chinese Victims of Hydropower Project Terror Attack. The exports to US recorded USD 1,687.73 million worth of exports in the period of January to June 2022 a significant year-on-year increase of 24.54 per cent in comparison to USD 1,355.14 million recorded in 2021, it said. Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. The export industry is badly hit by the fuel scarcity caused by the forex crisis. Having declared an international debt default in April the island nation is currently negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a possible bail out. The Indian credit lines which came to assist with fuel and essential supplies as the crisis came to bite have now expired. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Beirut, Jul 29 (AP) A Syrian cargo ship, sanctioned by the United States and carrying what Ukraine says is stolen barley from the war-torn country, has docked in Lebanon, the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in the Mideast nation said Thursday. According to the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut, the cargo vessel Laodicea docked in the port of Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city. It was carrying 5,000 tons of flour and 5,000 tons of barley, the embassy said. Also Read | Monkeypox Declared Global Health Emergency; WHO Chief Advices Gay Men to Reduce Sexual Partners. The US Department of the Treasury sanctioned the Laodicea in 2015 for its affiliation with the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad. Ukraine has accused Russia of plundering grain and steel from its territory since Moscow invaded the country in late February. The embassy in Beirut did not elaborate or say how the barley was purportedly stolen from Ukraine. Also Read | Lulo Rose: Big 170-Carat Pink Diamond Discovered in Angola, Largest in 300 Years. Marine Traffic, which monitors vessel traffic and location of ships on seas, also confirmed the ships docking in Tripoli on Thursday. The Laodicea was initially heading to Tartus Port in Syria, and was expected to arrive there earlier this week. It was unknown why it had rerouted to Lebanon, and whether or not it is offloading the cargo here. Earlier Thursday, Ukrainian Ambassador Ihor Ostash met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun and warned the Lebanese leader that purchasing stolen goods from Russia would harm bilateral ties, according to the embassy statement. Kyiv had previously praised Lebanon for condemning Russia for its war on Ukraine. Lebanese authorities promised to conduct an investigation, the Ukrainian Embassy told The Associated Press later Thursday. We hope they will take other legal actions. Ukraine has promised to export wheat to Lebanon, currently experiencing a crippling food security and economic crisis. Lebanon's caretaker economy minister, Amin Salam, did not have details on the ship. The Tripoli Port general manager, Ahmad Tamer, said initially that he was unaware of the vessel's arrival, and did not respond to requests for further comments. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, July 29: The National Testing Agency (NTA) is expected to release the Provisional answer keys of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test- Undergraduate or NEET UG 2022. It must be noted that the NTA conducted the undergraduate medical entrance examination on July 17 after the Delhi High Court dismissed a plea to postpone NEET UG 2022 exam. Bank Holidays in August 2022 List: Banks To Remain Closed for 18 Days Next Month; Check Complete Dates of Bank Holidays. The agency will be uploading the NEET UG 2022 answer keys on neet.nta.nic.in. Besides the NEET answer keys, the NTA is also likely to publish question papers and candidates' OMR response sheets. Once the provisional answer keys and OMR sheets are released, NEET UG 2022 candidates will be allowed to raise objections by paying a fee per question. Post this, the NTA will review the objections before publishing the final version of the NEET answer key. Candidates can expect the NTA to declare the NEET UG results soon after the final answer key is released. The NEET UG 2022 exam results will be announced in the form of scorecards. The results will mention candidates' subject-wise marks and percentile scores. Greater Noida Tenant Forces Elderly Couple To Live on Stairs for a Week by Refusing To Move Out of Their Property (Watch Shocking Video). The NTA is most likely to announce the names of all-India toppers and cut-off scores for different categories as well. Following this, the NEET UG 2022 scores will be used by the respective counselling authorities marking the beginning of the admission process for medical courses. NEET UG 2022: Steps to download NEET 2022 answer key Visit the official website at neet.nta.nic.in. On the home page, click on NEET 2022 Answer Key link Enter your application number, password and other details Submit and view answer keys For more details on NEET UG 2022, candidates can visit the official websites of NTA at neet.nta.nic.in and nta.ac.in. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 29, 2022 04:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Indore, Jul 29: A food delivery app staffer was stabbed to death and robbed while on duty in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, a police official said on Friday. Three unidentified persons stopped Zomata delivery man Sunil Verma (20), who was on a motorcycle delivering food parcels, late Thursday night and sought money from him, Inspector Rajendra Soni of Banganga police station said.Madhya Pradesh Police Constable Caught on Camera Thrashing Elderly, Suspended (Watch Video). "The men stabbed Verma five times. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and succumbed to injuries on Friday morning. His bag, cap and other Zomata items have been recovered from the spot. We as yet do not know how much money was robbed from him," he informed. The bag was torn and suggests he had resisted the accused, the official said, adding that police were looking at several leads to solve the case and nab the culprits. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has returned a pitbull to its owner Amit Tripathi, whose mother was mauled to death by the canine earlier this month, but with conditions. The LMC officials took the decision after Tripathi gave a written consent to take care of the dog. The #Karnataka Police have arrested a couple on the charges of keeping two children as bonded labourers after their father died without repaying a loan in Ballary district, police said. pic.twitter.com/TNLiAjoliw IANS (@ians_india) July 29, 2022 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) #Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (#PLC) has appointed four Ministers, including a war-worn veteran who will head the Saudi-backed government's Defence Ministry. pic.twitter.com/TBMHSqHoUV IANS (@ians_india) July 29, 2022 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) London, July 29: A transgender man who lured two women and a teenager into a sexual relationship by using a fake penis has been jailed for 10 years, according to several media reports. Tarjit Singh, 32, who was born a female named Hannah Walters but now identifies as a man, would wear the clothing during intercourse and used a prosthetic penis in the dark. According to reports, Singh was convicted of three counts of assault by penetration, six counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of making a threat to kill, after a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court earlier this year. The court heard how Singh threatened to set fire to one victim after attacking her with the lighter fluid and subsequently fracturing her nose with a mobile phone. The court also heard how Singh slapped and punched her. Man Uses Fake Penis to Pass Drug Test, Sentenced to Jail for Three Years. Judge Oscar Del Fabbro on Wednesday said that Singh represented a "risk to the public of serious harm in the future" and was a "dangerous offender" who had repeatedly committed acts of violence and assaults against three victims. He added that Singh was "an accomplished and manipulative liar" who had not been honest. In its verdict, Judge said that instead of being frank and having an honest conversation about gender, Singh chose the path of deceit. "You persuaded them you were male and acted like you were male," Judge Fabbro added. Singh will serve 10 years in prison with another three years on licence. A sexual harm prevention order was also imposed, according to reports. In court, one of the victims in an impact statement read out, "My mental health has been affected and I have severe anxiety and depression. I have had to take medication for depression." "I was only 16 at the time and was at a very vulnerable place in my life. The defendant used this to his own advantage. They used me for their own sickening games," she added. The victim further said that Singh had time to perfect his method. She further added that when they met at that time the victim was young and ended up in an abusive relationship, which made her think that this was normal behaviour in a relationship. "I was robbed of the most important years of my life. I was unable to finish my studies and complete college. For a long time, I was afraid of going out. I always feel like I have to watch over my shoulder. It will take me a long time to get over what I have gone through," Victim added. Meanwhile, another victim in her impact statement said that she had not been able to rebuild her life after the abusive relationship. "I had a miscarriage just before the trial and I had to think about Hannah," the victim said. "I struggle to put into words how what Hannah did affect me. Nothing can explain the impact on me physically, emotionally and mentally. I am still not over it and struggle to imagine a time when I will be over what happened," she added. Reports said that the sex predator met the victims through social media and in chicken shops, with the third victim, who has learning difficulties, being lured through a dating site called Plenty of Fish. Though the homicide rate has dropped in Brazils most populous city, shootings have become disturbingly common in Sao Paulo, and two incidents this week left nine dead in less than an hour. Both shootings occurred around midnight Tuesday, with gunmen opening fire from motorcycles. No motive has been determined, and the assailants are still at large. Witnesses of the first shooting, in the northern neighborhood of Jacana, told police that, around 11:20 p.m., two men on a silver motorcycle opened fire on a bar located a few feet from a military police station. Sao Paulo states Department of Public Safety confirmed that six men died at the scene. Three others were injured and taken to a hospital. Police found shell casings from a .45-caliber weapon. The second shooting, which occurred in the southern neighborhood of Campo Limpo just after midnight, left three dead and one injured. Witnesses said two men on a Honda motorcycle shot at two people driving separate vehicles before turning their weapons on another pair on a motorcycle. One of the drivers died at the scene, and the other died at the hospital. One of the men on the targeted motorcycle was killed; the second was uninjured. Police found shell casings from a .380-caliber weapon and from a 9-millimeter handgun. Advertisement Police said that they have not discounted any possible avenues of investigation, but that it does not appear the two shootings are related. Shootings with multiple victims have become common in Sao Paulo, leaving many residents feeling unsafe, despite an 8% drop in homicides in the city from 2015 to 2016. According to the Department of Public Safety, last years rate was its lowest since 2001. They always say theyre making this city safer, but then you hear about something like [the latest shootings], and it makes you never want to leave home, said Ivo Machado, who works at a bar in downtown Sao Paulo. Theres no way the people who say the homicide rate is going down actually live in this city and walk down these streets. According to the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, a nonprofit organization, more people died from violence in Brazil 278,839 between 2011 and 2015 than in the Syrian civil war. During the same period, the United Nations refugee agency estimates that 256,124 were killed in Syria. The shootings overnight Tuesday are the third and fourth of their kind in the greater Sao Paulo area this year. The other two occurred in the city of Guarulhos, just north of Sao Paulo. In 2016, the second day of the year saw four killed and one injured in a shooting in Guarulhos, which was suspected of being retaliation for the death of a military police officer three days earlier. The officer was killed in a shootout with robbery suspects, only one of whom was arrested at the time. Investigators also said the shootings do not appear to involve anyone in the police, as the weapons involved are not issued to law enforcement officers. Some killings in the region in recent years have been tied to law enforcement. Five young men were killed in October after a city police officer from the Santo Andre, another city near Sao Paulo, created a fake Facebook profile of a woman to lure the victims to a party, authorities say. Their bodies were found in November in the town of Mogi das Cruzes, and two other officers are suspected of participating in the killings. Two of the victims were being investigated in the September death of another police officer. But the citys deadliest shootings took place a year before in August 2015, when 23 were killed and seven injured in two separate shootings carried out by military and civil police officers seeking to avenge the deaths of one officer in the city of Osasco and another in the town of Barueri, authorities say. Both slain officers were off-duty at the time of their deaths and were attempting to fight off thieves when they were shot, officials say. Three military police officers and one city officer were arrested on suspicion of participating in 18 of the killings, although more are thought to have taken part. Langlois is a special correspondent. ALSO Nearly 300 died in Mosul airstrike, making it one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in recent memory Is this the end of U.S. participation in the Paris climate deal? Not necessarily, says Obamas former envoy The U.S. is abdicating its role as the worlds climate leader. Can China take its place? Israel will never relinquish control over the Golan Heights, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday during the first Cabinet meeting to be held in the contested territory. He said that the chaos from the civil war in neighboring Syria made returning the strategic plateau to Damascus too risky for Israel. Its time that the international community recognize two fundamental facts,' Netanyahu declared after posing with Cabinet members at a spot overlooking the Sea of Galilee -- Israels largest water reservoir. First, no matter what happens on the other side of the border, the line itself isnt going to change. Second, its time that the international community finally recognize that the Golan will remain forever under Israels sovereignty. Fourteen years after conquering the Golan in 1967, Israels government essentially annexed the territory by extending Israeli law to the territory and giving the Syrian Druze villagers who lived there the status of permanent residents of the Jewish state. Most of the international community rejected the move and considers the Golan occupied territory. The Golan is a largely rural region, and attracts more tourists than newcomers, despite Netanyahus pledge to boost development there. About 20,000 Syrian Druze live in a handful of villages near the eastern cease-fire lines that are patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers, and about 25,000 Israelis live on settlements there. By contrast, hundreds of thousands of Israelis live on settlements in the West Bank. Advertisement But the Golan also holds the promise of having oil, a theory that has pushed Afek Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Genie Energy, to begin exploring in the area. The company has drilled for oil at four sites in the Golan since Feb. 2015, according to the Jerusalem Post. Syrian state media aired a statement from the sons of the invaded Arabic Syrian Golan, rebuffing Netanyahus declaration and saying that the disputed territory would always truly be part of Syria, calling the Israelis invaders and the opposition fighters terrorists. Damascus would use all means to take back the Golan Heights, including military ones, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said in an interview with Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese broadcaster with close ties to the Syrian government. We have never given up on the choice of resistance and Israel wants to provoke us and we will not submit. Since the 1990s, a succession of Israeli prime ministers had discussed returning nearly all of the Golan Heights to Syria in return for a full normalization of ties. Netanyahus remarks seemed to close the door to that possibility. With fighting raging in Syria, politicians in Netanyahus coalition have frequently argued that such a peace deal would have brought chaos to Israels doorstep. On Sunday, Netanyahu predicted that Syrias warring religious groups would remain at odds for the foreseeable future and argued that Israels continued control over the Golan Heights would be a stabilizing factor in the region. While Israel has built a new fence in the Golan to prevent the conflict from spilling over its borders, it has also been providing humanitarian aid to antigovernment villages and fighters in the border region as a way of trying to bolster stability amid the power vacuum in Syria. I doubt it if Syria will ever return to what it once was, Netanyahu said, echoing what he said over the weekend to U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry. We wont oppose a political settlement in Syria on condition it doesnt come at the expense of Israel. In other words, at the end of the day, the forces of Iran, Hezbollah, and ISIS must be expelled from Syrian territory. A militia in a village by the Israeli-Syrian border declared its allegiance to Islamic State this year, alarming Israeli intelligence officials. That militias offensive now threatens to destroy the Southern Front, a loose coalition of Syrian rebel factions that have received backing from the West. Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war five years ago, Israel has avoided taking sides in the conflict, and has refrained from commenting on the potential outcome. When Israel has intervened, its been to strike weapons shipments to Hezbollah in Iran and to keep pro-Iranian militias away from the Golan Heights line between the two countries. The Syrian government, however, insists that Israel is offering support to the rebels, even tolerating the presence of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front as one of the dominant forces in the Golan and the southwestern province of Qunaiterah. A cache of leaked files that emerged last year also cast doubt on the idea that Israel is only providing humanitarian assistance to Syrian rebels. The personal files of Mendi Safadi, an Israeli Druze politician from the north of the country, were leaked to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safeer by a group of Hezbollah-affiliated hackers. The files included long-running correspondence with Syrian rebels about weapons deals and intelligence sharing, and also suggested that Safadi had tried to influence the selection of rebel political leaders based in Turkeys southern city of Gaziantep. Safadi insisted all evidence of giving military support to the rebels was fabricated. Netanyahus declaration risks embroiling Israel in the Syrian conflict, Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli peace negotiator with Syria and former ambassador to the U.S. told Israels public radio on Sunday. We are putting ourselves in the center of the debate, he said. Others also questioned the timing of the speech, which comes as the Syrian peace talks in Geneva sputtered on with no solution to the conflict in sight. Geneva presents another opportunity for Netanyahu to lay down a marker and get the world accustomed to the idea that the Golan is Israeli and that it is futile for people to think of it in any other context, said Dr. Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma and a Syria expert. I am sure it is good for local politics too. While Netanyahus comments on the Golan cater to Israeli public opinion, they also signal to the international community that it must take Israels position into account in negotiating a solution to the Syrian civil war, said Eyal Zisser, a political science professor at Tel Aviv University who focuses on Syria. Half a year ago we were sure the war is going to continue for a long time, and theres no solution, he said. Now theres a sense that there might be a settlement imposed by Russia and the Americans, and its important for Netanyahu to remind everyone that we are there, and they should be taking our interests into consideration. Mitnick is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Nabih Bulos contributed from Beirut. ALSO Syria holds elections despite critics contention that they undermine peace talks Those islands are Egyptian!: Ceding of territory to Saudi Arabia prompts outrage President Obama visits CIA headquarters as U.S. steps up attacks against Islamic State A missing 7-year-old Texas boy was found dead inside a washing machine on Thursday morning, according to police. The Harris County Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit said the parents of the boy, Troy Khoeler, earlier made a missing person report for their son. According to Fox News, the missing person report was made at around 6:30 a.m. local time. Khoeler was already missing for approximately 2 to 3 hours at that time. The boy was last seen at the 4400 block of Rosegate in the Birnam Wood subdivision in Spring, Harris County, and the parents reported that they noticed him missing at around 4 a.m. That led the police to post pictures of the boy on social media in an effort to find him. READ NEXT: Cheapest Gas in Mexico: A Guide on Where to Buy Gas for Under $1 per Gallon Missing Texas Boy Was Found in Washing Machine Inside Home Officers from the county's Homicide Unit then arrived at the parents' home to conduct an interview with them. However, this led authorities to perform a search inside the parents' house, according to ABC 13. Officers finally found the boy in the top-load washing machine inside the parents' garage at around 7:20 a.m. He was already dead but found fully clothed. Authorities did not comment on whether the washing machine's lid was closed or not. Police also did not disclose how the boy could have gotten inside the washing machine. Harris County Sheriff's Office Launches Criminal Investigations Regarding Troy Khoeler's Death A criminal investigation is now underway regarding young Troy Khoeler's death. According to NBC News, the Harris County Sheriff's Office has detained both parents and is questioning them. No charges have been made so far. Harris Country Homicide Unit detective Lt. Robert Minchew held a news conference after the boy was found dead inside the washing machine. He said they still do not know what happened but intend to find out. He also explained that the parents being taken into custody was standard police procedure. He did not comment on any injuries resulting from foul play because he explained that it was still too early to tell. It is still unclear whether the Texas boy was killed by the washing machine or was killed and then placed there. With the criminal investigation already underway, police are asking people to stay away from the area. They also asked for prayers for the bereaved family. Troy Khoeler was a foster child, and the family adopted him in 2019. He had no siblings and was an only child. KHOU 11 reported that Khoeler's mother was wearing a work uniform when the search was conducted. However, it was unclear whether she had already returned from work to find the boy missing or if she was only getting ready for work. It was believed that she had been working a shift at a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, the Harris County Sheriff's office noted that the boy's father was at home at that time. READ MORE: Donald Trump Finally Turns on Fox & Friends, Says They Turned to the 'Dark Side' This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Houston, Texas Crime: Body of Missing Spring Boy Found in Washing Machine - From KHOU 11 SNAP benefits payments or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits payments have helped an average of over 41 million low-income people in the United States in 2021. The program is paid by the federal government and splits the cost of administering the program with the states which manage it. According to MARCA, SNAP benefits recipients have been given more options for their grocery shopping through the use of Instacart. Instacart announced Monday that its app will expand its SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card payments to 10 more states. READ NEXT: SNAP Benefits 2022 Update: Can You Use Your EBT Card for Online Payments? Instacart EBT Payments Instacart's expansion reportedly means that SNAP EBT payments are now accepted at over 60 retailers with more than 8,000 stores. It will now reach 30 million SNAP benefits recipients. MARCA reported that Instacart allows its shoppers to pick up their groceries at selected retail locations. The states joining the list of those that will accept Instacart EBT payments are Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah. The states of Washington and Wyoming will also be accommodating Instacart EBT payments. Alaska is now the only U.S. state not to accept Instacart EBT payments. Sarah Mastrorocco, Instacart's vice president of access to food and nutrition, said in a press release that they have long aimed to expand EBT SNAP acceptance online. Mastrorocco added that they are proud to bring the service to residents of 10 more states in partnership with grocers that people know and trust. The vice president of the online grocery said they are looking forward to expanding the program and enabling more retailers to accept EBT SNAP payments through Instacart. Instacart first offered to accept SNAP EBT payments back in November 2020, which was during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. SNAP Benefits Payments SNAP eligibility rules and benefits levels are set at the federal level and uniform across the country, for the most part. Some states have altered the eligibility rules, such as the value of a vehicle a household may own. Most unemployed non-disabled adults aged 18 to 49 not living with minor children are limited to three months of benefits, as stated by the Center on Budget and Police Priorities. Meanwhile, if you receive Supplemental Security Income, you may also be eligible for SNAP benefits under a new initiative from the Social Security Administration. Participants can even apply for both at the same time. If you are applying or already receiving SSI, the SSA will aid in completing your SNAP application over the phone or mail you a SNAP application if needed. They can also send your completed application to your local SNAP office on your behalf, according to the GO Banking Rates. The U.S. Agriculture Department also plans to expand the number of retailers that offer online shopping for SNAP benefits through a $5 million competitive grant. The SNAP EBT Modernization Technical Assistance Center grant will fund an organization that can provide online shopping technology and a system that supports retailers. READ MORE: SNAP Benefits 2022 Update: $301.8 Million Texas Payments Confirmed for July 2022 This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: SNAP EA - Food Stamp List of Payouts | JULY + AUGUST | SSI, SSDI, Senior & Social Security Payment - From Credit Viral Several medical school graduates held a protest in Mexico City following the death of 24-year-old Erick David Andrade, a young doctor treating a patient in the northern Mexican state of Durango when he was killed. According to the Washington Post, several armed men shot him to death as he was doing his duty to save lives on July 15. Members of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel may have reportedly killed Andrade, who was part of the staff of the only clinic in a small town near Sinaloa called Pueblo Nuevo. Armed men entered the hospital and had an argument with some staff, and opened fire on Andrade, killing him. The motive for the attack remains unclear. Young Doctors in Mexico Demand a Change in the System On Wednesday, the young medical graduates, wearing white coats, marched on the streets of Mexico City to protest the violence their colleagues face. They held signs which said, "I am a medical school graduate. Why are you going to kill me?" and "A dead doctor can't save lives." Young medical school graduates in Mexico are often assigned to dangerous areas during the first year of their careers. It has been said that this is often part of their training and is mandatory for all who graduate from medical school. However, the protesters want to change that practice due to the recent deaths. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has already acknowledged that these young doctors are reluctant to serve in these remote places because of the rising violence. This was why he justified his act of importing doctors from Cuba. According to the Associated Press, the first batch of these doctors arrived in Mexico last week. The president stated earlier this year that the situation is bad in those places, so doctors don't want to go there, even if there are plenty of jobs available. However, one of the protesters, Monica Armas, noted that the Cubans are not the solution. She said the government needs to reform the entire structure, the social service, and the infrastructure at rural health centers. Another protester pointed out that the government is also placing the newly-arrived Cuban doctors in danger because of the violence. READ NEXT: Journalist in Mexico Tells Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador He's Afraid for His Life During Press Briefing Recent Spate of Deaths Concerning Doctors in Mexico The killing of Erick Andrade is just one of the many deaths involving young medical practitioners, who are often sent to remote places as part of their mandatory "social service," where these young doctors barely even get paid for their work. These remote places are often under the control of violent gangs and drug cartels, which make that mandatory "social service" even more dangerous. One of the most recent examples is the killing of an anesthesiologist for a rural government hospital in Chihuahua. She was shot dead in her home. Another horrifying incident happened was when a doctor was killed on a highway near Jerez in Zacatecas state last year. Two paramedics were also murdered in the same month in the same state. ABC News reported that Mexico's Health Secretary Jorge Alcocer has refused to consider changes. READ MORE: Mexico's Maya Train Project Threatens to Endanger Prehistoric Caves With Oldest Human Remains in North America This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Mexico Opts for a Unified Healthcare System - From TeleSur English The Haiti gang war has reached the capital of the country, Port-au-Prince, with gang members engaging in a gun battle with each other and with police. BBC News reported that the city's temporary cathedral caught fire amid the fighting, with the death toll for the recent fighting not yet known. The groups involved in the current Haiti gang are the G9 criminal alliance and its rival gang G-Pep. The video showed police engaging with gang members not far from the presidential palace. The United Nations suggested that more than 200 died between July 8 and July 17. Port-au-Prince has witnessed gang violence for years. However, the gang fight between G9 and G-Pep has raised the violence to new levels. G9 Alliance members launched an incursion into the Bel-Air neighborhood, where they were met with resistance from members of G-Pep. One resident described Haiti's capital as "lawless." READ NEXT: Haiti President Jovenel Moise's Assassination Suspect Reportedly Has Connection With Prime Minister Ariel Henry Haiti Gang War Cathedral on Fire Government Commissioner Jacques Lafontant said in an Associated Press News report that police are trying to stabilize the area as intense fighting erupted blocks from the government's National Palace and Haiti's National Penitentiary. Men identifying themselves as G9 members filmed a man they supposedly killed amid the fighting and laid several firearms on his naked body, as shown in one social media post. The State University of Haiti issued a statement on Wednesday announcing that it was forced to suspend classes. The university said several bullets have been recovered in the courtyard as well as in classrooms in less than a week. A spokesman for the Port-au-Prince archdiocese, Father Marc Henry Simeon, said that firefighters had managed to put out the fire at the church, which has been used as the city's cathedral since the Notre-Dame cathedral was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. Fr. Simeon said that he did not know whether the church was targeted deliberately or had become "collateral damage." However, he stressed that "bandits" were operating in the area "with total impunity." Meanwhile, bullet casings were found in classrooms at the university's science faculty. Haiti Gang War Death Toll The U.N. reported that the Haiti gang war has killed, injured, or caused 471 people to go missing, adding that there are "serious incidents of sexual violence" against women and girls reported within these gangs. Meanwhile, about 3,000 residents of Cite-Soleil had to flee their homes, including hundreds of unaccompanied children, according to News 84 Media report. Access to healthcare is also limited or non-existent. Many health centers have closed or limited their services in the area. Food and water access are also limited. The United Nations Coordinator in Haiti, Ulrika Richardson, urged all parties to maintain an open humanitarian corridor towards Citi-Soleil to end deadly violence. Meanwhile, the prime minister, Ariel Henry, has yet to speak out over the outbreak of violence that started in early July. READ MORE: 4 of Haiti President Jovenel Moise's 'Presumed Assassins' Killed, 2 Arrested by Police This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Fierce gang wars intensify in Haiti - from Associated Press It all started as a joke, but towel sales in Rio de Janeiro may be reflecting the outcome of one of the most important elections happening in South America. This comes as President Jair Bolsonaro continues to sow doubts about the upcoming Brazilian elections and propagate the mistrust his supporters have of the polls. Bolsonaro is currently trailing his rival, former president Lula, in these polls. Because of the skepticism surrounding the elections, especially among Bolsonaro supporters, several street vendors in the city have cashed in with their own polls based on the sales of politically-themed towels. They have dubbed the trend DataToalha, a play on the name of the country's most prominent pollster, Datafolha. The Associated Press noted that toalha is Portuguese for towel. Towel Sales Almost Have Same Results as Official Brazilian Polls According to the most recent polls, Lula is leading with almost 50% of the votes, while Bolsonaro is polling second at only 28%. However, Bolsonaro and his supporters rejected these results. The current president even mocked a poll from last year, which had Lula winning by almost 60%, However, the towel sales also seem to have Lula in the lead as well. The difference in these towel sales has him at a much bigger lead. One stand owned by vendor Jose Lucas da Silva, 28, placed a scoreboard regarding who is leading the towel sales. Like the polls, Lula is leading, but his lead is much wider, as he leads Bolsonaro 43-5. The vendor stated that this all started out as a joke but is actually working out for them more. He then added that "Whoever wants to participate just needs to buy!" READ NEXT: Jair Bolsonaro Net Worth 2022: How He Went From Middle-Class Soldier to One of Brazil's Wealthiest Leaders Lula Maintains Big Lead in Official Polls Datafolha has released their latest poll results last Thursday, and it has the leftist former president Lula polling at 47%, while Bolsonaro was polling at 29%. This means that Bolsonaro is slowly gaining, but his rival's lead is just too large. US News reported that if the polls were held today, Lula would get around 53% of the valid votes. This means that he would avoid a second-round runoff election. A runoff election occurs if no candidate gets more than 50% of the unspoiled ballots. However, if there is a runoff election, Lula would still win, as he would get 55% of the votes against Bolsonaro's 35%. Datafolha noted that Lula's lead has been slowly slipping since he had a 29-point lead against Bolsonaro last December. Now it's just a 20-point lead. According to poll tracker AS/COA, the first round of the Brazilian elections will take place on October 2. Brazilians will vote for not only the next president, but also 27 senators, 513 members of the Chamber of Deputies, and all 27 governors. If no candidate takes over 50% of the votes, the runoff will occur on October 30. The new president is expected to be sworn in on January 1, 2023. READ MORE: Brazil Elections: Jair Bolsonaro Continues to Sow Doubts on Election as He Lags in Polls This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: What kind of economic legacy will Brazil's Bolsonaro leave behind? Five Haiti migrants died, and 68 others were rescued by authorities on Thursday after a suspected human smuggling boat dropped the victims into the waters of Puerto Rico. According to Associated Press, federal and local authorities discovered the Haiti migrants after they surveyed the area near Mona Island for several hours following a call from the rangers from Puerto Rico's Department of Natural Resources. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesman Jeffrey Quinones said all migrants aboard the boat were from Haiti. The identities of the five migrants from Haiti that died in the aftermath of the incident were not disclosed. Al Jazeera noted that two minors were among the 41 men and 25 women survivors of the incident. U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad confirmed that no additional people were missing, based on the interviews with survivors. He further noted that none of the survivors had any urgent medical issues. READ NEXT: Haiti Gang Wars: Over 300 Children Take Refuge at School Over Violence Haiti Migrants Dropped by Suspected Smugglers in the Boat In a telephone interview with Reuters, Quinones noted that the migrants from Haiti were reportedly forced to leave the boat while it was still in the waters of Puerto Rico. "The smugglers basically forced the migrants to disembark, it appears that five of the migrants drowned in the process," the U.S. CBP spokesman said. Castrodad then noted that the boat fled the scene after the migrants disembarked the said vessel. The incident on Thursday is the latest in the series of deadly voyages of migrants from Haiti across the northern Caribbean. On Sunday, 17 people died in another boat incident, while 25 others were rescued after a speedboat from Haiti capsized off the coast of the Bahamas. The speedboat reportedly capsized off the coast of New Providence, which is the Bahamas' most populous island. Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis noted that the said speedboat was carrying approximately 60 people and was headed to Miami to smuggle the migrants from Haiti. Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander highlighted that two men allegedly involved in the said human smuggling operation on Sunday were arrested. Why Are Haitians Fleeing From Their Home Country? According to reports, Haitians become migrants and flee their home country amid a spike in gang-related killings and kidnapping in Haiti that left more than 470 people dead, injured or missing. Most of the Haiti migrants try to enter the U.S. by land through the Southern border with Mexico. Another avenue the Haitians utilize is leaving their country by the sea with the help of human smugglers. Reports claimed that human smuggling boats carry migrants from Haiti to Puerto Rico to depart from the neighboring Dominican Republic. However, some of the boats capsize in the treacherous Mona Passage that separates the island of Hispaniola from Haiti, while other boats drop off the migrants from in tiny uninhabited islands of Puerto Rico. "This is happening every day... Everyone runs the same risk and same danger," Castrodad said. READ NEXT: Mexico: Locals 'Fed up' as Massive Wave of Americans Move to Country, Increase Cost of Living This article is owned by Latin Post. Written By: Joshua Summers WATCH: Haitian Migrants Follow Dangerous Path To U.S. - From NBC News The Justice Department is reportedly preparing its court plans with its prosecutors to force former U.S. President Donald Trump's ally and inner circle members to testify regarding the January 6 probe. Federal prosecutors were reported to be preparing for a legal battle for former Trump administration officials to testify, according to a Yahoo! News report. The Justice Department is expecting the former president to claim executive privilege to shield evidence from the federal grand jury. Two people familiar with the matter noted that investigators before a grand jury asked recent witnesses about conversations with Trump, his lawyers, and his allies. Prosecutors have asked about meetings the former president held in December 2020 and December 2021, as well as Trump's attempts to convince former Vice President Mike Pence to not certify the election results. The federal prosecutors have also asked the level to which Trump is implicated in his attorney's fake-elector scheme. READ NEXT: Jan. 6 Hearings: Donald Trump Could Face Multiple Criminal Referrals to DOJ -Rep. Liz Cheney Justice Department January 6 Probe Attorney General Merrick Garland noted publicly that the former president is "not beyond the reach of the investigation" just because of his former political position. Garland also said that the department is being cautious to "get this right," according to a CNN News report. Prosecutors are still in the early stages of looking at any direct role Trump played. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has chosen not to assert privilege claims on the January 6 incidents. Courts generally see executive privilege claims to be more easily cleared away in criminal investigations as compared to congressional probes. No former president has been recorded to be criminally charged in U.S. history. However, Garland suggested that he has not ruled out indicting Trump for his role in the attack. January 6 Probe The House select committee investigating the incidents on January 6 showed that some of Trump's political aides said it was no time to declare victory. However, campaign manager Bill Stepien testified that they were not matched to some of the former president's more experienced political aides, like Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer who urged Trump to fight. Trump also met with members of Congress who would reject the election results from their states, according to an Associated Press News report. Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House select committee probing the January 6 Capitol riot, said that the president was told there was no voter fraud over and over again. Trump also told the Capitol riot crowd that he will be there with them, adding that they were going to "walk down to the Capitol." Rally organizer Kylie Kremer's text messages revealed that there were plans for a second stage to be set up outside the Capitol. White House counsel Pat Cipollone also held off Trump from going to the Capitol, as he was worried it would be seen as the former president interfering with the 2020 election. READ MORE: Donald Trump Admits He Didn't Win Presidential Election 2020 During Interview With Presidential Historians This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Justice Department Jan. 6 criminal probe focuses on Trump's actions leading up to insurrection - from CBS News For the first time, two Mexican states will be producing avocados for export to the United States. Jalisco state will become only the second state in Mexico to export the fruit known as "green gold" to the United States. Its neighboring state, Michoacan, used to be the only state authorized to export the fruit to the U.S. market. Avocado production in Michoacan recently dipped, while the price of avocados soared to over $2 per fruit. The addition of Jalisco-grown avocados may help bring down prices in the U.S. market. Growers and packers in Jalisco have expressed their hopes that their products can help provide more stability to the fruit's often-fluctuating prices. Javier Medina Villanueva, president of the Jalisco Avocado Export Association, said that it took a lot of patience to get that certification. He said that it took over 10 years for growers in the state to finally be allowed to sell their produce to the U.S. market. First Batch of Avocadoes Have Now Left Jalisco, Michoacan Does Not See Them as Competition According to the Associated Press, eleven trucks have now left the mountain town of Zapotlan El Grande in Jalisco last Thursday. They are bound for the United States and are carrying a combined 200 tons worth of avocados. Much like the Michoacan avocados, these fruits will come with the label "Avocado from Mexico." It will not specify that it's from Jalisco, rather than Michoacan where they usually come from. U.S. consumers might not even recognize the difference at all, according to ABC News. Other Mexican states are also clamoring for certification from the United States. However, the Michoacan-based Association of Mexican Avocado Growers and Packers says that they do not see them as competition. The association's head, Luis Gallardo, welcomes it. He added that there was room for more exports. One of the reasons was the drop in Michoacan production by about 200,000 tons. READ NEXT: Mexico: Young Doctor Killed While Treating Patient, Death Sparks Protests Avocado Demand in the United States Increasing The demand for avocados has risen in the U.S. over the past few years. According to USAID, this is mainly due to the rising Hispanic population in the United States. There is also a steady rise in the popularity of the fruit among non-Hispanics as well. While the United States also produces avocados, many of its fruit comes from Mexico. In fact, Mexico supplies around 92% of U.S. imports of "green gold." This is mainly because avocado trees prefer the higher altitudes and cooler climates in Mexico. Unfortunately, avocado exports to the United States were recently halted in February. One of the U.S. inspectors was threatened in Michoacan, and it was found out that some of the growers were being extorted regularly by the drug cartels. Exports only resumed after both countries agreed to enact measures that ensure the safety of inspectors. As for the Jalisco avocados, Gov. Enrique Alfaro acknowledged that there is still a big problem with the cartels extorting money from farmers. He plans to develop a security program that allows the state's produce to be shipped from Jalisco safely. READ MORE: Mexico: 5 Underrated Mexican Food That Are Not Tacos This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Defending Avocado Farms From Drug Cartels - VICE NEWS A 50-year-old Washington woman was arrested for shooting her husband, who is a retired Baltimore police officer, according to authorities. People reported that the suspect, Shanteari Weems, shot her husband, James Weems, Jr, inside their room at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel after he was accused of molesting three children who had attended her own daycare. James was rushed to the hospital and continues to receive treatment. However, authorities have not detailed James' condition. Shanteari and James were in their room when she confronted the retired police officer about the sexual abuse allegations, which were made against him by the parents of the three children. The daycare that Shanteari owned was known as Lil Kidz Kastle Daycare Center in Owings Mills. The D.C. Metropolitan Police noted that the shooting happened shortly before 8 p.m. READ NEXT: Indiana Mass Shooting: 3 Dead, 7 Wounded as Gunfire Erupted at July 4th Party Washington Woman Shot Husband Shanteari said in an interview with D.C. detectives that she wanted to hurt her husband, not kill him. She already reported the allegations against James to Baltimore County Police before questioning him about it, according to a WMAR News report. A warrant was issued for James in Maryland on July 26, which was related to the child sexual assault accusations. Shanteari noted that she decided to have a talk about the accusations against her husband in their room at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. She said she received several text messages from parents and teachers about the accusations. Metropolitan Police said that Shanteari grabbed a gun from her purse and shot her husband. Police recovered two guns from the hotel room, including a notebook that seemed to show Shanteari's plans to shoot the retired police officer. Washington Woman and Allegations Against Husband Police reported that the victim was shot at least once, with the shooter shortly barricading herself inside the hotel, as reported by Newsweek. Court documents stated that police claim officers approached the area where the gunfire was heard, asking if anyone had been shot. Shanteari reportedly responded by saying "f*** him, he's a child molester." Baltimore County Police Spokeswoman Joy Lepola-Stewart said James will face several charges in relation to the reported child sex abuse. Kathy Scherr, who works nearby the daycare, noted that the situation is "horrible." However, she expressed sympathy for Shanteari. Scherr said that no one should have taken the law into their own hands. However, she also said that Shanteari's whole business is gone, including her reputation and marriage. The daycare worker added that the Washington woman cared about the children. Alaska News Source noted that some have also joined the side of Shanteari, with some supporters using the hashtag #freeshanteari. Supporters have also attended Shanteari's initial hearing, which was postponed. She is now due in court on Friday. Activist Qiana Johnson claimed that the Washington woman is not to blame, noting that Shanteari has made the complaints to proper authorities before and her reportings went unanswered. READ MORE: Texas Police Shoot, Kill Gunman at Youth Summer Camp After He Opened Fire This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Woman claims to have shot husband because he was molesting children at her daycare | FOX 5 DC -from FOX 5 Washington D.C. 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. The 25% emissions reductions target for agriculture is the triumph of a "brutal ideological agenda over common sense" and farming, according to Independent TD for Laois Offaly Carol Nolan who has condemned the deal. Dep Nolan was speaking after all three Government parties signed off on a Cabinet memo calling for the implementation of the 25% cut by 2030. Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens have sown the seeds of a massive rural revolt following this repugnant agreement, Deputy Nolan said. She continued: The target level that has been agreed is without a shadow of doubt absolutely toxic and inflammatory. It is will introduce massive levels of destabilisation into a sector that has already moved heaven and earth to find ways of effectively engaging with responsible methods of carbon mitigation." The harsh critic of the Government on many fronts felt a communities will fight back. It is now crystal clear that Government has been captured hook line and sinker by a fundamentalist Green ideology that has no familiarity with, or interest in, the plain facts of agricultural, trading, and farming realities. Rural Ireland is now in the grip of a cabal of eco-extremists; but they have a rude awakening coming to them if they think we and the farming communities are going to let them destroy us without one hell of a fight," concluded Deputy Nolan. A plan which will see farmers having to cut the amount of greenhouse gases produced in their farms by a quarter has been hailed as a historic deal that will secure their futures by Minister of State Pippa Hackett. The Laois Offaly based Green Party Minister joined Minister Eamon Ryan, Minister Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State Martin Heydon at the Dail to launch the plan which will aims to cut emission throughout Irish society. The plan does not describe the approach as cutting emissions but has put limits to what can be emitted into the environment that can contribute to climate change. Minister Pippa Hackett said in a statement that she acknowledges the commitment of all Government colleagues as agreement is reached on sectoral emissions ceilings. I want to acknowledge all those in Government, particularly Ministers Eamon Ryan and Charlie McConalogue who, together with officials and advisors, worked tirelessly to reach agreement: It was not easy. To quote Minister Ryan it is a significant and historic moment. The agreement reached places Ireland in a leading role in combatting climate change and for the first time each sector of our economy has a clear sense of just how much they must do to reduce emissions. We will all benefit from cleaner air, warmer homes, and a better quality of life," she said. The Geashill based farmer is a Minister in the Department of Agriculture. She addressed the impact on farming. "Every sector will play its part and this plan will help to secure the future of every sector, including farming. Within agriculture, we will be supporting farmers through initiatives such as a new forestry programme and improved incentives to engage in Organic farming and invest in renewable energy technology. "The government will also be assisting in the development of biomethane from Anaerobic Digestion (AD), which will provide an opportunity for farmers who wish to consider additional income sources while also contributing significantly to decarbonising the energy system. I am confident that we can meet our climate action targets by working together in a solutions focused way," she said. Read more on plan in general: https://www.gov.ie/en/press- release/dab6d-government- announces-sectoral-emissions- ceilings-setting-ireland-on-a- pathway-to-turn-the-tide-on- climate-change/ Read more on Agriculture sector: https://www.gov.ie/en/press- release/40b39-pathway-to-51- reduction-in-economy-wide- emissions-agreed-mcconalogue- confirms-25-reduction-in- agricultural-emissions/ There is devastation among anglers in Rathdowney as major fish kill has led to thousands of fish being confirmed dead. An official investigation is underway following the deaths of at least 2,000 wild brown trout alone. However, young salmon and other fish and shellfish were also killed on the River Erkina, near Rathdowney. The cause is now under investigation by Inland Fisheries Ireland which confirmed the incident which happened in recent days to the Leinster Express. The kill has spelled an abrupt end to the fishing season for Rathdowney Angling Club, and possibly even the 2023 season. Secretary Rory Maher spoke about what happened. "It is devastating, especially when we are trying to get young members to join, it's hard enough to get them to join. Thousands of fish have been killed along probably four miles of river out from Rathdowney. "We discovered it last week. We saw some dead trout and it was only when we walked back we saw them the whole way along. "It is not just fishing impacted, its all the wildlife on the river, like ducks, herons, egrets, kingfishers, the whole ecosystem has been affected," he said. "We want to find the cause so it can be fixed. We reported it to the IFI and they will run tests now," he said. Inland Fisheries Ireland issued this statement to the Leinster Express on July 29. Inland Fisheries Ireland, the state agency responsible for the protection and conservation of freshwater fish and habitats, is investigating a significant fish kill incident in the River Erkina, near Rathdowney in County Laois. Environmental and Fisheries Officers from the South-Eastern River Basin District were alerted to the incident by a member of the public on Wednesday, July 20th 2022. They estimate more than thousands trout alone are dead. Inland Fisheries Ireland estimates that there could be in excess of 2,000 trout killed in the incident, in addition to other species, such as salmon parr, lamprey and crayfish. Inland Fisheries Ireland notes that fish species in the Erkina are very vulnerable currently, due to higher water temperatures and lower water levels at this time of year. If there is less oxygen in the water, fish find it extremely difficult to survive as a result. Investigations into this fish kill incident are ongoing and Inland Fisheries Ireland is not in a position to comment on the cause at this stage. To report fish kills or water pollution, members of the public are being encouraged to call Inland Fisheries Irelands new confidential 24-hour hotline number on 0818 34 74 24, which is open seven days a week. Imagine extends its high-speed broadband connection area, providing immediate connectivity to over 36,148 homes & businesses in Co. Laois. 20 July 2022: Imagine Broadband are delighted to announce they have extended their high-speed broadband to an additional 36,148 homes & businesses across Laois. Of the over 36,000 homes & businesses in Laois now covered, 84% reside in the NBP intervention area meaning they were in urgent need of better broadband. Imagines latest news comes as the company continues to receive strong demand showcased by the 60% of new customers being referred by existing customers! Sandra Dinan, who heads up the Connecting Communities Team commented Our exclusive Advanced Hybrid Fixed Wireless Network along with our extensive coverage is a game changer, not only for the people of Laois but for all of regional and rural Ireland. Now more than ever, people need consistent and reliable broadband. She continued, Irelands rural communities need better broadband now which is why we are seeing such demand for our service and why we will continue to invest our Community Engagement teams time and focus in the areas our Advanced Hybrid Fixed Broadband Network is needed the most. Our network can be deployed in these poor broadband areas within a matter of weeks ensuring we continue to meet this demand. Local TDS, Broadband Officers and community action groups who are being contacted by families and business owners who need better broadband are urged to contact Sandra and her team on 1800938414 or via email at betterbroadband@imagine.ie. Imagines commitment to providing better broadband for Irelands worst affected broadband areas continues with its exclusive Advanced Hybrid Fixed Broadband Network already connecting 284 live broadband Fibre Hub transmission sites, which has provided over 60,000 square kilometres of high-capacity, high-speed Broadband connectivity to over 1.2 million homes and businesses across 32,000 regional and rural townlands and communities. Homes and businesses that need better broadband can simply check their Eircode for coverage at imagine.ie *SPONSORED CONTENT The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is looking at building modular homes for Ukrainian refugees in two locations in Kildare. Lakeside Park in Newbridge and Beachgrove in Rathangan have been earmarked as possible locations. Councillors were sent a brief email two weeks ago by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth informing them of the move. It's understood they have not been briefed yet on the plans. The email said the Office of Public Works (OPW) would be surveying the council owned sites and assessing their suitability. The government is under pressure to house the incoming refugees and the OPW has been charged with overseeing the construction of these modular homes in locations across the country. Cllr Mark Stafford said: "Rathangan has a number of Ukrainian refugees and they are very welcome, and we will certainly do all we can to accommodate them. However, the transport network will have to be looked at. They will need access to work and other towns. That would be a concern I would have." " A man who made advances to a female neighbour was told to live elsewhere. The man, aged in his 40s, and whose address was given as Clane was prosecuted for harassment on a date unknown between September 1 last and January 14 last near that address. Outlining the background to the case, Sgt Dave Hanrahan said on July 20 that the injured party complained that the man was looking in her window on a consistent basis. The court also heard that she received a letter asking for a date. It went on for a couple of months, added Sgt Hanrahan. The court was further told that the injured party would make a victim impact statement but this was not done yet. The sergeant also said the defendant has no previous convictions and the defendant is happy with the outcome. Defending solicitor David Powderly said the case was about unrequited and unreciprocated love or attention. He said the defendant had acknowledged this straight away and he stopped. He fell for the girl next door, she didnt fall for him and it stopped, said. Read more Kildare news There were no further complaints and the man has been in Ireland for some time and works. Mr Powderly said he is willing to pay 1,000, not necessarily to the injured party if she doesnt want it. Judge Michele Finan said she would feel more happy if the defendant moves out to alternative accommodation. Im not saying anything bad is going on, but she would be more comfortable (if the defendant moved), said the judge, adding she would like to see a victim impact statement. She also said the defendant needed to cut ties and move somewhere else. She also said he should make a payment of 2,000 and he was remanded on continuing bail until December 6. The judge indicated that if this is done the matter will be struck out. A new residential development is proposed near the Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge. The proposal is by Ascot Construction Ltd, the same company who earlier this year was granted permission for a five-storey apartment block with 20 apartments in Newbridge, costing around 4.5 million. Ascot is seeking consent from Kildare County Council (KCC) for the demolition of a two-storey light industrial building, the change of use of the site to accommodate residential and retail/commercials uses, and the construction of a five to six-storey mixed-use development at the Former Newbridge Metal Products Factory on the Athgarvan Road (also known as Military Road). The planned development will comprise of a circa 825sqm retail unit capable of catering for Class 1 or Class 2 uses, including associated office and bin store at ground floor level. In addition, 46 apartments have been proposed, including: eight one-bed units, 28 two-bed units and 10 three-bed units at first to fifth floor level, along with two communal terraces at fifth floor level, including children's play equipment, seating and landscaping. Other facilities that have been proposed in the documents include: a communal room (c. 138.6sqm), bin store and bicycle store at ground floor level associated with the proposed apartments; solar photovoltaic panels at roof level. Ascot is also seeking consent from KCC for revised access to the site and provision of a loading bay at the existing access road to Whitewater Shopping Centre off Athgarvan Road, 52 surface level car parking spaces, signage zones on building facades and one freestanding (totem) sign, along with an ESB substation and other associated plant and services within the building footprint at ground floor level. In addition, the company is also seeking consent for landscaping, boundary treatments, drainage arrangements, utility connections and all associated site development works. The date received is listed as July 22, while the submission-by and due dates are listed as August 25 and September 15 respectively. According to SoloCheck.ie, Ascot Construction Ltd was first set up in 1988, and is based in Dublin 15. One of Ireland's unique churches, the 160 year old corrugated iron Lurganboy Chapel of Ease, will put on a spectacular three day Flower Festival this weekend in the local place of Christian worship and on its grounds overlooking the local North Leitrim village that is locally known as 'Lurgan', which was first established by the aristocratic Wynne family from Wales in 1658. The only other such similar church in Ireland is located in Wicklow. The Chapel of Ease was built on a Star Fort, which was previously the site of a military barracks. London firm, Messeres Tubber & Co. built the Chapel of Ease. It was consecrated on December 5, 1862 by Rev. John Hudson. Meanwhile the Festival takes place from 10am to 5pm each day on Saturday July 30, on Sunday July 31 and Monday, August 1. Everyone is cordially invited to attend and view what will be an exquisite display of flowers during each of the days of the Festival. Teas and refreshments will be available for all Festival visitors to enjoy during the three days as well. One of the local Festival organisers, Caroline Durneen says please come along and admire all the flower arrangements and enjoy some refreshments. And to add to this, on Saturday we are going to be joined by some (really impressive) vintage cars from approximately 1.30pm 'till 3pm. On the Sunday there is a Songs of Praise Service at 7pm. And there is a bric-a-brac stall all weekend; so we hope there is a bit for everyone to enjoy '' Caroline adds. The Lurganboy Chapel of Ease Flower Festival is also being promoted as a fundraiser in aid of the Churches Restoration Fund as well as a special celebration of non-stop Christian worship for 160 years in the somewhat unusual but beautiful Chapel of Ease. For further information on the Lurganboy Chapel of Ease Flower Festival, please phone 08681116294 or email revalbert@gmail.com. Laila Valentino Pro hairdressers in Carrick-on-Shannon is celebrating 10 years in business. Laila told the Observer With celebrations this year marking our 10 years in business I would like to thank and acknowledge all the amazing people I have met on my journey and I especially want to thank my existing amazing team for the amazing work they do and for their support. They are everything in the salon, I am nothing without them. I am so blessed and proud to have so many talented professionals. I would like to thank my past team members too as they were a big part of our journey and have made us who we are today. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to our loyal clients and guests who always support us and are so amazing to us. There have been some challenging times in the past with plenty of lessons along the way. A massive thank you to our clients and for their understanding during Covid times where everyone was tested and challenged in many different ways. I have got to say I could not be more grateful and happy to have a salon in such a beautiful town as Carrick-on-Shannon. As we all know it's the place to be and the place to live as well. Weve got everything in this town. The most important part is the people - great people in an amazing community, and in such a caring and fun loving town. I am very proud to call it my home. For the month of August, and to mark their 10th anniversary, Laila Valentino Pro will be running a special offer on hair care. It is an in-salon treatment from the luxurious brand Kerastase, the Fusio-dose treatment at a special price of 10 . It is a fast acting treatment with different combinations for different hair needs. To also mark the 10 year anniversary, as it is a decade since we opened our first salon based across the street beside the bridge, we are going to host a night to remember in the salon on August 26 at 7pm - it will be a time to celebrate and to toast the next 10 years. We will have plenty of surprises in store and plenty of demonstrations featuring the new trends in the industry. Plus we might get our dance moves out with live music on the evening. Lets celebrate our 10th anniversary together. We invite each and every one of you - existing, future and past clients - to come along and help us celebrate. Call in for a glass of champagne and enjoy the food, receive a goody bag and let's celebrate the success of a small dreamer, a dreamer who once wished to call her salon one day by her own name. With love and greeting from all the Laila Valentino team, we would like to say a massive thank you and we are looking forward to you joining us at our 10 year celebration. The war in Ukraine combined with Russia's threats to European leaders have put the issue of energy at the top of the political agenda. In this delicate situation, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visitited Azerbaijan's capital Baku on July 18 to announce with a good deal of fanfare a new agreement to double Azerbaijani gas imports, so as to diversify the European Union's supply sources. In addition to the fact that this initiative is part of an unending quest to exploit our planet's resources, it once again makes the European Union dependent on a state with belligerent policies. It is an understatement to say that this announcement is frightening, for anyone who knows how the dictatorship that heads Azerbaijan uses the proceeds of its gas revenues. Not only is it ruled, for the past three decades, by the same caste of people that indulges in every possible human rights abuse, but it is also desperately seeking to finance arms being used to exterminate Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and in the Republic of Armenia. Additionally, the Azerbaijani solution is rooted in the past, as it contradicts the European Union's commitments to the energy transition and its demands for a more sovereign energy policy. Read more Brussels wants to reduce EU energy consumption by 15% to break its dependence on Russian gas This is why we urge the European Commission to abandon this project with Azerbaijan, just as we ask the heads of state and government of the European Union and the European Parliament not to ratify, under any circumstances, an agreement that would substitute the dependence on Russian gas with Azerbaijani gas. Serious threat to EU's peace and security We are interested in your experience using the site. Send feedback The 44-day war in the autumn of 2020 revealed Azerbaijan's appalling plans. Its military strength was backed by Turkey's transport of jihadists to serve as auxiliaries to the Azerbaijani army. President Emmanuel Macron criticized not only the use of phosphorus bombs, which are strictly forbidden due to the human and ecological disasters they generate, but also the torture of prisoners of war held in Azerbaijani jails, with total disregard for international conventions. Azerbaijan has made it clear that it is not satisfied with its military victory. In December 2020, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to Enver Pasha, one of the brains behind the Armenian genocide, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev congratulated himself for having "chased Armenians like dogs" and expressed his ambitions concerning the Syunik region (southern Armenia), Lake Sevan (northern Armenia) and even the capital, Yerevan. Since then, not a day goes by without the Azerbaijani army using weapons and taking up positions on the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia, and targeting the local population. You have 40.67% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. A DR JEKYLL and Mr Hyde personality who was involved in a hostage situation resulting in tenants being moved to a roof, 20 gardai including trained negotiators being deployed, and roads being closed for several hours has been sentenced. Niall Carey, aged 35, with an address at Convent Road, Abbeyfeale appeared before Judge Tom O'Donnell at Limerick Circuit Court. In outlining the facts of the case, Judge ODonnell said Mr Carey and his partner had rekindled their relationship and moved to Abbeyfeale where they resided for 12 months. In October of 2021 the relationship encountered difficulties and Mr Carey moved to Limerick. They were both receiving methadone in Abbeyfeale. On November 2, 2021, the accused got a bus from Limerick to Abbeyfeale. He fell asleep, ended up in Tralee and missed his methadone appointment. He called to the apartment (in the town) seeking some of his partner's methadone. He was in a highly intoxicated state and a serious row ensued. He prevented her from leaving - the landlord witnessed this, said Judge O'Donnell. The court heard it was a serious stand-off lasting three hours. A major garda operation ensued involving 20 gardai including specially trained negotiators. Tenants were evacuated by roof for their safety. Roads were closed for several hours causing considerable disruption to traffic. The accused armed himself with a candlestick. Floorboards were pulled up and he damaged furniture to the cost of 5,000. He was arrested and appeared before the district court, said Judge O'Donnell, who added that one garda suffered an injury to his hand. Mr Carey was also before the circuit court in relation to offences in Newcastle West on May 6, 2020. The defendant, his partner and a male were sharing a house in Templegreen. The accused and his partner have a volatile relationship. The accused had gone to Limerick to get methadone. When he returned he was highly intoxicated, volatile and demanded to be let into the house. Such was the level of aggression the male picked up a shovel to keep him out. He managed to get in. His partner went into a bedroom and took a kitchen knife with her such was her concern for her own safety, said Judge ODonnell. The court heard Mr Carey hit his partner. The male intervened, got hold of the knife - suffering a cut as he did so - and managed to get Mr Carey out of the house. However, he was struck in the arm by the defendant with a shovel. Judge ODonnell said Mr Carey then broke into a property in Cois Teampaill, Newcastle West. He barricaded himself into the house and threatened to harm himself if gardai were called. He continued to be aggressive. He kept complaining about the loss of a chain from around his neck, said Judge ODonnell. Detective Sergeant Michael Reidy, who gave evidence of both incidents, described it as bizarre. Matters escalated, the armed response unit was called and there was a two hour stand-off. Garda deployed a stun gun to arrest Mr Carey, who has 56 previous convictions including burglary, robbery, assault, violent disorder. Judge ODonnell said the accuseds record shows a propensity for violence. He described the hostage situation in Abbeyfeale as a highly volatile and dangerous situation and spoke of the domestic violence. The judge took into account mitigating factors as outlined by Mr Careys barrister Liam Carroll. These were pleas of guilt, remorse expressed and his drug and alcohol issues. Judge ODonnell said Mr Carey has a Jekyll and Hyde personality. He is not a problem when sober but under the influence of intoxicants unfortunately there is a risk of all hell breaking loose, said Judge ODonnell. Mr Carey was sentenced to concurrent two years and six months prison sentences on three charges relating to the Newcastle West incidents - assault causing harm, production of an article in the course of a dispute namely a shovel and threat to damage property. Regarding the hostage situation in Abbeyfeale Judge ODonnell imposed concurrent two years and six months jail on each of false imprisonment, threat to kill, criminal damage and public order. They are to commence at the expiration of time served for the Newcastle West incidents. IF YOU tested a soil sample in Patrickswell it would be positive for a different type of P and K point taking and killer instinct. Patrickswell farmer Paul Reidy decided on the spur of the moment to show his support for parishioners Diarmaid Byrnes, Aaron Gillane, Cian Lynch, and Colin Coughlan (Ballybrown). I was getting the silage out of the way before the match. I said the weather was fine so we would knock that field. It was going to be a grand day so let it down and wilt away, said Paul, who got creative when he went cutting silage on the eve of the All-Ireland. His canvas was a 30-acre field at Kilcolman. A friend of mine Cillian Cliffe, from Ballybrown, has a drone. I said I would give it a go and if it looked any way good we can take a picture of it. And if it didnt I can cut it and no one will know the difference. I did it in about 20 or 30 minutes, said Paul, who is somewhat controversial as he lives in Patrickswell but hurls with Ballybrown! The 29-year-old didnt painstakingly measure it all out; remarkably he cut it all by eye. Its not his first rodeo though as they cut all their own silage and he has experience working with contractors. The next day Paul was in the upper tier of the Cusack. It didnt bother me where I was sitting it was just to be up there to see a piece of history in the making. I never got to go to the last two so I made it my business to go this time, said Paul, who would have hurled with and against Diarmaid, Aaron, Cian and Colin. It is easier to play with them! Every year they are bringing something new to the table. They have all the physical work done but the final part is the mentality and when you get to the big day of the All-Ireland they have to be mentally right for that, said Paul. When the pressure came on from Kilkenny in the second half Limerick didnt wilt unlike Pauls silage. A JUDGE described a case involving an assault in a Limerick pub as puzzling. Paul Mason, aged 55, of Maple Court, Kennedy Park, Limerick city pleaded guilty to assaulting a man in Gerry Powers licensed premises, William Street, Limerick city on August 25, 2019. Prosecuting barrister, John O'Sullivan, instructed by state solicitor Padraig Mawe, said the victim, a man aged in his late 20s at the time, was drinking with a group of friends at the pub. He was seen walking out on his own. There was a brief friendly salute to Mr Mason and the person he was with. When the injured party came back into the bar Mr Mason suddenly stood up and started punching him with his fists, said Mr OSullivan. The investigating garda, Detective Aled Harkin agreed with the barrister. He said the encounter between Mr Mason, the person he was with and the victim as he walked outside was very brief. CCTV of the assault was shown to Judge Tom ODonnell. Det Garda Harkin said after Mr Mason was arrested he exercised his right to silence for the majority of his time in Henry Street. Yvonne Quinn BL, who represented Mr Mason, asked Det Garda Harkin if her client had a violent past? No, said Det Garda Harkin. Ms Quinn said Mr Masons wife sadly passed away in June of 2019, a couple of months before this incident. He is a train driver and has always been in gainful employment, said Ms Quinn. Judge ODonnell interjected to ask if the accused knew the victim. I dont believe so, said Det Garda Harkin. Limerick Circuit Court heard that Mr Mason claimed the victim said to him on leaving the bar, I am going to cut you, that he was alarmed on hearing this, thought the victim had a concealed weapon and believed he was going to be assaulted. Det Garda Harkin said the victim left the bar after the brief conversation. A number of minutes passed. He (Mr Mason) could have left the bar, said Det Garda Harkin. Ms Quinn said her client wholly accepts he should not have done what he did. He has no previous convictions. He holds his hands up. He is deeply ashamed. His behaviour was appalling. It is his first time before court at this hour of his life. The death of his wife had a devastating effect on him. There was no justification (for his actions). He comes from a good and law abiding family, said Ms Quinn. Judge ODonnell said there were aspects to the case that are puzzling to say the least. It was quite a serious incident. I accept there was no premeditation, it was spontaneous as such. He was the aggressor however it started, said Judge ODonnell. The aggravating factors were there was violence used in a crowded bar, he said. Mitigating factors were the plea of guilty and Mr Mason having no previous convictions. There is a puzzling aspect to it. The fact the accused and victim were not known to each other makes this all the more bizarre, said Judge ODonnell who imposed a two year suspended sentence. There is a co-accused in the case and that case is being heard separately. SHANNON AIRPORT is continuing to rise with three new airbridges forming part of a 10 million series of investments. Shannon Group is installing three new airbridges at Shannon Airport at a cost of a 1.8 million, as part of its latest suite of airport enhancement projects. The installation of three 60 tonne airbridges form phase one will see the airports six airbridges replaced over the next three years. Mary Considine, CEO of Shannon Group, said Shannon Group is focused on future proofing airport infrastructure. "This latest airbridge programme forms part of our investment strategy across the Shannon Airport campus," she said. Airbridges are used to board passengers directly from the airport terminal building on to aircraft without exposing passengers and crew to the elements. The first of the three airbridges has just been installed at the airport and took over two days, using multiple cranes to fit it to the terminal building. The airbridge is capable of accommodating over 22 types of large aircraft, excluding some smaller regional jets. Over the past 12 months, Shannon Group has been busy upgrading the airport experience, and enhancing infrastructure. Projects completed with support from the Department of Transport under the Regional Airports Programme, include a 2.5 million state-of-the-art security screening system which is halving the dwell time for passengers through security and eliminating the need to remove liquids and electronics, and 5.3 million on airfield rehabilitation works. The newly installed airbridge, manufactured by CIMC-Tianda Airport Support in China, arrived at Shannon Airport after a long journey halfway across the globe from Shenzhen. A further two airbridges will be replaced later this year, and in early 2023, with plans to replace the remaining three airbridges during phase two of the project at a later stage. China, Uzbekistan to strengthen cooperation in multiple areas Xinhua) 13:19, July 29, 2022 TASHKENT, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks here on Thursday with Uzbekistan's Acting Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov on deepening bilateral cooperation in various fields. During their talks, Wang said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 30 years ago, China-Uzbekistan relations have withstood the test of the changing international situation and grown stronger; their friendship has overcome challenges and become increasingly unbreakable; their cooperation has yielded fruitful results and gained more vitality. Wang attributed the success to the strategic guidance of the two heads of state and the joint efforts of the people of the two countries. China firmly supports Uzbekistan in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and social stability as well as continuing to follow the path of development and revitalization in line with its national conditions, and opposes any external interference in its internal affairs, he said. Wang said that China stands ready to follow the important consensus reached by the two heads of state to push forward the leapfrog development of bilateral relations and open up the next three decades of greater friendship, higher level of mutual trust, common development and shared prosperity between China and Uzbekistan. Calling Uzbekistan and China good brothers and friends, Norov said over the past 30 years, the two countries have consistently respected each other, treated each other as equals, set an example of mutually beneficial cooperation and served as a stable anchor for regional peace and development. The two sides have strengthened their friendship through mutual assistance in the fight against COVID-19, he said, noting that the two heads of state have maintained frequent interactions, jointly charted the course for the development of bilateral relations, and lifted bilateral cooperation to an unprecedentedly high level. The cooperation mechanism between the two sides in various fields has operated smoothly and practical cooperation has achieved fruitful results, Norov noted. Uzbekistan values its friendship with China and looks forward to learning from China's development experience to jointly push for a brighter future of bilateral relations, he stressed. Norov stressed that Uzbekistan welcomes and supports the important initiatives put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping, including the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative. The Uzbek side speaks highly of China's key role in promoting the sustainable development of developing countries, especially in the fields of anti-coronavirus and poverty alleviation, he added. Norov briefed Wang on Uzbekistan's preparations for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit to be held in autumn and thanked China for its strong support. Wang said that the Chinese side appreciates and supports Uzbekistan in actively fulfilling the duties of the SCO presidency, and is ready to work with the Central Asian country to gather more consensus and make comprehensive preparations for the summit. The two sides are pleased with the rapid growth in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and are confident that the bilateral economic and trade volume of 10 billion U.S. dollars, a target set by the two heads of state, will be realized. The two sides agreed to continue to boost Belt and Road cooperation with high quality, select and implement a number of major projects, and raise the scale and quality of industrial and investment cooperation between the two countries. They pledged to speed up the feasibility study for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, improve the capacity of the China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan railway and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan highway, and strengthen cooperation on road-rail combined transport along the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan route. The two sides will also jointly safeguard the safe and stable operation of the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline, tap the potential of agricultural cooperation, and speed up the construction of the China-Central Asia Agricultural Cooperation Center. The two sides will expand the joint production of vaccines. China supports Uzbekistan in establishing a regional center of vaccine production and research and development. Meanwhile, China will continue to carry out Brightness Action program in Uzbekistan, provide free cataract surgeries for another 500 Uzbek patients, and set up a cooperation center for blindness prevention in the Central Asian country. The two sides will also deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and sub-national cooperation. China welcomes Uzbek students back to China at an early date and will help the first group of them to return. In addition, Wang and Norov exchanged views on issues including cooperation between China and Central Asia, and the situation in Afghanistan. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) About 100 Ukrainian refugees have been temporarily housed at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin this week as the State struggles to find enough emergency beds for those fleeing the war. It is understood the refugees were put up on camp beds at the stadium for one week and will be moving to alternative accommodation on Friday. There are no plans for the arrangement at the Aviva to be extended, but it is believed similar arena-style sporting facilities will be considered for emergency shelter use in the coming months. It emerged earlier this month that Ireland had run out of state accommodation for arriving Ukrainian refugees resulting in Ukrainians being temporarily housed in tents at the Gormanston military camp in Co Meath. Sixty refugees are being housed at the army camp this week. The old Dublin Airport terminal was also being used for emergency accommodation, but it ceased to be used by the State as of Thursday. To date, Ireland has taken in around 42,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine the majority of them are women and children. At present some 32,000 people are being accommodated, the majority of whom are staying in serviced accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses. Every day about 130 more Ukrainian refugees arrive into the country. Over the summer, the Government used 5,000 student accommodation beds to put up some of the refugees. But over the coming weeks the number of these beds in use will reduce as students return to use them for the coming academic year. Religious buildings, modular homes and vacant properties are some of the other accommodation options being examined by the Government. Repurposing some vacant buildings for long-term use as homes for refugees is under way but it is understood it is proving to be a slow process. Another issue which is proving to be problematic is finding people to run facilities and provide all the supports needed such as catering, maintenance, security, and wellbeing support for long-term residents. 1 min read . Updated: 29 Jul 2022, 01:05 PM IST Alina Dizik, The Wall Street Journal The research says that sunny weather is a feel-good factor that can make a big difference A US delegation had a discussion with Taliban officials on efforts to enable the release of billions of dollars from Afghan central bank reserves, the State Department said on Thursday. The meeting, involving Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson, took place on Wednesday, the State Department said in a release. Earlier, Taliban's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi had said that the US-imposed sanctions hindered the progress of the country and asked had the United States government to release Afghanistan's Central Bank assets. Speaking at the Tashkent Conference on Afghanistan on Tuesday, Muttaqi claimed that the ongoing US sanctions and decades-long war are the main reasons for the poverty in the country. He added that the Islamic Emirate government is now ready to engage with the world based on mutual interest, Khaama Press reported. Freeing up cash may not solve all of Afghanistan's financial troubles, but it would provide relief for a country hit by a slump in foreign aid, persistent drought and an earthquake in June that killed 1,000 people. Millions of Afghans are facing a second winter without enough to eat. (With inputs from Reuters) Click here to read the full article. Eldridge Industries is taking over the Golden Globe Awards, which will be turned into a private entity separate from the Hollywood Foreign Press Associations charitable and philanthropic programs, which will be managed as a non-profit entity. The HFPA membership voted to approve the transfer of ownership to Eldridge, which is run by Todd Boehly, who has served as the orgs interim CEO since last year. The HFPA put itself on the auction block in May, and Boehly had been looking to buy the organization since then. This spring, the group formed a special committee within the nonprofit organization to determine potential outside strategic interest in its organization and assets. This is a historic moment for the HFPA and the Golden Globes, said HFPA president Helen Hoehne. We have taken a decisive step forward to transform ourselves and adapt to this increasingly competitive economic landscape for both award shows and the journalism marketplace. Our special committee and team of legal and financial advisors did an incredible amount of work in reviewing, analyzing, and comparing the options presented to us. We are excited to move forward with a mandate to ensure we continue our support for increasing diversity in all areas and maintaining our life-changing charitable and philanthropic efforts. According to the HFPA, Eldridge will create a new private company, which would acquire all rights for the Golden Globes intellectual property and be empowered to oversee the professionalization and modernization of the Golden Globe Awards. The transition will include the development of staff and an executive team to lead the new organization. As part of the transition, the group will add additional Golden Globes voters to increase the size and diversity of the available voters for the annual awards, the group said. But it also calls into question what a for-profit entity will look like, and whether that will further cause concerns over the orgs already frequently lambasted conduct. Theres also the question of Boehly now both owning the Globes and, through Eldridge, MRC Live and Alternative the company formerly known as Dick Clark Prods., which produces the Globes. (Boehly is also reportedly aiming to acquire MRC Live and Alternative outright, according to Puck. Such a move may further surface conflict-of-interest questions.) The HFPA said in its press release that it would have no further statements or address the news beyond what was announced today. Also according to the HFPA, Boehly was not part of the review, recommendation, or approval process. In recent months, the HFPAs financial advisor, Houlihan Lokey, yielded several submitted proposals from a number of companies and investment groups. Each proposal was reviewed and analyzed by the HFPAs Special Committee, alongside its legal advisor, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. The special committee was composed of the three outside independent members of the HFPAs board: Sharlette Hambrick, Jeff Harris and Dr. Joanna Massey. This review process was comprehensive, deliberate and thoughtful to ensure fairness and accuracy, Hoehne said. Per our bylaws, the decision ultimately rested with our membership, who voted on the proposal. As we look forward to celebrating our 80th anniversary event in January 2023, we are incredibly excited about this new era for our Association. The HFPAs move comes after more than a year of turmoil for the nearly 80-year-old press organization that has thrived over the past 25 years on lucrative fees from NBCUniversal and other partners for the Golden Globe Awards. Theres still no confirmation as to whether the Globes will return to NBC in 2023, but the new ownership structure is likely a step forward in potentially making that happen. As Variety reported in June, the HFPA had met with major studios in networks in the spring and early summer to lay out the list of changes the org had made over the past year and a half. The HFPA touted the addition of 21 new members (nearly half of whom were women, and most of whom where people of color), as well as DEI training, a new chief diversity officer, new independent advisors and consultants, an NAACP partnership, new gift, travel and conflict of interest policies and other bylaws, among other reforms. The HFPA has been in reform mode since spring 2021, when the Los Angeles Times detailed new allegations of questionable financial practices inside the small, insular organization, as well as paltry record of diversity and representation (including an entire lack of Black members). The group responded by releasing a framework for reform that included measures to increase the number of people of color in its ranks. The org had already instituted new restrictions on gifts that the members could receive and payments for work on their committees. Nonetheless, those charges of questionable practices and a lack of diverse membership led NBC to announce that it would not air the Golden Globes in 2022. In May 2021, HFPA announced a timeline that would overhaul the organization by creating five pillars of change: accountability, membership, inclusion, good governance/ethics, and transparency. This January, without NBC as broadcast partner, the HFPA moved forward with the 2022 Golden Globes in a private ceremony at the Beverly Hilton, without any nominees in attendance. The 2022 ceremony put an emphasis on the Golden Globes philanthropic partners and efforts instead. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Comedian Jo Koy and film producer Dan Lin wrapped the inaugural Rise for Comedy festival on Thursday with a $75,000 donation to the nonprofit Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA). Koy hosted the event, in support of his upcoming film Easter Sunday, spread over two nights at Historic Filipinotowns Rideback Ranch. The shenanigans kicked off with a panel on representation moderated by Kathy K. Im, director of journalism and media at the MacArthur Foundation. Among the panelists were Los Angeles Times TV critic Lorraine Ali, CNN reporter Lisa Ling, Panda Express Chief Brand Officer Andrea Cherng and UTAs Jacqueline Kim. Discussing representation in broadcast journalism, Ling told the 200-person crowd that she would not have pursued a career in journalism had it not been for news anchor Connie Chung. When I was growing up, Connie was the only Asian person on a national stage delivering the news. She allowed me to know what was possible. Following the panel, Koy returned to the stage with Lin to present a $25,000 check to SIPA board officers Edward Malicdem, Jennifer Taylor, Rachel Buenviaje and Rita Garcia. During the presentation, Koy matched the donation then turned to Lin and encouraged the CEO of production company Rideback to donate an additional $25,000, raising the total to $75,000. Koy laughed at putting Lin on the spot for donation funds. You should have seen him sweat; I have never heard the sound of sweat until now, he joked. SIPA assists with the development of small and micro businesses in Los Angeles, with a focus on Asian American communities, especially those of low-income immigrants. The night ended with a stand-up comedy routine from AAPI comedians that included Jimmy O. Yang, Ronny Chieng, Fahim Anwar and Andrew Lopez. Koy, who also has a Netflix special coming in September, didnt want to spoil any jokes from the show so he delivered an impromptu set that included quips about finding inappropriate items in his sons travel bag and being sold a nylon Prada jumpsuit. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Former Doctor Who star Matt Smith couldnt help but praise Sex Educations Ncuti Gatwa for becoming the 14th Time Lord on the hit sci-fi series. During the House of the Dragon world premiere Wednesday night at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, Smith admitted that he and Gatwa havent met in person yet, but the two have talked via WhatsApp. I think its the most sensational bit of casting. What an actor hes brilliant in Sex Education,' Smith, who played The Doctor between 2010 and 2013, told Variety Senior Entertainment Writer Angelique Jackson. I think hes got something other that that part really needs. BBC confirmed back in May that Gatwa would star as the 14th Doctor on the show, making him the first Black actor to portray the titular role. Gatwa will be taking over from Jodie Whittaker, who has played the part since 2017. I think [showrunner] Russell [T Davies] has such a sense of the show as well, and Im really, really excited to see where Doctor Who is going, Smith said. I love Doctor Who, its forever in my heart. Smith is gearing up to star as Prince Daemon Targaryen in HBOs House of the Dragon. Set nearly 200 years before the events that occurred in Game of Thrones, the highly-anticipated spinoff follows the story of House Targaryen and an epic battle between the potential heirs of the Iron Throne. Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon will debut on HBO and HBO Max on Aug. 21, while Season 14 of Doctor Who is set to premiere in 2023. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Four documentary filmmakers were invited to participate in the Sundance Institutes newly created Indigenous non-fiction intensive program that concludes July 29. The three-day program was created to identify Indigenous artists creating formally bold and personal work and to uplift them with a small grant and mentorship on a current edit of their short-form documentary films. The four filmmakers selected to partake in the new initiative are: Sarah Liese (Coming In), Sean Connelly (A Justice Advancing Architecture Tour), Olivia Camfield and Woodrow Hunt (If You Look Under There Youll Find It). The advisors for the inaugural program include Emmy award-winning filmmaker Colleen Thurston (Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People), filmmaker-editor Maya Daisy Hawke (Cave of Forgotten Dreams), and filmmaker Darol Olu Kae (I Ran From It and Was Still in It). Each participant will receive year-round creative support from Sundances Indigenous program staffers as they work to complete their films. Indigenous program director Adam Piron says that the new initiative builds on the Sundance Institutes commitment to documentary filmmaking through its documentary film program and labs. Theres a history of documentary film and Indigenous communities thats been, to put it lightly, contentious, says Piron. This tension lies in the non-fiction fields roots in salvage ethnography, a now widely critiqued practice of early American anthropologys compulsions of capturing cultures before their assumed extinction. He notes that Robert J. Flahertys silent film Nanook of the North (1922), the first feature-length documentary, has since been criticized for its subhumanizing portrayals of the Inuit in comparing them to animals and staged sequences that inferred Indigenous people were technologically a century behind how they were currently living. The success of Flahertys work and others further cemented American cinemas image of Indigenous people as living outside of modernity and opened the door for filmmakers utilizing similar extractive and deliberately misrepresentative practices that have continued a century later, he says. With all of its built-in questioning of objectivity, subjectivity, and the gaze, non-fiction provided a cinematic space that Indigenous artists have utilized to subvert the very form itself and its historical conventions by leaning into their own expressions of culturally specific storytelling traditions and logic. The three-day intensive joins the Sundance Institutes long running Indigenous program, which was created in 1994. The program provides support to Indigenous and Native American-created stories on a global scale. From labs and fellowships to screenings and gatherings around the world, the programs offerings are designed in response to the specific needs of Native and Indigenous storytellers. Thus far the program has supported more than 300 Native and Indigenous filmmakers including Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo, Sydney Freeland, Erica Tremblay, and Blackhorse Lowe. At the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, nine projects by Indigenous artists screened. The Sundance Institute Indigenous non-fiction intensive is intended to be an annual event. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. One of Laredo's most iconic parks has a fresh coat of paint thanks to a group of local volunteers. The mural, which is located at the riverside Tres Laredo park in downtown Laredo, was completed by members of the Laredo community over the past weekend. Members of the Rio Grande International Study Center and the No Border Wall Coalition organized the event. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ISTANBUL (AP) Turkeys foreign minister urged Germany on Friday to be an honest broker and not always side with Athens in disputes between Turkey and Greece. Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments during a tense news conference with his visiting German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, where the two volleyed grievances back and forth, including over Turkeys plans for a new military incursion into Syria and its human rights issues. Germany has acted as an honest mediator in the past. It had a balanced attitude, but lately, we see that this balance is unfortunately being lost, Cavusoglu said, accusing Berlin of falling for Greek propaganda. Baerbock met with Cavusoglu in Istanbul after holding talks with officials in Greece, where she criticized Turkey for disputing the sovereignty of Greek islands near its coastline. She also urged Greece to make sure it stamps out any illegal pushbacks of migrants at the border. NATO neighbors Turkey and Greece have been at odds for decades over sea boundaries, related drilling rights and the war-divided island of Cyprus, disputes that have brought them to the brink of war on several occasions. Yes, many questions of international law are complicated, but some are also very simple. Greek islands Lesbos, Chios, Rhodes and many, many others are Greek territory, and no one has the right to raise questions over that, Baerbock told reporters after holding talks in Athens with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. Turkish officials says the sovereignty of eastern Greek islands can be disputed if it keeps a military presence there in violation of its treaty commitments. Athens disputes that view and has accused Turkey of carrying out frequent military overflights at its islands in the eastern Aegean Sea. In both Greece and Turkey, Baerbock suggested that the NATO members should concentrate their efforts on supporting Ukraine, and singled out Russian President Vladimir Putin for his countrys aggression. For me, it is clear that we must solve conflicts between NATO partners in dialogue. Disputes in the ranks of the alliance are exactly what the Russian president wants, she said in Athens. That includes respecting each others sovereignty. Cavusoglu said Turkey wanted Germany to adopt the same balanced and trusted attitude displayed by former Chancellor Angela Merkel who had mediated between Ankara and Athens in the past. As the two ministers exchanged grievances, Baerbock spoke out against Turkish plans to launch a new military offensive in northern Syria to push back Syrian Kurdish fighters that Ankara considers to be a threat to its security. The suffering of Syrians would once again worsen with a renewed military confrontation," she said, adding that the incursion could help the Islamic State group gain a foothold in Syria. Cavusoglu responded: When our allies tell us they understand Turkeys (security) concerns, we dont want it to be through words only. We expect them to support Turkeys legitimate fight (against terrorism)." The German minister was also critical of a Turkish court ruling that convicted philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison, despite rulings by European Court of Human Rights that had called for his release. Cavusoglu said he "would have had more respect for Baerbocks opinion if she had also criticized Greece, whom he accused of failing to respect ECHR rulings regarding Muslim minorities in Greece. Baerbock, who visited a refugee camp near Athens on Thursday, said EU countries needed to do more ensure that the right to apply for asylum was upheld at the blocs external borders. Human rights groups say Greece is not properly processing many migrants and asylum-seekers trying to reach the EU, including illegally pushing back some trying to cross the border. We must uphold the values on which the European Union was built, she said. We ... must do more to ensure that people are safe and that there are no human rights violations at the border, and for me this includes illegal pushbacks. We are not there yet. The German minister was scheduled to meet with refugees in the Turkish capital Ankara, on Saturday. Turkey hosts 3.7 million Syrians who have sought refuge from the war. ___ Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Derek Gatopoulos in Athens and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed. ___ Follow all AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Contraband including weapons, cellphones, drones and grappling hooks believed to be headed to state prisons was seized at a warehouse in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections announced Friday. The department's Office of Inspector General learned of the contraband and raided the warehouse on July 15 with Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics agents, according to a news release from Corrections Department spokesperson Josh Ward. Justin Brown, another spokesperson for the department, said few other details could be released because it involves an ongoing investigation into contraband being smuggled into prisons. Seized items included 31 cellphones, which have been used to run drug rings from prisons and to coordinate inmate violence, such as fights in 2019 at several state prisons that left one inmate dead and dozens injured. Ammunition, drugs, tobacco and $8,500 in counterfeit $100 bills were also seized. The grappling hooks were intended to retrieve the contraband, the Oklahoma Corrections Department said. They had everything there that you would need to try to get a contraband drop into a facility some of the drops were already wrapped up and ready for delivery, Inspector General Ted Woodhead said. Drones have been used to deliver contraband into prisons nationwide, including federal prisons, leading to charges this month in Beaumont, Texas. The Biden administration has called on Congress to expand authority for federal and local governments to take action to counter nefarious uses of drones. No arrests were announced, but Woodhead said charges are expected against numerous individuals at the end of what he said is an ongoing investigation into the contraband. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war captured after the fall of Mariupol, the city where troops famously held out against a monthslong Russian siege. Both sides said the assault was premeditated with the aim of covering up atrocities. Russia claimed that Ukraine's military used U.S.-supplied rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People's Republic. Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded another 75. Moscow opened a probe into the attack, sending a team to the site from Russias Investigative Committee, the country's main criminal investigation agency. The state RIA Novosti agency reported that fragments of U.S.-supplied precision High Mobility Artillery Rocket System rockets were found at the site. The Ukrainian military denied making any rocket or artillery strikes in Olenivka, and it accused the Russians of shelling the prison to cover up the alleged torture and execution of Ukrainians there. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the shelling as a deliberate, cynical, calculated mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners. Neither claim could be independently verified. Video shot by The Associated Press showed charred, twisted bed frames in the wrecked barracks, as well as burned bodies and metal sheets hanging from the destroyed roof. The footage also included bodies lined up on the ground next to a barbed-wire fence and an array of what was claimed to be metal rocket fragments on a wooden bench. Denis Pushilin, the leader of the internationally unrecognized Donetsk republic, said the prison held 193 inmates. He did not specify how many were Ukrainian POWs. The deputy commander of the Donetsk separatist forces, Eduard Basurin, suggested that Ukraine decided to strike the prison to prevent captives from revealing key military information. Ukraine knew exactly where they were being held and in what place," he said. "After the Ukrainian prisoners of war began to talk about the crimes they committed, and orders they received from Kyiv, a decision was made by the political leadership of Ukraine: carry out a strike here. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called for a strict investigation into the attack and urged the United Nations and other international organizations to condemn it. He said the Russians had transferred some Ukrainian prisoners to the barracks just a few days before the strike, suggesting that it was planned. The purpose to discredit Ukraine in front of our partners and disrupt weapons supply, he tweeted. Ukrainian officials alleged that Russias Wagner Group, mercenaries Russia has used in other armed conflicts and reportedly elsewhere in Ukraine, carried out the assault. Ukraines security agencies issued a statement citing evidence that Russia was responsible, including the transfer of prisoners, analysis of injuries and the blast wave, intercepted phone conversations and the absence of shelling at the site. "All this leaves no doubt: The explosion in Olenivka was a Russian terrorist act and a gross violation of international agreements, the statement said. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, described the strike as a bloody provocation aimed at discouraging Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. He too claimed that U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets were used, and said eight guards were among the wounded. Ukrainian forces are fighting to hold on to the remaining territory under their control in Donetsk. Together with the neighboring Luhansk province, they make up Ukraine's mostly Russian-speaking industrial Donbas region. For several months, Moscow has focused on trying to seize parts of the Donbas not already held by the separatists. Holding POWs in an area with active fighting appeared to defy the Geneva Convention, which requires that prisoners be evacuated as soon as possible after capture to camps away from combat zones. The Ukrainian POWS at the Donetsk prison included troops captured during the fall of Mariupol. They spent months holed up with civilians at a giant steel mill in the southern port city. Their resistance during a relentless Russian bombardment became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance against Russia's aggression. More than 2,400 soldiers from the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian national guard and other military units gave up their fight and surrendered under orders from Ukraine's military in May. Scores of Ukrainian soldiers have been taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas. Some have returned to Ukraine as part of prisoner exchanges with Russia, but the families of other POWs have no idea whether their loved ones are still alive, or if they will ever come home. In other developments Friday: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the highest-level known contact between the two sides since Russia invaded Ukraine. Blinken urged Russia to accept a deal to win the release of American detainees Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Ukraine's president visited one of the country's main Black Sea ports a week after a deal was struck to create safe corridors for grain shipments that have been trapped in the country since the war began. Workers were seen preparing terminals for grain exports, which are relied on by millions of impoverished people worldwide. Zelenskyy said the shipments would begin with the departure of several vessels that were already loaded but could not leave when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The Ukrainian presidential office said at least 13 civilians were killed and another 36 wounded in Russian shelling over the last 24 hours. In the southern city of Mykolaiv, at least four people were killed and seven others wounded when Russian shelling hit a bus stop. The Russian barrage also hit a facility that distributed humanitarian aid where three people were wounded, officials said. Ukrainian officials also said at least four civilians were killed and five hurt in the eastern town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. An appeals court in Kyiv on Friday reduced to 15 years the life sentence of a Russian soldier convicted in the first war crimes trial since Russia invaded Ukraine. Critics had said the sentencing of Vadim Shishimarin, 21, was unduly harsh given that he confessed to the crime and expressed remorse. He pleaded guilty to killing a civilian and was convicted in May. His defense lawyer argued that Shishimarin shot a Ukrainian man on the orders of his superiors. ___ Follow the APs coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine John Raoux /AP A Texas family is set to receive a major payout from a telecommunications company after an employee killed an elderly woman using a tool given on the job. This week, a jury in Dallas County found Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum, negligent in hiring a field technician who later killed Betty Thomas, one of the internet providers customers. According to reports, former Spectrum employee Roy Holden Jr. robbed and stabbed 83-year-old Thomas inside her home in December 2019. The then-technician reportedly went back to Thomas home a day after helping her with a phone line, driving a Spectrum van and using a utility knife supplied by the company to fatally stab her multiple times. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. A judge in Atlanta has rejected an appeal by a group of voters who sought to make Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ineligible to run for reelection. The voters said she played a big role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and was therefore ineligible because she engaged in insurrection or rebellion. A Georgia administrative law judge found insufficient evidence to back their claims. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger affirmed that decision. And now Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Christopher Brasher has affirmed that Greene can remain in the race. 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. (Alliance News) - BWA Group PLC on Friday said that Chair Richard Battersby will step down from his role immediately, due to medical reasons. BWA is a London-based minerals exploration investment company, with licences in both Cameroon and Canada. Board member James Butterfield will take on the role of chair on an interim basis, the company said. Meanwhile, Battersby will remain on the board in a non-executive capacity before retiring at the end of October this year. BWA shares were untraded at 0.475 pence each in London on Friday afternoon. By Sophie Rose; sophierose@alliancenews.com Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Yamana Gold Inc - Toronto, Canada-based mining company - Swings to quarterly profit on larger gold and silver production. In its second quarter to June 30, posts net earnings of USD72.1 million versus a loss of USD43.9 million a year ago. Turns to earnings per share of 7 US cents from a loss of 5 US cents. Revenue grows 11% to USD485.6 million from USD437.4 million, helped by an increase in gold and silver production. Mine operating earnings surge 28% to USD182.1 million from USD142.3 million as gold and silver production increases. Produces 232,542 ounces of gold in the quarter, up 7.0% from 217,402 a year ago. Silver production grows 45% to 2.4 million from 1.6 million. Meanwhile, average realised gold price rises 2.8% to USD1,869 per ounce from USD1,817 while average realised silver price falls 15% to USD22.25 from USD25.96 per ounce. Declares third quarter dividend of 3 US cents per share, unchanged from prior year. Report comes one day after Yamana said it expects up to 28.66 grammes of gold per tonne at its Odyssey exploration in Canada. Yamana Gold has a market capitalisation of USD4.56 billion and is since May a target of a USD6.7 billion takeover bid by Johannesburg-based Gold Fields Ltd. Current stock price: 400.00 pence, up 2.6% on Friday 12-month change: up 26% By Tom Budszus; tombudszus@alliancenews.com Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. On July 26, 2022 (Independence Day), members of the University of Liberia campus-based political party known as the Student Unification Party (SUP) were attacked by a group calling itself Coalition for Democratic Change Council of Patriots (CDC-COP), an auxiliary group of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) of President George M. Weah during the SUPs Fix The Country protest in Monrovia. An unsettling video from the scene shows Christopher Walter Sisulu Sivili, a SUP member, being beaten and abused. The student was observed being beaten up by a mob of CDC supporters who were around him, in what seemed to be a disturbing echo of the past in which President Samuel Doe was naked, beaten, and tortured by Warlord Prince Johnson, now Senator and a firm supporter of Weah during our violent civil war in Liberia. As blood dripped from his mouth and nose, they stripped him naked. Some cursed him, tortured him, and accused him and his colleagues of being unappreciative of President Weah, who has provided them with free tuition among other things. To the surprise of journalists, some witnesses, and motorcyclists who subsequently came to his rescue when he was abandoned by his tormentors, anti-riot police did nothing to save him while he was being brutalized. Paul Dolo, another SUP member, also sustained injuries. According to SUP officials, a few members are still missing. Since then, they have claimed that the violent acts committed against their members were planned and carried out by the ruling party. There are increasing concerns amongst citizens about the fragility of the Liberian state under the CDC-led government. The 1986 Liberia constitution states that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. The 2020 suspicious deaths of four public-sector internal auditors in Liberia sent shock waves throughout the country. Occurring over eight days, from October 3-10, the four deaths involved Emmanuel Barten Nyeswua, director general, Liberia Internal Audit Agency, Albert Peters, Gifty Lama, and George F. Fanbutu, all with the Liberia Revenue Authority. All four reportedly were conducting audits of Liberia government accounts over allegations of misappropriation of funds. Nyeswua died of an apparent fall, while the others died in apparent car accidents. In February of 2022, Melvin Earley, a presidential guard-Executive Protective Service (EPS) traveling with the president on a nationwide tour died from a gunshot. According to EPS, Melvin Earley committed suicide, however, the family of Melvin Early said under no circumstance he would have killed himself. According to the family, Melvin was executed. The 2022 Fragile States Index (FSI) ranked Liberia as the 33rd most fragile state in the world and 21st in Africa. According to the Index, Yemen is the most failed state, followed closely by Somalia, while Finland, Norway, Iceland, New Zealand, Denmark, and Switzerland are among the best and most stable states on earth. FSI, a yearly report by Washington, DC-based think tank Fund for Peace, ranks 178 countries across 12 indicators of the risks and vulnerabilities faced by individual nations. Some of the risk indicators include security, group grievances, economic decline, brain drain, state legitimacy/human rights and rule of law, demographic pressures, and internally displaced persons or refugees. These indicators assessed: the vulnerability of states to collapse by measuring vulnerability in pre-conflict, active conflict, and post-conflict situations. The 2022 FSI report identified Liberia as one of the states the international community must keep in view, having scored a relatively high figure which places it in the alert category, trailed only by countries with long-standing political and security woes like the Central African Republic, Sudan, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Nigeria and the like. On September 613, 2019, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) secretariat visited Liberia to observe key impressions'' to determine if the country is Fit for Fragility Project. The group collected cutting-edge data and research to advise and direct donor policy in delicate situations. It compiles information and research on fragility, adopts a fact-based understanding of what makes certain contexts vulnerable, contributes to keeping issues related to fragility at the top of the international development agenda, and encourages more productive programming on the ground. The OECD 2020 report titled The States of Fragility, stated Liberia is becoming a fragile state. According to the report, the lack of faith in the government continued impunity for war crimes, and corruption remains ingrained in the Liberian state. State fragility is also manifested in the failure of the state to deliver basic services to citizens. And, of course, Liberia lacks the ability to get things done, to provide basic things that are taken for granted in many other states! Liberia probably has one of the worst public sectors in West Africa, with poor quality of policy delivery and public investment management. There is no disputing the fact that Liberia merits her position. Government legitimacy is not just about winning elections, its also about the social contract. If a government doesnt meet the needs of the people, it would lack legitimacy in their eyes. Liberia is a country where successive governments have failed to tackle unemployment, poverty, inequality, and insecurity, while public officers abuse the state for personal gain. The failure to do these things is put squarely at the doorsteps of the government that has lost the capacity to rein in sundry auxiliary groups of Weahs CDC who now terrorize any group or individual protesting against Weah's administration around the country. To compound the problem, the prevailing economic downturn has constrained the capacity of individuals, so much so that necessities of life, including food, Medicare, and shelter have gone far beyond the reach of most Liberians under Weahs administration. The conflicts are widening, and agitations are increasing by the day. The solutions to state fragility are largely domestic. Liberia must build strong and effective institutions of governance, develop the right societal norms and values, create a business and market-friendly environment, have honest leaders with the vision and competence to transform the nation, and create an enduring political settlement, including decentralized governance structures, to engender harmony and cohesion. Liberia, with an estimated population of 5.4 million and a gross domestic product of $3.4 billion United States dollars, is the first independent country in Africa with a history of coups and civil war. This means that this West African country cannot afford to succumb to insecurity or state fragility because it will reverberate across West Africa as it did in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast during the Liberian civil wars (1997, 2003). The president of the Balearics, Francina Armengol, today thanked the King of Spain and his family for being once again on holiday in Mallorca and highlighted Felipe VIs concern for the social and political situation of the region and the recovery of the economy. After a meeting with the king at the Almudaina Palace, Armengol told journalists that they had discussed, among other issues, the reality of the Balearics, the economic recovery, the rise in prices and also the impact of the war in Ukraine. The Balearics, after the crisis caused by the covid-19, is at excellent levels of employment, with unemployment at its lowest level since 2008, for which the king congratulated society and social agents of the islands, the president explained. Armengol pointed out that the Balearics economic recovery is linked to the good data from the tourism sector, and said that she had explained to the monarch the content of the islands Tourism Law, which focuses on environmental and social sustainability. The future of the Balearics must be one of sustainability, said Armengol. Public Statement by Tiawan Saye Gongloe on the July 26, 2022 Violence Against Members of the Student Unification Party (SUP) Hello fellow Liberians. In this public manner, we condemn, deprecate, and denounce in no uncertain terms, the unprovoked attack on the members of the Student Unification Party (SUP) by the pro-government militia force of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) on the 175th anniversary of the Republic of Liberia. According to all reliable accounts, the students were attacked while they were exercising their constitutional rights to freedom of assembly and speech. Worst still, we have learned that the police were basically a dereliction of their duty, by watching and cheering the attackers, rather than arresting them. There cannot be any common sense reason for the extremely cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment of these patriotic and nationalistic sons and daughters of our beloved motherland. The only crime committed by student Christopher Walter Sisulu Sivili, who was subjected to extreme brutality by a collective deadly force of the evil forces of the government-backed CDC, was to peacefully assemble around the vicinity of the Embassy of the United States to show to the world that there was no reason for Liberians to celebrate the 175th Independence day of Liberia. In any country governed by the rule of law, this action on the part of student Christopher Togba and his colleagues is a legally protected right guaranteed by the Constitution and international human rights instruments to which the Liberian nation is a signatory. Sadly, under the Weah-led CDC government, the lack of respect for the rule of law and human rights is fast turning Liberia, a constitutional democracy, into a Fascist state, evidenced by the callous lawlessness that is becoming prevalent in the country. We call on President George Manneh Weah to stop leading Liberia on the path to another state of anarchy. Liberians do not want to be reminded of the ugly past of the use of forces such as the NDPL Task Force of the 1980s and the SOD and ATU of the Taylor era. Neither do Liberians want to live under any government-created atmosphere of fear and intimidation as was experienced through the brute unleashed by the notorious Tonton Macoute of Haiti, during the regime of the late General Francois Duvalier ( so-called Papa Doc). As a former Acting Chairman of the Student Unification Party (1981)and a past victim of state-sponsored brutality, I cannot sit by idly, and allow the gallant men and women of the Vanguard Student Unification Party, to be victimized by another round of state-sponsored terrorism. Upon our return to Liberia, we will institute the appropriate legal action to hold accountable those responsible for this mindless display of such a devilish force against the peaceful and law-abiding students of the University of Liberia. We call on President George Weah, not only to condemn this act of savagery and banditry but to take the appropriate steps in consonance with the Constitution and laws of Liberia, to bring to justice those responsible for the crimes committed against these peaceful citizens. President Weah has no other choice in this matter because the first and most important function of any responsible government is to protect its citizens. The high frequency of unexplained deaths and the governments declining ability to maintain law and order undermines public trust in the ability of the Government of Liberia to sustain the peace and create an enabling environment for free political activities, progress in the reconstruction of Liberia, and the economic development of the country. We also call on President George Weah to stop the continuing erosion of the gains the Liberian people have made in sustaining the peace and building a democratic society. We call on all citizens of Liberia, irrespective of our political differences, to speak with one voice in condemning the unwarranted violence committed against members of the Student Unification Party on the 175thanniversary of the Independence of Liberia. This display of naked brutality was a desecration of the number one holiday in Liberia. In the words of our national anthem, in Union Strong Success is sure. We cannot fail and With God above our rights to prove, we will overall prevail. A Better Liberia is Possible God bless the People of Liberia Mbabane Shots on me! Congratulations are in order as Uncle Waffles has signed a deal with Jagermeister Africa. The star made the news known through social media as she expressed her excitement for the new partnership with the alcohol brand. In her post, Uncle Waffles shared photos of herself holding the bottle in three different shots. Her fans took to her social media page to celebrate the star, along with all the gigs she has been bagging lately. Uncle Waffles wrote: I joined the family and signed with Jagermeister Africa, shots on me! Proving Mbabane-born Lungelihle Zwane, has definitely proved that Gods timing is the best, especially getting through all the hate and backlash she received after gaining stardom. This week, the star got love from actor Damson Idris and football star, Jesse Lingard. In the same week, she also broke the internet with her sexuality reveal about being bi-sexual and got Africa as a whole talking about her booking fee. Uncle Waffles is all over social media after her booking fee went viral. It was reported that she was allegedly charging a minimum of R120 000 for booking fee. This was made known by entertainment commentator, Musa Khawula through his Twitter page. Uncle Waffles set tongues wagging when a flyer containing her booking fees and other requirement went viral. The tweet had people talking, as some found it unbelievable, while others said it was too high for the kind of performance she serves at gigs. Uncle Waffles charges a minimum of E80 000 per hour to perform at a local indoor events and a minimum of R120 000 for outdoors events. MBABANE The Ministry of Agriculture has partnered with the National Maize Corporation (NMC) to ensure that the nation gets farm inputs at reduced rates this ploughing season. Unlike in previous years when farmers contributed 50 per cent, they will this year contribute 35 per cent and government will settle the rest. The Minister of Agriculture, Jabulani Mabuza, disclosed yesterday during a media briefing: In preparation for the upcoming ploughing season, the Government of Eswatini, through the Ministry of Agriculture, is pleased to announce that even this year, farmers will get inputs at subsidised rates. The ministry, through the National Maize Corporation (NMC), shall be responsible for the programme. Fuel Minister Mabuza said it was not an easy task compared to other years due to the ever escalating prices in the farm inputs market and fuel caused by conflict. However, he said the ministry had been able to assist farmers access the required inputs. Payments for the input subsidy starts on August 1, 2022. The agriculture minister said as a result of the high input costs, those who wished to be part of the programme were expected to pay as soon as possible. He said this was because the closing of payments shall be done when the target had been reached or at the end of October 2022, whichever came first. The payments shall be done at EswatiniBank and Eswatini Posts and Telecommunication Corporation (EPTC). The average projected cost for the packages is approximately E14 000 for maize, E12 000 for beans and E7 000 for sorghum. These packages will cover an area equivalent to one hectare. It is important for farmers to note that this offer shall only apply to the current season. Next year, farmers are expected to contribute the normal 50 per cent. Also, farmers can pay up to three hectares maximum compared to the one hectare maximum that was used in the past years. PRICES ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. Maize E4 900 (farmer) and E9 100 (government) 2. Beans E4 200 (farmers) and E7 800 (govt) 3. Sorghum E2 450 (farmer) and E4 550 (govt) As a result of the fuel price increase, the tractor hour will cost E300 from E270. Advertisement Memory plays a critical role in our ability to recognize smells, and researchers have long known of a link between the sense of smell and dementia. The plaques and tangles that characterize tissue affected by Alzheimer's disease often appear in olfactory and memory- associated areas before developing in other parts of the brain. It's still unknown if this damage actually causes the decline in a person's sense of smell.Pinto and his team wanted to see whether it was possible to identify alterations in the brain that correlated with a person's loss of smell and cognitive function over time."Our idea was that people with a rapidly declining sense of smell over time would be in worse shape -and more likely to have brain problems and even Alzheimer's itself -than people who were slowly declining or maintaining a normal sense of smell," said Rachel Pacyna, a rising fourth-year medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and lead author of the study.The team tapped anonymized patient data from Rush University's Memory and Aging Project (MAP), a study group begun in 1997 to research chronic conditions of aging and neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's disease. MAP participants are older adults living in retirement or senior housing communities in Northern Illinois and are tested annually for their ability to identify certain smells, for cognitive function and for signs of dementia, among other health parameters. Some participants also received an MRI scan.In fact, the risk of sense of smell loss was similar to carrying the APOE-e4 gene, a known genetic risk factor for developing Alzheimer's.The changes were most noticeable in the primary olfactory regions, including the amygdala and entorhinal cortex, which is a major input to the hippocampus, a critical site in Alzheimer's disease."We were able to show that the volume and shape of grey matter in olfactory and memory-associated areas of the brains of people with rapid decline in their sense of smell were smaller compared to people who had less severe olfactory decline," said Pinto.An autopsy is the gold standard for confirming whether someone had Alzheimer's, and Pinto hopes to eventually extend these findings by examining brain tissue for markers of Alzheimer's. The team also hopes to study the effectiveness of using smell tests in clinics - in ways similar to how vision and hearing tests are used - as a means of screening and tracking older adults for signs of early dementia, and to develop new treatments.Smell tests are an inexpensive, easy-to-use tool that consists of a series of sticks that are similar in appearance to felt-tip pens. Each stick is infused with a distinct scent that individuals must identify from a set of four choices."If we could identify people in their 40s, 50s and 60s who are at higher risk early on, we could potentially have enough information to enroll them into clinical trials and develop better medications," said Pacyna.The study was limited in that participants received only one MRI scan, which meant the team lacked the data to pinpoint when structural changes in the brains began or how quickly brain regions shrunk."We have to take our study in the context of all of the risk factors that we know about Alzheimer's, including the effects of diet and exercise," said Pinto. "Sense of smell and change in the sense of smell should be one important component in the context of an array of factors that we believe affect the brain in health and aging.Also, because most MAP participants were white, additional research is needed to determine whether underrepresented populations are similarly affected. The team's prior work showed marked disparities by race, with African Americans facing the most severe impairment in smell function.Pinto's previous studies have examined the sense of smell as an important marker for declining health in older adults. His 2014 paper revealed older adults with no sense of smell were three times more likely to die within five years - a better predictor of death than a diagnosis of lung disease, heart failure or cancer.Source: Eurekalert The fourth and the latest episode of Karan Johar's popular show Koffee With Karan 7 dropped on Disney+ Hotstar and fans could finally watch what Ananya Panday and South star Vijay Deverakonda were all about. As you'd know, the two actors are already appearing in the Dharma Productions-backed Liger film, and there were a lot of spilt beans when Karan got to his 'Koffee Inquisition'. Disney+ Hotstar Now, one of the things spoken on the show was how Ananya and Vijay have had stark experiences growing up, with Ananya being born into the industry and Vijay coming to the South industry as an outsider. Talking about it, Karan asked him if it was a "hurdle" breaking into the South industry and if it was "alienating" at some point. To this Vijay answered, "It's definitely not easy breaking in when you're like a stark outsider with absolutely no access to the industry at all. It makes it much harder. I don't know if I would say that (alienating). Basically, my thoughts on this are: the world's not fair. We're not all born with the same financial status, with the same height, with the same looks, with the same abilities." Instagram/Vijay Deverakonda However, what was something very interesting was his reply to another question where he described how Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was a big source of inspiration when he wanted to follow his dreams of making it big in films Instagram/Shah Rukh Khan "I do it for myself. I love acting. I love with money that comes with it, the comfort, the luxury, and what I can provide for my family. But I also feel there is a bigger purpose for what's happened to me in my life. Six out of my 10 friends were people who couldn't go on school trips because you didn't know if you could pay the fee or you couldn't go to movies with your friends because rent is important." "But you have dreams, big dreams. You want to make it but you don't know if it's okay to make it. And your own family will tell you don't dream so big. And it's important like if they see that I came from there and did it then anyone in this country can. When I was growing up I saw Shah Rukh Khan coming from Delhi or Chiranjeevi Garu back home coming from nothing - gave you this glimmer of hope that it can be done. I think I need to do the same for my generation and the people who come after me because it does help and it does show you a way. I feel that's what floats my boat or pushes me," said Vijay. This goes on to show how SRK and a few other actors will always show that glimmer of hope to outsiders who'd want to become movie stars in India. If celebrities across India were to be asked who they were die-hard fans of, there is a great, great chance that Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan would emerge as a unanimous choice. And we dont just say this for our love for the guy, but the fact that no one from Bollywood, Hollywood or even the South film industry has been immune to SRKs charm, is uncontested. Here is a list of popular actors from the South who have shown unabashed respect and love for Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan: 1. Vijay Deverakonda On the latest episode of Koffee With Karan where Liger co-stars Ananya Panday and Vijay Deverakonda appeared, South actor Vijay went on to talk about how SRK was his inspiration while growing up. Talking about how it was when he saw Shah Rukh Khans success, that he knew that the impossible was possible. He said, When I was growing up I saw Shah Rukh Khan coming from Delhi or Chiranjeevi Garu back home coming from nothing - gave you this glimmer of hope that it can be done. I think I need to do the same for my generation and the people who come after me because it does help and it does show you a way. 2. Samantha Prabhu Instagram/Samantha Ruth Prabhu Popular South actress Samantha Prabhu is also one of many fans of SRK and has gone on record to share her admiration for the star. Once, she shared a screengrab from one of his videos on her Instagram and wrote Incredible, as he talked about the five gifts he got from his late father. Another time, during an interview where she was asked to name the top 3 stars she wishes to work with, she named Mahesh Babu, Suriya and SRK while blushing. Guess, you just cant hide being smitten by him. 3. Nayanthara The famous South actress who is set to share screen space with Shah Rukh Khan in his upcoming film Jawan, once aspired to do so. In a video where she was receiving an award, she was asked about her favourite actor. Before she could say anything, Radhika, who was already holding the mic said she only likes Shah Rukh Khan, upon which the actress turned red. Shah Rukh Khan who was sitting in the audience also acknowledged the comment and made a hand gesture that hed have her fly to Bollywood soon. The rest, of course, is history. The actor also recently attended Nayantharas wedding with producer Vignesh. 4. Allu Arjun Pushpa actor Allu Arjun is a phenomenon in the South. While many actors look up to him, he in turn looks up to Shah Rukh Khan. Confessing immense love for SRK and his movies, Allu Arjun once took to his Instagram to share still from SRKs Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge and wrote, Tuje Dekha tho ye jana sanam ... I felt the highest magic moment of my Life when I watched it in 1995... and today after 23 years I watched it again , and I felt that same magic n that love in my deepest heart . Highest cinematic moment of my life then , now n Forever. In fact, during one of his interviews, he even talked about his desire to meet Shah Rukh Khan one fine day. 5. Prabhas Popular Baahubali star Prabhas is one of the most sought-after actors in the South industry. During a press conference for one of his films Radhe-Shyam, Prabhas got candid about how he is inspired by Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. He even went on to share how he watches a lot of their films. MBABANE Ahead of the secondary elections at Siphofaneni Inkhundla, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has discouraged any form of character assassination. This comes after there have been reports of alleged threats towards one of the aspiring Members of Parliament (MPs), Sabelo Ngcamphalala, who hails from KaNgcamphalala Umphakatsi. Ngcamphalala informed this publication on Tuesday that he was receiving threats. He even alleged that former MP Mduduzi Gawuzela Simelane had requested him to withdraw from the elections. EBC Communications Officer Mbonisi Bhembe said the commission had not received any report on the alleged threats and the request by Simelane that Ngcamphalala should withdraw from the elections. He said it was illegal to issue threats as the person doing so would be using undue influence over the person to whom the threats were directed. Issues Bhembe emphasised that elections were not meant to divide the society, but to unite it for the development of the community. He said it was for that reason that the commission encouraged candidates to use socio-economic issues in their campaigns because those issues brought progress in the affected communities or constituency. He said whosoever won the election should be a unifying agent for their communities. Bhembe said it was, therefore, the commissions obligation to build the nation going forward. The communications officer said in that regard, the commission strongly discouraged character assassination of any form. He said anyone who believed they were a victim of character asssaination should report to the commission right away and before the elections. He said after reporting that person would be able to receive assistance because if they reported after the elections, it would be difficult for that individual to be assisted even in court. Bhembe encouraged the Siphofaneni electorate to go out in numbers and vote tomorrow. He said it was very important to go out and exercise ones right to vote. He stated that this time around, the elections would be in two groups of people; those who may have not been able to participate in the primary elections and those who would be voting for the second time or the second stage. He said those who did not partake in the primary elections should now go and vote. Choice Bhembe encouraged those who participated in the primary elections to vote for their candidate of choice. Here, in the elections, we want the best and most competent candidate, said Bhembe. He said he believed that the electorate had an opportunity to pose questions to their candidates during the organised and individual campaigns. He said through those questions, the electorate were able to make up their minds as to whom they believed would represent them well in Parliament. He said campaigns had a potential to change ones mind based on the candidates presentations. Bhembe pleaded with candidates to adhere to the election laws, which stipulated that yesterday was the last day for campaigns. He said today should be the day to observe the 24 hours between campaigns and the secondary elections, as stipulated by the law. He urged the candidates to remove all their exhibits, be it posters and flyers, which may be in the vicinity of the polling stations. The Elections Act stipulates that 400 metres away from the polling station should be clear of any campaign material, said Bhembe. He added that when going to vote, candidates campaign agents (bogalajane) should avoid wearing the T-shirts, if any, that were bought for campaigning purposes. He said election day should be a neutral day where participants, be it candidates or the electorate, enjoyed their rights freely. Bhembe added that the commission had engaged the security forces for peace-keeping during the elections, not only for the candidates but also for the electorate as well. He said the protection was also required for the polling stations and the machinery to be used tomorrow. Bhembe said the commission wished participants to feel free during the elections. He emphasised the secrecy of the vote or the ballot box. He said even those who were not be able to write or see should be free as trained electoral officers would be there to assist them. He said those who may feel they did not trust the officials were free to come with their relatives to assist them. He said the commission wished every liSwati to vote, as it was their constitutional right. The last day for campaigning was marked by a gospel music-filled day for aspiring MP Lomalungelo Simelane popularly known as LaZwide, as gospel artists rendered songs while some pastors shared the Word of God. Popular LaZwide had her campaign rally yesterday at Siphofaneni Bus rank. Gospel artists like Timothy Myeni, Mzwakhe Myeni and Scara Maziya graced the event with their popular songs. which included Noma ungawubasa lowo mlilo by Ncandweni Christ Ambassadors. Pastor Mpendulo Nkambule was also present during the rally. In her address, LaZwide appreciated community members of KaMkhweli for voting her into the primary elections. She said there was nothing different that she would do from what other MPs were doing in Parliament, but she was ready to represent them well. She said her wish was to see Siphofaneni and the entire country reach a time where there would be free education even at the secondary level. She said she also wished to see elderly people getting better social grants than what they were currently receiving. LaZwide said she understood that she joined the elections at a crucial time and she did not have any skill but as someone who took a decision during these hard times. MBABANE Tibiyo Taka Ngwane announced a net profit of E288 million yesterday, as the company released its financial performance for the year ended April 2021. This showed an increase of E66 million from the previous years performance. As part of its objectives, Tibiyo stated that it existed to complement government in fostering economic independence and self-sufficiency. The company holds investments in different portfolios across the country, but is heavily entrenched in the sugar industry where it derives more than 80 per cent of its income. Tibiyo is held in trust of the Eswatini Nation by His Majesty the King. Performance In outlining the companys performance, Chairman of the Main Committee Prince Fipha said the good performance was as a result of increased dividend income. This is income received from companies where Tibiyo holds shares or stocks. As stated in the 2020-21 annual report, Tibiyo has stakes in a variety of companies. It holds a 50 per cent stake in Royal Eswatini Sugar (RES) Corporation and a 40 per cent stake in Ubombo Sugar Limited. The company also has holdings in Bhunu Mall (40.79 per cent), Eswatini Development Finance Corporation, also known as Fincorp (20 per cent), Simunye Plaza (25 per cent), Eswatini Beverages Limited (40 per cent) and many others. Total assets grew from E2.3 billion to E2.5 billion, mainly due to growth in investments and current assets. However, net income as a percentage of total assets declined from 11.65 per cent to 7.39 per cent in the current year, said the prince. Prince Fipha said the success of the company could be attributed to the commitment and dedication of the executive management, management and the entire staff of Tibiyo. He said this was also made possible by the leadership and management of Tibiyos investee companies and subsidiaries. Survived The organisation has survived a full year with the cloud of COVID-19 overhead. What was hoped to be a brief spell has proven to be an ever present phenomenon, which the organisation has been forced to embrace, he said. The chairman noted that the vicious waves of COVID-19 hit the country hard during the past year and affected businesses across all industries, some more adversely than others. Tibiyo has managed to remain afloat in spite of many of its subsidiaries being hit hard by the pandemic, he said. By subsidiaries, the chairman was referring to the companies that are 100 per cent owned by Tibiyo. They include Dalcrue Agricultural Holdings, Sihhoye Estate and Sivunga Estate (both sugar), The Royal Villas, Tibiyo Properties (Pty) Ltd and the Eswatini Observer Group of Newspapers. Managing Director Absalom Themba Dlamini stated that the company had substantial interest in sugar markets globally, as a result of having invested heavily in the industry. AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said that he stopped at a campaign fundraiser following the deadly school shooting in Uvalde and let people know he couldn't stay, but a newspaper reports that he was there for nearly three hours. The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday that campaign finance reports and flight-tracking records show that Abbott arrived in Huntsville at 4:52 p.m. on May 24 hours after the shooting at Robb Elementary School and then was driven about 2 miles (3 kilometers) to a local supporter's house. He didn't leave the city till 7:47 p.m. An 18-year-old shooter entered the school at 11:33 a.m. that day but it was not till 12:50 p.m. that law enforcement breached the classroom where he was holed up and killed him. Texas Department of Public Safety Director Col. Steve McCraw has called law enforcement's slow and chaotic response to the shooting an abject failure." McCraw has said that three minutes after the gunman entered the school, enough officers and firepower had been deployed to stop him. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in the attack. When Abbott was asked at a news conference in Uvalde the day after the shooting why he hadn't canceled the fundraiser, he noted that he had been in Abilene when he learned of the attack. On the way back to Austin, I stopped and let people know that I could not stay, that I needed to go, Abbott said. And I wanted them to know what happened and get back to Austin so that I could continue my collaboration with Texas law enforcement to make sure that all the needs were being met here in the Uvalde area. Abilene, where Abbott had given a news conference about wildfires, is about 220 miles (354 kilometers) northwest of Austin, while Huntsville is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) east of the state capital. Abbott's campaign spokeswoman, Renae Eze, told the newspaper that Abbott had been forthright about his movements that day. She said that throughout the afternoon and evening of May 24, Abbott spoke with President Joe Biden, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, law enforcement and staff. The day after the tragedy, the governor traveled to Uvalde and met with law enforcement and local officials, she said. The governors description of his movements that day are accurate. The day after the shooting, Abbott praised what he said was a swift response by law enforcement officers who showed amazing courage by running toward gunfire. He later said that he had been misled, and was livid about it. According to a campaign finance report, Abbott may have raised as much as $50,000 at the Huntsville fundraiser, the newspaper said. Abbott, a Republican, faces Democratic opponent Beto ORourke in November. ___ For more AP coverage of the Uvalde school shooting: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting Dolly Parton's theme park gaining $25M roller coaster Guests will embark on an unforgettable expedition through the Smokey Mountains in search of the... Social security benefits going up in 2023? Amid high inflation in 2022, as shown on the Consumer Price Index, retirees can expect a hike in... This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indianas Republican-dominated Senate rejected a push by conservative lawmakers Thursday night to strip exceptions for rape and incest victims in a proposal that would ban most abortions in the state. The Senate vote 28-18 against the amendment following a debate that was delayed for five hours as GOP senators met privately amid days of public division over how strict such exceptions should be limited and intense objections to those exceptions from anti-abortion activists. Republican Sen. Mike Young of Indianapolis called for removing the rape and incest exceptions, a move that would have left the bill only allowing abortions deemed necessary to save the pregnant womans life. Exceptions equal death for unborn innocent children, Young said. The Indiana proposal followed the political firestorm over a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to the state from neighboring Ohio to end her pregnancy. The case of the Ohio girl gained wide attention when an Indianapolis doctor said the child had to go to Indiana because Ohio banned abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat after the U.S. Supreme Courts decision last month overturning Roe v. Wade. Republican Sen. Sue Glick of LaGrange, the abortion bills sponsor, urged senators to protect rape and incest victims whove been subjected to violence. Give them that choice, Glick said. Dont foster that evil on them after the evil theyve already suffered. Eighteen Republicans joined 10 Democrats in voting to keep the rape and incest exceptions in the proposal. But the votes of many of the 18 Republicans who want to strip out those exceptions will be needed for the bill to advance from the Senate for consideration in the GOP-controlled House. That Senate vote could happen Friday. The proposal would prohibit abortions from the time a fertilized egg implants in a uterus with the limited exceptions, including a requirement that a woman or girl seeking an abortion because of rape or incest to sign an affidavit attesting to the attack. Indiana has one of the first Republican-run state legislatures to debate tighter abortion laws since the Supreme Court decision. Its debate comes as several states are also in the midst of court fights over whether tighter abortion restrictions can take effect. The Indiana Republican disagreement over the abortion ban proposal contrasts with West Virginia, where the GOP-dominated House of Delegates voted Wednesday in favor of a sweeping abortion ban that includes exceptions for victims of rape and incest, as well as for medical emergencies. A top legislative Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mark Messmer, voted against the measure during a committee meeting Tuesday, lamenting the near impossibility of threading the perfect needle on the issue during a short special legislative session that GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb originally called to address a tax rebate plan. Holcomb has avoided saying whether he supported the proposed abortion ban and stayed out of public view during demonstrations Monday and Tuesday that drew thousands of competing anti-abortion and abortion-rights supporters to the Statehouse as a legislative hearing on the bill took place. The bill cleared the committee on a 7-5 vote Tuesday with two Republicans saying they disliked the proposal as it stood and only voted to advance it in hopes of the full Senate making changes. Senate Democratic Leader Greg Taylor said Wednesday it was clear Republicans had not reached an agreement on a bill to advance to the House for consideration. I think theyre having problems, Taylor said. I cant speak to whether or not anythings gonna pass. Glick, the abortion bills sponsor, said she was not exactly happy with the proposal after the committee adding provisions under which doctors could face felony criminal charges for performing an illegal abortion, along with limiting the time period allowing abortions in cases of rape and incest to eight weeks of pregnancy for women ages 16 or older and 12 weeks for those younger than 16. Glick acknowledged this week that there was a chance Republicans wouldnt be able to reach consensus before the special sessions Aug. 14 deadline to adjourn. If we cant reach that result, there is a statute in Indiana well live with until it will change in the future, Glick said Monday. If that decision cant be made in a week or two weeks time, then well come back in January and start again. ___ Arleigh Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Rodgers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers ___ This story has been edited to correct the number of Republican senators voting against the bill to 18. MANZINI In light of the obtaining drugs shortage in local health facilities, the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital has resorted to an alternative way of bringing the essential medication closer to its patients, however, at an added fee. The strategy has been to order the stock of medication that government cannot supply the hospital with (but is in demand), directly from the pharmaceutical wholesalers. Although this move has been met with mixed feelings by some members of the public, RFM Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Simelane said they ordered the essential drugs for the mere sake of the patients.When there is a shortage, the alternative way is for the people to go and buy from private pharmacies, the CEO said. Pharmacies A majority of the people cannot afford to buy from the private pharmacies because the prices there are higher than those charged by the hospitals. Simelane said this when asked by this reporter to comment on the feelings raised by some patients to the effect that they were now being over-charged at the RFM Hospital. The patients, who were interviewed at the hospital on Tuesday, said they wondered why they were made to pay for medication when they had paid the consultation fee on arrival. They argued that before, a consultation fee of E20 was a once-off payment at RFM. They said once they had paid the consultation fee, there previously was then no need to bother about paying for medication at the hospital. The consultation fee at RFM is E20 and E30 after 3pm. Muzi Dlamini, a patient who was found in the queue on Tuesday, said he was made to pay for a syringe, way after he had already consulted with the doctor and he (doctor) had prescribed the medication that was needed for his ailment. The doctor prescribed my medication. When I went to the dispensary to fetch it, I was told to go and pay at the revenue office first, then I will come and fetch my syringe with which I will be vaccinated, he said. Dispensary Another patient said in her case, there was a certain dose of tablets that she was told she had to pay for first, before she could be given at the dispensary. The RFM CEO said the medication that they gave to their patients at a fee was at a lower price compared to the prices charged by private pharmacies. Asked for comment, Director of Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Vusi Magagula, said he was yet to consult with the authorities of the RFM Hospital regarding the grievances raised by some of their patients. When this newspaper had explained to the director that the hospital did that to make easily accessible the necessary drugs that were out of stock, for the sake of their patients, he said that was logical. Things have changed. Government is facing a drug shortage. What I know is that the consultation fee is for consulting with the doctor. The medication comes with an extra cost, said Dr Magagula. WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) The family of a Tennessee pharmacist who died on her honeymoon in Fiji decided to cremate her in the South Pacific nation rather than bring her home because her body was badly damaged, a lawyer representing the family said Thursday. Christe Chen, 36, died earlier this month at the exclusive Turtle Island resort. Her husband Bradley Robert Dawson, 38, has been charged with her murder and made his first appearance Wednesday at Fiji's Lautoka High Court. The case has been adjourned until next month and Dawson, who remains in jail, has not yet entered a plea. If found guilty, he could face a sentence of life imprisonment. Lawyer Ronald Gordon, who is representing Chen's family, said Chen's parents traveled to Fiji after their daughter's death but didn't embalm her body and take her to the U.S. as they'd hoped. Instead, they took home her ashes. Gordon said the newlyweds, who were based in Memphis, had arrived in Fiji on July 7 for their honeymoon at the resort, which is on a 500-acre island and limited to 14 couples at a time. Gordon said the couple were heard arguing over dinner on July 8, and following an incident in their room, Dawson fled on a kayak to another island, taking his wallet but not his phone or GPS watch. It wasn't until the following afternoon, after the couple had missed breakfast and lunch, that staff discovered Chen's body, Gordon said. He said she had multiple blunt trauma wounds to her head. Dawson was found by police about 36 hours later, Gordon said. He said Dawson may have trying to get to Fiji's main island but stuck out on the remote island inhabited only by Indigenous people who had alerted others to Dawson's presence. Dawson's lawyer Iqbal Khan said that from what he knows so far, he doesn't see the elements of murder. He said investigators haven't yet released to him all the information in the case, including the post-mortem report, but that what happened could have been an accident. Khan said Dawson left the resort because he panicked, he was shocked. He said Dawson was distressed at losing his wife and had been slowly recovering. Dawson worked in the information technology department at Youth Villages, a nonprofit child welfare and support organization based in Memphis, said Connie Mills, the organizations assistant director of communications. He has been fired, Mills said Thursday. An online records search showed no criminal arrests for Dawson in Shelby County, which includes Memphis. Chen worked as a pastry chef before returning to school to become a pharmacist, and had worked in that capacity at a Kroger supermarket in Memphis. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy last year congratulated Chen on Facebook for winning an award, the Wolters Kluwer Clinical Drug Information Award of Excellence in Clinical Communication. - Associated Press reporter Adrian Sainz contributed from Memphis, Tennessee. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In 1967, Juan Garces bought the third volume of an 1844 edition of Don Quixote in a bookstore in Cali, Colombia. The book, however, held much more than a story of a man on a quest to revive chivalry. Garces soon began his own quest after learning that the book held a series of coded letters between two lovers. He initially bought the antique volume of Don Quixote to admire its engravings and to photograph and frame them. One day, sitting in his grandfathers folding chair, he noticed handwritten dots below certain letters. He started to piece the letters together to find that they created a message, with the first word being amor love. The placement of the letters is also significant. The coded message began on page 98, when Sancho Panza tells Don Quixote about a letter that he delivered to Don Quixotes lady love. I got suspicious, Garces said. I asked myself, Why would they start the letter on this page, not at the beginning of the book? Garces realized that the lovers knew the book well enough to appreciate its themes. Upon further reading, he learned that the writers names were Sofia and Federico, the latter a political prisoner during the Thousand Days War in Colombia, which lasted from 1899-1902. Sofia and Federico exchanged six love letters and strategic plans in the pages of Don Quixote," a book that was first published in the early 1600s. Each coded message spans several pages; where the text didnt have the needed letters, the lovers added them in the margins and placed dots below them. All the letters are exquisite. Some of them have a great deal of intrigue, said Juan's wife, Linda. In one of the letters, they talk about trying to get a man named Hernandes out and figuring out how to help him escape from prison. Garces asked his relatives and teachers about the letters, trying to learn more about Sofia and Federico. Unfortunately, no one was able to provide any more information. The story became a story to remember to tell people about this fantastic book I had found and the beautiful letters inside, no more than that, Garces said. He moved on, earning his doctorate in physical chemistry at Ohio University. It was there that he met Linda, a masters student in Spanish, and the couple bonded over their mutual fascination for Don Quixote. The Garces family moved to Midland when Juan accepted a job with Dow. His interest in Sofia and Federicos letters was renewed in 1998 after he found another secret in the ancient pages of Don Quixote. While reading the verso of the title page under a reading lamp, he realized there was a faint signature in invisible ink: Miguel Wenceslao de Angulo, the original owner of the book. This discovery galvanized Juan to discover the history of Sofia and Federico. Garces and his wife conducted research in Popayan, Colombia, to learn more about the lovers, looking through sales records, wills and letters. Through these documents, they were able to confirm the couples existence. Garces even had the chance to meet the great-great-great-grandson of Sofias father in Popayan. It is full of surprises, one right after the other, Garces said. Just the most incredible coincidences. I call them miracles because theres no other way to describe them. In 2006, Garces began writing Amor en Cuatro Puntos. He self-published the Spanish version in December 2020 and the English translation, Love in Four Dots, in June. Both versions are available for purchase on Amazon. It went through about 10 revisions, Garces said. It was very painful. Translations are more difficult than writing books. The first couple chapters of the book detail his discovery of the letters. The remainder is a fictionalized account of Sofia and Federicos story based on their letters and research by the Garces family. Garces said he pulled inspiration from the stories his grandfather told him of his time as a prisoner during the Thousand Days War. I just imagined (Sofia) writing the letter to (Federico), Garces said. He explained that Sofia and Federico used other books most likely the remaining three volumes of Don Quixote to exchange coded messages. Juan has been looking for the books, but apart from a copy of Volume 4 of the 1844 edition of Don Quixote found in Madrid, Spain, his search has been unsuccessful. However, upon further research, Garces discovered that he shares a family connection with Federico. Garces reflected that book had to meet his standards before it was published. He said that while writing, he felt like someone was watching over his shoulder. He has an emotional connection to the story, as he is dedicated to making sure that Sofia and Federicos love will be immortalized in story form. I felt that I had been chosen, Garces said. I had found these letters in a book from 1844 written by characters who were unknown to me but happened to be contemporaries of my grandparents, in the same town my family came from. All of these things are like magic. In some ways, I have exhumed a treasure that was buried inside of a book, like an archeologist finding bones. It is my obligation to tell the world about it. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DETROIT (AP) The surprise deal by Senate Democrats on a slimmed-down bill to support families, boost infrastructure and fight climate change also is likely to jump-start sales of electric vehicles. The measure agreed to by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and holdout Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia would give EV buyers a $7,500 tax credit starting next year, through the end of 2032. Theres also a new $4,000 credit for those buying used EVs, a move to help the middle class go electric. But as things often go in Washington, there are a bunch of strings and asterisks. To be eligible, the electric vehicle has to be assembled in North America, and there are limits on annual income for buyers. There also are caps on the sticker prices of new EVs $80,000 for pickups, SUVs and vans, and $55,000 for other vehicles and a $25,000 limit on the price of used electric vehicles. Still, even with the restrictions, the credits should help stimulate electric vehicle sales, which already are rising as automakers introduce more models in different sizes and price ranges, said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst for Edmunds.com. The tax credits for electric vehicles in the bill will benefit consumers and cut costs for low- and middle-income families, the Sierra Club said of the measure, which still must be approved by both chambers. We're hoping for swift adoption." For the first half of this year, electric vehicles accounted for about 5% of U.S. new vehicle sales, with 46 models on sale. S&P Global Mobility expects that to hit 8% next year, 15% by 2025, and 37% by 2030. At present, many new EVs, including two of sales leader Teslas four models, wouldnt be eligible for the credits because they're priced higher than the bill's limits, Caldwell said. But the number of eligible vehicles will grow as automakers roll out more mainstream EVs during the next few years, she said. I would imagine that these price brackets will become a lot more realistic in the coming years when you probably have more vehicles that fall within these parameters, Caldwell said. Several automakers, including Ford and Hyundai, already have them in the $40,000s, and General Motors next year plans to start selling a small Chevrolet SUV for about $30,000 with about 300 miles of range per charge. Also, there arent many used EVs priced under $25,000 yet, and those that are mainly are older, with lower ranges per charge, Caldwell said, noting that a 5-year-old Chevrolet Bolt small electric car one of the lowest-priced EVs on the road is likely to cost more than $25,000. It seems like that is something that should potentially be revisited for it to make more sense given todays market, she said. To get the credit, buyers of new EVs cant have modified adjusted gross incomes of more than $300,000 per year if filing joint tax returns, $225,000 for a head of household, and $150,000 for all taxpayers not in the first two categories. For used EVs, income limits are $150,000 if filing a joint return, $112,500 for a head of household, and $75,000 for others not in the first two categories. The bill also removes caps on the number of tax credits each manufacturer can offer. General Motors, Tesla and Toyota all have exceeded the cap and cant offer any credits now under a previous measure. But other manufacturers still offer them. Also, more than half the value of battery components have to be manufactured or assembled in North America to get the full credit. And at least 40% of the minerals used in batteries must come from either the U.S. or a country with which it has a free trade agreement. Those percentages increase gradually over the years, and minerals recycled from used batteries in North America also qualify. Credits would also go to buyers of hydrogen fuel cell and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Plug-ins can travel on electric power alone for several miles before the gas-electric hybrid powertrain kicks in. The EV tax credits are much smaller than several Democratic legislators from automaking states had proposed earlier. Gone are extra credits for EVs made in the U.S. by union workers. HARTFORD A Waterbury man was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Wednesday for selling heroin and crack as part of a large-scale drug ring, according to federal prosecutors. Lawrence Jackson, 26, of Waterbury, was one of 17 charged for their role in the group, which sold hundreds of grams of heroin, cocaine and crack in the Waterbury area. U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said during an investigation, Jackson was heard on intercepted calls ordering crack cocaine and heroin dozens of times from one of the members. Jackson has been detained since his arrest on March 3, 2021. On March 23, 2022, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford sentenced Jackson to 42 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The Drug Enforcement Administrations New Haven Task Force and the Waterbury Police Department started investigating the group in May 2020. Law enforcement believe the organization was led by Zachary Lee Foster. He worked closely with Jason Metz and James Grant, who would supply the drugs to other street-level dealers, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. Between October 2020 and January 2021, law enforcement officials documented dozens of communications where Jackson ordered drugs from Grant so he could sell the drugs to his own customers. In all, police reported about 25 instances of Jackson purchasing heroin and about 19 times to buy crack in those four months, according to federal court records. The U.S. Attorneys office called Jackson a busy street-level drug dealer who distributed pre-packaged heroin and crack on almost a daily basis. Street-level drug dealers, like Jackson, are on the front line of drug trafficking organizations, the U.S. Attorneys office continued. They, quite literally, put drugs into the hands of users, and, in doing so, effectively wage the war of addiction against families and communities. On March 1, 2021, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging Jackson, Foster, Metz, Grant and 13 others. The four men, along with several other members of the group, were arrested two days later. In conjunction with the arrests, law enforcement executed seven search warrants and seized about 40,000 bags of suspected heroin, 350 grams of cocaine, 50 grams of crack cocaine and nine firearms, the U.S. Attorneys office said. Foster, Metz and Grant have since pleaded guilty to related charges. Metz, of Naugatuck, was sentenced to 10 years of prison and Grant, of Waterbury, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Foster awaits sentencing. JACKSON, Miss (AP) A federal judge has seized control of a Mississippi jail after citing severely deficient conditions at the facility. In a Friday ruling, U.S. Southern District of Mississippi Judge Carlton Reeves placed Hinds Countys Raymond Detention Center in Raymond into receivership. The judge will soon appoint an expert, known as a receiver, to temporarily manage the facility in hopes of improving its conditions. After ample time and opportunity, regretfully, it is clear that the county is incapable, or unwilling, to handle its affairs, the judge wrote. Additional intervention is required. It is time to appoint a receiver. Reeves said that deficiencies in supervision and staffing lead to a stunning array of assaults, as well as deaths. Seven individuals died last year while detained at the jail, he said. County officials said theyre still digesting the order and are determining whether they will appeal, WLBT-TV reported. Federal and state judges have ordered receiverships or a similar transfer of control for prisons and jails only about eight times, according to Hernandez Stroud, an attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. The details governing the receivership will be decided by Reeves. What this receivership order looks like is totally within the court's discretion, Stroud said. "What powers to give the receiver, how long the receivership should last those are matters that Judge Reeves will figure out." Reeves wrote in his decision that the facility's staffing levels are particularly egregious. Persistent shortcomings in staffing and supervision embolden gangs and encourage the prevalent circulation of contraband, including narcotics and weapons, Reeves wrote. Jail staff continue to receive inadequate training regarding use of force, such as the use of tasers. He also wrote that cell doors still do not lock and a lack of lighting in cells makes life miserable for the detainees who live there and prevents guards from adequately surveilling detainees." He also said that guards sometimes turn to sleeping instead of manning the cameras in the control room. Reeves' decision comes months after he agreed to scale back the countys jail 2016 consent decree with the federal government to address unconstitutional conditions at Raymond and two other facilities that comprise the Hinds County jail system. ___ Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HONOLULU (AP) Bobby Edward Fort was 27 when he enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1994 and retired 22 years later with a secret security clearance that allowed him to land a job in Honolulu as a defense contractor. But in reality, Bobby Fort was long dead. He was just short of 3 months old when he choked and died in a Texas hospital in 1967. The Bobby Fort who enlisted in the Coast Guard had stolen the dead babys identity 35 years ago. A false birth certificate helped him get five passports, drivers licenses and Department of Defense credentials. The fraud was uncovered last week. On Thursday, the man authorities said had posed as Fort was before a judge, who asked him to state his name: Walter Glenn Primrose, the 66-year-old said. Primrose was ordered held without bail by a U.S. District Court judge after a prosecutor provided new details about how he and his wife had been fraudulently living for decades under the stolen identities of two dead Texas infants. While the hearing further deepened the mystery of why the couple shed their past, it provided little clarity about whether the case against them goes beyond stolen identity, though a prosecutor suggested it could have ties overseas. We think the defendant is obviously quite adept at impersonating other people, obtaining government ID documents, fraud, avoiding detection, Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Myers said. He may were not saying for sure but he may have some troubling foreign connections. And if he does, he might be able to use those to enlist help. A search of the couples Hawaii home turned up faded Polaroids of the two wearing jackets that appear to be authentic Russian KGB uniforms, Myers said. An expert determined the snapshots were taken in the 1980s. The search also yielded an invisible ink kit, documents with coded language and maps showing military bases, Myers said. When the couple were left in a room together, they were recorded saying things consistent with espionage, Myers said. Federal defender Craig Jerome said the government only provided speculation and innuendo that the couple was involved in something more nefarious than purely white-collar nonviolent offenses. If it wasnt for the speculation that the governments injected into these proceedings without providing any real evidence ... he would certainly be released, Jerome said. Prosecutors feared Primrose would flee if freed. They noted in court papers that he was an avionics electrical technician in the Coast Guard and was highly skilled to communicate secretly if released. U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom Trader said he based his detention order on the alleged fraud over multiple occasions spanning a long period of time. Morrison faces a bail hearing Tuesday. Her lawyer said the couple regardless of the names they used had lived law-abiding lives. Attorney Megan Kau told The Associated Press the couple posed for photos in the purported KGB jacket for fun. She wants everyone to know shes not a spy, Kau said. This has all been blown way out of proportion. Its government overreaching. The couple's story begins in Texas, where Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison went to high school and college together and married in 1980, according to court documents. In the early 1980s, they told family they were going into the witness protection program before abruptly abandoning their house and leaving Texas, Myers said. They handed over the keys to their Nacogdoches home and told family members to take anything they wanted. The house was later foreclosed on. When they reemerged they had new names and different explanations of what happened. In 1987, Primrose took on the identity of Fort, an infant who died in 1967 in Burnet, Texas. Morrison took the identity of Julie Lyn Montague, who died in 1968 at the same hospital as Fort. Primrose and Morrison, both born in 1955, were more than a decade older than the birth dates listed on their new IDs. The defendant and his wife reportedly told yet other associates that they needed to change their names because of legal and financial reasons, Myers said. And that going forward they can be contacted using their new names, Fort and Montague. At some point, Primrose told someone he was a government agent and couldn't share photos of himself. The couple remarried under their assumed names in 1988, according to court records. Primrose had a longstanding interest in espionage, Myers said. His wife had anti-government and anti-military sentiments and was said by an associate to live in Romania when it was part of the communist bloc. Kau denied that Morrison ever lived in Romania. The couple, who were arrested Friday at their Kapolei home, are charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., false statement in passport application and aggravated identity theft. They face up to 17 years in prison if convicted of all charges. Inside their house, investigators discovered correspondence in which an associate believed Primrose had joined the CIA or had become a terrorist, Myers said. Morrison used her real name to open a post office box, where she told family to contact her. When her father died, her family couldnt reach her and enlisted local law enforcement to track her down. Even the defendants family cannot find him when they need to, Myers said. ___ Melley reported from Los Angeles. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON (AP) A Russian operative under the supervision of one of the Kremlin's main intelligence services has been charged with recruiting political groups in the United States to advance pro-Russia propaganda, including during the invasion of Ukraine, the Justice Department said Friday. The indictment of Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov reflects what U.S. officials say are ongoing Russian government efforts to meddle in the American political process, to shape public opinion and to sow discord and dissent on hot-button social issues. In this case, the authorities say, Ionov for roughly the last decade recruited political groups in Florida, Georgia and California and directed them to spread pro-Russia talking points. He also paid for group members to attend government-funded conferences in Russia, as well as a protest in the U.S. against social media efforts to suppress online support for Moscow's Ukraine invasion, the indictment says. As court documents show, Ionov allegedly orchestrated a brazen influence campaign, turning U.S. political groups and U.S. citizens into instruments of the Russian government, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the head of the Justice Departments national security division, said in a statement. Ionov worked under the supervision of the Russias Federal Security Service, or FSB which conducts domestic intelligence and counterintelligence activities and reported his activities back to contacts in the agency, prosecutors say. He is the founder and president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, a Moscow-based group that prosecutors say is funded by the Russian government and that advocates for a fully sovereign Russia. The indictment, in federal court in Tampa, charges him with conspiring to have U.S. citizens act as illegal agents of the Russian government. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. Ionov is not currently in custody and appears unlikely to ever stand trial in the U.S., but the indictment is nonetheless intended to warn Americans about the reach of foreign influence operations and to send a signal to Russia that the U.S. government is aware of its actions. Separately on Friday, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Ionov, accusing him of efforts to manipulate and destabilize the United States and its allies and partners. The indictment does not identify by name any of the organizations Ionov recruited, but it does describe one of them as a St. Petersburg, Florida group whose leaders were aware that Ionov and his group were agents of a foreign government. Prosecutors say Ionov in 2015 directed the group to write a petition alleging that the U.S. had committed genocide against African people in America, and to send it to the United Nations, the White House and to change.org. The document, titled Petition to the United Nations on the Crime of Genocide against African People in the United States," notes Americas history of slavery and denial of civil rights for Black people. It argues the U.S. government still fails to protect our health and well-being as expected under full citizenship and inflicts state or state-supported violence and terror on us. The petition, which is still available online, is labeled as being from the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, a Black international socialist organization. Representatives from the group said the FBI raided their center in St. Petersburg on Friday. Akile Anai, who describes herself as director of agitation and propaganda for the African Peoples Socialist Party, said agents searched her car and took her cellphone and laptop computer on Friday in addition to raiding the Uhuru House. Anai said her organization had never received money from Ionov or any other members of the Russian intelligence service. Members of the Uhuru movement first met Ionov in Russia when they were invited to an anti-globalization conference, and Anai said she also had been in contact with Ionov via email and also a webinar after Russia invaded Ukraine since we were getting one side of the story on Russian and Ukraine. Officials alleged Friday that Ionov sought to inject himself into local politics in by supporting members of the group for office. In 2017, the group put forth candidates for mayor and city council, and again in 2019 for a city council race. The candidates lost. Any money the campaigns received outside the U.S. was returned, Anai said. Their premise is these were Russian campaigns. Its a really insulting statement, Anai said. It was the Black community that ran the campaigns in our own interests. Its an insulting notion that Black people cant do anything for ourselves. Prosecutors say Ionov also exercised control of a separate organization in California that promoted secession by the state from the rest of the U.S, and helped fund a 2018 demonstration at the state capitol building. According to the indictment, he sent news coverage about the California secession movement to one of his FSB contacts and said that the officer had asked for turmoil and there you go. More recently, prosecutors say, Ionov paid for the travel of members of an unnamed Georgia group to fly from Atlanta to San Francisco to join a protest outside a social media company in California that had placed content restrictions on posts supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The case is part of a much broader Justice Department crackdown on foreign influence operations aimed at shaping public opinion in the U.S. In 2018, for instance, the Justice Department charged 13 Russian nationals with participating in a huge but hidden social media campaign designed to sow discord during the 2016 presidential election won by Republican Donald Trump. Russian government officials, and state-run media, often highlight anti-government protests in the U.S. and other Western countries, prominently commenting on political and social discord, racial riots, labor demonstrations, and mass shootings. The officials contrast the happenings in the U.S. with what they claim is the lack of such unrest in Russia. FBI Special Agent in Charge David Walker in Tampa called the latest Russian efforts some of the most egregious and blatant violations weve seen. The Russian intelligence threat is continuous and unrelenting, Walker said. Todays actions should serve as a deterrent. ____ Schneider reported from Orlando. Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed to this report. Supporters of a plan to expand benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic substances and fumes are furious after a surprising defeat in a Senate procedural vote left the bill in limbo. Veterans advocates and lawmakers who support the bill are vowing to keep fighting for its passage, framing Wednesday night's shocking development as a delay rather than a defeat. Still, it's a delay they say could cost cancer-stricken veterans their lives as they wait for care and should be blamed on a group of Republican senators they described as "liars," "hypocrites" and "cowards." "How are these people human? Where's any sense of decency?" comedian and veterans advocate Jon Stewart said. "And sadly, [the veterans] are the people that fought and defended their right to this f---ery." Read Next: Army's Top General Vows Not to Lower Recruiting Standards Despite Trouble Finding New Soldiers "We just got screwed by 41 senators," said Tom Porter, executive vice president of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "The next time I come back here, it better be to sign the damn bill at the White House because I'm sick and tired of this bulls---," said Susan Dyer, the mother-in-law of the bill's namesake. Earlier in Dyer's remarks, her 9-year-old granddaughter, Brielle, teared up as she described Heath Robinson's battle with cancer. The comments came at a news conference Thursday morning that was originally planned as a victory lap ahead of the expected passage of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act, which would expand health care and disability benefits for an estimated 3.5 million veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances during their military service. Instead, the feeling of betrayal was palpable among the assembled veterans advocates and Democratic lawmakers after a majority of Senate Republicans blocked the bill from advancing in a procedural vote, despite having supported it just a month ago. "I have never seen anything that's happened like happened yesterday," Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., said at the news conference. "This delay might not sound like a big thing, but number one, we don't have the bill passed, and number two, there are going to be veterans die between now and when this bill passes. And this is a piece of legislation, by the way, that everybody thought on June 16 was a done deal." On Wednesday, the Senate voted 55-42 to advance the bill, short of the 60 votes needed for the procedural motion to pass. One of the "no" votes was Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who needed to switch his vote from "yes" in order to be able to bring the bill up for a vote again in the future. The rest of the "no" votes were Republicans, including 25 who supported a nearly identical version of the bill in June. At the heart of the bill is an expansion of benefits for post-9/11 veterans who breathed in toxic fumes from massive trash fires known as burn pits, where U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region incinerated everything from plastic bottles to computers to Humvees. To do that, the bill would designate 23 diseases as presumed to be linked to military service. That means veterans with those ailments will no longer have to prove to the Department of Veterans Affairs that their illness was caused by their time in uniform in order to get health care and disability benefits. While much of the bill is focused on the post-9/11 generation of veterans, there are also several provisions meant to help prior generations exposed to other toxins, including broadening coverage for veterans exposed to radiation during nuclear waste cleanup in the 1960s and for Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange. The Senate previously approved the bill in an 84-14 vote in June, appearing to put it on a glide path to becoming law. But shortly after the Senate vote, House lawmakers discovered language that ran afoul of the Constitution's requirement that tax-related issues originate in the lower chamber. The problematic section would have provided a tax incentive to entice health care workers to move to rural VA facilities. So, the House passed a version of the bill without the tax language in a 342-88 vote earlier this month, kicking it back to the Senate for a second vote. The Senate's second vote had been expected to go smoothly, despite objections from Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., about one of the bill's funding mechanisms. But Toomey apparently lobbied enough of his Republican colleagues to his side to tank the procedural vote. "My concern about this bill has nothing to do with the purpose of the bill," Toomey said on the Senate floor after the failed procedural vote. "There is a mechanism created in this bill. It's a budgetary gimmick that has the intent of making it possible to have a huge explosion in unrelated spending." Senate Veterans Affairs Committee ranking member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., co-author of the bill and one of eight Republicans who voted in favor of advancing it Wednesday, also suggested some of his colleagues were mad about an unrelated deal announced around the time of the vote between Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on a climate change, tax and health care bill. "There may have been emotion," Moran told reporters. The path forward on the bill now is unclear. The Senate is scheduled to leave town at the end of next week until after Labor Day, meaning the earliest the bill could come back to the floor is likely September. Veterans advocates and some Democrats are now calling on the Senate to postpone its recess until the bill is passed. "We're going to be pushing to get it done before September, but we'll see, and the decision hasn't been made yet," Tester told reporters. Asked whether he could make a deal with Toomey, Tester railed against the senator. "Toomey wants to take away the ability of appropriators to do their job," Tester said. "Every appropriator should be mad as hell about that. Unfortunately, many of the appropriators voted with Toomey. But I'm not going to allow that to happen." Moran said he is open to "whatever solution is necessary to get it done." While he said he thinks Toomey's position has merit, his preference would be to pass the bill and then pass separate legislation later to address Toomey's concern. "I will tell veterans that I have no doubt that we'll get there and that I am working with Republicans and Democrats to make certain that it happens sooner rather than later," Moran said. In the meantime, veterans advocates are warning they will not let up their fight, with Rosie Torres, executive director and co-founder of Burn Pits 360, vowing to "organize at every one of your district offices." "What about we pay attention to those that are sick and dying? What about we pay attention to those that are putting a gun to their head because Congress and these senators have screwed them so badly," Torres said at the news conference. "It's bulls---." -- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel. Related: Estimated Cost of Toxic Exposure Bill More Than One-Quarter Trillion Dollars But Bipartisan Backing Holds When fuel spilled from the Navy's Red Hill facility in Hawaii and tainted the drinking water for thousands of military homes in Hawaii, it sickened families and forced thousands to evacuate. But did that fuel carry other harmful toxins into people's homes in the form of so-called forever chemicals? If it did, the Navy is not saying. The Navy's official report on the 2021 spill found that, after the fuel escaped, it sat in a fire suppression system line for months, the kind of line that typically contains chemicals used in firefighting foams. Read Next: Fate of Historic Toxic Exposure Bill Unclear After Shocking Senate Defeat Some of those chemicals, dubbed "forever chemicals" because they do not break down and formally known as PFAS, are a collection of nearly 9,000 compounds that have commercial and industrial use. But they also can accumulate in the body and have been linked to infertility, some types of cancer and birth defects. During a House hearing July 19, Rep. Kaiali'i Kahele, D-Hawaii, asked a Navy official about the potential for contamination with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, as a result of the fuel leak into the Navy's water system at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Kahele said that he has "continuously" asked the Navy the question since the spill. "I wanted to ask it again if you had any information to confirm that the release from the broken [aqueous film forming foam, AFFF] line contained only a mixture of fuel and water, petroleum product, but did not contain any type of fire retardant such as PFAS?" Kahele asked during the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee hearing. Vice Adm. Randy Crites, deputy chief of naval operations for capabilities and resources, replied that he didn't know and would get back to Kahele. But as of Thursday, Kahele's staff could not confirm whether the Navy had responded. Navy officials also did not respond by publication to a question from Military.com about whether the service thought there were PFAS in the contaminated water. In November, the Navy's World War II-era Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility accidentally released thousands of gallons of fuel and water into a tunnel that houses a fire suppression system drain line, resulting in the contamination of a nearby drinking water well that serves Pearl Harbor. The spill sickened hundreds of military families living on or near the installation, forcing them to rely solely on bottled water in their homes or to live in hotels for several months while the Navy worked to flush the lines and restore safe drinking water. Given that the fuel that leaked into the Navy's water system near Red Hill in November had been contained in a line meant to carry PFAS-containing firefighting foam, contamination would seem likely. But the facility's main fire suppression system line was not fully functional, with its AFFF fire suppression system disabled for at least a year, according to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Hawaii media outlet Civil Beat, leaving the possibility of additional contamination with PFAS uncertain. During an inspection in early November 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that the system was capable only of deploying water in the event of a fire. The AFFF fire suppression system had been intentionally disabled following an "unknown mechanical failure" that raised concerns that it could potentially pollute the environment, according to OSHA documents. The AFFF lines had been drained and its valves locked, according to the inspectors. The lines did contain PFAS at some point, as indicated by the leak that caused the Navy to disable the automatic system. But whether residual foam or PFAS remained in the system has not been determined. A Navy engineer escorting the inspectors said he was not aware that the system had been disabled and was under the impression that the system was in "manual" mode, meaning the lines did not contain firefighting foam but could be activated by an employee in the event of a fire. As a result of that inspection, OSHA served the Navy with two violations of workplace safety standards, to include failing to maintain an adequate fire safety system and not telling employees about the risk. The Navy accepted the finding that it failed to tell its employees that the system was problematic, but it disagreed with the finding that the system was inadequate. "Although the water suppression capability was fully functional, and would activate automatically as designed if a fire were detected, activation of the Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) supply to the system was in manual vice automatic mode," wrote Rear Adm. Timothy Kott, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, in a letter to OSHA on April 21, 2022. The Navy agreed to put up signs warning employees that the AFFF system was in manual mode and added that a watchstander be posted in the system's pump house to activate the foam response as necessary. "Additionally, action is being taken to return the AFFF supply portion of the system to full automatic mode by the end of the month," Kott wrote. In its investigation of a spill that took place on May 6, 2021, dumping fuel into the fire suppression line, and the subsequent Nov. 20 spill that polluted the base drinking water supply, the Navy also said the AFFF used at Red Hill met military specifications established in 2017 that required significantly reduced levels of two chemicals, PFOS and PFOA. "Due to the age of the Red Hill AFFF system, it has only ever contained this new formulation," they wrote in the investigation. Tests done on the water following the November spill did not appear to measure for PFAS. The base itself is a known PFAS-contamination site as a result of long-term use of AFFF, according to the Environmental Working Group, a watchdog nonprofit that monitors PFAS sites nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency said in June that no amount of PFAS exposure is safe and could cause health problems at "near zero and below EPA's ability to detect at this time." During the hearing, Kahele said he remains concerned. "Ensuring that PFAS, which is a very, very dangerous chemical, obviously known to cause cancer, was not in that pipe and did not enter the Red Hill well and, ultimately, was not consumed by our military service members and their families, it's really, really important for those families to know that," Kahele said. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime Related: Dozens More Military Bases Have Suspected 'Forever Chemical' Contamination Hong Kong: Govt helps concert victim's family The Health Bureau today said it will provide assistance to family members of a person who was seriously injured during a concert as far as possible in accordance with the existing mechanism. The bureau made the statement in response to media enquiries about the visiting arrangements for the injured person's family. It pointed out that under the prevailing arrival quarantine procedures, all inbound travellers, unless exempted, are required to undergo quarantine. Under special circumstances, permission may be granted by an authorised Department of Health officer for confinees to temporarily leave the place of quarantine and visit a relative who is critically ill. The confinees are required to provide relevant supporting documents such as a letter issued by the hospital. The department will assess the application with consideration of the public health risk. In the case of making a visit to a hospital, the confinee should have sought approval from the officer-in-charge of the hospital beforehand. The bureau noted that the patient's family members are residing overseas and planning their way back to Hong Kong to visit the patient. It is understood that they have already secured arrangements for their flight to Hong Kong and accommodation at a Designated Quarantine Hotel. The bureau will provide assistance in accordance with the existing mechanism, so that the family members can visit the patient at the hospital as soon as they have completed the necessary inbound quarantine procedures upon arrival in Hong Kong, including obtaining negative test results and quarantine orders. This story has been published on: 2022-07-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. We Are China Retired man turns waste into art (People's Daily App) 14:37, July 29, 2022 Chen Zhaoting, an 81-year-old retired man from Jinan, Shandong Province, has turned everyday refuse into core materials for his art for some 20 years. Using processed pop cans and nut shells, Chen makes handicrafts such as peony flowers. (Produced by Song Jiachen, Di Jingyuan and Liu Lin) (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) HLUTHI Mob justice! Two people died after being attacked by a mob. This was after one of them had broken into a house and tried to rob a man of his money. The incident happened at Lombhiwako, an area around Nsingizini Chiefdom under Hosea Constituency, in the Shiselweni Region. A source privy to the incident informed this publication that, one of the people who died was a known thief in the area. It was reported that a male and female died due to the injuries sustained during the assault. The source said in the early hours of Wednesday, at around 1am, the man, together with five others, went to rob a Ndlovu man, who was sleeping in his house. According to the source, the man gained entry into Ndlovus house while the others remained outside. Ndlovu was asleep and the man tried to suffocate him. Alarm This publication was informed that Ndlovu raised the alarm and his brother, who was in another room, rushed to investigate what was happening. The source said when Ndlovus brother, who was armed with a bush knife, saw his brother being suffocated, he hacked the intruder and raised the alarm, which attracted the attention of their neighbours. The neighbours are said to have responded and found the two brothers trying to fight the intruder and joined them. A mob of about 150 people, said the source, attacked the intruder and questioned him about the firearms which he allegedly owned. He was further ordered to reveal the names of the people he worked with. The intruder, added the source, was taken to his house by the mob, where they found groceries and other items suspected to be stolen from some homesteads and shops in the area. The items included packets of sugar, soap and other household goods, as well as kitchen utensils that were missing from the different homesteads. No firearms were found but two men, believed to be in cohorts with the intruder, were found in his house and were believed to be from Jozini in the Republic of South Africa. We even found cooked meat of a freshly slaughtered goat, narrated the source. The mob is said to have taken the intruder, who was still alive then, together with the two South African nationals, back to the Ndlovu homestead where he had broken into a house. Three others from a different area; including a woman, were brought together and assaulted, according to the source. The mob is said to have taken turns in assaulting them and questioning them about their stolen items and the six would mention whether or not they knew the items in question. According to the source, over five homesteads and three shops had been broken into. One of the South African national was identified by a certain woman he allegedly robbed at gunpoint, who told her that even if she looked at him, she would not be able to identify him. The six alleged robbers, mentioned the source, further pointed out over 10 homesteads where they reportedly stole livestock to smuggle into South Africa. The interrogation is said to have gone on until daylight and by 10am, police had still not arrived and the mob, which had almost doubled, continued to assault the suspect. The police eventually arrived before 11am and took the six alleged robbers to hospital. They were all soaked in blood. Four of them were critical, narrated the source. The source said the ringleader, who broke into Ndlovus house and tried to suffocate him, died upon arrival at the hospital. The other three were transferred to Hlatikhulu Government Hospital. A family member confirmed that the female died at Hlatikhulu Government Hospital and the remaining two were in a critical condition. However, unconfirmed reports suggested that three people died in total and the others were still in hospital. We went to check on them today (yesterday), I can confirm he passed away, said the family member. It was gathered that the other two were in police custody. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendant Phindile Vilakati confirmed the incident. Vilakati, when asked if there were any members of the mob who had been arrested, said no case had been opened by anyone yet. Hundreds of Air Force and Navy planes are being grounded due to a faulty part in their ejection seats, a major safety concern if a pilot needs to eject from the aircraft suddenly. The issues first became public Tuesday, when the Navy grounded an undisclosed number of F/A-18 Hornets, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers, as well as T-45 Goshawk and F-5 Tiger II training aircraft. The service made the decision to ground the planes "after being notified of [a] potential defect by the vendor," it said. The manufacturer is Martin-Baker, a company in the United Kingdom that specializes in ejection gear for foreign and U.S. aircraft. Read Next: At Least 9 Helicopters Damaged, Blown Over in Norfolk Storm Martin-Baker flagged its cartridge-actuated devices -- explosive components used to launch an ejection seat out of the cockpit -- as the issue. Certain lots of those devices dont work properly and need to be replaced, according to the company. But the problem is hitting the Air Force as well. On Friday, Air Combat Command (ACC) confirmed in a statement to Military.com that it is standing down its fleet of F-35A Lightning II jets due to the Martin-Baker defect. On July 19, it began a 90-day inspection of all the components in its aircraft. "Out of an abundance of caution, ACC units will execute a stand-down on July 29 to expedite the inspection process," a statement from the Air Force said. "Based on data gathered from those inspections, ACC will make a determination to resume operations." Two days earlier, the 19th Air Force's Air Education and Training Command was made aware of the ejection seat issue on its T-38 Talon and T-6 Texan II training planes. Martin-Baker also manufactures the ejection devices for those aircraft. The Air Force identified a total of 279 T-38 and T-6 planes that are affected and ordered a stand-down for those aircraft, meaning they wont fly until the ejection seats are cleared. "Out of an abundance of caution, 19th Air Force directed that T-38 and T-6 operations be terminated on July 27 while our maintenance and logistics teams further investigated the issue," a statement from Air Education and Training Command said. "Working with the manufacturer, AFMC [Air Force Materiel Command] was able to isolate the specific lot numbers of product that require inspection and further identify which aircraft may be affected." Maj. Gen. Craig Wills, commander of the 19th Air Force, said the stand-down is necessary to protect the safety of the students and instructors. "Our actions today were taken out of an abundance of caution in order to ensure the safety of our pilots and aircrew," Wills said. "We will not return aircraft affected by this issue to the flying schedule until we're confident their escape systems are fully functional." Congress has paid close attention to ejection seat problems after the 2020 death of 1st Lt. David Schmitz, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot with the 77th Fighter Squadron out of Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. Investigations after his death found that an ejection seat malfunction was partly to blame. JV Venable, a former Air Force pilot with 25 years of experience and a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said faulty ejection seat cartridges are just the latest example of long-standing issues related to the military's aging equipment and lack of maintenance preparation. "This is just one of the many readiness issues that is facing the military right now," Venable said in an interview. "You're starting to see the impact of that with these ejection seats." Emma Sutcliffe, a spokeswoman for Martin-Baker, told Military.com that the company has not yet issued a statement about the parts issue. -- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly. Related: Ukraine Official Says Country Doesn't Want Old American A-10s A retired and decorated Navy chief petty officer has been indicted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on allegations of convincing fellow sailors to give him hundreds of thousands of dollars that he then gambled away, spent on personal items, or lost on risky stock investments. According to a statement and court filings made by federal officials, Robert Murray Jr. "used the veneer of trustworthiness created by his U.S. Navy service to raise nearly $355,000 from approximately 44 investors," of which he would misappropriate nearly half -- $148,000. Navy records show that Murray, a corpsman, had an extensive career serving both on ships and with Marines that spanned 20 years. According to data provided by the Navy, Murray not only deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, he also earned the Combat Action Ribbon -- an award that is earned by troops who fight an enemy combatant. Read Next: Marine Vet Who Was Allegedly Part of Neo-Nazi Group That Called for Mass Murder Arrested on Gun Charges It's not clear what Murray did once he retired from the Navy in April 2018 but, in September 2020, he began to reach out to sailors and veterans about his investment fund: "Deep Dive Strategies, LLC (DDS)," prosecutors say. Murray "touted his purported options trading acumen" in the "Goats Facebook Group" -- a collection of more than 3,500 active-duty sailors, reservists and veterans of the Navy "who shared an interest in investing," court documents allege. "Goat" refers to a common slang term for Navy chief petty officers and suggests the group was largely made up of fellow chiefs. "Murray knew and took advantage of the trust in Navy Chiefs that is developed through service and special naval training," the SEC wrote in the criminal complaint. Those who invested were given all the typical paperwork of any investment enterprise. Prosecutors say Murray provided his investors with documents like an "Operating Agreement" and "Disclosure Statement" that laid out rules for the fund and noted that he was entitled to an annual 2% administrative fee and 20% of any of the fund's trading profits. However, prosecutors allege that Murray quickly began abusing the funds, spending $638.99 at Helzberg Diamonds only three days after the first investors sent their money. Months later, in February 2021, prosecutors say Murray transferred $10,000 from the fund's bank account. "Nine minutes after making the transfer, [he] purchased $10,400 in casino chips from a Cleveland casino." There were also other instances where Murray took money from the fund "on days when he was gambling at other casinos in the states of Indiana, Wisconsin, and Ohio." Despite the allegations of gambling and inappropriate spending, Murray did make some investments with the money entrusted to him. The court documents note that the retired chief lost most of the brokerage account's money "in GameStop options contracts" on Jan. 13, 2021 -- amid the height of the stock's meme status. Murray made his last trade with the fund on Jan. 23, 2021. "This final failed trade was a bet on deeply risky options contracts that had the potential to lose all value within 24 hours, which they ultimately did," prosecutors said. Still, Murray kept taking investments. "Between January 23, 2021 and February 11, 2021, Murray collected $37,300 total from three current Fund investors and one new investor," prosecutors say. But, that money never made it into any investments, they write in court documents. Instead, Murray pocketed the money. "Murray continued using the account for personal expenses, depositing and withdrawing personal funds, until only $1 remained as of February 2022," prosecutors said. By March, with the money gone, Murray stopped talking with investors and wouldn't let anyone see the books for the fund. "To date, no fund investors have received any return," the court documents say. Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said they are "committed to protecting our nation's service members and veterans from investment fraud." "I'm proud of our team for putting a stop to this alleged scheme and for looking out for those who have and continue to defend our country with honor," Grewal added in the statement. The federal court in the Northern District of Ohio issued a summons to Murray on Thursday. Court records do not indicate whether he has retained a lawyer. Military.com was not able to reach Murray for a comment Friday, but the complaint notes that he had asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to the SEC. -- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin. Related: Sailors Waiting Months for Separation Orders, with Bills Growing and Lives Put on Hold A federal court in Cincinnati Wednesday granted class certification and a preliminary injunction to protect members of the Air Force from discipline while their lawsuit continues against the Department of Defense's COVID vaccine mandate. The plaintiffs in the case have been seeking an exemption from the mandate for religious reasons. The same judge two weeks ago certified the plaintiffs as a class, in a ruling that affects 80 to 100 Airmen who are serving or have served at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, according to Kentucky attorney Christopher Wiest. The class is extensive, encompassing Air Force Academy cadets and AFROTC cadets. In his preliminary injunction order, Judge Matthew McFarland said the class includes: "All active-duty, active Reserve, Reserve, National Guard, inductees, and appointees of the United States Air Force and Space Force, including but not limited to Air Force Academy cadets, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) cadets, (and) members of the Air Force Reserve Command." Defendants, including the Air Force and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, are "enjoined and restrained from taking any adverse action against any class member on the basis of this lawsuit or his request for religious accommodation from the COVID19 vaccine," McFarland wrote. "The temporary exemptions from taking the COVID-19 vaccine currently in place for all class members shall remain in place during the resolution of this litigation," the judge added. A spokeswoman for the Department of the Air Force has said the department will comply with court orders. Air Force leaders have argued that vaccinations are an important component of fitness and military readiness. ___ (c)2022 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Update: A statement released by the Navy Friday evening said that the fire started at about 1:41pm EST and that it was an electrical fire. The Navy added that the service will be investigating the fire's cause and is still determining the extent of the damage. A fire broke out onboard the USS Milwaukee, a littoral combat ship based at Naval Station Mayport near Jacksonville, Florida, Friday afternoon, with reports first appearing on a social media feed. Military.com reached out to Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, which confirmed that the department responded to a call for assistance at the base, but an official would not disclose any further information, deferring to the Navy. A Navy spokeswoman confirmed that a fire took place aboard the ship and that it has now been extinguished. A Twitter account that specializes in open-source intelligence told Military.com that while monitoring the base's fire department radio transmissions, they heard initial reports of white smoke coming from the ship just before 2 p.m. Once firefighters arrived on scene, scanner traffic indicated that a major fire had broken out aboard the USS Milwaukee. Read Next: Decorated Navy Chief Allegedly Bilked Fellow Sailors Out of Thousands with Investment Scam Although the fire was quickly extinguished, scanner traffic suggested that four sailors had been temporarily trapped by the fire and were evaluated for heavy smoke inhalation, the account reported. The account also noted that there were reports of at least three nearby ships sending firefighting teams to aid the Milwaukee. The Navy said that it is now de-smoking the affected spaces aboard the ship and that all Navy and contractor personnel are safe and accounted for. This is a developing story, and it will be updated when more details are available. -- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin. Related: At Least 9 Helicopters Damaged, Blown Over in Norfolk Storm A Marine veteran is in federal custody and facing several gun charges after he allegedly solicited an unnamed police officer as a strawman buyer for an assault rifle and pistol. That effort came while the veteran was still serving, with court records also alleging that the Marine was a leading member of a neo-Nazi group known as "Rapekrieg" whose idealogy focused on the conviction that rape would be "an extremely effective tool against our many foes." Matthew Belanger was arrested June 10 in New York on three charges stemming from purchases of a PTR-91 .308 assault rifle in June 2019 and a Luger pistol in May 2020. Read Next: Army's Top General Vows Not to Lower Recruiting Standards Despite Trouble Finding New Soldiers The case comes as lawmakers -- largely Republicans -- have pushed back on measures aimed at boosting the Pentagon's efforts to investigate extremism in the ranks. Many of those measures came after the Jan. 6 insurrection and the revelation that many veterans and some active-duty service members were participants in the mob. According to prosecutors, one of Rapekrieg's members, referred to as a witness in court documents, said that the group "conducted training together approximately once per year since 2017 with real firearms." "Rapekrieg members have purchased uniforms, including black body armor with level-3 plates, military helmets, green utility uniforms, and a skull facemask," the witness told investigators. Level 3 body armor is built to stop rounds fired by most rifles that law enforcement and military personnel carry. The group, including Belanger, discussed "shooting up" a synagogue in the Long Island area of New York -- going so far as to surveil the building -- "but eventually decided that burning it down at night using Molotov cocktails was a better plan," the witness told investigators. This all happened before Belanger joined the Marines, the documents say. According to the Marine Corps, Belanger joined the service in August 2018 and was designated as a "Motor Vehicle Operator." According to the Corps, there is now "a multi-layered, policy-based approach to screening new and potential Marines for disqualifying personal traits" that includes several interviews, tattoo screenings and background checks. Belanger is also not the only example of an alleged active extremist going on to join the military. In November 2021, federal officials announced that a 19-year old man was able to enlist and ship off to Air Force basic training after allegedly participating in the Jan. 6 riot. Although designed to prevent future enlistments, these measures are far from perfect. Many of the processes now in place rely on either honest self-reporting or reporting by others. Joining the Marines did little to stop or slow Belanger's involvement with Rapekrieg. He spent most of his military career at Marine Corps Base Hawaii assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, arriving there in October 2019. By December 2019, a confidential source told the FBI's New York office "that as a member of the USMC, [Belanger] has made many statements in the Rapekrieg group chat regarding his military service." The court documents hint that others with military experience may be involved in the case. In February 2020, Belanger showed up unannounced and dressed in tactical gear at the house of a person whom court records describe as a "witness" as well as a veteran of the Marine Corps and friend of Belanger "and other Rapekrieg members." According to court records, Belanger told this person "that he wanted to conduct an exercise in the woods, and asked [the witness] to demonstrate tactics [they] learned while in the USMC." "[The witness] summarized the entire event as bizarre and an exercise defendant seemed to take seriously." According to prosecutors, Belanger had a hand in creating the group's manifesto, which was published in May 2020. The document, cited by prosecutors, not only argues in favor of rape as a weapon of fear and violence but calls for the extermination of all Jews, as well as the murder and torture of "enemies of the white race." Prosecutors noted that, in the course of its investigation, the FBI learned that Rapekreig "had overlapping beliefs and membership with Atomwaffen Division and RapeWaffen, similar groups whose members espouse racially motivated violent extremist Neo-Nazi rhetoric and call for acts of violence to further their extremist ideology." The FBI found chat logs "in an encrypted social media platform with others articulating neo-Nazi ideology" from this period of time where Belanger "admitted he is a Nazi." In June 2020, the same confidential source who tipped off the FBI in 2019 showed investigators a group chat where Belanger and other Rapekreig members discussed the potential rape of an unnamed high school-aged girl, describing her as a "Good find" and "Could possibly get her pretty easy rn," as well as sharing pictures of her in high school and at a music recital. Eventually, the Marine Corps became involved with the investigation into Belanger and, in October 2020, the service signed off on a joint search with the FBI of the barracks where Belanger lived. There, according to court documents, investigators seized a laptop and two cell phones. "A digital evidence review was completed on all three devices belonging to Belanger revealing approximately 1,950 images, videos and documents related to white power groups, Nazi literature, brutality towards the Jewish community, brutality towards women, rape, mass murderers, firearms, body armor, instructional documents relating to building explosives and/or illegal firearms, violent uncensored executions and/or rape, and communications related to illegally obtained firearms," several court documents explained. In May 2021, the Marine Corps discharged Belanger under Other Than Honorable conditions for Misconduct (Serious Offense), according to prosecutors. The court documents note that the Corps specifically noted Belanger's "dissident/extremist activity" as the cause. "According to commercial databases, upon discharge from the USMC on May 10, 2021, Belanger returned to his relative's home in Selden, New York," the court documents added. According to the records provided to Military.com by the Marine Corps, Belanger never deployed and earned only the National Defense Service medal and Global War on Terrorism Service medal -- medals that almost every active-duty service member is awarded. He left the Corps as a lance corporal. The Marine Corps, in a statement to Military.com that did not directly respond to questions about Belanger's case, stressed that "the Marine Corps is clear on this: There is no place for racial hatred or extremism in the Marine Corps." "Our strength is derived from the individual excellence of every Marine regardless of background," the statement added. Meanwhile, as the annual defense policy bill made its way through Congress, some lawmakers used the opportunity to try and stop the investigation into extremists in the military's ranks. One amendment to the House version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act calls for the heads of the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense to produce a report that looks at how much white supremacist or neo-Nazi activity is going on in the military and how the Pentagon plans to address it. The amendment passed with every single House Republican voting against it. In the Senate, the Armed Services Committee issued a report on the policy bill that called Pentagon efforts to root out extremism "an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds, and should be discontinued by the Department of Defense immediately." Because the language is in the report, not the bill itself, it would not carry the weight of law if it survives House-Senate negotiations on a final version. "The committee believes that the vast majority of servicemembers serve with honor and distinction, and that the narrative surrounding systemic extremism in the military besmirches the men and women in uniform," the language said. Military.com has reported on a number of occasions where veterans and service members have been arrested for extremist activity. Experts on the matter have also repeatedly noted that, while service members -- active and discharged -- do not necessarily join extremist groups at greater rates than civilians, they frequently make an outsized impact when they do. Belanger's lawyer, Leighton Lee, argued in a filing that the now-discharged Marine was not a flight risk, citing the fact that "he had been fully aware that he was a target of an investigation" since his barracks were searched almost two years ago. However, the judge hearing his case in Hawaii disagreed and, in a hearing July 25, sent Belanger to federal custody. Jury selection for his trial is set to begin on Sept. 26, 2022, according to court records. -- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin. Related: Guardsman Who Hinted at Mass Shooting Plot Charged with Plan to Sell 'Ghost Guns' and Conversion Kits KYIV, Ukraine Russia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of a key southern city in May. Both sides said the assault was premeditated with the aim of covering up atrocities. Russia claimed that Ukraine's military used U.S.-supplied multiple rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People's Republic. Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded another 75. Moscow opened a probe into the attack, sending a team to the site from Russias Investigative Committee, the country's main criminal investigation agency. The state RIA Novosti agency reported that fragments of U.S.-supplied precision High Mobility Artillery Rocket System rockets were found at the site. The Ukrainian military denied making any rocket or artillery strikes in Olenivka, and accused the Russians of shelling the prison to cover up the alleged torture and execution of Ukrainians there. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the shelling as a a deliberate, cynical, calculated mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners. Neither claim could be independently verified. Denis Pushilin, the leader of the internationally unrecognized Donetsk republic, said the prison held 193 inmates. He didnt specify how many were Ukrainian POWs. The deputy commander of the Donetsk separatist forces, Eduard Basurin, suggested that Ukraine decided to strike the prison to prevent captives from revealing key military information. Ukraine knew exactly where they were being held and in what place," he said. "After the Ukrainian prisoners of war began to talk about the crimes they committed, and orders they received from Kyiv, a decision was made by the political leadership of Ukraine: carry out a strike here. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called for a strict investigation into the deadly attack and urged the United Nations and other international organizations to condemn it. He said the Russians had transferred some Ukrainian prisoners to the barrack that was hit just a few days before the strike, suggesting that it was planned. The purpose to discredit Ukraine in front of our partners and disrupt weapons supply, he tweeted. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, described the strike as a bloody provocation aimed at discouraging Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. He too claimed that U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets were used, and said eight guards were among the wounded. Ukrainian forces are fighting to hold on to the remaining territory under their control in Donetsk, which together with neighboring Luhansk province makes up Ukraine's mostly Russian-speaking industrial Donbas region. For several months of the war in Ukraine, Moscow has focused on trying to seize parts of the Donbas not already held by the separatists. Ukrainian authorities in the Donetsk region accused Russia on Friday of shelling civilian targets in Ukrainian-held areas. The fighting in the region has been intensifying by the day, and civilians must evacuate while its still possible, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said. The Russian army doesnt worry about civilian casualties. They are pummeling cities and villages in the region. He later said one person was killed and five injured Friday in Russian rocket strike on the city of Kramatorsk. The Ukrainian POWS at the Donetsk prison included troops captured during the fall of Mariupol. They spent months holed up with civilians at a giant steel mill in the southern port city. Their resistance during a relentless Russian bombardment became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance against Russia's aggression. More than 2,400 soldiers from the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian national guard and other military units gave up their fight and surrendered under orders from Ukraine's military in May. Scores of Ukrainian soldiers have been taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas. Some have returned to Ukraine as part of prisoner exchanges with Russia, but the families of other POWs have no idea whether their loved ones are still alive, or if they will ever come home. At 21 years old, newly stationed in Missouri, without a car and feeling "devastated, lost and alone," Air Force Maj. Theresa Mozzillo had to use an entire paycheck to get an off-base abortion 19 years ago when she found out she was pregnant about a year into her military career. With hindsight, she considers herself lucky. Her one friend at her new station of Whiteman Air Force Base was willing to drive her 90 minutes to an abortion clinic, and she was able to get an appointment on a Saturday so she didn't have to ask her male leadership for time off. But at the time, she thought her "dream of a successful military career was falling apart before I even had a chance to get started." Read Next: Were Dangerous 'Forever Chemicals' Released in the Red Hill Fuel Spill? The US Navy Isn't Saying "I scraped by on a near empty bank account until my next paycheck arrived," she said. "Without a question, if I had not been able to have an abortion as a junior enlisted member, I would not have had my career, and I would not be in front of you today. At the time of my pregnancy, I did not have the financial ability, support or personal desire to become a single mother serving in the armed forces." Mozzillo was one of two female service members who detailed their experiences and struggles getting abortions during a House Armed Services Committee hearing Friday. The other woman, Air Force Maj. Sharon Arana, similarly told lawmakers that she would not have been able to continue her military career had she been forced to carry that pregnancy." When Arana got her abortion in 2009, she was a week away from graduating officer training school and commissioning. She already had two children and was recently divorced. She was on birth control, but it failed. When she realized she had missed her period, she didn't want to take a pregnancy test at the base clinic because she didn't want her chain of command to be notified if she was pregnant. She took a home test alone in a gas station bathroom. The testimony underscored concerns some lawmakers have expressed about recruitment and retention in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling last month that reversed 50 years of national abortion rights. It was followed by roughly a dozen states banning or severely restricting abortion, with another dozen or so expected to soon follow suit. The concerns come as the military is facing a recruiting crisis more broadly. Democrats have warned that female troops will be particularly harmed by state abortion bans because troops do not get to choose where they are stationed. The biggest military bases in the country are in some of the conservative states passing anti-abortion laws, and the Defense Department is banned by federal law from performing or paying for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or where the mother's life is in danger. Democrats have also raised questions about the abortion policy at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which does not cover the procedure even in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother. VA Secretary Denis McDonough said last week the department was "closely watching" states' responses to the Supreme Court ruling to determine whether it will take steps to offer abortions to veteran patients, but 25 Democratic senators on Friday released a letter urging him to "take swift and decisive action to ensure" abortion access. At least 109 military installations are in states that have or will soon ban or restrict abortions, said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who chairs the House Armed Services Committee's personnel subcommittee that hosted Friday's hearing. "My office has been inundated with outreach from former and current service members anxious and despondent about being stationed in states where they can't control their bodies," Speier said. "At a time when the military is struggling with recruitment and retention, these bans will make matters worse." At the hearing, Gil Cisneros, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, reiterated that the Supreme Court ruling will not change the Pentagon's ability to provide abortions in cases of rape, incest and where the mother's life is at risk. But he also acknowledged "complexities and challenges posed by the court's decision" and the fact that service members are "now having to navigate additional challenges to access essential women's health care services." Still, pressed by several lawmakers for specifics on what the Pentagon is doing to help service members and what tools it wants Congress to provide, Cisneros said only that the department is still analyzing the effects of the state laws. A Navy OB-GYN who was testifying in her personal capacity suggested lawmakers allow service members to pay for abortions at military clinics themselves, something she argued could be a workaround for the so-called Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding from being used on abortions. But even in cases where the military is allowed to conduct abortions right now or for reproductive care more broadly, troops often have to go off-base because of staff shortages in military medical facilities, said Jackie Lamme, the Navy medical officer. "We do not currently have the staffing to on-base see every patient of reproductive age whether they're active duty or dependents, so we do rely on our local community to help care for those patients. And much of the OB-GYN care in many locations throughout the country does need to be deferred to the network," she said. Military.com has previously reported that expectant mothers have had to wait months for appointments or drive hours away as the military directs more service members and their families to private care, which can be scarce in the immediate area surrounding military bases. Military doctors are also questioning whether they will be prosecuted for legally conducting abortions on federal property if they live off base, as are patients who might get a legal abortion from the military but need to go to an emergency room in the community for any complications later, Lamme added. Arana, one of the service members who testified Friday, also raised the issue of so-called "bounty laws" that empower private citizens to sue anyone who provides or helps to provide an abortion. "The DoD is a unique employer in that so much of our information is not afforded the same privacy as it is in the civilian sector," she said. "And so if we go to states, for example, like Texas, with these bounty laws where service members themselves can sue one another, it kind of sets us up for this situation that's similar, like 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'" At the time she terminated her pregnancy she was stationed in Alabama, which restricted access to abortion. So she and her boyfriend drove three and a half hours to Atlanta, only to find out that Georgia required a three-day "cooling off period," which meant the only thing the clinic could do for her at that appointment was give her another pregnancy test and an ultrasound she was "forced to watch." She couldn't return to Atlanta after three days because she needed to be in Alabama to finish her course. But she had already been planning to go home to New York after graduating, and she was able to obtain an abortion there before going to Texas for more training. Her boyfriend from that time is now her husband, and they went on to have two children together. "If I would have been forced to carry through with the pregnancy, because I was on my way to technical school, to intel officer school in Texas, my training either would have been curtailed, or I would have been sent to another station. It would have affected the entire path of my career," she said. "As military members, we have a responsibility to remain worldwide deployable, but yet when it comes to abortion specifically, we are abandoned by the system and left to the luck of where we are stationed." -- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at Rebecca.Kheel@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel Related: Troops at Some Bases to See Abortion Access Sharply Curtailed or Eliminated After the Fall of Roe Episode Introduction What happened at Red Hill? Last year fuel tanks at the Navy facility spilled thousands of gallons of fuel into Hawaiis water supply sickening and displacing thousands of families from the Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam area. This is their story. Main Topics Patricia Kime, Military.coms veteran and troop health reporter answers: what happened at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam last year. Attorney Kristina Baehr talks about representing over 140 families allegedly affected by the spill and breaks down her case against the Navy. Hosts Drew F. Lawrence and Rebecca Kheel talk about other important military stories for July 29. Additional Resources Listen, rate, and subscribe! Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Transcript: SPEAKERS Families, Military Leaders, Drew Lawrence, Kristina Baehr, Rebecca Kheel, Patricia Kime, Congressman Kai Kahele Drew Lawrence What you just heard was allegedly the sound of 20,000 gallons of fuel rushing out of a busted pipe and toward the water supply Ron Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam in November. The base is a legendary posting in Hawaii and home to 1000s of service members and their families. The video now posted on YouTube was leaked by a worker to the Honolulu Civil Beat earlier this month. That fuel was stored in a world war two era facility called Red Hill. The name now becoming an infamous moniker for the military second worst water contamination disaster in history. And people got sick from it. Very sick. This is a recording from a town hall last year. Have a listen. Families Hi, my name is Cassandra and I'm a mom of two I have a three year old and a one year old. And they're both sick and they my children took a bath and for 45 minutes afterwards, they complained that burning skin My eyes were completely swollen shut and my forehead was complete. I inhaled that for nine hours not knowing we didn't know my son every day shower in the morning and shower at night. I was poisoning my child. He got worse. He's I got swamped. I've moved in by dogs have been sick. They've been throwing up. I get it. Why are you there residual effects on these kids as well as ourselves? Because I've had symptoms and I'm an adult, I can go down the ground put my big girl panties on. But what about these kids? Drew Lawrence These families are unable to use the water coming out of their faucets. They were forced to live in hotels for several months during the holidays while recovering from exposure, hunting down bottled water to wash their children and pets and dishes. The Navy tried to flush water lines and temper anger and fear. Families How am I supposed to give my kids a clean shower? That was her question. And you guys evaded it and didn't answer and that's why everyone were unable Military Leader I cannot give you that answer. I know that's a tough, tough, not a satisfactory. But I cannot tell you to go to hell to now would you bathe your children they will not be able to bathe my children. Families Well, what about those that can't do that? Because we go through over case of water at night. And this is going to continue on Testing my water. Stop joking with me. Sorry. Drew Lawrence These families understandably had questions. And after the spill, military leaders didn't have a good answer for them. Families I feel like we're getting a little lost in the song and dance here. Is our water contaminated with fuel. Military Leader Pardon me? Families Petroleum. Military Leader I can't say it is, I can't say it is not based on this.... Families What has also been done to hold those accountable for this. So this doesn't happen again. And then what's the... I'm not saying you guys lack integrity, but I know that I have it. And if I made a mistake in the job that I do, I will be held accountable 1,000% Drew Lawrence This criticism was not just from families but Congress and even higher ups with the Navy itself. An internal report found that the incident was preventable. And the response quote ineffective with thousands of gallons of unaccounted for fuel still lurking in the ground, threatening Honolulu's water supply. Here's Congressman Kai Kahele of Hawaii, in January. Congressman Kai Kahele The leak threatens Oahu's federally designated sole source aquifer, which the ranking member correctly stated provide 77% of a Oahu's drinking water. Let me be clear, clean drinking water is national security and cannot be compromised for anything. Drew Lawrence In March, the Department of Defense ordered Red Hill to shut down and after months of flushing Hawaii's Department of Health mark the water is safe to drink. But in the wake of the spill, the families and the surrounding Hawaii population are still dealing with the consequences of the disaster. This is their story. And for Military.com. My name is Drew Lawrence. It's July 29, and this is Fire Watch. I am joined by Patricia Kime. She focuses on military and veteran's health care and medicine for Military.com. She has also reported extensively on health issues affecting troops and their families such as Red Hill. Patricia, thank you so much for joining Fire Watch. Patricia Kime Thank you for having me, Drew. Drew Lawrence Before we get into the spill. Let's talk about this base because maybe, not so obviously, it has some historical significance to the military. Patricia Kime Yeah, I don't think it's an understatement to say that this base is one of the most famous in the world. Now having been the site of the attack that drew the United States into World War II. But it's the headquarters of the US Pacific Fleet and Pacific Air Forces and has more than 100,000 active duty personnel reserve and National Guard members assigned to it and 1000s more are family members and civilians live on and near the installation. Drew Lawrence So take us back to May 6 2021 at this historic base. What happened? Patricia Kime Well, I'd love to take you back actually to May 7, when the Navy released a statement saying that the day before approximately 1000 gallons of fuel was released accidentally at Red Hill during transfer of the fuel. The service said the spill was contained and the fuel recovered without any apparent threat to the environment. But what actually happened was that 20,000 gallons of jet fuel was spilled with much of it draining into the sumps and pipes that make up the facility's fire suppression system. Now, a follow on assessment noted that 19,000 gallons of fuel was missing, but the Navy unable to find the fuel concluded that it must have drained back into the pipeline. And that brings us to November. So on November 20, an employee was driving a cart through an underground tunnel at Red Hill when he hit one of those fire suppression system lines and he broke it releasing the fuel that had been contained in that line since May. The fuel which was later determined to be JP five or jet fuel, gush through the tunnel, you know, flow down into holding sumps and seeped into the groundwater posing a threat to the to a drinking water. Well, that serves Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam as well as the main aquifer to Honolulu that provides drinking water for 400,000 residents. Drew Lawrence What's the scope of this spill? I mean, how many people have been affected? And what do these symptoms look like? Patricia Kime Well, Pearl Harbor-Hickam is, you know, home to 4000 family housing units. There's another 3000 in the area that our military homes that are served by the Navy's drinking water system, and that potentially were contaminated. You know, about a week after the spill military families and civilian renters in these houses began reporting that their water smelled like kerosene or gasoline. And it had a noticeable sheen. You know, some even told me they successfully lit their water on fire. But even before the smell became noticeable, residents said they had unexplained nausea, rashes, headaches and lightheadedness, and that their mouths and throats burned. Drew Lawrence You've talked to several families who have gotten sick from the spill. It seems like they're mostly spoken with what happened to them? Patricia Kime Well, yes. So nearly immediately after the family has began reporting problems, Navy officials, you know, downplayed or denied that there were issues right after the spill in November, November 20. You know, they said the water was fine, and it was safe. And they also had said that they have you know, they opened up their taps, they live in these houses too, and drank the water and found no issues, you know, but the growing number of calls and visits by family members to emergency rooms said otherwise. Families My kids started vomiting. And my kids started having diarrhea. And now I have my three year old they're still having vomiting, diarrhea, fevers, just last night, I have to be in the urgent care with them. So it sucks that I have to be standing here. So you guys can understand the level of urgency. This is on all of us. It's not right. I should be at home. With my kids right now. Not here. I literally had to get off of work. So I can stay home for the rest of this week. But I'm sure both of them are not going to get better tomorrow. And my work is not going to be paying me for those time off. So my thing is... Drew Lawrence You've reported that the spill or at this point spills were largely preventable. How so? Patricia Kime Well, the Navy's investigation concluded that both the spills were the result of cascading failures, which were preventable. A number of individual errors, you know, such as ignoring the reports that 20,000 gallons instead of 1000 gallons of jet fuel is missing. And systemic issues, such as the fact that the fire suppression line was made out of PVC pipe instead of steel, like it was supposed to be. You know, these are issues that any break in the chain of the failures and the contamination could have been avoided. Drew Lawrence It sounds like the Navy is admitting that there are problems, how have they responded and what are some of the things that they're doing to fix this bill? Patricia Kime Well, you know, the Navy deserves a lot of the criticism that was heaped on it initially. Families relied on warnings from the Hawaii Department of Health, not the Navy, which manages the water supply to guide their decisions. Service made some errors like just relying heavily on social media to get the word out to families, rather than using a phone tree or going door to door... Families ...days, when we could smell the fuel in the water. I was told we cannot get told anything. We cannot give you any information. And when I called again, later in the day, Red Hill told me it's on Facebook. So now you know, there is not okay. Bottom line, I have a 18 month 18 week high risk pregnant wife and I'm being told you can use the water go away. Patricia Kime I mean, that kind of slow reaction is what made family members upset in the first place. And then you know that some of the issues just continued. Drew Lawrence In March, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered that Red Hill shut down by spring. That was almost a year after that initial spill in May, right? Patricia Kime Yes, it was, um, it was in, you know, a year after the may spill and four months after the November spill. But it's a significant move by the Defense Department, which had vowed for a long time not to close the facility, despite pressure from the state of Hawaii and environmental groups and Congressional lawmakers. So, you know, Red Hill is capable of holding 250 million gallons of diesel and JP five. It fuels the entire Pacific Fleet. So just a decision to close it is significant. Drew Lawrence I want to ask you about some of the other contaminants that might be in these water lines. I know we talked about fuel, but was there anything else in the water sources or the water lines after the spill in November? Patricia Kime Well, there you know, there's some concern that the fuel which had leaked into a fire suppression system line where it sat for a month may have been contaminated with the chemicals that are found in firefighting foams since the line was built to carry this foam. These chemicals collectively known as pee fast or a per and poly fluoro alkyl substances have been linked to fertility issues, you know low birth weight, developmental delays and children and some types of cancer. When asked the hearing a few weeks ago whether the fuel actually contained any PFS, the Navy's Deputy Chief of Operations, capabilities and resources, Vice Admiral Randy crites didn't know the answer. You know, if PFS did make it into the water, it could mean it additional long term health issues for families. The science is still out on the extents of the danger of these chemicals. But they are dubbed forever chemicals because they don't really break down and they can build up in one's bloodstream. Drew Lawrence And for the families who may be facing long term health issues from the spill. What does the road ahead look like for them? Now? Patricia Kime They worry about the long term health consequences. There have been very few human studies done on petroleum consumption and in humans. You know, they they're worried about that and many have lost trust with the Navy. Drew Lawrence Patricia Kime, thank you so much for joining us on Fire Watch. Patricia Kime Anytime, thank you, Drew. Drew Lawrence Up next, we're interviewing an attorney who's representing some of these families. And we're asking: what is the case against the Navy? I'm joined by Kristina Baehr. She is an attorney and founder of Just Well Law -- a firm that represents 140 families filing claims against the Navy for health issues they say are caused by the Red Hill fuel spill. Kristina, welcome. Thank you so much for being here. You have an interesting background to be pursuing these claims against the Navy. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Kristina Baehr Well, I was an assistant US attorney representing the United States in claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act. And I also am a survivor of toxic exposure. And so this this, it's almost like this case was sort of made for my practice. It's a toxic exposure case, and it's against the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Drew Lawrence Kristina, I think the best way to introduce you and what your firm does is if you could share part of the pitch on your website to potential families who might have been affected by the right Hill spill, Could you could you read that to us? Kristina Baehr I said, you knew your family was not well, you smelled it in the water who saw sheen, and you and your family felt it? Nausea skin, rashes sores throats burning eyes. You told them things weren't right. The doctors trippler. They didn't believe you. They told you everything was fine. But they were wrong. There was poison in your water. Drew Lawrence I mean, that's a really powerful pitch, can you can you kind of tell us about what some of these families are going through some of the things that you've seen? Kristina Baehr Oh, man, I'll probably tear up thinking about them. But I have, you know, they start feeling sick. And May they have these tummy issues. They've got, you know, they've got they're starting to see some rashes. They're having brain fog, headaches all the time. They're going to the doctor who's saying I don't, I don't feel good. What's wrong with me? Their thyroid is off their liver functions off, right? They're there, they're starting to experience symptoms. And then in November, after the larger spill, suddenly, it's coming out in their water. The Navy assures them and says, no, no, no, it's fine. It's fine, you're fine. No problem. They tell him to keep drinking the water, you know, and then suddenly, now they're throwing up now they're rushing to the emergency room. And some of the some of them have recovered, but they're worried about what's going to happen in the future. Drew Lawrence Can you break down the legal basis for these claims? And I asked that because normally, one can't sue the military and the services have had in the history of rebuffing health claims. So I I'm curious as to what you're alleging, and what the legal basis for it is. Kristina Baehr So the Federal Tort Claims Act is a beautiful thing. I used to represent the United States in these claims. The Federal Tort Claims Act says that if you have been harmed by the negligence of a Federal officer, you can bring a claim against the United States for the harm. So imagine there's a car accident on a base, and you know, a car gets hit from behind with a an army vehicle, you know, the army driver was at fault. The people, you know, the kids in that, in that car have a claim against against the United States to be compensated for the harm. The same is true here. There were a lot of kids, a lot of families who were affected by the negligence of Federal officers at Red Hill, and they have a claim against the United States for the harm. And this is really important. You have a claim, for fear. And there is enormous fear that has been created by what happened to these families, fear of water kids, not, you know, not knowing, Hey, can I drink this? Is this safe? Is this gonna make me sick? They're watching what happened at Campbell is human, and they're saying, Is my kid going to die of leukemia? Am I going to die of leukemia? How, you know, how long am I going to be healthy for? should I should I start planning for my long term health? Now? Those are real, those are very, very real fears. And those are that's the harm that needs to be compensated here. Drew Lawrence The US Pacific Fleet investigation found that the Navy's actions and reactions were questionable and the event itself was largely preventable. Can you tell us a little bit about how some of those actions and reactions play into your cases? Kristina Baehr It's a great question. I'm very well aware. And by the way, I know that the Navy might be listening to this, and that's okay. I am very well aware that you have to be careful in the way that you pursue claims against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act. So maintenance management, things like that, you get the the government and I know this because I was on their side, representing the United States in these very claims. So I know what they're going to argue they're going to argue this was all discretionary. So my claims are very narrow. In May and November of 2021, there were particular federal officers who breached particular standards of care that caused harm. And that's what we're going to allege. Now, what did that mean, though, for my clients, the harm is everything that happened after that all of that harm stemmed from that very first breach, right? Because my clients are there, or they're in their homes, with people coming in and out flushing efforts that are totally futile. And that's all part of the harm and the trauma that this cost to them. So all of that is included in the claims at least as the consequential harm. Right. When the jet fuel leak happened in the first place. They didn't notify the public. That was a rule that was broken. There are regulations that say that when there has been a spill, you have to notify notify the public. Didn't do that here. Right. And as a result, lots and lots of families got sick. Drew Lawrence So Hawaii's Department of Health, marked the water safe to drink in March. It's a long time to go without drinking or bathing water, I'm curious, you know, out of the 140 families that you represent a majority of whom you say are military families, how many of them are still in their homes, or in Hawaii, even? Kristina Baehr only, only about two thirds, I would say, about a third to a half have left. And now, Drew, I want to be really clear about this, it did not start in November. It's not like they just in November had a few days of unclean water. That's not what happened here. There was an enormous spill in May of 2021, the Navy has taken responsibility for that spill. And I believe a lot of that jet fuel. And the evidence shows that jet fuel got into the drinking water as early as May. So we have at least six months of contaminated water that they were drinking. And then they were told to stop drinking the water at the end of November and early December. And I should be clear, only some families were told that the Navy didn't even get it right when the word disclosing the the leaks, or some of them wasn't until over a month later, when the Navy starts flushing the lines, that the Navy comes and says, Oh, we're gonna flush your house. And these family members say, Wait, you're flushing my house, I thought I thought my house was fine. Because the Navy never communicated to that neighborhood that their water wasn't safe to drink. Drew Lawrence So what are the are the families hoping to achieve with these claims, and these cases, the first is accountability. Kristina Baehr It's not okay for the government to poison our families. And I don't use that word lightly. Because they knew the water was contaminated. And they let people that continue to drink it. And there needs to be justice for that. And, you know, making determines the Navy can't do this, again. The government has done this too often in too many places, and, and has hidden from the public very real harm, I'm going to be curious to ask them in depositions. Why? Why did you tell anybody? Why didn't you get them to stop drinking the water? And I think the answer is going to be probably a little bit of embarrassment, but also panic. And then I think most importantly, drew its compensation for future medical care. They're very worried about their futures. And they have not gotten the medical care they need within the military system. Even now they're getting gaslit. When they go in and say, I'm sick and I was contaminated, I was subjected to contaminated water. And they need they need medical care from doctors who care. And that costs a lot of money. I think every single family would say they're bringing a claim, so that they can make sure that they can take care of one another in the future. Drew Lawrence So it's July now while we're talking and I want to ask Where Where does this case stand now? Where are you hoping that it goes? And can you give us a little bit of a timeline as to where these claims are going. Kristina Baehr So I have filed the most claims of any firm that I know of we filed 130 or so we're in the midst of processing the rest, we'll have up to 400 or 500 claims maybe more. Whether you felt sick or not, you have a claim, because you all of these all of this hard that I described, the inconvenience, the potential future illness, and the fear all applies to you. So every single person on the Navy line, in my view should be bringing in claim. So we have you know, 400 more to go. And we're gonna plow through them. And then we'll be bringing a federal lawsuit. Drew Lawrence If the public could take one thing away from this bill, and the subsequent health issues that have affected the families, what would you want them to take away Kristina Baehr That our military families and military officers cannot be mission ready and fight for our country? If the government has made them sick? We cannot allow governments to make our government to make our families sick. That's what we're seeing. We're seeing a lot of sick families who really trusted the United States and trusted the officers when they said the water was safe. And it wasn't. Drew Lawrence Kristina Bair, thank you so much for joining us on Firewatch Kristina Baehr Thanks for having me. Drew Lawrence Stick around for our roundtable with my my co-host, Rebecca keel. And if you like this podcast, you also might like the PCS podcast, which is hosted and produced by our executive editor Amy Bushatz. There, she's going to tell you all the tips and tricks on your next military move. Thanks for listening. Rebecca Kheel That's exactly All right. Hi, everyone. My name is Rebecca Kheel, and I'm the congressional reporter for Military.com. And also your co host for Fire Watch. You're joining us for our roundtable where we're going to bring you all sorts of important military stories that have happened over the last few weeks. Drew, you just got done doing a couple of great segment, it's on Patricia's report on Red Hill. Super fascinating. Drew Lawrence Yeah, she did a great job with it. She does a great job with all the military health stories that she covers. Which kind of brings us to another health story that you reported on this week about mold in the barracks, which has been a problem in the barracks and in private housing for a very long time. And it seems to be one of these things that always continues to resurface. What you know, what's the problem this time? What's what's going on with mold for this story? Rebecca Kheel Yeah, you're exactly right. This is an issue that keeps coming up year after year. Our report is just the latest example of not just soldiers, but really, all service branches facing mishit this issue. But what we found were a couple soldiers in the barracks at Fort Stewart, as well as a soldier and privatized housing at Fort Carson have have some mold complaints. The soldiers at Fort Stewart said the conditions there are unlivable. The soldier at Fort Carson said his wife and kid were consistently getting sick until they moved into temporary housing. So, you know, it's it's pretty bad. And Drew Lawrence I want to ask, too, is, you know, this has been going on for a long time. Like, what's the military's response to this happening again? Rebecca Kheel Now? Well, you know, the Pentagon after Congress was, you know, got on this, the Pentagon said they're taking it very seriously. They've implemented a congressionally mandated tenant bill of rights that they say is going to help give these military family has more negotiating power to get landlords to actually take care of mold issues. But Congress says it's not enough that as you can see with our reporting, these issues are still happening. Drew Lawrence One story that has also been happening in the military for a couple of years, specifically, the Army. And this is about Fort Bragg and a decapitation that had happened. Rebecca Kheel Yeah, I know you had some reporting on that this past week. And I remember it was a big case that got national attention. A couple of years ago, as you mentioned, there was a decapitation. But there was also a lot of mystery and intrigue surrounding this case. Fill us in on what the mystery was. Drew Lawrence Yeah, so just to give you a little bit of a background in May 2020, there were eight soldiers from the Fort Bragg area who broke COVID protocol, and went camping up in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. A couple of days after they went up. They reported one of their friends, Specialist Enrique Roman-Martinez missing. And six days later, his head washed ashore on the Outer Banks. And these last two years, the case has been just shrouded in controversy with the families pointing blame at army's Criminal Investigation Division, not being forthright with information and then we you know, kind of giving the public perplexing details implying that maybe you know, Roman Martinez was decapitated by a boat. The development that we reported on this last week was that charges have been leveled against the seven other soldiers who went camping, and all of them were nonviolent. Over the weekend, we've reported that two were convicted Sgt. Samuel Moore and Spc. Alex Becerra from things like making false statements to conspiracy to investigators and in Becerra's case drug use, but all of them were nonviolent and the mystery continues. Rebecca Kheel Yeah, so as you say, all these charges were nonviolent nobody has actually been charged in the death of this soldier yet. Why not? What what's the big mystery about what happened when you know a body is separated from a head it seems fairly obvious right? Drew Lawrence So that's that's the thing is the medical examiner ruled a homicide but they cannot determine the cause of death and CID was quick to remind people that homicide can be unintentional, which you know, that is where A boat theory came in for them. All the soldiers had lawyer it up. The story, you know, is a bound with rumors. And it's just it's just very unclear. It's very murky. The Army has been hesitant to point fingers at the soldiers who accompanied them. But, you know, the story is hasn't the cause of death, as you mentioned, hasn't been determined yet. And it's been two years. And the families are really looking for closure on this. Rebecca Kheel We also had some really great investigatory work from our colleagues, Steve Bannon and Thomas Novelly. Come out this week on this cult like church out in Georgia that was preying on some service members. Drew Lawrence Yeah, I had read I first of all, that was a great investigation by them. It was this church in Georgia that was bilking veterans and service members for their benefits, like what was what was going on with that? Rebecca Kheel I'll give you the Cliff Notes version because they packed so many details into that story that we could probably fill a whole true crime podcast with it. But just briefly, basically this church based in Georgia had locations throughout the country near military bases, was called House of Prayer run by this guy Rony Denis. It was raided by the FBI in June. And the basic allegation is that they built veterans out of $7 million worth of GI Bill benefits for Bible study classes that basically amounted to informal gatherings that have little to no educational value for these veterans. Meanwhile, this Rony Denis guy is live in large, he has apparently at least three multimillion dollar homes. And former members have also told us things that you would really find or associate with a cult things like how current members are encouraged to cut off family members who have left the church before we before we end, I did just want to mention one thing that I think is important for our listeners to know, that's going on in Congress with the annual defense policy bill. Drew Lawrence Right. So you had some really great reporting on transfers. And what I was reading is that the services have policies in place that can transfer service members due to hardship and included in some of those policies as if they live in a state that is not conducive, or is is has discriminatory laws, particularly if they're part of the LGBTQ community. Is that right? Rebecca Kheel Yeah. So the services do have policies that can allow troops to transfer if there's a hardship, as you mentioned, they were written more for, you know, family emergencies, things like that. But as we've seen, conservative states adopt laws that are arguably discriminatory against our LGBTQ people, the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps have been pointing to their existing policies to say that troops could take advantage of them. Meanwhile, the Army has, we've reported has been drafting a policy specifically to clarify its existing policy to say it could be used in cases like that. That said, what we're seeing in Congress right now, at least in the Senate, is they inserted an amendment into their version of the annual defense policy bill that would block the Pentagon from considering state laws when it decides where to stationed people. Drew Lawrence And you had reported that there were some Democrats who voted in favor of including that amendment that was kind of surprising to me. Rebecca Kheel Yeah, same here, we actually saw a five Democrats vote in support of that amendment, which is why it was able to get into the bill at all. We did contact all five Democrats to ask why they supported it. We only heard back from one of them. Senator Tim Kaine. His basic argument was that he understands that service members have all sorts of reasons for requesting transfers, namely family considerations. But at the end of the day, service members need to go where the country needs the most to defend the country. Drew Lawrence I mean, it seems like whenever there's, you know, policies like this, it always affects the individual service member. Those are the ones who are always negatively affected by those policies. But... Rebecca Kheel And I should point out, there's still a long way to go in the process of the annual defense policy bill, the Senate, the full Senate still needs to vote on this bill. And then it needs to be reconciled with the House version of the bill, which does not have a similar provision. Not only does it not have a similar provision, but the House Armed Services Committee actually voted against a similar provision when they considered their bill. So we'll keep an eye on this. There's likely to be a fight when the two chambers get behind closed doors to hash this out, but I'll keep you posted on how it turns out. Drew Lawrence Awesome. Appreciate it. Well, this was a good roundtable Yeah. Rebecca Kheel Yeah. I enjoyed it. Always fun talking to you. Thank you to our listeners for joining us. Please come back in a couple of weeks where we will bring you even more exciting military news. Drew Lawrence Sounds good Rebecca, talk soon. Thank you so much for listening to episode two of Fire Watch. If you liked Patricia Kime's report on Red Hill and you want to see more great work from our talented reporters, head over to Military.com I also want to thank executive producers Zach Fryer Biggs and Amy Bushatz, as well as my co host, Rebecca Kheel, and our guest Kristina Baehr. Thanks for listening. There are one million military spouses keeping the home fires burning for American service members, as of 2020. While each has their own stories and struggles, many of them will experience similar hardships. Frequent relocations and deployments not only mean time away from their loved one, but also limit the spouse's employment opportunities. With the military member unable to take care of their children full-time and the cost of child care going up around the country, military spouses -- when they find stable employment -- are often left to choose between the job and their kids. This was the choice left to Kayla Corbitt, an Army spouse who has followed her husband from Maryland to Italy and beyond. When she realized just how dire the situation was for spouses with children, she did something about it. Corbitt started Operation Child Care, a referral agency that helps families connect to child-care services while advocating for more official support and providing free informational sessions. "Child care is so much more than a women's issue," she says in an interview with Military.com. "It is a social justice issue, but it's also an employment issue. It's a financial stress issue. It's been directly tied to food insecurity in the active-duty and veteran community. It's tied into PCS-related debt, to veteran homelessness. It is tied into everything, but it's not being addressed." For a flat fee of $29, Operation Child Care will lay out a personalized child-care plan for military families based on the needs of the child. This means reconnoitering schools, adding names to child-care center wait lists and, if necessary, connecting families to a vetted nanny to negotiate a child-care agreement. In her time as a military spouse and mother, Corbitt has noted the effects that a lack of care and resources can have on military families and the military itself. It affects military readiness, effectiveness and, above all, retention. She started an informational brief for military families that she soon turned into a full-on service to help find child-care for military families. Now Corbitt is poised to tackle the biggest child-care deserts in the Defense Department. Corbitt's husband is a U.S. Army physical therapist. They met while she was in graduate school, studying to become a forensic psychologist. The couple married, and shortly after, he received orders to go to Italy. Corbitt's career was put on hold as she quickly learned what milspouse life was like. The United States status of forces agreement (SOFA) with the Italian government that allows military members and their families into the country prevents American family members from employment in Italy. It also restricts teleworking and operating businesses on or off base. "You can't do anything as a spouse in Italy," Corbitt says. "You can drink wine, you can travel, but they have the strictest SOFA in Europe and no support." Kayla Corbitt learned that spouse unemployment is a much deeper issue shortly after marrying her Army husband. (Courtesy of Kayla Corbitt) The lack of support from the DoD was the first step toward Corbitt launching Operation Child Care. "If spouses were able to find a job, it was rare, but they couldn't take it because they didn't have child care," she says. "Having a child is the ultimate career killer in Italy. You have no options at that point. The military relies really heavily on spouses taking care of everything: volunteering, running programs and helping each other for free." When the Corbitts did have a child, Kayla's views were confirmed. The lack of child care left few options, if any, for employment. "It was frustrating and demoralizing," she says. When the Corbitts were sent to Fort Meade, Maryland, in 2020, Corbitt found work with the Navy's Fleet and Family Support Center. She quickly discovered the problem was much more widespread than she thought. The Navy had fewer options for subsidized care than the Army. "When the pandemic hit, day-care centers closed; no one had child care," she recalls. "So all of the phone calls that I was getting were, 'I don't know what to do.' 'I'm gonna lose my job.' 'We're the only ones who can do this.' 'What do I do? No one's open and the ones that are open. I can't afford them.' 'How do I get on this wait list?'" In response, she started a program called Navigating Childcare. It was a simple format. In one session, she laid out a streamlined set of information for service members' families, based on their rank, the needs of their child and what options were available to them. Today, the Corbitts are in San Antonio. Rather than wrangle various military commands and rotating leadership at her husband's new duty station, she launched Operation Child Care. Since starting in 2021, she has spent her time building trust within the area's military community. The company offers free information sessions and has launched a pilot program for its vetted nanny-referral agency. With a contract in place, the nanny handles the family's child-care needs until the spot opens up at their new facility. Operation Child Care's operating costs for the referral services are covered by a further 15% fee on the agreed-upon contract. "The response has been amazing," Corbitt says of Operation Child Care's San Antonio pilot program. "I've spoken to so many veterans who said, 'Me and my spouse were dual military ... One of us had to quit because we had no child-care options. If we had had this service, we could have stayed in." San Antonio is one of the Department of Defense's top five "child-care deserts" for military families, where the significant amount of demand for care isn't being met. The others are Hawaii; the National Capital Region; Norfolk, Virginia; and San Diego. If successful, Corbitt plans to extend Operation Child Care into two of these areas in the coming years. "I feel like more people should know that child-care access is the core issue for most, if not all, problems that military and veteran families face," Corbitt says. "There's almost nothing that a study hasn't tied back directly to child care. They don't say it's child care. They say it's high military spouse unemployment rates. But when you ask why, it all leads back to child care." To learn more about Operation Child Care, to apply to become a caregiver or enlist the various information and services available, visit the Operation Child Care website. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook. Want to Know More About Veteran Jobs? Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. How to use the mindat.org media viewer Click/touch this help panel to close it. Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image) Controls - all media types Zoom in and out of media using your mousewheel or with a two-finger 'resize' action on a touch device. Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen. < and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys. < and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys. > in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys. ? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key. Other keyboard shortcuts: 1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons Scalebar If the field of view (FOV) is specified for the photo, the scalebar appears in the left bottom corner of the viewer. The scalebar is draggable and resizeable. Drag the right edge to resize it. Double click will reset the scalebar to it's default size and position. If the scalebar is in default position, double click will make it circular. Controls - Video Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key. Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation) Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys. The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types. The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control. Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways: - without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method - with stereoscope - with anaglyph glasses. - on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system) For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them. Controls - photo comparison mode If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu. Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder. Summary of all keyboard shortcuts Blinken to attend NPT review conference in New York next week Washington, July 29 (UNI) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to New York next week to take part in the Nuclear-Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Friday. "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to New York City August 1 to deliver remarks and participate in meetings at the Nuclear-Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, which will take place at United Nations during the month of August. In these meetings, Secretary Blinken will focus on reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the Nuclear-Nonproliferation Treaty and strengthening the nuclear nonproliferation regime for future generations," Price said. The NPT is an international treaty concluded to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and promote cooperation for peaceful use of nuclear energy by furthering the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament. Celebrated female gospel musician Obaapa Christy will celebrate her 20 years in the local music industry with a concert dubbed Obaapa Christy at 20 Concert. The concert, which is being organised by her management team, will bring together Christians, gospel music lovers, friends as well as gospel musicians on one platform to celebrate her achievement on the music scene. BEATWAVES gathered that the event is not just about singing and dancing but also an encounter with God. Speaking at the launch of the concert, Obaapa Christy mentioned that her upcoming concert will be held at the UPSA auditorium in Accra and it would witness live stage performances from some selected A-list gospel musicians. The concert, which is anticipated to be a party for gospel music lovers, is expected to pull thousands of music lovers to the venue to witness the thrilling performances. The award-winning gospel musician said she wanted to use the concert to demonstrate her gratitude to God for his blessings in her career. Obaapa Christy, who has consistently maintained her reputation as one of the celebrated gospel musicians in Ghana and beyond, revealed that her dream as a gospel musician was to inspire people, adding that she was overjoyed with how far she had come in her career. God has really blessed me in my 20 years in music, and I want to thank him for how far he has brought me. I started music in school and at a young age, my aim was to become a gospel musician, she disclosed. Born Christiana Adwoa Twene, Obaapa who is one of the finest gospel artistes in the country, has 12 albums to her credit which has numerous timeless gospel hit tracks. She has performed on a number of platforms in Ghana, Europe and America. She has a number of hit songs which include Wagye Me, Hyebre Sesafo, Aseda Nwom, Wasue Me, Aseda, Mapem, among others. ---Daily Guide Member of Parliament for Tamale North constituency, Alhassan Suhuyini is encouraging Parliament to extend the leave of absentee Dome Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo. Sarah Adwoa Safo has been absent since the beginning of the year missing 40 parliamentary sittings with her Gender Ministery relinquished to a caretaker. Speaking on Joy News AM show on July 28, Mr. Suhuyini stated that the MP's constituents have not stormed parliament to make complaints about her absence. He noted that parliament is guided by rules which must not be thrown out irrespective of the situation. He noted that, as part of its guidelines on how committees are run, the Privileges Committee had done its bit in inviting all absentee MPs. According to him, since the Dome Kwabenya leave was extended by the President, parliament should also do same. It is the reason why in my view think parliament should extend her leave. She was elected by her people and the people have not complained to parliament. Lets not talk politics. Lets talk rules, the constitution. The constitution says that the member must be given the opportunity to give reasons to the committee. The constitution also talks about how parliament works and how parliament committees work. Parliaments standing order is identified by the constitution. Standing Orders indicate how committees work and it shows how the privileges committee should handle its sittings and its report. Now our friends in government want to put aside the regulations that should govern how the privileges committee should work and carry out their business and report and just concentrate on the fact that the committee is stated in the constitution to be the one handling this matter, he explained. On the flipside, he asserted that when the Majority MPs in Parliament needed the 2022 budget passed they found a way to bring in Adwoa Safo. He added the Majority in Parliament should now use the same strategy they used to drag her to Parliament to pass the 2022 budget to bring her back. When this government and our friends in the Majority, when they wanted Adwoa Safo to be in the House to help them pass the 2022 budget didnt they find her? What are some of the things they did to get her to the floor of parliament during the budget passing that they cant do now? They should extend all those courtesies they did, he intimated. Senegal will vote Sunday in parliamentary elections the opposition hopes will force a coalition with President Macky Sall and curb any ambitions he may hold for a controversial third term. Sixty-year-old Sall, who was elected in 2012 for seven years then re-elected in 2019 for another five, had remained vague about his plans, but critics have accused him of seeking to break the two-term limit and run again in 2024. Any defeat of his supporters in Sunday's vote could upset such plans. The president has also promised to appoint a new prime minister from the winning party, after he abolished the post in 2019 then reinstated it in December. The single-round ballot will decide the 165 seats of the unicameral parliament -- currently controlled by the president's supporters -- for the next five years. But several members of the main opposition coalition have been banned from taking part on technical grounds. On Sunday, polling stations are due to open at 08:00 am (local and GMT) and close at 6:00 pm for Senegal's 7 million voters. National Assembly members are to be elected according to a system that combines proportional representation with national lists for 53 lawmakers, and majority voting in the country's departments for 97 others. The diaspora elects the remaining 15 members. 'Cohabitation' Eight coalitions are in the running for these elections, including Yewwi Askan Wi (meaning "Liberate the People" in Wolof), the main opposition coalition. Its highest-profile member, Ousmane Sonko, came third in the 2019 presidential election. But he has been banned from running in Sunday's elections. President Macky Sall has remained vague about accusations he will break the two-term limit and run again in 2024. By Nipah Dennis (AFP) That coalition has joined forces with Wallu Senegal (which means "Save Senegal" in Wolof), led by former president Abdoulaye Wade. The two groups have agreed that whichever one places lower in each department will support the other, in order to obtain a parliamentary majority and "force governmental cohabitation." The opposition also wants to force Sall to give up any hope of running in 2024. "If Macky Sall loses, he won't be talking about seeking a third term," Sonko said following protests in June. For the government, the parliamentary polls are a second test following municipal elections in March, which the opposition won in major cities, including the capital Dakar, Ziguinchor in the south and Thies in the west. "It's the first round of the 2024 presidential election," researcher and political analyst Cheikh Gueye told AFP. The election is taking place against a backdrop of rising food and fuel prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The opposition says the government has been unable to address the high cost of living. But the latter says it has introduced subsidies to help people cope with the price hikes, and has a good track record of investing in infrastructure. The 21-day election campaign, during which giant rallies and noisy caravans criss-crossed the country in a mostly calm atmosphere, ends on Friday evening. The pre-campaign period, however, was marked by violent demonstrations that left at least three people dead. Opponents banned The violence came after the interior ministry tossed out a list of Yewwi Askan Wi's first-choice election candidates, citing technical grounds. The country's highest court backed the decision. One of the names had been accidentally put down both as a first-choice candidate and as an alternate candidate, thus invalidating the entire list. Ousmane Sonko came third in the 2019 presidential election, but he has been banned from running in Sunday's elections on technical grounds. By SEYLLOU (AFP) The move banned Sonko and others from participating in the elections. Declaring it to be politically motivated, the group's leaders called for protests in June, most of which were banned by authorities. On June 29, the opposition finally agreed to take part in the elections, easing tensions. Senegal has a general reputation for stability in a region where political turbulence is widespread. But the country was shaken by several days of rioting in March last year, claiming around a dozen lives, after Sonko was accused of rape. In recent years, several other prominent opponents of the president have seen their political careers cut short by legal cases. They include former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall, who is not related to the head of state, and former minister Karim Wade, the son of an ex-president. Ukraine has said it has restarted operations at its blockaded Black Sea ports as it moved closer to resuming grain exports with the opening of a coordination centre in Istanbul to oversee a UN-backed deal. Ukraine and Russia last week agreed a plan with the help of Turkey and the United Nations to allow grain stranded by Moscow's naval blockade to be exported from three ports. Kyiv has said it hopes to begin sending out the first of millions of tonnes of grain this week despite a missile strike by Russia over the weekend on the port in Odessa. Ukraine's navy said "work has resumed" at the export hubs to prepare for ships to be escorted through the mine-infested waters to reach world markets. As part of the deal, a coordination centre involving Ukrainian and Russian representatives opened in Istanbul to monitor the safe passage for shipping along established routes and oversee inspections for banned weapons. The blockage of deliveries from two of the world's biggest grain exporters has contributed to a spike in prices that has made food imports prohibitively expensive for some of the world's poorest countries. Progress towards fulfilling the landmark agreement came as Kyiv's artillery struck a key bridge in Moscow-controlled territory in south Ukraine, damaging an important supply route as Ukrainian forces look to wrest back the Kherson region. And as German authorities said Russia drastically reduced gas deliveries to Europe in a move seen as revenge for Western sanctions over the invasion, Ukraine announced plans to increase its electricity imports to Europe. (with newswires) The chair of a West African regional bloc said at a briefing with France's president Thursday that Guinea would cut its transition to civilian rule from three to two years. But Conakry has yet to confirm the announcement made by Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who is acting head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). "I was in Conakry with the president of the commission (of ECOWAS) to make the military junta understand the decision of the summit of heads of state that the transition cannot exceed 24 months", Embalo said at a media briefing in Bissau alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. "They had proposed 36 months, but we succeeded in convincing them," he added. An ECOWAS official added on condition of anonymity: "The principle is accepted but we were waiting to formalise it... before announcing it." Guinean authorities have not responded to AFP's requests for comment. A junta led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, which overthrew President Alpha Conde in September last year, has pledged to hand over power to elected civilians within three years. But regional powers have rejected this timeline, with ECOWAS suspending Guinea after the coup. West African mediators last week met Guinea's ruling junta for talks on a return to civilian rule, according to ECOWAS and state media. Embalo, Gambian diplomat Omar Alieu Touray, who is the president of the bloc's commission, and Benin's former president Thomas Boni Yayi, the ECOWAS mediator for Guinea, were all present. Protests in Conakry Earlier in July, ECOWAS leaders had met in Ghana's capital Accra to discuss transitions to civilian rule in Guinea, as well as Mali and Burkina Faso, which together have undergone four coups since August 2020. They lifted tough sanctions that had been imposed on Mali's military regime, accepting a March 2024 return to civilian rule. And they agreed to allow Burkina Faso two years for its transition back to democracy. But discussions until then had been trickier with the rulers of Guinea, where the junta had announced a 36-month transition -- a period that African Union chairman and Senegalese President Macky Sall described as "unthinkable". On Thursday, protests against Guinea's military leaders brought Conakry to a standstill. The National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of political parties, trade unions and civil society organisations, called the demonstrations to denounce the junta's "unilateral management" of any return to civilian rule. Other parties and coalitions joined the protests. The junta in May banned public demonstrations, and Thursday's protests led to sporadic clashes between demonstrators and police. jri-sd-bm-amt/prc/ah The Founder and leader of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Percival Kofi Akpaloo has appealed to the Bank of Ghana to support cocoa farmers with incentives to enhance their production. He believes this would propel the growth of the local economy, which would have a replicate effect on their livelihoods and the governments income basket. "This was due to the mass production of cocoa, where most residents engage in cocoa farming. The cash crop was the nerve of the local economy due to this harnessing development to the country, he said In a bid to revive the cocoa-driven economy and restore the areas glory, cocoa farmers have established an umbrella body. According to him, this initiative is to help them form a synergy to facilitate the production of the cash crop. We are appealing to the Bank of Ghana and COCOBOD to inject money into the cocoa sector so that it will energise farmers to enlarge and increase cocoa farms so that this operational area will come to its own as it was in our forefathers' time, he told Neat FM. VEFIL's CEO, John Duco 29.07.2022 LISTEN The Vulnerable Empowerment Foundation International Liberia (VEFIL, Inc.), a non-governmental organization in Liberia, has begun a month-long community health worker (CHW) training in Monrovia. The training, which is being conducted at the National Red Cross centre in Jacob Town, began on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. VEFILs Founder and International Facilitator, Mr. John S. Duco, said his organization is in partnership with WiRED International. WiRED is a health education organization based in USA. He explained that 20 Liberians are benefiting from the first training program and facilitated by Liberias season health experts. Duco disclosed that the training program aims to train one thousand community health workers across Liberia over the period of five years. According to him, the trainees who do not have any knowledge in community health, are being recruited from across Liberia. Duco said the training of people from fresh is to add more community health workers to the current ones. This is the first component of the program and deployment is the next step for people who are being trained as we receive the funding, Duco maintained. This training, according to the VEFILs International Facilitator, is being conducted electronically because each trainee is provided with a tablet, programmed with lessons on community health and associated activities. He called on the trainees to make use of the opportunity to take their lessons serious if they must become seasoned community health workers in their respective communities and Liberia at large. Meanwhile, Duco has commended VEFILs volunteers who continue to stand with the organization and the Ministry of Health for working with it in ensuring such a legendary training program in Liberia. In an effort to address challenges confronting young women and girls - the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and with support from partners is rolling out a 3-day (July 27-29, 2022) National Young Women and Girls Conference in Sinje, Grand Cape Mount County. The conference is a yearly program designed by the Ministry and its partners to provide young women and girls the platform to gather and discuss issues affecting them in their respective communities and together, develop concrete action plans to address these issues. This year, the conference is tagged, In Light of the Bicentennial Elevating the Minds and Sights of Young Women and Girls for a Brighter Future. Education and Leadership Development, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, and Cultural and Traditional Practices are the thematic areas under discussion by the girls. Historically, In 2016 the Liberian Girls in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and National Stakeholders developed an implementation strategy that highlights interventions to be implemented for Liberian girls. Key among these interventions is the National Young Women and Girls Conference which supports the Implementation of the Manifesto for the development and empowerment of the Liberian Girl Child and contributes to the National Framework for Girls empowerment. Additionally, the National Young Women and Girls Conference is an offspring of the 2011 United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 66/170 declaring October 11, an International Day of the Girl Child. The UN set the day aside to champion girls rights issues, identify challenges encountered by adolescent girls and young women the world over and develop strategies, projects and programs that tackle these issues. Speaking at the indoor opening session on Thursday, July 28, 2022, Deputy Gender Minister Alice Johnson Howard emphasized that this years event objectives are to: Elevate the minds and sights of 200 young women, Boys and girls between ages 10-24 years from across the 15 counties in Liberia by developing their capacity as emerging change-makers in their respective communities; Increase knowledge of local communities Adolescence through media phone in talk-show and community outreach and awareness activities; educating the public about the harmful effects of violence against women and girls and how communities can play a pivotal role in tackling or mitigating these menaces. She stressed that the conference will hold a panel discussion with different stakeholders on issues affecting young women, girls and boys, to break common stereotypes and enhance female participation in discussion and also have males serving as advocates and support girls in their quest. Minister Howard told participants that the conference comprised of young women, boys and girls from across Liberia including at-risk adolescent girls and boys, college students, high school students, females that are enroll in TVETs, out-of-school girls, the physically challenged, girls from rural and urban communities, among others. She pleaded with the girls to take maximum advantage of the conference for the betterment of society. The Deputy Gender Minister lauded UNICEF, UFDUM, Medica-Liberia, Plan International, Brac, ActionAid, Samaritan's Purse, and DCI-Liberia for the support rendered the Ministry. In a special statement, Madam Ina Williams Christensen, National Child Protection Officer, UNICEF-Liberia delivered a written statement on behalf of UNICEF Country Representative Laila O. Gad. According to the statement, it is no secret that children, adolescents and young women continue to face multiple challenges globally, regionally and nationally. The statement quoted Liberias Demographic Health Survey (2019-2020) report which asserts that 60% of women have ever experienced physical violence since the age 15. "Despite a slight reduction of 1%, teenage pregnancy rate stands at 30% and is still of concern in Liberia while access to sexual and reproductive health information and services is low. Girls in particular, are affected by harmful traditional practices, especially early marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C)," the report noted. "There are also inequitable gender norms that create barriers to girls' social and economic advancement.The above tell us the extent to which we must use our collective efforts including adolescent girls and young women themselves strategically to create pathways through which girls and young women can thrive, survive and live their full potential. One way to do this is to create the enabling environment and platforms where young people can be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and capacity to stand up for their rights and protect themselves against the vices facing them," the Country Rep statement expressed. As delivered, Madam Gad thanked the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Adolescent Girls Working Group, sister UN Agencies and other development partners for organizing the National Young Women and Girls Conference. In closing, the UNICEF Boss stated that UNICEF looks forward to the outcome of the event and pledged its commitments to work with the Government of Liberia and Partners for the advancement and empowerment of children, adolescents and women in Liberia. Protests against Guinea's junta and its handling of plans to return to democracy brought the capital to a standstill Thursday, with organisers claiming that one person was killed. The protest, planned last week, began ahead of comments by the chair of a regional bloc who claimed to have persuaded the junta to shorten its timeline for a return to democracy. The junta have not confirmed his comments. The National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) said one person had died after being hit by a bullet in the Conakry suburb of Hamdallaye, while several others were injured. The FNDC is an influential political coalition that had called the demonstrations to denounce the junta's "unilateral management" of the return to civilian rule after it seized power in 2021. Authorities have not confirmed the death. The public prosecutor on Thursday instructed prosecutors in several areas to take immediate legal action against the organisers of the demonstration, which was banned. The FNDC has accused the military leaders of "systematically refusing" to establish a "credible dialogue" to define the terms of the transition. The former ruling Rally for the Guinean People (RPG) and the National Alliance for Change and Democracy (ANAD), another coalition of parties and associations, then called on their supporters to join the demonstrations. Speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at a briefing in Bissau, ECOWAS regional bloc chair Umaro Sissoco Embalo, said he had recently convinced Guinea's junta to hasten the return to democracy. "I was in Conakry with the president of the commission (of ECOWAS) to make the military junta understand the decision of the summit of heads of state that the transition cannot exceed 24 months", Embalo said. "They had proposed 36 months, but we succeeded in convincing them," he added. But Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, a Guinean minister and spokesman for the transitional government, told AFP that "neither the government nor the presidency confirm this information about the duration of the transition in Guinea". Clashes broke out Thursday morning between young demonstrators and the police in several areas seen as opposition strongholds in the capital, an AFP reporter said. Protestors erected barricades and burned tyres while police fired tear gas to disperse small groups throwing stones. Most parts of the city centre remained calm, but activity nonetheless ground to a halt. The Boulevard du Commerce, a major roadway usually full of people, was almost deserted by midday. "We are delighted with the success of our call to demonstrate -- it was perfect," Ibrahima Diallo, the FNDC's head of operations, told AFP. "The city has been quiet everywhere, the administration is paralysed -- it's been a great success for us." 'Authoritarian conduct' Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who overthrew President Alpha Conde last year, has pledged to hand over power to elected civilians within three years. But regional powers have rejected this timeline. The junta in May banned any public demonstrations that could be construed as threatening public order. The junta in May banned any public demonstrations that could be construed as threatening public order. By CELLOU BINANI (AFP) The FNDC had announced protests for June 23 but later called them off, indicating they were prepared to give the transitional government a "chance" and start dialogue. But their patience snapped after a meeting with the authorities that the FNDC slammed as a "parody". It denounced the "solitary and authoritarian conduct of the transition" and its "serious attacks on fundamental rights and freedoms". Three FNDC leaders were arrested on July 5, provoking violent demonstrations that were some of the first since the junta seized power. All three were released after being found not guilty of contempt of court over comments they had posted on social media criticising the prosecutor's office and the military-appointed parliament. Morocco is jailing journalists after flawed trials for non-political crimes, particularly sexual ones, in order to silence them part of a range of "techniques of repression", according to a statement from the organisation Human Rights Watch. "Moroccan authorities have developed and refined a full manual of techniques to muzzle the opposition, even as it claims to be simply applying the law against them in a neutral manner," Human Rights Watch said. The New York-based group presented the findings in a 129-page report focusing on eight journalists and public figures prosecuted in cases it said were really "veiled political attacks". It accused the Moroccan court system of "procedural flaws that taint the handling of these cases". Two of the most prominent cases concern Omar Radi and Soulaimane Raissouni, both sentenced on appeal this year on sexual abuse charges to six years and five years in jail, respectively. Radi was also accused of "espionage". Another journalist, Taoufik Bouachrine, was jailed in 2018 for 12 years on accusations of rape and people-trafficking, a sentence increased to 15 years on appeal by the public prosecutor. All three have a history of critical reporting on the country's authorities, and they have all denied the charges against them. Climate of inquisition "There is a climate of inquisition," said Hicham Mansouri, a journalist who obtained asylum in France after spending 10 months in prison in Morocco for adultery. Sex, drugs, alcohol if they can't find anything, they'll fabricate accusations [against you]." Morocco has insisted that its justice system is independent and that the cases had "nothing to do" with the men's work as journalists. HRW however said that "trials targeting opposition figures are often marred by serious violations of the right to due process". It cited the "prolonged and unjustified" twelve month pre-trial detentions of both Radi and Raissouni the longest allowed under Moroccan law. The rights group also cited the judiciary's refusal to hear defence witnesses, "without providing reasonable justification". HRW also accused pro-government media outlets of "ferocious defamation campaigns" against Radi and others, which included revealing personal details of family members in what HRW said was an effort to intimidate them. "Authorities use a playbook of underhanded tactics to repress dissenters while striving to keep intact Morocco's image as a rights-respecting country, said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The international community should open its eyes, see the repression for what it is, and demand that it stops." Spyware Human Rights Watch accuses Moroccan authorities of spying on critics of the government, using the controversial Israeli-made software Pegasus. Investigative journalistic outfit Forbidden Stories and rights group Amnesty International last year accused Morocco of using Pegasus against multiple targets at home and overseas. Morocco denies the allegations and has opened libel cases in France and Spain against journalists making the claims. HRW urged Rabat to "respect the right to peaceful expression" and "put an end to the methods used against critical journalists, human rights defenders and civil society activists". It said its report was based on interviews with 89 people both in Morocco and abroad. Moroccan Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi was asked Monday in parliament about "the practises of certain foreign human rights organisations". Morocco accepts their observations but "refuses the bad faith exploitation of the reports for political purposes" he said. (with newswires) New Delhi, July 29 (UNI) The Congress on Friday questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the hooch tragedy in Gujarat, and demanded a probe into the matter by a sitting judge of the High Court. The grand old party also demanded immediate announcement of compensation to those who died after reportedly drinking the spurious liquor, and better treatment to those admitted to hospitals. "Neither the Home Minister, nor the Chief Minister or the PM met the families of the deceased. The PM is in Gujarat. Why is the PM and Home Minister silent over such a big tragedy," Congress chairman of media and publicity department Pawan Khera said at a press conference over the hooch tragedy in Gujarat which claimed 42 lives so far. Attacking the BJP government in Gujarat, Khera said, "Who is behind this incident ? There is a network of police, administration and politicians of the ruling party. Therefore, we demand a probe into the tragedy by sitting judge of Gujarat High Court, immediate compensation to those who have lost their loved ones, and free and better treatment to those whose eyes and kidneys got damaged." Earlier in the day, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi questioned the Gujarat government over the tragedy and said it is a matter of great concern that such a thing happened in the land of Bapu and Sardar Patel. He also accused the BJP-ruled state for giving protection to those who are behind this incident. "It is a matter of great concern, in the land of Bapu and Sardar Patel, who are these people who are carrying out the drug business indiscriminately? Which ruling forces are giving protection to these mafias?" he tweeted. The Congress MP further said, "In the 'dry state' Gujarat, many houses were destroyed by drinking spurious liquor. Drugs worth billions are also being recovered there continuously". The death toll due to the consumption of spurious liquor in Gujarat has reached 42, and nearly 95 people are still admitted to hospitals in Bhavnagar, Botad and Ahmedabad, police said. The Botad and Ahmedabad police on Tuesday registered three FIRs against nearly 20 culprits under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder), 328 (causing hurt by poison) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and have arrested at least 15 of them so far. UNI DS SY Mr. Christian Donkor, an Economist 29.07.2022 LISTEN The Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been accused of neglecting the Asomdwee Park even before leaving office in 2016 to rot. The then administration has also been described at insensitive in ensuring late President John Atta Mills has a good resting place after serving the nation and the party. Late President John Atta Mills was buried at the Asomdwee park and that place since its recent renovation has been left to rot, a situation that informed Mr. Koku Anyidoho of Atta Mills' Institute to petition President Akufo-Addo for support in making the place the one that befit the late president. Mr. Christian Donkor, an Economist, Chartered Accountant And a Financial Analyst speaking on Homebase TV political program dubbed "Delivering on our Promises" hosted by the Flagbearer, he querried why the NDC is complaining after failing to renovate the Asomdwee Park before leaving office. He revealed the Asomdwee Park until the NDC left power in 2016, was habouring criminals and drug peddlers but failed to help renovate the place. Mr. Donkor jabbed the brother of the late President, Cadman Mills and other family members who failed to ensure beautification of the park but are in connivance with the NDC to speak against the good initiative of the Government. "Instead of his brother ensuring the park is well kept, he is rather making unnecessary comments of what Government has been able to do to honour his own late brother" he stressed. The Economist, Chartered Accountant And a Financial Analyst also jabbed the brother of the late President for accusing Koku Anyidoho of using the Atta Mills' Institute to solicit funds. He however quizzes him the rational behind the Atta Mills' Fund that he (Cadman Mills) established. He accuses the current leaders of the NDC of trying to erase the hard earned legacies of late President Atta Mills and replace it with John Mahama, who was then the Vice President. Mr. Christian Donkor, an Economist and Financial Analyst 29.07.2022 LISTEN Mr. Christian Donkor, an Economist, Chartered Accountant and a Financial Analyst has said pubic sector salary increment and the inability to raise expected revenues from the E-levy implementation accounted for the supplementary budget presented to Parliament in the mid-year budget review by Finance minister. The Finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta presented the mid-year budget review seeking for extra funds to support Government expenditure as the country prepares for an IMF bailout. "In the times of the NDC's administration, supplementary budget was even more than the main budget for the year. So you can see clearly that the NPP is more financial disciplined than the NDC," Mr. Christian Donkor told Ohene Amoako (The Flagbearer) on Homebase TV on "Delivering on our Promises" political show. He indicated the extra financial support government is seeking is due to labour unrest over salary increment, late collection of the E-levy and other global factors. He described the Finance Minister as master of economics for assuring to spend within the finances available to him unlike the previous government. He complained of overpricing and corruption which has periodically affected the country's budget but was optimistic the Finance Minister would be financially disciplined. On the issue of overpricing, Mr. Cristian Donkor gave an example with the construction of the Circle interchange which was allegedly bloated to $225 million dollars by the Mahama-led NDC government. He assured Ghanaians that Government social intervention programmes like the Free SHS and many others would not be affected as far as the IMF bailout is concerned. Two new studies confirm that Covid-19 first emerged at an animal market in China's Wuhan. The World Health Organization has welcomed the assessments but insists it is too early to rule out other theories. Solving the mystery of where the Covid-19 virus came from and how it began spreading among humans is viewed as vital to averting future pandemics. Two theories "All hypotheses remain on the table," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told reporters from the UN health agency's Geneva headquarters on Wednesday. The two main theories that have been hotly debated since Covid first surfaced in China in late 2019 have centred on the virus naturally spilling over from bats to an intermediary animal and into humans or escaping due to a lab accident. Two peer-reviewed studies published in Science Tuesday claimed to have tipped the balance in the debate about the virus's origins, concluding it must have been introduced naturally through the wildlife trade at the Wuhan market. The first paper analysed the geographic pattern of Covid cases in the outbreak's first month, December 2019, showing the first cases were tightly clustered around Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. The second examined genomic data from the earliest cases to study the virus' early evolution, concluding it was unlikely the coronavirus circulated widely in humans prior to November 2019. Scientific detective story "This is a scientific detective story that goes on. Each new piece of information adds to the overall assessment," he said, stressing though that "all hypotheses remain on the table until you can prove that one hypothesis is the explanatory hypothesis." Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead for Covid-19, welcomed the studies, as well as another one published this week looking at environmental samples. WHO experts, she said, had already evaluated the studies, which were previously posted as "preprints" before being vetted by scientific peer review. "These are good analyses," she told reporters, but stressed that more studies on the ground in China and beyond were needed before any final conclusions could be drawn. More studies needed "What is really critical...is looking further within China, further within Wuhan, and in the markets within Wuhan" with further studies to "look at where the animals who were sold at those markets came from...and looking at the people who worked at those source farms", she said. "So for us this does provide more information around what was happening early days, but unfortunately, it's not enough. "We need more studies to be done in China and elsewhere to really understand the earliest stages." Without more studies, "there are still open questions for us," she said. The goal, she stressed, "is not just to figure out how this pandemic began, it is to learn how we better prepare for the future." (with newswires) 29.07.2022 LISTEN The Member of Parliament (MP) for Wa West, Peter Lanchene Toobu has reacted to the viral video of an altercation between a Senior Police Officer and a Junior Police Officer. In the viral video of an incident that occurred on the morning of July 20, some Police Officers are seen exchanging words. Speaking to TV3 on the incident, Wa West MP Peter Lanchene Toobu said the incident is an embarrassment to the Police Service. According to him, insubordination must be dealt with in the Service as a matter of urgency. This open altercation between the senior Police Officer and the Junior Police Officer is an embarrassment to the service, it has brought disrepute to the Police service. If you have people who have energy and they do have intelligence yet they do not have integrity it is poison to the organization, they will destroy the organization, Hon. Peter Lanchene Toobu who is a retired Police Officer shared. Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service is investigating the incident and has given assurance to the general public that internal disciplinary processes are being applied. Mr. Franklin Cudjoe, the Founding President of IMANI Africa appears to be worried by the idea of shutting down all unregistered SIM cards after July 31. He said it would be unprecedented if the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation deactivate the SIM cards as it was going to affect the proceeds of the electronic transaction levy (E-Levy). In his tweet on Thursday, July 29, cited by Modernghana News, Mr. Cudjoe queries if the Ministry has seen the low revenues the levy has been able to generate even when those SIM cards are still active. Has the Ministry of Communications seen the data on E-levy? Will they go ahead to deactivate unre-registered SIM Cards? That would be legendary in incoherent policy making, he wrote. The Ministry for Communications and Digitalisation plans to end the SIM Card re-registration exercise by the July 31. The exercise was supposed to end on March 31 earlier this year but was extended to July 31 to make room for people who were still not done with the process. With a few days to the new deadline, many Ghanaians, especially those who still haven't gotten their Ghana cards are pleading with the Ministry to extend it possibly to the end of the year. While addressing a forum in Kumasi on Friday, July 22, the Minister responded by appealing to all Ghanaians who are yet to re-register their SIM cards to do so before the July 31 deadline. According to her, the deadline will not be extended again. We must make it difficult for the criminals who hack our systems and defraud us through multiple online channels to operate, and this SIM registration exercise is one of the steps the government is taking in that regard, she explains. The Minister continues, this stresses the point that this exercise will enable the establishment of a subscriber database with integrity to keep the consumers safe from scams and fraud. I, therefore, urge you to do so before the 31st of July," she stressed. 29.07.2022 LISTEN Renowned Political Scientist, Prof. Ransford Gyampo has given a simple but classy burial to his late father, Mr. Sampson Bismark Gyampo in London, the UK. On June 14, the Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon confirmed the demise of his father in a sad post on his Facebook page. The burial and funeral service which took place at the All Saints Anglican Church in London was attended by a few but had very high profiled people of the Ghanaian community in London including chiefs, Queen mothers, and people from various fields of work. Other well-wishers flew from Ghana to join the Professor to bury his father. In accordance with the wishes of Mr. Sampson Bismark Gyampo, father of Prof. Gyampo, there were no tributes read; there were no banners on display, there were no obituaries and funeral invitations, and there were no wreaths. In a short Bible passage taken from Revelations 21:1-4, and read by Prof. Gyampo who could not hold back his tears, he articulated the biblical hope that one day, God shall wipe away every tear from his eyes and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow or pain, for the former things, shall pass away. The church service lasted for about 45 minutes and the body was interred at the New Camberwell Cemetery in London. Below is a video of the burial: The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Shani Alhassan Shaibu, has lauded the Catholic Relief Service (CRS) for its enormous contribution to addressing youth employment in the Northern Region. He said the CRS provided 250 youth with skills and entrepreneurial training, which he envisaged would go a long way to change the lives of the youth in the region. Mr Shaibu said this when the Global President and CEO of the CRS, Mr Sean Callahan paid a courtesy call on him last Friday in Tamale. Mr Shaibu assured CRS of facilitating increased support for their interventions, especially the Water Fund, to address water security and the citywide sanitation planning to achieve an enhanced sanitation value chain. Mr Shaibu said this would create enabling environment for the development organization to implement its projects. The Country Representative of CRS, Mr Daniel Mumuni, informed the minister that Mr Callaban was in the region to discuss areas the RCC and CRS could collaborate to improve the lives of the people. He stated that the CEO visited Emergency Dispatch Centre (EDC) at Gushegu to familiarize himself with how the facility operates. The EDC is under the USAID-Funded Developing Acute Care and Emergency Referral System (ACERS) project, implemented by CRS Ghana. A high court in the northern Nigerian city of Kano has sentenced a primary school owner and his friend to death by hanging for the kidnapping and subsequent killing of a five-year-old pupil. Abdulmalik Tanko and his friend Hashimu Isiyaku were found guilty on Thursday. A woman, said to be Mr Tanko's ex-girlfriend, has been sentenced to two years in prison for complicity in the kidnapping. The convicts had pleaded guilty and asked for leniency during the passing of the sentence. Death penalties are rarely carried out in Nigeria and those convicted tend to stay in prison indefinitely. The two men abducted the girl in December 2021 and her body was discovered in January this year. The kidnapping of Hanifa Abubakar sparked outrage across Nigeria. Tanko had demanded a ransom of $14,600 (12,000) from the victim's parents. He was arrested by the police and he then led detectives to a location where they had buried the girl's body. In recent years, Nigeria has been grappling with a widespread kidnapping crisis. But the kidnapping of students have usually been carried out by armed groups. Nearly 1,500 students had been abducted by gangs since December 2020. Most of the victims have been released reportedly after ransom payments. Source: BBC The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has defended its latest report, which ranked the Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt among 32 institutions sampled. According to the research institution, the methodology employed to sample the respondents was robust and devoid of errors. The Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo-Dampare reacting to the survey indicated that it feeds the perception that police officers are corrupt and goes on to damage the reputation of the Police Service . Our methodology and all our issues were subjected to very high scrutiny. There was a steering committee on this made up of institutions including the police to approve our methodology, said Anthony Amuzu Pharin, the Director of Social and Demographic Statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service. The Ghana Police Service has reacted to recent surveys labelling its officials as the most corrupt in Ghana. Separate survey reports released by the Ghana Statistical Service and its partners, as well as Afrobarometer report, had officials of the service topping the corruption list. According to the Afrobarometer study undertaken by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), 65 percent of Ghanaians believe most police are corrupt, while 31 percent believe only some police are corrupt. Responding to this in a five-page letter signed by the Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, the police service acknowledged that there may be some bad nuts in the service, just like any human institution. It noted that it continues to implement measures to discourage corruption among its men. The service however thinks it would have been helpful if the researchers had engaged its leaders to find out what measures they had instituted, so they can be incorporated into the findings.. The police service said it considers the research and its findings heavily challenged and corrupted from both the academic and practical points of view. The Police Service after reviewing the Afrobarometer report has serious concerns with the research and its findings. It presented some 14 concerns to the researchers and requested a response to each of them. According to the Police, this will help them better understand the research outcomes and further shape measures being implemented by the Service to improve its delivery. But Anthony Amuzu Pharin further said the named institutions should engage relevant agencies to draw up recommendations. But this is it, we randomly selected 15,000 households and within the households, we randomly select on adult. The information we collected suggested this. We are not dealing with perceptions. We are dealing with actual experience. Initially, when we published the story, some people were asking us what teh way forward is. The way forward forward is to sit with CHRAJ and come up with recommendations for the specific institutions based on the report we have come out with, he stressed. citinewsroom Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Professor Kwesi Aning, has said fear-mongering and the deliberate misinterpretation of facts and figures does not help in building a resilient society against potential terrorist attacks. He explained that terrorism in some West African countries are happening because the domestic imperatives have created an enabling environment that allows the violence to take place. Extremist violence that we are seeing in Nigeria, in Togo, in Benin in Burkina Faso, in Mali, in Niger and elsewhere, only take place because the domestic imperatives have created an enabling environment that allows the violence to take place. But fear mongering, and the deliberate misinterpretation of facts and figures will not help us in building this resilient society, he said. You and I don't have anywhere to run to if we allow something like that to take place, we don't speak French, , we don't have the money to resettle, we can't swim, our European friends don't want us as refugees, they have taken their money for development away when the Ukrainian war started, let that be a lesson to all of us that we don't have anywhere to go apart from creating the conditions that allows stability, peace and development to take place, he said while delivering an address on the theme The Scourge of Extremism in the Sub-region, Threats to Ghanas Security, Stability and Socio Economic Development on Thursday July 28. It is recalled that a report released by the West Africa Centre for Counter Extremism (WACCE) released recently said Ghana has managed so far to stay safe from terrorist attacks on home soil, yet the country has been so close to terrorism. Already, the report said, more than 13 Ghanaians are believed to have travelled to fight with terrorist groups since 2015. Up to twenty three (23) others have been dissuaded from leaving to join extremist groups. Ghana's first recorded case was Nazir Alema Nortey3 , a young university graduate, who shockingly left the country in august 2015 to join ISIS before sending a message back to his parents to announce his new found cause. He was killed in Syria by April 2016. Professor Kofi Awoonor, a renowned Ghanaian poet and academic, was killed in the West Gate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya when Al Shabab fighters besieged the mall in 2013, the report said. The threat has been menacingly and quickly spread, occurring through a spill over phenomenon, has ravaged the Northern borders of not only Burkina Faso but also of Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo recently. With all its direct neighbors under attacks, Ghana has descending from the Sahel towards Coastal States in the last five years. Even though the fatality numbers are presently down from the peak of over 7,200 in the region in 2014, the threat has increased in complexity and geographical spread. Today 53% of all ECOWAS now been encircled by the threat. These developments are dangerous for Ghana. Ghana's proximity to these countries (Burkina Faso to the North, Benin and Togo to the East and Ivory Coast to the West) exposes the country to extremist recruitment or attacks or both, it added. It further stated that the unending Bawku chieftaincy conflict, the ethnic tensions in Northern Ghana and the unresolved challenge of Western Togoland separatists in the Eastern border regions amplify the risks. 3news.com Pakistan: Shehbaz 'alarmed' over delay in PTI funding case verdict Islamabad, July 29 (UNI) Irked by what he called the alleged pampering of PTI chairman Imran Khan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif voiced alarm over the delay in the announcement of verdict in the prohibited funding case against PTI, Dawn reported on Friday. (The) foreign funding case is an example of how Ladla is being protected, in an apparent reference to Imran Khan. While NS (Nawaz Sharif) was convicted for not taking salary, Ladla is untouchable. 8 years on, decision is still elusive. Imran Niazi filed 9 writ petitions in IHC & got 50 adjournments in the FF case, the PM tweeted. The tweet came two days after Shehbaz Sharif urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce the long-delayed judgement. For long has Imran Niazi been given a free pass despite his repeated and shameless attacks on state institutions. Impunity given to him has hurt the country, he said. Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Professor Kwesi Aning, has warned that illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) sites have become places where persons who seek to hurt the country are gathering. He attributed this to the fact that gold is small, it is easy to dispose off and it is highly valuable. Delivering an address on the theme The Scourge of Extremism in the Sub-region, Threats to Ghanas Security, Stability and Socio Economic Development on Thursday July 28, he indicated that illegal mining sites have become attractive convergence points for those who seek to hurt this country because gold is small, it is easy to dispose off, it is highly valuable thousands of young West African youths, well armed are mining but I think the PMMC has not seen any dramatic rise in mining reserves. He further cautioned against fear-mongering and the deliberate misinterpretation of facts and figures in building a society that does not create the enabling environment for terrorism to take place. Extremist violence that we are seeing in Nigeria, in Togo, in Benin in Burkina Faso, in Mali, in Niger and elsewhere, only take place because the domestic imperatives have created an enabling environment that allows the violence to take place. But fear-mongering, and the deliberate misinterpretation of facts and figures will not help us in building this resilient society. You and I dont have anywhere to run to if we allow something like that to take place , we dont speak French, , we dont have the money to resettle, we cant swim, our European friends dont want us as refugees, they have taken their money for development away when the Ukrainian war started, let that be a lesson to all of us that we dont have anywhere to go apart from creating the conditions that allows stability, peace and development to take place, he said. Recently, the Deputy National Security Coordinator , Mr Edward Kweku Aspmani, indicated that Ghana was definitely not insulated from terror attacks, Clearly, he said, Ghana is a target. He explained that the terrorists have been targeting mostly resource-rich countries therefore, since Ghana is endowed with natural resources, it exposes the country to the miscreants. Addressing a press conference on the measures that have been put in place to prevent the attacks from happening in the country, on Sunday May 22, he said We are not insulated from those attacks therefore, we think Ghanaians should be aware. Why are we involving Ghanaians? The nature of the threats is such that it is not conventional warfare, they don't come in with the APCs and fighter jets. They come in all forms, it could be your pastor in the church, cleric in the mosque, individuals coming in as CSOs purporting to do community work. That means that we all have to be vigilant. Also we know that the terrorists want access to the sea, the nature of the various attacks we have all seen in the subregion indicates that wherever they go there is some form of mineral or natural resource there particularly gold. So the question therefore is, if they attack cities and towns in Burkina Faso that has gold deposits, clearly, Ghana will be an interest. We are clearly therefore a target that is why we are here today to seek the support of Ghanaians. It is recalled that a report released by the West Africa Centre for Counter Extremism (WACCE) released recently said Ghana has managed so far to stay safe from terrorist attacks on home soil, yet the country has been so close to terrorism. Already, the report said, more than 13 Ghanaians are believed to have travelled to fight with terrorist groups since 2015. Up to twenty three (23) others have been dissuaded from leaving to join extremist groups. Ghana's first recorded case was Nazir Alema Nortey3 , a young university graduate, who shockingly left the country in august 2015 to join ISIS before sending a message back to his parents to announce his new found cause. He was killed in Syria by April 2016. Professor Kofi Awoonor, a renowned Ghanaian poet and academic, was killed in the West Gate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya when Al Shabab fighters besieged the mall in 2013, the report said. The threat has been menacingly and quickly spread, occurring through a spill over phenomenon, has ravaged the Northern borders of not only Burkina Faso but also of Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo recently. With all its direct neighbors under attacks, Ghana has descending from the Sahel towards Coastal States in the last five years. Even though the fatality numbers are presently down from the peak of over 7,200 in the region in 2014, the threat has increased in complexity and geographical spread. Today 53% of all ECOWAS now been encircled by the threat. These developments are dangerous for Ghana. Ghana's proximity to these countries (Burkina Faso to the North, Benin and Togo to the East and Ivory Coast to the West) exposes the country to extremist recruitment or attacks or both, it added. It further stated that the unending Bawku chieftaincy conflict, the ethnic tensions in Northern Ghana and the unresolved challenge of Western Togoland separatists in the Eastern border regions amplify the risks. 3news.com Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Franklin Cudjoe has indicated that it will be backward for unregistered SIM Cards to be deactivated at the end of the ongoing registration exercise. Speaking at a forum by the National Communications Authority (NCA) in Kumasi on July 22, Communications and Digitalisation Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful charged all Ghanaians who have not registered their SIM Cards with the Ghana Card to do so before the deadline day of July 31. She warned that the Ministry is sticking to the deadline as part of its drive to deal with fraudsters in the system. Most people access their internet through their mobile devices. We must make sure that they do so safely. We must make it difficult for the criminals who hack our systems and defraud us through multiple online channels to operate, and this SIM registration exercise is one of the steps the government is taking in that regard. Essentially this stresses the point that this exercise will enable the establishment of a subscriber database with integrity to keep the consumers safe from scams and fraud. I, therefore, take this opportunity to urge all those whove not registered their SIM cards to do so as the deadline of 31st July 2022 will not be extended, she noted. Ahead of the deadline this weekend, Franklin Cudjoe has shared that going ahead to deactivate SIM Cards will be boldly stupid considering the poor performance of the Electronic Transaction Levy. Has the Ministry of Communications seen the data on E-levy? Will they go ahead to deactivate unregistered SIM Cards? That would be legendary in incoherent policy-making if not boldly stupid, the IMANI Africa boss shared in a Facebook post. Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has warned that it will use every legal means to fight the Ministry in charge of Communications and Digitalisation if it goes ahead to deactivate unregistered SIM Cards after July 31. 29.07.2022 LISTEN The governments electronic transaction levy saw massive repudiation from Ghanaians who believe it is double taxation since mobile money incomes are automatically taxed. But even in the face of these rejections and criticisms, the government went ahead and implemented it on May 1, 2022, after it received parliamentary approval on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. However, after two months of implementation, the levy accrued only 10% of the expected revenue. Also, the expected revenue was revised from the initial GHS6.9 billion stated in the 2022 budget statement to GHS611 million in the mid-year budget review presented recently by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. Its anticipated target in the 2022 budget document was GHS6,963,386,254, but it was revised to 611,000,000 when Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta submitted the budget review to Parliament on Monday, July 25. This is why the Dean of the School of Business at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Professor John Gatsi is calling for its suspension. He said the introduction of the E-levy has scared many citizens away from engaging in cashless transactions. He made this suggestion when speaking to Accra-based TV3, on Thursday, July 28, monitored by Modernghana News. So when you look at the cost to this country, in terms of the actual amount of money being spent on infrastructure to roll out the implementation of the tax, and again the cost of people not participating in the benefits of the digitalization and for that matter cashless transactions regime, you can conclude that the failure tax should be rejected, it should be withdrawn to allow people to participate in a cashless economy, he noted. The Municipal Chief Executive of Obuasi, Honorable Elijah Adansi-Bonah has issued a strong warning to illegal miners operating on the concession of AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine to immediately desist from such activities. The MCE gave this directive in his interactions with the media at the sidelines of a General Assembly meeting held in Obuasi on Wednesday, 27th July, 2022. It will be recalled that some illegal miners were captured in a viral video running away with their booty after invading underground sites of AngloGold Ashanti in Obuasi. Again some 30 illegal miners were recently arrested in Obuasi by soldiers while allegedly mining on a concession belonging to AngloGold Ashanti. The Obuasi MCE said the issue should be of national interest considering the importance of AngloGold Ashanti to the socio-economic development of Ghana. " This issue is very sensitive. It is not about AngloGold Ashanti nor the Obuasi Municipal Assembly, it is of national concern since activities of illegal miners on the concessions of AngloGold Ashanti was one of the reasons the company almost folded up around 2014/2015," he stated. He mentioned that the company has contributed tremendously to the development of Obuasi since 2019 when it was redeveloped fearing that an intrusion of their underground sites and concessions will jeopardise efforts made by the Government in reviving the Obuasi Mine. He appealed to residents of Obuasi to take advantage of the numerous opportunities presented by AngloGold Ashanti in both direct and indirect jobs and not create a situation where the Mine will consider leaving Obuasi. Issues of illegal mining has been a major headache of AngloGold Ashanti as the company has over the years struggled to deal with the activities of illegal miners in its Obuasi Mine. In 2016, AngloGold Ashanti issued a threat that it will leave the country if government was not able to stop the operations of illegal miners on their concessions. Speaking to the press in Accra, the Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti, Mr. Eric Asubonteng said the activities of illegal miners is posing a threat to the security and peace of the mine and is affecting the effective operations of Obuasi mine. Our concessions are not safe and if the activities of illegal miners will continue without government doing anything about it then we will advise ourselves. "Illegal miners have been looting large quantities of high-grade gold bearing material for more than two months. In the process they are causing significant damage to critical infrastructure, he said. A deep throat source at AngloGold Ashanti has revealed to this reporter that investors are currently not happy with recent developments regarding the invasion of the Obuasi Mine by illegal miners and are working with stakeholders for a swift intervention to salvage the situation. 29.07.2022 LISTEN Indigenous peoples are among those in Canada where disproportionately high numbers of new HIV infections occur. Indigenous women are even more represented in those living with HIV. While Canada hosts the worlds largest AIDS conference (24th International AIDS Conference AIDS 2022) in Montreal, it is facing the heat from human rights activists who say its funding for HIV has remained fixed at around Canadian dollars 73 million per year since 2008, while the number of people living with HIV in Canada has gone up by 25%. Though the demand for HIV services has risen but funding shortfall has forced many community-based initiatives to shut down. A new report, In Danger, launched by UNAIDS just ahead of AIDS 2022, records marked inequalities within and between countries, including racial inequalities, that are stalling progress to end AIDS by 2030. Also, HIV acquisition rates are higher in indigenous communities than in non-indigenous communities in Canada, Australia and USA. Doris Peltier, Community Engagement Coordinator with the Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research (STBBI stands for sexually transmitted blood-borne infections), at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, who is among the plenary speakers for AIDS 2022, was in exclusive conversation with CNS Executive Director Shobha Shukla. Doris has been very actively involved with the Indigenous HIV movement in Canada since almost two decades. Stigma lurks When it comes to HIV and AIDS, the biggest social barrier is stigma. We still have stigma in our First Nations communities and in our Inuit communities. People still believe in some of the myths associated with HIV and so there is still a lot of educating the community that needs to happen, said Doris. She added: The other big structural barrier is that funding has been incrementally reduced in the last 10 years. All around the world HIV exceptionalism has always been where people are giving priority to HIV and then the funding started to shift and HIV was no longer a priority - despite the fact that we still have many people in our indigenous community testing positive and just when we felt like we were having some successes then the funding got pulled back. Globally every country should have ensured that at least 90% of persons living with HIV know their status, 90% of them are receiving lifesaving antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of them remain virally suppressed. Ensuring undetectable viral load translates into untransmittbale (undetectable equals untransmittable) is vital if we are to end AIDS by 2030. Canada made remarkable progress towards 90-90-90 goals by 2020 but those who were not diagnosed, or diagnosed with HIV but not receiving treatment, or those receiving treatment but not virally suppressed, are likely to come from most marginalized sections of its population including indigenous peoples. Those most at risk like indigenous peoples must be reached first. Racial inequity Another big structural barrier in our response to HIV in indigenous communities in Canada lies within the healthcare system itself. We are quite often dealing with structural racism within healthcare settings. So a lot of people are reluctant to access services within healthcare systems. This is yet another deterrent for achieving the global goals, said Doris. It is not just HIV services that become inaccessible for indigenous peoples due to these barriers but TB services as well. Access to treatment for HIV and TB is another issue that has not been addressed at the national level despite the fact that TB is quite high especially in the northern region. TB has now trickled into little pockets within the urban settings and so we are only now responding to it, said Doris. Holistic response to HIV The response of indigenous people to a disease, including HIV, is holistic. When I was explaining the 90-90-90 global goals to one of my elders, he told me that these goals only address the physical part of the disease, and not the mental, emotional and spiritual side of the human being, and that our aim seems to be successful only in terms of the numbers. I agree with him because we quite often forget the emotional, spiritual and mental side of persons living with HIV or those with TB. We are only interested in the success that numbers tell us, remarked Doris Peltier. Covid-19 has brought this to light. Doris explained that, When the pandemic happened globally, the systems responded to the physical side of it. So they developed the vaccine, which was good. But a lot of people suffered because of the lockdown and the mental health issues resulting from being locked down have not been dealt with yet. Many of the people living with HIV are homeless, which makes survival all the more difficult. Social determinants of health are very multi-layered. The Indigenous Services Canada responded to CNS and told us that, Budgets 2017 and 2018 announced Canadian dollars 640 million over 10 years to address Inuit Nunangat housing needs. Speaking on the theme of AIDS 2022, re-engage and follow the science, Doris Peltier said: The theme of the conference is very relevant. I would equate science to our understanding of indigenous knowledge which evolves continuously and there is always something new that it uncovers, just like science which keeps on evolving with new research uncovering something new. And as indigenous people, we feel that the personal experiences that people bring to the table in the form of stories is very important. They form qualitative research which is as important and relevant as quantitative research. So it is very relevant to re-engage with science. And we have to address things in a holistic manner keeping the whole person in mind and not just the physical aspect of the disease. Indigenous peoples and TB elimination targets We at CNS (Citizen News Service) reached out to the Indigenous Services Canada, which responded: The Government of Canada has supported Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami through the Inuit Public Health Task Group in the development of the TB Elimination Framework. Funding for TB elimination is allocated to the four Regional Inuit Organizations and the Framework has guided the four Inuit Nunangat regions in developing their own Action Plans, tailored to regional strengths and needs to enhance public health programmes. These regional plans will build capacity within communities to enable earlier diagnosis and treatment of active TB disease and latent TB infection, increase awareness and understanding of TB, and address stigma. Indigenous Services Canada further said that it supports and promotes access to equitable, culturally-appropriate testing and treatment for TB, and that the Canadian government is committed to eliminating TB across Canada, including in Inuit Nunangat, as well as improving the social and economic factors that contribute to the spread of the disease, including stigma, housing, nutrition and poverty. Shobha Shukla CNS (Citizen News Service) (Shobha Shukla is the award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla) 29.07.2022 LISTEN Career education is critical for the holistic development of the youth for the 21st-century job market, Mr. Papi-Paulo Zigah, Director of International Operations, Future Careers Ghana, has asserted and called on the government to inject career education in Ghanas educational system. Mr. Zigah said this at the 15th edition of the Ghana News Agency, Tema Industrial News Hub Stakeholders Engagement which was monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema. The engagement is an initiative by the GNA-Tema Regional Office as a progressive media caucus platform for state and non-state actors to address national issues. Mr. Zigah said preparing students for the future would require all teachers working to provide students with the knowledge, and skills to manage their studies and careers. He called for the training of educators to be involved in designing the lessons; infusing career knowledge into the content of academic courses; organizing more career practice activities for students. He indicated supporting students to know their interests, abilities, and goals; understanding the fundamentals of occupations, and acquiring knowledge, and skills regarding career planning were very essential in preparing them for the future. If you know what you want to become, you can develop your own competence, you can take a lot of online courses to put you in a position where you can deliver within that particular occupation or profession, he stated. He said the structure instilled students with the knowledge they needed to obtain a meaningful career adding that there was the need to give Ghanaian youth career guidance and access to quality information to make informed choices for their future. Speaking on the topic: The importance of career education to the Ghanaian child, Mr Zigah explained that career education focuses on the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes through a planned programme of learning experiences in education and training settings which will assist students to make informed decisions about their life, study, or work options, and enable effective participation in working life. We have reached the point where we need to educate the public about this, that higher education is not about the university, it is about any opportunity to help you acquire skills and knowledge relevant to a specific occupation, Mr. Zigah added. He said it simply offers the child the ability to build his or her career education through ones own natural abilities through guidance. Mr Zigah said career education assists students to reflect on their ambitions, interests, strengths, and abilities as well as helps them to have a greater understanding of options, pathways, the labour market, and employment, and to relate this to what they know about themselves. He explained that it results in a variety of positive outcomes as the students performance improved such as enhancing confidence and positive attitude in making career-related decisions, career exploration behaviours, and a lot more to complement the current educational system. Other speakers at the stakeholders engagement were: Mr. Richard A. Quayson, Deputy Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice; Mr. Richard Kovey, a convenor at Campaign Against Privatization and Commercialization of Education (CAPCOE); and Mr. Edward Kareweh, General Secretary of the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU). If noting is done regarding the deadline for SIM card re-registration, Sunday, July 30 it will disastrous for the telecommunication companies and those who are yet to complete the process. The telcos may lose millions of their customers if the 31st of July is not extended since many still do not have the Ghana card, which is the only requirement for the exercise. In this regard, the co-host of the Accra-based GTV's Breakfast show, Kafui Dey, is asking the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation to consider the interest of telecommunication companies and extend the deadline. According to him, it is no fault of those who have registered but still have not received their Ghana Cards including those in long queues trying to register for their Ghana Card. In a post Modernghana News spotted on his Twitter handle today, July 29, the journalist asserted that extending the deadline shouldn't be a big deal for the Minister. Extending the deadline for the SIM Card re-registration thing shouldn't be a hard thing to do. Many people do not have the card that is expected to be used for the re-registration through no fault of theirs. The telcos are struggling with the pressure. Just extend it...., his tweet reads. The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has explained that without the presence of a valid Will surviving spouse still has legitimate rights to inherit property, as the Intestate Succession Law cures that marital anomaly. Mr. John Ato Breboh, CHRAJ Senior Principal Investigator, Tema Regional Office explained that the Intestate Succession Law, 1985 promotes spousal inheritance of property and assets, it recognizes the spouse(s) of the deceased, their biological or adopted children, surviving parents, and the customary family, prioritizing spouses, and children. He explained that Ghana's customary legal regimes as regards inheritances can be meaningfully divided into two broad categories: matrilineal and patrilineal traditions. Mr. Breboh made this statement during an interaction with the Hen Ara Nkonkonko Kuw of Tema Community One, on the topic: Matrimonial Property Right, as part of a comprehensive citizen sensitization programme started by CHRAJ Tema Regional Office as monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema. The citizen engagement was to educate them on specific issues of human rights, child marriage, domestic abuse, violence, and other functions of the commission and empower the public to seek redress in case of infractions on their rights. He, therefore, urged women not to sleep on their matrimonial property rights, and encouraged women going through any such challenges to seek help through CHRAJ; investigations would be carried out, and right actions including advising the victim what line of legal actions to take. He said one of the most prevailing systems of devolution of property under customary law is the primogeniture rule. Primogeniture is the right by custom, of the firstborn son to inherit the entire estate to the exclusion of younger siblings and of course, the effect is that women are denied inheritance or succession. He explained that as a result of some of these traditional norms on inheritance, women face a lot of matrimonial issues within the married and when the man dies. Mr. Breboh also advised women to investigate the background of people who would represent their husband during the performance of the marital rites, you must be sure whether the relatives present are truly from the mans family. Friends and church members are not relatives and cannot represent the family of the groom in the performance of the marital rites. The CHRAJ Senior Principal Investigator said a wife has an equal right to the inheritance acquired within the marriage, especially when it was customary. If the man decides to marry another wife, the second wife has rights only in the properties acquired during her tenure as the second wife, the first wife has an equal share in it. Mrs. Grace Andam Esiamah, the President of Hen Ara Nkonkonko Kuw, commended CHRAJ Tema Regional Office for the initiative, stressing that women needed such guidance. She encouraged women confronted with matrimonial issues to visit CHRAJ for direction and legal advice. We are somehow creating the politicians that we want, we ask them to bribe us so that we can vote for them, they also intend induce us monitory and materially to vote for them. Increasingly individual personal interest is overcrowding the national interest. We accept the inducement and vote based on the highest bidder so that after they win, we can queue at their doors for our daily bread, funeral contribution, school fees, rent, among others without caring where they get the money from. We know that Members of Parliament and the other politicians do not make money or have money machines, but we demand all our needs from them, its our money that they will find a way to divert to please us, Mr. Richard A. Quayson, Deputy Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has stated and called on Ghanaians to stop voting for the highest bidder politicians as that amount to auctioning the countrys elections Mr. Quayson said this at the 15th edition of the Ghana News Agency, Tema Industrial News Hub Monthly Stakeholders Engagement and Workers Appreciation forum, which was monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema. The engagement is an initiative by the GNA-Tema Regional Office as a progressive media caucus platform for state and non-state actors to address national issues. Speaking on the topic: Is the fight against corruption a mirage or reality, the perspective of CHRAJ, the CHRAJ Deputy Commissioner stressed that Ghanaians were getting the kind of politicians they deserve as those in authority, as well as in the public sector was a reflection of the general population as they emanated from the society into power. Mr Quayson said the current worrying trend of people being paid by politicians to vote for them creates an enabling environment for these politicians when they are elected into political office engage in corrupt practices to recoup the amount spent during the electioneering campaign. He said it was not enough for people to blame and only point to politicians and people in authority as corrupt when they contributed to creating the platform for it. I am not saying the politicians should not take their blame, but let us also blame ourselves for creating the condition for corruption, he said. Mr Quayson, therefore, called for a change in the mind-set of Ghanaians which according to him Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanas first President warned the people about at the time of independence when he stated that Ghana was no longer under colonial rule, the mentality of it is for the government must end, we are the government. He indicated that people were not interested in taking responsibility for nation building as they see it as the responsibility of politicians while they see themselves as people that have rights in the country. As a Ghanaian, do you think you own part of this country, or you are just passing through, we dont want to take responsibility, we think rights have one side, it has both sides rights and responsibilities, who should build the nation for you to take your rights, he added. Mr. Francis Ameyibor, GNA-Tema Regional Manager, in a welcome address said there was the need for a collective approach to the fight against corruption as it has dire consequences for all. Mr. Ameyibor further stated that the system was getting out of hand and if nothing was done about it immediately, we are all not safe, we are watching unconcerned a ticking time bomb and sadly playing the blame game instead of taking pragmatic action to defuse it. Other speakers at the stakeholders engagement were: Mr. Richard Kovey, a convenor at Campaign Against Privatization and Commercialization of Education (CAPCOE); Mr. Edward Kareweh, General Secretary of the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU); and Mr. Papi-Paulo Zigah, Director of International Operations, Future Careers Ghana. Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitalisation has hinted at a possible new development regarding the SIM card re-registration deadline. She stated that Ghanaians should await a press conference on the final decision her ministry intends to make regarding the deadline. Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful told the media on the sidelines of the launch of the Tertiary Digital Innovation Programme to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Ghana Digital Centres (GDCL) in Accra on Thursday, July 28, that they will engage the telcos in a meeting before making a final decision. Exercise patience, you will hear from us very soon, we will call for a press conference and discuss that with you. Well engage all stakeholders and all telecom companies on the matter, she said. She once again stressed Until then, the deadline remains the same." This in a way contradicts her earlier statement that the deadline will not be extended again. We must make it difficult for the criminals who hack our systems and defraud us through multiple online channels to operate, and this SIM registration exercise is one of the steps the government is taking in that regard, she explains. The Minister continues, this stresses the point that this exercise will enable the establishment of a subscriber database with integrity to keep the consumers safe from scams and fraud. I, therefore, urge you to do so before the 31st of July," she stressed. Taiwan to enhance security partnership with US: Min Taipei, July 29 (UNI) Taiwan will further strengthen security cooperation with the US, the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said on Friday, commenting on the recent talks between the US and Chinese presidents. On Thursday, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation, discussing, among other topics, Taiwan. The White House said Biden underscored that the US policy on Taiwan remains unchanged and Washington continues to oppose any unilateral efforts to alter the existing status quo. China's state media meanwhile reported that Xi, while speaking about Taiwan, warned Biden that "one who plays with fire will certainly get burned." "We will continue to deepen the close security partnership between Taiwan and the United States, jointly defend the rule-based international order and promote security in the Taiwan Strait as well as peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region," the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on the US-Chinese talks. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Ukraine, energy, and problems in the Middle East. But the elephant in the room, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, was not mentioned. In an official readout of the meeting, the website of the Elysee said that Macron and MBS discussed the war in Ukraine and pledged to "intensify cooperation to mitigate its effects in Europe, the Middle East and the world." Macron "underlined the importance of continuing the coordination initiated with Saudi Arabia with a view to diversifying the energy supplies of European states," shorthand for decreasing dependency on Russian gas and oil. The two leaders also discussed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA,) the elusive deal aimed at scaling down Iran's nuclear program, the situation in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the stalled Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. While no direct reference was made to the Khashoggi murder in a last, terse sentence, the Elysee press release remarked that Macron had "addressed the issue of human rights in Saudi Arabia," without giving any details. Before leaving France, MBS thanked Macron for his "warm reception" during the talks in Paris. "As I leave your friendly country, it gives me great pleasure to express to your Excellency my deepest gratitude and appreciation for the warm reception and hospitality accorded to me and the accompanying delegation," bin Salman wrote in a message posted by the Saudi foreign ministry. The dinner on Thursday evening was the latest step in the diplomatic rehabilitation of the de-facto leader of the Saudi kingdom. The 36-year-old became a pariah in the West following the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Fresh sources The prince is being courted by Western leaders again as they urgently seek fresh sources of fossil fuels to replace lost Russian production. US President Joe Biden travelled to Riyadh earlier this month, drawing similar criticism to that faced by Macron at home. While Biden fist-bumped bin Salman in a gesture that was seized on by critics, Macron shook hands on the steps of the Elysee Palace as he welcomed the prince. "He's shaking the hand for a long time of man whose hands are covered in blood," senior leftwing MP Alexis Corbiere told BFM television on Friday. 'French values' But allies of the French president defended a meeting that has been widely portrayed as a demonstration of "Realpolitik" -- putting practical needs above principles in foreign policy. Analysts say Saudi Arabia is one of few countries worldwide with the capacity to increase its oil production, though its margin for manoeuvre is seen as limited. "There are partners, countries that do not all share the same democratic values as France," Public Services Minister Stanislas Guerini, a close ally of the president, told Europe 1 radio on Friday. "But I believe it would be a mistake to not speak, to not try to make things happen," he added. The role of the president was "to protect the French people," he said. "French values, the voice of France, human rights, were carried last night, as always, by the president," he added. The head of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard told AFP she felt "profoundly troubled by the visit". The killing of Khashoggi was described by a UN probe as an "extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible". US intelligence agencies determined that MBS had "approved" the operation that led to Khashoggi's death. Riyadh denies this, blaming rogue operatives. "I am scandalised and outraged that Emmanuel Macron is receiving with all the honours the executioner of my fiance, Jamal Khashoggi," his fiancee Hatice Cengiz told AFP on Thursday. The French president first hosted MBS in 2018, when he took him to an art exhibition at the Louvre museum, and travelled to the kingdom in December 2021 for further talks. Chateau An ironic detail of MBS' diplomatic trip to Frane is that the Saudi strongman stayed overnight at his Chateau Louis XIV in Louveciennes west of Paris which he acquired in 2015, according to a source who asked not to be named. According to The Architect's Journal, the castle was only built in 2009, by the company headed by Emad Khashoggi, a cousin of Jamal, for whose death the Saudi crown prince was allegedly responsible. Emad runs archict house Cogemad which builds and designs renaissance-style buildings. the Chateau Louis XIV was described as "the world's most expensive home" at the time of purchase. (With AFP) France has charged five more children of former Gabonese president Omar Bongo in a long-running inquiry over ill-gotten wealth, a judicial source said Friday. Omar Bongo, a close French ally, ruled the oil-rich state from 1967 until his death in 2009, when he was succeeded by his son Ali Bongo Ondimba. He had 54 children. French investigators suspect several members of the late president's family to have knowingly benefitted from a fraudulently acquired real-estate empire worth at least 85 million euros ($87 million). They have already charged four other adult children, as well as a former Miss France, over receiving Parisian apartments from the late president. This means at least nine half-sisters and half-brothers of Gabon's current president have now been indicted in the 15-year-old case. The siblings most recently charged, in June and July, include Pascaline Bongo, 66, his eldest daughter and former director of his cabinet, Omar Denis Jr Bongo, 28, who is also the grandson of Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Jeanne Matoua, 38, and Joseph Matoua, 40, the judicial source said, confirming a report by Africa Intelligence. Gabon's late president Omar Bongo, here seen in 1983 with his then French counterpart Francois Mitterrand, was a close ally of France. By Dominique FAGET (AFP) It was not immediately clear who the fifth child charged since June was. They were charged with receiving misappropriated public funds, "active and passive corruption", money laundering and "misuse of social assets". Pascaline Bongo's lawyer, Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, said the charges involved "legal and factual anachronism". According to information obtained by AFP, her client told investigators in January 2020 that she owned several flats in chic Parisian neighbourhoods, which her father had bought at some point between the 1970s and the 1990s. Pascaline Bongo, also a former foreign minister, was very close to her father. Omar Denis Jr Bongo's attorney, Jean-Marie Viala, rejected the allegations against his client. 'Undue commissions' The Bongo property empire includes apartments and buildings in Paris and the Mediterranean city of Nice as well as luxury cars, several of which have been seized by French authorities. In findings released in February, an investigating judge determined that much of the money for the purchases came from "undue commissions" paid by French energy firm Elf, now a part of TotalEnergies, to exploit Gabon's vast oil reserves. French financial investigators between March 25 and April 5 charged Grace, Betty, Arthur and Hermine Bongo with concealing embezzlement of public funds, corruption and misuse of assets, documents seen by AFP showed. Late Gabonese president Omar Bongo had 54 sons and daughters. By WILS YANICK MANIENGUI (AFP) All denied any knowledge of the allegedly fraudulent origins of the assets, a judicial source said at the time. They told investigators they had received the properties -- apartments in the 15th and 16th districts of Paris -- as gifts from their father between 1995 and 2004. Prosecutors in early June said a former Miss France, Sonia Rolland, had also been charged. She was accused of receipt of embezzled public funds for accepting from Bongo in 2003 a Parisian apartment worth 800,000 euros ($817,000). Rolland, who was 22 at the time, recognised that she was naive but contested any wrongdoing, her lawyer told AFP. Contacted by AFP, Gabonese presidential spokesman Jessye Ella Ekogha declined to comment as the affair concerned "neither the president... nor any other member of the presidency". As a sitting head of state, President Ali Bongo Ondimba has immunity. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel next month to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, the State Department announced Friday, as Washington ramps up diplomacy in Africa to counter a Russian charm offensive. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will also go in August to Ghana and Uganda and the US aid chief, Samantha Power, recently completed a trip to longtime US ally Kenya, as well as troubled Somalia, where she highlighted the rise in malnutrition aggravated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The diplomacy comes as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov undertakes his own extensive tour of Africa, where he has sought to cast spiraling global food prices as a consequence of Western sanctions, a hypothesis rejected by Washington. Blinken will send a message that "African countries are geostrategic players and critical partners on the most pressing issues of our day, from promoting an open and stable international system, to tackling the effects of climate change, food insecurity and global pandemics to shaping our technological and economic futures," a State Department statement said. South Africa, a leader in the developing world, has emerged as a key diplomatic battleground as it has remained studiously neutral on the Ukraine war, refusing to join Western calls to condemn Moscow, which still enjoys affection over its opposition to apartheid. Blinken will visit Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria from August 7-9. He will then head to the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa in a bid to show support for sub-Saharan Africa's vastest country as it tries to turn the page on decades of conflict. He will complete his trip in Rwanda, which has seen a flare-up in tensions with DR Congo after it accused its neighbor to the east of backing M23 rebels, a charge Kigali denies. The State Department said Blinken will press for the release of Paul Rusesabagina, who is credited with saving hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide and inspired the movie "Hotel Rwanda." A US permanent resident, Rusesabagina is a critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and was sentenced to a 25-year prison term for "terrorism" after a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed in Kigali in 2020. Blinken will be paying his second trip to sub-Saharan Africa since he took office last year with President Joe Biden's administration. Late last year, he traveled to Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal as he sought to highlight democracies. Before Russia's February invasion of Ukraine, US efforts in Africa had a heavy subtext on competition with China, which has poured money into infrastructure building on the continent and contrasts itself with the United States by making no demands on democracy or human rights. Three ex-convicts and another have been sentenced to 19 years imprisonment each for robbing two mobile money vendors at gunpoint at Ablekuma in the Greater Accra Region. This was after the court presided over by Mrs Patricia Amponsah found them guilty on the charges of conspiracy to commit a crime to wit robbery and two counts of robbery. Apart from Ibrahim Muntari, a father of five and a 29-year-old driver, the rest of the accused persons namely Evans Nuetey, a 27-year-old driver, Abubakar Sadiq aka Frenchman a 30-year-old Okada Rider and Prince Ayitey, a 25-year-old driver are already serving 17 years each on similar offences. The convicts were said to have robbed two mobile money vendors of their money at gunpoint at Ablekuma in the Greater Accra Region on March 6, 2020. Handing down the sentences, the trial judge said it took into consideration the remorse displayed by the accused persons, their plea for mercy and error of their ways and the mistakes committed by them. It noted that the court's hands were tied as it had earlier sentenced three of the accused persons to 17 years imprisonment each on similar crimes. According to the court, on the day it sentenced three of the accused persons, it reminded them on two occasions to think about the other cases against them before the court would decide on their fate if they had indeed committed those offences. "Now, I have no option than to give you an enhanced sentence," the court said. The accused persons also took turns pleading with the court for mercy and leniency. Muntari told the court that " I have five kids and my wife was pregnant when I was arrested. The fifth born does not know her father. Please have mercy on me and deal leniently with me." Nuetey said: "Please I am already serving 17 years in jail. I don't think I will have anything to do with the Police after returning from jail." Sadiq in tears told the court to have mercy on him and that his father had passed on. Prosecuting Chief Inspector John Gohoho narrated that the complainants, Maxwell Boakye and Isaac Agyeman were mobile money vendors residing at Ablekumah. It said Muntari, Nuetey and Sadiq resided at Olebu, Odumase and Mankrong, all suburbs in Accra. The prosecution said on March 8, 2020, the Amasaman Police Patrol team arrested Muntari and one Waja for possessing firearms without authority at Pokuase. It said on March 17, 2020, the Greater Accra Regional Police upon intelligence gathered that Muntari and Waja were among those who attacked mobile money vendors from the year 2019 to March 6, 2020. According to the prosecution, the two were interrogated and they admitted the offence and mentioned Nuetey, Sadiq and Ayitey as accomplices. It said the convicts mentioned Ablekuma Fan Milk as the place where they robbed the mobile money vendors. The prosecution said on March 18, 2020, Muntari led the Police to Odumase, Olebu and Mankrong and identified Nuetey, Sadiq, and Ayitey as his accomplices and they were nabbed. On March 20, 2020, the accused persons, now convicts, led the Police and pointed out the shops of the complainants as the places they had attacked and robbed of GHC15,000 and 8,000 and 10,270 electronic cash. They also made away with nine mobile phones and credit cards valued at GHC 530. The prosecution said the accused persons indicated to the Police that after their operations, they went to Olebu in a taxi and shared the money. It said the two complainants later identified the accused persons as those who robbed them. GNA Dr Benjamin Baah Anim, a medical herbalist at the Geobert Memorial Herbal Centre has advised Ghanaians to visit health care facilities for regularly hepatitis B checks. Dr Baah Anim said hepatitis B is a silent but sure deadliest disease which needs emergency medical care. He said in an interview with the press at Geobert Memorial Herbal Centre's Hepatitis screening and awareness creation today at Kantamato in Accra to commemorate "World Hepatitis Day". "Today is World Hepatitis B Day so as part of our duty to contribute to the general wellbeing of everyone in the country this is something that Geobert Memorial Herbal Centre is doing to create awareness and also get people to screen up," he stated. According to him, Hepatitis B can be spread through contaminated blood products and much more progress is needed to ensure blood safety. Adding that, antiviral drugs that can suppress replication of the virus are available when detected however, these must be taken for decades, as there is yet no curative therapy for chronic HBV infection available. Madam Bridget Owusu, a market woman at the Kantamto market who took part in the screening commended the management of the Geobert Memorial Herbal Centre for the laudable gesture and urged other health care centres to emulate same. "In fact, this is the first we are witnessing a screening exercise like this and I must say that we are grateful to the organisers for choosing the Kantamanto market. We have also been taking through how the hepatitis B virus operates and its symptoms," she stated. She appealed to the government to support institutions like Geobert Memorial Herbal Centre to screen more people across the country. About 500 market women and men at the Kantamto Market were screened for the hepatitis B check-up. A scorecard by the global agency showed that 70 per cent of Hepatitis B infections worldwide occur in Africa, with 70 per cent of the cases found among children younger than five years, translating to 4.5 million African children infected. The Viral Hepatitis Scorecard 2021 reviewed data from the African region but focused on Hepatitis B and C, both of which cause liver cirrhosis and cancer. It found that in 19 countries, more than eight per cent of the population is infected with Hepatitis B, while in 18 countries, more than one per cent of the population lives with Hepatitis C. The World Health Organisation's (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said: Hepatitis has been called the silent epidemic, but this scorecard is sounding an alarm for the region and the world to hear. The Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Boamah Otokunor will soon be addressed as Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor. He is set to receive his PhD certificate in Agricultural Economics today Friday, July 29 at the University of Ghana Campus in Accra. Announcing this via his Twitter handle which Modernghana News cited today, Friday, July 29, he wrote So today is the biggest day in my life (Graduating from UG with a PhD in Agric Economics) and have decided to do so by breaking a 15-year-old jinx of not wearing a western suit and tie. He adds But guess what, when I did, I chose purely made in Ghana. The smock can rest small. Following his tweet, some social media users urged him to use the knowledge he has gained for the benefit of agricultural growth in Ghana rather than propaganda. Now that you have acquired PhD try and shun propaganda. Anyway congratulations! a netizen wrote. Brief educational background and expertise Peter Boamah Otokunor is a researcher, Agricultural Economist and Economic Policy Expert. He has a PhD in Finance from SMC University, a Master of Arts in Economic Policy Management from the University of Ghana - Legon and a B.Sc. in Agriculture from the University of Ghana - Legon. Rural Development, Economic Policy Research, Scientific and Socio-political Research, Communications, Strategic Planning, Project Management, Policy Planning, Youth Development, and Agriculture are among his areas of expertise. He has over 18 years of professional experience in research, teaching, management, communications, publishing, and youth development. Check some more reactions from Ghanaians on social media to his tweet below; US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel next month to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, the State Department announced Friday, as Washington ramps up diplomacy in Africa to counter a Russian charm offensive. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will also go in August to Ghana and Uganda and the US aid chief, Samantha Power, recently completed a trip to longtime US ally Kenya, as well as troubled Somalia, where she highlighted the rise in malnutrition aggravated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The diplomacy comes as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov undertakes his own extensive tour of Africa, where he has sought to cast spiraling global food prices as a consequence of Western sanctions -- an idea rejected by Washington, which points to Moscow's blockade of Ukrainian ports. Blinken will send a message that "African countries are geostrategic players and critical partners on the most pressing issues of our day, from promoting an open and stable international system, to tackling the effects of climate change, food insecurity and global pandemics to shaping our technological and economic futures," a State Department statement said. South Africa, a leader in the developing world, has emerged as a key diplomatic battleground as it has remained studiously neutral on the Ukraine war, refusing to join Western calls to condemn Moscow, which still enjoys affection over its opposition to apartheid. Blinken will visit Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria from August 7-9. He will then head to the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa in a bid to show support for sub-Saharan Africa's vastest country as it tries to turn the page on decades of conflict. He will complete his trip in Rwanda, which has seen a flare-up in tensions with DR Congo after it accused its neighbor to the east of backing M23 rebels, a charge Kigali denies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plants a tree at the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa on July 27, 2022. By EDUARDO SOTERAS (AFP/File) The State Department said Blinken will press for the release of Paul Rusesabagina, who is credited with saving hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide and inspired the movie "Hotel Rwanda." A US permanent resident, Rusesabagina is a critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and was sentenced to a 25-year prison term for "terrorism" after a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed in Kigali in 2020. Blinken will be paying his second trip to sub-Saharan Africa since he took office last year with President Joe Biden's administration. Late last year, he traveled to Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal as he sought to highlight democracies. Before Russia's February invasion of Ukraine, US efforts in Africa had a heavy subtext on competition with China, which has poured money into infrastructure building on the continent and contrasts itself with the United States by making no demands on democracy or human rights. Rejecting Russian narrative While the Biden administration identifies China as the primary long-term competitor of the United States, it has focused in the short-term on countering Russia. Western nations have overwhelmingly voiced outrage and sought to punish Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine but developing nations, especially in Africa and South Asia, have been more hesitant. USAID chief Samantha Power speaks during a joint press conference with Kenya's Public Service Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia in Nairobi on July 22, 2022. By Tony KARUMBA (AFP/File) Yoweri Museveni, the veteran leader of Uganda where Thomas-Greenfield is heading, met Tuesday with Lavrov and said, "How can we be against somebody who has never harmed us?" Lavrov, speaking the next day in Ethiopia, urged Africa to resist a world "totally subordinated to the United States" and warned that other nations risked punishment if they run afoul of Western interests. Blinken on Wednesday described Lavrov's trip as "a desperate game of defense to justify to the world the actions that Russia has taken" including its "aggression" in Ukraine. President Emmanuel Macron of France, which has a long history in Africa, on a visit to Benin on Wednesday called Russia "one of the last imperial colonial powers." Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, on her trip to the Horn of Africa unveiled more than $1 billion in emergency assistance to fight rising hunger and challenged other nations such as China and Russia to follow suit. President Nana Akufo-Addo has cut sod for the rehabilitation of the Dome-Kitase road. The stretch is expected to serve as an alternative route for users from Accra to the Eastern Region. The $1.65-million project, which will cover 23 kilometres, will start from the Dome Roundabout in the Greater Accra Region and end at Kitase, near Peduase in the Eastern Region. It will include a 16.3 km two-lane single carriageway with asphaltic concrete surfacing, the provision of 2.8 km asphaltic concrete surfacing dual carriageway arterial with auxiliary lanes on both sides and the provision of a one-km two-lane single carriageway for Ashesi University, also with asphaltic concrete surfacing. Residents and motorists along the stretch have over the period complained of the deplorable state of the roads and called for them to be fixed. Addressing participants at a sod cutting ceremony, President Akufo-Addo says the project is part of the Government's agenda of providing quality roads for citizens. Road rehabilitation is being funded by the government and the Kuwaiti fund. We enjoy excellent relations with the state of Kuwait, and we are determined to widen and deepen those relations. The project was one of many that are in line with the governments agenda to provide good, quality road infrastructure to help accelerate the social economic development of the country, President Akufo-Addo said. On the quality of the road, the Minister for Roads, Kwesi Amoako-Atta, said provisions of drainage systems have been made to ensure the road stands the test of time. The drainage systems have been designed to ensure the systems are resilient, and the roads do not become flooded during storms, the minister said. Residents of the Yilo and Lower Manya Krobo Municipalities in the Eastern Region have been plunged into total darkness causing tension in the area. The Yilo and Lower Manya Krobo Municipalities have been without power supply since Wednesday, 27 July 2022. The Electricity Company of Ghana, (ECG), is reported to have switched off feeders at the Bulk Supply Point supplying power to the communities after its transformers were tempered with by some unknown persons. The power-distributing company has indicated that until it is assured of the safety of its workers, it cannot work on the transformers. A statement issued by the Krobo Council said: On Friday, July 22, ECG workers were nearly attacked at Kpongunor. Currently the lives of the ECG workers are a concern to us because of the behaviour of these people. Hence, they have refrained from working on the faulty transformers without concrete guarantee from the communities. It continued that: If this attitude continues, then whose fault is it if you are in the dark. We must value their lives too. The ECG has been installing prepaid metres in the area with assistance from the miliatary despite resistance by residents. Source: classfmonline.com Fatimatu Abubakar, the Deputy Information Minister has appealed to financially stable organizations to assist the National Media Commission (NMC) effectively safeguard journalists in the country. She urged stakeholders to contribute financially to the NMC's efforts to ensure journalists operate freely and responsively in the country. Speaking on the sidelines of a Forum on Media Professionalism and Journalist Safety organized by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on Thursday, July 28 at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, the Deputy Minister added that the Ministry considers media freedom a priority. We are willing to offer some level of support to the office and keep it running, but I would like to use this opportunity to reach out to stakeholders in the country and outside Ghana who have the capacity to assist the NMC with funding to run the office because perhaps if they had more resources, they would be more inquisitorial in their approach, she said. She urged journalists to also use their platforms to fight for their rights. For the past year, we have been able to set up an office for the coordinated mechanism on the safety of journalists. As you heard from the National Media Commission, journalists do not even come there to find out processes of what is happening there so that in line of their duty, when there is such violation, they will go there for redress, she said. She stressed that government will never shield or tolerate persons who attack journalists in the country regardless of their social or political status. The government is not interested in shielding perpetrators of attacks against journalists. We are committed to safeguarding journalists to ensure that our poor performance in the world press freedom ranking changes for the better, the Minster assured. She adds We must continue with sensitisation and encourage people to use the appropriate quarters to seek redress when attacked. At least 200 investors, companies and entrepreneurs would have the opportunity to visit The Netherlands to discuss business opportunities from 28 th to 30 th September 2022 at this years Netherland-Ghana Business fair under the theme: Our Digital Future: Ghana beyond 2022. The venue for the fair is The Netherlands (The Hague), with its special guest of honor being the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Dr Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, who will be delivering a keynote address on digitalization and its prospects for foreign investors, and businesses. There will be, workshops, matchmaking and visitation to some companies and networking cocktails on various days of the Fair. This years objective is to bridge the gap between Dutch investors and businesses and Ghanaian Businesses as well as provide an opportunity to know more about the changing trends in ecommerce, digitalization, data censoring and knowing the latest products and services in the business-technology industry. Representatives of authorities from both countries will have the opportunity to discuss Netherland-Ghana partnerships, Trade and Investments. Opportunities for both business to government and business to business meetings and matchings will take place during the period. The annual event of the Netherlands-Ghana Business Fair will be carried out under the auspices of AfroEuro Foundation in collaboration with the Embassy of Ghana in the Netherlands, Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI). Its goal is to create an atmosphere of partnerships and networks for many investors bilaterally and globally from the Netherlands. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the last two years' events were held virtually through an online conference with delegates from Ghana and Netherlands via zoom. Notwithstanding the challenges, this years event will be held again in The Netherlands to host the attendance of participants, stakeholders, and partners. The event seeks to target Dutch, Ghanaian businessmen and investors who are looking for expansion opportunities, knowledge partners, suppliers and buyers. The Ghana trade delegation will comprise companies, business leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals and experts from various sectors (Agriculture, Housing and Real Estate Development, Digital (ICT), Water management, Sustainable businesses, Waste management, Made in Ghana goods Etc.) Ghana which is home to the administrative headquarters of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), gateway to West Africa and largely Sub-Sahara Africa, has great value and opportunities to offer Dutch Investors and companies which would lead to successful partnerships and further deepening the economic cooperation between Ghana and The Netherlands. All interested participants, individuals and prospective business owners and companies who wish to take part in The Netherlands-Ghana Business Fair 2022 are cordially invited and welcome to register online www.forumbizgh.com or call +233(0)20-960-3093 or email: [email protected] for registration details, participation and further clarification. Upplause Consulting is the representative agency in Ghana coordinating the registration and selection processes. Soon after President Nana Akufo-Addo revoked the appointment of Sarah Adwoa Safo as Ghana's Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection Thursday, July 29, some social media users have already started a campaign to get her replacement. One name that has come up strongly is the former Upper East Regional Minister and 2020 New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary candidate for the Navrongo Central Constituency, Abayage Tangoba. The right person for the job Those rooting for her to be appointed the next minister for the ministry that has been without a substantive minister for close to a year are convinced she is the best candidate for the job. Some have cited her love for children, a trait she demonstrates by an annual kids' party she organises in her constituency. That trait, some also say, is evident in her new enterprise the establishment of a private daycare school Tangoba Legends School in the Upper East regional capital of Bolgatanga. Some also say, her campaign in the runup to the 2020 presidential and parliamentary election was heavy on protecting the interest of the vulnerable in society children and women, especially, widows and the aged. They believe, with these, she is better placed to run the ministry which is mandated by law to coordinate and ensure gender equality and equity, promote the survival, social protection and development of children, vulnerable and excluded and persons with disability and integrate fulfillment of their rights, empowerment and full participation into National development. She seems to be ready for the job as her reply to one of the posts shows she's in for it. Some have gone as far as sending the President private messages requesting that he considers Tangoba for the position. Surprisingly, shes getting support from both sides of the political divide. About Tangoba Before she was appointed the Upper East Regional Minister in 2018, she was Ghana's Ambassador to Italy . In 2020, she beat the then incumbent Member of Parliament and then Minister of Aviation, Joseph Kofi Adda, in the NPP's parliamentary primaries to contest the Navrongo Central seat which she eventually lost to the National Democratic Congress 's Sampson Tangombu Chiragia. Caretaker Minister continues In the Thursday, July 29 letter revoking the appointment of Sarah Adwoa Safo, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources , Cecilia Dapaah was instructed to continue as caretaker minister until a substantive minister is appointed. It is however unclear when a substantive minister will be appointed. By 3news.com|Ghana The Nyive Sector Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), has intercepted 2,497 parcels of suspected Indian hemp in the early hours of Tuesday in the Atikpui community located in the enclave. The parcels which were packed in 33 sacks were intercepted at about 0300 hours upon a signal received by the Command, have serial numbers embossed on them. Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) Abdulai Zakaria, Sector Commander for Nyive in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) disclosed that he deployed officers to the area which was behind the Atikpui School park after receiving a signal. He said the officers got there, laid ambush and heard the sound of a vehicle but the occupants sped off with the vehicle upon sensing the presence of the officers. ACI Zakaria said a search led to the identification of the sacks packed in a bush as the carrying truck got stuck in the mud. He said the occupants offloaded the vehicle and succeeded in pulling it out of the mud but could not load the sacks on board before the officers got there, which resulted in the dealers running away. ACI Zakaria said the sacks were brought to the Command and later handed over to personnel from the Narcotics Control Commission from Accra. He entreated citizens to desist from engaging in illicit drugs while calling on community leaders and members to assist the Service to eliminate such activities. ACI Zakaria expressed gratitude to the Comptroller Commissioner of Immigration for support to the Command, the Border Security Committee (BORSEC) for their support as well as all stakeholders for their collaboration. It would be recalled that the Sector Command intercepted 1,490 parcels in November last year from the Atikpui community. GNA Residents of Bansi, Yarigungu, Gentiga No 1 and 2, Kutanga, Sapeliga and Mognori in Bawku West, Binduri and Bawku Municipal of the Upper East Region say they are living in fear of the presence of Burkinabes asylum seekers in the areas. The asylum seekers numbering over1,000 fled from Benliyali, a community in Burkina Faso after an attack by unknown gunmen at night killing several persons on the 10th July, 2022. According to the residents, the presence of the asylum seekers poses threats to their lives and fear the attackers may follow up to finish what they started. Speaking to a ModernGhana reporter at Yaringungu, a resident, Issaka Gabriella disclosed that the police and military only visited the day the asylum seekers pitched camp in the area. He noted that since then no police or military has been seen near the community or providing security protection. Mr Issaka added that only the Ghana Immigration officers were frequenting the camps but got short of fuel at a point which was forced to cut their visits. Another resident, Abaaga Mahama, also called on the government to act now. "We, as residents here in Yarigungu are living in fear. We need a security post in this area to help protect us. As you can see it is only the Red Volta that lines between us, Ghana and Burkina Faso. Our security heads should kindly deploy police personnel to the area to protect the community," he stated. Many Christians appear to be unhappy with their church leaders' refusal to account for the offerings and tithes. Some are beginning to feel their pastors and church leaders are using the monies lavishly. Responding to this on the Accra-based Hitz FM's Day Break Hitz show, which Modernghana News monitored, the ferocious Ghanaian Prophet and Leader of the Heaven's Gate Ministries, Nicholas Osei, also known as Kumchacha, stated that the money is used for Godly purposes. He explained that such funds are also used for the pastors' upkeep, paying utility bills, organizing crusades, compensating church workers and fueling their vehicles. We spend the tithe on paying utility bills, said Prophet Kumchacha. We even allocate some of the tithe and offertory to organizing crusades, paying church workers, radio programmes and building of new offices for our churches, then we spend the rest among ourselves, he noted. He stressed The car I brought here wasnt fueled with zomi (palm oil in Twi), not seawater. It was fueled with petrol and petrol is bought with money. According to him, pastors devote all their time to the work of God and spiritual protect or guide their church members and as such, must dip their hands in the Church's monies to stay alive and continue the work of God. "Any pastor who says tithes go to God is a liar," he said, shockingly challenging the notion that the tithe is something that is given onto God. Watch him speaking below: John Jinapor, the Yapei-Kusawgu MP, has urged government to act decisively on the impasse between the Italian global oil company, Eni Ghana and the Ghanaian-owned Springfield Exploration & Production (SEP) amid plans for them to unitise. He is concerned that we are heading for disaster with Eni and Springfield. The two companies have not complied with the directive to link their neighbouring discoveries, located in their contract areas. The Government issued the initiation directive for the two companies in 2020, with respect to the Sankofa field in the OCTP and Afina discovery in the WCTP contract areas. Speaking on Asempa FM, Mr. Jinapor warned that the government could be left with a gas shortage if the issue is not resolved. I think this is the time for our government to step in to call both parties and find an amicable solution, the MP said. Where we are going is a very serious and huge matter, Mr. Jinapor added. Similar calls have been made for the government to intervene in the past. In 2021, the Paramount Chief of Eastern Nzema Traditional Council and President of the Nzemamanle Council, Awulae Amihere Kpanyinli III, urged government to address the issue between the two companies. Eni Ghana dragged Ghana to the London Tribunal over these tensions. In Ghana, a court ordered the government to halt payments to Eni and Upstream Limited, amidst the ongoing legal dispute. The Commercial Division of the Accra High Court ordered the operators of the Sankofa Oil Field to preserve 30 percent of all the revenues which will be accrued from the field until the final determination of the legal dispute relating to it. The 30 percent revenue must be paid by the operators, Eni and Vitol into an account agreed by all the contesting parties. Eni Ghana unsuccessfully appealed the case and then filed a suit at the International Tribunal in London, United Kingdom, to challenge a directive by Ghana's Ministry of Energy, asking them to unitise the Sankofa offshore oil field and Afina oil block. ---citinewsroom This workshop organised from July 27 to 28, 2022 in Abuja by the ECOWAS Commission and GIZ through the ECOWAS Institutional Support (ISE) project funded by the European Union (EU), follows series of interviews, led to the development of a guideline for reporting on projects and activities for development partners and grantees. Indeed, the ECOWAS Commission has embarked on institutional reforms with a view to making procedures within ECOWAS institutions more efficient and in line with international best practices. This work, which falls within the framework of actions for the EU pillar assessment, for the certification for the management of EU funds by the ECOWAS Commission, aims to validate this guideline for reporting on projects and activities of development partners and grantees. The workshop was attended by representatives from the Directorates of External Relations, Strategic Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation, Financial Reporting and Grant, General Administration, as well as the Directorates in charge of coordinating partners funded projects and grants mainly Directorates of Agriculture, Free movement, Transport, Statistic, Energy, Trade and Private Sector. In his opening remarks, Mr. Jerome Boa, Director of External Relations of the ECOWAS Commission, stressed the importance of this work that will not only participate in the certification for the management of EU funds by the ECOWAS Commission but also be used within the framework of projects funded by the new EU cooperation and financial instrument, the NDICI. He further emphasized the need for the Commission to operationalise its development partners projects coordination unit. Mr. Lucas Brockmann representing GIZ Nigeria indicated that this workshop falls within the framework of the pillar assessment of the European Union in order to support the ECOWAS Commission in the implementation of its regional strategy, through better management of its capacities and resources. At the end of the work, the guide was unanimously approved by the participants who made recommendations that will be taken into account in its final version. The ISE project provides strategic support for the implementation of the ECOWAS-EU partnership to support the institutional reform of ECOWAS. More specifically, the action will strengthen the ECOWAS Commission and EBID in the preparation of the EU pillars assessment. Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio is scheduled to visit New York from July 31 through August 1 to attend the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), where he will deliver a speech at the general debate. This will be the first time for a Japanese prime minister to attend an NPT Review Conference. With the division in the international community over ways to advance nuclear disarmament ever widening, as well as Russia's threat of use of nuclear weapons in its aggression against Ukraine, the path towards a world without nuclear weapons has become more severe. Under such circumstances, the Government of Japan believes that it is important to make realistic efforts under the NPT towards a world without nuclear weapons. In his speech, Prime Minister Kishida will demonstrate Japan's position attaching importance to the NPT, while calling for constructive contribution by the States Parties to maintain and strengthen the NPT regime. Within the framework of the EU-WCO Programme for Harmonized System in Africa (HS-Africa Programme) and in partnership with the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, the World Customs Organization offered comprehensive support to the Customs administration of Madagascar to implement a national system of advance rulings. The support included a series of capacity building workshops, provision of HS-related tools and publications, as well as technical and advisory assistance on various aspects of advance rulings. From 27 June to 1 July 2022, the HS-Africa Programme organized a national workshop on the Harmonized System (HS) and commodity classification, which was held in Antananarivo, Madagascar. This workshop was conducted as part of a work plan developed jointly by the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation and the WCO, which is aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Malagasy Customs to manage requests for advance rulings on tariff classification and deliver rulings to applicants in a timely manner. Bringing together more than 25 senior and mid-level Customs experts, the workshop reinforced the initial training course on tariff classification organized from 7 to 11 March 2022. The objective of the workshop was to equip specialists who had acquired a good understanding of tariff classification rules during the initial training course with more detailed technical knowledge on certain specific product categories. The workshop focused more particularly on Chapters 1 to 24 as well as Sections XI, XVI, XVII and XVIII of the HS, and was accompanied by practical exercises. The workshop also clarified specific classification issues presented by the Malagasy Customs, including issues of co-operation with laboratories in the context of tariff classification work. The experts from Burkina Faso, Mauritius and France, who co-facilitated the workshop, shared the experience of their administrations in their relations with laboratories and proposed some practical solutions. Following the workshop, on 5 July 2022, a ceremony for the official launch of the advance ruling system was held in Antananarivo. In his message sent to the Malagasy Customs administration on this occasion, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General, expressed his satisfaction with the fact that a national system of advance rulings is emerging in Madagascar, thanks to the joint efforts of Malagasy Customs, the National Trade Facilitation Committee, the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, and the WCO. He underlined that the WCO would continue this effort in the future, in particular; through the EU-WCO Programmes for Harmonized System and Rules of Origin in Africa, funded by the European Union. After the official launch ceremony, on 19 July 2022, a virtual consultation on Customs laboratories was held for the Malagasy Customs. The consultation was co-facilitated by two laboratory experts from the Spanish Customs administration, which had previously supported several countries in successful implementation of laboratory projects. In conclusion of the consultation, the Malagasy Customs agreed that it would be highly desirable to consider a prospect of setting up a dedicated Customs laboratory in the country, based on the WCO Customs Laboratory Guide, with the support of the WCO. It was felt that Customs laboratory would be an important element to ensure not only the proper functioning of the advance ruling system, but of Customs in general. For more information please contact wcoHSAfrica@wcoomd.org. What a disaster. We're talking about Intel (INTC) June-quarter results. The company not only delivered a disappointing quarter but reset its 2022 guidance meaningfully lower, putting its shares under pressure Friday. For the current quarter, the chip company now sees earnings of $0.35 per share vs. the $0.84 consensus. It is now guiding for third-quarter revenue of $15 billion-$16 billion vs. the $18.67 billion consensus. As for full-year 2022, its EPS expectation is now $2.30, down from its prior forecast of $3.60 and the $3.39 consensus. In terms of revenue for the year, Intel now expects $65 billion-$68 billion, down from $76 billion and well below the $74.4 billion consensus. What do we make of this? Some of it can be accounted for by the weakening PC market, which Intel said it is seeing for the consumer market even though the enterprise and high-end PC market remains strong. That matches comments we've collected from Microsoft (MSFT) , Logitech (LOGI) , and Samsung in recent days. Indeed, during the June quarter, there were enough data points on the PC market that a good deal of that news was already priced into chip companies, including our own Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) . In terms of Intel's data center business, the company now expects to grow slower than the overall data center market, which in plainer English means it will continue to experience market-share loss as AMD and Nvidia (NVDA) continue to eat its lunch. Comments on cloud and data center spending continue to be vibrant, and that suggests both AMD and Nvidia will deliver June quarters that were better than feared. AMD will report its quarterly results this coming Monday (August 1) after the market close. Turning to Intel's capital spending, the company is cutting its 2022 forecast to $23 billion from its $27 billion target earlier this year. Despite the reduction, Intel is still spending roughly $5 billion more than it did last year. At the same time, the CHIPS bill has passed, which should result in Intel's capital spending remaining at elevated levels in 2023 as it adds additional foundry capacity. During the earnings call, Intel discussed its recent win with MediaTek and commented it is talking with several other fabless chip companies. We are not surprised by this considering the supply-chain issues during the pandemic and those with China during the June quarter. How quickly companies like Qualcomm (QCOM) , Nvidia, AMD, and others will be willing to use Intel's foundry services remains to be seen, however. We suspect they will be more inclined to use newfound domestic capacity from Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) . That said, all this forthcoming domestic capacity is a positive for semi-cap equipment companies, including our own Applied Materials (AMAT) . This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LENORAH, Texas (AP) To the naked eye, the Mako Compressor Station outside the dusty West Texas crossroads of Lenorah appears unremarkable, similar to tens of thousands of oil and gas operations scattered throughout the oil-rich Permian Basin. Whats not visible through the chain-link fence is the plume of invisible gas, primarily methane, billowing from the gleaming white storage tanks up into the cloudless blue sky. The Mako station, owned by a subsidiary of West Texas Gas Inc., was observed releasing an estimated 870 kilograms of methane an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each hour. Thats the equivalent of burning seven tanker trucks full of gasoline every day. But Makos outsized emissions arent illegal, or even regulated. And it was only one of 533 methane super emitters detected during a 2021 aerial survey of the Permian conducted by Carbon Mapper, a partnership of university researchers and NASA. The group documented massive amounts of methane venting into the atmosphere from oil and gas operations across the Permian, a 250-mile-wide bone-dry expanse along the Texas-New Mexico border. Hundreds of those sites were seen spewing the gas over and over again. Ongoing leaks, gushers, going unfixed. We see the same sites active from year to year. Its not just month to month or season to season, said Riley Duren, a research scientist at the University of Arizona who leads Carbon Mapper. Methanes earth-warming power is some 83 times stronger over 20 years than the carbon dioxide that comes from car tailpipes and power plant smokestacks. Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency have largely failed to regulate the invisible gas. That leaves it up to oil and gas producers in some cases the very companies who have been fighting regulations to cut methane emissions on their own. The Associated Press took the coordinates of the 533 super-emitting sites identified by Carbon Mapper and cross-referenced the locations with public records to piece together the corporations most likely responsible. Just 10 companies owned at least 164 of those sites, according to an AP analysis of Carbon Mappers data. West Texas Gas owned 11. The methane released by these companies will be disrupting the climate for decades, contributing to more heat waves, hurricanes, wildfires and floods. Theres now nearly three times as much methane in the air than there was before industrial times. The year 2021 saw the worst single increase ever. Last October, AP journalists visited more than two dozen sites flagged as persistent methane super emitters by Carbon Mapper with a FLIR infrared camera and recorded video of large plumes of hydrocarbon gas containing methane escaping from pipeline compressors, tank batteries, flare stacks and other production infrastructure. In addition to West Texas Gass Mako site, AP observed a large plume of gas escaping from tanks at a WTG compressor station about 15 miles away in the Sale Ranch oil field. Carbon Mapper estimated that emissions from that site averaged about 410 kilos of methane an hour. In a statement, Midland-based West Texas Gas said it routinely conducts its own overflights with gas detection equipment and within the last six months had either repaired or upgraded nine of the super emitting sites that AP asked about, including Mako. The company was actively addressing another site, though it declined to provide specifics. WTG said it inspected the last site and found no leak. AP found Targa Resources, a Houston-based natural gas storage, processing and distribution company, was the closest operator to 30 sites that were emitting a combined 3,000 kilograms of methane per hour. Targa did not respond to a detailed list of questions from the AP. Reducing air emissions from the oil and natural gas sector is a top priority for the administration and for EPA, said Tomas Carbonell, EPAs deputy assistant administrator for stationary sources. Methane, he added, is helping drive impacts that communities across the country are already seeing every day, including heat waves and wildfires and sea level rise. But proposed rules to address emissions most oil and gas sites are still under review, and if implemented will likely face legal challenges. To track emissions, the U.S. government keeps an inventory of methane released into the atmosphere. Those figures are used by policy makers and scientists to help calculate how much the planet will warm. AP found the government database often fails to account for the true rate of emissions observed in the Permian. For example, Devon Energy reported releasing methane equivalent to 42,000 metric tons of CO2 for a year of operations in the Permian Basin. APs analysis, using the detected emissions, shows they would emit that much in just 46 days. A spokesperson for Devon said the company is committed to reducing its methane emissions and being transparent about its progress. The EPA could not provide AP with a single example of a polluter being fined or cited for failing to report, or underreporting emissions. At an international climate summit in November, the United States and more than 100 other countries signed on to a Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. To meet that deadline, the American oil and gas industry would have to reduce emissions at a rate far beyond anything currently seen. The industry says it is working toward that goal. To be able to capture more methane emissions makes sense from a business perspective, said Frank Macchiarola, a senior vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group. "It's the product that we ultimately want to bring to market. But climate scientists and environmentalists warn the industrys incremental efforts are nowhere near enough to avoid dire consequences for humanity. Methane is responsible for 25% of todays global warming, and we cant limit future warming to 2 degrees Celsius if we dont drastically cut those emissions, said Ilissa Ocko, a senior climate scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, a group that campaigns for climate action. We have the tools to cut methane in half and the faster we do that, the better off our climate and communities will be. ___ Associated Press data journalist Nicky Forster contributed from New York. ___ Follow AP investigative reporters Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck and Helen Wieffering at twitter.com/helenwieffering This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BEIJING (AP) President Xi Jinping warned against meddling in Chinas dealings with Taiwan during a phone call with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, that gave no indication of progress on trade, technology or other irritants, including Beijings opposition to a top American lawmakers possible visit to the island that the mainland claims as its own territory. Xi also warned against splitting the worlds two biggest economies, according to a Chinese government summary of Thursdays unusually lengthy, three-hour call. Businesspeople and economists warn such a change, brought on by Chinese industrial policy and U.S. curbs on technology exports, might hurt the global economy by slowing innovation and increasing costs. Meanwhile, Xi and Biden are looking at the possibility of meeting in person, according to a U.S. official who declined to be identified further. Xi has been invited to Indonesia in November for a meeting of the Group of 20 major economies, making it a potential location for a face-to-face meeting. The Chinese government gave no indication Xi and Biden discussed possible plans by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan, which the ruling Communist Party says has no right to conduct foreign relations. But Xi rejected interference by external forces that might encourage Taiwan to try to make its decades-old de facto independence permanent. The tough language from Xi, who usually tries to appear to be above political disputes and makes blandly positive public comments, suggested Chinese leaders might believe Washington didnt understand the seriousness of previous warnings about Taiwan. Resolutely safeguarding Chinas national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Friday. Those who play with fire will perish by it. Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with a communist victory on the mainland. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars of trade and investment. Both sides say they are one country but disagree over which government is entitled to national leadership. A Ministry of Defense spokesperson said ahead of Thursdays call that Washington must not arrange for Pelosi to visit Taiwan. He said the ruling partys military wing, the Peoples Liberation Army, would take strong measures to thwart any external interference. Xi called on the United States to honor the one-China principle, according to Zhao, referring to Beijings position that the mainland and Taiwan are one country. The United States, by contrast, has a one-China policy that says Washington takes no position on the question but wants to see it resolved peacefully. China's opposition to to interactions between the United States and Taiwan is clear and consistent, Zhao said. A foreign ministry summary of the conversation cited Biden as saying the United States doesnt support independence for Taiwan. Coverage of the conversation in Chinas entirely state-controlled media on Friday was limited to repeating government statements. Pelosi has yet to confirm whether she will go to Taiwan, but if she does, the Democrat from California would be the highest-ranking elected American official to visit since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. Beijing criticized Gingrich for saying the United States would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack but did little else in response to his three-hour visit to the island. Since then, Chinas position on Taiwan has hardened as the mainland economy grew to become second-largest after the United States. The ruling party poured hundreds of billions of dollars into developing fighter jets and other high-tech weapons including carrier killer missiles that are thought to be intended to block the U.S. Navy from helping to defend the island. The conflict over a possible Pelosi visit is more sensitive to Beijing in a year when Xi, who took power in 2012, is expected to try to break with tradition and award himself a third five-year term as party leader. Xi, who wants to be seen as restoring China's rightful historic role as a global leader, has promoted a more assertive policy abroad. The Peoples Liberation Army has sent growing numbers of fighter planes and bombers to fly near Taiwan in an attempt to intimidate its democratically elected government. The United States has no official relations with Taiwan but has extensive commercial ties and informal political connections. Washington is obliged by federal law to see that Taiwan has the means to defend itself. Xi called for cooperation on reducing the risk of economic recession, coordinating macroeconomic policies, fighting COVID-19 and de-escalation of regional hot spots," according to the government statement. He also warned against decoupling, or separating, the U.S. and Chinese economies for strategic reasons. Businesspeople and industry analysts have warned global industries might be split into separate markets with incompatible products due to Chinas pressure on its companies to develop their own technology standards and U.S. restrictions on Chinese access to technology that Washington see as a security risk. That might slow innovation and increase costs. Attempts at decoupling or severing supply chains in defiance of underlying laws would not help boost the U.S. economy, the statement said. They would only make the world economy more vulnerable. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) After a nearly 70-year absence, a passenger train running from Vermont's revitalized Burlington train station to New York City headed south Friday as part of a nationwide renewal of interest in rail travel. Last November, President Joe Biden, who famously rode Amtrak between Washington and his Delaware home during his 36 years in the Senate, signed legislation that includes $102 billion for passenger and freight rail investment that will help Amtrak improve and expand its services over time. Among the projects that will be funded with the help of the rail infrastructure money is a a planned $11 billion train tunnel under the Hudson River linking New Jersey and New York. Vermont's new Burlington rail expansion caps a nearly 30-year-long effort that saw about $117 million spent on rail infrastructure and comes a year after Amtrak, on its 50th anniversary as the nations passenger rail service, announced a $75 billion, 15-year-plan to expand passenger rail around the country. With the price of gas, we just jump on the train, sit back and relax and dont have to worry about it, said Justin Kratz, who was boarding the Vermont train Friday headed home to Philadelphia. The new service ran into some early hiccups when passengers were forced to get off the train and take a bus for the portion of the trip in upstate New York between Saratoga Springs and Albany, said Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams. The track in Albany runs by an old warehouse with a wall in danger of collapsing, and Amtrak is avoiding that stretch out of safety concerns. The issue is causing service disruptions on other Amtrak lines. Abrams could not say how long the track in Albany would be closed. Amtrak, which now serves 46 states, has recently been restoring service that was disrupted by the pandemic and adding service in other parts of the country, including New England, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Jim Mathews, president of the Rail Passengers Association an organization working to expand and improve passenger service said the goal of expanding passenger rail has been around for decades but has seen a boost more recently. I know in some quarters that might sound a bit corny, but we have advocates in our coalition who have literally spent their entire lives dedicated to advancing these arguments, Mathews said in an email. When the tide began to turn in 2017, it was in part because of this slow buildup of support and evidence that this is good public policy. Mathews said his organization has conducted studies that show the benefits of passenger rail, including that it produces gains across the board in jobs, incomes, business-to-business transactions and even local and state tax revenues. We have also been able to show Congress going back to 2017 how important passenger rail is for the disabled and the marginalized, for whom trains in many cases are the only form of public transportation available, he said. We have also been able to show compelling environmental benefits, as an exceptionally green way to travel. Vermont State Sen. Dick Mazza, the longtime chair of the Senate Transportation Committee who worked for years to help bring passenger rail back to Burlington, said it has been an unexpectedly long process to accomplish the bipartisan vision of bringing passenger rail to the state's largest city, which has a population of about 45,000. We said, Well, you know, its a long road, but someday its going to make a lot of sense for Burlington to New York City, not knowing what 20 years later would bring, he said. The new Burlington service is an extension of the Ethan Allen Express, which has run between New York City and Rutland since the mid-1990s. It was around that time, shortly after Amtrak started serving Rutland, that the state boosted largely by former Gov. Howard Dean, his administration, its successors and the congressional delegation began applying for a series of federal grants needed to upgrade the rails and other infrastructure, such as rail crossings and stations. The state money that was kicked in over the intervening years enabled the entire stretch to be brought up to passenger rail standards. Dean was ridiculed by some for his support of rail, and he had to overcome some local opposition. Today, he says hes happy to leave his car at home in Burlington and ride the train to see his grandchildren in Philadelphia, changing trains in New York. You dont want to use a car in a big city if you can help it, Dean said. There is no garage, no driving, no hassle, no rude people. The 7 1/2 hour trip between Burlington and New York will be about two hours longer than driving. The top speed between Burlington and Rutland will be 59 miles per hour (94.95 kph), but that could be increased with future technology upgrades. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect correct quotation from passenger. ___ Associated Press reporter Lisa Rathke contributed to this report from Burlington, Vermont. Guam Power Authority workers Joe Quinata, John Castro and Joe Pereda swapping out the old hardware on a utility pole with new gear on July 15 on Ysengsong Road in Dededo, Guam. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MADISON, Wis. (AP) Wisconsin Treasurer Sarah Godlewski dropped out of the state's Democratic U.S. Senate primary Friday, the third candidate to bow out this week, making Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes the clear frontrunner to face Republican Sen. Ron Johnson. The race in battleground Wisconsin, which Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 but lost by a nearly equal number of votes in 2020, could determine which party holds majority control in the 50-50 Senate. Johnson, who had not commented on the two other drop-outs, weighed in after Godlewski left the race. Showing their lack of respect for voters and the democratic process, the power brokers of the Democrat party have now cleared the field for their most radical left candidate, Johnson tweeted. Socialist policies have produced this mess, & a radical left Senator from Wisconsin is not the solution. Barnes, 35, would be the first Black senator from Wisconsin if elected. He served two terms in the Legislature before being elected lieutenant governor in 2018. Barnes opted against seeking a second term with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to instead run for Senate. Godlewskis decision to leave the race came after Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson dropped out Monday and Barnes top rival, Alex Lasry, followed suit Wednesday. Godlewski and Nelson had been trailing Barnes and Lasry by double digits in public polling. Godlewski, the only woman in the race, made fighting for abortion rights the center of her campaign. I started my campaign a little over a year ago with the intent of defeating Ron Johnson, Godlewski said at a Madison-area day care where she was joined by Barnes on Friday. And I will tell you, that has not changed except for how we are going to do it. Several lower-tier candidates who were polling in the low single digits remain in the Aug. 9 primary, and even those who dropped out will still be on the ballot. In-person absentee voting began this week. Barnes has emphasized his middle-class upbringing as the son of a public school teacher and factory worker, both union members. Barnes paid no income tax and was on the states Medicaid program while running for lieutenant governor in 2018. He has secured some big-name liberal endorsements in the primary, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee that works to get Republicans elected, immediately went on the attack and said Democrats would regret having Barnes as the nominee, noting the Sanders endorsement. The group also pointed to a picture of Barnes holding an Abolish ICE T-shirt; his supportive comments about the Green New Deal and Medicaid for all; and a 2020 tweet in which he said, Defunding the police only dreams of being as radical as a Donald Trump pardon. Barnes deflected a question Friday about whether he would be a stronger candidate had his Democratic rivals had attacked him in the primary like Johnson and Republicans will now. Whats most important is that we are experiencing a unity that has not been seen before, Barnes said. In this state, we set out out of the gate to build a broad coalition. We are doing just that. This is about uniting the party. And I would say that we are more united than weve ever been before. Building Lives: A new hope on Brunei Bay (People's Daily App) 14:53, July 29, 2022 In the early morning at Brunei Bay, the rising sun shines. A cross-sea bridge too big to take in at a single glance looks like a giant dragon crossing the sea. In a car whizzing over the bridge, Khairunnisa recalls what life was like before the opening of the Temburong Bridge. In the past, we had to take a boat to go to Seri Begawan. There were more than 20 people packed in the small cabin and a strong smell of gasoline filled the air. Now that the bridge is open to traffic, we don't have to worry about cross-infection from taking public transportation during the pandemic. The Temburong Bridge links the outlying district of Temburong with Bruneis capital Seri Begawan. Previously, locals would make the journey by either boat or land. But the land route through Malaysia took two hours and involved complicated border crossing procedures. The transportation constraints made the beautiful town Temburong an isolated enclave. Now we can drive to the capital in just 15 minutes and have our supplies delivered in time. The bridge has also boosted the development of the real economy such as tourism, catering, accommodation, and shopping in Temburong district, says Khairunnisa enthusiastically. The Temburong Bridge was built by China State Construction. Its 30 kilometers crosses the largest unexplored virgin tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia. Suhaji, the bridges safety manager, told reporters, There are many monkeys in the virgin forest. Before the project started, the environmental protection department told us that the construction noise should not disturb the monkeys resting in the forest. To minimize the environmental impact, China State Construction chose an inventive concept of piling on pile and transporting beam on beam and other innovative construction techniques. The entire process of bridge construction through the air was successfully realized, and the environmental protection problems of bridge construction in ecologically fragile areas such as virgin forests, swamps and wetlands were solved. Temburong Bridge Project Director Chin Kok Kong said, Propped-up techniques are a process where the construction machinery will not touch the surface of the swamp and not damage the rainforest vegetation. All the bridge piles, girder and other operations are carried out from a mobile steel platform. In short, the bridge is being built on another bridge with zero land contact. The Temburong Bridge is a fully prefabricated bridge, with the most spans in the world. Simply put, it is a bridge built by building blocks. All prefabricated structures are produced and processed in the factory workshop, with making blocks in the rear and building blocks in the front. This not only frees up the site, but also greatly reduces the impact of dust, mud, and other construction waste on the virgin forest environment, explained Chin Kok Kong. The Temburong Bridge has not only improved travel for locals and boosted social and economic development, but also provided nearly 1,000 jobs for the local community and neighboring countries. Since the start of the project, in order to build a localized talent team, the project actively participated in annual job fairs in Brunei, and regularly organized visits for teachers and students from Brunei universities. The project strengthened close cooperation with local universities and colleges in Brunei, and provided nearly 100 internship positions for local college students. Suhaji is one of them. He joined CSCEC in 2017. My colleagues were from many different countries, including India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Bangladesh, and also Brunei. We discussed solutions, exchanged technologies, and learned languages together. We became good partners and good friends, he said. The Temburong Bridge has been hailed by the Sultan of Brunei as "the most prominent symbol of Brunei's national modernization. It not only holds up Bruneis new hopes in development, but has also become a witness of the friendship between China and Brunei in the new era. Just as Suhaji happily witnessed the bridges growth story, it is hoped that in the years to come, the bridge will stand to witness the bright future of many other people just like him. (Video source: China State Construction Engineering Corporation) (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) After reports of water contamination in Illinois prisons, groups are calling on the state to conduct a top-down review of the water and sewer systems in the facilities. The state's Capital Development Board is conducting an assessment of prison infrastructure needs, with the goal of identifying structural updates needed for its facilities. Jennifer Vollen Katz, executive director of the John Howard Association of Illinois, said the review should include water infrastructure. The association is one of six advocacy groups calling to expand the assessment. "The state of Illinois has not made the resources available to provide ongoing maintenance and upkeep for these facilities," Vollen Katz contends. "Many of them are very old, and haven't had attention paid to their physical plant infrastructure in many, many years." A recent investigation by The Appeal revealed the water at five Illinois prisons was infected with legionella bacteria, which can cause Legionnaires' disease, a potentially fatal type of pneumonia. According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, there were more than 27,500 people in the prison system as of the end of March. The state acknowledged in late June that legionella bacteria was found in a water sample inside Jacksonville Correctional Center. Fortunately, it was isolated to a single sample and the state implemented its corrective action plan. "An extensive flushing program was implemented at the point where the positive sample was taken," a corrections department representative told the Journal-Courier at the time. "The door to that room was immediately locked and caution tape was installed on the door frame to deter access." Those who could have been exposed were screened and no one tested positive. Vollen Katz said that aside from the legionella contamination, the Illinois Department of Corrections has not been transparent about prior water-quality issues. She said any updates to prisons' drinking water and sewer infrastructure should be subject to public review. "We don't have a good understanding, and there doesn't seem to be ongoing public inspection, of water systems inside our prisons," Vollen Katz said. ALBUQUERQUE, N,M. (AP) It made drivers on Route 66 and Interstate 40 in New Mexico do double takes. A newly upgraded state Department of Transportation sign erected last week that pointed drivers toward Albuquerque misspelled the city's name, losing the R. People called and emailed the department to point out the mistake on the sign visible to drivers on the parallel highways, said Kimberly Gallegos, a department spokesperson. A corrected sign went up this week, she said. I do not recall this happening before, Gallegos said. But I honestly think this was just a simple mistake. Albuquerque used to have another R in its name. According to the citys website, colonists were granted permission in 1706 by King Philip of Spain to establish a new community on the banks of the Rio Grande. The colonys governor, Francisco Cuervo y Valdes, wrote a letter to Spain's Duke of Alburquerque to report that it had been named La Villa de Alburquerque in his honor. The first R was dropped later, leaving Albuquerque with its current spelling, the city website said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Spain's prime minister on Friday kicked off a tour of the Western Balkans with a visit to Serbia, offering his country's support for the integration of the volatile region into the European Union. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez held talks with Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade ahead of his visits to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania in the coming days. The Balkan nations are all in different stages of the EU accession process. EU officials have recently sought to encourage governments in the region to move on with reforms amid concerns over Russia's efforts to boost its influence in the Balkans. Serbia remains a rare European country that has kept friendly ties with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine and refused to join Western sanctions against Russia. Sanchez said the war in Ukraine has prompted the EU to rethink its enlargement policies and open its doors to countries in Eastern Europe Ukraine and Moldova recently formally became membership candidates and the Western Balkans. Sanchez said his tour seeks to send a message that Serbia and the rest of the Western Balkans belonged in Europe. You have an ally in Spain who will support you in your effort to join the European Union, Sanchez said at a joint press conference with Vucic. He described relations with Serbia as excellent. Vucic said Serbia sees Spain as a true friend, one of its biggest friends in the world." Spain is among a handful of EU nations who have not recognized the independence of Serbia's former province of Kosovo, which has won the backing of the United States and most EU countries. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a decade after its ethnic Albanian majority launched a rebellion against Serbia's rule, triggering a brutal crackdown by Belgrade. The conflict claimed more than 10,000 lives before NATO bombed Serbia to force it to cede control over the territory. With Spain facing own separatist movements, Sanchez said his government believes in the respect of territorial integrity. He called for a resolution of the Kosovo dispute through an ongoing EU-mediated dialogue. The two leaders also announced plans for Serbia and Spain to hold a business forum in October. ANKARA, Turkey (AP) A wildfire that broke out Friday in a resort area in southwestern Turkey spread to a hotel that also serves as a tourism training school, officials said. No injuries were reported, and the blaze later was brought under control. The blaze started in the Icmeler resort area, close to the Aegean Sea port city of Marmaris, in Mugla province. There is no doubt about Nikolas Cruzs culpability for the mass murder of 17 people and the injury of 17 others at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. His horrific actions affected many more than those who were injured or killed and will leave a lifetime scar on far too many people. He absolutely must be held accountable for this tragedy. The death penalty, however, is the wrong way to do so, for several reasons Cruz pleaded guilty and, as such, the sentencing could have moved on quickly, with him never being released from prison during his lifetime. Instead, prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty, resulting in months of delays for the sentencing hearing and deep trauma to the victims families. This is always the case when the death penalty is on the table, and in this situation, like so many, the families are split on what they prefer to be the outcome. I believe the trauma of experiencing this kind of sentencing hearing far outweighs any benefit, but I have never endured it in person. My daughter, however, is an intern with the Broward County Defense Attorneys Office and was in person at the hearings. She described how horrific it was to sit through it, especially expressing empathy for the family members, many of whom were visibly breaking down in the courtroom. So, why? If Cruz could be held accountable for the rest of his life without this additional trauma for the families, why seek the death penalty at all? The Broward County Prosecutors Office made that answer clear so that execution remains an option in Florida. When asked why they are spending millions of dollars for this sentencing hearing, prosecutors said that in a case like this, if they did not seek capital charges, theyd have a hard time ever doing so in future. That justification is troubling on so many levels. First, the idea that the death penalty must still be an option is antiquated. Twenty-three states have abolished the death penalty and three states are on gubernatorial moratoriums. Surveys of the public in Florida have found that more than 60% of people favor life in prison without parole over the death penalty for convicted murderers. In Florida, the last study conducted about the cost of the death penalty found that it costs more than $51 million per year nearly $1 million per week more than it would to seek life without parole. In the Cruz case, these costs will be less given that he pleaded guilty so there was no trial, but that also means that any costs incurred because the state is seeking the death penalty are entirely unnecessary. It is far past time that the death penalty be eliminated entirely in the U.S. Even in cases as horrific as this one, it is simply an antiquated and barbaric practice that does nothing to keep us safe, to deter crime, or to heal those who have lost loved ones. China accuses US of navigation bullying in South China Sea View Photo MANILA, Philippines (AP) China blasted a top U.S. Navy official Friday after he criticized Beijings increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, saying its Americas military deployments in the disputed waters which it called navigation bullying that could spark confrontations. The Chinese Embassy in Manila said it strongly deplored U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toros remarks, which were unfounded accusations against and maliciously smeared China and inflated the China threat. In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press while on a visit to Manila, Del Toro underscored how Beijing has encroached in sovereign waters of its Asian neighbors in violation of international law. U.S. military focus in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the disputed South China Sea, would never slacken and, in fact, has intensified despite the war in Ukraine, he said in an assurance to Asian allies, including the Philippines. China has had increasingly tense territorial spats in recent years with the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia in the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety on historical grounds. Brunei and Taiwan also have claims in the contested waters. Washington lays no claims to the strategic waters but has said the peaceful resolution of the disputes along with freedom of navigation and overflight in the waterway where a bulk of world trade transits are in the U.S. national interest. Beijing rejected a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its claims and continues to defy the landmark decision on a case brought up by the Philippine government. Del Toro renewed assurances by President Joe Biden that the U.S. would honor its obligations under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty in case Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under attack in the contested waters. As President Biden has said, if one country violates one inch of Filipino sovereignty, whether it be at sea or on shore or an offshore island, we will be there to support the Filipino nation and the Filipino people in every possible way, Del Toro said. Chinas move to transform seven disputed reefs into missile-protected island bases in the Spratlys, the most hotly contested section of the South China Sea, is very concerning and prompted the U.S. and other Western nations to press on with freedom of navigation patrols around the Chinese-claimed territories. But the Chinese Embassy said the U.S. military deployments from half a globe away aimed to to flex muscles, make military provocations and create maritime and air tensions, conducting navigation bullying in the name of freedom of navigation. In an attempt to preserve its hegemony, the U.S. keeps intensifying power projection in this region, and deliberately seeks to widen differences and provoke tensions, it said. China and other rival claimants have exercised restraint, kept their differences and disputes in a proper place, and got them on the track of consultation and management, the embassy said. However, rival claimant states, including the Philippines and Vietnam, have filed numerous diplomatic protests over the years amid Chinas increasingly assertive actions, including its transformation of seven disputed reefs into what are now missile-protected island bases. Diplomatic talks have eased occasional confrontation but not ended them. The South China Sea is not a hunting ground for countries outside the region, still less should it be a wrestling ground for big powers, the Chinese statement said. We staunchly support all efforts that are conducive to peaceful settlement and management of disputes, and unequivocally reject words and actions that aim to stoke tension and confrontation in the region. Del Toro told the AP that potential aggressors in the region should learn from the current troubles of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has faced sanctions from Western nations and their allies, which also provide weapons and humanitarian support to Ukrainians battling Russias invasion forces. If such level of aggression is ever committed in the Asia-Pacific, Im convinced that allies and partners will come together to do the same thing here in the Pacific, Del Toro said. By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press Russian charged with using US groups to spread propaganda View Photo WASHINGTON (AP) A Russian operative under the supervision of one of the Kremlins main intelligence services has been charged with recruiting political groups in the United States to advance pro-Russia propaganda, including during the invasion of Ukraine, the Justice Department said Friday. The indictment of Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov reflects what U.S. officials say are ongoing Russian government efforts to meddle in the American political process, to shape public opinion and to sow discord and dissent on hot-button social issues. In this case, the authorities say, Ionov for roughly the last decade recruited political groups in Florida, Georgia and California and directed them to spread pro-Russia talking points. He also paid for group members to attend government-funded conferences in Russia, as well as a protest in the U.S. against social media efforts to suppress online support for Moscows Ukraine invasion, the indictment says. As court documents show, Ionov allegedly orchestrated a brazen influence campaign, turning U.S. political groups and U.S. citizens into instruments of the Russian government, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the head of the Justice Departments national security division, said in a statement. Ionov worked under the supervision of the Russias Federal Security Service, or FSB which conducts domestic intelligence and counterintelligence activities and reported his activities back to contacts in the agency, prosecutors say. He is the founder and president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, a Moscow-based group that prosecutors say is funded by the Russian government and that advocates for a fully sovereign Russia. The indictment, in federal court in Tampa, charges him with conspiring to have U.S. citizens act as illegal agents of the Russian government. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. Ionov is not currently in custody and appears unlikely to ever stand trial in the U.S., but the indictment is nonetheless intended to warn Americans about the reach of foreign influence operations and to send a signal to Russia that the U.S. government is aware of its actions. Separately on Friday, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Ionov, accusing him of efforts to manipulate and destabilize the United States and its allies and partners. The indictment does not identify by name any of the organizations Ionov recruited, but it does describe one of them as a St. Petersburg, Florida group whose leaders were aware that Ionov and his group were agents of a foreign government. Prosecutors say Ionov in 2015 directed the group to write a petition alleging that the U.S. had committed genocide against African people in America, and to send it to the United Nations, the White House and to change.org. The document, titled Petition to the United Nations on the Crime of Genocide against African People in the United States, notes Americas history of slavery and denial of civil rights for Black people. It argues the U.S. government still fails to protect our health and well-being as expected under full citizenship and inflicts state or state-supported violence and terror on us. The petition, which is still available online, is labeled as being from the International Peoples Democratic Uhuru Movement, a Black international socialist organization. Representatives from the group said the FBI raided their center in St. Petersburg on Friday. Akile Anai, who describes herself as director of agitation and propaganda for the African Peoples Socialist Party, said agents searched her car and took her cellphone and laptop computer on Friday in addition to raiding the Uhuru House. Anai said her organization had never received money from Ionov or any other members of the Russian intelligence service. Members of the Uhuru movement first met Ionov in Russia when they were invited to an anti-globalization conference, and Anai said she also had been in contact with Ionov via email and also a webinar after Russia invaded Ukraine since we were getting one side of the story on Russian and Ukraine. Officials alleged Friday that Ionov sought to inject himself into local politics in by supporting members of the group for office. In 2017, the group put forth candidates for mayor and city council, and again in 2019 for a city council race. The candidates lost. Any money the campaigns received outside the U.S. was returned, Anai said. Their premise is these were Russian campaigns. Its a really insulting statement, Anai said. It was the Black community that ran the campaigns in our own interests. Its an insulting notion that Black people cant do anything for ourselves. Prosecutors say Ionov also exercised control of a separate organization in California that promoted secession by the state from the rest of the U.S, and helped fund a 2018 demonstration at the state capitol building. According to the indictment, he sent news coverage about the California secession movement to one of his FSB contacts and said that the officer had asked for turmoil and there you go. More recently, prosecutors say, Ionov paid for the travel of members of an unnamed Georgia group to fly from Atlanta to San Francisco to join a protest outside a social media company in California that had placed content restrictions on posts supporting Russias invasion of Ukraine. The case is part of a much broader Justice Department crackdown on foreign influence operations aimed at shaping public opinion in the U.S. In 2018, for instance, the Justice Department charged 13 Russian nationals with participating in a huge but hidden social media campaign designed to sow discord during the 2016 presidential election won by Republican Donald Trump. Russian government officials, and state-run media, often highlight anti-government protests in the U.S. and other Western countries, prominently commenting on political and social discord, racial riots, labor demonstrations, and mass shootings. The officials contrast the happenings in the U.S. with what they claim is the lack of such unrest in Russia. FBI Special Agent in Charge David Walker in Tampa called the latest Russian efforts some of the most egregious and blatant violations weve seen. The Russian intelligence threat is continuous and unrelenting, Walker said. Todays actions should serve as a deterrent. ____ Schneider reported from Orlando. Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed to this report. By ERIC TUCKER and MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Lebanon doubts Ukraine claim of stolen grain on Syrian ship View Photo BEIRUT (AP) Lebanon appeared Friday to reject claims by the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut that a Syrian ship docked in a Lebanese port is carrying Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia, following an inspection by Lebanese customs officials. A senior Lebanese customs official told The Associated Press that there was nothing wrong with the cargo of the Laodicea, which docked in the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Thursday, and that its papers were in order. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The controversy surrounding the ship has underscored how Lebanon, a tiny Mediterranean country bordering Syria, has been in the crosshairs of Russias months-long war in Ukraine. The Laodicea is carrying 5,000 tons of flour and 5,000 tons of barley that Ukraines Embassy in Beirut says was illegally taken by Russia. After the embassy raised the alarm, Lebanese authorities initiated an investigation. The Russian Embassy, meanwhile, has told Lebanese media that the Ukrainian claim was baseless. The U.S. Department of the Treasury had sanctioned the Laodicea in 2015 for its affiliation with the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad. According to the Ukrainian Embassy, the Laodicea is among scores of vessels that Kyiv alleges transported grain stolen by Russia. An embassy statement Friday said the ship had turned off its AIS tracking system in the Black Sea for 10 days, after docking earlier this month in Russia-controlled Crimeas port of Feodosia. There, the embassy said, it was loaded with barley and wheat flour illegally exported from the territories of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson in Ukraine areas taken by Russia in the war. Marine Traffic, which monitors vessel traffic and location of ships on seas, said the vessel was initially heading to Tartus Port in Syria, and had been expected to arrive there earlier this week. It was unknown why it had rerouted to Lebanon. There were no signs that its cargo was being unloaded and the customs official who spoke to the AP said the ship will remained docked until the owner decides what to do with the cargo. Also Friday, Lebanons acting Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Lebanon had received a number of protests and warnings from a number of Western countries following the arrival of the Syrian-flagged ship in Tripoli. The British Embassy in Beirut told the AP that it had also raised concerns with Bou Habib about the ship. The Ukrainian Embassy said it was going to ask Lebanese authorities to implement a Ukrainian court order and take possession of the vessel. Lebanese government officials declined to publicly comment on the matter, pending the investigation. Lebanon is scrambling to improve ties with the West as the cash-strapped nation appeals for financial assistance to help with its economic recovery. Western countries and Gulf Arab states are irked by the political power and influence that the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group a major ally of Iran and Syria wields in Lebanese politics. Ihor Ostash, Ukraines ambassador, met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday, warning him that purchasing stolen goods from Russia would harm bilateral ties, according to an embassy statement. Kyiv had previously praised Lebanon for condemning Russia for its war on Ukraine, which upset Hezbollah and allies who say they were not consulted on the matter as well as Russia. Ukraine had also recently promised to export flour to Lebanon, struggling with a wheat shortage and food security crisis. Russias war on Ukraine, now in its sixth month, has prevented grain from leaving the breadbasket of the world, making food more expensive across the globe and threatening to worsen shortages, hunger and political instability in developing countries. Together, Russia and Ukraine export nearly a third of the worlds wheat and barley. By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press Turkey: Germany must be impartial in disputes with Greece View Photo ISTANBUL (AP) Turkeys foreign minister urged Germany on Friday to be an honest broker and not always side with Athens in disputes between Turkey and Greece. Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments during a tense news conference with his visiting German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, where the two volleyed grievances back and forth, including over Turkeys plans for a new military incursion into Syria and its human rights issues. Germany has acted as an honest mediator in the past. It had a balanced attitude, but lately, we see that this balance is unfortunately being lost, Cavusoglu said, accusing Berlin of falling for Greek propaganda. Baerbock met with Cavusoglu in Istanbul after holding talks with officials in Greece, where she criticized Turkey for disputing the sovereignty of Greek islands near its coastline. She also urged Greece to make sure it stamps out any illegal pushbacks of migrants at the border. NATO neighbors Turkey and Greece have been at odds for decades over sea boundaries, related drilling rights and the war-divided island of Cyprus, disputes that have brought them to the brink of war on several occasions. Yes, many questions of international law are complicated, but some are also very simple. Greek islands Lesbos, Chios, Rhodes and many, many others are Greek territory, and no one has the right to raise questions over that, Baerbock told reporters after holding talks in Athens with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. Turkish officials says the sovereignty of eastern Greek islands can be disputed if it keeps a military presence there in violation of its treaty commitments. Athens disputes that view and has accused Turkey of carrying out frequent military overflights at its islands in the eastern Aegean Sea. In both Greece and Turkey, Baerbock suggested that the NATO members should concentrate their efforts on supporting Ukraine, and singled out Russian President Vladimir Putin for his countrys aggression. For me, it is clear that we must solve conflicts between NATO partners in dialogue. Disputes in the ranks of the alliance are exactly what the Russian president wants, she said in Athens. That includes respecting each others sovereignty. Cavusoglu said Turkey wanted Germany to adopt the same balanced and trusted attitude displayed by former Chancellor Angela Merkel who had mediated between Ankara and Athens in the past. As the two ministers exchanged grievances, Baerbock spoke out against Turkish plans to launch a new military offensive in northern Syria to push back Syrian Kurdish fighters that Ankara considers to be a threat to its security. The suffering of Syrians would once again worsen with a renewed military confrontation, she said, adding that the incursion could help the Islamic State group gain a foothold in Syria. Cavusoglu responded: When our allies tell us they understand Turkeys (security) concerns, we dont want it to be through words only. We expect them to support Turkeys legitimate fight (against terrorism). The German minister was also critical of a Turkish court ruling that convicted philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison, despite rulings by European Court of Human Rights that had called for his release. Cavusoglu said he would have had more respect for Baerbocks opinion if she had also criticized Greece, whom he accused of failing to respect ECHR rulings regarding Muslim minorities in Greece. Baerbock, who visited a refugee camp near Athens on Thursday, said EU countries needed to do more ensure that the right to apply for asylum was upheld at the blocs external borders. Human rights groups say Greece is not properly processing many migrants and asylum-seekers trying to reach the EU, including illegally pushing back some trying to cross the border. We must uphold the values on which the European Union was built, she said. We must do more to ensure that people are safe and that there are no human rights violations at the border, and for me this includes illegal pushbacks. We are not there yet. The German minister was scheduled to meet with refugees in the Turkish capital Ankara, on Saturday. Turkey hosts 3.7 million Syrians who have sought refuge from the war. ___ Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Derek Gatopoulos in Athens and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed. ___ Follow all AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration. By AYSE WIETING and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press Spanish PM Sanchez opens Balkan tour with visit to Serbia View Photo BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Spains prime minister on Friday kicked off a tour of the Western Balkans with a visit to Serbia, offering his countrys support for the integration of the volatile region into the European Union. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez held talks with Serbias President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade ahead of his visits to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania in the coming days. The Balkan nations are all in different stages of the EU accession process. EU officials have recently sought to encourage governments in the region to move on with reforms amid concerns over Russias efforts to boost its influence in the Balkans. Serbia remains a rare European country that has kept friendly ties with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine and refused to join Western sanctions against Russia. Sanchez said the war in Ukraine has prompted the EU to rethink its enlargement policies and open its doors to countries in Eastern Europe Ukraine and Moldova recently formally became membership candidates and the Western Balkans. Sanchez said his tour seeks to send a message that Serbia and the rest of the Western Balkans belonged in Europe. You have an ally in Spain who will support you in your effort to join the European Union, Sanchez said at a joint press conference with Vucic. He described relations with Serbia as excellent. Vucic said Serbia sees Spain as a true friend, one of its biggest friends in the world. Spain is among a handful of EU nations who have not recognized the independence of Serbias former province of Kosovo, which has won the backing of the United States and most EU countries. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a decade after its ethnic Albanian majority launched a rebellion against Serbias rule, triggering a brutal crackdown by Belgrade. The conflict claimed more than 10,000 lives before NATO bombed Serbia to force it to cede control over the territory. With Spain facing own separatist movements, Sanchez said his government believes in the respect of territorial integrity. He called for a resolution of the Kosovo dispute through an ongoing EU-mediated dialogue. The two leaders also announced plans for Serbia and Spain to hold a business forum in October. Venezuelas Guaido wins UK court ruling in battle over gold View Photo LONDON (AP) Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido won a U.K. court ruling Friday that takes him a step closer to victory in his battle with President Nicolas Maduro over a cache of gold bullion held in the Bank of England. A judge at the High Court in London ruled that British courts do not need to recognize judgments by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela, Venezuelas top constitutional court, that said the gold should go to Maduro. The ruling is part of a long-running wrangle over assets of Venezuelas central bank. Two rival boards of Banco Central de Venezuela one appointed by Maduro and another by Guaido are battling to secure the release of more than 800 million pounds ($1 billion) of gold in the vaults of the Bank of England. The British government recognizes Guaido as Venezuelas president, and the Bank of England has refused to hand the gold over to Maduro. Judge Sara Cockerill said there was no basis for the recognition of the judgments of the Venezuelan court that declared Guaidos bank board appointments unconstitutional. She said the Guaido board therefore succeeds. In a statement, Guaido said the ruling was another step in the process of protecting Venezuelas international gold reserves and preserving them for the Venezuelan people and their future. A spokesperson for the Maduro-appointed board said it was considering an appeal. This is an unfortunate ruling that ultimately rests on a narrow issue of law about the recognition of foreign judgments, lawyer Sarosh Zaiwalla, who represents the Maduro board, said. Venezuelas Central Bank itself later issued a statement complaining that the British court had subordinated itself to British foreign policy and had violated international law. While serving as leader of Venezuelas National Assembly, Guaido challenged Maduros claim to the presidency, arguing that his 2018 election was rigged and invalid. Guaido says hes the countrys interim president under provisions of the constitution that allow the head of the national legislature to take power until free elections can be held. While a number of countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., recognized Guaidos claim, he has never been able to assert his authority and Maduro remains in charge. Sonora, CA A Sonora man is accused of causing about a thousand dollars in damage to the former Tuolumne General Hospital building. Sonora Police officers were dispatched recently to a report of vandalism to the building located on Hospital Road, off South Washington Street, in Sonora. A caller detailed that it appeared one of the buildings windows had been broken. Once on scene, the officers contacted a male who was walking away from the area and matched the description provided by the caller. Further investigation determined that 43-year-old Grady Pinkevich was responsible for the vandalism, which police estimated the damage would be about $1,000 to repair. Pinkevich was arrested without incident and charged with felony vandalism. Of note, in January, Pinkevich was arrested for starting a fire with a gas can and a handheld propane tank in an unoccupied building at the intersection of South Stewart Street and Church Street, as detailed here. Wilseyville, CA The California Supreme has upheld the conviction and death penalty for Charles Ng, who along with criminal partner Leonard Lake, murdered at least 11 people in the mid-eighties. The victims were enslaved at a cabin property owned by Lakes ex-wife, who he was still on good terms with, in the Calaveras community of Wilseyville. It had a bunker constructed, and a makeshift gravesite nearby. They had engaged in bondage and sadism, according to officials. As authorities were investigating the case, Ng escaped and fled to Canada and was eventually captured there. Lake was arrested for shoplifting in San Francisco in 1985 and committed suicide in an interrogation room. Ng was later convicted on 11 counts of murder, in connection to the deaths of six men, three women, and two infant boys. During the course of the investigation, officials found a 250-page diary kept by Lake, along with blood-stained tools, and human remains in shallow graves. In a 181-page analysis just released in relation to the case, the California Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled that Ng was properly extradited from Canada and had received a fair trial (The court case had been moved from Calaveras County to Orange County due to the heightened interest and media attention). Ng will remain on death row for the immediate period as Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a temporary moratorium on capital punishment while he is in office. Ng is being detained at San Quentin state prison. Community Levels via the CDC July 29 View Photo Tuolumne County Public Health reports four deaths due to Covid, they are one man and two women in their 80s and one man in his 90s. There is a current total of 193 residents of Tuolumne who have passed away due to Covid-19 since the pandemic began with 45 reported this year. Tuolumne County Health Officer Dr. Kimberly Freeman noted that cases are starting to see the plateau that was expected based on modeling. She points out that locally, and in several other areas in the state, cases declined. There are 157 new lab-confirmed community cases and 41 Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) inmate cases, with 13 hospitalizations from Saturday, July 23rd to today, Friday, July 29th. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports 58 active cases at SCC, last week there were 66 active cases. There are 163 known active community cases down from 200. Positive home tests (rapid/antigen tests) are not counted in the Covid numbers and remain unknown. Lab results come from hospitals or other lab-confirmed testing. The newly reported Covid-19 community cases this week include 12 cases age 17 and younger and 53 cases age 60 or older. The new Covid cases demographics: 6 girls and 2 boys age 0 to 11, 2 girls and 2 boys age 12 to 17, 8 women and 10 men age 18 to 29, 23 women and 9 men in their 30s, 18 women and 7 men in their 40s, 9 women and 7 men in their 50s, 11 women and 13 men in their 60s, 7 women and 11 men in their 70s, 5 women and 5 men in their 80s, and 1 woman and 1 man age 90 or older. The total current case rate, a 14-day average for Tuolumne County decreased to 41.7 from 51.5 per 100,000 population. A total of 191 more are counted as released from isolation, in all 12,684 have been released from isolation. The 7-day test positivity rate is 18.3% down from 21.7%. Protect yourself and those around you from COVID-19: Get vaccinated; contact your healthcare provider or pharmacy about flu vaccine Wear a mask in public, especially indoors Stay home when sick! Keep your distance and avoid crowds when possible Wash hands and clean surfaces frequently Monkeypox Tuolumne Public health states there are 786 probable and confirmed cases in California, from 27 local jurisdictions, an increase of 352 cases this week. (434 last week) No cases have been identified in Tuolumne County to date. The risk to the general public is considered low at this time. While California is working to increase the amount of vaccines available, current availability is minimal. Tuolumne County does not have vaccines available at this time. For more information, including prevention information about monkeypox, go here. Calaveras Public Health updates weekly on Tuesdays. They report 64 new lab-confirmed cases from July 20th to the 26th. The number of cases is down from 97 new lab-confirmed cases among residents the week before. They report 59 active cases, last week there were 89 active cases and two deaths. There is a current total of 131 residents of Calaveras who have passed away due to Covid-19 since the pandemic began with 37 reported this year. There is one active Covid hospitalization to report. Calaveras is back to the medium (yellow) Community Covid Level. Tuolumne has been at the High Community Level since June 24th. The Community level is determined by the CDC based on higher of the new hospital admissions and inpatient beds metrics, based on the current level of new cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days. COVID-19 Testing If you test positive or have been exposed to COVID-19 Isolation instructions (click here) To make an appointment for testing at the testing site visit: https://lhi.care/covidtesting The Mother Lode testing is open 7 days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. with closures for meal breaks between 11 am 12 pm and 4 pm to 5 pm. The State testing site at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds launched Test to Treat operations as detailed here. At-home test kits can be ordered for free at https://www.covid.gov/tests. Families with school-age children may obtain free kits by contacting the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools office. A limited number of free at-home kits are available at the Public Health Department (note, as a healthcare facility, masks are required at all times in our lobby). At-home test kits are also available for purchase at pharmacies. Testing sites at other locations near the area can be found by visiting: https://myturn.ca.gov/testing.html COVID-19 Vaccine children aged 6 months to 5 years are now eligible for COVID vaccination. The Tuolumne Public Health team has added vaccinations for this age group to our clinic schedule beginning next week or families can check with their childs healthcare provider. Appointments for June 27, June 29, or July 1 at the health department on Cedar Road in Sonora are available at myturn.ca.gov. For more information click here: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-moderna-and-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccines-children More information about Covid Vaccine booster shots can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/covid-19-vaccines-us.html. Appointments in Tuolumne and Calaveras can be made through myturn.ca.gov or by calling 833-422-4255 or through local pharmacies, more details are here. County Date New Active (Hospital) Est. Total 2022 All Cases (All Deaths) Amador 7/19 to 7/25 63 86 (4) 2,534 6,710 (78) Calaveras 7/20 to 7/26 64 59 (1) 3,465 8,100 (131) Mariposa 7/22 to 7/27 24 N/A (2) 2,089 3,855 (36) Mono 7/26 to 7/29 7 N/A 1,209 3,155 (9) Tuolumne 7/26 to 7/29 198 163 (13) 7,622 15,910 (193) Colors indicate CDC Community Level: Green-low, Yellow-medium, Orange-high Egyptian prosecutors deny imprisoned activist faced harm View Photo CAIRO (AP) Egyptian prosecutors are denying allegations of torture and ill-treatment leveled by a prominent imprisoned activist and claim he is in good condition, years after the allegations were made. For nearly 10 days, Alaa Abdel-Fattahs family members say they have not heard from him and have been told by prison officials hes refusing to meet with them. Amnesty International has urged Egyptian authorities to allow the family access to the 40-year-old programmer and father serving a five-year sentence. He was sentenced in December on charges of spreading false news, a charge often used to sentence opposition and pro-democracy activists in Egypt. His family says he has been on hunger strike since April to protest his detention and has voiced serious concerns for his health. His imprisonment has come to symbolize the broad crackdown on dissent that has targeted not only Islamists from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood but also secular activists, economists, writers and others under the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. A statement released late Thursday by the Public Prosecution Office said a senior prosecutor was dispatched on Wednesday to Wadi el-Natrun Prison to investigate nearly three-year-old claims that Abdel-Fattah was beaten and denied basic rights. Abdel-Fattahs complaints stem from when he was previously held at the Tora prison complex in southern Cairo. After examining Abdel-Fattah, the prosecutor concluded that he showed no marks of torture, the statement said. The inmate is in good health and a doctor examines him regularly, along with other inmates. He never had any health complaint, read the statement. Abdel-Fattahs sister, Mona Seif, wrote on Twitter that the prosecutors statement provides the family with proof that her brother is alive. That is the most important update now, she said. His aunt, award winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif, cast doubt on the seriousness of the prosecutors investigation. They are examining Alaa and concluding that they cannot see any signs of beatings that actually took place two years and nine months ago, she wrote on Twitter. Abdel-Fattah, an outspoken dissident, rose to prominence during the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak and has spent most of the past decade behind bars. His family has filed multiple complaints since 2019 about him being denied access to books, exercise time outside his cell, regular visits and proper medical care. In May, authorities transferred him from Tora Prison to the newly-inaugurated Wadi el-Natrun prison, located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Cairo. Earlier this year, Abdel-Fattah gained British citizenship through his mother, Laila Soueif, a math professor at Cairo University who was born in London. The family said at the time they sought a British passport for Abdel-Fattah as a way out of his impossible ordeal. The family has been asking authorities to grant him access to a consular visit. On Friday, the U.K. Foreign Office said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss raised Abdel-Fattahs case during a meeting with her Egyptian counterpart earlier this month in London. It said Britain is working to secure his release and called on Egyptian authorities to ensure his welfare needs are met while in prison. Principal of Texas school where shooting happened reinstated View Photo UVALDE, Texas (AP) The principal of the Texas school where the nations deadliest classroom shooting in a decade happened was reinstated Thursday, three days after she was suspended with pay in the wake of security criticisms leveled by a legislative committee. Mandy Gutierrez, who Uvalde school district officials suspended with pay Monday as Robb Elementary School principal, was reinstated Thursday in a brief letter from Superintendent Hal Harrell. The reinstatement came after Gutierrez, in a letter to the committee members, disputed the key findings that a culture of complacency had developed at the school that allowed a gunman to enter the school and kill 19 children and two teachers. She also said the lock on the door to the fourth-grade classroom where the May 24 shooting happened worked when a custodian checked it the night before. Harrell suspended Gutierrez with pay on Monday pending a performance review pertaining to school security. However, in his Thursday letter, Harrell said she would be allowed to return to work immediately and will continue to serve the district in an administrative capacity. The legislative report placed the most fault with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, which took more than an hour to enter the classroom where the shooter was and kill him as parents outside the school begged officers to do something and dispatchers took 911 calls from inside the school. Surveillance footage of police officers in body armor milling in the hallway while the gunman carried out the massacre led to rage from families of victims, who have demanded accountability. ___ More on the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting California aims to make its own insulin brand to lower price View Photo SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) A vial of insulin cost $25 in 1995, back when Chris Noble was 5 years old and just learning how to manage his Type 1 diabetes with the help of his parents and his doctors. Nearly three decades later, Noble says that same vial of insulin costs more than $300 a 12-fold increase for something he and millions like him cant live without. Its as essential as water, Noble said. Health care advocates have bemoaned for years that insulin, while inexpensive to produce, is held hostage by a U.S. health care system stubbornly resistant to reforms as companies monopolize and maximize profits. Now, with several insulin patents nearing their expiration dates, California is looking to disrupt that market by making its own insulin and selling it for a much cheaper price. Last month, after a few years of study, state lawmakers approved $100 million for the project, with $50 million dedicated to developing three types of insulin and the rest set aside to invest in a manufacturing facility. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers still have many details to work out, including contracting with a private company to do most of the work. But the budget was a put-his-money-where-his-mouth-is moment for Newsom, who has been calling for the state to launch its own brand of generic drugs to lower the overall price of medication. Nothing epitomizes market failures more than the cost of insulin, Newsom said in a video posted to his Twitter account. California is now taking matters into our own hands. This wouldnt be the first time California has made its own medicine. In 1990, about half of all cases of infant botulism a rare illness that affects the large intestine were in California. The California Department of Public Health got a federal grant to develop and test a treatment. The treatment won federal approval in 2003, and California has been making it ever since. But the market for infant botulism treatments is small, with about 110 cases reported each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One course of Californias botulism treatment costs more than $57,000, according to a legislative analysis. Meanwhile, about 7 million people in the United States require insulin to manage their diabetes. The human body converts most of the food we eat into sugar. The pancreas then produces insulin, which converts that sugar into energy. People who have diabetes dont produce enough insulin. People with Type 1 diabetes must take insulin every day to survive. Insulin was first discovered in 1920s by a team of Canadian scientists. They sold the patent to the University of Toronto for just $1, hoping the school would license the product to multiple companies to prevent a monopoly that would lead to high prices. But over time, the insulin market was slowly cornered. Today, just three companies produce most of the worlds insulin. In the United States, the line between an insulin manufacturer and a patient is not straight. It zigs and zags between insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers third parties that managed prescription drug benefits for health plans. Its that system that has kept the cost of insulin much higher in the United States than other countries, as more companies benefit from the higher price tag, said Kasia Lipska, an associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine. It creates this really weird incentive, Lipska said. California will try to break that incentive. The reason more companies havent entered the insulin market is because if they did, the established manufacturers would just undercut them, making it impossible to recoup their investment, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a consumer advocacy group. But California is in a different position because aside from selling insulin, it also buys the product every year for the millions of people on its publicly funded health plans. That means if Californias product drives down the price of insulin across the market, the state would still benefit. Thats why Californias market power matters, Wright said. To a Wall Street investor, driving down the cost of insulin means you might not be able to get your investment back. To California, driving down the price of insulin is a real savings to both taxpayers as well as to our residents. Still, theres no guarantee Californias plan will work. For one thing, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers might not cover Californias insulin products, making it more difficult for patients to get them. Sarah Sutton, director of public affairs for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said a better idea would be for California to focus on commonsense solutions to address the role pharmacy benefit managers play in insulin pricing. That would bring real relief to patients right now, she said. Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said he hopes a state as large as California making its own insulin would significantly diminish the role of pharmacy benefit managers in insulin pricing. If successful, Ghaly said he thinks the price of California-branded insulin would be so competitive that patients could buy it off the shelf cheaper than going through their insurance plan. We expect to save hundreds of millions of dollars for California because of this, Ghaly said. This gives us an opportunity to create a blueprint for healthcare affordability that has been so far out of reach for states and, frankly, the federal government, and its really exciting to see where it can go. By ADAM BEAM Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) West Virginia lawmakers passed up the chance Friday to become the first state to approve new legislation restricting access to abortions since the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling last month removing its protected status as a constitutional right. The Republican-dominated Senate adopted its version of a bill along with amendments, one of which removes criminal penalties for physicians who perform illegal abortions. Late Friday night the House of Delegates, which passed its bill Wednesday, refused to concur with the Senate amendments, instead asking for a conference committee to iron out differences among the bills. Both chambers then adjourned until they are called back sometime next month. Several GOP-led states had trigger abortion bans in place in advance of the court ruling, but West Virginia lawmakers are taking action because of legal uncertainty over whether a ban from the 1800s that was upended by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision could be enforced now. As in other states dominated by socially conservative lawmakers, there's not much question about whether abortion will be banned generally now that states have the power to do so but whether the ban will apply to pregnancies caused by rape or incest. In South Carolina, a ban without the exceptions has been introduced. In Arkansas, outgoing GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson would prefer to add them to the ban that's already in effect, but he has balked at asking lawmakers to address the issue in a special session. The high-profile example of a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio, a state without an exception for rape in its abortion restrictions, who traveled to Indiana for an abortion has amplified the debate. Tension over the question gripped the Indiana Senate in a session that began Thursday and finally wrapped up after midnight. A final vote there is expected Saturday on the bill, which includes exceptions for rape and incest. The West Virginia bill, which some lawmakers have complained was not vetted by any Senate committees, would ban abortions except in case of rape or incest. The Senate approved an amendment sponsored by a physician, Kanawha County Republican Tom Takubo, that removes criminal penalties of three to 10 years upon conviction for any medical provider who performs an abortion. Takubo said the bill already would subject a physician to the difficult loss of their license for performing an illegal abortion. He also said West Virginia already has problems retaining medical professionals, and if the criminal penalties are retained it could have a chilling effect on the practice. Another approved amendment offered by Greenbrier County Democrat Stephen Baldwin would allow a minor to report a rape to someone covered as a mandated reporter, such as a pastor or school counselor, who would be required to report the case to authorities. The House version requires law enforcement to be directly contacted. The measure allows exemptions for victims of rape and incest up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. The bill also provides other exceptions for an ectopic pregnancy, a nonmedically viable fetus or a medical emergency that could kill or cause a substantial and irreversible injury. A dozen of the 34 senators gave impassioned speeches before the 21-10 vote. Three senators were absent. Some who said they supported the bill also indicated they werent happy with it. Some Republicans wanted a blanket ban on abortion. Others wanted the criminal penalties for physicians restored. The state's only abortion clinic initially stopped offering abortions after the latest ruling, but resumed this month as it mounted a court challenge on whether the old ban applied. On July 18, a Charleston judge barred the state from enforcing the ban, ruling it had been superseded by a slew of conflicting modern laws such as a ban on abortion after 20 weeks. Republican Gov. Jim Justice called the special legislative session to consider an abortion ban. He didnt indicate whether he would sign either bill, and the governors office didnt immediately return an email Thursday requesting comment. On Friday, people seated in the packed galleries above the Senate chamber shouted shame on you when the afternoon session went into recess almost as soon as it started. When the debate finally began hours later, Democrats complained that they did not have a final version of the Senates bill prior to the start of Fridays session that included a dozen amendments. This has been a slow-motion train wreck, Senate Democratic leader Stephen Baldwin of Greenbrier County. "This bill would put doctors in jail for doing their job and for following their oath. In Indiana on Thursday, there was a nearly four-hour delay in a Senate session as lawmakers met privately to discuss the exceptions, which were ultimately left in over strong objections from some conservative lawmakers. Exceptions equal death for unborn innocent children, said Sen. Mike Young, the Republican who filed an amendment that would only allow abortions to protect the life of the mother. Eighteen Republicans ultimately joined 10 Democrats in voting to keep the rape and incest exceptions in the proposal. But the votes of many of the Republicans who voted for eliminating the exceptions will be needed for the bill to advance to the House. If not enough switch, it could keep abortion would remain legal in the state for now. A final vote there is expected Saturday. While legislative battles over abortion have begun, much of the fallout from the Supreme Court's decision has played out in the court system. In Louisiana, enforcement began of a near-total ban but was halted by a judge earlier this month. On Friday, a judge ruled enforcement could resume though it was not immediately clear when. ___ For APs full coverage of the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, go to https://apnews.com/hub/abortion. ___ Associated Press writers Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Arleigh Rodgers in Indianapolis contributed to this report. Rodgers is a corps members for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. DOVER, Del. (AP) A Delaware bankruptcy judge has approved parts of the Boy Scouts of Americas reorganization plan but has rejected other provisions, saying in a ruling Friday that the organization has "decisions to make regarding the plan. Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein issued her 281-page ruling, months after concluding a trial in the case. She indicated that she is willing to hold a status conference upon a request by attorneys for the Boy Scouts. The BSA's plan proposed the creation of a $2.6 billion fund to compensate tens of thousands of men who say they were sexually abused as children involved in Scouting, while maintaining the organization's financial ability to continue operating. The ruling is the just latest example of uncertainty in a case that has seen myriad twists and turns since the Boy Scouts sought bankruptcy protection more than two years ago to stave off a flood of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers. In the meantime, the cash-strapped BSA has spent more than $327 million in fees and expenses in the bankruptcy and continues to bleed money, with no end in sight. It also remains unclear when any of the 82,000 sexual abuse claimants in the bankruptcy might receive any compensation for their abuse. The plan called for the Irving, Texas-based BSA and its local councils, along with settling insurance companies and troop sponsoring organizations, to contribute some $2.6 billion in cash and property to a fund for abuse claimants. In return for those contributions, those entities would be shielded from future lawsuits over Scout-related abuse. When it filed for bankruptcy, the BSA faced about 275 filed lawsuits and was aware of roughly another 1,400 potential cases, but more than 82,200 abuse claims were filed in the bankruptcy. Attorneys for BSA insurers argued early on that the sheer volume of claims was an indication of fraud and the result of aggressive client solicitation by attorneys and for-profit claims aggregators. While some of those insurers later negotiated settlements for a fraction of the billions of dollars in liability exposure they potentially faced, other insurers continued to oppose the plan. They argued that the procedures for distributing funds from the compensation trust would violate their contractual rights to contest claims, set a dangerous precedent for mass tort litigation, and result in grossly inflated payments of abuse claims, including tens of thousands that would otherwise be barred by the passage of time. Under the reorganization plan, the BSA and its 250 local councils, along with settling insurance companies and troop sponsoring organizations, would contribute some $2.6 billion in cash and property to a fund for victims of child sexual abuse. In return for those contributions, those entities would be released from further liability, meaning they could not be sued for Scout-related abuse claims. The plan also would allow abuse claimants to sue insurance companies and local troop sponsoring organizations that do not enter into their own settlements within one year. In addition to the arguments by opposing insurers, the case presented Silverstein with one of the most contentious issues for bankruptcy judges whether third parties that are not bankruptcy debtors themselves can escape future liability in the tort system by contributing to a Chapter 11 debtors reorganization plan. Such third-party releases, spawned by asbestos and product-liability cases, have been criticized as an unconstitutional form of bankruptcy grifting, where non-debtor entities obtain benefits by joining with a debtor to resolve mass-tort litigation in bankruptcy. Federal courts in some jurisdictions, including Delaware, have allowed third-party releases in certain circumstances, while courts in other jurisdictions have rejected them. Under the plan proposed by the Boy Scouts, insurance companies, local BSA councils and troop sponsoring organizations would receive broad liability releases protecting them from future sex abuse lawsuits in exchange for contributing to the victims compensation fund or even for just not objecting to the plan. Some abuse survivors argued that releasing their claims against non-debtor third parties without their consent would violate their due process rights. The U.S. bankruptcy trustee, the governments watchdog in Chapter 11 bankruptcies, argued that such releases are not allowed under the bankruptcy code, and that the scope of the proposed releases in the BSA plan, potentially extending to tens of thousands of entities, was unprecedented. The plan called for the BSA itself to contribute less than 10% of the proposed settlement fund, consisting of property valued at about $80 million, an $80 million promissory note, and roughly $20 million cash. The local BSA councils, which run day-to-day operations for troops, offered to contribute at least $515 million in cash and property, and an interest-bearing note of at least $100 million. That contribution was conditioned on certain protections for local troop sponsoring organizations, known as chartered organizations. Those organizations, numbering in the tens of thousands, include religious entities, civic associations and community groups. The bulk of the compensation fund would come from the BSAs two largest insurers, Century Indemnity and The Hartford, which reached settlements calling for them to contribute $800 million and $787 million, respectively. Other insurers agreed to contribute about $69 million. The BSAs former largest troop sponsor, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, would contribute $250 million for abuse claims involving the Mormon church, while congregations affiliated with the United Methodist Church would contribute $30 million. WASHINGTON (AP) When asked if hed support legislation to protect same-sex marriage, one conservative Republican senator was almost nonchalant. I see no reason to oppose it, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told reporters, bringing Democrats one vote closer to an unexpected victory as they move to safeguard same-sex marriage and other rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. Johnsons answer, which came after 47 Republicans voted for the bill in the House last week, was reflective of a stark shift in GOP positioning after decades of fighting same-sex marriage. Ten years ago, most Republicans proudly espoused that marriage could only be between a man and a woman. Now, a federal law protecting same-sex marriage is within reach in an election year, with some Republican backing. The signal of possible support from Johnson arguably the most vulnerable Republican senator up for reelection this year comes as Wisconsins other senator, Tammy Baldwin, is the lead Democrat charged with persuading the necessary 10 Republicans to vote for the bill. Baldwin, who is the first openly gay senator and has been working on gay rights issues since she first entered state politics in 1986, says the world has changed, especially since the Supreme Courts 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision upholding gay marriage. A Gallup poll conducted in May showed broad support for same-sex marriage, with 71% of U.S. adults saying they think such unions should be recognized by law, including 55% of Republicans. Polling in Wisconsin mirrors that national survey, with 54% of Republicans in the state saying that they favor same-sex marriage in a Marquette Law School poll from April. In May 2014, the state poll found support from only 23% of Republicans. People began to see that the sky has not fallen," Baldwin said in an interview, and that the 2015 decision gave legal protections to families who did not previously have them. She says every member of Congress now has friends, family or staff who are openly gay. That probably has the biggest impact on where people land, she said. This is a vote of conscience. The bill pending in the Senate would repeal the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act that allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages and instead require states to recognize all marriages that were legal where they were performed. The new Respect for Marriage Act would also protect interracial marriages by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. A vote could come as soon as next week, but it will more likely be in September when Congress returns from the August recess. Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have also said they will vote for the legislation; Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has also supported same-sex marriage in the past. Several other Republicans have said they are undecided, including Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and Indiana Sen. Mike Braun. Notably silent is Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who has declined to comment until Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer holds a vote. Baldwin and other advocates say more GOP senators are quietly contemplating the bill. Democrats need 10 Republican votes to overcome a filibuster and get a bill through the 50-50 Senate. A range of Republicans voted for the bill in the House, including New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican; Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus; and all four Republican members of Utahs congressional delegation. Still, the majority of House Republicans voted against it, and a similar dynamic is expected in the Senate. Republicans opposing the bill give a variety of reasons, with most arguing that the Supreme Court is unlikely to overturn Obergefell and that Senate Democrats are playing politics by putting the bill on the floor. Democrats point to Justice Clarence Thomas concurring opinion to the June ruling overturning Roe in which he said that high court rulings protecting same-sex marriage and the right for couples to use contraception should also be reconsidered. Asked about their opposition, many Republicans have focused on the process rather than the substance. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is up for reelection this year, told CNN last week that he thinks the bill is a stupid waste of time. He said later that he believes there is zero chance, below zero chance, that the Supreme Court or anyone is going to outlaw gay marriage in this country." Even Johnson blamed Democrats as he said he was unlikely to oppose it, arguing that it was settled law and the vote is unnecessary. He said he still believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman. But society has pretty well accepted it and moved on, he said. Other Republicans have made similar arguments, shifting from the more ideologically rigid statements of years past. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who will vote against the bill, said he recognizes that reasonable people can disagree" with him that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and there is room for a diversity of views on that question. North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer says he will vote against it unless I can be compelled somehow." He says he believes because of his evangelical Christian faith that marriage is between a man and a woman, but its not like I feel super strongly about it, either. Cramer said he thinks the Senate will get the 60 votes needed to pass the bill. Its more that people are ambivalent about it, he said. Portman, who is pushing to get more votes from his party, notes that public opinion has changed substantially over the years. He has supported same-sex marriage since 2013, when he announced that one of his sons is gay and that he believes people should be respected for who they are. He faced criticism from some fellow Republicans at the time, but he says people now come up to him frequently to thank him for his support. Its not just Republicans who have evolved on the issue. Former President Barack Obama didnt publicly support same-sex marriage until 2012, pushed in part by then-Vice President Joe Biden, who had come out in support a few days earlier. When the Defense of Marriage Act passed the Senate in 1996, only 14 Democrats opposed it. David Stacy, a lead lobbyist for the Human Rights Campaign, says advocates for same-sex marriage faced many setbacks in the early 2000s, including state ballot measures to ban gay marriages. But he says he believes Republicans created a backlash of sorts by trying to use the issue against Democrats. While the advocates lost many of those fights, we were educating the public and moving public opinion, Stacy says. ___ Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut in Washington and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., contributed to this report. ODESA, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a Black Sea port Friday to watch crews prepare to export grain trapped by Russias five-month-old war, a week after a deal was struck to allow critical food supplies to flow to millions of impoverished people facing hunger worldwide. The first vessel, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war, Zelenskyy, in his signature olive drab T-shirt, told reporters as he stood next to a Turkish-flagged ship at the Chernomorsk port in the Odesa region. He said the departure of wheat and other grain will begin with ships that were already loaded but could not leave Ukrainian ports after Russia invaded in late February. Ukraine is a key global exporter of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil, and their loss has raised global food prices, threatened political instability and helped push more people into poverty and hunger in already vulnerable countries. Ukraine's military is committed to the ships' safety, said Zelenskyy, adding, It is important for us that Ukraine remains the guarantor of global food security. His unannounced visit to the port is part of Ukraine's push to show the world that it is nearly ready to export millions of tons of grains under last weeks breakthrough agreements, which were brokered by Turkey and the United Nations and signed separately by Ukraine and Russia. The sides agreed to facilitate the shipment of wheat and other grains from three Ukrainian ports through safe corridors on the Black Sea, as well as fertilizer and food from Russia. But a Russian missile strike on Odesa hours after signing the deal threw Moscows commitment into question and raised concerns about the safety of shipping crews, who also have to navigate waters strewn with explosive mines. Russias deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told the U.N. Security Council in New York on Friday that Ukraine has been deploying military goods and hardware in the port of Odesa, and we will continue to destroy these goods and objects, as we did on July 23." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized the link between taking grain out of Ukrainian ports and unblocking direct or indirect restrictions on the export of our grain, fertilizers and other goods to global markets. The security concerns and complexities of the agreements have set off a slow, cautious start. The clock is ticking the deal is only good for 120 days. The goal over the next four months is to export some 20 million tons of grain from three Ukrainian sea ports blocked since the Feb. 24 invasion. That provides time for about four to five large bulk carriers per day to transport grain from the ports to millions of people in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, who are already facing food shortages and, in some cases, famine. Getting the grain out is also critical to farmers in Ukraine, who are running out of storage capacity because of a new harvest. We are ready, Ukraines minister of infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov, told reporters at the port of Odesa on Friday. But he said Ukraine is waiting on the U.N. to confirm the safe corridors that ships will use. In the meantime, a ship at the port of Chernomorsk was being loaded with grain, he said. Lloyds List, a global shipping news publisher, noted that while U.N. officials are pushing for the initial voyage this week to show progress, uncertainty on key details will likely prevent an immediate ramping-up of shipments. Until those logistical issues and detailed outlines of safeguarding procedures are disseminated, charters will not be agreed and insurers will not be underwriting shipments, wrote Bridget Diakun and Richard Meade of Lloyds List. They note, however, that U.N. agencies, such as the World Food Program, have already arranged to charter much of the grain for urgent humanitarian needs. Shipping companies have not rushed in because explosive mines are drifting in the waters, ship owners are assessing the risks and many question how the agreement will unfold. The deal stipulates that Russia and Ukraine provide maximum assurances for ships that brave the journey to the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Smaller Ukrainian pilot boats will guide the vessels through approved corridors. The entire operation will be overseen by a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul staffed by officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations. Once ships reach port, they will be loaded with grain before departing back to the Bosphorus Strait, where they will be boarded to inspect them for weapons. There will likely be inspections for ships embarking to Ukraine as well. ___ Associated Press writers Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. Police arrested 37-year-old Jorge Luis Riojas Jr. on July 17. Officers were called to the 2800 block of W. 18th St. in reference to a disturbance. It was determined that Riojas assaulted a victim by striking them and impeding their breathing. He was arrested and charged with a felony assault. July 18 Police arrested 58-year-old Stanley Ray Goode on July 18 at the 1600 block of Quincy St. Officers initially responded to a report of someone carrying a prohibited weapon. Goode was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and with manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance, both of which are felonies. He was also charged with possession of marijuana. Two individuals were arrested on July 18 at the 1200 block of W. 21st St. when officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle. Jason Duane Owens and Christopher Warren Dunlap, both 47, were arrested and charged with one count each of manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance, which is a felony. A hit-and-run crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 4100 block of W. 16th St. on July 18. The suspect struck an unattended vehicle. A 69-year-old man was arrested on July 18 at the 1500 block of N. I-27 during a traffic stop conducted after the driver disregarded a stop sign. He was found to have four active warrants including charges for running a stop sign, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, driving with an expired drivers license and failure to appear/bail jumping. Fraudulent or illegal use of credit cards was reported on July 18 at the 1100 block of Kermit St. An 18-year-old man was arrested on July 18 at the 1600 block of N. Date St. when officers responded to the location in reference to an assault. Upon arrival, officers found a female victim who said her boyfriend attacked her. The man was arrested and charged with assault causing bodily injury and with interfering with an emergency call. Theft from a vehicle was reported on July 18 at the 800 block of N. I-27. Burglary of a residence was reported at the 1600 block of Yonkers on July 18. An assault was reported on July 18 at the 100 block of E. Brazier. Officers were called to the 100 block of Ash St. on July 18 in reference to a disturbance where someone reported firing of a weapon. An aggravated assault was reported on July 18 at the 1200 block of El Paso St. Herminio Ramos Balderas, 55, allegedly assaulted someone with a screwdriver. He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault of a date/family/house member with a weapon, which is a felony. July 19 Criminal mischief was reported on July 19 at the 300 block of W. 5th St. Damaged property at a business was reported. A report of a sexual offense against a child was reported on July 19. A sexual assault was reported on July 19. A 65-year-old man was arrested on July 19 at the 1000 block of N. I-27 for active warrants. A 54-year-old man was arrested on July 19 at the 700 block of Industrial Blvd. during a traffic stop. The individual was arrested for two active warrants. An assault was reported on July 19 at the 300 block of Thomas Blvd. Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop at the 1400 block of N. Columbia. The vehicle crashed in the 1600 block of El Paso St and the driver fled the scene. She was later apprehended and was charged with evading arrest/detention. July 20 Burglary of a vehicle was reported on July 20 at the 3400 block of Grandview St. Responding officers noted a broken window on a parked vehicle. Theft from a vehicle was reported on July 20 at the 3600 block of N. I-27. A victim reported theft of their vehicles catalytic converter. Officers were called to the 1000 block of Denver St. on July 20 in reference to a trespass callout. Officers made contact with a 40-year-old who was found to have an active warrant out of Randall County for evading arrest/possession of dangerous drugs. The individual was arrested. During transport to the jail, he suffered a medical emergency requiring EMS services and transport to a hospital. He was released for medical care and the charges against him are pending. An 18-year-old man was arrested on July 20 at the 3500 block of Olton Road during a traffic stop. He was found to have multiple active warrants including charges for three counts of driving with no license, failure to appear and failure to maintain financial responsibility. Officers were called to the 3000 block of W. 10th St. on July 20 in reference to burglary of a building. Plainview police arrested a 35-year-old woman on July 20 at the 1000 block of N. Columbia St. during a traffic stop. The individual was found to have multiple active warrants including charges for violating a promise to appear, driving with no license and failure to maintain financial responsibility. She was also charged with driving without vehicle liability insurance, driving with no license and with displaying expired license plates. July 21 Police arrested a 51-year-old woman on July 21 at the 1600 block of N. Date St. during a traffic stop. The driver was cited for driving with no license and was found to have multiple active warrants including improper backing, driving with no license and failure to appear. Criminal mischief was reported on July 21 at the 900 block of W. 28th St. Damage to a vehicle was reported. A sexual assault was reported on July 21. A stolen vehicle was reported on July 21 at the 200 block of Lindberg. Officers responded to the 700 block of W. 12th St. on July 21 to assist Animal Control with a deceased animal. A dog was found deceased as a result of severe neglect. July 22 A crash resulting in injury was reported on July 22 at the 3600 block of Olton Road. According to the PD report, a vehicle traveling west struck a second vehicle in the rear bumper that was stopped at a red light intersection. The first vehicle failed to control its speed when it struck the second. The driver of that vehicle was assessed by EMS and was transported for medical treatment. The driver and passenger of the second vehicle were both assessed by EMS at the scene and were released. Officers were dispatched to the 1300 block of Navajo Trail on July 22 in reference to a stolen vehicle. The reporting party said theyd left keys in the vehicle the night before and woke up to find it missing in the morning. Theft was reported at the 1600 block of W. 9th St. on July 22. The reporting party told officers of a stolen trailer valued at $800. It was taken sometime between July 21 and July 22. An abandoned vehicle was reported at the 1900 block of W. 24th St. on July 22. Officers were dispatched to the 3500 block of W. 25th St. on July 22 in reference to a disturbance. While speaking to the subject, it was determined they gave officers fictious identifying information then resisted detention pending investigation. A robbery was reported at the 2400 block of N. Columbia St. on July 22. July 23 Police arrested 24-year-old Matilde John Borgas Jr. on July 23 at the 1300 block of W. 11th St where officers were dispatched in reference to an aggravated assault. Borgas allegedly pointed a firearm to the head of a female. He was located and arrested for an active warrant and was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which is a felony. A sexual assault was reported on July 23. Police were dispatched to the 1600 block of Quincy St. on July 23 in reference to individuals shooting airsoft guns at traffic from a vehicle. An investigatory stop was initiated and the juveniles in the vehicle were found to be in possession of a Splatter Ball gun. The driver was found to be unlicensed and was in possession of an e-cigarette. Citations were issued. July 24 Two 22-year-old women were arrested at the 300 block of N. Broadway on July 24. Responding officers were notified of a three-vehicle crash involving an intoxicated driver. One of the vehicles was a parked Hale County Sheriffs Office patrol unit. The other vehicle was a parked jeep on the other side of the county vehicle. One woman was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and with striking an unattended vehicle. Another woman was also charged public intoxication. No injuries were reported at the scene. A 27-year-old man was arrested on July 24 at the 1000 block of W. 12th St. Officers were dispatched to the location in reference to criminal trespassing. A known individual was found in the front yard of a residence and an active criminal trespass warning was confirmed. The individual initially resisted arrest. He was charged with criminal trespass and with resisting arrest, search or transportation before being transported to the Hale County Jail. A 32-year-old man was arrested on July 24 at the 400 block of W. 10th St. He was charged with multiple active warrants including charges for driving with no license and with failure to appear/bail jumping. He was also charged with criminal trespass. A crash resulting in private property damage was reported at the 1000 block of E. 5th St. on July 24. A vehicle traveling east lost control and struck a building at the location. The driver of the vehicle was not injured. The individual was cited for driving with no license and for failure to maintain financial responsibility. A burglary was reported on July 24 at the 1200 block of El Paso St. July 25 Someone reported a wallet found in the parking lot of the 7th St. park. A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on July 25 at the 2200 block of W. 5th St. Police arrested an 18-year-old man during a traffic stop at the 400 block of W. 5th St. The individual was found to have an active warrant out of Bee County for driving under the influence of alcohol. An assault was reported on July 25 at the 100 block of N. Broadway. Criminal mischief was reported on July 25 at the 2000 block of W. 19th St. Property damage was reported. A 35-year-old woman was arrested for an active warrant for failure to maintain financial responsibility. The arrest was made at the 2400 block of Sabine St. July 26 Police arrested 54-year-old Laura Ramos on July 26 at the 300 block of Juniper during a traffic stop. She was found to have a felony warrant for theft. A 27-year-old man was arrested on July 26 at the 2700 block of Olton Road. Officers responded to the location in reference to two suspicious males and made contact. One of the individuals was found to have active warrants with charges including two for failure to appear/bail jumping, for theft and for driving with no license. An assault was reported at the 4200 block of W. 2nd St. A 49-year-old man was arrested on July 26 at the 200 block of SE 10th St. Officers were dispatched to the location in reference to an unwanted subject. He suspect was found to have an active warrant for assault causing bodily injury. Forgery of checks was reported at the 100 block of W. 9th St. A threat was reported at the 1400 block of W. 33rd St. on July 26. An aggravated assault with a weapon was reported at the 100 block of W. 10th St. July 27 Police arrested a 48-year-old woman at the 4000 block of Olton Road during a traffic stop. She was found to have multiple outstanding warrants for charges including display of an expired license plate/expired registration insignia, failure to maintain financial responsibility and violating a promise to appear. A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 900 block of N. Columbia on July 27. Criminal mischief was reported on July 27 at the 1400 block of Fresno. Damage to a vehicle was reported. Theft from a vehicle was reported at the 3700 block of Quincy St. The reporting party told officers batteries had been stolen from a semi in the parking lot. A burglary of a building was reported on July 27 at the 1100 block of Independence St. A 23-year-old man was arrested on July 27 at the 100 block of Pecos Place where officers were dispatched in reference to a disturbance. Officers spoke with a woman who said shed been struck by her boyfriend and he took her phone while she was trying to call 9-1-1. The man was arrested and charged with assault causing bodily injury and with interfering with an emergency call. A sexual assault was reported on July 27. Identity theft was reported to officers on July 27. The individual showed them a document showing someone had attempted to get a loan under their name. July 28 Hartford Healthcare is opening a new medical clinic to provide care for transgender and gender non-conforming patients. Record-Journal reporter Cris Villalonga-Vivoni wrote about the Center for Gender Health and the many services it will offer: endocrinology, urology, gynecology, plastic surgery, voice therapy, primary care and behavioral health. The facility is accepting referrals and making appointments for when it welcomes patients in September. The center is located inside the Community Care Center at 132 Jefferson St., Hartford. Dr. Patrick Cahill, medical director of the Community Care Center, said the goal is to create a safe space for those seeking medical care. According to Villalonga-Vivonis report, transphobia is frequently encountered, even in the medical field. A 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that 29% of respondents who saw a medical professional said they had at least one negative experience related to gender, such as being refused treatment, verbal harassment and even physical or sexual assault. Dawn Ennis, a transgender woman, said, there are too few places to help all the trans people who need gender-affirming care and thats not just in Connecticut but across the United States. People are going to be traveling from all over the country to Connecticut because they cant get this kind of care where they live. Ennis is likely correct in her assessment that with Hartford Healthcare offering these specialized services the state is setting itself apart in a positive, welcoming way to individuals in need of care. This is not the first time Connecticut has been at the forefront of taking a forward-thinking stance on human rights issues that other states have struggled to work through. In 2005, the state distinguished itself as the second state, after Vermont, to enact a civil union law. In 2008, Connecticut moved beyond civil unions to become the second state, after Massachusetts, to legalize same-sex marriage. Gov. Ned Lamont recently leveraged the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade into what was characterized as a business recruiting tool. He urged businesses to relocate to a state that supports the rights of women. These examples, along with progress seen in local schools, municipalities and many faith communities, as well as private enterprise, to be accepting of a wide spectrum of individual expression makes Connecticut stand out. This new Hartford Healthcare clinic can be seen as another piece of creating something of a sanctuary state. A place where all are given the freedom to pursue their best lives. San Antonio's first installment of Black Rock Coffee Bar (not to be confused with Black Rifle Coffee Company) is brewing up a grand opening with free drinks. The Blanco Road shop is the first of a few planned Black Rock Coffee Bar shops to open in San Antonio. On August 5, the location will mark the San Antonio introduction with free drinks from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. The shop is located at 11701 Blanco Rd, San Antonio, TX 78216. "No one wants to miss this," online promotions of the giveaway say. The chain of boutique coffee bars launched in Portland in 2008, according to a news release. The coffee bar's menu is broken down into favorites, classics, chillers, energy drinks, coffeeless drinks, and "Lil Rockers," which are kid-friendly options, according to the menu. "Black Rock Coffee Bar specializes in delicious coffee, energy drinks, smoothies, and teas," the company states online in announcing the San Antonio opening. "We take pride in serving our communities and being more than just a place for coffee. We are a place for connection, and we can't wait to connect with all of you!" Black Rock Coffee Bar also has plans filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation for shops at 13980 Nacogdoches Rd, San Antonio, TX 78233 and 14635 Huebner Rd, San Antonio, TX 78230. Earlier this week, the social media team for the coffee company told fans who were asking about the status of the Nacogdoches store that it is opening "very soon," but a date has not been set. Filings show the company is also working on locations in Plano, Houston, Hutto, Georgetown, and Kyle to add to its network of locations spanning the West Coast, Idaho, and Colorado. Even if youre not a Golden Girl, its never a bad time for a slice of cheesecake, right? Luckily for you, there are plenty of places around San Antonio that are regarded for having a delicious slice of heaven with their cheesecake. Whether youre looking for a New York-style classic or something extra sweet, heres where you can find some of the best cheesecakes in the Alamo City. Express-News file photo Poppys Pizza In addition to knowing how to make some delicious New York-style pies, Poppys can also make a mean cheesecake. This local eatery will complete your meal with its New York-style cheesecake made with graham cracker crust. Bon appetit! Find it: 7115 Blanco Road, Suite 107, San Antonio, TX 78216; 210-366-4000 Yelp / Matthew B. Bird Bakery There is lots to enjoy at Bird Bakery, but youll have to make it a point to try out the cheesecake at some point. While theres a pumpkin cheesecake available seasonally, the honey cheesecake is available year-round for you to devour any time youd like. Find it: 5912 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209; 210-804-2473 Yelp / Alexandria H. Baklovah Bakery & Sweets Specializing in Middle Eastern and French desserts, youll enjoy a different take on a cheesecake than youre probably used to. Youll find a variety of cheesecakes here, from a Nutella cheesecake and a turtle cheesecake to raspberry and strawberry. Find it: 9329 Wurzbach Road #104, San Antonio, TX 78240; 210-982-3231 Mike Sutter /Staff Laika Cheesecake & Espresso Make your way over to Alamo Heights to enjoy this cheesecake-centered bakery that has a tasty mix of cheesecake options. First, youll have to choose between a jar or slice of cheesecake. Then take your pick from a long list of flavors, like tres leches, cookies & cream, blueberry white chocolate, and more. Dont forget an espresso to wash it all down! Find it: 4718 Broadway, Alamo Heights, TX 78209; 210-462-6981 Courtesy of Belgian Sweets Belgian Sweets Its European desserts galore at Belgian Sweets, but the cheesecake is definitely part of this Huebner spots royal lineup. Consider this a Belgian take on the New York-style cheesecake, which is extra creamy and features Speculoos Cookie crust. Find it: 15614 Huebner Road, San Antonio, TX 78248; 210-354-7101 Yelp / Stefany V. Silo Elevated Cuisine With a number of locations across town, youll be eating good at any of Silos restaurants. While theres a rotating mix of desserts on the menu here, youll be smart to order the lemon poppy cheesecake topped with a raspberry coulis at Silo. Your tastebuds will no doubt be thankful. Find it: 434 N. Loop 1604 West, Building 1, Suite 1106, San Antonio, TX 78232; 210-483-8989 Yelp / Bernie B. Bliss Anything from Chef Mark Bliss is all but guaranteed to be superb, but dining at this Southtown favorite means every part of your meal will be, well, pure bliss. Though youll enjoy every course of your meal, cheesecake lovers will especially appreciate a high-end take on the cheesecake, which is made with goat cheese (dont knock it til you try it), pistachio shortbread crust and brittle, and a mixed berry port sauce. Find it: 926 S Presa St., San Antonio, TX 78210; 210-225-2547 Yelp / Paul P. Fratello's Deli Why go to Italy when you can get all the flavors of the gorgeous country right here in San Antonio? Whether you order something hot (pizza or pasta) or cold (a sandwich, for example), youll want to save room for dessert, specifically the ricotta cheesecake at Fratello's Deli. Find it: 2503 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78215; 210-444-0277 Alma E. Hernandez /Alma E. Hernandez / For the San Antonio Express News 1718 Steakhouse There are lots of cheesecakes to be enjoyed around town, but theres only one that comes with a show. At 1718 Steakhouse, the cheesecake comes flaming for an extra bit of flavor. Both your taste buds and eyes will be amazed. Find it: 20626 Stone Oak Parkway #103, San Antonio, TX 78258; 210-377-1718 Courtesy of Miss Chickpeas Bakeshop Miss Chickpeas Bakeshop With a number of selections that are 100% vegan, this local bakery is a blessing for health-conscious locals who love sweets. Look for flavors like turtle and blueberry for a variety of tasty options. Find it: 8002 Callaghan, Suite 106, San Antonio TX 78230; 210-993-0748 Yelp / Zoe C. Mina & Dimi's Greek House Whether youre in the mood for some Greek food or want a different take on a classic dessert, youll be glad you stopped by Mina & Dimis. This Far Westside spot combines two desserts, baklava and cheesecake, for its very special and original Baklava Cheesecake. Its a must-try to say the least. Find it: 7159 W. US Highway 90, San Antonio, TX 78227; 210-674-3464 Yelp / Jason L. Bakery Lorraine Whichever location of Bakery Lorraine you stop by in San Antonio, youll be glad you did. Rather than a cheesecake slice, youll get a bar of cheesecake made with a gingersnap crust. No matter which types of fruit are placed on top, expect this piece of goodness to be tasty. Find it: Multiple locations Yelp / Lawana G. Max & Louie's New York Diner Take in the flavors of the Big Apple without ever leaving the Alamo City when you dine at Max & Louies. Order whatever youd like (there are so many options, like any good diner should have), but be sure to top off your meal with a New York favorite: the cheesecake. Have fun choosing between the classic flavor, the rich turtle, white chocolate raspberry or the rotating flavor of the month. Find it: 226 W Bitters Road #126, San Antonio, TX 78216; 210-483-7600 See a full map of San Antonio's cheesecake restaurants here: Olmos Park-area wanderers that frequently order Ya-Ya's Thai takeout, fumble with quarters at the Wash and Fold, and sip lattes at Olmos Perk, can now add "procuring jumbo Japanese chicken sandwiches" to their regional rotation. Krazy Katsu will celebrate its official grand opening at The Yard (inside a re-purposed train cart) on Saturday, July 30. With about 10 different varieties on the menu, the jumbo chicken "katsu" sandwiches, a classic Japanese fried chicken cutlet breaded with panko breadcrumbs, allow for all kinds of "Krazy" additions. The chicken sandwich operation originally ran out of owners Phillip and Jessica Gonyea's home. The 12- to 14-ounce sandwiches average out at $15 a piece. Find it: 5257 McCullough Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212 Here's more that you maybe missed this week in the food and beverage universe: Paul Stephen / Staff San Antonio is getting another Austin-based market San Antonio is getting a second Royal Blue Grocery, with fresh produce, grab-and-go meals, and coffee. While some might be able to guess, find out which Eastside neighborhood will welcome artisan-centered market. More diners are entering the city Learn all about the California diner-chain that's flocking to the Alamo City just like the wild egret and vulture populations to Brackenridge Park. Hand-out/Tiff's Treats Austin cookie magnate responds to worker unionization Workers at Tiff's Treats, the Austin-based confectioner, announced intentions to unionize. Read more about the situation and the company's response. Hill Country welcomes a 'Mr. Gatti' Central Texans know Mr. Gatti's as a pizza party venue. Find out which Hill Country town is about to welcome one. Alamo Heights coffee truck announces brick-and-mortar Rosehip coffee truck took to Instagram this week to announce an upcoming coffee shop in Olmos Park (Krazy Katsu patrons now have another pit stop). Stay tuned for more MySA reporting next week. Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The most caffeinated festival in Austin encroaches Austin will be ground-zero for some sort of coffee festival this Fall. Find out how to get tickets. Locals weigh in on the 'spa water' vs. 'aguas frescas' issue Apparently, people are calling aguas frecas "spa water" on Tik Tok and naturally there are a lot of takes and opinions involved. MySA culture editor Madalyn Mendoza invited some relevant local businesses to weigh in. Marco Garza Hot Dog! Hops and Hounds is adjusting hours Hops and Hounds, the popular venue for mixed-species friendships announced this week, amid the endless triple-digit weather streak, that it will be adjusting hours to accommodate hot pups. New hours are Monday through Wednesday 3 to 10 p.m., Thursday and Friday 3 p.m. to midnight, Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Big things happening with lobster Homecooks can plan on a lobster dinner next weekend. Groomer's Seafood market is hosting a Lobster Mania event on August 5, with 1-1.25 pound $9.95 lobsters. Customers can purchase up to five lobsters. Pre-orders are encouraged. Two big breweries closed Find out which Central Texas breweries recently announced closures. Courtesy, Via 313 Detroit-style pizza drives into San Antonio Discover where to get a square slice to pair with your Blueberry Faygo. Whataburger did another thing You can now order a jumbo box full of Whataburgers. Find out just how many you can pack into the "party" pack. Courtesy of City of Austin Animal Protection Officer Michelle Guilliams The Austin Fire Department usually battles fires and helps if people need rescuing, but this week, a flying friend needed the department's help. On Thursday morning, July 28, the Austin Fire Department helped free an owl who got stuck in a street light pole. Courtesy of City of Austin Animal Protection Officer Michelle Guilliams Austin Fire Department public information and marketing manager Michelle Tanzola said that Engine 30 was sent to the area where the firefighters ascended a 24-foot ladder up the metal light pole. The firefighter that went up to rescue the owl used a shirt to cover and calm the bird. Courtesy of SeaWorld Multiple sea life rehabilitation and rescue organizations on Thursday morning, July 28, returned a manatee to its natural habitat at Kings Bay in Crystal River, Florida after being at SeaWorld San Antonio for eight months. The manatee was transported by air and land with the help of national delivery service DHL Express, according to a news release. DHL transported the manatee using custom holding containers specifically built to International Animal Transport Association standards. The container has an open top and is designed with enough space to allow animals to move around and adjust for comfort. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON (AP) The Biden administration likes to say Russia has become isolated internationally because of its invasion of Ukraine. Yet Moscow's top officials have hardly been cloistered in the Kremlin. And now, even the U.S. Is talking to them. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been meeting with world leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member. Meanwhile, his top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, is jetting around the world, smiling, shaking hands and posing for photos with foreign leaders including some friends of the U.S. And on Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about American detainees and Ukraine. Blinken would not discuss the specific details of the call but said he had pressed Lavrov to accept a substantial proposal the U.S. has made for the release of jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Brittany Griner. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov strongly suggested to Blinken returning to a professional dialogue in the mode of quiet diplomacy on any efforts at American detainees release. The phone call and the handshakes cast doubt on a core part of the U.S. strategy aimed at ending the Ukraine war: that diplomatic and economic isolation, along with battlefield setbacks, would ultimately force Russia to send its troops home. Even as he announced plans for the call two days earlier, Blinken continued to insist Russia is indeed isolated. He argued the travel of its top officials is purely damage control and a reaction to international criticism Moscow is facing for the Ukraine war. U.S. officials say Russia is trying to shore up the few alliances it has left some of which are American adversaries like Iran. But countries that are ostensibly U.S. partners, like Egypt and Uganda, are also warmly welcoming top Russians. And after making the case since February that there's no point in talking to Russia because Russia is not serious about diplomacy and cannot be trusted, the U.S. has conceded it needs to engage with Moscow as well. The public outreach to Lavrov combined with the announcement of a substantial proposal to Russia to win the release of Whelan and Griner took many by surprise. The Blinken-Lavrov conversation was the highest-level contact between the U.S. and Russia since Feb. 15, before the Russian invasion, and could set the stage for possible in-person discussions, although administration officials say there are no plans for that. The Kremlin presumably reveled in the fact that the U.S. is now seeking engagement and will likely delay the process of arranging a call to gain maximum advantage. They are going to drag this out and try to humiliate us as much as they can, said Ian Kelly, a retired career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Georgia in the Obama and Trump administrations. I dont think it goes along with (the administrations) overall policy. Kelly saw Blinken's interest in the call as "counterproductive to our broader effort to isolate Russia. "Other countries will look at this and say, Why shouldnt we deal with Lavrov or the Russians more broadly?' he said. Already, Western appeals to convince Asian, African and Middle Eastern nations to shun Russia appear to have been ignored as Lavrov travels around the world. Still, on Wednesday, Blinken played down the importance of Lavrov's globetrotting. He said it was a response to the cold reception Russia has gotten to Ukraine-related wheat and grain shortages now plaguing large portions of the developing world, particularly as a United Nations-backed agreement to free up those supplies has yet to be implemented. What I see is a desperate game of defense to try somehow to justify to the world the actions that Russia has taken, Blinken said. Somehow trying to justify whats unjustifiable. U.S. and European officials point out that Russia has come under heavy criticism for the Ukraine invasion and the food and energy security shortages that have resulted. Biden administration officials, including Blinken, have noted with satisfaction that Lavrov chose to leave a recent meeting of G-20 foreign ministers in Indonesia after listening to a litany of complaints from counterparts about the global impact of the war. Despite that, there is no sign Russia will be excluded from major international events such as the ASEAN Regional Forum next week, the United Nations General Assembly in September or a trio of leaders' summits in Asia to be held in November. Russia continues to maintain close ties with China, India and numerous developing countries throughout Asia and Africa. Many depend on Russia for energy and other exports, though they also rely on Ukraine for grain. India hasn't shunned Russia despite its membership in the so-called Quad with the U.S., Australia and Japan. With a longstanding close relationship with Russia, India has boosted energy imports from Russia despite pressure from the U.S. and Europe, which is moving away from Russian gas and oil. India, for example, has used nearly 60 million barrels of Russian oil in 2022 so far, compared with only 12 million barrels in all of 2021, according to commodity data firm Kpler. On the other side of the coin, the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, this week scrapped a deal to purchase 16 Russian military transport helicopters due to fears of possible U.S. sanctions. The Russian foreign ministry has gleefully countered the assertions of Russia's isolation by tweeting photographs of Lavrov in various world capitals. Among the photos: Lavrov at the the G-20 meeting in Bali with the Chinese, Indian and Indonesian foreign ministers; in Uganda with President Yoweri Museveni, a longtime U.S. partner; and in Egypt with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, also a U.S. partner, whose country every year receives billions in dollars in American aid. ___ Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Jim Gomez in Manila contributed. UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. Security Council voted Thursday to extend its political mission in Libya, but at Russia's insistence for only three months rather than a year-long mandate. The council's three African members abstained to protest Russias blocking the longer extension they say is needed to help the divided country move to elections and stability. Russias deputy ambassador, Dmitry Poyansky, reiterated Moscow's position that the U.N. mission must get a new special representative before it has a longer mandate. U.N. special envoy Jan Kubis resigned last Nov. 23 after 10 months on the job, and a number of candidates proposed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have been rejected either by council members, Libya or neighboring countries. After Kubis left, Guterres appointed veteran American diplomat Stephanie Williams, a former U.N. deputy special representative in Libya, as his special adviser. But council diplomats said she is leaving that post Sunday, which means the mission will have no leader as Libyans grapple with a constitutional and political crisis. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States shares the frustration of the council's three African members Ghana, Kenya and Gabon. She called Russias contention that a three-month extension until Oct. 31 will somehow spur the selection of a new special representative specious. The mission is important for the Libyan people "in supporting preparations for elections, monitoring the cease-fire, reporting on human rights issues, and providing technical assistance on state finances and budget, she told the council after the 12-0 vote. It does a disservice to them, and all of us, to play games with the mandate, she added. Oil-rich Libya has been wracked by conflict since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country was split by rival administrations, one in the east backed by military commander Khalifa Hifter and a U.N.-supported administration in the capital of Tripoli in the west. Each side is supported by different militias and foreign powers. In April 2019, Hifter and his forces, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive trying to capture Tripoli. His campaign collapsed after Turkey stepped up its military support for the U.N.-supported government with hundreds of troops and thousands of Syrian mercenaries. An October 2020 cease-fire accord led to an agreement on a transitional government in early February 2021 headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and to the scheduling of elections for last Dec. 24. But the elections werent held. Dbeibah has refused to step down, and in response the countrys east-based lawmakers elected a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, a former interior minister who is now operating a separate administration out of the city of Sirte. Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee told the council Monday that the overall situation in Libya remains highly volatile, with a tense security situation, deeply disturbing shows of force and sporadic violence by militias engaged in political maneuvering. She also cited a dispute over leadership of the National Oil Corporation and serious human rights concerns, including the reported arrest by armed groups of dozens of protesters who took part in July 1 demonstrations decrying deteriorating living conditions and demanding progress on elections Polyansky said Russia understands the view of his African colleagues, but he defended limiting the mission's mandate without the appointment of a new special representative, saying it is unusual the body "has remained headless for quite some time already. He warned that Libya has approached a red line, upon the crossing of which armed conflict may resume. Whats at stake now is the future of Libya and its people, Polyansky said after the vote. Solomon Korbieh, minister-counselor at Ghanas U.N. Mission, said the fifth brief extension of the missions mandate demonstrated again the Security Councils failure to show commitment to the Libyan people. He called on council members to place the overall interests of Libya above all else and work with the secretary-general to find a new leader for the mission. The people of Libya are crying for elections as a basic step towards the rebuilding of their nation and this council cannot let them down, Korbieh said. Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer Reports are saying that Gov. Greg Abbott chose to spend hours at a fundraiser on the day 19 kids and two teachers were massacred in Uvalde on May 24. Records say that Abbott spent three hours at a campaign fundraiser at a private home in Huntsville on the day of the shooting, choosing not to cancel in light of the massacre at Robb Elementary, the Dallas Morning News reported. Uvalde and its school district is still embattled as parents push for answers and action from the school board. Meanwhile, the principal of Robb Elementary School has been reinstated Friday, July 29, after she disputed claims made in the Texas House investigative committee. Courtesy of Ken Branca San Antonio police responded to reports of shots fired at the Union Pine apartments at the 1700 block of Pleasanton Road early Friday morning, July 29, only to find two men dead at the scene. A sergeant with the San Antonio Police Department said that the two men were found at one of the apartment buildings at the top of the stairs and the bottom of the stairs respectively. Both men were found with 18 to 25 gunshot wounds to their bodies. The ages of the men were not disclosed and they have yet to be identified. Video killed the radio star and social media is killing traditional search engines. Googles Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan said in a conference this month that new internet users dont have the expectations and the mindset that we have become accustomed toIn our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when theyre looking for a place for lunch, they dont go to Google Maps or Search, they go to TikTok or Instagram. Raghavan also explained that younger people were generally interested in more visually rich forms of search and discovery. TikTok has been a powerful mobilizer for young people to learn about trends and share information, with everything from bringing about the return of yoga pants (or, if youre Gen Z, flared leggings), to selling out various kinds of headphones to food trends of the moment all connecting back to videos going viral on the platform. It makes sense that TikTok, like the longer form YouTube haul videos and vlogs of yesteryear, is a major catalyst in the spreading of trends. Videos of normal people (or a favorite influencer that seems normal) recommending what they like has a more personal appeal for younger internet users, instead of more corporate methods of advertising. One account, @theviplist on TikTok, went viral during the pandemic and has now garnered almost 17 million likes on their videos reviewing New York City restaurants, while the tag #restaurantreviews itself has close to 850 million views. This visual focus has made search engines change their methods of showing information; now when you search on Google, videos show up towards the top of the feed. Google is also allowing for TikTok posts themselves, with thumbnails, to come up when you search instead of traditional webpages. For Raghavan, Google is still trying to see what transitioning to visual results on search look like, but he said that getting that level of deeper understanding is a journey were still on. Maybe they can look up the direction for that journey on TikTok? Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know. The post Is Social Media the New Google? appeared first on InsideHook. Deputy Minister Jiri Kozak discussed with his counterparts in the Ivory Coast and in Ghana the possibilities of strengthening all-round cooperation. The mission was mainly focused on the health sector. However, the discussion with partners also touched on the ongoing engagement of the Czech Republic in ensuring the security of the Sahel and mitigation of the effects of the food crisis caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine. Both Ivory Coast and Ghana, which are among the pillars of stability and development in West Africa, condemn this aggression. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Jiri Kozak, accompanied by a delegation of members of Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Medical Devices and representatives of financial houses, visited Cote dIvoire and Ghana 18 20 July. In both capitals, both ongoing and future collaboration in the field of healthcare was the central topic of discussion between Deputy Minister Kozak and Ministers of Healthcare Pierre Dimba and Kwaku Agyemang-Manu respectively. While Ghana is a traditional partner of the Czech Republic in this domain given the ongoing projects of building the regional hospitals or the very successful MEDEVAC program, Cote dIvoire represents an immense potential for enhanced cooperation. Concrete projects of regional centres of excellence in the healthcare sector to be equipped by Czech technology and financed by Czech banks were discussed. Healthcare was nevertheless only one of delegations concerns. During his meeting with Ivorian Prime Minister Patrick Achi and both Ivorian and Ghanaian Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs Jiri Kozak expressed gratitude for both countries stance on the Russian aggression towards Ukraine and discussed the implications of associated food crisis, which directly affects the region of West Africa. He also emphasized the ongoing Czech involvement in ensuring the security of the Sahel. During accompanying social events, which hosted representatives of local authorities and the diplomatic corps, the Deputy Minister officially launched the Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union in the region of West Africa. Deputy Minister Kozak opens new possibilities of collaboration in West Africa Deputy Minister Kozak opens new possibilities of collaboration in West Africa Deputy Minister Kozak opens new possibilities of collaboration in West Africa Deputy Minister Kozak opens new possibilities of collaboration in West Africa Yves here. This is a wide ranging post on the rising odds of high consequence, climate-change induced events. Sobering. By Jeff Masters, who co-founded the Weather Underground and served as its chief meteorologist and on its Board of Directors until it was sold to the Weather Company in 2012. Between 2005-2019, his Category 6 blog was one of the Internets most popular and widely quoted sources of extreme weather and climate change information. Originally published at Yale Climate Connections Flooding in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, on January 17, 2013. Sea level rise is such a major threat to the city that a new capital city for Indonesia is being built on neighboring Borneo Island. (Image credit: Voice of America) Four times since 1900, human civilization has suffered global catastrophes with extreme impacts: World War I (40 million killed), the 1918-19 influenza pandemic (40-50 million killed), World War II (40-50 million killed), and the COVID-19 pandemic (an economic impact in the trillions, and a 2020-21 death toll of 14.9 million, according to the World Health Organization). These are the only events since the beginning of the 20th century that meet the United Nationss definition of global catastrophic risk (GCR): a catastrophe global in impact that kills over 10 million people or causes over $10 trillion (2022 USD) in damage. But human activity is creating greater and more dangerous risk and increasing the odds of global catastrophic risk events, by increasingly pushing humans beyond nine planetary boundaries of environmental limits within which humanity can safely operate, warns a recent United Nations report, Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction Our World at Risk: Transforming Governance for a Resilient Future (GAR2022) and its companion paper, Global catastrophic risk and planetary boundaries: The relationship to global targets and disaster risk reduction (see July post, Recklessness defined: breaking 6 of 9 planetary boundaries of safety). These reports, endorsed by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, make the case that the combined effects of disasters, economic vulnerabilities, and overtaxing of ecosystems are creating a dangerous tendency for the world to tend toward the Global Collapse scenario. This scenario presents a world where planetary boundaries have been extensively crossed, and if GCR events have not already occurred or are in the process of occurring, then their likelihood of doing so in the future is extreme and total societal collapse is a possibility. Figure 1. The nine planetary boundaries beyond which there is a risk of destabilization of the Earth system, which would threaten human societal development, April 2022 version. (Image credit: Stockholm Resilience Institute; plot annotated for clarification) Figure 2. Types of global catastrophic risk (GCR) events. (Image credit: Thomas Cernev, 2022, Global catastrophic risk and planetary boundaries: The relationship to global targets and disaster risk reduction, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) Global Catastrophic Risk (GCR) Events Human civilization has evolved during the Holocene Era, the stability of which is now threatened by human-caused climate change. As a result, global catastrophic risk events from climate change are growing increasingly likely, the U.N. May 2022 reports conclude. There are many other potential global catastrophic risk events, both natural and human-caused (Figure 2), posing serious risks and warranting humanitys careful consideration. But the report cautions of large uncertainty both for the likelihood of such events occurring and for their wider impact. (Note that there is at least one other type of Global Catastrophic Risk event the report omits: an intense geomagnetic storm. A repeat of the massive 1859 Carrington Event geomagentic storm, which might crash the electrical grid for 130 million people in the U.S. for multiple years, could well be a global catastrophic risk event.) Five types of GCR events with increasing likelihood in a warmer climate 1) Drought The most serious immediate global catastrophic risk event associated with climate change might well be a food-system shock caused by extreme droughts and floods hitting multiple major global grain-producing breadbaskets simultaneously. Such an event could lead to significant food prices spikes and result in mass starvation, war, and a severe global economic recession. This prospect exists in 2022-23, exacerbated by war and the COVID-19 pandemic. The odds of such a food crisis will steadily increase as the climate warms. The author of this post presented one such scenario in an op-ed published in The Hill last year, and insurance giant Lloyds of London detailed another such scenario in a food system shock report issued in 2015. Lloyds gave uncomfortably high odds of such an events occurringwell over 0.5% per year, or more than a 14% chance over a 30-year period. 2) War In his frightening book Food or War, published in October 2019, science writer Julian Cribb documents 25 food conflicts that have led to famine, war, and the deaths of more than a million people mostly caused by drought. For example, Chinas drought and famine of 1630-31 led to a revolt that resulted in the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. Another drought in China in the mid-nineteenth century led to the Taiping rebellion, which claimed 20-30 million lives. Since 1960, Cribb says, 40-60% of armed conflicts have been linked to resource scarcity, and 80% of major armed conflicts occurred in vulnerable dry ecosystems. Hungry people are not peaceful people, Cribb argues, and ranks South Asia India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka as being at the most risk of future food/water availability conflicts. In particular, nuclear powers India and Pakistan have a long history of conflict, so climate change can be expected to increase the risk of nuclear war between them. A limited nuclear war between India and Pakistan, 100 bombs dropped on cities. would be capable of triggering a global nuclear winter with a death toll up to two billion, Helfand (2013) estimated. 3) Sea-level rise, combined with land subsidence During the coming decades, it will be very difficult to avoid a global catastrophic risk event from sea-level rise, when combined with coastal subsidence from groundwater pumping, loss of river sedimentation from flood-control structures, and other human-caused effects: A moderate global warming scenario (RCP 4.5) will put $7.9-12.7 trillion dollars of global coastal assets at risk of flooding by 2100, according to a 2020 study by Kirezci et al., Projections of global-scale extreme sea levels and resulting episodic coastal flooding over the 21st Century. While this study did not take into account assets that inevitably will be protected by new coastal defenses to be erected, neither did it consider the indirect costs of sea-level rise from increased storm surge damage, mass migration away from the coast, salinification of fresh water supplies, and many other factors. A 2019 report by the Global Commission on Adaptation estimated that sea level rise will lead to damages of more than $1 trillion per year by 2050. Furthermore, sea-level rise, combined with other stressors, might bring about megacity collapse a frightening possibility with infrastructure destruction, salinification of fresh water resources, and a real estate collapse potentially combining to create a mass exodus of people, reducing the tax base of the city to the point that it can no longer provide basic services. The collapse of even one megacity might have severe impacts on the global economy, creating increased chances of a cascade of global catastrophic risk events. One megacity potentially at risk of this fate is the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, with a population of 10 million). Land subsidence (up to two inches per year) and sea-level rise (about 1/8 inch per year) are so high in Jakarta that Indonesia currently is constructing a new capital city in Borneo. Plans call for moving 8,000 civil servants there in 2024, and eventually move 1.5 million workers from Jakarta to the new capital by 2045. 4) Pandemics As Earths climate warms, wild animals will be forced to relocate their habitats and increasingly enter regions with large human populations. This development will dramatically increase the risk of a jump of viruses from animals to humans that could lead to a pandemic, according to a 2022 paper by Carlson et al. in Nature, Climate change increases cross-species viral transmission risk. Bats are the type of animal of most concern. Note that in the case of the 1918-19 influenza GCR event, a separate GCR event helped trigger it: WWI, because of the mass movement of troops that spread the disease. The U.N. reports emphasize that one GCR event can trigger other GCR events, with climate change acting as a threat multiplier. Figure 3. Predicted change in surface temperature 51-100 years after a failure of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Catastrophic cooling is predicted to affect Northern Europe, the edge of arctic sea ice reach northern France, and temperatures in the U.S. fall 1-2 degrees Celsius (1.8-3.6F). Sea ice edges are shown in bright blue; the sea ice edge would remain virtually unchanged in the Southern Hemisphere, but advance significantly equatorward in the Northern Hemisphere, reaching northern France. (Image credit: modified from Orihuela-Pinto et al., 2022, Interbasin and interhemispheric impacts of a collapsed Atlantic Overturning Circulation, Nature Climate Change, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01380-y) 5) Ocean current changes Increased precipitation and glacial meltwater from global warming could flood the North Atlantic with enough fresh water to slow down or even halt the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the ocean current system that transports warm, salty water from the tropics to the North Atlantic and sends cold water to the south along the ocean floor. If the AMOC were to shut down, the Gulf Stream would no longer pump warm, tropical water to the North Atlantic. Average temperatures would cool in Europe by three degrees Celsius (5.4F) or more in just a few years not enough to trigger a full-fledged ice age, but enough cooling to bring snows in June and killing frosts in July and August, as occurred in the famed 1816 year without a summer caused by the eruption of Mt. Tambora. In addition, shifts in the jet stream pattern might bring about a more La Nina-like climate, causing an increase in drought to much of the Northern Hemisphere, greatly straining global food and water supplies. A study published in August 2021 looked at eight independent measures of the AMOC, and found that all eight showed early warning signs that the ocean current system may be nearing collapse. The AMOC may have evolved from relatively stable conditions to a point close to a critical transition, the authors wrote. Figure 4. A pteropod shell is shown dissolving over time in seawater with a lower pH. When carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean from the atmosphere, the chemistry of the seawater is changed. (image credit: NOAA) 6) Ocean acidification The increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is partially absorbed by the oceans, making them more acidic. Since pre-industrial times, the pH of surface ocean waters has fallen by 0.1 pH units, to 8.1 approximately a 30 percent increase in acidity. Increased acidity is harmful to a wide variety of marine life, and acidic oceans have been linked to several of Earths five major extinction events through geologic time. Under a business-as-usual emission scenario, continued emissions of carbon dioxide could make ocean pH around 7.8 by 2100. The last time the ocean pH was this low was during the middle Miocene, 14-17 million years ago. The Earth was several degrees warmer and a major extinction event was occurring. 7) A punishing surprise In 2004, Harvard climate scientists Paul Epstein and James McCarthy conclude in a paper titled Assessing Climate Stability that: We are already observing signs of instability within the climate system. There is no assurance that the rate of greenhouse gas buildup will not force the system to oscillate erratically and yield significant and punishing surprises. Hurricane Sandy of 2012 was an example of such a punishing surprise, and climate change will increasingly bring low-probability, high impact weather events black swan events that no one anticipated. As the late climate scientist Wally Broecker once said, Climate is an angry beast, and we are poking at it with sticks. Figure 5. An 18 km-high volcanic plume from one of a series of explosive eruptions of Mount Pinatubo on June 12, 1991, viewed from Clark Air Base. Three days later, the main eruption produced a plume that rose nearly 40 km, penetrating well into the stratosphere. Pinatubos sulfur emissions cooled the Earth by about 0.5 degree Celsius (0.9F) for 1-2 years. (Photograph by David H. Harlow, USGS.) Volcanic eruptions: A decreasing likelihood in a warming climate Climate change can also be expected to reduce the likelihood of one type of global catastrophic risk event: the impacts of a massive volcanic eruption. A magnitude-seven super-colossal eruption with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of seven (VEI 7) occurred in 1815, when the Indonesian volcano Tambora erupted. (The Volcanic Explosivity Index is a logarithmic scale like the Richter scale used to rate earthquakes, so a magnitude 7 eruption would eject ten times more material than a magnitude 6 eruptions like that of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991.) The sulfur pumped by Tamboras eruption into the stratosphere dimmed sunlight so extensively that Northern Hemisphere temperatures fell by about 0.4-0.7 degree Celsius(0.7-1.0F) for 1-2 years afterward. The result: the famed Year Without a Summer in 1816. Killing frosts and snow storms in May and June 1816 in Eastern Canada and New England caused widespread crop failures, and lake and river ice were observed as far south as Pennsylvania in July and August. Famine and food shortages rocked the world. Verosub (2011) estimated that future eruptions capable of causing volcanic winter effects severe enough to depress global temperatures and trigger widespread crop failures for one to two years afterwards should occur about once every 200-300 years, which translates to a 10-14% chance over a 30-year period. An eruption today like the Tambora event of 1815 would challenge global food supplies already stretched thin by rising population, decreased water availability, and conversion of cropland to grow biofuels. However, societys vulnerability to major volcanic eruptions is less than it was, since the globe has warmed significantly in the past 200 years. The famines from the eruption of 1815 occurred during the Little Ice Age, when global temperatures were about 0.9 degree Celsius (1.6F) cooler than today, so crop failures from a Tambora-scale eruption would be less widespread than is the case with current global temperatures. Fifty years from now, when global temperatures may be another 0.5 degree Celsius warmer, a magnitude seven eruption should be able to cool the climate only to 1980s levels. However, severe impacts to food supplies still would result, since major volcanic eruptions cause significant drought. (To illustrate, in the wake of the 1991 climate-cooling VEI 6 eruption of the Philippines Mt. Pinatubo, land areas of the globe in 1992 experienced their highest levels of drought for any year of the 1950-2000 period.) Unfortunately, the future risk of a volcanic global catastrophic risk event may be increasing from causes unrelated to climate change, because of the increasing amount of critical infrastructure being located next to seven known volcanic hot spots, argued Mani et al. in a 2021 paper, Global catastrophic risk from lower magnitude volcanic eruptions. For example, a future VEI 6 eruption of Washingtons Mount Rainier could cost more than $7 trillion over a 5-year period because of air traffic disruptions; similarly, a VEI 6 eruption of Indonesias Mount Merapi could cost more than $2.5 trillion. Commentary Complex systems like human cultures are resilient, but are also chaotic and unstable, and vulnerable to sudden collapse when multiple shocks occur. Jared Diamonds provocative 2005 book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, described flourishing civilizations or cultures that eventually collapsed, like the Greenland Norse, Maya, Anasazi, and Easter Islanders. Environmental problems like deforestation, soil problems, and water availability were shown to be a key factor in many of these collapses. One of the main lessons to be learned from the collapses of the Maya, Anasazi, Easter Islanders, and those other past societies, Diamond wrote, is that a societys steep decline may begin only a decade or two after the society reaches its peak numbers, wealth, and power. The reason is simple: maximum population, wealth, resource consumption, and waste production mean maximum environmental impact, approaching the limit where impact outstrips resources. Some of Diamonds conclusions, however, have been challenged by anthropologists. For example, the 2010 book, Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire, argued that societies are resilient and have a long history of adapting to, and recovering from, climate change-induced collapses. But a 2021 paper by Beard et al., Assessing Climate Changes Contribution to Global Catastrophic Risk, argued, pointed to reasons to be skeptical that such resilience can be easily extrapolated into the future. First, the relatively stable context of the Holocene, with well-functioning, resilient ecosystems, has greatly assisted recovery, while anthropogenic climate change is more rapid, pervasive, global, and severe. To paraphrase, one can think of the nine planetary boundaries as credit cards, six of those nine credit cards charged to the hilt to develop civilization as it now exists. But Mother Nature is an unforgiving lender, and there is precious little credit available to help avoid a cascade of interconnected global catastrophic risk events that might send human society into total collapse, if society unwisely continues its business-as-usual approach. Avoiding climate change-induced global catastrophic risk events is of urgent importance, and the UN report is filled with promising approaches that can help. For example, it explains how systemic risk in food systems from rainfall variability in the Middle East can be reduced using traditional and indigenous dryland management practices involving rotational grazing and access to reserves in the dry season. More generally, the encouraging clean energy revolution now under way globally needs to be accelerated. And humanity must do its utmost to pay back the loans taken from the Bank of Gaia, stop burning fossil fuels and polluting the environment, and restoring degraded ecosystems. If we do not, the planet that sustains us will no longer be able to. Bob Henson contributed to this post. The Xi-Biden phone call held in the early AM Washington time on July 28 met the Winston Churchill standard of Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war, but only barely. Weve embedded both official readouts at the end of the post. The White House version was not at all forthcoming, a mere 150 words and half of that background. Chinas by contrast looks positively expansive. Bidens staff gave a few more crumbs to the press. From the Financial Times: The White House said the call lasted for two hours, and the leaders discussed Taiwan, Russias war in Ukraine and areas of possible co-operation including climate change, health security and counter-narcotics. Biden also raised the cases of Americans who have been wrongfully detained and subject to exit bans and other human rights concerns, the senior administration official said. Neither readout acknowledges discussing the possible Pelosi visit to Taiwan; the White House flack refused to answer the question when asked point blank. However, both sides acknowledged talking about, or perhaps more accurately, around the Taiwan issue. Despite the length of the call, the readouts give the impression the two sides did not really engage. One problem is what I call from my old days of negotiating as double brokering. You always want to have you side set off against someone from the other side who has a similar level of authority. In business negotiations, a principal strenuously avoids interacting with an agent on the other side. If the principal makes a commitment, its expected to be binding, while an agent can never commit to anything (or at most only in a limited manner, as pre-authorized) and has to take any proposals back to the people in charge. National leaders never have complete freedom to act; even autocrats have constituencies or power blocs they have to appease. In the US, it has become clear that the President has limited degrees of freedom on foreign policy matters; the military/intel interests call the shots. Mind you, there are factions so a President can push the needle to a degree; thats why, for instance, Obama was able to check Clintons plans to escalate in Syria. But the flip side is that Presidents who want to improve relations with pet enemies get nowhere. In the Oliver Stone interviews, Putin recounts how he had productive discussions with Bush and they agreed on concrete de-escalation measures. Follow ups were unanswered. Eventually Putin got a written bafflespeak climbdown. That and other examples led Putin to conclude that US presidents are hostage to bureaucratic and commercial interests. Biden is a visibly very weak president. And it appears that that has enabled the neocons to have an even bigger say over foreign policy than usual. One assumes Xi has to understand that. Yet the Chinese readout has Xi starting from lofty first principles to contend that the US and China, as leading world powers, have a duty to promote peace, global development, and prosperity. From that, Xi reasons that seeing China as a strategic rival is misperceiving US-China relations and misleading the world community. Who is Xi talking to when he goes on like that? It certainly is not to Biden. China is an economic rival as well as a commercial partner. Even though they could co-exist without stepping on each other, thats not how the US wants it. The US has designated China as geopolitical enemy number one (on the days of the week when it is not sending more arms and dough to Ukraine), so this high-minded patter from Xi is talking to a brick wall. Perhaps instead Xis framing is formulaic in China, or simply an effort to create the appearance of common interests when there really arent any. The quasi lecture about principles then shifted to an actual lecture about Taiwan. Xi reminded Biden that the US has affirmed its commitment to the one China policy in three recent joint communiques. Some commentators reacted to both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. That of course is implicit in the one China policy, but China was not enforcing that. Xi put Biden on notice that that is no longer the case. The Xi remark that attracted widespread notice was: Those who play with fire will perish by it. Xi did not back down from the not-very-veiled threats from various Chinese officials that China would take action against a Taiwan visit by Pelosi. He also gave a dig about the US looking not agreement capable: The US should honor the one-China principle and implement the three joint communiques both in word and in deed. The China readout has Biden giving lip service to its formal Taiwan policy: He [Biden] reiterated that the one-China policy of the US has not changed and will not change, and that the US does not support Taiwan independence. The White House formulation was different: On Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States policy has not changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. One could take this to mean that The US supports the current ambiguous status of Taiwan and will oppose measures by China to end that ambiguity. One could also take it to mean The US will oppose China acting to perfect its territorial rights with respect to the Taiwan Strait. I think both parties understood that was the real message, not matter how well pretenses otherwise were observed. Pelosi has made Biden look weak, via his failure to put her in place after both the Pentagon and now Jake Sullivan have said they oppose her going to Taiwan. Instead, Biden did the worst possible thing as far as his appearance of authority is concerned: instead going to Xi (remember Biden requested the call) as if that would somehow make a Pelosi visit less of an affront, or worse, to China. Biden should have known that was a non-starter given the unusually aggressive statements from Chinese officials, including, importantly, from the Defense Ministry. And that fierce reaction should have come as no surprise. Moon of Alabama recounts Pelosis long history of provoking China. If Chinese post-meeting press coverage is any guide, China is deadly serious about taking some sort of military action to prevent a Pelosi visit or make an important statement about its right to operate in airspace and waterways Taiwan would like to depict as its own. And Pelosi has hurt the Democrats. Her little stunt has left them in a no-win position. The Republicans know they have her in a trap. They are taking the position that she backs down, its giving in to China. But if she goes and is not permitted to land in Taiwan, or China secures a win, say by flying planes in with hers so as to show that China can and will now overfly Taiwan. the Administration can again be presented as having stuffed up by somehow not out-thinking/out-maneuvering China. It sure looks like the result that would make the Republicans happiest is having Pelosi start a war. As with Russia, be careful what you wish for. China is just as serious about its red lines as Russia was pre the special military operation. The reality is that as awkward as this situation looks, Pelosi can continue to keep her mouth shuts and stay in the US. August is about to start. When the pols return to Washington in December, everyone will be fixated on the midterns. And the reality is that the number of Americans who make belligerence towards China a top criterion for choosing Congresscritter is very small. Pelosi backing down (if she actually does so) will be barely remembered in the US by October. But is Pelosi merely a clever tactician, or can she manage to come up with some wisdom and maturity? My Nashville Post role has evolved since 2000 when I joined the now-defunct The City Paper. TCP became a Post sister publication in 2008 (when I began doing some Post work) and folded in 2013. I have been managing editor of the Post since late 2011. Follow William Williams Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today (Natural News) An anonymous tipster leaked a report suggesting that California politicians aim to start charging landowners to draw water from their own private wells. Starting in February 2023, according to a letter signed by Natalie Stork, chief of the groundwater management program at the California Environmental Protection Agency (CEPA), a San Diego-area resident who received it will have to report the volume of private well water used and pay a fee per acre foot for it. Whether this new rule will apply throughout the entire state or only to the recipient remains unclear. What we do know is that the letter came on official letterhead and was sent under the authority of Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as Secretary for Environmental Protection Jared Blumenfeld. Theyre sending out letters to property owners saying they must declare [if] they use just two acre feet, the source who received the letter told The California Globe. If they use more, they must pay an annual fee of $300 for each well plus they must meter the water and send in a monthly usage report and pay a fee for water that is pumped starting in Feb 2023. Calling the move a great racket, jokingly, the California resident added that this is perhaps the most ridiculous thing the Golden State has done in a long time. The government provides no service, no support, no product, doesnt even do the billing! Thats all on citizens. All [the government does] is cash the check, this person added. Los Angeles creates water police to look for illegal pools of water forming on properties The source says that he is being told he must report on water usage as well as the location of the well and even the place and purpose of use for groundwater. Groundwater extraction reports are not due to the state water board until February 1, 2023, the letter explains. However, if you are required to report, the report must include pumping volumes for each month between the date of receipt of this letter and September 30, 2022. The letter was sent amid an ongoing drought throughout the Golden State, which Newsom is using as an excuse to charge higher amounts for city water when residents go above a certain usage threshold. In Los Angeles, there is even now a Water Conservation Response Unit (Water CRU) that roams the city in search of residents who are violating a local ordinance that limits how and when properties can be watered. The ordinance states that any water use resulting in excess or continuous water flow or runoff onto adjoining sidewalks, driveways, streets, gutters, or ditches is always prohibited. The Department of Water and Powers Water CRU also drives around looking for water that has perhaps pooled up in an area on a property in order to cite the owner for potential violations. Its not extreme, but its something that we want them to take a look at, says Damon Ayala, a water patrolman whose job involves walking around looking for illegal pools of water forming on grass or sidewalks. Looks like they have drip irrigation on this side, he told a reporter from the Agence France-Press who followed him around for the day to see what the job entails. So there might be just a broken connector. Repeat offenders, Ayala explained, could face fines of hundreds of dollars for alleged excessive water use. (Related: Remember back in 2014 when California was supposedly on the verge of a water infrastructure collapse that never ended up happening?) Were not looking really for their money, he claims. That doesnt get us more water. Were trying to get behavioral change. To keep up with the latest news about Californias ongoing water woes, be sure to check out WaterWars.news. Sources for this article include: DailyWire.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Lawmakers who attended the recent Aspen Security Forum warned that DNA testing services to identify ancestry could be fronts to harvest information for ethnicity-tailored bioweapons programs. U.S. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, is one such lawmaker who says there are already bioweapons programs currently in development that are designed to target specific people, and that this would not have been possible if not for DNA testing services. Thats what this is, where you can actually take someones DNA, take their medical profile, and you can target a biological weapon that will kill that person or take them off the battlefield or make them inoperable, Crow stated. Since personal data privacy pretty much went out the window ever since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, young people today have very little expectation of privacy, which explains why many of them are eager to participate in data mining fronts like 23andMe. People will very rapidly spit into a cup and send it to 23andMe and get really interesting data about their background, Crow said. And guess what? Their DNA is now owned by a private company. It can be sold off with very little intellectual property protection or privacy protection. Pentagon a major player in DNA harvesting and biological weapons development programs Crow wants the United States to create a new set of guidelines for the protection of personal health data because in his view, that data is actually going to be procured and collected by our adversaries for the development of these systems. Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees, having stated back in 2017 that biological samples were being harvested purposefully and professionally all over Russia by various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups for unknown purposes. The Pentagon (Pentagram), meanwhile, is actively collecting DNA and using it to develop biological weapons, which is exactly what Putin is worried about and could be one of the reasons why Putin invaded Ukraine and is now challenging the Western globalist matrix of control. Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Force, announced back in May that the Pentagon has significantly expanded its research potential not only in the field of creating biological weapons, but also obtaining information about antibiotic resistance and the presence of antibodies to certain diseases in populations of specific regions. The Pentagon is also involved, Russia says, in funding and developing biolaboratories throughout Ukraine, having poured some $224 million into the country for such purposes between 2005 and early 2022. After initially denying the existence of these biolabs, the globalist controllers of the United States now admit that there are, in fact, 46 biological research facilities littering the Ukrainian landscape, but that they are supposedly being used for a peaceful public health project. Anyone who says otherwise, insist U.S. officials, is spreading disinformation and sowing mistrust. Such disinformation spreaders include Russia, China and other enemies of the U.S. military-industrial complex. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is in agreement with Crow that customized bioweapons made from harvested DNA are a threat. A member of the Senates Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities and Armed Services Committee, Ernst says such bioweapons could be used to target livestock and crops throughout America. Theres a number of ways we can look at biological weapons and the need to make sure not only are we securing human beings, but then also the food that will sustain us, she is quoted as saying. U.S. legislators are particularly concerned about genetically engineered (GMO) crops, which China and other countries could target for destruction which could actually be a good thing for Americans. The latest news about data mining, DNA collection and bioweapons development programs can be found at GeneticLunacy.com. Sources for this article include: StrangeSounds.org NaturalNews.com (Natural News) The separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine have decided to block Google in an attempt to protect their people from the propaganda threats coming from Kyiv and the West. In a message posted on Telegram, Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk Peoples Republic, accused Google of pushing anti-Russian propaganda that directly threatens the safety of Russians in Ukraine. The inhuman propaganda of Ukraine and the West has long crossed all boundaries. There is a real persecution of Russians, the imposition of lies and disinformation, he wrote. He added that the search engine openly, on the orders of its curators from the U.S. government, promotes terrorism and violence against all Russians, and especially the population of Donbas. (Related: Google helping Deep State control narrative by demonetizing all content critical of Ukraine.) According to Pushilin, his government only did what any other government in the West would do when dealing with criminals in their jurisdictions. This is what they do in any society with criminals: They are isolated from other people, he said. If Google stops pursuing its criminal policy and returns to the mainstream of law, morality and common sense, there will be no obstacles for its work. The head of Luhansk Peoples Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, made a similar statement banning Google. He stated that the search engine has become the main weapon used by Kyiv and the West in their media offensive against the Donbas separatists. We will do fine without Google, he said. If they redeem themselves and start respecting people we will think about its return. Pro-Western Big Tech platforms banned in Russia and Donbas The announcement of the ban was just the latest move taken by either the Donetsk or Luhansk Peoples Republics to restrict Western tech giants. Both separatist republics previously banned Facebook and Instagram in May on the grounds that both platforms allowed calls for violence against Russian-speaking users. This move followed Russias own ban against Metas social media platforms after a court in Moscow found the company guilty of promoting extremist activity, including allowing death threats against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the countrys military leaders. On July 18, a court in Russia fined Google 21 billion rubles ($353 million), citing the tech giants failure to delete prohibited information regarding the conflict in Ukraine on its search engine and on YouTube. This content allegedly promoted extremism and terrorism and included a lot of false information regarding the war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war in late February, Russia has ramped up its enforcement of laws meant to clamp down on the spread of disinformation. Back in May, this anti-disinformation campaign led to Googles Russian branch filing for bankruptcy, saying it was untenable for the office to continue operating in the current environment. If Donetsk and Luhansk are able to properly enforce the full-scale ban on Google, it would mark a new and more aggressive step in the digital campaigns of both separatist republics. Learn more about the war in Ukraine at UkraineWitness.com. Watch this clip from The Jimmy Dore Show as host Jimmy Dore talks about how Ukraine has collapsed. This video is from the What Is Happening channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Ukrainian censorship of war and peace is the modern equivalent of Nazi book burning. Big Tech proves again it is aligned with the Marxist Deep State: YouTube takes down video exposing U.S. involvement in 2014 Ukraine coup. An intellectual no-fly zone: Online censorship of Ukraine dissent is becoming the new norm. Google alternative DuckDuckGo has become Google Lite with decision to censor sites over disinformation. Sources include: RT.com TheGuardian.com Gizmodo.com TheVerge.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) Dr. Steve LaTulippe told Dr. Lee Merritt during the July 20 episode of the Merritt Medical Hour on Brighteon.TV that the corrupt medical boards can be taken down. LaTulippe has been fighting against the Oregon medical board, which suspended his license over the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) mask mandate. (Related: Oregon doctor loses medical license after refusing to push face masks.) Merritt denounced the draconian licensing boards in America that are getting rid of all the good physicians who dare to stand up against them. The Iowa-based physician who completed her orthopedic surgery residency in the United States Navy, said these medical boards led by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) are corrupt. There is a coordinated national effort from these boards, she said. Know the enemy first LaTulippe pointed out that doctors who are fighting these medical boards need to know the enemy first. The board-certified family medicine physician said he has received calls from a lot of medical doctors who are also being persecuted. He noted that based on what he heard from other physicians, the scenario is very similar and the tactics are identical. Theres a unified body and so how are we going to take them down? We have to know the enemy, know their tactics and then expose them. How do we do that? We do it every way we possibly can. We have to go on the offensive, said LaTulippe, who is also a retired U.S. Air Force officer. The former chief of medicine in the Oregon Air National Guard mentioned that he is planning to write a book that will expose the heresies and complete corruption of the state medical boards and the FSMB. LaTulippe said the state medical boards are not comprised of the best physicians and that they are not even comprised of physicians as a whole. He added that businessmen and former police officers, who act as investigators, also form the state board. Expose the enemy and go on the offensive And I will expose it in this book that Ill write. We will start exposing these people and going on the offensive and saying, You know what, the overreach is done, we are coming after you and we are going to nail you. And Im telling you we are preparing ourselves to do just that, LaTulippe said. The host of the Unity Without Compromise radio show went on to say that these boards are destroying medicine in America because they are taking down good physicians who are just doing their job of remaining faithful to their oath as doctors. According to LaTulippe, life is being destroyed every time the medical boards take down a good doctor. We have gone downhill. And we as individual independent physicians have been attacked. Weve been targeted specifically because they know that we will buck the system because we dare to practice medicine based on sound medical principles and good science, LaTulippe said. Merritt mentioned that the American people are being controlled by these unelected state boards who are regulating people out of business. LaTulippe agreed, adding that these state boards are like the fourth branch of government that can literally destroy people. Follow HealthFreedom.news for more stories about people fighting for health freedom. Watch the July 20 episode of the Merritt Medical Hour below. The Merritt Medical Hour airs every Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. on Brighteon.TV. More related stories: State medical boards threaten to revoke licenses from doctors who question covid vaccines. US Physicians will now lose their medical license for reporting vaccine injuries and providing informed consent to patients. Doctors SUE Twitter: Silenced after posting truthful information about covid. Dr. James Thorp: Medical boards bullying doctors that go against the narrative Brighteon.TV. Doctors and scientific experts speaking up about COVID-19 and alternative treatments are being SILENCED. Sources include: Brighteon.com DrLeeMerritt.com AmericaOutLoud.com (Natural News) The Department of the Treasury is reportedly investigating crypto exchange Kraken on suspicion that it permitted Iranian users to use the sites services in violation of federal sanctions. According to reports, the Treasury Department is expected to enforce a fine against the exchange. Kraken Chief Legal Officer Marco Santori said in a statement that they will not comment on specific discussions with regulators. Kraken has robust compliance measures in place and continues to grow its compliance team to match its business growth. Kraken closely monitors compliance with sanctions laws and, as a general matter, reports to regulators even potential issues, Santori added. A recent Reuters investigation discovered that crypto exchange Binance continued to permit Iranian users to place trades in spite of the sanctions and a corporation ban on making business there. Federal sanctions have long been an instrument for the U.S. government to stop individuals or countries from accessing the global financial system. Numerous crypto users and addresses in Iran have been slapped with sanctions in the past. Various crypto platforms have proactively prevented Iranian users. NFT trading site OpenSea stopped Iranian users earlier this year, while Ethereum incubator ConsenSys blocked Iranian students from a coding boot camp in 2021. The Treasury Department has also fined crypto companies in the past. BitGo, a crypto exchange, and BitPay, a transaction processor, have both received stiff Treasury fines for supposed sanctions violations. Jesse Powell, Krakens CEO and co-founder, has been very vocal about his readiness to challenge regulations he perceives as unfair, including international sanctions. In February, after Russias invasion of Ukraine, Powell fought back against calls to freeze the accounts of Krakens Russian users. He tweeted: Our mission at [Kraken] is to bridge individual humans out of the legacy financial system and to bring them into the world of crypto, where arbitrary lines on maps no longer matter, where they dont have to worry about being caught in broad, indiscriminate wealth confiscation. In a corporate culture memo released in June, Kraken also pictured itself as a company that believes the weaponization of the financial system is immoral and vowed to engage in disputes with government agencies where outdated laws are unfairly exclusionary. (Related: NY Times now covering Bitcoin frauds and Ponzi schemes as establishment assault on cryptocurrency goes ballistic) Treasury advises cryptocurrency companies to use geolocation tools The Treasury Department warned in October last year that cryptocurrencies potentially reduce the efficacy of American sanctions. The department also issued a 30-page compliance manual that advises cryptocurrency companies to utilize geolocation tools to avoid serving customers in restricted regions. The fact that crypto can move without a bank or intermediary means that exchanges are responsible for certain types of financial regulatory compliance, said Hailey Lennon, a lawyer at Anderson Kill who advises clients on crypto-related regulatory matters. The probe of Kraken comes as President Joe Bidens administration looks for ways to control cryptocurrencies. Regulators have put the crypto sector in a tense situation following the collapse of Celsius Network, Voyager Digital and Three Arrows Capital. Early this month, the Department of Justice filed insider trading charges against a former staff of Coinbase, the biggest U.S.-based crypto exchange, and two other individuals. Coinbase is also facing a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation for improperly letting Americans trade digital assets that should have been registered as securities. Follow CryptoCult.news for more news about cryptocurrencies. Watch the video below about the Kraken CEO taking on the companys own woke employees. This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Cryptocurrency scam hits hundreds of small investors. Cryptocurrency lending company Vauld suspending withdrawals, transactions and deposits as crypto market crash takes its toll. The cryptocurrency surveillance provision buried in the infrastructure bill is a disaster for digital privacy. Democratic Senate passes provision in infrastructure bill that expands government surveillance on cryptocurrency. Major crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital files for bankruptcy and fires 25% of workforce as crypto implosion spreads. Sources include: CoinDesk.com Capital.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) A new Kaiser Family Foundation survey has found that very few Americans are getting their children vaccinated for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), despite aggressive prodding by Joe Biden, the current White House occupier, and Rochelle Walensky of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among other plandemic shills. Children under age five are by far the least jabbed demographic in America today, with more parents than not saying that they absolutely will not, under any circumstances, roll up their childrens sleeves for a DNA modification injection this includes many parents who got jabbed themselves. The New York Times hilariously claimed that resistance to jabbing children has to do with lack of access to the shots, this being a major concern expressed among Black and Hispanic parents. About 44 percent of Black parents worried about having to take time off from work, the Times added. Amazingly, just seven percent of parents with children under five say they have gotten their children jabbed for the Fauci Flu this after more than a month of relentless propaganda from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) via all their lapdog media outlets. Forty-three percent say they will never get their kid vaccinated against the virus under any circumstance, reported the Daily Caller. Another 13 percent said they would only do so if it were required for an activity such as school. Does anyone take the Biden regime seriously anymore? It is not just Republicans, by the way, who are rejecting the shots for their children. Twenty-two percent of Democrats say they will not jab their under-five children, compared to just 15 percent who say they already have. Among Democrat parents who are vaccinated themselves, 27 percent say they will not jab their under-five babies compared to 11 percent who already have. Parents listed a lack of research, concern about side effects and vaccine safety as the top reasons not to want the vaccine for their toddler, the Daily Caller noted. Another factor is that many parents simply dont think their kid needs a shot: 53 percent of parents of kids between six months and four years old said that the health risk associated with getting the COVID-19 vaccine is greater than the risk of getting the virus itself for kids. For the Biden regime, which is committed to getting multiple jabs in every arm, this is a disaster and a disappointment. Clearly, most of America is no longer listening to what Biden has to say, which just goes to show that the emperor has no clothes. It turns out that the United States is one of the only countries in the world that emergency authorized Chinese Virus injections for children. Most other countries said no way to the jab, which makes the Biden regime a global anomaly on the matter. Any parent subjecting their infants or child of any age to the jab is guilty of child abuse, wrote a commenter. The evidence is now clear: the jab doesnt protect against COVID; ask Joe Biden. It destroys your own immune system. Kids are at virtually zero risk from whats now a cold. AND, most importantly, youre exposing your child to the very stark prospect of heart disease and death from the experimental gene therapy. Another stressed that there is zero chance any parent is refusing the shot due to lack of access, which is just another media crock excuse. The true reason is lack of trust, this person added, thanking Tony I am science Fauci. More of the latest news about Fauci Flu shots and Americas rejection of them for children can be found at ChemicalViolence.com. Sources for this article include: DailyCaller.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Footage of a pre-recorded speech delivered by President Joe Biden raised concerns about his ability to function as the chief executive. The July 25 speech posted by the White House was recorded for the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Conference. It has been described as incredibly bizarre. Biden started off the 11-minute speech by speaking very slowly in a bland tone while struggling to keep his eyes open. However, the president suddenly changed at around eight and a half minutes in. The videos frame then shifted, zooming closer to Bidens face. It also showed a different Biden bug-eyed, talking louder and hardly blinking, according to Amber Crawford of 100 Percent Fed Up. The video was sloppily spliced together, likely because he couldnt get through the full speech without error, she added. (Related: Mainstream media alters picture of Joe Biden to remove glaring evidence of cognitive decline.) At one point, Biden doesnt blink for about a minute and a half. It could be that [he] is tired from being infected with COVID, [or] it could be that his handlers pumped him full of drugs to wake him up. Its not entirely clear what happened here, but the sudden shift in Bidens demeanor is quite shocking. Several users took to Twitter to share their thoughts about Bidens speech. Former Campus Reform and Washington Examiner reporter Eduardo Neret pointed out that the Biden in the 11-minute speech may be a deepfake. He tweeted: Never seen Bidens eyes this wide open. He usually squints, [but] he doesnt even blink here. What is he on? Newsmax host Greg Kelly, meanwhile, zeroed in on the president not blinking at all during his speech. The normal human being blinks their eyes 15 to 20 times a minute. On the other hand, theres [Biden], he wrote. Daily Wire founder and editor emeritus Ben Shapiro described Bidens eyes in the speech as lifeless and black like a dolls eyes. Monica Crowley, former Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at the Department of the Treasury, had a more concerned tone in her tweet: I know hes got COVID, but theres something else going on here. Republicans call for cognitive test to assess Bidens mental faculties Given the latest gaffe, more members of Congress under the Republican Party have called for the incumbent president to take a cognitive test, so that all doubts about his mental faculties can be put to rest. More than 50 GOP lawmakers wrote to Biden demanding that he take a cognitive test immediately in a letter, the third such correspondence. Similar letters were sent in June 2021 and February 2022, but the president did not respond to them a fact noted by the GOP legislators. They cited lapses that have appeared repeatedly in his behavior as a key reason for penning the letter. We are worried about your mental abilities, stated the letter. Regardless of gender, age or political party [all presidents must] document and demonstrate sound mental abilities. The first letter from June 2021 had 13 signatories, which increased to 37 with the second letter sent in February 2022. The third letter had 54 signatories including Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson, Georgia Rep. Jody Hice and more. The 54 GOP legislators pointed out that the American people have continued to lose faith in [Bidens] ability to effectively and competently handle [his] duties as president of the United States. They mentioned that 66 percent of voters think Biden should take the test, 56 percent of voters are not confident that Biden is fit for the presidency and 64 percent of voters believe he has shown signs of being too old to execute the duties of the presidency. They concluded that Bidens gaffes are not isolated incidents and form part of a larger history of actions which exemplify cognitive disease. Watch Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson warning that Bidens cognitive decline is getting worse by the day. This video is from the SecureLife channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Former VP Joe Biden has not taken a cognitive test despite earlier claims. Biden given cheat sheet that instructs him how to say hello and sit down. Watch: Joe Biden says he was a lifeguard at Lake Oswego in NY but it doesnt exist. Hillary having on-camera seizures, Biden losing his mind every time he talks, Amy Klobuchar violently shaking: Why do Democrats seem so SICK? Biden seems more like escaped mental patient than elected world leader at press conference on inflation: Look, I know you gotta be frustrated. I know! I can taste it! [Video] Sources include: 100PercentFedUp.com InfoWars.com WND.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) If you are thinking about picking up a pack of crayons for your little one this upcoming school year, you might want to choose a different brand other than Crayola. That is because Crayola has gone woke with a new advertising campaign featuring a disabled transgender activist Julian Gavino, a woman who self-identifies as a man. On both Facebook and Instagram, Crayola featured a disturbing series of photos depicting Gavino in various drag outfits along with a beard and provocative pose on his wheelchair. In one of the photos, Gavino is seen wearing a chain-link bra on the outside of his blazer, as well as black hooker boots and garish chandelier earrings. Keep in mind that Crayolas target audience is children and toddlers aged 2 to 10. Also known as the Disabled Hippie, according to Crayola, Gavinos goal is to normalize trans bodies in the fashion world, according to a linked bio. His sudden appearance in Crayola ads is to celebrate Disability Pride Month. Julian Gavino, aka @thedisabledhippie, (he/him) is a fashion model, writer, and activist who identifies as a transgender man, Crayola explained on its Instagram page. He was born with a progressive neurological condition. Julian is passionate about advocating for his respective communities, which apparently includes exposing himself to children in all sorts of bizarre outfits while artificially growing a beard. Keep speaking out against transgender indoctrination, America Following major backlash from parents, Crayola decided to drop Gavino from its social media pages. His creepy photos and more just disappeared one day in response to numerous chastisements from the public. Our kids dont need to be pushed through media and this is messed up JUST LET THEM BE KIDS! wrote one person. Unfortunately, Crayola is one of the better examples of corporate woke-ness in that many other companies continue to market transgenderism to children without shame. Crayola, more than likely seeing dollar signs leave its books, decided that it was best to can Gavino for now since most parents are not interesting in seeing him flash across their screen. Disney, on the other hand, continues to proudly groom children via the media, its theme parks, and other forms of programming. The good news is that with each new woke company that comes out of the grooming closet, another space is made for a new company to come along and fill its place minus all the child grooming. There is a fantastic opportunity here for entrepreneurs to fill the vacuum that these woke companies are leaving as they alienate their client base, wrote a commenter at The Western Journal. New companies that are oriented toward traditional societal morality should be springing up all over the place to offer alternative products to a growing market of disgusted consumers who, at the very least, want to buy products from corporations that are ideologically neutral and are not trying to jam any kind of social or political ideology down their families throats. Another wrote that Crayola will go the way of Disney by seeing drops in revenue and degradation of its longtime family name. I wonder if their parent company authorized or endorsed this? asked another commenter. If so, then Hallmark has to be added to the #gowokegobroke campaign. Hallmark, it turns out, bought Crayola back in 1984, and Crayola has since played a significant role in Hallmarks personal development strategies. Someone else wrote that he is perfectly happy giving his children colored pencils from another brand instead of Crayola crayons now that the perverted company has shown its true colors. The latest news about the transgender indoctrination of children can be found at Groomers.news Sources for this article include: WesternJournal.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Germany may face a shortage of toilet paper and other paper products as energy shortages in the country forced paper mills to stop operating. German news outlet Zeit Online reported on July 27 that toilet paper, cardboard and other products may be unavailable in stores if the supply of Russian natural gas dwindles in the coming months. It quoted Jurgen Schaller, chairman of the board of the Bavarian Paper Associations (BPA). According to Schaller, the papermaking process requires a lot of water, electricity and gas the latter being in short supply as of writing. The current technology for paper production is tried and tested and cannot be changed quickly. Many employees in my company are already very worried. I cant blame them because if we can only produce 50 or 60 percent, the operation is not worthwhile for us, he said. To be honest, I worry too. The Nord Stream 1 (NS1) pipeline, which supplies natural gas to Germany and the European Union (EU), is only operating at 20 percent capacity due to technical issues with gas turbines at the Portovaya compressor station near Russias border with Finland. One such turbine made by Siemens Energy was taken to the companys facility in Canada for maintenance work. Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, which operates the NS1 pipeline, earlier reduced gas flows down to 40 percent capacity. It also declared force majeure for natural gas deliveries, which meant that there is no guarantee that Germany will see additional gas supply in the future. (Related: Russias Gazprom has cut natural gas flows to Germany by 60% Western Europe is about to get the green energy nightmare it always wanted.) As an alternative, Gazprom suggested the use of another transit route via Ukraine to full capacity. However, the Russian gas firm said it was unable to utilize this route as the besieged country has been rejecting its transit applications. Neighboring Austria warns of energy RIOTS in the fall The BPA chairmans remarks followed a prediction by German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, who warned of a severe recession if NS1 gas flows would dwindle and eventually stop. Companies would have to stop production [and] lay off their workers. Supply chains would collapse. People would go into debt to pay their heating bills [and they] would become poorer, he told German state-owned broadcaster DW. Habeck, who also serves as the German economy minister, warned of a kind of Lehman Brothers effect in the energy market followed by a domino effect that would lead to a severe recession. His warning referenced the 2008 financial crisis involving the American investment firm, which filed for bankruptcy that year. Meanwhile, the head of Austrias Directorate General for Public Security (GDfoS) warned of possible riots stemming from energy supply shortages. GDfoS Director Omar Haijawi-Pirchner said on July 28 that he did not rule out the possibility of riots sparking amid the energy collapse in the EU bloc. We [have] not seen any riots on the streets yet. But the hatred on the internet has clearly increased, he told Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung. Every crisis means that despair for some people can first turn into verbal actions and then even into violence, added Haijawi-Pirchner, who responded to the publications question about whether the GDfoS is expecting riots come fall. Visit Collapse.news for more stories about the repercussions of natural gas supply cuts to Germany and other European nations. Watch this Russia Today report about a German official warning that the country will not survive without Russian gas. This video is from the Cynthias Pursuit to Truth channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Natural gas prices expected to TRIPLE in Germany as Western Europe cuts off its own energy supply from Russia. DOOMSDAY for Western Europe? Gazprom declares it can no longer guarantee gas deliveries to Germany. Germanys economic minister warns of catastrophic economic collapse stemming from energy shortage. BLACKMAIL: Canada may be withholding Nord Stream gas turbine until Germany signs LNG contract. Gas shortages in Germany could force government to shut down schools. Sources include: InfoWars.com 1 Breitbart.com InfoWars.com 2 Brighteon.com (Natural News) The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has again become the subject of criticism after declaring monkeypox to be a public health emergency of international concern against the recommendation of the WHOs special advisory committee. (Article republished from HarbingersDaily.com) Ghebreyesus initially had claimed that Saturdays announcement followed an inability of the committee to reach a consensus in their meeting, prompting him to make the final decision on a tied vote. After the alert was issued, the WHO Director-General admitted that a majority, nine out of fifteen, experts in the committee did not believe that the monkeypox outbreak warranted an international health emergency, which is the highest alarm the WHO can sound. Despite his decision to make the declaration, Tedros openly stated that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions with the exception of certain areas in Europe. Furthermore, the segment of the population primarily at risk is men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners. The White House Considers Emergency Declaration The White House is also considering declaring monkeypox to be a public health emergency, the White House Covid response coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, said on Friday. After the alert was issued by the WHO, the White House and Health Officials in the United States were reportedly deliberating over the weekend on their next steps regarding monkeypox. Congressional Democrats and White House Officials estimated to Congress that 7 billion dollars is needed in funding to combat the virus, a figure they insisted in a memo reflects the scope and urgency of the current situation. The progressive left, and globalist world leaders, appear to be faced with two challenges. The first problem is that they currently lack medical evidence that monkeypox is a virus that poses a significant danger to the population as a whole, making an emergency declaration, at the very least, an exaggeration (if not a blatantly corrupt and agenda driven measure.) The second problem deals with public perception. Former neurosurgeon and White House advisor, Dr. Ben Carson, explained on Sunday in an interview with Maria Bartiromo, that he believes its going to be very hard to convince people that [monkeypox] is something thats very serious following the governments response to the coronavirus. Is Monkey Pox As Agenda Driven As COVID? Many, including prominent Christian voices, have questioned whether monkeypox will become a COVID 2.0. Is monkeypox going to be the next agenda-driven crisis used to stoke fear and gain control? In March of 2021, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) partnered with the Munich Security Conference, to simulate a fictional global pandemic involving an unusual strain of monkeypox occurring in mid-May 2022. According to the NTI, participants included 19 senior leaders and experts from across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The Brownstone institute, discussing this simulated crisis, wrote: The global Monkeypox outbreakoccurring on the exact timeline predicted by a biosecurity simulation of a global Monkeypox outbreak a year priorbears a striking resemblance to the outbreak of COVID-19 just months after Event 201, a simulation of a coronavirus pandemic almost exactly like COVID-19. Event 201 was hosted in October 2019just two months before the coronavirus was first revealed in Wuhanby the Gates Foundation, the World Economic Forum, Bloomberg, and Johns Hopkins. As with the Event 201, the participants at the Monkeypox simulation have thus far been stone silent as to their having participated in a pandemic simulation the facts of which happened to come true in real life just months later. As Jan Markell, Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries, explained, the globalists prior to the COVID pandemic strategized the need for a fear-induced crisis. The coronavirus crisis successfully changed the lifestyle of people in almost 200 nations, Markell explained, underscoring that the result of this engineered crisis [was] lawless mandates and rising tyranny. The globalists convinced the world [that] it is worth giving up many freedoms in the name of health safety, she wrote. During the Tribulation, the left behind world will have to give up everything. Tremendous conditioning has gone on since March of 2020. Our own FBI encouraged people to turn in loved ones who might have been violating health safety. Such betrayal is Tribulationesque in itself, Markell warned. The level to which the world has cooperated has been staggering. Although some would say that is only medical tyranny Markell underscored that COVID opened the door for total tyranny. If one didnt have a Biblical perspective and an end-time hope, their actions would be terrifying, she stressed. It is as though they intend for as much destruction as humanly possible. God has washed His hands of many of these Godless leaders and they are recklessly careening into the very last days. Read more at: HarbingersDaily.com (Natural News) Dr. Robert Malone warned that people highly vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) are the most vulnerable to infections and diseases. They are now finding that these people, who have been highly compliant in receiving multiple inoculations, are at highest risk all over the world for infections particularly significant clinical diseases that cause them to go to the hospital. Thats a paradox and yet we know that these highly inoculated people are getting clinically infected, Malone told Dr. Steve Hotze during the July 25 episode of The Dr. Hotze Report on Brighteon.TV. Malone, one of the inventors of mRNA technology, noted that more information is emerging that there is a tight correlation between all-cause mortality increases and waves of vaccination. So theres a tight correlation there in their data that shows that as they have waves of vaccination, they [also] get another wave of increase in all-cause mortality, the internationally recognized scientist and physician said. People who are highly inoculated believe that they are doing the right thing for their communities and loved ones. Malone reminded the viewers that they shouldnt attack or criticize people who have been highly compliant with having the vaccine because they thought it was the right thing to do. They were following what the government said. But the unfortunate truth is that these are the folks driving the evolution of additional escape mutants that are putting our elderly, obese and fragile people at further risk, Malone said. No one is safe from COVID-19 vaccines not even the future generation Malone pointed out that there are issues in the mRNA vaccines because the spike protein triggers a breaching of the blood-brain barrier and coagulation. He said the coagulation problems can affect and damage the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain and immune system. He also mentioned that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have attempted to hide the fact that the COVID-19 vaccines have reproductive toxicology issues, such as women having apparent alterations in their menstruation and men having decreased semen levels. (Related: Dr. Robert Malone: The CDC hid covid data and committed massive scientific fraud.) Hotze commented that people between the ages of 15 and 40 are now dying from a new syndrome called Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. Aside from the sudden death occurring among healthy teens and adults, Hotze mentioned that there are young individuals who are developing heart conditions like myocarditis and having multiple heart attacks. The founder and CEO of Hotze Health and Wellness Center added that all this happened after the COVID-19 vaccination program was initiated and mandated. Hotze, who calls the COVID-19 vaccine a kill shot, explained that the mRNA from the vaccine overrides the cellular protein synthesis function in the ribosomes and starts producing spike proteins uncontrollably. A recent paper from a group of Stanford University researchers showed that the level of spike protein produced from the inoculations was substantially higher than the level of spike protein produced from the natural infection. Malone noted that spike proteins from a COVID-19 vaccine persist for longer than 60 days based on the study. Follow VaccineDamage.news for more news about the damage caused by COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. Watch the July 25 episode of The Dr. Hotze Report below. Catch new episodes of The Dr. Hotze Report every Monday and Saturday at 5-6 p.m. on Brighteon.TV. More related stories: Dr. Hotze Report interviews Dr. Lee Merritt about problems with masks, vaccinations Brighteon.TV. Dr. Robert Malone tells Stew Peters about the life-threatening effects of COVID-19 vaccines Brighteon.TV. Canadian study confirms mRNA vaccines increase risk of myocarditis, especially in young men after second dose. Sources include: Brighteon.com RWMaloneMD.com (Natural News) A group of 54 Republican congressmen in the House of Representatives called on President Joe Biden to immediately take a cognitive test. The GOP lawmakers issued their challenge in a July 27 letter addressed to Biden himself, White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Kevin OConnor, physician to the president. The representatives cited various lapses that have appeared repeatedly in the presidents behavior as strong reasons for him to take the test. The letter was the third such correspondence sent to Biden regarding his mental function. Two prior letters were sent to him in June 2021 and February 2022. Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as presidential physician during the Obama and Trump administrations, spearheaded the groups of 54 congressmen who signed the letter. The June 2021 letter only had 13 signatories, while the February 2022 letter had 37 signatories. We are worried about your mental abilities, wrote Jackson and his colleagues. With your current cognitive state [we] urge you to submit to a cognitive test immediately. We believe that regardless of gender, age or political party, all presidents should follow the example set by former President [Donald] Trump to document and demonstrate sound mental abilities. The Texas congressman pointed out that while the 79-year-old Biden underwent a physical exam on Nov. 19, 2021, he either did not face a cognitive test or those results were withheld from the public. OConnors declaration that Biden was fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency was very superficial and purely physical, Jackson added. (Related: Former VP Joe Biden has not taken a cognitive test despite earlier claims.) The American people should have absolute confidence in their president, knowing that [they] can perform their duties as head of state and commander in chief. [Americans] deserve full transparency on the mental capabilities of their highest elected leader. The GOP legislators also called on Biden to publish the results of this [cognitive] test after its conclusion, so the American people may be informed on [his] full cognitive capabilities. Sentiment regarding Bidens cognitive decline is growing The letter also pointed out that sentiment regarding Bidens worsening cognitive decline is growing from both sides of the political spectrum. It cited the results of a recent poll showing more than half of respondents doubting the presidents capability to fulfill the duties of the chief executive. Sixty-six percent of voters believe that you should take a cognitive test, [and] 56 percent of voters are not confident that you are physically and mentally fit for your duties as president. Sixty-four percent of voters believe you have shown signs that you are too old to execute the duties of the president of the U.S., [while] only 33 percent of voters approve of the job that you have done. The increased scrutiny surrounding your cognitive state has been fueled by your recent public appearances, during which you shuffle your feet when you walk, often slur your words, lose your train of thought, have trouble summoning names and appear momentarily confused, the July 27 letter stated. Moreover, it also cited Bidens bigger gaffes during overseas engagements with some requiring clarifications from White House staff. Such gaffes, the letter argued, are extremely concerning and cast doubt upon your ability to handle the duties required of the [presidency], which poses a very serious national security risk. These recent gaffes are not isolated incidents, as they are part of a larger history of your actions which exemplify cognitive decline. The GOP lawmakers concluded that the chief executives cognitive decline is not a partisan issue, quoting their colleague Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) who spoke about the issue. Its not hard to think that there will be future situations where the presidents physical and mental state may create issues for us, the Democratic lawmaker said in relation to many politicians reaching advanced age. Watch physician Dr. Zuhdi Jasser discussing Bidens mental decline with Newsmax host Chris Salcedo below. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Biden seems more like escaped mental patient than elected world leader at press conference on inflation: Look, I know you gotta be frustrated. I know! I can taste it! [Video.] SENILE CHINA JOE: Biden brags to the whole world that he came to the United States Senate 120 years ago. Devastating 27-second Biden video should have everyone thinking about the 25th amendment. Watch Joe Biden snaps at Black reporter over cognitive test question: Are you a junkie? Watch: Joe Biden says he was a lifeguard at Lake Oswego in NY but it doesnt exist. Sources include: WND.com FoxNews.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) Some 150 members of Californias State Militia 2nd Regiment showed up in Mariposa, located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, to provide wildfire relief. And in response, some angry leftist residents had a meltdown over the militia members wearing military fatigues. The militia was there to help with evacuation efforts as well as distribute food and other necessities to residents in need, but not all of them were welcomed even though at least 20 of them are local or area residents from surrounding communities. Were part of the community, one of them, Daniel Latner from Mariposa County, is quoted as saying. Were watching our own community burn down, and even though a lot of the members that came to help, theyre spread out, were all part of the same unit, and this is what we do. The so-called Oak Fire has reportedly burned at least 18,000 acres and is only 26 percent contained, as of this writing. The fire has already burned down 55 homes and other structures and is moving closer to Mariposa. Rather than be thankful for the militias help, however, some Mariposa residents are equating them to Nazis because that is how some people view being a member of a militia. The last thing Im going to do is take a free tri-tip sandwich from a right-wing extremist group, complained one local resident who asked not to be named because she says she is fearful of provoking armed and dangerous people. Were very angry that they would choose to come in at a time of real gravity to try to turn this into a political move, the woman, who works remotely, added, accusing the militias members of trying to recruit people in a disaster. Anti-police leftists are the first to call the police whenever they feel threatened by conservatives One wonders if this mystery woman was at all afraid when Black Lives Matter (BLM) terrorist cells were roving the country and burning down cities over the death of George Floyd. Something tells this writer that she probably was part of those riots, and is only now upset because there are white men in her city that may have voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. According to the Mariposa Sheriffs Office, several area residents contacted the police ironic, is it not? to report about the presence of the militia and ask why it was there. We had received multiple notifications inquiring why we had activated the militia,' reads a Facebook post from law enforcement. The militia has not been activated or requested to act for any purpose by the Sheriffs Office or any agency working the Oak Fire. We are not supportive of community groups helping those affected by the Oak Fire they are acting on their own courteous accord. We appreciate their efforts and any efforts of other private groups or entities helping our community, the post concluded. In the last presidential election, about 40 percent of voters in Mariposa County voted Democrat while a majority at 60 percent voted Republican. It appears that liberals would rather burn, starve, or freeze than take evacuation assistance from someone on the other side of the political aisle, reported Zero Hedge. Tolerance and acceptance indeed. In the comment section, someone asked how these people are able to justify discriminating against militia members who are trying to rescue them simply because they showed up wearing military fatigues. Welcome to Idiocracy 2.0, this person joked. Wokeism is a serious mental disorder. Another person added that the people complaining in Mariposa are probably the same ones with Hate doesnt live here signs planted on their front lawns. More of the latest news about liberal insanity can be found at Libtards.news. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) In the event that monkeypox is discovered to be a sexually transmitted disease (STD), there are going to be a whole lot of questions as to why underage children are suddenly developing it. One question that Newspunch is already asking is whether or not monkeypox will become a canary in the coalmine for Americas pedophilia problem. For years, politicians and the establishment media have been playing cover for pedophilia and grooming in the United States. When they are not trying to hide the truth from the public, they are attempting to normalize the perversion and mutilation of children under the banner of LGBT Pride. Now, with the appearance of monkeypox or what this writer is now referring to as pridepox some are asking how children are mysteriously showing symptoms of the disease when it seems to be primarily circulating among men who have sex with men. There is also evidence to suggest that pridepox is just COVID jab-induced shingles under a different name, meaning it is just an adverse effect caused by Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines. Somehow, after circulating widely at Pride events among homosexual and bisexual males, underage children are now coming down with pridepox. How can this be if the disease is supposedly spread through sexual contact? Could it be that some of these children are trafficked children, or children who attended Pride parades and came into contact with infected adults who were also in attendance? Rochelle Walensky says children adjacent to men who have sex with men are now infected with pridepox According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, there are two known cases of pridepox in children that have been traced back to the men who have sex with men community, the gay community, and so when we have seen those cases in children, they have generally been what I call adjacent to the community most at risk. This is a very politically correct way of suggesting that underage children somehow came into very close contact with men who have sex with men and are now infected with a potential STD (that also closely resembles chickenpox, by the way). Walenskys statement is somewhat confusing beyond that because it suggests that both homosexual men and children are most at risk for pridepox but how can that be unless illicit behavior is taking place? After all, they legally cannot consent to sexual relations, wrote Baxter Dmitry for Newspunch. Its called statutory law. As usual, the Left is thinking about their precious minority groups and disregarding the children. Dmitry added that hundreds of thousands of children in the U.S. go missing every single year, oftentimes finding themselves in the hands of predators who traffic them through pedophilia networks. Is there some link between these networks, the gay community, and the children who are now coming down with pridepox? Sex trafficking especially when it comes to the buying and selling of young children has become big business in America, he wrote. In 2011, it was the fastest growing business in organized crime and the second most lucrative commodity traded illegally after drugs and guns. As investigative journalist Amy Fine Collins noted, Its become more lucrative and much safer to sell malleable teens than drugs or guns. A pound of heroin or an AK-47 can be retailed once, but a young girl can be sold 10 to 15 times a day and a righteous pimp confiscates 100 percent of her earnings.' This explains the sudden and aggressive push by the LGBT community to bring children to Pride events; expose them to drag queens at schools and libraries; and normalize transgenderism and other perversions. The latest news about monkeypox can be found at Outbreak.news. Sources include: Newspunch.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) All across the country, population numbers have dropped to varying degrees as a result of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) plandemic. But nowhere in the United States did as many people disappear as in San Francisco, which reportedly lost 6.3 percent of its population between July 2020 and July 2021. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, some 54,813 people just up and disappeared during the lockdowns, bringing the citys population down to a 12-year low. The population gains that were seen throughout The Bay Area as a result of the tech boom have now been erased, we are told, bringing the total population of San Francisco down to just 815,201 people, according to the latest census data. New York had the second-highest percentage drop, losing 3.5 percent of residents or over 305,000 people, the Chronicle reported. The countrys most densely populated county, Manhattan, was the hardest-hit New York borough, losing 6.6 percent of its population. America is in utter decline due to lawlessness trickling from the top down Could it be that all those people just died, or did they flee to other cities and areas amid oppressive lockdowns and other restrictions? Arizona, Texas, Florida, and Idaho all saw population increases during and post-plandemic, so it is possible. During the same 12-month period in which San Francisco lost nearly 55,000 people, two suburbs north of Austin, Georgetown and Leander, added a combined 13,352 people, we are told. This calculates to more than 10 percent growth in both cities, which represents the nations highest growth rate for cities with 50,000 or more residents. The high cost of living in San Francisco also played a role in driving out many former residents who no longer want to deal with astronomical bills, tyranny, business closures, and other problems that plague the city. Besides losing population throughout the plandemic, San Francisco, New York City, and other similar urban enclaves saw massive increases in crime and disorder following the George Floyd psy-op Black Lives Matter riots, which directly coincided with the plandemic. In 2021, California overall lost a total of one percent of its population as a whopping 367,000 people moved to other states to flee the tyranny. Many of these people will come to realize, however, that even if things seem slightly better in other areas of the country, there is still a corruption problem plaguing the government as a whole, both left and right. Just wait until the next epidemic gains traction, wrote a commenter on a story about all these population shifts. If the news is of any use, its going to wipe out a quarter of the population quite literally. They were all vaccinated, wrote another, speculating about the plight of the 55,000 some-odd San Franciscans that have gone missing since the introduction of Operation Warp Speed. I see darkness at the end of the tunnel, added someone else about the plight of the entire country, no matter the politics of a given state or area. The way things are going, this train we are all on is heading straight towards a mega-disaster. The term our government is an illusion, this person added. It has morphed into something else, unrecognizable. This is not the America I was born in and loved. It is totally broken and has become ugly. Greed, progressives, Marxists, globalists, dumbing down, melting-pot destroyed, profits before merit, ideological subversion, lacking morals, open borders, homelessness, crime rates way up I just cant take it anymore. Many others echoed this sentiment, longing for times past when things were not quite as bad as they are now and as is obvious at this point, things are only going to continue getting even worse. The latest plandemic-related news can be found at Pandemic.news. Sources include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Recently elected Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is a prime example of how parents have major influence over elections, especially when they want a strong voice in their childrens education and choice of schools for them to attend. School choice is at the forefront right now in districts across the nation, and politicians should take heed or surely lose their positions come midterms. These parental concerns cross party lines, and any political candidates who refuse to advocate for school choice and parental rights will more than likely face defeat come November. Supporting school choice and parental voice is politically advantageous across America right now The primaries are already trending this summer towards politicians who support parental voice and school choice. Three-fourths of the candidates in this arena who advocate for these issues have advanced in run-offs or won their primaries already. Republican candidates are enjoying sweeping victories over Democrats and Liberals who want to force-feed children perverted agendas (trans-everything and drag queen story hours), social justice reform, and anti-White CRT (Critical Race Theory). These liberal agendas are quickly becoming a liability for candidates who outwardly support them, and if more Republicans focus on these pressing and timely concerns, they will eventually become nonpartisan issues (because the Democrats will lose in landslide form due to it). Its a political winner across the board for Republicans, so people running for offices at all levels should keep the subject matter in the forefront of their campaigns. School choice is the ability to use funds to send your kid(s) to whatever school fits their needs best A recent poll of 2,000 registered voters (RealClear Opinion Research) revealed that nearly 3/4ths of all polled support school choice. Less than 20 percent opposed it. That is a major trump card (pun intended) for Republican advantage when it comes to winning parent votes. Weve seen recent victories for Republicans in Arizona and Virginia thanks to school choice stances, despite teachers unions and dogmatic Democratic opposition. In fact, Arizonas Governor, Doug Ducey, just signed HB 2853 into law, guaranteeing parents of kids K-12, statewide, a voice in allocating funds where the parents feel the money is best suited for their childrens needs, and/or aligns with their familys values. Democrats want to destroy the American nuclear family with perverted agendas AT SCHOOL where trans-teachers perform strip teases at the kids talent show, and special cross-dressing, gender-fluid guests dance in thongs and read story time books to daycare kids and kindergartners. Its a sick, twisted, communist agenda and its antithesis is school choice and parental voice from conservatives (and normal people with ethics). No more de-funding schools that dont succumb to perverted coercion and put litter boxes in the bathrooms for kids that identify as cats. Its insane. School funds should be used for education, not supporting sex-crazed-gender-switching and cross-dresser drag shows performing under the guise of read-aloud story time. Public schools run by Democrats collapse into grooming centers One of the main goals of Democrats in this country is to have the children believe that the majority of Americans are racists, bigots and white supremacists, and its simply not true. Kids want everything to be fair and just and accepting, so theyre falling for all the fake news and fake trends and fake race wars staged on the news and all over social media. This plays right into the hands of the perverts who exploit these politicized leanings, and make children think they must become gender-fluid, conservative-hating freaks themselves in order to fit in. This is why Democrat run school systems are imploding, turning quickly into grooming centers where administrators, teachers and school union members influence their perverted agendas right into the curriculum, activities and school rules. They would have us believe this is the new norm. Yet, at the polls, theres a different story. The Demon Dems are losing, losing fast and losing big. Parents are standing up for human rights, education rights, ethics, morals and decency, and thank God for it. Tune that internet dial to Gender.news for updates on sex-crazed Senators trying to make drag shows mandatory for school kids in California and other Demoncrat-run states. Sources for this article include: TheEpochTimes.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Dr. Mary Bowden, a physician who worked at Houston Methodist Hospital, is suing her former employer for suspending her privileges over her positions on Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines. Bowden, who resigned from her position last November, wants $25 million as part of her 19-page lawsuit, which accuses Houston Methodist Hospital of publishing defamatory statements about her to news media and social media platforms. The way they came after me was unprofessional, unprecedented against the spirit of bylaws of their bylaws, Bowden says. The ENT doctor told Houstons KPRC-TV that she worked diligently and successfully to treat some 4,000 patients at Houston Methodist Hospital before it came out against me in a very public and vicious way. They implied that I was dangerous, which as a physician leaves a permanent scar on your record, on your reputation, she says. Bowden, as we previously reported, was a vocal advocate for ivermectin. She also prioritized unvaccinated patients because many of them were not receive equal standards of care from other physicians. The issues with vaccines and ivermectin really go against patient autonomy and their right to choose their treatment, Bowden said at the time. Medical board group issues threat to physicians who deviate from official covid dogma, says their licenses could get revoked Because Bowden went public with her views, posting about the merits of ivermectin on Twitter, for instance, Houston Methodist Hospital went after her, stating that her opinions were harmful to the community and do not reflect reliable medical evidence. For them to imply that what Im doing is dangerous is the epitome of misinformation, Bowden says about the accusations. Earlier in the month, the Federation of State Medical Boards issued a warning across the board that any physician who is thinking about engaging in free speech should avoid doing so or else risk losing their jobs. Any physicians who generate and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension or revocation of their medical license, the group announced. Another doctor, Paul Marik of Eastern Virginia Medical School, similarly filed a lawsuit back in January after he was banned for prescribing ivermectin to his covid patients. Marik also dispensed hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), another serious no-no to the COVID fascists. According to Marik, Virginias Advanced Directive statute gives hospitalized patients throughout the state the full right to choose whatever treatments they want as long as a doctor deems them appropriate. This is not about ivermectin, Marik told WAVY-TV in Norfolk. This is about the bedside doctor being able to do what doctors have been doing for decades, and what doctors do across the world. Doctors decide what is the best treatment for their patients, and they alone are responsible for the patient and the treatment of the patient. Like Bowden, Marik believes that ivermectin is among many safe off-label drugs that they are prohibiting me from using. Marik also helped co-author a peer-reviewed study published in the American Journal of Therapeutics that highlights ivermectins success at reducing covid infections, hospitalizations, and deaths by 75 percent. More than 30 different trials around the world, in fact, have found repeated, consistent, large magnitude improvements in clinical outcomes at all stages of the disease when ivermectin is administered. The evidence is so strong, the researchers said, the anti-parasitic drug should become a standard therapy everywhere, hastening global recovery, added WND. In the comment section, one person noted that she remembers a time when there was much disagreement within the medical community in the past over whether or not stress can cause heart attacks, meaning doctors are going to have different views and should be allowed to express them without fear of retribution. More of the latest news about covid can be found at Pandemic.news. Sources include: WND.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Former President Donald Trump and his team have been huddling together at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for the better part of a year plotting how he plans to return to the White House in 2024. After handily winning the GOP nomination, which he will if he runs and we believe he is going to run Trump will once again fall under major attack by the far-left media propagandists and deep state, all of whom will go to extreme lengths to keep him out of the Oval Office because they are petrified of his America First agenda, which empowers citizens and strips power from the governing elite. But in addition to these plans, Trump made a pledge this week to former U.S. military members discharged because they refused to take the problematic, largely still experimental, and often dangerous COVID-19 vaccine. Namely, Trump plans to reinstate those patriots and more. We have to abolish all COVID mandates and lockdowns, Trump told the Turning Point USA conference in Tampa, Fla., on Saturday. Rehire every patriot who was shamefully fired from the military, with an apology we have to give them an apology. And all of their back pay. The Western Journal adds: Trump would be well-poised to deliver on this proposal if hes elected to a second, non-consecutive term in the 2024 presidential election. The former president has suggested hes likely to run, with some polling showing Trump with a dominant lead in a tentative 2024 GOP primary. In the speech, Trump also criticized what he identified as woke cultural policies targeting the military. You hear all about the woke stuff I think a lot of our military laugh it off, but at some point, it really gets in there, you get infected, and its bad, he said. Regarding Trumps plans to continue draining the swamp once he gets back into the Oval Office, they will be multifaceted, very targeted, and take into consideration the embedded opposition to his policies. According to Axios, whose correspondents spent three months interviewing some two dozen Trump insiders and others familiar with the planning, Trump will reimplement Schedule F, an executive order he issued just days before the 2020 election and which was quickly rescinded by President Joe Biden that calls for completely reshaping hundreds of federal agencies. The plan calls for firing thousands of current bureaucrats and replacing them with young professionals who are all-in with his MAGA agenda. Schedule F formed a new category of federal employees who are in positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character, and allows for those employees to be replaced following a presidential transition. The Federal Government benefits from career professionals in positions that are not normally subject to change as a result of a Presidential transition, the order says. Axios adds: Former President Trumps top allies are preparing to radically reshape the federal government if he is re-elected, purging potentially thousands of civil servants and filling career posts with loyalists to him and his America First ideology, people involved in the discussions tell Axios. The impact could go well beyond typical conservative targets such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. Trump allies are working on plans that would potentially strip layers at the Justice Department including the FBI, and reaching into national security, intelligence, the State Department and the Pentagon, sources close to the former president say. As many as 50,000 employees could immediately be fired, including many at the Justice Department, Pentagon, and the FBI. Axios further explained that the Trump effort to reshape government institutions and change their culture, politically, is extensive, multi-layered, and ongoing. Well-funded groups are already developing lists of candidates selected often for their animus against the system in line with Trumps long-running obsession with draining the swamp, the outlet reported. This includes building extensive databases of people vetted as being committed to Trump and his agenda. The preparations are far more advanced and ambitious than previously reported. What is happening now is an inversion of the slapdash and virtually non-existent infrastructure surrounding Trump ahead of his 2017 presidential transition, the report continued. Trump is coming back and hell win the nomination. We just need to make sure his election isnt stolen from him again. Sources include: Axios.com WesternJournal.com (Natural News) Men who have sex with men are finally being told by the World Health Organization (WHO) to fold up their pride flags and give it a rest so monkeypox, aka pridepox, will stop spreading. Since upwards of 99 percent of all pridepox cases are homosexual and bisexual males, WHO official Rosamund Lewis is urging LGBT males to at least consider limiting the number of sexual partners they have pridesex with in order to flatten the curve. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the same time, is urging public health authorities, the government, and the media to keep a lid on the fact that LGBT superspreaders are the ones carrying pridepox to the four corners of the world because they could face stigma and discrimination if the truth comes out. For men who have sex with men, this includes for the moment, reducing your number of sexual partners, reconsidering considering sex with new partners, and exchanging contact details with any new partners to enable follow up if needed, Tedros is quoted as saying (Related: Health officials in the United Kingdom are already urging young children to get vaccinated for pridepox). The stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus and can fuel the outbreak as we have seen with Covid-19 misinformation, and this information can spread rapidly online, he added, urging social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to censor all content linking pridepox to LGBT males. Dont fall for the monkeypox hoax Propaganda about pridepox is rolling right along as WHO claims that there are now 18,000 cases of it worldwide. About 10 percent of cases require hospitalization to manage pain, we are told, and 78 countries are now affected. As you may recall, the same number increase news reports were circulating at the very beginning of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) plandemic, which suggests the powers that be have similar restrictions just waiting to be implemented at some point in the future. By all appearances, the globalists really want pridepox to stick as the next plandemic, even though there is also evidence to suggest the disease is just the varicella-zoster virus being reactivated inside the bodies of people who were vaccinated for the Fauci Flu. The goal is more than likely to scare the public into accepting another round of lockdowns, mask mandates, and maybe concentration camps this time around depending on how many people fall for the ruse so soon after the last one. If it were not for the media, most people would have never even heard the word monkeypox, let alone witnessed it in real life. Studies from the 1980s also suggest that monkeypox is indistinguishable from chickenpox and shingles, which means that even if people did see or experience it, they would not even think twice about it. Because of widespread global propaganda, however, there is almost certain to be a sizeable segment of society that buys into this latest false flag event hook, line, and sinker. The latest claim is that pridepox spreads primarily through sex, but can also transmit through hugging and kissing within a family, according to CNBC, or through shared towels or bedding that are contaminated. In other words, they once again want you to be scared to death of other human beings, including those within your own family, so that they can depopulate the world a little bit more while implementing a fresh round of tyranny and medical fascism. Lord: please protect our children and please rapture us out of here today!!! wrote a commenter at Natural News about the situation. The latest news coverage about pridepox can be found at Outbreak.news. Sources include: CNBC.com NaturalNews.com Expose-News.com AFRICA - Scientists have discovered the gene that confers resistance to the deadly cassava mosaic disease in some cassava cultivars. The discovery is a critical first step in developing virus-resistant cassava varieties. Manioc, also referred to as cassava, is a key source of raw materials and a staple food for close to one billion people. Smallholder farmers benefit financially, particularly those in Africa. Cassava is a low-maintenance crop that can even grow in dry areas without fertilizer. Cassava Mosaic Disease But many diseases and pests have an impact on cassava farming. Crop damage from diseases like cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is common. CMD is caused by DNA geminiviruses, which can wipe out entire fields and drastically reduce yields. These viruses are spread to plants by sap-sucking whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci). In Africa and India, cassava mosaic disease is a serious issue that is now also spreading to Southeast Asia. The research team under the direction of Wilhelm Gruissem, a professor of plant biotechnology at ETH Zurich, employed genome analyses to pinpoint the gene in charge of a particular resistance to the cassava mosaic virus. They worked with several resistant and susceptible West African cassava cultivars. Virus Resistance Farmers in West Africa first noticed the resistance when they noticed that while the majority of their field's cassava plants had perished due to the viral infection, a few plants had survived. Researchers became interested in this and started looking for the root of this resistance. The team demonstrates, as described in Nature Communications, that the resistance is brought on by a single gene that serves as the framework for a DNA polymerase, which is an enzyme in charge of replicating DNA inside of a cell. However, the DNA polymerase does more than just replicate DNA; it also engages in "proofreading" to fix any errors that might develop in the order of the DNA building blocks as the process progresses. And the geminiviruses specifically need this enzyme to replicate their DNA and subsequently procreate. Cassava has two copies of each gene because it has two sets of chromosomes. One copy of the DNA polymerase gene must be altered for the virus infection to end. However, neither copy of the DNA polymerase gene carries the mutation that results in CMD resistance in plants that are prone to the disease. Read also: Can This Smart Innovation Help Farmers Deal with Crop Disease in an Ecofriendly Manner? Gruissem says that They still don't fully understand how the resistance mechanism operates. But this is something that needs to be looked into in more extensive research. He surmises that the mutations have an impact on an area of the enzyme involved in DNA replication error correction. These modifications may have an impact on DNA polymerase's functionality, making it less effective at catching errors in viral DNA that is replicating. In the end, these mistakes prevent the virus from multiplying and spreading throughout the plant. To improve food security in tropical as well as subtropical areas, the researchers are making a significant contribution by identifying the gene that causes the phenomenon known as CMD2 resistance. Breeders can now use the gene that the team has discovered in thier study as a genetic marker to determine whether or not the resistance is prevalent in their plants. Export Roadblocks For field propagation, it is not practical to export stems from West African cassava plants that are virus-resistant to Asia for economic and agronomic reasons. Asiatic breeders must therefore come up with an alternative method of introducing the resistance into their plants. The precise editing of the DNA polymerase gene and activation of disease resistance using contemporary CRISPR-Cas technology is one option, according to Gruissem, Futurity reports. Related article: Crop Farmers Struggle as Climate Change Link to Rise of Agricultural Diseases According to studies, smoke from wildfires in the West can affect Arctic sea ice. According to a recent study published in Science Advances, there may be more of a connection between sea ice and wildfires than previously believed. Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) discovered that soot and other burned biomass from wildfires in Colorado and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere could eventually travel to the Arctic by examining the differences between climate models. Once there, it impacts how much sea ice is there at any particular moment. This can then impact global climate patterns, creating a feedback loop connecting the two systems in a way that hasn't been witnessed before. Intensive Study The study's primary author, Patricia DeRepentigny, a postdoctoral scholar at NCAR, stated, "This research demonstrated that particles generated from wildfires where people live may profoundly affect what happens in the Arctic hundreds of miles away." "Sometimes the Arctic can be seen as this region we shouldn't care about because it's so far from where we live, but the back-and-forth of what happens here with the wildfires can affect the sea ice, and a diminishing sea ice can then lead to more wildfires here connects us with the Arctic a little more," the author says. Governments all across the globe have long utilized climate models, which are simulations of how various elements of the climate interact, to help direct future climate change policy. These models have gotten more sophisticated and capable as science has progressed. DeRepentigny and colleagues discovered, however, that a newer model, the NCAR-based Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2), showed a sharp acceleration in Arctic sea ice loss at the end of the 20th century that was not seen in the earlier models. So they decided to learn the reason. Also Read: Study Shows How Warmer Winters Can Cause as Much Harm as Scorching Hot Summers Studying Models When forcings (the various ways a climate model can be influenced, such as carbon dioxide or methane emissions or solar radiation) were compared between the new and previous generations of climate models, they discovered that emissions from biomass burning had the greatest impact on simulated Arctic sea ice loss. They discovered that these emissions from biomass burning mattered so much because of the non-linear cloud impacts that may occur when aerosols, tiny particles, or liquid droplets emitted by fires mix with Arctic clouds. When there are many aerosols generated during a year with a lot of fires, it can result in more and thicker clouds, but in years with fewer fires, the clouds are thinner, allowing more solar radiation to get through and melt more ice. According to earlier studies, large flames spread more widely over the western United States as the sea ice melts. This new research implies that this unpredictability may produce more of a feedback loop than previously believed by demonstrating that smoke from wildfires can aid in protecting the ice. As an associate professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at the University of Colorado Boulder, Alexandra Jahn, one of the paper's authors, said, "When we think about climate, everything's interconnected, and this is a great example of that." We have to look at the global picture to comprehend all these different interconnections when we're thinking about climate processes because it's a problem that affects the entire world. Goal of the Study The researchers note that their research was model-specific-that is, it only examined one particular climate model-but that their trials serve as an excellent foundation for further investigation. This could involve focusing on the effects of particular fires rather than all fires and fine-tuning the models to perform simulations where the model can produce the fires; for example, if a dry year is predicted, the model could then simulate more fires, which would then affect the predictions for future sea ice loss. According to DeRepentigny, this study "helps us move closer to something that can help us make the greatest decisions as a society," adding that the objective is to have these climate simulations be more trustworthy and provide forecasts that may then guide policymakers and societal decisions. Related Article: Neanderthals Are First Humans to Greatly Influence Their Prehistoric Environment For more news about the environment , don't forget to follow Nature World News! To raise awareness and purge the local ecosystem of the invasive species Burmese Python, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is preparing to hold an Invasive Snake Hunt in August. Burmese Python A Burmese python is a sizable snake that is native to parts of Southeast Asia and has become a highly successful invasive species in South Florida, primarily in the Everglades. Constrictor snakes, which are not poisonous, were first introduced to the state in the 1970s and 1980s when tens of thousands of specimens were brought in to be sold as exotic pets. The Florida state record for a python is 18 feet, 9 inches, but this species can reach lengths of up to 20 feet. Evasive and Invasive Some of these snakes ended up in Florida's ecosystem, either through intentional or unintentional release by their owners. They eventually started reproducing and built up a population in the southern part of the state where the ecosystem was favorable for them. Because they prey on numerous mammal and bird species, including those that are classified under the US Endangered Species Act, pythons now pose a serious threat to native wildlife. Invasive pythons have been blamed for the serious decrease in some small mammal populations in Florida. Experts estimate that there are probably tens of thousands of Burmese pythons in Florida, possibly up to 100,000 or even more, considering the number that has been removed-roughly 16,000, according to the FWC-although it is nearly impossible to estimate their population size because they are so difficult to find. Invasive Snake Hunt A 10-day competition called the Florida Python Challenge encourages competitors to get rid of as many Burmese pythons from the public lands of Florida as they can. Lisa Thompson, a spokesperson for the FWC, said that every python that is taken out of its natural habitat aids in safeguarding local wildlife and habitats. When the first challenge was held in 2013, only 68 snakes were captured or killed by the roughly 1,000 participants. Over 600 participants turned in 223 Burmese pythons during the 2021 edition, more than doubling the number seen in 2020. The removal competition kicks off at 8:00 AM this year. beginning at 5:00 p.m. on August 5, 2022. in 2022 on August 14. Anyone can enter the competition, but they must first register, pay a fee, and complete the necessary online training. The competition is open to participants under the age of 18, but they must have their parent or legal guardian register them and be accompanied by a registered adult at all times. The challenge of the competition is to catch and kill Burmese pythons, which must then be delivered to an official event check station. According to the FWC, it is both ethically and legally required to make sure that the pythons are killed in a way that reduces suffering. Pythons that are not properly killed will be removed from the competition. The FWC offers recommendations for how to get rid of Burmese pythons properly. There will be several awards given in the "Novice" and "Professional" categories. These awards go to those who catch the most and the longest pythons, among other categories. Veterans and members of the military on active duty can compete in additional categories as well. Read also: Florida's Largest Burmese Python at 18 Feet, 200 Pounds Discovered in the Everglades Managing Burmese Pythons in Florida The FWC's plan for eliminating and managing Burmese pythons in the state includes several different tactics, including the Florida Python Challenge. According to Thompson, the FWC collaborates closely with partners to make sure that eradicating this invasive species from Florida remains a top priority. The Wildlife Impact Management Section of the FWC and affiliated organizations use a variety of aggressive tactics to manage the Burmese python populations. These initiatives include hiring contracted teams who are compensated to remove pythons from public lands all year long, asking people to report Burmese python sightings, and holding Exotic Pet Amnesty Days at various locations across the state where people can surrender non-native pets without incurring any penalties as opposed to releasing them into the environment. Additionally, the FWC urges the general public to eliminate pythons on private lands using the right techniques whenever it is practical. As long as you have the landowner's consent, you can do this without a permit or hunting license. The goal of control initiatives like these is to manage the population, even though there are currently very few chances of eliminating Burmese pythons from the environment in Florida given how well-established they are. Bryan Falk, a program analyst with the National Invasive Species Council, stated that though there are currently no tools for landscape-level python control, federal, local, state, tribal, and non-governmental partners are collaborating to make the most of current efforts and invest in creating tools that enhance control. The aim, he continued, is to control the invasive Burmese python population and lessen the harm that pythons do to Florida's ecosystems by forging these partnerships and making wise investments, Newsweek reports. Related article: Burmese Pythons Invade Florida's Natural Ecosystems, Terrorizing Native Species in the State Carbon dating technology is at risk amid the rising alteration of carbon isotopes in the air caused by fossil fuel emissions. This is according to scientists, who claimed archaeologists may need to rely on alternative techniques of looking back in time or determining the age of a particular object. The scientists asserted that such alteration could yield to inaccuracy when it comes to finding out the actual age of an object. For decades, the carbon dating technique has been used as a so-called "time machine" or "time travel" mechanism in identifying how old not only an object but also fossils discovered on Earth. The human-caused emissions have been attributed recurrently for its contribution to climate change and global warming. Currently, the same gases from various industrial sectors are being blamed for hampering the carbon dating method; which is not only used by archaeologists, but also by anthropologists, archaeologists, geologists, and investigators concerning Earth science and other fields. Carbon Dating Technology Threatened As of 2021, the burning of fossil fuels has shifted the composition of carbon isotopes in the Northern Hemisphere, according to an article published on Nature on Wednesday, July 27. This is reportedly based on a landmark moment by researchers who were tracking the ever-rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. The article's claim is generally supported by researchers from various educational institutions, including the Imperial College London, Queen's University Belfast, University of Vienna, and Columbia University in New York City. Also Read: Mysteries Revealed: Stonehenge Is Giving Up Some Of Its Secrets Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, humans have increased the rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 45%, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Greenhouse gases like ozone and nitrous oxide are relatively short-lived in the atmosphere. However, NASA pointed out that carbon dioxide is a "different animal" since it can stay on the skies for a long time, approximately between 300 to 1,000 years. What is Carbon Dating? Carbon is a chemical element and acts as one of the building blocks of biochemical molecules for and is the basis of carbon dating, according to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The WHOI specifies that carbon dating is like finding a time stamp of a particular matter, calculated by determining the amount of carbon isotopes left on it. As time passes by, these particles also decay to the point where the technique could no longer identify it. Fossil Fuel Emissions The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that human activities are responsible for most increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere for the past 150 years. In the US, the agency reports that the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions comes from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation. Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas originate from decomposing animals and plants. Related Article: Thawing Arctic Permafrost Could Release Billion Tons of Carbon in the Atmosphere Scientists concluded after careful fossil analysis that the existence of the legendary Loch Ness Monster is plausible. Researchers from Universities of Bath and Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, Universite Hassan II in Morocco, the and the University of Bath in the UK have discovered fossils of small plesiosaurs, an extinct, long-necked reptile. According to the research published in Cretaceous Research, the fossils were found in what is now Morocco's portion of the Sahara Desert, but 100 million years ago it was a body of freshwater. 9-Foot Adults and 5-Foot Babies The recent data suggests that marine reptiles, which were once thought to be sea creatures, may have lived in freshwater habitats. The bones and teeth of an adult plesiosaur measuring 9 feet long, as well as a baby plesiosaur bone measuring 5 feet, make up the fossilized remains. The Loch Ness Monster, also famously known as Nessie, is a mythical creature believed in Scottish folklore. According to folklore, a long-necked creature still lives in the loch's depths in the Highlands, where Loch Ness is thought to be the creature's home. The first plesiosaur fossils were found in 1823. According to legend, the plesiosaur's features, which included a long neck, four long flippers, and a small head, served as inspiration for the tales of Nessie. Before now, it was thought that they were restricted to living in seawater. Although the stories are frequently discounted, these findings suggest that it is possible that a creature like this could have lived in freshwater lochs like Loch Ness. The possibility that these creatures were long-term freshwater residents cannot be ruled out by scientists. Given that they discovered the same food-chipping on the armored fish that lived in the river, they speculate that these ancient creatures may have existed in freshwater. This can be considered as supporting evidence that they ate freshwater prey. Read also: Jeremy Wade's Dream Catch: Nessie, the Creature Known as the Loch Ness Monster Marine Reptiles + Freshwater One of the paper's authors, Dr. Nick Longrich, stated in a press release that although the evidence is sparse, isolated bones reveal a lot about early ecosystems and the animals that lived there. They provide more information to work with because they are so much more prevalent than skeletons. The teeth and bones were not discovered together as a skeleton but rather dispersed and in various locations. Therefore, every tooth and bone represents a different animal. According to Longrich, they have more than a dozen species in their collection, and they don't understand why the plesiosaurs are in freshwater. He went on to say that although it was a little debatable, who was to say that just because the creatures have historically been referred to as "marine reptiles," they must dwell in the ocean? He went on to say that many marine lineages had migrated into freshwater. Additional plesiosaur fossils have been discovered in Australia, North America, China, England, and various regions of Africa. While research indicates that the Loch Ness Monster may exist, records also indicate that the creatures went extinct around 66 million years ago, around the same time as the dinosaurs, Newsweek reports. Related article: Dinosaur and Fossil: Alaska Paleontologists Find Plesiosaur, Swimming Dinosaur Despite being 2,540 meters below the surface, several weird holes on the ocean floor that appear to be human-made have been found by ocean scientists. The holes were found on dive number four of the second Voyage to the Ridge 2022 expedition of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which aims to collect information on uncharted deepwater areas of the Atlantic Ocean like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Some social media comments suggest the weird holes are made by aliens. Photos demonstrate how the holes are positioned in a straight line and seem to be spaced equally apart. The holes' other distinguishing feature is that they all seem to be surrounded by tiny piles of sediment, which suggests they had been dug. The NOAA scientists were so perplexed that they turned to social media to see if any potential theories could be put forth by the public. Social Media Responses A Facebook user believes the gas leak was caused by a small surface crack. In jest, a different Facebook user claimed that it was a starfish performing cartwheels. Another Facebook user speculated that the problem might have been caused by an alien craft or an underwater craft that was probably looking for something illegal under the sand. In a news release, the NOAA stated that they received a variety of responses, including reports of aliens, an unidentified species of crab, gas rising from the seafloor, and more. Not for the first time have holes like this been found. In July 2004, while diving near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, they discovered a similar phenomenon at a depth of about 6,800 feet. Have you heard about the case of the mysterious holes on the #ocean floor? @oceanexplorer provides more information below about a set of holes they found in the sediment during a dive over 1.5 miles below the ocean's surface! #VoyagetotheRidge2022 @NOAA #research #Okeanos https://t.co/M78cp9naUh NOAA Research (@NOAAResearch) July 27, 2022 At that time, two marine biologists-Michael Vecchione from the US National Marine Fisheries Service together with Odd Aksel Bergstad from the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research-proposed the hypothesis that an organism living in the sediment or perhaps a larger animal's feeding organ was responsible for the holes. The holes were given the name "lebensspuren" by the two researchers. Read also: Unknown Species Waiting to be Discovered on Deep Seafloor: New Study NOAA Statement In any case, it is still unclear where the holes came from. It serves as a reminder to the researchers of the fundamental gaps in our knowledge of mid-ocean ridge ecosystems. Since May, the Voyage to the Ridge 2022 expedition has been operating. It is scheduled to end in September. Marine scientists utilize robotic vehicles capable of diving as deep as 6,000 meters (nearly 20,000 feet) as part of their research. The water column, extinct polymetallic sulfide systems, fracture and rift zones, deep-sea coral and sponge habitats, and potential hydrothermal vents will all be explored during daily dives, according to NOAA. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the world's longest mountain range, spanning the north to south length of the Atlantic Ocean for about 10,000 miles, but it is still largely unexplored. There are frequent earthquakes in the seismically active area. There are hydrothermal vents as well, which offer warm environments known to support a variety of organisms. The Azores Plateau and the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone are two additional study regions for the expedition, Newsweek reports. Related article: Ocean Mapping Specialist Aims to Map Earth's Deepest Point A variety of equids, including horses and their relatives, inhabited North and South America around 12,000 years ago. Large, legendary-sounding, extinct predators like saber-toothed cats and dire wolves used to hunt these creatures. These species vanished in a geologic flash, perhaps as a result of early humans. Today, however, North America is home to robust populations of domestic horses and donkeys, two species of imported equid. One reason why many environmentalists consider these populations to be unwelcome pests, and why the federal government spends millions of dollars annually eliminating them from the wild is because they are believed to lack predators that can hunt them. Reviving the food chain in the Death Valley According to new research from an international team of scientists published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, mountain lion predation on wild donkeys is widespread, contradicting the popular belief that modern introduced equids lack natural predators, as per ScienceDaily. This suggested that mountain lions are replacing the ancient predators that once hunted wild equids in North America. The scientists also showed how this predation alters donkey behavior and has ecological implications on desert wetlands, showing how extinct ecosystems may have functioned and the conservation potential of conserving this predator-prey relationship. The amazing thing about this is that mountain lions are still able to learn how to hunt these introduced equids, which are bigger than their natural prey, while having smaller bodies than extinct big cats. According to the study's main author Dr. Erick Lundgren, a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark, this showed that ecosystems might be more dynamic than commonly imagined, as animals adapt to devour novel prey. According to study co-author Dr. Mairin Balisi, Augustyn Family Curator at the Alf Museum of Paleontology and research associate at the museum at La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California, North America was once a continent of large predators and large prey until it changed about 12,000 years ago. At that time, megafauna, like the western horse Equus occidentalis and the saber-toothed cat Smilodon, went extinct. Although there are now no animals that are nearly like the vanished megafauna, life nonetheless manages to survive. This study showed the re-emergence of a long-lost ecological relationship, albeit with new players. The authors concluded that these findings warrant enhancing safeguards for mountain lions and other predators. Mountain lions are brutally hunted, even in regions where equids roam freely. Increasing mountain lion protections will probably slow the rise of the wild horse and burro populations, and lessen their negative effects on environmentally sensitive regions, according to Lundgren. Protecting mountain lions and their ecological interactions may very well provide similar ecosystem services to the desert southwest, much like the restoration of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s, which had a ripple effect all through the ecosystem as wolves pouncing on large herbivores enabled regions of over browsed vegetative cover to recover, among other benefits. Also Read: Man Died of Extreme Heat at Death Valley National Park As Temperatures Reach 100 Degrees Death Valley Death Valley, the lowest, hottest, and driest region of North America, is renowned for its climatic extremes. Death Valley's severe climate today draws visitors and scientists, as per Britannica. The region was a barrier to the migrations of early inhabitants and subsequently served as a center for the mining of borax. Furthermore, Death Valley is home to several different animal species. They frequently stay up late. There are rabbits, several rodent species, coyotes, kit foxes, and bobcats in the area. The desert bighorn is the biggest native animal. The region is known to be home to more than 200 different kinds of birds, with ravens and roadrunners being two of the most well-known locals. There are a lot of scorpions and reptiles, and a few local fish as well. According to geology, Death Valley is a part of the Great Basin's southwest region. Although it has similarities with other structural basins in the area, its depth makes it distinct. The lowest land regions in North America are parts of the big salt pan, which is a portion of the valley floor. A total of 1,425 square kilometers (550 square miles) or so of the valley's floor are below sea level. The lowest point in North America is a place in the Badwater Basin, which is 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level. Death Valley was unknown to most people for a brief period of time until it was named in 1849 by a foolish band of emigrants who faced extreme hardship while through it, with the exception of local Native Americans (mainly Shoshone) and prospectors looking for gold in the nearby mountains. The valley appears to have received its first scientific description in a short statement issued in 1868 by a state geologist of California. Related article: Mystery of Sailing Stones Unveiled in Death Valley Late Wednesday until early on Thursday, there was a deluge of rain that triggered flash flooding in eastern Kentucky. This flooding resulted in mudslides, washed away homes and roads, and sparked a flash flood emergency. The storm occurred only days after another terrible flood devastated the St. Louis region, producing more than 10 inches of rain over 24 hours in the hardest-hit neighborhoods. On Thursday, torrential rains throughout southern Kentucky sparked what the governor called "one of the worst, most disastrous flooding catastrophes" in state history, resulting in at least eight fatalities and the rescue of dozens from roofs. Kentucky flooding Governor Andy Beshear had acknowledged by Thursday night that at least eight individuals had passed away, including two in Perry County and one in nearby Knott County. State of emergency declarations have been made in the counties of Perry, Breathitt, Clay, Owsley, Letcher, and Pike, Beshear stated during a news conference on Thursday afternoon. The Floyd County state of emergency that was proclaimed on Wednesday afternoon was still in force. Beshear requested government aid for the floods directly to President Biden on Thursday night. He said, "The harm caused is significant and healing will be a long-term struggle." "This help is crucial to our efforts and vital for our citizens," via Accuweather. Although damage assessments and repairs are anticipated to take many days, first responders were unable to evacuate residents due to the severe floods. In response to significant flash floods and heavy rain that started Wednesday in southwest Virginia, as well as the prediction for further rain through Thursday night, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin issued a state of emergency declaration Thursday evening. Following the significant rains, flooding is still a problem throughout Southwest Virginia, according to Youngkin. As additional rain is anticipated over the coming days, the local government want to go ahead with mobilizing as many resources as it can to help people who may be impacted. Also Read: State of Emergency: Overland Flooding Due to Heavy Rain Prompts over 1,000 Evacuations in Alberta Province, Canada People struggle through the flood Before that, Governor Beshear said that "several individuals" were missing and that further people were awaiting rescue from roofs. As of Thursday night, more than 22,000 people were without electricity, and some locations didn't have cellular coverage, he said, as per The New York Times. The floodplain of Panbowl Lake in Jackson should be avoided, according to a recommendation made Thursday night by the Energy and Environment Cabinet of Kentucky, the organization in charge of safeguarding the environment in the state. The Panbowl Lake dam's "muddy discharge" was highlighted as a cause for concern in the notice, which also warned that 110 residences, 13 businesses, two churches, a school, and a hospital might be flooded. The governor claimed that the state only had a small number of planes equipped with the tools needed to transport those trapped citizens. Beshear said that he then got in touch with West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, who agreed to deploy more planes to help with the rescue operations in Kentucky. Eastern Kentucky is under a state of emergency, according to Governor Beshear. He said that the situation with the floods was "dynamic and continuing" and that the water in many places still hadn't subsided or even crested. "It's been a difficult night, and perhaps an even more difficult morning," he remarked. According to Major General Hal Lamberton of the Kentucky National Guard, state officials have boats and helicopters for citizen rescue. Two teachers from a particular school were among those who were left stranded, according to Governor Beshear. Residents like Henry Johnson and Jennifer Richie's trailer near Chavies, Kentucky, were briefly transported by stormwater before becoming submerged, and they had to spend at least three hours clinging to it before huddling on top of it. The immediate concern was that Ms. Richie's mother since she was trapped inside. According to Mr. Johnson's mother, Diane Johnson, the 32-year-old and Ms. Richie, 41, lost everything in the storm, including their house, automobiles, shoes, and eyeglasses. Around 12:30 a.m., according to Mrs. Johnson, she got a text from her son, who said that the flood was headed towards their home. Mary Combs, Ms. Richie's mother, was standing with her head by the trailer's ceiling when rescuers got there, in a section that had not yet flooded. They were taken at six in the morning to a hospital. They were recuperating in Mrs. Johnson's house by Thursday afternoon. A little brook that quickly transformed into a river was seen on camera by Austin Gibson, a state park staffer, on Wednesday evening near his brother's home in Salyersville, roughly 100 miles southeast of Lexington. "It was the worst floods I can remember," he wrote. Currently witnessing the worst flooding in my memory living on rt 30. Almost in my brothers house. Bad situation unfolding Magoffin. @Kentuckyweather @brobwx pic.twitter.com/p52FI74hNg Austin (@AustinGibson201) July 28, 2022 Related article: Flooding Due to Heavy Rain Kills Five People, Displaces Thousands in Tanzania Meet Bixie, earliest root carving work discovered in China People's Daily Online) 15:14, July 29, 2022 The Jingzhou Museum in Jingzhou city, central Chinas Hubei Province keeps a root carving handiwork which is believed to be the earliest root carving work that has ever been discovered in the country. Called Bixie (meaning driving out evil spirits), the handiwork piece was unearthed at the site of Mashan No.1 tomb belonging to the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), being 69.5 centimeters long and 40.5 centimeters tall. The root carving piece looks like a gecko, with the head part in the shape of a tiger head while the body part in the shape of a dragon. The wooden gecko has bamboo-shaped legs. Three of these legs are on the ground, supporting the gecko, while the fourth leg is raised in the air as though it is getting ready to move forward. The leg parts of the root carving work are respectively carved with images of a snake, a lizard, a bird and a cicada, to convey the food chain concept. This indicates the simple yet valuable ecological consciousness the ancient craftsman embraced in creating the work. Bixie is also the source of inspiration of the logo of a root carving art association in China. (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) Our County Editor Dave Hinton is editor of The News-Gazette's Our County section and former editor of the Rantoul Press. He can be reached at dhinton@news-gazette.com. Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). Reporter Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey). A gene that UVA Health researchers discovered is responsible for the deadliest type of brain tumor is also responsible for two forms of childhood cancer, the scientists have found. The new discovery may open the door to the first targeted treatments for two types of rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of the soft tissue that primarily strikes young children. The gene may also play an important role in other cancers that form in muscle, fat, nerves and other connective tissues in both children and adults, the research suggests. We accumulated multiple lines of evidence supporting [the gene] AVIL is powerful driver for both major types of rhabdomyosarcoma. The tumors are oncogene addicted to AVIL, which supports the rationale to design therapeutic interventions to target AVIL in this childhood cancer." Hui Li, PhD, Researcher, University of Virginia School of Medicine's Department of Pathology and UVA Cancer Center Rhabdomyosarcoma oncogene Li and his team discovered in 2020 that the gene AVIL is the oncogene (cancer-causing gene) responsible for glioblastoma, the most lethal form of brain cancer. Less than 7% of patients with glioblastoma survive five years after diagnosis. Li's 2020 discovery was named one of the year's biggest biomedical discoveries by the editors of health news site STAT. Li's latest work builds on that research and suggests that AVIL is even more important than previously realized. Malfunctions in AVIL, Li and his team found, play an essential role in the development of the two main subtypes of rhabdomyosarcoma. In a scientific paper outlining the findings, he and his colleagues describe rhabdomyosarcoma as "addicted" to the gene's excess activity. They ultimately label AVIL a "bona fide oncogene" for rhabdomyosarcoma. AVIL may be the convergence point for two different cellular processes that cause soft-tissue cells to become cancerous, the researchers note. Blocking the activity of AVIL, they found, prevented the formation of rhabdomyosarcoma in both cell samples in lab dishes and in mouse models of the disease. That's a promising sign for the discovery's potential to lead to a new, targeted treatment for rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer that is relatively rare but can be deadly. Even with multi-modal therapeutic interventions, the survival rate for high-risk children is less than 20%. The new research also reveals that AVIL is excessively active in other cancers of the soft tissue, known as sarcomas. The scientists found that the degree of excess activity correlates with patient outcomes, suggesting that AVIL may be a vulnerability for those cancers as well. "These findings plus our previous work in brain tumor suggest that AVIL is an oncogene that, when over-activated, may trigger the development of multiple cancer types," Li said. Finding better ways to prevent and treat childhood cancer are urgent missions of UVA Cancer Center, which this year was designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. The designation recognizes elite cancer centers with the most outstanding cancer programs in the nation. UVA is one of just 52 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country and the only one in Virginia. Childhood cancer findings published Li and his team have published their findings in the scientific journal PNAS. The team consisted of Zhongqiu Xie, Pawel L. Janczyk, Xinrui Shi, Qiong Wang, Sandeep Singh, Robert Cornelison, Jingjing Xu, James W. Mandell, Frederic G. Barr and Li. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute, grant R01CA240601, and by the NCI's Intramural Research Program. Patient-derived cell samples were provided by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and high-performance computing systems and services were provided by UVA's School of Data Science and other partners at UVA. A fundamental aspect of pandemic preparation is being able to predict viral evolution under dynamic immunological limitations. In viral diseases, immune recognition and evasion are linked, as these two properties can result in rapid evolution and alterations in the virulence of viruses. Most observations made through pandemic surveillance are confined to forecasting observed mutations. Unfortunately, these efforts are limited in their ability to predict future mutational changes and are associated with biases resulting from sampling and epidemiological approaches. Study: Learning from pre-pandemic data to forecast viral antibody escape. Image Credit: Corona Borealis Studio / Shutterstock.com A new study published on the bioRxiv* preprint server reports early prediction of immune evasion using EVEscape, a biologically grounded model used in high-throughput experiments of antibody binding throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background Through the natural evolution of viruses, escape mutations are inevitable and often emerge when antibodies that restrict but do not hamper viral replication, impose selection pressure. Under these circumstances, a virus successfully evades the pressure by restoring its capacity to multiply more efficiently. Such mutations influence the reinfection rates and duration of vaccine-induced immunity in populations. Thus, it is essential to anticipate potential mutations that will evade immunity with enough time to allow scientists to produce the most effective vaccines and therapeutics. To quantify the viral escape potential that may have the most significant impact on human health, several experimental and computational methods have been applied. Although these techniques are efficient for predicting antibody evasion, they are cumbersome and unsuitable for investigating combinatorial mutagenesis. Furthermore, these approaches do not rely on other crucial information for predicting antibody escape. Broad viral evolution may also include insufficient information about host-specific immunity. To address these challenges, the researchers of the current study utilized EVEscape. This robust and modular method was developed for predicting viral antibody escape and can be employed at the onset of a pandemic for continual monitoring of risks posed by new variants. The framework of EVEscape captures evolutionary data, structural traits, and residue dissimilarities in an easy-to-interpret and biologically grounded approach. EVEscape combines epistatic effects and, as a result, is extensible to variant combinations. This model is superior to existing methods and may be applied to a variety of viruses. In the current study, the researchers utilized EVEscape for analysis of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19, as well as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and the H1N1 virus that causes swine flu. The most important aspect of EVEscape is that it provides an early warning of alarming mutations. This can prompt the immediate development of better vaccines, antibody therapies, and diagnostic techniques to mitigate transmission. Additionally, the information generated could be used to guide public health decisions and preparedness efforts, which would ultimately aid in curbing human and financial losses associated with future pandemics. About the study In the current study, multiple sequence alignments were produced for each viral protein. Crystal structures representing known structural states for each viral surface protein were selected. All heteroatoms and protein chains that were not present in the trimeric surface protein of the virus were excluded. The protein data bank of the United States was searched to detect and identify antibody fingerprints for viral surface proteins. The primary variables identified for each viral mutational scan included protein fitness or antibody evasion. Data on spike mutations and their deposition dates were extracted from the EpiCoV project database of the Global Initiative for Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). In addition to counts of combinations of mutations, the date of emergence, and Phylogenetic Assignment of Named Global Outbreak (PANGO) lineage, the scientists also determined the month of emergence for each mutation in the spike protein. SARS-CoV-2 consensus mutations for each PANGO branch were also retrieved. EVEscape assesses the likelihood of a mutation to escape immune response based on the probabilities of a given mutation to maintain viral fitness, to occur in an antibody epitope, and to disrupt antibody binding, using information available early in a pandemic. Study findings EVEscape was used to analyze data from pre-pandemic sources including sequence likelihood projections from broad viral evolution, information on antibody accessibility from protein structures, and information on changes in binding interaction propensity from residue chemical characteristics. A mutation's probability of inducing immune escape was a function of three probabilities, which included the likelihood of preserving fitness ('fitness' term), the likelihood of targeting an antibody epitope ('accessibility' term), and the likelihood of disrupting antibody binding ('dissimilarity' term). A deep and unsupervised generative model of mutation effects was utilized to compute the fitness term. The accessibility term of a protein site was modeled using the negative of the weighted contact number calculated from viral protein structures, whereas the dissimilarity term was based on the difference in charge and hydrophobicity between the mutant and wildtype residues. EVEscape anticipates antibody evasion EVEscape surpassed deep unstructured sequence models and surface accessibility measurements regarding the quality of its top escape predictions across varied experimental techniques and datasets. Moreover, EVEscape captured 2.5 times more probable escape mutants, which amounted to 31% of the total measured. The overall precision of this approach was 2.7 times higher than the former techniques. EVEscape could also effectively identify escape mutations in polyclonal patient sera. Over 50% of sera escape sites from patients infected with the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, as well as the Beta and Delta variants of concern (VOCs), accounted for the top 10% of EVEscape predictions. EVEscape captures antibody footprints and escape potential. a) Precision-Recall of RBD DMS escape mutations (AUPRC reported compared to null model). b) EVEscape captures mutations that effect recognition by convalescent sera from patients infected with different VOCs. c) RBD site-averaged EVEscape predictions plotted against site-averaged Bloom DMS escape, with hue indicating known antibody footprints. d) RBD site-averaged EVEscape predictions (PDB: 7BNN). e) RBD sites of DMS escape mutants and of known antibody footprints (PDB: 7BNN). Identification of least escapable non-neutralizing antibodies As a result of the EVEscape predictions, escape mutations have been predicted at diverse epitope locations, with extensive coverage of antibody subclasses one through three and low coverage of the antibody subclass four. Previous studies have reported that E484, K417, and L452 mutations are immunodominant sites in classes one and two. Convalescent patients' sera were dominated by antibodies of class two, followed by antibodies of classes three and one. A cryptic epitope on the spike protein trimer is bound by class four antibodies when two of the three receptor-binding domains (RBDs) are in the 'up' configuration. SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 can be bound by these antibodies; however, their neutralization potentials are lower. EVEscape predictions identify escape-resistant classes of antibodies. a-b) EVEscape scores of observed escape mutations cover diverse epitope regions across antibody classes including known immunodominant sites (E484, K417, L452) (PDB: 7BNN). c) EVEscape scores observed escape mutants from narrow antibodies and broad neutralizing antibodies higher than those from broad, non-neutralizing antibodies. Miniature boxplots within violin plots indicate median and interquartile range. EVEscape forecasts pandemic and future mutations The prevalence of VOC mutations in the top 25% of spike EVEscape predictions reflected their neutral or beneficial effects on general viral fitness, as well as immune evasion by SARS-CoV-2. Several of the remaining VOC mutations, including S375F and T376A, which are low among EVEscape predictions, are known to reduce fitness, including infectivity, and are frequently reversed. By predicting VOC mutations, EVEscape demonstrated its ability to learn various viral fitness and immunological escape restrictions. Several VOCs have increased angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) affinity, which may contribute to their immune evasive characteristics. The SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variants, which are known for their fitness and immune evasive capabilities, received the highest scores for random sequences with the same mutational depth. VOCs such as Omicron BA.4 are similar to sequences of random mutations at the same depth, as well as sequences composed only of mutations that are known to favor viral immune evasion. EVEscape anticipates single mutations and strains observed in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. a) Site-averaged EVEscape scores on Spike structure (PDB: 7BNN) depict regions of high EVEscape scores (RB D, particularly the ACE2 binding region (RBM), and NTD). Spheres indicate sites with GISAID mutations observed more than 10K times. b) EVEscape mutation scores correspond to observed GISAID mutations in the RBD. c) Percentage of mutations in each EVEscape quartile seen >100 times in GISAID over time d) The majority of mutations in VOC strains are in the top quartile of Spike EVEscape predictions. e) BA.4 has a high EVEscape score compared to random samples of mutations at the same mutation depth. f) EVEscape z-scores increase throughout the pandemic, particularly for VOCs. Z-scores are relative to random combinations at the same mutation depth of single mutations seen over 1000 times in (GISAID. Note: EVEscape percentiles have been adjusted to consider only mutations that are a nucleotide distance of one away from Wuhan. Conclusions The EVEscape platform is capable of identifying the most concerning variants in the vast pool of available pandemic sequence data. This method provided predictions for all SARS-CoV-2 spike mutants, as well as strain-level forecasts for variants observed 1,000 times or more in GISAID. EVEscape will continue to be updated as new strains are identified. Due to the generalizability of the framework across viruses, EVEscape can be applied to future pandemics. Furthermore, this system can be used to better understand and prepare for newer emerging communicable diseases. *Important notice bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. A retirement wave, mass quarantine, or lack of interest to work in the countryside: There are numerous reasons why a more-than-average number of medical practices could be closing at the same time. The system usually can compensate for some of these shortfalls. But there is a point where the situation can become critical. Until now, it was not possible to accurately predict where that point is. A research team from the Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH) now proposes a method to identify (tipping) points at which an adequate medical treatment of the population can no longer be guaranteed: the first stress test for a healthcare system. In their newest publication in Nature Communications, the scientists use data from Austria to show how many resident physicians and medical specialists can drop out before patients don't find a new doctor within reasonable distance. Yet, the authors emphasize that their method can be used in any country that has the relevant data available. How the stress test works For their simulations, the scientists had access to anonymized Austrian patient data from 2018. They combined them with publicly available data on the office hours of doctors. To make their multi-dimensional dataset more accessible, the visualization team at CSH also developed an interactive visualization. Our data show that patients do not choose physicians at random but rather via naturally emerging networks." Michaela Kaleta, CSH researcher, one of the first authors of the paper For example, if a gynecologist goes on vacation, her patients usually will go to a particular other doctor as a substitute, and vice versa. If the same gynecologist retires, her patients are very likely to switch permanently to that colleague. "We see that such patient-doctor-networks and patient flows are surprisingly constant, especially in rural areas," says Jana Lasser (Graz University of Technology); the complexity scientist, shared first author, has been involved in this work since her time at CSH. The researchers now feed the real-world networks into a computer model and "shock" the system by removing physicians just like in a disease wave, for instance. "We can take one network node, i.e., doctor avatar, out of the system at a time and observe where the patients are moving on to within the network and at what point a sufficient healthcare can no longer be provided," says Lasser. Eye doctors in Styria and Vorarlberg The scientists found that the resilience of local healthcare depends on more than just the number of physicians in that region, known as "physician density." "Take ophthalmology in Styria and Vorarlberg as an example," explains Lasser. "According to our dataset from 2018, both Austrian provinces had about the same number of contracted eye doctors per person, in other words, about the same physician density. However, we see that a shock in Vorarlberg can be four times larger than in Styria before patients don't find proper eye treatment anymore." According to this model, in Styria 7% of eye doctors can be removed before healthcare becomes critical, compared to 28% in Vorarlberg. "Our stress test shows very precisely in which regions in Austria the healthcare system is resilient, and where health authorities would have to take urgent steps to improve the situation," says Lasser. "The regional differences in Austria can be quite significant." Stress testing allows for better long-term planning "In many areas, such as the banking sector, stress tests have long been conducted to better prepare for crises," emphasizes project leader Peter Klimek (CSH & Medical University of Vienna). "For healthcare, a stress test has long been missing." Yet, the pandemic has shown that medical care can quickly reach critical limits when a large number of personnel is not available at a time. "We will have to deal with such crises in the future too," says Klimek. "That's why all countries face the challenge of rebuilding their healthcare systems: Not only do they need to keep them affordable, but they also have to restructure them in a way that they become more resistant to shocks." The approach presented here is a way to reach that goal. "We strongly recommend health authorities to look at how well their networks can absorb shocks. We can only find the balance between cost efficiency and crisis resilience when we know the weaknesses and strengths of the system," Klimek concludes. UCLA researchers and colleagues at Emory University and other research centers have combined data simulation and experimental observation to bridge a gap between two major properties of large-scale organization of the human brain stationary and traveling waves of activity. Functional magnetic resonance imaging suggests the brain has a globally coherent spatial structure, but there is not yet consensus among scientists on the proper way to catalog this structure. We show that a small number of spatiotemporal patterns can do the job." Lucina Uddin, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and director of the Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Taylor Bolt, the lab's statistician and the study's first author, said, "We showed that a wide range of previously observed empirical phenomena are manifestations of three main spatiotemporal patterns." The study centers on spontaneous low-frequency blood-oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) fluctuations, a phenomenon discovered in the 1990s. Spontaneous fluctuations have been subjected to increasingly complex analytic techniques, leading to a large landscape of competing descriptions of large-scale functional brain organization. Some researchers have highlighted the simultaneous synchrony of brain regions across the cortex what the authors refer to as "standing" or "stationary" wave structure. Other researchers have highlighted the time-lag synchrony of brain regions across the cortex what the authors refer to as "propagatory" or "traveling" wave structure. There has been "little attempt to synthesize findings across different approaches," the researchers said. Uddin likened the lack of consensus to the Indian parable of the blind men and the elephant, where each man encounters one part of the animal and comes up with a description that is different from all the others. "The parable teaches us the perils of missing the 'big picture' due to our own limited observations," she said. Hypothesizing that stationary and traveling wave representations "of intrinsic functional brain organization are capturing different aspects of a small number of spatiotemporal patterns," the authors found that a range of previous observations could be unified in a framework modeling both standing and traveling wave structure. The investigators said their findings provide a "description of global functional brain organization that can inspire new hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying coordination of activity across the brain." Uddin and Jason Nomi, an assistant researcher at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, collaborated on the study with an international team including senior author Shella Keilholz, of Emory University in the United States; Dr. Danilo Bzdok, of McGill University in Canada; Jorge Salas and Catie Chang, of Vanderbilt University in the U.S.; and Thomas Yeo, of the National University of Singapore. The study was published in July 28, 2022 issue of Nature Neuroscience. A new study by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health emphasizes the continuing importance of vaccines and booster shots at the individual and population level in controlling infections from highly contagious new variants of COVID-19. The findings show that not only are vaccinations and boosting important for lowering individual risk of infection, they also aid in controlling COVID-19 within a larger population. With new COVID-19 variants and sub-variants driving current surges in infections, being both vaccinated and boosted is critically important, the researchers said. "It's not the time to stop getting people boosted. It really makes a huge difference," said Jeffrey Townsend, the study's senior author and a professor of biostatistics and of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale. The study appears in PNAS Nexus. In the study, the researchers used mathematical calculations to determine the likelihood of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant after an infected person emerges from various lengths of quarantine. The calculations considered the virus's incubation period, incubation time, and test sensitivity in detecting the Omicron variant. Their results showed that vaccines and booster shots at both the individual and population level are critically important to limiting virus transmission. "That an individual is recently vaccinated -; or even better, recently boosted -; substantially decreases their risk of contracting COVID-19," Townsend said. "However, once infected, being recently vaccinated or boosted doesn't change transmission all that much. Therefore, recent vaccination and boosting don't affect the length of quarantine necessary for an individual who is infected with Omicron." However, if the population where that infected individual is located is highly vaccinated and boosted, then if that infected individual emerges from quarantine still infected, far fewer people are likely to contract COVID-19 from them. We concluded, therefore, that within populations where there are high levels of vaccination and boosting, it can be suitable to require quarantines of lower durations and to conduct less frequent testing." Jeffrey Townsend, study's senior author The methods used for the analysis were adapted from a 2020 study in which Townsend and colleagues investigated the transmissibility of the initial SARS-CoV-2 Alpha virus and its impact on quarantine. The researchers were inspired to extend the analytical model and apply it to new data on the Omicron variant in their current study. "Our concern was with the changes that were going on with the epidemic," Townsend said. "With new variants sweeping through and with higher levels of vaccination and boosting, perhaps the recommendations we made in 2020 can be tailored to these specific circumstances -; and they can." Yale School of Public Health postdoctoral research associate Chad Wells is lead author of the study. Almost 90% of the U.S. population lives within 5 miles of a community pharmacy, but more than half of Americans have to commute for more than 1 mile to reach a pharmacist. A new nationwide analysis published online in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association ahead of print verifies an often-cited statistic that, until now, was not supported with peer-reviewed evidence. The study, led by University of Pittsburgh and University of California San Diego researchers, is the first nationwide analysis of driving distance to community pharmacies. The results provide a better understanding of accessibility to U.S. drugstores and the essential services they provide. Community pharmacies are the front door to the health system. They're often where people start their health care journey and are a gateway to connection with other health care services. Our study shows that most Americans live close to community pharmacies and that community pharmacists can reach a lot of people. This means that pharmacies should be an important part of public health initiatives, like COVID-19 vaccinations, testing, and treatment." Lucas Berenbrok, Pharm.D., first author, associate professor of pharmacy and therapeutics in the Pitt School of Pharmacy As community pharmacies move beyond their traditional medication-dispensing role to providing comprehensive medication management, disease screening and chronic disease management, immunizations, over-the-counter hearing aids, contraception and more, pharmacists are becoming increasingly important health care providers, particularly for rural residents who may have limited access to other health services. According to Berenbrok, the frequently cited statistic that 90% of Americans live within 5 miles of a pharmacy had been difficult to verify. To examine whether the claim held water, Berenbrok teamed up with senior author Inmaculada Hernandez, Pharm.D., Ph.D., associate professor of clinical pharmacy at UC San Diego. The researchers and their team mapped all 61,715 community pharmacies in the U.S., including chains, regional franchises, independent pharmacies and government pharmacies. Next, they took a 1% representative sample of the U.S. population and mapped the driving distance from home addresses to the nearest pharmacy. "We found that 88.9% of the population lived within 5 miles of a community pharmacy, so we were surprised and excited to find that our analysis came very close to the famous statistic," said Berenbrok. These findings suggest that the vast majority of Americans have access to pharmacies, but Berenbrok added that "not all 5 miles are created equal." "Driving distance is not a perfect predictor of pharmacy accessibility," he explained. "If you have a reliable car and can take time off work, then 5 miles may not be a problem. But the same distance could be a big deal for someone without a car or who lives in an area without good public transport." While 96.5% lived within 10 miles of a community pharmacy, just 48.1% of the population lived within 1 mile of such a drugstore. The authors also looked at the distribution of pharmacy types across the U.S. In cities, 62.8% of pharmacies were chains, whereas in rural areas, 76.5% were franchises or independent pharmacies. "Our study demonstrates that community pharmacies, particularly those that are independent or franchises, play a major role in providing access to health care in rural areas," said Hernandez. "These findings emphasize the need for reform of the drug reimbursement system to ensure the financial sustainability of these mom-and-pop shops -; which are more at risk of closures than large chains. This is crucial to ensure equitable access to health care in rural and underserved areas." The analysis showed that 8.3% of counties in the U.S. had at least 50% of residents who lived more than 10 miles from a community pharmacy. These low access counties were primarily in Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana. Berenbrok and Hernandez hope their findings guide efforts to improve availability of pharmacy services in underserved areas. For example, public health planners could target pop-up COVID-19 or flu vaccine clinics to populations who have lower access to community drugstores. A special edition issue of the Aspirin Summaries has been published '125 years of aspirin - the role of aspirin in cancer' issue 2022. This issue celebrates the role of aspirin as chemopreventative agent against cancer. Evidence for aspirin in cancer prevention has steadily emerged since its use in this indication was first hypothesized in the early 1990s and has continued to grow over the following three decades. Scientific Advisory Board member, Andrew Chan, has also just published a viewpoint on aspirin use in cancer(Chan AT. Aspirin and the USPSTFWhat About Cancer? JAMA Oncol. Published online July 28, 2022. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.2967). All Aspirin Summaries are available to view on our website. Aspirin Matters podcast Professor Carlo Patrono, Chair, Scientific Advisory Board of IAF Professor Patrono's research has brought clinical benefit to many millions of people worldwide. In this interview with Pennie Taylor, health journalist, he reflects on a distinguished career; aspirin's long legacy and its promising prospects. Reminding us that platelets are key, because that's what aspirin does; its job at low doses is to selectively acetylate that single amino acid, of that single platelet protein, due to that simple chemical modification that Felix Hoffmann introduced 125 years ago. Professor Patrono discusses the role of platelets and aspirin's therapeutic role past, present and future. He also speaks about his pride in having been able to convince clinical investigators in the cardiology and neurology field to initiate clinical trials to test the efficacy and safety of low dose aspirin. Aspirin tributes A series of conversations with our conference speakers about what aspirin means to them. Click the link below to read what Professor Bianca Rocca has to say: https://www.aspirin-foundation.com/?mc_cid=a127075d9a&mc_eid=UNIQID Scientific conference: 29th September, Berlin Our scientific conference on "The role of aspirin in the current therapeutic armamentarium" takes place this Autumn in Berlin and takes the format ofa hybrid meeting which isopen to academics, medical specialists, researchers and healthcare professionals. Use the buttons below to book as a day delegate or a virtual attendee. Fuzhong Zhang, professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, has developed a synthetic biology platform to produce muscle fibers that are strong, tough and can absorb energy in ways very similar to the real thing. His research team went on to explore genetic changes that may lead to improved material performance. Why stop there? The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Washington University in St. Louis' Zhang lab a $458,490 grant to continue this line of research. His team can now take a closer look at the muscle protein titin to understand what genetic changes to titin are associated with particular material traits. We'd like to use our synthetic biology platform as a tool to understand how synthetic muscle fiber works and make better materials." Fuzhong Zhang, professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering His team also will use their tools to examine muscle fibers from long-extinct animals. Zhang's lab uses a synthetic biology approach to produce synthetic muscle fibers from genetically engineered bacteria. The group published their tool and properties of the first-generation synthetic muscle fibers last year in the journal Nature Communications. They now plan to use their system to fine-tune titin's protein sequence, then to understand how those sequence changes affect the properties of muscle fibers. "We will make fibers with defined protein sequences and examine how strong and how tough they are. We'll then be able to map the material properties to their sequences," he said. "We can use that data to create muscle fibers with particular properties by searching for new titin proteins," he said, which includes those from from long-extinct animal species. In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers assessed the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and severity on coronary and Alzheimers disease pathways. Background Several studies show that SARS-CoV-2 infections can directly affect brain function. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been found to induce long-term effects on the central nervous system, leading to various neurological symptoms, including altered smell and taste, memory decline, and Alzheimers disease-like dementia. This indicates the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on neurocognitive impairment and brain injury in patients. About the study In the present study, researchers examined the potential biomarkers to assess the proteomic profiles related to COVID-19 infection and associated mortality. The team detected the plasma protein related to COVID-19 outcomes and developed prediction models to identify dysregulated pathways after infection. This was achieved by the generation of high-throughput proteomic data obtained from 332 SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals and 150 control persons from Washington University (WU) and Barnes-Jewish Hospital (BJH) in St Louis (STL). The control cohort was matched as per age, gender, and race. Plasma samples were obtained during admission to BJH. The team utilized proteomics data available for 297 COVID-19 cases and 76 control persons from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Furthermore, differential abundance analysis was conducted to detect proteins associated with COVID-19 infection, ventilation, and related death. A three-stage design was performed (1) The discovery stage identified proteins related to the three COVID-19 outcomes of infection, ventilation, and death in the WU-STL group, (2) the replication stage identified proteins associated with COVID-19 outcomes in the MGH group, and (3) the meta-analyses detected among the rest of the proteins, those that passed the Bonferroni threshold. Furthermore, prediction models were created for infection, ventilation, and deaths reported after the blood samples were collected. These prediction models were developed using proteins associated with all three outcomes, along with ventilation as well as death-specific models according to proteins that were particular to these phenotypes. The team further used pathway enrichment analyses to detect biological pathways that were disturbed due to outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Causal co-expression networks were utilized to detect proteins related to COVID-19 that were potentially a part of pathological processes affected by infections. Results The study results showed that among the 3236 proteins detected in the discovery cohort, 1,558 were upregulated and 1,678 were downregulated. While 906 proteins were detected in the replication cohort and were regulated in the same direction, 841 proteins were detected after Bonferroni correction and included 363 upregulated and 478 downregulated proteins. Furthermore, among the 332 COVID-19 infected individuals, 82 required ventilation 6.8 7.7 days after hospitalization and 84 during the replication stage. A total of 63 individuals succumbed to COVID-19 from the discovery group and 41 from the replication group. The team detected 2101 proteins related to death in the discovery cohort, among which 297 proteins were replicated. The team also found 64 proteins related to the COVID-1 outcomes of infection, ventilation, and death. Among these, 59 proteins showed consistent upregulation in all COVID-19 patients, including angiopoietin-related protein 4 (ANGL4), bone morphogenetic protein 10 (BMP10), macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1), leukocyte-specific transcript 1 protein (LST1), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein (IL-1Ra), transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFB1), protein kinase C zeta type (PKC-Z), and vimentin. The team also detected 64 proteins that could be potentially utilized to predict COVID-19-infected individuals as well as the persons who will require ventilation. Furthermore, the team found a COVID-19-specific pathway that included genes down-regulated by SARS-CoV-2 infection that was found to be enriched for the three COVID-19 outcomes of infection, ventilation, and mortality. Several other pathways that showed enrichment for immunologic signatures included adaptive, innate, B cell response from the influenza vaccine or cytokine signaling in the immune system. Also, enriched pathways not related to the immune response against viral infection, including Alzheimers disease and coronary artery disease pathways, were detected. Several proteins which were related to COVID-19 outcomes were also part of the pathways associated with Alzheimers disease, including branched-chain-amino-acid aminotransferase, mitochondrial (BCAT2), ephrin type-A receptor 5 (EPHA5), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurogranin (NEUG), neurofilament light polypeptide (NFL), microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT), and transmembrane protein 106B (TMEM106B). Furthermore, the team found substantially high levels of troponin in COVID-19 patients and those requiring ventilation. High concentrations of the ANGL4 were also detected in COVID-19 infection, ventilation, and death. FURIN, which is associated with coronary artery disease, was also found at increased levels in infection and ventilation outcomes. Conclusion Overall, the study findings showed that deep proteomics profiling of COVID-19-infected individuals accurately identified dysregulated proteins due to severe COVID-19 outcomes. The researchers believe that the present study could develop the role of proteomic studies in understanding COVID-19. *Important notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers estimated the impact of different coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) booster vaccinations in the United States (US) during fall 2022. Background The continual emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) variants of concern (VOCs) warrants the development of adapted SARS-CoV-2 vaccines as health authorities and policy-makers plan for COVID-19 vaccinations in fall 2022. Studies have reported that COVID-19 patients elicit lower neutralizing antibody (nAb) titers against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 VOC than against Omicron BA.1 VOC. About the study In the present study, researchers estimated the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infections and associated hospitalizations by administering three different mRNA vaccine boosters against SARS-CoV-2 over six months (between September 2022 and February 2023) among adults residing in the US. The participants were boosted with the mRNA-1273 monovalent vaccine (ancestral strain) from September 2022, the mRNA-1273.214 bivalent vaccine (ancestral strain + Omicron BA.1) from September 2022 onwards, or the mRNA-1273.222 bivalent vaccine (ancestral strain + Omicron BA.4/5) from November 2022. In addition, sensitivity analyses were performed based on SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility, mRNA vaccination coverage, masking, Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) treatment, and antibody waning against SARS-CoV-2 over time. Susceptible-exposed-infection-recovered (SEIR) compartmental modeling was used for the analysis stratified by age and SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics. The SIER model was calibrated between 31 January 31, 2020, and 31 May 2022 for matching all SARS-CoV-2 infections to IHME (institute for health metrics evaluation) estimates. Sensitivity analyses around transmissibility, vaccine coverage, masking, and waning of natural and vaccine-induced immunity changed the magnitude of cases prevented but boosting with mRNA-1273.214 in September consistently prevented more cases of infection and hospitalization than the other two strategies. It was assumed that the prime vaccinations for the study participants were combinations of the BNT162b2 and AD26.COV2.S and mRNA-1273 vaccines and that all participants received prime vaccinations and initial booster vaccinations before 31 May 2022, and the second booster vaccinations before 15 June 2022. The model simulation period was divided into three timeframes: pre-Omicron (between 31 January 2020 and 30 November 2021); Omicron BA.1/2 (between 1 December 2021 and 14 August 2022); and Omicron BA.4/5 (between 15 August 2022 and 28 February 2023). Vaccine effectiveness (VE) was estimated for prime vaccinations, the first booster, and the second booster based on relative nAb titers [geometric mean titers (GMT)] for estimating the impact of vaccinations and newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Results Compared to no boosters, the estimated decreases in SARS-CoV-2 infections by mRNA-1273, mRNA-1273.214, and mRNA-1273.222 vaccines were 34%, 40%, and 18%, respectively, over six months. Likewise, initiating booster vaccinations in September viz. mRNA-1273 and mRNA-1273.214, significantly prevented hospitalizations by 42% and 48%, respectively, than booster vaccination initiation in November by mRNA-1273.222 (25%) over six months in comparison to no boosters. The model predicted that by September 2022, individuals who received only prime vaccinations or the first booster would elicit no vaccine-induced immunity, while VE for the second booster was <30%, and VE against COVID-19 severity was <50% for recipients of only prime vaccinations. The mRNA-1273.214 booster increased protection against SARS-CoV-2 by 70% and against infection severity by 90%. If it is assumed that Omicron BA.4/5 would persist for >1 year, the mRNA-1273, mRNA-1273.214, and mRNA-1273.222 boosters were estimated to decrease SARS-CoV-2 infections by 36%, 47%, and 45%, respectively, in comparison to booster vaccinations in the fall period. The projected COVID-19 case counts were estimated to decrease with stronger natural immunity; however, the mRNA-1273.214 booster remained effective even after assuming that natural immunity waned at a rate of 50% with a 36% decrease in COVID-19 case counts in comparison to no boosters in the fall period. The percent reduction in six months of COVID-19 cases when boosting with mRNA-1273.214 was 33%, and no fall booster was 36%. On delaying the enhancement in SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility from 15 August to 15 September 2022 and administering boosters from September onwards, the reduction in infection severity with mRNA-1273.214 in comparison to no fall booster was 42%. If fall booster uptake was 25% of the estimated base case scenario, the estimated reductions in COVID-case counts were 27%, 14%, and 32% for the mRNA-1273, mRNA-1273.222, and mRNA-1273.214 boosters, respectively. Reducing the rate of antibody waning of the mRNA-1273.214 booster by 25% prevented 41% of infections, 50% prevented 42% of infections, and 75% prevented 43% of SARS-CoV-2 infections, respectively, in comparison to no fall booster. Conclusion Overall, the study findings showed that vaccinating with the bivalent mRNA-1273.214 booster was more effective over six months in preventing Omicron BA.4/5 infections and associated hospitalizations compared to the next-generation mRNA-1273.222 vaccine only because mRNA-1273.214 booster could be administered two months earlier than the mRNA-1273.222 booster. Booster vaccinations must not be delayed until an Omicron BA.4/5-specific vaccine is available. *Important notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. In a recent study published in Jama Network Open, researchers estimated the probability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinfection following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recovery. Additionally, they determined the effectiveness of the primary vaccination series in reducing the reinfection risk. Background There is growing evidence that susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is much lower in individuals who have experienced a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, such individuals are at a lower risk of hospitalization and death even upon reinfection. However, SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced natural immunity wanes over time, thus necessitating vaccination to boost the immunity again. Therefore, it is crucial that studies comprehensively investigate the benefits of vaccination in preventing reinfection among these individuals and the overall dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. About the study In the present population-based cohort study, researchers analyzed data from the adult population (12 years and older) of Rhode Island between March 1, 2020, and December 9, 2021. The study cohort was unvaccinated when they first contracted reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19. Also, these individuals remained unvaccinated for 90 days after their first positive RT-PCR test. Further, the team categorized the study population into those living in long-term congregate care (LTCC), which included nursing homes and similar living facilities, LTCC employees, and the general population. LTCC settings typically have higher SARS-CoV-2 transmission rates, so residents and employees are at a higher risk of COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. The team conducted a survival analysis for all three sub-populations to characterize the risk of reinfection. All individuals who remained unvaccinated after the 90-day recovery period entered the risk cohort for SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. The researchers followed up with them from entry time to the risk cohort to the time of actual reinfection. They used the Kaplan-Meier method to calculate the three-, six-, and nine-month probability of reinfection for each study sub-population by vaccination status. The team recorded and categorized vaccination status as follows: (1) CPVS, who received a two-dose regimen of the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-1273/BNT162b2 vaccine or one dose of the JNJ-78436735 vaccine, (2) partly CPVS received one dose of the mRNA-1273/BNT162b2 vaccine, and (3) unvaccinated For all three subpopulations, the team also estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) associated with preventing reinfection as a 1 adjusted hazard ratio (AHR), which they estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model. Study findings The study data encompassed 3124 LTCC residents, 2877 LTCC employees, and 94,516 individuals belonging to the general population. During the follow-up period, 56,888 individuals received at least one vaccine dose. In the general population, the risk of reinfection was lower among men than women (AHR 0.74), higher among white individuals, and lower among individuals who were confirmed symptomatic (AHR 0.58). The researchers could not find proof of comparable associations among LTCC employees and residents. Using prospective analysis and time as a covariate, residents, and employees of LTCC facilities had VE associated with CPVS of 49% after recovery from the first infection vs. 62% for the general population. These estimates adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, community-level COVID-19 risk, hospitalization status, and symptoms during the first infection, as well as the calendar time of entry into the SARS-CoV-2 reinfection risk cohort. The researchers could not deduce formal statistical inference about VE associated with preventing more severe reinfections. However, they observed that reinfection-induced hospitalization and mortality were lower among vaccinated individuals compared to unvaccinated ones. Furthermore, the study findings were in agreement with other similar studies. A study by Cavenaugh et al. conducted in Kentucky showed that the unvaccinated population had two-fold higher odds of reinfection than fully vaccinated individuals. Similarly, another study conducted among health care workers from the UK showed that individuals who were subsequently vaccinated after SARS-CoV-2 infection maintained over 90% immunity consistently. Conclusions The current study evidenced that the primary vaccination reduced the risk of reinfection by approximately half in individuals who had recovered from COVID-19. The study results showed that during the nine months of recovery from primary infection, LTCC employees and residents were at a 10% and 13% higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, respectively; thus, they needed vaccination on priority compared to the general population at only 2% reinfection risk. Employees and residents of similar settings with greater SARS-CoV-2 exposure (e.g., health care workers, workers at correctional facilities) should also be encouraged to complete vaccinations to reduce their risk of reinfection. No one studying polio knew more than Albert Sabin, the Polish-American scientist whose vaccine against the crippling disease has been used worldwide since 1959. Sabin's oral vaccine provides lifelong immunity. It has one drawback, which Sabin, who died in 1993, fiercely disputed: In rare cases, the weakened live poliovirus in the vaccine can mutate, regain virulence, and cause polio. Those rare mutations one of which appears to have paralyzed a young man in Rockland County, New York, who belongs to a vaccine-resistant Hasidic Jewish community, officials there reported July 21 have taken center stage in the global campaign to eradicate polio, the largest international public health effort in history. When the World Health Organization-led campaign started in 1988, its goal was to rid the world of polio by 2000. By 2015, polio was nearly eradicated everywhere but Pakistan and Afghanistan. But by 2020, cases had been reported in 34 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Although the numbers have declined in the past 18 months, a few cases have cropped up in Ukraine and Israel, poliovirus was detected in sewage in London last month, and now there's the case north of New York City, the first U.S. case since 1993. But the nature of the polio threat has shifted. "Natural" or "wild" polio circulates in only a few war-torn areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where gunmen have killed scores of polio vaccinators. Nearly all the world's other cases, paradoxically, derive from mutations in the weakened virus that constitutes the vaccine. Sabin designed the vaccine virus to infect people's intestines without making them sick, but in rare cases the vaccine virus mutates into a dangerous form while passing through the vaccinated person's gut. In these instances, it goes in like a lamb but comes out like a lion, capable of paralyzing unprotected people who ingest the virus as a result of imperfect hygiene, after contact with things like diapers or bath towels that contain traces of an infected person's feces. Poliovirus has three types. Type 2, the version that causes nearly all vaccine-associated polio cases, paralyzes as few as 1 in 1,000 people it infects. Others might not get sick at all or have typical viral symptoms like a runny nose or diarrhea. Rockland County officials say their polio case may have been infected in the United States, but the virus must have originated from a country where the oral polio vaccine is still given generally in Asia or Africa. In the United States, since 2000 doctors have administered a different vaccine, a shot, invented by Dr. Jonas Salk in 1955, that contains killed, or inactivated, polio viruses. Given how rarely a polio infection results in paralysis, the Rockland County case suggests other people in the community may be carrying the virus. How many is under investigation, said county health department spokesperson Beth Cefalu. Scientists have detected poliovirus in county wastewater but have no idea how many others are infected, Cefalu said in a news release July 26. If the patient acquired the virus in the United States, "it would suggest there could be substantial transmission at least in that area," said Dr. Walter Orenstein, an Emory University professor who headed the U.S. vaccination program from 1988 to 2004. That puts the pressure on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to figure out the best way to stop any chains of infection, he said. As of July 22, county health officials had set up inactivated polio vaccine clinics and sent 3,000 letters to parents of children in the county whose routine vaccinations including for polio were not up to date. However, while the Salk vaccine prevents paralysis, and is very effective at protecting a community from infection, in situations where polio is widely circulating a Salk-vaccinated person could still carry polio germs in their intestines and spread them to others. Depending on the number of people infected in the community, the CDC might consider bringing in a newer live vaccine product, known as novel oral polio vaccine Type 2, or nOPV2, that is less likely to mutate into a virulent form, Orenstein said. However, the new oral vaccine is not licensed in the United States and would require considerable bureaucratic movement to be approved under an emergency authorization, Orenstein said. To complicate matters further, outbreaks of vaccine virus-derived polio increased, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, after global health leaders declared that Type 2 poliovirus had been eradicated in the wild and they removed that virus type from the vaccine. Unfortunately, mutant forms of Type 2 originating in the vaccine continued to circulate, and outbreaks mushroomed, Orenstein said. Although nearly 500 million doses of the new vaccine have been administered, according to Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay, a polio program leader at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, some areas with circulating mutant viruses haven't started using the new vaccine yet. The chances of a major outbreak tied to the Rockland County case are slim. The virus can spread widely only where there is low vaccine coverage and poor surveillance of polio cases, said Dr. David Heymann, a professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and former director of the world's polio eradication effort. Rockland County has ample experience battling vaccine-preventable outbreaks. In 2018 and 2019, the county fought a measles epidemic of 312 cases among followers of anti-vaccine Hasidic rabbis. "Our people defeated measles, and I'm sure we'll eliminate the latest health concern as well," County Executive Ed Daly told a news conference July 21. Scientists think polio can be eradicated from the world by 2026, said Bandyopadhyay, but at a price of $4.8 billion and much of that sum remains to be raised from donor countries and charities. The U.S. polio case offers an unsubtle reminder, he said, "that polio is potentially a plane ride away as long as the virus still exists in some corner of the world." (Newser) Update: A lawsuit accusing Bob Dylan of sexual abuse in the 1960s has been permanently dropped. The musician's lawyers had said in a hearing Thursday that the woman who filed the suit had destroyed evidence and compromised the case, Billboard reports. His accuser then asked the federal judge to dismiss her suit. This case is over," said Orin Snyder, Dylan's lead attorney. "It is outrageous that it was ever brought in the first place." The woman's attorneys did not immediately comment. Our original story from August 2021 follows: A lawsuit accusing Bob Dylan of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in 1965 was filed on Fridaythe day before the "look-back" window in New York state's Child Victims Act was closed. The lawsuit accuses Dylan of grooming, sexually abusing, and threatening violence against the plaintiff over a period of six weeks in April and May 56 years ago, USA Today reports. The musician, who turned 80 in May, would have been 23 or 24 years old at the time. The lawsuit filed by lawyer Daniel W. Isaacs accuses Dylan of "predatory, sexual, and unlawful acts," some of which allegedly took place at his Chelsea Hotel apartment in New York City. According to the lawsuit, Dylan "exploited his status as a musician" to gain the plaintiff's trust and also provided her with drugs and alcohol. Under the New York law, people who said they were sexually abused as children were allowed to file civil lawsuits long after the statute of limitations had expired. The lawsuit identifies the plaintiff as " JC," a 68-year-old woman who now lives in Connecticut, the Guardian reports. The suit is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages. The lawsuit states that the alleged abuse left her "emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day." A Dylan spokesman says the "56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended." (Read more Bob Dylan stories.) (Newser) Dave Muffley thought he had it made when it came to a solid retirement. The Indiana man spent roughly 30 years as a salaried maintenance technician for Delphi Corp., a subsidiary of General Motors, and expected to retire with a comfortable income by the time he hit 62. But when GM plunged into the biggest industrial bankruptcy proceeding in history in 2009, and the federal government negotiated its restructuring, Muffley's expected retirement package was slashed, the AP reports. The Russiaville resident, now 68, lost 30% of his retirement savings, his promised health care coverage, and his faith in government. Muffley is one of an estimated 20,000 Delphi workers hurt by the GM bankruptcy, and many have fought for 13 years to get back what they lost. After taking the issue to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear their case this year, the retirees were cut off from their last legal remedy. Now, they're looking to Congress, where legislation to restore the pension savings of the workers has gained support from both parties. It passed the House on Wednesday, and supporters are hopeful the Senate will follow suit. The retirees argue they were discriminated against as salaried employees, compared with union-covered workers whose pensions were preserved through the bankruptcy. The salaried workers are the engineers, technicians, and mid-level swath of employees who stood between the well-paid executives and the union-covered workers at the company. But there is resistance in Congress to spending tax dollars to bail out pension funds. For the retirees, the legislative struggle is perhaps the last battle in an ordeal that started when the workers got swept up in macroeconomic crosscurrents of the recession. Retirees tell stories of loss, severe depression, divorce, and altered courses of their lives. Some retirees' children put off going to college, other workers faced health difficulties from the stress of the cuts. The salaried retirees have gotten support from local governments, state legislatures, attorneys general, and even sympathetic words from this president and the last. But those words didn't translate into action. The latest bill, which cleared the House on a 254-175 vote, would restore the workers' benefits and retroactively make up for what they've lost since 2009. The White House on Friday issued a statement in support of the bill, saying the administration "supports a secure retirement for affected workers." (Read more pensions stories.) (Newser) Two federal lawsuits filed by female inmates in Indiana make disturbing claims: They say a guard at the Clark County Jail sold keys to the women's section to two male inmates, which led to a "night of terror" and sexual assaults, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader. So far, a total of 28 women have joined the lawsuits over the alleged abuse on Oct. 23, 2021. Numerous male detainees used the keys ... to enter Pods 4(E) and 4(F), where they raped, assaulted, harassed, threatened and intimidated the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, and other women, for several hours, resulting in significant physical and emotional injuries, per the second of the lawsuits, which was filed Friday in the US District Court of the Southern District of Indiana. The women allege that guard David Lowe sold keys to a pair of male inmates for $1,000 and that those men brought other men into the women's section of the prison. Lowe has since been fired and charged with felony misconduct, and he is scheduled to go on trial in September, per WHAS11. However, Lowe tells the Washington Post that he did not sell the keys but rather made a mistake that led to their theft. He says he was later "coerced" into making a confession. An attorney for the Clark County Sheriff's Office blamed the night on the unforeseeable criminal actions of a rogue corrections officer but also disputed some of the women's allegations. Interviews with female inmates "have yielded information that is in direct opposition to the allegations made, Wilder wrote to the Post. "The investigation seems to indicate that there was a systematic plan by individuals who were incarcerated that evening to develop the narrative that makes up the crux of the claims in the civil case. At least two women say they were raped. They name not only Lowe but Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel for failing to protect them. The women say no guards came to their aid even though surveillance cameras captured the intrusion. (Read more female inmates stories.) (Newser) Update: Add one more gripe to the list of complaints that have been issued (see below) about a Spanish campaign that pushes body positivity. The image shared Wednesday by Spain's equality ministry shows women of various ages and body types at the beach, and one of those women says her picture was used without her permission. Nyome Nicholas-Williams, a 30-year-old British model, says the image of her in a gold bikini was based on a photo she posted to her Instagram account. She complained online and got an apology from the illustrator, who "said they used my image because they were running low on time." Nicholas-Williams says the Spanish government hasn't reached out to her. The BBC has a comparison of the photos here. Our original story from Thursday follows: Spain has assured women that all of them are welcome on its beaches this summer. The nation's equality ministry tweeted an image of five women of various ages and body types, one of whom appeared to have had a mastectomy, with the message: "Summer is ours too. Enjoy it how, where and with whomever you want." The tweet is part of a body positivity campaign produced by the ministry along with a Spanish rights group, NBC News reports. The Instituto de las Mujeres said Thursday it's in response "to the fatphobia, hate and questioning of non-normative bodies, particularly women's bodies that is more pronounced in the summer period." The campaign raised questions. A former leader of the United Left party called the effort absurd and said it's an attempt to solve a problem that doesn't exist. Others wondered whether women really need the government's permission to go to the beach. Some posts asked why men were excluded, adding photos of various male body types. The ruling Podemos party answered the criticism, per the Guardian, by tweeting, "If bodies bother you, you can stay home tweeting." (Read more body image stories.) (Newser) Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, moved to Sydney, Australia, from their native Saudi Arabia in 2017, possibly as asylum seekers, though that has not been officially confirmed. On June 7, they were found dead in their beds, each in their own bedroom, at their apartment. Sydney police believe they died there in early May, the BBC reports. They were not found until someone called police to do a welfare check on the women due to overdue rent, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Police now say that even after carrying out "extensive inquiries," they do not know what happened; the New Zealand Herald reports their bodies bore no sign of injury but their deaths are considered suspicious. Police have released the women's photographs in the hope that someone with information about them will come forward. Not much is known about the sisters' lives in Australia, and building managers, who had called the police asking for welfare checks on the women in the past, say they rarely left their apartment. "They were scared of something," says one, who describes the women as reluctant to answer the door and "tucked in the corner like two little sparrows" once they did open it. They had expressed fears that their food deliveries were being tampered with. The older sister took out a Apprehended Domestic Violence Order in 2018, but it was later withdrawn and dismissed. Though nothing about their lives or deaths has been confirmed, a Saudi human rights activist notes that it "would not be the first case" of Saudi women who escaped domestic violence at home only to be murdered abroad, if that is indeed discovered to be what happened. (Read more Australia stories.) (Newser) Meta is dropping its payments to publishers whose news content runs on Facebook's News Tab, a decision that will cost some outlets millions of dollars. Facebook negotiated a series of three-year deals with publishers in 2019, part of its investment in news that included hiring journalists to steer publisher traffic. "A lot has changed," a spokesperson told Axios, adding, "Most people do not come to Facebook for news, and as a business it doesn't make sense to overinvest in areas that don't align with user preferences." The deals also were a response to criticism of tech companies for not paying for content on their sites, per Gizmodo. The payments totaled more than $100 million. More than $20 million of that went to the New York Times, $15 million to the Washington Post, and $10 million to the Wall Street Journal. News publishers could still have their content posted on Facebook but without being compensated. News isn't a priority in the company's metaverse vision, and executives hated having to pay for posts linking between sites, per Gizmodo. Also, cutting costs might be attractive now to Meta, which reported its first revenue decline ever on Wednesday. Meta does not pay for news posted by on its platform by outlets, per the AP. The company said the News Tab contracts covered "incremental content," providing "access to more of their article links" and ensuring a range of subjects. The content contracts will remain in place in the UK, France, Germany, and Australia. (Read more Meta stories.) (Newser) Sunlight magnified by glass bottles in an open garbage can ignited paper trash, starting a 500-acre north Texas wildfire that destroyed five homes, fire officials said Thursday. The July 18 fire on Possum Kingdom Lake's western shore, about 70 miles west of Fort Worth, took eight days to fully contain. Chief Bonnie Watkins of the Possum Kingdom West Side Volunteer Fire Department found a trash can packed with party trash that included paper goods, food, and numerous glass bottles, according to a department statement Thursday, the AP reports. Watkins concluded that a wind gust opened the can lid, allowing sunlight magnified by the glass bottles to ignite the paper. The fire built rapidly until the fire spilled from the can and spread to nearby cedar trees, the statement said. Rich Johnson, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, a nonprofit insurance industry association, said he had never heard of such a freakish cause for a wildfire. "A fire started in a trash can is one thing, but one caused by sunlight magnified by glass bottles? That's a new one," Johnson said. (Read more Texas wildfires stories.) (Newser) Within hours, Johnny Depp went from being a somewhat secret painter to one with sales in the multi-millions. The actor unleashed his debut art collection on the world in a Thursday Instagram post, revealing prints for sale through Castle Fine Art's galleries, per the BBC. Its website was soon overwhelmed with traffic and crashed. Regardless, all 780 prints were sold within hours, with sales totaling $3.6 million. "I've always used art to express my feelings, and to reflect on those who matter most to me, like my family, friends, and people I admire," Depp said in a statement, per People. "My paintings surround my life, but I kept them to myself and limited myself. No one should ever limit themselves." His debut "Friends and Heroes" collection features vibrant, colorful portraits of four famous people who've inspired Depp: musicians Bob Dylan and Keith Richards and actors Elizabeth Taylor and Al Pacino. Castle Fine Art described the pieces as "pop art with feeling" and existing "at the intersection of pop art and street art." "This world-first release proved to be our fastest-selling collection to date," it added. Framed prints sold for about $4,000, with a bundle of the four selling for about $15,000. Earlier this month, 59-year-old Depp sold NFT portraits of friends and heroes as part of a collection dubbed "Never Fear Truth," raising $800,000 for charity, per the BBC. On the "Never Fear Truth" website, Depp described how he'd long kept his art hidden, fearing onlookers would see him as misusing his platform as an actor. But "the recent reception to his music with Hollywood Vampires has encouraged him, and emboldened him, to share his art," the website reads. Hollywood Vampires is made up of Depp, Alice Cooper, and Aerosmith's Joe Perry. Lately, the actor has been touring overseas with Jeff Beck, with whom he released a rock album. He remains embroiled in a legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, having filed a notice to appeal the $2 million judgment she was awarded in her countersuit to his defamation case. Heard has also moved to appeal the judgment that she pay $10 million to Depp. (Read more Johnny Depp stories.) (Newser) It's a question on the minds of political observers from both parties: "What the Hell Is Going on With Dr. Oz.'s Senate Campaign?" asks the headline in a post at New York by Nia Prater. And it appears that not much good is going on at the moment. Republican Mehmet Oz, the famed TV doctor, is going up against Democrat John Fetterman for Pennsylvania's crucial Senate seat in November. The latest: Polls: Fetterman leads by 11 points, 47-36, in a new Fox News poll. Fetterman leads by 11 points, 47-36, in a new Fox News poll. Trouble signs: The poll suggests Republicans in the state are not wowed by Oz, with only 35% supporting him enthusiastically, compared to the 68% of Democrats who back Fetterman strongly. Similarly, fewer Republicans are staying loyal to Oz (73%) than Democrats to Fetterman (89%), per Fox. The poll suggests Republicans in the state are not wowed by Oz, with only 35% supporting him enthusiastically, compared to the 68% of Democrats who back Fetterman strongly. Similarly, fewer Republicans are staying loyal to Oz (73%) than Democrats to Fetterman (89%), per Fox. Money: Fetterman is outraising Oz by a wide margin. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the Democrat collected $11 million in the last three months, while Oz brought in $3.8 millionmore than half of which was a loan to himself. Dueling weaknesses: The race has a shorthand to it. Fetterman is depicting Oz as a carpetbagger who is more of a New Jersey guy than a Pennsylvanian. When Oz recently visited two famous cheesesteak shops in Philly, a Fetterman joke went viral: "Ah yes, the trip to Pats + Geno's -- a rite of passage for every tourist," he tweeted. Fetterman, though, has a liability of his own: He suffered a stroke in May and hasn't fully resumed campaigning yet. However, the Fox poll finds that more people are worried about Oz's unfamiliarity with the state (52%) than Fetterman's health (23%). A vacation? Another big issue is that Oz was largely absent from the campaign trail for weeks. Tara Palmeri writes in Puck that Oz spent time relaxing in Palm Beach after his GOP primary race until about June 9, then flew to Ireland and perhaps elsewhere in Europe to visit family until early July. "That, apparently, was one vacation too many," writes Palmeri. "Indeed, it was a move that greatly annoyed the National Republican Senatorial Committee." The committee is not commenting. Another big issue is that Oz was largely absent from the campaign trail for weeks. Tara Palmeri writes in Puck that Oz spent time relaxing in Palm Beach after his GOP primary race until about June 9, then flew to Ireland and perhaps elsewhere in Europe to visit family until early July. "That, apparently, was one vacation too many," writes Palmeri. "Indeed, it was a move that greatly annoyed the National Republican Senatorial Committee." The committee is not commenting. Scathing quote: The Fox News story includes a devastating quote from GOP pollster Daron Shaw. "Pennsylvania is patient-zero for the talking point that Republicans could lose the Senate by nominating flawed candidates," he says. "The mood is negative, the presidents ratings are poor, and issue environment favors the GOP, but their candidate is chasing 10 points because Republicans aren't sure hes capable." (Read more John Fetterman stories.) (Newser) Andrew Yang is teaming up with ex-Republicans to launch his new political party: the Forward party, which is looking to attract what its founders call the "moderate, common-sense majority." Yang, the former Democratic presidential candidate who first announced the new party last year, is merging his political organization with those of David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from Florida, and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, CNN reports. (As Axios reports, Democrats and independents are also involved in Jolly's political organization.) They're planning a national convention for next summer and are looking to run candidates starting in 2024. In a Washington Post op-ed Wednesday, the three wrote that "Political extremism is ripping our nation apart, and the two major parties have failed to remedy the crisis. ... Thats why we are coming togetherDemocrats, Republicans and independentsto build a new, unifying political party for the majority of Americans who want to move past divisiveness and reject extremism." They say Democrats and Republicans alike cater too much to the "fringes" of their collective sides of the aisle, which is why, "for the first time in modern history, roughly half of Americans consider themselves 'independents,' and two-thirds say a new party is needed (and would vote for it)." The op-ed explains how the party will fall somewhere in the middle on such hot-button issues as gun control (no confiscating of guns or eradication of the Second Amendment, but no complete blocking of gun control either), climate change (no denying the problem, but also no "completely upend[ing] our economy and way of life"), and abortion (no "extreme" allowances for late-term abortions, but no criminalizing of abortion). Yang says Forward is the third-largest political party in the US based on resources, but Sarah Jones at Intelligencer explains why she predicts it's "going nowhere." Criticism was to be found on Twitter, as well, with some recalling Yang's appearance on Tucker Carlson's show last year. (Read more Forward party stories.) (Newser) Screams of excitement turned to screams of horror when a giant screen fell on dancers at a boy band concert in Hong Kong Thursday night. Two of the dancers were injured. Authorities say one man is in intensive care with neck injuries and is in serious condition and another is in stable condition with head injuries, reports the South China Morning Post. The Hong Kong Coliseum concert by wildly popular "Cantopop" band Mirror was immediately halted, and authorities put the band's remaining tour dates on hold, the BBC reports. Several concertgoers were treated for shock, and the Hong Kong Red Cross says there were almost 100 calls to a counseling hotline, RTHK reports. Authorities say the video screen fell after a metal cable snapped and the incident will be thoroughly investigated. Relatives of the severely injured dancer are traveling to Hong Kong from Canada. Asked whether they would be exempted from Hong Kong's seven-day hotel quarantine requirement for visitors, John Lee, the territory's new chief executive, said arrangements had been made for them to visit the hospital, the Post reports. (Read more Hong Kong stories.) (Newser) Samuel Alito wrote the Supreme Court opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, and he's not much interested in hearing what foreign critics have to say about it. In a speech on religious liberty in Rome hosted by Notre Dame Law School, Alito mocked Prince Harry and outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in particular, reports NBC News. "I had the honor this term of writing, I think, the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaderswho felt perfectly fine commenting on American law," Alito said. (See the full speech, with the pertinent remarks starting around 25:30.) Alito also mentioned French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but Johnson and the prince got the applause lines. Johnson: "One of these was Boris Johnson, but he paid the price," said Alito to laughter, a reference to Johnson's decision to resign. Johnson had called the Roe ruling "a big step backwards," per the Guardian. "One of these was Boris Johnson, but he paid the price," said Alito to laughter, a reference to Johnson's decision to resign. Johnson had called the Roe ruling "a big step backwards," per the Guardian. Harry: But what really wounded mewhat really wounded mewas when the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to compare the decision, whose name may not be spoken, with the Russian attack on Ukraine, Alito said, drawing laughter again. In his UN speech, Harry had said the world was "witnessing a global assault on democracy and freedom," referencing the "horrific war in Ukraine to the rolling back of constitutional rights here in the United States" per the BBC. Meanwhile, fellow court justice Elena Kagan gave a speech of her own in Montana on the same day (July 21) in which she issued a warning about the court. "I'm not talking about any particular decision or even any particular series of decisions, but if over time the court loses all connection with the public and with public sentiment, that's a dangerous thing for a democracy," she said. (Read more Samuel A. Alito stories.) (Newser) Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine said Friday that a Ukrainian attack with US-supplied missiles on a separatist eastern region hit a prison and killed 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured in Mariupolbut Ukraine blamed the attack on Russian forces. The attack with HIMARS multiple rocket launchers on the prison in Olenivka, in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region, also injured 75 Ukrainian POWs, said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov. Speaking before the latest update from the separatists, he put the death toll at 40, the AP reports. Konashenkov claimed the strike was a "bloody provocation" aimed at discouraging Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. In a statement, the Ukraine Armed Forces said Russian artillery had targeted the detention facility, the Guardian reports. "In this way, the Russian occupiers pursued their criminal goalsto accuse Ukraine of committing 'war crimes,' as well as to hide the torture of prisoners and executions," the statement said. After holding out for three months, around 2,400 Ukrainian troops in Mariupol surrendered in May under relentless Russian attacks from the ground, sea, and air. Some were taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas including Donetsk. Ukrainian authorities in the Donetsk region said Russia has pressed on with the shelling of civilian targets in Ukrainian-held areas. "The fighting in the region has been intensifying by the day, and civilians must evacuate while its still possible," said Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko. "The Russian army doesnt worry about civilian casualties. They are pummeling cities and villages in the region." (Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.) (Newser) Three women were executed in Iran this week for killing their husbands, a watchdog group says, part of a sharp increase in the use of the death penalty. The government has put twice as many people to death this year as last, the BBC reportsincluding 32 in the past week. Amnesty International said this week that Iran has launched a "horrific" series of executions, counting more than 250 people killed in the first half of the year. "The state machinery is carrying out killings on a mass scale across the country," an Amnesty International official said, "in an abhorrent assault on the right to life." Soheila Abadi was hanged Wednesday in prison after being convicted of killing her husband, the Iran Human Rights Group said. They married 10 years ago, when she was 15. The motive was "family disputes," the sentencing court said. The group said two other women convicted in the deaths of their husbands also were put to death Wednesday. Such cases often include accusations of domestic violence, human rights groups say, though the courts in Iran often don't consider them. There also have been recent mass executions, Amnesty International reports, including those of a dozen people on June 6 and a dozen on June 15 in another prison. Given the secrecy involving executions in Iran, the organization said the actual number of those put to death may well be higher. Iran executes more women than any other country, the groups say, usually for their husband's death, and the execution of ethnic minorities also is out of proportion. (Read more Iran stories.) (Newser) Update: An uncontrolled Chinese rocket is back from space, after reentering the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. US Space Command said it happened at 12:45pm EDT Saturday. The Chinese Manned Space Agency said most of the rocket debris burned up over the Sulu Sea, which is between the island of Borneo and the Philippines, per the New York Times. There were no reports of debris landing in a populated area. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson scolded China on Saturday for not providing other countries with "specific trajectory information" about the rocket, citing "a significant risk of loss of life and property." Our story from Friday follows: For the third year in a row, the world is facing a familiar hazard: a large piece of Chinese space junk making an uncontrolled reentry. As in 2020 and 2021, the space junk in question is the core stage of a Long March 5B rocket. It carried a new module to China's space station on July 24. According to the Aerospace Corporation's Center for Orbital Reentry and Debris Studies, the 25-ton rocket body will make reentry around 3:30am Eastern on Sunday, plus or minus 7 hours, Space.com reports. As much as 10 tons of material could survive reentry, and the debris could end up scattered over an area measuring hundreds of miles in length. The Aerospace Corporation notes "there is a non-zero probability of the surviving debris landing in a populated areaover 88% of the world's population lives under the reentrys potential debris footprint." Analysts say the debris could hit the Earth anywhere between the 41st parallel norththe same latitude as New York Cityand the 41st parallel south, which passes through New Zealand's South Island. Space debris this big is usually brought down in a controlled reentry, and experts are frustrated by China's repeated failure to avoid completely random reentries. "Things that big are normally not put in orbit without an active control system," Jonathan McDowell at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics tells CNN. Last year, the core stage came down over the Indian Ocean. In 2020, it fell into the Atlantic, just off the coast of West Africa, and there were reports of debris hitting villages in Cote D'Ivoire. "Why are we worried? Well, it did cause property damage the last time, and people are having to do preparation as a result," says Aerospace Corporation space traffic expert Ted Muelhaupt, per the Verge. "Furthermore, this is not needed. We have the technology to not have this problem." He says that while the risk of any one person being "conked on the head" by space debris is around 100 billion to one, "this doesn't mean that this is a good thing to do." (Read more space junk stories.) (Newser) Things got testy in an Austin courtroom this week in Alex Jones' Sandy Hook trial. Video from the Law & Crime Network catches Jones attorney Andino Reynal flipping the middle finger to Mark Bankston, an attorney for Sandy Hook parents. As the Houston Chronicle reports, their exchange happened after court had adjourned for the day on Wednesday and out of the presence of the jury. The two were sparring over the degree to which videos from Jones' Infowars show could be presented as evidenceReynal accused the defense of using "cherry-picked" clips and wanted to himself be allowed to present more complete videos. The disagreement began during Wednesday's proceedings as Reynal and Bankston bickered before Judge Maya Guerra Gamble over what they had already agreed could be introduced into evidence, notes KXAN. "Bankston is being dishonest with the court," Reynal said at one point, per the Austin American-Statesman, prompting push-back from Bankston. Guerra Gamble eventually adjourned the proceedings for the day and instructed the attorneys to hash it out. They remained in the courtroom after the judge left and continued to snipe at each other before another attorney suggested they cool down and talk later. The judge addressed the matter Thursday morning: "The next time anyone wants to have an argument, you take it outside," she said. "You do not have it in here." Guerra Gamble ended up upholding Bankston's objections, preventing Reynal from introducing two Infowars segments totaling 18 minutes on Thursday. The trial will determine how much Jones owes for defaming the parents of one of the Sandy Hook victims. (Here is how much the victims' parents are seeking.) (Newser) Texts from Secret Service agents related to Jan. 6, 2021, aren't the only messages to have escaped the peering eyes of the House select committee. According to the Washington Post, texts between the two top officials at the Department of Homeland Security under former President Trump sent in the weeks leading up to the attack on the Capitol disappeared in a reset of their government phones after they left office in January 2021. DHS reportedly notified the agency's inspector general of the missing texts between acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli in late February. The office of Inspector General Joseph Cuffari was informed that the phones "might also be inaccessible," according to the Project On Government Oversight. But Cuffari "failed to notify Congress," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement. Thompson has already joined House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney in calling on Cuffari to recuse himself from the investigation into the deleted Secret Service records. He says Cuffari found out about the deletions in December but waited five months to notify Congress, casting "serious doubt on his independence and his ability to effectively conduct such an important investigation," per CNN. Cuffari was reportedly also informed by the office of the department's undersecretary of management that texts sent by Undersecretary Randolph "Tex" Alles were erased in a phone reset. Sources tell the Post that he did not press for an explanation on why the DHS records were not preserved nor seek to recover them. The paper notes the texts to and from Wolf and Cuccinelli could've held key information as "Trump had been pressuring both men to help him claim the 2020 election results were rigged and even to seize voting machines in key swing states to try to 're-run' the election." It's unclear whether they might still be recovered. (Read more Department of Homeland Security stories.) (Newser) A Texas jury has ordered Charter Spectrum to pay more than $7 billion in damages in the stabbing death of an 83-year-old customer by one of its installers. Roy James Holden is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to murder in April 2021, NBC News reports. Holden had worked in Betty Thomas' home in Irving one day in December 2019, then returned the next day when he was off work, after learning she was still having trouble with her internet access, per KXAS. After arriving in a company van and killing Thomas with a knife owned by the company, Holden took her credit cards and started making purchases. Charter Spectrum later billed Thomas' family for the $58 service call. In its decision on a lawsuit filed by Thomas' family, the jury found Charter Spectrum negligent last month, faulting the company's pre-employee screening, hiring, and supervision. Compensatory damages were set at $375 million, and the jury said the company must pay 90% of that amount. Punitive damages added this week make the total $7.37 billion. The company said that Holden alone was responsible for the killing and that it will appeal the verdict. A family lawyer called the crime "a shocking breach of faith by a company that sends workers inside millions of homes every year." The Thomas family's lawyers also said the jury found Charter Spectrum forged a document in its effort to send the suit to closed-door arbitration. That would have kept the outcome secret and limited damages to the amount of the victim's final bill, they said. The company denied all wrongdoing and said there had been no problems with Holden's work before December 2019, adding that there was nothing to "suggest he was capable of the crime he committed, including more than 1,000 completed service calls with zero customer complaints about his behavior." (Read more Charter Communications stories.) (Newser) Federal health officials have decided against approving a second booster shot of the coronavirus vaccine this summer for adults under 50, because a retooled version is so close to being ready. Pfizer and Moderna have assured the government their new boosters will be rolled out no later than September, the New York Times reports, which prompted the change in plans. The vaccine makers expect the boosters to offer more protection from the omicron subvariant BA.5, the New York Times reports, though the data remains preliminary. The government would then launch a fall campaign to encourage people get the new booster shot. The Food and Drug Administration nevertheless suggests eligible adults have the second booster now, per the AP. "You can still benefit from existing booster options and leave time to receive an updated booster in the fall," the agency said. People who have their second booster now will remain able to have the omicron version when it rolls out, White House officials said, though the date they become eligible will depend on when they had their last booster. If a dose follows the previous shot too closely, an expert said, "the antibodies stop that next dose from working." That's also true of other vaccines as well, such as the ones for tetanus or the flu. Health officials were of two minds on waiting for the new boosters, per the Times. Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House pandemic response coordinator, wanted to make more people eligible for the booster that's available now because the number of coronavirus cases is rising. But the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wanted the emphasis to be on a campaign in the fall that would offer the omicron updates. Once they're ready, the reworked vaccines will need to be approved by the FDA and the CDC before they're administered, as usual. (Read more COVID booster shots stories.) Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by subscribing or making a contribution. The Daily News-Miner is locally owned by the Helen E. Snedden Foundation, a 501(c)(3) Subscribe or donate Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Partly cloudy. High 73F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy in the evening with more clouds for later at night. Low 51F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bahrain's Meteorological Department has predicted unstable weather conditions over Bahrain, which at times could turn thunderous today and tomorrow. "There will be scattered rains of varying intensity, which could get thunderous at different regions in the Kingdom," warned the department under the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications. MTT said it is seeing tropical depressions approaching the southern regions of the Arabian Peninsula. "These tropical depressions are making their rounds more and more in the regions, especially in the Southern Gulf." "Last year, Bahrain experienced these depressions, especially in the South with heavy rains and rapid flashes, which are unusual at this time of the year." Based on a numerical prediction model, the ministry said that Bahrain will experience thundery rains today, while there are chances of rain until Saturday. Torrential rains, it said, could wreak havoc in low-lying areas where there are chances of water accumulation. The General Directorate of Civil Defence urged citizens and residents yesterday to secure loose objects and put away any materials that might give away in the rains. "Thundery showers are to hit the Kingdom at times with strong gusts causing rough seas and rising sands," met officials said. The General Directorate of Civil Defence, in a statement to citizens and residents, said that rains, accompanied by highspeed winds, are expected to wreak havoc in the Kingdom. The warning also said that operations rooms would work around the clock. The Coast Guard Command urged sea-goers to take precautions. The General Directorate of Traffic called on drivers to observe extreme caution during rains. "Drivers should adhere to all traffic safety measures, including following the correct path, specified speed, safety distance, and correct overtaking methods," the statement said. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com A father who refused to hand over the identification documents of his daughter to his ex-wife, an Arab national, for obtaining the child a Bahraini passport has received a court order to do so. The child, now living with her mother after winning a legal battle for custody, filed the case after her father allegedly refused to hand over the birth documents to apply for a Bahraini passport. The court ruled that obtaining a Bahraini passport is her birthright, which her father cannot deny. Citing Bahraini law, which recognises a child born in Bahrain to a father who is a Bahraini as a Bahraini national, the court ruled that the girl is entitled to receive a Bahraini passport. According to Lawyer Ghada Sulaibeekh, representing the girls mother, the woman got married to the defendant in 2020 legally. The woman is now separated from her husband and gained custody of the girl after a legal battle. However, when the mother tried to apply for a Bahrain passport for her child, the ex-husband, the lawyer said, refused to hand over legal documents proving the girls birth. The documents are crucial for obtaining a passport. The lawyer told the court the father, by resisting handing over the documents, is denying the girl her birthright. The childs mother had also filed a complaint with the Passport Administration and the Information and e-Government Authority. The lawyer told the court that the girl also had her birth registered in the Kingdom. Bahrain law states that anyone shall be regarded a Bahraini national if was born in Bahrain and the father is a Bahraini at the time of birth. This proves her right to obtain a Bahraini passport, the lawyer said. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com A Bahraini ex-MP, who received eight years in jail in two cases, has challenged the verdicts before a Bahraini court. The ex-MP was awarded the jail terms for being found guilty of claiming insurance after setting his gym on fire, refusing an arrest warrant by posing as his brother before police officers by illegally using his brothers ID card. The ex-MPs lawyer told the court that his client could not challenge the verdict earlier as he was suffering from chronic illness. The man allegedly burned down his gym to claim insurance to the tune of BD1.5 million, police files say. Police have also identified a gym worker who filled and placed fuel cans in the gym as required by the suspect. The man reportedly was not earning from the facility and was finding it hard to pay rent. Police said after suffering frequent harassment, the man decided to make his way out of the situation. For which, he plotted a plan to burn the shop, after which he could claim the insurance. He then worked the plan and approached the insurance company for claims. However, when the insurance company asked him to submit documents showcasing the original cause of the fire, he dodged raising suspicion. The company then contacted the police and opened an investigation. After suspecting fraud, police secured an arrest warrant and started looking for the man. Around this time, a policeman on duty received a tip-off saying that the ex-MP was in Sanad. Explaining the incidents, the officer told the court, I went to the reported location and saw a man with similar physical attributes and resemblance to the suspect. Hence, we approached the vehicle and asked for his identity card. However, while crosschecking with the official data, we found that the card was his brothers. He, however, made full use of the opportunity and fled the spot before we could stop him. A Japanese government advisory body will look into recommending a different designation for COVID-19, such as by treating it like the flu, in order to ease disruptions to the health care system. Japan now counts COVID-19 as separate from its 1-to-5 scale of infectious diseases, assigning it the strictest reporting requirement, public funding for treatment and other measures. Redefining it as category 5 -- the same level as seasonal influenza -- would no longer require full reporting of case numbers. Public funding of treatment would no longer be available, so the financial burden on patients would increase. In recommendations July 14, the panel on COVID-19 measures suggested a need "to start considering designating COVID-19 as one of many diseases." The debate comes as Japan experiences what it calls its seventh wave of coronavirus infections, raising new cases to record highs. Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and a top minister have urged Japan to invest in the electric vehicle industry and other infrastructure projects, including in Indonesia's planned new capital, stressing that their country is well positioned for post-pandemic economic growth. The Indonesian president met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Wednesday, discussing economic cooperation and infrastructure development. During the meeting, Widodo expressed his hope for more investment by Japanese companies. Kishida promised Japan would provide an official development assistance loan of about 43.6 billion yen ($320 million) for the completion of a hydroelectric power plant in Indonesia, according to a joint press announcement. Widodo said Indonesia's key development projects include the extension of the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit system, a liquefied natural gas plant in the offshore Masela Block and the new capital, Nusantara, and asked Kishida to help. Japan has more job vacancies than applicants, making it a great place to be a job hunter. But a chronic labor shortage, in a country with a shrinking working-age population, is weighing on the prospects for a recovery from the pandemic-induced slowdown. Data released Friday showed there are 1.27 positions open for each job seeker in Japan, the highest figure in around two years. The ratio has crept up over the past seven months, indicating that hiring is increasing across industries. The hotel and restaurant sector and manufacturing, in particular, have added positions. Shoppers are gradually returning to brick-and-mortar stores as the government shifts from trying to stifle the spread of COVID-19 to living with it. Even the current surge in infections nationwide to record highs has not moved authorities to impose movement restrictions or limit restaurant operating hours. But economists say Japan may not have enough workers to sustain the recovery. Many people who want to work are already in employment, leaving little scope to further raise the labor participation rate. Significantly, many women and older men -- demographics that have become more active in the workforce over the past decade -- have jobs. ...continue reading The average life expectancy of Japanese women and men decreased for the first time in a decade in 2021 as the country struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic, health ministry's statistics showed Friday. The average life span for Japanese women was 87.57 years, down by 0.14 year compared to a year earlier, while that of men was 81.47 years, down by 0.09 year, according to the health ministry. It is the first time the figure has declined since 2011, when a massive earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan caused meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, leaving more than 15,000 dead and many more unaccounted for. According to the health ministry, the fall in the average life span was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. "COVID-19 was behind the decline for most of the men," a ministry official said. About 16,000 people in Japan died of COVID-19 in 2021, according to the health ministry. Despite the decline, 88.3 percent of Japanese women who were born in 2021 are expected to live until 75 years old, while that of the men born last year is predicted to be 76.0 percent, according to the health ministry's estimate. ...continue reading This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEWATER The Bridgewater Land Trust has struck a deal with Eversource Energy that will allow it and the public access to 80 acres of pristine land. Julie Stuart, executive director of the land trust, said theyve signed a renewable, 10-year license agreement to use the land on the east side of Lake Lillinonah and south of Tappen Road for passive recreation. It really means some substantial hiking for our residents, which they havent had the opportunity to do on these particular lands, which are all quite beautiful, Stuart said. The land trust plans on creating marked trails in some cases utilizing trails created long ago by horseback riders as well as a trailhead with a kiosk in a town park that already connects and has access to the 80-acre piece of land. Its also nice that there are existing trails on the land which were mostly created by horseback riders through the years. I used to ride that land when I was young, Stuart said. Its just really nice land. Its good that there are existing trails, some of which we will take advantage of. The other important part is mapping it and marking it, so people can easily find their way around. Stuart said the land and its features are perfect for hiking, and the land trust will keep that in mind while creating the trail in order to show off all the property has to offer. It gives the public access to land that has some really beautiful features, Stuart said. Theres very few invasives there. Theres ground cover with loads of native plants including ferns and grasses. Theres quite a few streams and old stone walls. There are vernal pools. We want to put the trail so people can see all the features of the land. The land, Stuart said, also was identified by the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy to have a high conservation value due to climate resilience, core forest, critical habitat, threatened species and connections between protected areas and forested areas. Stuart said the Bridgewater Land Trust mostly has farmland, so having a connection to a unique property that allows for this kind of hiking is something theyre excited about. The land trust feels like this is great because this land for at least 10 years or hopefully longer will remain open and natural and there will be no development on this land, Stuart said. Thats important to us, as well. The land trust will be working with Hunter Brawley of Brawley Consulting Group, who will assist in the creation of the trail network. This project spearheaded by Bridgewater Land Trust is an excellent opportunity to collaborate with other conservation stakeholders to develop and promote a public hiking trail system in Bridgewater, Brawley said in a statement. The trails will highlight prime forestland and wetlands along the Housatonic River. Gillian Carroll, land management administrator for Eversource, said they are pleased about the new partnership with the land trust. By partnering with our neighbors ... we can continue to demonstrate our vision, values and carry out environmental stewardship with the Bridgewater Land Trust, who will be managing the property with Eversource, through a license agreement, Carroll said in a statement. This will enable the property to be utilized with oversight and assist in mitigation of environmental impacts as well as promote public recreation and educational opportunities. We are beyond excited to begin this endeavor and create a lasting partnership. Stuart said they hope to have phase one of the trail network completed this fall. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BETHEL The construction of a firing range inside the towns police station is on the way to completion now that residents have voted to approve $1.4 million in funding to complete the project. The police headquarters opened in October 2018 but a planned on-site firing range remains unusable because of heating, ventilation and air conditioning system was not included in the projects original design-cost approved by voters in a December 2015 referendum. Chief of Police Stephen Pugner this week thanked Bethel residents for their support in approving the appropriation. The official results showed it passed 468-295. Its been a long process and there was many hiccups along the road getting the building and finishing the building, Pugner said. We are just grateful that the people of Bethel supported us and the town committees and the first selectmen followed through with their promises about finishing the project. Crews completed fixes to a water leak affecting the structure earlier this year, but a military-grade ventilation system, needed to remove lead dust, and other required structural enhancements meant asking voters again to pass a referendum proposal needed to secure the $1.4 million needed to acquire and install the features. The company behind the firing range technology is Action Target Inc., a subsidiary of the Provo, Utah,-based Safety Training Solutions. Founded in 1986, the company patented technology that collects bullet rounds, lead dust, and other particles in a way that is eco-friendly and low maintenance for the range owner, according to its website. On Wednesday, members of the towns Municipal Building Committee voted to finalize proceedural and contractor agreements needed to get the work started. Officials have said they expect the final cost for the firing range instillation to be less than the amount approved by voters. Firing range seen as pretty essential On Thursday, Pugner explained the importance of following through on the shooting range instillation, pointing to the potential of long-term cost savings arriving with the boosted training capacity. Other departments, including Danburys, have their own range inside their building, a feature the police chief described as being pretty essential, adding that Bethel officers formerly used a department firing range inside the towns old police station. Currently, officers must patronize outdoor ranges in Milford and Southbury to perform the bare minimum training requirements, the chief said, and it costs the department overtime. With the departments in-house facility installed, there will be more opportunity to hone their skills while on duty and add expanded training under the direction of the departments firearms instructor. The mandatory stuff is already time consuming; every year we have to do the firearms training, but also have to do the use-of-force training, review the use-of-force policy and they are constantly changing and updating the policy, so we have to keep up to date, Pugner said. He said that while $1.4 million seems a lot of money, one unfortunate bad shooting by a police officer would cost us a lot more than that possibly someone's life. The last time a member of the Bethel Police Department used his or her weapon was in 2010 in a confrontation with an armed individual who was shot and killed by an officer, Pugner said. Today, the department is one of the few in the state that employs its own tactics instructor trained in a form of Brazilian jujitsu part of a new approach he said will be incorporated into the more traditional weapons training with a focus on de-escalation. The last thing the officer wants to do is use (their) gun, Pugner added. I can tell you that right now, because when they use their gun, especially if its lethal, that officer has to live with it the rest of their life. Nobody wants that. UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. Security Council has been unable to agree on a statement welcoming last weeks deal to get grain and fertilizer moving from Ukraine and Russia to millions of hungry people around the world, Norway's U.N. ambassador said Wednesday. The statement also would have commended Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkeys government for their key roles in arrranging the agreement. Norway and Mexico have been working for days to unify the council in one message welcoming the significant deal to resume exports of grains, foodstuffs and fertilizers through the Black Sea, Norwegian Ambassador Mona Juul told The Associated Press. We regret that this was not possible. Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements Friday with Turkey and the U.N. clearing the way for Ukraine one of the worlds key breadbaskets to export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural goods that have been stuck in Black Sea ports because of Russia's invasion. The deal also aims to ensure that Russian food and fertilizer have unrestricted access to world markets. Guterres described the deal as an unprecedented agreement between two parties engaged in a bloody conflict and called it a beacon of hope for millions of hungry people who have faced huge increases in the price of food. A day after the signing, Russia staged an airstrike on the Ukrainian port of Odesa, one of three ports named in the deal for exporting grain. Under the agreement, Kyiv and Moscow agreed not to target vessels and port facilities involved in the initiative. Guterres unequivocally condemned the reported airstrikes in Odesa, citing the commitments made by the parties at the signing ceremony in Istanbul, according to a statement from the U.N. spokesman. The U.N. chief stressed that full implementation of the agreements by Russia, Ukraine and Turkey is imperative," the U.N. spokesman said. Council diplomats said Russia objected to the last draft statement on the grain deal because it mentioned Guterres condemnation of Saturdays airstrike. The proposed statement from Norway and Mexico, obtained by AP, would have welcomed the progress at Fridays signing of the deal towards ensuring the safe and secure export of grains, foodstuffs and fertilizers from Ukraine and the Russian Federation. It would have commended Guterres and Turkey and called for swift implementation of commitments made in Istanbul. A unified statement from the council welcoming the deal and commending the secretary-general for his efforts would have been an important signal, Juul said. Norway believes the personal efforts and engagement of the secretary-general has been essential in facilitating negotiations between the parties, Juul said. These efforts are more important than ever, as the effects of the war continue to be felt by the people of Ukraine and beyond. U=U accelerates progress towards national and global goals to end the HIV epidemic MONTREAL, July 28, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Public Health Agency of Canada Thanks to the advances in HIV science over the last four decades, people living with HIV who are on medication and maintain an undetectable amount of virus in their blood can lead a long, healthy life without the fear of passing HIV to their sexual partner. This is the powerful message behind "Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U)" Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, announced Canada's endorsement for a global declaration on Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U). This builds on Canada's leadership as the first country to formally endorse the U=U campaign in 2018. The U=U message is linked to factors known to impact quality of life and health outcomes, including decreased stigma, improved self-image, better mental health, and greater comfort sharing status with partners, making it a key tool for combatting HIV-related stigma. People living with HIV who are informed about U=U are more likely to report optimal mental, physical and sexual health. Knowledge of U=U increases uptake in HIV testing, treatment and achieving viral suppression, all of which supports the global goal of ending HIV and AIDS as a public health concern by 2030. This life-changing science has transformed what it means to live and love with HIV across the globe. To-date, more than 1,000 official U=U partners from all sectors in 105 countries have signed on to the campaign to share the message. The global declaration on U=U endorsed today takes the global commitment to U=U one step further by recognizing the value of the message as a tool to advance efforts to end HIV as a public health concern, and by committing countries to integrate U=U into their policies and programs. Canada endorses the U=U campaign and the global declaration on U=U, and encourages other countries to do the same. Quotes "Helping people living with HIV have a healthy and stigma-free life is exactly what Canada's endorsement of U=U is all about. Today, we are reiterating our commitment to build U=U into our policies and programs to help prevent new infections and ensure that individuals living with HIV and AIDS receive the ongoing care, treatment, and support they need." The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos Minister of Health "Canada's endorsement of the U=U campaign will be vital in confronting the stigma and discrimination that has impacted the HIV community. Making U=U a core component of our policies and programs helps us better address systemic inequities and decrease barriers to care so that those affected by HIV have the support they need to live a healthy life. " The Honourable Carolyn Bennett Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and Associate Minister of Health Quick Facts The Government of Canada is committed to the global goal of ending HIV and AIDS as a public health concern by 2030. is committed to the global goal of ending HIV and AIDS as a public health concern by 2030. This commitment includes meeting the 95-95-95 targets by 2025, that 95% of all people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those diagnosed receive antiretroviral treatment and 95% of those on treatment achieve viral suppression. At the end of 2020, approximately 63,000 people were living with HIV in Canada . Among those, an estimated 90% were diagnosed and 87% of those diagnosed were on treatment. Canada estimates 95% of people are on treatment having suppressed viral loads. . Among those, an estimated 90% were diagnosed and 87% of those diagnosed were on treatment. estimates 95% of people are on treatment having suppressed viral loads. To help meet the 95-95-95 targets, the Government of Canada : : provides HIV screening and testing guidance to health professionals, supports robust community-based projects to strengthen prevention and access to testing and treatment services, and undertakes HIV surveillance to monitor progress and better understand the drivers of the epidemic. Associated Links U=U testimonials of people living with HIV in Canada HIV factsheet: U=U for health professionals HIV in Canada - People living with HIV and new HIV infections, 2020 Canada's progress towards global HIV targets (90-90-90), 2020 Reducing the health impact of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections in Canada by 2030: A pan-Canadian STBBI framework for action Accelerating our response: Government of Canada five-year action plan on sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections 2019-2020 Progress report for the Government of Canada Five-Year Action Plan on Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections Canada Pavilion at AIDS 2022 AIDS 2022, the 24th International AIDS Conference SOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada For further information: Contacts: Marie-France Proulx, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, 613-957-0200; Media Relations, Public Health Agency of Canada, 613-957-2983, [email protected]; Maja Staka, Office of the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, 343-552-5568; Public Inquiries: 613-957-2991, 1-866-225-0709 The Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan provide concrete support to two post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan REGINA, SK, July 29, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - In order to support official-language minority communities and the vitality of the French language, it is essential to invest in the Francophone education system, particularly post-secondary institutions. These institutions are essential to the development of Francophone communities in Canada, and they improve the quality of French-language education. That is why the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan have joined forces to support Fransaskois post-secondary institutions. To support the construction, renovation and development of post-secondary educational spaces and increase the availability of programs that serve official-language minority communities, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister for Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today announced $7.1 million in funding for the Fransaskois community. The Minister was joined by the Honourable Gordon Wyant, Minister of Advanced Education for Saskatchewan. More specifically, the funding is for three projects related to post-secondary education in French in Saskatchewan. The first project involves the stabilization and consolidation of Francophone post-secondary programs at the University of Regina's La Cite universitaire francophone and College Mathieu in Saskatchewan. This project aims to increase the number of programs, courses and services offered and to promote the development of new programs and courses. The project has two components: university education and college education. The university component is provided by La Cite universitaire francophone, and the college component by College Mathieu. This project is made possible by $3,590,000 in funding allocated by the Government of Canada in Budget 2021 to support high-quality post-secondary education in the minority language. The Government of Saskatchewan supports this project. Funding will also be used for the renovation of De Mazenod Hall at College Mathieu, which will include restoration of classrooms, conference rooms and a library. The building will also undergo additional upgrades, including repairs to the drainage, ventilation, heating and air conditioning systems. The Government of Canada is contributing a total of $1,060,000 to this project. Finally, both governments will support the modernization of classrooms, meeting rooms and community spaces at the University of Regina's La Cite universitaire francophone. This infrastructure project will modernize the spaces at La Cite universitaire in order to provide a quality teaching environment and meet the growing demand of the Fransaskois community. The spaces will be renovated with a view to hosting community cultural activities. Equipment to allow hybrid teaching, distance learning and simultaneous translation services will be installed. This project will improve the student population's learning environment and create new opportunities for collaboration with the Francophone community through larger and more modern community spaces. The Government of Canada is providing $133,525 for this project. The Government of Saskatchewan also supports the project. The three projects are funded through the CanadaSaskatchewan Agreement for Minority-Language Education and Second-Language Instruction 201920 to 202223, which is made possible largely through the new investments provided in Budget 2021. Quotes "I am delighted to announce some key investments for the Fransaskois community today. Our funding goes beyond the renovation of these buildings; it is also intended to strengthen post-secondary institutional capacity and improve services to Saskatchewan's Francophone minority community. Our current and future students will be able to benefit from a quality French-language education through a variety of programs, courses and services, while studying in modern facilities that support their academic success." The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister for Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency "Saskatchewan is pleased to support French-language programming offered through our Francophone post-secondary education institutions. It is essential that post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan are able to offer appropriate learning environments and superior programs that meet the emerging needs of French-language students." The Honourable Gordon Wyant, Minister of Advanced Education for Saskatchewan "The funding announced today is a clear indication of the federal government's commitment to supporting the development of French in Saskatchewan, given our minority-language context. We are grateful for these investments, which will permit the establishment of university programs and several partnerships with faculties at the University of Regina and other Francophone institutions across the country. The ultimate goal of these French-language programs is to ensure the multifaceted development of the Francophone community. Without this support, we would not be able to fulfill our mandate." Emmanuel Aito, Director, La Cite universitaire francophone "The cooperation between the federal government (through the Department of Canadian Heritage) and the Saskatchewan government with respect to the funding granted to College Mathieu demonstrates their clear support of the stabilization and consolidation of the existing programs of study offered by this century-old institution, while also allowing for the renovation of the De Mazenod building, which will eventually house well-equipped classrooms as well as administrative and community spaces. The post-secondary programs offered in French at the college level should be further strengthened and stabilized by this substantial financial commitment, so that our institution, whose programming has been expanding for a number of years now, can fulfill its mission of training Francophones and Francophiles from Saskatchewan and even elsewhere in the country." Rene Archambault, Chair of the Board of Directors, College Mathieu Quick Facts La Cite universitaire francophone constitutes the main hub for French-language university programming, research and services offered at the University of Regina and across the province. Its mission is to fulfill the university education needs of Saskatchewan's Francophones, whatever their first language. College Mathieu, established in 1918, is the only French-language technical and professional educational institution in Saskatchewan. College Mathieu and the Le Lien centre, located in Dubreuil Hall (the former library), are primarily dedicated to providing post-secondary education at the college level and to disseminating French-language cultural and educational resources. Budget 2021 allocated $121 million over three years (202122 to 202324) to support high-quality minority-language post-secondary education. These new investments will be provided primarily through existing intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms to assist provinces and territories in addressing pressing needs to help stabilize the minority-language post-secondary sector. The Government of Canada is providing this funding through the Development of Official-Language Communities Program (Minority Language Education component and Infrastructure Projects component), whose overall objective is to enhance the vitality of English- and French-speaking minority communities and promote English and French in Canadian society. On March 1, 2022, the Government of Canada introduced an enhanced bill for substantive equality among Canada's official languages to adapt the Official Languages Act to a changing society. Among other objectives, this bill aims to respond to the decline of French in the country; clarify and strengthen the part of the Official Languages Act concerning the promotion of official languages; and support official-language minority communities. Associated Links An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada's Official Languages 2022 Cross-Canada Official Languages Consultations Budget 2021 Official Languages Support Programs Development of Official-Language Communities La Cite universitaire francophone College Mathieu SOURCE Canadian Heritage For further information: Contacts: For more information (media only), please contact: Marianne Blondin, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, [email protected]; Media Relations, Canadian Heritage, 819-994-9101, 1-866-569-6155, [email protected] Indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant was delivered to Indian Navy by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) in Kochi on Thrusday. By accepting the famous Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (AC) Vikrant from her function Object (native code) Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi, Indian Navy made maritime history today. The carrier, which was built by CSL, Public Sector Shipyard under Ministry of Shipping (MoS), was created internally by Indian Navys Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and named after her legendary predecessor, Indias first Aircraft Carrier, which was instrumental in the war of 1971. The resurrection of Vikrant, which coincides with festivities marking the 75th anniversary of Indias independence (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav), is a real testament to the nations energy and fervour in pursuing capabilities build up toward increased maritime security, according to Indian Navy. The 262-meter-long carrier is substantially longer and more sophisticated than her predecessor, with a full displacement of around 45,000 tonnes. The ship has a top speed of 28 knots and is propelled by four gas turbines with a combined 88 MW of power. The project, which was constructed for around Rs 20,000 crores altogether, was advanced over the course of three phases under a contract between the MoD and CSL that was finalised in May 2007, December 2014, and October 2019 accordingly. The keel of the ship was laid in February 2009, and it was launched in August 2013. IAC, which has a total of 76% indigenous material, is a prime illustration of the countrys ambition for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and gives the governments Make in India drive a boost. With the delivery of Vikrant, India has joined a small group of countries with the specialized capacity to design and construct an aircraft carrier domestically. Indian Air Force said that a twin-seater Mig-21 training aircraft that crashed near Barmer region of Rajasthan on Thursday killed both of its pilots after they both suffered severe injuries. IAF reports that the plane went down today about 9.10 p.m. IAF in a tweet stated that This evening, an IAF twin-seater Mig-21 trainer took out for a training sortie from Utarlai air station in Rajasthan. Near Barmer, aircraft had an accident at about 9:10 p.m. Both of the pilots suffered mortal wounds. A court of inquiry has been mandated to look into the incident, according to IAF, which also expressed its heartfelt sympathy for the lives lost. IAF expresses its sincere condolences to the deceased families and laments the loss of life. A court of inquiry has been mandated to determine the accidents cause. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh previously discussed fighter jet crash at Barmer with the head of Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari. He received a thorough briefing on the situation from Air Chief. Approach Chaplin from either direction of downtown Sheltons Howe Avenue and youll see, as might be expected, two different sides. Viewed uphill or from Center Street, and the restaurants main feature beside its sign is the corner patio, cut out from the buildings first floor, and filled with diners enjoying the midsummer Friday air on my first trip in June. Arrive down Howe and through the front doors and your first view will be green-and-black subway tiles over a wide arch like Grand Centrals Oyster Bar. Above a black marble bar, light bulbs hang from brass cymbals with martinis clinking below; Zelda Fitzgerald by way of Zildjian. I order a martini with a house blend of dry vermouth and watch the food coming out for other bar patrons oysters here, polenta fries there, and a tower made with oysters, clams, shrimp, mussels and seafood salad. Once my companion arrives, we are led into the dining area where overhead beams are bound in wood, and a floor-to-ceiling mural of flowers adds a summery vibe, and large windows admit the last rays of that days sunlight. We order the mixed olives, and roasted Marcona almonds dusted with chili powder to start, as we peruse the menu, and add a Guess Who for her. This last is a cocktail made with vodka, Rinomato Aperitivo Deciso, lime juice and hibiscus syrup. The almonds are a crunchy, salty, piquant snack with the martini, but the olives, simply prepared with just rosemary and thyme, steal all our attention as we steal them from each other. The Guess Who is delicious, sharply aromatic, slightly bitter, with the lime and Italian aperitivo cutting their way through the floral sweetness. The small plates section of the menu continues to tempt. We pick the grilled asparagus, and bone marrow appetizers. The asparagus arrives plated with housemade cheese made from milk curdled with lemon juice instead of vinegar, topped with grated lemon zest and a little olive oil. The cheese is noticeably fresh and creamy, and the classic flavor combination of citrus and asparagus is given a boost in the dish. Balanced on a thick slice of sourdough, the roasted marrow bone pops with the colors of microgreens and red Calabrian chilis, over confit garlic and hon shimeji mushrooms. The marrow, effectively meat and garlic butter as served, has additional umami delivered via those mushrooms, with crunch and spice in each bite from the toppings. Its a delicious and attractive dish to start a meal for the omnivorous. Chaplins executive chef, Dylan Hansen, previously worked at Roia in New Haven as chef du cuisine, where the focus at the time was in the middle of reworking the menu to a wide range of small dining options. I ask if he had taken that experience to heart when creating the menu at Chaplin. We wanted to design a menu which wasnt just familiar to the area, but to give people options besides the high-dollar steaks and chops. I always over-order when I eat at restaurants; I like to try other chefs food, and give guests the opportunity to eat like that. Raw bar options take space at the top of the menu, along with appetizer options from Bibb salad, to steak tartare, and PEI mussels with grilled chorizo. Farther down are larger plates: Bell & Evans half-chicken, vegetable risotto, charred octopus A special catches our eyes: salmon belly confit. The dish lands on our table with pink fish joined by white beans, olives and fennel on toasted sourdough. It is a cluster of dense flavors which stand up in harmony over the dense bread. A winner. We have the option to change the menu each day, we print the menu in house, Hansen tells me on a follow-up visit. As an example of whats available in the late spring, he brings out a dish of poached peach with local chanterelle mushrooms in Pedro Ximenez vinegar with olive oil and spearmint over stracciatella cheese. There is an immediate peaches-and-cream sensation with the soft stracciatella and stone fruit, everything so fresh, the flavors pop. The cheese I had in the test dish wasnt local, but chef Hansen says much of the fresh cheese youll see on the summer menu stracciatella, mozzarella, etc. will be housemade. Working his way from sous to executive chef for Barcelona at multiple locations, and going to Spain as a result, Hansen says, informed his approach to food. You have something so simple, but the flavors are so bold, taking one ingredient and figuring out how to make it shine in multiple ways. This approach, plus adding some of the fine-dining aspects from Roia, Im still learning every day. The bar program is overseen by Francisco Sanchez, who pairs the chanterelle dish with a whiskey tart he makes with blood orange liqueur, blood orange juice, egg white, and garnished with a further slice of dried blood orange. Massively citrusy, but smoothed right over by making it a flip with that egg, the drink is mellow and potent. Chaplin itself is the idea of owner Hartin Ballabani, a familiar face to some from his other restaurant in the building, Tacomida. He says there was room in Shelton for something more upscale, and that people told him they wanted to see a concept on that end. The community has responded, he reports. That arch above the bar, by the way, Ballabani noticed as a disused architectural form left over from when the structure was built several years before, and rescued it to recapitulate the face of the building. Hansen echoes the owner. Everyone in the community has been really supportive, it starts with happy hour and oysters and continues through weekend nights. The menu was created to be familiar meatballs, slab bacon, linguine and clams we wanted to bring that, but do it with quality ingredients, standout presentations, to give people that familiarity but with an upscale experience. A glance at the menus lower portion, titled Butcher Box, is all strips, filets, even a 42-ounce Tomahawk, but chef Hansen doesnt consider Chaplin to be a steakhouse. I consider it almost two different menus, that familiar local experience with fun, seasonal ingredients, and also this beef and pork program with high-end meats. On my first visit, I let the night take its course, and end up with an almost Spanish tapas-style dinner, with several small plates, and a few drinks. You can make of Chaplin what you want: come in for two dishes and a few drinks at happy hour, then continue to where your evening takes you, or schedule a steak-and-chops business dinner to scrape the high end of a three-figure bill. My return trip is a mission to try a steak or entree, and I cant take my eyes off the pan-seared duck on the menu. Heres where we self high-five, because it is an excellent choice. Served on a bed of mushrooms and watercress, the bold, flavorful duck with its crispy layer of seared fat is served with a log of potatoes pave, drizzled with pan jus. When asked what I thought of my first visit by chef Hansen, the first words out of my mouth are, its almost mood-based dining. He says that was exactly what he was looking to do: create options for diners including apps, drinks and entrees, steaks and sides, yes, but at whatever level theyre feeling at the moment. Staffing, like everywhere, is an issue, but Hansens position is chefs who give their staff space to create are the type of places staff want to go, and stay. He says they want to get into making their own fresh pasta, butter and more cheeses by the fall at Chaplin, if not sooner. He singles out sous chef Zach Pinto, and says they have exciting new options for the future. Im always learning, and I want that for my staff here, too. Chaplin 247 Howe Ave., Shelton 203-538-5045, chaplindowntown.com, @chaplin_shelton on Instagram Open daily for dinner Wheelchair accessible This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) West Virginia lawmakers passed up the chance Friday to become the first state to approve new legislation restricting access to abortions since the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling last month removing its protected status as a constitutional right. The Republican-dominated Senate adopted its version of a bill along with amendments, one of which removes criminal penalties for physicians who perform illegal abortions. Late Friday night the House of Delegates, which passed its bill Wednesday, refused to concur with the Senate amendments, instead asking for a conference committee to iron out differences among the bills. Both chambers then adjourned until they are called back sometime next month. Several GOP-led states had trigger abortion bans in place in advance of the court ruling, but West Virginia lawmakers are taking action because of legal uncertainty over whether a ban from the 1800s that was upended by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision could be enforced now. As in other states dominated by socially conservative lawmakers, there's not much question about whether abortion will be banned generally now that states have the power to do so but whether the ban will apply to pregnancies caused by rape or incest. In South Carolina, a ban without the exceptions has been introduced. In Arkansas, outgoing GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson would prefer to add them to the ban that's already in effect, but he has balked at asking lawmakers to address the issue in a special session. The high-profile example of a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio, a state without an exception for rape in its abortion restrictions, who traveled to Indiana for an abortion has amplified the debate. Tension over the question gripped the Indiana Senate in a session that began Thursday and finally wrapped up after midnight. A final vote there is expected Saturday on the bill, which includes exceptions for rape and incest. The West Virginia bill, which some lawmakers have complained was not vetted by any Senate committees, would ban abortions except in case of rape or incest. The Senate approved an amendment sponsored by a physician, Kanawha County Republican Tom Takubo, that removes criminal penalties of three to 10 years upon conviction for any medical provider who performs an abortion. Takubo said the bill already would subject a physician to the difficult loss of their license for performing an illegal abortion. He also said West Virginia already has problems retaining medical professionals, and if the criminal penalties are retained it could have a chilling effect on the practice. Another approved amendment offered by Greenbrier County Democrat Stephen Baldwin would allow a minor to report a rape to someone covered as a mandated reporter, such as a pastor or school counselor, who would be required to report the case to authorities. The House version requires law enforcement to be directly contacted. The measure allows exemptions for victims of rape and incest up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. The bill also provides other exceptions for an ectopic pregnancy, a nonmedically viable fetus or a medical emergency that could kill or cause a substantial and irreversible injury. A dozen of the 34 senators gave impassioned speeches before the 21-10 vote. Three senators were absent. Some who said they supported the bill also indicated they werent happy with it. Some Republicans wanted a blanket ban on abortion. Others wanted the criminal penalties for physicians restored. The state's only abortion clinic initially stopped offering abortions after the latest ruling, but resumed this month as it mounted a court challenge on whether the old ban applied. On July 18, a Charleston judge barred the state from enforcing the ban, ruling it had been superseded by a slew of conflicting modern laws such as a ban on abortion after 20 weeks. Republican Gov. Jim Justice called the special legislative session to consider an abortion ban. He didnt indicate whether he would sign either bill, and the governors office didnt immediately return an email Thursday requesting comment. On Friday, people seated in the packed galleries above the Senate chamber shouted shame on you when the afternoon session went into recess almost as soon as it started. When the debate finally began hours later, Democrats complained that they did not have a final version of the Senates bill prior to the start of Fridays session that included a dozen amendments. This has been a slow-motion train wreck, Senate Democratic leader Stephen Baldwin of Greenbrier County. "This bill would put doctors in jail for doing their job and for following their oath. In Indiana on Thursday, there was a nearly four-hour delay in a Senate session as lawmakers met privately to discuss the exceptions, which were ultimately left in over strong objections from some conservative lawmakers. Exceptions equal death for unborn innocent children, said Sen. Mike Young, the Republican who filed an amendment that would only allow abortions to protect the life of the mother. Eighteen Republicans ultimately joined 10 Democrats in voting to keep the rape and incest exceptions in the proposal. But the votes of many of the Republicans who voted for eliminating the exceptions will be needed for the bill to advance to the House. If not enough switch, it could keep abortion would remain legal in the state for now. A final vote there is expected Saturday. While legislative battles over abortion have begun, much of the fallout from the Supreme Court's decision has played out in the court system. In Louisiana, enforcement began of a near-total ban but was halted by a judge earlier this month. On Friday, a judge ruled enforcement could resume though it was not immediately clear when. ___ For APs full coverage of the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, go to https://apnews.com/hub/abortion. ___ Associated Press writers Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Arleigh Rodgers in Indianapolis contributed to this report. Rodgers is a corps members for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON (AP) Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday in the highest-level known contact between the two sides since Russia invaded Ukraine, with Blinken urging Russia to accept a deal to win the release of American detainees Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Russian officials gave no public hint whether Blinken had made any headway, only issuing a chiding statement afterward urging the U.S. to pursue the Americans' freedom through quiet diplomacy, without releases of speculative information." U.S. officials have in recent days publicized their efforts to get back Griner, a WNBA star, and Whelan, a corporate security executive, whose cases have drawn widespread national attention. While the direct outreach to Russian officials allows the Biden administration to show it is going all out to try to free the two U.S. citizens, it also risks undermining a core U.S. message to allies abroad: that isolating Russia diplomatically and economically will ultimately force Russia to pull its troops from Ukraine. Blinken did not provide details of Lavrovs response to what he had previously called a substantial proposal" for Russia to release Whelan and Griner. Blinken had publicly requested the call and revealed the existence of the offer to Russia. People familiar with the offer say the U.S. wants to swap Whelan and Griner for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Blinken described the call as a frank and direct conversation centered primarily on the detained Americans. I urged Foreign Minister Lavrov to move forward with that proposal," he said. "I cant give you an assessment of whether that is any more or less likely. Blinken also said he had pressed Lavrov on the importance of Russia following through on an agreement to allow Ukrainian grain shipments to leave the Black Sea and warned him of consequences should Moscow move ahead with suspected plans to annex portions of eastern and southern Ukraine. Blinken said he told Lavrov that the world will never recognize any annexation of Ukrainian territory, which he said would result in significant additional costs for Russia. He declined to comment on how Lavrov replied to his messages. I dont want to characterize any of Foreign Minister Lavrovs responses. In its statement afterward, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov strongly suggested to Blinken returning to a professional dialogue in the mode of quiet diplomacy on any efforts at American detainees' release. Lavrov also repeated Russia's vows to keep fighting until it has achieved its aims in Ukraine, renewed complaints that U.S. and NATO support to Ukraine was prolonging the conflict, and accused the U.S. of not yet keeping up its end of agreements on the grain shipments from Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry said. Blinkens comments earlier this week marked the first time the U.S. government publicly revealed any concrete action it has taken to secure Griners release. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and player for the WNBAs Phoenix Mercury was arrested at a Moscow airport in mid-February when inspectors found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Griners arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington ahead of Russia sending troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Griners five months of detention have raised strong criticism among teammates and supporters in the United States. Her trial on drug charges started in a court outside Moscow this month, and she testified Wednesday that she didnt know how the cartridges ended up in her bag but that she had a doctors recommendation to use cannabis to treat career-related pain. The 31-year-old has pleaded guilty but said she had no criminal intent in bringing the cartridges to Russia and packed in haste for her return to play in a Russian basketball league during the WNBAs offseason. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of transporting drugs. The Biden administration has faced political pressure to free Griner and other Americans whom the U.S. has declared to be wrongfully detained a designation sharply rejected by Russian officials. Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges in 2020. He and his family have vigorously asserted his innocence. The U.S. government has denounced the charges as false. Russia has for years expressed interest in the release of Bout, a Russian arms dealer once labeled the Merchant of Death. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012 on charges that he schemed to illegally sell millions of dollars in weapons. Kremlin officials presumably reveled in the news that the U.S., which has rallied friendly countries around the world to cut even vital trade ties with Russia to pressure it to withdraw from Ukraine, was now seeking engagement with Russia on a problem of its own. They are going to drag this out and try to humiliate us as much as they can, said Ian Kelly, a retired career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Georgia in the Obama and Trump administrations. I dont think it goes along with (the administrations) overall policy. Kelly said the request for a call is counterproductive to our broader effort to isolate Russia. ___ Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Ellen Knickmeyer and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report. Lois "Bunny" Drueke/AP BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Two Americans captured while fighting with the Ukrainian Army apparently have been sent to a prison where they are spending all their time together, the family of one of the men said. Alex Drueke, who was captured with fellow veteran and Alabama resident Andy Huynh in early June, told his mother about the transfer in a telephone call, according to a statement issued late Thursday by the Drueke family. WOODSTOCK Flags across Connecticut were lowered to half-staff Friday in honor of George W. Brown, a former chief and member of the Muddy Brook Fire Department for more than 50 years. Brown, a Vietnam War veteran, was a fixture within the department since joining in 1967, officials said on Facebook. He also worked as a nurse at a local hospital and was an active member of his church before his unexpected death. This is a huge loss to the department and our local community, officials said. He was a mentor and dear friend to us all. In his obituary, Browns family said he had been married to his wife, Pamela, for more than 44 years. He is survived by his wife, two children and other relatives. He will be remembered for his great love of his family and friends, his country, his church and his community, the obituary stated. As he ordered flags to be lowered Friday, Gov. Ned Lamont praised Browns devotion to his neighbors and colleagues. Chief Brown dedicated himself to public protection, including through his military service during the Vietnam War and as a lifelong member of the Muddy Brook Fire Department, Lamont said in a statement. His line-of-duty passing following a response to an emergency call for service is heartbreaking, and I extended my condolences to his friends, family, and colleagues in the fire department. The Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Department offered condolences to the Muddy Brook firefighters. William Halstead, the chief of their department, also died unexpectedly in recent weeks after responding to a call. We understand what you are going through. We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers, Sandy Hook officials posted on Facebook. Rest easy, chief. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indiana senators on Friday approved a measure to direct funding toward programs that help pregnant women, children and people who adopt during a divided special session where lawmakers have been wrangling over a proposal to ban nearly all abortions in the state. The spending bill from Senate Republicans, which passed 461, allocates $45 million more in the coming year toward state agencies that support the health of pregnant women, postpartum mothers, and infants, especially among low-income families. The wraparound services would be available for families with children under 4 years old and comes with an estimated $5 million expansion in adoption tax credits. Alone in his dissent was Senate Democratic Leader Greg Taylor, who said that while he thinks it is important to send assistance to families in need, disbursing the funds through the states budget agency is not fiscally responsible. Sending $45 million to the budget agency does not get the money to the people, he said before voting. It puts it in a fund that allows the budget agency to determine who gets it and where it goes. The House on Friday also approved a similar bill that comprises millions in tax credits for families adopting, repeals the state tax on childrens diapers and expands eligibility for direct payments through the states automatic taxpayer refund law. Approved by House legislators 93-2, the bill will distribute $225 to taxpayers, and Indiana residents who were not required to file a tax return can sign an affidavit to claim a tax rebate. Its an echo of Republican Gov. Eric Holcombs first call for a special session on inflation relief in June. Senate Republicans have so far been opposed to issuing direct payments in their legislation. The Senate is also considering an inflation relief bill without a tax rebate, and a Democratic amendment that would have included one was shot down Friday. We think the programs that were supporting are the right programs to support, House Speaker Todd Huston told reporters. People need the dollars right now. The final Senate vote happened about 10 hours after after the Republican-dominated chamber declined to remove exceptions for rape and incest victims in the proposed abortion ban. Indiana is among GOP-controlled states moving quickly to further restrict or ban abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Lawmakers wrapped past midnight due to an approximately five-hour delay in Thursdays session, and Senate restrictions prohibited lawmakers from voting on the ban Friday. The Senate vote is now expected Saturday, and the House could take up the proposal next week. As for the spending proposal, Republicans have said it shows dedication to mothers and babies, while Democrats say the money isn't enough for services that will be in greater demand if the abortion ban passes. House Democrats emphasized a similar note of dissatisfaction in their own social services bill. Republican Sen. Travis Holdman called the bill a start and addressed Democrats' calls for mental health funding in the bill. We have a whole new budget session coming up here in January, and hopefully we can supplement some of the funds and respond in kind as we should to the mental health situation and the needs of young mothers, pregnant women and young children, Holdman said. Twice in recent years, GOP legislators turned aside Republican Gov. Eric Holcombs call for a law requiring businesses to provide workplace accommodations for pregnant women. Supporters for previous bills such as provisions to grant pregnant workers longer breaks or transfers to less physical work said they would improve Indianas infant mortality rate. Federal statistics show the state had the countrys ninth worst in 2020, with 527 infant deaths. An amendment to the wraparound services bill approved Thursday requires state offices to research neighboring states' Medicaid reimbursement rates for pregnancy-related services, with a report required by Dec. 31, 2022. Legislative leaders have acknowledged the abortion ban could increase the states Medicaid and other expenses. A ban on most of the approximately 8,400 abortions performed in Indiana in 2021 would add an unknown number to the states live births, about 80,000 of which occurred last year, according to the state Health Department. ___ Arleigh Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Police say a Milford man has admitted to three of the at least six recent robberies of Peoples United Bank branches inside Stop & Shop stores in Connecticut. Naugatuck police said 43-year-old Michael Timothy Alldredge was charged Thursday with second-degree robbery in connection with an incident in their town the day before. Alldredge admitted to robbing the bank in Naugatuck, as well as other Peoples United Bank locations in Watertown and Southington, Detective Jonathan Slavin wrote in a police report. Alldredge has not been charged with the Watertown or Southington incidents and it remained unknown Friday whether he was connected with the robberies in the other Connecticut communities. While we are in contact with other departments and although we have made an arrest, this case is still under investigation and we cannot speak on behalf of other agencies investigations, Naugatuck police said in a statement. According to Slavins report, the Naugatuck suspect was seen on video surveillance leaving the grocery store and getting into a Jeep Wrangler around 5:25 p.m. Wednesday. Detectives reviewed dash camera footage from officers responding to the scene spotted the Jeep and captured its license plate, which was determined to belong to a Torrington woman. The Torrington woman told police she let her friend and her friends boyfriend borrow the Jeep, the report stated. The woman said the couple had previously given her money or filled the gas tank when they borrowed the car, according to the report. Police detained Alldredge and his girlfriend as they came to pick up the Torrington woman from work on Thursday, Slavin wrote in the report. Alldredges girlfriend, who police said will face charges, told investigators she had driven Alldredge to the bank in Naugatuck, but said she was unaware of his plans to rob it, the report stated. The only other thing I can say is there was no discussion of Hey, lets go rob a bank, the woman told police, according to the report. There was never any discussion of hey, youre going to drive, youre gonna do this, youre going to do that. Alldredge also said that his girlfriend was unaware of his plans. Slavin said police plan to charge the woman with conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ST. LOUIS (AP) Heavy rains brought another round of flooding to the St. Louis region that was already recovering from record rains earlier this week, prompting firefighters to help dozens of people escape the floodwaters. No injuries were reported from Thursday's flooding, but the St. Louis Fire Department said on Twitter that it responded to 75 flooding-related emergencies and 60 people were rescued or helped to safety. Among the rescues, the department said firefighters carried six children to safety from a daycare at Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church, where 15 children and three adults reportedly were trapped. The Rev. Paul Sheridan, a longtime priest at St. Louis University High School, a Jesuit college prep school, was among several drivers whose cars became trapped by rising floodwaters Thursday afternoon. He told KSDK-TV that when the water reached his seat, he dashed out of his car. Sheridan swam to a nearby tree and St. Louis firefighters helped the 77-year-old priest get into a nearby McDonald's restaurant. He said he kept thinking about people who had lost their homes. "Ive never been caught in a storm like that and, no, I cant walk on water, Sheridan said, laughing. The storms that began Thursday afternoon lasted for a few hours and dropped about 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) of rain, according to early National Weather Service estimates. Debbie Boshans, her husband and their cat had been rescued Tuesday from their home due to flooding, and they were working to load belongings onto a trailer Thursday when rain began falling again, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Their street flooded a second time. I cant believe this happened again, Boshans' son-in-law, Kyle Mathes, told the newspaper. Its a double whammy. Earlier in the week, a storm system dropped more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) in St. Charles County and up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) in other areas on Tuesday and Wednesday. That prompted widespread flooding. Parts of southern Illinois also saw flooding after heavy rains. Authorities said two men drowned in the earlier St. Louis-area storm. The weather service said the rain that began early Tuesday was the most prolific in the St. Louis metropolitan area since records began in 1874. The flooding came the same week that heavy rains caused deadly flooding and massive property damage in central Appalachia. Ahead of the 2023 presidential elections, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has enjoined the... Ahead of the 2023 presidential elections, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has enjoined the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) not to be used by selfish politicians but by the spirit of God. Adewole stated this during the inaugural ceremony of the new CAN president, Archbishop Daniel Okoh on Thursday in Abuja. Speaking immediately after the event, the presidential candidate urged CAN to play a unifying, non-partisan role ahead of the election. He reiterated the call that Nigeria needs God-ordained leaders to rescue it. It is good that the Christian community has done their transition without rancour. This should be an example of what Nigeria can be. All the blocks in CAN came together and elected a leader. You will also see that it is the youngest of them all that is now the leader of CAN. It is a biblical thing about how God does his things. Everything about God is ordained. I am reminding the Christian community that in this time of tribulations we shouldnt lose hope, this is a test of faith, and with all the problems Nigerians are going through, God will surely answer our prayers. Secondly, the Christian church is not only for Christians, the objective of the body of Christ isnt to create disunity but unity. The Church is an inspiration for all Nigerians. And the mercy of God on Nigeria includes His presence of Christians. And that as we are looking for leadership to rescue this country, we should remember what happened when the Children of Israel were facing Goliath, the Philistine, it was not the big generals or the mighty ones God used to rescue them but the lonely David, who they never knew till that day. They should pray, they shouldnt follow the news or any prediction rather let the Lord minister to them, so that from within a righteous one may arise and bring righteousness to the Country. CAN shouldnt play Christian versus anybody mentality, but rather to unity the country. And to give a message that is ecumenical not only among the Christians but among all the religious communities in Nigeria. I also reminded that CAN, that the priest, bishops and eminences are people called as instruments of God. This is a moment where politicians use anybody, they shouldnt be used by anybody but by the spirit of God. And that in this year of politics they will not become an instrument of men but of God, and that nobody should use them for politics. And that they should pray for the country and get us together. If the church is united for righteousness and they arent against anyone but searching for Gods guidance/answer, the moment of rescue is coming and God should give us the right person to lead the nation, he stated. President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday congratulated Archbishop Daniel Okoh, General Superintendent of Christ Holy Church (Odozi-Obodo), on ... President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday congratulated Archbishop Daniel Okoh, General Superintendent of Christ Holy Church (Odozi-Obodo), on his election as the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Buharis congratulatory message was contained in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Friday in Abuja. According to him, the election of Okoh by the very important Christian body is a testament to his devotion to the church of God in the country and beyond, distinguished vocation as a Christian leader, and abiding commitment to promoting ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue. While acknowledging the role CAN has played in fostering religious unity and harmony, Buhari believed that the incoming CAN president would continue to provide the needed leadership for the church, affirming the scriptural truth: That they all may be one. (John 17:21a) Buhari, who had fond memories of his interactions with the CAN leadership, said he valued the counsel and spiritual contributions of Christian leaders to nation-building by encouraging, advising, strengthening, correcting, and criticising those in authority. The President prayed that the tenure of Okoh in this new phase of ministry would be marked with success, urging the blocs that made up CAN to kindly give the cleric every needed support to excel. Buhari also wished the outgoing President, Rev Dr Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, best wishes in his spiritual and secular endeavours. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State said that thugs did not cart away its voter enrollment machines in Sur... The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State said that thugs did not cart away its voter enrollment machines in Surulere, Lagos State. NigerianEye had reported that on Friday, thugs invaded INEC Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) centre, situated at St. Bridget Catholic Church ljesha, in Surulere, and carted away INEC enrollment machines. Reacting to the development, INECs Public Relations Officer in Lagos State, Mrs Adenike Oriowo, told NAN that though the exercise was distrupted because of the surge, no machine was stolen. There were issues in the said CVR centre but orderliness was restored and the exercise continued smoothly. We have moved the registration in that centre to another polling unit in the area, and our officials have continued with the registration. People should be patient. We shall register as many people as possible. If people continue to disrupt the process, the opportunity to register more people before the deadline will be interrupted. Our commitment is to register as many people as possible and we will try to do so within the limited time, the INEC spokesperson said. Former Rivers South East Senator, Magnus Abe has formerly announced his membership of the Social Democratic Party. This is coming a few days... Former Rivers South East Senator, Magnus Abe has formerly announced his membership of the Social Democratic Party. This is coming a few days after the Senator announced his resignation from the ruling All Progressives Congress. Abe is a strong ally of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu. It is believed that he joined the SDP to pursue his governorship ambition, having lost out in the APC. Announcing his latest move on Friday, Abe said, Yes, I am and I have been a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). I remain irrevocably committed to the ideals that have driven my politics through the years. We will continue to do all we can to improve internal democracy in the politics of our country and focus on the people. Babagana Monguno, national security adviser (NSA), says the recent attack on the presidential guard troops in Abuja resulted in a decimat... Babagana Monguno, national security adviser (NSA), says the recent attack on the presidential guard troops in Abuja resulted in a decimation. Monguno said this on Thursday while speaking to state house correspondents after a meeting of the security council in Abuja. On July 24, troops of the presidential guard troops ran into an ambush by gunmen in the federal capital territory (FCT), but the army had said three casualties were recorded. Speaking on the development, Monguno implied that a significant number of officers were killed although he didnt give any specific figure. He, however, said there is a need for the general public to support the efforts of security agencies through the provision of reliable information. A few days ago, troops of the guards brigade were ambushed and decimated. Had there been collective effort by way of just snippets of information, we might have averted that incident, he said. That is not to say that the responsibility is for those outside the security domain. Its a collective responsibility. He also said the media needs to be more careful about reporting security challenges, just as he urged politicians to be cautious when making statements on the countrys security challenges. Council is also concerned about the nature of media reporting incidents with regards to insecurity. It is important for the media to understand that certain reports being generated by the media, either the way or the manner in which they report, can also aggravate the delicate situation, he said. So, council is urging the media to be very careful in whatever it reports. Whatever gets out to the public space can have a debilitating effect on the population. Equally, the political elite is also urged to take into account the consequences of utterances, especially from people who have established a reputation people who are considered leaders of thought; people who are considered to have some kind of influence in society. Whatever goes out may be harmful, not just to the government if that is the intention, which I doubt may not be a deliberate thing but at the end of the day, it will affect the wider society. We are in a very difficult situation. Council understands; Mr. President understands peoples concerns about the growing insecurity. But I can assure you that theres no straight cut-and-dry method of dealing with this thing unless all of us embrace each other. Monguno said security agencies are also working on a new strategy to tackle insecurity, adding that they have given their word and their commitment to the president that there will be a change in momentum, regardless of the fact that there might be certain institutional limitations which they face. They have understood the enormity of the responsibilities that they have, he added. Watertown, NY (13601) Today Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 81F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Workers work on an assembly line at a production base of the Chinese automaker Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp., Ltd. (JAC) in Feixi County of Hefei City, east China's Anhui Province, May 26, 2020.(Xinhua/Liu Junxi) HEFEI, July 28 (Xinhua) -- East China's Anhui Province has reported robust growth in its auto industry in the first half of the 2022, according to the provincial department of economy and information technology. A total of 781,000 automobiles were made in H1 of 2022, up by 6.1 percent year on year, the department said. New-energy vehicles (NEVs) accounted for 27.4 percent of the total output, with 214,000 units, up 94.1 percent year on year. Chery Holding Group Co., Ltd., Anhui's major automaker, sold 475,250 units worldwide in the first half of 2022, a year-on-year increase of 12 percent. It exported 148,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 25 percent, to overseas markets such as Brazil and Egypt. In the same period, another Anhui-based auto giant JAC Motors sold 235,200 units, including 48,700 units exported to the overseas market. A burned car sits at a house near where Pan Am Flight 759 crashed July 9, 1982, in Kenner. Lego building sets are one of the educational toys available for use at Orleans Parish libraries. Jewel of the South is a modern New Orleans tavern that is part of a small, promising wave of new restaurants and bars with the potential to lure locals to the French Quarter, not just cater to tourists. Evidently, that appeal applies to the bar and spirits industry professionals judging this year's Tales of the Cocktail Foundation Spirit Awards. Jewel of the South was named Best U.S. Restaurant Bar of the Year by the group, while its co-founder Chris Hannah also won the award for U.S. Bartender of the Year. These were two categories in an industrywide competition held as part of the annual Tales of the Cocktail conference. The awards were given out at an event, held July 28, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, recognizing top bars, brand ambassadors, writers and other industry professionals from around the world. The awards were judged by a collection of bartenders, bar owners, industry educators and writers. Jewel of the South opened in 2019 in a Creole townhouse dating to the 1830s, giving a glimpse into history and a taste of the contemporary. The bar is the domain of Hannah, who made his name giving great cocktails their due at Arnauds French 75 Bar, often delving into the archives to resurrect lost classics. Jewel of the South is also as much a restaurant as a bar. Chef Phil Whitmarsh serves a highly contemporary menu informed in large part by modern British styles, with its emphasis on seasonal freshness and the reinvention of familiar flavors. Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up This is the latest major accolade for Jewel of the South. Earlier this year, it was ranked No. 24 by 50 Best Bars in North America, an influential international industry ranking. And in June, it landed on Esquire magazines annual listing of the 25 Best Bars in America, along with Peychaud's, the year-old cocktail lounge a few blocks away in the French Quarter. Jewel of the South 1026 St. Louis St., (504) 265-8816 +7 Two French Quarter bars make Esquire magazines best bars in America list A balanced blend of spirits for fine cocktails and a nuanced mix of classic and contemporary are defining features of both Jewel of the South +7 Tales of the Cocktail returns, with a needed boost to the New Orleans hospitality industry With access to the right ingredients and some diligence in using them properly, a great cocktail can come together just about anywhere. But Ne +13 How this nonprofit is Turning Tables for Black bartenders, tackling industry racial inequality Watching bartenders at work, Alana Peck always saw something that called to her. It was how they hosted guests, created an atmosphere, shared Twenty-five months is a long time to be on a political roller coaster, but thats almost exactly how long it took Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams to beat a federal tax rap. Its been a wild ride, but the flashy DAs fortunes are poised to soar again. Williams was indicted on 11 counts of felony tax fraud on June 26, 2020 just weeks before he qualified to run for DA and acquitted of all charges on July 28, 2022. Along the way, he got elected as New Orleans first progressive district attorney on promises to reinvent the office as a bastion of criminal justice reform. Even as the indictment hung over his campaign for DA, Williams remained upbeat and confident, flashing his hallmark smile and focusing on his progressive bona fides. He won the DAs race in surprisingly easy fashion in December 2020. A month later, he took over an office wracked by accusations of bullying witnesses and issuing fake subpoenas, but those ghosts didnt haunt Williams as much as the federal indictment. Publicly undaunted, he announced sweeping policy changes, including a task force dedicated to reexamining several hundred convictions by nonunanimous juries. Although he won national praise for his progressive policies, Williams undoubtedly was distracted by the federal charges and the specter of having to stand trial. He appeared to be struggling to find his footing as DA, having spent his entire legal career as a criminal defense attorney. Now, more than 18 months into the job, Williams can finally devote all his attention to the DAs office. It will be interesting to see where he takes it from here, but this much is certain: His political star will likely rise again. Thats not how things looked only a month ago, but political landscapes (and politicians fortunes) have a way of changing quickly. Case in point: Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who also campaigned as a progressive. During the same 25 months that Williams battled a federal indictment, Cantrells approval rating fell from near 70% to just 44% amid a violent crime wave and massive resignations at NOPD. For the first time, Heronners negative rating, 48%, exceeds her level of support. Unlike Williams, Cantrells political wounds are mostly self-inflicted. She promoted letting cops use evidence based on facial recognition software, a move that upset many progressives, and she has recently taken a series of expensive overseas trips that amount to little more than lavish boondoggles while citizens grow weary of flooded streets, violent crime and ever longer police response times. Williams and Cantrell have never been allied politically. In the aftermath of his acquittal, as other elected officials heaped congratulatory good wishes upon the DA, Cantrell who's been traveling frequently of late and only cancelled a planned trip to Singapore after public backlash thanked jurors for their thoughtfulness and consideration and subtly admonished Williams to focus on citizens safety. If the mayors slide continues, as seems inevitable, look for the newly emboldened DA to seize the reins on public safety issues. That, too, should be a wild ride. Qualcomm has signed an extension of its chip supply deal with Samsung that will go until 2030 and could be prolonged for another period. The agreement includes any future 6G modems Qualcomm may churn out, as well as Snapdragon processor supply for Galaxy devices that my spell the end of the Exynos fragmentation. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , Arc , ARM , Audio , Benchmark , Biotech , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , DIY , E-Mobility , Education , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel , Intel Evo , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Leaks / Rumors , Linux / Unix , List , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Raptor Lake , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Wi-Fi 7 , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) , Zen 4 Ticker It looks like the Galaxy S22 Ultra may be the last high-end Samsung phone that is powered by two brands of mobile processors - Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and Samsung's own Exynos 2200 chipset. During its Q2 quarterly results press conference, Qualcomm hinted that it may be the exclusive supplier of the Galaxy S23 line's processing power indeed. Last we heard from credible Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on the matter, Samsung's upcoming Exynos 2300 chipset was struggling to match Qualcomm's X70 5G modem specifications, especially in terms of its power efficiency as it is optimized for TSMC's 4nm node: Snapdragon X70 5G Modem-RF System introduces the new, advanced Qualcomm 5G PowerSave Gen 3 technology suite, combined with a 4 nm baseband process a tightly integrated modem-RF system, delivering superior power efficiency and all-day battery life. Hence, Samsung allegedly decided that it better go all in on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset for the Galaxy S23 series, in order to gain access to its superior 5G modem and stop with the regional Exynos processor fragmentation policy it's maintained for a while. This rumor seems to be all but confirmed by Qualcomm's CEO Cristiano Amon now, who mentioned during the Q2 earnings call that "we were 75% on Galaxy S22 before the agreement. You should be thinking about we're going to be much better than that on Galaxy S23 and beyond." The agreement that he talks about here is an extension of the multiyear processor supply deal that Qualcomm had with Samsung for another 7 years, and will be running until 2030. Not only does the extension cover Samsung's future handsets like the Galaxy S23, but Qualcomm's CEO also said that its Snapdragon processors and modems will find their way in Samsung's portfolio "beyond Galaxy smartphones to include Galaxy books, Windows PCs, Galaxy tablets, future extended reality devices and other devices." In addition, the multiyear Samsung-Qualcomm tie-up includes any next-generation wireless connectivity standards that may arise in the meantime. "The [Samsung deal] extension encompasses 3G, 4G, and 5G technologies and devices and will also include future 6G standards and products," informed Mr. Amon, paving the way for Qualcomm's potentially exclusive 6G modem presence in Samsung devices when the final standard specifications are agreed upon a few years from now. Get the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra on Amazon Deborah Schab had to physically drive to the Dyer branch to get access to her money. She said a man in line was screaming about his experience, saying that he waited more than an hour and a half only to be told they couldn't help him that day. She asked bankers if what he was saying was true and they should just go home so they're not wasting their time. After they reassured her, she ended up opting to wait in line but came to regret it. "Forty-five minutes later, I got to the front only to be told they can't help me, go home," she said. "It was absolute mayhem in the line and also when someone finally got waited on only to be turned away. There were lots of angry people." CROWN POINT A 22-year-old man who already has served more than five years in jail while awaiting a resolution in his murder case admitted Monday to shooting a man to death in 2016 during a robbery in Gary. Lacindo Luckett pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, a level 2 felony, and a firearm enhancement in the homicide of 43-year-old Samuel Moore on Oct. 1, 2016, in the 1300 block of Harrison Street. In exchange for Luckett's plea, Lake County prosecutors agreed to dismiss several counts, including murder. Luckett was 17 years old when he was taken into custody in October 2016. Murder defendants aren't afforded bond unless a court finds the presumption of guilt is not strong. The court denied Luckett's petition to let bail in June. If Lake Criminal Court Judge Gina Jones accepts Luckett's plea agreement, she would sentence him to a total of 29 years in prison followed by three years in the Lake County Community Corrections alternative placement program. He would receive credit for time already served and be required to serve at least 75% of his sentence. Jones set Luckett's sentencing for Aug. 18. Luckett was the last of four defendants charged in Moore's homicide to resolve his case. He admitted in his plea agreement he, Christian E. Manning, 21, of Gary; S'mone D. Honeycutt, 22, of Gary; and Kenya Honeycutt rode in a vehicle driven by Moore. When Moore arrived in the 1300 block of Harrison, Luckett pulled out a .22-caliber rifle and pointed it at Moore, court records state. Moore attempted to reach for the gun, and Luckett fired two times, striking Moore's upper right chest and right hand, according to the plea agreement. Moore died from the gunshot wounds. According to court records, Moore was at a family party with Kenya Honeycutt, who was 15 at the time, before his death. Manning admitted in his plea agreement he received a message from Kenya Honeycutt about a robbery before he got into the vehicle with Moore and the others. Manning pleaded guilty in 2019 to robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, a level 3 felony. He admitted he stole a radio from Moore's vehicle after Luckett shot Moore. Manning could face up to nine years in prison at his sentencing, which was set for Aug. 25. S'mone Honeycutt pleaded guilty in 2018 to assisting a criminal, a level 5 felony. Her sentencing was set for Aug. 18. The Lake County prosecutor's office charged Kenya Honeycutt in 2016, but later dropped the charges, saying she should be prosecuted in Lake Juvenile Court. Loud debates over abortion policy and tax rebates so far have dominated this year's rare special session of the Indiana General Assembly. But amid competing groups of protesters at the Statehouse, a number of Northwest Indiana officials quietly are working to fix a seemingly minor tax issue that will have a huge impact on several Region taxing districts if left unaddressed. The issue stems from a Sept. 22, 2021, Indiana Supreme Court ruling that ordered the property tax assessment for Southlake Mall to revert to its 2010 amount from the considerably higher valuations applied to the mall for the 2011-2014 tax years. As a result of the assessment change, the mall is owed a property tax refund totaling approximately $19 million from Lake County, Ross Township, City of Hobart, Merrillville Community School Corp., Lake County Public Library District and Lake County Solid Waste District. Records show the largest share of the mall tax refund is due from Hobart and Merrillville schools, which under current state law must be paid soon as single, lump sum. Lake County officials said Thursday neither the city nor the school district likely has sufficient cash on hand to cover the payment, and forcing them to shift funds from other needs will cause "catastrophic" impacts to public services. "I could see this really hurting each of the taxing entities," said Lake County Councilman Dan Dernulc, R-Highland. "Police would be affected, fire would be affected, any kind of quality of life services would be affected." To prevent that pain, local officials are urging the Legislature to change a single date in the Indiana Code to 2010 from 2014, which would allow the affected taxing districts to repay the money to the mall over a 5- to 10-year period as a credit against future property taxes, instead of immediately in cash. A 2020 state law authorized the alternative method of repayment of large property tax refunds for assessments made after Dec. 31, 2014. It's not currently available for the mall case because the relevant reassessment occurred in 2011. "If these legislators would think about the impact of this to their towns, that should be a no-brainer," Dernulc said. The Lake County Council voted 6-0 Thursday to adopt a resolution supporting the efforts of Hobart and Merrillville schools to persuade state lawmakers to change the statute to allow for a longer repayment period. Multiple Northwest Indiana legislators confirmed to The Times they're aware of the issue, and working it, but all the uncertainty over both the abortion and tax rebate proposals make it difficult to predict how things will turn out. The Indiana Senate is poised to hold a final vote on a near-total abortion ban after the Republican-dominated chamber on Thursday rejected a proposal to eliminate exceptions allowing women and girls limited access to abortion in cases of rape or incest. State Sen. Mike Young, R-Indianapolis, said he filed the "no exceptions" amendment to Senate Bill 1 because he's determined to do all he can to save the lives of "babies" no matter how they were conceived. "They can't do anything about it. But we can," Young said. "Exceptions equal death for unborn, innocent children." The vote on Young's plan, following some two hours of debate, was 28-18. Eighteen Republicans, including state Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, and state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, joined the 10 Democrats in attendance to defeat the proposal. Among Northwest Indiana lawmakers, only state Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, supported the no exceptions abortion ban. However, the underlying measure, which still would ban all abortion in Indiana except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the mother is in grave danger, now is at risk of failing to advance to the Republican-controlled House. Legislation requires 26 votes to win Senate approval. If the 18 no exceptions Republicans refuse to support the proposal on final passage, and all 11 Democrats are expected to vote against it, that would send Hoosier lawmakers back to the drawing board if they intend to enact new abortion restrictions during this summer's rare special session. Supporters of Young's proposal primarily gave theological reasons for their belief all life is sacred and deserves to be protected from the moment of conception. "I am here to represent Jesus," said state Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton. "Some problems in life there are no good answers. But I know God loves every human being that has ever been conceived. And I know he wants us to choose life." State Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, acknowledged rape and incest are wrong. But he said abortion also is wrong and "two wrongs don't make a right." "I will never support anything that holds these little tykes guilty. I will never administer a death sentence to these little guys because of something an adult in their lives did," Tomes said. Opponents of the proposal insisted women who become pregnant through rape or incest are entitled to decide on their own whether to obtain an abortion, and denying her that right is no different than the state exercising the same control over her body as the rapist. "Victims of rape have been retraumatized by this amendment, and certainly have been dishonored," said state Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington. "It's difficult to even put into words the offensiveness of this amendment." State Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, urged her GOP colleagues to try to put themselves in the shoes of a little girl who becomes pregnant after she was molested by a relative. "If this is your daughter, or your granddaughter, are you willing to say to her, 'You're going to deliver that baby at the age of 10,'" Becker asked. Young admitted he was asking senators to take a tough vote. But he said this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get it right after the U.S. Supreme Court last month repealed the guaranteed access to abortion established by its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. "This is the most important issue in our lifetime. Whatever we decide here tonight, we will be judged here by what we did here," Young said. The Senate is due to convene at 9:30 a.m. Region time Friday for further action on the abortion legislation. Lawmakers also are expected to vote Friday on three other measures: House Bill 1001 implements Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb's proposal to spend about $1 billion from Indiana's more than $6 billion in reserve funds to provide $225 tax rebate payments to most adult Hoosiers. It also exempts the purchase of children's diapers from Indiana's 7% sales tax, increases income tax exemptions for families with children, boosts the income tax credit for adopted children, and appropriates $58.5 million for various pregnancy, child care and contraception programs. Senate Bill 2 allocates $45 million to support various programs focused on maternal and infant health, pregnancy prevention and adoption operated by the Indiana Department of Child Services, Family and Social Services Administration, Department of Health and Department of Homeland Security. Senate Bill 3 scuttles the governor's plan for $225 taxpayer rebate checks and instead takes a penny off the state's record-high gasoline tax, suspends the collection of Indiana's 7% sales tax on residential utility bills through the end of the year, sets aside up to $1 billion for future state construction projects and deposits $400 million in Indiana's pension stabilization fund. Democratic efforts to increase spending or reduce taxes in each of those proposals to further aid pregnant women, children, families and Hoosiers mostly were defeated Thursday on party-line votes. Assuming the measures are approved Friday, the House will send its plan to the Senate and the Senate legislation will go to the House for further review, amendment and approval. Both chambers ultimately must approve each item with identical language to send it to the governor to be signed into law or vetoed. The House and Senate currently are planning to end the special legislative session around Aug. 5, and must adjourn, by law, no later than Aug. 14. The Indiana Senate will decide Saturday whether to advance to the House a near-total abortion ban with limited exceptions for Hoosier women and girls impregnated through rape or incest, or when the life of a pregnant person is at risk. It's not clear whether Senate Bill 1 will reach the 26 votes required for approval, even though Republicans, who generally oppose abortion, control 39 seats in the 50-member chamber. If the measure fails, the Senate could start over and try crafting new abortion restrictions next week. Or, the Republican-controlled House may take the lead on the issue and begin working to find a set of abortion policies capable of winning majority support in both chambers. Ultimately, the House and Senate must approve any abortion plan with identical language prior to the Aug. 14 adjournment deadline for this year's special legislative session to send it to the governor to be signed into law or vetoed. As it currently stands, seemingly no one genuinely likes the near-total abortion ban crafted by state Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange, and shepherded through the legislative process by Senate President Rod Bray, R-Martinsville. At least 18 Senate Republicans would prefer eliminating the opportunity for women and girls to terminate a pregnancy caused by rape or incest, and instead permit abortions only when a doctor is willing to stake his or her medical license on the judgment that a patient will die without one. Their position is supported by Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter. He said Friday the exceptions remain too open to exploitation, such as the lack of a requirement that any claim of rape or incest to obtain an abortion need not be reported to police. "We did not wait 50 years for the full reversal of Roe vs. Wade for this. We stand opposed to Senate Bill 1," Fichter said. Another 18 Senate Republicans indicated Thursday they aren't willing to accept a "no exceptions" abortion ban. But they also don't necessarily favor Glick's proposal that limits abortion access to eight weeks gestation for rape or incest victims age 16 and older, or 12 weeks for abortion-eligible girls under 16 years old. Their suggestions to maintain Indiana's existing abortion regulations up to 12 to 20 weeks of pregnancy, or to expand abortion availability to include harm to the physical and mental health of the mother, so far have not been incorporated into the proposal. The 11 Senate Democrats are expected to oppose any new abortion restrictions. As a result, if the 18 "no exceptions" Republicans refuse to support Senate Bill 1 because of it contains rape and incest exceptions, and all the Democrats also vote against it, there won't be 26 votes to send it to the House. The legislation also was revised Thursday to give Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita a larger role in enforcing laws against illegal abortion, even though Rokita is accused of defaming on national television an Indiana doctor who recently administered abortion-inducing medication to a pregnant 10-year-old girl who was raped in Ohio, where abortion generally is prohibited. Under the plan, if a county prosecutor categorically refuses to enforce Indiana's abortion statutes, or any other law, such as marijuana possession, Rokita would be entitled to overrule the prosecutor's discretion and file charges in place of the prosecutor. In addition, Rokita, a Munster native, potentially would be able to gain access to, and investigate the basis for, the affidavit that victims of rape or incest must provide as a condition of obtaining an abortion under the proposal. Originally, the affidavit was to be confidential. On Thursday, spurred by state Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, the Senate voted 24-23, with Republican Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch breaking a tie, not only to delete the confidentiality provision but to add a mandate the affidavit be notarized. The legislation also was revised to bypass Indiana's parental consent requirement for a minor's abortion if the minor is pregnant because she was a victim of rape or incest perpetrated by a parent or guardian. In addition, the measure now requires the Statewide Maternal Mortality Review Committee to assess in coming years how banning nearly all abortions in the state affects the number of Indiana women who die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, or within one year of giving birth a rate already among the highest in the nation. Other proposals to expand abortion access through telehealth services, license crisis pregnancy centers that perform ultrasounds on pregnant women, make low-cost housing available to pregnant women and new mothers and recognize religious exceptions to the near-total abortion ban were defeated in the Senate, mostly on party-line votes. State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, said he's astounded Senate Republicans declined to incorporate into the legislation his proposal for additional housing support for women being compelled to carry pregnancies to term in Indiana. "If we're forcing women to give birth, we better be damn sure we're ready to support them all the way through," Pol said. The General Assembly will not immediately address a tax issue poised to have a huge impact on the public services provided by several Region taxing districts, particularly the city of Hobart and the Merrillville Community School Corp. Despite pleas by state Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 36-9 along party lines Friday to reject an attempt to insert the needed fix into Senate Bill 3. Most senators seemed satisfied with a pledge by state Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, that he will help resolve the issue on an informal basis in coming weeks or consider changing the law early next year. The issue stems from a Sept. 22, 2021, Indiana Supreme Court ruling that ordered the property tax assessment for Southlake Mall to revert to its 2010 amount from the considerably higher valuations applied to the mall for the 2011-14 tax years. As a result of the assessment change, the mall is owed a property tax refund totaling approximately $19 million from Hobart, Merrillville schools, Lake County, Ross Township, Lake County Public Library District and Lake County Solid Waste District, which current state law requires be paid as a single, lump sum. Melton proposed changing a single date in the Indiana Code to 2010 from 2014 to allow the affected taxing districts to repay the money to the mall over a 5- to 10-year period as a credit against future property taxes instead of immediately in cash. A 2020 state law authorized the alternative method of repayment of large property tax refunds for assessments made after Dec. 31, 2014. It's not currently available for the mall case because the relevant reassessment occurred in 2011. Melton warned that "catastrophic" impacts to public services are likely if the law is not changed because neither the city nor the school district likely has sufficient cash to cover the lump sum payment and maintain operations. "The purpose of this is to give them an opportunity to make these payments in a responsible way," Melton said. The statutory change still can be added to the legislation in the House, or to nearly any other measure under consideration during the General Assembly's rare summer special session. GARY Sometimes police officers respond to incidents and think, "Why was I called to this?" said Becky Hanscom of the Interfaith Action Network. When someone is having a mental health crisis, bringing in law enforcement is not always the most effective route, but what other options are there? The Interfaith Action Network hopes to create a mobile mental health crisis response team, consisting of professionals who specialize in crisis intervention and social work. Hanscom said the team would offer a needed alternative. "There wont be guns involved, it wont channel them directly into the criminal justice system," Hanscom said. "When you put people in a police car though sometimes it is definitely warranted it is demeaning to the person and it criminalizes them." The idea came out of the list of recommendations created by the Gary Police Reform Commission in 2021. Mayor Jerome Prince signed an executive order creating the commission in June of 2020, shortly after the world watched Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murder George Floyd. That whole interaction and his (George Floyd's) death was totally unnecessary and it messed up so, so, so many lives, Hanscom said, explaining the the goal of the mobile mental health unit is to deescalate crisis situations. In February, the Interfaith Action Network completed a framework proposal for the mobile mental health team. Though nothing is set in stone, Hanscom said the current vision is a clinician-led model, where family members, teachers and anyone else who sees someone in crisis can call a special number and be referred to the mental health team. The unit would then respond to the crisis using their own vehicles. "You have a much higher rate of success if two things happen: one, you go to the location where the situation is happening, because get a broader idea of what the situation is and who is involved, Hanscom said. And two, if after the situation is stabilized, you follow up, connect them to resources, take them to appointments, make sure they know that people care about them. When drafting the proposal, the Interfaith Action Network studied other models in communities across the country. Some crisis teams respond to calls with police, but Robin Rich, also of the Interfaith Action Network, said they preferred the clinician-led model. "Some people are really uncomfortable when police officers come and are not necessarily as open about the situation, Rich said. "Part of our goal is to let police officers deal with serious crime. If they are understaffed, they should not have to respond to calls where they are not actually needed." Though the project has been in the works for months, a recent national change will help shape how the mobile mental health team actually operates. In July, the U.S.' first three-digit mental health hotline was launched. Instead of using 911, callers can now dial 988 to be connected with a trained mental health counselor. Hanscom said the state has agreed to integrate the mobile mental health team with the Lake County 988 number. One of the 988 call centers will be located in Gary and dispatchers will refer callers to the mobile mental health team. To help launch the project, the Interfaith Action Network is asking the Gary Common Council for $1.5 million of the city's $80.3 million in American Rescue Act Funding. Hanscom said most of the money will go towards staffing, though the exact size of the team has not been determined. The allocation will be discussed during the Gary Ways and Means Committee meeting on Aug. 9. The current proposal lays out a partnership with Edgewater Health in Gary. Hanscom said the team would also partner with local rehabilitation centers and shelters. GARY "Gas money, medication and groceries." Augustine Lewis listed the things he was able to buy using the monthly $500 he received as a participant in Gary's Guaranteed Income Validation Effort pilot program. After working as a steelworker for 26 years Lewis, 67, has been largely retired for the past two decades aside from the occasional odd job. However, the health insurance Lewis received as an Air Force veteran, did not cover some of the medications he needed to treat his diabetes. When he heard about the G.I.V.E. program online, he applied. "I was able to do a lot of things that I normally wouldn't be able to with my fixed income," Lewis said during a G.I.V.E. year-in-review event Thursday morning. One of the things Lewis did was visit his 28-year-old son who has lived in a group home in Flora, Indiana since 2017. Before receiving the G.I.V.E. funds, Lewis said it had been "quite a while" since he'd seen his son. "I was able to take him some care packages, with some of the hot chips that he loves and some Little Debbie cakes. Things that remind him of home," Lewis said. First championed by former Stockton, California Mayor Michael Tubbs, guaranteed income programs have taken off across the country including in Chicago and Milwaukee. Currently, Gary is the only community in Indiana with a guaranteed income program. When Burgess Peoples learned about the concept, she presented it to Mayor Jerome Prince. Aided by $500,000 of seed money from the Mayors for Guaranteed Income organization, Gary launched a pilot G.I.V.E. program last May. A survey was sent to 4,000 residents, and from the responses 125 people were chosen to participate, receiving $500 a month for 12 months. G.I.V.E. ran out of funding in November 2021, but in March, the Gary City Council approved an ordinance allocating $400,000 of American Rescue Act funds to cover the remaining six months. Peoples, the executive director of G.I.V.E., said the program offers participants "a helping hand," allowing them to realize their own potential. Everyday, people "have to decide between paying their rent or fixing their car so they can go to work," Prince. said. G.I.V.E. made that decision easier, about 40% of the 125 participants returned to work during the program. Though participants stopped receiving funding in July, Peoples said the program is far from over. Along with $500 a month, participants received financial literacy classes courtesy of Centier Bank and met with admissions counselors from Indiana University Northwest to learn about higher education options. About a quarter of the G.I.VE. participants opened a bank account for the first time and two-thirds attended financial literacy classes. "For many first-generation students, getting into college is still a mystery," Indiana University Northwest Chancellor Ken Iwama said, explaining that a college degree often helps with socioeconomic mobility. Lewis started taking classes at IUN this spring. While he hasn't picked a major quite yet, he hopes to get his master's and is leaning towards political science. On Thursday, Peoples announced the G.I.V.E. Wealth Series, which will feature more financial literacy classes both online and in-person. The 125 participants will continue to receive support through the wealth series, regular check-ins and employment resources. Peoples said she is currently fundraising to maintain an aid fund, in case participants need emergency money. In November, the G.I.V.E. board will decide if it wants to go after more funding to expand the program beyond the pilot. "As mayor I understand that I cannot end poverty ... what we can do, is what the G.I.V.E. program did, and that's make poverty escapable," Prince said. MUNSTER Welcome home, Indiana. Thats how Major Marc S. Johnson, divisional commander for The Salvation Army in Indiana, described the combining of the four Salvation Army service centers in Lake and Porter counties and their joining the Indiana division of the social and religious services agency. Johnson spoke at a ribbon-cutting Thursday at the Hammond-Munster Service Center to mark the merger, which took effect July 1. The four corps centers in Gary, East Chicago, Munster and Valparaiso are now called The Salvation Army Northwest Indiana Area Command. Clients, Johnson stressed, will not see any major changes. Following an analysis of services, Johnson said, The Salvation Army officials concluded it was time to reorganize in an effort to provide services in more efficiently and effectively. Were out to be more effective in what we do, Johnson said. It seems logical to bring Lake and Porter counties together. Johnson reported 33 corps in Indiana, with all now becoming members of the Indiana Division. Previously, he said, some local centers were part of metropolitan Chicago, while others were aligned with western Michigan. While all four local centers will have autonomy, Johnson, having one commander, Capt. Bersabe Vera-Hernandez, will facilitate decision-making. Vera-Hernandez, whose parents were Salvation Army pastors, said the intent of the combining is to unite area communities. I encourage people to serve with kindness and love, she said. Together we are an army of service. Coming from Kansas City, Missouri, Vera-Hernandez has been a Salvation Army officer for 12 years after serving with the group for 10 years. I love being here, she said, and I want to make a difference in the lives of those who are broken, who need a shoulder to cry on or advice. Vera-Hernandez said the greatest joy from The Salvation Army is seeing peoples lives being transformed and making a difference, one life at a time. The Salvation Army serves the public through food pantries, holiday meals, childrens Christmas presents, utility payments, youth activities, winter-coat drives, music classes, counseling, character-building programs and programs designed to help families get out of poverty. Johnson explained that The Salvation Armys mission is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and meet the needs of his people without discrimination. Kevin Feldman, director of development for the combined centers, said they serve 25,000-30,000 clients annually. In some cases, Feldman said, families may receive multiple assistance, including food, counseling and job training. Feldman also introduced Strack & Van Til Food Centers officials Jeff Strack and Dave Wilkinson, who presented a check for $35,000. Funds came during the supermarkets Checkout Challenge, in which customers donated leftover change. Wilkinson, Stracks chief operating officer, serves on The Salvation Army board. Strack, the store chains CEO, said, The Salvation Army is an organization were blessed to have in Northwest Indiana. People may not know how important it is until they need it. Strack added that he looks forward to the restructured Salvation Army. Theyre always there, and were fortunate to have them, he said. Representatives from the local corps centers expressed their optimism about collaboration with the new structure. Aux. Capt. Jim Prichard from the Gary-Merrillville center noted, It gives us some resources, and we may have better chances of getting funding. Lt. Joshua Bowyer from the Hammond-Munster center cited the impact during a county-wide event. We can reach out to more people, and its great to collaborate with more people, he said. Bowyer added that although each center serves people outside its community, should someone who lives closer to another center call him, he can refer that person to the other facility. Capt. Gloria Pelayo from the East Chicago center pointed to improvements with broader boundaries. We can help support the area better and we have more resources, she said. Newsmax, a news network that amplified the falsehood that the 2020 presidential election had been rigged against Donald J. Trump, reached a deal to continue to be distributed by Verizons Fios network just days after the telecom company said it was dropping another right-wing broadcaster. A spokeswoman for Verizon confirmed the renewal, which Newsmax described as a multiyear deal in a statement posted to its website on Wednesday. The deal comes shortly after Verizon said it was no longer going to carry One America News after this week. Both networks are known for their loyalty to Mr. Trump, the former president, and for serving as platforms for his debunked claims of rampant voter fraud in the 2020 election. Along with the much larger Fox News, they face defamation lawsuits over some of those claims. Dominion Voting Systems, the election technology company that became a target of pro-Trump conspiracy theories after the 2020 election, is seeking $1.6 billion from each network. James Krellenstein, a founder of PrEP4All, an AIDS advocacy group, said that was not fast enough. He faulted the F.D.A. for not moving more quickly to scale up supply and for delaying an inspection of the vaccine makers manufacturing plant in Denmark. But Dr. Robert Califf, the F.D.A. commissioner, told reporters Thursday that his agency had moved much faster than had been planned, considering that it had to not only inspect the plant but also make sure the vaccine was effective. The only thing worse than not having a vaccine, he said, is having a vaccine which is widely distributed and is not effective. At the moment, there is not enough vaccine to go around. On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, a Democrat, wrote a letter to Mr. Becerra and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the C.D.C. director, complaining that New Jersey had not gotten its fair share. In the letter, obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Murphy noted New Jerseys proximity to New York, which has more monkeypox cases than any other state. He said that his calculations showed that because of that proximity and the number of same-sex households in New Jersey, his state would carry 3 percent of the national disease burden, but had been allocated only 2.06 percent of the 131,000 doses that have been available thus far. Therefore, we do not believe that New Jersey has received an equitable percentage of available vaccine, Mr. Murphys letter said. Federal health officials say their allocation strategy depends on two factors: how many cases a state has and how many of its residents are at risk. The formula favors areas with at-risk populations including men who have sex with men, who have H.I.V. or who are eligible for medication that can reduce a persons chances of getting infected with H.I.V., said Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, who is helping to lead the monkeypox response for the C.D.C. Coming after more than two years of the coronavirus pandemic, the monkeypox outbreak, which began in May, has been yet another challenge for beleaguered public health officials around the country. Congress has so far not allocated any money for the response although Senate Democrats did propose $21 billion in Covid spending on Thursday and the public is tired of hearing about infectious disease. The Biden administration has estimated it will need another $7 billion to combat monkeypox. I had a miscarriage three weeks ago. My husband and I are gutted. Still, I was relieved (if you can call it that) that we lost the pregnancy early enough that very few people knew about it just my mother, my sister and my best friend. I thought: At least we can grieve in private. But my sister is telling people about my miscarriage, even posting about it on social media. She says she has the right to post whatever she wants, particularly if the medical care I received may be threatened in some states. I am furious that she is broadcasting my tragedy! I want her to stop, but I dont have the strength to fight with her now. What should I do? G. I am so sorry for your loss. What heartens me in your letter, though, is your keen awareness that you and your husband need time to grieve. Be gentle with yourselves now. Too often, we try to power through our tragedies and rush back to our daily lives. But your life (and your sister) will still be there when youre feeling better. As for your sister, I cant fathom how she rationalizes her cruel behavior. The story of your miscarriage is for you alone to tell and only if you want to tell it. There is nothing special about social media or political debate that gives her the right to violate your privacy this way. Lets hope we can help her see that. The Miami-Dade County School Board reversed itself yet again on Thursday, voting to approve health and sex education textbooks for middle and high school students that have moved to the forefront of Floridas battle over what is taught in schools. It was not just a reversal of a prior decision, but a reversal of a reversal. The board had approved the books in April by a 5-to-3 vote, then rejected them last week in a 5-to-4 vote, raising the prospect of students going months without any sexual education curriculum. The rejection was reversed by another 5-to-4 vote. We sighed a moment of relief, because what transpired last week was essentially a banning of books and a banning of knowledge, Lucia Baez-Geller, a board member who voted to approve the books, said in a phone interview. Thats a dangerous precedent for our students. I think there should be flexibility and permissiveness in at least allowing a second booster for younger Americans, Dr. Fauci said in an interview this month. One alternative discussed was offering the shots only to a subset of younger, at-risk individuals, such as pregnant women. But officials at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention argued that the government should concentrate instead on the fall campaign with updated doses if the campaign could begin soon enough. After both Pfizer and Moderna assured the F.D.A. recently that they could deliver millions of doses by mid-September, regulators decided it was better to wait for those shots. All adults are expected to be eligible for the updated booster shots. Children could be eligible as well, according to people familiar with the deliberations. The federal government also plans to continue to stress that anyone who is eligible for additional shots should get them now and not wait for the fall. As of midweek, health officials were still working out their specific advice about the reformulated shots. After days avoiding questions about antisemitic remarks by a supporter of his campaign, Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, said on Thursday that he rejected antisemitism in any form. Mr. Mastriano has faced mounting criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike since it was revealed in early July that he paid $5,000 in campaign funds to the far-right social media site Gab. The payment, for consulting, apparently was intended to bring Mr. Mastriano a broader following on Gab, which is known as a haven for white nationalists and users banned from other platforms. In defending Mr. Mastrianos ties to Gab in recent days, its founder, Andrew Torba, repeatedly made antisemitic remarks and said in one video that neither he nor Mr. Mastriano would give interviews to non-Christian journalists. GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba A prisoner accused of plotting Al Qaedas bombing of the U.S.S. Cole warship in 2000 told federal interrogators years later that he was waterboarded by the C.I.A., an interpreter testified this week. But that detail was omitted from the official account of the interrogations that prosecutors want to use at his death-penalty trial as evidence that he confessed. At issue in the hearings is whether the military judge will accept a 34-page memo written by agents who questioned the prisoner, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, at Guantanamo Bay for three days in early 2007. The account of the interrogation is considered critical trial evidence. Defense lawyers say it is tainted by torture and want it excluded. He talked about the waterboarding, John J. Elkaliouby, who worked for the F.B.I. as an Arabic linguist from 1994 to 2015, said in court on Thursday. He said, I was waterboarded by the C.I.A., and I reported that to the whole team. None of this means American competitiveness is doomed. Just as Japan once seemed as if it was the 10-foot-tall technological giant in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but then missed some of the biggest breakthroughs in mobile computing and Windows operating systems and even chip-making, China is discovering that money alone does not guarantee technological dominance. But it helps. It has taken Congress far longer to come to the same conclusion. Still, China has turned out to be one of the few issues on which Republicans and Democrats can come together the bill passed the House 243 to 187, with one abstention, on Thursday. Twenty-four Republicans voted in favor, notable because G.O.P. leaders were urging their members to oppose the bill after the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, and Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia announced a surprise deal on climate, energy and taxes on Wednesday. China immediately denounced the bill as an isolationist move by Americans intent on freeing themselves from dependence on foreign technology a strategy called decoupling that China itself is trying to replicate. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, told reporters in Beijing that no restriction or suppression will hold back Chinese progress, a clear reference to the American and European efforts to deny China the technology that would speed its technological independence. But the big question is whether Congresss slowness to wake up to Americas competitive shortcomings has doomed the effort. While Mr. Biden and lawmakers tried to build support for the bill by describing the chips found in everything from refrigerators to thermostats to cars as the oil of the 21st century, the phrase was already hackneyed three decades ago. In the late 1980s, Andrew S. Grove, one of the pioneers of Silicon Valley and an early leader of Intel Corporation, warned of the danger of the United States becoming a techno-colony of Japan. KHARKIV, Ukraine Lately, the missiles have come mostly at night, or shortly after dawn. Residents of Ukraines second-largest city have been jolted awake by the explosions that have reverberated across the city in recent days. Many of the strikes hit industrial areas, including warehouses and yards used by the Ukrainian military, but at least three have hit parks, breaking trees and carving huge craters in the earth. Civilian casualties have been few, and most residents who stroll out to assess the damage say they escaped with only broken windows and damaged balconies. Most of the damage has been to industrial areas. Military losses, if there are any, are not officially announced, and access to those compounds is strictly prohibited, but the damage has spilled over to civilian enterprises nearby. AMSTERDAM On June 20, 1943, bewildered and terrified families, laden with baggage and branded with yellow stars, were forced into Olympiaplein, one of this citys most recognizable public squares. Few knew where they were going, or for how long, so they wore their winter coats despite the blazing sun as they registered with the Nazi authorities. A Dutch photographer, Herman Heukels, moved through the crowd, taking pictures of people who would soon be deported to concentration camps. His images would be the final portraits of many of these people, who were among 5,500 sent that day from Amsterdam to Westerbork transit camp, and then on to the east. The vast majority would never return. Heukelss photos are some of the strongest visual evidence used by historians to illustrate the Holocaust in the Netherlands, which took the lives of more than 102,000 of the estimated 140,000 Jewish civilians who lived in the country before World War II. You think about the mother who lost her life in Charleston the reason she needed that safe space is because shes not sure if her son might be killed for carrying a bag of Skittles, he said. The people in the club in Orlando, the reason they need that safe space is because theyre not sure if theyll get beat up for kissing their boyfriend, or if theyll be able to keep their jobs because theyre gay. I hope we understand that lots of people in America, in this society, dont feel safe every day. Born in Seguin, Texas, Sanders never expected to work as a journalist. He was raised in a strict, Pentecostal household and once thought hed become a preacher. He pivoted in his college years, preparing for a career as a campaign strategist or political fund-raiser. It wasnt until the final year of a masters program in public policy, at Harvards John F. Kennedy School of Government, that he considered applying to NPR, of which he and his mother had become enamored on hourlong drives to and from church. It was a way to stay informed and get involved without having to do politics, Sanders said. He learned reporting on the job at NPR, and initially embraced the nonprofits strict rules regarding impartiality. An ethics handbook from 2012 admonished journalists to transcend how we feel about a subject and impart to our audience what we know about it, and what we dont. Even as he flirted with bringing more of himself to his stories, Sanders remained wary of getting too personal. In his remarks about the Pulse nightclub shooting, he made no mention of his own sexuality. (Two years later, he discussed coming out as gay in an episode of Its Been a Minute.) Like many journalists at legacy news outlets, he largely withheld his feelings on Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, avoiding the use of words like racist and lie. It took years of work on myself to get to the point where I felt comfortable sharing anything personal in the midst of a story, he said. The political and feminist undercurrents are there because Im the sum of all my experiences, Ms. Pomerantz said in a video interview on the website Alchetron, and those are the things I experienced. Julia L. Mickenberg, a professor of American studies at the University of Texas at Austin, included the story about the parachuting cats in Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Childrens Literature, a 2008 book she edited with Philip Nel. Charlotte definitely had a little rebel streak in her, Professor Mickenberg said by email. As for the cats story they were dropped by parachute into a village to control a rampant rat population resulting from the cascading effects of DDT she said: I was drawn to it for several different reasons. The first was that it is an environmentalist story, and we wanted more of those, but it is also an environmentalist story written as an extended poem with rhyme but also, and more importantly, with humor and creativity. Charlotte Inez Pomerantz was born on July 24, 1930, in Brooklyn to Abraham and Phyllis (Cohen) Pomerantz. Her father was a pioneering lawyer in the field of shareholder lawsuits against large corporations; her mother was a homemaker. Charlotte grew up in Brooklyn and in New Rochelle, N.Y., where, in her last year of elementary school, she had a formative experience: Her teacher read aloud a story Charlotte had written and asked her classmates to write their comments; she ended up with a collection of glowing mini-reviews. I dont recall the story, but I do recall the pure happiness with which I read these comments, she said. These werent my parents; this was a whole classroom of kids who hardly knew me. Dan Fespermans 13th thriller, Winter Work, is set just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Stasi, East Germanys brutal Cold War intelligence service, was busy destroying evidence. The C.I.A. was just as busy trying to learn the enemy organizations secrets. The C.I.A., initially, had people calling ex-Stasi agents, Fesperman says on this weeks podcast. They got a hold of a directory with home phone numbers of some of these Stasi foreign intelligence people. And they started cold-calling them like salesmen, like these irritating calls we get at home, except for the Stasi it was the C.I.A. calling. Hey, would you like to share your secrets with us? We can pay you. They were getting mostly hang-ups, a lot of angry lectures. And when that quickly didnt work out, they then began visiting them door to door, which didnt work a whole lot better. Image Isaac Fitzgerald visits the podcast to talk about his new memoir, Dirtbag, Massachusetts, which recalls his troubled childhood and his eventual coming to terms with those responsible for it. When I was about 11 years old, we had an American boy stay with us for a week, an exchange student, she recalled. And my mother told him, just make your own sandwich like you do in America. Instead of putting one sausage on his bread, he put on five. My mother was too polite to say anything to him, but to me she said in Dutch, We will never eat like that in this house. At school, Ms. Verkoelen learned from friends that the American children in their homes all ate the same way. They were stunned and a little jealous. At the time, it was said in the Netherlands that putting both butter and cheese on your bread was the devils sandwich. Choose one, went the thinking. You dont need both. Building the earths biggest sailing yacht and taking apart a citys beloved landmark? Thats the devils all-you-can-eat buffet. The streak of austerity in Dutch culture can be traced to Calvinism, say residents, the most popular religious branch of Protestantism here for hundreds of years. It emphasizes virtues like self-discipline, frugality and conscientiousness. Polls suggest that most people in the Netherlands today are not churchgoers, but the norms are embedded, as evidenced by Dutch attitudes toward wealth. Calvin teaches that youre given stewardship over your money, that you have a responsibility to take care of it, which means giving lots of it away, being generous to others, said James Kennedy, a professor of modern Dutch history at Utrecht University. Work is a divine calling for which you will be held accountable. Its considered bad for society and bad for your soul if you spend in ostentatious ways. There are billionaires in the Netherlands and a huge pay gap between chief executives and employees. Statista, a research firm, reported that for every dollar earned by an average worker, C.E.O.s earned $171. (The figure is $265 in the United States, the widest gap of any country.) The difference is that the rich in the Netherlands dont flaunt it, just as the powerful dont highlight their cachet. The Dutch once ran one of the worlds largest empires but theres a certain pride here that the prime minister of the country rides a bicycle to pay visits to the king yes, the Netherlands has a royal family, which is also relatively low-key and locks the bicycle outside the palace. One person familiar with the Murdochs thinking said they remained insistent that Fox News had made the right call when its decision desk projected that Joseph R. Biden would win Arizona just after 11 p.m. on the night of the election a move that infuriated Mr. Trump and short-circuited his attempt to prematurely declare victory. This person said Lachlan Murdoch had privately described the decision desks call, which came days before other networks concluded that Mr. Trump had lost the state, as something only Fox had the courage and science to do. Some of the people acknowledged that Foxs current approach to Mr. Trump could be temporary. If Mr. Trump announces he is running for president, or if he is indicted, he will warrant more coverage, they said. A spokesman for Mr. McConnell declined to comment. A spokesman for the Fox Corporation also declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump. The relationship between Mr. Trump and the Murdoch media empire has long been complicated an arrangement of mutual convenience and mistrust that has had sensational ups and downs since Mr. Trump first talked himself onto the gossip pages of The New York Post in the 1980s. What we consider before using anonymous sources. How do the sources know the information? Whats their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Learn more about our process. But the spat between the former president and the media baron who has helped set the Republican Partys agenda for decades is occurring in a much larger and more fragmented media landscape, as new personalities and platforms make it much harder for any one outlet to change the narrative. Mr. Trumps allies in the corners of the conservative media that are more loyal to him including Breitbart, Newsmax and talk radio are already seizing on the turn inside Fox as evidence of a betrayal. Mr. Trump appears willing to fight. He blasted Fox & Friends this week on his social media service, Truth Social, for being terrible and having gone to the dark side after one of its hosts had mentioned that Mr. DeSantis had beat Mr. Trump in two recent polls of a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary contest. Then, offering no evidence, he blamed Paul Ryan, the former Republican speaker of the House, with whom he often clashed. Mr. Ryan sits on the Fox Corporations board of directors. The worlds biggest oil companies are generating record profits, and theyre using a big part of the windfall, worth tens of billions of dollars, to buy back their own shares. BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell and TotalEnergies are on track to report some $60 billion in profits for the second quarter. Half of that is accounted for by Chevron and Exxon, which reported record profits on Friday. Shell and TotalEnergies reported bumper earnings on Thursday and analysts expect similarly big things from BP next week. Oil companies have profited from high energy prices, which have risen since Russia invaded Ukraine and supply has struggled to keep up with demand. Some of those enormous earnings have been reinvested in expanding operations, improving technologies and hiring workers. But much of that money has also gone toward share buybacks, which primarily reward shareholders by raising the value of a companys stock. This year, the restaurant has so far closed only its outdoor dining. Cathy Whims, the chef and an owner, said no outdoor seating was allowed on Tuesday, and almost nobody chose to sit outside on Wednesday. She expected to close the patio on Friday and Saturday nights, too. Ms. Whims said it is a tough call to cancel outdoor dining, as it means losing reservations for the many people who are still not comfortable eating indoors because of the recent Covid surge. During heat waves like this, Ms. Whims estimates that business drops by 30 to 40 percent, during what is normally the busiest time of year for Portland restaurants. She added that energy costs also spike during periods of high heat, and that places with air-conditioning dont have the kind of power to manage this kind of heat. Operating a restaurant over the last few years has been one pivot after another, Ms. Whims said. All of these decisions are just unfortunately so in the moment, in the same way that Covid decisions were and are. Double Mountain Brewery, about an hours drive east of Portland on the Columbia River in Hood River, Ore., serves pizza with its beers but only if temperatures cooperate. The impact of this weeks heat wave has been relatively minor for customers at Double Mountain, where air-conditioning and cold beer are able to keep them cool, said Matt Swihart, the owner and brewmaster. Weve worked hard to get the best result for Americans harmed by the opioid crisis, and its rewarding to take another step in the right direction, said Tom Miller, the attorney general for Iowa, whose office led the bipartisan group in the negotiations with Allergan and Teva. We continue to make it a priority to hold manufacturers responsible, while ensuring victims of this epidemic receive the help they need. Unlike Tevas deal, under which plaintiffs can elect to receive a portion of the payout in medications used to reverse drug overdoses and treat addiction rather than in cash, Allergans offer is all cash with no product, lawyers familiar with the negotiations said. Tevas payments to states and communities would be disbursed over 13 years, while Allergans would be over six years. The amounts for both pharmaceutical companies include the settlement figures that were already struck over the past year with a handful of states and counties. Both Allergan and Teva sold branded as well as generic opioid painkillers. Lawyers for thousands of entities asserted that these manufacturers, like so many others, exaggerated the benefits of opioids to doctors and the public and played down the drugs addictive properties. In addition, although the companies are required to report suspicious orders to authorities, both failed to do so, lawyers said. Teva had said that the potential agreement was not an admission of wrongdoing. The deals still have a ways to go before money actually starts flowing to communities. Issues such as allocation of funds, tighter monitoring of suspicious orders and the creation of a public repository of internal documents have yet to be resolved. Scientists are racing to answer three questions in particular that will determine how quickly monkeypox can be stopped if it can be stopped at all. Exactly how is the virus spreading? At the beginning of the outbreak, health officials asserted that the virus spread through respiratory droplets emitted when an infected person coughed or sneezed, and through close contact with pus-filled skin lesions or bedding and other contaminated materials. All of that was true. But it may not be the whole picture. More than 99 percent of the people infected so far are men who acquired the virus through intimate contact with other men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only 13 women and two young children had been diagnosed with monkeypox as of July 25. Researchers have found the virus in saliva, urine, feces and semen. It is unclear whether those fluids can be infectious and, in particular, whether the virus can be transmitted during sex by means other than close skin-to-skin contact. But the pattern of spread so far, along sexual networks, has left researchers wondering. No Hard Feelings Stream it on the Goethe-Institut website. If youre looking to watch something off the beaten streaming path this week, take a scroll through New Directions: 20 Years of Young German Cinema, a free online series hosted by The Goethe-Institut. Among the gems in the lineup is No Hard Feelings, a sweet and sour queer romance from the Iranian-German filmmaker Faraz Shariat. Parvis (Benjamin Radjaipour), a young gay man and the son of Iranian exiles in Germany, lives a proud and carefree life. We first meet him when hes vogueing at a nightclub, his bleached blonde hair and white mesh top sparkling in the strobe lights. Later, when a man he meets via a dating app makes a racist comment, an unruffled Parvis puts him in his place Im not into man-child krauts and walks out. But Parviss self-assured sense of belonging is unsettled when hes assigned community service at a refugee detention center, and he befriends a pair of newly arrived asylum-seekers from Iran, Amon (Eidin Jalali) and his sister Bana (Banafshe Hourmazdi). As Parvis and Amon begin to fall in love, and Bana is faced with deportation, Parvis reckons with all the ways in which hes similar yet different from his new companions, thanks to nothing but an accident of birth. The architect of 60 Wall Street, Kevin Roche, produced extremely detailed notes about the building. Writing by hand in 1984, he envisioned that its atrium complete with water cascading over rocks, mounds of greenery and plenty of seating would be well-lit, bright and cheerful. He also planned for pockets of repose and quiet refuges from the hectic pace of daily life in the district. Mr. Roche, who in 1966 founded the firm Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, with his partner, John Dinkeloo, imagined that there would be music programming for lunchtime visitors and hoped that an art museum would provide rotating sculpture exhibitions. The two met while working under the famed architect Eero Saarinen before forming their own firm together. After Mr. Dinkeloos death in 1981, Mr. Roche took on sole leadership of the firm; in 1982, he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize for his formidable body of work. Mr. Roche, who died in 2019, also designed the Ambassador Grill at One United Nations Plaza, which received interior landmark status in 2017, and he was the architect of the atrium at the Ford Foundation on East 42nd Street, which was named a New York City landmark in the 1990s. The new plans for 60 Wall Street, produced by the architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and commissioned by Paramount Group, completely reimagine the concept of an oasis. The firms redesigned ground-level experience will be airy, light-filled and column free, with triple-height windows, a 100-foot green wall and a skylight, making it look less like a Mediterranean spa and more like a Singapore airport. The thinking is that these changes can accommodate a variety of top-tier tenants. Its David versus Goliath every day, Mr. Page said. We are civil rights lawyers for four-legged creatures. The two men have been friends for years, and Mr. Rosenthal is described by Mr. Page as having a creative legal mind with a deep understanding of the law and how to apply it. Mr. Page points out that endangered species and farm animals often get the most legal attention and, to some extent, public sympathy. Mr. Page points out, however, that he and Mr. Rosenthal occupy an unpopular space in animal law: Who do you think wants to represent a pit bull who bit somebody? Mr. Rosenthal has a knack for getting judges many of whom are eager to dismiss lawsuits against dogs as frivolous to consider the details of the case with what Mr. Page calls enthralling colloquies that can go on for hours. Though some animal rights activists consider Mr. Rosenthal an ally, he is aware that he has made enemies along the way. He says that local government officials, law enforcement and opposing counsel tend to dislike him. But it is part of the job, Mr. Page says. Were hated, he said. We are Darth Vader. Both Mr. Rosenthal and Mr. Page expressed distrust of law enforcement. All of a sudden it came to a point where, invariably, when a cop shoots a dog, their first description of the dog, no matter what the dog is, is that it was a pit bull, Mr. Rosenthal said. (The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that police officers kill 10,000 pet dogs every year.) Historically, animal control officers, once referred to as dogcatchers, have been in generally low-paying, low-level positions. Mr. Rosenthal may be willing to entertain a comparison to Darth Vader, but he holds the modern dogcatcher in an even lower regard. Lets get serious, he said. Nobody becomes an animal control officer for the glory or the money or the great amount of respect. But the job has evolved, and now animal control officers, who are often considered part of law enforcement, have a considerable influence on what happens when a dog bite is reported. They are often primary defense witnesses when a kill order has been enacted for a dog. We want animal control officers to actually have training in dog behavior so they understand why and when dogs fight, Mr. Page said. New York Citys subway tunnels, among just a handful of places in the sprawling metropolis where cellphone service remains out of reach, will be wired to connect riders traveling underground, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The authority, which operates the citys subway system, said it would take 10 years to complete the task because of the projects scale. Crews will install infrastructure along 418 miles of underground track roughly the distance from New York City to Cleveland without additional service interruptions. The $600 million project will be paid for and built by Transit Wireless, a New York-based communications infrastructure company, which already provides access to cellphone and Wi-Fi service in all of the citys 281 underground subway stations. The project will also expand Wi-Fi service to all 191 aboveground stations and to 21 Staten Island Railway stations. The authoritys board approved the proposal at a meeting this week. An agency official said the project was in a design phase. Sean has a record of showing that his loyalties rest with his donors, Ms. Biaggi said, but people are begging us to act with fervor on their behalf. Her opponents camp has pointed out that he supports a Green New Deal and that he helped to pass a law prohibiting oil barges from anchoring in the Hudson. As his campaign spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg put it: Only one candidate in this primary has passed legislation through the House to get money out of politics and earned the endorsement of End Citizens United: Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney. How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause. Learn more about our process. The day before I spoke with Ms. Biaggi, the Working Families Party, which has endorsed her, released an ad attacking Mr. Maloneys record on the Affordable Care Act, but the situation was more complicated than the spot suggested. In 2015, he backed a Republican measure to repeal the medical device tax, which imposed fees on makers of X-ray machines and other equipment that would have raised $29 billion over a decade to help fund health care reform. This has been a particular sticking point for the Biaggi campaign. A New York Times editorial, seven years ago, called the repeal a terrible idea that had been given a veneer of respectability because liberals like Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken, who had a significant number of medical manufacturers in their states, supported it. On several other occasions, though, Mr. Maloney voted to protect Obamacare. The eagerness of voters to untangle complex policy positions from spin in a primary during the last few days of August, the most somnolent week in the Western calendar, is likely to match their interest in wearing Shetland wool in a heat wave. The forces of image and endorsements will be even more likely to guide them. Mr. Maloney, who is well known in the district, has the support of dozens of local officials and various labor unions. Ms. Biaggi has been endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and so to some extent the race will serve as a test of progressive firepower in the current political moment. Last month, Jessica Cisneros, a Texas congressional candidate who challenged a nine-term Democratic incumbent from the left, failed in her effort, in a race decided by fewer than 300 votes. Despite her relative anonymity in the newly mapped 17th District, Ms. Biaggi might be well served by the pandemic exodus of liberal New Yorkers to the Hudson Valley, a bloc that would reliably stand by, for example, her staunch support of bail reform. On the whole, though, the district leans more to the right than the one she currently represents. Rockland County is home to many in law enforcement and a significant Orthodox Jewish community. And enough employees have quit to add another complication to the demands of trying to operate at full strength. All that has left her uncertain about the future and Bushwick Grinds chances for survival. I feel like its 50-50, she said, because if I dont find a way to reduce my liability and retain capital, I wont be able to make it too much longer. Williams-Daviss concerns are widespread. The nonprofit Small Business Majority, in a survey this month, found that nearly one in three small businesses could not survive without additional capital or a change in business conditions. That finding was echoed in a survey by Alignable, a social network for small-business owners, which found that 43 percent of small businesses in New York were in jeopardy of closing in the fall, 12 percentage points more than a year ago. Chuck Casto of Alignable blamed patchy return-to-work policies that have left many Manhattan offices empty and nearby small businesses hurting. Some 41 percent of small businesses in New York could not pay their rent in full or on time in July, according to Alignable. That was up seven percentage points from last month. Only Massachusetts had a higher delinquency rate, and by only one percentage point. Frank Millspaugh, a general manager of the station in the 1960s and 70s, said listeners had empathized with Mr. Josephsons eternal grumbling about waking up early. But some board members of the Pacifica Foundation, which owns the station, were displeased with the countercultural tone of Mr. Josephson, Mr. Fass and Mr. Post. They wanted a more serious, more respectful sound to the station, Mr. Millspaugh said in a phone interview. But when they understood how effective those hosts were in raising money for the station, they softened their criticism. In the mid-1970s, Mr. Josephson served for two years as the general manager of WBAI, which routinely operated on a shoestring. During one urgent financial crisis, the station turned to listeners to raise $56,000 to meet its monthly expenses. Within four days, $25,800 had poured in, most of it cash. We will survive, Mr. Josephson told The Daily News in 1976. We have to raise more money and spend less. Its just like New York City, which was dealing with a much larger financial crisis of its own at the time. Norman Lawrence Josephson was born on May 12, 1939, in Los Angeles. His father, Adrian, at one point owned a woodworking company; his mother, Marian (Tyre) Josephson, was a homemaker. Larry had loved radio since childhood but did not initially pursue work in it. Instead, he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, and studied linguistics, then went to work for I.B.M. as a computer engineer in the New York area. (He did not finish his bachelors degree until 1973.) He began volunteering at WBAI in the 1960s and was hired to host the morning show in 1966 because, he said, the station couldnt find anyone else who would wake up that early. It is always painful to grapple with realities that contravene your most deeply held beliefs. A major theme of recent feminist writing has been the chasm between the rhetoric of sexual liberation and many womens depressing experience of casual sex. Ive met many idealistic Jews, raised to always give Israel the benefit of the doubt, whove been floored when they saw the occupation of Palestine up close. Plenty of people convinced themselves that because the impetus behind pandemic school closures was noble, the results wouldnt be devastating. Perhaps some in the anti-abortion movement are wrestling with a similarly discomfiting gap between intentions and effects right now. That, at least, is the most sympathetic reading of the angry denial of prominent abortion opponents when confronted with a predictable consequence of abortion bans: delayed care for traumatic pregnancy complications. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned last month, theres been a steady barrage of horror stories, including several of women refused abortions for life-threatening pregnancy emergencies. Rakhi Dimino, a doctor in Texas, where most abortions have been illegal since last year, told PBS that more patients are coming to her with sepsis or hemorrhaging than Ive ever seen before. When the president, the treasury secretary and other Biden administration officials insisted this week that the American economy is not currently in a recession, they were mocked for weaseling out of bad news on a technicality. The Commerce Department announced on Thursday that the broadest measure of economic activity, gross domestic product, fell for a second quarter in a row meeting a widely held, though unofficial, definition of recession. It is true, as the Biden folks argued, that the nations official recession arbiter, the National Bureau of Economic Research, has yet to call one, because it relies on many more signals. Still, it sure sounded as if the Biden team was splitting hairs. Over the past few days, though, Ive spent more time than is healthy listening to C.E.O.s expound on their businesses during quarterly corporate earnings calls. (What can I say? Im a sucker for a good time.) And I was surprised by what I heard. The C.E.O.s convinced me that the Biden people not to mention Jay Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, who also said this week that a recession has probably not yet begun have a point. The economy is in a really weird place. There are definitely signs of trouble. Yet at some of the biggest companies in the country especially in the tech industry business is hardly all glum. And even at companies that are struggling, the numbers arent nearly as bad as investors had feared. It is an audacious and untested idea. It also appears to be the best available option. If it works, it could deprive Russia of revenue without devastating the economies of nations that are trying to support Ukraine. Constructing a cartel is not easy. The United States has already secured the agreement in principle of the other members of the Group of 7, a coordinating body for the major democratic economic powers. American officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, are working with their counterparts to hammer out the details. The buyers cartel would be strengthened if other big buyers of Russian oil, notably India and China, could be persuaded to participate. That seems unlikely. But U.S. officials argue the cartel could still increase pressure on Russia by allowing nations that are not participating to extract larger discounts, too. Maintaining a cartel is also hard. Because the participants can benefit by cheating on the price ceiling, policing a price-fixing agreement is notoriously difficult. But in this case, there may be a plausible enforcement mechanism. A key piece of the new sanctions by the European Union and Britain is a ban on insuring tankers that carry Russian oil. Shippers need insurance to navigate canals and to enter harbors. European companies dominate the market; in April and May, 68 percent of Russian oil exports traveled on tankers insured by European businesses. That measure could be modified to ban insurance for tankers with oil purchased at a price above the cartels ceiling. The Russian government has sought to forestall the plan by warning that it would refuse to go along with it. As far as I understand, we wont be supplying oil to those countries which would impose such a cap, and our oil, oil products will be redirected to the countries which are ready to cooperate with us, Elvira Nabiullina, the governor of Russias central bank, said at a news conference last week. Analysts, however, say that if a cartel is established, Russias real choice would be between accepting its terms and leaving a large share of current oil production in the ground. KYIV, Ukraine Russia, apparently, is ready for a cease-fire. The door to negotiations, the Kremlins spokesman said last week, has never been closed. No one should be fooled. Whatever its officials may say, Russia remains focused on war and aims to ruin Ukraine and shatter the West. The sight of Odesa, hit by Russian missiles just hours after a deal was reached to allow grain exports from southern ports, should dispel any lingering naivete. For Vladimir Putin, a cease-fire now would simply allow his depleted invasion forces to take a break before returning for further aggression. The truth is simple: Mr. Putin will not stop until he is stopped. Thats why calls for a cease-fire, audible across Europe and America, are badly misplaced. This is not the time to accept unfavorable cease-fire proposals or peace deals. The task instead is to defeat Russia and limit its ability to attack anyone again in the foreseeable future. With sustained and timely assistance, Ukraine is ready and able to do so. Over six weeks this spring, 23 children were admitted to a Tennessee hospital for treatment of parechovirus, a common virus that in rare cases can a pose a lethal threat to infants, according to a report released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty-one of the children have recovered without complications, but one was at risk for hearing loss and blood clots, the C.D.C. said, while another child experienced persistent seizures and was expected to suffer from severe developmental delay. The children admitted to the Nashville hospital Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt University were between 5 days and 3 months old, and their illnesses were detected from April 12 to May 24, the C.D.C. said. The report described the infections as an unusually large cluster. Six more cases have been identified at the hospital at other times this year, a peak in infections compared with recent years, according to the report. Name: Gabriel Gomez Age: 31 Hometown: Brooklyn Currently Lives: On the top floor of a brownstone in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, with his girlfriend. Claim to Fame: Mr. Gomez is a commercial video director for fashion brands including Nike, North Face, Dr. Martens and H&M, known for his encyclopedic knowledge of New York subcultures. Through his production company Crooked Letter, he puts international brands in touch with local talents, whether they are unsung dancers from the Bronx or electronic musicians in Brooklyn. For H&M, I used Zach Crumrine, a local musician who I love, he said. He was a classically-trained violin player who specializes in digital music production, merging the two aesthetics in dynamic ways. Big Break: After graduating fromManhattans LaGuardia High School in 2009 (along with classmates Azealia Banks and Zazie Beetz), he spent a year at SUNY Purchase before he saw a job listing on Craigslist at DD172, a short-lived media collective started by the entrepreneur and record producer Damon Dash in TriBeCa. I got straight As and I left, he said. This was the rise of the Canon 5D and Digital SLR cameras. I learned all the new elements of modern video and filmmaking. By age 20, he was directing digital ads for Best Buy. Hunter Davis didnt think it was at all weird that Kara Naseef cried when Ms. Davis asked her out on a first date in March 2017. Ms. Davis, too, was close to tears. I had never asked anyone out, she said. I was scared. Then first-year students at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, they had both come out as gay as undergraduates; Ms. Davis, who grew up in Clifton Park, N.Y., graduated from Brown, and Ms. Naseef, who was raised in Cheltenham, Pa., from American University. At law school, each had joined the Outlaws, an L.G.B.T.Q. student organization through which they first met in early 2017. When Ms. Davis saw that she and Ms. Naseef had both signed up via the Outlaws to volunteer at a clinic assisting transgender and gender nonconforming people with legally changing their names and gender markers, she made sure they wound up in the same batch of helpers. Have you ever kept a secret from your wife? asked the polygraph examiner. For nearly two decades I had been grooming myself to be the perfect candidate for one of the premier U.S. government intelligence agencies. These institutions require absolute loyalty, which means you are supposed to keep secrets for them, not from them. Yes, I have, I replied. I was seated upright, brown knuckling the plastic arms of the chair. A black coiled wire had been placed snugly across my chest and another contraption was attached to my fingertips. My heart thumped so loudly that it nearly drowned out all sound. I felt a bead of sweat roll from my armpit down my side underneath my shirt. I was experiencing the telling of truth. While every fiber of my being strained to keep my secrets, I knew I had to be honest and just answer his question. In the summer of 2017, Mrinal Kalakrishnan and Preeti Murali Talwai arrived at a crossroads. They had met the previous October as colleagues at Googles X research lab, also known as the moonshot factory, in Mountain View, Calif. Ms. Talwai was told to consult with Dr. Kalakrishnan, who holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Southern California, about a project. Though they were on different teams hers focused on user experience and his on robotics the two soon became work friends who would often message each other throughout the day. I was very struck by how thoughtful he was, Ms. Talwai, 30, said about her early conversations with Dr. Kalakrishnan, 39. Their friendship eventually evolved to include shared lunches or dinners at the office, and by August 2017 they had started hanging out together while off the clock. But that month, Ms. Talwai accepted a new position at Google that required her to work at a different office than Dr. Kalakrishnan, who had recently started to sense that his feelings for her had become more than platonic. Dear Tripped Up, I regularly travel between Houston and Atyrau, Kazakhstan (via Newark and Amsterdam) for work, taking United for the first two legs and Air Astana for the third. The trip is long but the routine is always the same: check your luggage in Texas and pick it up upon arrival. But this past January, United didnt follow the routine: When I boarded in Newark, I saw on the United app that at least one of my bags had stayed behind. I alerted the flight attendant, who alerted the gate staff, who in turn suggested I get off the plane, get my luggage and fly the next day. But there are limited connections, I had to get to work and I had no idea where my second bag was. (Also lost, it turns out.) Thirteen days and countless calls and letters later, Astana delivered my luggage in Kazakhstan. United eventually offered me $150 in compensation. I believe this is not nearly enough, especially considering their policy on delayed bags says I may be eligible for $1,500 per bag if they cant find my luggage in five days. Can you help? Laura, Missouri City, Texas Dear Laura, You know all those apocalyptic reports of lost luggage weve been reading recently? It turns out the problem actually picked up steam this winter, when Omicron hit, and just in time for your flight in January. That month, according to Transportation Department numbers, U.S. airlines mishandled 8.1 per 1,000 bags checked, compared to fewer than 6 per 1,000 that was the average in 2021. Still, Im guessing youre not alone doesnt make you feel much better about what must have been a maddening 13-day delay. So how about the $3,000 they have now offered in compensation? The public finds the system very confusing, said Linda Devlin, executive director of the Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau, one of the co-signers of the U.S. Travel letter. If they want to rent a cabin at Red Bridge on the Allegheny National Forest, they have to go through multiple pages to first find the Allegheny National Forest, then the right campground, then the cabins. It is not a user-friendly system. Versions of a reservation system have existed online for decades, as parks have attempted to prevent traffic and overcrowding. In 2018, the consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton took over management of the online booking, spurring hope for improvements, including real-time updates and a more usable interface. The new version of Recreation.gov was a step up from the previous model, but was ill prepared over the past two years to handle the major uptick of pandemic-driven users. It didnt help alleviate the confusion caused by changing requirements from the parks as they attempted to cope with pandemic restrictions and record-breaking crowds. As a frequent traveler to national parks, Kelsey Falkowski believes that a reservation system is important in helping to prevent overcrowding. Mr. Falkowski, a high school social studies teacher from Vernon, N.J., has been traveling to national parks with his brother and sister for the past six years, usually visiting two or three parks per trip. He has not encountered major issues using Recreation.gov. It really comes down to research, he said. We start planning about a year in advance, and my brother will put together a 50-page itinerary for a trip. Well go on Facebook pages, Instagram accounts for the national parks, just to make sure were not missing anything. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable In addition to a high-speed internet connection, accessing and booking on recreation.gov needs a level of computer literacy that not all travelers may have (speaking of tech, issues of campsite-snatching bots and third-party sites have plagued recreation.gov for years). Last December, months into her search for campsites, Ms. Prado was able to book one campsite for three nights in Glacier, a far shorter period than she was hoping to spend in the park. As for the rest, she decided she would have to play it by ear. HAZARD, Ky. Shirley Stamper, 74, awoke to the sound of wild banging beneath her house. Floodwaters were swallowing her remote mountain community and Ms. Stamper, along with her mother-in-law, Ethel Stamper, 94, needed to get out, immediately. Not long after, as the waters around them were rapidly rising, Ms. Stamper found herself standing barefoot in the mud, barely dressed, as rescuers in a National Guard helicopter urged her to climb aboard. She turned to her mother-in-law. I said, Ethel, are you getting in that helicopter? Ms. Stamper recalled on Friday, sitting in the auditorium of Gospel Light Baptist Church along with dozens of others rendered homeless in the regionwide devastation. She said: Yes, I am. Search-and-rescue efforts continued across much of southeastern Kentucky on Friday after what Gov. Andy Beshear said was one of the worst, most devastating flooding events ever to hit the state. Mr. Beshear warned that the death toll would rise and would include children. The flooding caused power outages, made many roads impassible and knocked houses off their foundations. The people impacted by this are going to lose just about everything, Mr. Beshear said at a news conference on Friday, adding that officials believed that thousands of people had been affected by the flooding. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. To shield heartsick families from the most macabre details of how their loved ones were murdered in a mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla., the court handling the gunmans sentencing trial has taken an extraordinary step: Graphic videos and photographs are shown only to the jury, so that victims relatives and others in the courtroom gallery do not have to endure them. But the horrifying particulars, conveyed in emotional witness testimony, chilling audio recordings and dispassionate forensic accounts, are impossible to avoid altogether: How a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tied a baby blanket around a wounded students arm as a tourniquet. How the gunfire from a semiautomatic rifle boomed inside a classroom under attack. How the high-powered bullets ravaged childrens bodies. Prosecutors argue that the grisly specifics, while painful, are necessary to prove to the jury that the gunman, Nikolas Cruz, who has pleaded guilty to 17 murders and 17 attempted murders, deserves the death penalty instead of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The judge has allowed the evidence over the objections of defense lawyers, who say that it is repetitive, gruesome and intended to prejudice the jury against their client. Republicans held hearings during recess to move more Trump judges, and Democrats should now do the same, said Chris Kang, general counsel for Demand Justice, a progressive group. This is not radical there is recent precedent for it that just needs to be followed. When the Republican majority and Donald J. Trumps presidency seemed in danger in 2020, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who was then the majority leader, adopted a mantra of leave no vacancy behind and followed a policy of trying to fill every possible judicial opening before a shift in power. But Republicans had not been at the mercy of Democrats for cooperation, since they had a slightly larger majority that provided more flexibility. Senate Democrats say no one wants to keep confirming Biden-nominated judges more than they do, but given the 50-50 Senate and the evenly divided Judiciary Committee, they do not have the latitude that Mr. McConnell did in years past. They see the confirmation of 74 judges so far over the past two years including a new Supreme Court justice as a major accomplishment, and they say there is a real possibility of exceeding 100 by the end of the year. We are doing fantastic, said Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and majority leader, who has long had a deep interest in judicial confirmations. Democrats have also warned about the hazards of getting too aggressive in advancing nominees given the 11-11 split on the judiciary panel, which oversees the confirmation process. The committee has already had to juggle regular absences by lawmakers because of the coronavirus and other health issues. The Judiciary Committees rules require at least one Republican to be present to conduct business, such as voting to send nominees to the floor, and Democrats say that a backlash by Republicans to Democratic heavy-handedness could lead to fewer judicial nominees advancing, not more. In both Nevada and Arizona, Latino voters are gaining political clout. They make up an increasingly large share of the voting population in both states, and have helped swing many recent statewide elections to Democrats. Those wins were crucial in sending both Barack Obama and President Joe Biden to the White House, and handing Democrats control of the Senate. Even as Republicans have made gains elsewhere, Latinos in Arizona and Nevada have overwhelmingly voted Democratic. But Mr. Masters and Mr. Laxalt may need to splinter off only a small number of Latino voters while retaining a majority of white voters in order to win. In this years midterm elections, the path to control over the Senate continues to run through both states, where the Democratic incumbents are seen as particularly vulnerable. Mike Madrid, a veteran political strategist and never Trump Republican who has repeatedly criticized both parties Latino outreach efforts, said Mr. Masterss take on replacement theory could come with political consequences. It is possible, he said, that there are a growing number of Hispanic voters who are not turned off by this or even tacitly agree. Still, he said, the message would likely prevent Mr. Masters from appealing to moderate Hispanic voters, and could turn off white college-educated voters repelled by specious theories rooted in white supremacy. Arizona has been moving left because of a convergence of a growing number of polarized Latino voters and a loss of highly educated voters, he said. This will alienate both those groups. Rowan Moore Gerety contributed reporting from Phoenix, and Kimberley McGee contributed reporting from Las Vegas. WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate supports it unanimously. So does House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Ukrainian Parliament. But Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is not so sure. For weeks, pressure has mounted on Mr. Blinken to formally declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, a label currently reserved for North Korea, Syria, Cuba and Iran. But despite the emotional appeal, Mr. Blinken is resisting a move that could force him to sanction U.S. allies that do business with Russia and might snuff out the remaining vestiges of diplomacy between Washington and Moscow. Amid outrage over Russias brutal military campaign in Ukraine, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution calling on Mr. Blinken to designate Russia as a terrorism sponsor for its attacks in Ukraine, as well as in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria, that resulted in the deaths of countless innocent men, women and children. Lately, the problem has been drawing attention in both the medical community and the general public for disproportionately affecting women, people of color, geriatric patients and L.G.B.T.Q. people. For example, studies have found that women are more likely than men to be misdiagnosed with certain conditions like heart disease and autoimmune disorders and they often wait longer for a diagnosis. And one group of researchers discovered that doctors were more likely to use negative descriptors like noncompliant or agitated in Black patients health records than in those of white patients a practice that could lead to health care disparities. Gaslighting is real; it happens all the time. Patients and especially women need to be aware of it, said Dr. Jennifer H. Mieres, a professor of cardiology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and co-author of the book Heart Smarter for Women. Here are some tips on how to advocate for yourself in a medical setting. What are the signs of gaslighting? Gaslighting can be subtle and isnt always easy to spot. When seeking medical care, experts recommend watching for the following red flags. Your provider continually interrupts you, doesnt allow you to elaborate and doesnt appear to be an engaged listener. Your provider minimizes or downplays your symptoms, for example questioning whether you have pain. Your provider refuses to discuss your symptoms. Your provider will not order key imaging or lab work to rule out or confirm a diagnosis. You feel that your provider is being rude, condescending or belittling. Your symptoms are blamed on mental illness, but you are not provided with a mental health referral or screened for such illness. I always tell my patients that they are the expert of their body, said Dr. Nicole Mitchell, the director of diversity, equity and inclusion for the obstetrics and gynecology department at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. We work together to figure out whats happening and what we can do about it. It really should be a shared decision making. What can you do to advocate for yourself? Keep detailed notes and records. Dr. Mitchell recommended keeping a journal where you log as many details as possible about your symptoms. Her suggested prompts include: What are your symptoms? When do you feel those symptoms? Do you notice any triggers? If you have pain, what does it feel like? Does it wax and wane, or is it constant? What days do you notice this pain? Here is a look at the issues around Ms. Pelosis visit. Chinas leader has long set his sights on Taiwan. Mr. Xi, Chinas authoritarian leader, has made it clearer than any of his predecessors that he sees unifying Taiwan with China as a primary goal of his rule. He is expected to be confirmed to an unprecedented third term as leader at a Communist Party congress in the fall. Ahead of that all-important political meeting, Mr. Xi will be keen to project an image of strength at home and abroad, particularly on the question of Taiwan. In June, Mr. Xi dispatched his defense minister, Gen. Wei Fenghe, to an international conference in Singapore, where Mr. Wei warned that China would not hesitate to fight for Taiwan. If anyone dares to split off Taiwan, we will not hesitate to fight, will not flinch from the cost and will fight to the very end, General Wei told his audience. Speculation has abounded over the sisters lives and deaths. Local media posited that the women could have been seeking asylum in Australia. If so, it would be an echo of a case of two Saudi sisters in New York, whose bodies were found in 2018 on the bank of the Hudson River. Their deaths were ruled a suicide; they had requested asylum in the United States, the police said, and had said they would rather kill themselves than return to Saudi Arabia. In the Australian case, workers in the womens building said they were secretive and seemed nervous and scared, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The women had told the building manager that they thought someone was tampering with their food deliveries. The police declined to answer questions about the sisters citizenship or asylum status. Detective Allcroft said that there was no information indicating that the sisters had tried to flee Saudi Arabia, and that the womens family in their home country, who are helping with the investigation, were not under suspicion. In March, the authorities conducted a welfare check on the sisters after the building manager became concerned about them, reporting that their food had been left out in the apartment buildings common spaces. At that point, Detective Allcroft said, they appeared fine, and there was no further action from police required at that stage. Mr. Kirkpatricks lawyer said the new interpretation of the criminal code, which will be standard across the country, would drastically change the rules around sexual consent, making it almost like a binding contract that could be signed in advance. In Canada, consent is always in the moment. But what this decision does, it creates an element of consent far from the moment of sexual activity in this case days or even a week before the sexual encounter, said Phil Cote, a defense lawyer in Surrey, British Columbia. If theres a moral to be taken from this for everyone, but particularly for men, is that you have to be sure there is active and engaged consent. And if you are not sure, you should ask, he added. But unfortunately, thats not how sexual encounters go. Some studies show condom-use resistance has become widespread over the past decade, and significant numbers of women and men who have sex with men report having experienced partners removing condoms without their consent. The practice, popularly known as stealthing, has become prevalent enough that some Canadian universities have incorporated it into their sexual violence prevention policies. Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law which made stealthing illegal a first in the United States. However, the law amended the states civil definition of sexual battery, offering victims grounds to sue their assailants for damages, but it didnt alter the criminal code. Around the same time, the Legislative Assembly in the Australian Capital Territory, which includes Canberra, also passed new laws that define stealthing as an act of sexual assault. There is in general some kind of disillusionment with the churches, said Dr. Michel Andraos, the dean of the Faculty of Theology at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. But Canadas immigrants have strengthened the church and given it vitality, Mr. Davies said, something he has witnessed firsthand at his own Toronto church. Today he estimates that about 40 percent of his fellow parishioners are from the Philippines and a large number of others are Tamils from Sri Lanka. Its like going to Manila every weekend, he said. Its a cultural experience which is actually very healthy for me. Dr. Andraos is himself a Catholic immigrant to Canada, his family having fled the civil war in Lebanon during the 1990s. For many immigrants, he said, churches are as much a settlement service and cultural community as they are a spiritual centers. And once they have established themselves in Canada, he said, they often drift away from the church. My whole family immigrated and all of them very active church goers the first 10 years or so, Dr. Andraos said. Now no one in my family goes to church. Ms. Griner, a W.N.B.A. star who had been playing for a Russian team during the off-season, is on trial in a Russian court and faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison on drug charges. The 31-year-old athlete was detained in a Moscow airport about a week before Russias invasion of Ukraine, after customs officials discovered hashish oil in her luggage. Mr. Whelan, a former Marine and corporate security executive, was detained in 2018 in a Moscow hotel, where he had been staying for a friends wedding. In 2020, a Russian court sentenced him to 16 years in prison for espionage, a charge that he and his family have denied. The State Department has classified both Mr. Whelan and Ms. Griner as wrongfully detained. According to a person briefed on the matter, the Biden administration offered last month to trade the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is currently serving a 25-year federal prison sentence in the United States, for Ms. Griner and Mr. Whelan. Mr. Blinken also said he had pressed Mr. Lavrov to make good on a recent Russian agreement to allow the passage of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports, and told him that the world would never accept the further Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory. If Putin gets the impression that he can really hurt the economy of the biggest European countries, he wont hesitate to cut off gas supply, he said. If its not hurting too much, hell choose taking the money over inflicting the pain. While not binding, for now, the E.U. consumption targets have sent a clear signal not only of European resolve to stand up to Mr. Putin, but also real concern that European economies are at risk, especially if Germany, the continents economic powerhouse, takes a hit. The Kremlin-controlled Gazprom underlined the threat this week when it reduced flows through Nord Stream 1 into Germany to just 20 percent, citing, unconvincingly for many, problems with its German-made turbines. Roughly half of all homes in Germany are heated with gas, while a third of the countrys gas is used by industry. If the coming winter is particularly cold, a cutoff would be brutal. In an online editorial, the news organization vowed to fight the case in court and to keep its website online, even if it is stripped of its license. The most important thing is that we are and will be, the editorial said. We are not saying goodbye. Earlier this month, the Russian authorities also blocked the website of a new online magazine, Novaya Rasskaz-Gazeta, started by the same team of journalists, for discrediting the military, the outlet reported. Dmitri A. Muratov, the editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta, shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his role in defending freedom of expression in Russia. He auctioned off his medal in June for $103.5 million, and dedicated the proceeds to UNICEF, to aid Ukrainian children and their families displaced by Russias invasion. In March, Mr. Muratov said the news outlet would not put out a newspaper or update its website in Russia until the war in Ukraine was over, because of Russias censorship of war reporting. There is no other choice, he said in a message to readers. For us, and I know, for you, its an awful and difficult decision. Lebanese authorities said Friday that they were investigating a Ukrainian claim that a Syrian ship under U.S. sanctions that docked in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli was carrying Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia. The Laodicea, a Syrian-flagged cargo ship owned by the state transport company, arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday carrying about 10,000 tons of wheat and barley. Soon after, the Ukrainian Embassy alerted Lebanese authorities that they believed the grain had been stolen by Russia. Russia is a close ally of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and intervened in that countrys civil war to prop him up. Lebanons customs authority is inspecting the ships documents to assess whether the cargo is under sanctions or was stolen, according to Raymond El Khoury, director general of the authority. But he said that the Ukrainian Embassy had sent no evidence to back up its allegations, and that if no proof was found that the grain was stolen, it would be unloaded. It was not clear where the grain was ultimately bound. ODESA, Ukraine For the Russians, the Ukrainian fighters held prisoner at Correctional Colony No. 120 are a trophy. For the Ukrainians, they are war heroes. Why either side would want any of them dead is a mystery, but that is the question that hung over the fighting in Ukraine on Friday after another deadly episode, with each side accusing the other of committing a war crime. What is known is that an explosion ripped through a barracks of the prison camp in the Russian-occupied town of Olenivka in southeastern Ukraine early Friday morning, killing at least 50 captured fighters and maiming dozens more, according to both Ukrainian and Russian officials. Videos posted by Russian war bloggers show twisted metal bunk beds and the charred bodies of their former occupants. Foreign tourists and expatriate workers have faced arrests and quick trials for running afoul of Emirati laws criminalizing alcohol consumption without a license, homosexuality, cohabitation outside of marriage and public indecency, though some of those restrictions have recently been relaxed. Other foreigners have spent years in prison for failing to pay small debts. Detaining Ghafoor on the basis of an in absentia conviction without providing him any information, notice, or opportunity to defend against himself is a flagrant violation of his due process rights, said Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of DAWN. Whatever trumped-up legal pretext the U.A.E. has cooked up for detaining Ghafoor, it smacks of politically motivated revenge for his association with Khashoggi and DAWN, which has highlighted U.A.E. human rights abuses and urged an end to arms sales to the country. Mr. Ghafoor, a married father of three who works in Washington and lives in Virginia, was arrested on July 14 at the Dubai airport, where he was in transit on his way to a family wedding in Istanbul, according to DAWN. The group said he sent a text message that afternoon saying two plainclothes Emirati security agents had approached him while he was waiting for his flight to Istanbul and told him he had to come with them to Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital, to clear a case against him. He next sent a photo of himself in a police wagon headed for Abu Dhabi before communications stopped. He was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of $800,000, as well as deportation after his sentence is served, according to WAM, the official Emirati news agency. Meriel McCaffery Ford Hutman Media, which focuses on clients in the life sciences sector, names Meriel McCaffery vice president, head of corporate communications. McCaffery most recently served as director at Wachsman. Before that, she was senior director, corporate and strategy at W2O (now Real Chemistry). Her expertise includes executive positioning, product launches, digital communications integration, influencer identification and engagement, media outreach and branding. Meriel has had a legacy of success advising the leaders of todays most influential and innovative companies throughout her career, said Ford Hutman Media CEO Rachel Ford Hutman. Calvin Daniels Solution Tree, an educational publisher and professional development provider, names Calvin Daniels chief marketing officer. Daniels joins the company from global pharmaceutical company UCB, where he served as customer experience marketing lead. He was previously director of consumer marketing at Roche and held several senior marketing posts at Eli Lilly. At Solution Tree, Daniels will lead and drive the companys enterprise marketing strategy and develop and implement a corporate strategic marketing plan to addresses all products, content, partners, distribution channels and customer touchpoints. Calvin brings a comprehensive understanding and demonstrated performance of highly successful full-spectrum marketing, branding, and communications initiatives, said Solution Tree president Ed Ackerman. Richard Fenning Sherlock Communications appoints Richard Fenning as director of search engine optimization. Fenning was most recently SEO manager at ecommerce group Americanas s.a. in Rio de Janeiro. Before that, he worked at Mercado Libre in Buenos Aires as SEO Team Leader. In his new role, Fenning will lead the growth and expansion of a team of specialists across technical search, performance, content and digital PR. While he will primarily be based at the companys offices in Brazil, he will collaborate with Sherlock Communications staff across its operations in Latin America. Having Richard on the team will be highly beneficial for our clients as we now have the ability to provide even higher quality and ROI on all our SEO projects, said Sherlock Communications managing partner Patrick ONeill. Kathryn Pratt Saucony, a running shoe and apparel company, appoints Kathryn Pratt as chief marketing officer. Pratt comes to the company from LLBean, where she most recently served as director of brand engagement. Before joining LLBean, she was group vp, marketing at Kenneth Cole Productions. At Saucony, Pratt will provide strategic development and execution of the companys global branding initiatives, including brand positioning, direct-to-consumer, advertising, digital strategies, international growth initiatives, and expansion of Originals, its heritage lifestyle business. Kathryns deep expertise in global marketing and thought leadership will help us further develop and implement strategic initiatives focused on future expansion, said Saucony global brand president Anne Cavassa. Offaly Fine Gael Councillors, John Clendennen, Noel Cribbin, Neil Feighery and Liam Quinn have said that the decision by the Government to 100 per cnt match fund the 84.5 million for the Midlands under the EU Just Transition Fund creates an era of opportunity for Offaly. The Cabinets approval of the Territorial Just Transition Plan will deliver over 160 million to the areas in the Midlands most impacted by the decarbonisation of our local economy and in particular here in Offaly. We must ensure now that all sectors of our local economy gear up to ensure that we secure the funding required to deliver a Just Transition for Offaly. The plan announced this week identifiesthree key pillars for investment and it will require a concerted effort by Offaly County Council, state agencies and the business community to ensure that we are successful in this competitive process. The decision of An Bord Pleanala in September 2019 to refuse permission to ESB to co-fire West Offaly Power in Shannonbridge with peat and biomass was a devastating blow and brought about the rapid acceleration of the decarbonisation of Offaly and the Midlands region. This was not a Government decision, it flew in the face of its policy towards a more gradual decarbonisation of the Midlands region. As the local Government TD at the time, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy worked to ensure a swift and meaningful response from the Government working with her colleague the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, Richard Bruton TD. A significant body of diplomatic work was carried out through our network of MEPs and our Commissioner at the time Phil Hogan to ensure that the Midlands region secured support from the European Commissions START (Secretariat Technical Assistance to Regions in Transition) and for the region to be a new member of the European Platform for Coal Regions in Transition. Since then every effort has been made to ensure that supports needed for the region to transform our regional economy are delivered. The decarbonisation transition continues to have a huge impact on workers, their families, the local economy and Offaly County Council's finances. Working in partnership with our Dail colleague, Deputy Charlie Flanagan we continue to deliver a strong message to Government about the disproportionate impact being felt here in Offaly compared to other counties that have been included in todays announcement. This week's announcement is however a very positive and hopeful step towards delivering a meaningful and sustainable Just Transition for Offaly. It is an opportunity not to be missed by the Midlands and in particular here in County Offaly. We have a once in a lifetime chance of getting this right. First national telecoms walkout since 1987 and the biggest ever among call centre workers will be followed by a second strike on.. Hull Daily Mail 29 Jul 2022 Spanish prosecutors will ask a court to sentence Colombian pop star Shakira to eight years and two months in prison, if she is convicted in her expected trial for alleged tax fraud. A US Supreme Court judge has mocked prominent figures around the world, including Prince Harry and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for speaking out against the decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Opalesque Industry Update - After a successful 29-year career in the industry, including seven years at UBS, Kevin Russell will step down as Head and CIO of UBS O'Connor, UBS Asset Management's single manager hedge fund adviser. Under Kevin's leadership, the business has grown significantly and continued to expand its client offering with the launch of new capabilities in key areas such as private credit, China and sustainability. Effective 1 October 2022, Blake Hiltabrand, Co-Head of Event Driven Strategies and Co-Portfolio Manager of UBS O'Connor's Merger Arbitrage and Event Driven strategies, will become Global Head of UBS O'Connor, reporting to Barry Gill. He will continue to be based in Chicago. Blake brings extensive experience to his new role. He has worked at UBS O'Connor for over 15 years and is a senior member of UBS O'Connor's Management Team and Capital Allocation Forum. Prior to joining the firm, he worked at Deephaven Capital Management, Amaranth Advisors and Goldman Sachs focusing on merger arbitrage and event driven strategies. Bernard (Bernie) Ahkong, head of UBS O'Connor in Europe and Portfolio Manager for the European Long/Short Equity Team, will additionally be appointed co-CIO of our flagship Global Multi-Strategy portfolio. He will continue to be based in London and will report to Blake. Bernie re-joined the firm in 2016 from BlueCrest Capital, having previously been a Portfolio Manager at UBS O'Connor from 2006-2013, and has been a senior member of the UBS O'Connor Capital Allocation Forum for six years. Casey Talbot, currently Head of the Credit strategies for the Global Multi-Strategy portfolio, will also assume the additional role of co-CIO for the portfolio alongside Bernie. He will remain in Stamford and report to Blake. Casey joined UBS O'Connor in 2013 from Deutsche Bank and has been a senior member of the UBS O'Connor Capital Allocation Forum for nine years. "Our O'Connor franchise is recognized for its 20-year track-record of innovation and focus on diversifying its fund offering to meet clients' evolving needs. I am confident Blake and the O'Connor leadership team will continue to execute on this proven strategy," said Barry Gill, UBS Asset Management's Head of Investments. "I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Kevin for his significant contribution to UBS O'Connor over the past seven years and we wish him well in his future endeavors." Jiangmen Tings Drinking Water Equipment Co. Ltd has announced that they will build a new water treatment ro plant in Saudi Arabia. This is the company's first project overseas, and they are very excited about it. The new plant will have a capacity of 200,000 cubic meters of purified water per day and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. Once finished, it will become one of The Czech Republic is a highly secular country where three-quarters of the population do not affiliate themselves with any religion and where only some 5% of the 11 million inhabitants attend religious services regularly. In this context, a positive surprise was the response to the Synodal offer. Despite the scepticism about it among some believers and even priests, a high number of 2,312 synodal groups got involved, in which the participants learned to work together in a synodal way, to listen and to discern where the Holy Spirit was leading them. Though the topics discussed in the groups were not always easy to talk about, we feel hope while looking back on the process so far. Some participants mentioned that for them, in the end, the official output will be less essential compared to what has already happened at their ground level. In their small groups, parishes or other types of communities, they became more alive and aware of their co-responsibility. But lets talk more concretely. It will still take some time to summarise all the diocesan syntheses into the national one. However, we can have a closer look at the diocese of Brno, which is the second biggest diocese with 557 groups involved. The outputs from the groups were analysed using both text analysis and a statistical approach. Based on the preliminary reports from other dioceses, we believe that many of the basic findings could be generalised to the whole country. Our first finding regards the synodal reality in parishes, dioceses and the universal Church, which participants rated as rather below average. Most often they expressed a perceived lack of transparency and openness and a wish that the Church be more understandable, human, better able to accept feedback and attentive to the needs of the world. Almost one third of the groups stressed the importance of communication between the priest and laity. They explained that it is not just theological erudition they expect from their priest, but above all, an ordinary closeness, openness, a listening attitude and the ability to work in partnership. They want to be trusted, involved in decision-making and to use their charisms. Interestingly, in a presence of priests in synodal groups, the topic of passing on the faith and not changing the rules was more often discussed, while the reform of the Church, the celibacy of priests and the question of the ordination of women were raised in their absence. At the same time, groups that perceived that they were already experiencing a good synodal reality in their parish were ten times more likely to say that the same is true about the diocese and four times more likely to view the universal Church in this way. The statistics, then, support the statement of the participants themselves: As our parishes will be, so will the whole Church be. However, a focus on communion and relationships goes far beyond the relationship between the priest and the laity. In fact, nearly 40% of the groups stressed the importance of brotherhood/sisterhood, concern for each other, respect and tolerance. They called for an accepting Church that would also welcome the marginalised ones and shared a concern that we live in closed bubbles without sufficient contact among ourselves or with the outer world. A statistical analysis showed that this theme appeared evenly across all types of groups (regardless of age, gender, the size of the groups etc.), which demonstrates its universality. The choice of this topic may have been influenced by the synodal proposal itself; however, such a strong response also shows that this theme resonated highly with peoples feelings. Is it possible that this response mirrors some characteristics of our time, that some scientists even call the lonely century? The Eastern-European countries, which include the Czech Republic, are among the ones with the highest prevalence of loneliness in Europe. However, all over the world, research shows a growing sense of loneliness, not only among people on the margins of society, but also among active and productive ones. Can this epidemic of loneliness also be a sign of the times we should listen to and to which we are called to search for a creative answer? Many organisations and even whole countries have already made practical steps to address this issue as does the Church. Still, we are called to an even deeper answer, the paschal transition from I, understood in a self-centred way, to the ecclesial we, as suggested by the International Theological Commission in the document, Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church (No. 107). Not an easy shift of paradigm, if we take these words really seriously! This call for an ecclesial we is also overlapping with the spiritual desires expressed by more than a quarter of the groups who want to pray together more, to celebrate the holy Mass as a real Christian community and to deepen their spiritual life and relationship with God. Thus, it is not a need that can be fulfilled on a human level only but is also a call to be together closer to God, the God, who made us as a community, in Gods own image. There is a desire to experience communion with a God who is not a cold, self-centred I, but is, as a Holy Trinity, a burning mystery of We in its fullness. What can this teach us with regards to a profound experience of human loneliness? Sister of the Infant Jesus Sisters, Czech Republic #sistersproject Klara Malinakova, IJS With gas prices hovering at around the price of one good (but not great) beer per gallon, its worth asking, how far would you drive for a pint of inspiration? For me, its an easy calculation Id drive as far as it takes to deliver me to that promising brewery on the horizon. With good tunes on the radio and my partner in crime/spouse/bestie beside me, the pain one feels at the gas pump is greatly lessened while searching for that next bodacious brew. Midland is blessed with easy driving access to a number of high-quality establishments that are producing above-average products. Sometimes, though, you just want to hit the highway. With the sun shining and a new vehicle thats begging to be driven, its impossible to resist a brief road trip Up North. Dave Clark Heading back to Midland recently from other, more northern stops on our journey, we pulled into Clare, about 32 miles away on U.S. 10, to patronize one of the best breweries that Michigan has to offer. There in the downtown area, predictably, we saw a group of folks visiting Cops & Doughnuts in fact, Bubba and Rhino were sitting outside having a chat with a good number of their enthusiastic fried dough groupies. Good for them. On the other side of the street was my happy place Four Leaf Brewing. Courtesy Opening in 2015, owner Amy Shindor renovated 2,500 square feet of the historic Davis Block building, creating a vintage, yet hipster vibe blasting cool alternative tunes as the Detroit Tigers played poorly on the nearby TV. This wasnt our first adventure at Four Leaf. It most certainly wont be our last. We love the chill, yet attentive, atmosphere in the place. With a menu that features very good bar food and a wide variety of drink options including cider and mead, there is something for everyone we saw quite a few families enjoying an afternoon nosh on pub pizzas, lunch salads and sandwiches. The food is great, but as always, Im here for the beer. Courtesy That brings us to this weeks most interesting treat Tochie's Brown Barrel Sour. Im a sucker for a good hefeweizen and I appreciate a big, juicy IPA. But theres just something about a toasty, malty brown ale that hits me in the feels every time. Maybe its because as a young beer explorer I crushed on Newcastle Brown Ale and Dundees Honey Brown (now made by Genesee), or maybe its just because my taster is wired that way. A brown ale barrel sour? Now, that sounded interesting. I was unfamiliar with the Flanders Oud Bruin, a style originating from the Flemish region of Belgium. It literally translates into old brown" beer. The Four Leaf incarnation is a brown ale allowed to sour in oak barrels for six months. Much like the farmhouse ale style we explored a few weeks back, Tochie's has a woody kind of funk to it. That oak barrel taste is present in a pleasing way that is smoother than some of the more aggressive offerings that are aged in rum or whiskey barrels. The sourness is crisp and tart. It will make your mouth pucker, for sure. The brown ale adds a malty depth, though, that smoothes out the taste. There is a little bitterness and a slight fruit character. If you like to really taste your beer to think about what is happening as you savor each sip this is a good one to ponder for an afternoon. To say it is a great beer would be unfair this is a complex, challenging beer experience produced by some of the best brewing practitioners in the business. Courtesy With its prohibition history and Purple Gang shootout at the Doherty Hotel, charming Clare has created a thriving downtown that ties back to its rollicking past. Tochie's Brown Barrel Sour Brewer: Four Leaf Brewing in Clare Style: Flanders Oud Bruin - brown ale sour ABV: 6.8% Appearance: Copper color, opaque. Pours a decent head, not much lacing. Aroma: A bit of malt, a lot of funk (in a good way) Mouthfeel: Dry, not too crisp. Coats the mouth with its tartness. A lip smacker! Summary: This is a unique beer that takes you on a tantalizing tasting adventure. One of the things that makes all of Four Leaf Brewing's beers stand out is the attention to craft. These are well-made, spectacular small batch brews that taste rich and complex. This one offers a woodsy, oak taste that is balanced out with the brown ale malt. Pairs with: Almost anything. It's interesting enough to ponder on its own, or could partner with grilled pork chops, a collection of stronger cheese like Munster or Gorgonzola and crackers, or just a simple fruit plate. Sit outside and enjoy this one with the sunshine on your face and The Young Dubliners on your stereo. See More Collapse Cops and beer makers living in harmony on opposite sides of the towns main street? Who could have imagined that 100 years ago! A brown ale and a sour mashup? It's an unexpected offering that provides insight into what Four Leaf does best - producing exceptional beers with high-quality ingredients and special attention to craft. If you're feeling lucky, and maybe a little restless, take the drive up U.S. 10. You simply must visit Four Leaf Brewing and try Tochie's Brown Barrel Sour for yourself. Be sure to wave at Bubba and Rhino before you grab your first pint ... Skoll July 22-28, 2022 This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in Asia and Pacific. Andrew Harnik/AP WASHINGTON (AP) Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed to Asia and Africa, the State Department said Friday, as the U.S. and rivals China and Russia intensify their battle for global influence amid deepening divisions over Taiwan and Russia's war in Ukraine. Blinken will begin a five-nation tour of the two continents next week, starting in Cambodia where he will attend a Southeast Asian regional security forum at which both the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers are also expected to attend. Blinken will then visit the Philippines, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The mayor of San Francisco announced a state of emergency Thursday over the growing number of monkeypox cases, allowing officials to cut through red tape and fight a public health crisis reminiscent of the AIDS epidemic that began devastating the city in the 1980s. We are at a very scary place. And we dont want to be ignored by the federal government in our need. So many leaders of the LGBT community have also, weeks ago, asked for additional help and support and assistance," said Mayor London Breed. The city is in desperate need of vaccines," she said. The declaration, which takes effect Monday, was welcomed by gay advocates who have grown increasingly frustrated by what they called San Francisco's lackluster response to a virus that so far has affected primarily men who have sex with men, although anyone can get infected. San Francisco was at the forefront of the public health responses to HIV and COVID-19, and we will be at the forefront when it comes to monkeypox, said state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat who represents the city. We cant and wont leave the LGBTQ community out to dry. The city has 281 cases, out of about 800 in California and 4,600 nationwide, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. A national shortage of vaccine has resulted in people waiting in line for hours for scarce doses, often to be turned away when the shots run out. Members of the LGBTQ community expressed anger and frustration at a city hearing last week, saying they were relying on social media because the San Francisco public health department had not dispensed basic information on testing or vaccine availability. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman excoriated the department, saying it was unclear why it could not staff phone lines, especially after telling people to call those phone numbers for information, while the San Francisco AIDS Foundation was able to quickly staff a monkeypox information hotline. The organization also has started a wait list for people wanting the vaccine, unlike the public health department forcing people to wait in line. Its a bad look for San Francisco, he said. After attending the San Francisco Pride weekend in late June, Tom Temprano, 36, got a notification that at least one other attendee had tested positive for monkeypox. He called four numbers that local health officials provided in an effort to get vaccinated, but no one picked up. He left voicemails. I waited and I waited and I waited, said Temprano, And there was just sort of I think for myself and many people just growing concern, really, about our safety, given that we were further and further out from an exposure. Finally, on July 8, two weeks after being potentially exposed to the virus at the pride event, and monitoring gay social media networks all the while, he learned through an Instagram post that a vaccine drop-in clinic was being held at San Francisco General Hospital. The poster said drop everything and go now. Temprano texted a half-dozen people and rushed over. He waited with hundreds of other people in a line that snaked out into the street and halfway down a block. After waiting for 3 1/2 hours, Temprano, who is the political director of San Francisco-based Equality California, got his first dose of the vaccine. One of his friends stood in line four times before he was able to get the shot. Temprano was scheduled to get his second dose next week but that was canceled with vaccine in short supply, city officials have opted to prioritize getting first doses to people. He is frustrated that authorities have taken so long to respond, and noted they did so after LGBTQ politicians in his community raised their voices. I think the saddest thing is there are people who are getting monkeypox now who tried to get that vaccine over the last month-and-a-half and couldnt get one, who are sick and are in pain and are going to be out of work potentially for two to six weeks, he said. Wiener had urged local and state officials to declare a health emergency, which he said would give the city and counties greater flexibility to respond to the growing outbreak. For example, it would streamline getting test results to people and allow a broader array of providers to perform vaccinations. Wiener, who is gay, also noted the parallels to the AIDS crisis in San Francisco. I feel like this is like deja vu that once again, gay men are getting attacked and demonized and blamed as we get sick, and that we can never tolerate that," he said. In the early 1980s, the U.S. government was slow to react as the AIDS epidemic ravaged gay communities in San Francisco and elsewhere. Groups like ACT UP emerged to push for action to fight AIDS. That struggle has echoes today. Despite the problems with vaccine supply, federal officials said Thursday that the countrys monkeypox outbreak can still be stopped, amid worries that the U.S. has missed the window to contain the virus. The monkeypox virus spreads through prolonged skin-to-skin contact, which includes sex, kissing, breathing at close range, and sharing bedding and clothing, the public health department said. Health officials are asking people who could be at risk to cover exposed skin when out in crowds and to watch out for symptoms, such as fever, blisters and rashes. The World Health Organization over the weekend declared the monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries a global emergency. ___ Selsky reported from Salem, Oregon. Associated Press writer Janie Har also contributed to this story. Pentwater. Baldwin. Manistee. Custer. White Cloud. These are all northern Michigan towns where the local social media sensation Chickie had been seen since the end of April. Five counties in at least three months. Chickie was given her name by Mason County Mutts president Sara Lutz, because the young hound mix had a chicken feeder stuck on her head. The nonprofit organization, which helps "make Mason County a more dog friendly community through community projects, education and animal welfare," worked with multiple animal control agencies to finally aid in the capture of the approximately 1-year-old dog this week in Manistee County. Teresa Swist, vice president and secretary of Mason County Mutts, told the News Advocate on Friday via email that according to a time stamp on a photo that was shared with the nonprofit, Chickie had been out and about since at least April 30 when a photograph was taken of her in White Cloud with the chicken feeder on her head. Courtesy photo/Teresa Swist She had a chicken feeder stuck on her head. Someone had stated they saw her in Baldwin before she had that on her head. So obviously she was looking for something to eat before being spotted in all these other places," Swist said. She said it was a good thing, though, that it was a chicken feeder and not a regular bucket. "Because the bucket even though the feeder part was around her head she was still able to eat and drink with it on. If it had been a closed end bucket she wouldnt have lasted more than a couple of days," Swist said. "The biggest concern was she couldnt see really well with that on and it was just a matter of time that shed end up getting hit by a car." Courtesy photo/Teresa Swist Swist said her group began seeing reports of the hound about a month ago and they encouraged people to contact their local animal control. "The dog was always on the move," she said. After months on the run and sightings reported throughout at least five counties, Chickie is now under the care of the Manistee County Animal Control. Dillon Rosa, Manistee County Animal Control officer, also began to hear about Chickie about a month ago. That was pretty much keeping eyes on it. We knew that we couldnt approach it because it was just too afraid of people at that time. It was in that flight mode," he said. "And it was covering such a large amount of distance that we couldnt pinpoint it enough to trap it. So we were more or less observing it, keeping eyes on it until we could figure out an area to possibly trap it." Rosa said animal control's role is to safely capture an animal when needed. "My role is more in this circumstance is more of approving, selecting and directing other agencies or nonprofits. We certainly were involved with the different scenarios. We had talked about tranquilizing the animal but were weighing out the pros and cons of doing that," he said. "... However, the animal at the time that we were exploring the option of trapping it was running too much. It was covering too far of distance between sightings, and we usually like to set a trap in an area that we see the animal over the course of a couple days and that just wasnt happening for us at that time up until recently." Earlier this week, an opportunity came along. Last week Chickie was spotted on U.S. 10 and Schoenherr Road, said Swist. The dog then made her way to Custer. "I took a ride that way and didnt see her. I was heading home and caught site of her on Custer Road," she said. "It was like, 'Holy cow that dog was in Pentwater and is now on Custer Road.' She was in flight mode at that point. When I saw her, she was just running and running, and there was no way we were going to get her to stay anywhere long enough. The next day Chickie was spotted near Hogue Road and then the Bungalow Inn in Manistee. Then they got a break when hearing from Sheri Pefley. "We received a message that she had been seen up near Walgreens most recently, and the woman got a hold of us. She was waiting to hear back from someone with a live trap," said Swist, who was available at the time and in possession of a trap. Swist got in touch with Mason County Animal Control Officer Sarah Colbrook who reached out to Rosa. Swist and Colbrook arrived in Manistee and got close to Chickie, who was "laying lower underneath a motor home." Chickie ran off at that time after hearing other dogs barking, said Swist. "There was no way you were going to physically catch her with your hands she needed to be trapped," said Swist. She then showed Pefley how to use the trap and what to do if a different animal was caught instead. The next morning, on Tuesday, Pefley reported that a raccoon had been trapped. After letting it out and resetting the trap, Pefley reported to Swist about 10 minutes later that Chickie was in the trap. Courtesy photo/Teresa Swist From what we have seen of her and the rounds she had been making, she would be seen somewhere in an area for two days and then take off," said Swist. "So it was really important that shed been hanging out in this one spot for a few days. She needs to get caught or shes going to be on the move again and end up who knows where. Pefley "played a huge part in this, said Swist. At that point, Rosa took control of Chickie and got her to a veterinary clinic for a wellness exam. Courtesy photo/Teresa Swist "It needs to be treated for anything or any other injuries we might not have seen while it was in the trap or while it was running loose and then obviously remove the object on its head as well," he said. The canine was scanned for a microchip but none was found. Mason County Mutts paid the initial bill at Manistee Veterinary Hospital. "... We figured that animal control doesnt have a large budget for that so thats part of what we do here is we help with costs like that at our animal control," said Swist. "So if something emergent happens we pay for that. Swist said the dog was a little thin, but overall in good health. "But hounds are pretty slender anyway. Overall she just had a couple of ticks on her. Nothing too serious. Dr. Brown up at Manistee (Veterinary) Hospital gave her a look over and said other than being a little skinny shes in pretty good shape," said Swist. Chickie is currently under a "stray hold," to give her owners time to claim her. "In this case I dont believe that one (owner) is gonna come forward, and we dont have any tips on who the dog might belong to just because its covered four different counties so it could have came from any of the four counties: Mason, Lake County, Oceana or Manistee," said Rosa. "So its a little bit more difficult to track down an owner." Rosa said early next week when the stray hold expires, a decision will be made about what's best for Chickie. He's working with Mason County Mutts to find a foster home for her. So were kind of working on that, finding an appropriate foster for her," said Swist. "Obviously knowing that she likes to run, its really important to get somebody who understands what theyre getting into. Anyone interested in fostering or adopting Chickie can contact Mason County Mutts at 231-794-2757, search Mason County Mutts on Facebook or email. masoncountymutts@gmail.com Chickie will receive further care, such as heartworm testing, once the stray hold is up. However, Mason County Mutts does not need any further monetary donations for Chickie's care at this time. Weve received over $700 in donations for her to this point," Swist said. "Anyone who wants to help should watch the nonprofit's Facebook page for updates or call first to see if donations are needed. Its really cool when ... theres a good ending to the story," said Swist. "Now its just, lets make sure shes healthy and get her a good home and make sure she stays put and doesnt run off anywhere else. Rosa and Swist emphasized that catching Chickie in order to help her was a team effort. "Its definitely important to recognize all the different agencies that were involved in trying to catch her when she was spotted in their areas: Lake County Animal Control, Mason County Animal Control, Oceana County Animal Control and Manistee County Sheriff's (Office)," said Swist. "All the people who fed and watered her along the way whenever she was spotted and didnt just run away. Those who reported her sightings; it was a huge multi-community effort." Rosa said that Manistee's animal control and sheriff's deputies aided in the search as well as City of Manistee Police Department. "It was definitely a multi-agency cooperation type scenario as well as the public," he said. "The public was posting stuff on Facebook, which we follow Facebook quite a bit and we were able to keep track of the dogs location and communicate based off where the dog was last seen and come up with a plan to capture it." Swist asks people to remember in situations like these, it's best to contact local animal control before taking to social media. I know social media can be a really awesome thing and I think that people just need to kind of remember in a lot of situations like this to report it to their local animal control first and then go to social media. Sometimes, animal control goes by their report. ... Animal control needs the documentation and that helps them to track where the dog was last seen and stuff like that, putting it all together," she said. Andrew Mullin/Midland Daily News The Daily News invited each candidate in the 95th State House District primary races to write an op-ed no longer than 500 words. Im Ann Manary and I am campaigning for your vote to successfully elect me as the representative for Michigans 95th State House District. Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan and Algerian sides are planning an upcoming official meeting to decide on the date of reopening one of the three common land border crossings between the two countries, which will first be made available for trade, according to well-informed sources quoted by Libyan newspaper "Al-Wasat" on Friday Lome, Togo (PANA) - Togo and Ghana discussed on Thursday in Lome, the boosting of their security, economic and commercial cooperation, following the visit of the Ghanaian Head of State to Lome, according to a statement copied to PANA made public in the Togolese capital on Friday Photo: (Photo : AIZAR RALDES/AFP via Getty Images) A 13-year-old boy in Los Angeles, who was allegedly bribed to get vaccinated at his school, has been experiencing lingering COVID-19 vaccine side effects, prompting his mother to file a lawsuit against the school district. Maribel Duarte said in a news conference Wednesday, July 27, that her son, Moises, has not been the same since he had two shots of the Pfizer vaccine in October and November 2021 at the Barack Obama Global Prep Academy. The boy apparently cannot sleep or rest well and cannot withstand physical exercises like he used to. "He is not the same anymore," the mom said, per KTLA. "He's not normal to me." Read Also: Unusual RSV Cases Popping Up in the Summertime; What are the Symptoms? A violation of parental rights Nicole Pearson, the mother's attorney, said this lawsuit is not about anti-vaccination or a conspiracy theory. Duarte's parental rights were violated, and she wasn't able to protect her child from harm. Duarte has had the vaccine, but she has been holding off on her son's jab due to his health issues. Duarte said that Moses' doctor advised against getting the shots because the teenager has asthma and a bleeding disorder. She also claimed that her son was made to forge his consent form by the school nurse and a pizza bribe. Moses was also apparently told not to say anything so he would not get into trouble, per NBC Los Angeles. Soon after getting vaccinated, Duarte noticed her son's unusual health issues. She said she reached out to the Los Angeles Unified School District but received no response from the officials. The Los Angeles Unified School District mandated vaccination for all students above 12 years old as of January 2022. Those who did not comply and could not present a legal exemption remained in virtual classes. The school district officials refused to comment on the pending legal case. Parents hesitate to vaccinate their kids The news comes as a survey from Kaiser Family Foundation showed that 43 percent of parents across the U.S. do not want the vaccine for kids, especially those below five years old. In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved COVID-19 vaccinations for all children above six months old. About 28 percent of parents with children in the 12 to 17-year-old bracket, Moses' age group, oppose the vaccination. At least 8 in 10 parents said that they are worried about the lingering COVID-19 vaccine side effects. The survey also revealed that more than half of the parents were confused about the government's information drive in vaccinating children for COVID-19 protection. Thus, there is still more room to improve when it comes to vaccine education. The Kaiser Family Foundation said healthcare providers must listen instead of admonishing vaccine-hesitant parents. The experts who conducted the survey said that since vaccination is a very personal issue, it will be better for healthcare providers to individualize their interactions with patients to get to the bottom of their concerns and fears about the COVID-19 vaccine for kids. Related Article: COVID-19 Vaccine for Under 5: How Parents Can Alleviate Common Side Effects On July 10, Patently Apple posted a report titled Apples 5G iPhones and iPads have been banned in Colombia after the Court granted Ericsson a rare Anti-Antisuit Injunction+. Apple's lawyers immediately sought antisuit damages in the Eastern District of Texas. Apple brought an emergency motion with the court, saying that the Colombian inunction gives Ericsson "economic and logistical leverage [...] to pressure Apple to abandon this litigation and capitulate to Ericssons [royalty] demand," and asks Chief Judge Rodney S. Gilstrap to decide as swiftly as possible that Ericsson must "indemnify Apple from any fines, fees, penalties, and costs it incurs as a result of the Colombian injunction." Yesterday Judge Rodney S. Gilstrap published his decision on the matter. The antisuit part was denied, and only a limited part of a discovery-related request by Apple was granted. Technically, this means the motion was granted-in-part and denied-in-part. Judge Gilstrap doesn't think it constitutes "imminent, irreparable harm" to Apple that it may--as a result of enforcement actions in other jurisdictions--have to sit down and negotiate a license with Ericsson. The Texas FRAND case will go to trial in December, and no later than September, Apple and Ericsson have to engage in formal mediation. There's also a procedural issue. Apple should have brought a regular motion as opposed to an emergency motion. "Emergency motions are to be filed only in truly extenuating circumstances and should not be used as a means to secure an expedited briefing schedule and hearing before the Court," Judge Gilstrap clarifies--and "finds that Apple has misused and misapplied the rules for emergency motion practice in this Court." Therefore, he places Apple "on notice that further such conduct will warrant, and likely result in, sanctions against it." The antisuit damages order that Apple wanted--which wouldn't have formally barred Ericsson from continuing its Colombian PI enforcement, but would have made it costly. This was likely the original motion's primary objective. If Apple wants to sell 5G iPhones and iPads in Colombia again, it either has to successfully appeal in Colombia--or take a license, which will be the outcome anyway (the question is just when and on what terms). For more on this and to review the court order in full, review the full report by FOSS Patents. Nvidia is no longer doing hot laps solo: AMD Radeon GPUs are blazing up their rear-view mirror bringing the heat this generation. This is the most apparent in the mainstream, prime time battleground: Nvidias GeForce RTX 3070 versus AMDs Radeon RX 6750 XT. Grab some popcorn, the entire family, and some 3D glasses, the show is about to start! Can the refreshed RX 6750 XT compete with the RTX 3070s popularity amongst gamers? Well cover the specs, pricing, performance, and which of these two hotrods deserves your hard-earned cash. Oh, both companies have a few software tricks up their sleeves, too, such as Nvidias DLSS and AMDs RSR resolution-scaling technologies. [For a complete rundown of todays graphics card scene, see our best GPUs for PC gaming roundup.] Nvidia RTX 3070 vs. AMD RX 6750 XT: Price GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition Read our review Best Prices Today: Dont worry, its safe nowGPUs are available everywhere. Prices have quickly returned to MSRP, and below in some cases. While the GeForce RTX 3080 and above tier of GPUs have seen the biggest price drops, you can expect the retail on the RTX 3070 to be much closer to $499 (and generally under $579 for most models, though some models remain more expensive.) The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is also right in that $499 to $549 spot. Is it really safe to buy, though? With Nvidias RTX 4000 and next-gen AMD RDNA 3 graphics cards on the horizon, todays MSRP prices are not as sweet as youd think. We surmise that there is still another round of price drops to come upon the announcement of next generation hardware, so tread these waters carefully. Nvidia RTX 3070 vs. AMD RX 6750 XT: Performance Performance is key in this portion of the market, where price pressure makes every ounce that can be squeezed from the silicon extra valuable. In Watch Dogs Legion, the RX 6750 XT draws even at 1440p, and the opens up an imperceptible lead as the resolution increases. This is with the software magic disabled, such as DLSS and ray tracing. A minor victory for the 6750 XT at 1080p. Thiago Trevisan The close story continues in a similar fashion with Horizon Zero Dawn, but this time the RTX 3070 eeks out a minor victory. Also note that the RX 6750 XT has a very minor performance bump over the RX 6700 XT that it replaces. Some games, such as Borderlands 3, seem to perform better on the AMD GPUs such as the RX 6750 XT, giving it a win over the RTX 3070. Thiago Trevisan Youve seen the pure hardware power of the GPUs above, so what happens when we introduce other technology in the mix? Lets take AMDs Smart Access Memory and Radeon Super Resolution, two driver-level features that work in any game. Nvidia can also take advantage of turbocharged software, though its great DLSS solution requires active developer integration into games (as does AMDs rival FSR). These technologies allow you to balance a high level of performance with a visually optimal experience. Is the RX 6750 XT faster than the RTX 3070 as AMD claims in the graphic below? Yes, but that is greatly helped by using the RSR and SAM technologies covered above. AMDs software magic to bring it over the top. Thiago Trevisan Nvidia still maintains a sizable advantage when it comes to ray tracing, however. As demonstrated by switching it on Ultra in Watch Dogs Legion, Nvidia has a dominant lead with it activatedand this is without DLSS active. It can be argued that ray tracing presents diminishing returns for most games, but it can still have an impressive visual impact. As the RTX 3070 and RX 6750 XT are entering the higher performance tiers of GPUs, it should be of interest to the mid- and high-end gamers. Nvidia is still king when it comes to ray tracing. Thiago Trevisan Nvidia RTX 3070 vs. AMD RX 6750 XT: Power and other things to know The RTX 3070 and RX 6750 XT are not power hungry compared to their larger brethren, but still pack a 220W TDP on the Nvidia side, and a TDP of 250W for the 6750 XT. This means youll need a decent power supply, and adequate case air flow. Theyre entering the higher tier of GPUs, with performance equaling last generations top dog: the RTX 2080 Ti. The RTX 3070 can have a big cooler, too! Thiago Trevisan These GPUs are fantastic for 1080p high-refresh gaming, as well as 1440p. Thats their sweet spot. While they can do 4K, some games may require the power of, say, an RTX 3080 and above class of GPUs. So, is the RX 6750 XT upgrade enough to beat the RTX 3070? Its a tough time to be a GPU: prices have plummeted. But theyre still high enough in relation to the proximal release of the next-generation GPUs that people are right to be wary of buying now. The release of the 6750 XT came during this decline therefore relegating it to the sidelines rather quickly. It certainly has the performance chops to match or beat the RTX 3070 in many cases, especially with the AMD SAM and RSR boost it gets. Generally, the RTX 3070 is still a more popular offeringand it does excel in ray tracing over the AMD option if thats your thing. The advantage would still play in the RTX 3070s favor long term, but AMD certainly has put up a great fight, at a lower average cost than Nvidias option. If you can find one at a significant discount over the other, that may also be a deciding factor. GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition Read our review Best Prices Today: The smart money is on waiting longer, however. RTX 4000 and AMDs own offerings are going to be here soon, and that will depress prices on the current lineup of GPUs even further. While one cant wait forever, the unique circumstances of the current market make it logical to wait just a bit more. Youll likely be rewarded with an even better price, or better performance as the case with the next-generation releases. Leading digital payment solutions provider Network International has announced it will bring WhatsApp for Business banking services to financial institutions across Africa through a landmark collaboration with Infobip. The full-stack cloud communications company is one of the worlds largest providers of A2P SMS services and will support Network International in its commitment to financial inclusion across Africa. In addition to helping financial institutions reach their customers through a familiar and reliable channel, the agreement will help them deliver world-class support and seamless services in a personal, timely, and reliable manner. For individuals this means people can access their money securely and quickly, as well as utilising the latest chatbot technology to help empower customers to take control of their finances. Commenting on the deal, Network Internationals Hany Fekry, Group Managing Director Processing, said, We are delighted to introduce WhatsApp banking across Africa with Infobip. Helping financial institutions reach customers through a secure and familiar app is in line with our goal to increase and improve digital banking services across the continent to improve financial inclusion. Hana Bilbeisi, Regional Head of Partnerships Sales, Infobip further added, We are delighted to have joined forces with Network International. Empowering individuals and communities through technology and communication is one of our key values at Infobip. By integrating WhatsApp Business API, Network International customers can now access crucial information anytime, anywhere. Network International is a leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa, providing a full suite of technology-enabled payment solutions to merchants and financial institutions of all types and sizes. With offices in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, and Egypt, Network International has a presence across Africas key markets, and the business operates across almost all other African countries. Network International has worked closely with governments and financial institutions in Africa to promote financial inclusion, helping to drive digitisation through innovative products and collaborations such as this one. Earlier this year Network International announced a 33% increase in year-on-year revenue for Q1 2022, and in 2021, Network International acquired DPO Group in a landmark deal for the African payments landscape. Network International Network International comprises a group of companies and is the leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, providing a full suite of technology-enabled payments solutions to merchants and financial institutions of all types and sizes, including acquiring and processing services and a comprehensive ever-evolving range of value-added services. Network International Holdings Plc (LSE: NETW) is the holding company for Network International and the group companies, including the DPO Group. Infobip Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connections across all stages of the customer journey. Accessed through a single platform, Infobips omnichannel engagement, contact center, chatbot and identity solutions help businesses and partners overcome the complexity of consumer communications to grow business and increase loyalty. With over fifteen years of industry experience, Infobip has expanded to 70+ offices across six continents. It offers natively built technology with the capacity to reach over seven billion mobile devices and things in 190+ countries, connected directly to over 700 telecom networks. Infobip was established in 2006 and is led by its co-founders, CEO Silvio Kutic, Roberto Kutic and Izabel Jelenic. Recent recognition includes: Omdia Ranks Infobip as Leader in CPaaS Universe Report (May 2022) Infobip recognised as the established leader in Junipers Competitor Leaderboard for CPaaS, 2021 Infobip ranked leading service provider in the mobile messaging space by Juniper Research in its new Competitor Leaderboard, 2021 Infobip named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) 2021 Vendor Assessment (doc #US46746221, May 2021) Best A2P SMS provider for the fourth year running by mobile operators and enterprises in ROCCOs annual Messaging Vendor Benchmarking Report 2021 Best CPaaS Provider of the Year, Best RCS Provider of the Year, and Mover & Shaker in Telco Innovation at the 2021 Juniper Digital Awards 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 BTL Marketing Solutions Ghana has been adjudged the Overall Best Marketing Agency of the Year at the recently held 11th Marketing World Awards 2022 at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel. The awards night saw numerous industry players in marketing and advertising come together to celebrate, award and reward the efforts of various stakeholders in the industry. The Marketing World Awards (MWA) recognise outstanding organisations and individuals who have delivered superior products and exhibited excellence in upholding concrete marketing strategies, displaying uniqueness and innovativeness among offerings, conveying clear messages to their consumers, and driving distinctiveness. Commenting on the award, the visibly elated Country Manager, Ghana, Cynthia Kodowu expressed gratitude to the BTL Marketings loyal clients for giving them the opportunity to connect their brands to the African consumers. She further stated, "The mission of the company has always been to become a world-class and most sought after digital experiential group in Africa and this award says it all." BTL Marketing Solutions Ghana won the overall experiential marketing agency of the year with their nation-wide campaign for Guinness Ghana, "Black Shines Brightest campaign". The Head of Operations for BTL Marketing Ghana, Mr. Richard Larbi, describes the Black Shines Brightest Campaign as the brightest spot in telling positive African stories. He firmly believes this is the most progressive way brands can project true African stories. BTL Marketing Solutions Ghana is a part of the BTL Africa group which is the fastest-growing Pan-African marketing and technology solutions company with offices across 8 African countries; namely Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Kenya, DR Congo, Ivory Coast, and Liberia, offering bespoke and customised solutions to multinationals and indigenous African brands. 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 Euroget De Invest S.A, the firm building a number of hospitals for the government, has filed an application at the Accra High Court seeking to stop the execution of a $5million judgment debt against it by one of its subcontractors, Top International Engineering Ghana Limited. Euroget was ordered by the International Court of Arbitration to pay Top International Engineering more than $8million for failure to pay the subcontractor for certain works. The arbitration award was adopted by the Accra High Court in a dispute between the two. Top International Engineering has so far recovered $2,933,708.41 of the amount and is seeking to recover the rest of the amount, but Euroget is challenging an amended entry of judgment and the resultant execution process by Top International Engineering. Eurogets argument Euroget is arguing that the government has delayed in paying it and therefore it had also been unable to pay the rest of the amount. In an affidavit in support of the application deposed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Euroget, Dr Said Derez, the construction firm claims that in spite of Top International Engineering being aware of its difficulties, it went ahead and served an amended entry of judgment on a non-permanent staff of the company instead of the CEO. The company also argues that Top International started the second execution process without permission from the court, and therefore the amended entry of judgment and execution are incompetent and ought to be set aside. Top International response In its response, Top International Engineering has urged the court to dismiss the application, describing it as without merit and an attempt by Euroget to delay and frustrate it from collecting the money. It argued that the two sides went into terms of settlement for the money to be paid in instalment, but Euroget failed to respect the said agreement, which forced it to garnishee the accounts of Euroget. Top International Engineering added that the amended entry of judgment was to reflect the outstanding amount Euroget was supposed to pay after the garnishee proceedings, and that there was no rule of court that it had not be served personally on Dr Derez. It also refuted claims by Euroget that it was aware of delay in government paying Euroget to enable it settle its debt. Background Top International Engineering Ghana Limited won the $8million judgment debt after an arbitration between it and Euroget at the International Court of Arbitration in London of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The arbitration award was adopted by the High Court as its final judgment after the two sides agreed that that should be the means to settle a legal dispute which started at the High Court in 2017. About $5.4million of the amount represents the outstanding balance that Euroget has to pay Top Engineering, while $1.06 million relates to interest on the outstanding balance from September 29, 2017, when the dispute between the two companies began, to June 29, 2021, the date of the arbitration award. The rest of the arbitration award is in relation to the legal fees and other costs expended by Top Engineering during the arbitration. The dispute between the two firms is connected to two hospitals being constructed by Euroget the 500-bed military hospital at Afari, Kumasi, and the 60-bed hospital in Konongo, both in the Ashanti Region. Top Engineering had argued that it provided some engineering services at the military hospital at a contract sum of more than $12 million, but Euroget paid it $7.5million. With regard to the hospital in Konongo, Top Engineering said the contract sum was more than $7.5 million, but Euroget paid it $4.8 million. Euroget also made a counter-claim against Top Engineering and argued that the engineering firm delayed in completing its services as agreed between the two parties. The arbitration tribunal upheld the counter-claim and ordered Top Engineering to pay Euroget $710,000 in relation to the military hospital contract and $1,117,746.37 in relation to the Konongo project. Source: Graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The government mobilised GH93.7 million revenue from the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) in the first two months of implementation. The amount, mobilised in May and June this year, was about 93.59 per cent lower than the GH1.46 billion target set in this years budget. Due to this, the government has revised the revenue target for the levy from the initial annual projection of GH6.96 billion to GH611 million in the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review released last Tuesday. From the revenue side, data from the fiscal policy review indicated that the lower-than-targeted outcome reflected the performance of almost all the revenue lines. Total revenue and grants consisting of domestic revenue, tax revenue and other major revenue lines churned out lower than projected, after yielding GH37.8 billion in the first half of the year, from the target of GH43.4 billion, it said. This mirrors a trend that has bedevilled the economy since the beginning of this year, the revised fiscal policy position said. The fiscal policy review showed that the revenue targets for the year had been revised from GH100.5 billion to GH96.84 billion, as captured in the Mid-Year Budget review, which also cut expenditure slightly from GH135.6 billion to GH133.84 billion. Shift in budget assumption Presenting the 2022 mid-year budget review last Monday, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said the government had seen some major shifts in its budget assumptions that had led to reduced revenues, increased interest payments and changes in interest and exchange rates. He explained that the government, in the 2022 budget, committed itself to chart a course towards growth and fiscal sustainability and that the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review reasserted that commitment. The Finance Minister said the government was committed to staying within the appropriation for 2022. In spite of the underperforming revenues and strong external headwinds, we are not seeking additional funds in this Mid-Year Review, he said. We are determined to efficiently use the windfall from the upstream petroleum sector to make-up for our revenue shortfall and aggressively improve our revenues even as we rationalise expenditures, Mr Ofori-Atta said. Review collection rate The Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, Prof. Peter Quartey, ahead of the mid-year budget review, called on the government to review the E-Levy to make it cheaper for more Ghanaians to contribute to it. He said a revised collection rate from 1.5 per cent to 0.5 per cent, intensified education and accompanying measures would encourage compliance and narrow the revenue generation gap recorded in the first quarter of the year. He explained that most Ghanaians were evading the levy because of the high rate, limited education and loopholes associated with the structure of the levy. Prof. Quartey said a cheaper and well-structured E-Levy would rope in more people who had to pay but were not doing so. The E-Levy rate should be reviewed downwards and education intensified to get more Ghanaians to pay the tax, so that we can shore up our revenue and block the loopholes, he said. Give E-Levy time However, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, at a press conference last Monday, said it was not yet time to scrap the E-Levy, in spite of its failure to yield the desired results. The governor said that certain exemptions granted by the levy could be responsible for the low revenue mobilised so far, hence with time it would perform better. I do not think it is time to scrap E-Levy. Discussions that I have been privy to have been on the level of exemptions granted under the levy and its law, Dr Addison said. So, I know there is some work which is currently ongoing to relook at those exemptions; and hopefully, when that is completed, the levy will bring in more resources than currently, he said in answer to a question on whether it was ripe to scrap the three-month old levy. Source: graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor, has accused the current management of Bulk Oil and Transportation of inflating the price of its twin tower office contract. According to him, the program which cost $39 million budgeted by the previous NDC administration has been increased to a$78 million for the office under the NPP government. We have however noted from recent developments based on documents available to us that the original contract which was valued at $39,000,000.00 (Thirty-Nine Million Dollars) ballooned to a whopping $78,000,000.00 if the two-tower building is accounted for based on the current cost of the single unit valued at $39,000,000.00 (Thirty-Nine Million Dollars). This means the building has been inflated by 100% over the original contract. "We say so because we have noted that the current Management of BOST decided to acquire only one of the twin unit building due to the precarious financial position of the company, however it applied to the Public Procurement Authority for approval to vary the original contract for the single unit from the original price of $19,500,000.00 per unit to a new cost of $24,000,000.00, he said. Addressing a press conference, John Jinapor called for an immediate independent investigation into the alleged scandal. It is our hope that for the first time, the President will gather the courage to cause an independent investigation into this scandal which is of monumental proportion, and punish his officials whose negligence, recklessness, and complicity have led us into this huge mess, he further noted. John Jinapor added that anything short of an independent investigation shall be rejected and denounced by the NDC in parliament and the good people of Ghana. He also indicated that the minority will be vigilant and resolute in their quest to ensure that the continuous looting and plundering of the resources of BOST, which is their collective strategic national asset is brought to an immediate halt. 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 Dettol Ghana, manufactured by Reckitt, has been endorsed by Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) as the hygiene product of choice to promote good hygiene for expectant, nursing mothers and Ghanaians at large. The two organisations signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize the partnership. The GRNMA is a professional association for all categories of nurses and midwives in Ghana with a mission to develop the nurse professionally to cope with contemporary challenges of the profession towards the promotion of the health of their clientele and their socio-economic status. Speaking on behalf of Dettol at the signing ceremony, Country Sales Manager Reckitt, Mr Henry Ankrah stated that Dettol is one of the most trusted brands in the world backed by research and innovation. It is safe, easy to use and an effective hygiene product that kills up to 100 illness causing germs. Dettols partnership with GRNMA is in line with the brands purpose to protect life, reducing the burden of illness, and to drive behaviour change to create lasting hygiene habits. He added the partnership aims to further encourage good hygiene practices in hospitals, communities and the public through an array of activities. It will also help to create and release public awareness messages, campaigns on public health and personal hygiene to promote awareness of health and hygiene matters among the public. Mr. Ankrah further commended the nurses and midwives for their roles which ensure safe child delivery and providing extensive healthcare for Ghanaians. He expressed delight at the partnership with GRNMA and expressed hope that nurses and midwives throughout the country would be ambassadors for the Dettol range of products. With the Memorandum of Understanding signing, the association has granted Dettol the exclusive right to use its official logo on all its products and brand materials. Every Dettol product and brands on all media platforms will likewise carry the associations official endorsement and logo. Source: Naomi Obenewaa Abrokwa/Peace News 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 Charles Owusu has called on Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, to stop threatening Ghanaians with deadlines regarding the SIM card registration. The SIM card registration exercise began on 31st October, 2021 and was expected to end on 31st March, 2022 but as at 17th March, over 14 million SIM cards had been linked to the Ghana Card with over 10 million Bio-Captures conducted and 99,445 new SIMs registered. Due to a number of factors including the fact that over 7.5 million citizens and residents were yet to obtain Ghana Cards to enable them register their SIM cards, it was clear the deadline for completion of the registration of the remaining active SIM cards couldn't be met. As a result, the Minister extended the deadline to July, 31, 2022 which falls on this Sunday. However, there are still many people who haven't completed their registration for the Ghana Card to start the process of registration for the SIM card and with those who have acquired their Ghana Cards, many are facing difficulties in registering their SIM cards. In view of these challenges, the former Head of Monitoring Unit at the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu argues that there should be no deadline for registering the SIM cards. "Why are we creating problems for ourselves?", he questioned and stressed, "when you look at our system and how we are doing the registration, we should ensure that anytime that you want to register, feel free and get there and register . . . They should open up so that it will become flexible". To him, the issuing of deadlines for the SIM registration heaps unnecessary pressure on people. He urged the Minister to give Ghanaians the opportunity to register without the threat of a deadline asking, "when you deactivate the SIM cards, then what again?" "Deactivating the SIM cards today doesn't mean one cannot buy SIM card tomorrow. When one buys a new SIM card, won't he or she have to register with his or her Ghana Card? So, deactivating the cards isn't what will solve the problem" but instead "let's give some window for every person to register. I mean it should be flexible for everyone...Let us opportunity for people to register," he added. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former NPP Member of Parliament(MP) for Manhyia North, Collins Owusu Amankwah, has appealed to the Minister of Communcations, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful to extend the deadline for the SIM registration. The Minister issued a deadline for all Ghanaians with SIM cards to re-register with their Ghana cards by July, 31, 2022 or risk their card being deactivated. The deadline falls on Sunday, yet a mammoth number of Ghanaians are still struggling either to register for or receive a Ghana card. Many of those who have received their cards too, due to some challenges, are yet to register their SIM cards. Discussing the matter during Friday's "Kokrokoo" morning show on Peace FM, Collins Owusu Amankwah pleaded with the Minister to pardon those who haven't registered their SIM cards. "Right now, should we deactivate the SIM card of every person who hasn't registered, do you know that person can't transact business again? Do you know that person cannot pay the E-Levy? The Telcos also will not benefit. If it is even 1 million subscribers, it's a very huge cost . . . I feel those who haven't got their card yet should be pardoned," he said. He also took a swipe at the National Identification Authority, responsible for registering and issuing the Ghana card, for failing to make the cards easily accessible to the masses ensuring every person has registered and grabbed it. "Whether the cards were printed during President Kufour's time, they owe us an apology. They should have released those cards to the people before sanctioning these new ones, but they didn't distribute them. Sometimes, you make things difficult for us," he added. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Social media has been buzzing after a lady identified as Safina Diamond was arrested for allegedly stabbing her boyfriend in the neck and stomach multiple times. In a video that was shared on social media by blogger, E.ntamoty, he noted that the said boyfriend of the lady landed in Ghana weeks after his untimely death. The lady is reported to have said stabbing the boyfriend was an act of self-defence as she is currently being held at the Adenta Court Complex. Young Ghanaian lady identified on Instagram as Safina Diamond arrested for allegedly stabbing her boyfriend who just came back from Canada weeks ago in the neck and stomach multiple times leading to his death. According to the lady, her act was in self-defence. Shes currently at the Adenta Court Complex with her accomplice, the blogger captioned on July 29, 2022. In the meantime, the Ghana Police has not released a report on the case. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Amoaning Samuel (@e.ntamoty) 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 A medical bed is photographed is shown in the trauma bay during simulation training at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday, August 13, 2019. Ontario nursing organizations are calling for a faster licensing process for the thousands of internationally trained nurses awaiting a decision from the profession's regulator. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin Quebec Public Health Director Luc Boileau speaks during a news conference in Montreal on July 7, 2022. Boileau said Friday, he expects the number of new COVID-19 cases in the province to decline slowly. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes World Series of Poker Europe Schedule, International Circuit Dates Released July 28, 2022 Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S. The 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe from October 26-November 16 will feature 15 gold bracelet events at King's Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. Additionally, the WSOP released 10 dates and locations for the 2022-2023 international circuit season, and the destinations include Mexico, Canada, Australia, and many others. With the 2022 WSOP in Las Vegas having concluded earlier this month, all eyes are now on the global events. The action begins in Rozvadov September 21, but not the bracelet series. Prior to WSOP Europe, a Circuit series at the same host casino will take place until October 11. Full tournament schedules for the Circuit season aren't yet available, but official dates are below: Dates Location September 21 - October 11, 2022 Kings Resort (Rozvadov, Czech Republic) September 22 October 2, 2022 Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort (Aruba) October 11 - 23, 2022 Cintermex Convention Center (Monterrey, Mexico) October 18 - 28, 2022 Unique Hotel (Sao Paulo, Brazil) November 2 - 14, 2022 The Star Sydney (Sydney, Australia) November 25 - December 3, 2022 Holland Casino (Rotterdam, Holland) December 2 - 10, 2022 Enjoy Punta del Este Resort (Uruguay) January 11 - 23, 2023 Deerfoot Inn & Casino (Calgary, Canada) January 14 - 22, 2023 Es Saadi Marrakech Resort (Marrakech, Morocco) March 22 April 3, 2023 Casino Royale (St. Maarten) 15 More Chances to Win a Bracelet The 2022 WSOP Europe series won't factor into the Player of the Year race. Dan Zack already wrapped that up when play concluded in Las Vegas this summer. But there are still 15 opportunities to capture gold bracelets before the year comes to an end. The schedule includes events that are affordable for various bankrolls, with buy ins ranging from 350 to 50,000. Each tournament features a guaranteed prize pool, and the entire series guarantees at least 12 million will be up for grabs. As is customary with any poker series, the biggest event of them all is the Main Event, a 10,350 buy-in tournament with a 5 million minimum prize pool. Josef Gulas Jr, a local hero, won it last year for 1,276,712, beating out 688 entries. This year's Main Event runs from November 11-16. The prestigious poker series offers a solid mix of poker variants, buy-in levels, and games for just about every type of tournament player. View the full schedule below: 2022 WSOP Europe Schedule Event # Dates Tournament Guarantee 1 10/26-10/31 350 NLH Opener 500,000 2 10/29-11/1 550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max 200,000 3 10/31-11/4 1,350 Mini Main Event 1,000,000 4 11/1-11/2 2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 200,000 5 11/3-11/7 550 NLH Colossus 1,000,000 6 11/6-11/7 5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 150,000 7 11/7-11/8 1,650 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max 200,000 8 11/7-11/8 25,000 No-Limit Hold'em Platinum High Roller 1,000,000 9 11/8-11/9 2,200 Short Deck 100,000 10 11/9-11/10 2,000 8-Game Mix 100,000 11 11/10-11/11 50,000 No-Limit Hold'em Diamond High Roller 2,000,000 12 11/11-11/16 10,350 Main Event 5,000,000 13 11/13-11/14 1,650 PLO/NLH Mixed 200,000 14 11/14 1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Bounty Hunter 200,000 15 11/15 1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Freezeout 150,000 Sharelines View the 2022 @WSOP Europe schedule here. Welcome to Day 1b of the PokerStars United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour Nottingham 1,100 Main Event live from Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club. The UKIPT circuit makes its long-awaited return to the home of British poker, Dusk Till Dawn, with two Day 1 flights as well as plenty of side events. The PokerStars UKIPT Nottingham Main Event features a 500,000 guarantee which will be sure to generate lots of interest from poker players across the United Kingdom & Ireland and beyond. The action will start at 12:00 p.m. local time and players will start with 30,000 chips and start with 40 minute levels where the blinds will start at 100/100 with an 100 big blind ante. From level 17 the clock will increase to 60 minutes as players enter the money. There will be regular 15-minute break every two/three levels with a 60-minute dinner break after level 10 at approximately 7:25 p.m. local time. Late registration remains open until the end of the tenth level, during which players can enter two times per flight. Each Day 1 ends when only 15% of the field remain in which they will enter Day 2 having locked up at least a min cash. For Day 2 the survivors from both flights will join together on Saturday 30th July. The Main Event will crown its champion on Sunday 31st July. The Day 1a flight saw 149 entrants, including many re-entries, with 21 players bagging and tagging for Day 2. It is worth noting that players can re-enter once per flight if they bust their first bullet, many players have and will continue to take advantage of this option as they try and grind up a stack for Day 2. Mark Whitney bagged the chip lead with 385,000 as he cruised all day. Other players who bagged big included Ben Jones (376,000), Majid Nadeem (359,000) and Alberto Speranzoni (359,000). PokerStars Team Pro players Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg and Mason Pye are expected to be in attendance for the main event. Fellow Team Pro player Georgina James failed to bag but she will have an opportunity to try again in flight 1b. Jack Hardcastle also failed to secure a bag but will be expected to re-enter for Day 1b along with players from the 230 Mini Main as well as from the 5,300 Super High Roller which both concluded yesterday. Join PokerNews as the live reporting team will bring you all the up-to-date action on the tournament as a new PokerStars UKIPT Nottingham Main Event champion will be crowned for the first time since 2013. On July 25, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied that his country was responsible for an artillery attack at a mountain resort in northern Iraq. The July 20 shelling at the village of Parakh in semiautonomous Iraqi Kurdistan killed nine vacationers, including children, and injured 20 others. The incident triggered an uproar among Iraqi politicians, who condemned the attack, and ordinary Iraqis, who protested outside the Turkish embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Turkeys Foreign Ministry issued a statement July 20 saying it conducts anti-terrorist operations in accordance with international law. The ministry blamed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey and some Western countries, including the United States, have classified as a terrorist organization. Erdogan denied that Turkey was responsible. This [attack] is similar to normal terror moves of the [PKK]. We are not strangers to this. It is not possible for Turkey to do something like this, Erdogan said. That is misleading. On July 24, Iraqi Defense Minister Juma Inad told the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel that evidence from the site showed that 155mm artillery was used. We know the abilities of the PKK; this is not an army but a scattered gang using light and medium weapons, Inad said. Turkey used the 155mm artillery in its shelling. Inad said Baghdad had asked Ankara to coordinate its military strikes with the Iraqi government, but Turkey had not done so and was now responsible for the loss of civilians' lives. The Iraqi Ministry of Defense said in a report on the attack that fire came from a location controlled by the Turkish military on the Turkish side of the border. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned Turkeys ambassador to Iraq, Ali Riza Guney, to deliver a strong note of protest which conveyed the Iraqi governments condemnation of this heinous crime committed by the Turkish troops. The dispute between Iraq and Turkey escalated during a July 27 United Nations Security Council session that Iraq requested. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein called on the U.N. to establish an international mission of inquiry into the Turkish army's flagrant aggression. Since 1999, Turkey has regularly conducted air and artillery strikes in northern Iraq and sent troops to support its long-running military campaign against the PKK. In April, Ankara launched Operation Claw Lock, another cross-border air and ground operation targeting Kurdish fighters in Iraqs Kurdistan region. Turkey claims it can legally conduct such operations without Iraqs consent under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which says member states have the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense. Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an international violence-reduction and rights group, said the July 20 attack was not the first Turkish strike in Parakh village. On June 15, two Turkish farmers were killed during a Turkish bombardment there, CPT said, added that since 2015, 138 civilians were killed in Turkish strikes in the Kurdistan region. Those attacks forced evacuation of hundreds of villages and uprooted local farmers. Kurdish sources in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah told Al-Monitor that the Parakh area is no longer used as route for PKK fighters, as it has been blocked by Turkey since 2015. There are 16 Turkish military bases, outposts or checkpoints near Parakh, including one that is only 3 km (about two miles) away. Turkish intelligence is active in the area, which is also under constant aerial surveillance, Al-Monitor reported. Abdel Emir Rashid Yarallah, chief of the Iraqi armed forces general staff, said last year that Turkey had 40 military posts inside Iraq and that today there are more than 100. Yarallah said that Turkey maintains five military bases in northern Iraq, at which more than 4,000 Turkish soldiers are based. Turkey is a U.S. ally and member of NATO, the U.S. and European defense alliance. Turkey has been providing weapons to Ukraine as it defends against a Russian invasion and helped broker a recent deal to resume shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. The U.S. State Department condemned the attack on Parakh and called on all states to respect Iraqs sovereignty and the lives of civilians under international law. We maintain our strong support for Iraqs sovereignty and its security, stability, and prosperity, including that of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, the statement said. The U.N. also condemned the attack, issuing a statement reiterating its support for the independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, democratic process and prosperity of Iraq. In September 2021, the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) coordinator for international advocacy said that more than 800 villages on Iraqs borders with Turkey had been evacuated as a result of fighting between Turkey and the PKK. The conflict had devastated the lives of thousands of civilians, destroying their homes, farms and livestock. An Aiken man once charged with murder and arson in the death of a 10-year-old boy from Warrenville has sued the Aiken County Sheriff's Office over an alleged attack by three detention center officers on Aug. 9, 2020. Ridgeland attorneys Neil Alger and Austin Crosby filed a complaint on behalf of Clifford Bryan Beaudin Jr. in the Aiken County Court of Common Pleas on July 20 alleging that the Sheriff's Office was negligent or grossly negligent in its treatment of Beaudin. Alger said Friday morning that he stands by the allegations in the complaint but added it's still early in the case and facts are still being determined. He added that his law office is happy to work to protect the rights of people, even those in jail. He said even people in jail have basic human rights that must be respected. Alger asks the court to award actual and consequential damages plus the costs of the action. Aiken County Detention Center Administrator Nicholas Gallam declined comment on the suit when contacted Thursday morning. Beaudin was arrested on July 11, 2020, and was eventually charged with first degree arson, second degree arson, attempted murder and murder. He was accused of setting a home on fire where Kason Adams, 10, was spending the night with a friend. Adams later died from injuries he received in the fire. Beaudin was allegedly attacked by three detention center officers, Thomas Caffrey Jr., of Aiken, Hillario Fuentes Rosario, of Orlando, and Rodney Robinson Jr., of North Augusta, on Aug. 9, 2020. What led up to the alleged attack is disputed. Alger says in the complaint that Beaudin complied with instructions from a detention center officer to gather his belongings but attempted to hit the officer. He said Beaudin missed the attempt which allowed the officer to retreat and Beaudin to continue to leave. Warrants obtained by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division say that Robinson grabbed Beaudin and pushed him to the ground after Beaudin demonstrated non-compliance. "Suddenly and without warning, three of the Defendant's correctional officers and employees returned to the recreation area and proceed to unjustifiably assault and attack Beaudin," Alger says in the complaint. In the warrants, Robinson and Fuentes-Rosario are accused of striking Beaudin several times with closed fists. Robinson is accused of striking Beaudin with elbows to his head and shoulders. Fuentes-Rosario is accused of kneeing Beaudin in the back. All three officers are accused of using a weapon to deliver an electric shock to Beaudin who was not resisting or being combative, according to the warrants. The Aiken County Sheriff's Office began an internal investigation into the officers' actions on Aug. 10, 2020. Capt. Eric Abdullah said the three officers were terminated at the end of the internal investigation. On Aug. 11, 2020, Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt requested the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigate the actions of the three officers. On Jan. 15, 2021, Caffrey, Fuentes Rosario and Robinson were arrested and charged with misconduct in office by a public official. On Sept. 15, 2021, Beaudin was declared not competent to stand trial. Alger says in the complaint that Beaudin has a well-documented mental health history including diagnosis of anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. Second Judicial Circuit Solicitor Bill Weeks said the cases against Caffrey, Fuentes Rosario and Robinson were diverted and alternative disposition programs were involved. Aiken, SC (29801) Today Cloudy with occasional showers this afternoon. High 79F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. A two-story commercial building near the south end of downtown Charleston's shopping district is under new ownership and will make the switch to an auction house from a retail shop. The structure at 123 King St. that houses E. Blackhurst on the ground floor and three vacant apartments upstairs sold for $2.7 million, according to Buddy Bebergal with Premier Properties of Charleston, who represented the seller, an affiliate of Fred Riesen Trust. The buyer is New York City-based estate auctioneer Doyle, a 60-year-old family-owned business. CEO Laura Doyle said she hopes to be open by next spring following renovations. The downstairs will include a small retail space with a gallery of items for sale as well as an exhibit area for items to be auctioned. The upstairs will be converted to two apartments. One of the draws for Doyle was the available onsite parking. "Those opportunities don't come along every day in downtown Charleston," she said. Sign up for our real estate newsletter! Get the best of the Post and Courier's Real Estate news, handpicked and delivered to your inbox each Saturday. Email Sign Up! The deep-lot property includes about two dozen parking spaces in the rear. It's next to the former Tellis Pharmacy and across the street from Berlin's clothing store and Millers All Day restaurant. Doyle said the company is already doing occasional business in Charleston and looks forward to having a permanent site. Doyle has other offices across the nation, including Boston, Chicago, Charlotte, Beverly Hills and Palm Beach, Fla., among others. The retail shop is now leasing month to month and is in the process of lining up a new location, according to owner Hannah Bering. Tim Weldon with Colony Commercial Real Estate represented Doyle in the transaction . Charleston, SC (29403) Today Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. High 82F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. GEORGETOWN Members and guests of the Navy Club celebrated their 97th year July 28 with the club's annual Shrimp Dinner. The event, held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6444 in Georgetown, is one of two annual meetings the Navy Club holds each year, spokesman Jeffrey Pelham stated in an email July 29. The Navy Club members will reconvene on December 5 for their annual Christmas Dinner. There were 45 members and guests in attendance for the July 28 event, and the guest speaker was Commander Dale Graber, a retired Naval aviator who flew P-3s for the Navy and later worked as a defense contractor in intelligence. Graber, who lives in Bluffton, keeps busy with his woodworking business and singing with the Naval Aviation Alumni Choir, the Sun City Harmonizers, and the Hilton Head Island Lighthouse Chorus. The Navy Club of Georgetown has been in existence since 1925, and the club supports the NJROTC Unit at Georgetown High School. These shrimp dinners date back to the 1930s when area Naval Reservists trained here and later when World War II veterans came home in need of fellowship and unity. Many men, who are now deceased, travelled from as far away as Conway to meet fellow sailors and seamen who served in many locations and capacities, Dean Brown, a member of the Navy Club told the Georgetown Times in 2018. Brown completed a 30-year active duty career as a Naval Officer, then followed through as Georgetown High Schools Senior NJROTC instructor from 2003 through 2013. Volunteers preparing the shrimp dinner included Dean Brown, Vernon Parker, Mark Bara, Charles Clark, Bruce Purdy, Sarah Purdy, Rob Schile, and Suzanne Fox. Navy Club officers for 2022 include: President Robert Schile; Vice President LeRoy Leonard; Secretary Bruce Purdy; Treasurer Jeffrey Pelham; and board members Mark Bara, Vernon Parker, Julius Inman, Jim Keller, Dean Brown, and Charles Clark. Anyone interested in joining the Navy Club can contact Jeff Pelham by email at jrp1@jeffandheather.com or Sarah Purdy by email at sarahpurdy1@hotmail.com for more information. GEORGETOWN Local author, historian and former educator Steve Williams' latest book dives not only into the origins of the historic Howard School but how its alumni shaped Georgetown, South Carolina and the United States. In 1866, according to a marker erected by Delta Sigma Theta in 1986 at the intersection of Duke and King Street, Georgetown Colored Academy first established a school on the site where the Howard School would be built by 1908. More than 40 years later, a new Howard High School was built on Kaminski Street in the west end of Georgetown. After 1984, Howard merged with Winyah School to form Georgetown High School. Williams has written many books over the years, including As I Travel Along: The Story of Harriet Tubman and James Bowley, Ebony Effects: 150 Unknown Facts about Blacks in Georgetown, S.C. and 24 Extraordinary People Who Made a Difference. But he said his latest book, The Lost History of the Howard School, has been the most popular he has written because it sheds details that many simply are not aware of. People dont understand that Georgetown was once 90 percent Black, Williams said, while noting that many houses along Front Street were built by African-Americans. They held offices and owned businesses before 1877. Some of these people who weren't allowed to be educated yet did very well for this city. Williams said the idea for the book came from a phone call that he received last fall from a woman in Atlanta. The woman, Cheptu Barbara, asked him if he wanted to know the true origins of the Howard School, a school where many of the most famous Georgetonians were educated. She told me about a little-known and long-forgotten lawsuit involving the father of the most famous person to ever live in Georgetown Joseph Haynes Rainey and encouraged me to go the local courthouse and review the documents on file, Williams said. Details of that lawsuit are covered within the 134 pages of Williams book in a language that even those with no legal expertise can understand. Williams said he discovered through old court records that the origin of the Howard School was not the Freedmen's Bureau an agency of early Reconstruction that assisted freed slaves in the South but by Edward Rainey and eight other prominent Blacks, some of who were the original builders and businessmen of Georgetown. Readers of the book will also learn that the Howard School was named after the Civil War Union General Oliver Otis Howard, also the namesake of Howard University in Washington, D.C. The book also includes the pictures and names of Georgetonians who either attended or taught during Howards 118-year history. One of the most famous is William Albert Sinclair, who was one of the first African-Americans to attend the University of South Carolina and later went on to earn four degrees at various colleges, including being one of the founding members of the NAACP. He then came back to Georgetown and became principal of one of the local public schools for African-Americans, thus bringing more knowledge and experience to the community, a passage in Williamss book said. State Rep. Carl Anderson graduated from Howard in 1979 and was class president during his time there. He also became a minister, and currently pastors the Greater St. Stephen AME Church in Georgetown. Howard School taught me a lot. It was more of a community, Anderson said. We had a lot of respect for the teachers, principals, cafeteria workers and even the custodians. The school is a large part of the history of Georgetown. It has been a pillar and folks have traveled the world and have some good careers thanks to Howard. Williams said although many of the people highlighted in the book faced obstacles, they rose above that and made Georgetown, South Carolina and the rest of the country a better place. I dont like excuses, Williams said. Yes, life is tough and sometimes incredibly cruel. Yes, there is such a thing as discrimination. Yes, there is racism, but that should not hold you back. To purchase the book locally, contact Williams at 864-346-0749. The book may also be purchased on Amazon. Greenville, SC (29601) Today Mostly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 80F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today A shower or two possible this morning with partly cloudy skies for the afternoon. High 79F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Charleston police announced that nine people have been arrested as part of a yearlong investigation into drug dealing on the city's East Side. The defendants all Charleston men ranging in age from 23 to 61 were arrested on charges of distributing crack cocaine or heroin, Sgt. Beth Wolfsen said. Some of the charges stem from drug dealing near a park or school. Residents had raised concerns about illegal drug activity in the East Side neighborhood for the past year, Wolfsen said. In January 2021, the department's Special Investigations Unit began gathering information, identifying suspects and building cases. The defendants were arrested between June 19 and July 19. More arrests are expected as the investigation continues, Wolfsen said. The arrests come nearly two months after a fusillade of bullets was unleashed during a Memorial Day block party on South Street, a narrow residential road that runs through the heart of the East Side neighborhood. Nine people were shot during the unauthorized party the third one held on the street in a month. Afterward, some residents complained police were not doing enough to maintain order in the community. City officials unveiled several initiatives in response to the shooting, including a new program to hold absentee landlords accountable and a traffic review on the East Side to improve public safety and enforcement. The charged defendants are: South Carolina's two Republican senators voted in opposite directions on legislation to help veterans affected by toxic burn pits while stationed overseas, with Lindsey Graham backing the bill and Tim Scott voting a turnabout no. Graham's support was pegged to getting assistance to the nation's vets sooner, his office said, while Scott was among 25 Senate Republicans who voted in favor of the bill June 16 but abruptly rejected it this week when it returned to the Senate after minor House changes. The move, which stalled the bill because the Senate didn't have the required 60 votes to end debate on it, enraged Senate Democrats and advocates for veterans groups who were shocked at the last-minute switch. Scott said Friday evening that he was concerned the bill's reclassification of $400 billion in preexisting veterans funding could potentially allow Democrats to increase spending in other areas, an issue previously raised last month by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. "It is a procedural decision, in hopes of making sure that we don't create a major funding opportunity for our friends on the other side," Scott said at the South Carolina Republican Party's Silver Elephant Gala in Columbia, saying he expects the bill to ultimately pass. "This is not the elimination of the conversation that leads to funding for our veterans who need the funding. ... This is actually to make sure that that funding happens, but no other spending happens." The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act often called the PACT Act and which still could be voted on again on Aug. 1 would make it easier for an estimated 3.5 million veterans exposed to burn pits while serving overseas to receive health care and benefits. Many suffer from chronic respiratory conditions and cancer, but have found it difficult to prove that symptoms that sometimes appear years after exposure are directly connected to breathing toxic air. The VA denied nearly 80 percent of claims related to burn pit exposure between 2007 and 2020. The bill sailed through the Senate 84-14 last month but needed another vote after the House made minor changes and passed it 342-88. Four South Carolina congressmen were among the 88 who voted no in the House over another objection about spending in the $285 billion bill. The bill classifies the $285 billion as mandatory spending while also classifying another $400 billion in prior veterans spending as mandatory, meaning it would no longer require annual appropriations from Congress. Graham's office said he was siding with the need for the government to respond to the issue that has affected veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in voting in favor of its passage last week. "Senator Graham agrees with the underlying mission of the bill which is to care for veterans exposed to toxic material in service of their country," Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop said in an email. Democrats and veterans group assailed the sudden opposition by Republicans which prevented the bill from reaching the Senate floor for a final vote as political games at the expense of suffering families, with some calling it retaliation for the climate and health care deal announced just before the vote. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said Republicans turned their backs on people who deserved better after fighting the nation's wars. Nearly 4,000 South Carolina veterans are on the VA's burn pit registry, which advocates say is an undercount because many veterans don't know the registry exists. Contractors burned batteries, plastic and other toxic materials at bases in Iraq in Afghanistan that many service members inhaled daily as it lingered over bases. Many now report shortness of breath and other health problems. Biopsies have revealed burnt metal in the lungs of veterans who served near burn pits. One study found asthma rates were twice as high for those deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan compared with those who remained in the U.S. The measure, supported by more than 60 veterans organizations, would require the VA to approve the claims of veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxins without requiring direct proof that the exposure caused their illness. The bill lists 23 diseases, including certain types of cancers and respiratory problems, that the VA must assume are connected to burn pits. It addresses a range of other contaminants, including adding more illnesses and countries to the list of issues the VA must treat as connected to Agent Orange exposure. Every day that this delay goes on, veterans are unable to receive care," American Legion Legislative Director Lawrence Montreuil said in a press conference July 28 on Capitol Hill. "This is wrong. We will not stand by and allow veterans to be denied their duly owed health care," American Legion Legislative Director Lawrence Montreuil said in a press conference Thursday on Capitol Hill. "For cancer patients, a one-month delay makes all the difference." More than 80 percent of about 5,000 veterans surveyed this year by the group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America reported exposure to burn pits or other toxic airborne material during deployments. A doctor who has studied burn pit exposure in veterans said the burn pits pose a greater risk to health than Agent Orange or the dust at Ground Zero. Celebrity commentator Jon Stewart, who became a vocal advocate for the veterans after spending years pressing Congress to approve similar benefits to first responders after 9/11, said the vote was a gut punch to the veterans he had joined in Washington, D.C. this week expecting to celebrate the law passing. "They lived up to their oath. These people thought they could finally breathe," Stewart said. "Im used to the hypocrisy. Im used to the lies. Im used to the cowardice. I'm not used to the cruelty." South Carolina is home to nearly 390,000 veterans, with about one in five of them having served after 9/11, according to VA population estimates. Republicans are demanding a change to the bill to address what they call a budgeting gimmick that changes how $400 billion in spending would be classified. Scott through a spokesman said veterans deserve the resources in the bill but he wants Democrats to negotiate a final version. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said he had previously offered to allow a vote on an amendment over the accounting as long as it can overcome the same 60-vote threshold the bill needs to pass. He said he would hold a vote on the amendment Aug. 1 before trying once again to pass the bill. Republican Whip Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said he expects the PACT Act will ultimately be approved even if a vote on the amendment fails. Nick Reynolds contributed to this report from Columbia. A man accused of making a bomb threat nearly two years ago at the Charleston International Airport avoided prison at sentencing this week. Joel Tristan Drogomir was sentenced July 27 to one year of supervised release for possessing a dangerous weapon at a federal facility, a misdemeanor. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ordered Drogomir to receive mental health treatment and submit to substance-abuse testing as conditions of his release, according to court records. Drogomir, 33, was arrested Nov. 2, 2020, at a security checkpoint at the airport. He told federal agents after passing through the checkpoint he had a razor blade hidden in his shoe, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Agents confiscated the razor blade an item prohibited on planes but Drogomir asked why he was not arrested, the affidavit states. "What if I tell you there is a bomb in my bag?" he asked. Drogomir claimed he had a bomb, but a search of his luggage instead revealed a small, locked metal container. Inside, authorities found a copy of the Unabomber's manifesto with the word "Kaboom!" written across it, according to the affidavit. Drogomir told authorities he planned to fly to Cleveland, Ohio, to live with his mother, but instead he was booked into Charleston County jail on charges of making a false bomb threat and interfering with security screening personnel. He was released from jail while awaiting trial later that month, but a magistrate judge imposed a slew of conditions, including house confinement and GPS monitoring. Drogomir, who had no prior criminal record, pleaded guilty March 9 to the misdemeanor for possessing the razor blade. The letter from the federal Environmental Protection Agency is reminiscent of so many letters the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and other clean-water advocates have sent to DHEC over the past decade, spelling out the problems with the 2010 state law that gave away the farm to mega-farmers. Unlike those other protest letters, though, this one carries the weight of law. Part of the EPAs job under the Clean Water Act is to approve or deny state water-quality standards. Alerted by environmental lawyers, the EPA has belatedly reviewed the South Carolina Surface Water Withdrawal, Permitting, Use and Reporting Act of 2010 and found it wanting. In a May 20 letter to Attorney General Alan Wilson and Myra Reece, director of DHECs environmental affairs division, EPA Regional Administrator Daniel Blackman said the law was Not based on a sound scientific rationale and does not provide for the attainment and maintenance of downstream water quality standards, as required by federal law. As a result, the Department of Health and Environmental Control can no longer use state law for issuing certain federal environmental permits; it cant even refer to the state law as protective stream flow criteria or flow standards, Mr. Blackman wrote, because doing so may create confusion and give the impression that the provisions can be used for Clean Water Act standards. The federal action marks the sharpest rebuke to date of a law legislators claimed was designed to protect S.C. rivers from overuse but that in reality opened the door for factory farms to suck our rivers dry. Under the law, almost anyone who wants to withdraw more than 3 million gallons per month from our streams, rivers and lakes has to obtain a permit, through a process that considers the anticipated effect the withdrawal would have on fish, navigation, wildlife and recreation. But the law doesnt apply to large agricultural users, who only have to register their planned withdrawals with DHEC. The agency cant say no if the withdrawal comports with a mathematical formula of river flow thats based on annual not monthly averages and that the EPA said lacked a sound scientific rationale. And a farmer retains those water-withdrawal rights forever. The law was based on the sensible idea that we need to limit industrial use of our water capacity in order to preserve this increasingly limited public commodity for farms, since farmers feed us. But it goes too far, by allowing them to claim pretty much any amount of water capacity they want without even demonstrating that they need it. It took only two years for Michigan-based Walther Farms to discover the giant loophole: It bought thousands of acres of farmland in the fertile Edisto River basin and claimed the right to withdraw 9.6 billion gallons of water a year from the South Fork of the Edisto, the longest, free-flowing blackwater river in North America. Environmentalists complained that the narrow stream couldnt survive such large withdrawals during the drier summer months, but they had little recourse because of the megafarm loophole. The potato-chip farm eventually demonstrated that it didnt even need 9.6 billion gallons a year when it reached an out-of-court agreement with environmentalists to withdraw no more than 3 billion. But for nearly a decade, since the farm exposed the loophole, the Legislature has refused to close it. At some point, we have to acknowledge that allowing factory farms to have their way with some of our most important state resources was lawmakers intention. Finally, the EPA agreed with what the Southern Environmental Law Centers Carl Brzorad tells us was the law centers central argument: What is the point of water-quality standards that have these criteria to protect the integrity of our waterways if youve got a (state) law that says big ag can just completely suck rivers dry? The EPA doesnt have the power to make lawmakers fix the law. But if the Legislature doesnt act, the state could start experiencing problems. As Columbias State newspaper explains, the EPA decision could interfere with efforts to complete the periodic relicensing of hydroelectric dams, and it could result in delays in federal permits that businesses need. And of course, theres the environmental threat, which lawmakers have been ignoring despite mounting complaints from conservationists, water system operators, recreational water users and even other farmers. Allowing megafarms to draw down rivers too much leaves insufficient water to dilute pollutants and depletes oxygen levels, endangering fish and other aquatic animals. The EPA said excessive water withdrawals will almost certainly result in significant ecological degradation. Even before the EPA letter, DHEC had begun a process to rewrite the regulations in question; it is accepting public comments through Aug. 22. Anything the agency can do to reduce the problems will be good. But as Mr. Brzorad notes, the flaws are so deeply rooted in the statute that there are going to need to be legislative changes. We can only hope that the EPAs sobering action finally prompts our lawmakers to recognize that handing over all of our water rights to a handful of factory farms hurts everyone in South Carolina except those farmers: from other farmers to the people those megafarmers say theyre working so hard to feed with their potato chips and the offerings that are actually nutritious. It may be a mistake or a foreshadowing of things to come but the summary page of U.S. Sen. Tim Scott's new memoir claims the increasingly influential Black conservative from South Carolina is readying a presidential campaign in 2022. But in an interview with The Post and Courier, Scott responded to the revelation by saying, "I have not," followed by, "That's fascinating that that's the copy on the book." The stunning two-sentence proclamation of Scott's alleged White House ambitions can be found within the first few pages of the senator's forthcoming memoir "America, a Redemption Story," which will be released nationwide in less than two weeks. Printed in small font on the copyright page alongside information about how the work should be cataloged in the Library of Congress, the publisher writes the book is a way of laying the groundwork for a future presidential campaign. It reads: "Senator Scott is a rising star who sees and understands the importance of bipartisanship to move America forward. This book is a political memoir that includes his core messages as he prepares to make a presidential bid in 2022." Together, the 39 words further raise speculation about what's next for Scott's political future even as South Carolina's junior senator repeatedly laughs it off whenever he is asked about whether he has any big plans for 2024, the next presidential election year. His go-to response has been to volley back with a lighthearted line about running for president of his homeowners association. But in a wide-ranging interview ahead of an upcoming Aug. 9 book event in Mount Pleasant, Scott did not deploy the joke. "It certainly is my opportunity to share my story the pain and the promise of my story with the American people without any question," Scott said of his latest output. "I hope that it goes beyond the borders of South Carolina, but it is absolutely not the beginning of a presidential election." Scott, who is up for reelection in November, said his focus politically is "to win the support of South Carolinians for the job of being their United States Senator for another six years." Asked again if the book is the start of a future White House bid, Scott replied: "Not for me it's not." A request for comment from the publisher, Thomas Nelson, an imprint of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, was not immediately available at press time. After this article published, a spokesperson for Thomas Nelson sent a statement acknowledging that the publisher takes sole responsibility for the printed error in the book. "The description on the copyright page was our error and is not accurate. It was not done at the direction or approval of the Senator or his team. We are working to correct this immediately," the statement said. The impending Aug. 9 release of Scott's book is certain to raise Scott's national profile even more. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Despite his protestations, the North Charleston native is regularly mentioned among the list of possible presidential contenders for the 2024 Republican primaries. His name will appear on the GOP presidential nomination straw poll ballot next week at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas, along with other rumored 2024 aspirants like former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump. To date, Scott has raised more than $46 million for his reelection against longshot challenger Democratic state Rep. Krystle Matthews of Ladson, making him the top fundraiser among all congressional Republicans. Last year, he also delivered the GOP rebuttal to President Joe Biden's address to Congress. In those nationally televised remarks, the only Black Republican in the Senate declared, "America is not a racist country." Plus, the release of a political memoir has a become a familiar rite of passage for serious presidential contenders. In his book, Scott's third, he weaves together stories of his life and the people who shaped him, along with personal reflections on historical events and figures. In one chapter, Scott compares America's rebuilding that followed the Civil War to the way the United States came together after the 2015 mass shooting at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church. In another chapter, Scott shares what it was like during the Capital attack on Jan. 6, 2021. He writes of grabbing a pen as his only weapon, fearing what would happen if the protesters found him and his fellow lawmakers as they sought to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. In the book, Scott says he holds "the people who perpetuated violence, destroyed property, and threatened lives responsible" for what happened on Jan. 6, saying the "tragic day was the culmination of individuals making bad choices." Asked if he considered Trump among the individuals who made bad choices on Jan. 6, Scott replied, "When it comes to the responsibility, it lies on the shoulders and on the hearts of men and women who invaded the Capitol. That's where the responsibility lies." He continued, "If you're asking if I think that President Trump bears the responsibility of the actions of others, the answer is no. Could he have acted more quickly on that day to send in more reinforcements or assistance? I think the answer is yes." Scott also said he takes issue with hearings by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack, saying they are filled with "very carefully crafted questions with a specific outcome as opposed to a search for truth." If You Go U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, will discuss and promote Scott's new book, "America, a Redemption Story" for a special pre-launch book event ahead of its nationwide release on Aug. 9. 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6 Seacoast Church - Mount Pleasant 750 Long Point Road Mount Pleasant, S.C. 29464 A spokeswoman for Scott interjected, preventing Scott from answering when he was asked if he had faith that the Justice Department's criminal investigation would get to the truth as it probes efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Scott will publicly discuss the book for the first time Saturday, Aug. 6, at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, marking the first stop on his book tour before the memoir is widely released Aug. 9. Asked if the tour would take him to Iowa or New Hampshire, two famously influential states in the presidential nominating process, Scott laughed. "I'll be all over the country," he said. "Maybe including at least one of those two places." BOILING SPRINGS A mother-daughter duo plans to offer luxurious dresses for an affordable price at their bridal shop in Boiling Springs. Lories Bridal Gallery is located on 169 Giles Drive and will carry bridal gowns, prom dresses, bridal accessories and prom accessories. The owners are planning to have a preview show at the beginning of September and open their doors a few weeks later. Its special because it's family and because we're doing it together, said Lori Hutchins, co-owner of Lories Bridal Gallery. Its something that we both enjoy. Hutchins and her daughter, Natalie Hutchins, would drive to stores and try on formal and prom dresses during their free time. She said her daughter was in the sixth grade when they began to try on dresses as a pastime activity. Lori Hutchins said shes hoping to bring the same excitement to her customers that she and her daughter had while looking at dresses. Lories Bridal Gallery will have dresses from Justin Alexander, Casablanca Bridal, Monica Loretti and Sydneys Closet. Lori Hutchins said shes hoping to open the store with 100 bridal gowns and keep between 150 to 200 dresses at a time. The gallery will carry sizes six to 28, and the dresses can be ordered up to size 40. Pretty much anything that you need for bridal or prom, were going to carry here, Lori Hutchins said. The 3,000-square-foot space that the bridal shop will be in used to be a furniture store. There's an additional 1,500-square-feet of space that will be used as a prom side of the store once the owners feel that an expansion is necessary. In the back of the shop, there will be five modular dressing rooms. Its important that they come in and they can look at the dress, try on the dress and know that they'll still have money left over for their dream wedding and dream dress, said Natalie Hutchins, who also co-owners the store. Theres an open showroom that will have an eight-foot mirror and a 12-foot mirror. Near the front of the shop, there will be two rooms for prom dresses and a staging room. Theres also an accessories room. I think that the building has a lot of personality, which is good because me and mom have a lot of personality, Natalie Hutchins said. I think it's important that we have a building that reflects us even when were not here. When the shop opens, the owners are planning to have appointments only from Tuesday through Thursday and walk-ins are welcome any time on Fridays and Saturdays. The owners are also planning to eventually add mother-of-the-bride dresses and pageant dresses. SPARTANBURG Hub City Press celebrated the release of The Green Book of South Carolina, an illustrated guidebook of statewide African American historical sites and cultural landmarks, during a launch event at Fretwell in downtown Spartanburg on July 28. In collaboration with the WeGOJA Foundation and the International African American Museum, the Spartanburg-based publisher created a book that gives readers a look at popular sites and hidden gems in South Carolina with links to African American history. The Green Book of South Carolina is organized by region and features more than 200 museums, monuments, historic markers, schools, churches and public lands. Inside there are suggested day trips for each region and more than 80 photos. It is meant to be used for genealogical research, family history, travel or vacation, said Meg Reid, director of Hub City Press. We really focused on things that were visible where you could have an experience there. The guidebook features portraits of people whose ancestors have connections to the sites and landmarks. Reid said the portraits add an extra layer to the book, connecting forgotten history with people who are currently living in the state. Reid said the idea came about as a way to pay homage to The Negro Motorist Green Book, an annual travel guide published for African American travelers published by New York City mailman Victor Hugo Green from 1936 to the late 1960s. The Green Book had lists of restaurants, hotels, stores, boarding houses and other establishments across the U.S. that were Black-owned or would accept African Americans. Hopefully this book can be a way for people to think differently about traveling throughout the state of South Carolina, said Joshua Parks, photographer for The Green Book of South Carolina. Its a historical record and finding guide. The release was sponsored by the city of Spartanburg and the Dennys Corporation, which has its headquarters in Spartanburg. Those interested in The Green Book of South Carolina can learn more at the Hub City Bookshop at 186 W. Main St., or online at hubcity.org/greenbook. Fund another round of direct financial aid, like Prugraman Salappe'' Invest into building a new hospital Assist businesses to hire or keep workers, and help residents who are still unemployed They should be spent on a wide range of services and programs Vote View Results Kim Strassel observes in her weekly Wall Street Journal column that the $270 billion so-called CHIPS and Science Act served as the predicate of the Schumer/Manchin $750 billion Bummer Beyond Belief light that is now to be moved via the reconciliation process. CNBC drily observes that Senator McConnell had previously warned that Republicans would not back the China competition bill [i.e., the CHIPS bill] if Democrats continued to pursue an unrelated reconciliation package. What happened? Strassel writes: The kinder commentators are noting that Republicans got duped by their West Virginia buddybut thats unfair to dupes. (Senator Manchin is their West Virginia buddy.) This is the explanation Strassel offers: Some Republicans saw an opportunity to funnel money to home-state chip interests, while others saw a chance to do the only thing they know how, spend. Even Mr. McConnellmaster strategistvoted yes. Dont confuse getting duped with a failure of basic impulse control. The Journal adds this in an editorial today: Republicans thought that by supporting giant infrastructure and computer-chip bills, the West Virginian might stop a partisan spending bill. GOP Senators now look like tourists who paid $300 from LaGuardia for a taxi to their Manhattan hotel. Thats not much of an explanation, but it is apparently all we have. It isnt even good election-year politics. I think Republican reversion to the status of the stupid party the one implicitly offered by the Journal editors is as good an explanation as any, yet there has to be more (or less) to it than that. I have followed someone (is it the Journal editors?) in calling the magically expanding CHIPS bill Spenderama. With the Schumer/Manchin Bummer Beyond Belief light on the table and in process, it is in any event equally infuriating and demoralizing. In the event, 17 Republican Senators, including McConnell, voted for the Spenderama. I have copied the roll call vote on it and filtered out the Democrats to list the 17 Republican Senators who voted yea on it. Here they are: Blunt (R-MO) Burr (R-NC) Capito (R-WV) Cassidy (R-LA) Collins (R-ME) Cornyn (R-TX) Daines (R-MT) Graham (R-SC) Hagerty (R-TN) McConnell (R-KY) Moran (R-KS) Portman (R-OH) Romney (R-UT) Sasse (R-NE) Tillis (R-NC) Wicker (R-MS) Young (R-IN) The trans fad has devastated the lives of many people, especially children. Will there ever be an accounting? In the U.K., there are signs of one: the National Health Services Tavistock gender identity clinic for children is being shut down. The NHS is shutting down its gender identity clinic for children after a review found that it failed vulnerable under-18s. *** It will be replaced by regional centres at existing childrens hospitals offering more holistic care with strong links to mental health services. Tavistocks Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) clinic has been accused of rushing children into life-altering treatment on puberty blockers. The paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, who is leading a review of the service, issued a series of recommendations today for a radical overhaul of how the NHS treats young people who are questioning their gender identity. She found that the Tavistock clinic was not a safe or viable long-term option and that other mental health issues were overshadowed when gender was raised by children referred to the clinic. Basically, Tavistock was run according to a trans activist ideology, and therefore destroyed many lives. So there is at least the glimmer of accountability in the U.K. How about here in America? Hans Bader sums up where we stand in a long post at Liberty Unyielding. You should read it all; links are omitted in the following excerpts: The FDA recently added a warning to the puberty blockers used by transgender children, reports The Post-Millennial. The warning was added after the FDA identified a serious potential side effect that can cause cause a dangerous surge of spinal fluid pressure in the brain, as well as headaches, nausea, double vision, and even permanent vision loss. *** While puberty blockers have a long history of different uses, including the chemical castration of violent sex offenders, they are now most commonly recognized for the off-label treatment of gender dysphoria because of their mechanism to stop the production of estrogen and progesterone. Proponents of puberty blockers to halt the development of secondary sex characteristics of adolescents with gender dysphoria claim they are safe, effective and completely reversible. Even the Biden administration has perpetuated this falsehood. As it stands, there are no studies on the long-term effects of puberty blockers. In light of new evidence, Britains National Health Service (NHS) recently changed its stance on puberty blockers as being fully reversible to an admission that their long-term effects are unknown. The American Academy of Pediatrics is currently reviewing their policy on the use of puberty blockers for treating gender dysphoria. Researchers have also found that puberty blockers stunted the height and impaired the bone mass density of children who wished to change gender. There is also evidence that puberty blockers have an adverse impact on cognitive functioning in children, with two studies finding that IQ may drop as a result of the medication. But perhaps most alarming, when a child takes puberty blockers at Tanner stage 2 (the first signs of puberty) and proceeds to cross-sex hormones, they will be sterilized (never able to have children) and never be able to achieve an orgasm. Growing numbers of teenagers regret undergoing sex changes. At the age of 12, Chloe Cole decided she was transgender. At 13, she was put on puberty blockers and testosterone. At 15, she received a double mastectomy. But in less than a year, she realized she had made a terrible mistake. I was failed by the system. I literally lost organs, she said. Much more at the link, including more instances of detransitioning patients who were rushed into sex change operations that they now regret. How has this horror show come to be? I confess to puzzlement. Generally the Left is not hard to figure out. Leftists want power and money, and if you examine their policies with this in mind, they pretty much always make sense. But todays gender hysteria is hard to understand within that framework. Unless the trans fad is essentially nihilistic: maybe the point is to discredit thousands of years worth of civilization, to alienate millions from the most basic elements of our culture, and to create a large army of dysfunctional, mentally, physically and emotionally crippled people, so that self-reliance becomes a thing of the past and government control is seen as the only alternative. Peter Elijah was a senior secondary school 3 student when he was knocked unconscious by a hit-and-run driver while returning from school in 2018. The incident occurred in Akwa Ibom State in Nigerias south-south region. A few hours later, he woke up to doctors battling to save his life. His left leg was fractured in the accident and he had two surgical procedures. The doctor discharged me but said I should be coming to the hospital every week to treat and dress the wound, Mr Elijah said. But he could not keep the hospital appointments and the injuries on his leg festered. I didnt have money for the transport fare to the hospital because I had spent all my savings on treatment and drugs, he said, pulling up his trouser to reveal a smelly sore on his leg. A round trip to the hospital cost Mr Elijah N1,200 a rate which doubled in the wake of the pandemic in 2020. He said he would not have had this hellish experience if the hospital in his locality was functional. For nearly two decades, the only public hospital in Ukanafun Local Government Area, where he resides, has been abandoned by the Akwa Ibom State Government, forcing the 580, 000 residents to seek medical care at the general hospital in Etim Ekpo, 35 minutes away, and other neighbouring areas, including Uyo, the states capital. This is no news to Nigerians. Numerous abandoned health projects litter the country, denying Nigerians access to affordable health services. Understaffed, ill-equipped and dilapidated, many others, partially running, are unable to cater for the growing population. Much of this has been blamed on the poor funding of the countrys health sector, as public expenditure on the sector has constantly fallen below the benchmark of 15 per cent of the national budget set by the African Union. Like Mr Elijah, most Nigerians cannot afford the services of private hospitals and medical centres. In 2001, leaders of African countries at a summit in Abuja, Nigerias capital, pledged to allocate at least 15 per cent of their annual budgets to the health sector, with the aim of improving healthcare in the region. This came to be known as the Abuja Declaration. Despite being a party to this declaration, Nigeria has failed to honour it, findings by UDEME revealed. UDEME is a social accountability project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), focused on holding the government at all levels to account. Poor budget Out of the N14.77 trillion federal governments budget for 2022, only N724.9 billion (4.9 per cent) was allocated to the health sector. A breakdown of the allocation showed that only N3,587 was earmarked for the medical care of each of Nigerias 202 million citizens throughout 2022, that is, N298 monthly, N68 weekly and N9 daily not enough for antimalarial drugs in a country with dangerous malaria statistics. A former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had described health funding in Nigeria as one of the worst in the world. Ironically, even Mr Obasanjo, who hosted the summit where the Abuja Declaration was made, never attained the benchmark until he left office in 2007. His highest allocation to the sector was 5.6 per cent of the budget in 2006. The highest allocation Mr Obasanjos successor, Umar YarAdua, made to the health sector was 5.26 per cent (N144.6 billion from N2.74 trillion) in 2008. The next president, Goodluck Jonathan, allocated N282.7 billion (6.08 per cent) (N4.64 trillion) in 2012 the highest by percentage since the AU health pledge. So far, the highest allocation to the health sector by incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari is 4.75 per cent (N423.9 billion from N8.91 trillion) in 2019. Nigeria has had a cumulative budget of 114.42 trillion since 2001, but only 5.39 trillion of this, representing 4.71 per cent, went to the health sector. Yet, a larger chunk of health budgets is gulped by recurrent expenditure, mostly payment of salaries and running costs. In the last 22 years, only in 2001 did allocation to capital projects (25.06 billion naira) exceed recurrent expenditure (14.21 billion naira) of the Federal Ministry of Health. The Nigerian government has blamed its failure to meet the 15 per cent benchmark on paucity of funds and competing needs in other sectors of the economy. Govt gives excuses The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Abdulaziz Abdullahi, said though desirable, the 15 per cent budget benchmark remains a tall dream. The 15 per cent budget for health is an aspiration and a set target that the country wishes to attain. However, many other factors militate against it. There are competing interests from different sectors such as education, agriculture, security, among others, and this means that the government must prioritise based on available resources, he told The Guardian. The dwindling resources are driven by increased insecurity in many parts of the country and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which virtually brought the economy of the world to a standstill. The fall in oil prices due to the pandemic has further reduced government revenue since oil is the major source of government revenue. While Mr Abdullahi partly blamed the COVID-19 outbreak for the non-attainment of the 15 per cent healthcare benchmark, findings outlined earlier in this report revealed that the health sector was being underfunded long before the pandemic. The permanent secretary, however, revealed that the country will continue to rely on loans and grants from external sources, including the US government, Global Fund, World Bank and other international donor agencies, to augment the financing of its health sector. Donor funding fell significantly after Nigeria was re-classified as a Lower Middle Income country. Since 2003, Nigeria has received almost $3 billion from Global Fund, while contributing $38.7 million to the fund as a global health partner. Recently, the fund disbursed 25 per cent of the $1.1 billion allocated to address key health issues in the country, in addition to the 50 million Nigeria received from the European Union (EU) in 2020. Ugly Consequences Underfunding has a negative effect on the Nigerian population, which accounts for 20 per cent of global maternal deaths, the worlds highest under-5 deaths, third highest HIV infections in the world and the heaviest TB burden in Africa. For Mr Elijah, his health challenge has cut his source of livelihood. I used to run a baking business. I did event decoration too. But this condition has stopped everything, he said. Gunmen are currently engaging troops of the Nigerian Army in a shootout in Madalla, Niger State, Punch Newspaper reports. According to the report, the terrorists stormed the Zuma Rock checkpoint, close to Zuma barracks and began to shoot sporadically. The checkpoint is located along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway that has witnessed attacks by gunmen. Eyewitnesses have said there is a serious gridlock in the area as motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles and run for safety. Spokespersons for the army and police were not available for comments as they did not respond to telephone calls and text messages. The latest attack on the military checkpoint comes a few days after terrorists launched a similar attack on presidential guards in Abuja. PREMIUM TIMES reported how troops of the guards brigade, responsible for the security of the Nigerian president, were ambushed. Two officers (a lieutenant and a captain) and six soldiers were killed in the attack while at least four others, including the commanding officer who is said to be a lieutenant colonel, were injured and taken to the hospital. While the military and the Nigerian government kept mum on the attack, the Kogi State Government on Tuesday announced that the two officers killed were from the state. On Thursday, the federal government finally confirmed the attack with the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, saying the soldiers were ambushed and decimated by the terrorists. Hours after the leadership of the Nigerian military told President Muhammadu Buhari that it had adopted a new strategy to tackle the insecurity in the country, the army announced the redeployment of senior officers. The Chief of Army Staff, Faruk Yahaya, approved the posting and appointment of some top officers to command, instructional and staff positions across formations and units. The appointments were announced in a statement issued by the Director, Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, on Thursday in Abuja. Mr Nwachukwu said the new postings and appointments were done in an effort to reposition the army for operational efficiency. According to him, those affected in the redeployment include some Principal Staff Officers of the Army Headquarters, General Officers Commanding, Corps Commanders, Commandants of training institutions, Brigade Commanders, Commanding Officers, amongst others. He said the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division, Umaru Musa, a major general, had been redeployed to 82 as new GOC, while Taoreed Lagbaja, a major general, moves from 82 Division to 1 Division as new GOC. The army spokesman said that OC Ajunwa, a major general, had been moved from Nigeria Defence Section in Brasilia to HQ 81 Division as GOC, while the Commandant, Depot Nigerian Army, Aminu Chinade, a major general, had been moved to 2 Division as GOC. He also said that OW Ali, a major general, had been redeployed from Headquarters Command, Army Records, to AHQ as Chief of Administration (Army), while S Muhammed, a major general, had been moved from Defence Headquarters to AHQ as Chief of Army Standards and Evaluation (Army). According to him, James Ataguba, a major general, moves from AHQ Department of Army Standards and Evaluation to Defence Headquarters and appointed, Director, Peace Keeping Operations, while Adekunle Adesope, a major general, was moved from Army Finance Corps to DHQ and appointed as Chief of Defence, Accounts and Budget. Maj.-Gen. Usman Mohammed moves from Army Headquarters, Department of Administration, to Nigerian Army Resource Centre and appointment Senior Research Fellow. Other senior officers affected in the redeployment are Maj.-Gen. Preye Fakrogha, from DHQ Garrison to Defence Space Administration and appointed Director Policy, Plans and Research, while Maj.-Gen. MO Enendu moves from Nigerian Army College of Logistics to DHQ and appointed Director Psychological Warfare. Maj.-Gen. Adikwu Attu moves from DHQ Department of Training and Operations to DHQ Garrison and appointed Commander, while Maj.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko moves from the Directorate of Defence Media Operations to DHQ Department of Logistics and appointed Director Procurement, he said. Mr Nwachukwu said that AM Alabi, a major general, had been appointed Corps Commander, Nigerian Army Ordnance Corps; A Mohammed, a major general, is now the Corps Commander, Nigerian Army Electrical Mechanical Engineers and E Akerejola, a major general, had been appointed Commander, Corps of Supply and Transport. He said that AA Fayemiwo, a major general, had been redeployed from Nigerian Army Welfare Holdings Limited and appointed Chief of Accounts and Budget (Army). Senior officers newly appointed as Commandants of Nigerian Army training institutions are Maj.-Gen. P.I. Eze, Commandant, Nigerian Army Ordinance School; Maj.-Gen. AA Adeyinka, as Commandant, Nigerian Army College of Logistics and Maj.-Gen. P.P. Malla appointed Commandant, Depot, Nigerian Army, while Brig.-Gen. UT Otaru has been appointed Acting Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Supply and Transport, he said. Other appointments, according to Mr Nwachukwu, are those of Brigade Commanders. He said the Chief of Army Staff had directed all the newly appointed senior officers to redouble their effort and commitment to duty in tackling the security challenges bedeviling the nation, as they assume their new appointments. Assuring Buhari Earlier on Thursday, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, briefed journalists after the National Security Council meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari. The army chief and other defence chiefs were at the meeting. The members of the armed forces have also made a commitment that in the coming weeks, they have already started working on a new strategy to deal with these snippets of violence, Mr Monguno said. Nigerias ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has reacted to the suit filed by a former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, seeking the disqualification of its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu. The spokesperson for the APC, Felix Morka, told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, that the former minister is on a fishing expedition as his suit is based on speculations and nothing concrete. He noted that it is extreme for Mr Nwajiuba, who polled one vote at the June 8 convention, to seek to upturn the decision of the majority of delegates who voted at the partys primary election. Mr Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, polled 1,271 votes to emerge as the candidate of the party. His closest rival, Rotimi Amaechi, who also resigned as the Minister of Transportation to participate in the primary election, polled 316 votes. Nwajiuba seeks disqualification of Tinubu, Atiku Mr Nwajiuba, in a suit he filed along with the Incorporated Trustees of Rights for All International at the Federal High Court in Abuja, asked the court to disqualify Mr Tinubu and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar. He alleged that the primary elections of the APC and PDP that produced the presidential candidates were marred by vote-buying. The ex-minister challenged the legality of the composition of the delegates that produced the two candidates. Also, he asked the court to declare him the winner of the APCs presidential primary election. We are not disturbed Morka Mr Morka stated that while the ex-minister has the right to approach the court, the party is not concerned about the case. He stated that Mr Tinubu remains the legitimate candidate of the party. He said APC will not stop any of its members from ventilating their grievances in court but expects them to prioritise its collective interest ahead of the 2023 elections. The former Hon. Minister is a citizen of Nigeria and has every right to go to court to complain. We think that the case is nothing; it is just simply a wild fishing expedition that is founded on pure speculation and not backed by any concrete basis. He was a contestant in that primary; I believe he scored one vote. Going to court, seeking to upturn the decision of the majority of delegates who voted, I think it is somewhat going to be extreme. He said while Mr Nwajiuba had the right to approach the court, it is up to the court to adjudicate the case he brought. We are not concerned about it. Bola Tinubu is the legitimate candidate of the party. He was elected by the majority of delegates who cast their votes, at probably one of Nigerias freest and fairest primaries ever conducted. We are not concerned about the case. He is a member of the APC and we hope that he will do the right thing by supporting the candidate of the party as we approach 2023, he said. Atikus spokesperson, Paul Ibe, similarly belittled the suit as nothing to worry about. He stated that Mr Nwajiuba should be ready to provide evidence to back his claims. Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has accused his partys presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar of lying against him. He also described some of their partys chieftains as attack dogs of Atiku. Mr Wikes statement Friday was his major public reaction to the outcome of the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the failure of the winner, Atiku, to select him as the running mate. Mr Wike came second in the partys presidential primary, losing to Nigerias former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, who polled 371 votes against Mr Wikes 237. But reacting to the outcome of the exercise, the governor said he chose to remain quiet on the issue because of his love for the party. Mr Wike disclosed this on Friday at the Port Harcourt International Airport, shortly after he returned from a foreign trip, according to a report by Channels TV. I have decided to be quiet because PDP is a party I love so much, Mr Wike told reporters. I have moved on to conclude my social contract with the people of Rivers. However, it is time to let Nigerians know the truth. Wike attacks Atiku, PDP chieftains The governor faulted the statement by the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, on the day he unveiled Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate, although he did not give details of the statement he was referring to. He accused the former vice president of telling lies against him, as well as using some chieftains of the main opposition party to spread falsehood against him. The governor vowed to respond to both the partys flagbearer and the party chieftains whom he described as Atikus attack dogs one by one and line by line in due time. He said posterity would not forgive him should he fail to set the record straight. He also promised to clear the air after the commissioning of the projects lined up for inauguration by the state government. On the reconciliation committee set up by the PDP leadership, the governor said Atiku had yet to send any delegation to him. He, however, said a former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, met with him in Spain, although in his personal capacity. Atikus visit Mr Wike said the former vice president came to his house to beg for support but suddenly did not know the way to his house after he picked someone else, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, as his running mate. The Rivers governor challenged anyone who claims that he was sent by the PDP candidate to speak to him about the issue in the party and the outcome of the partys presidential primary, to identify himself. He said the idea of setting up a committee was only being seen in the media and insisted that he would remain in the PDP and help rebuild the party. I am not a slave and will not be a slave. I am a freeborn of the country, Mr Wike said. Background After Mr Wike failed to clinch the PDP presidential ticket in May, he was speculated as the favourite candidate to become Atikus running mate. But Atiku ditched the Rivers State governor and picked Delta State governor, Mr Okowa. The governor feels aggrieved and has refused to congratulate Atiku or Mr Okowa since the primaries. Many prominent politicians, mainly from other political parties, have been visiting the governor lately. Mr Wike was rumoured to have joined the ruling All Progressive Congress, following his meetings with some governors of the ruling party. But he denied the speculations of his defection. By Ovwe Medeme Two prominent Nollywood actors and members of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Cynthia Okereke and Clemson Cornel, aka Agbogidi, have been reportedly kidnapped. Monalisa Chinda, AGNs Director of Communications, broke the news in a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES Friday. Ms Chinda, in the statement, stated that the actors were reported missing after their family members confirmed they didnt come back from a film location at Ozalla Town, Enugu state. The two members were suspected of having been kidnapped, which has increased fear amongst members about the safety of actors filming in the country. Because of this sad development, the National President of the Guild, Ejezie Emeka Rollas, has instructed all Actors to avoid going to the outskirt of cities to film except full security cover is provided to ensure their safety, the statement read. Mr Rollas also expressed shock while urging the security agencies to speed up investigations that would lead to their safe rescue. He equally appealed to all members to pray for the safe return of the actors. History Nollywood acts have been victims of kidnapping in Nigeria in the past. In June 2021, a Nollywood actor, Pressing Forward, was kidnapped in Imo State. He was later released from captivity, after which his fans rallied around him in jubilation. In 2009 veteran actor, Pete Edochie, was kidnapped and released after paying a ransom. Nkem Owoh was abducted and released after paying a 1.4 million ransom. The actor, popularly known as Osuofia, was kidnapped as he travelled along Enugu Port Harcourt expressway. In June, actor Uche Odoputa appealed for assistance following his father, Kenneth Odoputas kidnapping. He revealed in an Instagram post that his father had been held captive for weeks. An ally of former Osun governor, Rauf Aregbesola, who served as the commissioner for finance in his government, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party. Wale Bolorunduro, a member of the All Progressives Congress, announced his defection while speaking with journalists in Osogbo on Wednesday. He described the APC in Osun State as leadership of deceit, injustice, lack of fairness, unhealthy/needless rivalry and poor reward system that are aliens to what Awolowo stood for.. He said his decision to quit the APC was after wide consultation and has been accepted by his followers. I have consulted wisely and widely with my followers, admirers, friends, and families, who felt we should pitch our tent with PDP, to join this party and to work with them to shine the light (Imole Osun), said Mr Bolorunduro. We would have done this before the 2022 gubernatorial election, but knowing them it was better to err on the side of caution for us to have today, tomorrow and future. My records are there in Zenith Bank, where I pioneered different financing groups (upstream oil and gas, telecom, power sector, infrastructure group) at different times when God allowed me to conquer one front after another. My adrenalin is usually fired by new challenges. Mr Bolorunduros defection is the first high-profile defection from the APC to the PDP after the latter won the governorship election in the state. Before the election, Kolapo Alimi, a two-term commissioner during Mr Aregbesolas administration, defected to the PDP. Mr Alimi, who defected in June, was reportedly appointed the Deputy Director-General of Adeleke Campaign Organisation. Mr Aregbesola, the current Minister of Interior, has been at loggerheads with Governor Gboyega Oyetola, leading to divisions in the state chapter of the APC. Ahead of the July 16 governorship election, The Osun Progressives, the faction of the party loyal to Mr Aregbesola, reiterated their support for the APC; though they remained silent on supporting Mr Oyetola. On the eve of the election, Mr Aregbesola jetted out to Germany to attend a conference, scheduled two days after the election. Mr Oyetola eventually lost his re-election bid to Ademola Adeleke, the PDP candidate, who polled 403,371 votes against his 375,027 votes. Oladele Oluwabamji, the director of media and publicity of PDP in the state, confirmed the defection of the ex-finance commissioner. The Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar III, has urged Nigerians to work together in peace and unity for humanity as well as show respect to their individual religions bearing in mind that all are the creations of God. The Sultan made the call during a valedictory and welcome dinner organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for its 12th General Assembly and leadership transition. The event which held on Thursday in Abuja marked the end of the five-year single tenure of CAN president, Rev. Samson Ayokunle and the beginning of the tenure of Rev. Daniel Okoh. As individuals we need to add value into ourselves and we should know that we did not create ourselves. God created us and when God was creating us he did not ask us where do you want me to bring you into the world, we just found ourselves in some various places, he said. This, he said, is the reason all faiths need to work for the sake of humanity. He said the challenges facing the country could even be better solved if Nigerians, Muslims and Christians pray and work together. We need to work together for unit and peace of the country. We are to understand one another with love and respect, as our various religions teaches love and peace. We have serious security confronting us, we can be trading blames,we have a lot to do to curb this. As Christians and Moslems we are the two major faiths and we need to do wat pleases God and would develop our nation. He advised that as the general elections draws near, it was the duty of all Nigerians to first create an enabling environment to enable the elections. He pledged the councils full support for CAN and prayed God to give them the enablement to lead right. Also speaking, the Prelate Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Samuel Kanu-Uche, in his message with theme: Reflecting in Christianity and Nigeria, prayed for peace and unity. He was represented by a Bishop, Michael Akinwale, Secretary of Conference Methodist Church, Nigeria. He outlined eight points the government must consciously and international gird their loins to achieve. Mr Kanu-Uche said government must affect the grassroot positively by impactful governance. The prelate said all leaders must ensure godliness in policy making and execution. Provision of basic amenities for the populace effective management of the countrys commonwealth and provision of employment for the youth and provision of quality and accessible education were not left out. Emplacement of equity and justice in governance and prevention of marginalisation of any group of persons based on language creed or sex. The prelate also added that Restoration of the dignity of the individual citizen, was Paramount for national development. In his remarks, Bola Tinubu, APC presidential flag bearer for the 2023 general elections, advised CAN to remain apolitical,focused and determined to move the nation forward. Mr Tinubu who was represented by Michael Bamidele, senator representing APC Ekiti Central, urged CAN to promote peace and unity for a better Nigeria. He added that the mutual relation between Christians and Muslims should be further to greater height for the development of the nation. Mr Tinubu said to curb insecurity in Nigeria all hands must be on deck to achieve that. Insecurity goes beyond tribe and religion, everyone needs to be security conscious, he said. He congratulated both the outing and incoming presidents of CAN, as he prayed for a mural relationship to keep the body stronger. In their speeches Mr Ayodele, outgoing CAN president and Mr Okoh incoming CAN president in their respective speeches promised to work together for a stronger religious force to be build which would attract unity and peace in the nation. They acknowledged the importance of the roles of both a successor and a predecessor for an organisation to move forward. Mr Ayodele thanked all participants for their various contributions tat lead right his successful tenure. Mr Okoh pleaded for support and prayers to enable him have a successful tenure. (NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday received a delegation from the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Support Unit, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Sanjay Pradhan, during which he itemized the benefits Nigeria has derived from joining the transparency body in 2016. He said when he committed Nigeria to the membership of the Open Government Partnership at the London Anti-Corruption Summit, he was very clear about the role that the initiative would play in the fight against corruption, and since that time, we have developed and implemented two National Action Plans on the Open Government Partnership. By next month (in August), I will sign the third Action Plan, which is in the final stages of development. I am eager to sign the document so that we can continue to sustain the progress of reforms that we have recorded in the past six years of implementation. Speaking further, the president outlined some of the successes that the country has recorded since it began to implement the Open Government Partnership in 2016 as follows: Our budgeting processes have become more open, citizens-centred and participatory. In accordance with the objective of fiscal transparency, all stakeholders, including the public are involved in the countrys budget-making process, have access to the details of our budgets, and have opportunity to make input into it. As proof of our progress, Nigeria was ranked among the best-improved countries for transparency in the latest global Open Budget Survey. We have made significant progress in the beneficial ownership transparency in Nigeria. We produced a roadmap of Beneficial Ownership Reporting in 2016. By December 2019, we established Africas first Beneficial Ownership Register in the extractive industry. In 2020, we amended our laws to expand Beneficial Ownership Reporting to all sectors of the economy. We are currently building a robust national Beneficial Ownership Database, which will be deployed to combat global criminal activities including illicit financial flows and terrorism financing. We are equally convinced the Beneficial Ownership disclosure policy will support our domestic resource mobilization. President Buhari said that as a government, We are encouraged that, at the last OGP Global Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Nigeria won the OGP Impact Award for our commitment and progress on Beneficial Ownership Transparency. As part of our commitment to sustain the progress, I have just approved Nigerias membership of the Beneficial Ownership Leadership Group. On extractive industry transparency, he said Nigeria as a leading member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, was appointed recently to chair the global network of 20 countries implementing contract transparency. Also, as part of a broader commitment to extractive industry transparency, we passed the Petroleum Industry Act which introduced sweeping reforms to enhance transparent and accountable governance of the oil and gas industry. In public procurement, we have established the Nigerian Procurement Portal, where citizens can monitor all government procurement processes in a transparent manner. We are currently improving this system to achieve greater effectiveness, he added. President Buhari said one of the reasons the country has made this much progress is because we have backed our verbal commitments with deliberate action, by including OGP implementation in the national budget to ensure sustainability of the partnership in Nigeria. With these steps we have taken, our administration will bequeath to the next government a culture of transparency, accountability and citizens participation in governance. We have worked hard to institutionalise the OGP by mainstreaming open government practices across our governance systems. The President commended the national OGP team led by Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, who is the Government Co-Chair, and the Civil Society Co-Chair, Tayo Adeloju, for their relentless efforts in advancing transparency and accountability in governance processes. OGP CEO, Mr Pradhan, recalled that he was there in London in 2016, when President Buhari committed to the 77-member organization as Number 70, and described Nigeria as an excellent performer, one of the most open across the partnership. He lauded Nigeria for opening up its budget processes, contracts, procurement, and the extractive sector. He advocated more reforms in disclosure of audits, establishing an E-procurement platform, and institutionalization of OGP, among others. Mr Pradhan described Nigeria as a country with open hearts, open arms of friendship and partnership. Femi Adesina Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity) Gunmen on Thursday allegedly abducted a hotelier and a staff member in the Ogbomoso area of Oyo State. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered on Friday that the victims were abducted at the Aba area of Ogbomoso, Oyo State. The hotelier had just returned to Ogbomoso from a trip in the evening before he was abducted with the worker from the hotel. NAN gathered that the gunmen, about 10 of them, fired gunshots to scare the public and thereafter took their victims to an unknown place. The Police Public Relations Officer in Oyo State, Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the incident and that the police had already begun an investigation. Investigation has commenced. You would be provided updates accordingly, he said. NAN reports that kidnapping has become rampant in the Ogbomoso area of the state. The latest incident was the third in July. Christopher Bakare, a farm supervisor, was kidnapped at late Governor Adebayo Alao-Akalas farm on July 16 at Jabata in Surulere Local Government Area of the State. A private hospital proprietor, Baba Rasheed, was also abducted on July 22, in the same area. Both Messrs Bakare and Rasheed paid ransom to the kidnappers before they were released. (NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari congratulates the General Superintendent of Christ Holy Church (Odozi-Obodo), Archbishop Daniel Okoh, on his election as the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The President notes that the election of Mr Okoh by the very important Christian body is a testament to his devotion to the Church of God in the country and beyond, distinguished vocation as a Christian leader and abiding commitment to promoting ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue. Acknowledging the role CAN plays in fostering religious unity and harmony, the President trusts that the incoming President will continue to provide the needed leadership for the Church, affirming the Scriptural truth: That they all may be one. (John 17:21a) President Buhari, who has fond memories of his interactions with CAN leadership, values the counsel and spiritual contributions of Christian leaders to nation-building by encouraging, advising, strengthening, correcting and criticizing those in authority. The President prays that the tenure of Mr Okoh, in this new phase of ministry, will be marked with success, urging the blocs that makeup CAN to kindly give the cleric every needed support to excel. He also wishes the outgoing President, Reverend Samson Ayokunle best wishes in his spiritual and secular endeavours. Femi Adesina Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) A cleric, Lukman Shittu, prayed a Grade A Customary Court sitting in Mapo, Ibadan, to grant him divorce because his wifes adulterous lifestyle was upsetting him. Mr Shittu, who has been married to Fisayo Shittu for 20 years, said he no longer loves his wife. My wife started driving a car soon after she moved out of our home. She told lies that her relative gave her the car but my investigations revealed that the same man who had all along been sleeping with her, bought her the car. My lord, Fisayo started misbehaving when things became difficult for me and I was unable to give her money to rent a shop. She started coming home late. She decided to take the three children from my house. And changed the school of the last child without my knowledge and the other two have vowed not to recognise me as their father anymore. During the last Ramadan, I invited the second one to live with me, but he turned down my offer. Mr Lord, do you believe that Fisayos lover worships in the same mosque where I am cleric?, Mr Shittu said. Earlier, Fisayo, the petitioner who lived at Odo ona Ewe area of Ibadan, contended that her husband was irresponsible and threatens her. Shittu deceived me into getting a loan from a micro-finance bank under the agreement that I will use it to establish my business. Unknowingly, I was facilitating his adulterous intentions. Shittu frequently brings difference types of women into our matrimonial home. In addition, Shittu demolished the shop which I furnished with my money in order to deny me any means of sustenance. Delivering judgment, the President of the Court, S.M. Akintayo, pronounced the marriage dissolved, citing lack of love for the dissolution. Mrs Akintayo held that there was no point keeping the couple together since both have agreed to part ways. In the interest of peace, the customary marriage between Shittu and fisayo ceases to be henceforth. Custody of the three children is granted to Fisayo. Shittu must not be denied access to his children He must pay a monthly feeding allowance of N30,000 for the childrens upkeep starting from July 2022, Mrs Akintayo said. The courts president also granted an order restraining Shittu from harassing, intimidating and interfering with the personal life of the petitioner. (NAN) At least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war died when Ukrainian forces shelled a barracks housing captured soldiers in the occupied eastern city of Olenivka, pro-Russian separatist forces told Interfax news agency on Friday. Direct hit on a barracks full of war prisoners, a separatist spokesperson told the news agency. There was no comment from Kyiv and the statement could not be independently verified. The reports also said about 130 were wounded but added that the number of victims could increase because there were more people buried in the rubble. Olenivka lies in the territory claimed by the separatist groups. A spokesperson for those fighters said the city was struck by missiles fired by a HIMARS artillery rocket system, which would have been provided by the U.S. and was known for being precise. The city was being used to detain Ukrainian troops who were captured during the fall of Mariupol earlier in the year. Some of those Ukrainian troops had been threatened with the death penalty for alleged war crimes. According to media reports, conditions in Olenikvas penitentiaries are inhumane. Social media accounts were full of photos of the city of Ilovaisk, 40 kilometres east of Olenivka, which sustained explosions overnight. Pro-Russian separatists had been fighting with Kiev since 2014 for control of a large swathe of the countrys east. The fight intensified in February, when Russia sent its own troops in, arguing it was necessary to de-Nazify and disarm Ukraine. But, according to information tweeted by Britains Ministry of Defence on Friday, members of the private Wagner Group militia have been integrated into Russian units. They were also allocated responsibility for specific sectors of the front line, in a similar manner to normal army units. The ministry noted that Wagner had typically worked independently of Russian armed forces and added that the move would undermine Russian attempts to insist that there were no links between Russias army and private militias. Wagners role has probably changed because the Russian Ministry of Defence has a major shortage of combat infantry. However, Wagners forces are highly unlikely to be sufficient to make a significant difference in the trajectory of the war. The Katsina State government Thursday launched the Nigeria Learning Passport as part of its efforts to fastrack learning among pupils and students of primary and junior secondary schools across the state. Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP) is an electronic distance learning platform/app fortified with audio-visual materials and books to aid self-based learning. The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) National Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant, Babagana Aminu, said the platform could be accessed offline and online. He said tablets would be provided to schools for the implementation of the programme. He said the programme would use the local languages of the pupils for effective communication. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the security situation in the state especially, this application is an opportunity to narrow digital inequalities and provide opportunities to empower boys, girls and young women in the state. 100 schools would receive internet connection while 45 schools would benefit from offline learning passport in the state, he added. Aside from the global COVID-19 pandemic, Katsina State has been witnessing renewed bandits attacks which have led to the abduction of students and closure of schools across the state. Terrorists have sacked several rural communities in the state, thus schools in the areas have been deserted. Speaking to reporters after the official launching of the educational platform, Husamtu Gona, the State Coordinator of the NLP, said it would help increase students access to learning materials. He said it would also help teachers to devise more effective teaching approaches. The platform makes learning possible even outside the confines of a school which will help address the spiralling number of out-of-school children, especially in states where insecurity hinders access to schools. Importantly, Learning Passport provides an opportunity for teachers to access quality teachers guides and resources and digitalised capacity-building modules meant for teachers while supporting them to deliver lessons in class, he said. Mr Gona said, children, youths, students and teachers can access digitalised curriculum providing instructional and supplementary learning materials in all core curriculum subjects for primary 1 6, JSS 1 JSS 3 and SS 1 SS3. The contents are offered in the English and Nigerian Languages including Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. He said pupils and other users can access over 10,000 available resources based on their preferences. The police in Lagos have clarified some online reports that thugs invaded a permanent voters card (PVC) centre in the Surulere area of the state. Some online media and multiple social media users on Friday reported that some hoodlums invaded a PVC registration centre and made away with machines thereby disrupting the application and collection process. The centre is located at St. Bridget Catholic Church, ljesha, Surulere Lagos. INEC has been experiencing a surge in the registration of voters to beat the July 31 deadline by the commission. In one of the videos online, a female voice could be heard saying that some hoodlums came into the church depriving a lot of people of registration saying that if they register they are likely to vote for Peter Obi. Is that what we will continue to face in this country? The video has garnered over 24,000 views at the time of publication. Police react Reacting to the reports, the commands spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, via his Twitter handle said that the INEC officials were assigned to Imam Thani Street by House No 9A for todays exercise. They were, however, found within the church premises. He explained that some residents raised concerns about the location and also informed the police. The DPO Ijeshatedo swung into action and brought the INEC officials to the station, he said. In the post, Mr Hundeyin also attached the commissions timetable to buttress that the officials were not at the assigned location. The police said its preliminary findings show that a resident of the area who volunteered to transport the officials from their office to the designated centre was responsible for the mixup, deliberate or not, further investigation will reveal. Meanwhile, the officials were immediately released to proceed to the correct centre to continue their assignment. No machine stolen Adenike Oriowo, INECs public relations officer in Lagos, said though the exercise was disrupted, no machine was taken away. There were issues in the said CVR centre but orderliness was restored and the exercise continued smoothly. We have moved the registration in that centre to another polling unit in the area, and our officials have continued with the registration. People should be patient. We shall register as many people as possible. If people continue to disrupt the process, the opportunity to register more people before the deadline will be interrupted. Our commitment is to register as many people as possible and we will try to do so within the limited time. Mrs Oriowo, who frowned at the last-minute rush by many applicants, said the exercise had been on since June 2021 and many people did not take advantage but waited till the deadline. As it is, INEC started this process over a year ago. The surge we are experiencing in the last few weeks is expected, but people should as well be patient. The commission will do everything possible to register as many people as possible. We will try as much as possible to capture everybody. The CVR, which began in June 2021, would end in July 2022. (NAN) Ladi Adebutu, a former House of Representatives member, has beaten Segun Showunmi, the former spokesperson of Atiku Abubakar, to the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, according to the list of candidates published by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Except it is overturned by the court, Mr Adebutu will be the PDP candidate in the 2023 general election. Mr Adebutu became the major financier of the party in the state following the demise of Buruji Kashamu, who was the senator representing Ogun East, in 2020. For years, Messrs Adebutu and Kashamu jostled for control of the partys structure in Ogun State. After Mr Kashamu succumbed to COVID-19 complications, members of the partys state executive including the chairman, Bayo Dayo, shifted their loyalty and structure to Mr Adebutus control. The executive held a congress which produced Sikirulahi Ogundele, the leader of Mr Adebutus faction of the party, as the substantive chairman. When Mr Showunmi began making moves last year to clinch the partys governorship ticket, it was already clear he was going to get stiff opposition from Mr Adebutu. Despite his closeness to Atiku, Mr Showunmi was unable to secure the support of the national secretariat of the party, fueling speculations that the aspirant seems to have fallen out with his former boss. In May, Messrs Adebutu and Showunmi held parallel primaries where they emerged the respective governorship candidates of their factions of the party. While Mr Adebutus held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, and monitored by a five-man committee from the PDP national headquarters, Mr Showunmis primaries were held at the premises of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ogun State chapter. Only Mr Adebutus primary was supervised by INEC officials. INEC regulation stipulates that the national body of the party shall communicate the venue of its partys primaries in the 36 states of the federation, including that of the national convention. Legal tussle Before the primaries, Mr Showunmi had appealed to the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party not to permit the state executive members to conduct primary elections in the state. Mr Showunmi, who suspected foul play by the executive earlier before the primaries, accused the members of the state Working Committee of being biased while seeking their dissolution over alleged violation of their oath of office. When his plea fell on the deaf ears, he approached a high court in Ogun State to seek the dissolution of the state working executives. The court dismissed his request. Speaking to journalists on 20 May, Mr Showunmi said his lawyers had filed an appeal against the high court ruling. He argued that the judge erred in law when he held that the appellants suit was a pre-election matter and dismissed the suit for want of jurisdiction at the interlocutory stage contrary to the clear provisions of section 285 (8) of the 1999 constitution. Flutterwave and Chipper Cash are not licensed to deliver cross-border payment services in Kenya, the countrys central bank Governor Patrick Njoroge has said. Mr. Njoroge disclosed this while addressing journalists on July 28, after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting held on Wednesday July 27. This follows the countrys High Court order on July 7 to freeze bank accounts linked to transactions by Flutterwave for 90 days. The court gave the order on suspicion of Africas biggest fintech firm being involved in money laundering. Flutterwave is not licensed to operate remittance, provider or for that matter as a payment service provider in Kenya. They are not licensed to operate and therefore they shouldnt be operating, and Chipper Cash we could also say the same he said, responding to questions from journalists. In the July 7 episode, Flutterwavess 29 bank accounts with Guaranty Trust Bank, 17 with Equity Bank and six with Ecobank were all frozen for receiving billions of shillings and depositing same in different bank accounts in an attempt to conceal the nature, source or movement of the funds. Although the firm at the time said it did no wrong in response to the publications. The fintech company through a statement said the claims are entirely false, stressing that it maintains the highest regulatory standards in its operations. It is yet to publicly respond to allegations of operating without license in Kenya. We have been in constant engagement with the Central Bank of Kenya to ensure that we provide all the requirements, and we look forward to receiving our license. We are committed to operating within the stipulated laws, regulations, and industry standards in Kenya, it said in its emailed response to Bloomberg. The Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has condemned the Nigerian government for its threat to sanction the BBC and Trust Television for publishing interviews with terrorists operating in Nigerias troubled north-west region. The Minister of Information, Lai Muhammad, on Thursday, said the government will sanction the BBC and Trust Tv for airing documentaries that he claimed glorified terrorism in Nigeria. Describing the BBC documentary as unprofessional, he said it gave warlords and terror gangs a chance to promote terror. He condemned the BBC for not upholding the same standards and tenets as it would have done in the UK. The minister also condemned Trust Tv, owned by Media Trust Ltd, for interviewing a terrorist, Shehu Rekeb. Mr Gumi in a statement by his spokesperson, Tukur Mamu, said the BBC documentary reveals the politics of insecurity, the genesis of the crisis and how terrorists have overrun several communities across the Northwest region. The cleric commended local and international media organisations like the BBC and Daily Trust for their courageous reporting of the insecurity in the region. He said the news organisations have exposed the faulty approach of the Nigerian government to tackling the crisis and how it has become a lucrative business for criminals and some government officials. Federal Governments attempt in trying to find a scapegoat to justify its glaring failure after wasting over $16 billion in the last 7 years without any commensurate result on security and efforts to blackmail certain media organisations for their patriotism in reporting the crisis is unfortunate and should be resisted by all responsible media organisations, Mr Gumi said. The BBC Africa Eye documentary reflects the actual happenings in Zamfara state and that it was done professionally with the highest ethical standards that seeks solutions against consistent attacks on vulnerable communities and wondered why the government will not use such independent discovery to squarely address the crisis. The opinion of some media executives regarding the BBC report and the claim that the BBC and others like Daily Trust are giving undue publicity to the bandits and their activities or promoting terrorism is unfortunate, myopic and mischievous. FG attempts to blackmail media houses to cover its failure and to divert public scrutiny into high-level corruption in military spending and budgetary allocations. Mr Gumi urged the media not to be intimidated or to succumb to official blackmail and to always make the government accountable especially given the failure to protect lives and properties despite the billions at their disposal. What is happening in Nigeria today especially in the North West as clearly captured by the BBC is more of an ethnic war and reprisal killings and attacks due to the governments failure to address well-documented instances of injustices that were initially done to the Fulanis. What do you expect from a society (Fulani) that were left in total ignorance and lack of education especially when their primary means of livelihood (cattle) has been completely rustled by other criminal elements within and outside our security agencies without any effort by the government to address the injustice. As I talk to you now, cattle rustling has not stopped. Many law-abiding Fulanis have fallen victim to the official extortion of their cows. I have well-documented evidence involving some security agents that I intervened with. How do you expect as a government to address insecurity especially related to Fulani bandits without addressing such instances of extortion and rustling?. The frightening development now is that the Boko Haram terrorists have infiltrated the Fulani bandits and that the bandits are gradually being indoctrinated into their (Boko Haram) religious belief and mission. Instead of the government trying to find a scapegoat in the media or blackmail the media, President Buhari should make his security chiefs to be fully accountable and responsible for any failure and to account for the billions of naira at their disposal. When a Commander-in-Chief rewards failure with ambassadorial appointments in a system and a society that records increased attacks, when security agencies cannot even protect Abuja and especially when the Guards Brigade cannot even protect themselves not to talk of the president, then why blame the media for such failure and ineptitude for reporting it? Mr Gumi said. The Nigeria Police Force, Oyo State Command, on Friday, paraded eight suspects, who allegedly kidnapped Christopher Bakare, the farm manager of the late Adebayo Alao-Akalas farm. The suspects also allegedly kidnapped the owner of a private clinic, Abdulrasheed Oladoye, on July 22, at Gbede near Ogbomoso. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the two abductees were kidnapped on 16 July and 22 July at Jabata and Gbede respectively in Surulere Local Government area. Adewale Osifeso, the commands public relations officer, parading the suspects on behalf of the state Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams, said the suspects were responsible for the abduction of the two victims. Mr Williams said the command had rejigged its security architecture in a bid to rid the state of criminal elements and to cater comprehensively and qualitatively to all the people of the state. The Commissioner of Police said the command would continue to partner with relevant sister security agencies and non-state actors to collectively meet up and resolve the yearnings and concerns of good people of the state. To this effect, the command today, Friday paraded the abductors of one Christopher Bakare and Dr Rasheed Oladoye, who were kidnapped on July 16 and July 22 at Jabata and Gbede via Ogbomoso axis respectively. The command appreciates the residents for their support and enjoined them to be unrelenting and generous with the provision of credible and timely information capable of nipping crimes in the bud at all times, he said. NAN reports that the command also paraded another nine suspects terrorising the people of Igana, Iwajowa Local Government area, as well as the Ogbomoso axis of the state, for alleged armed robbery, defilement and kidnapping. One of the suspects told journalists that he had been in the kidnapping business for over two years. The victim we kidnapped last gave us a ransom of N1 million and I was given N150,000 as my share of the money; we used to operate anywhere that is conducive for us in Igana area, he said. (NAN) A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said he and Christian leaders will continue to reject the decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to settle for a Muslim/Muslim ticket. He said this during an APC Christian Leaders Summit in Abuja on Friday. Mr Dogara, a member of the APC, is one of many Nigerians who have kicked against the ticket. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the partys presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, announced Borno senator, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate. Mr Tinubu said he picked Mr Shettima, a former Borno governor, because of his competence and track record and not because of religion. Some APC leaders such as Mr Dogara and ex-government secretary Babachir Lawal, however, rejected the move. They had said they cannot, in good conscience, go to their constituencies to campaign for the duo. Mr Dogara, who was the guest speaker at Fridays event, said Mr Tinubu has made a major error in choosing a running mate. The move, he said, is a rude awakening that happened sooner than later. The lawmaker said the Muslim/Muslim ticket is a bad decision because it fuels inequality and breeds division which is counter-productive to the collective aspirations for a united and prosperous nation. He also knocked the APC leaders for their inability to distinguish the Nigeria of 1993 from 2022. Read his full speech below: SPEECH DELIVERED BY RT HON YAKUBU DOGARA, GUEST SPEAKER AT THE APC NORTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERS SUMMIT, ABUJA 2022 ON THE THEME, RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION, BUT SIN IS A REPROACH TO ANY PEOPLE, HELD ON FRIDAY 29TH JULY, 2022 AT THE NICON LUXURY HOTEL, ABUJA Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34 Protocols: 1. I consider it great honour and privilege to be invited as the Guest Speaker at this all-important August summit of eminent religious leaders and top-notch politicians from across all the States of the Federation. Permit me to start by profusely thanking all those involved in putting together this summit and all the delegates who have sacrificed time and their busy schedule in order to honour us with their presence, which we do not lightly esteem. I understand we are here to talk about our nation and how political choices may impact our faith and likely exacerbate the escalating parlous security situation and stymie our match towards an inclusive, peaceful and prosperous nation. 2. Not a few have expressed concerns about national outlook on all presidential tickets. Also, not a few worry that the debate was becoming corrosive, and of course, with this kind of spitting of bilious views into the political wind, there was bound to be lots of nerves in the air. 3. When we talk about a Muslim-Muslim ticket; God forbid that we should be understood to be objecting to Muslims or that we dont want Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to be president. It is not about Senator Kashim Shettima either, but it is about what is right and what is wrong. It is about justice, fairness and equity. It is about Nigeria; its diversity and how it can be harnessed in an inclusive manner for the greater good of all of us. Be that as it may, some of us really wanted Asiwaju to be president because he has sacrificed much for our Party, the APC and for what he represents to so many people. So, our position cannot be against Muslims or Islam. That fact cannot be denied in any way. 4. But when it comes to choosing between the love and admiration I have for an individual and what is right and what I believe represents my vision for Nigeria, my choice will clearly be for the latter. After all, my rise to the position of Speaker was never going to be possible without the support of some Muslim members who believe that our diversity must be reflected in national positions for the unity, peace and advancement of our dear country. What gives me more hope about the Nigeria project is that there are many of our Muslim brothers and leaders who did not only warn the APC, but have had to call out the APC for adopting a Muslim-Muslim ticket which resulted into the Party ructions we are witnessing today. 5. In 2015, when we were called janjeweed party, my response was usually very simple. I could then say that, HE John Oyegun was the chairman of my party and my Vice-Presidential candidate was Pastor Yemi Osinbajo. We dont enjoy that luxury anymore as the President, Senate President, Speaker and his deputy; Senate and House Leaders; National Chairman and the Deputy National Chairman; Presidential and the Vice-Presidential candidates are all Muslims, leaving the Christians with just the position of VP Osibanjo and Deputy Senate President Omo-Agege at that level in a Country whose population is fairly split between Muslims and Christians. Granted this scenario, can any God-fearing Muslim, Christian nay even the amoral and the atheist say this is fair, just and righteous? Does this represent the act of a just God? This is the real context of objections from the Christian community not just the Presidential ticket and the VP slot. 6. For me, it is a rude awakening and I am so happy it happened sooner than later. The very fact that they said we should not worry about a Muslim-Muslim ticket while a Muslim-Christian ticket gave them sleepless nights should make you worry the more. To worry about a Muslim-Christian ticket while counselling others not to worry about a Muslim-Muslim ticket is the very textbook definition of cognitive dissonance and an attempt at gaslighting gullible Christians. Truth must be told that anyone who is not bringing us together is consciously tearing us apart. 7. Furthermore, I do not want to speak to the argument that there is no Christian competent enough to be Vice-President because as we all know, that is hogwash. It only speaks to the need to deliberately exclude whereas the need now is for inclusion. 8. The other funny argument in the media is the claim that without a northern Muslim on the ticket, elections cannot be won. The implications of that argument are quite unambiguous; Northern Muslims dont vote for the South even if the candidate is a Muslim like them and, of course, dont vote for Christians. However, nothing can be further from the truth. If you stretch this argument further, it may lead to questions such as, if Muslims in the North dont trust a southern Muslim for any reason(s), why should Christians in Nigeria trust a Muslim from the South and North? These are the kinds of arguments I hate to engage in and which we must avoid if we hope not to injure the health of our Republic. 9. Other unhelpful framings of the debate by the so-called pundits posit that Christians in the North are so small in number that their votes dont count. This strange argument seeks to reinforce the satanic agenda of dividing the church in Nigeria into North and South, and also ignores the fact and reality that Nigeria is evenly split on religious lines. These pundits are still not smart enough to tell us what is in the Muslim-Muslim ticket for southern Christians. The argument also ignores the fact that our official policy excludes religious affiliation from census data. There is therefore no scientific basis for these bizarre conclusions. Let us now look at a model for managing diversity. 10. If the UK offers any example, in 2005, the Tories had only two non-White MPs. Just within over a decade, this has changed dramatically all the way to the top ranks of the party, including the last three chancellors of the exchequer in a row: Javid, Sunak and Zahawi. In addition, Patel was home secretary; Javid health secretary; Kwasi business secretary and; Zahawi education secretary. 11. Before the pruning down of candidates for the Conservative Party leadership to two; six of the candidates were members of ethnic minorities. Braverman, Sunak and Javid are the children of immigrants while Chisti and Zahawi were born outside of the UK: in Pakistan and Iraq respectively; and our own Kemi was partly brought up in Lagos. All these happened in the conservative UK where the entire population of minority ethnic group is a paltry 14% thanks to David Cameron under whose leadership the Tories embraced the idea of sponsored mobility which was thought to be good for the country because it will help prevent politics from polarizing along racial lines. 12. As we speak, the UK may well be on the verge of becoming the second major Western democracy to have a non-White leader in Sunak. Sunak who took the oath of office as Chancellor with his hand on the Bhagavad Gita and placed Diwali candles on the steps of his office on Number 11 Downing Street, shares the same faith with just 1.03 million Britons representing just 1.6% of the U.Ks total population. This is how democracies all over the world are managing diversities within their borders. Compare this to the US under Trump where the Republican Party was and is still in danger of becoming the party of White grievances and White reaction against an increasingly diverse America. Is it in vain that the Democrats had to settle for a woman and a black VP in Kamala Harris? Women issues are treated as minority issues and what percentage of US population is black? Just 13.4% in case you dont know. In these two, we have two models to borrow from; either to play the politics of exclusion which the Muslim-Muslim ticket represents or to make politics all-inclusive in order to heal our national fault lines and unite our disparate peoples for nation building. The latter must be the choice of every patriotic and sensible Nigerian. 13. Why do I consider the decision by the APC to settle for a Muslim-Muslim ticket not a bold but bad decision? There are ample reasons but I will highlight a few for want of time and space. a) It is a bad decision because it fuels inequality. We must always bear in mind that the liberty we enjoy is as rare as it is fragile. Inequality has a way of upsetting the balance due to the universal law of cause and effect. Throughout history, every revolution has been waged to either consolidate or destroy inequality. Just like all revolutions, they first seem impossible and then improbable until they become inevitable. i) When you think of revolutions, what comes to your mind? Is it the pictures of savage invasions, crushing battlefield defeats, sacked cities and unlucky rulers put to death or a cascading series of minor, individually unimportant failures which are now replete in our polity? You may not understand the structure of revolutions until you trace the progression of the Nazis from an unpopular fringe group to the most powerful political party in Germany. Those who are dismissive of those who built conflict generating structures such as the Muslim-Muslim ticket in a pluralistic society always end up as enablers of revolution or violent changes. That was how Nazism was dismissed as a fringe idea that will never make it into the mainstream of civilized Germany until it led to the death of an estimated 40 million people. b) It is a bad decision because it breads division which is counter-productive to our collective aspirations for a united and prosperous nation. My last check reveals that the word division is a construct of the word vision with a prefix di which means double in Latin. Just imagine what double vision does to an individual, much more a Nation. Our national creed or motto if you like, is unity and faith, peace and progress. Embedded in this great idea is the fact that unity precedes peace and progress. The question therefore is, how do we unite our disparate peoples in a manner that ensures peace and progress? This is not the only question, it is every question. i) Of course, our strength is not in numbers but unity. You are not strong because you are many, you are strong because you are united. Nigeria cannot survive if we merely tolerate each other or if the happiness of one group is the unhappiness of the other group. But if we are united, we will be indomitable. And if all of us: Muslims, Christians, atheists, the old, the young, women and men work together and pray together in unity: believe me; we will be invincible. On the corollary, many are the Nations and Empires that could not withstand divisions. ii) The largest construction project ever on earth the erection of the Tower of Babel came to an abrupt halt due to divisions. The almost 3200 years long recorded history of the Egyptian empire collapsed due to divisions when Cleopatra the last Pharaoh killed her brother Ptolemy the 13th who was a joint heir to the throne and married another of her brother, Ptolemy the 14th before she had him also killed so that her son can succeed her as the pharaoh. The all-powerful Roman Empire just like the British Empire after it, decayed and died not on account of invading armies but just because they could not withstand the contradictions within. Need we say more about Yugoslavia and the USSR? iii) The US too is currently struggling and if they dont invent ingenious ways to heal divisions, the US dominance, just like all the other empires before, might soon become history. If we think we can encourage divisions in the scale we are witnessing and not see what those Empires and Nations saw, then we are of all men and women most miserable. c) In addition, the inability to distinguish the Nigeria of 1993 from 2022 gave me cause to fret the more. An indispensable attribute of a leader in crisis is to be able to recognize a departure of events from routine to novel. The inability to spot an infliction point in moments of gripping visceral fear across the nation represents an irredeemable fatal error of judgment. There has never been a time in our history that we are as divided. We are battling terrorism, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, secessionists and all manner of challenges. Consequently, anyone who thinks that events in Nigeria in 2022 are not novel but routine as they were in 1993 is totally incapable of finding solutions to challenges currently ravaging our dear nation. 14. As for the nodding dogs who have sold themselves to lying spirits by deliberately believing in lies or are refusing to accept the truth, rebuke them in love. We may, after all, be dealing with fallen angels. We must never forget that every generation has its own Jannes and Jambres who withstood Moses; its prophets of Baal who withstood Elijah; its Sanballats and Tobiahs who withstood Nehemiah; its Esaus whose profanity will drive them to sell their birth rights; its Gehazis who will surrender to seducing spirits in order to feed their greed; its Hamans who will plot to annihilate Gods people: the list goes on. On this class of people, the scripture has already placed a curse, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20. But just as those they withstood overcame, we will also overcome if we faint not. 15. The harder they try to make us bow to the golden image of greed, the more we should chant to their chagrin the answer given by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 16. In closing, let me reiterate the fact that we are here to talk about what is right and what is wrong. To my mind what is right is not just to win elections but to unite Nigerians both now and after the elections so that we can collectively build a Nigeria that works for all regardless of creed. As President Obama warned, if you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you are not going to be able to govern them. You wont be able to unite them later This is spot-on because anyone who wins an election by dividing us would have to keep us divided in order to govern us. This is not what any reasonable and peace-loving Nigerian wants. 17. As long as God remains the God of justice, may we continue to resist injustice to our sinews, no matter who is for or against it because it is the requirement of the just God. Let us go out from this summit with the resolve to seek out our Muslim brothers and sisters who believe in unifying our people in order to usher in the much need peace and advancement for Nigeria to unleash her true potentials. I am sure we will jointly agree on a platform that would advance our collective search for unity, peace and development. Believe me, the only alternative is the road to Yugoslavia. God forbid! If we want to see Nigeria exalted, we must insist she does the right things. 18. Thank you for listening. God bless you and may God bless Nigeria. Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara Speaker of the 8th House of Reps. I wish that the president knows that almost every week over the past seven years, he has told Nigerians that he has directed the security agencies to address the security lapses in the country immediately. Nigerians have correctly interpreted the statement to mean: I will do nothing about it and you must continue to suffer the consequences. I confess I was not surprised that President Muhammadu Buhari was not aware that bandit terrorists had threatened to kidnap him, our Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, until Governor Nasir El-Rufai, also under the same threat, went and told him in Aso Rock. This means the animated debates and rage of Nigerians on how dare a rag-tag group of bandit terrorists threaten our president never got to his ears. I wondered what the president gossips about after dinner with his friends and peers. My friends would have told me, hey pal, do you know that the whole country is discussing the threat on your life? What is the best survival strategy to adopt as they seek to go one step further from taking over Kuje Prisons and attempting the fortress at Aso Rock? Of course, I am aware that at the formal level, the presidents desk would have received numerous memos on various security threats affecting the country, in addition to the direct threats to him. Memos get written but the problem, as we saw a few years ago in the case of President Trump in the United States, is that not all presidents are diligent in reading their memos. It might be in anticipation of this that there is, in addition to the memos, audience given to the security folks to verbally brief the president. Following the commando attack on Kuje Correctional Centre on July 5, which led to the freeing of 66 terrorists and hundreds of bandits and criminals, I saw President Buhari on TV posing very lucid and incisive questions on the security lapses that led to the embarrassment. He castigated the intelligence failures and lack of security preparedness that led to the attack and called for a more anchored approach to security provisioning. Our president was also physically present at the location of the attack, he saw the situation himself, made an on the spot assessment, and called for corrective actions. In other words, the memos were comprehensive, they had been delivered and either the right people had not read them or else they had decided not to act upon them. The president should not have waited for the attack to happen as he had been told that it was imminent; he should have taken proactive measures in good time. This week, however, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase, disclosed to Nigerians that the Department of State Services (DSS) prepared and presented 44 security reports before the Kuje Prison attack took place in Abuja. He disclosed this while contributing to a proposed motion to halt the planned ban on the use of motorcycles across the nation by the Federal Government. His message was sobering. That he had read all the reports and there was no intelligence shortcoming, as the services had fully briefed the political leadership on what was being planned but no action was taken. In other words, the memos were comprehensive, they had been delivered and either the right people had not read them or else they had decided not to act upon them. The president should not have waited for the attack to happen as he had been told that it was imminent; he should have taken proactive measures in good time. That is why he is the Commander-in-Chief. Deputy Speaker Wases words should interpellate us: There is no community that one attack or the other will happen and we will not have an intel, and this is part of the intel that they have given as what is going to happen, what is happening and what is not going to happen. If there is reliable intelligence that is continuously supplied and action is not taken, there are two areas where we need to search to understand the failures. Proactive measures by the political leadership and willingness by the operational organs of national security to do their jobs. Someone just retweeted and old tweet from the presidents handle @MBuhari, initially sent out on January 15, 2015 and it reads: Are our parents safe when we leave them at home? Is the naira in your bank account of greater value that it was four years ago? It is in this context that many parliamentarians are seeking to rise above partisan politics or personal relationships, across political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives, to impeach the president over rising insecurity in the country. They have given him six weeks to see change or they would act. Great questions, we would all agree, and the answers are known to every Nigerian seven years and two months after Buhari came into power. The Buhari team has become very competent in responding to such questions with excuses of how bad the situation was when he took over power. The real question posed by the president here is whether things are getting better or worse, and the answer is MUCH WORSE. Let us not forget the words of Benjamin Franklin that: He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. The president should accept his failure in governing the country and resign, but unfortunately, he is unlikely to get and read this memo also. It is in this context that many parliamentarians are seeking to rise above partisan politics or personal relationships, across political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives, to impeach the president over rising insecurity in the country. They have given him six weeks to see change or they would act. The decision was taken after their respective closed-sessions before the commencement of plenary, presided over by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who also charged the security agencies to do more in order to stop the terrorists, alongside the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase. The response of the Presidency is to declare that parliamentarians are playing to the gallery, adding that the Federal Government has said it was currently working round the clock to bring the countrys security situation under control. I wish that the president knows that almost every week over the past seven years, he has told Nigerians that he has directed the security agencies to address the security lapses in the country immediately. Nigerians have correctly interpreted the statement to mean: I will do nothing about it and you must continue to suffer the consequences. Impeachment is a difficult political process to navigate in Nigeria and I guess we have ten more months of being told that, I have directed the security agencies to address the security concerns of Nigerians. We Nigerians have also stopped reading this particular memo from our president to we the people. A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful We have a responsibility to the rest of the Ummah, the minds and the talents that are in this Mosque right now, that are in this community right now, have a responsibility to the rest of the Ummah. So how are we using the Allah-given skills, the skills that Allah has given us, how are you using that to change our community for the better? And its not just finances. Its not just finances. Its not just about, oh, Allah, well send someone to help us. No, we have to be the real change. Verily, all praise is for Allah. We praise Him, we seek His assistance and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Him from the evils of our selves. Whoever Allah guides, none can misguide. Whoever He misguides, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. Dear brothers and sisters! Allah Almighty says: Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. [Quran, 13:11] Respected servants of Allah! The topic Id like to discuss today in my sermon is about real change not empty change. If we look at the best companies in the world, many of you work in those very companies. Change is very important. Adapting to change, adapting to the economic hardship, adapting to whatevers going on, being able to become better and better, looking at feedback from customers. Looking at what the market is saying and how to match what the market needs. The best teachers they dont teach every lesson the same way. Theyre always wondering: How can we be better? How can we teach better? The best athletes, every shot they take, theyre learning for the next shot. And theyre not afraid of taking those shots. For example, Michael Jordan said you miss 100 per cent of the shots you dont take. If you dont take a shot, you cant make it. So how can you learn from every single shot that you try to make? And as Muslims, how do we be better Muslims? How can we make change? Not only for ourselves, but for our families and for our community and for our countries and for our global Muslim Ummah, which, especially now, is hurting more than ever because of whats going on (insecurity). The Masjid al-Aqsa in Palestine may Allah help our brothers and sisters there. Whats going on in China with the persecution of Muslims there, and in Burma and so many other places. As Muslims, its so important for us to understand the process of change and how to effect change. And to ensure that this isnt just be something we preserve for our professional life. Many of us are really good at our professional life, where we talk about these kinds of things, but how can we bring that ability to manage change and that ability to make change? How can we bring that to, not only our Muslim brothers, not only our community, not only our families, but to ourselves. And if we look at our history, if we look at the reason that the Quran tells us for why we came to this earth, it was a process of change. Shaitan (Satan) was unable to change his view. Iblis was unable to change his mindset. He was unable to seek forgiveness and learn from his mistake. He was unable to be better. He was unable to let go of his ego and his arrogance. And so he became Ar-Rajim the cursed one. If we look at Prophet Adam and Hawwa, they changed. They sought forgiveness. They learned from their mistake. And thats what brings us here to earth the process of change. A lot of times we fear change. We fear that question: What will happen when? When COVID-19 started, how many people were so afraid of whats going to happen? We were all stressed out about whatever is going to transpire. So having that trust in Allah throughout that process is incredibly important. And Id like to discuss how our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) made change. Of course he made change in so many ways, but what are some of the things that we can discuss in the time that we have? How did the Prophet (Peace be upon him) spark this civilisation that, in one hundred years, spread from the coasts of West Africa to China, in such a short amount of time? How did that happen so quickly? How was the Prophet (Peace be upon him) able to change a very rough society, a tribal society in the middle of the desert, with very few resources? Most people could not read or write. He himself could not read or write. How did the Prophet (Peace be upon him) make change with such huge obstacles and challenges where he could not even count on his own family members for support? Where his own uncles, his own family members the Quraish, Abu Lahab his own family members were against him. So, in the face of such challenges and seemingly unsurmountable obstacles, how did the Prophet (Peace be upon him) actually affect change? And so lets take a look. The first thing that we notice about the Prophets (Peace be upon him) process is that the change did not happen all at once. It was not something that the expectation was that, as soon as Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) says it, then it must happen and thats it, and theres nothing anyone can do about it. But rather, it was known that this is going to be a long-term mission, but there was a vision behind this. Theres a set of steps that needed to take place, and each step was important on the journey. It wasnt just about the end, but it was also about the means to get there. And thats why I encourage all of us and anyone who want to bring real change to read the history of the life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). What did he go through and how was he able to make the change that he did? What we see is a gradual change. Take something simple, like the prohibition of alcohol. Its a very simple case where it did not come down all at once, but rather it came down gradually. Also because, in the time of Makkah, the Muslims were not allowed to fight back. They were in Makkah. They were amongst the oppressors. The permission only came once they were in Madinah, and they could actually defend themselves and they could actually protect themselves. And so this process has to be gradual. And yes, theres, short-term things we can do and that we should do, but we must realise that it is a process that takes time. The second thing we see in the way of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is that he approached things in a kinder way, in a gentler way. He could have been very authoritative, and he could have taken actions very harshly, but rather he tried his best to find the kinder way. And that is why, Allah Almighty says: If you were harsh and they would have ran away from you. But it was by the mercy of Allah that you were gentle to them. [Quran, 3:159] That was a part of his character. So, how can you approach things in a nuanced way? How can you approach things with gentleness? Realise that things arent what they seem. The example of the man who urinated in the mosque, the bedouin man the rest of the companions were ready to jump at him, but the Prophet (Peace be upon him) told them to let him finish and then they cleaned it up. Then that man accepted Islam. Or the example of the Jewish man and who came to test the Prophet (Peace be upon him) grabbed his shirt, and asked him for his debt and Umar was ready to jump at the guy, and Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: Wait, pay him his debt and pay him extra because you scared him. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) found ways. He was just, but he also tried his best to find the gentle way. The third thing that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) did is that he brought in others. He had his Sahabah the companions. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) did not try to do everything on his own. A lot of times, we have a great idea where we think, I dont need help from anybody else. Let me just do this by myself. But actually, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) built a strong community. He realised that his efforts were not enough by himself. He would not be able to do it. He would need so many people with so many different talents and abilities and skills. He realised that he needed an Ummah. And this is what Allah commanded him to do. But its not enough just to have these solo activities that is approached at a large scale at the Ummah level. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was also told by Allah that every single member of that Ummah is important. The first martyr in Islam was a woman. By the name of Sumayyah. She was the first one who died for the sake of Islam. Every single person was important to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in seeing that change play out. In the Quran, Allah tells us: Do not only turn your attention to those who are wealthy and powerful, but keep in mind the blind person and keep in mind the poor person. And Prophet (Peace be upon him) has even told us this. And so every member of that Ummah mattered. And then we also have very familiar story in the Quran. The story of Prophet Dawud and Jalut the story of a Supreme army. We have Prophet Dawud with his small group of followers, and he is able to, against the odds, defeat Jalut. Allah helps Prophet Dawud, and we see this in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) too. We see this at the battle of Badr, and at the battle of Uhud. We see it time and time again. The Muslims were small in number, yet they are able to succeed with the help of Allah and by the permission of Allah and by the wisdom of Allah. We see this in the story of Prophet Musa that, even though Allah did such incredible miracles for Prophet Musa, Prophet Musa was still told to act in the way that he could. Prophet Musa was told to go to Firaun (Pharaoh) and to speak to him. And Prophet Musa was worried. He said: What about my speech, ya Allah? My speech is muffled. Im not a good speaker. Im not eloquent. Send Harun, my brother. Prophet Musa had all kinds of fears of failure in those situations. Allah Almighty told him: And speak unto him a gentle word, that peradventure he may heed or fear. [Quran, 20:44] Even though Firaun (Pharoah) did not listen, many of the followers of Pharoah listened. A lot times, we think we know what the result should be. We think that we know what the result in our minds, that is what the result should be. And that is the only way forward because that result seems so far out of reach. We dont even want to take action. But the fact is, once we start taking those steps, Allah will open doors that we have never seen before. Allah will open doors for us that we would not even have considered. And that is why Allah Almighty says: And whosoever kept his duty to Allah, Allah will appoint a way out for him. [Quran, 65:2] The one who is mindful of Allah, the one who sticks to their principles and values, Allah finds for them a way. And so our part is to take those steps towards change on an individual level, in order to better ourselves. So what is that simple step that I can take today to be a better Muslim? How can I continue what I was doing in the month of Ramadan? How can I be a better father, a better mother? What are the steps that I can take work? What talents do I have? What skills do I have that I can offer to my community? Alhamdulillah, we are so privileged the amount of talent that we have in this community? I would say that we actually have a responsibility to the rest of the Ummah. We have a responsibility to the rest of the Ummah, the minds and the talents that are in this Mosque right now, that are in this community right now, have a responsibility to the rest of the Ummah. So how are we using the Allah-given skills, the skills that Allah has given us, how are you using that to change our community for the better? And its not just finances. Its not just finances. Its not just about, oh, Allah, well send someone to help us. No, we have to be the real change. And that is why Allah Almighty says: Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. [Quran, 13:11] Allah does not change our status until we change ourselves. So what are the gradual steps that we can take to make change? What are the things that we can do to start making that change? Yes, we did it in Ramadan. We did things that we dont normally do the rest of the year. We were able to do them in Ramadan and yes, it was tiring and yes, it was hard and yes, it was difficult, but we know that if we got that one night, Lailatul-Qadr, if we were able to get that reward of Ramadan as the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, then: That Allah may forgive you of your sins that which is past. [Quran, 48:2] All of our previous sins or mistakes are forgiven and that is the reward of Ramadan. So nothing worth it is easy. And there is hardship, you know, when were born and were young, when were children, we want to learn. When we have our own children we see how curious they are. They want to do something, they want to learn, they want to do things themselves. From childhood, we want to improve and be better, but then the failures come and then we start to fear what will happen. And were not as courageous as we used to be. How can we bring that energy back? In order to make a real change, not only for ourselves and for our family, but for our whole Ummah, for our countries and for the entire Muslim nation. I ask Allah that he helps us to do that. And he helps us to affect change and learn how to make that change, and then apply that in our lives, and I ask Allah that he guides us by his book in the way of his Prophet (Peace be upon him), ameen. Dear brothers and sisters! In addition to the things that I mentioned about how we can start to take changes, make changes in our own lives. Theres something really short-term, my brothers and sisters, that is really important for us to understand. How can we help our brothers and sisters everywhere in the world? What is it that we can do? The first thing that we should do is make Dua for them. Are we actually remembering them in our Duas? Are we even making Duas since Ramadan? And when we make Dua, do we make it with yaqin (certainty) and with conviction. Lets make Dua for our brothers and sisters who are in the hands of terrorists, armed bandits and kidnappers, and all across the way world. Those that are suffering and depressed. May Allah alleviate their suffering and their pricing. May Allah set them free and give them justice, ameen. The second thing we can do is to make this a topic of discussion in our families and to not shy away from that. Go out and say, Lets, as a family, instead of watching Godzilla vs King Kong tonight, lets watch about the Islamic history. Lets learn our own history. A lot of times, we dont even know our own history. When I went to school, I learned Northern Nigeria history. I learned Nigeria history. Again. I learned Islamic history. World history had two pages of Islam, two pages of Egypt and Pharaoh. We dont even know our own history. And our history is our memory and our memory is what makes us, so we need to learn about ourselves. We need to learn about where we came from. We need to teach our children about where we came from and what our history is. We should learn about the history of Muslims in this country and how Muslims came to this country. Why do the conflicts that exist? Why are they happening? The third thing we can do is to write to our leaders and politicians. I know that seems like such a far off thing, writing to our leaders and politicians. What does that even mean? It seems like such an inaccessible thing, but Ill tell you that its something that I feel in our community has been more accessible to me than Ive ever seen before. These politicians and representatives have come to this mosque. They have come here looking for our votes and saying we should hold them to it. We should tell them what we want to see. And we especially should support those who have come out in support of our people, our brothers and sisters. We should make sure that we are behind them and that we support them, irrespective of their region or tribe. The fourth thing we can do is to go out to these events. We should go to whats going on. We should make sure that our voices are heard. Our presence is felt because thats what people see. Thats what people see the images, the pictures, the media. The fifth thing we can do is vote with our money. What are the products that we buy? Where are they coming from? And so I ask Allah that He helps us to do that. I ask Allah that He helps our brothers and sisters who are in the hands of terrorists, armed bandits and kidnappers, where theyre persecuted innocently. May Allah set them free and grant them justice. May Allah grant them strength and courage. May Allah protect them and their families. May Allah guide them. May Allah strengthen us to do what we need to do. May Allah guide us in our youth. may Allah guide our elders, the men, and the women. May Allah accept those who have passed. May Allah except him into his forgiveness and his mercy. May Allah give their families patience. May Allah grant us Jannatul-firdaus and reunite us with them and raise us with the Prophets and the martyrs and the Salihin and the righteous one, ameen. Respected servants of Allah! Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded. Remember Allah, the Great He will remember you. Thank Him for His favours He will increase you therein. And seek forgiveness from Him He will forgive you. And be conscious of Him He will provide you a way out of difficult matters. And, establish the prayer. All praises and thanks are due to Allah alone, Lord of the worlds. May the peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon our noble Messenger, Muhammad, and upon his family, his Companions and his true and sincere followers. Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumuah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okenes Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com or +2348038289761. This Jumuah Khutbah (Friday sermon) was prepared for delivery today, Friday, Dhul-Hijjah 30, 1443 AH (July 29, 2022). Tragically, the lofty dreams of the founders of Liberia, due to self-inflicted injuries, became a dream deferred. The new returnees simply replicated the negative policies and actions of the American society, with the victims, this time, being the indigenous people they met. Some of them had lived in what became Liberia for over seven centuries before the new arrivals. Liberia, which along with Ethiopia are the two African countries never colonised, marked its bicentennial as an emergent country, and this Tuesday, July 26, observed its 175th Independence Anniversary. On that historic date, the five most prominent persons on the dais, from four countries, were of contrasting nature. Liberian President George Manneh Weah, the 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year, seemed subdued as he delivered his speech, which was long on protocols but short on content. The Liberian Vice President, Jewel Howard Taylor is the former First Lady, whose ex-husband, Charles Taylor is held hostage in the Frankland Prison, United Kingdom, as a warning to African leaders that those who refuse to do the biddings of Western powers can end up in a correctional centre. The third was President Adama Barrow of the Gambia, who since been helped to power in 2017, has kept a low profile. The fourth eminent personality was President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau, and new Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), who is a beneficiary of coup plotters. Just on May 16, Embalo carried out a successful internal coup by disbanding the National Assembly, in which his ruling party was a minority. The fifth person was His Excellency Mohammadu Buhari of Nigeria, who went to talk about the sanctity of the ballot box, while Nigeria militarily maintains a dictator in power in Guinea Bissau, and in whose country, politics is run like a criminal enterprise. In fact, the theme of this Liberian Independence Day, Fostering Unity, Protecting our Peace for Development and Prosperity would have been more appropriate for Nigeria, whose unity is being threatened; peace, being shattered; and development and prosperity are arrested by a visionless, parasitic, unpatriotic and utterly incompetent political class. Liberia is a long suffering nation which has had a stunted growth. Yet it is a country founded on dreams of freedom, human dignity and advancement. The inhuman Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was so seemingly final that victims were said to be on a journey of no return. It was assumed that once the slave ships left our shores, there would be no return for the victims. However, given the repression and oppression, depersonalisation and dehumanisation and a foggy future, many freed slaves in America and their descendants saw no future in the United States. To them, the so-called American Dream was in reality an American Nightmare. When the US Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all men were born free, the White establishment did not accept the Black Americans as humans who were born free and who therefore have a right to equality. So also did the new arrivals, who became known as Americo-Liberians, not recognise other Liberians as equal human beings. In fact, until 1904, the indigenous Liberians were excluded from citizenship of their country. As such, some of them decided to reverse the Point of No Return to an actual return to Africa, the land of their fathers. There were also White men like Presidents Abraham Lincoln and James Monroe, who supported this return to Africa, but for a different reason. They thought that the continued stay of free Blacks in the US would continue to encourage slave revolts, so the best option was to encourage their return to Africa. For this purpose, the American Colonisation Society (ACS) was established to secure land and repatriate free African Americans who, in those days, were known as free Negroes or Afro Americans. The coastal shores of present day Liberia was secured and from January 7, 1822-1861, with 15,000 freed American slaves and 3,198 freed Afro-Caribbean slaves returning there. The freedom loving returnees tried to build a modern country on the continent. They also named their capital, Monrovia, in honour of President Monroe. Their motto was: The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here. Twenty five years after setting foot on Liberian soil, the freedom lovers, on July 26, 1847, proclaimed themselves an independent country. It is that anniversary Liberians gathered to celebrate this week. On January 3, 1848, they elected Joseph Jenkins Robert as their first president. Tragically, the lofty dreams of the founders of Liberia, due to self-inflicted injuries, became a dream deferred. The new returnees simply replicated the negative policies and actions of the American society, with the victims, this time, being the indigenous people they met. Some of them had lived in what became Liberia for over seven centuries before the new arrivals. When the US Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all men were born free, the White establishment did not accept the Black Americans as humans who were born free and who therefore have a right to equality. So also did the new arrivals, who became known as Americo-Liberians, not recognise other Liberians as equal human beings. In fact, until 1904, the indigenous Liberians were excluded from citizenship of their country. The minority Americo-Liberians ruled for 133 years until the April 1980 coup that brought Samuel Doe to power. That itself was the beginning of instability, leading to a Civil War that claimed 250,000 lives or eight per cent of the population. The follow-up elected Presidency of Taylor was truncated and President Charles Taylor was lured into exile in Nigeria by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The bulk of the Americo-Liberians created a different identity, refusing to integrate the locals, just as the White American establishment had refused to integrate the Black people. They also denied them the ballot, discriminated against them, excluded them from economic opportunities and, worse still, began turning the indigenes into slaves and forcing them to work in plantations, especially those of rubber. The American industry needed rubber and the Americo-Liberians decided to help set up rubber plantations and use slave or forced labour on these. So prevalent was the new slave system in Liberia that the League of Nations established the Christy Commission, which established that the Liberian government was neck deep in it. Consequently, President Charles D.B. King, the 17th President of Liberia, and Vice President Allen N. Yancy, were forced to resign. The mention of President King reminds me of the corruption in the Americo-Liberian establishment and the perfidy of its ruling True Whig Party, whose rigging of the 1927 election is the worst in world history. In that election, there were about 15,000 registered voters; the opposition candidate, Thomas Faulkner secured 9,000 votes, while the incumbent President Charles King scored, wait for it, 243,000 votes! That is over sixteen times the number of voters. The minority Americo-Liberians ruled for 133 years until the April 1980 coup that brought Samuel Doe to power. That itself was the beginning of instability, leading to a Civil War that claimed 250,000 lives or eight per cent of the population. The follow-up elected Presidency of Taylor was truncated and President Charles Taylor was lured into exile in Nigeria by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The latter turned round to betray Taylor, sending him into the hands of Western powers in the name of a request by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. She was Does Finance Minister and main fund raiser for the Taylor insurgency. The Sirleaf Presidency was characterised by nepotism; she appointed relatives into juicy positions, where they looted the impoverished country. She appointed her sons, Charles Sirleaf as the governor of the Liberian Central Bank, Robert Sirleaf as the chief executive of the National Oil Company, and Fombah Sirleaf as the head of the National Security Agency. It remains to be seen whether in the next 25 years, Liberia would mark its Bicentennial Independence, as a country fulfilling its initial dream. Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author. The Kano State Traffic Agency (KAROTA) has rewarded one of its personnel, Halilu Jalo, with N1 million for arresting two trucks loaded with alcohol in the state. Mr Jalo rejected an N500,000 bribe allegedly offered to him by the owner of the alcohol to help free the confiscated vehicles. The head of the traffic agency, Baffa Dan-Agundi, said the truck was confiscated on Thursday at the Obasanjo Road, in Kanos metropolis. The agencys spokesperson, Nabulisi Abubakar, in a statement to reporters said the agency rewarded the officer who arrested the trucks with a N1 million after refusing a N500,000 bribe to release the confiscated goods. Mr Abubakar said the trucks were conveying over 2000 crates of alcoholic drinks worth over N50 Million The alcohol was concealed in the trucks branded with Indomie noodles. He said the Kano state government had banned the transportation and consumption of alcohol across the state. The KAROTA and its sister Council, Kano State Consumer Protection Council under his leadership will not spare anyone caught in the act of supplying such drinks (alcohol) into the state, the spokesperson said. He applauded the patriotic officer and charged others to emulate him and always consider the safety of lives and properties and the well-being of the state first before anything else. The elated officer, Mr Jalo, said the trucks were intercepted after he got a tip-off. We intercepted the trucks on Obasanjo Road heading to Sabon Gari Area of the state, he said. They offered me a bribe but I refused to take it because I know the damages alcohol causes to human lives, Mr Jalo said. The impounded vehicle and the consignment were handed over to the Kano Hisbah Boards for destruction. Kano government has banned the trading and consumption of alcohol, and the states Hisbah Board is tasked to confiscate alcohol from members of the public and destroy it after seeking a court order. NAIROBI, Kenya, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Maxim Agri-managed feed mill facility will produce high quality and affordable aqua feeds to meet the demand from East Africa's growing aquaculture industry. The Netherland-based Maxim Agri Holding is focused on providing trusted and global best in class animal feed and customized nutrition solutions to help maximize the performance of small land commercial farmers. The company has built extensive experience in emerging markets through its operations in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, with its Kenya operations launched in November 2017. Construction of the environmentally friendly high tech feed mill facility is already ongoing in Naivasha, Kenya where a significant number of jobs will be created, and even more livelihoods positively affected once production is expected to begin in 2023. The products will be specifically formulated to meet the rigorous nutritional requirements in the aquaculture industry, with the right nutrition profile to support fish growth and health. The feed mill will also invest in local ingredient trials and development, testing for the right mix of nutritional elements from Kenya-produced ingredients. This Partnership acknowledges and embraces the environment as a resource to be used responsibly and sustainably. The main production facility will operate solely on sustainable sources of energy, supported by solar energy in day-time and geothermal energy at night. In the words of Obaid ur Rehman, General Manager of SamakGro Limited Kenya, "We are excited about the strategic advantages and opportunities for the aquaculture industry that this joint venture will create through localizing feed production, and making available a product of verifiable, consistent quality that aquaculture practitioners and entrepreneurs can rely on." Caesar Asiyo, Victory Farms Chief Development Officer, is confident that once it is operating at full capacity, the SamakGro feed mill will play an instrumental role in alleviating the perennial shortage of affordable quality aqua feeds in the country and become a major contributor to level the field for the growth of a robust and competitive aquaculture industry. The joint venture will contribute directly to the Manufacturing pillar of President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four Agenda and will play a critical role in economic development through creation of employment opportunities, Fundamentally, it provides foundational support for food and nutritional security through its direct linkage to the aquaculture industry. Contact: Caesar Asiyo, asiyoc@victoryfarmskenya.com SOURCE Victory Farms Ltd RGHI to organise the world's first Global Hygiene Summit in Singapore February 15 th 16th 2023. 16th 2023. The Global Hygiene Summit is being organised in partnership with the National Centre for Infectious Diseases ( Singapore ), and in collaboration with the World Bank. ), and in collaboration with the World Bank. The Global Hygiene Summit will create clarity around hygiene and the positive impact that improved standards could have on global health, including in the COVID-19 recovery period. LONDON, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Hygiene Summit 2023, organised in partnership with the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (Singapore), and in collaboration with the World Bank, is being hosted in Singapore on the 15th and 16th February 2023. Professor Yee Sin Leo, Executive Director, NCID said: "Hygiene generally refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases. Despite its intimate link to health, hygiene is ill-defined and often intertwined with socioeconomic status, and cultural belief and practices. Hygiene is a fundamental pre-requisite for sustainable public health and with our dual mission of clinical and public health, NCID is pleased to partner for this inaugural summit in Singapore. Leveraging on prominent stakeholders, this summit will elevate hygiene to the highest global agenda in promoting and sustaining health." The Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute (RGHI), a not-for-profit foundation that was established in 2020 with a multi-year $25 million grant from Reckitt, RGHI is focussed on plugging significant gaps in the health research space and improving access to information that will bridge epidemiology, public health, and behaviour change. The Global Hygiene Summit will align with this aim by informing the global health agenda stimulating discussion that could lead to the adoption of better and more sustainable hygienic practises globally. The event will create a forum for multi-level and multi-disciplinary discussions around hygiene science, behaviour, economics, and real-world experiences and outcomes. It will bring together scientists, politicians, the private sector and civil society to generate impact through the intersection between health and hygiene ~ which is vital to safeguarding the physical and economic wellbeing of populations worldwide, both amid COVID-19 and beyond. By articulating the shape, scope and importance of the hygiene field, motivating multi-level and multi-disciplinary working by bridging epidemiology, behaviour and policy, the Global Hygiene Summit intends to gain consensus on how to effectively measure and create behavioural change and economic impact (ROI), and how to present this to engage policymakers. Global Hygiene Summit 2023 will also motivate the [Singapore] Declaration; a guide for structural change that will be brought about by co-discussion and global co-operation and set the agenda for future change. [i] Early bird registration is available until 7th September 2022 [ii] To benefit from the student rate, you will need to submit evidence of your student status. [iii] To benefit from the LIC and LMIC rates, you will need to submit evidence that you are resident in one of these countries (as classified by the World Bank). SOURCE RGHI July 28th Groundbreaking Ceremony Celebrated Innovative Partnership between SDS Supportive Housing Fund, RMG Housing and Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Los Angeles Private capital investment & resident support services to provide quality Permanent Supportive Housing LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the clergy and congregation of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Bethel A.M.E) joined SDS Capital Group's Founder & CEO Deborah La Franchi, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles District 8 City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Congressmember Karen Bass, CEO of RMG Housing Tim Roth, Managing Partner of LOGOS Faith Development LLC Pastor Martin C. Porter, and Executive Director of Homeless Health Care Los Angeles (HHCLA) Mark Casanova, for the groundbreaking ceremony of Bethel Manor Apartments, a 53-unit permanent supportive housing (PSH) project to be built using $11.3M in private-sector funding from the SDS Supportive Housing Fund. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Pastor Kelvin T. Calloway, Sr. Pastor, Bethel A.M.E. Church, Los Angeles, Congressmember Karen Bass (District 37) and Deborah La Franchi, SDS Capital Group Founder & CEO participated in a ceremonial groundbreaking on the latest SDS $150M Supportive Housing Fund (SDS) private capital investment. SHF and RMG Housing are collaborating with Bethel A.M.E. Church to build 53 units of permanent supportive housing church-owned property. Credit | Tim Berger The $150M SDS Supportive Housing Fund (SHF or Fund) is a new high-speed, low-cost financing model developed by SDS Capital Group to fund RMG Housing's PSH developments for people experiencing homelessness. The model uses zero taxpayer dollars for land acquisition or construction . The Bethel Manor Apartments site is being ground leased from the Church in a unique partnership that generates revenue for Bethel A.M.E while furthering their mission of serving community members in need. "We are proud to be the financial partner supporting the construction of this project with Bethel A.M.E," said Deborah La Franchi, Founder & CEO, SDS Capital Group. "This new partnership will provide accessible permanent supportive housing here in Los Angeles for our neighbors who are living on the streets." The private capital funding model allows for quicker closes and for new construction to be developed at significantly lower costs than most other PSH developments. "We're excited to be working with Bethel A.M.E., a partner committed to helping individuals experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles," said Tim Roth, CEO of RMG Housing. The SDS Supportive Housing Fund is on track to finance 30 projects for a total of 1,800 units of permanent supportive housing, mostly in the Los Angeles area. The Fund has financed eight PSH projects to date (seven in Los Angeles and one in the Bay Area) for a combined total of 438 units of PSH. Full Press Release CONTACT: Sybil MacDonald Marketing & Communications [email protected] Tel: 323.376.896 SOURCE SDS Capital Group BEIJING, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Since ancient times, the Chinese have seen twelve animals as auspicious symbols for each year within a twelve-year cycle to express aspirations for a better life in a new year. Eventually the Chinese zodiac culture took shape. This folk custom has spread around the world, and many countries and regions now issue stamps during the Chinese New Year to send New Year blessings, and the Chinese zodiac is increasingly recognized by people around the world as an iconic Chinese cultural symbol. 2023 Global Zodiac Design Competition Launched On July 29, the launch ceremony of the 2023 Global Zodiac Design Competition(Guimao Year of the Rabbit) was held at Yuanmingyuan Park in Haidian District, Beijing. The competition is jointly hosted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and Central Academy of Fine Arts to make the Chinese zodiac culture more widely known in the world. This annual competition solicits zodiac designs from home and abroad to select the theme images for the next year's zodiac sign. Aiming to widen the spread Chinese zodiac culture and Chinese New Year culture, the competition injects vitality and visibility to the traditional zodiac by means of creative designing to facilitate cultural exchanges at home and abroad. The year 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit in the lunar calendar, also called the year of Guimao. The vibrant and lovely rabbit image wins over people's hearts in many countries and regions around the world. Following its previous specifications and requirements, the competition this time sets up several units such as graphic design, merchandise design and Yuanmingyuan-themed design. Participants may visit the competition website (http://zodiac_design_competition.bocec.cn) for specific information and to sign up for the competition. Competition results will be unveiled in early November 2022, and the winning works will be presented via offline exhibitions, online virtual exhibitions, thematic activities and media promotion, along with commercialization of creative merchandise. The competition serves as a window into the long-lasting and renewing vitality of the traditional Chinese zodiac culture, which also advances with the times. At the launch ceremony, experts and scholars from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Central Academy of Fine Arts, among other universities, renowned designers and representatives of creative industries, and personnel from organizers discussed the inheritance and innovation of Chinese zodiac culture. This event is also one of the series of Haidian Cultural Salon activities. It was convened by Cao Jinsong, director of Beijing Haidian Cultural Development and Promotion Center, and chaired by Li Xiangyang, Deputy director of Beijing Haidian Yuanmingyuan Administration Office. The competition organizer is Beijing Overseas Cultural Exchanges Center, Collaborative Innovation Office of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Studies Center for Yuanmingyuan of Central Academy of Fine Arts, and co-organizers are Beijing Haidian District Yuanmingyuan Administrative Office, Beijing Haidian District Cultural Development and Promotion Center, and Beijing Beforewind Brand Management Consultancy Co., Ltd. SOURCE Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and Central Academy of Fine Arts NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As per Zion Market Research study, The global smart hospitals market size was worth USD 23.10 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow to USD 84.33 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 24.10 percent over the forecast period. Smart Hospitals Market: Overview Smart hospitals are those that use cutting-edge equipment, software, and digital infrastructure to lighten patient loads, cut costs, and improve operational effectiveness. The emergence of IoT technologies in healthcare and the expanding need for high-quality medical services are propelling the market's expansion. The number of individuals suffering from diseases has increased as a result of a sedentary lifestyle and deteriorating ecosystems. The infrastructure of the healthcare system is under strain as a result of the rising number of sick people who must be treated while also lowering treatment costs. Hospitals are being encouraged to adopt cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, precision medicine, augmented reality, and genomics, among others, as a result of the transition from traditional drugs and therapeutics to patient-centered medical treatments for better clinical outcomes and quality care. By utilizing eco-friendly flooring, paints, furnishings, and furnishing, smart hospitals are also built to minimize pollutants and their negative environmental effects. Get a Free Sample Report with All Related Graphs & Charts (with COVID 19 Impact Analysis): https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/smart-hospitals-market Our Free Sample Report Includes: 2022 Updated Report Introduction, Overview, and In-depth industry analysis COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak Impact Analysis Included 255 + Pages Research Report (Inclusion of Updated Research) Provide Chapter-wise guidance on Request 2022 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share & Trends Includes an Updated List of tables & figures Updated Report Includes Top Market Players with their Business Strategy, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis Zion Market Research methodology Key Industry Insights & Findings of the Smart Hospitals Market Reports: As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the Smart Hospitals Market is expected to grow annually at a CAGR of around 24.10 % (2022-2028). (2022-2028). Through the primary research, it was established that the Smart Hospitals Market was valued at approximately USD 23.10 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach roughly USD 84.38 billion by 2028. billion in 2021 and is projected to reach roughly billion by 2028. Healthcare infrastructure, rising acceptance of new technologies, use of artificial intelligence software, growth in healthcare spending, and the spike in expenditures in cutting-edge smart hospitals, North America dominates the market for smart hospitals. dominates the market for smart hospitals. Asia Pacific is expected to have rapid expansion over the next years as a result of growing digital technology and healthcare infrastructure that will provide affordable healthcare to the region's low- and middle-income population. is expected to have rapid expansion over the next years as a result of growing digital technology and healthcare infrastructure that will provide affordable healthcare to the region's low- and middle-income population. According to the business, over 55% of healthcare professionals working in France , Germany , the United Kingdom , and the United States are ignorant of the different smart hospital technologies that pharmaceutical companies are offering. , , the , and are ignorant of the different smart hospital technologies that pharmaceutical companies are offering. The market for smart hospitals is being pushed by technical advancements like machine learning, cloud-based services, artificial intelligence, and big data. COVID-19 has changed the global healthcare landscape, and as a result, there has been a significant shift in desire for technology-driven healthcare, which has fueled the growth of the global smart hospitals market. Zion Market Research published the latest report titled "Smart Hospitals Market By Component (Hardware, System & Software, Services), By Product (Smart Pills, M Health, Telemedicine, Electronic Health Record), By Connectivity (Wired, Wireless), By Application (Remote Medicine Management, Medical Assistance, Medical Connected Imaging, Electronic Health Record & Clinical Workflow, Others), and By Region - Global and Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, and Forecasts 2022 2028." into their research database. Industry Dynamics: Smart Hospitals Market: Growth Drivers An Increase in healthcare technological advancements to drive market growth. Over the past ten years, the field of digital health has grown as more and more healthcare authorities look to technological innovations for answers to challenging market issues. Including all other expanding industries, the market for smart hospitals is being pushed by technical advancements like machine learning, cloud-based services, artificial intelligence, and big data. COVID-19 has changed the global healthcare landscape, and as a result, there has been a significant shift in desire for technology-driven healthcare, which has fueled the growth of the global smart hospitals market. Smart Hospitals Market: Restraints Lack of awareness for smart healthcare products to hinder the market growth. The lack of awareness for smart healthcare products to hinder the global market growth in the coming years. GE Healthcare and other medical device companies offer adherence programs, remote monitoring services, and other smart patient services. Still, Accenture, a multinational American Irish corporation that sells consulting and processing services, claims that healthcare professionals are not aware of these services. According to the business, over 55% of healthcare professionals working in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States are ignorant of the different smart hospital technologies that pharmaceutical companies are offering. Directly Purchase a Copy of the Report @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/buynow/su/smart-hospitals-market Smart Hospitals Market: Opportunity Government funding and interest in digital healthcare infrastructure to present market opportunities. The healthcare sector has enormous potential for using new technologies, notably in terms of reducing operational efficiency, improving the quality of service, and increasing patient participation. Additionally, the expansion of government assistance and spending in the healthcare industry, particularly in emerging nations, generates profitable potential pockets in the market. Global Smart Hospitals Market: Segmentation The global smart hospitals market has been segmented into components, products, connectivity, applications. Based on component, the hardware, system & software, and service are segments of the global smart hospitals market. Due to technological breakthroughs like the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, electronic health records, and robotic technology to create smart hospitals, the systems & software segment for these facilities accounted for a sizeable market share. However, due to the rapid adoption of technologically advanced goods like the Hybrid Operating Room, the hardware category is expected to increase significantly over the projected period. To continue to lead the global market, players concentrate on providing cutting-edge healthcare services and innovating with hardware launches. Based on product, the market is classified into smart pills, m health, telemedicine, and electronic health record. In 2021, the electronic health record category dominated the global market. Based on connectivity, the market is classified into wired and wireless. The wired segment dominated the market in 2021. Based on application, the worldwide smart hospital market is segmented into remote medicine management, outpatient surveillance, electronic health records & clinical workflow, and others based on application type. The clinical workflow & electronic health records are anticipated to have the highest share in this market. Access to patient records is made possible via the Electronic Health Record & Clinical Workflow, which also makes it possible for patients and clinics to securely share electronic data. The electronic health record (EHR) systems maintain a digital copy of the patient's medical history, which includes all essential administrative information connected to their care, such as prescriptions, progress notes, vital signs, laboratory results, and others. The capacity of clinicians to make judgments quickly and accurately, thanks to the availability of patient medical data, improves patient care. The growing requirement to incorporate individuals' medical histories for better treatment options is likely to drive the segment expansion. Get More Insight before [email protected]: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/smart-hospitals-market List of Key Players in Smart Hospitals Market: Alphabet Inc. (Google Inc.) Enlitic Inc. Intel Corporation GE healthcare General Vision Microsoft Corporation Nvidia Corporation Next IT Corp. Welltok Inc. Key questions answered in this report: What are the growth rate forecast and market size for Smart Hospitals Market? What are the key driving factors propelling the Smart Hospitals Market forward? What are the most important companies in the Smart Hospitals Market Industry? What segments does the Smart Hospitals Market cover? How can I receive a free copy of the Smart Hospitals Market sample report and company profiles? Report Scope: Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2021 USD 23.10 Billion Revenue forecast in 2028 USD 84.38 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 24.10 % 2022-2028 Base Year 2020 Historic Years 2016 2021 Forecast Years 2022 2028 Segments Covered By Product Type, By Application, And By End Use Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2022 to 2028 Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, and Rest of World Countries Covered U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, GCC Countries, and South Africa, among others Companies Covered Alphabet Inc. (Google Inc.), Enlitic Inc., Intel Corporation, GE healthcare, General Vision, Microsoft Corporation, Nvidia Corporation, Next IT Corp., and Welltok Inc. Report Coverage Market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, Porter's five forces analysis, PEST analysis, value chain analysis, regulatory landscape, market attractiveness analysis by segments and region, company market share analysis, and COVID-19 impact analysis. Customization Scope Avail of customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs. https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/custom/5956 Free Brochure: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/requestbrochure/smart-hospitals-market Recent Developments August 2020 : The Indian government has begun a project to establish health ID cards for residents all throughout the country as part of the National Digital Health Blueprint, which aims to use technology to enhance healthcare delivery throughout the country which will enhance the smart hospitals market growth in the country. : The Indian government has begun a project to establish health ID cards for residents all throughout the country as part of the National Digital Health Blueprint, which aims to use technology to enhance healthcare delivery throughout the country which will enhance the smart hospitals market growth in the country. September 2020 : Patients utilizing Science 37's technological platform may now link their health records directly, removing the need for paper documentation and expediting information exchange across platforms. Science 37 is a clinical research company with U.S. headquarters. Regional Dominance: North America dominated the smart hospitals market in 2021. Due to its existing healthcare infrastructure, rising acceptance of new technologies, use of artificial intelligence software, growth in healthcare spending, and the spike in expenditures in cutting-edge smart hospitals, North America dominates the market for smart hospitals. However, the Asia Pacific is expected to have rapid expansion over the next years as a result of growing digital technology and healthcare infrastructure that will provide affordable healthcare to the region's low- and middle-income population. Furthermore, due to inorganic growth tactics, including partnerships and agreements, Europe is predicted to have considerable growth in the worldwide market for smart hospitals throughout the forecast period. Global Smart Hospitals Market is segmented as follows: Smart Hospitals Market: By Component Outlook (2022-2028) Hardware System & Software Services Smart Hospitals Market: By Product Outlook (2022-2028) Smart Pills M Health Telemedicine Electronic Health Record Smart Hospitals Market: By Connectivity Outlook (2022-2028) Wired Wireless Smart Hospitals Market: By Application Outlook (2022-2028) Remote Medicine Management Medical Assistance Medical Connected Imaging Electronic Health Record & Clinical Workflow Others Smart Hospitals Market: By Region Outlook (2022-2028) North America The U.S. Canada Europe France The UK Spain Germany Italy Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea Southeast Asia Rest of Asia Pacific Latin America Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America Middle East & Africa GCC South Africa Rest of Middle East & Africa Press Release For Smart Hospitals Market: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/news/global-smart-hospitals-market Browse Other Related Research Reports from Zion Market Research Women's Health App Market - Global Industry Analysis : The global women's health app market size was worth USD 2,316.50 million in 2021 and is estimated to grow to USD 6611.54 million by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 19.10% over the forecast period. global women's health app market size was worth in 2021 and is estimated to grow to by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 19.10% over the forecast period. 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Contact Us: Zion Market Research 244 Fifth Avenue, Suite N202 New York, 10001, United States Tel: +49-322 210 92714 USA/Canada Toll-Free No.1-855-465-4651 Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1605489/Zion_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Zion Market Research LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The year 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of Aqua's debut album 'Aquarium' and iconic global hit 'Barbie Girl'. This will be celebrated and marked by an exclusive re-release of the album on September 9th via Universal Music Enterprises. 'Barbie Girl' was released as a part of their ground-breaking debut album 'Aquarium' in 1997, the hit made everyone sing along to the lines "I'm a Barbie Girl, in the Barbie World," while it also catapulted Aqua into the public consciousness. Aquarium by Aqua - Cover Art Not only did the group gain attention for their iconic music, but their cartoonish universe with blue hair, spikes, and wild outfits also made them a true symbol of the late 90s. Having sold 33 million albums and gained worldwide attention, Aqua stands as a one-of-a-kind moment in Danish music history worth celebrating. PRE-ORDER LINK TRACK LIST: Happy Boys & Girls My Oh My Barbie Girl Good Morning Sunshine Doctor Jones Heat Of The Night Be A Man Lollipop (Candyman) Roses Are Red Turn Back Time Calling You Didn't I Media Contact: James Boss [email protected] SOURCE Universal Music Enterprises Speakers include Chobani Founder & CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, Representative Michael McCaul, Representative Jason Crow, and leaders from the Tent Partnership for Refugees, Razom, and Save the Children NEW BERLIN, N.Y., July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As one of most significant humanitarian crises of our time continues to unfold, Chobani announced today that it will host the World Refugee Forum on Wednesday, August 10th to bring together leaders who are pushing for stronger government policies, as well as providing humanitarian support and employment pathways for refugees in the U.S. and abroad. The forum will take place as the world prepares to mark one year since the U.S. announced the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and six months into the Russian war on Ukraine. As such, discussions will focus on the dire situations for Afghans and Ukrainians alike, as well as the overall challenges confronting refugees around the globe. The Chobani World Refugee Forum will be held on August 10 at 1:00 PM eastern standard time and is open to the public. "I have worked alongside my refugee brothers and sisters for many years, and they are a testament to the power of the human spirit," said Chobani Founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya. "I am grateful that so many people are now paying attention to the refugee crisis, and we cannot let this moment pass without change. It is critical that we make sure our words translate into action, and that we work together on concrete solutions." Hosted by Chobani, advocates, policymakers, and humanitarian agencies will discuss the social, political, and economic challenges facing refugees today, and the larger implications such as the global food crisis. With this forum, Chobani intends to inspire companies to hire refugees and generate support for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide much-needed humanitarian relief. Speakers so far include: Hamdi Ulukaya , Founder & CEO, Chobani; Founder, Tent Partnership for Refugees , Founder & CEO, Chobani; Founder, Tent Partnership for Refugees Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX) (R-TX) Representative Jason Crow (D-CO) (D-CO) Jay Collins , Vice Chairman, Citi; Tent Partnership for Refugees Advisory Council; Save the Children Trustee , Vice Chairman, Citi; Tent Partnership for Refugees Advisory Council; Save the Children Trustee Dora Chomiak , President, Razom This virtual event will be held on August 10 at 1:00 PM eastern standard time and is free and open to the public. To register and learn more about the World Refugee Forum, visit www.chobanirefugeeforum.com. Additional speakers will be announced in the coming days. Chobani has a long history of hiring refugees, starting in the company's earliest days when Ulukaya heard refugees resettled in Utica, New York and hired them to work in the nearby plant. Today, Chobani employees are from numerous backgrounds and lived experiences, including people from Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, Somalia, and Bhutan who escaped violent and difficult experiences in their home countries and resettled in places like upstate New York and Idaho. Chobani recently partnered with UNSTUCK to launch Vanilla Greek Yogurt Tropical Fruit on the Bottom, which is crafted with fruit sourced from suppliers committed to employing refugees. Ulukaya has inspired countless people, companies, and organizations to follow his lead in hiring refugees and helping them to integrate into new communities. Ulukaya's work in support of refugees has taken him to Colombia, Jordan, Italy, and Poland. His personal foundation, the Tent Partnership for Refugeesa global business network of 250 major companiesworks with companies to advance the economic integration of refugees, especially by hiring and training them. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Chobani has worked closely with non-profit partners such as Razom, Save the Children, and The Center for Refugees in Utica, New York to address the needs on the ground and to assist with preparations for Ukrainian refugees resettling in the U.S. Ulukaya also visited the Ukraine-Poland border with Tent and UNHCR in April. About Chobani Chobani is a food maker with a mission of making high-quality and nutritious food accessible to more people, while elevating our communities and making the world a healthier place. In short: making good food for all. In support of this mission, we are a values-driven, people-first, food-and-wellness-focused company, and have been since Hamdi Ulukaya, an immigrant to the U.S., founded the company in 2005. We produce yogurt, oatmilk, dairy- and plant-based creamers, ready-to-drink coffee and plant-based probiotic drinks. Chobani yogurt is America's No.1 yogurt brand, and it's made with only natural ingredients without artificial preservatives. Chobani uses food as a force for good in the world putting humanity first in everything we do. Our philanthropic efforts prioritize giving back to our communities and beyond: working to eradicate child hunger, supporting immigrants, refugees and underrepresented people, honoring veterans, and protecting the planet. We manufacture our products in New York, Idaho, and Australia. Chobani products are available throughout North America and distributed in Australia and other select markets. For more information, please visit www.chobani.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. SOURCE Chobani, Inc. Other Group Participants Included Mayor Kevin Burns of Geneva, Illinois and Executives from the Will County Center for Economic Development, Hyzon, Invenergy, Intersect Illinois, The Lion Electric Company, and WorkNet DuPage AURORA, Ill., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ClearFlame Engine Technologies , an Illinois-based company empowering rapid decarbonization for global heavy-duty industry, announced today that company Co-Founder and CEO BJ Johnson participated earlier this week in a roundtable discussion hosted by U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Illinois Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) focused on sustainable domestic energy production. The meeting presented a unique opportunity for a group of industry, workforce, and policy experts to highlight the economic growth and job creation that are linked to an increase in the need for alternative sources of energy, as well as the adoption of new technologies in transportation and manufacturing. "I was proud to welcome Secretary Granholm to the 11th District, and I'm especially grateful she took the time to hear from innovative clean energy companies like ClearFlame about the investments they are making in advanced biofuel technologies and our Illinois communities. These investments will create good jobs and allow us to realize the benefits of the cutting-edge energy research that happens at places like Argonne National Laboratory. Not only does this benefit our local economy, but if America is serious about decarbonization and cutting our dependence on foreign fossil fuels, it's important we support the work being done to research and commercialize new technologies like ClearFlame's that will make that possible," said Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11). BJ Johnson, ClearFlame's CEO and Co-Founder , said, "It was an honor to meet with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Congressman Bill Foster yesterday and wonderful to see our leaders embracing the need for science-based discussion and further scientific investment. Conversations like these that bring together innovative technologies and business leaders are incredibly important, as it's clear there is no silver bullet solution to climate change we need to work together and implement multiple solutions. Picking winners in advance will only slow down potential progress we need to encourage innovation and support various options to meet the different needs in different sectors and industries. As Secretary Granholm herself noted, it's only by embracing a variety of technologies will we be able to find real solutions to impact climate change." Johnson continued, "I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to share ClearFlame's technology at this forum, as we enable efficient and cost-effective decarbonization for the largest and heavily polluting diesel engines and we offer one of the fastest paths to scalability and commercialization. Thank you to Congressman Foster for the opportunity. We look forward to continuing to prove that the Midwest can lead the way on energy innovation, and we appreciate your leadership!" Held at the APS Training Academy, in Aurora Illinois, the meeting included: Nate Baguio , Senior Vice President of Commercial Development, The Lion Electric Co. , Senior Vice President of Commercial Development, The Lion Electric Co. Kevin Burns , Mayor, City of Geneva, Illinois and Chairman, Environment Committee and Energy Subcommittee, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Chicago . , Mayor, and Chairman, Environment Committee and Energy Subcommittee, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, . Parker Meeks , Chief Strategy Officer at Hyzon Motors , Chief Strategy Officer at Hyzon Motors Doug Pryor , President and CEO, Will County Center for Economic Development , President and CEO, Will County Center for Economic Development Dan Seals , CEO, Intersect Illinois , CEO, Intersect Illinois Lisa Schvach , Executive Director, WorkNet DuPage , Executive Director, WorkNet DuPage Jim Murphy , President and Corporate Business Leader, Invenergy , President and Corporate Business Leader, Invenergy Dr. Joe Cassidy , Assistant Vice President Economic Development, Dean Continuing Education and Public Services, College of DuPage About ClearFlame Engine Technologies At ClearFlame Engine Technologies, we're breaking the bond between the diesel engine and diesel fuel, accelerating the path to true emissions reduction for the heavy-duty and off-highway markets. Our technology meets global sustainability goals using decarbonized liquid fuels available throughout the world. Our technology lowers costs by negating the need for complex aftertreatment technologies without compromising the practicality or performance of traditional diesel engines. For more information, visit www.clearflame.com , and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter (@ClearFlameEng) . SOURCE ClearFlame Engine Technologies The Company's retail presence grows to 51 locations in the Sunshine State and 137 nationwide WAKEFIELD, Mass., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA /OTCQX: CURLF) ("Curaleaf" or the "Company"), a leading international provider of consumer cannabis products, announced today the opening of its Tampa Citrus Park dispensary, located at 10612 Sheldon Road, Tampa, FL 33626. Curaleaf Tampa Citrus Park expands the Company's retail presence to six locations in Hillsborough County and 51 across the Sunshine State. Located on Sheldon Road near Citrus Park, the 4,023 square foot location features a drive-thru that offers patients on-the-go access to the dispensary's wide array of offerings. Patients can access a premium selection of vaporizers, edibles, and whole flower products, including BlueKudu Chocolate, Select Squeeze, Select X-Bites, Select Elite, Elite Live and Live Rosin vape cartridges, as well as other concentrates by Curaleaf. "It is a pleasure to continue to expand access to medical cannabis in the Sunshine State, specifically Hillsborough County," said Matt Darin, CEO of Curaleaf. "Curaleaf Tampa Citrus Park is our ninth drive-thru in Florida, which enables our team to provide a more convenient and streamlined retail cannabis experience." For more information on Curaleaf Tampa Citrus Park grand openings, along with product offerings and hours of operation, please visit https://curaleaf.com/locations#florida . About Curaleaf Holdings Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) ("Curaleaf") is a leading international provider of consumer products in cannabis with a mission to improve lives by providing clarity around cannabis and confidence around consumption. As a high-growth cannabis company known for quality, expertise and reliability, the Company and its brands, including Curaleaf and Select, provide industry-leading service, product selection and accessibility across the medical and adult-use markets. In the United States, Curaleaf currently operates in 22 states with 137 dispensaries, 26 cultivation sites, and employs over 5,700 team members. Curaleaf International is the largest vertically integrated cannabis company in Europe with a unique supply and distribution network throughout the European market, bringing together pioneering science and research with cutting-edge cultivation, extraction and production. Curaleaf is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol CURA and trades on the OTCQX market under the symbol CURLF. For more information, please visit https://ir.curaleaf.com . FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This media advisory contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forwardlooking statements or information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or, "proposed", "is expected", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forwardlooking statements and information concerning the opening of Curaleaf Tampa Citrus Park. Such forward-looking statements and information reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the company with respect to the matter described in this new release. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which are based on current expectations as of the date of this release and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Additional information about these assumptions and risks and uncertainties is contained under "Risk Factors and Uncertainties" in the Company's latest annual information form filed March 9, 2022, which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at http://www.sedar.com, and in other filings that the Company has made and may make with applicable securities authorities in the future. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made only as to the date of this press release and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. We caution investors not to place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release. INVESTOR CONTACT Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. [email protected] MEDIA CONTACTS Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. Tracy Brady, SVP Corporate Communications [email protected] SOURCE Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FTX Exchange FZE, today announced that it has received approval to enter Dubai's 'Minimum Viable Product' (MVP) programme for Virtual Assets under the world's only specialist regime for this sector operated by the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). As a subsidiary of FTX Europe, FTX Exchange FZE (FTX) becomes the first Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) to receive this MVP licence to operate its Virtual Asset (VA) Exchange and Clearing House services in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Earlier this year, FTX became the first fully regulated Exchange to receive a provisional licence and ready itself to trial complex crypto derivatives dedicated to professional institutional investors in the UAE. Having successfully concluded VARA's rigorous regulatory evaluation, it has now been fully approved to transition to an operational MVP licence, enabling the Company's VA Exchange to deploy regulated crypto derivatives products, and trading services to Qualified Institutional Investors across the region. In addition, the VARA MVP Licence also grants FTX permission to act as a Clearing House, operate an NFT Marketplace, and provide Custodial Services under tightly prescribed parameters for specific class of consumers - assuring strong guardrails for market protection and economic security. H.E. Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai World Trade Centre Authority that houses VARA said, "We are pleased to onboard FTX as the first VASP to enter the operational phase of the VARA MVP Programme. VARA's operating model, based on our unique test-scale-adapt principle designed for secure and sustainable growth, is reflective of Dubai's commitment to creating a globally interoperable model for the 'future economy'. The MVP Phase, exclusive to select, responsible international players like FTX, will allow VARA to prudently structure guidelines and risk mitigation levers for secure commercial operations. We look forward to FTX's active participation in this next stage of collaborative global VA innovation". FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, commented on the news, "The approval for FTX to receive the first MVP VASP licence from Dubai's prudential supervision regime to fully operate our exchange is a tremendous honor and landmark achievement for our team. Our mission is to lead the way in growing the digital asset industry in countries and jurisdictions that possess a robust digital asset framework." With VARA's letter of approval, FTX FZE Exchange will operate under a model which has rigorous regulatory oversight and mandatory FATF compliance controls that are in line with the requirements of Tier 1 international financial markets. Patrick Gruhn, Head of FTX Europe, adds, "Over the last several months, we at FTX Europe have been working alongside regulators to secure the first official VASP-MVP licence to operate in the UAE region. The approval from Dubai's VARA is yet another milestone for FTX Europe, and we look forward to expanding our presence within the Dubai, UAE and MENA regions as a result." Mohammad Hans Dastmaltchi, Chairman of the Board of FTX Exchange FZE, adds, "We are honored to be the inaugural MVP licence holder of the esteemed VARA Ecosystem. We are grateful and obliged to have our operating licence. This would not have been possible without the progressive business environment in Dubai, the thorough and trustworthy regulatory guidelines provided by VARA, and the outstanding support from their team. We are motivated and committed to being a constructive and responsible participant in the VARA ecosystem and looking forward to growing and strengthening our regional office in Dubai". About FTX Exchange FZE FTX Exchange FZE is a subsidiary of FTX Europe and the Middle East division of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange built by traders, for traders. Through FTX Exchange FZE, users in the Middle East will soon be able to access FTX's innovative products, including industry-leading derivatives, options and volatility products, tokenized stocks, and other services and products. About FTX.COM FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange built by traders, for traders. It offers innovative products, including industry-leading derivatives, options and volatility products, tokenized stocks, prediction markets, leveraged tokens and an OTC desk. FTX strives to be an intuitive yet powerful platform for all kinds of users, and to be the most innovative exchange in the industry. To learn more about FTX.COM, please visit: https://ftx.com FTX.COM is not available to US residents or residents of other prohibited jurisdictions, as set out in its Terms of Service. About VARA Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority [VARA] is the world's first specialised regulator for the Virtual Assets sector. Established in March 2022, following the effect of Law No.4 of 2022, VARA is responsible by decree for licensing and regulating the Virtual Asset sector in the Emirate of Dubai and its free zone territories [excluding DIFC], and oversees all licensing requirements and applications for authorisation of Virtual Asset activities under UAE law. VARA plays a central role in creating Dubai's advanced legal framework to protect investors and establish international standards for Virtual Asset industry governance, while supporting the vision for a borderless economy. Media Contact Jay Morakis M Group Strategic Communications (on behalf of FTX) +1 646 859 5951 [email protected] SOURCE FTX Exchange FZE In-person learning market is expected to grow by 2028 due to the growing expenditure on pursuing quality education. Cram school sub-segment is predicted to have the highest market share. Market in Asia-Pacific to be the fastest growing. NEW YORK , July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Research Dive has added a new report to its offering titled, "In-person Learning Market by Course Type (Academics, Arts, Sports, and Other Courses), Application (Cram School and At-home Teaching), End-user (Pre-school Children, Middle School Students, High School Students, and College Students), and Regional Analysis (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212028". As per the report, the global in-person learning market is predicted to grow at a tremendous CAGR of 10.3% in the 2021-2028 timeframe, thereby garnering $38,220.5 million by 2028. Dynamics of the In-Person Learning Market: Drivers: In-person learning has many associated benefits such as development of interpersonal skills, provision of hands-on learning, better academic performance, etc. These benefits are expected to be the leading factors behind the growth of the in-person learning market in the 2021-2028 timeframe. Along with this, growing expenditure on opting for quality education is also predicted to boost the market in the forecast years. Opportunities: Since the last few years, governments in various countries across the world have started investing heavily in the education sector, so as to enhance the level of education in their respective countries. As a result, many governments have come up with several initiatives to educate the rural populations, which is expected to offer huge growth opportunities to the in-person learning market. Moreover, the benefits associated with in-person learning, such as overall cognitive development of students, is also anticipated to boost the market in coming years. Click Here! To Download a PDF Sample of the In-person Learning Market Restraints: Growing popularity of online learning, however, may dampen the growth rate of the in-person learning market. Impact of Covid-19 on the In-Person Learning Market: The Covid-19 pandemic, since its outbreak, has been disastrous for industries and businesses across the globe. This was mainly due to the lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed by governments of different countries across the world, in order to curb the spread of the virus. The in-person learning market is among the worst hit industries during the pandemic. The main reason behind this negative impact is obviously the lockdowns which have restricted the entry of students and teachers in school and colleges, thereby leading to their virtual closure. Along with this, shift to online education has further worsened the situation for the market. Get in touch with an Expert Analyst for Post COVID-19 Impact on In-person Learning Market Segments of the In-Person Learning Market: The report has divided the in-person learning market into different segments based on course type, application, end-user, and region. By course type, the academics in-person learning sub-segment is predicted to have a dominant market share and is expected to garner a substantial revenue of $25,323.0 million by 2028 . The rising investments in in-person learning methodologies, especially from countries like China and India , so as to educate the rural population is expected to be the primary reason behind the growth of this sub-segment. . The rising investments in in-person learning methodologies, especially from countries like and , so as to educate the rural population is expected to be the primary reason behind the growth of this sub-segment. By application, the cram school sub-segment is anticipated to generate the maximum revenue of $30,797.0 million by 2028 , thereby becoming the most lucrative sub-segment. Growing disposable incomes in countries like India and China , and parents increasingly saving for their children's education are predicted to be the two main factors behind this sub-segment's growth. , thereby becoming the most lucrative sub-segment. Growing disposable incomes in countries like and , and parents increasingly saving for their children's education are predicted to be the two main factors behind this sub-segment's growth. By end-user, the high school students' sub-segment of the in-person learning market is expected to have the highest market share and g arner a revenue of $13,865.8 million by 2028 . Extra spending by families across the world to educate children so as to facilitate their physical, emotional, social, and academic development is anticipated to be the primary growth driver of this sub-segment. . Extra spending by families across the world to educate children so as to facilitate their physical, emotional, social, and academic development is anticipated to be the primary growth driver of this sub-segment. By regional analysis, the in-person learning market in Asia-Pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing as well as the most dominant sub-segment with a CAGR of 11.0%. The ever-growing demand for in-person learning coupled with various government initiatives are expected to boost the growth of this sub-segment in forecast years. Granular Research on Specific Segments or Regions of In-person Learning Market & Avail of Amazing Discount* Significant In-Person Learning Market Players: The significant market players of the in-person learning market are ISACA Sylvan Learning, LLC Wyzant, Inc. Kaplan, Inc. INSEAD British Study Centers Triumphant Institute of Management Education Pvt. Ltd Vibrant Academy All A's Tuition ITS Education Asia. among others. These key market players are developing different strategies like product development, merger and acquisitions, partnerships and collaborations to gain a leading position in the market. Inquire here before buying the full report For instance, Microsoft, the world's leading technology company, in September 2021, announced the acquisition of TakeLessons, an online and in-person learning platform. The need to cater the growing demand for quality education has led to this acquisition by Microsoft. It will help the technology giant to enlarge its customer base substantially. The Research Dive report also summarizes many crucial aspects of the market including SWOT analysis, latest strategic developments, financial performance of the key players, and product portfolio. More about In-Person Learning Market: Some Trending Article Links: The global cleaning services market is estimated to generate a revenue of $462,476.8 million by 2028, increasing from $201,023.4 million in 2020, at a noteworthy CAGR of 11.5%. The global party supplies market is anticipated to garner $21,352.9 million in the 20212028 timeframe, growing from $10,096.5 million in 2020 at a healthy CAGR of 8.2%. Global commuter road bike helmets market is anticipated to grow at a good CAGR in the forecast period of 20212028 About Research Dive Research Dive is a market research firm based in Pune, India. Maintaining the integrity and authenticity of the services, the firm provides the services that are solely based on its exclusive data model, compelled by the 360-degree research methodology, which guarantees comprehensive and accurate analysis. With an unprecedented access to several paid data resources, team of expert researchers, and strict work ethic, the firm offers insights that are extremely precise and reliable. Scrutinizing relevant news releases, government publications, decades of trade data, and technical & white papers, Research dive deliver the required services to its clients well within the required timeframe. Its expertise is focused on examining niche markets, targeting its major driving factors, and spotting threatening hindrances. Complementarily, it also has a seamless collaboration with the major industry aficionado that further offers its research an edge. Contact: Mr. Abhishek Paliwal Research Dive 30 Wall St. 8th Floor, New York NY 10005 (P) +91-(788)-802-9103 (India) +1-(917)-444-1262 (US) Toll Free: 1-888-961-4454 E-mail: [email protected] Website: https://www.researchdive.com Blog: https://www.researchdive.com/blog/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/research-dive/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ResearchDive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Research-Dive-1385542314927521 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/997523/Research_Dive_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research Dive DUBLIN, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Microbiome Therapeutics Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Target Therapies, Region (10 Countries), and Competitive Landscape - Analysis and Forecast, 2022-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global microbiome therapeutics market which accounted for $306.3 million in 2021 is expected to reach $3,204 million by 2032, reporting a CAGR of 24.95% during the forecast period 2022-2032. Microbiome therapeutics have drawn significant attention from the medical community with their potential to address the existing unmet need of various clinical conditions. The existing microbiome therapeutics market is favored by multiple factors, including the rising geriatric populations coupled with the increasing adoption of inorganic growth strategies by key players in the market. How Can This Report Add Value to an Organization? Product/Innovation Strategy: The report provides an exhaustive list of pipeline products which are currently in the development along with their developmental details in various indications. This can help organizations in understanding the research activities, which is the promising indication to pursue or which organization has the potential product to enter first into the market as well it can help the organization to assess where should they place themselves in order to get maximum benefit. Growth/Marketing Strategy: In addition to pursuing research on exploring the benefits of microbiome therapeutics for new indications, companies are evaluating next-generation-probiotics (NGPs) to address clinical conditions. Looking at the storage issues of microbiome therapeutics, companies are exploring extracellular vesicles as an alternative option. Furthermore, companies are working on increasing consumer awareness about Microbiome therapeutics and its potential benefits of being natural product containing live microorganism derived from human body as well as pursuing synergistic activities to bring an effective microbiome therapeutics for the affected population. Competitive Strategy: Key players in the global microbiome therapeutics market were analyzed and profiled in the study, who are developing products containing live biotherapeutic products (LBPs), fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as well as next-generation-probiotics (NGPs). Moreover, a detailed competitive benchmarking of the players operating in the global microbiome therapeutics market has been done to help the reader understand how players stand against each other, presenting a clear market landscape. Additionally, comprehensive competitive strategies such as partnerships, agreements, and collaborations will aid the reader in understanding the untapped revenue pockets in the market. Impact of COVID-19 There were numerous consequences due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially because of the reduced access to care for other illnesses. As the number of individuals becoming ill from COVID-19 kept increasing and for the protection of healthy individuals from being affected by the disease, all non-urgent healthcare facilities were suspended as per respective government directives. Even though these measures were necessary, it had mostly negative impact on the Global microbiome therapeutics market. Some the major impacts were; interruption of key clinical trial activities, modification of clinical trial guidelines bringing in additional safety measures, and delay in regulatory agencies' review and approval timeline. Market Segmentation: This segmentation highlights value propositions and business models useful for industry leaders and stakeholders. The research also comprises country-level analysis, go-to-market strategies of leading players, and future opportunities, among others, to detail the scope and provide a 360-coverage of the domain. Target Therapy Area Disorders related to gastrointestinal (GI) and skin disorders command a major share of the microbiome therapeutics segment, and is expected to continue during the forecast period. Most of the microbiome therapeutics in advanced development stage are indicated to treat C.diff. infection (CDI) and expected to enter the market first. The indications selected were on the basis of research intensity in the specific therapy area. Region Asia-Pacific (APAC) is expected to dominate the global microbiome therapeutics market for the forecast period 2022-2032 continuuing with it overall contribution of approximately 40% of the total market size in 2021 followed by Europe with 32.59%. Increasing healthcare expenditure, coupled with government initiatives, are among the leading factors contributing to the growth of the market. Demand - Drivers and Challenges Some of the potential drivers identified Growing Strategic Activities in Microbiome Therapeutics Segment Potential of Microbiome Therapeutics to Address Unmet Needs of Existing Treatment Options Microbiome Therapeutic Products as a Safer Alternative to Conventional Drug Treatments There are some challenges identified for the global microbiome therapeutics market are; Lack of standard regulatory guidelines and safety issues associated with live biotherapeutic products (LBPs). Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis The companies that are profiled have been selected based on inputs gathered from primary experts and analyzing company coverage, product portfolio, and market penetration. The top segment players leading the market include Sanofi S.A and Taisho Pharmaceutical Holding that capture around 88% of the market with Sanofi S.A holding 64.31% while Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings 24.49% respectively. Some of the prominent established names in this market are: 4D pharma plc Seres Therapeutics, Inc. Microbiotica Enterome Enterome Biosciences Destiny Pharma plc Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings AOBiome Therapeutics, Inc. Finch Therapeutics Group, Inc. Rebiotix Inc. (A Subsidiary of Ferring Pharmaceuticals) MaaT Pharma Vedanta Biosciences Inc. OxThera AB Pendulum Therapeutics Caelus Health Quorum Innovations Sanofi S.A. DermBiont, Inc. EnteroBiotix Ltd YSOPIA Bioscience Winclove Probiotics TargEDys Evelo Biosciences, Inc. BiomX Biomica Ltd. Scioto Biosciences, Inc. Lactobio A/S Key Topics Covered: 1 Market Definition 2 Research Scope 3 Research Methodology 4 Market Overview 4.1 Market Size and Future Growth Potential 4.2 Historical Trends 5 Industry Insights 5.1 Regulatory Landscape 5.1.1 Regulatory Requirements for Live Biotherapeutic Products (LBPs) 5.1.2 Quality Check of LBPs 5.1.3 FDA Approved Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) Quality Check Procedure 5.2 Patent Landscape 5.3 Partnership Landscape 5.4 Government Initiatives 5.5 Impact of COVID-19 on the Global Microbiome Therapeutics Market 5.5.1 Clinical Trial Disruptions and Resumptions 6 Market Dynamics 6.1 Market Drivers 6.1.1 Growing Strategic Activities in Microbiome Therapeutics Segment 6.1.2 Potential of Microbiome Therapeutics to Address Unmet Needs of Existing Treatment Options 6.1.3 Microbiome Therapeutic Products as a Safer Alternative to Conventional Drug Treatments 6.2 Market Restraints 6.2.1 Lack of Uniformed Standardized Regulatory Guidelines 6.2.2 Associated Safety Issues with LBPs 6.2.3 Storage Issues with Live Micro-Organisms 6.2.4 Challenges Associated with Manufacturing of LBPs 6.3 Market Opportunities 6.3.1 Need for Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) Certified Contract Manufacturing Facilities 6.3.2 Growing Disease Dimension 6.3.3 Entry of Major Players 7 Clinical Trial Landscape 7.1 Microbiome Therapeutics Pipeline Landscape 7.1.1 Competitive Landscaping 7.1.2 Pipeline Analysis 7.1.2.1 By Development Phase 7.1.2.2 By Route of Administration 7.1.2.3 By Type of Microbiome Strategy 7.1.2.4 By Indication 7.1.3 Emerging Microbiome Therapeutics Products 7.2 Probable Potential First Entrants to Global Microbiome Therapeutics Market/ Microbiome Therapeutics Clinical Trial Design 7.2.1 CP-101 (Finch Therapeutics Group, Inc.) 7.2.2 SER-109 (Seres Therapeutics, Inc.) 7.2.3 RBX-2660 (Rebiotix Inc.) 7.2.4 CH-106 (Caelus Health) 7.2.5 LACTIN-V (Osel Inc.) 7.2.6 MaaT013 (MaaT Pharma) 8 Competitive Insights 8.1 Key Strategies and Developments 8.2 Synergistic Activities 8.3 Product Launch and Regulatory Approvals 8.4 Funding and Investment 8.5 Mergers and Acquisitions 8.6 Market Share Analysis 8.7 Growth-Share Analysis (Opportunity Mapping) 8.7.1 By Region 8.7.2 By Company 9 Global Microbiome Therapeutics Market (by Target Therapy Area) 9.1 Overview 9.2 Gastrointestinal and Infectious Diseases 9.3 Skin Disorders 9.4 Cancer Indications 9.5 Other Indications 10 Global Microbiome Therapeutics Market (by Region) 10.1 Overview 10.2 North America 10.2.1 Overview 10.2.2 U.S. 10.2.3 Canada 10.3 Europe 10.3.1 Overview 10.3.2 France 10.3.3 Germany 10.3.4 Sweden 10.3.5 U.K. 10.3.6 Italy 10.3.7 Spain 10.3.8 Rest-of-Europe 10.4 Asia-Pacific (APAC) 10.4.1 Overview 10.4.2 Japan 10.4.3 Australia 10.4.4 China 10.4.5 India 10.4.6 Rest-of-Asia-Pacific 10.5 Rest-of-the-World 10.5.1 Overview 11 Competitive Benchmarking and Company Profiles For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2r8ukr Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets ATHENS, Greece, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Intracom Telecom, a global telecommunication systems and solutions vendor, announced the supply of its advanced 5th generation Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) platform, the WiBAS G5, at mmWave frequencies to Peoples Wireless, through Winncom Technologies, company's trusted networking solutions distributor in North America. More specifically, Peoples Wireless decided to start the deployment of Intracom Telecom's FWA technology, the WiBAS G5 evo-BS and WiBAS G5 Connect+, at the 24 GHz frequency band after extended field testing. The WiBAS G5 demonstrated outstanding reliability, excellent performance and leading capacity at long ranges, successfully addressing customer's expectations. This new generation of mmWave Point-to-MultiPoint radios will enable the Peoples Wireless network to better serve home and business subscribers. Keith Kindle, Director of Wireless Operations at Peoples Wireless, said: "We are constantly looking for new technologies to increase bandwidth to our customers in rural east Texas and help bridge the digital divide. The WiBAS product from Intracom Telecom has been a perfect fit to provide the much needed capacity that our customers demand and deserve." Mike Cook, Vice President of Business Development at Winncom Technologies, stated: "In support of our partnership with Peoples Wireless we are always in search of next generation technology solutions to provide diversity in network deployment options and the WiBAS G5 mmWave 24 GHz FWA solution has proven to be an ideal fit." Dharminder Chanana, CEO of Intracom Telecom's subsidiary in the USA, Conklin-Intracom, commented: "We are delighted that the partnership with Winncom Technologies is already proving to be fruitful and we are looking forward to our further expansion in North America. Our system's unrivalled capabilities, capacity and leading performance at very long distances will bring great value to Peoples. We are excited with their choice and strategic decision to invest in the 24 GHz band." About Peoples Wireless Peoples Wireless began offering fixed wireless broadband solutions in 2009. The parent company, Peoples Telephone Cooperative, has been providing telecommunication services in rural east Texas for over 70 years. The company embarked on a fixed wireless deployment to serve residents located in the unserved areas beyond the service footprint of the cooperative. Now serving across 13 counties with multiple fixed wireless technologies, the company is a leader in the east Texas region in deploying cutting edge technology and demonstrates a commitment to providing innovative solutions within the communities they serve. For more information, please visit: https://peoplescom.net About Winncom Technologies Winncom Technologies, global value-added distributor of wireless and wired broadband equipment offers the most advanced forms of communication by providing customers cutting-edge, industry-leading products and solutions. With a far-reaching international scope, Winncom remains at the forefront of the global technology marketplace, demonstrating a reputation for quality products, a full range of network infrastructure and access products, and a customer-centric business model. We offer one of the industry's most notable product portfolios along with scalable solutions, world-class customer service, engineering services, network design, and outstanding support. For more information, please visit: http://www.winncom.com About Intracom Telecom Intracom Telecom is a global telecommunication systems and solutions vendor operating for over 40 years in the market. The company has become the benchmark in fixed wireless access and it successfully innovates in the 5G/4G wireless RAN transport and small-cell SON backhaul international arena. Intracom Telecom offers a comprehensive revenue-generating software solutions portfolio and a complete range of ICT services, focusing on IoT, SDN/NFV, Big Data analytics & data-driven intelligence, and Smart City solutions. Moreover, it addresses the Energy & Utilities industry, emphasizing on smart metering and end-to-end IT solutions. Intracom Telecom is also active in the defense sector providing security integrated systems for critical infrastructure protection and border surveillance. The company has extensive know-how and a proven track record in the market, serving fixed and mobile telecom operators, public authorities and large public and private enterprises. Intracom Telecom maintains its own R&D and production facilities, and operates subsidiaries worldwide. For more information please visit: www.intracom-telecom.com SOURCE Intracom Telecom PHILADELPHIA, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rally House has experienced substantial growth in the Philadelphia market over the last year. This impressive expansion continues with Rally House Ivy Ridge, a new storefront situated barely north of downtown Philly for a prime location coming from any direction. Here, devoted fans and locals can explore everything from unique team gear and authentic jerseys to stylish local apparel and much more. This new location joins a broad roster of Rally House stores in Philadelphia, strengthening the connection between this nationally recognized retailer and area fans. "We're excited to announce our newest Rally House store opening in the Roxborough-Manayunk area of Philadelphia," says Store Manager Ben Williams. "Rally House Ivy Ridge is the ideal destination for diehard fans, as this store is a one-stop shop for local and team apparel. Come check this jawn out!" Fans looking to rep their team will have no trouble finding the gear they want at Rally House Ivy Ridge. Customers can browse merchandise for multiple pro and college teams, like the Eagles, Phillies, 76ers, Temple Owls, Penn State Nittany Lions, and many more. The best part is that all this team gear comes from respected and trusted brand names, including Nike, New Era, Mitchell & Ness, and '47. Philadelphia is home to a wide range of well-known themes and businesses that locals love supporting. Thankfully, Rally House Ivy Ridge offers an extensive selection of local apparel and merchandise for numerous Philly icons, such as the Philly Pretzel Factory, Corropolese Italian Bakery & Deli, and Rocky. Those visiting Rally House Ivy Ridge can expect nothing less than superb customer service and a welcoming shopping environment. For added convenience, there's also an array of merchandise that can be shipped to any state in stock online at www.rallyhouse.com. Patrons can visit www.rallyhouse.com/rally-house-ivy-ridge or follow Rally House Ivy Ridge on Facebook (@RallyIvyRidge) and Instagram (@rallyivyridge) for current store news and future updates. About Rally House Rally House and Sampler Stores Inc. is a family-owned specialty boutique that offers a large selection of apparel, hats, gifts and home decor representing local NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS teams in addition to locally inspired apparel, gifts and food. Proudly based in Lenexa, Kansas, Rally House operates 100+ locations across 13 states. CONTACT: Jessica Foca, District Manager [email protected] SOURCE Rally House NAPLES, Fla., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nuvus Gro Corp (OTC Pink: NUVG) Announces Name Change to Music Licensing, Inc. The Change comes ahead of the acquisition of Pro Music Rights, Inc. one of the world's largest music licensing companies Additional detailed information will be Disclosed via Regulatory filing(s) & Press Release(s) Nuvus Gro Corp (OTC Pink: NUVG) Announces Name Change to Music Licensing, Inc. Tweet this About Pro Music Rights, Inc. (ProMusicRights.com) Pro Music Rights the 5th public performance rights organization (PRO) ever formed in the United States. Its licensees include notable companies like TikTok, iHeart Media, Triller, Napster, 7Digital, Vevo, and hundreds of others. Pro Music Rights controls an estimated market share of 7.4% in the United States, representing over 2,500,000 works that feature notable artists such as A$AP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell, Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Lil Yachty, MoneyBaggYo, Larry June, Trae Pound, Sause Walka, Trae Tha Truth, Sosamann, Soulja Boy, Lex Luger, Lud Foe, SlowBucks, Gunplay, OG Maco, Rich The Kid, Fat Trel, Young Scooter, Nipsey Hussle, Famous Dex, Boosie Badazz, Shy Glizzy, 2 Chainz, Migos, Gucci Mane, Young Dolph, Trinidad James, Fall Out Boy, and countless others. For more information, please visit promusicrights.com. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the ability of Pro Music Rights, Inc. to accomplish its stated plan of business. Pro Music Rights, Inc. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward- looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by Pro Music Rights, Inc. or any other person. SOURCE Pro Music Rights, Inc. Key Highlights Offered in the Report: Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices. Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models. Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers. Insights Into Supplier Selection and Evaluation: Profile and service capabilities of the service provider, industry specialization of the service providers, reputation of service providers, and assessment of value-added services are some of the most critical parameters that buyers use to shortlist the suppliers in Nylon. This report evaluates suppliers based on quality and purity test of product samples, production capacity, certifications and accreditations, and geographical presence. In addition, suppliers are also shortlisted based on business needs, technical specifications, operational requirements, security compliance, regulatory mandates, working environment, quality control, sla nuances, acceptance criteria, legal requirements, change management procedures, pricing models, and penalty clauses. For More Insights on Buyer Strategies and Tactical Negotiation Levers: www.spendedge.com/sample-report/nylon-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence- report Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth: The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers. Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 2%-4%. Identify favorable opportunities in Nylon TCO (total cost of ownership). Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes. Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities. Some of the Top Nylon Market Suppliers Listed in This Report: This Nylon procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies. AdvanSix Arkema Asahi Kasei Smart Procurement Starts Here: SpendEdge's procurement intelligence platform is the go-to tool for companies looking to access latest procurement research insights and supplier data on an easy to use platform: Subscribe Now for FREE, to get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment. Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. Contacts SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us SOURCE SpendEdge CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TriNetX, the global network of healthcare organizations driving real-world research to accelerate the development of new therapies, today announced the inaugural members of the Pediatric Collaboratory Network (PCN), comprised of Children's National Hospital, WVU Medicine Children's (Morgantown, WV), Children's HealthSM (Dallas, TX), and Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (St. Petersburg, FL). The PCN will streamline investigator-initiated research utilizing pediatric real-world data (RWD) across participating institutions. Representatives from the participating pediatric medical centers meet monthly to propose and evaluate new collaborative research opportunities, introduce potential co-investigators, and pursue peer-reviewed publications. Additional pediatric medical centers are welcome to join the collaborative and are encouraged to contact TriNetX. Neil Goldenberg, MD, PhD, the Associate Dean for Research at Johns Hopkins All Children's, will be leading the effort for Johns Hopkins. "Children's National Hospital is proud to be part of such a novel resource for pediatric researchers. We are looking forward to expanding opportunities to collaborate with other leading pediatric researchers at healthcare organizations across the world," said Jurran Wilson, Program Lead, Recruitment & Engagement, Project Manager, Informatics Core, The Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children's National. "Together, through the Pediatric Collaboratory Network, we hope to catalyze innovative clinical trials and lower the barriers to multi-site, investigator-initiated research." "Children's Health is excited to participate in the Pediatric Collaboratory Network, further enhancing opportunities to collaborate on multi-site studies with other pediatric institutions within the TriNetX network," added Deborah Town, Sr. Director, Research Administration & Professional Services Operations at Children's Health. "This collaborative will bring WVU Medicine Children's and participating institutions to the forefront of research and innovation," said Pavithra R. Ellison, MD, MMM, FASA, Medical Director, Perioperative Services at WVU Medicine Children's. "We are excited to partner with peer institutions and look forward to ushering in a new era of data-driven research at global scale." "TriNetX is thrilled to support pediatric medical centers with real-world data for investigator-initiated research that leads to a better understanding of human health and improved outcomes for all patients," said Rick Lilienthal, Director of Data Expansion at TriNetX. "Participation in the Pediatric Collaboratory Network is open and encouraged for all researchers interested in pediatric research that join the TriNetX global health research network." For more information and to learn how to join the PCN, visit https://trinetx.com/pediatric-collaboratory-network or contact [email protected] About TriNetX, LLC TriNetX is a global network of healthcare organizations and life sciences companies driving real-world research to accelerate the development of new therapies. Through its self-service, HIPAA, GDPR, and LGPD-compliant platform of federated EHR, datasets, and consulting partnerships, TriNetX puts the power of real-world data into the hands of its worldwide community to improve protocol design, streamline trial operations, refine safety signals, and enrich real-world evidence generation. For more information, visit TriNetX at www.trinetx.com or follow @TriNetX on Twitter. About Children's National Hospital Children's National Hospital, based in Washington, D.C., was established in 1870 to help every child grow up stronger. Today, it is the No. 5 children's hospital in the nation. It is ranked No. 1 for newborn care for the sixth straight year and ranked in all specialties evaluated by U.S. News & World Report. Children's National is transforming pediatric medicine for all children. The Children's National Research & Innovation Campus opened in 2021, a first-of-its-kind pediatric hub dedicated to developing new and better ways to care for kids. Children's National has been designated three times in a row as a Magnet hospital, demonstrating the highest standards of nursing and patient care delivery. This pediatric academic health system offers expert care through a convenient, community-based primary care network and specialty care locations in the D.C. metropolitan area, including Maryland and Virginia. Children's National is home to the Children's National Research Institute and Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation. It is recognized for its expertise and innovation in pediatric care and as a strong voice for children through advocacy at the local, regional, and national levels. As a non-profit, Children's National Hospital relies on generous donors to help ensure that every child receives the care they need. For more information, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. About WVU Medicine Children's WVU Medicine Children's is more than just a hospital. We're a family of doctors, nurses, and other professionals who share the same goal: to provide the best possible care to any child who needs it. We chose careers in pediatric health care because we love connecting with and supporting kids of all ages. And because many of us are parents, too, we know how important it is to find a medical provider you trust. You want to work with specialists who care about your child's health and well-being as much as you do. Learn what sets us apart from other hospitals and why you can count on us when it matters most at WVUKids.com Media Contact TriNetX, LLC Bill Stetson (857) 285-6038 [email protected] SOURCE TriNetX Consulting firm achieves top score for pay equity MENLO PARK, Calif., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Global consulting firm Protiviti has been named for the third time to the Seramount list of 'Best Companies for Multicultural Women.' The annual list, which is based on in-depth demographic data gathered from participating organizations via a 500-question application, recognizes companies that create and use best practices in hiring, retaining and promoting multicultural women in the United States. Of the 80 companies listed, Protiviti ranked number one in the pay equity category. "We are fully committed to creating an equitable workplace for all within our firm," said Protiviti's Susan Haseley, executive vice president, global diversity, equity and inclusion. "Our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives include educational programs to help us better understand bias; multiple strategic partnerships with external diversity organizations; employee network groups; and deep mentoring relationships. We provide meaningful opportunities for all our people to learn, grow, share their unique perspectives and build their careers with Protiviti." Our ENGs are employee-led groups and provide our people with an opportunity to have an impact. Tweet this This year, Seramount's questionnaire continued to assess progress for women by specific racial/ethnic group as well as factors influencing that progress, including mental health and anti-racism progress and mentoring and sponsorship participation. "Protiviti offers a supportive workplace for multicultural women that includes employee network groups for women and our multicultural communities. Our ENGs are employee-led groups, supported by the firm's leadership, and provide our people with an opportunity to have an impact," said Shelley Metz-Galloway, a Protiviti managing director and leader of the firm's Multicultural ENG and Racial Equity Council. Protiviti also actively partners with diversity related professional organizations including the National Association of Black Accountants, the National Society of Black Engineers, Ascend, and the Association of Latino Professionals for America to expand its pool of diverse candidates. In June, Protiviti was also named to the Seramount 2022 'Top 75 Companies for Executive Women' list. About Protiviti Protiviti (www.protiviti.com) is a global consulting firm that delivers deep expertise, objective insights, a tailored approach and unparalleled collaboration to help leaders confidently face the future. Protiviti and its independent and locally owned Member Firms provide clients with consulting and managed solutions in finance, technology, operations, data, digital, legal, governance, risk and internal audit through its network of more than 85 offices in over 25 countries. Named to the 2022 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, Protiviti has served more than 80 percent of Fortune 100 and nearly 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies. The firm also works with smaller, growing companies, including those looking to go public, as well as with government agencies. Protiviti is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half (NYSE: RHI). Founded in 1948, Robert Half is a member of the S&P 500 index. All referenced marks are the property of their respective owners. Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements or offer attestation services. Editor's note: photos available upon request. SOURCE Protiviti DUBLIN, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "South Korea Construction Equipment Market - Strategic Assessment and Forecast 2022-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The market for construction equipment in South Korea is expected to grow during the forecast period due to South Korea's electricity market reforming to net-zero and factors such as growth in the e-commerce sector and government efforts to promote public and private investments in the country. Construction equipment demand in South Korea is expected to increase owing to planned investments in the construction and manufacturing sectors and ongoing infrastructure projects. Reforming South Korea's electricity market to net-zero will spur the demand for construction equipment. The 9th Basic Plan for power supply and demand in South Korea plans to expand renewable energy's proportion of installed capacity to 40% by 2034, up from 15.1% in 2020. According to the plan, all coal-based power facilities with 30-year operational life cycles will be shut down by 2034. From 2020 through 2034, the plan includes 15-year electricity supply and demand predictions and electricity facility plans. Evaluation of the previous program; Long-term supply and demand prediction; Demand management target; Power generation and transmission/substation facility plan; Expansion of distributed power supply; Greenhouse gas and acceptable dust reduction plan are among the primary objects of the project. Over the forecast period, there will be considerable demand for construction equipment to build the infrastructure needed to reform the South Korean power system. Infrastructure, such as power plants and greenhouses, will drive demand for material handling and the total construction equipment industry in South Korea. Demand for forklifts and telescopic handlers will increase as the e-commerce sector grows South Korea has many internet users (96.5% of the population in 2020) and increased by 1.1% in 2021, owing to the deployment of modern technology (such as the 5G Network), which has fuelled the country's e-commerce sector growth. Some e-commerce firms are also expanding their business in the country. For instance, Una Brands has partnered with KlickBrands to access the South Korean e-commerce sector. Furthermore, companies in South Korea are expanding their logistics centers, such as Hines, which announced the development of Iljuk Logistics Centre to expand its logistical capacity. CJ Logistics announced that the construction of fulfillment centers worth $621 million would increase demand for forklifts. As a result, the expansion of South Korea's e-commerce sector is benefitting the region's forklift market. The surge in trade at the region's seaports also supports the demand for forklifts and telescopic handles (South Korea has an export-dependent economy with ~52% exports of overall business). Forklifts and telescopic handlers are used for loading and unloading and material handling at seaports. The need for forklifts has increased due to increased freight flow at ports. Government's efforts to promote investment fuels growth in construction equipment To promote public investment, the government focuses on improving transportation and logistics systems and building intelligent buildings, zero energy buildings, smart cities, etc. The government has announced a $20 billion budget for 2021. Additionally, the government is also promoting private investment, for which the government has announced a $31.2 billion worth of budget for 2021. These efforts to encourage investments mainly reduce the unemployment rate, as unemployment is one of the significant challenges South Korea faces after the COVID-19 pandemic. To overcome the same, the government invested ~$17 billion (which includes start-up support programs, programs for middle-aged workers, etc.) in 2021 to create 360,000 jobs. To reduce unemployment, the government also focuses on strengthening major manufacturing industries (such as machinery and equipment, mobile phones, automobiles, machinery including computers, household electronics, machine tools, and so on) and services by constructing digital clusters and upgrading intelligent factories, among other things. This will enhance the demand for construction equipment in all the major industries (Construction, Manufacturing, Mining, etc.) in South Korea. High labor costs and increases in construction material prices reduce profit margins for OEMs Due to the high standard of labor rights in South Korea, the construction industry is having difficulty hiring experienced workers. Workers in South Korea can operate technologically advanced machinery. On the other hand, construction companies must pay high wages to workers to accomplish the work on time and efficiently. Furthermore, construction materials are expensive in South Korea. Prices of raw materials such as iron ore, steel, copper, etc., have risen sharply since the COVID-19 outbreak. For instance, in January 2022 average price of scrap iron increased ~113% (almost double) compared to the price in 2020. In 2021, the average profit margins of construction industry companies had shrunk by ~40% compared to 2020 due to these added costs. As a result, most construction companies prefer to rent equipment rather than buy new equipment. Such trends are having a negative influence on construction equipment sales. Unsold housing units and a population decline are expected to affect the demand adversely. In 2020, there were more deaths than births (275,800 babies were born and 307,764 people died) in South Korea. Additionally, according to CIA World Factbook, South Korea is one of the top three countries in the world with the lowest birth rate (6.89) in 2021. In 2021, South Korea's total population also declined by 57,300 from 2020. These factors and high prices resulted in ~17,000 unsold housing units in South Korea for 2021. With the declining population and rising unsold housing units, the construction of new housing units is expected to be adversely affected, restricting the demand for construction equipment in South Korea over the forecast period. Due to labor shortage, construction equipment with automation and intelligent operation technology is highly demanded. Following the COVID-19 epidemic, South Korea is experiencing severe labor shortages in the construction, manufacturing, and mining industries. Due to a labor crisis, new technologies in construction equipment are in high demand to improve worker efficiency and reduce labor dependency. Hitachi, for instance, has introduced wheel loaders and excavators with automation, intelligent operating technology, and the Concise Hitachi Comprehensive Machine Management support system. Other major construction equipment manufacturers, such as Hyundai and Volvo, follow similar patterns and introduce new technologies such as 5G, AI, advanced analytics (IoT), etc., into their equipment to address labor shortages in construction and mining industries, respectively. KEY INSIGHTS INTO THE SOUTH KOREAN CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT MARKET In 2021, the material handling equipment segment was the largest in the South Korean construction equipment market, followed by earthmoving and road construction equipment. The forklift was the largest segment by type. The investment in the logistics industry, such as the expansion of fulfillment centers, the opening of new logistics centers, etc., has boosted the demand for forklifts in South Korea . . In terms of end-users, the construction industry is expected to generate the highest demand for construction equipment and is anticipated to dominate the market during the forecast period further. The increasing demand for construction equipment is attributed to investments by favorable government policies. Foreign multinationals invest in South Korea , upcoming industrial developments in the construction industries, and government initiatives. , upcoming industrial developments in the construction industries, and government initiatives. By switching to intelligent systems driven by IoT and data analysis for service, networking, and sustainability, the construction equipment market is transitioning to a more innovative industry. VENDOR LANDSCAPE The construction equipment market is captured by Hyundai CE being the leader, followed by Hyundai Doosan Infracore, Komatsu Group, Caterpillar, Hitachi CM, and Volvo Construction Equipment. In 2021, these companies will have nearly ~60% share of the total South Korean construction equipment market. Yanmar has served the customers of the South Korea region for more than 70 years. However, it lags behind Liebherr in innovations, though Liebherr has less than 25 years of experience. In 2022, Liebherr introduced Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO) as an alternative fuel for construction machines. region for more than 70 years. However, it lags behind Liebherr in innovations, though Liebherr has less than 25 years of experience. In 2022, Liebherr introduced Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO) as an alternative fuel for construction machines. In March 2022 , Hyundai Construction Equipment introduced its new excavator model, HX320A, with high fuel efficiency and eco-friendly engines. Key Vendors Hyundai Construction Equipment Komatsu Caterpillar Hitachi Volvo Construction Equipment XCMG SANY John Deere Kubota Other Prominent Vendors Liebherr Kobelco Construction Machinery Yanmar Zoomlion JCB Distributors Profile SOOSAN CSM HAEIN Corporation Daijeon Machinery For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rldpm6 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets ImmunAdd's next-generation Saponin-based adjuvant IA-05 induced both humoral and cellular immunities in various vaccines, including those against COVID-19, influenza, and cancer. IA-05 is accessible via total chemical synthesis and does not rely on extracts from Quillaja Saponaria or any other tree. or any other ImmunAdd is undertaking the development of IA-05 in collaboration with several biopharma from all over the world. TAIPEI, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ImmunAdd, a privately held pharmaceutical company developing a fully synthetic, rationally designed, saponin-based small molecule vaccine adjuvant, attended the BIO International Convention conference in San Diego, California, on June 13-16. Founder of ImmunAdd, Pi-Hui Liang, said, "My team and I are delighted to attend the BIO conference in San Diego, where we will show our next generation of saponin adjuvant IA-05 to the world and establish partnerships with companies developing the anti-infective and anti-cancer vaccines. IA-05 is a fully synthetic small molecule which that, in head-to-head preclinical studies against vaccines incorporating several existing adjuvants, including QS-21, demonstrated improved cross-presentation of antigens and well tolerability. Currently, QS-21-incorporated vaccines have shown better protection against virus infection. But QS-21 is less stable, which requires dedicated formulations, such as liposomes, and it is unsustainably sourced." Professor Shan-Chwen Chang, infectious disease physician, chief advisor of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) of Taiwan, and the executive vice president of National Taiwan University (NTU), said, "Subunit protein-based vaccines are the major player of vaccines, and most of them require adjuvants to make a stronger and longer-lasting immune response. Adjuvants have been used safely for decades in several vaccines. Many important vaccines rely on the new generation of adjuvants to show cross-presentation of antigens and supply economically, yet very few adjuvant can achieve this. It is great to have a new adjuvant that shows better cross-protection." The IA-05 vaccine adjuvant IA-05 is a fully synthetic, rationally designed, saponin-based small molecule vaccine adjuvant which that has demonstrated improved tolerability and elicited improved enhanced immune responses compared with QS-21 in COVID, influenza, and anti-cancer vaccines. IA-05 can therefore enable the development of safer, more effective, and more durable vaccines and address the crisis faced by the South American soap bark tree (Quillaja Saponaria), which is being unsustainably harvested for QS-21 production. IA-05 is being tested in vaccines by several biopharmaceutical companies from different countries. About Saponin adjuvants Saponin adjuvants are potent immune stimulators and important essential components of clinically-advanced infectious disease vaccines, including those against shingles, malaria, COVID-19, influenza, and cancer, combined sales of billions of dollars. Existing saponin adjuvants are limited by poor clinical tolerability and inefficient manufacturing. They are unsustainably sourced from the inner lining of the bark of the Quillaja Saponaria tree, which grows only in parts of South America. About ImmunAdd ImmunAdd is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company on a mission to improve health through advances in adjuvant design and formulation. ImmunAdd was founded in 2021 by Professor Pi-Hui Liang of the School of Pharmacy, NTU, and has raised USD$1 million in non-dilutive grant funding from the Ministry of Economic and Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan. SOURCE ImmunAdd CHICAGO, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE: TDS) and United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE: USM) will be webcasting their second quarter operating results conference call on August 5, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. central time. The companies will release their financial results on August 4, 2022 after market close. To listen to the webcast, please visit the events & presentations pages of investors.tdsinc.com or investors.uscellular.com. The presentations will be webcast both live and on-demand. It is recommended that you register at least 15 minutes before the beginning of the presentation to register, download and install any necessary multimedia streaming software. About TDS Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS), a Fortune 1000 company, provides wireless; broadband, video and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately 6 million connections nationwide through its businesses, UScellular, TDS Telecom, and OneNeck IT Solutions. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, TDS employed approximately 8,800 associates as of March 31, 2022. For more information about TDS and its subsidiaries, visit: TDS: www.tdsinc.com UScellular: www.uscellular.com TDS Telecom: www.tdstelecom.com OneNeck IT Solutions: www.oneneck.com SOURCE Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. and United States Cellular Corporation PRINCE GEORGE, Va., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Touchstone Bankshares, Inc. (the "Company") (OTC Pink: TSBA) and its wholly owned subsidiary Touchstone Bank (the "Bank"), today announced the appointment of Michelle H. Simon as Senior Vice President and Marketing Director at the Bank. Simon will be responsible for leading key priorities such as designing and implementing marketing strategies, directing sales initiatives, and improving brand awareness. Simon began her new role with Touchstone Bank in mid-July 2022. "Marketing is an important aspect of our growth strategy at Touchstone and having Michelle join our team will help us move forward and differentiate ourselves," said James Black, President and CEO of Touchstone Bank. "Her depth of bank marketing experience, brand management, and strategic planning capabilities are extremely valuable and will play a vital role for us as we expand into more metro markets." Most recently, Simon served as Director of Public Relations and Corporate Communications at a multi-billion-dollar financial institution based in Virginia, where she led the public relations and corporate communication initiatives, marketing sales campaigns, and specialized commercial bank marketing efforts. Simon has served as a lead marketer in the community banking industry throughout her career. Her career achievements include developing award-winning sales, marketing, and branding initiatives as well as distinct brands, product lines, and marketing/advertising strategies for community banks of various asset sizes. "I am very excited to take on this role with Touchstone Bank and I am honored to be part of a bank that truly goes above and beyond to make a difference in the communities it serves. I look forward to helping Touchstone continue its pattern of growth and success. It is truly a privilege to join this outstanding team of community bankers, and I look forward to my future at Touchstone Bank." Simon holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism with a focus in Advertising from West Virginia University and is a graduate of the American Bankers Association's School of Bank Marketing and Management. She holds her CFMP license and is a member of the Virginia Banker's Association Marketing Committee and a past board member of the ABA Marketing Association. About Touchstone Bankshares, Inc. Touchstone Bankshares, Inc. is the bank holding company for Touchstone Bank. Touchstone, through the bank and affiliates, provides a wide range of financial services including retail and commercial banking, insurance, credit cards, and secondary market mortgage lending. Touchstone also provides investment and wealth management services and management services for personal and corporate trusts, including estate planning, and trust administration. Visit www.touchstone.bank for more information. Forward-Looking Statements In addition to historical information, this press release may contain certain forward-looking statements. For this purpose, any statement that is not a statement of historical fact may be deemed to be a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from historical results or those anticipated by such statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; changes in interest rates and general economic conditions; the legislative/regulatory climate; monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. Government; the quality or composition of the loan or investment portfolios; demand for loan products; deposit flows; competition; demand for financial services in the Company's market area; mergers, acquisitions and dispositions; implementation of new technologies and the ability to develop and maintain secure and reliable electronic systems; and tax and accounting rules, principles, policies and guidelines. SOURCE Touchstone Bankshares, Inc. SINGAPORE, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On 27 July 2022, UneMeta, an NFT incubator, trading and SocialFi platform recently announced the closing of a $5 million funding round led by the Jasmy Foundation, Japan's top Internet of Things (IoT) blockchain platform. Among the other participants were SPB, Avatar DAO, CGV FoF, Consensus Lab, K24 Ventures, Taihill Venture, and etc. For this funding round, Ann, the Co-founder of UneMeta, said the following: "UneMeta aims to increase its brand influence by bringing higher quality NFT projects and services to the NFT market, and providing value to the industry by establishing better community services and a better product experience." Jasmy is the world leading IoT blockchain platform. It was founded in Tokyo, Japan, in 2016 by Kazumasa Sato, a former executive of Sony Group. Many of the team's core members are Sony veterans. In terms of tokenomics design, technology development, and ecosystem construction, all members have tremendous experiences and plenty of resources to draw from. Jasmy aims to develop and provide various services for data security and sharing in the metaverse and Internet of Things (IoT) era and is one of the most well-known and largest blockchain platforms in Japan. STONE, Chief Representative of the Jasmy Foundation, is confident about UneMeta's future. "The Asia Pacific region is a very attractive ground for Web3 development. UneMeta is a rising player in this field and will lead the new NFT ecosystem." UneMeta has many years of experience in discovering and incubating new IP, and has built up a portfolio of top IP resources. Jasmy was born in Japan, a country that produces massive cultural IP, and has a particularly profound understanding and rich resources in IP cultivation and commercial operations. In the future, UneMeta will join hands with Jasmy and focus on the Asia-pacific market to seize the powerful opportunities behind high-quality IP assets. They will also explore business models that are suitable for Web3 with excellent IP, and formulate a win-win strategy to grow the community. Furthermore, the team will continue to unlock the commercial value of high-quality IP in physical and virtual space. In addition, they are planning to officially launch the world's first NFT serial with original audio tracks of the famous Japanese voice actress Hanazawa Kana in August, which is the representative project of this platform as it advances its Web3 process. UneMeta is both a NFT marketplace and social space. UneMeta emphasizes community, and always considers giving back to community contributors the most important in Web3. With an "Action to Earn" philosophy, they will launch commission sharing and loral points systems in Q3 of 2022. At that time, a community-driven NFT platform with maximum cultural value will be presented. About UneMeta UneMeta provides premium NFT incubation services, transaction marketplace, and space for users to socially interact. With a variety of innovative gameplay, tremendous IP resources, and a strong community foundation, UneMeta can provide NFT holders with more security and transaction fees, within higher quality NFT transactions and SocialFi experiences. In the future, UneMeta will become a revolutionary sustainable model for exploring and applying NFTs, metaverses, and blockchains, which continue to improve customers' experience. Follow UneMeta on social media now, learn more about its project and development: Website https://unemeta.com/ Twitter https://twitter.com/Une_Metaverse Discorddiscord.gg/unemeta SOURCE UneMeta ELKHART, Ind., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vala Marketing, the area's leading provider of digital advertising, design, and other online marketing services, has made the move to acquire Web Centre - a web design and digital marketing agency headquartered in Lapeer, MI. The acquisition comes on the heels of Vala Marketing's 6th anniversary of being in business in the Michiana area. The move to acquire Web Centre began when Grant Mielke, Founder of Vala Marketing, reached out to Robert Norcross, Owner of Web Centre, to discuss the sale in June of 2022. The companies operate similarly which made the transition a quick one. The deal was signed on July 1, 2022. "Robert and I hit it off right away," Grant Mielke said. "He's done impressive work, and we think similarly in terms of organization and workflows, but most importantly, we value treating people right and providing excellent service above all." The acquisition of Web Centre fits into Vala Marketing's strategy to provide full-service, turnkey marketing solutions to the Michiana area and beyond by bringing over 100 new clients to Vala Marketing's lineup, as well as a new Account Executive to the team. "The best part is, they are keeping our incredible staff - and my right-hand person for all of these years - Bailey RaCosta." Robert Norcross said. "I'm so happy for that. So, not only will our clients be even better taken care of than before, but they will have more support to help their businesses grow, which has always been Web Centre's ultimate mission as a business." "Vala Marketing has been growing and establishing a firm presence in Michigan, so this has felt like a natural next step for the team," Mielke said. "Several of our employees and clients are already on the 'Mich' side of 'Michiana's Premier Marketing Agency', and now we're excited to add Bailey to the team, as well as so many clients in the Central Michigan region." Norcross has spent the last 13 years growing Web Centre in from its headquarters in Lapeer through Central Michigan, and every single year the company has grown in size, which is what led to his decision to get more help. "It's been an amazing, meteoric rise," Norcross said. "On a personal level, all of this growth means I've been working non-stop. Early mornings and late nights. And before it catches up to me, and our clients stop getting amazing service, I wanted to get in front of it and make everyone happy. I'm very thankful to all of our clients - and the Lapeer Area - for all of their business over the years. Growing this company has been one of my life's greatest accomplishments." "Vala's biggest goal with this transition, by a long shot, is taking the best possible care of the Web Centre clients - every bit of strategizing involved with this, all of the decisions we have made, and the steps we have taken to make this all work smoothly have centered around that singular goal as our north star," said Mielke, echoing Norcross's comments. "We are beyond excited to prove ourselves to all of our new clientele and use our expanded service offerings to take Web Centre's clients to new heights." About Vala Marketing Vala Marketing is a full-service marketing agency operating out of the Midwest specializing in Social Media Management, Branding, Website Design, and Videography. All media inquiries can be directed to Madison Gridley at [email protected]. SOURCE Vala Marketing Inc. Viking Mergers & Acquisitions of Tampa, Florida, proudly welcomes to the team, industry leader and Florida native, Mr. Robert Lugo. TAMPA, Fla., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Viking Mergers & Acquisitions of Tampa, Florida, is pleased to announce the addition of Senior Advisor, Mr. Robert Lugo, to the Viking team. Robert Lugo joins the Viking Mergers team in the Tampa office. Born and raised in Florida, Mr. Lugo grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. After obtaining two Bachelor's Degrees in Finance and Accounting, he went on to earn his Master's in Entrepreneurship from the University of South Florida. Mr. Lugo excelled in finance and accounting roles in the healthcare and energy industries before joining the University of South Florida and becoming their Director of Business & Administration for the College of Nursing. He later worked as a Controller with an oncology healthcare company and as CFO with a law firm before joining Viking this year. Mr. Lugo brings over 20 years of financial and operational experience in a broad range of public and private sector companies with a proven record of leading organizations to unprecedented growth. His highly diverse career and broad spectrum of senior leadership experience has tied him into nearly every facet of business, providing senior level operational leadership that culminated in improved profits and ensured overall company future growth and success. Mr. Lugo's experience gives him a unique perspective that allows him to recognize corporate operational impacts as well as financial barriers, seamlessly assisting his clients in the sale or purchase of their business. Clients enlisting the services of Mr. Lugo know they are getting an industry leader to personally address their needs; he focuses completely on his clients and their situation or needs. After carefully analyzing their specific requirements, Mr. Lugo works collaboratively with clients to form a succinct strategic plan which helps them to effectively facilitate the most favorable business divestiture. Mr. Lugo values the importance of communication with clients to provide the best customer care as they transition to new opportunities. About Viking Mergers and Acquisitions Viking provides exit strategies and M&A services to middle-market business owners. In business since 1996, 50% of Viking's brokers are former business owners. Viking has an 85% close rate, representing more than 800 successful transactions. SOURCE Viking Mergers & Acquisitions Segmentation Analysis & Forecasts The premium cosmetics market is segmented by Product (skincare products, fragrances, color cosmetics, hair care products, and others) and Distribution Channel (offline distribution channel and online distribution channel). The market share growth in the skincare products segment will be significant during the forecast period. The skincare market is growing as both young and old women seek products to help them achieve better-looking skin. Though women form the largest customer segment in the global premium skincare products market, men are increasingly becoming conscious of their personal grooming and wellness. Therefore, to widen the customer base, vendors are in the process of launching innovative skincare products that are custom-made for men. The premium cosmetics market is segmented by Geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa). 37% of the market's growth will originate from APAC during the forecast period. China and Japan are the key markets for premium cosmetics in APAC. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions. The rising access to online shopping through the Internet and smart gadgets will facilitate the premium cosmetics market growth in APAC over the forecast period. REQUEST SAMPLE COPY OF THIS REPORT Using Business Email ID to Gain Further Insights on the Market Contribution & Share of Various Segments & Regions on Higher Priority Premium Cosmetics Market Driver: Increased demand for premium skincare products: Selected professional skincare product manufacturers provide innovative, professional treatments to their customers, followed by giving them premium products that are costlier than regular skincare products. Consumers are more aware of skincare concerns like aging spots, acne, and pigmentation and hence, are ready to pay for premium skincare products. Innovative skincare products have the right combination of superior-quality ingredients, a factor that leads to product premiumization. With rising disposable income, consumers do not mind spending more on premium products, which has led to increased demand for premium cosmetics, especially skincare products. Also, skincare brands focus on differentiating themselves from pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, they invest in innovative ingredients and technologies that would positively affect the health and appearance of customers' skin. Premium Cosmetics Market Challenge: Lack of consumer reach and premium brand penetration in major parts of developing regions, including MEA and APAC: Building an effective distribution network and strategizing product distribution have always been major concerns for beauty product manufacturers. Strategic distribution involves selecting distribution channel partners, which becomes more difficult in the case of premium beauty products, such as face oils, as they are mainly available in specialty beauty retail stores and department stores and sometimes through e-retailers . The penetration of department stores and specialty beauty retail stores is the highest in developed nations and tier-1 cities. However, there are very few consumers who buy premium cosmetics in tier-2 and tier-3 cities of developing nations of MEA and APAC, which makes it unfeasible for retailers or vendors to open stores in these cities. Also, logistics forms a major concern as most retailers, whether brick and mortar or e-retailers, lack in building strong delivery channels in these cities. The lack of reach to consumers and low premium brand penetration in major parts of developing regions, including MEA and APAC, challenge the growth of the global premium cosmetics market. Find additional information about various other market Drivers, Trends, & Challenges available with Technavio. DOWNLOAD SAMPLE REPORT (INCLUDING GRAPHS & TABLES) OF THIS MARKET Vendor Insights- Amway Corp. Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft CHANEL Ltd. Coty Inc. Dambiro de Groupe Clarins Henkel AG and Co. KGaA Johnson and Johnson Kose Corp. Loccitane International SA LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE NUDE Beauty Brands Oriflame Holding AG Revlon Inc. Shiseido Co. Ltd. The Avon Co. Unilever PLC The Procter and Gamble Co. Kao Corp. LOreal SA The Estee Lauder Co. Inc. The premium cosmetics market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as engaging in continuous R&D to provide products that are used by people around the world to compete in the market. Find additional highlights on the vendors and their product offerings. READ SAMPLE REPORT OF THIS MARKET Didn't Find What You Were Looking For? Customize Report- Don't miss out on the opportunity to speak to our analyst and know more insights about this market report. Our analysts can also help you customize this report according to your needs. Our analysts and industry experts will work directly with you to understand your requirements and provide you with customized data in a short amount of time. Speak to our Analyst now! to take full advantage of every opportunity using competitive analysis created just for you Here are Some Similar Topics- Online Premium Cosmetics Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026: The market value is set to grow by USD 15.26 billion, progressing at a CAGR of 7% from 2021 to 2026, as per the latest report by Technavio. The rise in the aging population is notably driving the online premium cosmetics market growth, although factors such as the high cost of cosmetic skincare products may impede the market growth. FIND MORE RESEARCH INSIGHTS HERE Color Cosmetics Market in the US by Distribution Channel and Product - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026: The market value is set to grow by USD 2.50 billion, progressing at a CAGR of 3.88% from 2021 to 2026, as per the latest report by Technavio. The US color cosmetics market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as product launches, price wars, and mergers and acquisitions to compete in the market. FIND MORE RESEARCH INSIGHTS HERE Premium Cosmetics Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.6% Market growth 2022-2026 $ 51.75 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 5.8 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 37% Key consumer countries US, China, Japan, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Amway Corp., Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft, CHANEL Ltd., Coty Inc., Dambiro de, Groupe Clarins, Henkel AG and Co. KGaA, Johnson and Johnson, Kose Corp., Loccitane International SA, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, NUDE Beauty Brands, Oriflame Holding AG, Revlon Inc., Shiseido Co. Ltd., The Avon Co., Unilever PLC, The Procter and Gamble Co., Kao Corp., LOreal SA, and The Estee Lauder Co. Inc. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization preview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 1.1 Market overview Exhibit 01: Executive Summary Chart on Market Overview Exhibit 02: Executive Summary Data Table on Market Overview Exhibit 03: Executive Summary Chart on Global Market Characteristics Exhibit 04: Executive Summary Chart on Market by Geography Exhibit 05: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by Product Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel Exhibit 07: Executive Summary Chart on Incremental Growth Exhibit 08: Executive Summary Data Table on Incremental Growth Exhibit 09: Executive Summary Chart on Vendor Market Positioning 2 Market Landscape 2.1 Market ecosystem Exhibit 10: Parent market Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics 3 Market Sizing 3.1 Market definition Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition 3.2 Market segment analysis Exhibit 13: Market segments 3.3 Market size 2021 3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026 Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 4 Five Forces Analysis 4.1 Five forces summary Exhibit 18: Five forces analysis - Comparison between2021 and 2026 4.2 Bargaining power of buyers Exhibit 19: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers Impact of key factors 2021 and 2026 4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers Exhibit 20: Bargaining power of suppliers Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026 4.4 Threat of new entrants Exhibit 21: Threat of new entrants Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026 4.5 Threat of substitutes Exhibit 22: Threat of substitutes Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026 4.6 Threat of rivalry Exhibit 23: Threat of rivalry Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026 4.7 Market condition Exhibit 24: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026 5 Market Segmentation by Product 5.1 Market segments Exhibit 25: Chart on Product - Market share 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 26: Data Table on Product - Market share 2021-2026 (%) 5.2 Comparison by Product Exhibit 27: Chart on Comparison by Product Exhibit 28: Data Table on Comparison by Product 5.3 Skincare products - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 29: Chart on Skincare products - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 30: Data Table on Skincare products - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 31: Chart on Skincare products - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 32: Data Table on Skincare products - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 5.4 Fragrances - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 33: Chart on Fragrances - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 34: Data Table on Fragrances - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 35: Chart on Fragrances - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 36: Data Table on Fragrances - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 5.5 Color cosmetics - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 37: Chart on Color cosmetics - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 38: Data Table on Color cosmetics - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 39: Chart on Color cosmetics - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 40: Data Table on Color cosmetics - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 5.6 Hair care products - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 41: Chart on Hair care products - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 42: Data Table on Hair care products - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 43: Chart on Hair care products - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 44: Data Table on Hair care products - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 5.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 45: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 46: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 47: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 48: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 5.8 Market opportunity by Product Exhibit 49: Market opportunity by Product ($ billion) 6 Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel 6.1 Market segments Exhibit 50: Chart on Distribution Channel - Market share 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 51: Data Table on Distribution Channel - Market share 2021-2026 (%) 6.2 Comparison by Distribution Channel Exhibit 52: Chart on Comparison by Distribution Channel Exhibit 53: Data Table on Comparison by Distribution Channel 6.3 Offline distribution channel - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 54: Chart on Offline distribution channel - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 55: Data Table on Offline distribution channel - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 56: Chart on Offline distribution channel - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 57: Data Table on Offline distribution channel - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 6.4 Online distribution channel - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 58: Chart on Online distribution channel - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 59: Data Table on Online distribution channel - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 60: Chart on Online distribution channel - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 61: Data Table on Online distribution channel - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 6.5 Market opportunity by Distribution Channel Exhibit 62: Market opportunity by Distribution Channel ($ billion) 7 Customer Landscape 7.1 Customer landscape overview Exhibit 63: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria 8 Geographic Landscape 8.1 Geographic segmentation Exhibit 64: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 65: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%) 8.2 Geographic comparison Exhibit 66: Chart on Geographic comparison Exhibit 67: Data Table on Geographic comparison 8.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 68: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 69: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 70: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 71: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 72: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 73: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 74: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 75: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.5 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 76: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 77: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 78: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 79: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 80: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 81: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 82: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 83: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 84: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 85: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 86: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 87: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.8 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 88: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 89: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 90: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 91: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.9 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 92: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 93: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 94: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 95: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 96: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 97: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 98: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 99: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.11 Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 100: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 101: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 102: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 103: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.12 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 104: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 105: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) Exhibit 106: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 107: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.13 Market opportunity by geography Exhibit 108: Market opportunity by geography ($ billion) 9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 9.1 Market drivers 9.2 Market challenges 9.3 Impact of drivers and challenges Exhibit 109: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026 9.4 Market trends 10 Vendor Landscape 10.1 Overview 10.2 Vendor landscape Exhibit 110: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation 10.3 Landscape disruption Exhibit 111: Overview on factors of disruption 10.4 Industry risks Exhibit 112: Impact of key risks on business 11 Vendor Analysis 11.1 Vendors covered Exhibit 113: Vendors covered 11.2 Market positioning of vendors Exhibit 114: Matrix on vendor position and classification 11.3 Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft Exhibit 115: Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft - Overview Exhibit 116: Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft - Business segments Exhibit 117: Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft - Key news Exhibit 118: Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft - Key offerings Exhibit 119: Beiersdorf Aktiengesellschaft - Segment focus 11.4 CHANEL Ltd. Exhibit 120: CHANEL Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 121: CHANEL Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 122: CHANEL Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 123: CHANEL Ltd. - Segment focus 11.5 Coty Inc. Exhibit 124: Coty Inc. - Overview Exhibit 125: Coty Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 126: Coty Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 127: Coty Inc. - Segment focus 11.6 Dambiro de Exhibit 128: Dambiro de - Overview Exhibit 129: Dambiro de - Product / Service Exhibit 130: Dambiro de - Key offerings 11.7 LOreal SA Exhibit 131: LOreal SA - Overview Exhibit 132: LOreal SA - Business segments Exhibit 133: LOreal SA - Key news Exhibit 134: LOreal SA - Key offerings Exhibit 135: LOreal SA - Segment focus 11.8 LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE Exhibit 136: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Overview Exhibit 137: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Business segments Exhibit 138: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Key news Exhibit 139: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Key offerings Exhibit 140: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - Segment focus 11.9 Oriflame Holding AG Exhibit 141: Oriflame Holding AG - Overview Exhibit 142: Oriflame Holding AG - Business segments Exhibit 143: Oriflame Holding AG - Key offerings Exhibit 144: Oriflame Holding AG - Segment focus 11.10 Revlon Inc. Exhibit 145: Revlon Inc. - Overview Exhibit 146: Revlon Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 147: Revlon Inc. - Key news Exhibit 148: Revlon Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 149: Revlon Inc. - Segment focus 11.11 Shiseido Co. Ltd. Exhibit 150: Shiseido Co. Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 151: Shiseido Co. Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 152: Shiseido Co. Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 153: Shiseido Co. Ltd. - Segment focus 11.12 The Estee Lauder Co. Inc. Exhibit 154: The Estee Lauder Co. Inc. - Overview Exhibit 155: The Estee Lauder Co. Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 156: The Estee Lauder Co. Inc. - Key news Exhibit 157: The Estee Lauder Co. Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 158: The Estee Lauder Co. Inc. - Segment focus 12 Appendix 12.1 Scope of the report 12.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 159: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 160: Exclusions checklist 12.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 161: Currency conversion rates for US$ 12.4 Research methodology Exhibit 162: Research methodology Exhibit 163: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 164: Information sources 12.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 165: List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio AUSTIN, Texas, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research proudly announces the selection of Dustyne Bryant, MBA, CIC, CISR, as one of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association 2022 Emerging Leaders. As stated on the APCIA website, Mrs. Bryant joins a "cohort of the industry's best and brightest." Along with Director of High School Programs, Noelle Codispoti, they will participate in this year's Emerging Leaders Conference in Denver, Colorado this August. Hosted by the Insurance Careers Movement, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, and AM Best, the exclusive Emerging Leaders Conference is a desirable professional development opportunity for insurance professionals to be inspired and learn from subject matter experts and industry leaders. Mrs. Bryant shared this regarding her Emerging Leader Selection: "Along with The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research, APCIA and AM Best are organizations I've respected my entire career. I am honored to be selected as a Class of 2022 Emerging Leader and to stand alongside other amazing Rising Stars. It is often difficult for working mothers to bring their ambitions to life. But with the support of family, leadership, and community I've achieved more than I ever thought I could. Since joining The National Alliance team, I've only just begun to realize my potential impact on the Insurance Industry." Joining her at the conference in Denver in August as a speaker is Noelle Codispoti, who recently accepted the position of Director of High School Programs. She shares the following: "The National Alliance is proud to be a sponsor of the 2022 Emerging Leaders Conference and joins a stellar roster of organizations celebrating the impact and success this year's class of emerging leaders has had on our industry." Be sure to follow the conversation on social media with #ELC2022 and #ELC2022risingstar. If you are interested in more information about the event or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Ashley Solovy at [email protected]. About The National Alliance: The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research, a registered 501(c)(3), is an insurance education provider recognized throughout the industry as a preeminent resource for technical training, designations, and continuing education in risk management and insurance. Boasting over 150,000 program participants, the National Alliance has set the standard for industry education since its inception in 1969. Media Contact: Griselda J Castillo, Marketing Director [email protected] 512-349-3303 SOURCE The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research EL PASO, Texas, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aleut Operations, LLC (Aleut) and Odle Management Group, LLC (ODLE) have been awarded a contract to operate the David Carrasco Job Corps campus under their Small Business Administration (SBA) certified Mentor-Protege Agreement and Joint Venture (JV), Aleut-Odle Training and Development II (AOTD2). Operations will begin August 1, 2022. "Aleut and ODLE have successfully collaborated to bring career services to underserved communities through the Job Corps program," said Aleut's General Manager, Stephen Watkins. "We are excited to continue our work with the U.S. Department of Labor to empower the youth of El Paso and surrounding areas to help change the trajectory of their lives." As a team, AOTD2 is readily familiar with the management and oversight of Job Corps campuses. The partnership currently manages multiple campuses nationwide, including the Albuquerque Job Corps Center in Albuquerque, N.M. and the Paul Simon Job Corps campus in Chicago, Ill. The David Carrasco Job Corps campus serves approximately 700 students each year in a variety of high-demand job fields, such as construction, maintenance and light repair and welding. At the David Carrasco Job Corps campus, AOTD2 will work with students to provide academic, career technical, career success, and career development training and career transition services to economically disadvantaged youth in El Paso and the surrounding areas. The Job Corps is a national residential career and employment program, serving disadvantaged students ages 16 to 24, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Job Corps provides safe and stable housing, basic healthcare, wraparound support services, remedial education, and vocational and technical job training. The David Carrasco Job Corps campus is one of 121 campuses across the country. For more information about Job Corps visit www.jobcorps.gov About AOTD2 Aleut-Odle Training & Development II is a Small Business Administration (SBA) approved mentor-protege agreement between Aleut Operations, LLC, an SBA certified 8(a) program participant and Small Disadvantaged Business, and Odle Management Group, LLC. AOTD2 specializes in career training and job placement support managing Job Corps Centers for the DOL. About Aleut Aleut Operations, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aleut Federal, LLC, a holding company for federal subsidiaries of The Aleut Corporation (TAC). TAC was one of 13 original Alaska Native Corporations established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), passed by the U.S. Congress in 1971. Aleut has performed as the managing venturer of Aleut-Odle Training Development JV at the New York-New Jersey Job Corps student recruitment and job placement services contract, and as a major subcontractor to ODLE on its DOL contracts at the New Orleans and Gainesville Job Corps campuses. Aleut is ISO 9001:2015 certified through independent registrar, QAS International (Certificate No. US4620F). About ODLE Founded in 2004, ODLE Management Group, LLC (ODLE) is an experienced workforce development and youth services provider. ODLE is the prime contractor and manages the day-to-day operations of several Job Corps campuses, including outreach, admissions, and placement services. It holds prime contracts in Louisiana (New Orleans), Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), Virginia (Old Dominion in Monroe), and Oklahoma (Tulsa). In addition, ODLE is a subcontractor in New Mexico (Albuquerque), Florida (Pinellas County) and Washington, D.C. (Potomac). ODLE has received distinguished honors from the Small Business Administration, Arizona Small Business Administration, and the Arizona Small Business Development Center. In February 2020, ODLE completed a merger with Eckerd Connects, a private, national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization; ODLE remains a separate organization and a wholly owned subsidiary. Media Contacts: Berlyn Martin Aleut Federal, LLC Phone: 586-337-5828 Trish Jones Mondero Odle Management Group, LLC Phone: 602-622-7941 SOURCE Aleut Federal, LLC; ODLE Management Group, LLC Multifaceted operations executive to lead company with an ongoing commitment to excellence KANKAKEE, Ill., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aqua Illinois, a subsidiary of Essential Utilities, Inc., proudly welcomes leader David Carter as state president. In this role, Carter will lead the Illinois team as they continue to provide high-quality, reliable water and wastewater services to 273,000 customers. Carter joins the organization with over 15 years of water and wastewater industry experience, and over 15 years of experience in engineering, consulting and development. He brings a wealth of knowledge in strategic planning, multi-location plant operations, safety and compliance. "Aqua Illinois has worked hard to become an industry frontrunner, and I am eager to support the company's mission with its pursuit of excellence top of mind," said Carter. "I look forward to partnering with this talented team and our partners to bring our customer-focused services to communities across the state." Carter succeeds Bob Ervin, who continues his Aqua leadership journey as president of Aqua Indiana. Prior to joining Aqua, Carter oversaw Suez Environment's Midwest Division as senior director of operations/general manager. There, he helped a staff of over 125 employees achieve strategic objectives while leading environmental and safety performance. Carter has also served as vice president of operations at Veolia Water North America and Utilities, Inc., where he managed business and technical activities while pursuing organic growth. A champion for innovation and compliance, Carter has led initiatives related to water, wastewater, biosolids processing, waste to energy conversion and organic waste processing. Most recently, he managed residential improvement projects for his own construction management business, David Carter Group. "David Carter brings vast experience and a multidimensional perspective that sets him apart as a strong leader in the utility management industry. He is the kind of hands-on visionary you want at the helm to solve Illinois' most pressing water and wastewater challenges," said Colleen Arnold, president, Aqua. "We are so pleased to welcome him to Aqua Illinois, and eager to see how his expertise shapes our growth and service standards." Carter holds a Master of Science in engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University. About Aqua Illinois Aqua Illinois is a subsidiary of Essential Utilities, Inc. Founded in 1886, Aqua Illinois currently provides water and wastewater services to approximately 273,000 people in 70 communities and 13 counties. To learn more, please visit aquaamerica.com/our-states/illinois.aspx. SOURCE Aqua Illinois OUT NOW VIA EDGEOUT RECORDS/UMG /UMe PLUS - ASHBA SIGNS MANAGEMENT DEAL WITH INDUSTRY POWER PLAYER ZEE ZANDI "THE QUEEN OF HOUSE" STREAM/PURCHASE "MALOSA" (GDM REMAKE) FT. NATYASH LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- World-renowned producer, songwriter and multi-platinum EDGEOUT/UMG/UMe recording artist, ASHBA features Italio-Colombian superstar NATYASH on his latest GDM (Guitar Dance Music) remake " Malosa ." As one of the rock industry's most technically brilliant guitarists, ASHBA has combined multiple genres with EDM and rock heavy guitar into one unique, explosive sound. ASHBA RELEASES MALOSA (GDM REMAKE) FT. NATYASH OUT NOW | ASHBA features Italio-Colombian superstar NATYASH on his latest GDM (Guitar Dance Music) remake Malosa. ASHBA has combined multiple genres with EDM and rock heavy guitar into one unique, explosive sound. Go To ASHBA.US "My passion for house/dance music began two decades ago. When I met ASHBA and looked into his unique and creative style with his all-around talent and creation of GDM, I knew this was a new direction I wanted to dive into and take on my first management client. I always knew one day; the right opportunity would come my way and I wanted it to be special and unique. Can't wait to break barriers with ASHBA and show the world his talents!" - Zee Zandi Earlier this year NATYASH released "Malosa" which became an instant latin hit and received critical acclaim from top tier outlets including Billboard Argentina , Univision , EXTRA and more. "When I first heard 'Malosa' by NATYASH I was blown away," says ASHBA, "I knew I had to do a GDM remake. I teamed up with JP on Da Track, taking her original vocals and created a brand new track around it. Our goal was to seamlessly combine the sounds of latin, EDM, and rock, resulting in a unique fusion of all three genres." ASHBA co-produced "Malosa" (GDM Remake) ft. NATYASH with JP On Da Track. Multi-award winning mixing and mastering engineer Luca Pretolesi of StudioDMI (Steve Aoki, Diplo, David Guetta, J Balvin, Snoop Lion, Above & Beyond, and many more) provided the finishing touches. "MALOSA by ASHBA is a masterpiece! You're gonna wanna listen to it over and over, simply because you've never heard something similar before. It's the first Latin GDM track ever and I'm very proud to be part of it. - NATYASH ASHBA is well known as the co-founder of Sixx:A.M, and toured as the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses (2009-2015). He has written and produced numerous hits for legendary artists, including Neil Diamond, Motley Crue and Debbie Gibson. More information and up to date news can be found at ashba.us . Connect with ASHBA: Website Instagram Twitter Facebook YouTube ASHBALAND SOURCE EDGEOUT/UMG/UMe Presented in Partnership with Dealerscope Magazine, the Two-Day Event Will Be Streamed LIVE July 30th and 31st PORTLAND, Ore., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, Austere, a leading manufacturer of premium home theater accessories, is a sponsor of the popular TV Shootout Evaluation Event created by Westchester, New York dealer Value Electronics. The two-day private event, presented in partnership with Dealerscope magazine, will take place in Manhattan July 30th and 31st. At the event, Austere's high-performance Series VII surge protectors. In addition, all the TV screens will stay clean, dust- and streak-free thanks to Austere's industry leading Clean & Protect solution. At the event, Digital Trend's Caleb Denison will preside over a panel of professional Hollywood video colorists, film finishers, TV reviewers, and video scientists who will evaluate and vote on picture quality attributes to determine which model will be crowned "King of 4K TV" and "King of 8K TV." The panel will examine test patterns and real content to evaluate elements such as contrast, color fidelity, color saturation, and motion resolution. "Austere's support will be a great help to our event once again this year," said Robert Zohn, president of Value Electronics. "Their high-quality Power products will provide the very best power source for all our competitors, and all our TV screens will be crystal clear and clean thanks to Austere's great Clean & Protect products." In making the sponsorship announcement, Deena Ghazarian, Founder & CEO & Founder, remarked, "We're excited to be a part of this longstanding industry event. There are very few places or events where consumers can learn about product differences in head-to-head competition. They will be able to see the evaluations of experts and make judgments for themselves. We're proud to be part of that process." While the "Shootout" is open to the media, but not the public, it will be streamed both days and can be The event will be streamed live the YouTube Channel. The event begins at 9 am EDT, Saturday July 30 examining the 4K models and will continue Sunday, July 31, at 10 am About Austere Launched in 2019, Austere is a unique technology accessories brand committed to spectacularly designed, technologically superior products to power and connect your life. From high-performance power, cable, and clean products, Austere represents the intersection of flawless, minimalist design and advanced technology to redefine technology accessories. Austere stands apart from all other technology accessories manufacturers for its commitment to designing a new generation of products that offer consumers more stylish and better ways to connect both with their electronic devices and each other. To learn more about Austere's complete line of products, visit Austere.com. Be sure to follow us @BeAustere on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. #BeAustere #morethanexpected Media Contacts: Sara Trujillo Trujillo Public Relations [email protected] 917.295.5491 SOURCE Austere MIAMI, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line is pleased to announce that we are adjusting certain protocols to reflect the lifting of CDC requirements for the U.S. cruise industry. We remain, as always, committed to the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve. These changes will be made in phases, with the first of these updates effective on Thursday, August 4, 2022 and focused on short cruise itineraries of 5 nights or less. More changes will be announced shortly and all changes are subject to any requirements of destinations on the itinerary. Effective for embarkations on or after Thursday, August 4: No pre-cruise testing for fully vaccinated guests booked on cruises with itineraries 5 nights or less. Pre-cruise testing for itineraries 6 nights or longer can be conducted three (3) days before departure. There will be no in-terminal testing for unvaccinated guests on day of departure, but all unvaccinated guests ages 2 and older must provide proof of a negative result of a lab-administered or supervised self-administered antigen COVID test taken within three (3) days before embarkation. Guests should continue to carefully review all pre-cruise communications and refer to the Have Fun. Be Safe. page on Carnival.com for more information. ABOUT CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE Carnival Cruise Line, part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL;NYSE: CUK), is proud to be known as America's Cruise Line. Since its founding in 1972, Carnival has continually revolutionized the cruise sector, making a cruise vacation an affordable and popular option for millions of guests. Carnival operates from 14 U.S. homeports and employs more than 40,000 team members representing 120 nationalities. Carnival's newest ship, Mardi Gras, featuring the first roller coaster at sea, is the first cruise ship in the Americas powered by eco-friendly Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Carnival returns to Australia in October 2022 and will welcome four additional ships over the next two years, including Carnival Celebration, which arrives to Miami in November to close out Carnival's 50th birthday festivities. SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line Second Quarter Highlights* Diluted EPS for the Quarter of $(1.74) , Down 278 percent, primarily due to the impairment of goodwill recognized in the Digital reporting unit Adjusted Diluted EPS 1 for the Quarter of $1.67 , Up 21 percent Net Revenue for the Quarter of $424 million , Up 21 percent Increases Organic Total Net Revenue Growth 2 Target for 2022 to 9 to 11 percent , from 5 to 7 percent; Increases Data and Access Solutions Organic Net Revenue Growth 2 Target to 10 to 13 percent, from 8 to 11 percent Increases 2022 Adjusted Operating Expense Guidance2 to $659 to $667 million , from $617 to $625 million . CHICAGO, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE) today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2022. "Cboe delivered strong second quarter results to close out an exceptional first half of 2022. Activity across our ecosystemcash, data and derivativeswas robust," said Edward T. Tilly, Cboe Global Markets Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Many of our newer initiatives, like the extension of trading hours for SPX and VIX Options to nearly 24 hours-a-day, five days-a-week and the addition of Tuesday and Thursday expirations for SPX Weekly options, have outperformed our early expectations in 2022, further accelerating the strong growth across our core businesses. With the closing of the ErisX and NEO acquisitions in the second quarter, the entire Cboe team remains focused on extracting even greater value from the ecosystem we have created. The digital asset market environment has changed dramatically since we closed the ErisX transaction on May 2nd, which resulted in an accounting adjustment. We believe that the $220 million book carrying value reflects the reality of the market today, but in no way changes our enthusiasm for the digital asset space. We are intently focused on integrating our platforms and positioning Cboe for its next wave of growth in the quarters ahead." "In the second quarter, Cboe produced record-setting revenue results as overall net revenues grew 21% year-over-year," said Brian N. Schell, Cboe Global Markets Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. "The benefits of the Cboe flywheel were apparent given the strong year-over-year growth from each category during the quarter, with net revenues from derivatives markets1 growing 30%, data and access solutions1 up 20%, and cash and spot markets1 growing 7%. Moving forward, we are increasing our 2022 total organic net revenue growth2 expectations, targeting 9% to 11% growth, up from our prior guidance range of 5% to 7%. In addition, our 2022 organic net revenue growth2 expectations for our Data and Access Solutions business are increasing to 10% to 13%, up from our prior guidance range of 8% to 11%. The upgraded guidance is a testament to not only the strength of the first half results, but the durability we expect to see in the revenue base moving forward. We look forward to building on the first half momentum with continued investment and integration across the Cboe platform." *All comparisons are second quarter 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. (1)A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables. (2) Specific quantifications of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the company's organic growth guidance, adjusted operating expenses guidance and the effective tax rate on adjusted earnings guidance are not available. The company believes that there is uncertainty and unpredictability with respect to certain of its GAAP measures, primarily related to acquisition-related revenues and expenses that would be required to reconcile to GAAP revenues less costs of revenues, GAAP operating expenses and GAAP effective tax rate, which preclude the company from providing accurate guidance on certain forward-looking GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations. The company believes that providing estimates of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the range of the company's organic growth, adjusted operating expenses and the effective tax rate on adjusted earnings would imply a degree of precision that would be confusing or misleading to investors for the reasons identified above. Consolidated Second Quarter Results -Table 1 Table 1 below presents summary selected unaudited condensed consolidated financial information for the company as reported and on an adjusted basis for the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021. Table 1 Consolidated Second Quarter Results 2Q22 2Q21 ($ in millions except per share) 2Q22 2Q21 Change Adjusted1 Adjusted1 Change Total Revenues Less Cost of Revenues $ 424.1 $ 350.6 21 % $ 424.1 $ 350.6 21 % Total Operating Expenses $ 661.5 $ 160.6 312 % $ 157.0 $ 128.3 22 % Operating (Loss) Income $ (237.4) $ 190.0 (225) % $ 267.1 $ 222.3 20 % Operating Margin % (56.0) % 54.2 % (110.2) pp 63.0 % 63.4 % (0.4) pp Net (Loss) Income Allocated to Common Stockholders $ (184.5) $ 105.2 (275) % $ 177.3 $ 147.4 20 % Diluted EPS $ (1.74) $ 0.98 (278) % $ 1.67 $ 1.38 21 % EBITDA1 $ (202.0) $ 231.8 (187) % $ 274.2 $ 233.6 17 % EBITDA Margin % 1 (47.6) % 66.1 % (113.7) pp 64.7 % 66.6 % (1.9) pp Total revenues less cost of revenues (referred to as "net revenue") of $424.1 million increased 21 percent, compared to $350.6 million in the prior-year period, reflecting increases in net transaction and clearing fees 1 and access and capacity fees. Inorganic net revenue 1 in the second quarter of 2022 was $9.9 million . increased 21 percent, compared to in the prior-year period, reflecting increases in net transaction and clearing fees and access and capacity fees. Inorganic net revenue in the second quarter of 2022 was . Total operating expenses were $661.5 million versus $160.6 million in the second quarter of 2021, an increase of $500.9 million , primarily due to the impairment of goodwill recognized in the Digital reporting unit, driven by negative events and trends in the broader digital asset environment. Adjusted operating expenses 1 of $157.0 million increased 22 percent compared to $128.3 million in the second quarter of 2021, primarily due to the acquisitions of Cboe Asia Pacific, ErisX, and NEO, as well as an increase in salaries, wages, and bonuses resulting in higher compensation and benefits. versus in the second quarter of 2021, an increase of , primarily due to the impairment of goodwill recognized in the Digital reporting unit, driven by negative events and trends in the broader digital asset environment. Adjusted operating expenses of increased 22 percent compared to in the second quarter of 2021, primarily due to the acquisitions of Cboe Asia Pacific, ErisX, and NEO, as well as an increase in salaries, wages, and bonuses resulting in higher compensation and benefits. The effective tax rate for the second quarter of 2022 was 28.2 percent compared with 41.1 percent in the second quarter of 2021. The decrease is primarily due to the remeasurement of UK deferred tax liabilities following the UK tax rate increase from 19 percent to 25 percent enacted during the second quarter of 2021 and effective April 1, 2023 . The effective tax rate on adjusted earnings 1 was 28.4 percent compared with 30.1 percent in last year's second quarter. The lower effective tax rate in the second quarter of 2022 was primarily due to changes in income tax reserves in the second quarter of 2021. . The effective tax rate on adjusted earnings was 28.4 percent compared with 30.1 percent in last year's second quarter. The lower effective tax rate in the second quarter of 2022 was primarily due to changes in income tax reserves in the second quarter of 2021. Diluted EPS for the second quarter of 2022 decreased 278 percent to $(1.74) . Adjusted diluted EPS1 of $1.67 increased 21 percent compared to 2021's second quarter results. Business Segment Information: Table 2 Total Revenues Less Cost of Revenues by Business Segment (in millions) 2Q22 2Q21 Change Options $ 235.3 $ 178.6 32 % North American Equities 92.7 89.2 4 % Europe and Asia Pacific 49.9 41.6 20 % Futures 29.6 27.4 8 % Global FX 16.6 13.8 20 % Digital * Corporate % Total $ 424.1 $ 350.6 21 % (1) A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables. *Not meaningful, due to the establishment of the Digital segment during the second quarter of 2022 as a result of the ErisX acquisition on May 2, 2022. Discussion of Results by Business Segment1: Options: Options net revenue of $235.3 million was up $56.7 million , or 32 percent, from the second quarter of 2021, due to double-digit increases in net transaction and clearing fees 2 , access and capacity fees, and market data. Net transaction and clearing fees increased primarily as a result of a 46 percent increase in Index options trading volumes versus the second quarter of 2021, along with a 7 percent increase in Index options revenue per contract ("RPC") for the quarter. Access and capacity fees and market data fees were each 29 percent higher than second quarter 2021. was up , or 32 percent, from the second quarter of 2021, due to double-digit increases in net transaction and clearing fees , access and capacity fees, and market data. Net transaction and clearing fees increased primarily as a result of a 46 percent increase in Index options trading volumes versus the second quarter of 2021, along with a 7 percent increase in Index options revenue per contract ("RPC") for the quarter. Access and capacity fees and market data fees were each 29 percent higher than second quarter 2021. Net transaction and clearing fees 2 increased $54.6 million , or 41 percent, reflecting an 18 percent increase in total options average daily volume ("ADV") and a 21 percent increase in total options RPC compared to the second quarter 2021. The increase in total options RPC was due to a mix shift, with Index options representing a higher percentage of total options volume. The RPC for Index options increased 7 percent as higher-priced SPX options accounted for a higher percentage of Index options volume. increased , or 41 percent, reflecting an 18 percent increase in total options average daily volume ("ADV") and a 21 percent increase in total options RPC compared to the second quarter 2021. The increase in total options RPC was due to a mix shift, with Index options representing a higher percentage of total options volume. The RPC for Index options increased 7 percent as higher-priced SPX options accounted for a higher percentage of Index options volume. Cboe's Options business had total market share of 33.2 percent for the second quarter of 2022 compared to 30.4 percent in the second quarter of 2021, primarily reflecting an increase in Cboe's multi-listed options market share for the quarter of 28.3 percent compared to 26.8 percent in the second quarter of 2021. North American (N.A.) Equities: N.A. Equities net revenue of $92.7 million was up $3.5 million , or 4 percent, primarily due to higher access and capacity fees and transaction and clearing fees. Year-over-year declines in industry market data offset some of the growth in the segment. Transaction and clearing fees were impacted by higher N.A. equities industry volumes as compared to the second quarter of 2021. Net capture was flat in the second quarter of 2022, when comparing year over year. was up , or 4 percent, primarily due to higher access and capacity fees and transaction and clearing fees. Year-over-year declines in industry market data offset some of the growth in the segment. Transaction and clearing fees were impacted by higher N.A. equities industry volumes as compared to the second quarter of 2021. Net capture was flat in the second quarter of 2022, when comparing year over year. Cboe U.S. Equities exchanges had market share of 13.6 percent for the second quarter of 2022 compared to 14.3 percent in the second quarter of 2021, negatively impacted by pricing changes that drove a higher net capture. Europe and Asia Pacific (APAC): Europe and APAC net revenue of $49.9 million increased by 20 percent, reflecting growth in European equities and clearing, and the addition of Cboe Asia Pacific in July 2021 , which contributed $8.2 million in net revenue. European Equities average daily notional value ("ADNV") for the overall market was up 12 percent during the quarter and ADNV traded on Cboe European Equities was 10.9 billion, up 49 percent from last year's second quarter. Net capture decreased 11 percent for the quarter, reflecting a mix shift with the strongest gains coming in Lit market share, outpacing the growth in higher-capture Cboe BIDS Europe and Periodic Auction services, as well as from the impact of volume pricing tiers with higher volumes and higher market share. and APAC net revenue of increased by 20 percent, reflecting growth in European equities and clearing, and the addition of Cboe Asia Pacific in , which contributed in net revenue. European Equities average daily notional value ("ADNV") for the overall market was up 12 percent during the quarter and ADNV traded on Cboe European Equities was 10.9 billion, up 49 percent from last year's second quarter. Net capture decreased 11 percent for the quarter, reflecting a mix shift with the strongest gains coming in Lit market share, outpacing the growth in higher-capture Cboe BIDS Europe and Periodic Auction services, as well as from the impact of volume pricing tiers with higher volumes and higher market share. For the second quarter of 2022, Cboe European Equities had 23.2 percent market share, up from 17.4 percent in the second quarter of 2021, as a result of positive momentum across all orderbooks, with a particular strength in Lit markets and record Cboe BIDS Europe market share. Futures: Futures net revenue of $29.6 million increased $2.2 million , or 8 percent, due to increases in net transaction and clearing fees 2 , access and capacity fees, and market data. increased , or 8 percent, due to increases in net transaction and clearing fees , access and capacity fees, and market data. Net transaction and clearing fees2 increased $0.8 million , or 4 percent, reflecting slight upticks in both ADV and RPC. Global FX: Global FX net revenue of $16.6 million increased 20 percent, primarily as a result of higher net transaction and clearing fees 2 . ADNV traded on the Cboe FX platform was $39.6 billion for the quarter, up 22 percent compared to last year's second quarter and net capture per one million dollars traded was $2.71 for the quarter, flat compared to $2.71 in the second quarter of 2021. increased 20 percent, primarily as a result of higher net transaction and clearing fees . ADNV traded on the Cboe FX platform was for the quarter, up 22 percent compared to last year's second quarter and net capture per traded was for the quarter, flat compared to in the second quarter of 2021. Cboe FX market share was 17.0 percent for the quarter compared to 16.3 percent in last year's second quarter. (1) The Digital segment is not further discussed as results were not material given its establishment during the second quarter of 2022 as a result of the ErisX acquisition on May 2, 2022, outside of the goodwill impairment charge recorded in the second quarter of 2022. (2)A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables. 2022 Fiscal Year Financial Guidance Cboe provided guidance for the 2022 fiscal year as noted below. Organic net revenue growth 1 is expected to be in the range of 9 to 11 percentage points in 2022, up from previous guidance of 5 to 7 percentage points. is expected to be in the range of 9 to 11 percentage points in 2022, up from previous guidance of 5 to 7 percentage points. Reaffirmed revenue from acquisitions held less than a year 1 is expected to contribute total net revenue growth in a range of 2 to 3 percentage points in 2022. is expected to contribute total net revenue growth in a range of 2 to 3 percentage points in 2022. Organic net revenue 1 from Data and Access Solutions is now expected to increase by approximately 10 to 13 percent in 2022, from a base of $419 million in 2021, up from previous guidance of 8 to 11 percent. from Data and Access Solutions is now expected to increase by approximately 10 to 13 percent in 2022, from a base of in 2021, up from previous guidance of 8 to 11 percent. Adjusted operating expenses 1 in 2022 are now expected to be in the range of $659 to $667 million , from a base of $531 million in 2021, up from previous guidance of $617 to $625 million . The updated 2022 guidance considers incremental investment spend in technology and headcount to support Cboe's numerous growth initiatives, deals closed during 2021 but not fully reflected in the 2021 cost base, recent acquisitions of NEO and ErisX and increases in core expenses. The guidance excludes the expected amortization of acquired intangible assets of $125 million ; the company plans to reflect the exclusion of this amount in its non-GAAP reconciliation. 1 in 2022 are now expected to be in the range of to , from a base of in 2021, up from previous guidance of to . The updated 2022 guidance considers incremental investment spend in technology and headcount to support Cboe's numerous growth initiatives, deals closed during 2021 but not fully reflected in the 2021 cost base, recent acquisitions of NEO and ErisX and increases in core expenses. The guidance excludes the expected amortization of acquired intangible assets of ; the company plans to reflect the exclusion of this amount in its non-GAAP reconciliation. Reaffirmed depreciation and amortization expense for 2022, which is included in adjusted operating expenses above, is expected to be in the range of $40 to $44 million , excluding the expected amortization of acquired intangible assets. to , excluding the expected amortization of acquired intangible assets. Reaffirmed the effective tax rate 1 on adjusted earnings for the full year 2022 is expected to be in the range of 27.5 to 29.5 percent. Significant changes in trading volume, expenses, tax laws or rates and other items could materially impact this expectation. on adjusted earnings for the full year 2022 is expected to be in the range of 27.5 to 29.5 percent. Significant changes in trading volume, expenses, tax laws or rates and other items could materially impact this expectation. Reaffirmed capital expenditures for 2022 are expected to be in the range of $47 to $52 million . (1) Specific quantifications of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the company's organic and inorganic growth guidance, adjusted operating expenses guidance and the effective tax rate on adjusted earnings guidance are not available. The company believes that there is uncertainty and unpredictability with respect to certain of its GAAP measures, primarily related to acquisition-related revenues and expenses that would be required to reconcile to GAAP revenues less costs of revenues, GAAP operating expenses and GAAP effective tax rate, which preclude the company from providing accurate guidance on certain forward-looking GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations. The company believes that providing estimates of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the range of the company's organic growth, adjusted operating expenses and the effective tax rate on adjusted earnings would imply a degree of precision that would be confusing or misleading to investors for the reasons identified above. Capital Management At June 30, 2022, the company had adjusted cash1 of $349.1 million. Total debt as of June 30, 2022 was $1,959.2 million. The company paid cash dividends of $51.2 million, or $0.48 per share, during the second quarter of 2022 and utilized $15.6 million to repurchase 147 thousand shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program at an average price of $106.12 per share. As of June 30, 2022, the company had approximately $233.3 million of availability remaining under its existing share repurchase authorizations. Earnings Conference Call Executives of Cboe Global Markets will host a conference call to review its second-quarter financial results today, July 29, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. CT. The conference call and any accompanying slides will be publicly available via live webcast from the Investor Relations section of the company's website at www.cboe.com under Events & Presentations. Participants may also listen via telephone by dialing (877) 2554313 from the United States, (866) 4504696 from Canada or (412) 3175466 for international callers. Telephone participants should place calls 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. The webcast will be archived on the company's website for replay. A telephone replay of the earnings call also will be available from approximately 11:00 a.m. CT, July 29, 2022, through 11:00 p.m. CT, August 6, 2022, by calling (877) 3447529 from the U.S., (855) 6699658 from Canada or (412) 3170088 for international callers, using replay code 10160639. (1) A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables. About Cboe Global Markets Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of market infrastructure and tradable products, delivers cutting-edge trading, clearing and investment solutions to market participants around the world. The Company is committed to operating a trusted, inclusive global marketplace, and to providing leading products, technology and data solutions that enable participants to define a sustainable financial future. Cboe provides trading solutions and products in multiple asset classes, including equities, derivatives, FX, and digital assets, across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. To learn more, visit www.cboe.com. Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. All statements that reflect our expectations, assumptions or projections about the future other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the loss of our right to exclusively list and trade certain index options and futures products; economic, political and market conditions; compliance with legal and regulatory obligations; price competition and consolidation in our industry; decreases in trading or clearing volumes, market data fees or a shift in the mix of products traded on our exchanges; legislative or regulatory changes or changes in tax regimes; our ability to protect our systems and communication networks from security risks, cybersecurity risks, insider threats and unauthorized disclosure of confidential information; our ability to attract and retain skilled management and other personnel; increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities; our dependence on and exposure to risk from third parties; fluctuations to currency exchange rates; factors that impact the quality and integrity of our indices; the impact of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic; our ability to operate our business without violating the intellectual property rights of others and the costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights; our ability to minimize the risks, including our credit and default risks, associated with operating a European clearinghouse; our ability to accommodate trading and clearing volume and transaction traffic, including significant increases, without failure or degradation of performance of our systems; misconduct by those who use our markets or our products or for whom we clear transactions; challenges to our use of open source software code; our ability to meet our compliance obligations, including managing potential conflicts between our regulatory responsibilities and our for-profit status; our ability to maintain BIDS Trading as an independently managed and operated trading venue, separate from and not integrated with our registered national securities exchanges; damage to our reputation; the ability of our compliance and risk management methods to effectively monitor and manage our risks; our ability to manage our growth and strategic acquisitions or alliances effectively; restrictions imposed by our debt obligations and our ability to make payments on or refinance our debt obligations; our ability to maintain an investment grade credit rating; impairment of our goodwill, long-lived assets, investments or intangible assets; the accuracy of our estimates and expectations; litigation risks and other liabilities; and operating a digital asset business, and clearinghouse, including the expected benefits of our ErisX acquisition, cybercrime, changes in digital asset regulation, losses due to digital asset custody, and fluctuations in digital asset prices. More detailed information about factors that may affect our actual results to differ may be found in our filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and other filings made from time to time with the SEC. We do not undertake, and we expressly disclaim, any duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The condensed consolidated statements of income and balance sheets are unaudited and subject to reclassification. CBOE-F Trademarks: Cboe, Cboe Global Markets, Cboe Volatility Index, Bats, BIDS Trading, BZX, BYX, Chi-X, EDGX, EDGA, ErisX, EuroCCP, MATCHNow, and VIX are registered trademarks of Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. Key Performance Statistics by Business Segment 2Q 2022 1Q 2022 4Q 2021 3Q 2021 2Q 2021 Options Total industry ADV (in thousands) 39,377 42,464 40,794 37,548 36,442 Total company Options ADV (in thousands) 13,054 13,392 12,694 11,764 11,092 Multi-listed options 10,378 10,978 10,527 9,794 9,254 Index options 2,677 2,414 2,167 1,970 1,838 Total Options market share 33.2 % 31.5 % 31.1 % 31.3 % 30.4 % Multi-listed options 28.3 % 27.4 % 27.3 % 27.6 % 26.8 % Total Options RPC: $ 0.233 $ 0.210 $ 0.199 $ 0.200 $ 0.192 Multi-listed options $ 0.066 $ 0.067 $ 0.066 $ 0.069 $ 0.067 Index options $ 0.883 $ 0.857 $ 0.845 $ 0.850 $ 0.823 North American Equities U.S. Equities - Exchange: Total industry ADV (shares in billions) 12.6 12.9 10.8 9.8 10.5 Market share % 13.6 % 14.3 % 13.3 % 14.0 % 14.3 % Net capture (per 100 touched shares) $ 0.020 $ 0.017 $ 0.025 $ 0.020 $ 0.020 U.S. Equities - Off-Exchange: ADV (touched shares, in millions) 92.7 108.5 84.2 73.0 75.8 Off-Exchange ATS Block Market Share % (reported on a two-month lag) 24.5 % 24.4 % 22.5 % 22.9 % 21.8 % Net capture (per 100 touched shares) $ 0.108 $ 0.117 $ 0.115 $ 0.122 $ 0.123 Canadian Equities: ADV (matched shares, in millions) 36.0 41.1 41.3 37.8 47.4 Total market share % 3.1 % 3.2 % 3.3 % 3.4 % 3.4 % Market share % - TSX listed volume 4.1 % 4.3 % 4.7 % 4.7 % 4.9 % Net capture (per 10,000 shares, in Canadian Dollars) $ 9.328 $ 9.103 $ 8.475 $ 8.342 $ 7.782 Europe and Asia Pacific European Equities: Total industry ADNV (Euros - in billions) 46.9 58.7 44.0 39.6 42.0 Market share % 23.2 % 21.8 % 19.8 % 18.2 % 17.4 % Net capture (bps) 0.238 0.233 0.256 0.264 0.267 EuroCCP: Trades cleared (in thousands) 356,351.1 454,437.8 345,074.8 306,085.2 294,801.9 Fee per trade cleared 0.009 0.009 0.011 0.010 0.011 Net settlement volume (shares in thousands) 2,501.6 2,802.1 2,664.9 2,484.1 2,367.3 Net fee per settlement 0.808 0.924 0.860 0.869 0.893 Australian Equities: ADNV (AUD billions) $ 0.8 $ 0.9 $ 0.8 $ 0.8 N/A Market share - Continuous 17.0 % 15.8 % 16.1 % 15.7 % N/A Net capture (per matched notional value (bps)) $ 0.171 $ 0.173 $ 0.171 $ 0.173 N/A Japanese Equities: ADNV (JPY billions) 136.0 161.4 111.4 88.7 N/A Market share - Lit Continuous 3.5 % 3.8 % 2.9 % 2.4 % N/A Net capture (per matched notional value (bps)) 0.258 0.228 0.358 0.364 N/A Futures ADV (in thousands) 222 254 230 223 214 RPC $ 1.677 $ 1.637 $ 1.651 $ 1.626 $ 1.648 Global FX Spot market share % 17.0 % 17.3 % 16.8 % 17.0 % 16.3 % ADNV ($ in billions) $ 39.6 $ 42.0 $ 33.7 $ 32.4 $ 32.5 Net capture (per one million dollars traded) $ 2.71 $ 2.67 $ 2.77 $ 2.77 $ 2.71 ADV = average daily volume; ADNV = average daily notional value. RPC, average revenue per contract, for options and futures represents total net transaction fees recognized for the period divided by total contracts traded during the period. Touched volume represents the total number of shares of equity securities and ETFs internally matched on our exchanges or routed to and executed on an external market center. Matched volume represents the total number of shares of equity securities and ETFs executed on our exchanges. U.S. Equities - Exchange, "net capture per 100 touched shares" refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments and routing and clearing costs divided by the product of one-hundredth ADV of touched shares on BZX, BYX, EDGX and EDGA and the number of trading days. U.S. Equities Off-Exchange data reflects BIDS Trading. For U.S. Equities Off-Exchange, "net capture per 100 touched shares" refers to transaction fees less order and execution management system (OMS/EMS) fees and clearing costs divided by the product of one-hundredth ADV of touched shares on BIDS Trading and the number of trading days for the period. Canadian Equities, "net capture per 10,000 shares" refers to transaction fees divided by the product of one-ten thousandth ADV of shares for MATCHNow and the number of trading days. Total market share represents MATCHNow volume divided by the total volume of the Canadian Equities market. TSX listed volume market share represents MATCHNow volume divided by the total volume in TSX listed equities. Canadian Equities data does not include NEO data. European Equities, "net capture per matched notional value" refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments in British pounds divided by the product of ADNV in British pounds of shares matched on Cboe Europe Equities and the number of trading days. "Trades cleared" refers to the total number of non-interoperable trades cleared, "Fee per trade cleared" refers to clearing fees divided by number of non-interoperable trades cleared, "Net settlement volume" refers to the total number of settlements executed after netting, and "Net fee per settlement" refers to settlement fees less direct costs incurred to settle divided by the number of settlements executed after netting. Asia Pacific data reflects the acquisition of Cboe Asia Pacific (formerly Chi-X Asia Pacific) effective July 1, 2021. Australian Equities "Net capture per matched notional value" refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments in Australian dollars divided by the product of ADNV in Australian dollars of shares matched on Cboe Australia and the number of Australian Equities trading days. Japanese Equities "Net capture per matched notional value" refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments in Japanese Yen divided by the product of ADNV in Japanese Yen of shares matched on Cboe Japan and the number of Japanese Equities trading days. Global FX, "net capture per one million dollars traded" refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments, if any, divided by the Spot and SEF products of one-thousandth of ADNV traded on the Cboe FX Markets and the number of trading days, divided by two, which represents the buyer and seller that are both charged on the transaction. Market Share represents Cboe FX volume divided by the total volume of publicly reporting spot FX venues (Cboe FX, EBS, Refinitiv, and Euronext FX). Average transaction fees per contract can be affected by various factors, including exchange fee rates, volume-based discounts and transaction mix by contract type and product type. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited) Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30, (in millions, except per share amounts) 2022 2021 2022 2021 Revenue: Cash and spot markets $ 458.5 $ 372.7 $ 920.4 $ 921.6 Data and access solutions 123.9 103.0 242.8 203.6 Derivatives markets 403.4 325.1 797.1 686.4 Total Revenues 985.8 800.8 1,960.3 1,811.6 Cost of Revenues: Liquidity payments 429.0 377.9 896.5 879.7 Routing and clearing 20.9 19.9 43.2 47.0 Section 31 fees 79.6 28.8 115.3 120.7 Royalty fees 28.1 20.3 54.4 40.6 Other cost of revenues 4.1 3.3 8.7 7.5 Total Cost of Revenues 561.7 450.2 1,118.1 1,095.5 Revenues Less Cost of Revenues 424.1 350.6 842.2 716.1 Operating Expenses: Compensation and benefits 86.2 67.7 167.4 140.0 Depreciation and amortization 40.2 40.6 81.1 82.6 Technology support services 18.1 16.2 37.3 33.4 Professional fees and outside services 24.1 22.4 43.8 38.0 Travel and promotional expenses 5.5 1.9 8.4 3.5 Facilities costs 6.6 5.4 13.1 10.7 Acquisition-related costs 14.3 1.8 16.3 5.2 Goodwill impairment 460.1 0.0 460.1 0.0 Other expenses 6.4 4.6 12.4 8.1 Total Operating Expenses 661.5 160.6 839.9 321.5 Operating (Loss) Income (237.4) 190.0 2.3 394.6 Non-operating (Expenses) Income: Interest expense, net (14.6) (12.3) (25.4) (24.6) Other (expense) income, net (4.8) 1.5 (8.8) 2.1 Total Non-operating Expenses (19.4) (10.8) (34.2) (22.5) (Loss) Income Before Income Tax (Benefit) Provision (256.8) 179.2 (31.9) 372.1 Income tax (benefit) provision (72.3) 73.7 43.0 129.4 Net (Loss) Income (184.5) 105.5 (74.9) 242.7 Net income allocated to participating securities (0.3) (0.7) Net (Loss) Income Allocated to Common Stockholders $ (184.5) $ 105.2 $ (74.9) $ 242.0 Net (Loss) Income Per Share Allocated to Common Stockholders: Basic (loss) earnings per share $ (1.74) $ 0.99 $ (0.70) $ 2.26 Diluted (loss) earnings per share (1.74) 0.98 (0.70) 2.26 Weighted average shares used in computing income per share: Basic 106.3 106.8 106.5 107.1 Diluted 106.3 106.9 106.5 107.3 Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) June 30, 2022 and 2021 June 30, December 31, (in millions) 2022 2021 Assets Current Assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 373.3 $ 341.9 Financial investments 68.5 37.1 Accounts receivable, net 391.3 326.9 Margin deposits and clearing funds 987.2 745.9 Digital assets - safeguarded assets 22.4 Income taxes receivable 51.1 42.7 Other current assets 39.0 36.8 Total Current Assets 1,932.8 1,531.3 Investments 243.5 245.8 Land 2.3 2.3 Property and equipment, net 107.5 105.2 Operating lease right of use assets 124.8 110.1 Goodwill 3,132.0 3,025.4 Intangible assets, net 1,792.8 1,668.6 Other assets, net 140.4 125.8 Total Assets $ 7,476.1 $ 6,814.5 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current Liabilities: Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 405.9 $ 295.4 Section 31 fees payable 116.3 40.8 Deferred revenue 22.7 15.2 Margin deposits and clearing funds 987.2 745.9 Digital assets - safeguarded liabilities 22.4 Income taxes payable 0.3 8.2 Current portion of contingent consideration liabilities 44.8 63.8 Total Current Liabilities 1,599.6 1,169.3 Long-term debt 1,959.2 1,299.3 Unrecognized tax benefits 173.5 197.9 Deferred income taxes 252.6 372.7 Non-current operating lease liabilities 139.4 129.2 Contingent consideration liabilities 57.3 6.7 Other non-current liabilities 32.6 34.6 Total Liabilities 4,214.2 3,209.7 Stockholders' Equity: Preferred stock Common stock 1.1 1.1 Treasury stock at cost (201.0) (106.8) Additional paid-in capital 1,525.7 1,509.4 Retained earnings 1,968.0 2,145.5 Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income, net (31.9) 55.6 Total Stockholders' Equity 3,261.9 3,604.8 Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity $ 7,476.1 $ 6,814.5 Non-GAAP Information In addition to disclosing results determined in accordance with GAAP, Cboe Global Markets has disclosed certain non-GAAP measures of operating performance. These measures are not in accordance with, or a substitute for, GAAP, and may be different from or inconsistent with non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The non-GAAP measures provided in this press release include net transaction and clearing fees, adjusted operating expenses, adjusted operating income, organic net revenue, inorganic net revenue, adjusted operating margin, adjusted net (loss) income allocated to common stockholders and adjusted diluted earnings per share, effective tax rate on adjusted earnings, adjusted cash, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin. Management believes that the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release, including adjusted operating income, organic net revenue and adjusted operating expenses, provide additional and comparative information to assess trends in our core operations and a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Non-GAAP financial measures disclosed by management are provided as additional information to investors in order to provide them with an alternative method for assessing our financial condition and operating results. Organic net revenue, inorganic net revenue, organic non-transaction revenue and organic net revenue guidance: These are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude or have otherwise been adjusted for the impact of our acquisitions for the period or guidance, as applicable. Management believes the organic net revenue growth and guidance measures provide users with supplemental information regarding the company's ongoing and future potential revenue performances and trends by presenting revenue growth and guidance excluding the impact of the acquisitions. Revenues from acquisitions that have been owned for at least one year are considered organic and are no longer excluded from organic net revenue from either period for comparative purposes. Amortization expense of acquired intangible assets: We amortize intangible assets acquired in connection with various acquisitions. Amortization of intangible assets is inconsistent in amount and frequency and is significantly affected by the timing and size of our acquisitions. As such, if intangible asset amortization is included in performance measures, it is more difficult to assess the day-to-day operating performance of the businesses, the relative operating performance of the businesses between periods and the earnings power of the company. Therefore, we believe performance measures excluding intangible asset amortization expense provide investors with an additional basis for comparison across accounting periods. Acquisition-related expenses: From time to time, we have pursued acquisitions, which have resulted in expenses which would not otherwise have been incurred in the normal course of the company's business operations. These expenses include integration costs, as well as legal, due diligence, impairment charges, and other third-party transaction costs. The frequency and the amount of such expenses vary significantly based on the size, timing and complexity of the transaction. Accordingly, we exclude these costs for purposes of calculating non-GAAP measures which provide an additional analysis of Cboe's ongoing operating performance or comparisons in Cboe's performance between periods. The tables below show the reconciliation of each financial measure from GAAP to non-GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures exclude the impact of those items detailed below and are referred to as adjusted financial measures. Organic Net Revenue Reconciliation Table 3 Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (in millions) June 30, June 30, Reconciliation of Revenue Less Cost of Revenue to Organic Net Revenue 2022 2021 2022 2021 Revenues less cost of revenues (net revenue) $ 424.1 $ 350.6 $ 842.2 $ 716.1 Less acquisitions: Acquisition revenue less cost of revenues (inorganic net revenue) $ (9.9) $ $ (18.3) $ Organic net revenue $ 414.2 $ 350.6 $ 823.9 $ 716.1 Reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP Information Three Months Ended Six Months Ended Table 4 June 30, June 30, (in millions, except per share amounts) 2022 2021 2022 2021 Reconciliation of Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders to Non-GAAP (As shown on Table 1) Net (loss) income allocated to common stockholders $ (184.5) $ 105.2 $ (74.9) $ 242.0 Non-GAAP adjustments Acquisition-related expenses (1) 14.3 1.8 16.3 5.2 Investment establishment costs (2) 3.0 Gain on investment (3) (7.5) (7.5) Loan forgiveness (4) (1.3) (1.3) Amortization of acquired intangible assets (5) 30.1 30.5 60.7 63.4 Goodwill impairment (6) 460.1 460.1 Impairment of investment (7) 10.6 10.6 Total Non-GAAP adjustments 506.3 32.3 541.9 68.6 Income tax expense related to the items above (143.2) 10.0 (151.9) (15.9) Tax reserves (8) 48.5 Deferred tax re-measurements 17.7 Net income allocated to participating securities - effect on reconciling items (1.3) (0.1) (1.6) (0.2) Adjusted net income allocated to common stockholders $ 177.3 $ 147.4 $ 362.0 $ 312.2 Reconciliation of Diluted EPS to Non-GAAP Diluted (loss) earnings per common share $ (1.74) $ 0.98 $ (0.70) $ 2.26 Per share impact of non-GAAP adjustments noted above 3.41 0.40 4.10 0.65 Adjusted diluted earnings per common share $ 1.67 $ 1.38 $ 3.40 $ 2.91 Reconciliation of Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Revenue less cost of revenue $ 424.1 $ 350.6 $ 842.2 $ 716.1 Non-GAAP adjustments noted above Adjusted revenue less cost of revenue $ 424.1 $ 350.6 $ 842.2 $ 716.1 Operating expenses (9) $ 661.5 $ 160.6 $ 839.9 $ 321.5 Non-GAAP adjustments noted above 504.5 32.3 537.1 68.6 Adjusted operating expenses $ 157.0 $ 128.3 $ 302.8 $ 252.9 Operating (loss) income $ (237.4) $ 190.0 $ 2.3 $ 394.6 Non-GAAP adjustments noted above 504.5 32.3 537.1 68.6 Adjusted operating income $ 267.1 $ 222.3 $ 539.4 $ 463.2 Adjusted operating margin (10) 63.0 % 63.4 % 64.0 % 64.7 % Reconciliation of Income Tax Rate to Non-GAAP (Loss) income before income taxes (256.8) 179.2 (31.9) 372.1 Non-GAAP adjustments noted above 506.3 32.3 541.9 68.6 Adjusted income before income taxes $ 249.5 $ 211.5 $ 510.0 $ 440.7 Income tax (benefit) provision (72.3) 73.7 43.0 129.4 Non-GAAP adjustments noted above 143.2 (10.0) 103.4 (1.8) Adjusted income tax expense $ 70.9 $ 63.7 $ 146.4 $ 127.6 Adjusted income tax rate 28.4 % 30.1 % 28.7 % 29.0 % (1) This amount includes professional fees and outside services and impairment charges related to the company's acquisitions. (2) This amount represents the investment establishment costs related to the company's investment in 7RIDGE Investments 3 LP, which acquired Trading Technologies, Inc. (3) This amount represents the gain on the Company's investment in Eris Digital Holdings LLC ("ErisX") in connection with the full acquisition of ErisX. (4) This amount represents the forgiveness of a PPP ("Paycheck Protection Program") loan previously held by ErisX. (5) This amount represents the amortization of acquired intangible assets related to the company's acquisitions. (6) This amount represents the impairment of ErisX goodwill. (7) This amount represents the impairment of investment related to the Company's minority investment in American Financial Exchange, LLC. (8) This amount represents the tax reserves related to Section 199 matters. (9) The company sponsors deferred compensation plans held in a trust. The expenses or income related to the deferred compensation plans are included in "Compensation and benefits" ($1.9 million and $1.1 million in expense for the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $2.5 million and $1.4 million in expense for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively), and are directly offset by deferred compensation income, expenses and dividends included within "Other income, net" ($1.9 million and $1.1 million in income, expense and dividends in the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $2.5 million and $1.4 million in income, expense and dividends in the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively), on the condensed consolidated statements of income. The deferred compensation plans' expenses are not excluded from "adjusted operating expenses" and do not have an impact on "Income before income taxes." (10) Adjusted operating margin represents adjusted operating income divided by adjusted revenue less cost of revenue. EBITDA Reconciliations EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) and Adjusted EBITDA are widely used non-GAAP financial measures of operating performance. EBITDA margin represents EBITDA divided by revenues less cost of revenues (net revenue). It is presented as supplemental information that the company believes is useful to investors to evaluate its results because it excludes certain items that are not directly related to the company's core operating performance. EBITDA is calculated by adding back to net income interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by adding back to EBITDA acquisition-related expenses, gain on investment, loan forgiveness, investment establishment costs, goodwill impairment, and impairment of investment. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as substitutes either for net income, as an indicator of the company's operating performance, or for cash flow, as a measure of the company's liquidity. In addition, because EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not be calculated identically by all companies, the presentation here may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. Adjusted EBITDA margin represents Adjusted EBITDA divided by net revenue. Table 5 Three Months Ended Six Months Ended (in millions, except percentages) June 30, June 30, Reconciliation of Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (Per Table 1) 2022 2021 2022 2021 Net (loss) income allocated to common stockholders $ (184.5) $ 105.2 $ (74.9) $ 242.0 Interest expense, net 14.6 12.3 25.4 24.6 Income tax (benefit) provision (72.3) 73.7 43.0 129.4 Depreciation and amortization 40.2 40.6 81.1 82.6 EBITDA $ (202.0) $ 231.8 $ 74.6 $ 478.6 EBITDA Margin (47.6) % 66.1 % 8.9 % 66.8 % Non-GAAP adjustments not included in above line items Acquisition-related expenses 14.3 1.8 16.3 5.2 Gain on investment (7.5) (7.5) Loan forgiveness (1.3) (1.3) Investment establishment costs 3.0 Goodwill impairment 460.1 460.1 Impairment of investment 10.6 10.6 Adjusted EBITDA $ 274.2 $ 233.6 $ 555.8 $ 483.8 Adjusted EBITDA Margin 64.7 % 66.6 % 66.0 % 67.6 % Table 6 (in millions) June 30, December 31, Reconciliation of Cash and Cash Equivalents to Adjusted Cash 2022 2021 Cash and cash equivalents $ 373.3 $ 341.9 Financial investments 68.5 37.1 Less deferred compensation plan assets (25.5) (28.0) Less cash collected for Section 31 Fees (67.2) (25.9) Adjusted Cash $ 349.1 $ 325.1 Table 7 (in millions) Reconciliation of Net Transaction and Clearing Fees by Business Segment Three Months Ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 Consolidated Options N.A. Equities Europe and APAC Futures Global FX Digital June 30, June 30, June 30, June 30, June 30, June 30, June 30, 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 Transaction and clearing fees $ 735.3 $ 618.2 $ 353.0 $ 283.2 $ 304.5 $ 268.0 $ 40.6 $ 33.3 $ 23.0 $ 22.2 $ 14.1 $ 11.5 $ 0.1 $ Liquidity payments (429.0) (377.9) (158.4) (144.1) (261.4) (228.4) (9.1) (5.4) (0.1) Routing and clearing (20.9) (19.9) (5.9) (5.0) (10.5) (10.0) (4.3) (4.9) (0.2) Net transaction and clearing fees $ 285.4 $ 220.4 $ 188.7 $ 134.1 $ 32.6 $ 29.6 $ 27.2 $ 23.0 $ 23.0 $ 22.2 $ 13.9 $ 11.5 $ $ Table 8 (in millions) Reconciliation of Net Revenue by Revenue Caption Three Months Ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 Cash and Spot Markets Data and Access Solutions Derivatives Markets Total Three Months Ended Three Months Ended Three Months Ended Three Months Ended June 30, June 30, June 30, June 30, 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 2022 2021 Transaction and clearing fees $ 359.2 $ 312.7 $ $ $ 376.1 $ 305.5 $ 735.3 $ 618.2 Access and capacity fees 81.8 67.1 81.8 67.1 Market data fees 19.3 23.9 41.0 30.9 8.5 8.0 68.8 62.8 Regulatory fees 68.7 26.1 18.1 10.8 86.8 36.9 Other revenue 11.3 10.0 1.1 5.0 0.7 0.8 13.1 15.8 Total revenues $ 458.5 $ 372.7 $ 123.9 $ 103.0 $ 403.4 $ 325.1 $ 985.8 $ 800.8 Liquidity payments $ 270.0 $ 233.8 $ $ $ 159.0 $ 144.1 $ 429.0 $ 377.9 Routing and clearing fees 15.0 14.9 5.9 5.0 20.9 19.9 Section 31 fees 68.2 25.9 11.4 2.9 79.6 28.8 Royalty fees and other cost of revenues 4.1 3.3 2.3 2.0 25.8 18.3 32.2 23.6 Total cost of revenues $ 357.3 $ 277.9 $ 2.3 $ 2.0 $ 202.1 $ 170.3 $ 561.7 $ 450.2 Revenues less cost of revenues (net revenue) $ 101.2 $ 94.8 $ 121.6 $ 101.0 $ 201.3 $ 154.8 $ 424.1 $ 350.6 Acquisition revenue less cost of revenues (inorganic net revenue) (3.1) (6.8) (9.9) Organic net revenue $ 98.1 $ 94.8 $ 114.8 $ 101.0 $ 201.3 $ 154.8 $ 414.2 $ 350.6 Table 9 Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Effective Tax Rate Excluding Goodwill Impairment and Section 199 Matters - Three Months and Six Months Ended June 30, 2022 Three months ended, Six months ended, June 30, 2022 June 30, 2022 GAAP effective tax rate 28.2 % (134.8) % Tax effect of goodwill impairment 1.8 % 175.9 % Tax effect of Section 199 related matters % (11.3) % Effective tax rate excluding goodwill impairment and Section 199 matters 30.0 % 29.8 % SOURCE Cboe Global Markets, Inc. Equipped with Creact's latest HUD technology, the Vision 180 dual-lens dash camera will improve motorcycle safety. TAIPEI, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Creact Inc. introduces its latest technology through its dashboard camera system, Vision 180. As one of the startups coming through Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA), Creact is looking to make an impact in the motorcycle tech scene. With a rider's safety and convenience at the forefront, Vision 180 offers riders comprehensive control and the significant elimination of unnecessary distraction through its innovative Head-Up Display (HUD) system. The start-up will be showcasing its technology at the Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) Pavilion Creact offers a safe and convenient ride through Vision 180 Dash Camera". Vision 180 dual-lens dash camera is a highly efficient and intuitive piece of technology that is easily installed onto a helmet. This allows riders to access vital information through its low power LED sourced HUD when riding. Live images from the installed dual-lens camera are projected on to the rider's field of vision, creating an Augmented Reality (AR) feed of vital information, such as speed, navigation, and camera function. Other information accessible through the HUD includes music and phone features which eliminates the riders' need to look down on their dashboard or phones. Vision 180 is equipped with one of the best wide-angle lens systems in the dashcam market. The feature will ensure all blind spots around the rider is covered at all times, giving riders access to a complete picture of their surroundings during a ride. Vision 180's HUD can double as a rear-view mirror, as the driver can get a rear-view image retrieved from the rear camera. "Vision 180 is a manifestation of our hard work and dedication towards practicing creative innovation as a company. Riding a motorcycle is dangerous without any distractions, so what we have done is created a piece of effective technology that eliminates unnecessary distraction for riders. Our product is compatible with most helmets already on the market, so it will decrease the barrier of entry for many people. This is an important difference between Vision 180 and other helmet-oriented solutions." said David Liang, President of Creact. With Creact positioning themselves as a company that is driven by creativity, the Vision 180 dashcam system is their flagship product. It reflects their ambition to combine software, hardware and services for innovative offerings to the marketplace. The Vision 180 dashcam is planned to be released to Japanese market in early 2022. Participating at CES 2022 with over 2100 exhibiting companies, hundreds of thought leaders from around the world and significant consumer interest, the event will be a vital platform for Vision 180 to reach a wider audience around the world. For more information, please visit https://www.creact.com.tw/pages/english . About Creact Technology Providing innovative solutions for a smarter, more convenient living, Creact combines creativity, design and technology to build a better future. With consumer electric products as its main focus, Creact looks to become a high-tech life brand that represents "practice creativity and facilitate life". Their mission is to utilise the infinite possibilities from both technology and human creativity, creating products that will assist in building a better future. SOURCE Creact Inc. New contactless gesture recognition system by KaiKuTek to fundamentally change the way we interact with the world TAIPEI, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A wholly-owned subsidiary of JMicron Technology Crop. ( https://www.jmicron.com/ ), Taiwanese startup, KaiKuTeK Inc. ( https://www.kaikutek.com ), is revolutionizing a post-pandemic world with a game-changing innovation that meets the needs of a low-touch economy. KaiKuTeK has unveiled the world's first contactless gesture recognition system at CES 2022. Dubbed K60168, KaiKuTeK's approaches for human-machine interaction promises a cost-effective, intuitive, and versatile solution to be used in various devices that require physical human interaction. Compared to traditional human-machine interface systems that utilize physical buttons and touch sensors, K60168 reduces the need for physical interaction for convenience and an improved user experience. K60168 is a system-on-chip (SoC) solution integrating 60 GHz millimeter-wave radar, antennas, and artificial intelligence accelerators. Key advantages of using millimeter-wave radar technology for gesture recognition include quick response time and higher recognition accuracy. Revolutionizing human-machine interaction KaiKuTeK's innovative solution is an industry first. It achieves top-tier functionality for device manufacturers through an advanced AiP (antenna-in-package) design with fewer external BOM (bill of materials). The K60168's dedicated radar DSP and custom AI accelerator touts high resolutions, low power consumption, low production cost, and smaller form-factor, which is especially crucial for compact end products. The unique solution of KaiKuTeK promises many real-world consumer product applications, including smart watch, AR glass, smart home, and more directly impacting and benefiting consumers' lives no matter where they are around the world. S. Tony Lin, Vice Present of Sales and Marketing of KaiKuTek, said: "This innovative solution will make the future more reality. The K60168 will, for the first time, enables a new world of AI-enabled machine user interaction applicable to any field, from gaming to automotive, avionics or the home. We believe we are initiating millimetre-wave gesture recognition solutions and look forward to working with industry partners to unveil more dynamic, life-changing solutions beyond CES 2022." K60168 abilities: Provide users with a more intuitive, convenient, and innovative experience; Reduce risks of contact and transmission of pathogens such as COVID -19, and Reduce operational difficulties caused by traditional human-machine interfaces (e.g. physical buttons) ; Fast function switching for devices used in the metaverse (such as VR/AR gloves). KaiKuTeK has collaborated with industry partners in the design-win stage, such as KYM, WLINK, and GreenIdeas, to develop K60168-enabled consumer products. KaiKuTeK's exhibition at CES 2022 demonstrated the functionality of K60168 in several end-products. Including wearables like headsets and TWS (True Wireless Stereo) and AIoT devices (artificial intelligence of things) such as a smart light bar and a smart parking meter system, among others. K60168 reached mass production in Q42020 a testament to strong market demand. KaiKuTek has showcased their solution at the TTA Pavilion at Booth 61423 and 61837 in Sands Hall G, Eureka Park, Las Vegas Convention Center. About KaiKuTeK Based in Taipei, Taiwan, KaiKuTeK Inc. was established in December 2017 and acquired by JMicron Technology Corp. ( https://www.jmicron.com/ ) in December 2020. The company was one of the top 37 Taiwanese Machine Learning Companies and Startups of 2021 and has represented the Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) at VivaTech 2021, MWC 2021, and Hello Tomorrow 2021. SOURCE KaiKuTek The Court Approves Approximately $2.3 Billion in Initial Settlements Negotiated by the Coalition Coalition Representing Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors Brokers Largest Sexual Abuse Settlement Fund in History NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice ("Coalition"), today commented on the confirmation from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on the Plan of Reorganization ("the Plan") for the Boy Scouts of America ("BSA"). The Coalition, which was co-founded by Anne Andrews of Andrews & Thornton and Adam Slater of Slater Slater Schulman LLP and includes key voting members Adam W. Krause, Krause & Kinsman; Deborah Levy, Junell & Associates, PLLC; and Joseph L. Steinfeld, Jr.,ASK LLP released the following statement: "Today is a historic day for tens of thousands of survivors of childhood sexual assault. The confirmation of this Plan makes closure possible and some measure of justice tangible for people whose voices have been silenced for far too long. Today's decision means that tens of thousands of people who were abused as children will be eligible for compensation within their lifetime. "From the beginning, this case has been marked by its scope and complexity. The Court found that the BSA's liability for abuse claims is most likely between $2.4 billion and $3.6 billion, and approved settlements that will provide for initial funding of $2.279 billion to survivors: $78 million from the BSA, $515 million from local councils, $30 million from the United Methodist Church, and $1.656 billion from settling insurers. Notably, all of the initial settlements were negotiated by the Coalition. "Judge Silverstein reviewed the Plan and concluded that it was proposed in good faith. This was personally important to us, given the large volume of stakeholders in this bankruptcy proceeding, as well as the length of time that has elapsed since the BSA filed for Chapter 11 protection more than two years ago. "Throughout this case, what we've heard time and again from survivors is that it's not only about the money, because no amount of money in the world will make up for being sexually abused as a child. The most important thing to them has been ensuring the safety of current and future Scouts. That is why the Coalition jointly formed a Survivor Advisory Working Group with the BSA, and secured commitment from the BSA to appoint a survivor to its National Executive Board, and from the Ad Hoc Committee of Local Councils to include survivors to the boards of 250 local councils. For the first time in its 100-year history, survivors will have a seat at the table in the rooms of power and a real voice in youth protection." The Coalition expects that the BSA will complete its financial restructuring process and emerge from Chapter 11 after the conditions of the Plan are satisfied. The Coalition was formed in early 2020 and is led by Anne Andrews and Sean Higgins of Andrews & Thornton and Adam Slater and Jonathan Schulman of Slater Slater Schulman LLP. It includes more than two dozen law firms representing more than 70,000 the approximately 82,500 survivor-claimants in the BSA bankruptcy case. Under the terms of the Plan, a comprehensive reorganization of BSA will be completed that will result in more than $2.3 billion in compensation being paid to survivors for the past sexual abuse they suffered as children. The Plan will also implement critical safety measures and protections for current and future generations of Scouts, as well as ensure the BSA has a future beyond bankruptcy. Media Contact Andrew Merrill / Brian Schaffer / Joan Vollero [email protected] SOURCE The Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice DALLAS, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Experienced Texas trial attorney Brad Jackson of The Law Offices of Brad Jackson in Dallas has helped the family of an elderly murder victim win a $7.3 billion negligence and punitive damage verdict against telecommunications giant Charter Communications Inc. The verdict represents one of the five largest jury awards in U.S. history. Mr. Jackson represented the three adult daughters and the estate of Betty Jo Thomas, 83, alongside trial attorneys Chris Hamilton and Ray Khirallah of Dallas' Hamilton Wingo. The jury awarded $375 million in compensatory damages against Charter, which does business as Spectrum, on June 23 in Dallas County Court at Law No. 5 after finding the company was 90 percent responsible Ms. Thomas' death. Charter/Spectrum technician Roy Holden Jr., 45, was found 10 percent responsible. Mr. Holden visited Ms. Thomas' home in Irving in December 2019 to repair a fax machine before he returned the next day in a Spectrum van under the pretense of performing additional repairs. He proceeded to brutally stab Ms. Thomas to death with a Charter/Spectrum-issued utility knife before leaving with her credit cards and going on a spending spree. Jurors heard how Mr. Holden had previously scammed other elderly women by stealing credit cards and checks while on service calls. Evidence showed that Mr. Holden had been fired from previous jobs for forgery, falsifying documents, and harassing fellow employees, although Charter/Spectrum never attempted to confirm his prior employment. If it had, the company would have learned that Mr. Holden had fabricated the employment history on his job application. One week before the murder, Mr. Holden told supervisors he was suffering severe personal problems and financial issues, even crying in a meeting and telling a supervisor that he was "not OK," yet Charter/Spectrum continued to send him into customers homes. He was sentenced to life in prison last year after pleading guilty to murder. Trial testimony showed that Charter/Spectrum failed to properly screen employees and stopped its pre-screening requirements in 2016 after acquiring Time Warner Cable. The jury also heard about the company's negligent hiring practices and failure to address known warning signs of violence among employees and to control the off-duty use of company vehicles. The award of $7 billion in punitive damages on July 28 in phase two of the trial followed additional evidence and a finding by the jury that Charter/Spectrum tried to use forged documents to force Ms. Thomas' family to present their case in a non-public arbitration proceeding rather than to a jury in a public courtroom. Based in Dallas, The Law Offices of Brad Jackson provides decades of experience representing clients in Texas and across the nation. Brad Jackson is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm handles business and commercial disputes, as well as cases involving serious personal injury and wrongful death. For more information, contact Bruce Vincent at 214-763-6226 or [email protected]. SOURCE Law Offices of Brad Jackson TORONTO, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Denison Mines Corp. ("Denison" or the "Company") (TSX: DML) (NYSE American: DNN) has noted the disclosure made by Uranium Energy Corp. ("UEC") in its news release dated July 28, 2022. Denison hereby confirms that it has made a confidential proposal (an "Acquisition Proposal") to UEX Corporation ("UEX") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of UEX. UEX has reported that its Board of Directors, in consultation with its legal and financial advisors, has determined that the Acquisition Proposal constitutes a "Superior Proposal" as defined in the Arrangement Agreement between UEC and UEX dated June 13, 2022 ("Original Agreement"). Denison understands that notice of such determination was provided to UEC on July 28, 2022. View PDF version The non-binding Acquisition Proposal remains subject to the entering into of a definitive arrangement agreement ("Definitive Agreement") and any discussions with respect to a transaction remain subject to the terms of a non-disclosure agreement ("NDA") entered into between Denison and UEX. At this time, no Definitive Agreement has been consummated between Denison and UEX, and the completion of any such agreement would require the termination of the Original Agreement in accordance with its terms. David Cates, President & CEO of Denison, commented: "We believe that an acquisition by Denison of UEX, and its assets in northern Saskatchewan, has the potential to benefit Denison shareholders bolstering Denison's position as a leading uranium development and exploration Company with an unwavering focus on the advancement of high-grade uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin region. Importantly, an acquisition of UEX would allow Denison to consolidate 100% ownership in our flagship Wheeler River Project at an ideal time ahead of the anticipated final technical de-risking steps associated with the Feasibility Study in progress for the planned Phoenix In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") operation." An acquisition of UEX has the potential to yield multiple benefits to Denison shareholders: Consolidation of 100% ownership of Wheeler River Wheeler River is host to the high-grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits and represents the largest undeveloped uranium project in the infrastructure-rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region. The Company is actively advancing the Phoenix deposit, which is proposed as a low-cost ISR mining operation, through the environmental assessment and feasibility study processes. The results from the Pre-Feasibility Study completed for Wheeler River suggest that Phoenix has the potential to be one of the lowest cost uranium mining operations in the world. Denison currently has an effective 95% interest in Wheeler River. Wheeler River is host to the high-grade and Gryphon uranium deposits and represents the largest undeveloped uranium project in the infrastructure-rich eastern portion of the Basin region. The Company is actively advancing the deposit, which is proposed as a low-cost ISR mining operation, through the environmental assessment and feasibility study processes. The results from the Pre-Feasibility Study completed for Wheeler River suggest that has the potential to be one of the lowest cost uranium mining operations in the world. Denison currently has an effective 95% interest in Wheeler River. Consolidation of 100% ownership of JCU ( Canada ) Exploration Company, Limited ( " JCU " ) JCU holds a portfolio of twelve uranium project joint venture interests in Canada , including a 30.099% interest in the Millennium project (Cameco Corporation 69.901%), a 33.8118% interest in the Kiggavik project (Orano Canada Inc. 66.1882%), and a 34.4508% interest in the Christie Lake project (UEX 65.5492%). Denison currently has a 50% ownership interest in JCU. " " JCU holds a portfolio of twelve uranium project joint venture interests in , including a 30.099% interest in the Millennium project (Cameco Corporation 69.901%), a 33.8118% interest in the Kiggavik project (Orano Canada Inc. 66.1882%), and a 34.4508% interest in the Christie Lake project (UEX 65.5492%). Denison currently has a 50% ownership interest in JCU. Project Portfolio Suited to Denison's Abundant In-house Expertise Denison has a Saskatoon -based technical team with abundant in-house expertise in the areas of exploration, project development, engineering, metallurgy, mining, plant operations, permitting and regulatory affairs, that is well suited to extract the maximum value possible, for our shareholders, from uranium exploration or development assets situated in the Athabasca Basin region. There can be no assurance that a Definitive Agreement or any other agreement relating to the Acquisition Proposal will be entered into between Denison and UEX or that the Acquisition Proposal, and any transactions related thereto or any other similar transaction will be approved or consummated. The Company does not undertake any obligation to provide any updates with respect to this or any other transaction, except as required under applicable law. About Denison Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition to its effective 95% interest in the Wheeler River project, Denison's interests in the Athabasca Basin include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill that is contracted to process the ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest Main and Midwest A deposits, and a 66.90% interest in the Tthe Heldeth Tue ("THT", formerly J Zone) and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake property. The Midwest Main, Midwest A, THT and Huskie deposits are each located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill. Through its 50% ownership of JCU, Denison holds additional interests in various uranium project joint ventures in Canada, including the Millennium project (JCU 30.099%), the Kiggavik project (JCU 33.8118%) and Christie Lake (JCU 34.4508%). Denison's exploration portfolio includes further interests in properties covering approximately 300,000 hectares in the Athabasca Basin region. Denison is also engaged in post-closure mine care and maintenance services through its Closed Mines group (formerly Denison Environmental Services), which manages Denison's reclaimed mine sites in the Elliot Lake region and provides related services to certain third-party projects. Follow Denison on Twitter: @DenisonMinesCo Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain information contained in this news release constitutes 'forward-looking information', within the meaning of the applicable United States and Canadian legislation concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Denison. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as 'plans', 'expects', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates', or 'believes', or the negatives and/or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will be taken', 'occur', 'be achieved' or 'has the potential to'. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the following: the existence and terms of the Acquisition Proposal, including the conditions and other rights and obligations of the parties and any potential benefits of such a transaction; expectations regarding the potential to enter into a Definitive Agreement and/or complete a transaction pursuant thereto; and expectations regarding its joint venture ownership interests and the continuity of its agreements with its partners. Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Denison to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For example, the conditions to the transactions may not be satisfied or the parties may negotiate terms materially different than disclosed herein. Denison believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable and no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and results may differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information. For a discussion in respect of risks and other factors that could influence forward-looking events, please refer to the factors discussed in the Annual Information Form dated March 25, 2022 under the heading "Risk Factors". These factors are not, and should not be construed as being exhaustive. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking information and the assumptions made with respect thereto speaks only as of the date of this news release. Denison does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the date of this news release to conform such information to actual results or to changes in Denison's expectations except as otherwise required by applicable legislation. SOURCE Denison Mines Corp. Dental Consumables Market: Vendor Analysis The dental consumables market is fragmented and the vendors are adopting growth strategies such as forming strategic partnerships to compete in the market. 3Shape AS - The company offers dental consumables products such as 3Shape Dental System. The company offers dental consumables products such as 3Shape Dental System. AB Dental Devices Ltd. - The company offers dental consumables products such as I-ON Conical platform implant, I6 Narrow integral implant, and I6b Ball attachment implant. The company offers dental consumables products such as I-ON Conical platform implant, I6 Narrow integral implant, and I6b Ball attachment implant. Adin Dental Implants Systems Ltd. - The company offers dental consumables products such as Swell Straight Implant System and One Implant system The company offers dental consumables products such as Swell Straight Implant System and One Implant system Align Technology Inc. - The company offers dental consumables products such as Invisalign system and iTero The company offers dental consumables products such as Invisalign system and iTero Danaher Corp. - The company offers dental consumables product brands such as Nobel Biocare, KaVo, Kerr, and i-CAT. The company offers dental consumables product brands such as Nobel Biocare, KaVo, Kerr, and i-CAT. To know about all major vendor offerings - Request a sample now! Read the 120-page report with TOC on "Dental Consumables Market Analysis Report by Product (dental implants, dental crowns and bridges, orthodontics, periodontics, and dental biomaterials) and Geography (North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW), and the Segment Forecasts,2021-2025". Gain competitive intelligence about market leaders. Track key industry opportunities, trends, and threats. Information on marketing, brand, strategy and market development, sales, and supply functions. https://www.technavio.com/report/report/dental-consumables-market-industry-analysis Dental Consumables Market: Market Dynamics Drivers & Trends - The dental consumables market is driven by the rising incidence of cases of periodontal diseases. In addition, the growing adoption of lasers in esthetics is anticipated to boost the growth of the Dental Consumables Market. The dental consumables market is driven by the rising incidence of cases of periodontal diseases. In addition, the growing adoption of lasers in esthetics is anticipated to boost the growth of the Dental Consumables Market. Challenges - The high cost of dental procedures will be a major challenge for the dental consumables market during the forecast period. The high cost of dental procedures will be a major challenge for the dental consumables market during the forecast period. For detailed information on the market dynamics - Click Now! Dental Consumables Market: Segmentation Analysis Product Outlook (Revenue, USD bn, 2020-2025) dental implants - size and forecast 2020-2025 dental crowns and bridges - size and forecast 2020-2025 orthodontics - size and forecast 2020-2025 periodontics - size and forecast 2020-2025 dental biomaterials - size and forecast 2020-2025 Geography Outlook (Revenue, USD bn, 2020-2025) North America - size and forecast 2020-2025 - size and forecast 2020-2025 Europe - size and forecast 2020-2025 - size and forecast 2020-2025 Asia - size and forecast 2020-2025 - size and forecast 2020-2025 ROW - size and forecast 2020-2025 To know about the market contribution of each segment - Grab an exclusive Report Get ready to achieve excellent business outcomes from this exclusive Dental Consumables Market report by Technavio. The report will include highlights of the overall market which includes frequently asked questions such as - What are historical revenue figures and estimated revenue figures as well as CAGR during the forecast timeframe? What is the current trend taking place in the market space? Which are business tactics that will influence competitive scenarios along with defining the growth potential of the market? What are market drivers, restraints, and challenges impacting demand & growth of the market? Which regions & segments will garner massive revenue and emerge as market leaders in upcoming years? The competitive scenario provided in the Dental Consumables Market report analyzes, evaluates, and positions companies based on various performance indicators. Some of the factors considered for this analysis include the financial performance of companies over the past few years, growth strategies, product innovations, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.Don't wait, Make a strategic approach & boost your business goals with our Dental Consumables Market Forecast Report - Buy Now! Related Reports: The dental diagnostics and surgical equipment market have the potential to grow by USD 6.29 bn during 2021-2025, and the market's growth momentum will decelerate at a CAGR of 7.15%. have the potential to grow by during 2021-2025, and the market's growth momentum will decelerate at a CAGR of 7.15%. The dental implants market share is expected to increase to USD 1.27 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.99%. Dental Consumables Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.22% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 4.99 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 5.40 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW Performing market contribution North America at 39% Key consumer countries US, Germany, China, Japan, and France Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled 3Shape AS, AB Dental Devices Ltd., Adin Dental Implants Systems Ltd., Align Technology Inc., Danaher Corp., DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc., Ivoclar Vivadent AG, MIS Implants Technologies Ltd., Straumann Holding AG, and Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get customized segments. Table of Content 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 2.1 Market ecosystem Exhibit 01: Parent market Exhibit 02: Market characteristics 2.2 Value chain analysis Exhibit 03: Value chain analysis: Healthcare supplies 3 Market Sizing 3.1 Market definition Exhibit 04: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition 3.2 Market segment analysis Exhibit 05: Market segments 3.3 Market size 2020 3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2020 - 2025 Exhibit 06: Global - Market size and forecast 2020 - 2025 ($ million) Exhibit 07: Global market: Year-over-year growth 2020 - 2025 (%) 4 Five Forces Analysis 4.1 Five forces summary Exhibit 08: Five forces analysis 2020 & 2025 4.2 Bargaining power of buyers Exhibit 09: Bargaining power of buyers 4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers Exhibit 10: Bargaining power of suppliers 4.4 Threat of new entrants Exhibit 11: Threat of new entrants 4.5 Threat of substitutes Exhibit 12: Threat of substitutes 4.6 Threat of rivalry Exhibit 13: Threat of rivalry 4.7 Market condition Exhibit 14: Market condition - Five forces 2020 5 Market Segmentation by Product 5.1 Market segments Exhibit 15: Product - Market share 2020-2025 (%) 5.2 Comparison by Product Exhibit 16: Comparison by Product 5.3 Dental implants - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 17: Dental implants - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) Exhibit 18: Dental implants - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%) 5.4 Dental crowns and bridges - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 19: Dental crowns and bridges - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) Exhibit 20: Dental crowns and bridges - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%) 5.5 Orthodontics - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 21: Orthodontics - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) Exhibit 22: Orthodontics - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%) 5.6 Periodontics - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 23: Periodontics - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) Exhibit 24: Periodontics - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%) 5.7 Dental biomaterials - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 25: Dental biomaterials - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) Exhibit 26: Dental biomaterials - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%) 5.8 Market opportunity by Product Exhibit 27: Market opportunity by Product 6 Customer landscape 7 Geographic Landscape 7.1 Geographic segmentation Exhibit 29: Market share by geography 2020-2025 (%) 7.2 Geographic comparison Exhibit 30: Geographic comparison 7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 31: North America - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) Exhibit 32: North America - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%) 7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 33: Europe - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) Exhibit 34: Europe - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%) 7.5 Asia - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 35: Asia - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) Exhibit 36: Asia - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%) 7.6 ROW - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 Exhibit 37: ROW - Market size and forecast 2020-2025 ($ million) Exhibit 38: ROW - Year-over-year growth 2020-2025 (%) 7.7 Key leading countries Exhibit 39: Key leading countries 7.8 Market opportunity by geography Exhibit 40: Market opportunity by geography 8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 8.1 Market drivers 8.2 Market challenges Exhibit 41: Impact of drivers and challenges 8.3 Market trends 9 Vendor Landscape 9.1 Overview 9.2 Vendor landscape Exhibit 42: Vendor landscape 9.3 Landscape disruption Exhibit 43: Landscape disruption Exhibit 44: Industry risks 10 Vendor Analysis 10.1 Vendors covered Exhibit 45: Vendors covered 10.2 Market positioning of vendors Exhibit 46: Market positioning of vendors 10.3 3Shape AS Exhibit 47: 3Shape AS - Overview Exhibit 48: 3Shape AS - Product and service Exhibit 49: 3Shape AS - Key offerings 10.4 AB Dental Devices Ltd. 10.5 Adin Dental Implants Systems Ltd. Exhibit 53: Adin Dental Implants Systems Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 54: Adin Dental Implants Systems Ltd. - Product and service Exhibit 55: Adin Dental Implants Systems Ltd. - Key offerings 10.6 Align Technology Inc. Exhibit 56: Align Technology Inc. - Overview Exhibit 57: Align Technology Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 58: Align Technology Inc. - Key News Exhibit 59: Align Technology Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 60: Align Technology Inc. - Segment focus 10.7 Danaher Corp. Exhibit 61: Danaher Corp. - Overview Exhibit 62: Danaher Corp. - Business segments Exhibit 63: Danaher Corp. - Key News Exhibit 64: Danaher Corp. - Key offerings Exhibit 65: Danaher Corp. - Segment focus 10.8 DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. Exhibit 66: DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. - Overview Exhibit 67: DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 68: DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. - Key News Exhibit 69: DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 70: DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. - Segment focus 10.9 Ivoclar Vivadent AG Exhibit 71: Ivoclar Vivadent AG - Overview Exhibit 72: Ivoclar Vivadent AG - Product and service Exhibit 73: Ivoclar Vivadent AG - Key offerings 10.10 MIS Implants Technologies Ltd. Exhibit 74: MIS Implants Technologies Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 75: MIS Implants Technologies Ltd. - Product and service Exhibit 76: MIS Implants Technologies Ltd. - Key offerings 10.11 Straumann Holding AG Exhibit 77: Straumann Holding AG - Overview Exhibit 78: Straumann Holding AG - Business segments Exhibit 79: Straumann Holding AG - Key News Exhibit 80: Straumann Holding AG - Key offerings Exhibit 81: Straumann Holding AG - Segment focus 10.12 Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. Exhibit 82: Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. - Overview Exhibit 83: Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 84: Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. - Key News Exhibit 85: Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 86: Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. - Segment focus 11 Appendix 11.1 Scope of the report 11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 87: Currency conversion rates for US$ 11.3 Research methodology Exhibit 88: Research Methodology Exhibit 89: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 90: Information sources 11.4 List of abbreviations Exhibit 91: List of abbreviations About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports, covering 800 technologies, spanning 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio Technological developments, including improvements in implant designs and bone grafting techniques, are anticipated to support growth of the global dental consumables market. Compared to other traditional procedures, dental implants now have a success record that is noticeably higher, which is anticipated to raise demand for dental consumables WILMINGTON, Del., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As per the report, the global dental consumables market was worth US$ 23,718.0 Mn in 2018. Dental consumables market analysis predicts the market to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period, from 2019 to 2027. The positive global dental consumables market outlook is likely to be driven by a surge in technical developments in dental implants, dental tourism, and an increase in the prevalence of dental issues during the forecast timeline, from 2019 to 2027. In the last decade, the rate of success of dental implants has risen to 90% for the lower jaw and 95% for the upper jaw. This success rate is significantly greater than that of many conventional procedures, such as root canal therapy. Due to this, many dental offices now provide dental implants as a more effective treatment option than removable dentures, bridges, and crowns. These dental solutions are one of the important ongoing trends of the dental consumables market. In the early days of dental implants, it was discovered that a considerable proportion of potential implant candidates had medical conditions that made them inappropriate for the present implant therapy. The scope of absolute contraindications has been reduced due to improvements in bone grafting techniques, implant designs, and analysis of extensive research findings. Get Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of Dental Consumables Market Report https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=554 Key Findings of Market Report Dental issues including mouth ulcers, gum disease, tooth decay, and tooth erosion can persist for a long time. Additionally, untreated periodontal conditions might result in major dental issues. The dental consumables market revenue analysis predicts the market to grow due to an increase in dental issues in the forthcoming years. In 2018, Europe had a stronghold over the global market for dental consumables. The funding of oral healthcare facilities in important nations is one of the primary factors that are likely to drive future market demand for dental consumables in the region.The UK market is predicted to dominate the global market due to expansion of the aging populace and rising awareness levels of dental care complemented by beneficial government efforts. The rest of Europe and Germany are likely to follow the UK. Ask for References - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=ARF&rep_id=554 Global Dental Consumables Market: Key Players Some of the key market players are Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. Institut Straumann AG Patterson Companies, Inc. Danaher Corporation Ivoclar Vivadent AG Henry Schein , Inc. Make an Enquiry Before Buying - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=EB&rep_id=554 Global Dental Consumables Market: Segmentation Product Dental implants Dental Crowns and Bridges Dental Biomaterials Orthodontics Endodontics Periodontics Retail Dental Care Essentials Other Modernization of healthcare in terms of both infrastructure and services have pushed the healthcare industry to new heights, Stay Updated with Latest Healthcare Research Reports by Transparency Market Research: Smart Medical Devices Market: The global smart medical devices market is expected to reach the value of US$ 70.1 Bn by the end of 2028. It is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 7.5% from 2021 to 2028. Implantable Medical Devices Market: The U.S. implantable medical devices market is expected to reach the value of US$ 48.3 Bn by the end of 2028. It is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 9.5% from 2021 to 2028. Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market: The size of the home blood pressure monitoring devices market was pegged at US$ 1.1 Bn in value in 2019. The past few decades have witnessed rise in adoption of the technology on the back of prevalence of hypertensions. Reprocessed Medical Devices Market: The global reprocessed medical devices market is expected to cross the value of US$ 5.9 Bn by the end of 2028. It is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 14.9% from 2021 to 2028. Medical Devices Outsourcing Market: The global medical devices outsourcing market is expected to reach the value of US$ 232.8 Bn by the end of 2028. It is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2021 to 2028. Nitinol Medical Devices Market: The global nitinol medical devices market was valued at US$ 14,571.7 Mn in 2018 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 8.5% from 2019 to 2027. mHealth Monitoring Diagnostic Medical Devices Market: The global mHealth monitoring diagnostic medical devices market was valued at US$ 29.05 Bn in 2018 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 20.5% from 2019 to 2027. Pediatric Medical Devices Market: The global pediatric medical devices market was valued at US$ 21,000 Mn in 2017 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of 8.0% from 2018 to 2026. About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research, a global market research company registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, provides custom research and business consulting services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insights for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools & techniques to gather and analyze information. Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports. For More Research Insights on Leading Industries, Visit Our YouTube Channel and hit subscribe for Future Update - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8e-z-g23-TdDMuODiL8BKQ Contact Rohit Bhisey Transparency Market Research Inc. CORPORATE HEADQUARTER DOWNTOWN, 1000 N. West Street, Suite 1200, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 USA Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Blog: https://tmrblog.com Email: [email protected] Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1682871/TMR_Logo_Logo.jpg SOURCE Transparency Market Research NEW YORK, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- We all scream for (boozy) ice cream! The Empire State Building (ESB) announced today that Tipsy Scoop , a hand-crafted, liquor-infused ice cream and sorbet company, will serve spiked sweet treats on the 86th Floor Observatory every Wednesday through Sunday, Aug. 3 Sept. 5 from 1-9 p.m. Empire State Building Partners with Tipsy Scoop to Serve Artisanal Liquor-Infused Ice Cream to Observatory Guests "Our successful pop-up program has brought New York's authentic, local flavors to the heart of the city and provided a sweet surprise for our guests," said Jean-Yves Ghazi, president of the Empire State Building Observatory. "We are pleased to partner with Tipsy Scoop to turn the Empire State Building's 86th Floor Observatory into a temporary ice cream 'barlour' with a view this August." Tipsy Scoop will sell three of its pre-packaged boozy flavors from the building's pop-up cart, which include dark chocolate whiskey salted caramel ice cream, mango margarita sorbet, and raspberry limoncello sorbet for $8. The cart will also offer an ESB-exclusive signature sundae that features pina colada plant-based ice cream infused with rum and pineapple rum topped with whipped cream, sprinkles, gummy bears, and NYC-themed candy for $12. Non-alcoholic flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and cherry will also be available for $4.50. "We are so excited for our pop-up at the Empire State Building this August," said Melissa Tavss, Tipsy Scoop founder and CEO. "Our signature Empire State Building sundae is not only delicious, but also the perfect addition to your Observatory photos." Guests are encouraged to enjoy their treats with the iconic view and tag photos with #PopUpTop for the chance to be featured on ESB social channels. More monthly pop-ups at the Empire State Building Observatory will be announced in the future. Relevant hi-res imagery can be downloaded here. More information about the Empire State Building and tickets can be found online . About the Empire State Building The Empire State Building , the "World's Most Famous Building," owned by Empire State Realty Trust , Inc. (ESRT: NYSE), soars 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan from base to antenna. The $165 million reimagination of the Empire State Building Observatory Experience creates an all-new experience with a dedicated guest entrance, an interactive museum with nine galleries, and a redesigned 102nd Floor Observatory with floor-to-ceiling windows. The journey to the world-famous 86th Floor Observatory, the only 360-degree, open-air observatory with views of New York and beyond, orients visitors for their entire New York City experience and covers everything from the building's iconic history to its current place in pop-culture. Learn more at www.esbnyc.com . Declared "America's Favorite Building" by the American Institute of Architects, the world's most popular travel destination by Uber, the #1 Attraction in the United States in Tripadvisor's 2022 Travelers' Choice Best of the Best, and the #1 New York City attraction by Lonely Planet, it welcomes more than 4 million annual visitors from around the world. Since 2011, the building has been fully powered by renewable wind electricity, and its many floors primarily house a diverse array of office tenants such as LinkedIn and Shutterstock, as well as retail options like STATE Grill and Bar, Tacombi, and Starbucks. For more information and Observatory Experience tickets visit esbnyc.com or follow the building's Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , Weibo , YouTube , or TikTok . About Tipsy Scoop Inspired by a family tradition six generations in the making, founder Melissa Tavss created Tipsy Scoop to bring together artisanal cocktails and the fond memories that come with ice cream, sundaes, and sweet treats. The result was a boozy brand that sweetens any adult celebration. Since 2013, Tipsy Scoop has rapidly made a name for itself with its on-trend boozy scoops and highly Instagrammable ice cream creations. For more information, visit www.tipsyscoop.com or follow us on Instagram , Facebook , or TikTok . SOURCE Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. WASHINGTON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) today reported its second quarter 2022 financial results and filed its second quarter 2022 Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing provides condensed consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. The following documents are now available on Fannie Mae's website at www.fanniemae.com . Fannie Mae will host a conference call to discuss the company's results today at 8:00 a.m., ET. Participants may join the conference call in listen-only mode via the webcast link below. Listen-only webcast: https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1559504&tp_key=a33a03bae8 Click on the link above to attend the presentation from your laptop, tablet, or mobile device. Audio will stream through your selected device. If you have difficulty accessing the webcast, please click the "Listen by Phone" button on the webcast player and dial the number provided. About Fannie Mae Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit: fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog Fannie Mae Newsroom https://www.fanniemae.com/news Photo of Fannie Mae https://www.fanniemae.com/resources/img/about-fm/fm-building.tif Fannie Mae Resource Center 1-800-2FANNIE SOURCE Fannie Mae SEOUL, South Korea, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Silicon Valley-based TheVault signed a partnership with 'For The Dog Team', a pet-related metaverse company led by a Korean team. Regarding the background of the partnership, Kevin Smith, president of TheVault, said: "The For The Dog team connected the on/off line for Web 3.0, starting with dog-related M2E, and was confident that it could create a diverse ecosystem by adding dogs to the human-centered Metaverse area." Recently, Korea's leading VCs, such as Korea Investment Partners and Stic Ventures, have invested more than 10 billion WON in domestic blockchain technology companies. While domestic venture capital (VC) investment in blockchain technology companies is not easily made, it is evaluated that the technology and the possibility of expanding the Metaverse business for this company were highly appreciated. Overseas VCs are expanding their influence through early investment and partnerships with blockchain companies. In particular, overseas VCs are investing billions of dollars in business areas that combine X2E and Metaverse that reflect the latest trends. In the blockchain investment area, which was a rather closed and their own league, traditional VCs are participating and the scale is increasing. In addition, they are interested in blockchain companies with the latest technology because they are looking for upgraded synergies with existing portfolio companies. What kind of metaverse will dogs create in the future? We look forward to the next move of the For The Dog team. SOURCE For The Dog DUBLIN, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "eVTOL Aircraft Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Lift Technology, Propulsion Type, Application, and Operation Mode" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The eVTOL aircraft market is expected to grow from US$ 519.81 million in 2024 to US$ 1756.28 million by 2028; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 35.6% from 2024 to 2028. The adoption of air taxis due to developments in urban air mobility worldwide is driving the eVTOL market. The favorable government initiatives from leading countries and a growing number of startups entering the market are fueling the adoption of air taxis worldwide. In December 2021, the Australian government announced a grant worth US$ 23 million to explore the application of new aviation technology as part of its Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships Program. In addition, in April 2022, Airbus and ITA Airways signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate and introduce urban air mobility (UAM) in Italy. The agreement also focuses on the safe and sustainable launch of CityAirbus NextGen eVTOL aircraft. In European countries, the first flight of air taxis is expected to occur by 2024. Thus, as per the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), commercial use of (air) taxis can start by 2024 or 2025. Thus, upcoming developments and initiatives from leading countries for adopting air taxis would strengthen the demand for urban air mobility, which is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the eVTOL aircraft market growth during the forecast period. Developments in electric-propulsion-based eVTOL aircraft are another major factor that is expected to fuel the eVTOL aircraft market growth globally. The aviation industry is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, driving global climate change. On January 11, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standard for aircraft operating worldwide to control their carbon emissions. In addition, in November 2021, EPA filed litigation that formulated the commercial aircraft greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards, which EPA promoted in early 2021. The development of electric propulsion-based eVTOL aircraft helps mitigate the environmental impact of noise and pollutant emissions. Thus, government regulations and policies for reducing emissions boost the demand for electric propulsion-based eVTOL aircraft. The US is expected to account for the largest market share in the North American eVTOL aircraft market in 2024. This is owing to the presence of eVTOL aircraft manufacturers and increasing number of investments in the country. Moreover, supportive government funding initiatives further contribute to the country's market growth. For instance, in March 2021, the US Air Force's Agility Prime initiative will help finance the flight test and certification efforts of ~20 eVTOL aircraft participating in its "Air Race to Certification" program. The growing competition in the eVTOL aircraft market is primarily to achieve the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aircraft certification and enter into commercial service. In Germany, the eVTOL aircraft market growth is primarily driven by the growing number of developments of electric-propulsion-based eVTOL aircraft across the country. With the growing initiatives for incorporating electric and hybrid-electric air taxis, the eVTOL aircraft market vendors are collaboratively working to develop an extensive charging infrastructure powered by clean energy sources and start and landing facilities. For example, Rolls Royce's electrical power system will be integrated into the piloted eVTOL vehicle, which will carry up to four passengers for 120 miles at cruise speeds of over ~200mph and is on course to certify by 2024. In addition, in March 2022, the Germany-based eVTOL developer Lilium announced a new partnership with Honeywell and Denso to develop electric motors for eVTOL aircraft. Thus, such developments from the e-commerce industry, companies such as Amazon, and delivery fleets taking significant initiatives to provide the last mile delivery are augmenting the eVTOL aircraft market growth in Germany over the forecast period. Market Dynamics Market Drivers Adoption of Air Taxis due to Development of Urban Air Mobility Development of Electric Propulsion-Based eVTOL Aircraft Market Restraints Certification and Qualification Challenges for Market Vendors Market Opportunities Demand for Last-Mile Delivery Market Trends Emerging Need for Green Energy-Based Mode of Transportation Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Key Takeaways 3. Research Methodology 4. eVTOL Aircraft Market Landscape 5. eVTOL Aircraft Market - Key Industry Dynamics 6. eVTOL Aircraft Market - Global Market Analysis 7. eVTOL Aircraft Market Analysis - by Lift Technology 8. eVTOL Aircraft Market Analysis - by Propulsion Type 9. eVTOL Aircraft Market Analysis - by Application 10. eVTOL Aircraft Market Analysis - by Operation Mode 11. eVTOL Aircraft Market - Geographic Analysis 12. eVTOL Aircraft Market- COVID-19 Impact Analysis 13. Industry Landscape 14. Company Profiles Companies Mentioned Airbus Bell Textron Inc. Boeing Eve Air Mobility Lilium GmbH Opener EHang BETA Technologies Pipistrel Group Volocopter GmbH Joby Aviation Inc. Heart Aerospace Archer Aviation Inc. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gwyjo2 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets GUANGZHOU, China, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As the 12th Global Tiger Day on July 29 approaches, HUYA Inc. ("Huya" or the "Company"), a leading game live streaming platform in China, has initiated a series of activities to increase public awareness of wild tiger conservation with the participation of popular celebrities and live streamers, in a mission to help audiences understand the importance of biodiversity and sustainability. The lineup of activities will take place both online and offline. Huya launched a series of online and offline activities to increase public awareness of wild tiger conservation on Global Tiger Day. Huya launched a series of online and offline activities to increase public awareness of wild tiger conservation on Global Tiger Day. Huya launched a series of online and offline activities to increase public awareness of wild tiger conservation on Global Tiger Day. Huya works with non-profit organizations (NGOs), celebrities, and live streamers to raise awareness of wildlife conservation To increase public awareness of environmental issues and enhance its wildlife conservation efforts, Huya has joined hands with China Wildlife Conservation Association(CWCA), WildAid, communication think-tank platform CMForGood and other organizations, to launch the Stand Up for Tigers and Their Habitat series of activities, with the aim of sharing knowledge about wild tiger conservation and raising public awareness of environmental protection and animal conservation. Huya believes that transforming China into a beautiful homeland with a sound ecological environment is a collective effort that can start with you and me. By dint of being a live streaming platform, Huya will continue to mobilize resources from all walks of life to broaden the reach of public education on wildlife conservation in various innovative ways, such as incorporating content on public good and environmental protection into live streaming events, and, by doing so, make a contribution to biodiversity and sustainability. These series of activities include the exhibition of videos and posters featuring well-known actors and actresses; live broadcasts by popular streamers on Huya Live, interactive H5 sessions on environmental protection, among other formats. These activities highlight the necessity and urgency of wildlife conservation, while providing in-depth insights regarding the theme of "Protecting tigers is protecting the ecosystem human survival depends upon; Stand up for tigers and their habitat and help secure a chance for our own future." Celebrities including Yang Zi, Yu Menglong and Zhang Daxian, were invited as advocates who can leverage their influence to give more visibility to the issue of wild tiger conservation. As one of the highlights of these activities, Huya also launches a "Protect Our Home Planet" painting contest, collecting hundreds of works including illustrations, intangible cultural heritage prints, watercolors, cartoons and other creative forms. Among the submissions are professional works from an illustrator studio and by autism artists, as well as amateur works from volunteers, live streamers, supporters and others, with the intent of depicting their viewpoints of how they interpret wildlife conservation. One participating author wrote a note about his submission entitled "Harmonious Home", stating that "environmental protection is essential nowadays. The best way to keep going forward is to make sure humans and wildlife can live in harmony. I hope we can live harmoniously with wildlife in the global village." On July 27, Huya, in collaboration with CWCA, TRAFFIC and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), hosted an exhibition for the first time, where the quality works from the "Protect Our Home Planet" painting contest were exhibited. Sha Yu Yo, one of Huya Live's popular streamers, acted as the exhibition ambassador to interact with the audience, and made their artistic creations on the on-site tents and umbrellas as well as on the sign-in wall, among other activities. The campaign concludes with a live broadcast on the Global Tiger Day, which starts at 8pm and invites Huya's popular streamer Zhang Daxian to have an online talk with IFAW Program Manager Ma Chenyue. The talk provides online audiences with expertise on the protection of wild tigers and their habitat through fun interactive activities, such as hand-painting of tigers and online quizzes. Leveraging the power of live streaming, Huya makes a strong commitment to social responsibilities Serving as a comprehensive live streaming platform, Huya has been exploring innovative practices in social responsibility through leveraging its platform capabilities and superior resources. Huya has developed a new "live streaming-empowered" mode for a variety of corporate social responsibility (CSR) genres, including activities of public welfare, environmental protection, support for farmers, anti-fraud guidance, intangible cultural heritage and others. Among the lineup of genres, activities of public interest and environmental protection are the priorities that Huya has been working on. As an example, the Company partnered with intangible cultural heritage inheritors to create tiger-themed artworks in various formats on Global Tiger Day 2021, including egg-carving and dough modeling, calling for society to protect the King of the Forest. At the annual gala "HUYA Boom Night" in January 2022, Huya launched its "Protect Our Home Planet" Campaign to raise public awareness of preventing and resisting illegal wildlife trade online, and promote harmony between human and nature. In addition, to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, Huya worked with environmental organizations Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, and Giant Panda National Park to conduct a series of earth protection activities. Huya also encouraged over 100,000 volunteers to become involved in various environmental protection activities, enriched the platform content on how to increase public awareness of protecting the environment, and strengthened its capabilities in AI and VR technologies to help better identify on Huya platform and protect wild animals and plants. As part of its commitment to "living in harmony with nature and protecting our planet together", Huya is working on the establishment of an ecosystem of environmental public good live streaming, with the participation of streamers, platforms, users, volunteers and non-profit organizations. The effort has been widely acclaimed by people and organizations from all walks of life. Wu Minglu, the Secretary General of CWCA, said that participation of companies provides wildlife and biodiversity conservation strong support, "Huya is devoted to setting up a commonweal live environment with live streamers, platforms, users, volunteers and NGOs, and building a bridge for more people to participate in biodiversity conservation." Huya will continue to engage the strengths of all parties to promote coexistence between human and nature, encourage more people to join the wildlife conservation movement and make contributions to wild tiger conservation and endangered species recovery. About HUYA Inc. HUYA Inc. is a leading game live streaming platform in China with a large and active game live streaming community. The Company cooperates with e-sports event organizers, as well as major game developers and publishers, and has developed e-sports live streaming as one of the most popular content genres on its platform. The Company has created an engaged, interactive and immersive community for game enthusiasts of China's young generation. Building on its success in game live streaming, Huya has also extended its content to other entertainment content genres. Huya's open platform also functions as a marketplace for broadcasters and talent agencies to congregate and closely collaborate with the Company. SOURCE HUYA GO2 Foundation will recognize Dr. Rafael Rosell at the 23rd International Lung Cancer Congress for his global contributions to oncology, particularly in the field of non-small-cell lung cancer SAN CARLOS, Calif. and WASHINGTON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer announced today that it will present Dr. Rafael Rosell with the 2022 Bonnie J. Addario Lectureship Award for his global contributions to translational medical oncology, with emphasis on non-small-cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations. GO2 Foundation will honor Dr. Rosell with the award at the 23rd International Lung Cancer Conference (ILCC) held July 28 - 30, 2022 at Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, California. "Lung cancer is a global disease and requires a global effort. Dr. Rosell's groundbreaking work represents that effort and is getting us ever closer to a cure," said Bonnie J. Addario, co-founder and board chair of GO2 Foundation. "Dr. Rosell's work aligns perfectly with one of GO2's key objectives - increasing the rate of biomarker testing to ensure patients can receive the most effective, targeted treatments possible." Based in Barcelona, Spain, Dr. Rafael Rosell is the past Director of the Cancer Biology and Precision Medicine Program at the Catalan Institute of Oncology, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol; Chief Scientific Officer, Chairman and Founder of Pangaea Oncology SL; Chief Medical Officer and President of the Dr. Rosell Oncology Institute (IOR), Quiron Dexeus; General de Catalunya & Sagrat Cor Univ. Hospitals, and Founder and President of the Molecular Oncology Research Foundation. He is also Founder and Director of International Relations and Projects, Spanish Lung Cancer Group (SLCG), member of the Foundation Council and Steering Committee of the European Thoracic Oncology Platform (ETOP) and on the Foundation Board of the ETOP- International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG). He is also a panel member of the ASCO Clinical Practice Living Guidelines- Systemic Therapy for Stage IV NSCLC. Dr. Rosell is fully dedicated to the improvement of lung cancer therapy. His current research programs include continued investigation in translational/preclinical research, liquid biopsy, and novel technologies with NGS. In 2018, he was selected to participate in The European Liquid Biopsy Academy (ELBA). In 2013, Rosell was recognized by The Lancet as the highest authority in lung cancer. Dr. Rosell has authored over 600 articles in scientific journals. "After decades battling against lung cancer, amazing scientific advances and discoveries permit us to be closer to lung cancer curability in different sub-groups of patients," said Dr. Rosell. "I'm honored that GO2 Foundation, a leader in pursuing biomarker testing and targeted treatment, has recognized my work in this field." Past Bonnie J. Addario Lectureship Award recipients: 2021 Dr. Heather Wakelee , Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Oncology at Stanford University and Deputy Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute. Dr. , Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Oncology at and Deputy Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute. 2020 Charles Swanton , M.D., Ph.D., FRCP, FMedSci, FRS senior group leader at the Francis Crick Institute , M.D., Ph.D., FRCP, FMedSci, FRS senior group leader at the Francis Crick Institute 2019 Solange Peters , M.D., Head of Medical Oncology and Chair of Thoracic Oncology at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland , M.D., Head of Medical Oncology and Chair of Thoracic Oncology at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in Lausanne, 2018 Vassiliki A. Papadimitrakopoulou, M.D., Chief of Thoracic Medical Oncology, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Vassiliki A. Papadimitrakopoulou, M.D., Chief of Thoracic Medical Oncology, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center 2017 Frances A. Shepherd , M.D., FRCPC, Senior Staff Physician, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine , M.D., FRCPC, Senior Staff Physician, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Professor of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine 2016 Giorgio Vittorio Scagliotti , M.D., Professor of Oncology, University of Torino ; Head of the Department of Oncology and Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology, San Luigi Hospital, Torino, Italy , M.D., Professor of Oncology, University of ; Head of the Department of Oncology and Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology, San Luigi Hospital, Torino, Italy 2015 Fred R. Hirsch , M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine , M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine 2014 Roy S. Herbst , M.D., Ph.D., Ensign Professor of Medicine and Chief of Medical Oncology, Yale Cancer Center , M.D., Ph.D., Ensign Professor of Medicine and Chief of Medical Oncology, Yale Cancer Center 2013 Tony Mok, M.D., Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology, Chinese University of Hong Kong in Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong Tony Mok, M.D., Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology, Chinese University of in Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong 2012 D. Ross Camidge, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Thoracic Oncology Clinical Program and Associate Director for Clinical Research, Colorado University Cancer Center D. Ross Camidge, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Thoracic Oncology Clinical Program and Associate Director for Clinical Research, Cancer Center 2011 William Pao , M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research; Director, Personalized Cancer Medicine, Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center William Pao , M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research; Director, Personalized Cancer Medicine, Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center 2010 David R. Gandara , M.D., Associate Director, Clinical Research, UC Davis Cancer Center , M.D., Associate Director, Clinical Research, UC Davis Cancer Center 2009 Harvey Pass , M.D., B.A., Director of the Division of Thoracic Surgery and Chief of Thoracic Surgery, New York University Medical Center Harvey Pass , M.D., B.A., Director of the Division of Thoracic Surgery and Chief of Thoracic Surgery, Medical Center 2008 Paul A. Bunn, Jr. M.D., Principal Investigator and Director, University of Colorado Cancer Center About GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer Founded by patients and survivors, GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer transforms survivorship as the world's leading organization dedicated to saving, extending and improving the lives of those vulnerable, at risk and diagnosed with lung cancer. We work to change the reality of living with lung cancer by ending stigma, increasing public and private research funding, and ensuring access to care. About the International Lung Cancer Congress For 22 years, Physicians' Education Resource (PER) International Lung Cancer Congress has brought together medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists to foster awareness of state-of-the-art treatments for patients with lung cancer. This year's two-day virtual webcast features cutting-edge lectures, panel discussions, multidisciplinary tumor boards, and interactive question-and-answer sessions from leading international and national experts. Faculty share their perspectives and personal experiences on the clinical challenges and ongoing controversies in lung cancer management. About Physicians' Education Resource, LLC (PER) Since 1995, PER has been dedicated to advancing cancer care through professional education and now advances patient care and treatment strategies on a wide variety of chronic illnesses and diseases. In 2016, PER initiated continuing medical education (CME) programming in the cardiovascular and endocrinology areas. While expanding into topics outside of oncology, PER stands as the leading provider of live, online, and print CME activities related to oncology and hematology. The high-quality, evidence-based activities feature leading distinguished experts who focus on the application of practice-changing advances. PER is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the California Board of Registered Nursing. PER is a brand of MJH Life Sciences, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels. Find PER on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. #gotoILCC About IASLC The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global network dedicated to the study and eradication of lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. Since its founding in 1974, the association's membership has grown to more than 8,000 lung and thoracic cancer specialists from all disciplines and more than 100 countries. By hosting global conferences, funding cutting-edge research, and educating the health care community and the public about thoracic cancers, the IASLC works to alleviate the burden lung cancer places on patients, families, and communities. SOURCE GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer All sales help support Certified B Corp "Best for the World" company's effort to plant 5,000 avocado trees in Peru. LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of National Avocado Day, Avocado Green makers of certified organic and eco-luxury products is launching a one-weekend flash sale with exclusive savings on their certified organic mattresses, 100% reclaimed wood bed frames, adjustable bed frames, organic certified linen sheets and pillows, bath collection, luxurious loungewear, and clean skin + body products. As part of Avocado's Giving initiative, through which they donate 1% of all revenue to 1% For the Planet, all sales during the National Avocado Day sale will support the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation's effort to plant 5,000 avocado trees along the Napo and Amazon rivers in remote jungles in Peru. From July 29 to August 1 only, customers can save up to $880 on Avocado's top-rated certified organic mattresses. Customers can save 10% on the Organic Green Mattress, Organic Luxury Mattress, and radically affordable Eco Organic Mattress, using code AVODAY, at AvocadoMattress.com. Using the same code, shoppers can also save up to $340 on bed frames, including solid wood frames handcrafted in Avocado's own sustainable woodshop or adjustable bases that quietly glide into the most restful, supportive position. Shoppers will save up to $65 on bedding, which covers luxurious, naturally breathable, GOTS certified organic sheets, duvet covers, and pillowcases. The AVODAY code is also good for 10% savings on all pillows, toppers, dog beds, and bath products. The savings keep going. The code AVODAY is also good on Avocado's responsible loungewear and skin + body lines. Customers can save on insanely comfortable organic cotton, modal, and alpaca fiber apparel collections, as well as a Grounding Dry Body Oil, Supercharged Reishi Body Melt, and Snoozy Bath Soak with Magnesium Flakes. Every order also comes with free carbon negative shipping. As a Climate Neutral certified brand and one of B Corp's "Best for the World"brands Avocado reduces its footprint, offsets all of its scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and advocates for legislation that will help mitigate the climate crisis. From the beginning, Avocado just wanted a new kind of mattress. One that was greener better for people and the planet affordable, and comfortable. It was a simple idea rooted in a much bigger vision. Five years later, Avocado continues to expand from bedding, to furniture, to their skin + bath collection, and their line of responsible loungewear. As the company grows, Avocado continues to redefine what it means to be a sustainable, ethical brand. The company is a Certified B Corporation, a Climate Neutral Certified business, and a member of 1% For the Planet, remaining true to its original purpose: to be one of the most sustainable companies on Earth. Learn more at AvocadoGreen.com. If you would like more information, please contact Jessica Hann at [email protected]. SOURCE Avocado Green Mattress NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This International Youth Day, a new generation of young leaders will gather in New York City with a single mission: reshape the world. Gathered at the 27th Session of The Youth Assembly (August 12-14), 600 young people will build global action networks and engage in discussions with leaders in changemaking, including global institutions, advocacy groups, multinational companies, and impact-driven organizations. Young leaders gather in New York City at the Youth Assembly. "We must place young people at the center of creating positive change in the world," says Daniel Obst, President and CEO of AFS Intercultural Programs, the global not-for-profit organizer. "We know young people have the ideas and skills to make a difference, and we are excited to provide this global platform that will help them shape the world they want to live in." The Youth Assembly program will tackle pressing challenges related to Youth, Global Health, Global Citizenship, Technology and Inclusion, aligning with the United Nations Secretary General's Report on Our Common Agenda . The event launches on International Youth Dayboth as a way to celebrate and also to focus on the greatest asset the world has, our youngest generations. Given the urgency that 1.2 billion young people around the world demonstrate towards taking action for a better world, The Youth Assembly will provide opportunities for long-term planning and meaningful, diverse and effective youth engagement in tackling current and future challenges. The opening ceremony scheduled to take place at the UN will set the tone of reflection, debate, and innovative thinking on sustainable development throughout the event. One in four Delegates has received scholarships to join this event, thanks to sponsors like bp, Schwarzman Scholars, AstraZeneca, DHL, and others, ensuring equity and inclusion in this event. Among other opportunities, Delegates will compete for the AFS Award for Young Global Citizens , worth $10,000 to support ongoing social impact ventures that address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Youth Assembly is organized by AFS Intercultural Programs , renowned for its intercultural learning programs that empower young people with global skillsand the passion for making a difference. Program partners include Candid, DoSomething.org, the Institute of International Education, Pencils for Promise, pwc, Terracycle, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, UN Habitat, UNICEF, University of Pennsylvania Center for Social Impact Strategy, USAID, the World Bank, and many more. More information at: youthassembly.org . SOURCE AFS Intercultural Programs BEIJING, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- To explore the logic behind the successful financing, Nebula Brands co-founder Yanzhi Wang shared his insights in an interview with ChinaVenture.cn. In the first half of 2021, the booming Amazon aggregator industry raised a total of $5.1 billion; while in the first half of this year, only $2.2 billion. Recently, Nebula brands, a China-based Amazon aggregator, has bucked the trend and received Series B+ funding from Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, which has generated intense discussion in the Amazon aggregator industry. Industry reverts to the mean After obtaining the B round of financing from L Catterton, the world's largest consumer private equity firm, Nebula Brands received another B+ round of financing from Mubadala, a large sovereign wealth fund from Abu Dhabi, in the next 6 months. William Wang, co-founder of Nebula Brands, said that this round of financing will be tapped to expand the acquisition scale of the assets of brands that "go global" from China and recruit talents from all fields. This will help consolidate its capabilities in business growth and brand building. Founded in 2019, Nebula Brands is the first and largest Amazon brands acquisition platform in China. Such companies are referred as Amazon Aggregator (AA) overseas. AA mainly acquires Amazon brands with potential, and then integrates operations to increase profit and brand premium. Since the end of 2020, AA has started a wave of fundraising frenzy around the world. Thrasio, the fastest US company to achieve unicorn status, is a player in this industry as well. Since more than 70% of product supply chain and 50% of third-party sellers on Amazon trace back to China, global Amazon aggregators also turn their attention to this market last year. European leading Amazon aggregators flock to Chinese market after Thrasio entered it in 2021. However, the industry has suffered a setback this year. In May, Thrasio, the world's largest Amazon aggregator, announced it would lay off nearly 20% of its staff and replace its CEO. The scale of investment and financing is also shrinking. According to data from MarketplacePulse, an e-commerce research agency, Amazon aggregators raised more than $5.1 billion in the first half of 2021 but only managed to raise $2.2 billion in the first half of 2022. Merely12 new aggregators announced successful financing. According to the report on mergers and acquisitions of Amazon aggregators of Capstone Partners, an investment bank, the market prices of Amazon FBA brands soared last year with an influx of money for Amazon brands acquisition, the growth of AA has slowed down as a result. So, has the AA bubble burst? "The AA industry boomed last year thanks to multiple favorable factors that are difficult to replicate in the early days of the industry." Said William Wang, co-founder of Nebula. A core reason is that the sales of overseas e-commerce platforms have grown exponentially due to the pandemic. Against this backdrop, most of the brands acquired on the Amazon platform improve their performances amid a booming market. The rapid growth of profits has led to an increase in the valuation of such assets. This industry received an influx of money that seeks opportunities for greater profit. In his view, the industry reverts to the mean this year in a positive manner, which is normal in market cycles. Although the growth of overseas e-commerce markets such as the Amazon has slowed down compared with the previous two years, the fundamentals remain sound. Instead, more mature channels and markets are identified after the pandemic. The need for AA is also palpable - bottom-up integration through acquisitions will continue to happen in any mature market. "The fragmented brands will be acquired by AA, and the small AAs may be acquired by big AAs, brand groups or listed companies in the future, which are common market integrations. It is not that the market is gone for AA, but that there is no certain growth of the broader market. Therefore, you need more solid judgment and more effective operational growth ability. " William Wang reckoned. The more difficult it is to do business, the higher the threshold will be. Different AAs that have entered the market will focus on acquisitions with dimensions where they have an edge in specific industries or product features. The acquisition platforms also have a trend of diversifying from Amazon to other channels. With the total financing reaching $3.4 billion, Thrasio's strategy was to expand rapidly to achieve a scale effect through the Middle Platform operations. William Wang believed that there is no fundamental problem with this strategy in the market environment at that time, but there are no shortcuts for omni-channel consumer brands or Amazon's consumer brand building, so early leading AAs such as Thrasio needs to slow down and sort out specific operations. "Most AAs are still new companies, and it is unlikely to have a substantial improvement over the original operator in all fronts in the short term. Each replicable operational capability requires trial, error and iteration before it can be applied to multiple brands. After the rapid online consumption growth brought about by the pandemic slows down, the previous strategy of rapid expansion will lead to numerous fragmented brand assets and redundant workforce. Fragmented capabilities of excessive manpower do not reflect the value of AA. " It depends more on the nature and capabilities of each AA to choose a specific category or full category for acquisition. At the same time, assets also flow between different AAs. For example, assets of some categories might be sold to have a more focused strategy in the future. At present, Nebula Brands' strategy is focused on categories such as outdoor, maternal, and infant products. Meanwhile, it plans to tap another one to two product categories with more advantages and richer product lines in the Chinese supply chain like small household appliances. Outdoor, maternal, and infant products are chosen because many products in these categories are durable consumer goods with slower evolution. After continuous micro-level innovation of original products, they can remain their advantage in the channel. It is harder to overtake leading brands in such categories under Amazon's rules, which can ensure the relative stability of brand revenue after the acquisition. Furthermore, consumers trust brands in such categories more from the perspective of omni-channel. Consumers go beyond value for money and may have the trend to achieve consumption upgrades. With deeper understanding of users and products after the acquisition, more product innovation and brand building will help these Amazon brands evolve to omni-channel brands. In the long run, it is of great significance for AA to create several star brands in major categories and a series of channel brands that are outstanding in a specific dimension such as category, price and positioning. User insights, supply chain integration, and migration of brand traffic facilitate cost reductions and efficiency gains. " Stated William Wang. Therefore, Nebula Brands usually carries out extended acquisitions of brands in the same category and related categories or engages in product innovation to enhance competitiveness and growth through synergy after completing the acquisition of key brands. During the last Prime Day, the synergetic strategy helped an outdoor brand acquired by Nebula to achieve more than tenfold year-on-year sales growth. "Investment" and "Post-investment" Capital acquisition and brand operation are the two business pillars of Nebula. These two pillars could be benchmarked against "investment" and "post-investment" if a comparison between AA and funds is drawn in terms of asset management. The process of "investment" can be further broken down into two parts, identifying a good project and negotiating the project at a reasonable price. As a local AA in China, Nebula Brands is better positioned to target the source of the projects. Nebula can directly get access to first-hand projects by establishing a marketing and business team in China. William Wang revealed that more than 90% of Nebula's projects are identified by the in-house teams now rather than recommended by intermediaries, which is conducive to acquiring brands at a more reasonable price and establishing in-depth cooperation with original sellers. In addition, another channel for Nebula Brands to acquire projects lies in the upstream supply chain. There are many concentrated industrial belts in China. When a good project is identified, acquisitions relevant to it could trace back to high-quality sellers with the industrial belt as the source. These actions have expanded the coverage of high-quality projects while avoiding excessive head-to-head bidding against overseas AAs. The Nebula team has reflected on the acquisition criteria. "In the beginning, the team was eager to pursue the strategy of Thrasio by looking for the top 1-3 brands in a particular industry. With the decline of the abnormal growth of the market, this strategy of seeking fast speed is not in line with the common sense of value identification. The market is changing rapidly, and the ability to adjust acquisition strategies and standards will become the core competitiveness of AAs in acquisition. For example, one of the strengths of AA lies in the connection between acquisitions and operations in e-commerce channels. The data team boasts the resources to analyze the whole chain of data from industry competition, user reviews to the supply chain, therefore the team can adjust the judgment model according to the results in practice. Data analysis is performed to identify industries with stronger internal growth momentum to locate a desirable track for future operations. "Stated William Wang. Specifically, in addition to the basic criteria that AAs have long adopted, other aspects also need to be reviewed. The basic criteria include a high and stable ranking in its category, sales from a limited number of SKUs, gross margin over 20%, high ratings and good reviews, etc. Besides that, Nebula Brands also focuses on "trickier" elements for integration such as the importance of China's supply chain in the value chain of a category, product innovation drive, and leveraging differentiated capabilities of the original seller teams. As for "post-investment", since building a brand is a task with assured success, not all assets acquired by AA will develop towards omni-channel brands. At this stage, most assets acquired by Nebula Brands are those that generate sustained cash flow. To be specific, the short-term positioning of most acquired assets is being a channel brand. Aside from maintaining and growing sales on Amazon through better advertising and product micro-level innovation, these brands are also empowered to expand into high-certainty sales pipelines like Walmart, Tiktok, offline distribution, etc. As for a small number of assets that have the potential to scale into omni-channel big brands, Nebula Brands will take actions from product R&D to brand promotion with intensified, long-term input, aiming to help develop it into an influential consumer brand. Nebula Brands can be seen as a consumer brand management business with an acquisition + operation model. In the view of William Wang, compared with Apple, DJI and other single-category technology firms in big industries, most durable consumer goods brands acquired from Amazon compete in a smaller industry. Therefore, acquisition becomes a more optimal approach to quickly create synergy matrix of these brands, which is different from the buyouts made by funds that invest in mature brands. These Amazon brands may be far from household names at this moment, but still have access to steady and growing cash flow, constant feedback from users, and highly coordinated supply chains. All of these features lay solid foundation to breed omni-channel brands especially when synergy is created among similar categories. Another story AAs like to tell is data plus Middle Platform. William Wang pointed out that based on e-commerce marketplace like Amazon, AAs are keen to invest in technology to cope with a complex and ever-changing e-commerce landscape with data-driven decision-making, applied SOPs and efficient supply chain management, use less manpower than original sellers and reduce the likelihood of human error. "Comparisons are drawn between AAs and P&G as both need to understand and manage channels. But offline channels are P&G's turf while AA's focus is online ones." The operation of offline channels requires a lot of time and manpower while online channels have new rules and characteristics. For AA, investment in data is a long-term effort that yields results over time. If the company seeks to further consolidate the online market share in the long run, human judgment can never be fully relied on to have solid institutionalized capabilities. Without support from data, it is unlikely to interpret customer demand agilely, respond to competition and change rules properly or engage with supply chain partners efficiently. In particular, having been through cycles and failures, we realize that the key is to have our own data. The advantage of being local AA, a new model in need of issuing equities and debts, is currently more favored by overseas investors. As the debt market is still underdeveloped in China where early-stage start-ups are unable to issue debt flexibly, recent fundraising of Nebula Brands tends to turn to funds with overseas backgrounds. Between the two rounds of financing for Nebula Brands, it is a period when both overseas e-commerce market and capital market are under pressure. William Wang said that the current circumstances are forcing latecomers like Nebula Brands to think through what their long-term and unique value is. For example, one of the major topics for the team's daily strategic discussions is what so-called China's advantage is. One fact is that majorities of the most dynamic sellers with greatest potential on Amazon are in China. Data shows that over 63% of Amazon's top sellers are from China, of which one-third are in Shenzhen. This means Chinese aggregators that acquire third-party sellers enjoy unrivalled advantages of being local, no matter in terms of geographical location or target assessment. Despite a raft of overseas aggregators marching into the Chinese market, William Wang believed this will not pose too much pressure to Nebula Brands. In his view, the wrestling between Nebula Brands and other AA focuses on winning high-quality projects. But since it is not a zero-sum market, players tend to find their own edges over time and competition often comes along with cooperation. "Less competition is seen this year than last one. This is because a number of AAs with established presence in China start to fade out, and meanwhile overseas aggregators tend to look for projects via intermediaries. Unlike us who seek first-hand projects on our own and compete against intermediaries for exclusivity of projects, AAs involved in projects via intermediaries may find themselves in a black-box bidding process, leading to higher purchase price than the actual value of the assets." William Wang said. This can be evidenced by a piece of news this year. BBG, one of the leading fundraisers, has withdrawn from the Chinese market at the end of February. According to the analysis made by industry media, it is mainly due to factors such as the efficiency in decision-making and bidding mechanism. Compared with overseas aggregators who usually only have marketing teams or even no team in China, Nebula Brands and its management are able to communicate directly with sellers when appropriate in terms of acquisition, operation and supply chain. This will boost sellers' trust in the acquirer and they are more willing to share more data and information to explore possibilities of in-depth cooperation in the future. "For the acquisitions we have completed, many sellers are tied to us in the long term through various forms of cooperation, and have made substantial contributions to the brand growth," William Wang said. The key is to leverage the advantages of sellers in the organization and integrate them into other brands. This means sellers are given more room to perform beyond the original assets, work with exceptional talents to achieve a win-win result. This is also a key highlight to attract sellers compared with overseas aggregators. The strength of China's supply chain is also crucial. Supply chain uncertainty caused by various reasons is one of the main detriments to sellers' business. Overseas aggregators sometimes face out-of-stock issues as well. For Nebula Brands, being in China does not guarantee an advantage in supply chain. Efforts should be made in stable production scheduling and new product R&D so as to achieve replicable optimization. "We work with factories with sincerity to persuade them that we are not a disruptor that quickly goes in and out of the business. Instead, we will deploy more resources to make the upstream and downstream of the industry better". William Wang remarked, "Amazon is a platform where product innovation will be highly amplified. The key, as opposed to the changing rankings, is the user needs hiding in massive reviews. We know how to gain insights from reviews, and we are working together with the suppliers to achieve consumer-driven innovation." SOURCE Chinaventure.cn NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- iStar Inc. (NYSE: STAR) announced today that it will release its financial results for the second quarter 2022 on Thursday, August 4, 2022, prior to the opening of the market. The Company will host an earnings conference call reviewing these results and its operations beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET. This conference call will be broadcast live and can be accessed by all interested parties through iStar's website, www.istar.com, in the "Investors" section. The dial-in information for the live call is: Dial-in: 877.226.8189 International: 409.207.6980 Access Code: 1179627 A replay of the call will be archived on the Company's website. Alternatively, the replay can be accessed via dial-in from 2:30 p.m. ET on August 4, 2022 through 12:00 a.m. ET on August 18, 2022 by calling: Replay: 866.207.1041 International: 402.970.0847 Access Code: 6846235 * * * iStar Inc. (NYSE: STAR) is focused on reinventing the ground lease sector, unlocking value for real estate owners throughout the country by providing modern, more efficient ground leases on institutional quality properties. As the founder, investment manager and largest shareholder of Safehold Inc. (NYSE: SAFE), the creator of the modern ground lease industry, iStar is using its national investment platform and its historic strengths in finance and net lease to expand the use of modern ground leases within the $7 trillion institutional commercial real estate market. Recognized as a consistent innovator in the real estate markets, iStar specializes in identifying and scaling newly discovered opportunities and has completed more than $40 billion of transactions over the past two decades. Additional information on iStar is available on its website at www.istar.com. SOURCE iStar Inc. TAIPEI, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning Taiwan blockchain solutions provider International Trust Machines Corporation (ITM) announced that it will present Blockchain Notary Service (BNS) at the CES 2022. The technology has been adopted by Taiwan's Ministry of Justice as part of the latest initiative launched by the government to integrate blockchain technology with its legal sector. The start-up will be showcasing its technology at the Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) Pavilion at CES 2022 The capital injection from the world-leading IC design house MediaTek and the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing giant Wistron has expanded the international reputation of ITM which has transformed its business focus from blockchain software development kit (SDK) to Platform-as-a-Service. With the launch of ITM Blockchain Notary Service (BNS), the company has also addressed data trust issues that have been plaguing a wide variety of industries. Blockchain is a great solution for data validation and security, but the scalability problem of the technology presents a challenge for companies wishing to use blockchain to record their massive amount of data from IoT devices cost-effectively. With its ground-breaking technology, ITM aims to help enterprises break through the bottleneck and allow them to take advantage of blockchain for IoT applications by targeting three common problems - scalability, privacy and cost. "Linking SDK to corporate systems is a very complicated process for most companies as it requires experienced blockchain engineers to complete the system integration. In the past, companies had to encrypt data, build a blockchain system and upload data on their own, which proved to be expensive and time-consuming. By using our BNS, companies are now able to shrink an enormous amount of data into a short string of digits, a 32-byte ledger fingerprint can seal one million transactions with the ability for quick auditing of selected data. It is an easy-to-use one-stop service requiring no efforts from companies," said Julian Chen, Co-Founder and CEO of ITM. ITM BNS leveraged its cutting-edge technology to provide companies with the easiest way to connect their applications or data to Ethereum at zero cost, allowing them to achieve greater efficiency and trust. It is also the first-ever platform to uplink million-scale transactions for free onto Public Blockchain Ethereum. It is possible thanks to the company's cryptographic security algorithm that transforms into Restful API under an exclusive security protocol to allow for streamlined connection between the company's data and public blockchain, achieving higher levels of security and TPS with low cost and IoT uplinks. ITM BNS also allows companies to focus on building their system while easily establishing trustworthy transaction history, time stamp, device ID, and other related information, facilitating smooth communication between different entities. The service features three interfaces, including a web app for everyday users, an API for developers and an IoT SDK for Edge devices. For more information, please visit https://bns.itrustmachines.com/login . About International Trust Machines Corporation (ITM) Founded in January 2019 in Taiwan, International Trust Machines Corporation (ITM) offers Blockchain Notary Service as a solution to the scalability problem of public ledgers. Since its establishment, ITM has been working with local and international organizations to further promote innovative blockchain solutions. Its clients and strategic partners include Qualcomm, Microsoft, MediaTek, Acer, Kneron, and others. The blockchain solutions provider has claimed the 1st runner-up honors at the Qualcomm Innovate in Taiwan Challenge 2019 (QITC 2019), it was also among the 80 startups chosen by the Taiwan Tech Arena to exhibit innovative products at the TTA Taiwan Tech Pavilion at CES 2020. ITM received pre-A round funding from global leading IC design house MediaTek and leading electronics manufacturer Wistron. The investment has brought ITM a rising overseas interest. ITM facilitates trustworthy transactions with its zero-cost Blockchain Notary Service. SOURCE ITM BOSTON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC and subadvised by Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC, announced today sources of its monthly distribution of $0.1380 per share paid to all shareholders of record as of July 11, 2022, pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan. This press release is issued as required by an exemptive order granted to the Fund by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund Notification of Sources of Distribution This notice provides shareholders of the John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD) with important information concerning the distribution declared on July 1, 2022, and payable on July 29, 2022. No action is required on your part. Distribution Period: July 2022 Distribution Amount Per Common Share: $0.1380 The following table sets forth the estimated sources of the current distribution, payable July 29, 2022, and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short term capital gains; net realized long term capital gains; and return of capital or other capital source. All amounts are expressed on a per common share basis and as a percentage of the distribution amount. For the period 07/1/2022-07/31/2022 For the fiscal year-to-date period 11/1/2021-07/31/2022 1 Source Current Distribution ($) % Breakdown of the Current Distribution Total Cumulative Distributions ($) % Breakdown of the Total Cumulative Distributions Net Investment Income 0.0429 31 % 0.9973 80 % Net Realized Short- Term Capital Gains 0.0000 0 % 0.2446 20 % Net Realized Long- Term Capital Gains 0.0000 0 % 0.0000 0 % Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.0951 69 % 0.0000 0 % Total per common share 0.1380 100 % 1.2419 100 % Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the 5 years ended on June 30, 2022 6.07 % Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of June 30, 2022 6.99 % Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through June 30, 2022 -1.33 % Cumulative fiscal year-to-date distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of June 30, 2022 5.24 % ________________________________ 1 The Fund's current fiscal year began on November 1, 2021, and will end on October 31, 2022. You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's managed distribution plan. The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income." The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this Notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The Fund has declared the July 2022 distribution pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan (the "Plan"). Under the Plan, the Fund makes fixed monthly distributions in the amount of $0.1380 per share, which will continue to be paid monthly until further notice. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact your financial professional or call the John Hancock Investment Management Closed-End Fund Information Line at 1-800-843-0090, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Effective October 1, 2021, copies of all notices informing shareholders of distributions made by the fund in excess of accumulated net investment income will be posted on John Hancock Investment Management's public website (jhinvestments.com) and on the Legal Notice System (LENS), a service offering of the Depository Trust Company (DTC) accessible by broker-dealer firms. To the extent required, notice may also be provided via press release. John Hancock Investment Management distributed paper copies of these notices by mail until March 30, 2022. Effective April 1, 2022, the notices will be delivered exclusively via the methods described above. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. An investor should consider a Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. About John Hancock Investment Management A company of Manulife Investment Management, we serve investors through a unique multimanager approach, complementing our extensive in-house capabilities with an unrivaled network of specialized asset managers, backed by some of the most rigorous investment oversight in the industry. The result is a diverse lineup of time-tested investments from a premier asset manager with a heritage of financial stewardship. About Manulife Investment Management Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, our leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies. We complement these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. We're committed to investing responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com. SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation Kids digital advertising companies leverage extensive use of social media platforms by children to post persuasive content Availability of high-speed Internet that provides instant access to information underscores growth of kids digital advertising market Advantage of kids digital advertising to create direct link between companies and customer attracts investment WILMINGTON, Del., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TMR report for kids digital advertising market growth analysis estimates the said market to exceed a value of US$ 21.1 Bn by 2031. Advent of 5G network as well as easy availability of 4G/LTE networks for instant access to information is anticipated to propel the kids digital advertising market. Besides, kids digital advertising is modelled to create a direct link between companies and the customer. This attracts investment for mass production of goods, and increases the volume of sales. Resultantly, digital advertising helps to increase profit of manufacturers, and consumers receive products at a lower price. Asia Pacific held a significant 23.8% share of kids digital advertising market in 2021. Substantial use of social media and growing adoption of mobiles are key factors behind the growth of kids digital advertising market in the region. Request Sample Report at - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=82083 Kids Digital Advertising Market Key findings of the Report Large budgets of companies for digital marketing to build the brand, expand market reach, and improve ROI is fuelling the growth of kids digital advertising market. Companies are targeting kids via their social media activity on various platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and educational apps and posting persuasive content. Extensive use of technology by children, and the channels they engage in enable digital advertisers to promote their products, brands, and services via digital channels. Digital advertisers promote via various types of advertisements, which is likely to benefit the kids digital advertising market Incessant penetration of the Internet has revolutionized the world, benefitting enterprises, industries, and end users. Furthermore, increase in use of mobile Internet has led rapid increase in the development of mobile applications. This, along with rise in adoption of smartphones among kids is anticipated to boost the kids digital advertising market. Based on component, the digital segment held a key 58.3% of the kids digital advertising market in 2021, and is anticipated to continue to remain significant during the forecast period. Array of digital platforms including social media, email, mobile apps, affiliate programs, search engines, and websites to carry out digital advertising demonstrates growth of digital segment The mobile platform segment held the leading 66.4% share of kids digital advertising market in 2021. Growing practice of mobile advertising as it reaches people in real-time, and attribute of mobile advertising to create content that can be shared and reaction of user instantly tracked cements the growth of mobile platform. North America and Europe are key regions in the kids digital advertising market. Immense popularity of social media and video ads that account as the highest growing ad format spell growth in kids digital advertising market in these regions. Ask for References - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=ARF&rep_id=82083 Kids Digital Advertising Market Growth Drivers Efforts of companies to engage in digital advertising to leverage social media activity of children for marketing objectives fuels the growth of kids digital advertising market Valuable business outcomes of various types of advertising tools such as social media advertising, display advertising, paid search advertising, and broadcast advertising attracts adoption Kids Digital Advertising Market - Key Players Some of the key players operating in the kids digital advertising market are; Adobe Inc. Amazon.com inc. Baidu Inc. Chartboost Inc. KIDOZ Inc. Microsoft Corporation SuperAwesome Trading Limited Alioze Applovin Corporation Blue Wheel Media Inc. Google LLC Meta Platform Inc. Stryde SuperAwesome Trading Limited We Are Family Make an Enquiry before Buying - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=EB&rep_id=82083 The kids digital advertising market is segmented as follows; Kids Digital Advertising Market, by Component TV Digital Kids Digital Advertising Market, by Ad Format Display Ads Social Media Native Advertising Search Ads Video Ads Others Kids Digital Advertising Market, by Platform (Digital) Mobile Desktop & Laptops DOOH Kids Digital Advertising Market, by Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa & South America IT and Telecom Research Reports Video Analytics Market- Video Analytics Market is expected to surpass the value of US$ 37.85 Bn by 2031 Video Conferencing Market- Global video conferencing market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of ~9% during the forecast period 2020-2030 Video on Demand Market- Video on demand market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period from 2020 to 2030 Cyber Security Consulting Market - Cyber Security Consulting Market is expected to advance at a robust CAGR of 8.4% during the forecast period, projected to cross US$ 28.22 Bn by 2031. Physical Security Market - Physical Security Market is expected to reach the value of US$ 243.6 Bn by the end of 2031, It is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 8.10% from 2021 to 2031. Managed Security Services Market - Managed Security Services Market size is expected to reach US$ 53.22 Bn by the end of 2031, It is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 14.2% from 2022 to 2031. Network Security Policy Management Market - Network Security Policy Management Market was valued at US$ 1,297.6 Mn in 2017 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.2% during the forecast period. Smart Crib Market - The global smart crib market is expected to reach US$ 545.4 Mn by the end of 2031, grow at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2022 to 2031 About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, is a global market intelligence company provides syndicated research reports and business consulting services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insights for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools & techniques to gather and analyze information. Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports. For More Research Insights on Leading Industries, Visit our YouTube channel-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8e-z-g23-TdDMuODiL8BKQ Contact Us: Rohit Bhisey Transparency Market Research Inc. CORPORATE HEADQUARTER DOWNTOWN, 1000 N. West Street, Suite 1200, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 USA Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Blog: https://tmrblog.com Email: [email protected] Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1682871/TMR_Logo_Logo.jpg SOURCE Transparency Market Research RESTON, Va., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.36 per outstanding share of common stock of Leidos Holdings, Inc. The cash dividend is payable on September 30, 2022, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on September 15, 2022. About Leidos Leidos is a Fortune 500 technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets. The company's 43,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $13.7 billion for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com. Media contact: Melissa Lee Duenas (571) 526-6850 [email protected] Investor Relations: Stuart Davis (571) 526-6124 [email protected] SOURCE Leidos LionESS technology places energy independence and green power inventory management in the palm of your hand AMERICAN FORK, Utah, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lion Energy, a leader in safe, silent and eco-friendly power solutions that help individuals, families and organizations of any size become energy independent, today announced the launch of LionESS (ESS stands for Energy Storage Systems). LionESS sits at the heart of the company's vision to make 100% renewable energy a reality and provides the technology necessary for all to become energy independent. LionESS technology enables customers to store virtually any type of renewable power generated (solar, wind, hydro and thermal), as well non-renewable sources (utility grid and generators). The result is an inventory of stored energy from a variety of power sources that can be managed and maximized for the most economical, eco-friendly usage possible. "We provide peace of mind that your appliances, computers, networks, lights and other critical devices stay on during emergencies, during peak demand periods and when utility company blackouts happen. Most importantly, we pave the pathway to moving the countryand the entire worldto 100% renewable energy and energy independence, which can only be achieved through safe, reliable energy storage," said Tyler Hortin, President of Lion Energy. "LionESS provides game-changing cost saving opportunities just in peak cost time usage alone, where in-home and large custom systems can pay for themselves quickly, such as when your local utility offers cash rebates and other incentives." LionESS technology elements are integral to the design, creation, deployment and support of Lion Energy products, all of which are designed and engineered in the United States, ranging from small handheld power devices and portable solar generators to home, business and industrial custom solutions. These technologies include the Energy Management System (EMS) software, firmware and infrastructure to oversee the entire process of energy storage and use as well as the Battery Management System (BMS) software and infrastructure to efficiently use and protect the high-grade lithium iron phosphate batteries the safest, longest-lasting, most reliable and eco-friendly batteries available today that serve as the core energy storage. The Lion App will communicate with LionESS, providing data and control at the user's fingertips, making it easy for anyone to control, efficiently store and use energy without having to be technologically savvy. By utilizing LionESS, customers can deploy the most cutting-edge approaches to energy use such as peak energy shaving, energy shift-time of use, energy backup power, energy arbitrage functions and critical-start (for more detailed explanations on each approach visit: https://lionenergy.com/pages/lioness). LionESS technology's most profound impact can be experienced across home and custom business and industrial solutions: Lion Sanctuary: The safest and most cost-effective home and office energy storage system on the market, the Lion Sanctuary is a powerful solar inverter and energy storage system that harnesses energy from a variety of sources to power homes, cabins, houseboats, and light offices and can be used as energy backup. The system features an efficient 8k hybrid inverter/charger with a powerful Lithium Iron Phosphate 13.5kWh battery and is expandable. The safest and most cost-effective home and office energy storage system on the market, the Lion Sanctuary is a powerful solar inverter and energy storage system that harnesses energy from a variety of sources to power homes, cabins, houseboats, and light offices and can be used as energy backup. The system features an efficient hybrid inverter/charger with a powerful Lithium Iron Phosphate 13.5kWh battery and is expandable. Lion POWERsave: Available in a series of different sizes, Lion POWERsave provides flexible modular solutions that can be customized to meet larger specific energy storage needs. Lion POWERsave can be used indoor and outdoor, with power and capacity ranging from 30kW/50kWh to 1.5MW/2.2MWh. Custom POWERsave solutions can be used in a variety of settings and industries including utilities, police, military, hospitals, airports, schools, railroads and data centers. "LionESS simplifies storing and utilizing energy, which enables customers to manage energy usage digitally at their fingertips," said Zhenfang "Jim" Ge, Lion Energy founder and Chairman of the Board. "With LionESS, renewable energy and energy independence has never been easier or more viable as customers are able to determine the preferred source of energy as well as the best time to use stored energy for maximum efficiency, savings and green impact." ABOUT LION ENERGY Lion Energy is a leading manufacturer of safe, silent and eco-friendly power solutions for everyday needs. The road to energy independence affects all aspects of life including how everyone lives and interacts with one another at home, at work or at play. Regardless of where they are on this path, Lion Energy has an American designed and engineered power solution that can be used indoors or outdoors. Leading the way with innovative Lithium energy smart storage technologies known as LionESS and through rigorous testing, Lion Energy provides the broadest and most innovative suite of energy storage solutions on the market today, from hand-held portable device charging to portable solar generators to home, commercial and industrial battery systems. For more information, visit www.lionenergy.com . SOURCE Lion Energy HOUSTON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The current labor shortage has heavily impacted the cash management industry, and to combat some of the new talent acquisition challenges, Loomis US launched an updated careers site at www.work4loomis.com. The new site highlights the Loomis US culture and benefits for potential candidates while also outlining the recruitment process and making it easy to apply for jobs across the country. "The goal of our new career website is to give potential job candidates a transparent look at what it is like to work at Loomis here in the US," says, Emily Wiley, Vice President of Marketing at Loomis US. "We understand that the current job market is very tight, and candidates have a lot of options. This is why we have taken the time to expertly craft a positive recruitment experience that begins the moment someone visits our career website." Some of the new features on www.work4loomis.com include a new and improved search interface that allows candidates to search for jobs based on geographic location or role type, a dedicated military and veterans page that caters to that audience, and an expertly designed site navigation that makes applying to jobs and searching the site more user friendly. "Every industry has been greatly impacted by the labor shortage over the last year," says Kaleb Faulk, Director of Talent Acquisition at Loomis US. "It was important for us to invest in the proper recruitment tools not only in an effort to attract quality team members, but so potential candidates have the information they need to make an informed decision on evaluating Loomis being a right fit for a long-term career. That is what we are after. 'Career' seekers as opposed to those trying to find their next paycheck." "People," is one of Loomis's core values, and despite the challenges brought on by the current job market and labor shortage, Loomis US continues to prioritize and invest in recruiting and employee retainment efforts. Visit the new website at www.work4loomis.com to learn more. About Loomis U.S. As a leader in cash distribution across the United States with nearly 200 branch locations, 10,000 employees, 3,200+ vehicles, and more than 46,000 SafePoint locations servicedLoomis is proud to provide cash-handling products and services to financial institutions and commercial/retail businesses nationwide. Learn more at http://www.loomis.us. SOURCE Loomis US Additions Bolster Growing Practice with Life Sciences Patent Counsel and Technology IP Litigation Experience BOSTON and AUSTIN, Texas, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- International law firm McDermott Will & Emery is pleased to announce the addition of four partners to our growing intellectual property (IP) practice. Charles (Chuck) Larsen joins the Boston office, while Ryan Clark, Aashish Kapadia and Samoneh (Sammy) Schickel join McDermott in Austin. "McDermott's IP practice has undergone significant strategic growth over the last 18 months, and we are excited to welcome these latest additions to the McDermott team," William Gaede, head of the Firm's Global Intellectual Property Practice Group, said. "Chuck's experience elevates the profile of our group while complementing our existing Boston practice. At the same time, Ryan, Aashish and Sammy are key parts of the team of elite practitioners in Austin that have already boosted our practice's strength in intellectual property." In addition to the eight-partner team in Austin announced last month, strategic IP partner hires over the last 18 months include Simon Roberts, Jason Leonard, Maxwell "Mac" Fox, Douglas H. Carsten and Adam W. Burrowbridge. As both a US patent lawyer and English solicitor, Chuck provides clients with sophisticated transatlantic counsel in patent portfolio strategy and transactions, with a particular emphasis in the medical technology space. He also actively supports clients in US and European patent office disputes, including Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings, re-examinations, European Patent Office (EPO) oppositions and litigation. Chuck received his JD from Duke University School of Law and is licensed to practice in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as before the EPO. He joins McDermott from White & Case. "McDermott's depth of services across the IP lifecycle as well as its leading brand in healthcare and life sciences made this move a natural fit," Chuck said. "McDermott's global platform will be a great strength to my clients across the medical technology industry." Ryan, Aashish and Sammy join their former Baker Botts colleagues Kevin Meek, Syed Fareed, Stephen Hash, Paula Heyman, Brian Oaks, Margaret Sampson, Nick Schuneman and Brett Thompsen. Ryan represents clients in complex patent and trademark litigation, often involving multiple patents and defendants. He also provides strategic counsel on patent prosecution, from ideation through enforcement. He manages global patent and trademark portfolios, helps develop clients' internal patent processes and advises on intellectual property due diligence for M&A transactions. Ryan received his JD from the University of Illinois College of Law. Aashish focuses on patent litigation, post-grant trials and patent prosecution. His background in electrical and computer engineering gives him strategic insight into his clients' vital technologies. He offers multifaceted representation across all phases of complex patent litigation, from pre-suit strategy and early motion practice through claim construction, discovery and summary judgment. Aashish received his JD from The University of Texas School of Law. Sammy guides clients through every stage of patent litigation. She has experience in a wide range of technical areas, including life sciences, data storage devices, internet technology, mobile apps, software and consumer hardware devices. She represents clients before the International Trade Commission, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and US district courts. Sammy received her JD from The University of Texas School of Law. ABOUT MCDERMOTT McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. Our team works seamlessly across practices and industries to deliver highly effective solutions that propel success. More than 1,200 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve. SOURCE McDermott Will & Emery MELBOURNE, Australia, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "Global Medical Cannabis Market" the new research report added in Data Bridge Market Research's reports database. This Research Report spread across 350 Pages, 220 No of Tables, And 60 No of Figures with summarizing top companies, with tables and figures. The rapidly revolutionizing market place demands the best market and business solutions to thrive in the market. This Medical Cannabis report contains comprehensive data of market definition, classifications, applications, engagements, market drivers and market restraints of this industry all of which is derived from Porter's Five Forces analysis. Market definition covered in this Medical Cannabis report gives the scope of particular product with respect to the driving factors and restraints in the market. The sources of data and information mentioned in the Medical Cannabis report are very reliable and include websites, annual reports of the companies, journals, and mergers which are checked and validated by the market experts. Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the medical cannabis market which was USD 11.0 billion in 2021, would rocket up to USD 54.34 billion by 2029, and is expected to undergo a CAGR of 22.1% during the forecast period 2022 to 2029. In addition to the market insights such as market value, growth rate, market segments, geographical coverage, market players, and market scenario, the market report curated by the Data Bridge Market Research team also includes in-depth expert analysis, patient epidemiology, pipeline analysis, pricing analysis, and regulatory framework. Get Sample PDF Brochure (Including Graphs, Charts & Figures) @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-medical-cannabis-market&PNW/29July2022 Market Overview:- According to the poll, nearly 13,400 physicians in Canada supplied prescriptions for an average of 2.1 grammes of marijuana each day to patients. The growing number of scientific trials of cannabis-infused medications for various therapeutic areas, particularly the usage of cannabidiol, is boosting market growth. There were around 400 completed or continuing clinical trials as of June 2018. Clinical trials sponsored by GW Pharmaceuticals totaled 40, whereas clinical trials sponsored by sanofi totaled 38. Furthermore, the narrative among physicians about the benefits and supporting clinical evidence is leading to an increase in patient prescriptions for cannabis-infused medicines. Medicinal marijuana (MMJ), often known as medical cannabis is marijuana and cannabinoids that doctors recommend for their patients. Due to production and political constraints, the use of cannabis as medicine has not undergone thorough testing. As a result, there has been little clinical study to determine the safety and effectiveness of utilising cannabis to treat ailments. Opportunities To provide the intended medical benefits, the dosage of the capsules must be precise before consumption. More dependable are the use of sophisticated machinery, skilled, licensed lab technicians, and the producer. Because medical cannabis is now legal in the United States, the demand for it is skyrocketing, thanks to the medicinal benefits of Cannabis Capsules. As a result, investors are keen on establishing or acquiring plants with appropriate machinery, skilled labor, and a license to produce cannabis capsules. Existing manufacturers are also investing time and skills to innovate for the production of high-quality capsules in appropriate doses. Some of the major players operating in the medical cannabis market are: Joy Organics (U.S.) CBD istillery (U.S.) Gaia Botanicals (U.S.) Harmony (U.S.) Floyd's of Leadville (U.S.) Lazarus Naturals (U.S.) cbdMD (U.S.) Pure Hemp Botanicals (U.S.) ENDOCA( Netherlands ) ) Green Roads (U.S.) Tilray (U.S.) Canopy Growth Corp. ( Canada ) ) GW Pharmaceuticals PLC (U.K.) Aurora Cannabis ( Canada ) ) Aphria Inc. ( Canada ) ) CV sciences Inc. (U.S.) Access Full 350 Pages PDF Research Report @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/checkout/buy/enterprise/global-medical-cannabis-market?PNW/29July2022 Recent Development In March 2021 - STADA Arzneimittel AG , one of Germany's leading pharmaceutical companies, has entered the medical cannabis market with a deal with MediPharm Labs, a Canadian company, to introduce two flower products and six more in the future. , one of leading pharmaceutical companies, has entered the medical cannabis market with a deal with MediPharm Labs, a Canadian company, to introduce two flower products and six more in the future. In May 2021 - TCV Sciences, Inc. announced the launch of PLUSCBDTM calm and sleep gummies, two tasty candies that help individuals go back to their normal routines by supporting healthy stress responses and sleep cycles. The investment made in the study would provide you access to information such as: Medical cannabis Market [Global Broken-down into regions] [Global Broken-down into regions] Regional level split [ North America , Europe , Asia Pacific , South America , Middle East & Africa ] , , , , & ] Country wise Market Size Split [of important countries with major market share] Market Share and Revenue/Sales by leading players Market Trends Emerging Technologies/products/start-ups, PESTEL Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Porter's Five Forces, etc. Market Size by application/industry verticals Market Projections/Forecast Medical Cannabis Market Dynamics Key Drivers Advancements in research and development Cannabis is now approved for treating various ailments, including restlessness, muscle tightness, persistent discomfort, and the reduction of vomiting and illness caused by chemotherapy. The majority of businesses are making rapid progress in their research into the potential of therapeutic cannabis and hemp. Cannabinol and Tetrahydrocannabinol-modified edibles CBD and THC-modified edibles are becoming increasingly popular throughout all permitted states. In addition, customers and investors are becoming more interested in infused drinks. The convoluted administrative process for cannabis acceptance can act as a roadblock to industry development. The therapeutic properties of cannabis and the ongoing legalisation of cannabis capsules will serve as opportunities for market expansion. Increasing legalization of cannabis Cannabis makes up a sizable portion of the medical cannabis market. Consumers in the United States provinces where cannabis has been legalised are usually above the age of 50. This demographic profile is predicted to raise cannabis demand in the country due to a higher likelihood of chronic diseases after 50 years of age and the effectiveness of cannabis in treating such conditions. Cannabis's popularity and demand are projected to rise in the future due to ongoing research and standardisation of products for medicinal uses. To View Detailed Report Analysis, Visit @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-medical-cannabis-market?PNW/29July2022 Industry Segmentation:- Product Oil Dried Medical Cannabis Medical Cannabis Capsules Vape Pen Whole Flower Creams and Moisturizer Ground Flower Patch Mask and Serum Cleanser Others Source Natural Synthetic Species Sativa Hybrid Cannabis Indica Derivatives Cannabidiol (CBD) Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)/Delta-8-Tetrahydrocannabinol Cannabigerol (CBG) Cannabinol Others Application Pain Management Anxiety Muscle Spasms Nausea Appetite Loss Cancer Arthritis Alzheimer's Disease Epilepsy Depression and Sleep Disorders Multiple Sclerosis Autism Mental Health Conditions Elevate Mood Others Route of Administration Oral Solutions and Capsules Smoking Topicals Vaporizers Others End User Homecare Settings Hospital Rehab Centers Pharmaceutical Industry Research and Development Centers Others Distribution Channel B2C B2B Regional Breakdown:- The countries covered in the medical cannabis market report are U.S., Canada and Mexico in North America, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Rest of Europe in Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), Brazil, Argentina and Rest of South America as part of South America. North America dominates the medical cannabis market due to the growing number of geriatric population along with adoption of innovative medical technology. Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest growth rate in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029 due to the rising health awareness among the people and growing demand of advanced medical technology. To Check the Complete Table Of Content Click Here @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-medical-cannabis-market&PNW/29July2022 Browse Related Reports:- Medical Cannabis Extraction Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-medical-cannabis-extraction-market Medical Cannabis Based Oil Extract-Infused Products Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-medical-cannabis-based-oil-extract-infused-products-market Europe Medical cannabis Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/europe-medical-cannabis-market North America Medical Cannabis Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/north-america-medical-cannabis-market Asia-Pacific Medical Cannabis Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/asia-pacific-medical-cannabis-market Middle East and Africa Medical Cannabis Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/middle-east-and-africa-medical-cannabis-market Cannabis Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-cannabis-market Europe Cannabis Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/europe-cannabis-market North America Cannabis Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/north-america-cannabis-market Cannabis Capsule Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-cannabis-capsule-market Cannabis Seeds Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-cannabis-seeds-market U.S. Cannabis Seeds Market - Industry Share, Trends and Revenue Growth Forecast https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/us-cannabis-seeds-market About Data Bridge Market Research: An absolute way to forecast what future holds is to comprehend the trend today! Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavours to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process. Data Bridge is an aftermath of sheer wisdom and experience which was formulated and framed in the year 2015 in Pune. Data Bridge Market Research has over 500 analysts working in different industries. We have catered more than 40% of the fortune 500 companies globally and have a network of more than 5000+ clientele around the globe. Data Bridge adepts in creating satisfied clients who reckon upon our services and rely on our hard work with certitude. We are content with our glorious 99.9 % client satisfying rate. Contact Us: Data Bridge Market Research US: +1 888 387 2818 UK: +44 208 089 1725 Hong Kong: +852 8192 7475 Email:- [email protected] Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1011053/Data_Bridge_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Data Bridge Market Research New York care provider names Medline supplier of all capital equipment and furnishings NORTHFIELD, Ill., July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medline and St. Johnland Nursing Center, a New York-based post-acute care organization, today announced that Medline has been awarded a prime vendor contract for St. Johnland's new assisted living facility, expected to open its doors to residents in fall 2022. The company will be a supplier of all capital equipment and furnishings for the organization's assisted living facility. As the prime vendor medical supplier for St. Johnland, Medline will supply all capital equipment and furnishings for the organizations new assisted living facility. The new contract is an extension of Medline's 30-plus year partnership with St. Johnland as the prime vendor for the company's skilled nursing facility. Through the new capital equipment and furnishings contract, more than 10 product divisions at Medline are collaborating to help the company build out the new facility with supplies like furniture, hand sanitizers, window treatments, paper goods and more. St Johnland is leveraging Medline's white-glove delivery service to deliver, assemble and install all equipment and furnishings. "To maintain the highest standard of care, we need to stay on top of the changing healthcare needs of our community. Medline understands the evolving challenges in running a healthcare organization and has always focused on providing us with high quality products to meet our clinical and operational goals. We knew the company would be the best partner to help us outfit our new facility," said Mary Jean Weber, CEO of St. Johnland Nursing Center. St. Johnland has been a prominent care organization in its community for 150-plus years. The new 100-bed assisted living facility will be on the same campus as its skilled nursing home and focus on serving individuals enrolled in Medicaid, which Weber anticipates will account for roughly 80% of residents. "We are honored to have the opportunity to continue growing our partnership with St. Johnland as the organization expands its care services. Helping Weber and her team build out their new facility has been a multi-year project made possible due to the expertise across all our Medline divisions. Our goal is to leverage that internal collaboration to provide St. Johnland with reliable service to help healthcare run better," said John Piazza, sales representative, Medline Post-Acute Care. Learn how Medline tailors solutions across the entire continuum of care as a manufacturer and distributor by visiting https://www.medline.com/supply-chain. About Medline Medline is a healthcare company; a manufacturer, distributor, and solutions provider focused on improving the overall operating performance of healthcare. Partnering with healthcare systems and facilities across the continuum of care, Medline provides the clinical and supply chain resources required for long-term financial viability in delivering high-quality care. With the scale of one of the country's largest companies and the agility of a family-led business, Medline is able to invest in its customers for the future and rapidly respond to a dynamically changing market with customized solutions. Headquartered in Northfield, Ill., Medline has 30,000+ employees worldwide and does business in more than 125 countries and territories. Learn more about Medline at www.medline.com. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube SOURCE Medline NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With the celebration of Pride Month in 2022, the "kink-at-Pride" debate has been brought again, involving discussions of whether or not the kink community should be allowed at LGBTQ Pride. A recent survey conducted by kinky dating app KinkD reveals some key statistics about transgender people in the kink community. Age Kink Transgender Top 10 states with most transgender kinksters According to the app's database, there are more than 1.9 million registered users on KinkD, among which 21,328 identify themselves as trans, meaning that 1.08% of the app's kinksters are transgender. The app also finds that more than half of adult trans kinksters are under 30 years old. According to KinkD, 50.85% of kinksters who identify as trans are in the 18-29 age group, compared with 42.52% of those aged 30-49 and 6.63% of those 50 and older who are transgender kinksters. "It seems that from generation to generation, gender as an important part of someone's identity, has become more socially acceptable to be explored," said John Martinuk, co-founder of the KinkD app. Age Statistics of Trans Kinksters The app also exposes the top 10 states with the largest number of transgender kinksters in the U.S.. The top spot belongs to California, with the largest number of 1,387. It is followed by Texas 889, New York 800, Florida 598, Pennsylvania 455, Ohio 432, Washington 427, Illinois 422, Georgia 362, and North Carolina 360. Together with 5,535 from other states, this brings the total to 11,667 U.S. trans kinksters registered on the app. Top 10 U.S. states with the largest number of transgender kinksters About KinkD KinkD is a leading kinky dating app for the BDSM & fetish community. There are more than 1.9 million registered users on the app. It is available to download for free on the App Store and Google Play. http://www.kinkdapp.com Contact: John Martinuk Email address: [email protected] Phone: +16472676834 SOURCE KinkD https://spendedge.com/sample-report/oil-and-gas-engineering-procurement-construction-management-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report Major Price Models in the Oil and Gas Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management Sourcing and Procurement Market The report discusses in detail each pricing model and the pros and cons attached to every pricing model prevalent in the market. Also, the report provides insights with respect to the category supply chain and the margins of various suppliers within the supply chain. The most widely adopted pricing models in the Oil and Gas Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management Sourcing and Procurement Market Fixed fee/lump sum Cost-plus GMP Spend Growth and Demand by Region The Oil and Gas Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management Sourcing and Procurement market will register an incremental spend of about USD 17.13 Billion during the forecast period. However, only a few regions will drive the majority of this growth. Moreover, on the supply side, North America, Europe, and APAC will have the maximum influence owing to the supplier base. The growth is expected to be primarily driven by increasing demand and adoption of the category across those few regions. To get a detailed analysis of the regional factors driving the Oil and Gas Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management Sourcing and Procurement Report: https://spendedge.com/sample-report/oil-and-gas-engineering-procurement-construction-management-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report Subscribe to our "Free Limited Period Starter Procurement Plan" to get the following: View 6 full reports View 800+ report samples Pre-order upcoming reports Dedicated account manager Subscribe Now! Most Adopted Procurement Strategies by Buyers Across the Oil and Gas Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management Sourcing and Procurement Market The report provides a detailed insight of the most adopted procurement strategies by buyers across industries and analysis of these strategies with respect to innovation, regulatory compliance, quality, supply, and cost. Adoption of these procurement strategies will enable the buyers to reduce category TCO and achieve cost savings, while sourcing for thermal equipment requirements. This Oil and Gas Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management Sourcing and Procurement Market report answers help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers, for instance: Am I engaging with the right suppliers? Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers? Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for? What are the workplace computing devices category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx? Our Top Selling Procurement Reports: Deep Sea Freight - Forecast and Analysis: The asset recovery services will grow at a CAGR of 2.55% during 2022-2026. A.P. Moller - Maersk AS, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, and Yang Ming Marine Transport. are among the prominent suppliers in deep sea freight market. Click here to download the free sample of this report. Road Freight Transportation Services Sourcing and Procurement Report: Oil and Gas Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management Procurement Market, prices will increase by 3%-6% during the forecast period and suppliers will have a moderate bargaining power in this market. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report. Fleet Management Services - Sourcing and Procurement Intelligence Report: This report offers key advisory and intelligence to help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers for their fleet management services requirements. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report. About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. Contact SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us SOURCE SpendEdge Pixalate's free MRT for Slack provides publishers, ad buyers, privacy regulators, and other Slack users with quick access to ad supply chain insights for over 10 million websites and mobile and Connected TV apps. LONDON, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pixalate , the global market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, today released the Media Ratings Terminal (MRT) app for Slack, which is available in the Slack App Directory . Media Ratings Terminal for Slack The new app brings ad fraud data straight to Slack as part of Pixalate's mission to democratize access to ad fraud, privacy, and compliance insights. Pixalate's MRT delivers ad fraud, privacy and compliance ratings and insights across over 10 million websites and mobile and CTV apps across the Google, Apple, Amazon, and Roku app stores. "The MRT for Slack is our latest addition to increase accessibility of key data points around ad fraud and privacy compliance in the advertising supply chain," said Jason Dias, Pixalate's VP of Engineering. "Bringing MRT data points into everyday conversations in Slack makes identifying, following, and troubleshooting issues easier for all types of teams." The MRT for Slack release is another move by Pixalate to increase transparency and access to fraud and privacy compliance risk data in the ad tech space. This follows Pixalate's recent releases of the Ad Trust & Safety API Suite and COPPA Compliance Technology to identify likely child-directed mobile apps across the Google and Apple app stores. About the Media Ratings Terminal for Slack: The app integrates directly within a user's Slack workspace, allowing them to use a simple search command for any app title or ID, or website address. It also features a summary Home tab for the user's MRT Watchlist, giving an instant view of data points for apps and websites they have selected to follow, and allows them to customize their lists with the "Follow" or "Unfollow" buttons within the Slack app. Additionally, the app integrates with conversations around the MRT and intelligently unfurls links in a channel to provide key data points if available. This gives ad buyers, publishers, privacy regulators, and others instant access to monitor apps and domains. The Media Ratings Terminal's Basic account is free to the public, with signup available at https://ratings.pixalate.com/ . The Slack app integrates with both free and paid accounts. . The Slack app integrates with both free and paid accounts. Check out Pixalate's MRT for Slack tutorial video on YouTube and access the Pixalate Knowledge Base for a step-by-step guide on how to install the MRT for Slack. About Pixalate Pixalate is the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and mobile advertising. Pixalate works 24/7 to guard your reputation and grow your media value by offering the only system of coordinated solutions across display, app, video, and OTT/CTV for better detection and elimination of ad fraud. Pixalate is an MRC-accredited service for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and OTT/CTV advertising. www.pixalate.com Disclaimer: The content of this press release and information available via MRT for Slack reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry, as well as to those researching adoption of internationally-recognized data privacy protections. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate's proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate does not independently verify third-party information. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app. Per the Media Rating Council (MRC) , "'Invalid Traffic' is defined generally as traffic that does not meet certain ad serving quality or completeness criteria, or otherwise does not represent legitimate ad traffic that should be included in measurement counts. Among the reasons why ad traffic may be deemed invalid is it is a result of non-human traffic (spiders, bots, etc.), or activity designed to produce fraudulent traffic." IVT is also sometimes referred to as "ad fraud." Per the MRC , "'Fraud' is not intended to represent fraud as defined in various laws, statutes and ordinances or as conventionally used in U.S. Court or other legal proceedings, but rather a custom definition strictly for advertising measurement purposes.' Slack is a registered trademark of Slack Technologies, Inc. Media Contact: Liz Margolis, 610-613-5174, [email protected] SOURCE Pixalate VIENNA, Va., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Solutions By Design II, LLC (SBD), a leader in cybersecurity, management consulting, technology services, and application engineering and maintenance support announced that it has been awarded the interim Task Order contract to provide Security Operations (SecOps) Support Services for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Office of Information Technology (OIT), Information Security Division (ISD). SBD's SecOps support will assist ISD to meet its mission, goals, and objectives that will improve USCIS's ability to identify, protect, respond, and recover from increased cybersecurity threats. Specific task areas include support operations, incident response operations, intelligence operations, and advance threat operations. SBD support will focus on the assessment, enhancement and expansion of USCIS's cyber security program, consistent with best practices outlined in the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, to improve the agency's cyber defenses and cyber intelligence capabilities to defend against these increased threats. ABOUT SBD: SBD brings over 30 years of experience working with government customers driving innovation to improve their cybersecurity posture. We are a well-versed with providing 24/7 support to monitor, detect, analyze, mitigate, and respond to cyber threats and adversarial activity across the government. SBD brings extensive experience and expertise in Cybersecurity and IT modernization, leveraging cloud-based and open-source technologies to reduce operating costs and increase mission performance. SBD has been providing Security Operations using Agile methodologies at USCIS since 2013, helping USCIS achieve the CISO's vision of Security Operation Center (SOC) 2.0. SBD was awarded the Cybersecurity Insiders "2021 Cybersecurity Service Provider of the Year", the "2021 Defense Cybersecurity Operations Service Provider of the Year", the "2021 Cybersecurity Continuous Improvement and Optimization Service Provider of the Year", and the "2021 Cybersecurity Program Management Provider of the Year". These awards recognize SBD's demonstrated excellence, innovation, and leadership in cybersecurity. SOURCE Solutions By Design II, LLC TAIPEI, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Taiwanese start-up Mbran Filtra, has been recognized as a 2022 CES Innovation Award Honoree for its world's smallest water filter. With the pandemic's end still nowhere in sight, outdoor activities such as hiking and camping have exploded in popularity, and now adventure seekers have a revolutionary product to help them access potable water anywhere. The start-up will be showcasing its technology at 2022 CES. Mbran& Filtra's& world's& smallest& water& filter& provides access to potable& water& anywhere "Mbran Filtra's water filter is just the size of a person's thumb and weighs just 21 grams, allowing it to slip into any pocket and be used in a myriad of activities such as trail runs, mountain biking, hiking, camping, or any kind of travel exploration. It allows anyone access to safe drinking water virtually anywhere," says Dr. Hsu-Hsien Chang, CEO of Mbran Filtra. Small footprint, big features Mbran Filtra's water filter blocks out bacteria, microorganisms, and microplastics, which is considered a necessity for any filter and it can be used without any electricity, making it very convenient for traveling. And finally, it has a high flow rate of 1.2 liters per minute, giving its users plenty of drinking water in a fast and efficient manner. Unique process The innovation of this product lies in the manufacturing process, which Mbran Filtra says utilizes polyethersulfone polymer while building multifunctional properties or layers into the pore structure of the hollow fiber membrane. The membrane itself is available in different sizes (0.04 - 0.4 um), allowing it to be used in various applications. Another unique feature is the filter's highly asymmetric pore structure. Compared to traditional filters with symmetric membranes, this design offers a higher dirt loading capacity, providing better filtration performance and higher flow rates. With this design, the portable filter has been proven to block out bacteria such as E. Coli with up to 99.9% effectiveness, reducing the colony forming unit (CFU) levels per 100 milliliters from 5700 to less than 1 in a E.Coli test conducted by one of the world's leading testing and certification companies SGS. The thumb-sized filter also has a total filtration capacity of up to 1,000 liters depending on water quality, giving its users a durable and reliable portable filter which they can use for a long time. An eye towards sustainability Aside from class-leading features, the portable filter also adheres to Mbran Filtra's commitment to sustainable manufacturing. It uses environmentally friendly solvents, non-toxic materials, and green manufacturing processes. The filter's long-life cycle also ensures that it has the least impact possible to the environment, and its indirect effect of reducing the use of bottled water means it's a product that boosts sustainability efforts. About Mbran Filtra Established in 2019 in Taiwan, Mbran Filtra focuses on the research, manufacture, and production of filtration materials and systems. It produces a broad range of microporous membranes for use in different industries, such as hydrophobic and hydrophilic membranes made from polyethersulfone (PES), polyamide (Nylon), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and polypropylene (PP), among others. Aside from supplying these membranes into existing filtration products and systems, Mbran Filtra also offers its own microfiltration membrane products through its asymmetrical pore structure technology. For more information, please visit www.mbranfiltra.com SOURCE Mbran Filtra NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of their ongoing effort to meet the needs of Afghan refugees who have recently moved to the Nashville area, Tennessee Resettlement Aid, (TRA) is holding a Back to School fundraiser to give the 200 Afghan children who will be heading back to school the supplies and resources they severely need. "In less than three weeks, these children whose families had to flee their native country when the US withdrew from Afghanistan will be coming to school in a different culture and in a different language," TRA Director Katie Finn said. "We know that if you want kids to be set up for success, they need help to get ready for school." Tennessee Resettlement Aid will be acquiring Nashville Public School System, backpacks, sneakers, jackets. Noted philanthropist and Nashville area resident George Shinn has pledged $20,000 for the effort, which Finn said will be half of what will be needed to send those children to school with the supplies they need. Former Lipscomb President Randy Lowry, who has headed fundraising efforts for the Resettlement effort, knew exactly who to call when the need was first identified. "My first call was to George Shinn," Lowry said. "During my tenure at Lipscomb George was the largest donor there. And I'm so grateful for the way he and his wife Megan have responded." "When Randy called, Megan and I said yes right away," George Shinn said. "I know what it's like to go to school without many things that other students might have. I lived that life as a child. I'm happy to help, and excited to be a part of an effort to give these kids to make their best life in a new place." TRA, a non-profit who has an affiliated 501c3 sponsor that seeks to fill the gaps in the current refugee resettlement system with direct aid to our Afghan allies and their families, is asking the community to donate the other half of the needed funds. The evacuation of Afghan refugees to the U.S. is the largest resettlement effort in our nation's history. To date, more than 650 Afghan allies have arrived in Nashville and more are expected in the coming months. To make a tax-deductible donation to TRA, please visit https://www.tennesseeresettlementaid.org/ SOURCE Tennessee Resettlement Aid NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TitleEase LLC, a title and settlement services franchise business, has announced the addition of a new franchisee, Mesi Title Agency. The new franchise is owned and operated by Michelle Mesi, President, and headquartered in Buffalo, New York. "We are excited to have Mesi Title Agency on board with TitleEase," said Joseph D'Urso, CEO of TitleEase. "Michelle Mesi is a driven entrepreneur who knows how to build a business. She is a smart, determined and relationship-focused professional who truly cares about her customers. The successful launch of her agency is proof that she has an excellent team in place and is the ideal franchisee." For the past 12 years, Mesi has worked in accounts receivable management and as a federal contractor with the U.S. Department of Education. After exploring business opportunities that align with her passion for real estate, Mesi chose to partner with TitleEase to bring a superior offering of settlement services to the western New York area. "As an entrepreneur, I understand the importance of competitive pricing coupled with exceptional customer service," said Michelle Mesi. "Opening a TitleEase franchise was the right fit for me. I am very excited about the opportunity and proud to offer settlement services that are supported with a high level of professionalism and state-of-the art technology." TitleEase provides a simplified, streamlined and fully compliant path for mortgage originators, servicers, and real estate professionals to own and operate a title agency without the burden and expense of building a platform from scratch. Franchisees own a tangible asset with its own terminal value. Find out more at www.titleeasefranchise.com . About TitleEase TitleEase LLC is a member of the Lincoln Family of Companies, which also includes Lincoln Abstract & Settlement. The company is a franchisor of real estate title and settlement services businesses, offering franchisees a turnkey title & closing business that is fully compliant and ready to run. TitleEase offers an innovative way for real estate focused entrepreneurs to enter the title business quickly and efficiently while leaning on its expertise. Call TitleEase at (877) 696-5462 to learn about its franchise opportunities. For more information, visit the company online at www.titleeasefranchise.com . SOURCE TitleEase MENDOTA, Ill., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tri-County Financial Group, Inc. (The Company) (OTCQX: TYFG) today announced financial results for the second quarter of 2022. Net income for the second quarter of 2022 was $2.5 million ($0.99 per share), compared to $3.6 million ($1.44 per share) during the second quarter of 2021. Net interest income was $11.2 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to $10.6 million in the same period of 2021, an increase of 6%. The net interest margin was 3.31% for the second quarter of 2022. Noninterest income was $2.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, a decrease of $3.0 million, or 50%, compared to $5.9 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2021. The decrease can be primarily attributed to lower mortgage volume from the prior year. First State Mortgage net income decreased by $1.6 million compared to the second quarter of 2021. Noninterest expense was $10.3 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to $11.2 million for the second quarter of 2021, a decrease of $0.9 million, or 8%. The decrease is related primarily to variable expenses resulting from lower mortgage activity. Total loans increased $88 million, or 9%, to $1.11 billion from $1.02 billion at June 30, 2021. Commercial real estate and agricultural lending activity increased compared to the prior year. Nonperforming loans as a percent of total loans were 0.19% as of June 30, 2022, down from 0.43% at June 30, 2021. The provision for loan loss remained at $0.9 million as asset quality continues to remain strong. The Company provided $450,000 during the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same amount in the prior year period. The allowance for loan loss ended at $16.97 million at June 30, 2022 and represented 1.54% of gross loans compared to 1.56% at June 30, 2021. Deposits increased $7.6 million, or 1%, year-over-year. The investment portfolio rose $134.3 million or 106% year over year and totaled $261.4 million at June 30, 2022 due to the significant increase in liquidity from net loan runoff and direct deposit of government relief funds. The Company's capital levels remain solid as of June 30, 2022, with a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 9.17%, up from 8.96% last year. On June 14, 2022, the Board of Directors declared a regular dividend of $0.20 per share payable July 7, 2022, to shareholders of record on June 30, 2022. In announcing the results, President and CEO, Tim McConville, stated "Our second quarter numbers, although down from one of our record quarters a year ago, represented strong earnings performance from a peak refinance period last year. Asset quality as measured by nonperforming loans to total loans is stable as we continue to see strong agricultural performance and good liquidity with our borrowers. We continue to monitor the impact of supply chain issues and staffing shortages on our businesses and consumers. Overall, we anticipate loan demand to remain strong, and we look forward to supporting the credit needs of our businesses and communities." Tri-County Financial Group, Inc. is the parent holding company for First State Bank, with offices in Mendota, Batavia, Bloomington, Champaign, Geneva, LaMoille, McNabb, North Aurora, Ottawa, Peru, Princeton, Rochelle, Shabbona, St. Charles, Streator, Sycamore, Waterman and West Brooklyn. First State Bank is the parent company of First State Mortgage, LLC and First State Insurance. Tri-County Financial Group, Inc. shares are quoted under the symbol TYFG and traded on OTCQX. TRI COUNTY FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. & SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME QUARTER ENDED JUNE 30TH (000s omitted, except share data) 2022 2021 Interest Income $ 12,470 $ 12,367 Interest Expense 1,232 1,733 Net Interest Income 11,238 10,634 Provision for Loan Losses 450 450 Net Interest Income After Provision for Loan Losses 10,788 10,184 Other Income 2,941 5,887 FDIC Assessments 90 60 Other Expenses 10,337 11,175 Income Before Income Taxes 3,302 4,836 Applicable Income Taxes 837 1,264 Security Gains (Losses) - - Net Income (Loss) $ 2,465 $ 3,572 Basic Net Income Per Share $ 0.99 $ 1.44 Weighted Average Shares Outstanding 2,482,821 2,482,675 ** Certain reclassifications have been made to preserve consistency between the periods presented. TRI-COUNTY FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. & SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (000s omitted, except share data) ASSETS 6/30/2022 6/30/2021 Cash and Due from Banks $ 19,175 $ 140,677 Federal Funds Sold 1,027 26,179 Investment Securities 261,440 127,108 Loans and Leases 1,105,015 1,016,719 Less: Reserve for Loan Losses (16,970) (15,837) Loans, Net 1,088,045 1,000,882 Bank Premises & Equipment 26,759 27,323 Intangibles 8,788 8,392 Other Real Estate Owned 2,376 2,968 Accrued Interest Receivable 5,421 4,821 Other Assets 30,567 34,254 TOTAL ASSETS $ 1,443,598 $ 1,372,604 LIABILITIES Demand Deposits 180,075 170,055 Interest-bearing Demand Deposits 406,883 388,595 Savings Deposits 293,440 270,274 Time Deposits 307,788 351,637 Total Deposits 1,188,186 1,180,561 Repurchase Agreements 27,865 17,816 Fed Funds Purchased 43,038 0 FHLB and Other Borrowings 35,505 5,000 Interest Payable 73 240 Subordinated Debt 9,773 15,723 Total Repos & Borrowings 116,254 38,779 Other Liabilities 11,544 20,011 Dividends Payable 507 382 TOTAL LIABILITIES $ 1,316,491 $ 1,239,733 CAPITAL Common Stock 2,484 2,485 Surplus 25,742 25,871 Preferred Stock 0 0 Retained Earnings 109,999 101,770 FASB 115 Adjustment (11,118) 2,745 TOTAL CAPITAL 127,107 132,871 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND CAPITAL $ 1,443,598 $ 1,372,604 Book Value Per Share $ 51.19 $ 53.52 Tangible Book Value Per Share $ 47.66 $ 50.14 Bid Price $ 46.00 $ 45.60 Period End Outstanding Shares 2,482,821 2,482,675 SOURCE Tri-County Financial Group, Inc. DUBLIN, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Turkey Tractors Market - Industry Analysis and Forecast 2022-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The 50-75HP segment accounted for the largest share due to its compact size and flexible operational capabilities. Turkey is the 18th largest economy in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) and Turkey's agricultural economy is the 7th largest economy in the world. Turkey is also one of the largest countries in the middle east In terms of agricultural acreage. Arable land covers 35.5% of the territory, while forest covers 15%. As of 2019, there are around 23.7 million hectares of cultivable land. Irrigation covers 18.4% of cultivable land. Vegetable products make for 76% of overall agricultural output, followed by animal husbandry and forestry, with forestry and fishery contributing the least. Most of the vegetable product is made up of fruits and field crops, with wheat being the most common. The Turkey economy achieved excellent growth in 2021, and the growth rate is expected to sustain in 2023, supported by the rising employment rate and a monetary policy stance that will continue to support domestic demand. Consequently, 2022 is expected to witness a healthy increment of 2% in real GDP growth. Turkey's agricultural tractors market grew by a massive growth of 83.5% in 2020 compared to 2019. The increase in crop production and tractor sales was due to favorable monsoon rains in 2020 and 2021, which helped the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The 50-75 HP Segment has Generated the Highest Sales. In 2021, Turkey's 50-75 HP agricultural tractors market recorded high growth. The primary factor for the steady growth of the medium-power range of tractors is the increased business turnover among hobby and livestock farmers. The sales of Above 150 HP tractors in the country are expected to remain steady during the forecast period as farm sales are likely to stay the same in the coming years. Turkey Tractors Market & Segmentation by Region Type (Volume in Units) In terms of region, the Central Anatolia and Black Sea regions of Turkey have reportedly shown a higher demand for agriculture tractors than the Eastern and Marmara region of the country. On the other hand, the Aegean and Mediterranean region of the country has a higher level of mechanization than any other country. Therefore, the strong demand for agricultural tractors is expected to come from the Central Anatolia region of the country during the forecast period. The region's major crops are cereals and rice; the Central Anatolia region is one of the leading regions with a high penetration of medium size and Average (76-100) HP tractors. 50-75 HP range tractors accounted for the largest share in the Black Sea region in 2021 due to their compact size and flexible operational capabilities. The demand for 50-75 HP is expected to grow significantly with a CAGR of 6.45% during the forecast period. 2-Wheel-Drive Tractors led the Turkish Tractors Industry Ease of driving and flexibility during light loads and plain fields are significant factors boosting the demand for two-wheel-drive tractors. Older farmers majorly use 2WD types as they are suspicious about using new machines and are more comfortable with traditional 2WD types than 4WD ones. Most retail brands, including New Holland, Tumosan, and Massey Ferguson, are Turkey's top preferred choices among farmers in the 2WD segment. Turkey has many medium-scale farmers, with an average farm size of 6 ha/farm. For this reason, farmers prefer to own a medium HP range and cost-efficient tractors, which positively impacts the 2WD segment. TURKEY TRACTORS MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES High Local Production Capacities in Turkey Turkey has a sizeable domestic tractor manufacturing base. A few prominent market players dominate tractor manufacturing. Eight manufacturing plants supply the majority of tractors for both domestic and international markets. The production of tractors for export accounts for a considerable share of the tractors produced in Turkey. Almost 9,000 tractors are exported annually from Turkey, accounting for nearly 35% of total tractor production. Increasing Potential for Electric Tractors Recently, electric vehicles are becoming more popular for various applications. Electric tractors are widely used in the industry for various indoor and outdoor applications. The rising trend of automation and increasing environmental concerns will accelerate growth. Farmers in developed countries are looking for electric tractors to reduce the cost of fuel and replace them with standard ones. In 2021, US-based tractor manufacturer Solectrac announced the launch of its new 70 HP, 60 kWh electric tractor. They were specially designed for heavy-duty farm and vineyard operations. The tractor can run for up to eight hours on a single charge with a 60-kWh battery. Declining Commodity Prices Turkey witnessed declining prices for agricultural products such as rice, wheat, maize, and hazelnut in 2014. The average rice prices slightly increased in 2020 compared to the previous years. The decline in the prices of agricultural commodities coupled with the declining or stagnating growth rate could result in farmers being less willing to invest in new machinery, especially tractors. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE Turkey's agriculture tractors market has established players in various segments, including open fields and vineyards. The threat to the existing vendors in the country from new vendors is relatively low. agriculture tractors market has established players in various segments, including open fields and vineyards. The threat to the existing vendors in the country from new vendors is relatively low. New Holland and Tumosan dominated the Turkey tractors market with a collective market share of over 52%. The threat of rivalry is high in the Turkey tractors market since more than 50% of the claim belongs to the top three key players. These players are thriving on innovation in the tractor market. They are increasingly investing in developing advanced agriculture tractor technology for precision farming and machine automation. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS In February 2022 , Massey Ferguson launched the MF 6S series tractors. This machine provides up to 180 HP with advanced technology. , launched the MF 6S series tractors. This machine provides up to 180 HP with advanced technology. In February 2022 , AGCO and AgRevolution showcased new solutions from Fendt, Massey Ferguson , and Hesston by Massey Ferguson at the National Farm Machinery in Louisville, Kentucky . , AGCO and AgRevolution showcased new solutions from Fendt, , and Hesston by at the National Farm Machinery in . In July 2020 , Massey Ferguson launched the MF 8S series tractors. This series of tractors is distinguished by a guard-u install engine and a neo-retro design. These tractors are designed to advance intelligent farming technologies. MARKET DYNAMICS Market Opportunities & Trends High Local Production Capacities in Turkey Technological Advances in Tractors Increasing Use of Non-Conventional Fuel in Tractors Increasing Potential for Electric Tractors Market Growth Enablers Financial Support to Farmers Through Loans & Subsidies Reducing Workforce to Boost Farm Mechanization Growth in Agricultural Productivity & Exports Socio-Demographic Changes in Turkey Market Restraints Farmers Unaware of Latest Innovations in Agricultural Equipment Rising Demand for Used & Rental Tractors Declining Commodity Prices VENDOR LANDSCAPE The key manufacturers in the Turkey agriculture tractors market are New Holland, Tumosan, Erkunt, Deutz Fahr, and Massey Ferguson. In terms of units sold, New Holland and Tumosan are the market leaders, which accounted for more than 50% of the overall Turkey tractors market share in 2021. The report covers company ranking across product offerings by HP ranges Key Vendors AGCO CNH Industrial John Deere TAFE Kubota Other Prominent Vendors SDF Action Construction Equipments Ltd (ACE) Iseki Deutz-Fahr Mahindra & Mahindra Yanmar Escorts This report is among the few in the market that offers an outlook and opportunity analysis forecast in terms of: Market Size & Forecast Volume (Units) 2019-2028 Segmentation by Horsepower Segmentation by Wheel-Drive Segmentation by Regions (Federal States) Production and trade values Major current & upcoming projects & investments Gain competitive intelligence about the economic scenario, advantages in Turkey , market dynamics, and market share , market dynamics, and market share Latest & innovative technologies Import & Export analysis COVID-19 impact analysis of the market Company Profile of primary and other prominent vendors Market share of major vendors For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/s5k4wn Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets Drs. John Abbott, Roosevelt Allen, Ronald Anglade, Emily Blum, Daniel Canter, Carl Capelouto, Wolfgang Cerwinka, Bert Chen, Shuvro De, Walter Falconer, Michael Garcia-Roig, Froylan Gonzalez, Mark Haber, Andrew Kirsch, Lewis Kriteman, Lambda Msezane, Warren Todd Oberle, Joel Rosenfeld, Hal Scherz, Edwin Smith, Shaya Taghechian, Jerry Yuan, and Barry Zisholtz appear in Atlanta magazine's July issue ATLANTA, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Twenty-three physicians from Georgia Urology the largest urology practice in Georgia rank among Atlanta's Top Doctors in Atlanta magazine's July issue. Georgia Urology urologists consistently appear on the list, which annually honors notable physicians among the area's healthcare landscape. This year those physicians are: Drs. John Abbott, Roosevelt Allen, Ronald Anglade, Emily Blum, Daniel Canter, Carl Capelouto, Wolfgang Cerwinka, Bert Chen, Shuvro De, Walter Falconer, Michael Garcia-Roig, Froylan Gonzalez, Mark Haber, Andrew Kirsch, Lewis Kriteman, Lambda Msezane, Warren Todd Oberle, Joel Rosenfeld, Hal Scherz, Edwin Smith, Shaya Taghechian, Jerry Yuan, and Barry Zisholtz. In fact, Georgia Urology physicians make up a majority of the urology category on the 2022 Atlanta magazine Top Doctors list. Atlanta magazine creates its list from a roster of doctors selected by Professional Research Service's (PRS) database. A total of 1,098 physicians appear on the publication's 2022 list. These doctors represent the following counties in Georgia: Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, and Rockdale. PRS creates its list by conducting an online peer-review survey of physicians in the metro Atlanta area. Physicians are asked to nominate fellow physicians they deem the best in their field of practice. Many votes were cast honoring excellence in all fields of medicine. The featured doctors were screened and selected through the verification of licensing and review of any infractions through applicable boards, agencies, and rating services. According to Dan Fellner, CEO of Georgia Urology, the honor aligns with the practice's goal of attracting and developing outstanding urologists and thought leaders who provide the best care to patients. "We appreciate the recognition of our doctors as they continuously work hard to offer excellent patient care," says Dan Fellner. "At Georgia Urology, we're fortunate to have many of the top urologists in the state. Patients who choose our practice can rest assured they will be treated with the utmost expertise and compassion." Dr. John Abbott practices at Georgia Urology's Fayetteville office. He completed his undergrad summa cum laude at Duke University. He graduated magna cum laude from Emory University Medical School. He then completed an internship in General Surgery at Emory University and his residency at Emory University Department of Urology. In addition to general urology, Dr. Abbott's areas of expertise include robotic surgery, urologic oncology, stone disease, urinary incontinence, and erectile dysfunction. He also specializes in the treatment of enlarged prostate (BPH), utilizing procedures such as Greenlight laser photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) and UroLift. Dr. Abbott is a diplomate of the American Board of Urology and a member of the American Urological Association. He is also involved in the Southern Crescent Robotic Surgery Program. Dr. Roosevelt Allen Jr. practices at Georgia Urology's Lawrenceville, Monroe, and Snellville offices. He graduated from Clark Atlanta University with honors. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia, where he was selected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical school honor society. Dr. Allen performed his general surgery internship and residency at the University of Tennessee at Memphis. He is board certified by the American Board of Urology. Dr. Ronald Anglade practices at Georgia Urology's Duluth, Lawrenceville, and Snellville offices. Dr. Anglade received his undergraduate degree from Brown University in Providence, RI and his medical degree from the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn (Downstate Medical Center). He completed a residency in surgery and urology at the Boston University School of Medicine. He stayed on in Boston as faculty and received additional training by Dr. Irwin Goldstein, one of the world's experts in sexual dysfunction. He also completed a postgraduate fellowship in male infertility and microsurgery. His research interests include genetic causes of male infertility and penile implants, a treatment option for erectile dysfunction. In 2014, Dr. Anglade completed the first UroLift System in Georgia. His high level of training and experience with the procedure was highlighted by receiving the UroLift Center of Excellence in 2021, a designation awarded to urologists who have demonstrated outstanding care for men suffering from enlarged prostate/benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Dr. Emily Blum practices at Georgia Urology's Midtown and Sandy Springs offices. Dr. Blum graduated cum laude from Bowdoin College with special honors in Biology and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her medical doctorate from Boston University where she graduated cum laude and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. She completed her residency at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. Dr. Blum continued her training as the A. Barry Belman Pediatric Urology Fellow at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Dr. Blum's research projects focused on utilizing artificial intelligence to assist in analyzing radiographic studies. She continues to pursue her interest in medical device innovations, particularly in bridging the gap between research and commercialization to improve patient care. In addition to general pediatric urology, Dr. Blum's special surgical interests are in hypospadias and congenital hydronephrosis. Dr. Daniel Canter practices at Georgia Urology's Riverdale and Midtown offices. He graduated cum laude from New York University. He later received his medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine, graduating as the valedictorian. He completed his residency in urology from the University of Pennsylvania. Following this, Dr. Canter pursued specialized fellowship training in urologic oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. Dr. Canter has been awarded many professional affiliations and awards during his career. A few examples of his memberships include the Society for Urologic Oncology (SUO) Clinical Trials Consortium, American Urologic Association (AUA), Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN) Think Tank. He has also received multiple honors and awards, including the American College of Surgeons Young Fellow's Mentorship Program and the Outstanding Scholar in Urology Award from the University of Pennsylvania's Urology Department. Dr. Carl Capelouto practices at Georgia Urology's Canton and Woodstock offices. His areas of expertise include erectile dysfunction, Peyronie's disease, low testosterone, vasectomy, voiding difficulties, urinary leakage, overactive bladder, and vaginal prolapse. A graduate of Emory University School of Medicine, Dr. Capelouto completed his residency at the Harvard Urology Residency Program and his internship at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass. He is a member of the American Urological Association, Southeastern Urological Association, and Atlanta Urological Association. Dr. Wolfgang Cerwinka practices at Georgia Urology's Duluth, Johns Creek, and Sandy Springs offices. His areas of expertise are pediatric urology and treatment of congenital genitourinary diseases. Dr. Cerwinka graduated from Karl Franzens University Graz in Austria. He then completed his residency at the University of Miami in Florida. He also completed fellowships in molecular and cellular physiology at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, and pediatric urology at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Cerwinka was the 2020 recipient of the William F. Meyers, MD Quality Award through his work with the Children's Care Network (TCCN), a physician-led, taxable nonprofit subsidiary corporation of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Bert Chen practices at Georgia Urology's Conyers and Decatur offices. In addition to general urology, Dr. Chen's areas of expertise include laparoscopic and robotic surgery, stone disease, urinary incontinence, and urologic oncology. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Yale University. He earned his medical degree at Medical College of Georgia where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical school honor society. He completed his general surgery internship and urology residency at the University of Michigan. Dr. Chen is a diplomate of the American Board of Urology and a member of the American Urological Association. Dr. Shuvro De practices at Georgia Urology's Lawrenceville and Sandy Springs offices. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in biochemistry and cell biology from Rice University in Houston, Texas. He completed both medical school and his residency at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Following his residency, he completed a pediatric urology fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition to receiving numerous awards and recognitions, Dr. De has contributed multiple journal articles and research presentations in pediatric urology. He is a member of the American Urological Association as well as the Society of Pediatric Urology. Dr. De's specialties include pediatric management of spina bifida, robotic surgeries, and voiding dysfunction. Dr. Walter Z. Falconer practices at Georgia Urology's Hillandale office. His areas of expertise include erectile dysfunction, stone disease, urinary incontinence, and prostate cancer. He received his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College and his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Falconer completed his general surgery and urology residency at Emory University and affiliated hospitals. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Urology and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He serves on several hospital committees, and served as the chief of surgery at DeKalb Medical Center at Hillandale and the chief of urology at DeKalb Medical Center. Dr. Falconer is a member of the American Urological Association, National Medical Association, Georgia State Medical Association, Atlanta Medical Association, and the Atlanta Urological Society. Dr. Michael Garcia-Roig practices at Georgia Urology's Decatur, Cumming, and Sandy Springs offices. Committed to improving patient outcomes, Dr. Garcia-Roig has continued to be involved in research, focusing on topics such as vesicoureteral reflux, kidney stones, and spina bifida related outcomes. He is an expert in pediatric urology, and robotic and laparoscopic surgery. His knowledge and expertise have led him to spearhead a variety of research projects. He has published extensively, serving as author or co-author of more than 60 publications, including peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and abstracts. He is board certified by the American Board of Urology, a diplomate of the American Board of Urology, and an active member of the American Urological Association. He also serves as the director of the HAWK Center, the co-director of the Differences of Sexual Differentiation (DSD) clinic, and a member of multiple subcommittees within Georgia Urology. Dr. Froylan Gonzalez practices at Georgia Urology's Canton and Sandy Springs offices. Dr. Gonzalez earned his bachelor's degree with honors from Williams College. He then graduated from Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. He completed his residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital Washington University Medical Center in Saint Louis, Mo. He then served as clinical instructor of the Division of Urology at Washington University from 2006 to 2008 with a clinical specialty in laparoscopic surgery. Dr. Gonzalez also has additional postgraduate training in both laser and robotic surgery, his areas of expertise. He is a member of the American Medical Association and the Southeast section of the American Urological Association. Dr. Mark A. Haber practices at Georgia Urology's Cumming and Sandy Springs offices. His areas of expertise include female urology, endourology, urologic oncology, and robotic surgery. He received his medical degree from the Emory University School of Medicine and completed an internship in internal medicine there, along with a residency in general surgery. He also completed a residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Urological Association. Dr. Andrew J. Kirsch practices at Georgia Urology's Sandy Springs pediatrics office. His areas of expertise include pediatric urology. He has written about vesicoureteral reflux, cryptorchidism, and magnetic resonance urography. He received his medical degree from the State University of New York Health Science Center, where he received two research fellowship awards from the National Institutes of Health. He completed residencies in general surgery and urology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his fellowship in pediatric urology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he was an American Foundation for Urologic Disease scholar. He has invented a surgical device and developed an endoscopic technique to correct urinary reflux in children that has become the standard of care worldwide. He is a member of the American Urological Association, American Association of Pediatric Urologists, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Society for Pediatric Urology. Dr. Lewis S. Kriteman practices at Georgia Urology's Cumming and Roswell offices. In addition to general urology, he has a particular interest in male and female voiding dysfunction, and treatment of enlarged prostate (BPH), utilizing minimally-invasive procedures such as UroLift, Rezum, and Aquablation. Dr. Kriteman graduated as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Society from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. He completed his general surgery and urology residencies at Emory University. He has presented numerous papers at both national and international meetings, and he is a member of the American Urological Association and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Lambda Msezane practices at Georgia Urology's Decatur office. In addition to general urology, she treats prostate cancer, urinary incontinence, and overactive bladder. Dr. Msezane is an expert in robotic and laparoscopic surgery, women's health, and urologic cancers. She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, Penn. She completed her residency in surgery and in urology at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Msezane was awarded the American Urology Association's Travel Urology Award, the Novecea Gerald M. Murphy Scholar Award, and the Schoenberg Research Scholar Award at the University of Chicago for her research on prostate, urothelial biology, and bladder cancer. Dr. Warren Todd Oberle practices at Georgia Urology's Marietta and Sandy Springs offices. Dr. Oberle is a board-certified urologist who specializes in advanced laparoscopy and robotic surgery. He uses his skills in robotics and minimally-invasive surgery to treat prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer as well as benign diseases such as kidney stones, vaginal prolapse, and ureteral obstruction. His primary focus is on urologic oncology, with a particular interest in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer. He works closely with primary care physicians, oncologists, and radiation oncologists to offer treatment tailored to individual patients and their disease. Dr. Oberle completed his general surgery training and urology residency at the University of Maryland after earning a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Joel A. Rosenfeld practices at Georgia Urology's Jasper and Canton locations. Dr. Rosenfeld's areas of urologic expertise are robotic surgery, laparoscopic surgery, and urinary tract reconstruction procedures. He graduated from the Medical College of Georgia. He then completed both an internship and his residency at the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences. He also completed postgraduate work in laser surgery, robotic surgery, and laparoscopic surgery. Dr. Rosenfeld is a member of the Southeast Section of the American Urological Association. Dr. Hal Scherz practices at Georgia Urology's Roswell, Marietta, and Sandy Springs pediatrics offices. He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He performed his surgical and urology residencies at the University of California, San Diego. He completed a fellowship in pediatric urology at the Children's Hospital of San Diego and the University of California, San Diego. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Urology Section, the American Urological Association, Genitourinary Reconstructive Society, UROPAC, American Association of Clinical Urologists, American College of Surgeons, Medical Association of Georgia, and the Greater Atlanta Pediatric Society. Additionally, Dr. Scherz is an associate professor of urology at Emory University School of Medicine and is an original member of the board of directors for the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Ambulatory Surgery Center. He is the managing partner of Georgia Urology and Georgia Pediatric Urology. Dr. Edwin A. Smith practices at Georgia Urology's Midtown, Sandy Springs, and Marietta pediatrics offices. He has a special interest and broad experience in the management of pediatric urinary stone disease and genitourinary reconstructive surgery. A graduate of Davidson College, he received his medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine. His general surgery internship and urology residency were completed at Emory University affiliated hospitals. Dr. Smith completed a two-year postgraduate fellowship in pediatric urology at Egleston Children's Hospital and Scottish Rite Children's Hospital. Dr. Smith is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Surgeons. He is also a member of several professional medical associations, including the American Urological Association, Society for Pediatric Urology, and the Society for Fetal Urology. Dr. Smith is a clinical faculty member at Emory University. He has published numerous scientific articles and book chapters. Dr. Shaya Taghechian practices at Georgia Urology's Marietta and Woodstock offices. In addition to general urology, Dr. Taghechian's special interests and expertise include prostate health, female urology, urinary control problems, and sexual dysfunction. Dr. Taghechian received her Bachelor of Science in biology and Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Emory University. She remained at Emory University, attending the School of Medicine, where she completed her medical degree. Dr. Taghechian completed a residency in surgery and urology at the University of Texas in Houston. She is a member of the American Urological Association. Dr. Jerry Yuan practices at Georgia Urology's Cumming and Johns Creek offices. Dr. Yuan is a graduate of Houston Baptist University and received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Yuan completed his general surgery and urology training at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, and a postgraduate fellowship in male reproductive medicine and microsurgery at University of Illinois in Chicago. Dr. Yuan served as a staff urologist in the U.S. Air Force between 1992 and 1995. Prior to starting his own practice, Dr. Yuan held the appointment of assistant professor of urology at Emory University School of Medicine specializing in general urology and male infertility. He is a member of several medical associations, including the American Urological Association and American Society of Reproductive Medicine. He is board certified by the American Board of Urology and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Yuan is also a Center of Excellence (COE) for the UroLift procedure. As a fellowship-trained specialist in male infertility and microsurgery, Dr. Yuan provides the very latest in diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Barry M. Zisholtz practices at Georgia Urology's Riverdale office. His areas of expertise include kidney stones, prostate cancer, overactive bladder, urinary incontinence, low testosterone, and erectile dysfunction. He received his medical degree from New York Medical College. He was awarded a summer fellowship in pulmonary medicine at Metropolitan Hospital in New York. He performed his urology residency and completed a surgical internship at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, N.Y. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is board certified by the American Board of Urology. Additionally, he is a member of the Atlanta Urological Society and the American Urological Association. Georgia Urology is the largest urology practice in Georgia with more than 30 locations and seven ambulatory surgery centers across metro Atlanta. The practice is comprised of more than 60 providers, and many of its physicians are fellowship-trained and hold advanced specialty training in oncology, robotic surgery, laparoscopy, infertility, incontinence, and pediatrics. Georgia Urology physicians use state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and advanced treatment techniques, including robot-assisted technology and minimally invasive procedures, in order to manage all urological problems in men, women, and children. It is the practice's mission to inform and partner with patients to develop a personalized, compassionate, and comprehensive treatment plan for all of their urological conditions. Interviews are available upon request. Contact: Jon Waterhouse | Lenz, Inc. 404.721.3983 [email protected] SOURCE Georgia Urology NORTHBROOK, Ill., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a notification from UL Solutions that the pipe hangers for Fire Protection Services identified below bear unauthorized UL Marks for the United States and Canada. These pipe hangers have not been evaluated by UL Solutions to the appropriate Safety Standards and it is unknown if they comply with any safety requirements. Name of Product: Model FR-62, FR-78, FR-91, FR-117, FR-169, DN50, DN65, DN80, DN100, or DN150 Pipe Hangers for Fire Protection Services Manufacturer: Hangzhou Jinyao Machinery Co Ltd Remedy: UL Solutions recommends that these products be removed from service. Identification on the Products: The Pipe Hangers bear unauthorized UL Marks and the following: SMOOTHFLOW FR APPROVED One of the following Model numbers identified: FR-62, FR-78, FR-91, FR-117, or FR-169 DN50, DN65, DN80, DN100, or DN150 For photos visit ul.com/solutions Known to be distributed and sold by: Smoothflow Pumps Pty Ltd in Australia About UL Solutions A global leader in applied safety science, UL Solutions transforms safety, security and sustainability challenges into opportunities for customers in more than 100 countries. UL Solutions delivers testing, inspection and certification services, together with software products and advisory offerings, that support our customers' product innovation and business growth. The UL Certification Marks serve as a recognized symbol of trust in our customers' products and reflect an unwavering commitment to advancing our safety mission. We help our customers innovate, launch new products and services, navigate global markets and complex supply chains and grow sustainably and responsibly into the future. Our science is your advantage. Peyton Zylke Corporate Communications UL Solutions 847.226.3483 [email protected] Release No. 22PN-15 SOURCE UL Solutions PITTSBURGH, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that the union has reached a tentative agreement with Bridgestone on a new master contract covering roughly 4,000 workers at the company's facilities in Des Moines, Iowa; Akron, Ohio; Bloomington, Ill.; Russellville, Ark.; La Vergne and Warren County, Tenn. USW Rubber and Plastic Industry Council Chairman Kevin Johnsen, who led the negotiations, credited local union leaders on the Bridgestone Policy Committee for voicing the concerns of the membership at the table. "We came to the table prepared to negotiate in good faith for a fair contract, and management made us fight for it every step of the way," Johnsen said. "We are proud of what we have accomplished thanks to the unity, strength and solidarity of our members and activists across all of the Bridgestone locations." "Our members have earned and deserve fair wages, benefits and working conditions," he said. "The proposed contract builds on decades of collective bargaining progress with hard-fought economic and contract language improvements." Johnsen said that the committee will be presenting the proposed agreement to the membership for ratification. The USW will not be discussing the details of the proposed new contract with the public until members have had the opportunity to review it with their elected union representatives in the coming days and weeks. The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in manufacturing, metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in tech, public sector and service occupations. Contact: Tony Montana (412) 562-2592 or [email protected] SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW) WASHINGTON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- WG Hobart Publishers is proud to announce that on August 15 it will release a major new work about Winston Churchill NO PEACE WITH HITLER: Why Churchill Chose to Fight WWII alone Rather than Negotiate with Germany by Alan I. Saltman. NO PEACE WITH HITLER In May 1940, Hitler had overrun all of Western Europe and was about to conquer France. Standing alone, Britain faced a bombing campaign from the Luftwaffe, followed by a likely German invasion. Yet Churchill resisted substantial pressure to commence peace negotiations with Hitlera position that was described as "insane" and "suicidal." NO PEACE WITH HITLER is the first book that focuses on what there was about Churchill that caused or allowed him to refuse to negotiate when there appeared to be no reasonable alternative. With insight from a psychiatrist, Mr. Saltman discusses Churchill's upbringing and early career, and the key events leading to World War II. He also explores the unusual way that Churchill became Prime Minister and the dynamics within the British War Cabinet that resulted in its ultimately adopting Churchill's no-negotiation position just two weeks later. In the Foreword, best-selling Churchill historian, Andrew Roberts writes, "Through a profound mastery of all the most important sources, and several unexpected ones too, Mr. Saltman establishes how the decision to fight on after defeat on the Continent rested largely on character traits that Churchill had been consciously and unconsciously evolving over the previous sixty-five years." "[No Peace with Hitler is a] "well-researched, well-written, and, above all, wise book." Lee Barckmann of Reader Views adds that, " 'No Peace with Hitler' has a particular purposeto explain in deep detail how and why Churchill came to stand not only against Hitler, but also against the policy of appeasement of his peers, his political party, the press, and the war-weary general public. It explains how he rallied Britainand the Democratic worldto fight against Nazi/Fascism. It achieves this better than anything I have read before;" and that NPWH is " a strong addition to the mountain of books written about Churchill." The book is not only revealing but is relevant to what is happening in the world todaythe actions of Ukrainian President Zelensky, who much like Churchill, is an unflinching leader standing up to a vastly superior military force, controlled by a ruthless autocrat. For additional information please visit our website: www.wghobartpublishers.com. Beryl Steinberg, Asst. VP (Media Relations) 301-728-2004 [email protected] SOURCE W.G. Hobart Publishing GUANGZHOU, China, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The inaugural ZAODX World Conference on Early Detection of Cancer ("the Conference") was successfully held at the Chimelong International Conference Center in Guangzhou from July 15-17, 2022. In attendance were founders and representatives from over 100 leading companies and institutions involved in cancer screening and early detection from numerous countries and regions, including China, America, Australia, Canada, Finland, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and etc. The event attracted over 1,000 participants and its online multimedia platform garnered over 4 million viewers. The lineup of speakers at the Conference included winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2005 Prof. Barry J. Marshall as well as representatives from Genetron Health, SeekIn, AnchorDx, Cellomics, MiRXES, Take2 Health, IMBDx, Illumina and etc. Based on the updated Globocan 2020 database, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates that the global cancer burden hit 19.3 million new cases and nearly 10 million deaths in 2020. The importance of early screening for cancer is becoming increasingly evident as such testing can significantly improve the survival rate of cancer patients. This has led to the emergence of a number of companies that are committed to enabling early detection of the disease. According to initial data from ZAODX, the amount of money that has gone into financing and M&As related to startups involved in early cancer detection worldwide has grown to approximately US$16 billion since the beginning of 2020. Many of the forward-thinking firms that participated in the Conference have been supporting early detection efforts by exploring novel and diversified approaches, including circulating tumor cells (CTCs), exosomes, transcriptomes, proteomes, metabolomes, and microbiomes in addition to the mainstream genomic analysis-based approach. Revolving around its original, proprietary Mutation Capsule technology, Genetron Health has launched an innovative product for the early screening of liver cancer. The solution can simultaneously detect protein, methylation and multiple gene mutations based simply on the collection of a miniscule amount of blood. Data from a large-scale prospective cohort study shows that with 88% sensitivity and 93% specificity, Genetron Health's early screening solution has managed to move beyond the hurdles encountered by traditional technologies for these two indicators, providing strong technical support for the success of such screening. "Early screening offerings should be verified by large-scale prospective cohort studies that can prove the safety, efficacy, convenience and reliability of such products in detecting cancer at an early stage when the disease can still be reversed," said Genetron Health COO Lei Li. "In addition, we plan to further raise public awareness around early screening and make early detection of cancer accessible to everyone by leveraging leading-edge technologies." During the Conference, SeekIn founder and CEO Dr. Mao Mao delivered a speech entitled Integrating Multi-Omics Features for Blood-Based Cancer Early Detection while AnchorDX vice president Dr. Chen Zhiwei shared his viewpoints on how to develop first-in-class cancer early diagnosis products in China. MiRXES co-founder and CTO Dr. Zou Ruiyang shared his insights saying, "good quality control of sample management and building multi-dimensional data analytical capabilities are cornerstones for the innovation of cancer screening technologies." He also introduced MiRXES's technological breakthrough a proprietary 3-primer design and the mSMRT-qPCR profiling platform which has enabled MiRXES to develop the world's first gastric cancer early detection assay GASTROClearTM, which is currently undergoing clinical registration in Japan and China. The ZAODX Awards (also known as the Golden Screening Awards) were held concurrently to the Conference and aim to encourage pioneers, innovators and producers that have made contributions to the growth of the cancer screening sector to serve as guardians of life and health by continuously developing, improving, and promoting new technologies for the early screening and detection of cancer by way of a human-centric mindset. 12 individual and corporate/institutional awards were presented, including the ZAODX AwardLeading Company which was granted to AnchorDX, AnPac Bio, BGI Genomics, Biochain, Creative Biosciences, Delfi Diagnostics, Exact Sciences, Freenome, Grail, Genetron Health, Guardant Health, InterVenn Biosciences, LAMH Group, MiRXES, New Horizon Health, Olink Proteomics,Singlera Genomics and etc. Full list of the ZAODX Awards could be found at www.zaodx.com. About ZAODX World Conference on Early Detection of Cancer The ZAODX World Conference on Early Detection of Cancer is a unique international platform mounted to unite the efforts of scientists, academicians, researchers, physicians, and business entrepreneurs in the field of oncology across the globe, allowing them to trade insights, experience, and the latest medical studies to drive the progress of early detection and diagnosis research in cancer. About ZAODX Founded in 2020, ZAODX is an international life science innovation and transformation platform focusing on early screening, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, led by a cross-sector team comprised of experts in life science, healthcare, and media. With its mission centered on transforming disease care through early detection and precision management, ZAODX believes that disease prevention is one of the most economical and impactful health strategies, bringing its readers professional coverage and insights on the latest development in disease early detection and diagnosis in hopes of elevating the awareness of disease prevention. Media Contact Jason Chen [email protected] +86 15013078898 SOURCE ZAODX.COM Haleon PLC (LSE:HLN, NYSE:HLN), the spin-out from GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) in which American giant Pfizer also has a significant stake, on Wednesday emulated its erstwhile parent by raising its revenue guidance. The consumer healthcare group, which listed in London and New York last week with a value of around 30bn, said it expects the top line to grow by between 6% and 8% this year, an increase to the range of two percentage points. The update was provided in a half-year trading statement, which recorded a 13.4% increase in sales to 5.2bn. The group, which sells medicine cabinet staples such as Advil and Panadol and toothpaste under Sensodyne and Aquafresh brands, also cautioned that increased cost and the impact of the Ukraine-Russia conflict would likely have a modest impact on operating margins going forward. That said, newly-installed chief executive Brian McNamara, was largely upbeat on the companys prospects. With two strong quarters delivered and continued momentum into the second half, we now expect to deliver full-year organic revenue growth ahead of our medium-term guidance range, he told investors. We continue to invest to drive sustainable growth and remain confident in delivering on our medium-term guidance." Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA)'s reinstated dividend proved welcome news for shareholders after a three year hiatus, though consumers will be less enthused about the pay out given the prospect of further hikes to household bills. The British Gas parent today announced it would pay a dividend for the first time since 2019 (having shelved payments during the pandemic) whilst announcing a 143% surge in underlying group earnings as a result of higher energy pricing. Looking to the rest of 2022, Centrica said its outlook for the full year "remains positive". Money saving expert Martin Lewis made a public plea to ministers today to tackle rising energy prices, as ministers decried a profits bonanza among energy companies. UK gas prices have risen 270% in the past year, according to the UK Natural Gas Futures benchmark price, and spiked this week after Russian state energy company Gazprom said it would cut supply to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. First-half earnings (adjusted EBITDA) totalled 1.66bn for the six months to the end of June, compared with 682mln in the first half of last year. Statutory financials, meanwhile, showed an operating loss for the period due to the impact of derivative energy contracts caught up amidst sharply rising gas prices. Investors werent entirely impressed despite the dividend news, which had been anticipated in some quarters, and at 88.38p Centrica shares were down 2.8% in Thursday afternoons deals. Among the markets lingering concerns are the uncertainties facing energy utilities ahead of this winters demand, how surging prices will impact longer-term contracts, and whether political outcry may again raise the issue of windfall taxation. Victoria Scholar, Interactive Investors head of investment, highlighted that commodity players like Centrica have been the standout winners because of the geopolitical turmoil which was a tailwind for the sector in an otherwise challenging year for equities. Shares in Centrica have rallied to highs not seen since January 2020 before the start of the pandemic as the stock continues to go from strength to strength, Scholar said. Centrica declared an interim dividend per share of 1p, saying it would reinstate its progressive dividend to shareholders and retain our historic policy to pay roughly one third of the full year dividend as an interim. The energy supplier said it had strong upstream volumes against a backdrop of higher commodity prices during the first half of 2022 as it dealt with increased commodity volatility. Centrica is investing more than 100mln in customer service, support and pricing in 2022 to help customers get through the energy crisis. It reported strong exploration and production and nuclear volumes and said it improved net promoter scores, a measure of customer loyalty, in British Gas Energy and British Gas Services & Solutions. The energy supplier also completed the sale of Spirit Energy Norway and the Statfjord field for US$1.1bn, reducing its decommissioning liabilities by 800mln. Centrica said it improved its net cash position to 316mln at the end of June, up from a debt of 93mln a year earlier. However, operationally it made an operating loss in the first half following remeasurements of derivative energy contracts and tax liabilities after the price of gas surged. Centrica's statutory operating loss was almost 1.1bn for the period, compared to an operating profit of 1bn last year. Its statutory loss includes a 1.9bn loss on net remeasurements after taxation, it said, adding that in one remeasurement it was lumbered with an increase in an onerous energy supply contract provision of nearly 1.87mln. We have a clear strategy to continue improving operational performance, to grow our business and to position ourselves to deliver net zero at a cost which helps the many, not the few. We are committed to investing in the energy transition which will improve the security of energy supply in our core markets, said Chris OShea, group chief executive of Centrica. Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) PLC (AIM:EOG) told investors that the Irish government has informed the company that its licence, FEL 4/19, will remain live until the company is notified otherwise. Europa, in a statement, noted that in August 2019 it was issued a 15-year licence for the offshore asset and that the licence period was split into four phases, the first of which is slated to end on 31 July this year. In March, the company applied to Irelands Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) to extend the first phase of the licence in order to carry out further technical studies and allow more time to secure a farm out of the licence. The licence extension application remains under review, Europa noted, and whilst it acknowledged that there can be no guarantee the extension will be granted, DECC has confirmed it is reviewing the application and that the licence will remain live, pending a decision on the application, regardless of how long it takes for DECC to make the decision. Simon Oddie, Europa chief executive, said: "FEL 4/19 contains the large, low risk, Inishkea gas prospect and is a strategic asset that can potentially provide a reliable source of low emission energy for Ireland and play a key role in the transition to renewable green power. Gas from the Corrib field, adjacent to the Inishkea prospect, is one of the lowest carbon-intensity gases in Europe, much lower than long-distance pipeline gas from Norway, the UK or the Russian gas piped to Europe. Given that Ireland will continue to require gas into the foreseeable future, having recently agreed plans to build new gas-powered electricity plants, it makes sense to keep this potentially valuable source of indigenous gas available. We therefore hope that the requested licence extension will be granted as soon as possible, which will allow the company to carry out further technical studies and seek a project partner." Parkmead Group (AIM:PMG) has launched a farm-out process for its Greater Perth Area (GPA) project in the Central North Sea. The Aberdeen-based company has hired finance advisory firm Gneiss Energy to assist in finding a suitable partner for its wholly-owned GPA development project. GPA holds approximately 55mln barrels of recoverable oil equivalent (MMBoe), with the wider GPA project thought to contain between 75 and 130 MMBoe. Parkmead said there is no need for further appraisal drilling at the project, and highlighted that the constituent fields have been flow tested at up to 6,000 barrels of oil per day. Scott, a project about 6 miles south of the GPA, is meanwhile being considered for a tie-back, and Parkmead noted "recent dialogue on commercial terms" with the field partners. To maximise oil production from the GPA, discussions are also ongoing with leading supply chain companies, it added. Shares of the company were trading up 2.85% at 66.85p. Power Metal Resources PLC (AIM:POW) cheered Fridays stock market debut for First Class Metals PLC, a vehicle thats 28% owned by the company. First Class Metals floated onto a standard listing on the London Stock Exchange through an IPO raising 1.85mln, priced at 10p per share, giving the whole company a market capitalisation of 1.13mln. The newly listed firm is focused on a portfolio of gold, base and battery metal exploration assets in Ontario, Canada, including the flagship North Hemlo project (prospective for old, nickel, copper, zinc and molybdenum) and a joint venture with Palladium one for the Pickle Lake project. It already has active exploration programmes underway across its portfolio, and, proceeds from the fund raise are expected to support ongoing work. The company has an outstanding portfolio of assets in the Hemlo-Schreiber Greenstone Belt of Ontario Canada. Seven projects in total, including the 'flagship' project North Hemlo and has a diverse holding of six other projects across this metal endowed belt. The commodities being explored and developed on are gold and precious metals, along with nickel which will be highly sought after in tomorrow's EV and battery storage world. He added: We have already made progress on the exploration front in 2022 with an airborne low-level geophysics and ground exploration across most of the properties in progress or completed. We look forward to building on the initial exploration and further adding value to projects as soon as possible." Power Metals holds 28.19mln shares in the new company along with warrants representing a potential issue of a further 517,705 shares. Paul Johnson, Power Metals chief executive, added: "Our congratulations to the First Class Metals team for their work and commitment to secure this listing. In our view, First Class has a highly prospective project portfolio centred within the prolific Schreiber-Hemlo belt of Ontario, Canada, and offers investors an exciting new investment proposition. Today's listing is a notable event for Power Metal, where a previous project investment has now become a significant balance sheet asset. We will be watching the progress of First Class with a keen interest. It also provided an update in respect of its project portfolio in Western Australia and the Northern Territory held through its 62.1% subsidiary First Development Resources Ltd (FDR). A drilling contract was signed with DDH1 Drilling Ltd for the Wallal Phase I diamond drilling programme. DDH1 has extensive experience in the Paterson region and drilled the discovery holes for the Greatland Gold PLC (AIM:GGP, OTC:GRLGF) Havieron deposit. The in-depth desktop review for the Ripon Hills and Braeside West projects has been completed with multiple targets identified for gold and base metals associated with deep-seated fault structures confirmed for further investigation. Johnson commented: "The FDR team continue to progress work across its project portfolio in Australia whilst at the same time advancing the various workstreams necessary to efficiently complete the planned UK listing process. "The cumulative findings from our internal work supported by feedback from FDR's advisor group gives us the confidence to push ahead aggressively with our work, enhanced particularly by the ongoing investment into detailed desktop reviews, which is significantly increasing our project knowledge at a very modest cost." 1. British Airways owner IAG returns to profit The owner of airlines such as British Airways and Iberia posted a pre-tax profit of 73mln for the second quarter, up from a loss of more than 1.12bn in the equivalent period of 2021. Operating profits before exceptional items came in at 287mln in the quarter, compared with a loss of 1.04bn. Read more 2. ASOS and other retailers under investigation ASOS said it will co-operate with the Competition and Markets Authoritys (CMA) investigation after the regulatory body said it will look into green claims made by the fashion retailer. Read more 3. Pantheon exceeding expectations in Alaska Pantheon Resources told investors that results to date from the Alkaid-2 well in Alaska are exceeding expectations, with the vertical section of the well encountering higher quality reservoirs. Read more 4. FTSE 100 closes out July positively At the close, the UK blue-chip index was up 78.18 points, or 1.1% at 7,423.23, just below the morning peak of 7,441.20 and well above the opening low of 7,345.25. Read more 5. Energy discount is set to come into play in October Some 29mln British households will start to receive energy bill discounts from this October, with the UK government offering a 400 discount across households in England, Wales, and Scotland. Read more Let's take a look ahead at some of next week's news Read more Massive sulphide found during diamond drilling at the Mawson prospect. Legend Mining Ltd (ASX:LEG) has released an update on its activities at the Mawson prospect in the Fraser Range, Western Australia. Diamond drilling is underway on site, and two of the drillholes have intersected prospective host rocks containing magmatic sulphide. The companys 3D seismic data is proving its worth, assisting Legend to identify further targets at Mawson. Genuinely exciting rocks Legend managing director Mark Wilson said: There have been some genuinely exciting rocks intersected in the latest two diamond drillholes at Mawson. Cross-cutting massive sulphide vein. These drillholes are further evidence of the value of the 3D seismic data as well as validation of the size and prospectivity of the Mawson intrusion. Each of these two holes have been designed to intersect prospective target areas identified from interpretation of the 3D seismic data. We are gaining valuable geological information from diamond holes drilled to date and the extent of this information will only be fully understood once all follow up structural, geological, DHTEM and assay results are received. Ongoing activity Exploration activity continues at Mawson, including diamond drilling testing of the areas pointed to by the 3D seismic data, associated downhole electromagnetic surveying (DHTEM) and physical property surveys. All results, including for assays, DHTEM, and petrophysical property measurements are pending. Joint venture variation The company has also varied a joint venture agreement with Mark Gareth Creasy to reflect that a commitment by Legend to fund a proposed 2-kilometre diamond drillhole at the Octagonal prospect has been replaced with the commitment to fund a 24-square-kilometre 3D seismic survey across the Octagonal prospect. Samso Insight Episode 96 is about the exploration discovery of Gruyere. We invited Ian Murray and Justin Osborne who were part of the discovery team at Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) to share their experiences. The discovery of the Gruyere Gold Deposit has shown that "theories" are to be challenged. Currently, the resource sits at nine million ounces of gold. I have always been fascinated with this discovery. I remember looking at this belt in my university days. I have always known about it and I remember people telling me that the Yamarna Belt was not the same age and will never be endowed with mineralisation. When I first came across the Gold Road discovery, its significance did not dawn upon me till much later. It was when I started to gather knowledge about discoveries, that I learnt of the Gruyere deposit. For me, it has been quite a journey to get someone to talk to about discoveries, and when I realised that I could have both Ian Murray and Justin Osborne to share their experiences on Samso, it got me all excited and fired up. I was specifically interested in how they made the decisions, or the potential of the wrong decisions. As we all know, it is the small things that are most important in making decisions in business. We spoke about the need to look for mineral systems as opposed to chasing commodities. What was it like when the results came rolling on that faithful day? One of the critical decisions that the company made was to take a hiatus from exploration activities and work on strategies. We discussed what those strategies were and how the market and all the parts of the business reacted. Justin talks about his entry to the company and how the discovery progressed as they worked to find out how big the discovery really was. As Justin and Ian share their thoughts, they both agreed that the pivoting move was the Goldfields Joint Venture. In hindsight, was this the deal making decision? So make yourself comfortable, sit back and enjoy with us the journey of discovery for Gold Road Resources. Chapters: 00:00 Start 00:20 Introduction 01:36 Start of the story. 06:14 The morning the results came rolling in. 08:06 Sentiment on the Targeting Strategy. 09:43 Central Bore Discovery - What did it mean? 13:31 How was the discussion about the targeting process like? 16:12 A history lesson on the Yamarna. 19:56 The corporate and geologist view back then. 21:24 Geologists Need Thinking Time. 22:16 Justin's Entrance and the Discovery. 28:04 Mineral Systems vs Commodities. 31:02 Seeing Gold Road in Matador. 35:17 A moment where a lucky decision was made. 41:30 Myth or Fact: Getting a hit on the last few holes of the program. 44:00 Discussion on corporate decision making about the project direction. 45:19 The Goldfields Decision that made Gruyere happen. 46:53 Was the JV the best decision for Gold Road? 49:31 What could have been done better? 54:02 Where is the next Yamarna? 57:43 Exploration is all about busting Myths. 59:24 Importance of understanding Mineral Systems. 01:02:14 The Importance of quality projects and management. 01:02:51 Conclusions PODCAST Discover more on our Exploration Discovery series Havieron Gold Copper Discovery Discovery of West Musgraves About Ian Murray Mr Murray is a Chartered Accountant, a Member of Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds an Executive degree in Advanced Management & Leadership from the University of Oxford, Said Business School. With over 25 years mining industry experience in senior leadership positions, including the position of Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) (ASX: GOR) and DRDGOLD Ltd (NYSE:DRD, JSE:DRD, OTC:DRDGF) (NYSE & JSE: DRD), he has also held executive positions with international Big Four accounting firms. Mr Murray brings a wealth of financial, corporate, project development and operational experience to the Board and most recently led Gold Road as it transitioned from explorer to large scale gold producer. Mr Murray has been the recipient of many awards during his leadership of Gold Road, including the Gavin Thomas award for leadership, the Diggers and Dealers Deal of the year award in 2017, after winning the best emerging company award in 2011 as well as the CEO of the year award from CEO Magazine. About Justin Osborne Justin has over 30 years experience as an exploration geologist and is a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and holds a Bachelor of Science, Honours (First Class) from La Trobe University of Victoria. In addition to his role at Matador, Justin is an Executive Director at Gold Road Resources (GOR.ASX) and played a pivotal role in the rapid and effective resource development of the world class Gruyere Gold Deposit (6.6Moz Au) which currently producers approximately 300,000oz Au per annum. Mr Osborne has also previously held senior positions on the exploration executive team of Gold Fields Ltd, including Vice President Development Strategy Growth and International Projects, and General Manager Near Mine Exploration covering all international mining operations. He played an instrumental role in the development of the Damang Superpit project in Ghana, which yielded potential resources in excess of 6 Moz within two years, and had considerable discovery success as Mineral Resource Manager at the St Ives Gold Mine, making the discoveries of the Athena and Hamlet deposits among other significant Reserve additions. Please let Samso know your thoughts and send any comments to info@Samso.com.au. Remember to Subscribe to the YouTube Channel, Samso Media and the mail list to stay informed and make comments where appropriate. Other than that, also feel free to provide a Review on Google. For further information about Coffee with Samso and Rooster Talks visit: www.samso.com.au About Samso is a renowned resource among the investment community for keen market analysis and insights into the companies and business trends that matter. Investors seek out Samso for knowledgeable evaluations of current industry developments across a variety of business sectors and considered forecasts of future performances. With a compelling format of relaxed online video interviews, Samso provides clear answers to questions they may not have the opportunity to ask and lays out the big picture to help them complete their investment research. And in doing so, Samso also enables companies featured in interviews to build valuable engagement with their investment communities and customers. Headed by industry veteran Noel Ong and based in Perth, Western Australia, Samsos Coffee with Samso and Rooster Talk interviews both feature friendly conversations with business figures that give insights into Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) companies, related concepts and industry trends. Noel Ong is a geologist with nearly 30 years of industry experience and a strong background in capital markets, corporate finance and the mineral resource sector. He was founder and managing director of ASX-listed company Siburan Resources Limited from 2009-2017 and has also been involved in several other ASX listings, providing advice, procuring projects and helping to raise capital. He brings all this experience and expertise to the Samso interviews, where his engaging conversation style creates a relaxed dialogue, revealing insights that can pique investor interest. Noel Ong travels across Australia to record the interviews, only requiring a coffee shop environment where they can be set up. The interviews are posted on Samsos website and podcasts, YouTube and other relevant online environments where they can be shared among investment communities. Samso also has a track record of developing successful business concepts in the Australasia region and provides bespoke research and counsel to businesses seeking to raise capital and procuring projects for ASX listings. Disclaimer The information contained in this article is the writers personal opinion and is provided for information only and is not intended to or nor will it create/induce the creation of any binding legal relations. Read full disclaimer. Alternative investments have seen a surge of interest in the latest bout of market volatility, but while fine art remains a go-to sector for diversified portfolios, another, far more liquid, alternative asset is also paying off. Fine wine remained a haven amid the stormy macroeconomic environment, according to Cult Wine Investments second-quarter overview. The proof is in the pudding: The Liv-ex 1000 index, a members-only fine wine investment vehicle, was up 3.61% in the second quarter. A slight easing year-on-year perhaps, but far better than FTSE 100s 5% decline in the same period, not to mention S&Ps 16% decline. Wine from the Rhone region in the east of France proved to be a source of stability in the fine wine market, while California varietals also performed well. But the real winner this quarter was Burgundy, with the Burgundy 150 index returning over 8% to investors and nearly 24% year to date (YTD). The UK is the largest market in the world for fine wine, followed by the US. Looking over the past 12 months, the Liv-ex 1000 index has returned nearly 26%, compared to roughly 5% for the FTSE 100. Drinks a whisky drink Fine wine is not the only tipple on alternative investors fingertips. The record 16mln sale of a barrel of rare whisky (in this case, a tasty cask of 1975 Arberg single malt) earlier this month smashed the previous 1mln record only three months prior. These mouth-watering sums are indicative of an asset class that has added 478% in portfolio value over the last decade. Whos buying the next round? While fine wine investments have been something to toast to recently, future guidance is a glass half full situation. On one hand, we recognise that if economic outlook deteriorates further and major economies tip into recession, demand for fine wine would likely moderate temporarily, Cult Wine Investment said in its second-quarter overview. Growth could ease in this scenario, especially at the top of the market, namely iconic Burgundy, where recent gains have been highest. VolitionRx Limited announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of common stock. The size and scope of the offering will depend on market conditions, and the company noted that there are no assurances about when or whether the offering will be completed. Volition said it intends to grant the underwriter in the offering a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the number of shares of common stock offered in the offering at the public offering price. AIM ImmunoTech Inc has announced what it calls positive preliminary pilot study data from its ongoing Expanded Access Program (EAP) evaluating its investigational drug Ampligen as a therapeutic for Long COVID. The immuno-pharma firm said the preliminary data from this uncontrolled clinical trial found that patients reported statistically significant improvements in chronic fatigue after treatment with Ampligen and, based on these early results, the company is working to move forward with a Phase 2 controlled trial. Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd has said it is seeking substantial damages against the United Republic of Tanzania from its fully funded arbitration proceedings over the expropriation of the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element Project before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes' (ICSID), part of the World Bank group. Montero submitted its Memorial on the Merits to the ICSID arbitral tribunal in May 2022 as per the time schedule agreed by the parties and the tribunal. The Memorial contains the basis for compensation to Montero for C$90 million including interest up until May 2022, which interest continues to accrue. In a statement, Dr Tony Harwood, president and CEO of Montero commented: "Montero has submitted a claim to the ICSID for damages of C$90 million. The company has made repeated attempts to work with Tanzanian Government to reach an amicable settlement without success, while the discovery and development of the Wigu Hill project has created significant value for Tanzania. We are committed to pursuing fair treatment of our shareholders and a return on our substantial investment of time and money in Tanzania through a fully funded arbitration process governed by ICSID, a part of the World Bank." Healixa Inc has announced the appointment of award-winning executive Satyajit Deb to its advisory board. The company said Deb was a highly accomplished entrepreneurial, senior executive with more than 20 years of extensive global experience leading innovation, product development, marketing, and business development efforts. Highlights from his career include leading Global Innovation for McDonalds Happy Meal and Family Marketing Programs and orchestrating the development and market launch of multi-million-dollar revenue-generating product innovation Video-in-Print which was the world's first HD video embedded in print packaging and loyalty applications used by Fortune 500 Brands. Noble Capital has repeated an 'Outperform' rating and C$1.35 (US$1.05) price target again tagged Ortho Regenerative Technologies Inc following news the first patient in the ORTHO-R rotator cuff Phase I/II trial has received surgical treatment. Ortho said recently that it had begun enrolling patients in its US phase I/II clinical trial of rotator cuff tear repair after the first patient surgery was completed in its US phase I/II clinical trial of rotator cuff tear repair. "If patient enrollment expectations hold. We consider the company's ORTHO-R/RESTORE platform safety profile to be excellent," analysts said. Gold Resource Corporation said its has declared a quarterly dividend of one cent ($0.01) per common share for the third quarter of 2022 payable on September 30, 2022, to shareholders of record as of September 15, 2022. It said dividends may vary in amount and consistency or be discontinued at the board's discretion depending on variables including but not limited to operational cash flows, company development requirements and strategies, construction, spot gold and silver prices, taxation, general market conditions and other factors described in the company's public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Planet 13 Holdings Inc said Planet 13 Illinois LLC, in which it owns 49%, has been awarded a conditional adult use dispensing organization license in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region from the Illinois department of financial and professional regulation. "After a long wait, it is great to be granted our license and to have the opportunity to move forward with our Illinois dispensary plans," said Larry Scheffler, co-CEO of Planet 13 in a statement. "The Chicago region offers significant value for cannabis operators. It has strong cannabis sales, a large population base, an attractive tourist destination, and is ready for the Planet 13 experience," he added. Gold Resource Corporation said it sold a total of 8,746 ounces of gold and 231,622 ounces of silver in the second quarter of 2022 for a gold-equivalent total of 11,475 ounces. Additionally, the company said it sold 3,590 tonnes of zinc, 286 tonnes of copper, and 1,755 tonnes of lead. "Production remains solid at the Don David Gold Mine in Mexico with significant improvements in financial measures over the same period last year. The volume of tonnes processed during the quarter declined slightly from Q1 as we continue to address ground support challenges common to our type of mineral deposit, Allen Palmiere, the company's CEO said in a statement. Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc, a clinical-stage Canadian pharmaceutical development company, has announced additional positive results from its phase 2a study of NP-120 (Ifenprodil) for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic cough. After a further review of the topline data, Ifenprodil was shown to be much more effective at reducing cough in patients than initially reported, the company said. "Ifenprodil's potential as a potent cough treatment just increased," said Christopher J Moreau, CEO of Algernon in a statement. "We have to remember that cough in IPF patients has been historically even more difficult to treat than stand-alone chronic cough. It is quite possible that Ifenprodil may show an even greater efficacy if tested directly in patients that only have chronic cough in the absence of IPF." HighGold Mining Inc has said its $9 million 2022 exploration program at the Johnson Tract polymetallic gold project in Alaska is well underway. Our 2022 Johnson Tract drill program is in full swing, and we are very pleased with the early visual results from veined and brecciated intercepts at the Difficult Creek (DC) prospect and the potential opportunity to grow a second JT-style deposit on the property, HighGold CEO Darwin Green said in a statement. With the addition of the new on-site sample prep lab built this year, we hope to be receiving new assay results during our drilling season which will allow us to react immediately with follow-up holes, he added. Versus Systems Inc said that it has launched Zaxbys PLAYMUSICITYGP.COM to support Zaxbys sponsorship of the Music City Grand Prix IndyCar Race. The company said it has partnered with Innovative Group's newly-formed Innovative New Media, which is working with Zaxby's and with Music City GP teams. "We are excited to support Innovative New Media, Zaxby's, and Music City while expanding IndyCar fans experience," Matthew Pierce, founder and CEO of Versus Systems said in a statement. "We are proud to work with Innovative New Media to bring more interactive and rewarding games and experiences to IndyCar, and to fans and audiences of all kinds of live events throughout the country." Burcon NutraScience Corp announced that its joint venture (JV) company, Merit Functional Foods Corporation, has developed an innovation utilizing its non-genetically modified organism (GMO) Peazazz pea protein as part of a 100% protein-based clean label solution to replace methylcellulose, a synthetic ingredient widely used in food and meat alternative applications. The developer of plant-based proteins for foods and beverages said Merit's Peazazz pea protein can now help drive clean label food and beverage applications. We are very pleased with Merit's latest innovative protein-based solution that has the potential to disrupt a $1.96 billion methylcellulose market, Burcon NutraScience interim CEO Peter Kappel said in a statement. Todos Medical Ltd announced that its CLIA/CAP certified clinical laboratory Provista Diagnostics has entered into an agreement with Amerimmune Diagnostics, a CLIA/CAP certified laboratory with expertise in immune diagnostics and a leader in the field of clinical immunology and immune assessment of acute and long-COVID. Under the agreement, Amerimmune will provide Provista with clinically validated immune panels to assess patients with acute and long-COVID. Provista will complement the testing by measuring the immune system's ability to produce neutralizing antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. "All of the tests that are part of long-COVID are currently covered by commercial insurance. The Long COVID Panel will provide key insights on inflammatory responses related to immune system cells, whether a patient is immune compromised, and whether a patient produces neutralizing antibodies," Todos said in a statement. Aurion Resources Ltd said the winter drill program at its joint venture (JV) with B2Gold in Finland was "highly successful" such that the exploration budget for 2022 has been increased by C$3.5 million to C$13.5 million, and which will include 17,000 metres (m) of drilling. The venture, in which Aurion has a 30% stake, with operator B2Gold owning 70%, covers around 331 square kilometers (sq km) along the Sirkka Shear Zone in the Central Lapland greenstone belt and includes discoveries such as Helmi, Kutuvuoma, Soretiavuoma and Kettukuusikko. Aurion has now posted the results for the final 12 holes from the winter 2022 program, including six at the Helmi Discovery and six scout holes testing selected regional targets. American Battery Technology Company said it has beefed up its research capabilities with new laboratories at the University of Nevada, Reno. The new labs are part of the company's Research Development Center housed at the Nevada Center for Applied Research (NCAR) at the university. The center is focused on domestically and sustainably sourced battery metals extraction and qualification processes. Deepspatial Inc said it has been invited to present at the United Nations General Assembly Forum (UNESCO) Artificial Intelligence for Information Accessibility 2022 Global Conference, where the theme is promoting and understanding artificial intelligence (AI). The company said AI can be "very beneficial to society but if abused it can also be very harmful". The theme raises a range of issues, including the relationship between AI and law, AI and ethics, media and the right to know, creativity, and innovation. UNESCO's programs contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals defined in the 2030 Agenda, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. Perk Labs Inc said it has continued to invest in its technology platform in the second quarter of 2022, reporting a 9% increase in its research and development (R&D) expenses during this period. For the quarter ended May 31, 2022, the company spent $406,000 on R&D, compared to $372,000 in the same quarter in 2021. The company also increased its spending on general and administrative expenses by 14%, from $568,000 in 2Q 2021 to $645,000, to support the prioritization of investor relations through its market awareness campaign. Logiq Inc said it has completed the distribution of GoLogiq spin-off shares to its shareholders on record as of the close of business on December 30, 2021, through a special dividend on a one-for-one basis. This completes the previously-disclosed separation of Logiq and GoLogiq - formerly known as Lovarra - into two independent, publicly traded companies, the New York-based provider of eCommerce and fintech business enablement solutions said. "The distribution of GoLogiq shares to our investors marks a long-awaited journey in which we successfully transformed our business into two standalone entities to enhance value for our shareholders, Logiq CEO Brent Suen said in a statement. Evergen Infrastructure Corp said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing a share purchase agreement dated July 13, 2022, between the company, and 2418207 Alberta Ltd. and 2418367 Alberta Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, the company may acquire 67% of the issued and outstanding shares of Grow the Energy Circle Ltd. By way of consideration, the company will make a cash payment of $2,054,336, subject to working capital adjustments, and will issue 600,000 shares at a deemed price of $5.50 per share at closing of the agreement. Additional cash considerations of up to a total of $4 million can be paid to the vendors if certain contingent requirements are met as per the terms of the agreement. Infinity Stone Ventures Corp has announced the closing of the second tranche of a financing through the issuance of 1,328,333 units at a price of $0.15 per unit, for gross proceeds of $199,250. Each unit is comprised of one Class A Subordinate Voting Share and one-half of one share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant is exercisable into one share at a price of $0.30 for a period of three years from the date of issuance. In connection with the first tranche, the company issued 15,600 finders' warrants, and paid finder's fees of $2,340. Each finders' warrant is exercisable at a price of $0.30 for a period of two years from the date of issuance. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the financing towards general working capital. American Resources Corporation has announced the rebranding of its reELEMENT Technologies website, including newly produced industry and process and technology videos. Dave Sauve, vice president of reELEMENT Technologies commented: "Highlighting and showcasing the efficiency and low environmental impact of our process and technology is important as we are creating a domestic alternative to the existing environmentally and socially disastrous alternatives used across the globe. Our new website and informative videos illustrate the impact and needed solutions we are delivering. We are excited to share these with the public as we continue to hit important milestones." Mark Jensen, CEO of American Resources Corporation added: "The website update is a natural progression since rebranding American Rare Earth to reELEMENT Technologies and the previously discussed plans to grow reELEMENT and explore all avenues to maximize shareholder value. We believe this update and rebranding effort helps illustrate the value we are creating." The website redesign spotlights the unique and proprietary technology which has been incubated and synthesized through four leading universities and is being commercialized for the first time to create a domestic circular supply chain for end-of-life rare earth permanent magnets and lithium-ion batteries. reELEMENT is leading the way in redefining how critical and rare earth elements are sources and processed while also addressing our sustainability needs. Looking Glass Labs Ltd said it has received approval from The Depository Trust Company (DTC) to make the companys common shares eligible to be electronically cleared and settled through DTC. DTC eligibility makes LGLs shares more accessible to investors in the United States. The companys shares are currently listed on the OTC Pink level market in the United States, in addition to primarily being listed on the NEO Exchange in Canada. We are happy for the company to receive DTC Eligibility, to go along with the listing of its shares on the OTC Pink-level market at this time, said Dorian Banks, CEO of Looking Glass Labs. This is a step in the right direction for LGL and we are happy to see things progressing on the US capital markets front, as part of a longer-term plan to make our shares more accessible to American investors. Delta 9 Cannabis Inc has announced that Joanne Duhoux-Defehr has resigned from the board of directors of the company effective today. "Ms Duhoux-Defehr has been instrumental in her support of Delta 9 at the board level since 2017 as we have scaled the company into one of Canada's largest vertically integrated cannabis operators," said John Arbuthnot, Delta 9 CEO. "On behalf of the company, I wish to thank Ms Duhoux-Defehr for her years of service on the board of directors." Globex Mining Enterprises Inc has announced that the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has approved the company's normal course issuer bid (NCIB). Under the NCIB, Globex will be entitled to repurchase for cancellation up to 1,000,000 common shares, representing approximately 1.8% of its issued and outstanding shares as of July 21, 2022, over a twelve-month period starting on August 2, 2022, and ending on August 1, 2023. The purchases by Globex will be effected through the facilities of the TSX and on other alternative trading systems in Canada, and will be made at the market price of the shares at the time of the purchase. Globex had 55,635,336 common shares issued and outstanding as of July 21, 2022, of which 49,224,245 shares constituted the "public float". Globex said it intends to acquire the common shares because it believes that the repurchase of common shares at certain market prices is beneficial to Globex and its shareholders. Globex intends to make any purchases on an opportunistic basis, taking share price and other considerations into account. Xigem Technologies Corporation said it has cancelled 1,225,000 incentive stock options under its Stock Option Plan. The options had been granted between January and April 2022 to several of the company's directors, officers, consultants and advisory board members. Harbor Custom Development Inc has said it will host a conference call and webcast on Monday, August 15, 2022, at 9.30am PT (12.30pm ET) to elaborate on the second quarter 2022 financial results and the company's outlook. The public may access the conference call and webcast at https://investors.harborcustomhomes.com/events. Harbor will be answering previously submitted questions during the webcast. For those who would like to submit written questions in advance, they may do so by emailing: IR@harborcustomdev.com. The conference call will be available by telephone at 1-877-407-0789 (for international callers, dial 1-201-689-8562), and refer to "Harbor", "Harbor Custom Development", or conference ID: 13731834. A replay of the conference call will be available for two weeks at 1-844-512-2921 (for international callers, dial 1-412-317-6671) using the replay PIN: 13731834. Harbor will issue its second quarter 2022 earnings release and supplemental presentation prior to the call on the morning of Monday, August 15, 2022, in the Investor Relations section of the Harbor website at https://harborcustomhomes.com. Phunware Inc has said it will hold a conference call on Thursday, August 11, 2022, at 4.30pm ET (1.30pm PST) to discuss its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022. Financial results will be issued in a press release prior to the call. Phunware management will host the conference call, followed by a question and answer period. Call details: US dial-in: 888-506-0062; International dial-in: 973-528-0011; access code: 575582. The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay here and via the investor relations section of the companys website at investors.phunware.com. A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available after 8.00pm ET on the same day through Thursday, August 25, 2022: Toll-free replay number: 877-481-4010; International replay number: 919-882-2331; Replay ID: 46161 Nextech AR Solutions Corp has announced that its CEO, Evan Gappelberg, will present live at VirtualInvestorConferences.com on Thursday, August 4, 2022, at 10.30am EST via the following link: https://bit.ly/3u8UbFn. This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event. Gappelberg's real-time, interactive presentation will discuss ARway; Nextech's spatial computing platform, and the company's fast-growing 3D model business. OTC Markets Group Inc, the operator of regulated markets for 12,000 US and international securities, has announced that Andean Precious Metals Corp, a Canadian silver producer operating in Bolivia, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market having upgraded from the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol 'ANPMF'. The OTCQX Market is designed for established, investor-focused US and international companies. To qualify for OTCQX, companies must meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws. Graduating to the OTCQX Market from the OTCQB Market marks an important milestone for companies, enabling them to demonstrate their qualifications and build visibility among US investors. Simon Griffiths, Andean Precious Metals's CEO said: "Trading on the OTCQX is the highest market tier of the OTC Markets and demonstrates our commitment to serving our U.S investors. This important milestone will not only enable us to increase our liquidity and capital markets profile, but also reaffirms our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of governance and financial standards." Cookie Policy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping us understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. See our Cookie Policy for more information. GreenBank Capital Inc has announced that, effective immediately, the company's board of directors have appointed director and CEO Terry Pullen as acting chairman to replace Mark Wettreich, who has stepped down after the end of his term. It said director Steve O'Carroll has accepted the newly created COO role. Pullen commented: "I personally want to thank Mark Wettreich for his relentless work ethic, professionalism and priceless knowledge of GBC history, relationships, and investments. Without Mark, GBC would simply not have survived through the tragic loss of his father Danny, but due to Mark's determination to rescue shareholder value GBC is the exciting opportunity we have today. We totally respect the positive reasons why Mark is handing over, and on behalf of the team, assure him we are professionally committed to successfully delivering the legacy, Danny, Mark and the Wettreich family created". He added: "We are delighted Steve is stepping up to Chief Operating Officer, with his corporate banking experience, driven commitment, and engaging character. He is a hugely valuable asset to strengthen our Board at a key time to deliver our goals". O'Carroll, who has over 30 years' experience in UK Banking, commented: "I feel GBC has very real and tangible prospects to significantly grow over the years to come, and I am delighted to be a part of that journey". Q BioMed Inc said it has seen an uptick in sales revenue from Strontium89, the companys potential chemotherapeutic drug, in its recently reported quarter. The company's second-quarter sales revenue was nearly double its first-quarter figure, representing the companys best sales number to date. On a year-over-year basis, sales revenues more than quadrupled, the company added. Q BioMed said its focus for 2022 is to monetize the current pipeline and build a platform for future growth. It highlighted three areas of focus: commercial product revenue growth, partnerships or collaborations value and future development platform. American Resources Corporation has said its Carnegie 1 mine is set to double metallurgical carbon production with the development of a continuous haulage bridge section. The section, when completed, is expected to add revenue of $2.25 million to $3.5 million per month at current prices. The company's Carnegie 1 team is currently setting up the ventilation required to start the added bridge section with production anticipated to start in the next 60 to 90 days. Our series of Carnegie mines and the McCoy Elkhorn complex are major contributors to our revenue, cash flow and future growth. Carnegie 1 is a very young mine to where we have advanced to the point in the resource seam where we can expand our mine plan by adding additional sections and further reduce the overall cost structure and increase performance, Mark Jensen, CEO of American Resources said in a statement. Champion Gaming Group Inc has said that it will not proceed with its previously-announced non-brokered private placement of secured convertible promissory notes. Instead, it will enter into promissory notes with arm's length creditors, secured by a general security agreement over the assets of the company, up to an aggregate principal amount of $800,000, the Toronto-based company said. The loan amount will be used for general working capital purposes. Alternus Energy Group PLC has announced the appointment of Jon Masdal as an independent non-executive director with immediate effect, bringing the company's board to a total of six members. The international renewable independent power producer said Masdal is an Oslo-based portfolio manager with the Ludvig Lorentzen family office and was a top-ranked analyst in the Nordic energy sector for Norway's leading Investment bank, DNB Markets, where he worked for 10 years. A graduate of the University of New Mexico with a BBA in Finance and Accounting, he worked as an auditor at EY in Oslo before joining DNB. Australis Capital Inc - dba AUDACIOUS - said it has entered into a credit facility with Lola Ventures, an entity controlled by the company's CEO Terry Booth. The facility will make up to $2.5 million available to the company, earmarked for general working capital purposes, including fueling AUDACIOUS' growth initiatives. "We have built an exceptional foundation with unique assets in New York State, New Jersey, Nevada, California and Thailand, and this credit facility signifies my strong confidence in our execution on the AUDACIOUS go-forward plan," said Booth. "The funds will enable us to inject cash into initiatives that will fuel revenue growth directly, and I look forward to informing the market regularly on our achievements." VolitionRx Limited has announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 3,000,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $2.00 per share. The gross proceeds to Volition from the offering, before deducting the underwriting commissions and other estimated offering expenses payable by Volition, are expected to be $6 million. Volition said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for research and continued product development, clinical studies, product commercialization, working capital and other general corporate purposes, including potential strategic acquisitions. Planet 13 Holdings Inc has announced the results for each item of business considered at the company's Annual Meeting of shareholders held on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Shareholders overwhelmingly elected all four director nominees, each with over 99% of the votes cast, and 99% of shares voted were also voted in favor of re-appointing Davidson & Company LLP as auditor and authorizing the board of directors of the company to fix the auditors remuneration for the following year. Great Atlantic Resources Corp said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to its non-brokered private placement announced on June 16, 2022, and June 27, 2022, which will see it issue 8,165,000 shares at a purchase price of 10 cents per share, together with 8,165,000 share purchase warrants with an exercise price of 12 cents for a five-year period with 33 placees. Lion Copper and Gold Corp said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the company's proposal to issue 915,910 shares at a price of 8.5 Canadian cents (6.7 US cents) to settle outstanding debt for C$77,852 (US$61,366) with one creditor. Electra Battery Materials Corporation has said it will release its second quarter 2022 financial results after market close on August 11, 2022. Senior management will host a conference call and webcast on August 12, 2022, at 10.00 am ET to review Electra's second quarter performance and discuss the near-term outlook. Dial-in and Webcast Details: North American dial-in number 1-800-319-4610; International dial-in number 1-604-638-5340; Webcast and slide presentation https://ElectraBMC.com/category/events/ CleanSpark Inc has said it will discuss fiscal third quarter 2022 financial results via a live webcast beginning 4.30pm ET / 1.30pm PT on Tuesday, August 9, 2022. Results will be released after the close of regular trading on August 9, 2022. To view the webcast, interested parties can visit www.cleanspark.com/investor-relations. Downloadable files, including transcripts, will be available on the company website 48 hours after the event. Virtual Investor Conferences (VIC), the leading proprietary investor conference series, has announced that the presentations from the July 27 and July 28, 2022, Metals & Mining Growth Virtual Investor Conference are now available for on-demand viewing via the following link: https://bit.ly/3cGK3Om. The company presentations will be available 24/7 for 90 days. Investors, advisors, and analysts may download investor materials from the company's resource section. Companies are accepting 1x1 management meeting requests through August 2, 2022. Providing a real-time investor engagement solution, VIC is specifically designed to offer companies more efficient investor access. Replicating the components of an on-site investor conference, VIC offers companies enhanced capabilities to connect with investors, schedule targeted one-on-one meetings and enhance their presentations with dynamic video content. To view a complete calendar of Virtual Investor Conferences, investors can visit www.virtualinvestorconferences.com. FTSE 100 opened brightly, up 29 points to 7,374 as a busy week of results draws to a close. It was a good start for the banking sector, with Natwest and Standard Chartered both up. AstraZeneca followed its smaller rival GSK by upgrading guidance for the full year after a bumper first half which exceeded expectations. It now expects Covid vaccine revenues to be flat rather than falling by a quarter. British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group returned to profit for the first time since the pandemic in the second quarter. It posted a 73mln pre-tax profit. Natwest said it delivered a "strong" performance against a tough economic backdrop. The bank is now expected to hand over 2bn back in dividends. MGC Pharmaceuticals entered a US$10mln financing agreement with a fund managed by Mercer Street, which is also its largest shareholder. This financing provides MGC with access to capital to execute its business strategy. Q BioMed describes itself as a commercial-stage biomedical acceleration and development company, focused on licensing and acquiring biomedical assets across the healthcare spectrum Q BioMed Inc said it has seen an uptick in sales revenue from Strontium89, the companys potential chemotherapeutic drug, in its recently reported quarter. The company's second-quarter sales revenue was nearly double its first-quarter figure, representing the companys best sales number to date. On a year-over-year basis, sales revenues more than quadrupled, the company added. Q BioMed said its focus for 2022 is to monetize the current pipeline and build a platform for future growth. It highlighted three areas of focus: commercial product revenue growth, partnerships or collaborations value and future development platform. We believe that Strontium89 has great potential in the cancer palliation space, the company said in a statement. As a result of a world in which opioids were a treatment of choice for those patients unlucky enough to be diagnosed with painful metastatic cancers in the bone, we felt that Strontium89 had become a neglected and forgotten drug. We have stayed committed to our belief that Strontium89 was a valuable treatment and have focused on advancing that asset from concept, a neglected drug, to a fully approved, reimbursed commercial product. Q Biomed also noted other promising pipeline news regarding its liver cancer drug, which utilizes an isolated molecule in treating a similarly high unmet need. This molecule was identified in India, traditionally used to treat liver ailments, the company said. Subsequent research on that isolated molecule showed promising data, indicating that the molecule was more cytotoxic, killing cancer cells more effectively, in liver cancer cells lines than the current first line liver cancer chemotherapeutic. We have advanced this from a naturally occurring unsustainable plant product to a commercially viable and scalable synthetic drug candidate. Going forward, the plan is to partner this asset with a larger oncology institution, Q BioMed said, and noted that it has already been approached with partnership opportunities. Elsewhere, the company said its Mannin drug platform development program is progressing toward a clinical trial in ARDS (acute respiratory disease syndrome), which it intends to complete in the next 8 months. Data from this trial will support the filings for further indications, including kidney disease and glaucoma, the company said. Q BioMed describes itself as a commercial-stage biomedical acceleration and development company, focused on licensing and acquiring biomedical assets across the healthcare spectrum. Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel United Nations, July 29 : The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted Resolution 2646 to extend the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until January 31, 2023. Through the text, the Council on Thursday urged the sides and all involved parties to respect UNFICYP's mandated authority in -- and delineation of -- the buffer zone, renewing its call on both sides to respect the integrity of the buffer zone, remove all unauthorised constructions and prevent unauthorised military or civilian activities within and along the ceasefire lines. The Council also stressed that UNFICYP's mandated authority extends throughout Cyprus, and that restrictions on its freedom of movement can present serious risks to the safety and security of UN personnel serving in peacekeeping operations, Xinhua news agency reported. Expressing regret over the lack of progress on an effective mechanism for direct military contacts between the sides and the relevant involved parties, the Council urged flexibility and engagement by the same, facilitated by UNFICYP, to develop and implement an acceptable proposal on establishing such a mechanism. It called on the sides to reduce existing barriers to intercommunal contact and urged them to implement further confidence-building measures that can contribute to a conducive environment for settlement. In 1963, constitutional crises in Cyprus resulted in the outbreak of intercommunal violence. After all attempts to restore peace failed, the Security Council adopted a resolution that recommended the establishment of UNFICYP, and it has become one of the longest-running UN peacekeeping missions. The mission's responsibilities expanded in 1974, following a coup by elements favouring union with Greece and a subsequent military intervention by Turkey, whose troops established control over the northern part of the island. United Nations, July 29 : Armed Mai-Mai combatants have reportedly joined anti-UN demonstrators in eastern Congo, a UN spokesman said. Despite members of the community-based militia participating in the demonstrations in North Kivu, the protests were not as violent as earlier in the week, said Farhan Haq, Deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Thursday. "The situation remains tense and fragile as protestors continue to target UN peacekeeping bases," Haq said, adding that UN personnel were on high alert. He said protestors briefly breached the perimeter and damaged some vehicles at a UN camp in Uvira, Xinhua news agency reported. "In Beni, protestors threw petrol bombs at our Boikene base while an attempt to breach our Madiba compound was blocked." Haq added that the report that Mai-Mai combatants joined protestors to reinforce the demonstrations in Butembo is a concerning development, as are continuing threats against the mission continuing to circulate on social media. The spokesman said the increased presence of Congolese security forces near UN compounds helped deter violence directed at UN personnel and bases, particularly in Goma, Nyamilima and Rwindi. "We acknowledge the efforts of political and community actors to restore calm by urging people to refrain from violence against the mission," he added. The UN mission, known as MONUSCO, is ready to work with the Congolese authorities to investigate incidents in which demonstrators lost their lives or were injured, Haq said, referring to the 12 civilians killed during demonstrations and breaches of UN compounds on Tuesday. "The mission is also continuing its work with the authorities and people of Congo to protect civilians, deter armed groups, and build the capacity of state institutions and services," he added, referring to the goals of the mission mandated by the Security Council. MONUSCO also works closely with local security forces and engages with national authorities, civil society and community groups to restore confidence and calm. Varanasi, July 29 : In a surprising political development, Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav has come out to support Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi. Akhilesh, while talking to reporters on Thursday evening, said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoning Sonia Gandhi was "an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre to threaten the Opposition by putting pressure on it". This is the first time that the SP President has openly spoken in support of Congress leaders. He said, "No one would have imagined that the top Congress leader would be summoned by ED someday. Summoning her is a part of BJP's policy of "divide and rule" for which it is pressuring the Opposition leaders to create a rift." He added that while "misuse of ED is not a new practice but the present government at the Centre is using it to the maximum. The act of dividing Opposition alliances by the BJP has been evident in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and it could now be seen in West Bengal". Replying to a question on Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) Chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, Akhilesh said: "Rajbhar seems to be possessed by the soul of another party. The SP had been forging alliances with many parties since the time of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav but it never faced allegations that tickets were sold for contesting election. But, for the first time such allegations have been levelled on SP coalition by Rajbhar." About his estranged uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) leader Shivpal Yadav, he added, "As uncle was not feeling honoured in SP, he was freed. He has his own party and he should try to strengthen it again as per the socialist ideology." He also targeted the BJP government for bringing milk and its by-products under GST rates and said that now milk will be offered to Lord Shiva after paying tax on it. United Nations, July 29 : The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution declaring access to clean, healthy and sustainable environment a universal human right. Adapting a similar resolution from the Human Rights Council in 2021, the resolution passed on Thursday, with 161 votes in favour and eight abstentions, calls on states, international organisations, and businesses to take more steps to ensure a healthy environment for all. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the "historic" decision and commended the member states for coming together against the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, Xinhua news agency reported. "The resolution will help reduce environmental injustices, close protection gaps and empower people, especially those that are in vulnerable situations, including environmental human rights defenders, children, youth, women and indigenous peoples," he said in a statement released by his spokesperson's office. It will also help states meet their environmental and human rights obligations more quickly, he added. "The international community has given universal recognition to this right and brought us closer to making it a reality for all," he said. In 1972, the UN Conference on the Environment in Stockholm, which ended with its own historic declaration, was the first one to place environmental issues at the forefront of international concerns and marked the start of a dialogue between industrialised and developing countries on the link between economic growth, the pollution of the air, water and the ocean, and the well-being of people around the world. Kiev, July 29 : The Ukrainian parliament has adopted a draft law to grant special status to Polish citizens in Ukraine, a parliament member said. The presidential proposal on granting special status to Polish citizens in Ukraine was supported by 283 lawmakers in the 450-seat Assembly, Yaroslav Zheleznyak wrote on Telegram on Thursday. The new legislation adopted on Thursday allows Polish citizens to legally stay in Ukraine for 18 months after the adoption of the law, Zheleznyak said. The law grants Polish citizens equal rights as Ukrainians in employment, economic activities, as well as in getting education and medical assistance in Ukraine. On July 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky submitted to the parliament the draft law on establishing legal and social guarantees for Polish citizens in Ukraine, "as a sign of gratitude to the Polish people for their solidarity and support for Ukraine." Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Vienna, July 29 : Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said that an embargo on Russian gas in the European Union (EU) is "impossible" due to EU countries' heavy dependence on Russian energy. His comments came after a meeting with visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Vienna on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported. According to Austrian news agency APA, Nehammer added at a press conference that Germany and Austria's dependence on Russian gas makes an EU embargo "impossible," as the decline of the German economy would also impact Austria and lead to mass unemployment. On Tuesday, EU member states agreed on a 15-per cent voluntary reduction of natural gas demand from the average of 2017-2021, in preparation for possible supply disruptions this winter. At the press conference, the Austrian Chancellor also criticized the EU's slowness in establishing a joint energy purchase mechanism. A common energy platform is now more important than ever to avoid competition between EU countries, he said. "We are seeing many announcements by the European Commission but very little implementation," he added. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Gaza, July 29 : Hamas, the ruling movement of the Gaza Strip, has denied Israeli allegations that the movement's armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades has military sites in civilian areas in the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli Army's allegations "are pure lies and misinformation," said Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida in a press release on Thursday. On Wednesday, an Israeli military spokesman accused Hamas of building military sites, infrastructure and tunnels under and close to residential areas in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has ruled since 2007, Xinhua news agency reported. In video clips posted by the Israeli spokesman on social media platforms, alleged Hamas military infrastructure close to and underneath civilian buildings in Gaza were shown. According to the Israeli Army, Hamas built military sites near mosques, schools, hospitals, and clinics, and underground tunnels for military purposes in civilian residential areas. "These allegations are not surprising, because the enemy's army wants to justify targeting civilians," Abu Obeida added. The Israeli Army "will pay a heavy price if it behaves foolishly with the Palestinian people," the Hamas spokesman warned. San Francisco, July 29 : Popular social media platform Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has announced a new creator fund that will award independent musicians up to $100,000 per month. The company said that the new grant programme is designed to recognise emerging, independent artists for their critical role in driving video creations, inspiring Internet trends and defining cultural moments. "We want to support the independent and emerging artists that are driving creation on Snapchat," Ted Suh, Global Head of Music Partnerships at Snap, said in a statement. "By providing meaningful funding and creative support, our goal is for artists to feel empowered to continue creating and pursue a career in music," Suh added. Snap said that starting in August, it will provide monthly grants of up to $100,000 to top Sounds creators that are distributing music on Snapchat via DistroKid, and driving the creation of content across the platform. Popular Sounds will also have the opportunity to be included in our Sounds product, in a Snapchat Lens or Spotlight. The company mentioned that artists must be based in the US and must be over 16 where applicable, and have parental consent. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Washington/Beijing, July 29 : Amid simmering tensions, US and Chinese Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping discussed the Taiwan issue during which the American leader said Washington strongly opposed any unilateral moves to change the island's status, while his counterpart warned that "whoever plays with fire will perish". The White House in a statement, citing a senior administration official, said Thursday's call was the fifth time the two Presidents spoke on the phone since Biden came into office in January 2021. The conversation lasted about two hours and 20 minutes. The official said that the two leaders had "a direct and honest discussion" on Taiwan and "President Biden reaffirmed the US' commitment to our One China Policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances". Under the One China Policy, Washington does not recognise Taipei diplomatically. During the call, Biden also underscored "the US' opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and commitment to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait", said the official. The two Presidents further stressed that "keeping an open line of communication" on the Taiwan issue is essential despite differences that they have managed for over 40 years, the White House statement added. In its summary of the conversation, China said that Xi highlighted "the historical context of the Taiwan question is crystal clear, and so are the fact and status quo that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China", reports Xinhua news agency. "China firmly opposes secession aimed at 'Taiwan independence' and external interference, and never allows any room for 'Taiwan independence' forces in whatever form. "The position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan question is consistent... The will of the people cannot be defied and those who play with fire will perish by it... It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this," the President was quoted as saying. Apart from the Taiwan issue, the two leaders also discussed areas where the two countries can work together, with particular focus on climate change, health security, counter-narcotics. Biden and Xi also exchanged views on Russia's war in Ukraine and the global impacts it is having. The Presidents further discussed the value of meeting face-to-face and agreed to have their teams follow up to find a mutually agreeable time to do so, the White House quoted the senior administration official as saying. Tensions have increased over the Taiwan issue ahead of a rumoured plan for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan, reports the BBC. Although Pelosi is yet to official announce her travel plan, China has already warned of "serious consequences" if she were to proceed. Pelosi would be the highest-ranking US politician to travel to Taiwan since 1997. Thiruvananthapuram, July 29 : A month after the 'bomb attack' at the CPI-M headquarters here, the Kerala Police are still to crack the case and find the 'culprit'. The incident happened on June 30 midnight and after a short while, the Left Democratic Front convener and top notch CPI-M leader E.P. Jayarajan blamed the Congress workers for the attack. However, the Congress-led opposition and also the BJP have been attacking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who also holds the Home portfolio, for being unable to track down the culprit. Both these frontline political parties have expressed fears that the real culprit will not be located "as they might be some CPI-M workers only" and the attack was carried out purposely to deviate from other burning issues facing Vijayan and his government, like the gold smuggling case, etc. The Congress has even raised the question of the missing police jeep from near the CPI-M office on the day of attack. A police jeep, which is parked in front of the party office for secuirty purpose, was not there on that day. To duck the criticism, the Crime branch wing of the Police has now been entrusted with the job of unravelling the case. After the bomb attack case, the police has increased the night vigil in the capital and the security cover of the CPI-M headquarters has been beefed up. New Delhi, July 29 : Apple has seen a new doubling of its revenues in India in the April-June period, setting a new all-time record in the country particularly riding on its iPhone 13 series, the companys CEO Tim Cook has announced. Speaking to analysts after posting a record June quarter, Cook said that the quarter recorded record revenue in developed and emerging markets "with double-digit growth in Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam, and a new doubling of revenue in India." Cook said that the company continues to execute across some significant geographies with "low penetration of iPhones between Indonesia, Vietnam and India where we did quite well". "iPhone tends to be the engine for those markets, particularly at the beginning of creating the market there for Apple products," he added. Continuing its growth in India driven by local manufacturing, Apple sold over 1.2 million iPhones in the country in the second quarter (Q2) this year, registering a massive 94 per cent growth (year-on-year). According to data shared by market intelligence firm CyberMedia Research (CMR), the growth was driven by the stupendous sale of iPhone 12 and 13 models. Nearly 1 million of the total shipped iPhones were 'Make in India' devices. Speaking about Apple's services business, the company's CFO Luca Maestri mentioned that "we set June quarter revenue records in both developed and emerging markets and set all-time records in many countries including India." Maestri also highlighted how enterprise customers "are increasingly investing in Apple products as a strategy to attract and retain talent". "Wipro, another large mobile enterprise customer, is investing in MacBook Air with M1 as a competitive advantage when recruiting new graduates globally - thanks to its superior performance and lower total cost of ownership," he informed. With the new M2 chip powering MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro, "we expect more customers to make Mac available to their entire workforce," he added. In India, Apple iPads logged an impressive 34 per cent growth (on-year) in India and the company sold over 0.2 million devices in the country, according to CMR. Apple iPad (Gen 9) and iPad Air 2022 accounted for a lion's share of the iPad shipments," according to the CMR Q2 data. Apple's enhanced and diversified iPhone production capabilities in India, along with aggressive retail initiatives (although its first retail store in the country is delayed owing to the pandemic), continue to contribute to its strong growth momentum in India. Earlier this year, the tech giant confirmed it has started manufacturing its top-selling iPhone 13 smartphone in India. Apple first started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017, with iPhone SE. Ramallah, July 29 : Riyad Mansour, Palestine's envoy to the UN, said that it is "making all possible efforts" to obtain full membership of the world body to protect the two-state solution. The Palestinian mission "is working to convince the largest number of Arab and European countries in order for this endeavour not to be obstructed by the use of any veto", Xinhua news agency quoted Mansour as saying to the official Voice of Palestine radio station. President Mahmoud Abbas raised the issue with his US counterpart Joe Biden during the latter's visit this month, and with French President Emmanuel Macron during their meeting in Paris last week, and with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman earlier this week, according to Mansour. The threat "to the two-state solution is still growing with Israeli practices on the ground, especially the construction of hundreds of settlements in the Palestinian territories", Mansour warned. "If the UN Security Council approves the full membership of Palestine, it will be a major practical step in protecting the two-state solution to end the Israeli occupation," the Palestinian envoy noted. The last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, sponsored by the US, broke down in 2014 largely because of their divisions on the settlement issues. The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as the capital, while Israel claims the entire city as its eternal indivisible capital. New Delhi, July 29 : As India prepares for the 5G era, the installed base of smartphones with 5G capabilities crossed 5 crore in the country, a report showed on Friday. The 5G smartphone shipment share reached 29 per cent of overall shipments in the second quarter (Q2), which was the highest ever. "The 5G spectrum auction and commercial availability will accelerate 5G smartphone adoption among users," said research analyst Shilpi Jain. The government has reached new heights in introducing the 5G technology with an auction of over Rs 1.5 lakh crore for 5G spectrum. India's total smartphone installed base crossed 600 million (60 crore) during the April-June quarter as shipments grew 9 per cent (on-year) but fell 5 per cent (on-quarter) to reach almost 37 million units, according to latest research from Counterpoint's Market Monitor service. The annual growth was primarily driven by a lower base in Q2 2021 due to the second Covid-19 wave. The quarterly drop was due to macroeconomic headwinds affecting consumer demand. "Consumers are preferring to repair their device or buy a refurbished one rather than make a new purchase. This trend is more visible in the entry and budget segments. Due to this decline in demand, almost all the brands are facing inventory issues," said senior research analyst Prachir Singh. At the end of June, India's smartphone market was sitting on more than 10 weeks of inventory, more than double the normal inventory size. Apple grew 63 per cent (on-year) in Q2 driven by a smaller base in Q2 2021 due to the Covid second wave. It remained the top-selling brand in the ultra-premium segment. "The opening of its own e-store, iPhone SE 2022 and offers on other models will further drive Apple's shipments in the coming quarters," the report mentioned. The smartphone retail ASP (average selling price) grew 10 per cent driven by an increasing share of the higher price segments. India's overall mobile handset market grew 6 per cent (on-year) but fell 9 per cent on quarterly basis. The feature phone market registered a decline of 17 per cent primarily due to the decline in consumer demand, the report mentioned. Ballary : , July 29 (IANS) The Karnataka Police have arrested a couple on the charges of keeping two children as bonded labourers after their father died without repaying a loan in Ballary district, police said on Friday. The incident took place in the Srirampura Colony in Ballary city. The arrested couple has been identified as Dadu and Munni. According to police, the workers of the city Women Congress wing conducted raids along with police and freed the two kids. Police said Nagaraj, the father of children, took a loan of Rs 30,000 from the accused persons. He died due to illness without clearing the debt. Nagaraj's wife Sunitha worked as a house maid and took care of her four children. Meanwhile, the accused couple exerted pressure on Sunitha to repay the loan taken by her husband. When Sunitha expressed helplessness in returning the loan, the couple forcefully took her 15-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter to their home. The couple kept the two minors in their home and made them work. The rescued children were sent back to their mother, and the Ballary police were further investigating the case. New Delhi, July 29: Nepal has signed a much-awaited commercial agreement with India for the supply of chemical fertilisers for the next five years, officials said on Thursday. The long term deal signed between Nepal's Krishi Samagri Company Limited and India's Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited will allow Nepal to buy about 900,000 tons of chemical fertilisers for the next five years. In recent years, Nepali farmers have been facing severe shortages of chemical fertilisers during planting season. The agreement states that Nepal will be able to purchase 150,000 tons of crop nutrients-100,000 tons of urea and 50,000 tons of diammonium phosphate (DAP)-from India in the first year. In the second year, the country will be able to buy 170,000 tons, in the third year 195,000 tons, and in the fourth and fifth years, 210,000 tons each. "To minimise the uncertainty and assure the timely supply of fertilizers to the farmers of Nepal for the next 5 years, an agreement has been signed between Nepal and India," Nepal's ambassador to New Delhi Dr Shankar Prasad Sharma said on Twitter on Thursday. The agreement follows a government-to-government deal, which was signed in February this year. Rajendra Bahadur Karki, general manager of Krishi Samagri Company, said that the Indian side will deliver fertilisers at various border areas including Birgunj, Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. The general manager said that Nepal will start the procurement to avail fertilizers for the wheat plantation season. "The Indian company will begin supplying fertilizers 30 days after getting the supply order from us," he said. Ram Prasad Subedi, deputy chief of mission at the Nepal Embassy in New Delhi, said that the commercial agreement for the supply of chemical fertilizers to Nepal is welcome news for Nepali farmers. "The negotiation took place for a couple of months between the two sides to finalize the commercial agreement on the purchase of chemical fertilizers. We also sincerely thank the Indian government for its warm cooperation to finalise this much-awaited deal," he told India Narrative over phone. Earlier in June, a Nepali delegation led by then Agriculture Minister Mahendra Yadav visited New Delhi to finalise the commercial agreement for the supply of chemical fertilizers, targeting the paddy transplantation season which begins in mid-June. However, the two sides had failed to sign commercial agreements on time owing to legal constraints. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative New Delhi, July 29: There is considerable heartburn and demoralisation in the Punjab bureaucracy over the use of extra-constitutional powers by AAP's Delhi leader Raghav Chadha who regularly summons officers for meetings at the official bungalow allotted to him in Chandigarh near the Chief Minister's residence. He has been appointed as chairman of the advisory committee to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and has also been elected to the Rajya Sabha as an MP from the state because of his proximity to Kejriwal. According to sources, he issues directions to the officers of the Punjab government ostensibly on behalf of the CM even though Mann is not present at the meetings. Sources disclose that former Chief Secretary Anirudh Tiwari had raised strong objections to this and refused to attend the meetings called by Chadha as a result of which he was shunted out from the job and replaced by VK Janjua. Publically, Tiwari maintains a stark silence on the issue but is learned to have confided in more than one journalist covering the Punjab beat that he had made his disinclination to report to Chadha clear to the CM about. Tiwari has now been sidelined and posted as the head of the innocuous Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Public Administration. He has now sought to central deputation as he wants to go out of Punjab. The selection of V.K. Janjua as the new Chief Secretary (CS) orchestrated mainly by Chadha is considered to be yet another unwise decision of the Mann government. Janjua during his stint in the industries department many years ago was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau red-handed for having accepted a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from a Ludhiana-based industrialist. The money was recovered from the drawer of his table. The officer was, however, given a clean chit by former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh after an executive inquiry. Janjua's appointment as Chief Secretary is considered odd for a party that claims to have zero tolerance for corruption. It is no secret in the corridors of power that postings and transfers of bureaucrats are done on the basis of unwritten orders and with the consent of Chadha. The ministers holding different portfolios too have to regularly meet Chadha and take him into confidence before taking any major decision. All this is taking place in the name of guiding the young and inexperienced Mann cabinet since Chadha was trained to handle official functioning having closely worked with Kejriwal's Delhi government. Chadha's clout seems to be growing with each passing day as was evident from the resignation of Advocate General (AG) Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu on July 26. Sidhu had refused to recruit lawyers for the different posts in his office solely as per the whims and fancies of Chadha. Though AG was amenable to accommodating some "sifarishi" lawyers but not by ignoring merit altogether. As an agreement could not be reached AG decided to put in his papers. The decision to appoint a controversial advocate Vinodh Ghai - who was the counsel for several tainted former ministers of the Congress regime facing action now - as the new AG too was taken at the instance of Chadha and his Delhi coterie, insiders revealed. Mann had no option but to toe the line. The notification regarding the appointment of Ghai AG has not been issued yet though CM Mann in a Facebook post today reiterated that his government would not go back on its decision. Chadha's clout can also be gauged from the fact that he was the only MP out of seven sent to Rajya Sabha by AAP from Punjab who has been allotted a palatial government bungalow in Sector 2 of Chandigarh besides availing Z-Plus security. A fleet of government cars has been put at his disposal for use in Chandigarh. No other MPs who are at par with him in status has been given such luxuries. Journalistic and political circles are keeping a close watch on to know what actually transpired in a meeting between AAP supremo Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday in Delhi where the Chief Minister was expected to take up the issue of complaints pouring in about Raghav Chadha. According to sources, Mann had even gone to the extent of offering his resignation in case Chadha was not reined in. It now remains to be seen whether Mann succeeds in curtailing what is seen as the extra-constitutional power of Chadha. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative New Delhi, July 29 : The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of the Delhi Police on activist Sharjeel Imam's appeal against a lower court order denying him interim bail in a sedition case. The sedition case is related to the alleged inflammatory speeches delivered by Imam at the Aligarh Muslim University and the Jamia Milia Islamia during the anti-CAA protests in 2019-20. Issuing notice to the Delhi Police, a Division Bench of Justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal, posted the further hearing on August 25. The bench also sought a status report from the police within two weeks. On July 23, Additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat of Karkardooma court dismissed the interim bail plea of Imam, who is in judicial custody under sedition charges, among others. The former JNU student was approaching the lower court after withdrawing the interim bail application from the Delhi High Court as the prosecution had raised the issue of maintainability. Imam had approached the high court first for relief following the historic Supreme Court verdict that put on hold the colonial-era penal provision of sedition (Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code). In his bail application, Imam said that since the top court has put sedition in abeyance, his case has improved for the grant of bail. "The appellant has been incarcerated for nearly 28 months since January 28, 2020 whereas the maximum punishment for the offences -- not including 124-A IPC -- are punishable for up to a maximum of seven years imprisonment," the plea read. JNU scholars and activists Imam and Umar Khalid are among the nearly dozen people reportedly involved in the alleged larger conspiracy linked to the Delhi riots of 2020, as per the Delhi Police. Imam and Khalid are facing charges in connection with making inflammatory speeches which allegedly fuelled the violence, as per the police. The riots broke out in the national capital in February 2020 as clashes between the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and pro-CAA protesters took a violent turn. The mayhem saw more than 50 people lose their lives besides leaving over 700 persons injured. Prague, July 29 : A forest fire in Czech Republic's Bohemian Switzerland National Park has been contained to an area of about 1,000 hectares after raging for five days. Firefighters suspect that the blaze was started by humans, reports Xinhua news agency. The forest fire broke out on Sunday and started spreading on Monday due to windy weather. It even crossed the country's border with Germany. Some 500 firefighters had been on the scene. Slovakia, Poland and Italy had also sent firefighting aircraft to help douse the blaze. Several hundred people from Czech villages have been evacuated. No casualties have been reported so far, although local media reported that eight firefighters had been treated for minor abrasions or oxygen therapy. As the fire is unlikely to spread further, Environment Minister Anna Hubackova made the decision not to close the entirety of the park despite prior calls from the park administration. However, police are turning cars away near the fire, and areas affected by the blaze within the park remain inaccessible, according to Czech Television. Hubackova said that impacted areas of the park will be closed and local closures will likely persist based on the discretion of municipal officials. Bhopal, July 29 : Two persons died and several others were hospitalised after consuming contaminated water in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district. According to officials, the condition of those admitted is stated to be out of danger. Many many of them have also been discharged. However, the incident which took place three days ago has led to panic among the villagers. On July 27, residents of a village named 'Kanchari Pati' suddenly started complaining of vomitting and abdominal pain. Soon around 35 people got admitted at a community health center in Damoh. Doctors and other health officials suspected that they might have eaten something which turned out be poisonous. As per doctors at the district hospital, acute gastroenteritis and related problems are likely to have been caused by consumption of contaminated water, possibly from a well. Meanwhile, the district administration was informed and additional health workers were deployed to catter number of patients. A 45-year-old woman and another patient died during the treatment following which the district administration swing into action and sent a team of health officials to the village. Contaminated water from a well caused gastroenteritis or diarrhoea, a doctor in Damoh said. Around 200 familes are dependant on a well in the village for potable water. "It seems that consumption of the contaminated water of the well has triggered the outbreak of the stomach infection," he added. Notably, Damoh is the constituency of union minister Pahlad Patel, who is also heading Jal Shakti Mantralay which is working for Centre's dream project -"Har Ghar Nal Jal" scheme. Also, the Madhya Pradesh government has claimed that by 2024, every household will get water through taps. New Delhi, July 29 : Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury stoked a controversy on July 28 by describing President Droupadi Murmu as 'Rashtrapatni'. Chowdhury's derogatory remarks about the newly elected president drove his party into the controversy as the ruling BJP grabbed the opportunity to corner the main opposition party both inside and outside Parliament. Union Minister Smriti Irani and other BJP MPs demanded an apology not only from Chowdhury but also from Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Sensing that the offensive remarks about the president of the country have snowballed into a major controversy, Chowdhury owned up to the mistake and said that the incident happened because of a slip of tongue. The Congress leader further said that he will personally tender an apology to President Murmu, but not to the BJP. Chowdhury's disparaging remarks about the nation's first tribal woman president reflect the decline in the level of political discourse in the country. Personalised attacks and usage of unsavoury language by the politicians during rallies and media interactions has become common. Sonia Gandhi's infamously used phrase "Maut Ka Saudagar" for Primw Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal calling PM Modi "a coward and psychopath" and PM Modi's "Didi O Didi" comment on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are some of the examples that display the fall in the standard of political discourse in the country. CVoter - IndiaTracker conducted a nationwide opinion poll on behalf of IANS to know people's views about Chowdhury's remarks and deterioration in the Indian political discourse. During the survey, while people were divided in their opinion on the issue, a bigger proportion of respondents -- 57 per cent said that the insulting remarks of the Congress leader about the country's president reflect the decline in the level of political discourse in the country. However, 43 per cent of respondents disagreed with the view. The survey further revealed that while the majority of NDA voters -- 62 per cent believe that Chowdhury's controversial remarks are the manifestation of the shallow nature of political discourse of the country's present generation of politicians, views of opposition supporters were divided on the issues. During the survey, while opposition voters were divided on the issue, a substantial proportion of them -- 53 per cent opined that the Congress leader's comments show that the country has been witnessing abject lowering of political discourse. At the same time, 47 per cent of the opposition supporters did not share the sentiment. Similarly, while both the urban and rural voters were divided in their views on the issue, a bigger proportion of voters from both these categories opined that Chowdhury's remarks demonstrated a fall in the level of political discourse in the country. During the survey, 56 per cent urban voters and 55 per cent rural respondents held this view. Bengaluru, July 29 : Opposition parties in Karnataka on Friday accused the BJP government of playing politics over the murder of three youths, which was refuted by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. The state has witnessed three murders in the last nine days. Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said on Friday that the series of murders in coastal region have dented the image of the state. He said, "The ruling party is carrying out murder politics over the deaths of youths." Opposition leader Siddaramaiah said Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's earlier comment of 'action for reaction' is resulting in the series of murders. Former Minister and Congress leader U.T. Khader demanded on Friday that all the three murders should be treated with equal seriousness by the state government. CM Bommai clarified that the government has considered all three murder cases seriously and was dealing with the situation efficiently. "I will hold a meeting with senior police officers on Friday. There is no clue available with Fazil's murder which took place on Thursday night. We are not considering it as just a murder but it is a preplanned act," Bommai said. Kumaraswamy chided the Chief Minister that when he (Bommai) was still in Mangaluru, the third murder took place. "CM has escaped from there. He did not show courage in directing police to take ruthless action. What is the reason behind CM Bommai's fears? Is he bound by the directions of invisible hands? "Instead of stopping the murders, CM Bommai is taking about bulldozer politics. It is a conspiracy to bring 'jungle raj' in Karnataka," Kumaraswamy stated. Siddaramaiah demanded the resignation of inefficient Home Minister Araga Jnanendra." If he is not sacked immediately, there will be a situation where people in the state will not be able to come out of their houses. It is unfortunate that ruling BJP is mired with calculations of political gains and losses with the corpses of youngmen," Siddaramaiah said. Reacting to the charges of the opposition, CM Bommai said the charges by the opposition were ridiculous. Chennai, July 29 : On the occasion of International Tiger Day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday announced that Chennai would host the 'TN Global Tiger Summit' in October. In a statement, the Chief Minister said that the Tamil Nadu Government would join hands with the Central government to conduct the Global Tiger Summit. The Chief Minister said, "The summit would be a fitting tribute to Tamil Nadu's pioneering efforts in Tiger Conservation." He also said that Tamil Nadu is home to nearly 10 per cent of the Tiger population of the country with 264 Tigers in the forest areas of the state as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). There is an increase in Tiger population in several forest areas of the state with the Coimbatore forest range reporting the presence of 20 Tigers. Beijing, July 29 : China has signalled that it may miss its annual economic growth target, as Covid-19 restrictions weigh on the world's second largest economy, the media reported on Friday. On Thursday, the Politburo, the ruling Communist Party's top policy-making body chaired by President Xi Jinping, said it aims to keep growth within "a reasonable range", the BBC reported. It did not mention the official growth target of 5.5 per cent it had earlier set. In a statement after its quarterly economic meeting, the 25-member Politburo said leaders would "strive to achieve the best results possible". However, it also called on stronger provinces to work to meet their growth targets. Analysts said the lack of a GDP mention was notable, though economists had earlier predicted it would be difficult for China to reach its 5.5 per cent target. "The 5.5 per cent growth target is no longer a must for China," the BBC quoted Iris Pang, chief China economist at ING Bank, as saying to The Wall Street Journal. The analysts also added that China was urging larger provinces to make up for those that were more affected by the lockdown. "Beijing requested that provinces which are relatively well-positioned should strive to achieve economic and social targets for this year," Nomura analysts Ting Lu, Jing Wang and Harrington Zhang said in a note. "We think Beijing is suggesting that GDP growth targets for provinces with less favourable conditions, especially for those that were hard hit by the Omicron variant and lockdowns, could be more flexible." China is continuing to pursue a zero-Covid policy that has put major cities into full or partial lockdowns. Paris, July 29 : As the wildfires in southeast France's department of Ardeche were finally brought under control, a suspect placed in custody admitted to starting the blaze, local media reported. The suspect, a 44-year-old man, was in an inebriated state when arrested, Xinhua news agency quoted French news channel BFMTV as saying on Thursday night. The suspect was arrested "with numerous testimonies collected by the investigators who made it possible to identify with certainty a dark colour Ford 4x4 present at the start of the fires", said the prosecutor of Privas. The wildfires broke out on Wednesday morning in Ardeche. According to BFMTV, at least 600 firefighters were mobilised to bring under control the fires that burned 1,000 hectares of land. No casualties have been reported so far. New Delhi, July 29 : The Delhi High Court on Friday issued summons to Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D' Souza, and also directed them to remove tweets on allegations against Union Minister Smriti Irani and her daughter related to a recent bar controversy. The case is related to the political controversy surrounding Silly Souls Cafe and Bar, allegedly operated by Union Minister Smriti Irani's daughter Zoish Irani in Goa's Assagao. "I am of the prima facie view that slanderous allegations were made against the plaintiff without verifying actual facts. Grave injury has been caused to the reputation of the plaintiff in view of the tweets and retweets carried out due to the press conference of the defendants. Plaintiff has made out prima facie case and balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants," Justice Mini Pushkarna remarked. The Congress party has alleged that the daughter of Smriti Irani was running an illegal bar in the BJP-ruled Goa. While Smriti Irani refuted Congress' allegations terming them as "malicious" intended to "malign" her and assassinate the character of her 18-year-old student daughter, the Congress party urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack her as Union minister. Smriti Irani has served legal notice to Congress leaders Pawan Khera, Jairam Ramesh, and Netta D' Souza and demanded a written unconditional apology and asked them to withdraw the allegations against her daughter with immediate effect. After the development in the court, taking to his Twitter account, Jairam Ramesh said: "The Delhi High Court has issued notice asking us to formally reply to the case filed by Smriti Irani. We look forward to presenting the facts before the court. We will challenge and disprove the spin being put out by Ms. Irani." Kolkata, July 29 : Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths, probing the multi- crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment irregularities scam, are now currently hunting for four missing vehicles from the Diamond City residence of Arpita Mukherjee in South Kolkata's Tollygunge. The central agency sleuths recovered huge treasures for the first time on July 22 from the Tollygunge residence. According to the ED sleuths, five parking slots were reserved for Arpita Mukherjee at the Diamond City complex. And as per records five high-end vehicles, which include two Mercedes Benz vehicles, one Honda City, one Honda CR-V and Audi A4, were parked there till July 22 evening when the Central agency sleuths started raiding her flat in this housing complex. However, ED sources confirmed that by the time they concluded the search and seizure operations on July 23 early morning, four of the five vehicles went missing. "We have been able to trace just one white- colour Mercedes Benz vehicle, which we have confiscated. We are trying to track the remaining four vehicles and checking the CCTV footage in the housing complex within the period when these vehicles went missing," confirmed a central agency official. The ED sleuths do not rule out the existence of cash, gold or other crucial documents in the missing four vehicles. It is learnt that out of the four vehicles Arpita Mukherjee used the two Mercedes Benz vehicles and the remaining three vehicles were used for other purposes. Meanwhile, expressing surprise over the missing vehicles, BJP's national vice president and party MP Dilip Ghosh said that surely there was negligence on the part of the ED officials that led to such a development. "The central agency officials should be careful when they are handling such sensitive cases," he said. Meanwhile, both Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee were presented at the ESI Hospital in Joka in the southern outskirts of Kolkata on Friday afternoon for medical examinations. The reactions from the two were totally different. Arpita Mukherjee broke down into tears while coming down from the ED vehicle, Partha Chatterjee said just one line to the media, that he is a "victim of conspiracy". Ridiculing Chatterjee's one liner, state Trinamool Congress general secretary and party spokesman, Kunal Ghosh said that in such cases the natural reaction would have been -- "I am innocent". "However, if ParthaChatterjee really thinks that he is a victim of conspiracy, he should prove that in the court," Ghosh said. Surendranagar : , July 29 (IANS) An Indian Army team rescued a 12-year-old girl from a borewell in the Gajanvav village of Gujarat's Surendranagar district. The girl was later sent to the government medical hospital for treatment. Dhrangadhra Deputy Collector M.P. Patel told IANS, "12-year-old Manisha, while playing in the field where her parents were working, fell in a 600 to 700 feet deep borewell. "The village Sarpanch informed the local authorities, and fire and medical teams were rushed. The district collector requested the Army based in Dhrangadhra to depute a team." It took just four hours for the Army team to rescue the girl, who was at 60 to 70 feet in the borewell. Around 11.30 a.m., the girl was rescued and then sent to the hospital for treatment, where she will be kept under observation for some time, said the officer. Bengaluru, July 29 : On-demand delivery platform Swiggy on Friday announced a permanent work-from-anywhere for majority of its employees. The decision was arrived at based on team needs and feedback from several managers and employees who vouched for the flexibility and increased productivity working from home has given them in the last two years, the company said in a statement. Under the new policy, the corporate, central business functions and technology teams will continue to work remotely and converge once every quarter at their base location for a week to promote in-person bonding. Employees in partner-facing roles are however required to work from the office for a few days a week from their base locations. "Our focus is to enable employees with as much flexibility in their work life within the contours of their job. We observed global and local talent trends while also having our ears to the ground listening to the pulse from employees, managers and leaders. This led us to introducing awork from anywhereaA as a permanent option for employees giving them the convenience of flexible cycles of work and leisure wherever they may be," said Girish Menon, HR Head at Swiggy, in the statement. "We will continue to actively invest in reimagining employee experience, innovations in work and workplace experience to build a truly remote-first organisation," Menon said. Currently, Swiggsters are working out of 487 cities in 27 States and four union territories across the country. Since 2020, Swiggy was among the first few organisations in the startup space to operate on a flexible working model for employees based on the nature of their work. New Delhi, July 29 : In a special drive against Chinese manjha in south Delhi, police arrested seven people and recovered 95 rolls of Chinese manjha from them, an official said on Friday. The accused are identified as Rakesh, Sanjay, Bunty, Denanath along with three women. Manjha is a roll of thread used in flying kites. However, its manufacturers use glass coating over it which can cause fatal injury to humans and birds. Delhi government had banned glass-coated kite strings in 2017. Deputy commissioner of police (south) Benita Mary Jailer said that a special drive was started in the area of South District to apprehend the persons involved in selling the banned manjha, and to seize the banned product from their possession. "During the special drive, 95 rolls of Chinese manjha have been seized and 7 persons have been booked under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code," the DCP said. The senior official further urged citizens to not buy this product and inform the police in case they know of anyone who is selling these in their area. Tokyo, July 29 : The Japanese government said on Friday that it will allow the country's 47 prefectures to issue Covid declarations to tackle the spread of the highly transmissible BA.5 Omicron sub-variant. The move comes following nationwide new daily cases hitting a record high for a second straight day on Thursday at more than 230,000, with new infections in the capital surpassing the 40,000-mark for the first time, reports Xinhua news agency. Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister in charge of economic revitalization and the coronavirus response, announced the policy at a press conference. He said the central government will assist prefectural authorities to "strike a balance between infection control and economic and social activities". The policy is targeting older people, who display far more severe symptoms once they contract the virus and comprise the majority of those receiving treatment in rapidly overstretched medical facilities. Seniors, under the policy, will be urged not to go outside if possible. Along with seniors, the government is also looking to widen the eligibility of the fourth vaccine to include more sections of society. Quasi-emergencies that were lifted earlier this year will not be imposed at this juncture, however, as the government is trying to balance tackling the virus' spread while not stifling businesses and social activities. Under the declarations, local governments will urge residents to take antiviral measures, such as early vaccinations and working from home, local media reported. Along with older people, those with underlying conditions will also be encouraged to avoid going outside unnecessarily. According to the Cabinet Secretariat, the occupancy rates for designated hospital beds were above the 50 per cent threshold which indicates the medical system is under strain. This is the case in 10 out of the 47 prefectures. The central government said it will deploy officials to prefectures that issue declarations to serve as liaison officers to oversee precautionary measures. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Manila, July 29 : The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) on Friday confirmed the detection of the first monkeypox case in the country. The DOH's officer-in-charge Undersecretary Beverly Lorraine Ho said the virus was detected in a 31-year-old Filipino who arrived in the country on July 19, reports Xinhua news agency. The patient's 10 close contacts have been tracked down and are asymptomatic. All close contacts are undergoing quarantine and are being closely monitored, said the DOH. The Department advised the public to avoid sexual contact with suspected monkeypox cases, especially those with rashes and open wounds. It further advised the public to wash hands frequently, wear face masks, and keep good ventilation. Latest updates on Monkeypox Virus Outbreak San Francisco, July 29 : With an aim to enhance user experience, Google-owned streaming platform YouTube has announced that users can now turn their longer videos into Shorts by adding a new "Edit into a Short" tool to its iOS and Android app. With this new update, which is now rolling out across iOS and Android devices, users can now convert up to 60 seconds from their own existing long-form YouTube videos and turn them into Shorts. YouTube Shorts is now being watched by over 1.5 billion signed-in users every month with more than 30 billion daily views. "To make it easier to create even more new content, you can now convert up to 60 seconds from your own existing long-form YouTube videos and turn them into Shorts using all the same editing tools that you know and love (text, timeline editor, filters, etc.)," the company said in a developer update. The company said that this update will allow users to bring fresh life to their classic content and give them a new way to engage their audience. If users select a part of their video that is less than 60 seconds, they can shoot additional videos with the Shorts camera as well as upload more videos from their gallery to make 60 seconds Shorts if needed. The company mentioned that only the original creator will be able to import their long-form videos into Shorts as this tool is not available for other creators to use in their content. Shorts created from VODs will link back to the original long-form videos so that people watching their Short can see the original video too. Google has seen encouraging results in its early monetisating efforts on the short-video making platform YouTube Shorts. Philipp Schindler, Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer at Alphabet (Google's parent company), said this week that consumers are increasing and consuming short-form videos obviously and they are seeing this across multiple platforms, including YouTube. "We're continuing to see good user engagement on YouTube. Early results in Shorts' monetisation are also encouraging, and we're excited about the opportunities here," Schindler said during an earnings call with analysts. New Delhi, July 29 : The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Madras High Court to decide afresh O. Paneerselvam's (OPS) challenge to the General Council meeting of the AIADMK within 3 weeks. A bench, headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana asked the rival OPS and K. Palaniswami (EPS) factions of the AIADMK to maintain status quo in connection with the affairs of the party. EPS was elected as the interim General Secretary of the AIADMK in its General Council meeting held on July 11. Senior advocate Gurukrishna Kumar, representing OPS, submitted extreme decisions were taken and his client was expelled from the party in the July 11 meeting. He added that OPS was removed from the post of the Treasurer and the post was also abolished. Counsel argued that the top court had said that further meetings can proceed in accordance with law, but the meeting was in contravention of the bye-laws. The dual-leadership model in the AIADMK was ended in the party's General Council meeting, and EPS was elevated as the interim General Secretary of the party. The top court had vacated the high court's stay on the passing of resolutions in the AIADMK meeting. The bench, also comprising Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, was hearing a plea filed by OPS challenging the high court's order, refusing to stall the General Council meeting of the AIADMK. Another counsel representing OPS urged the bench for restoring the status quo that existed on July 11, prior to conducting of the party's General Council meeting. However, the top court said it is remanding the matter back to the high court. It said that instead of keeping the matter here, it will send back the matter to the high court for fresh consideration without being influenced by the orders passed by it. "We request the HC to dispose of the matter within a period of 3 weeks max. Status quo has to be maintained by the parties. We have not expressed any opinion on merits," said the bench. On July 6, 2022 the top court had vacated the stay imposed by the high court on the passing of resolutions in the AIADMK General Council meeting. On July 11, the Madras High Court refused to interfere with the meeting of the AIADMK. The plea to stall the meeting was filed by OPS, who argued that proper notice was not issued for conducting the meeting, as per the bye-laws of the party. Bengaluru, July 29 : The Karnataka government will hand over the BJP activist Praveen Kumar Nettare murder case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced on Friday. After chairing a high-level meeting with top police officers in Bengaluru, the chief minister said: "The murder case has connection with the neighbouring Kerala. Since it is an inter-state matter, the case is being handed over to the NIA. I have discussed the case with the DGP. There is suspicion of it being an organised crime with involvement of people from the other states," he said. "After gathering inputs, we will write a letter to the Kerala government. CCTV cameras will be installed at the border areas of Karnataka and Kerala in the coastal region. The platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) would be sent to various towns of Dakshina Kannada district to maintain peace," he said. Directions have been issued to heighten vigilance in sensitive regions. Special teams have been formed to crack the case of Mohammed Fazil Mangalpet who was hacked to death on Thursday night in Surathkal town. Investigation into the is heading in the right direction, he said. Soon, a meeting of religious leaders of the Dakshina Kannada district will be convened to ensure peace and harmony, he added. San Francisco, July 29 : South Korean tech giant Samsung's upcoming next-generation flagship smartphones under Galaxy S23 series will be powered by Qualcomm chipsets. According to GSMArena, CEO Cristiano Amon said the Galaxy S23 series will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 exclusively. "We were 75 per cent on Galaxy S22 before the agreement. You should be thinking about we are going to be much better than that on Galaxy S23 and beyond," said Amon. Meanwhile, Qualcomm Incorporated has announced that it has strengthened its strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics to deliver leading premium consumer experiences for Samsung Galaxy devices. Qualcomm Incorporated and Samsung have agreed to extend their patent license agreement for 3G, 4G, 5G, and upcoming 6G mobile technology through the end of 2030. Both the tech giants have agreed to expand their collaboration with Snapdragon platforms for future premium Samsung Galaxy products, including smartphones, PCs, tablets, extended reality, and more. "The collaboration between Samsung and Qualcomm spans many years and these agreements reflect our close and long-standing strategic partnership," said T.M. Roh, President and Head of MX Business, Samsung Electronics. "We are committed to working with Qualcomm to advance the mobile industry and users' experiences for future Samsung Galaxy devices," Roh added. Peshawar, July 29 : A recent wave of targeted killings has hit Pakistan's Pashtun tribal belt, a volatile region along the border with Afghanistan that was a former militant stronghold. No group has claimed responsibility for the killings, a media report said. The surge in targeted killings and assassinations has coincided with Pakistan's controversial peace negotiations with the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) extremist group, RFE/RL reported. Under a proposed peace plan that has been widely criticised, TTP militants based in Afghanistan would be allowed to return to their former strongholds in northwestern Pakistan and bear arms. Local activists and residents said the recent killings could be an attempt by Pakistan's powerful army and the TTP to silence those opposed to the peace process, a claim rejected by the militants. Many of the victims have been Pashtun tribal elders, religious leaders, and activists critical of the army and militant groups in the region, RFE/RL reported. Residents have long accused Pakistan's military and its intelligence agency of carrying out extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic minority. But many residents do not openly criticize the authorities for fear of retribution. Since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Pakistan's impoverished tribal belt became the scene of deadly army operations, US drone attacks, and militant attacks that uprooted millions of people and left thousands dead. Pashtuns make up the majority of recruits and members of militant groups active in the region, including the TTP. A massive Pakistani Army offensive in 2014 drove out the TTP, Al-Qaeda, and foreign militant groups from Pakistan and across the border to Afghanistan, bringing relative peace to northwestern Pakistan. But since 2019, the TTP has intensified its cross-border attacks against the Pakistani Army and targeted killings have spiked. There are no official statistics for the number of targeted killings in Pakistan. Mir Kalam Wazir, a lawmaker from the provincial assembly of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, estimated that around 450 people have been killed in targeted killings since 2018. Most of them occurred in North Waziristan, a former TTP stronghold, he said, RFE/RL reported. There have been at least 50 targeted killings so far this year, in what observers have said is a noticeable increase. Local activists recorded 70 targeted killings in 2021 and over 50 in 2020 and 2019. The latest victims were religious scholars Qari Samiuddin and Qari Nauman, who were shot dead by armed motorcyclists in North Waziristan on July 14. The two were members of the Jamiat Ulema-e Islam Fazal (JUI-F) religious party and regarded as strong voices against targeted killings in the area, the media outlet added. Since July 18, the JUI-F has held a sit-in in North Waziristan to demand an end to target killings and urge authorities to apprehend the perpetrators of the attacks. Activists and political figures in the region have said the spike in targeted killings could be an effort by authorities and the TTP to stifle criticism of the contentious peace process. Mohsin Dawar, a member of parliament, said residents in the region suspect the role of "state security agencies" in the killings. "On the other hand, militant groups are trying to create chaos and fear so they can stop people from engaging in political activities," he said. "The targeted killings are an attempt to silence dissenting voices." Some observers have said that a breakaway faction of the TTP led by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, which is not part of the truce, could be involved in the killings. The faction is believed to be active in North Waziristan. Several tribal elders said that former TTP militants who surrendered to the Pakistani security forces and were later released were also active in the region. The elders alleged that the Pakistani military and intelligence services were using the armed men -- known locally as the "surrendered" -- "against the locals whenever and in whatever area they feel the need". New Delhi, July 29 : Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande on Friday left for two-day visit to Bhutan, aimed to further enhance the unique and time-tested bilateral relationship, characterised by utmost trust, goodwill and mutual understanding. Gen Pande will commence his visit by paying homage at the National Memorial Chorten at Thimpu, built in the memory of the third King of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. "The Chief of Army Staff is scheduled to have an audience with His Majesty the King and His Majesty the Fourth King," it said. He will also engage in extensive discussions with his counterpart in the Royal Bhutan Army to exchange views on taking forward the strong cultural and professional bonds between both the armies, it added. Gen Pande will conclude his visit by paying homage at the Druk Wangyal Khang Zhang Chortens at Dochula, which were established in honour of the fallen heroes of the Royal Bhutan Army. Chennai, July 29 : A physical education teacher in a government school near Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore city was arrested after several girl students complained of his sexual harassment, police said on Friday. Prabhakaran, 55, from Valparai was recently transferred to the government school in Coimbatore and ever since, girl students have been complaining about him. Parents of the girl students alleged that even after the students had lodged formal complaints with the headmistress, no action was taken against him. On Friday morning parents and students, along with their relatives and friends, gathered at the school and demanded Prabhakaran be arrested. The students said that ever since he joined the school, he had been touching them with bad intentions and that even after complaining several times to the headmistress, he was not punished, hence they had to resort to a mass protest in front of the school. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore South, N. Silambarasan, RDO, Comibatore South, P. Elango, RDO, and other senior officials reached the school and held talks with the agitating parents and students. However, it was only after police arrested the teacher, did the protesters disperse from the school premises. Prabhakaran was charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, and sent to judicial custody. Bhopal, July 29 : A police constable of Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district was suspended on Friday after a video of him thrashing and dragging a senior citizen went viral on social media. While the constable was kicking and dragging the old man, several people present at the platform of Jabalpur Railway station were mute spectators. The incident came to the fore as a passenger made a video of the entire episode and posted it on social media which went viral. However, it was yet to be ascertained as to why the constable thrashed the senior citizen. Jabalpur police said they are investigating the matter. Chandigarh, July 29 : The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday demanded that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should register a written protest with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is visiting Chandigarh on July 30, on his statement to hand over land to Haryana for a separate Assembly in Chandigarh. In a statement released here, SAD spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said it is an opportunity for the Punjab Chief Minister to register a written protest with Shah, demanding withdrawal of his statement on allotment of land to Haryana for construction of separate state Assembly. He said similarly Mann should also withdraw his own statement, which he had given on instructions of AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanding land for Punjab also. He said Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and one cannot demand a plot in a land which belongs to himself. The SAD leader also said the Akali Dal has already registered a written protest in the form of memorandum submitted to the Governor of Punjab by a delegation led by SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal. He said the party is committed for this cause and will not allow the Union government to hand over this land to Haryana but the AAP government of Punjab should not keep on betraying the people of the state. Cheema said it was now the responsibility of Punjab Chief Minister to do the same and hand over written protest to the Union Home Minister. He said the Home Minister should be made aware of the stand of Punjabis on Chandigarh. Apart from the issue of Chandigarh, the Punjab Chief Minister should also raise the issue of converting Panjab University into a Central university and he should clearly tell Shah that Punjab will not let this happen, he added. Islamabad, July 29 : Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa has appealed to the US to help Islamabad secure an early dispersal of $1.2 billion in funds under an International Monetary Fund loan programme, as Pakistan faces the risk of debt default due to dwindling foreign reserves, media reports said. The army chief reached out to the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on a phone call earlier in the week, sources from both US and Pakistan revealed on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, Geo News reported, citing Nikkei Asia. They revealed that Gen Bajwa requested the White House and Treasury Department to urge the lender to expedite the bailout process and immediately release the nearly $1.2 billion that Pakistan expects to receive under a resumed loan programme. Pakistan and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement over the release of the funds to support the country's fragile economy. The staff-level agreement will pave way for a $1.2 billion disbursement, which is expected in August, Geo News reported. Toronto, July 29 : Covid-19 infection raises the risk of stroke, often among younger and healthier patients, who are then likely to face worse outcomes, according to a study. People with Covid are over 2.5 times more likely to have an unfavourable outcome and face a difficult recovery post-stroke. Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University in the US found that the patients with Covid, who were younger and had less risk factors, were less likely to achieve successful revascularisation -- a procedure aimed to restore blood flow into blocked arteries or veins. Moreover, thrombectomy -- a minimally invasive procedure that uses a catheter to reopen blocked arteries in the brain -- was prolonged in the Covid group, as was the length of hospital stay. Most alarming, mortality rates were higher by more than two-fold in the Covid group compared to the control. Overall, Covid was a predictor of poorer outcomes, even though many of the patients were younger, healthier and even had mild symptoms of the virus before the onset of stroke, the researchers said. "There is still so much we need to learn about Covid, especially its impact on younger patients," said lead author Pascal Jabbour, Professor of neurological surgery at the university. "Stroke's impact on individuals with Covid-19 is alarming and one we must continue to research and remedy," Jabbour added. The findings were presented at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery's (SNIS) 19th annual meeting held in Canada. For the study, researchers reviewed data for 575 patients with acute large vessel occlusion (LVO), 194 of which were Covid positive and the remaining 381 were not. The control group was composed of patients who presented with LVO and received a mechanical thrombectomy between January 2018 and December 2020. The team compared which patients had successful revascularisations and left the hospital with little to no disabilities. Of the individuals with Covid, the severity of the virus on stroke onset was moderate in 75.5 per cent of the cases, severe in 15.8 and critical in 8.7 per cent. The mean duration between symptoms and stroke onset was about nine days, and 34 per cent of the Covid group had stroke as their first symptom of the disease. New Delhi, July 29 : The National Medical Commission on Friday allowed final year students who returned to India due to Covid-19 or the Russia-Ukraine war and got degrees from their institutes on or before June 30, 2022, to appear in the Foreign Medical Graduate exam. "It is informed that the Indian students who were in the last year of their undergraduate medicine course (and due to Covid-19, Russia-Ukraine war etc had to leave their foreign medical institute and return to India) and have subsequently completed their studies, as also have been granted certificate of completion of course/degree by their respective institute, on or before June 30, 2022, shall be permitted to appear in Foreign Medical Graduate Examination," it said in a statement. Upon qualifying the Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) exam, they will be required to undergo a Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for two years instead of the existing one year, the NMC said in the statement. "Thereafter, upon qualifying the FMG examination, such foreign medical graduates are required to undergo Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for a period of two years to make up for the clinical training which could not be physically attended by them during the undergraduate medicine course in the foreign institute as also to familiarise them with practise of medicine under Indian conditions," it added. The foreign medical graduates will be eligible to get registration only after completing the two-year CRMI, it said adding the relaxation granted to the foreign medical students is a "one-time measure" and shall not be treated as a precedent in the future. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War New Delhi, July 29 : Supreme Court judge, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar -- who has been part of several crucial judgments including the Aadhaar case, most recently the one upholding several provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and also the one where the court upheld SIT's clean chit to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots -- retired on Friday. Justice Khanwilkar, who was sitting with Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and two other judges on the ceremonial bench, said: "As parting words I will only say thank you to all for the love and affection. Thank you so much. God bless you." Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh said Justice Khanwilkar is known as a "workaholic" and added: "It is always difficult for us when a judge retires... He has been there as a colleague of ours. As members of this Bar, we used to share our chambers in the same corridor in the Supreme Court." Singh said the age of 65 years is very young for a Supreme Court judge to retire. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is down with Covid, appeared virtually, said the Attorney General is also down with Covid-19, otherwise he would have expressed his views on Justice Khanwilkar. Mehta said: "We will miss the smile on his face. Everyone will agree with me that even while dismissing a petition, he would do this with a smile on his face... never left the courtroom with bitterness." Senior advocate Harish Salve, who was appearing virtually, said: "It has been an honour and pleasure of knowing Justice Khanwilkar for almost four decades as a colleague... I would say only one thing, that please treat it as the beginning of a second inning and not a retirement." Justice Khanwilkar, authored the verdict upholding the Enforcement Directorate's powers to arrest, attachment of property, search and seize under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He was also part of a constitution bench which declared that the central government's flagship Aadhaar scheme is constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions -- linking it to bank accounts, mobile phones, and school admissions. He was part of the bench, which, in 2018, held Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) , which criminalised consensual gay sex, as "irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary". The bench struck down part of the British-era law that criminalised consensual sex on the ground that it violated the constitutional right to equality and dignity. Recently, a bench headed by Justice Khanwilkar upheld the SIT's clean chit to Modi and 63 others in the 2002 Gujarat riots. The top court said the SIT investigation into 2002 Gujarat riots revealed that no material was discovered pointing to a meeting of minds in the higher echelons, or the political establishment conspired with other persons to cause riots or turned a Nelson's eye when the riots were raging. In a judgment on petitions challenging provisions of the FCRA Amendment Act in April this year, a bench headed by Justice Khanwilkar said that receiving foreign donations cannot be an absolute or even a vested right, and free and uncontrolled flow of foreign contributions has the potential of impacting the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. Justice Khanwilkar was also part of the five-judge constitution bench, which paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala. He was also part of a constitution bench which ruled adultery is no longer a crime in India. Justice Khanwilkar was elevated as an apex court judge in May 2016. He was born on July 30, 1957 in Pune, and did LLB from a law college in Mumbai. He was appointed the Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on April 4, 2013, and later the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on November 24, 2013. Chennai, July 29 : The medical board of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), constituted on the directives of the Supreme Court to probe the death of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, will be submitting the final report to the Justice A. Arumughaswamy Commission in the first week of August. The Justice Aurmughaswamy Commission was given an extension by the Tamil Nadu government till August 3 and the Member Secretary of the AIIMS medical board has communicated to it that it would submit its final report in the first week of August. The AIIMS medical board, in the communication, stated that it needs time till the first week of August as the members of the board are out of the country till August 1. The Supreme Court had, on November 30, 2021, directed the AIIMS to constitute a medical board to assist the Justice Arumughaswamy commission that is probing the death of the former Chief Minister. Its direction came following the request from the Apollo Hospitals, Chennai to constitute medical board to assist the commission to understand the medical treatment provided to the late Chief Minister. Jayalalithaa underwent treatment for multiple ailments at the Apollo Hospital, where she passed away on December 5, 2016. She was admitted to the hospital on September 22, 2016, and was there for 75 days till she passed away. There were several allegations about her medical condition with even former AIADMK ministers coming out in public that they had not seen the former Chief Minister since her admission to the hospital. AIADMK leader and former minister Dindigul Sreenivasan had, in a public speech at Madurai after her demise, apologised for lying about seeing her having idlis for breakfast. AIADMK leader and former Assembly Speaker, P.H. Pandian had alleged that there were mysteries surrounding the death of Jayalalithaa. The Justice Arumughaswamy commission was constituted following these allegations surrounding the death of the former Chief Minister. New Delhi, July 29 : A 38-year-old man, who was once a cook in the Border Security Force (BSF), quit his job and turned into a high-end fraudster, duping people of over Rs 100 crore in three years, Delhi Police said on Friday. The accused, identified as Ram alias Ram Marwari, a resident of Rajasthan's Jodhpur, has been arrested. He was involved in 59 cases of cheating through a multi-level marketing company and was declared a proclaimed offender in 46 cases. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Vichitraveer Singh, said that a specific information was received on Thursday that the accused will be coming to Rohini to meet his contact. On the basis of the information, a team was set up, laid a trap, and apprehended the accused. During interrogation, the accused revealed his journey from being a cook to high-end fraudster of Rajasthan. "He quit his job as a cook in BSF to do something that would make him rich. In 2007, he opened a security agency in Rajasthan's Jaipur and recruited 60 employees. "Thereafter, he sold the security agency to an ex-servicemen and started working in a MLM company Mitashi Marketing and Consultancy Pvt Ltd as an agent. There he earned about Rs 1.5 crore," the DCP said. In 2008, he established a new company and in 2009, he made it a limited company and became its Managing Director. "This company used to offer commission on joining of new members. Each member had to deposit Rs 4,000 and in return, the member would get a safari suit worth Rs 400. Each member had to further get at least 10 more members to join, to be eligible for commission. Assured returns on their investments were also guaranteed to the members," the senior official said. On giving business of Rs 2 lakh per month, for 12 months continuously, the member would get a motorcycle from the company. In this manner, thousands of members had joined and Ram cheated them of more than Rs 100 crores. After some time, when the company started defaulting in the payment of commissions and re-payment, large number of criminal cases and complaints were filed against the company in 2011, in Rajasthan. However, he fled to Madhya Pradesh's Indore and there, obtained a license for cooperative society. "He has thereafter lived with assumed names such as Ram and Ram Marwari. Thereafter, he dabbled into various businesses in which he lost money. In 2014, he came to Delhi and started property dealing," the official said. In 2018, the accused opened a grocery store but again suffered losses. Last year, he set up an e-commerce platform called "Apna Kart". The accused shifted his base to Indore and lived there in a rent-controlled house. "Going by his past record, it appears that through this platform as well, he might have made quick money by cheating people," the official added. New Delhi, July 29 : A Parliamentary Standing Committee has expressed concern over accidents on national highways due to stray cattle and animals and noted that provisions for fencing or boundary wall to prevent animals are planned for such spots where accidents are frequent. "There should be some mechanism to monitor the frequency of incidents of wildlife/ cattle straying on roads even when the same has not caused any fatal accident yet, and proactive steps may be taken to curb the same," the committee on transport, tourism and culture said in its recent report on national highways. "Necessary action may be taken to coordinate with local law enforcement or concerned agencies to impose a penalty on cattle/animal-rearers for letting out their animals on National Highways," the report asserted. The committee notes that special corridors for the movement of wildlife/cattle, if required, is envisioned by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways at the DPR stage itself and in case certain specific locations develop into black spots due to repeated incidents, fencing/boundary wall is planned for rectification of the spots. "Provisions already exist for imposing fines for parking outside the designated areas on national highways but the ground reality points to the lack of proper implementation of the same. Trucks and vehicles parked on ill-lit highways at night time cause severe accidents and as such, tackling this problem should be a matter of high priority," the report said. The panel recommends that the ministry or the National Highways Authority of India "may take a serious look into the issue of encroachment of service roads by local markets and create an effective policy in order to curb the same, which may be implemented in coordination with concerned agencies". New Delhi, July 29 : Delhi Lt. Governor V.K. Saxena on Friday directed Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to conduct a probe into the alleged corruption in Transport Department. "Lt. Governor VK Saxena has directed the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to conduct a probe into the corruption and collusion of Transport Department officials with the auto financers or unauthorised dealers and touts at the Burari Transport Authority", a source from LG office told IANS. The direction comes in wake of the Delhi High Court's order on a criminal writ petition filed by several auto rickshaw unions of the National Capital who alleged large scale corruption in the RTO and the consequent harassment to the auto rickshaw drivers. The LG has directed to complete the investigation and submit a comprehensive report within one month. As per the source, the Directorate of Vigilance examined the matter and observed that the "petitioners have levelled serious allegations of large scale corruption in the RTO as well as misdeeds that are happening impacting the auto drivers". In its report, the Directorate of Vigilance observed that the said complaint was "serious" in nature and hence, proposed to refer the same to the ACB, which was further endorsed by the Chief Secretary, the source said. It added further that the Vigilance Directorate noted that the Transport Department on 08.08.2012 made it a condition precedent that the financers of auto rickshaws will be non-financial banking companies (NBFS) but several proprietorship firms were financing the purchase of TSRs and thereafter, filing court cases to recover the auto rickshaws for default of loan payments. The auto drivers had complained that the TSR permits were illegally being transferred, on default of payment of loan, in cahoots with the Motor Licensing Officer (MLO) and RTO officials. Singapore, July 29 : Women are less likely to recover their sense of smell and taste after a Covid infection than men, according to a study of long Covid. Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) spoke to a patient who said she has yet to recover her sense of smell, even though it has been over 27 months since initial infection. "It was sudden, like turning an electric switch off," described another patient about her abrupt loss of smell and taste, after contracting Covid. "I was eating some lunch on day three after contracting Covid and one moment I could still smell and taste the flavours of my soup, and the next momemt everything vanished." Besides women, patients with greater initial severity of smell loss and those with nasal congestion were also less likely to recover their sense of smell. The research, published by The BMJ, showed that smell and taste loss are common complaints among patients with Covid, with an estimated 50 per cent of patients reporting these symptoms. This is thought to occur due to conductive barriers and nerve damage from the extensive inflammation in Covid infection, explained the researchers. While most patients are expected to recover their sense of smell or taste within the first three months, "a major group of patients might develop long lasting dysfunction that requires timely identification, personalised treatment, and long term follow-up", the report read. "Our findings are likely to be of substantial relevance to general doctors and otolaryngologists in the counselling of patients with smell and taste disorders post-Covid-19," it added. For the study, an international research team trawled databases for studies of adults with Covid related changes to smell or taste and studies that described factors associated with these changes and time needed for recovery. In all, 18 observational studies involving 3,699 patients met their criteria. Four of the studies were conducted in the community setting and 14 in the hospital setting. They found that smell loss may persist among 5.6 per cent of the patients, while 4.4 per cent may not recover their sense of taste. At least 30 days after initial infection, only 74 per cent of patients reported smell recovery and 79 per cent of patients reported taste recovery. Recovery rates increased with each passing month, reaching a peak of 96 per cent for smell and 98 per cent for taste after six months. London, July 29 : Russian President Vladimir Putin and his friends are "making preparations to flee Russia" should his army be defeated in Ukraine, according to a Telegram channel that claims to come from inside the Kremlin, a media report said. With his Donbas offensive stalling, Ukriane preparing to re-capture Kherson and his economy crumbling, the Russian leader is "aware of the possibility of a sharp change of mood in the country", the Daily Mail reported. Last week, the General SVR channel reported that the 69-year-old had suffered from "severe nausea" overnight, with doctors at his bedside for around three hours. Following on from that report, they claim that "Putin himself and his entourage are preparing plans for evacuation from Russia." It is thought that any plane carrying Putin and his family out of Russia would head to Syria, the nearest friendly state and whose leader, Bashar al-Assad, Putin bailed out by intervening in the Syrian civil war in 2015. Any flight from Russia to Syria, however, would have to fly through the airspace of Turkey, a NATO member. Were Turkey's strongman leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to refuse permission to the plane carrying Putin and his family to enter his airspace, it would effectively scupper the Russian leader's "quickest" and perhaps "only" getaway route, the media outlet reported. Erdogan and Putin have a complex relationship, having been friends and enemies at various times over the past decade as each leader tries to navigate their country through a challenging geopolitical neighbourhood. Iran is another regional power - and Western foe - that would be interested in Putin's fate. "In principle, it is beneficial for Iran and Turkey to keep the Russian president in exile in reserve, using him, depending on the situation, as a lever or as a bargaining chip," the channel was quoted as saying. Although Turkey is a member of the Western military alliance, under Erdogan's leadership the country has "cut its own diplomatic path in international relations". Earlier this month Putin met with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in Tehran, ostensibly to discuss Syria. It is not too much of a stretch to imagine that Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi discussed in private the possibility of Putin requiring asylum from a coup or revolution at home, the report concludes. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War New Delhi, July 29 : Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, whose remarks on President Droupadi Murmu created a furore, has written to her, offering his apology for alleged derogatory remarks. "I am writing to express my regret for having mistakenly used an incorrect word to describe the position you hold. I assure you that it was a slip of the tongue. I apologise and request you to accept the same," the Congress leader said in his letter. Chowdhury on Wednesday courted controversy after he, in the house, referred to President Murmu as 'Rashtrapatni'. Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi was also targeted by the BJP who demanded an apology from her and on Thursday, said that she was unnecessarily being dragged into the controversy, noting that he had already apologised. Union minister Smriti Irani on Thursday accused the Congress of "demeaning" President Murmu and her office, and demanded an apology from Congress. Irani alleged that the Congress has been maliciously targeting Murmu ever since the BJP-led NDA named her its Presidential candidate. New Delhi, July 29 : A team of Indian scientists have found that the monkeypox virus strain circulating in the country is different from the strain that caused 'superspreader events' in Europe, leading to a global outbreak of the disease. The team from Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), Pune, conducted genetic sequencing of two monkeypox cases from Kerala. The data showed that the virus strain present in the country is A.2, that was recently imported to India from the Middle East. It was earlier present in Thailand and the US during the 2021 outbreak. However, the strain that caused superspreader events in Europe, was due to B.1. "The present sustained human-human transmission of the monkeypox virus is believed to have happened via superspreader events in Europe with 16,000+ cases now spread across 70+ countries. This largely is represented as the B.1 lineage of the virus and encompass the predominant lineage for genomes in 2022," Vinod Scaria, scientist at CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), tweeted. He noted that A.2 is in contrast to the majority of the genomes across the world which belong to B.1 lineage; and the A.2 cluster, seen in India, is "not suggestive of a superspreader event". "This would mean" that the cases in the country "are not possibly linked to the European superspreader events", Scaria wrote. "We might be looking at a distinct cluster of human-human transmission and possibly unrecognised for years. The earliest sample in the cluster from the US is indeed from 2021 suggesting the virus has been in circulation for quite some time, and earlier than the European events," he added. He suggested increasing genomic surveillance in the country as more cases emerge and possibly sequence every single case. "Public health measures and communication needs to take these new insights into consideration. Wide testing and awareness could uncover many more cases," Scaria said. Latest updates on Monkeypox Virus Outbreak Kolkata, July 29 : Five-time Congress MP from West Bengal's Berhampore constituency Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who has recently apologised after his "Rashtrapatni" remark went on to create a furore, has earned an image of being a maverick politician since his entry into the West Bengal Assembly way back in 1996. However, such controversial comments from Chatterjee -- the president of the West Bengal unit of Congress, is nothing new. In 2019, which addressing the Motion of Thanks on Presidential address, he made a controversial statement while drawing a comparison between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and late former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi as he said, "Kaha Maa Ganga, Kaha Gandi Naali." In fact, his entry into the Bengal Assembly also marked the beginning of his spat with current West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was associated with Congress then. In fact, Chowdhury contested the elections on behalf of Congress from the Nabagram assembly constituency in Murshidabad district in 1996 from behind the bars, as was imprisoned in connection with the murder of a CPI-M leader. However, despite that, he won by a margin of 20,000 votes. That marked the beginning of the tiff with Mamata Banerjee, who vehemently opposed the entry of Chowdhury into the Assembly. She even went to the extent of tying a noose with her shawl and wrapping that around her neck in public as a mark of protest to Chowdhury's entry. However, since then Chowdhury came to be known as a "tough man" and of "uncompromising character" of the Congress against the (then) strong ruling CPI-M organisation network throughout West Bengal in the late 90s and under his leadership, Congress started converting Murshidabad district as a strong base for the party. In 1999, Chowdhury made his entry into the Lok Sabha by getting elected as a Congress candidate from Berhampore Lok Sabha constituency in Murshidabad district. Since then, he did not have to look back and kept the Congress flag high from that Lok Sabha constituency till the latest in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when he won by margin of over 80,000 votes. In 2005, Chowdhury had to spend about a month over a twin- murder charge but was released on bail soon. That case is still pending. As per the affidavit filed by him with the Election Commission of India before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he has seven pending criminal cases against him including murder. However, his personal popularity with a Robin Hood image made him the blue-eyed boy of the Congress' central leadership especially the erstwhile Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. In October 2012, he was made the minister of state for railways in the Manmohan Singh-led United Progress Alliance (UPA-II) government and finally in February 2014 he was made the state Congress president in West Bengal, the chair which he is still holding. Despite establishing himself as a seasoned politician through his strangle against the CPI-M-led Left Front in West Bengal in his prime, Chowdhury started proving that his actual political rival is Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress, and not the CPI-M. In the 2016 West Bengal assembly elections, Chowdhury on behalf of Congress and the-then CPI-M state secretary and Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suryakanta Mishra, were the two principal architects of having seat sharing agreement. The 2016 West Bengal assembly elections were historic in a sense that brought traditionally arch political rivals, the Congress and the Left Front to come together and take on the mighty ruling Trinamool Congress. However, that joint effort did not become fruitful, and the Trinamool Congress returned to power with Mamata Banerjee as the chief minister for the second time. However, despite that failure, Chowdhury strongly voiced for continuation of Congress' alliance with the Left Front and the two political forces also contested the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections together with both forces ending up with zeros in terms of numbers. Chandigarh, July 29 : In yet another initiative to provide farmers a substitute to conventional crops, the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government on Friday announced setting up of a state of the art centre of excellence for onions in Sangrur district. This would be the third centre of excellence to be established in sync with the Indo-Dutch agreement in Punjab, said Horticulture Minister Fauja Singh Sarari. The minister was presiding over a meeting with PUM expert from the Netherlands, Tjaart Hoffmanpum, and state Director Horticulture Shailender Kaur. The minister said the centre is aimed not only to make the Punjab farmers introduce the latest technological and scientific advancements in cultivation of onion but to break the traditional cycle of two-crop system, which has been resulting in depletion of the water table. "The government is focusing on increasing the income of farmers by introducing new crops and latest technologies while simultaneously continuing the efforts to conserve the natural resources and save the environment," he said. The minister said the centre will focus on increasing the productivity of onions from 22 tons to 40 tons per hectare using Dutch interventions and reducing the loss in post harvest by 30 per cent by using the latest storage technology. He said that the centre will be established under the Mission of Development of Horticulture with the cost worth Rs 10 crore. This centre will create entrepreneurs for the onion nursery, he said, adding the benefits of this centre will be provided in the villages. The minister said presently Punjab has been catering 25 per cent requirement of the onion and once the centre is established, the area will increase to 60,000 acres within three years. Currently, 25,000 acre area is being cultivated under onion crop. Meanwhile, the two Indo-Dutch centres in Punjab include the Centre of Excellence for Potatoes in Dhogri in Jalandhar, which is producing an extremely pure form of seed potato. Another centre for floriculture is coming up at Doraha in Ludhiana, which will encourage seed production technology. Punjab also has two Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence -- for vegetables at Kartarpur in Jalandhar and for fruits (citrus) at Khanaura in Hoshiarpur. New Delhi, July 29 : The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Centre and others on a plea seeking directions to establish the Bar Council in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The plea claimed that failure to provide a Bar Council to Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh lawyers is nothing less than discrimination. A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and J.B. Pardiwala said: "We will issue notice." Supriya Pandita, who is a practicing advocate from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, moved the top court contending that the region has no government-established body where they can get themselves enrolled and take benefits of the Bar Council, like the other states in the country. The top court issued notices to the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Bar Council of India and others on the plea, which sought directions to the Centre and the BCI to establish the Bar Council in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The plea said the Advocates Act, 1961, mandates every state should have a State Bar Council and therefore, respondents cannot deny a Bar Council for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The plea also sought direction for issuing proximity cards to lawyers from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, who would want to avail the benefit of the card issued by the Supreme Court. New Delhi, July 29 : Textile traders in Surat, the country's largest textile market have received orders for more than 5 crore national flags. The government's Har Ghar Tiranga campaign to celebrate the 75th year of independence has led to an unprecedented demand for the national flag across the Country. Traders associations said that manufacturing mills are working day and night to deliver flags on time. Wherever there are textile markets in other states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar etc. people have started making our national flags leaving other routine work. Generally flags of sizes 9x6, 18x12, 16x24, 20x30 and 53x35 are in high demand in the markets. Confederation of All India Traders secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said that the demand of national flag is such that even textile traders in Surat alone, the country's largest textile market, has received orders for more than 5 crore national flags. Khandelwal said that after the central government made the tricolor campaign a part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), corporate companies across the country have also started ordering flags. "Generally, there was a demand for national flags in the country around January 26, August 15 and October 2, but in the last two years due to Covid, the programmes of these national festivals did not take place on a large scale, due to which the stock unused then were in the market currently but after the call of Prime Minister Modi and efforts by central government and the state governments to celebrate the Har ghar tiranga campaign on a large scale and CAIT appealed to trade organisations across the country to join this campaign, the demand for tricolor flags in all the states of the country has increased tremendously," he said. The Traders association said that various campaigns are being run by different social, cultural, and religious organisations and it is certain that in the coming days the whole country will be decorated with the Tiranga. New Delhi, July 29 : Ahead of the year-end Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, the BJP is trying to bring back leaders who deserted the party in recent times. The BJP is also trying to convince disgruntled leaders to stay in the party. Earlier in a strong message to deserters and rebels, the BJP had said that they would not be allowed to re-join the party. However, to consolidate its position and strengthen the party, the BJP has started inducting those who left the party. The BJP had allowed re-joining of rebel leaders Urmil Thakur, Chetan Bragta, and Rakesh Chaudhary, who left the party over denial of tickets. A senior party functionary said that everyone who is ready to follow the party ideology and serve the people of Himachal Pradesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be, after proper consideration, allowed to re-join the party. "If leaders who once left the party are interested in joining back, they will consider their request and take appropriate decisions accordingly. Definitely they will strengthen the party," a senior BJP functionary said. The BJP state leadership also asked its leaders to identify disgruntled ones, who could be targeted by the opposition camp, and convince them to stay in the party. "...there are few people who are not happy with the state of affairs in the Himachal BJP and some other reasons. Party leaders have been directed to identify such leaders and address their grievances, and convince them to stay in the party," another senior party leader said. Retaining power in Himachal Pradesh for a second consecutive term is important for the BJP as it is the home state of party chief J.P. Nadda. In last year by-polls of three assembly seats, the Congress won all three Fatehpur, Jubbal-Kotkhai and Arki assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh. Congress has also won the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in the by-polls. A senior leader pointed out that everyone is important and the party is focusing on keeping everyone together or bringing back those who left earlier. The 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly will be held along with Gujarat at the end of year. The BJP formed the government in Himachal Pradesh by winning 44 seats in the 2017 state Assembly. New Delhi, July 29 : The Delhi High Court, dealing a plea between two media outlets, on Friday said every media house, TV channel, or social media platform have their own philosophy, which gets reflected in the manner of reportage and content of the programmes, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Dismissing the defamation and copyright infringement suit moved by TV Today Network against news portal Newslaundry, Justice Asha Menon said the right to free speech is an important right, but reputation is an equally important right. "The right to free speech and expression has been enshrined in our Constitution as a Fundamental Right. The right to free expression has therefore been stoutly protected by the courts. No doubt, the right to free speech is not unbridled nor is it recognised as absolute. It is subject to reasonable restrictions, which includes the right to reputation, as has been recognised in several judgments," she ruled. "Quite clearly, the right to broadcast programmes would be included in the right to free speech and expression. "... the right to free speech and expression carries with it the right to publish and circulate one's ideas, opinions and views with complete freedom and by resorting to the available means of publication, which, in the opinion of this court, would also mean and include not only the electronic media and TV channels, but also the social media platforms as the object of publication and broadcast is the same i.e., to reach out to the public," the order added. The court also pointed that it cannot accept self-appointment by the defendants (news portal) as a "regulator" of the content of the media, for the reason that mechanisms exist for redressal of grievances relating to content of news channels and for social media content, set up statutorily, including by the platforms themselves. "It is obvious that there can be no 'free for all' in the regulatory sphere. Every individual or organisation cannot claim authority to regulate - the chaos can be imagined - there will be only regulators and none willing to bide by regulations!! But, dehors this claim to the status of a regulator, albeit an informal one, what is seen is that basically, the defendants No.1 to 9 disapprove of the coverage of current news both, in the style, as well as its prioritisation, by the mainstream media and TV channels or even the social media platforms," it observed. "Every media house and channel on TV or the social media platforms, including that of the defendants No.1 to 9, have their own philosophy, which gets reflected in the manner of reportage and content of the programmes and that is not necessarily a bad thing, " the court held. New Delhi, July 29 : As Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is finally not going to attend the World Cities Summit at Singapore, a new war of words has erupted between the Centre and state. The Delhi government has also issued a formal statement blaming the central government for this. The statement said that the formalities for the Singapore visit were to be completed by July 20, while the Lieutenant Governor returned the file on July 21. "Only the Central Government can be held responsible for CM Arvind Kejriwal not being able to attend the World Cities Summit in Singapore and the subsequent humiliation the country has had to face. The file regarding clearance for Chief Minister's visit was sent to the LG on June 7 itself. The LG sat on the file for one and a half months and returned the file on July 21. By then not only had there been a lot of delay, but the deadline till July 20 to complete the travel formalities had also passed," the statement said. However, as per the central government sources, the World Cities Summit invitation to Arvind Kejriwal was withdrawn by Singapore. The Centre claimed that an email revealed that the invitation was cancelled. IANS has also assessed that email dated July 26 that said "With reference to our email dated on July 15 noting the acceptance deadline of 20 July, we regret to inform you that we could no longer accept further additions to the plenary". The email said "The invitation to the WCS, which is non-transferable, would also be allowed to lapse." IANS has a copy of that email. The Delhi BJP blamed Kejriwal for making false allegations against the Centre and said that Kejriwal's dream of going to Singapore to make tall claims about his false and publicity-based education model has been shattered. "Arvind Kejriwal was constantly doing gimmicks and pretending to go to Singapore and all his ministers, MLAs and leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party were doing the work of promoting this show. Now it has been busted. Even after the Singapore government withdrew Kejriwal's invitation, all AAP MLAs and ministers, including Manish Sisodia, were still busy blaming the central government for this", said Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta. Gupta claimed that Kejriwal had sought permission from the Ministry of External Affairs for the Singapore visit, but now it has been revealed that the Singapore government itself had cancelled the invitation to Kejriwal on July 20 itself. "Kejriwal did the work of deceiving the people of Delhi by making false statements in the name of Singapore and making false allegations against the Central Government because when he started feeling that he would be exposed for this fiasco, he blamed the Centre", Gupta said. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a programme at Tyagraj Stadium on Friday, Kejriwal said, "It would have been good if I could go and put forward my point and share with the world the work being done in India...I am not blaming anyone for it". Bhubaneswar, July 29 : Senior Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja on Friday demanded the state government to reopen Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath temple at Puri in Odisha. Speaking at Zero Hour in the Odisha assembly, Saluja said the devotees of Lord Jagannath wanted to know whether the jewellery and other valuables of the deity is in safe custody or not. He urged the Speaker to ask the state government to open the Ratna Bhandar and make necessary renovation of the treasury. Saluja also demanded for inventory of valuables inside the Ratna Bhandar and make it public. Further, the Congress legislator requested Speaker B.K. Arukha to direct the state government to table the report of the Justice Raghubir Dash Commission, which was constituted to probe the incident relating to the missing of the keys of Ratna Bhandar of the temple. "The BJD government has set up 24 Commissions of inquiry on various issues at the cost of crores of rupees during the last 21 years of its rule. However, it is a matter of regret that eight Commissions have not submitted their reports yet. The government, on the other hand, kept on extending their tenure," he said. Speaking to media persons outside the house, Saluja said even Puri king Dibyasingha Deb has expressed concern over the physical condition of Ratna Bhandar. The king has also demanded to make public the valuables kept inside the treasury, he added Earlier, the former law minister Pratap Jena had informed the house that the Ratna Bhandar was opened in 1978. At that time, it had more than 12,831 'bhari' of gold and 22,153 'bhari' silver (one bhari equals 11.66 grams). The storehouse had 12,831 grams of gold ornaments with expensive stones and other valuables of the metal. Similarly, 22,153 grams of silver with expensive stones, silver utensils and other valuables were found. However, 14 gold and silver items could not be weighed during the inventory making process for different reasons. During the process, the value of the items was not assessed, the minister had. New Delhi, July 29 : The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to retire a squadron of MiG-21 Bison aircraft by September 30. Thereafter, only three squadrons of the aircraft will remain in service, which would be phased out by 2025. "The 51 Squadron based out of Srinagar airport is being number plated on September 30... Thereafter, every year one squadron will be fitted with a number plate," sources said. The 51 Squadron is famous for thwarting Pakistan's air strike on India on February 27, 2019 and shooting down an F-16 by an aircraft flown by Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Abhinandan Varthaman. Sources said this is the only instance when a MiG-21 aircraft shot down an F-16 in an air-to-air combat. IAF is replacing MiG-21 fighter jets with more capable aircraft like Su-30 and indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). In the last 20 months, 6 MiG-21 aircraft have crashed in accidents in which five pilots have lost their lives. On Thursday evening, a MiG-21 Type 69 Trainer aircraft crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan killing both the pilots. The MiG-21 was supposed to be discontinued long back, but the delay in induction of the LCA Tejas aircraft has forced the IAF to continue flying these aircraft. As per officials, the IAF conducts extensive checks of these aircraft before flight and all safety aspects are taken care of before the pilot takes off. Officials said that the number plated squadron would be reactivated soon with more capable aircraft in the near future. New Delhi, July 29 : Smartphone brand OPPO India on Friday launched a new initiative -- Vihaan -- to empower small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to amplify their operations and, in turn, strengthen the local supply chain for a robust smartphone eco-system in the country. Under this programme, the company said it will invest $60 million in the next 5 years. "The forward-looking, industry-friendly policies of the Indian Government have created an enabling environment which nurtures and promotes innovation, unleashing the electronics manufacturing industry," Vivek Vasishtha, Vice-President, Public Affairs, OPPO India, said in a statement. "With a robust local supply chain getting established, the time is right for promoting exports of our quality 'Make in India' smartphones to identified markets. This would facilitate OPPO India in expanding the export capacity to $5 billion over the next five years," he added. OPPO India said it has already invested heavily to enhance the country's manufacturing prowess, which has made the company a leader in 'Make in India' smartphone shipments with 22 per cent year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2022, as per a Counterpoint Research report. "In tandem with the government's vision of an 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', OPPO India will be strongly supporting local manufacturing and exports, SMEs and MSMEs, cutting-edge technologies, and skill development in the sector through the 'Vihaan' programme," Vasishtha said. OPPO India aims to partner with more local suppliers to strengthen the local supply chain for a robust smartphone ecosystem in India. The company has collaborated with the government and industry in encouraging around 30 Tier-1 suppliers to set up operations in India. They have employed tens of thousands of Indian locals contributing to developing the electronics industry and enhancing India's stature in the global value chains. In the next 5 years, the company said it will be focussing on initiating the development of next-gen technologies such as AI, 5G etc., to accelerate the product development process from India, empowering and mentoring technology start-ups end-to-end, and exploring collaborations with educational institutions to nurture the innovation culture. New Delhi, July 29 : A major international drug trafficking syndicate, which used to smuggle liquid heroin into India from Afghanistan has been busted, with the arrest of four people, including one Afghan national, police said on Friday. The four accused have been identified as Parvez Alam alias Javed alias Doctor, 51, Afghan national Naseem Barkazy, 30, Shami Kumar alias Shami, 32, and Rajat Gupta. Alam was the key member of the international drug syndicate, as he used to process the liquid heroin, convert it into powder and distribute the same. The drug, in paste form, was then trafficked through various air and sea routes, and received by Barkazy. Barkazy, who was married to an Indian woman, had arrived here on the pretext of his wife's illness. A senior Delhi Police official told IANS that with the arrest of these four drug traffickers, the police has recovered 21 kg heroin valued at Rs 130 crore in the international market. "Continuing the drive against drug traffickers and suppliers active in north India, several teams were deployed to intercept the drug traffickers and gather actionable input on them," the official said. Specific information was received regarding one trafficker, after which, the police teams laid a trap, and the Afghan national was apprehended from Karkardooma area. On interrogation, he disclosed that he is part of an international drug trafficking syndicate and operates at the behest of his associates based in Afghanistan. "He further disclosed that his associate, namely Alam alias Doctor, helps him in manufacturing and mixing heroin, and at present, a large amount of heroin is lying with him," the senior official said. Immediately, in furtherance of the disclosure, a police team was dispatched to the hideout of Alam and a raid was conducted in Bhajanpura, where, during the search, a total of 7.4 kg heroin and Rs 1.25 lakh cash was recovered. During the sustained interrogation of both the accused, it was revealed that their nexus is spread across India and had deep roots in Punjab. "One of their associates, namely Shami Kumar, a resident of Amritsar, had recently received a consignment of heroin for further distribution in Punjab," said the official, adding that a raid was conducted in Delhi's Mahavir Nagar, Dabri, and during search, recovery of 11 kg heroin and precursor (mixing chemicals) was effected. "The accused, Shami Kumar further disclosed that he is acting on behalf of Pankaj and all the finances are being managed by Rajat Gupta. After extensive raids, accused Rajat Gupta was apprehended," the official said. Through interrogation, it was revealed that all the four arrested accused were the members of an international drug trafficking syndicate and their major source of supply is from Afghanistan, where opium is cultivated in abundance. After processing the liquid substance smuggled from Afghanistan, fine quality heroin is distributed in Punjab, Delhi and other states through their couriers and distributors spread across the nation. New Delhi, July 29 : The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) has launched a campaign to boost its presence on social media and expand its base amongst youth. The Congress' youth wing, through its 'Join IYC Social Media' campaign, intends to recruit "whoever wishes to fight against politics of hatred and polarisation in the country", it said. "BJP is only interested in Hindu-Muslim and spreading lies, not in the welfare of the state. We have truth with us, let's prepare ourselves on social media platforms to expose their fake propaganda and hidden agendas... It's high time we stand against their politics of hatred," IYC said. The Youth Congress has been on forefront during the party's agitations, and in the latest protest, its president B.V. Srinivas was allegedly manhandled by a police personnel while he was being detained during the party's protest in the national capital. In a video clip of the incident, a cop could be seen grabbing Srinivas by his hair while several others trying to bundle him inside a police vehicle. New Delhi, July 29 : Ola Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal on Friday refuted a report that said Ola and Uber are considering a potential merger. "Absolute rubbish. We're very profitable and growing well. If some other companies want to exit their business from India they are welcome to! We will never merge," Aggarwal posted. The Economic Times report, citing sources, said the Indian cab aggregator Ola and Uber Technologies are considering a potential merger. Ola Chief Executive Aggarwal met top Uber executives in the US, said the report. "That report is inaccurate. We are not, nor have we been, in merger talks with Ola," Uber said in a statement. Ola said that it is one of the most profitable ride hailing companies in the world with a strong balance sheet. "We are the market leader in India and are much bigger than other player. Hence, merger of any kind is completely out of the equation. We believe that India has a lot more opportunity to unlock when it comes to mobility services," a company spokesperson told IANS. "As a strong vertically integrated mobility company we will further consolidate our position by any acquisition in the Indian market, if at all," the spokesperson added. New Delhi, July 29 : The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) teams in four different locations across the country will dispose off more than 30,000 kg drugs in the virtual presence of Home Minister Amit Shah during the National Conference on 'Drug Trafficking and National Security' on Saturday. Shah will address the event through video conference in Chandigarh. The Chief Ministers of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, the Administrator of Chandigarh, officers from the BSF, NIA and NCB as well as ANTF chiefs of the respective states and NCORD members will also be present at the conference. This is the first such national conference where the Union Home Minister, Chief Ministers of different states and the different Drugs Enforcement Agencies will all be on one platform. The four locations where NCB team will dispose off the drugs include Delhi -- 19,320 kg of drugs, Chennai 1,309.40 kg, Guwahati 6,761.63 kg of drugs, and Kolkata 3,077.75 kg. In total, the NCB team will destroy over 30,000 kg of drugs. The NCB has taken a pledge to destroy 75,000 kilograms of drugs on 75 years of Independence. The NCB started the drug disposal campaign from June 1 this year. Around 51,000 kg of drugs have been disposed by NCB teams in 11 different states till July 29. With the scheduled disposal of 30,468.78 kg of drugs on Saturday, the total quantity will reach around 81,686.62 kg, crossing the NCB's target. Panaji, July 29 : Goa Excise Commissioner Narayan Gad on Friday began hearing the case of liquor license, in which RTI activist Aires Rodrigues has alleged that the license was obtained illegally and renewed though the applicant died in 2021. 'Silly Souls Bar and restaurant', allegedly being run by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani's family, at Bhouta Vaddo in Assagao Village has been at centre of controversy for the past few days after the Congress party addressed a press conference against it. However, Smriti Irani has already clarified that her daughter is not involved in running a restaurant in Goa and has issued legal notice to Congress leaders demanding an apology from them. After hearing the complainant, Adv. Aires Rodrigues and Adv. Benny Nazareth representing the family of the liquor licence holder late Anthony DGama, the Excise Commissioner framed two issues for determination. "The first issue being as to whether the excise licence was obtained by submitting false and inadequate documents and by misrepresenting facts and the second issue being whether there were procedural irregularities on the part of the excise officials," Rodrigues told reporters after hearing. He said that the commissioner has directed the licence holder to file their response to the two issues and adjourned the further hearing to August 22. Rodrigues in his complaint also drew the attention of the Excise Commissioner that last month on June 29 the license was renewed despite the applicant having died on May 17, 2021, as per the death certificate issued by the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai. "We are in a vibrant democracy, we respect the rule of law. Authorities have issued us a show cause notice, we have filed our replied," Benny Nazareth, representing DGama's family said. He said that there are provisions in the Portuguese civil code, wherein after the death of spouse, his or her powers (in this case the liquor licence) are transferred automatically to the partner. "Here it is a Portuguese Civil Code, under this ownership of property is jointly done in the name of husband and wife. But when the husband dies, the power goes automatically to the spouse. So further nothing actually needs to be done," Nazareth said. New Delhi, July 29 : A Special CBI court on Friday convicted former Coal Secretary H.C. Gupta and Joint Secretary K.S. Kropha, Grace Industries Ltd, Nagpur, and its Director Mukesh Gupta in a case related to the allocation of Lohara East Coal block in Maharashtra. "The evidence on record as encapsulated above shows that there was criminal conspiracy amongst Grace Industries Ltd, Mukesh Gupta, H.C. Gupta and K.S. Kropha for procuring recommendation of allocation of Lohara East Coal Block in favour of Grace Industries," special judge Arun Bhardwaj said in the order. "There were no ripples in spite of coming to know that Grace Industries Ltd had made false representations regarding kiln infrastructure and production capacity," the order said. "In the opinion of this court, the circumstantial evidence noted above is sufficient to return a finding that there was a criminal conspiracy amongst these four accused persons for securing recommendation of Screening Committee in favour of Grace Industries Ltd and for allocation of Lohara East Coal Block in favour of M/s GIL," it added. The coal block, located in an area of 3.5 sq km and was having estimated geological reserves of approximately 57 million tons, was jointly allocated to Grace Industries along with Murli Industries Ltd. As per the CBI statement, during the investigation, it was revealed that Grace Industries had secured an allocation of 16.14 million tons of coal reserves in the Lohara East coal block on the basis of false information about net worth, capacity, equipments and status of procurement and installation of plant. It was found that the said private company, in its application, claimed its net worth as Rs 120 crore whereas its own net worth was Rs 3.3 crore and falsified its existing capacity as 1,20,000 TPA against actual project capacity of 30,000 TPA. The company claimed 2 kilns in production and 3 kilns under installation whereas as on September 7, 2006, it had only one kiln in operation. After allocation of coal block, Mukesh Gupta sold the entire equity/share of his company to another person at a profit of about Rs 20 crore. It was found that 51 private Companies had applied for the said coal block, however, criteria for inter se priority was not followed to determine the most suitable company. The company had also submitted an incomplete application, which as per the guidelines of the Coal Ministry, was liable to be rejected. However, officials concerned of the Ministry did not ensure scrutiny of applications. Moreover, the application of the company was also not sent to the Steel Ministry, the administrative ministry concerned, for its assessment. It was also found that the company was recommended for allocation of coal block without the recommendations of the Ministries of Steel and Power and the Maharashtra government. Moreover, excess coal was allotted to the company despite a written complaint made by the other allottee company. After a thorough investigation, a charge sheet was filed on October 28, 2014, and the charges were framed on June 7, 2016 against six accused. The trial court found the four accused guilty, and acquitted two. Arguments on the sentence will be heard on August 4. Colombo, July 29 : India's President Droupadi Murmu on Friday congratulated her Sri Lanka counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected by the Parliament following the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. "I take the opportunity to extend my felicitations to you on your recent election as the 8th President of Sri Lanka by the Parliament of Sri Lanka," President Murmu, who was also elected as the head of state a week ago, said. "I wish you all success as you assume the responsibilities and challenges of your high office at a critical juncture for Sri Lanka. "As a close neighbour, India has been committed to assist the people of Sri Lanka in overcoming the challenges posed by the economic crisis, guided by our 'Neighbourhood First'," she said. "It is my hope that long standing bilateral partnership, between our two countries, based on the shared heritage and deep people to people ties will further strengthen," Murmu added. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too congratulated Wickremesinghe and stated that India would continue to be supportive of the quest of the people of the island nation for stability and economic recovery, through established democratic means. Facing an unprecedented economic crisis, Sri Lanka from January received almost $4 billion financial assistance from India to provide food, fuel, medicine and other basic essentials. Gurugram, July 29 : In compliance with the orders given by the Director, Urban Local Bodies (ULB) Department, Haryana, all meat shops and slaughterhouses in the Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) and Municipal Corporation Manesar (MCM) area will remain closed from August 24 to September 1 for nine days during the Jain festival of Paryushan Parv. "The orders have been received from ULB Department in this regard. As per the orders received, all meat sale shops and slaughterhouses in MCG and the MCM area will remain closed from August 24 to September 1. In these nine days, the festival of Jain community, Paryushan Parv, will be celebrated," Deputy Municipal Commissioner Vijaypal Yadav said. We have directed all the meat sellers located in the corporation area to keep their shops closed during these nine days i.e. from August 24 to September 1. The corporation teams will monitor the area during these days and action will be taken against those who do not follow the orders," he added. New Delhi, July 29 : The government on Friday told the Lok Sabha that about 20,000 Indian students have returned from Ukraine, as per the data provided by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Minister of State for Health, Bharati Pravin Pawar said that as per information received from MEA, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has communicated with all the concerned universities in Ukraine for providing transcript and other documents in a smooth manner to the students. All details have been provided on the website of the Embassy to assist students to address any related issues. The eligibility Requirement for Taking Admission in an Undergraduate Medical Course in a Foreign Medical Institution Regulation, 2002 provides for that any Indian citizen overseas intending to obtain primary medical qualification from any medical institution outside India, on or after May 2018, shall have to mandatorily qualify the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS course. The result of the NEET shall be deemed to be treated as the Eligibility Certificate for such persons and no separate permission required from NMC. Therefore, data of students going abroad to pursue MBBS is not maintained centrally. Foreign Medical Students/Graduates are either covered under "Screening Test Regulations, 2002" or "Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021". There are no such provisions in the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 as well as the Regulations to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes to Indian medical colleges. No permission has been given by the NMC to transfer or accommodate any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Los Angeles, July 29 : The inimitable combination of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, who have just wrapped up the film adaptation of the award-winning journalist and bestselling author David Grann's non-fiction book, 'Killers of the Flower Moon', for Apple Original Films, are already onto their next project, says 'Hollywood Reporter'. The upcoming film is based on another of Grann's riveting stories, the shipwreck mystery thriller 'The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder'. Set in the 1740s, says 'Hollywood Reporter', Wager's story is set in motion when a patched-together boat with 30 emaciated men land on the coast of Brazil. The men were the surviving crew of the British naval ship, HMS Wager, which was chasing a Spanish vessel and had crashed onto a desolate island in South America's Patagonia region. Their tales of surviving the seas and the elements made them heroes. Six months later, however, another vessel, even more beat up than the first, ended up off the coast of Chile, this one with three men. These new sailors accused the other men of being mutineers. As accusations and counter-charges flew, according to 'Hollywood Reporter', the British Admiralty set a special trial in motion to uncover the truth of what exactly happened on the island, exposing a story of not just a captain and crew struggling to survive while battling some the most extreme elements on the planet, but also fighting against their own human natures. DiCaprio will be coming off starring with Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone and Brendan Fraser in 'Flower Moon', set in the 1920s Oklahoma and depicting the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation. Scorsese and DiCaprio are one of the great pairings in cinema, and in the last 25 years the two have worked together on six movies that have generated multiple Oscar wins and box-office hits, adds 'Hollywood Reporter'. The formidable list includes 'Gangs of New York', 'The Aviator', 'The Departed', 'Shutter Island' and 'The Wolf of Wall Street'. Bangkok, July 30 : The three-day northeast festival began in Bangkok on Friday in presence of 150 Thai tour operators interacting with northeast India's tourism stakeholders. The colourful festival began at the Centara Grand Hotel in Bangkok to showcase northeast India and explore the shared history, officials said. According to an official statement, senior officials of Tourism Departments of various northeastern states displayed a vivid and elaborate picture about the scope, potentiality and natural beauty of northeast India. Ambassador of India to Thailand Suchitra Durai in her welcome address defined that the festival is a path breaking initiative to promote Indo-Thai relationship with special focus on northeast India. India's Minister of state for External Affairs R.K. Ranjan, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, several ministers from the northeastern states, senior officials of Central and state governments in the northeast and top industrialists, among others attended the festival. In the second edition of the 'Northeast India Festival', a series of discussions, exhibitions, buyer-seller meets, cultural programmes and fashion events would be held at the Central World in Bangkok, which will also be a part of the events to celebrate 75 years of India-Thailand diplomatic ties. The first edition of the festival was organised in February 2019 when it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With support from the Indian Embassy in Bangkok and various state governments in the northeast, the festival is being organised by the Guwahati based socio-cultural trust, Trend MMS. Ambassadors of various ASEAN and QUAD countries, experts, and the local Thai community are also expected to attend the festival. Over 30 MSME entrepreneurs will showcase their products from the northeastern region at the festival with special focus on tea, handicraft, agri-horti products and tourism. Festival spokesman Shyamkanu Mahanta said that more than 400 delegates are travelling to Bangkok to participate in the festival.Mahanta also informed that the northeast diaspora in Thailand under NEIA is supporting the event. Solan, July 30 : The health department in Himachal Pradesh has detected a person with symptoms similar to monkeypox in Solan's Baddi. The health condition of the person is improving as it has been 21 days since he first showed the symptoms. As a precautionary measure, the person has been isolated and surveillance is being done in his surrounding areas. Samples have been sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for lab testing. Himachal government has urged people to do not get confused or scared about monkeypox, and appealed them to take necessary precautions if they experience any symptoms of the disease. "Seek medical advice immediately as these symptoms can also be of any other disease, so there is a need to maintain alertness, alertness and restraint," the government has said. Earlier, the administration went into a tizzy after a tourist who came to Himachal from Delhi showed symptoms of monkeypox. He had returned to Delhi in a bus after visiting many tourist places including Manali. Latest updates on Monkeypox Virus Outbreak Thiruvananthapuram, July 30 : Kerala Education Minister V. Sivankutty on Friday slammed Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for abruptly calling off a meeting with him and two of his Cabinet colleagues "My office sought an appointment for the meeting and it was fixed for Thursday and two other cabinet colleagues of mine were also in the team to meet him. The meeting was also confirmed by our Left leaders in both the houses of parliament. But at the last minute, we were told that he will not be in a position to meet us, but if the parliament members wish they can meet him," Sivankutty said. Sivankutty, accompanied by state Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil and Transport Minister Antony Raju, wanted to meet Vaishnaw to discuss about the long pending issues of the development of the Nemom railway station located at a stone's throw from the Trivandrum Central railway station. "We will bring this to the attention of the Prime Minister on what happened to us and that too after giving us the appointment. This is against the federal principles which are followed in a democracy," added Sivankutty, a first-time Minister. Sivankutty also did not spare the lone Keralite Union Minister V. Muraleedharan, whom he accused of playing a negative game. "Each time Muraleedharan visits the state, he uses maximum time to be critical against the state government and he is out to scuttle the development of the state," he alleged. One reason why Sivankutty is peeved is because a day before the planned meeting of the Kerala Ministers with Vaishnaw, Muraleedharan and the local BJP leaders from the state capital district had a detailed meeting with Vaishnaw and got an in-principle approval for taking up the development works at the Nemom railway station. New Delhi, July 30 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reportedly enough evidence to prove that Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain and his family were allegedly involved in money laundering as they acquired assets disproportionate to his known source of income to the tune of Rs 1,62,50,294. "This case is a classic case of money laundering involving meticulous planning and execution at all three stages of placement, layering and integration of the proceeds of crime generated by Jain and his aides. He acquired cash from unfair means by commission while holding office as a Cabinet Minister in Delhi," the ED said. "Subsequently the said cash amount were transferred through chartered accountant by hawala operators to Kolkata to entry operators for layering of the cash transactions. Thereafter the entry operators knowingly and intentionally layered the cash in different shell companies' bank accounts and finally transferred the said amounts to companies owned by the Delhi Health Minister," the central agency added. The said money was used for purchasing agriculture land and the said properties and agricultural land are now being projected as untainted origins, the ED said. Audited books were signed by the chartered accountant appointed by Jain despite having complete knowledge of the crime. The Delhi Health Minister masterminded the entire operations and executed the accommodation entries against cash with full preparation and with a "guilty mind". "The aforestated transactions and the criminal conspiracy was carried out by Jain and his aides with complete preparation and knowledge of the criminal nature of the activities," the ED said. Earlier on Friday, the Rouse Avenue court has said that the alleged shell companies -- Akinchan Developers Private Limited, Paryas Infosolutions Private Limited, Manglayatan Developers Private Limited and JJ Ideal Estate Private Limited -- have been represented through the Delhi Health Minister, however, the same are admittedly companies. It is not a case of the ED that at present, Satyendar Jain is either the Director or has been appointed by the said companies to represent them. The Special Public Prosecutor for ED has submitted before the court that amended memo will be filed to bring on record through whom the companies may be representated. The present case is predicated upon the case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the accused in 2017. As per the allegations in the said FIR, the Delhi Health Minister, while posted and functioning as a Minister in the government of NCT of Delhi had acquired assets disproportionate to his known source of income to the tune of Rs 1,62,50,294 between February 14, 2015, to May 31, 2017, with the help of other people and his family members, namely his wife Poonam Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain. Jain and his family members exercised control and had a substantial stake in certain companies, namely Paryas Infosolution Pvt. Ltd, Indo Metalimpex Pvt. Ltd, Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd. and Mangalayatan Projects Pvt. Ltd. These companies were also found to be involved in money laundering amounting to Rs 16.38 crore. The Delhi Health Minister was one of the Directors in three of the said companies (except Mangalayatan Projects Pvt. Ltd.) before becoming a Cabinet Minister in the Government of NCT of Delhi. Money was given in cash to some Kolkata-based entry operators of different shell companies by Jain, through his employee for providing accommodation entries in lieu of cash. The said Kolkata-based entry operators re-routed the money so received from Jain, by making investment in the companies beneficially owned and controlled by the Delhi Minister. The ED revealed that agricultural land purchased with the amount received as accommodation entries against cash in Manglayatan Projects Pvt. Ltd. was transferred in the name of Jain's family members -- Swati Jain, Sushila Jain and Indu Jain -- to frustrate the proceeds of crime and even the payment for purchase of land had not been made through the cheques mentioned in the registration deeds. The idea of accommodation entries was a brainchild of the Delhi Health Minister. Scheme of laundering of proceeds of crime was conceptualised and executed by Satyendar Jain. (Atul Krishan can be reached at atul.k@ians.in) Nagpur, July 30 : The Maharashtra Police have arrested three persons, including one medical practitioner Pawan Uike, an MBBS doctor, who works at the Kamalapur Primary Health Centre in south Gadchiroli, for putting up banners of the banned CPI (Maoist). Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police (SP), Ankit Goel said that the suspected Maoists were arrested when a police team patrolling in the area saw them putting up pro-Maoist banners at Kamalapur, provoking the tribal population to protest against the state government and the police for - what they claimed to be - "anti-people" policies. The banners also appealed to the locals to observe "Martyrs Week" from July 28 to August 3 to commemorate the death anniversary of rebel leader and founder of CPI(ML), Charu Majumdar. Maoists urged the people to observe Mazumdar's death anniversary and pay tribute to all martyrs -- including Central Committee member Milind Teltumbde, who was killed in an encounter in Gadchiroli in November 2021 -- and all those who laid their lives in the "People's movement". "It is alleged that the three suspected Maoists arrested were providing logistics support to the Maoists. All the three have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. We are finding out whether the doctor Uike was doing all this voluntarily or was forced to do it," the Gadchiroli SP added. The schoolwear brand French Toast has announced a partnership with Friendship House, a nonprofit organization serving communities in Delaware. French Toast has donated nearly $40,000 in schoolwear toward thirteen schools, impacting hundreds of students from kindergarten to 12th Grade and their families. This initiative will offer additional families in the greater Wilmington area access to French Toast schoolwear, giving students both the tools and confidence to succeed alongside their peers in the classroom this upcoming school year. At French Toast, we are dedicated to making the best possible schoolwear accessible to all kids and all families. The partnership with Friendship House enables us to support Delaware communities directly to make an immediate impact on families in need, said Stephen Ashear, President of French Toast. It is our mission to help kids shine and we firmly believe that all students should have the opportunity to feel comfortable and confident so that they can focus on learning. When the Friendship House team pointed to data indicating a gap stemming from the lack of access for a population of students in the state for necessary apparel such as polos, khaki pants, and more, the organization wanted to get involved to help local families ease this burden. After an initial pilot program with one school in 2020, French Toast and Friendship House were inspired to expand this effort this upcoming Fall and assist additional students in need across a wider network of schools in Delaware. Together, Friendship House and French Toast aim to deliver clothing to thirteen schools so that additional children receive access to the schoolwear. According to Friendship Houses projections, about 50% of the students across all participating schools this year will need at least one item of schoolwear. Community members interested in supporting this initiative can purchase clothing items directly from the organizations Amazon wishlist. Once the schools receive the clothing drops, administrators will then have the option to curate clothing closets housed on campuses or coordinate distribution directly to students at home as they prepare for the return to classes. Friendship House has consistently advocated for members of the Delaware community experiencing homelessness, houselessness, or both, and shares French Toasts commitment to providing access to quality schoolwear for all kids. For 35 years, Friendship House has focused on the gaps which exist in our community, says Kim Eppehimer, Executive Director of Friendship House. Although many gaps still exist, ensuring students have equal access to necessary resources so they can show up to school prepared is something we cannot ignore. Part of this goal is to ensure students across Delaware have equal access to clean, good-quality school clothing. French Toasts donation to this project is a clear commitment they agree with how important it is to care for every member of our community, regardless of age. For more information or to make a donation contact uniform@friendshiphousede.org, visit friendshiphousede.org, or call (302) 654-1390. ABOUT FRENCH TOAST French Toast is dedicated to making the best possible schoolwear accessible to ALL kids and ALL families from ALL walks of life. We are on a mission to help kids shine, whatever their passion, no matter the dress code, wherever they live or go to school. Since 1985, French Toast has been trusted by thousands of schools nationwide as their uniform provider and is committed to partnering with the communities we serve. French Toast works directly with our manufacturing partners in every step of the process, providing more value without sacrificing quality. For more information about becoming a French Toast partner school, visit https://www.frenchtoast.com/Schoolbox/schools. ABOUT FRIENDSHIP HOUSE Friendship House is an organization aimed to unite those facing homelessness with loving, supportive communities that they can call home. For more than 35 years, Friendship House has served Delaware with the support of volunteers, donors, community partners, and faith partners to address houselessness and homelessness through programs such as the Clothing Bank, Empowerment Centers, Code Purple, Financial Assistance, and Transitional Housing. Serving more than 10,000 people annually through these programs, Friendship House aims to fill gaps and support those experiencing homelessness, houselessness, and both. https://www.friendshiphousede.org/ DeWys Manufacturing, a West Michigan based DeWys Metal Solutions Company, is delighted to announce that this is their 45th year of business! From a little red barn to a full-service metal solutions company, DeWys has experienced incredible growth in the nearly half a century they have been in business. In 1977, Mark DeWys founded the company on his parents property fabricating fireplace inserts thanks to the inspiration from his grandfathers mentorship. Now with over 250 team members and part of a multi-site facility totaling over 180,000 square feet, these past 45 years have presented the company with a variety of opportunities and challenges all of which the DeWys team has learned from and utilized for their continued growth and success. I am proud to have not only witnessed DeWys Manufacturing grow into what it is today, but to continue to carry on my brother Marks legacy while inspiring the next generation to explore manufacturing. Family and education are my top priorities, and Im incredibly grateful for the opportunity to support both. Jon DeWys, CEO As a family-owned business, it is crucial that every team member operates as part of a cohesive team, allowing for personal and professional growth. DeWys strong culture originates from their team members values of honesty, integrity, and commitment values which are very much a part of the companys identity and values. DeWys Manufacturing has been recognized for a variety of achievements over the years, including Manufacturer of the Year, A.R. Hedberg Training & Education Award, and Best and Brightest Company to Work For in West Michigan and the Nation! Over the past 45 years, the company has crafted each of their capabilities to serve a wide range of businesses and industries, providing second-to-none service. Leveraging technology, talent, and innovation to deliver quality outcomes for their customers every day is part of the DeWys Difference. In 2021, DeWys Manufacturing joined the family of companies under DeWys Metal Solutions, providing an enhancement to their brand identity and an opportunity to strengthen company goals. DeWys remains committed to the success and safety for all stakeholders. After seeing what the last 45 years has been like for the company, I have no doubt that our next chapter will be even more exciting and filled with opportunities to grow. We cant wait to see whats in store for all our stakeholders. Mark Schoenborn, President As part of the anniversary celebrations, DeWys will be hosting intimate tours of the facility with customers while celebrating at the zoo with team members and their families. The company is proud to share their progress over the last 45 years and anticipates an exciting future for both their team members and various customers they serve. Firemen face benefits challenge in Texas "In Texas, you cant call Greg Abbott a coward without facing some major backlash -- even if you are a Marine hero. " The Texas Observer texasobserver.org August issue is out and in the mail to subscribers and features these stories: INJURED, SICK, WIDOWED, AND SUED https://www.texasobserver.org/workers-comp-texas-lawsuits/ by DELGER ERDENESANAA Lieutenant Homer Salinas has mostly recovered from renal cell carcinoma, but is now being sued by The City of Mission, Texas. Staff writer Delger Erdenedanaa covers the lawsuits, filed by Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool (TMLIRP) and the fight injured, sick, and widowed Texans are putting up. For all this, he is considered a hero not just locally but by firefighters nationwide. His victories, though, are bittersweet. While Salinas has already forced some systemic changes in state and local policies, some of his fellow firefighters died waiting for benefits. I helped a lot, but also lost some good friends, he said. AN EXPERT AT PLAYING DADS https://www.texasobserver.org/tag/dana-lee/ by NADJA SAYE Actor Dana Lee talks with us about his newest film Dealing With Dad and the mental health stigmas the Asian American Pacific Islander community faces. THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY SEES A RENAISSANCE IN NORTH TEXAS https://www.texasobserver.org/the-john-birch-society-sees-a-renaissance-in-north-texas/ by STEVEN MONACELLI The John Birch Society was most powerful in the 1960s and 1970s and today. Along with many other right-wing, ultraconservative groups, contributor Steven Monacelli, writes about their like-minded attitudes and dangerous beliefs. CANCELLED IN FRIENDSWOOD https://www.texasobserver.org/cancelled-in-friendswood/ by CRAIG D. LINDSEY In Texas, you cant call Greg Abbott a coward without facing some major backlash. Contributor Craig D. Lindsey reports on why Hayley Carter removed herself from the Friendswood 4th of July parade. My Story: Painting For His Glory: a delightful collection of paintings. My Story: Painting For His Glory is the creation of published author Andrew Lai, who completed his high school education in the Anglo-Chinese Secondary School, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia. After his college graduation, he became a math and science teacher in Malaysia. After his immigration to San Francisco, Lai worked as a cost engineer and then became the vice president of a small construction company. All the while, he was teaching an adult Sunday school class in a Baptist church, which eventually ordained him to be the pastor. While pastoring the church, Lai attended and graduated from the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, California. Due to his thirty years of serving the Yiu-Mienh Baptist churches along the West Coast as their conference speaker and youth camp director, he was conferred an honorary Ph.D. of Divinity by the Evangel Christian University, Louisiana. Lai was married to his wife, Liza, for forty years till she passed away from cancer. He has three children: his son, Daniel, is the associate regional director of Young Life in San Francisco; his daughter, Christina, is a linguist; and the youngest daughter, Emily, is an auto mechanic. All three are happily married, and each has two young children. Lai shares, Even though he loves art since grade school days, the author did not have a chance to attend art school. After his college graduation, as the eldest son, he needed to quickly get a job to help support his widow mother with six children. As a math and science teacher, he volunteered to be an art teacher as well because of the shortage of teachers. After getting married, he then had to work to support his own family. However, he never failed to help doing artwork for his Baptist church, like painting many a backdrop of ten feet by thirty feet for children musicals, Easter and Christmas drama, etc. Only after he was retired from pastoring the church that he seriously took up art as his hobby. That led him to become an international award-winning artist. Many would say he is self-guided, but he would rather refer to himself as a God-guided artist. He has painted numerous paintings of wildlife, flowers and birds, landscapes, portraits, etc. Some of the paintings as seen in this book have been sold to raise funds for missions and church-planting work. He likes to describe himself as a painter of His light; that is, painting for the glory of God. Hence the title, My Story: Painting for His Glory. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Andrew Lais new book offers a visually inspiring selection of vividly crafted works. Lai shares in appreciation of his God-given talent and in hopes of bringing enrichment to fellow lovers of the arts. Consumers can purchase My Story: Painting For His Glory at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about My Story: Painting For His Glory, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Terry Heaton, an Ohio native who enjoys the great outdoors, has completed his new book Noah Landers, Welcome Home: a compelling tale of a man on a quest to restore his family home to its former self. Heaton shares, Little Noah was shipped off the ranch to school at age thirteen. From school, he went on to fight in the War between the States, then worked at various jobs around the country until the mail finally caught up with him. It is then he learns that his father and the foreman were both killed in questionable accidents. It is now thirteen years later, and he returns home as a man to find things are not as he left them. So posing as an out-of-work cowboy, he joins the crew and proceeds to investigate. To keep his ranch and his heritage, he finds he must fight for what is his. He will need the help of friends, old and new. Published by Page Publishing, Terry Heatons intriguing tale shares the story of a man who left home for a better life and discovered that what mattered most to him all along was his heritage at the ranch. Readers who wish to experience this captivating work can purchase Noah Landers, Welcome Home at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. The second phase of Proscenium is a $29 million multifamily, mixed-use development at 1215 Rangeline Road in Carmel, Ind. The continuity will be in the higher-end, live-work-play development style, in which each site is able to stand on its own and benefit from shared features and amenities. Birkla Investment Group and Woolpert have partnered on the development of phase two of Proscenium, a multifamily, mixed-use development at 1215 Rangeline Road in Carmel, Ind. The $29 million development will complement and extend the amenities offered by Proscenium, an $85 million mixed-use development that opened in fall 2021 at 20 W. Carmel Drive. The five-story expansion of Proscenium will provide 48 rental units and seven penthouse condominiums. The development will include 16,000 square feet of ground-floor, leasable space with flexibility for restaurant and office uses, and a multilevel parking garage that will hold roughly 120 vehicles. Lynch, Harrison & Brumleve will provide structural engineering for the project. "This project is the perfect extension for the existing Proscenium project in Carmel," explained Tony Birkla, owner of Birkla Investment Group. "We create places with unique design features where people want to spend time that are in the heart of the community. This is another great example of that type of project." Woolpert Director of Design Tony Martin said the second phase of Proscenium will be harmonious in architectural style and scale to Proscenium, which also was designed by Woolpert, but the extension will feature its own distinctive character. "This is the second phase of a large complex design, with Proscenium being the first phase," Martin said. "The continuity will be in the higher-end, live-work-play development style, in which each site is able to stand on its own and benefit from shared features and amenities like a swimming pool, workout space, green space, additional parking, etc. This project continues the densification and walkability of Carmel's downtown." Occupancy for the second phase of Proscenium is anticipated to begin in summer 2023. About Birkla Investment Group Birkla Investment Group, founded by Tony Birkla, has more than 30 years of experience in designing and developing urban-styled, residential, multi-family communities. Each custom development incorporates unique features that attract residents and businesses vital to the larger community. Birkla Investment Group creates real estate projects that break the mold and inspire. Learn more at BIG.dev. About Woolpert Woolpert is the premier architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG) and strategic consulting firm, with a vision to become one of the best companies in the world. We innovate within and across markets to effectively serve public, private and government clients worldwide. Woolpert is an ENR Top 150 Global Design Firm, has earned six straight Great Place to Work certifications and actively nurtures a culture of growth, inclusion, diversity and respect. Founded in 1911 in Dayton, Ohio, Woolpert has been Americas fastest-growing AEG firm since 2015. The firm has 1,900 employees and more than 60 offices on four continents. For more, visit woolpert.com. Media Contacts: Tim Hill, Novo Development Group, Thill@novo.dev; Jill Kelley, Woolpert, jill.kelley@woolpert.com College graduates can save money on the purchase of new Toyota vehicles in Orange, Texas Cecil Toyota, an automotive dealership in Orange, Texas, has a College Graduate Program where students can purchase a new unlicensed Toyota at a special offer. Graduates who finance or lease a Toyota model through a Toyota dealer and Toyota Financial Services can get a $500 rebate. Interested parties must either have proof of graduation in the past two years or must be graduating in the next six months. Those who are yet to graduate must have proof of current employment to take advantage of this offer. In addition to the College Grad Rebate Program, the dealership provides a range of special offers on maintenance services and repairs. Some of the automotive services offered by the dealership for Toyota vehicles include the following: -Lube, oil and filter change -Front end alignment -Service packages -Electrical service -Coolant flush -Vehicle inspection -Transmission flush -And so on. Along with automotive services, the dealership also has a wide selection of used vehicles, including certified pre-owned Toyota models. Individuals interested in getting behind the wheel of a pre-owned car can contact Cecil Toyota by dialing 833-378-1225. Customers can also visit the dealership to check out these vehicles at 2500 IH-10 West in Orange, Texas. Poetic Reflection in Sedulous Romantica: a heartfelt celebration of a true love connection. Poetic Reflection in Sedulous Romantica is the creation of published author Dr. Harry John Visser, II. Dr. Vissers accomplishments include, but are not limited to, serving as president of the Missouri Podiatric Medical Association from 1985 to 1988 and as director of the SSM DePaul Foot and Ankle Residency Program, where he has trained one hundred and four residents and is still serving as director. He is a national and international lecturer, having given presentations in nine different countries. Dr. Visser shares, Dr. Harry John Visser II is an accomplished foot and ankle surgeon from St. Louis, Missouri. He has practiced for forty years and has been a residency director instructing young surgeons in foot and ankle reconstructive surgery. This book reflects a different side from his scientific achievements. The book reflects an array of pulchritudinous short poems. The poems reflect an ensconce from the ardors of surgical complexities. It is with great surprise that Dr. Visser discovered his own entelechy. The noted reflections represent his deep ardor for his wife of twenty-three years. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Dr. Harry John Visser, IIs new book will take readers into a whirlwind romance that celebrates the soul of a beloved woman. Dr. Visser expresses a longing and deep devotion that resonates within each emotionally charged installment. Consumers can purchase Poetic Reflection in Sedulous Romantica at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Poetic Reflection in Sedulous Romantica, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. We anticipate our growth here will continue, and that we will continue to attract more top-tier professionals to our team, as we strengthen our presence throughout the region. Hill Wallack LLP, a full-service Law Firm headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, announced the official opening of their New York City office at 261 Madison Avenue. This marks the sixth office for the firm, which has offices established in Princeton, Cedar Knolls, Cherry Hill, and Red Bank in New Jersey, as well as Yardley, Pennsylvania. This is the firms second expansion in the last three years due to the growing business needs of their clients. The firms leadership recognized a significant opportunity in New York across many of its nearly 40 practice areas. From lending transactions to foreclosure and bankruptcy work and beyond, Hill Wallack is looking to build and strengthen a solid team in New York and expand into additional practice areas as the team grows. Hill Wallack Managing Partner Michael Kahme said, the demand is definitely there. Our clients have spoken, and we are rising to meet their needs. New York is a natural extension for us. In a very short period of time, we have developed a full team, servicing a growing number of clients across a variety of practice areas. In the age of the remote workforce and meetings via Zoom, we still believe a brick-and-mortar office in NYC is necessary for Hill Wallack. Kahme explained, for many cases, we needed to be able to meetboth internally and with clients. And the space were in is very inspiring to both our team and to our clients. With our strategic partnership with Industrious, a provider of flexible office spaces around the world, we have positioned ourselves for future growth as the firm grows within NYC and other future markets, states New York Administrative Partner and Chair of Creditors Rights Group at Hill Wallacks Eric Kelner. The new office flaunts a modern and industrial design scheme, with floor-to-ceiling windows, hardwood floors, and modern amenities such as cafes, lounges, and plenty of meeting spaces, from casual and open to private and professionalall aimed at keeping staff motivated and inspired. The beauty of this office, Kahme said, is that the space can grow as our team grows. More office space here, or in another building, or even in another city. This model is a great complement for a firm like ours. The scalability of space enables us to remain focused on our work, as the economy and workforce sorts itself back into place. The NYC office is in a great, central area-two blocks from Bryant Park. The Hill Wallack team is settling in nicely and has made tremendous strides with both new and existing clients. As described by Eric, "the space is cool and hip with an industrial vibe. Its eye-catching finishings will attract talent and make a lasting impression on clients." Kahme concludes, we anticipate our growth here will continue, and that we will continue to attract more top-tier professionals to our team, as we strengthen our presence throughout the region. About Hill Wallack Founded in 1978, Hill Wallack LLP is a leading law firm with over 80 attorneys in offices in Princeton, Cedar Knolls, Cherry Hill and Red Bank, New Jersey, Yardley, Pennsylvania, and New York City. Hill Wallack is a full-service law firm that applies professionalism, skill, and a human touch to more than 50 practice areas. https://www.hillwallack.com Old School Hospitality, a family-owned and operated South Florida restaurant management group, is proud to announce it has appointed James Flanigan, son of founder Paul Flanigan (who established the company in 1986), as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Old School Hospitality, James worked as an accountant and then as an attorney with Tripp Scott in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Since 2015, James has served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer of Old School Hospitality. Now, as CEO, he will be responsible for managing the complete umbrella of the companys operations. Paul Flanigan will make his transition to President Emeritus, marking the first major executive management change for the South Florida restaurant group in more than 35 years. Their longtime business partner Frank Zaffere will continue to serve as the companys Chief Operating Officer. From humble beginnings, James started working in the restaurant business in his early childhood, shadowing his father and helping with the operation of the restaurant as his father was growing the business. Over the years as he developed in the family and even while he worked as an accountant and an attorney, James has worked in every position in the front and back of the restaurants. Following tradition with an innovative spin, in his new role as CEO, James plans to expand the business with a focus on Broward County. Old School has three immediate projects in the pipeline: (1) an expansion of the footprint of the existing Quarterdeck in Dania Beach with a repurposed shipping container project on the beach adjacent to the restaurant, (2) the opening of a second Whiskey Neat Cocktail Lounge in Plantation, and (3) the creation of a new upscale tiki-bar concept named the Hula Kai on 17th Street Causeway in Fort Lauderdale. For more than three decades, Old School Hospitality has grown exponentially from its first location of Quarterdeck, a neighborhood seafood bar to today. Old School Hospitality now owns and operates multiple restaurant brands throughout Broward and Miami-Dade counties, including five Quarterdeck locations in Fort Lauderdale, Davie, Plantation, and Dania Beach; a Whiskey Neat cocktail lounge in Fort Lauderdale; and Beach Bar @ Newport Pier in Sunny Isles Beach. The brand has mastered casual Florida dining, focusing on neighborhood-oriented strategies in its expanding portfolio. For more information about Old School Hospitality, including hours of operation and upcoming events for all restaurant locations, visit oldschoolhospitality.com or call (954) 525-8042. About Old School Hospitality Old School Hospitality LLC is a locally owned and operated restaurant management group with locations in South Floridas Miami-Dade and Broward counties, including five Quarterdeck locations, Whiskey Neat, Beach Bar @ Newport Pier, and the upcoming Hula Kai Tiki Bar, slated to open in Fort Lauderdale The common thread uniting all of its restaurants is an unwavering focus on excellent food, superior service and genuine value delivered in a neighborhood environment. The Old School legacy began in 1966 with the opening of Big Daddys Bar and Liquor Store in Fort Lauderdale, the Flanigan familys first store, purchased by Paul Flanigan in 1985. If you would like to know more about the San Leandro Car Stop and Stockton H lawsuit, please contact Attorney Jackland Hom today by calling (619) 255-9047. The Northern California labor law attorneys, at Zakay Law Group, APLC and JCL Law Firm, APC, filed a complaint alleging that San Leandro Car Stop, LLC and Stockton H, LLC (collectively, hereinafter, "San Leandro Car Stop") - who operated Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram car dealerships - committed multiple violations of the California Labor Code. The San Leandro Car Stop lawsuit, Case No. 21CV014444, is currently pending in the Alameda County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the Complaint can be read here. The lawsuit alleges San Leandro Car Stop violated the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), which gives rise to civil penalties as a result of San Leandro Car Stop's conduct. PAGA allows aggrieved employees to file a lawsuit to recover civil penalties on behalf of themselves, other employees, and the State of California for Labor Code violations. An "aggrieved employee" is defined as "any person who was employed by the alleged violator and against whom one or more of the alleged violations was committed." Cal. Lab. Code section 2699(c). PAGA allows aggrieved employees to become deputized as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code. The complaint alleges San Leandro Car Stop's meal period policies and practices were unlawful because Aggrieved Employees were far too over-booked and overworked to take timely off-duty thirty (30) minute meal periods. As a result of their rigorous work schedules, Aggrieved Employees were often not fully relieved of duty for their meal periods. If you would like to know more about the San Leandro Car Stop lawsuit, please contact Attorney Jackland Hom today by calling (619) 255-9047. Zakay Law Group, APLC and JCL Law Firm, APC are labor and employment law firms with offices located in California that dedicate their practices to fighting for employees who have been wronged by their employers due to unfair employment practices. Contact one of their attorneys today if you need help with workplace issues regarding wage and hour, wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination, and harassment. -THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT- Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against Monroe Operations, LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. The Los Angeles employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action complaint alleging that Monroe Operations, LLC violated the California Labor Code. The Monroe Operations, LLC, class action lawsuit, Case No. 30-2022-01268754-CU-OE-CXC, is currently pending in the Orange County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the Complaint can be read here. The complaint alleges Monroe Operations, LLC allegedly failed to pay employees for all the time they were under the employer's control. This, allegedly, includes the time Plaintiff and other California Class Members had to submit to mandatory COVID-19 questionnaires and temperature checks prior to clocking in for the day. To the extent that the time worked off the clock did not qualify for overtime premium payment, Defendant allegedly failed to pay minimum and overtime wages for the time worked off-the-clock. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges Defendant underpaid minimum and overtime wages to Plaintiff and other California Class Members by failing to pay such wages at the regular rate of pay. Plaintiff received a non-discretionary bonus that was allegedly not calculated into the regular rate of pay, which resulted in an alleged underpayment of minimum and overtime wages. For more information about the class action lawsuit against Monroe Operations, LLC, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is an employment law firm with offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside and Chicago that dedicates its practice to helping employees, investors and consumers fight back against unfair business practices, including violations of the California Labor Code and Fair Labor Standards Act. If you need help in collecting unpaid overtime wages, unpaid commissions, being wrongfully terminated from work, and other employment law claims, contact one of their attorneys today. ***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT*** Super Early Bird pricing ends Aug. 5 for WCG MAGI Clinical Research Conference 2022 West. WCG MAGI Clinical Research Conference 2022 West Oct. 16-19, 2022 Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV https://wcg.swoogo.com/MAGI-West WCG MAGI conferences are the best value in clinical research. Which is why attending WCG MAGI Clinical Research Conference 2022 West makes great business sense, giving clinical trial professionals the actionable information and connections needed to enhance their clinical trials. And right now, the best value is an even better value at $400 off. Super Early Bird pricing ends on Aug. 5, 2022. Attendees choose from more than 70 sessions addressing the biggest clinical trial issues. After past conferences participants returned to their organization with an average of 10 practical tips they implemented for better clinical trials. Whether they are from a sponsor, research site or CRO, a newcomer to the industry, a senior executive or somewhere in between, attendees will find what they need at WCG MAGI West, including: Ensuring Appropriate Representation in Clinical Trials to Advance Medicine and Reduce Health Disparities Design practical, proactive diversity plans that better advance excellence in clinical research with this session. The session includes a discussion of the FDAs recent draft guidance on clinical trial diversity plans and the work being done to promote health equity and reduce health disparities through the clinical research enterprise within the FDAs Office of Minority Health and Health Equity. A Pro/Con Debate: Clinical Trials as a Care Option In this session, two speakers debate whether the current trend of referring to "clinical trials as a care option" is a positive statement that reinforces that research participants should be offered to all patients as part of medical care or a statement that inappropriately blurs the line between medical care and clinical research, creating a therapeutic misconception. Keynote by Mary Elizabeth Williams, On the Importance of Clinical Research: A Patients Perspective This patient advocate, journalist, and health and science writer also a stage IV melanoma survivor thanks to the Phase 1 immunotherapy clinical trial that saved her life will discuss the importance of strong healthcare communication in the clinical trial setting. A doctoral candidate in Medical Humanities at Drew University, shell share how collaborative, empathetic techniques can improve enrollment, retention and outcomes. The Best Professional Networking Anywhere WCG MAGI conferences are all about lasting relationships. Throughout the four-day event, facilitated peer-to-peer networking will help participants meet people from all areas of the clinical research industry and strengthen existing relationships. WCG MAGI Clinical Research Conference 2022 West will empower participants to take their clinical trials to the next level. Register by Aug. 5 to get the Super Early Bird savings. Conference Details: WCG MAGI Clinical Research Conference 2022 West Oct. 16-19, 2022 Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV https://wcg.swoogo.com/MAGI-West Price: All-Access Pass: Super Early Bird: Register by Aug. 5, 2022 $1,095 Early Bird: Register by Sept. 16, 2022 $1,295 After Sept. 16, 2022 $1,495 Includes all workshops, panel discussions, sessions, meals and exhibit hall access. Preconference Workshops Only Pass - $345.00 Includes access to the preconference workshops on Sunday only. Lunch is included. Exhibit Hall Only Pass - $125.00 Includes access to the exhibit hall only. Lunch is not included. Easy Ways to Register: Online: https://wcg.swoogo.com/MAGI-West By phone: 888.838.5578 or 703.538.7600 About WCG MAGI Conferences: WCG MAGI events connect clinical research professionals who share a deep commitment to ensuring the quality, compliance, and efficiency of clinical research that is needed to advance the delivery of therapies and devices that impact patients lives. Professionals who attend WCG MAGI conferences benefit from: comprehensive programing including best-in-class training from seasoned faculty; standardization of best practices for clinical operations, business, and regulatory compliance; innovation forums; and peer-to-peer networking. Most importantly, the WCG MAGI experience strengthens collegiality in a way that ensures the growth and success of clinical research. Westport Properties, a premier owner/operator of self storage, industrial, and multifamily assets nationally, has acquired an 885-unit self storage facility located at 1516 N. Orleans A in Chicago, Illinois and a 378-unit self storage facility located at 3510 Wilmette Avenue in Wilmette, Illinois. Westport Properties will rebrand the property under the US Storage Centers brand and currently operates over 10 million rentable square feet of self storage facilities. These are the firms first two properties in Illinois. With our recent expansion we have often considered Illinois and other Midwest states, said Charles Byerly, CEO of Westport Properties. We were presented an opportunity to enter the Chicago market with our first two properties and we moved forward because of the areas strong fundamentals. 1516 N. Orleans A is ideally located on Chicagos Northside. It features wine storage, climate-controlled units, electronic gated access and 24-hour video surveillance. 3510 Wilmette Avenue is located just minutes from the Edens Expressway (I-94) on Chicagos North Shore, providing convenient access to neighboring communities. It features RV/boat parking, climate-controlled units, electronic gated access and 24 hour video surveillance. MJ Partners Self Storage Group represented the seller in the transaction. MJ Partners, founded in 1993, has been involved in over $3 billion in transactions throughout the United States representing private and public companies, developers, private equity, family offices and lenders in the acquisition, disposition, financing, consulting and asset management. About US Storage Centers Founded in 1985, Westport Properties (WPI) is an owner-operator of self storage, multifamily and industrial properties across the United States. The Company is a fully integrated operator that develops, acquires and manages its portfolio as well as providing third-party management services. As of January 2022, WPI has approximately 12 million square feet of self storage space under management and its total assets under management is approaching $2.5 billion with its US Storage Centers brand as well as over 750 multifamily units in two states while employing over 600 people nationwide. WPI is a founding partner of the 501(c)3 Kure-It, a non-profit organization that raises money for underfunded cancer research, and Charity Storage, a 501(c)3 that uses vacant storage units to raise money for local charities. To date, Kure-It has raised over $12M and Charity Storage has raised over $500K. Counterculture Evangelical Issues in the New Millennium: a potent discussion that brings several key challenges to light. Counterculture Evangelical Issues in the New Millennium is the creation of published author William Lewis. Lewis shares, From the colonial period until modern times Christians have played a major role in the development of the United States of America. At the beginning, Christians had major input into the creation of the guiding documents and laws that helped the United States grow into a strong, free nation. During the previous century into the current century Christian influence has begun to wane and the respect for Bible believing evangelical Christians within the general culture has eroded. As the Twenty-first Century continues to evolve, evangelical Christians find themselves mocked and ridiculed by the broader culture. The greater American culture has relegated evangelical Christians to the position of being a counterculture. To survive as a counterculture, evangelicals must consider their stands on several issues and fight for Biblical principles. This book seeks to bring the issues to the forefront for consideration by all Bible believing Christians. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, William Lewiss new book is a thought-provoking treatise on evangelical Christianity and modern society. Lewis offers an articulate and engaging discussion that will shed light on the unique changes and issues faced by many in the Christian faith. Consumers can purchase Counterculture Evangelical Issues in the New Millennium at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Counterculture Evangelical Issues in the New Millennium, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Its a placid morning on scenic Hood Canal, a fjord near the Olympic Mountains in Washington State, and Debbie Macomber is at her weekend home, getting ready to go clam digging. The tide is low, which is fabulous, Macomber cheerily says via Zoom. The clams here are the size of butterflies and very abundant. Hood Canal is 30 minutes from Port Orchard, where Macombers main residence and the offices of Debbie Macomber Inc. are located, and the author has invited her team to come out for the day. We have 600 feet of beach property, she says. Everyone gets a pail and boots and a rake with a claw on it. Were going to dig for clams and have pizza. Itll be fun. A monumental figure in romance and womens fiction, Macomber has written some 200 works, including novels, several of which have been adapted by the Hallmark Channel; inspirational and nonfiction books; and cookbooks. (Im a frequent eater, so I love to cook, she says.) There are more than 200 million copies of her titles in print worldwide, according to Ballantine, her publisher, and theyve been translated into 36 languages. Macomber publishes two books per year: a full-length novel and a shorter, Christmas-themed story. Her latest feel-good charmer, The Christmas Spirit, out in October, concerns a pastor and a bartender who trade places one week before the holidays, and marks the 25th year in a row that Macomber has released a Christmas book. Ive always loved Christmas, Macomber says. Theres something amazing about that time of year. Were more vulnerable, more openhearted. Its about giving instead of receiving. Its the closest time when heaven comes to Earth. A born storyteller, Macomber is famous for churning out heartwarming, hopeful plots. I have lots of ideas, all the time, she says. Its sort of like you collect all this yarn, but you can only knit so much. Im never going to win a Pulitzer Prize. My books arent going to change the world. But theyre going to make somebodys afternoon better. Somebodys going to pick up that book and come away thinking, I could see myself in this situation, and if someone else made it through, I can, too. Debbie is sunshine, says Shauna Summers, Macombers editor. Shes a favorite of every person who comes in contact with her. She has the biggest heart. The whole package is exactly the way youd hope she would be. And shes a never-ending story fountain. Every time I talk to her, she has a new idea. Born in Yakima, Wash., in 1948, Macomber struggled with dyslexia as a child and didnt start reading until she was in fifth grade. At 10, something clicked in my brain and I understood the concept of sounding out words, she says. Until that time, all I did was sight-read. I felt dumb. I didnt attempt to go to college. I failed all the way through school. Still, her love of narrative flourished. When I was a teenager, I was the most popular babysitter in the city. I told stories and made the kids the key characters. I was paid 50 an hour and in demand. I was always the storyteller. Macomber married at age 19 and had four kids in five years. When she started writing, she had little ones running around (Im used to interruptions, she notes) and no money. My husband was out of work, and we were living on food stamps, she recalls. He told me I had to get a job, and I told him I think I can make it as an author. She published her first novel, Starlight, in 1983. It was his belief in me, and the power of my determination, that led to that. If I had given up, I wouldve lost a piece of my soul. From the beginning of her career, Macomber had a singular goal: I wanted to be one of the worlds bestselling authors. She remembers going to bookstores to find out which novels were selling, and why, and she picked apart her favorite fiction to see what made it tick. I always felt I needed to be a business woman, she says. Ive never dreamed small. When I was a teenager, I was the most popular babysitter in the city. I told stories and made the kids the key characters. I was paid 50 an hour and in demand. I was always the storyteller. Theresa Park, Macombers agent at Park & Fine Literary and Media, marvels at the authors focus and energy. If I could be her age and be as productive, that would be my dream, she says. She has time for everybody, she never forgets your birthday. Shes a deeply caring, moral person. She lives her faith and walks the walk. She tries to be as generous as possible, to always be humble, and forever to have hope. A devout Christian and a philanthropist, Macomber says her mission in life is to be a blessing. She works with World Vision International, a humanitarian organization, reads the Bible daily, and keeps a gratitude journal. In 2011, her faith and her writing helped her to survive the darkest period of her lifewhen her son, Dale, died unexpectedly at age 36. The pain is so hard, so profound, it should kill youthats how it feels to lose a child, Macomber says. Before Dale died, I had been plotting a novel about healing that would become my Rose Harbor series. After his death, I didnt know how I would ever write again. But I had that story, and it was through writing it that I started to heal. Dales death was the hardest thing Ive ever dealt with. I know hes in heaven, and I have the hope that one day Ill be able to embrace him. My mother is my hero, says Adele LaCombe, Macombers daughter and the CEO of Debbie Macomber Inc. Shes such a boss. People might look at her and think, oh, theres this sweet little author. But no. Theres so much strength in her. Shes a forerunner, a pioneer, and, in her mind, shes still the struggling romance writer she once was. She has that same hunger to be the best. Nothing stops her, and she does it all with a smile and kindness in her heart. Macomber plans to keep telling inspiring stories for seasons to come. Her husband wants her to retire, and she recently gave it a shotbut that lasted all of six months. The house wasnt any less cluttered, she reports. I didnt start that sweater I was going to knit. I didnt do a single jigsaw puzzle. The two bought an RV, but it hasnt been used. If theres one thing I learned from taking a six-month hiatus, its that Im happiest when Im writing. Ive been blessed, and that blessing continues every time I sit down at the computer to write. Elaine Szewczyks writing has appeared in McSweeneys and other publications. Shes the author of the novel Im with Stupid. Loki actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw and The Haunting of Hill House alum Oliver Jackson-Cohen say their Apple TV+ psychological thriller, Surface, uses the illusion of a perfect marriage to obscure a web of secrets and lies. ADVERTISEMENT Set in contemporary San Francisco, the show premieres Friday. It follows Sophie (Mbatha-Raw), a wealthy woman who experiences serious memory loss after falling overboard from a boat. Her husband, James (Jackson-Cohen), along with various friends, acquaintances and even her psychiatrist try to help Sophie remember the details of her life. However, she refuses to believe the story many of them tell her -- that she attempted to die by suicide and her near-drowning was not an accident. Investigating her own past, Sophie soon learns she and her marriage aren't exactly what they appear to be. "When we first meet her, she is trying to piece back her memory and her life, and living in this beautiful, luxurious house with her perfect husband, James," Mbatha-Raw told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "It's the mystery of Sophie uncovering who she is," the actress added. "I was very drawn into it reading Veronica West's first pilot script. It was such a page turner, and there were so many twists and turns in the story. "All the characters were so layered and complex, and San Francisco is such a beautiful, but also dark noir, landscape for our story. Sophie, as a character, has such a massive arc that, as an actor, is always great fun to play." While Sophie is utterly distraught by her circumstances, James is relieved to be getting what he sees as a second chance with the woman he loves. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! "His wife is born again. What do you do with that? James struggles with how best to handle that and he withholds things," Jackson-Cohen said. "The show is primarily based on all the secrets that we keep from one another and how much that costs someone. It is an incredibly complex, deliciously stressful adventure they go on." Sophie wants to know everything about the past, while James just wants to put it behind them and move on. Because they each interpret the situation so differently, tension quickly mounts in the relationship. "The power dynamic is constantly shifting," Mbatha-Raw noted. "That's the intriguing thing for the audience," she said. "When we first meet Sophie, James has been her protector. He's the love of her life and she's under his control at points, certainly financially and in terms of her confidence. "As the show goes on, things shift and we start to get new perspectives on every character, actually. It keeps you on the edge of your seat." Since Sophie is dependent on other people to tell her who she is, she must decide who she can trust and then disregard the accounts of those who might mislead her because they have their own agendas. Mbatha-Raw said Sophie is a type of character she hasn't had the chance to play before. "When you go about building a character, you think about their backstory and their childhood and who they are and their relationships. That is how you create a person, but this is the opposite," the actress said. "There is a naivete and an innocence to her, initially because she is taking in all of her information -- as you would if you knew nothing -- at face value. She's believing everything she is being told about her life. It's not until she steps out of her perfect house, a very controlled environment, that she realizes maybe things aren't as they seem." Jackson-Cohen thinks viewers may connect the show's theme of the impeccable veneer to how many people present to the public -- particularly through social media -- carefully curated lives that aren't quite authentic. "That's where the interesting stuff is. It's what's behind the curtain," he said. "Throughout the show, there are so many twists and turns. We are constantly reassessing what we think we know. You can only put a sheen on something for so long before it starts to crack." Surface co-stars Stephan James, Ari Graynor, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Francois Arnaud and Millie Brady. Veronica West, who created and wrote the series, also serves as executive producer. Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter executive produce on behalf of Hello Sunshine. A vanguard of more than 400 Hollywood creatives is demanding immediate action from their studios' top executives, writing in a bold letter on Thursday that they have "grave concerns" over their bosses' efforts to protect workers in anti-abortion states. ADVERTISEMENT The letter is signed by 411 creators and showrunners -- including Shonda Rhimes Amy Sherman-Palladino and Sara Bareilles -- and was delivered to leadership at Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Apple, Paramount, Lionsgate, Amazon and AMC. "Currently, any pregnant person working on one of your productions in states that have criminalized abortion does so at great risk," reads the letter, obtained by Variety and Deadline. The collective demands to review within 10 days "current safety protocols and protections on this vital matter to determine whether or not we will continue to work in these high-risk environments." The letter also asks for studios to outline their plans to provide abortion travel subsidies to employees -- and demands they cease political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees. "It is unacceptable to ask any person to choose between their human rights and their employment," the writers added. "This situation raises basic matters of equality, health, and safety in the workplace." Other high-profile signatories include Mindy Kaling, Natasha Lyonne, Chelsea Handler and Amy Schumer. "Many of us would not have the careers and families we have today if we had not been granted the freedom to choose what was best for ourselves," they wrote. "We are committed, as a group, to protecting our fundamental human rights and those of our colleagues." The Brattleboro Reformer and Fulflex rubber products supplier sponsored the 6th annual Backpack Giveaway at the Brattleboro Auto Mall on Tuesday. The event gave away around 200 backpacks filled with back-to-school supplies. Children also were able to get a free haircut by Shear Designs Hair Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 72F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. BRATTLEBORO After learning that some staff and community members were unaware of an investigation into allegations of sex abuse against a retired teacher, the Windham Southeast School District Board is looking at how to conduct more outreach. The information is not getting out, School Board Vice Chairperson David Schoales said at the board meeting last week. When [the attorney] contacts someone that the reporter has referred her to, they express having no idea that this is going on, that this is underway. An investigation into sex abuse within the district began in February after attorney Aimee Goddard of Buehler & Annis in Brattleboro was hired to assist. An article that outlined sexual abuse allegations against retired Brattleboro Union High School teacher Zeke Hecker, published in the Commons in August 2021, spurred the action. Board member Liz Adams said the district needs multiple avenues of accountability to ensure this doesnt happen again. Windham Southeast School District hires attorney to investigate sexual misconduct BRATTLEBORO The Windham Southeast School District hired an attorney and law firm to conduc At the board meeting last week, a related motion that would give the superintendent several tasks was tabled so it could be more thoroughly discussed. The draft document includes calls for creating additional pathways for reporting allegations, with varying levels of confidentiality and anonymity, as well as protection against retaliation, rebuilding the existing leadership structures to provide more representation for staff and students, engaging in community dialogue about school climate that highlights areas for growth and of concern, updating the public on allegations of abuse when appropriate, and providing timely updates on making progress on these goals. The draft document says the superintendent shall respond to this directive by submitting a two-year implementation proposal no later than Aug. 9. Board member Shaun Murphy said he would vote against the motion because he objects to the word directive. I think that it is part and parcel to what this board does, he said. It directs from afar. If it was collaboration, I would be much more willing to go through this document and consider it. Mike Szostak, restorative justice coordinator at the high school, agreed with Murphy about making the process collaborative. Equity and social justice should be mentioned in the document and any decision making, Szostak said. Needed is clarity on specific requests in the draft document and how to measure progress, Superintendent Mark Speno said. He told the board he would be interested in talking this through more before formalizing a document here tonight ... Board member Deborah Stanford urged the board to have at least part of the plan in place before the school year starts. The summer is flying by, board member Tim Maciel said. We really need changes to the system and this is what this document calls for: systemic change. Mindy Haskins Rogers, BUHS alumna and author of the Commons article, recommended separating projects out to address urgent issues right away. Buehler & Annis posted a special page on its website called WSESD Investigation, in which it seeks information regarding sexual abuse of students and/or harassment, or abuse of power by current or former faculty, administration and staff of the school district. The site offers confidential reporting through its secure website. Law firm seeking statements on sexual, other misconduct in Windham Southeast Supervisory District BRATTLEBORO A Brattleboro law firm is now seeking statements from victims of abuse at the Information will remain confidential, unless complaints trigger mandatory reporting laws in Vermont, the firm says. People can indicate in the message that they are reporting anonymously, and not leave a name. To provide information, victims, people with information and witnesses can call 802-451-0905 or email report@wsesd.info. Lisa Ford of Guilford, a parent in the district, asked how much the investigation is costing the district. To date, board members estimated about $75,000 has been spent. Its a lot of money, Ford said, with not a lot of results it sounds like. Now is the time to ramp up communication, Stanford said. Guaranteeing the safety of children even in the public sector is worth every cent spent, Stanford said. Asked by Ford how many calls have come in, Schoales said the board doesnt receive such information. We will get a final report at some point in the future, hopefully not too far, then we will decide what to with that, Schoales said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Just about five years after debuting Grano Arso in Chester, Joel and Lani Gargano are introducing a new concept to Old Saybrook: a market and cafe with freshly made pastas, baked goods and specialty Italian products. Gargano Pasta & Italian Market officially opened Thursday on Old Saybrook's Main Street, a project that's been in the works for about three years, Lani Gargano said. She described the new business as a "chef-driven" extension of their celebrated Chester restaurant, known for its creative housemade pastas and traditional Italian cooking (and named Restaurant of the Year by the Connecticut Restaurant Association in 2019.) "It's an evolution of Grano Arso, I believe...it's a different concept, but you can see the connection between [the two businesses]," she said. The married couple had pursued the new business prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. But as the virus and subsequent restaurant closings caused widespread uncertainty in the industry, the Garganos weren't sure they'd be able to obtain a loan to make it financially feasible, Lani said. Winter Caplanson / CT Food & Farm "[We said] 'Oh, I guess it's not meant to be,'" she said. "But our landlord didn't want to give up on us, and said [they] really believe in our concept." The funding came through, and the Garganos made it happen. They built the space to accommodate indoor and outdoor seating, their on-site "pasta lab" which Lani describes as her team's "pride and joy" and a retail area, where guests can browse imported Italian products like olive oils and vinegars, salted and cured items, canned tomatoes, sauces and honeys. "These are goods that we use in our home, because we like these products so much," she said. Gargano Pasta & Market opens for breakfast at 7:30 a.m., offering casual counter service with a coffee program featuring beans from Giv Coffee in Canton. Baker Patrick Gargano, Joel's father, makes a variety of breads and pastries, including croissants and Italian sweets like cannoli and biscotti. The pasta lab will produce daily varieties like spaghetti, spinach campanelle, rigatoni, tagliatelle and garganelli, and dine-in guests can enjoy prepared pasta dishes like spaghetti cacio e pepe, campanelle and sausage or toasted rye pappardelle with lamb shank ragu. Other savory options include salads and sandwiches on focaccia bread, built with porchetta, Italian beef and prosciutto and sopressata. Antipasti selections include salumi and cheese boards, with a mix of Italian cheeses and picks from Connecticut's Cato Corner and Arethusa farms. Winter Caplanson / CT Food & Farm The cafe is licensed to sell beer, wine and cocktails, but just the first two options are presently available, Lani said. Lani Gargano said she and her husband are thrilled with the team they've put together to open the market, including general manager Ed Jones, assistant manager Kimberly Hulslander and dedicated kitchen staff. The new crew has "great communication," she said. "Everyone is on the same page of 'Let's get this done, and how can we do this? How can we make this a great operation to begin with?'" she said. "We're pretty much determined to get it in a way where it's going to be a great experience for us as a team, and it's going to be a great experience for our guests," she said. "But so far, with our two soft openings, we have had a wonderful embrace from our guests, who are very excited for us." Gargano Market, at 75 Main Street in Old Saybrook, is open Tuesday through Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. BRIDGEPORT Video played for a judge showed attorney Darnell Crosland sitting by while his client admitted to police that he took part in the murder of a city man last year during an alleged aborted marijuana deal. I wanted to show (police) that my client had nothing to hide, Crosland later explained to Hearst Connecticut Media during a press conference outside the Fairfield County Courthouse. This police department is a failing police department, Crosland argued in court. The police make an arrest and we cant control that but we ask the court to change that. But Croslands argument that his client, 18-year-old Edwin Abrams, of Stratford, was a bystander in the case did not convince Superior Court Judge Earl Richards, who on Thursday found the state has probable cause to try Abrams for felony murder and attempted first-degree robbery. Although some of the defendants arguments may dissuade a jury at a later proceeding they are not dissuasive for a ruling on probable cause, the judge said. Abrams is charged in the Aug. 28, 2021 fatal shooting of 21-year-old Jamel Hayden. Syshone Joyner, 16, is accused of being the shooter. He is facing the same charges. A defendant charged with felony murder doesnt have to be the shooter but must be found to have participated in a felony such as attempted robbery when a victim is killed. Hearings on probable cause for murder cases are rarely done because defense lawyers consider them dress rehearsals for the prosecutions case. But Crosland insisted on having one for Abrams. During the two-day hearing, Police Lt. Christopher LaMaine testified that at about 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 28, police were called to Lincoln Avenue for a car crash. At the same time, he said, the ShotSpotter system recorded a gunshot at that location. When officers got to the scene, LaMaine said they found a red Honda CRV crashed into a parked car. The driver of the Honda, Hayden, was suffering from a gunshot wound to the torso. He died a short time later at St. Vincents Medical Center. LaMaine said a large amount of marijuana was found on the Hondas dashboard. Senior Assistant States Attorney Tiffany Lockshier then played video for the judge that had been taken from a nearby homes security camera. The video showed Hayden parked in his Honda on the side of Lincoln Avenue. Two young men, wearing white T-shirts, are then seen approaching the drivers side of the Honda. While one of the men talks to Hayden, the other pulls out a handgun from his back pocket and points it at the driver. The video shows the first man reaching into the Honda as the second man continues to point the gun at the driver. There is a flash from the gun and the two men run off as the Honda abruptly drives off. Other video shows two other young men waiting in a nearby driveway. They ran off as they heard the shot. In another video played for the judge, Abrams is seen sitting with Crosland being interviewed by LaMaine and Detective Keith Hansen in a room at police headquarters. LaMaine testified Crosland agreed to bring Abrams in for questioning on Sept. 14, 2021, after being told police believed Abrams was involved in the shooting. On the video Abrams is heard admitting that he had been standing with Joyner at the drivers side of Haydens Honda but he claimed he didnt know Joyner was going to shoot the victim. It happened so fast, he shot him, Abrams states on the video. Despite what is seen on the video, Abrams denied to the detectives that he had reached into the car before the victim was shot. However, Crosland told the judge that his client had reached in and stuck his head in the Honda in an effort to get a whiff of the marijuana to determine its quality. LaMaine testified that based on the video of the crime and Abrams statement, he believes that Abrams and Joyner intended to rob Hayden and that Joyner shot Hayden during the robbery attempt. Lockshier told the judge that the two videos made it clear that both Abrams and Joyner were involved in the crime. Crosland questioned LaMaines testimony, claiming his conclusion that Abrams was part of a robbery scheme was based on a hunch and not evidence. But Judge Richards stated: This court finds Lt. LaMaines testimony to be credible and reliable and supported by the evidence. Following the judges ruling Crosland argued that the prosecutor should be ordered to bring Joyner into court so that he can testify on Abrams behalf and exonerate him. But Joyners lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Joanna Carloni, who was sitting in the back of the courtroom, stood up and told the judge, My client isnt testifying for anyone. STAMFORD As a state prosecutor vowed to continue searching for the remains of Jennifer Dulos, she also agreed to return electronic items to Michelle Troconis that were seized as part of the investigation and provide her attorney with copies of any outstanding evidence. We still have an investigation going that involves the recovery of Jennifer Dulos and were never going to stop, Stamford Senior States Attorney Michelle Manning, who took over prosecuting the case a few months ago, said Thursday during a remote hearing. Manning was willing to return several electronic items seized during the investigation into the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos and provide Troconis attorney with any evidence he needed to press forward with a defense. Troconis has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the Dulos case. During the remote appearance, Superior Superior Court Judge John Blawie ordered Troconis to remain on electronic monitoring as her cases continue. Troconis, however, will no longer need a judges approval to travel within the United States, Blawie said. Troconis will only need to notify bail officials when traveling within the country, Blawie ruled. Your client has been compliant with the conditions of release, Blawie said. Blawie told Troconis attorney Jon Schoenhorn and Manning that he was unaware of a parallel federal investigation into the New Canaan mothers disappearance. But he wanted to give Manning time to consider a motion filed Wednesday by Schoenhorn seeking particulars about other potential suspects in the case even those who have not been charged with a crime. Schoenhorn contended in the document that New Canaan and state police sought the help of the federal Department of Homeland Security about a month after Jennifer Dulos disappeared on May 24, 2019, but he and prosecutors were never notified until earlier this year. That motion will be heard at a later date, Blawie said. Schoenhorn also told the court during Thursdays proceedings that he wanted a deadline for when prosecutors could provide him with evidence since he had just received reports indicating that his clients DNA had been found on a screwdriver and wrench that were likely seized in 2019. He also recently received five terabytes of information related to the case that he plans to review over the next month, Schoenhorn said. Blawie also agreed to a plan approved by Manning to give Troconis and her family members any electronics that had been seized as part of the investigation. Troconis and attorney Kent Mawhinney, a friend of Fotis Dulos, are the remaining defendants in the case. Jennifer Dulos is presumed dead by her family and police. While her body has never been found, police said based on evidence found in the garage of her New Canaan home, the 50-year-old mother of five would not have survived the attack without immediate medical assistance. Her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, died by suicide in January 2020 while facing murder, kidnapping and other charges in the case. Troconis and Mawhinney have each pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. Troconis has also pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution charges. An attorney representing Mawhinney has indicated that his client will likely testify against Troconis in a trial. But Manning and Schoenhorn agreed that Mawhinneys potential role will have to be discussed because he has been charged in the case. Is he a witness or a co-conspirator? Schoenhorn asked. Mawhinney is accused of attempting to provide an alibi for Fotis Dulos on the morning his estranged wife vanished, according to arrest warrants. On the night of the disappearance, police said Troconis was seen on surveillance video in Fotis Dulos pickup truck as he made a series of stops in Hartford. Police said Fotis Dulos was dumping trash bags in bins along Albany Avenue. Police said they later recovered some of the bags, which contained Jennifer Dulos blood and clothing. Police said Troconis also helped Fotis Dulos get a pickup truck belonging to one of his employees cleaned in the days after the disappearance. Police said they believe Fotis Dulos used the truck the day of the crime and later discovered his estranged wifes blood on one of the seats. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Pennsylvania's Democratic governor sued the state Legislature on Thursday over a package of proposed constitutional amendments that Republican lawmakers are pursuing, including one that would say the state constitution does not guarantee any rights relating to abortion or public funding of abortions. The lawsuit filed in the state Supreme Court argues that the proposed abortion amendment would violate privacy protections. Gov. Tom Wolf wants the high court to throw out the amendments, declaring that they are not constitutionally valid. The lawmakers are attempting to circumnavigate Wolfs power to veto legislation he does not support. Wolf claims that bundling the abortion amendment together with four others in a bill that passed the General Assembly earlier this month as budget sessions were wrapping up runs afoul of a constitutional rule against passing legislation that addresses multiple, unrelated topics. Wolf in a statement said the abortion-related amendment was part of GOP lawmakers' effort to dismantle access to abortion and implement a radical agenda. The other four amendments would require voter ID, have gubernatorial candidates choose their own running mates, empower lawmakers to cancel regulations without facing a governors veto and establish election audits. Although the House and Senate voted for them as a package, mostly along partisan lines, voters would consider the questions individually. The lawsuit describes the bill as a mishmash of changes to at least four different articles of the constitution, a set of measures Wolf claims abridges personal liberties and freedoms and alters our current balance of power and constitutional checks and balances. Wolf's lawsuit says the proposed amendments are exactly the sort of complex changes that require careful deliberation at a constitutional convention prior to a fair and accurate presentation to the electorate. House Republican spokesman Jason Gottesman said Wolf's lawsuit lacked merit and was an attempt to subvert the power of the people's voice in the General Assembly. Republican leaders in the state Senate, Jake Corman of Centre County and Kim Ward of Westmoreland, issued a joint statement calling the lawsuit another reminder of Gov. Wolfs oppressive hand. While the General Assembly asks the citizens to vote on important issues, Gov. Wolf runs to the courts in an effort to keep the citizens' voices quiet, the senators wrote. Constitutional amendments need to pass both chambers in two consecutive two-year legislative sessions before going to voters for the final say. The package passed its first round of approvals on July 8, 28-22 in the Senate and 107-92 in the House. After the new session starts in January, lawmakers could vote to put the constitutional amendment referendums before voters as early as the spring primary on May 16, 2023. A sixth question, which would allow civil lawsuits over child sexual abuse that would otherwise be too old to pursue, was voted separately and also awaits the second round of legislative votes starting next year. Wolf said he took action Thursday because of a requirement that the Department of State advertise the language of proposed amendments after the first round of votes by the House and Senate and at least three months before a fall election. That advertising period starts Tuesday, he said, and is why he also included as a plaintiff his own acting secretary of state, Leigh Chapman. Republicans have increasingly turned to the constitutional amendment process to accomplish policy objectives that Wolf opposes. In 2021, they successfully got two amendments on the ballot to limit Wolf's authority during a pandemic emergency, and voters narrowly approved them. The questions can be teed up for consideration during the spring primary, when Republican voters are more likely to turn out than Democrats. Amendments can pass with a simple majority not the supermajorities required to override a veto and the amendment process makes them much harder to reverse. Wolf, a supporter of access to abortion, has previously vetoed anti-abortion legislation sent to him by the General Assembly, as well as proposals to establish elections audits and expand voter ID. The proposed change to the countrys Constitution would allow the prime minister to transfer power to his son. Cambodias National Assembly on Thursday approved a controversial amendment to the countrys Constitution that all but paves the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen to choose his son as his successor. The amendment would change eight articles, two of which circumvent the National Assemblys right to deliberate on prime ministerial selections or make it harder to remove a sitting prime minister. Hun Sen, 69, has ruled the country since 1985, and has been grooming his son Hun Manet, 44, as his replacement. The amendment must next be approved by the ruling party-controlled Senate, and then sent to the king and signed into law, but the steps are thought of as formalities at this point. Cambodias Minister of Justice Koeut Rith defended the draft amendment during the assemblys deliberations. He dismissed calls by NGOs and opposition political parties that the change should be set aside until after the next election. These petitions were filed by only four of the almost 50 parties registered with the Ministry of Interior. The four parties that claim that they dont support the constitutional amendment is not a surprise, he said. [Dissent] is normal for parties that dont have policies aligned with the government, but we should take note that this amendment will ensure that the government can continue to function normally without any deadlock under any circumstances. This is what the people want, said Koeut Rith. He accused opposition parties of years past of using their elected seats to hold Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) hostage in the National Assembly in a bid to increase their political power. They used political deadlock in forming the government to bargain for power, he said. Currently, the CPP holds every seat in the National Assembly thanks to a Supreme Court decision to dissolve in 2017 the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), which had emerged as Hun Sens main opposition. This kicked off a five-year crackdown on government critics that forced many members into hiding or exile, or risk arrest and incarceration. The decision also paved the way for the CPP to run the table in the 2018 general elections, downgrading the legislature to a de facto rubber stamp for the ruling party. The amendment serves the prime minister more than the people of Cambodia, CNRP Vice President Eng Chhai Eang told RFAs Khmer Service. This is not about the public interest and the continuation of the country. This is just to avoid any crisis when [Hun Sen] transfers power to his son, he said. He said the political climate is disadvantageous for the Candlelight Party, which emerged from the remnants of the CNRP as the primary opposition to the CPP over the past year, and took one-fifth of the seats up for grabs in this years local comune elections. The new party will vie for a presence in the National Assembly with a strong performance in next years general election. Even if it is unable to take a significant number of assembly seats, resistance to Hun Sens succession plans could conceivably still come from within the ruling party itself. The amendment also provides a safeguard against this possibility simply by reducing the power of the assembly. This amendment shows that they dont trust each other, Eng Chhai Eang said. The CNRP has petitioned the king not to sign the draft amendment into law. In a statement released on Wednesday, the outlawed party also urged the people to prevent Hun Sens attempt to transfer power to his son by conducting a constitutional coup. Ros Sotha, president of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), a coalition of 22 local NGOs, told RFA he was disappointed by the proposed constitutional change. Laws can be amended, but this constitutional amendment was done by one party. It does not reflect the whole nation, he said. If the government wants more support, they have to resolve the current political crisis first and allow participation from other parties. Should the amendment become law it would be a death sentence for democracy in Cambodia, a statement by ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said. The [Cambodian] government claims that the intention of the changes is to ensure a functioning government, but many of them are designed to cement the power of Hun Sen and his cronies by giving more power to the executive branch of government in detriment of the legislative, former Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in the statement. If confirmed, this move would be just the latest example of Hun Sen trampling over democratic processes and the rights of millions of Cambodians just so he can further enrich his family and others who have benefitted from the corruption that has become rampant under his rule, Kasit Piromya, who is now an APHR board member, said. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. 'Playing with fire will only get you burnt,' Xi warns Biden. A man in Hong Kong watches a news report about the telephone meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden. Updated at 22:41 ET on 07-29-22 In a show of military might China announced a series of almost-simultaneous exercises in the South China Sea between July 27 and 31, including rare live-fire drills only 125 kilometers (78 miles) from Taiwan, just as reports emerged that the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi may embark on her Asia-Pacific tour on July 29. Chinese state media said live-fire drills will be held in waters near Pingtan, in Fuzhouj, Fujian province, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. Pingtan is located just 125 kilometers from Taiwan, across the Taiwan Strait. The Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) issued three navigation warnings GD70/22, GD71/22, GD73/22 advising ships against entering three designated areas in the South China Sea during time slots starting July 27 and finishing July 31. A navigation warning is a public advisory notice to mariners about changes to navigational aids and current marine activities or hazards including military exercises. Coordinates provided by the Guangdong MSA show three areas close to Chinas mainland but one of them lies only some 240km from Pratas Island, claimed by both the Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan but controlled by Taipei. Prior to these drills, the Chinese military held two exercises back to back from July 16-20 and July 20-22, also in the South China Sea. One of them covered an area of nearly 100,000 square kilometers (38,610 square miles). China often holds military exercises at short notice as a form of protest in response to U.S. naval activities and political developments that Beijing deems hostile. The unusually high frequency of drills this month shows China-U.S. tensions have been raised by Pelosis reported Taiwan visit and the presence of the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group in the South China Sea. Six warnings China has responded strongly against the rumored trip which, if confirmed, would be the first visit by a U.S. House Speaker to Taiwan since 1997. In his telephone conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Washington against playing with fire over Taiwan. Playing with fire will only get you burned. I hope the U.S. is clear on this, state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying during the phone call. Before the Xi-Biden meeting, different Chinese government agencies had already issued at least six official warnings against the visit, with the Defense Ministry on Thursday threatening that actions are the best answer. Countries in the region are watching these latest developments closely, said Shahriman Lockman, Director of Malaysias Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS). The concern here is how China would seek to retaliate if Pelosi were to visit Taiwan, Lockman said. If that retaliation took place in the South China Sea, perhaps in the form of a deployment of combat aircraft to the Spratlys [a disputed island chain], it would underscore to other countries the growing risks of US-China rivalry, he said. U.S. media reported that Nancy Pelosi, the third most senior figure in the American political system, would depart for an Asia-Pacific tour on Friday. Both Bloomberg and NBC quoted anonymous sources as saying that the tour would take Pelosi to some U.S. allies in the region, including Japan and Singapore, but whether she would make a stop in Taiwan remained unclear. Some leading American China experts have called on the U.S. House Speaker to postpone any Taiwan visit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at the Capitol in Washington on July 21, 2022. U.S. officials say they have little fear that China would attack Pelosis plane if she flies to Taiwan. CREDIT: AP Avoid confrontation Bonnie Glaser, Director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Zack Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in the New York Times that the event would be seen by Beijing as a serious provocation. Chinese leaders might be willing to risk an escalation such as challenging Ms. Pelosis plane or flying military aircraft directly over Taiwan for the first time, they said. Leaders on all sides must wake up and find off-ramps to avoid a dangerous confrontation that neither side wants, the two analysts said, arguing that a crisis in the Taiwan Strait would put the island in a very difficult situation. Shahriman Lockman from Malaysias ISIS suggested that, should Pelosi decide to skip Taiwan, the Americans could attempt to present this as a demonstration of restraint and maturity. I think there is a good middle ground here which is for Pelosi to telephone Tsai Ing-wen from Japan so she wont need to visit Taiwan but at the same time, be able to show her support, Lockman said. The U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a Chinese province, but it is obligated by law to provide the island with defense capabilities. During his conversation with the Chinese leader on Thursday Biden made clear that Washington strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to a White House press release. The office of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday thanked Biden for his continuous support, the official Central News Agency reported. The Presidential Palace expresses its gratitude and looks forward to Chinas shared responsibility in maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the report said. Updated to include live fire drills in second paragraph The wife of a Chinese dissident from the northwestern region of Xinjiang jailed for subversion after standing up for Uyghurs says she has received what could be a forcibly written letter from him, prompting fears of "extreme persecution" in prison. Zhang Haitao, an outspoken critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's treatment of the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group, is serving a 19-year jail term at Xinjiang's Shaya Prison for "incitement to subvert state power" and spying charges. He was handed the sentence by the Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, on Jan. 15, 2016. Even before the pandemic, which has led the authorities lock down prisons and ban face-to-face meetings, Zhang had only been allowed three family visits during the first five years of his sentence. Since then, his wife Li Aijie, who fled China with her son after being harassed and threatened by local authorities, has only received a handful of letters from Zhang. The most recent letter came after a gap of one year and eight months, and didn't appear to be genuine, Li told RFA. "The obvious difference this time is that he wrote in the letter that he was eating very well, and in very specific terms; he mentioned beef, lamb, chicken, milk and eggs, etc," Li said. "I don't think a lot of ordinary people in China eat that well [outside of prison]," she said. "It was a bit hard to believe." "I think the prison authorities forced him to write those things," Li said. The letter, dated June 27, 2022, is only the fifth Zhang has sent to his family since his sentence began. In it, Zhang also says he has good clothing, and tells his family not to try to visit. "The letter I received said there was no need to visit him," she said, adding that Zhang has spent time in solitary confinement. "We have previously confirmed that he wasn't even allowed outside for exercise," Li said. "Why wouldn't he want to see his family? At least his sister, and to find out how we're doing in the U.S." The letter signs off with something even more unexpected, Li said. "The weirdest things is that he writes: 'Thanks to the party, to the government, and to the country'," Li said. "That's just not credible." "The whole reason he went to jail in the first place was for scolding and criticizing the country and its government," she said. "He is an innocent man, [wrongfully] convicted: how could he be thanking them?" "It was very painful and uncomfortable for me to read that line," Li said. "The Zhang Haitao I know is a tough guy who doesn't crack." "In the absence of extreme persecution, it would be unthinkable for him to write this kind of self-violation," she said. Chinese dissident Zhang Haitao, now jailed in Xinjiang, is shown in an undated photo. 'They don't want him to come out alive' Zhang's sister Zhang Qingzhen last visited her brother in April 2018, she told RFA on Thursday. No visits from family members have been allowed since, despite several requests made by Zhang Qingzhen. "I asked for a video call [after the pandemic], and they said there was no equipment for video calls between Xinjiang and Henan," she said. "So I said, 'OK, I'll come to Xinjiang for the video call', but they said no, and told me not to come," Zhang Qingzhen said. "Then I called the prison bureau and they told me I couldn't have a video call." "It's much harder now." Zhang Qingzhen fears that the reason for the denial of family visits is that Zhang has been tortured, and the authorities don't want the news to get out. She also fears they don't plan on letting her brother out of prison alive. "He has been held in solitary confinement ... Now he's in a state where he can't die, but he's not living either," she said. "They don't want him to come out alive." Repeated calls to Shaya Prison went unconnected on Thursday. At Zhang's trial, the prosecution cited 69 posts to the Chinese social media platform WeChat and 205 Twitter posts and retweets, as evidence of "incitement to subvert state power." Li, who gave birth to the couple's son shortly after he was jailed, and was left with no income, was relying on relatives for financial support, she told RFA at the time. But ChinaAid, which helped to organize her escape from China, said she had faced abuse within her family as well as threats from officials. Zhang, 46, was initially detained on June 26, 2015 on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," but the charges against him were later changed to the more serious charges of subversion and spying. The court said it had handed down a longer jail term because Zhang had "colluded" with overseas organizations. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Xu Qin, a key figure in the China Rights Observer group founded by jailed veteran dissident Qin Yongmin, is now using a wheelchair while in a police-run detention center in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, RFA has learned. Xu, 60, is currently being held at the Yangmiao Detention Center in Yangzhou City, where she has been on hunger strike in protest at the loss of letter-writing and receiving privileges, and a months-long ban on meetings with her lawyer. Her lawyer Ji Zhongjiu was finally allowed to meet with her on June 10, when Xu could walk, and again on Wednesday, when she was brought to meet with him in a wheelchair. "When Xu Qin met with lawyer Ji Zhongjiu, they pushed her out for the meeting in a wheelchair," Xu's husband Tang Zhi told RFA. "The previous meeting with the lawyer was on June 10; Xu Qin became paralyzed on June 27," Tang said. "Today, when Ji Zhongjiu saw her, she was in a wheelchair." Tang said Xu's blood pressure has been unstable, and her eyesight and hearing have deteriorated in detention. But he has been unable to get confirmation of her medical diagnoses from the authorities. "They refused to talk about it," he said. "I called the state security police today, and he told me I was talking nonsense." "He said he called yesterday to ask about her and they told him she was in good health." Repeated calls to Ji rang unanswered on Wednesday. Refusal to 'confess' Xu is being held on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a public order charge typically used in the initial detention of activists and peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). A vocal supporter of a number of high-profile human rights cases, including that of detained human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, she was detained under "residential surveillance at a designated location," a form of incommunicado detention rights groups say puts detainees at greater risk of torture and mistreatment. Xu's trial was suspended by the Yangzhou Intermediate People's Court in an April 22 ruling that cited "unavoidable circumstances," but gave no further details. Tang said her lawyer had told him that the trial had been suspended for the sixth time at the behest of state security police, which he believes was the result of Xu's refusal to plead guilty or "confess" to the charges against her. The overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network tweeted about the meeting between Xu and Ji on Wednesday: "Xu was sitting in a wheelchair, looking exhausted, and with poor physical health." "But even in light of her other physical conditions (heart disease, high blood pressure, & having suffered a stroke), and even after being detained in total for nearly two years cumulatively, the authorities still have not been able to shake her determination to plead not guilty!" the group said. Xu was detained on Feb. 9, 2018 at her home in Jiangsu's Gaoyou city, and placed under criminal detention the next day on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble." She was transferred into residential surveillance at a designated location a few weeks later, and the charges changed to the more serious "incitement to subvert state power." She was released, apparently on bail, then re-detained by police on Nov. 5, 2021, and has been awaiting trial since then, CHRD said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Average citizens are angry that they must fight for basic treatment. A Pyongyang City Sanitation and Quarantine Station staff tests a woman for COVID-19 in Pyongyang, June 10, 2022. Ordinary citizens who test positive are sent to a quarantine facility and given two anti-fever pills a day, one source says. However, high-ranking North Korean officials receive intensive treatment at a special facility equipped with medicines and medical equipment. North Korea has set up Special Treatment Divisions in hospitals in the capital Pyongyang, where the countrys elite can go for treatment if they show symptoms of COVID-19, angering average citizens who lack access to similar care, sources told RFA. For high-ranking officials of the ruling Korean Workers Partys Central Committee, the divisions are up and running at the Pyongyang Medical University and Kim Man Yu hospitals, a resident of the city told RFAs Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. A medical practitioner said that the number of the Partys high-ranking officials who have been hospitalized due to confirmed COVID-19 at Pyongyang Medical University Hospitals Special Treatment Division is unknown, but there have been 10 or more officials who were quarantined with suspected COVID-19 symptoms, the source said. The Central Committee organized the Special Treatment Divisions as special medical facilities for high-ranking officials when the pandemic crisis began [in 2020]. There were few hospitalized patients, but after the military parade in April, the hospitalizations of Central Committee officials increased significantly, he said. Though North Korea maintained that it was completely virus free for the first two years of the pandemic, Pyongyang finally acknowledged the presence of the virus within its borders in May 2022, saying that a large military parade at the end of April had spread the disease nationwide, and the government declared a maximum emergency. The countrys archaic medical system is ill-equipped for the global pandemic, but the wealthy and elite live in an almost first-world bubble and their money or status can grant them top-notch care in the event they need it. The facilities at the Special Treatment Divisions are state-of-the-art, the source in Pyongyang said. They are equipped with imported COVID-19 diagnostics and vaccines, they said. If a fever patient is confirmed, he or she receives intensive treatment. The facility is equipped with various medicines and medical facilities such as IVs, oxygen cylinders, as well as oral vaccines. The patient receives three nutritious meals [a day] for a quick recovery. While fever cases do not appear to be in decline in Pyongyang, the government continues to claim victory over the disease, another resident of the city told RFA. The government declared the capital as one of the areas of the country with no active cases as recently as Wednesday, according to 38 North, a website run by the Washington-based Stimson Center that monitors North Korean issues. Fever patients who show symptoms of COVID-19 continue to appear from among the residents and officials here in Pyongyang, but the Central Committee keeps repeating propaganda that it has won the battle, the second source said. The residents are complaining that the authorities are only interested in special treatment for high-ranking officials while ignoring treatment for ordinary residents, he said. The second source confirmed that the Special Treatment Divisions for the high ranking officials of the Central Committee are operated out of the two hospitals mentioned by the first source. Meanwhile, senior officials of the city government go to Special Treatment Divisions in Pyongyang Hospitals #1 and #2, the second source said. But the average citizen receives much more rudimentary treatment. For ordinary residents [exhibiting symptoms], the doctor assigned to their household will [only] check their body temperature each day. Unless they have a high fever, they will be designated as suspected COVID-19 patients and quarantined at home for two weeks, the second source said. If they are suspected of having COVID-19 after a diagnosis, they must be isolated at a quarantine facility located on the outskirts of Pyongyang and the only treatment they get is two anti-fever pills each day, he said. Meanwhile at the Special Treatment Centers, a team of doctors will check in on patients several times a day and provide medicines for specific side effects, the second source said. Once they are discharged, food is delivered to their homes, he said.. The residents who see this are accusing the authorities of discrimination. They say, Only the officials are actually people, and we are not even considered human, he said. North Korea has so far only confirmed six cases of COVID-19 infection. Nearly 4.8 million people suffering from symptoms of the virus have been recorded as fever patients, 99.994% of whom have recovered, according to state media. Translated by Claire Shinyoung O. Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong. The effort is meant to address the abuse of workers in the zone by their employers. A view of Kings Romans Casino in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone along the Mekong River in northern Laos' Bokeo province, November 2021. Authorities in northern Laos are calling on businesses in the Chinese-run Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to suspend hiring of Laotians to work as chat girls in an effort to curb abuses, including human trafficking. Middlemen working on behalf of the Kings Roman Casino in the SEZ in Bokeo province have actively recruited young Laotian women to work as chat girls to scam men on social media platforms into buying shares of the company. Those who fail to meet their sales quotas have been detained against their will by their employers and in some cases physically abused or sold off to work in the zones sex industry, RFA reported in December 2021. Bokeo province is home to the SEZ, a gambling and tourism hub catering to the Chinese situated along the Mekong River where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet. In 2018, the U.S. government sanctioned the Chinese tycoon who is said to run the SEZ as head of a trafficking network. The provinces Bokeo Committee for Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone Management issued the notice on July 19 for casino owner Dok Ngiew Kham Group, the zones board of directors, and other companies and businesses in the SEZ. Were requesting cooperation from all companies, including the Dok Ngiew Kham Group, in the SEZ in inspecting the companies that use Lao workers as online chatters, a provincial official who serves on the committee told RFA on Monday. Wed like also to reeducate both Lao workers and the employers not to use violence, he said, citing recent cases of Lao workers who were physically abused by their employers because they couldnt meet the harsh requirements of their jobs. The discipline used is over the line, said the official, who declined to be named so he could speak freely. The employers should cut off their salaries instead of beating them. Lao authorities will inspect the companies that use workers as online chatters and educate Lao workers and employers about fair labor practices, he said. An official of the Planning and Investment Department of Bokeo province, who requested anonymity for the same reason, said the latest measure would help stamp out the abuse of workers in the SEZ. The action is good! he said The authorities of the SEZ management committee are going to stop the companies from importing workers, and they will inspect the labor practice. Long hours, night shifts A Lao worker in the SEZ told RFA on Monday that a friend who has worked as an online chat girl for seven months initially signed a labor contract for six months. During that time, she wasnt able to do the job properly; so, she now wants to get out and do something else with another company, he said. But she cant, [and] her employer has asked her to pay back the money the company paid to a middleman to get her here. The chat girl told her friend that her employer increased her work time to 14 hours a day and made her work night shifts. I wonder why the provincial labor department would never inspect this kind of labor practice, said the friend, who declined to be named for safety reasons. Another SEZ worker told RFA that she also witnessed abuse. Recently, Ive seen more and more Lao workers being disciplined for not performing well on the job, like running around the building, she said. If any workers want to quit their company and go to another, theyll have to pay back debt. Many women sell themselves to pay off the debt and then quit. But a 20-year-old online chat girl said some workers appreciate the opportunity to make money in the SEZ. Some of my friends who work for my company just came back from visiting their parents, and they paid bribes to officials and security guards to get back to work in the SEZ, she said. RFA reported on July 14 that a Lao worker from Luang Namtha province had been hospitalized for several days after being beaten up by a security guard of the Golden Triangle SEZ for not being able to do his job as an online chatterer. He said the security guard hit him several times with a metal baton. On Feb. 22, 2022, the Bokeo Committee also requested the companies and workers in the SEZ to sign labor contracts detailing all duties and responsibilities of the workers and employers as a protective measure. Lao authorities have complained that they cannot easily enter the zone, which operates largely beyond the reach of Lao laws, creating friction with locals. Provincial police officers have been able to rescue workers being held against their will by their employer only after the women have contacted the authorities. As of May, police had rescued nearly 500 trapped SEZ workers during the previous 12 months, including about 200 women who were victims of human trafficking, RFA reported earlier. Translated by Max Avary for RFA Lao. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. The councils denunciation comes as junta troops continue to assault the restive Sagaing region. The U.N. Security Council condemned the Myanmar militarys execution of four democracy activists over the weekend but stopped short of calling for new sanctions against the junta as its forces continued attacks in the countrys Sagaing region. A statement issued on Wednesday by the 15 members of the council echoed one issued on Monday by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) denouncing the killings of the activists despite numerous appeals that their death sentences be reconsidered. The Myanmar military, which overthrew the elected government in a February 2021 coup, said on Monday that it had executed the activists for aiding acts of terror as part of the civilian opposition and resistance to the regime. The Security Council response noted ASEANs call for utmost restraint, patience and efforts to avoid escalating the situation, and for all parties concerned to desist from taking actions that would only further aggravate the crisis. The statement also called for the full implementation of the five-point consensus agreed to in April 2021 to end to violence in post-coup Myanmar and put the country back on the path to democracy. And it called for the immediate release of deposed leaders President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. Security Council members also called for an immediate halt to attacks on infrastructure, health and education facilities, for full respect for human rights and the rule of law, and for full, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to all those in need. But Justice for Myanmar, a group of activists campaigning for justice and accountability for the people of Myanmar, criticized the U.N. councils response as insufficient. Yet, no sanctions, no referral to the Int'l Criminal Court + members #China, #India & #Russia continue to arm the Myanmar military. Time UN Security Council ends its shameful inaction! the group tweeted. The Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and the High Representative of the European Union also condemned the executions. These executions, the first in Myanmar in over thirty years, and the absence of fair trials show the juntas contempt for the unwavering democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar, they said in a statement issued Thursday. We continue to condemn in the strongest terms the military coup in Myanmar and express deep concern about the political, economic, social, humanitarian and human rights situation in the country, they said. Thousands flee homes in Sagaing The criticism by the U.N. and G7 came as at least 10 civilians, including two teenagers, were killed in Sagaings Khin-U township and more than 10,000 others from 17 villages fled their homes amid clearance operations by junta forces that began last week, local sources told RFA on Thursday. Northwestern Myanmars Sagaing region has the largest number of participants in the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement, a strike of professionals like doctors and teachers to resist military rule, and the strongest armed resistance to the junta. Among the dead in Khin-U township are Khant Nyein, 13, from Myin Daung village; National League for Democracy township organizer Aung Naing Win, 35, from Shin Min Dway village; Aung Hman, 66, from In Daing Gyi village; Htay, 52, from Myin Daung village; Si, 89, and Ohn Thee, 35, from Letpanhla village; and Pho Khoo, 18 from Laung Shey village, the sources said. RFA does not yet know the identities of the others killed. A township resident, who found the charred body of Aung Naing Win, said the army brutally killed ordinary civilians. The military has been attacking villages in the area in four columns in the past 10 days, he said, adding that soldiers burned about 50 houses and mostly slit the throats of those who were killed. The elderly woman named Si died on Wednesday when her house in Letpanhla village was set on fire, another local said. The woman died in a fire that burned 11 houses, said the local who declined to be identified for safety reasons. They set fire to the house knowing that she was inside. Another township resident said more than 10,000 people from 17 villages were forced to leave their homes and around 50 homes were destroyed by fire due to the military raids in the area. There are about 12 villages in the surrounding area, and there must be about 12,000 to 13,000 people [who have fled their homes], the person said, adding that residents usually ran to nearby communities about two or three miles away. A resident of Moung Kyauk Taw village, who did not want to be named for safety reasons, said he saw the soldiers set fire to the village, destroying more than 20 houses. It wasnt an accidental fire. It was arson. We have witnesses, the person said, adding that he and others watched soldiers enter the community and saw three or four of them set fire to the houses. We lost everything, and we have no place to live. We cant buy any palm leaves [for roofing], and we dont have money. We are now living under bullock carts, he said. Locals said they did not know which battalion the soldiers who raided the villages were from. RFA could not reach military spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun or Sagaing military council spokesman Aye Hlaing for comment. Myo Aung, an official from the townships Letpanhla village, said the actions of Myanmars junta were cruel and inhumane. Rural areas bear brunt The latest killings came despite claims by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) that public administrations under its direction control around 80% of the regions rural areas in 36 townships where the military has not been able to exert its influence. Peoples police forces have also started to be established to ensure the rule of law in areas where the public administrations have begun to operate, said NUG spokesman Kyaw Zaw. Public administration officials said the NUG hands down its policy and agenda to public administration groups at the township level and to township defense forces which must act accordingly. Residents of the largely agricultural region have borne the brunt of army retaliation, often featuring burnings of villages that have displaced thousands of people. Most of Sagaings 34 townships and more than 5,900 villages have been affected by fighting between military forces and members of the anti-junta Peoples Defense Forces (PDF). Sagaing military council spokesman Aye Hlaing denied that PDFs had taken control of the region, adding that the regimes regional chief minister has been visiting every township on inspection tours. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Nguyen Son Lo had already been warned not to send his writings to regional officials. Nguyen Son Lo of the SENA Institute of Technology Research and Development and some of his publications. The former director of the SENA (Southeast and North Asia) Institute of Technology Research and Development has been placed under house arrest and banned from leaving Vietnam amid a probe into allegations of abusing democratic freedoms for submitting a series of recommendations on improving the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam. On Wednesday the Ministry of Public Security said the Investigation Security Agency had decided to probe Nguyen Son Lo, 74, under Article 331 of the Criminal Code. The ministry did not explain why the investigation had been launched, saying the Investigation Security Agency was focusing on investigating, collecting documents, and consolidating evidence on the criminal acts of the accused and related individuals according to the provisions of law." Los close friend Nguyen Khac Mai, director of the Hanoi-based Minh Triet Cultural Research Center, said his colleague was a highly-decorated war hero who turned to study and offered his insights on the situation of the country and ways to improve peoples lives. "Recently he founded a think-tank on cultural research and development, said Mai. He told us the issue of culture has become a huge issue these days for the nation so he wanted to contribute to this field. He said his friend had written a number of books to advise the countrys leaders, offering recommendations on Vietnams economy and culture. The Central Inspection Commission [of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam] came to SENA to work with him and confirmed they had not forbidden him from expressing his opinions or making recommendations. They just asked him not to spread them widely," Mai said. Lo was advised not to send his books to provincial Party secretaries or National Assembly deputies. He was told to send them internally to bodies such as the Central Organizing Commission, the Central Inspection Commission, the Central Commission on Propaganda and Education, the Secretariat and the Politburo of the Partys Central Committee. According to Mai, Lo agreed to send his comments only to responsible officials but did not understand why he was being investigated. Last year, Bach Thong district police in Bac Kan province, published an article titled "Suggestions to build the Party or act against the Party." The article referred to the SENA Institute and claimed it had written an open letter about the 13th National Congress of the Party expressing incorrect and distorted views on Party and State. Mai said his colleague was not acting against the Party. "He only has a constructive mind. He wants to contribute, correct mistakes, improve, make this Party and government more civilized and cultured, more humane, more popular, and kinder. That's his aspiration and I think 90 to 100 million people also want the same. No one wants to overthrow the regime, they just want it to be better. Less corruption, more humanity, less immoral behavior, no land grabbing but negotiation and proper compensation. That is his wish like mine and others," said Mai. On July 4, the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations issued a decision to suspend the operations of the institute and take steps to abolish it, saying its establishment and operations violated regulations. According to Mai, SENA is a civil society organization, legally registered with the state and its members are former high-ranking cadres such as Nguyen Manh Can, former deputy head of the Central Organizing Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam. A Russian ammunition storage unit in northern Crimea has exploded, Russia's Defense Ministry said, injuring at least two people and prompting the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents. The ministry blamed the blast on sabotage. Local news organizations, meanwhile, reported a second explosion on August 16 at a nearby electrical substation in the Dzhankoy district of the Russian-occupied Black Sea peninsula. 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. It was unclear if the two incidents, which occurred around the same time, were related. Ukrainian officials avoided publicly or directly claiming responsibility for the incidents but some appeared to suggest Kyiv was involved. Crimea was captured and annexed by Russia in 2014 and is still internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory, but Moscow has threatened severe reprisals for any attacks on the peninsula. The New York Times quoted an unnamed senior Ukrainian official as saying an elite Ukrainian military unit that was operating behind enemy lines was responsible for the explosions. The head of Zelenskiy's office, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Twitter that "the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue the filigree 'demilitarization' operation to fully rid our land of Russian invaders." "Our soldiers are the best sponsors of a good mood," Yermak added, "Crimea is Ukraine." Mykhaylo Podolyak, another top Zelenskiy aide, said on Twitter that thelatest blasts were a reminder that the "Crimea occupied by Russians is about warehouses, explosions and a high risk of death for invaders and thieves." "What is stolen does not bring prosperity," Podolyak later told Ukrainian television. Video and photographs posted on Telegram and other social media showed a series of blasts and explosions in the district, which is not far from the administrative border with the mainland Ukrainian region of Kherson, now occupied by Russian forces. Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement that the explosion occurred at a temporary storage facility for ammunition. The ministry later blamed the blast on unidentified saboteurs. "On the morning of August 16, as a result of sabotage, a military warehouse near the village of Dzhankoy was damaged. A number of civilian facilities, including power lines, a power plant, a railway track, as well as a number of residential buildings, were damaged," the ministry said in a statement. "There are no serious casualties. Necessary measures are being taken to eliminate the consequences of sabotage," it added. Sergei Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed governor for the peninsula, said two people had been injured and that railway traffic had been disrupted. About 3,000 people were also evacuated from a nearby village, he said. Refat Chubarov, a prominent leader of the Crimean Tatar community, also said in a post on Facebook that the explosion occurred at an ammunition depot. Two local Crimea news organizations, Kryminform and Crimean Wind, reported that a transformer at an electrical substation had also exploded or caught fire. Russia's Energy Ministry was quoted by news agencies as confirming a fire at the Crimea substation, but said it had been contained. No cause was given. The incidents came roughly a week after a series of explosions tore through Russia's Saky air base in a western district of Crimea, destroying a number of Russian warplanes. There's been no confirmation as to what caused those explosions, though satellite imagery showed extensive destruction at the base. Most observers suggest Ukrainian forces were responsible but Kyiv has not claimed any responsibility. Mykhaylo Podolyak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a post to Twitter that the latest blasts were a reminder that the "Crimea occupied by Russians is about warehouses, explosions and a high risk of death for invaders and thieves." "What is stolen does not bring prosperity," Podolyak later told Ukrainian television. The Dzhankoy district is about 50 kilometers from the Russian-occupied region of Kherson in southern Ukraine. With reporting by Crimea.Realities, a project of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, and AP Iranian rights activist Maryam Akbari Monfared, who has spent 13 years in prison for protesting the execution of her two siblings, faces new charges of "propaganda against the system." The watchdog Iran Human Rights quoted a source as saying Monfared was to have appeared in court on July 16 but refused as her lawyer had not been informed of the charges. Hassan Jafari, Monfareds husband, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that the content of the new case is still unknown. Monfared was arrested on December 2009 and was forcibly disappeared for five months. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran in May 2010, which condemned her for acting against national security and "enmity against God." Jafari says a judge convicted his wife in a four-minute trial because of her family, who were members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO). Three of her siblings were executed by the state in 1988, while a fourth died while being tortured in 1985. Monfared has been in prison since her conviction without being granted any leave. She reportedly has been suffering health problems. Jafari says that the Ministry of Intelligence has stopped any early or temporary release of his wife, even though a bail deposit has been posted. In 2015, after the release of audio from Ayatollah Montazeri, then the country's deputy leader, regarding the mass killing of prisoners, including her siblings, Monfared filed a lawsuit with the Tehran Prosecutor's Office. Jila Bani Yaqoub, a journalist who was in the women's ward of Evin prison with Maryam Akbari Monfared, said in an interview with Radio Farda that after Monfared's complaint and lawsuit, prison officials specifically told her that they will not let her go on leave, and they have stuck to this." With reporting and writing by Ardeshir Tayebi Russian forces pounded civilian settlements in the Kharkiv area while attempting to advance in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine's military said on August 17, as Russia blamed sabotage for explosions at one of its military bases in Moscow-annexed Crimea amid hints by Kyiv that it was responsible for the incident. 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. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian forces carried out air and artillery strikes near Stariy Saltiv and Mospanove in the Kharkiv region, adding that the Russians were conducting an offensive near Lebyazhe and Bazaliyivka, where the fighting continues. In Donetsk, Russian troops attempted to advance near Bohorodychne but had to retreat, the General Staff reported, adding that fighting continued near Mazanivka and Novodmytrivka. In Moscow, the Defense Ministry said a Russian ammunition storage unit in occupied Crimea exploded on August 16, wounding at least two people and prompting the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents. The ministry blamed the blast on sabotage, in a rare admission that armed groups loyal to Ukraine are damaging military logistics and supply lines on territory it controls. Ukrainian officials avoided publicly or directly claiming responsibility for the incidents, but some appeared to suggest that Kyiv was involved. Crimea was captured and annexed by Russia in 2014 and is still internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory, but Moscow has threatened severe reprisals for any attacks on the peninsula. After the blasts, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his nightly address on August 16, called on Ukrainians living in the occupied territories to stay away from the military facilities of the Russian Army located in Crimea. "Every day and every night we see new reports of explosions in the territory temporarily occupied by the invaders," Zelenskiy said, without admitting direct responsibility for the blasts. He said the explosions could have various causes, including incompetence. "But they all mean the same thing -- the destruction of the occupiers' logistics, their ammunition, military and other equipment, and command posts saves the lives of our people," he said. Earlier, The New York Times quoted an unnamed senior Ukrainian official as saying that an elite Ukrainian military unit that was operating behind enemy lines was responsible for the explosions. Mykhaylo Podolyak, another top Zelenskiy aide, said in a post on Twitter that the latest blasts were a reminder that the "Crimea occupied by Russians is about warehouses, explosions, and a high risk of death for invaders and thieves." "What is stolen does not bring prosperity," Podolyak later told Ukrainian television. The incidents came roughly a week after a series of unexplained explosions tore through Russias Saky air base, in a western district of Crimea, destroying a number of Russian warplanes. There's been no confirmation as to what caused those explosions, though satellite imagery showed extensive destruction at the base. The Dzhankoy district is about 50 kilometers from the Russian-occupied region of Kherson in southern Ukraine. With reporting by Crimea.Realities and AP NATO reconnaissance planes patrol the airspace near the alliance's eastern borders almost daily, watching for activity by Russian military aircraft. RFE/RL correspondent Zoriana Stepanenko and cameraman Marek Hajduk joined the crew of a NATO jet on July 25 for flights over Romania and Poland. Refueling in flight to allow the plane to patrol for 12 hours, the crew, from a mix of NATO nations, described their determination to see and be seen by any potential Russian aggressor. Ukrainian forces have stepped up their counteroffensive to regain lost territory in the south, as Russia launched deadly strikes in central Ukraine and near the capital amid reports that Moscow has been increasingly facing a shortage of personnel in the east. Ukraine's military said its planes struck five Russian strongholds around the city of Kherson and another nearby city in the south, where it is concentrating its biggest counteroffensive since the start of the war, seeking to isolate the Russian troops in the area. 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. Ukraine has used Western-supplied long-range missile systems to badly damage three bridges across the Dnieper River in recent weeks, making it more difficult for Russia to supply its forces on the western bank. The Kherson region, which borders Moscow-annexed Crimea, fell to the Russians soon after the the February 24 invasion. Russian strikes on the central Ukrainian region of Kirovograd on July 28 killed five people and wounded 26 in the city of Kropyvnytskiy, officials said. Near Kyiv, 15 people were hurt at a military base. Ukraine's northern and southern regions were also hit. Russian missile strikes also hit the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Mykolayiv, and Kharkiv. The attack on the Kyiv region -- the first in weeks -- hit a military unit in a village on the outskirts of the capital, according to Oleksiy Hromov, a senior official with Ukraines General Staff. Fifteen people were wounded in the strikes, five of them civilians, Kyiv regional Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said. Chernihiv regional Governor Vyacheslav Chaus reported that the Russians fired missiles from Belarus at the village of Honcharivska. The Chernihiv region had not been targeted in weeks. There also has been heavy shelling along the entire front line in the eastern Donetsk region as Russian forces targeted Bakhmut and other cities. Three people died in Bakhmut, local officials said. Britain's Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin on July 29 that Moscow has been using mercenaries from the notorious Kremlin-linked Vagner Group in eastern Ukraine from the early days of the invasion alongside regular army units "in coordination with the Russian military." Vagner, which is believed to be controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been involved in covert operations in Africa and the Middle East since 2015. The use of mercenaries in overt military operations further undermines the Kremlins longstanding policy of denying links between private military contractors and the Russian state, British intelligence said in its report. While the use of Vagner mercenaries in regular military operations was probably prompted by a "major shortage of combat infantry," British intel suggested that it is "highly unlikely" they would significantly influence the course of the war. A U.S. lawmaker said on July 28 that more than 75,000 Russian soldiers -- about half the force sent by Moscow to invade Ukraine in February -- are believed to have been killed or wounded. Representative Elissa Slotkin (Democrat-Michigan) who spoke to CNN after attending a classified briefing with officials from President Joe Biden's administration, said the figure was "huge." Military casualties are a state secret in Russia even in peace time, and there are no updated official figures available on Moscow's military's death toll. The most recent CIA estimate was that 15,000 Russian forces had been killed in fighting and three times that number wounded. Slotkin, who recently returned from a trip to Ukraine, said the next three to six weeks could be crucial for the direction the conflict would take. "I think that what we heard very firmly from President Zelenskiy and reinforced today is that the Ukrainians really want to hit Russia in the teeth a few times before the winter comes, put them in the best position possible, particularly hitting them down south," Slotkin said. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith told RFE/RL in an interview that the Ukrainian military commanders can determine themselves the next steps in the counteroffensive, but NATO wants to hear which systems would be most useful. We will continue to do everything we can to support Ukrainian military on the ground and make sure that they have what they need so that they can prevail in this conflict and stop Russian aggression, she said. With reporting by Reuters, BBC, and AP Oleksandr Melnychenko has been searching since March for his son, his son's wife, and their three daughters since Russian jets bombed their apartment building outside Kyiv. Melnychenko, a former police investigator, doesn't want to believe they are still somewhere under the rubble and chases down any lead in the hope that they somehow escaped death. With Russian forces seeking to cement their control and Kyiv fighting to take back its territory, the fate of a swath of southern Ukraine is uncertain. But one thing is clear: As in the north and east, accounts of torture, rape, and other atrocities are emerging as the war grinds on. Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward. Mottos And Maps On July 20, Russias foreign minister said that the geography of the Kremlins goals for the war in Ukraine has changed, naming two regions beyond the Donbas that he made clear Moscow wants to control in full and forever: Kherson and Zaporizhzhya. Sergei Lavrov also said there were a number of other territories" in Russias sights but declined to name them and added that Moscow could expand its objectives further if the West supplies Kyiv with longer-range weapons. One of the aims of these remarks appeared to be to create a kind of slide rule, an adjusting scale that would allow the Kremlin to argue -- both to the West and to Russians -- that as it seized control of territory in a foreign country, whatever amount it ends up with is the right amount. Another goal may have been simpler: to suggest that despite the spectacular failure of Russian forces to take Kyiv and remove President Volodymyr Zelenskiys government or force its surrender, Moscow may still have such goals in mind. This was reinforced by Lavrov's indication that the demilitarization and "de-Nazification" of Ukraine -- the latter linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin's false claim that the country is run by neo-Nazis -- remain among Moscow's war aims. Others in Putins orbit have laid out highly ambitious objectives in more flamboyantly bellicose fashion. In Chechnya, troops controlled by Kremlin-backed regional strongman Ramzan Kadyrov have been filmed wearing uniforms with the words "To Kyiv" in Russian on the back, though this seems far more likely to be a provocative piece of propaganda meant to frighten and impress than a statement of actual tactical intent. Its also a reference to World War II wording about the Soviet Armys advance on Berlin. Former President Dmitry Medvedev -- the Putin tandem partner whose wildly pro-war, anti-West Instagram rants are widely seen as an at-once alarming and risible effort to stay relevant both in Russias war-crazy present and when the post-Putin era arrives -- posted a map showing a partitioned Ukraine, with large swaths belonging to Russia and other neighbors and a rump state controlling only a small area around Kyiv. Mottos and maps notwithstanding, and despite the fact that Russian rockets struck areas near Kyiv for the first time in weeks on July 28, military analysts say the prospect of Moscows forces taking the capital is extremely unlikely given the challenges they are facing elsewhere, including in finding replacements for the roughly 75,000 soldiers U.S. authorities estimate have been killed or wounded since Putin launched the large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Russian forces have been making slow progress in fierce fighting in the Donbas, compete control of which appears to be Putins minimum goal -- and perhaps the most modest territorial gain he could sell to Russians as a victory. While Russian forces now hold Luhansk Province in its entirety, about half of Donetsk Province remains under Ukrainian government control. The South In Kherson Province, where the regional seat remains the biggest city outside the Donbas that Russian forces hold, months after they seized it, the Ukrainian military has taken back some villages and there is talk that Kyiv could soon step up its counteroffensive. Ukrainian officials have said they plan to retake much of southern Ukraine within months. Meanwhile, if the final geography of Russias ambitions in Ukraine remains uncertain, the geography of abuses by its forces and its representatives in the areas it controls -- or controlled briefly -- is growing increasingly clear. In the north, weeks after pouring down toward Kyiv from Russia and Belarus, Russian forces retreated across the border, leaving evidence of summary executions, rape, and torture that are forming the foundation for war-crimes investigations even as the war continues. In the east and the Donbas, people who have fled places like Mariupol, razed by Russian forces in a months-long siege, have delivered accounts of abuses and rights activists fear that much more will come to light later from areas where the fighting is heavy. In southern Ukraine, evidence emerging from areas held by Russia paint a similarly grim picture, as Moscow seeks to solidify its control and quash Ukrainian resistance. An Abyss Of Fear In a July 22 report citing dozens of people from the occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions -- Lavrovs changed geography -- Human Rights Watch said Russian forces have turned the areas they control into an abyss of fear and wild lawlessness. Torture, inhumane treatment, as well as arbitrary detention and unlawful confinement of civilians, are among the apparent war crimes we have documented, HRW said. Its report documents harrowing accounts of torture and abuse. One woman from Kherson, Alyona Lapchuk, said she along with her husband, Vitaliy, and their son were taken to a police station with bags over their heads on March 27. Lapchuk and her son could hear them beating and interrogating her husband in the next room, the report says. Russian soldiers then told her that her husband, a member of the Territorial Defense Forces, was a terrorist, and drove her and her son away and left them under a bridge. Lapchuk searched for her husband for weeks. On June 10, she said, a prosecutor told her that a man catching crayfish found his body floating in a bay, his arms bound and a weight tied to his legs. All that time I had been praying that he was alive, she said. NOTE: The Week In Russia will next appear on August 12 These standards are being continually raised even higher, causing much more difficulty for enterprises in countries such as Vietnam. Strict standards On 20 June, the Vietnam Fruits and Vegetables Association (VinaFruit) sent a dispatch to the Vietnam SPS office (VAN) requesting to work again with the EU market to reduce the frequency of testing on dragon fruits, spices and vegetables when exporting to the EU market. Previously, according to the EU announcement on 13 June, the rate of testing dragon fruit samples to check for chemical residues was 20% and the rate of testing on spices and vegetables was 50%. VinaFruit said this inspection rate is too high. For instance, ten kg export dragon fruit loses two kg during inspection, causing the profit of enterprises to be eroded. The long inspection time of four days also affects the quality of the product, not to mention that when the shipment does not meet the EU requirements then enterprises have to pay an extra fee. VinaFruit recommends that the inspection rate must be either 3% or the EU can appoint an inspection agency in Vietnam to help inspect goods before exporting. This situation is not just causing difficulties for only vegetables, but seafood exports are also facing several problems because of strict standards set by the EU market. Accordingly, from 3 May 2022, seafood exporters must apply the maximum amount of mercury residue in products, ranging from 0.3 microgram to 1 microgram per kilo, depending on the type of product. European Union importers also have set higher requirements for packaging of all products. Currently, a number of Vietnamese seafood exporters have received requests to change packaging quality to become more environmentally friendly and to follow stricter requirements. This forces Vietnamese enterprises to find new suppliers, which raises the costs higher. However, businesses have no other choice because this is a large and long-term market for the export of seafoods. The textile industry is also facing endless new EU regulations. Currently, the sustainable and circular development strategy for textiles with a vision upto 2030 is getting much attention from European Union countries. This strategy stipulates that textile products entering the EU market must have a longer life, be reusable, and also be repairable. All these features must have a digital certificate, although some key standards will be applicable only from 2024. To meet these requirements, input materials for the production of enterprises must change. Over the years, new EU standards for the textile industry have been introduced continuously, especially green standards such as those covering the environment and emission reduction, and social responsibility. All these additionally added standards are always more demanding than the previous standards, causing new problems and extra costs for the textile industry. Green standards are currently seen as mandatory for almost all businesses. In a press conference to introduce the exhibition and green economy forum organized by the European Business Association (EuroCham) of Vietnam at the end of May, a representative of EuroCham affirmed that at the request of other countries that are importing, manufacturing enterprises have to mandatorily follow the path to greening the production process. Therefore, the pressure for green growth in Vietnam comes from all sides. Businesses must adapt Before the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export products enjoyed preferential tax rates under the universal preferential tariff system at a fairly high level of 10% to 20%. When the EVFTA came into effect on 1 August 2020, the doors seemed to have become much wider when vegetables and fruits were among the top industries enjoying tariff incentives. Almost 94% of the 547 tariff lines for fresh and processed vegetables and fruits have been reduced by the EU to 0%, including many other popular products of Vietnam. However, nearly two years after the EVFTA came into effect, Vietnamese vegetables and fruits hold only a modest market share of less than 1% in the EU, even though this market has a very high annual import demand. The reason is that the EU has set very strict requirements for imported fruits and vegetables. Each type of fruit or vegetable usually has to meet its own requirements for export. While Vietnam still lacks synchronization in production and also lacks large-scale planting areas that meet standards, the opportunity that is hand has not been grasped yet. In addition, the EU does not have a quarantine representative in Vietnam, so it is difficult for large enterprises to tackle these problems on their own. The solution to the problems for dragon fruits, spices, as well as vegetables, for entering the EU market easily, businesses need to control quality from within the country. Only when 100% of the criteria for the shipment is guaranteed, will it be exported without a hitch. An enterprise specializing in exporting fruits said that in order to do shipments without any hassles there must be a planting area and the enterprise must control all stages. Such areas are still too few in Vietnam and if businesses cannot cope, it will be difficult to expand their market share in the larger EU market. In fact, when the importing country introduces regulations, the exporting country has only two options, one is to find a way to adapt and second is to lose the order if requirements are not met. Meanwhile, the loss of orders in a large market like the EU is difficult to accept for some sectors of Vietnam, such as the textile industry. This means that it is the businesses that will have to adapt and improve their methods. Mr. Vu Duc Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) said that the textile and garment industry is confident and can adapt to new regulations. In recent years, many large enterprises in the garment industry such as Garment 10, Viet Thang Jeans, and Phong Phu, are investing in the latest technology to gradually meet the green requirements of major markets, including the EU market. Thanh Lam Some of the top minds behind Montreals natural wine scene suggest the best places to sip au naturel Case in Brief R. v. Kirkpatrick The Supreme Court rules that when someone is required by their partner to wear a condom during sex but they do not, they could be guilty of sexual assault. In March 2017, Ross Kirkpatrick and a woman met online and then in person in British Columbia. The woman agreed to have sex with Mr. Kirkpatrick, but only if he wore a condom. They had sexual intercourse twice one night. Mr. Kirkpatrick wore a condom the first time. The second time, Mr. Kirkpatrick did not wear a condom, which she only realized after intercourse ended. Based on these events, Mr. Kirkpatrick was charged with sexual assault. Section 273.1(1) of the Criminal Code defines consent as a persons voluntary agreement to engage in the sexual activity in question. At trial, the complainant testified that she had not consented to the sexual activity in question in this case, intercourse without a condom. When the Crown finished presenting its case, Mr. Kirkpatrick asked the judge to dismiss the charge against him due to lack of evidence. He claimed the Crown did not prove the absence of consent, because the complainant consented to the sexual intercourse, regardless of condom use. Specifically, Mr. Kirkpatrick said the judge should apply the Supreme Courts 2014 ruling in R. v. Hutchinson, which established a test for analyzing consent. That case also involved a complainant who said she consented to having sex but only if the accused wore a condom. The accused pierced holes in the condom without the complainant knowing. The Supreme Court decided that the complainant consented to the sexual activity in question in that case because she agreed to sexual intercourse. However, the Supreme Court found that the accused obtained the complainants consent by fraud, contrary to section 265(3)(c) of the Criminal Code, since the accused had tampered with the condom. In the present case, Mr. Kirkpatrick said the complainant agreed to have sexual intercourse, like in Hutchinson, but he said there was no evidence of fraud, unlike in Hutchinson. The judge dismissed the sexual assault charge against Mr. Kirkpatrick due to lack of evidence. The judge applied Hutchinson and found that because the complainant agreed to have sex with Mr. Kirkpatrick, she consented to the sexual activity in question under section 273.1(1), although no condom was worn. And, the judge also determined that there was no evidence that Mr. Kirkpatricks failure to wear a condom was fraud under section 265(3)(c). The Crown then appealed to British Columbias Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal ordered a new trial, finding that the first judge should not have dismissed the sexual assault charge based on a lack of evidence. Mr. Kirkpatrick then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court has dismissed Mr. Kirkpatricks appeal and has confirmed a new trial is needed. When condom use is a condition for sexual intercourse, it becomes part of the sexual activity to which the person consented. Writing for a majority of the judges of the Supreme Court, Justice Sheilah L. Martin said that when condom use is a condition for sexual intercourse, there is no agreement to the physical act of intercourse without a condom. The condom is part of the sexual activity in question to which a person consented under section 273.1(1) of the Criminal Code. Since only yes means yes and no means no, it cannot be that no, not without a condom means yes, without a condom, Justice Martin wrote. There is therefore no need to decide whether the failure to wear a condom in this particular case was fraud. And Hutchinson does not apply to the present case, but it still applies in cases involving condom sabotage and fraud. There was evidence of the complainants lack of consent to sex without a condom. The complainant provided evidence that she would not have had sex with Mr. Kirkpatrick without a condom. Accordingly, there was some evidence the complainant did not consent to the sexual activity in question. The trial judge made an error in concluding there was no evidence and in dismissing the sexual assault charge. A new trial is therefore required. (Photo : Karolina Grabowska from Pexels) Roughly two years since the COVID-19 pandemic, a man accused of selling industrial-grade bleach as a cure for the coronavirus through his Florida-based church has been extradited from Colombia back to the US. False Claims of Bleach Curing Covid On Thursday at the Miami federal court, Mark Ganon made his initial court appearance after his recent extradition. Grenon and his three adult sons were indicted in 2021 on one conspiracy to commit fraud and two counts of criminal contempt each. Grenon, age 64, was the archbishop of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing in Bradenton, Florida. The church manufactured, promoted, and sold industrial-grade chlorine dioxide - bleach as a "Miracle Mineral Solution." The men claimed that the solution cured various illnesses from cancer to autism to COVID-19, reports APNews. In 2020, a Miami federal judge ordered the church to cease selling the substance. However, the ogre was ignored by the men and was arrested several months later in Colombia. According to the US FDA, when unsuspecting parishioners ingested the cure-all, the solution became a bleach typically used for industrial water, treating textiles, pulp, and paper. Authorities warn that ingesting the product equates to drinking bleach which can cause fatal injuries. ALSO READ: Evasive Omicron Tactics Offset by Booster Shots; Study Says Bleach Isn't a Cure-All: Everything You Need to Know Almost everyone has a handy bottle of bleach somewhere at home. It is commonly used to whiten clothes and clean various surfaces. It is an effective disinfectant that can kill bacteria, mold, mildew, algae, and viruses. However, it can kill SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on surfaces that don't make it a good alternative to self-medication. There is no scientific evidence backing bleach as an effective way of fending off COVID in the body. What's more, is that drinking bleach can lead to serious health consequences and can be fatal, according to Healthline. Bleach is a poisonous chemical that can burn sensitive tissue and is corrosive enough to damage the metal. Clorox and Lysol, leading household cleaner makers, have explicitly stated that drinking bleach and other disinfectants are a health hazard. The FSDA warned not to drink products such as the Miracle Mineral Solution, falsely claiming to have antiviral properties. Likewise, the FDA stated chlorine dioxide products that claim to be effective treatments for different diseases, including covid-19. The agency insists that they are not proven safe nor effective. The damage bleach can cause the body depends on different factors, including a person's size and age, health condition, how much bleach is swallowed, what other chemicals are mixed in, and more. If a person ingests bleach, they may start to vomit, which can lead to other problems. As bleach flows upward, it can burn a person's esophagus. It also puts a person at risk for aspiration. They may experience difficulty swallowing, suggesting damage to the throat or esophagus. Respiratory problems could also occur as an effect of breathing in the fumes. RELATED ARTICLE: Paxlovid Becoming More Popular COVID-19 Treatment But Doctors Prescribe It Only to Specific Patients; Who Can Take the Drug? Check out more news and information on COVID-19 in Science Times. An 11-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly starting a vegetation fire this week, Pacifica police said. Police and the North County Fire Authority responded Wednesday to reports of the fire at the 600 block of Roberts Road. After authorities arrived on the scene, the boy allegedly told them he had been using fireworks and was responsible for sparking the fire. He was placed under arrest for unlawfully causing a fire, a misdemeanor in California, and was later released to a parent, police said. Part of Roberts Road was closed for two hours, according to officials. The fire was contained to 3 acres, and no evacuations were necessary. The incident was being investigated by police and the fire officials. Jordan Parker (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jordan.parker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jparkerwrites. The state Supreme Court unanimously upheld the death sentence Thursday of Charles Ng, a serial killer who was convicted of kidnapping, rape and 11 murders. His victims were nine adults and two small children who were abducted from their homes in San Francisco and other Northern California communities over an eight-month period in 1984-85 and taken to a small cabin in Calaveras County, where their bodies were found in shallow graves. Ng, now 61, is a former U.S. Marine who was first accused of robbing a Marine Corps armory in Hawaii in 1981. He escaped to California, was recaptured and convicted, and served 18 months in jail. He then headed to a cabin in the Sierra foothills with Leonard Lake, later charged as his partner in the killings. The first to disappear were Harvey and Deborah Dubbs and their 16-month-old son Sean, last seen in their San Francisco apartment in July 1984. The victims also included two other San Francisco residents, Clifford Pereantau and Jeffrey Gerald; a Milpitas woman, Kathleen Allen, and her boyfriend, Michael Carroll; an engaged couple, Lonnie Bond and Brenda OConnor, and their infant son, Lonnie Bond Jr., who lived near the killers cabin in Wilseyville, and a friend, Scott Stapley, who was visiting the couple. Prosecutors said Ng and Lake taunted their victims, videotaped them in tears, burned them and raped the women before killing them. Lake committed suicide with a cyanide capsule before trial. Ng fled to Canada and was not extradited until 1991. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death in 1995 in Orange County, where the case was transferred because of intense media coverage throughout Northern California. Ng denied responsibility for the killings and blamed Lake, whom he described as a survivalist who was preparing for the end of the world by building shelters and stockpiling supplies. He sought to introduce evidence from Lakes diary suggesting he had committed all the killings, but the trial judge said other portions of the diary implicated Ng. In Thursdays ruling upholding Ngs convictions and sentence, the court said the judge was entitled to exclude the entire diary as evidence because it was long, confusing and inconclusive. Jurors heard evidence of Lakes manipulative and psychopathic tendencies, and his belief that it was okay to kill people, Justice Joshua Groban said in the 7-0 ruling. He said there was overwhelming evidence of Ngs guilt, including his own testimony. Ngs appeal also challenged, as unduly prejudicial, a former coworkers testimony that Ng had talked about having guns at home and had recited, No gun, no fun, No kill, no thrill, and Daddy dies, mommy cries, baby fries. But Groban said the testimony was relevant in a case in which the victims included two couples and their young children. The court also rejected arguments that Ng should have been found mentally incompetent to stand trial, a conclusion drawn by one psychiatrist who examined him but rejected by others. Another issue involved an odd interaction between jurors and a prosecution investigator. During a recess in the trial, the court said, a female juror told the investigator she liked the unusual ties he wore. They chatted, and other jurors later said they had asked to see his ties and he had shown them. The jurors said the case itself was never brought up, though one of Ngs lawyers said a relative of one of the victims was mentioned in a conversation. 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. The trial judge dismissed the first juror and replaced her with an alternate. Ngs lawyers said the contacts had violated his right to an impartial jury and asked for a mistrial. The judge refused, after questioning the jurors, and the Supreme Court upheld his decision. The trial judge thoroughly questioned the jurors and the investigator and found that their interactions were minimal and unrelated to the case ... with most of them focused on small talk around (the) neckties, Groban wrote. The fairness of the trial was in no way affected by the misconduct. Ngs appellate lawyer could not be reached for comment on the ruling. The case is People v. Ng, No. S080276. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko UPDATE: Here are the latest updates on COVID in the Bay Area and California. Adults with young children were less likely to develop severe COVID-19 symptoms, compared to childless adults, a new study found. Los Angeles County officials pulled back a planned reinstatement of universal indoor masking. Face masks will again be required on BART trains. The Chronicles Pandemic Problems advice column tackles the question of what can be done to keep Uber and Lyft drivers safe, now that mask mandates have gone out the window. Latest updates: Three-quarters of Americans not up to date on COVID vaccines, analysis finds About 256 million Americans, accounting for 77% of the U.S. population, are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines making the population vulnerable to severe outcomes from future surges, according to an analysis from researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. There are wide disparities between vaccine coverage among states as well: California ranks on the high end, with 32% of its population up to date, compared to states like Alabama and Mississippi, which are at 11%. The calculations take into account the CDCs latest guidelines, along with age groups and vaccine types, according to a tweet from researcher Benjy Renton. The numbers are similar for adults over 65, who are most vulnerable to severe outcomes. Over time, the percentage of seniors fully protected through vaccination (as defined by our up to date calculations) has waned from 80% in October 2021 to just over 30% now, Renton said. The numbers show similar results to another analysis published Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation that also accounts for COVID community levels. The number of people not up to date on vaccination in vulnerable counties has jumped to 198 million, up from 120 million, it said. This represents a 65% increase since June 2. San Jose mayor apologizes for exposing others to COVID San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has apologized for potentially exposing others to COVID-19, after testing positive for the coronavirus a second time late Thursday. I regret to report that Ive just tested positive for COVIDagain, he said on Twitter, a day after he spoke without a mask and shook hands with dozens of people during a City Hall news conference. Symptoms are minor, with intermittent grumpiness. My apologies to anyone I might have exposed in recent hours or daysplease test and follow CDC guidelines. Liccardo previously had COVID in May. Californias COVID trends hit a plateau after a brief dip After a few days of improving COVID-19 trends, California is once again seeing its average case and test positive rate stalling at an elevated level, according to public health data analyzed by The Chronicle. The state is averaging 42 daily cases per 100,000 residents, a number that has held steady this week and is on par with where the state was at the beginning of the month. The Bay Area has hovered around 37 to 40 new daily cases per 100,000 over the past week. Californias test positive rate, which tracks the proportion of tests coming back positive, bounced back up to 15.8% on Friday after dipping to 15.2% earlier week. Infectious disease experts say the rate should be below 5% to control the spread of the virus. Hospitalizations also remain elevated at 4,672 patients with COVID-19 across the state, compared to 4,432 two weeks ago. There are 894 people hospitalized with the virus in the Bay Area, up from 810 two weeks ago. About 43 people are dying daily from the virus in California, compared to 38 on July 14. U.S. puts summer boosters on hold in favor of next generation shots in the fall Plans to offer adults under 50 a second COVID-19 booster this summer have been put on hold in favor of rolling out reformulated boosters in the fall, Food and Drug Administration officials told NPR. White House officials have expressed some concern about a winter surge and want to be better prepared, according to the report. They are also hoping to avoid vaccine fatigue in a population that seems eager to move on from the COVID-19 pandemic despite a wave of new cases and hospitalizations driven by the highly contagious BA.5 omicron subvariants. I think this is the right call, Dr. Celine Gounder, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said during an interview with NPR. If you get a booster now with the original formulation of the vaccine, this may in fact be counter-productive. It may prevent the second booster dose given this fall from taking and from you developing an immune response to that booster. BART reinstates mask mandate on trains Face masks will be required again on BART trains for both riders and employees, effective immediately, until the start of October under a new mandate approved by the agencys board of directors Thursday evening. The mask requirement was initially reinstated in late April in light of rising COVID-19 cases in the city, and remained in effect until July 18. For 10 days, masks were optional, but highly encouraged, before the board voted to restore the new mandate amid the latest coronavirus surge prompted by the BA.5 omicron subvariant. Biden administration launches new booster push 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. President Joe Bidens administration is launching a renewed push for COVID-19 booster shots for those eligible, pointing to the enhanced protections they offer against severe illness as the highly transmissible BA.5 variant spreads across the country. The initiatives include direct outreach to high-risk groups, especially seniors, encouraging them to get up to date on their vaccinations, with phone calls, emails and new public service announcements, the Associated Press reports. Given the rise of the Omicron BA.5 variant, it is essential that Americans stay up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations with booster shots to achieve the highest level of protection possible, the White House said. COVID-19 is killing about 366 people in the U.S. each day, the vast majority of whom are not up-to-date on their vaccinations. The administration says those deaths are largely preventable. COVID-19 levels remain high for most of U.S. COVID-19 community levels remain elevated in most regions of the U.S., according to data published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 61% of Americans live in counties that are classified as having high levels, in which the agency strongly recommends universal indoor masking. That includes nearly every county in California. Another 27% of the nations counties are in the medium tier, while only 12% are considered to have low COVID levels. The designations, based on the rate of new cases and hospital admissions, remain largely unchanged from the previous seven-day period, with the highly transmissible BA.5 sublineage of omicron driving another wave of infections. 80% of COVID test results unreported, UCSF study finds About 80% of coronavirus test results go unreported as people become more dependent on rapid at-home tests, according to preliminary data from an ongoing study by researchers at UCSF. Using data from more than 100,000 U.S. residents, the COVID-19 Citizen Science Study attempts to identify which local government policies are most effective in curbing the spread of the virus, according to a report from KRON. The researchers found that even though a majority of tests currently go unreported, skewing the true case numbers in the nations most populated regions, the test positive rate among at-home tests and medical PCR tests are roughly the same, providing at least one reliable signpost of pandemic trends. This is actually reassuring that our surveillance data in the U.S. using test positivity numbers actually is reflecting positivity on different kinds of tests, said Dr. Mark Pletcher, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF and one of the studys lead researchers. 27 million people estimated to have lost taste or smell to COVID About 5% of people with COVID-19 report smell and taste dysfunction six months after their diagnosis, according to new research published Wednesday in the British Medical Associations peer-reviewed medical journal, The BMJ. Given that there have been an estimated 550 million COVID-19 cases worldwide as of July, the study notes that about 27 million worldwide are likely suffering from the long-term effects of the dysfunction. Having these now millions more people worldwide with decreased ability to smell that may simply be a new public health crisis, Stanford University rhinologist Dr. Zara Patel, who was not involved in the study, told NBC News. The researchers note that about 74% of people who report a loss of smell after a COVID diagnosis, recover their senses after 30 days, with that proportion increasing to 90% after 90 days. More than two months after the first case was detected in the United States, an outbreak of monkeypox virus is continuing to spread quickly nationwide and in the Bay Area, mostly among gay and bisexual men, and is showing no signs of slowing down. New cases could continue to rise at a faster pace for weeks, if not longer, and eradicating the disease altogether may prove difficult, infectious disease experts and local health officials say, though the exact trajectory is hard to predict. How quickly high-risk people can get vaccinated in large numbers as well as how much behavioral changes can mitigate transmission in communities where its spreading the most will shape how well and how fast the outbreak can be wrested under control. A limited supply of monkeypox vaccine has fueled concerns that the disease could spread further in the LGBTQ community and into the wider population, though that hasnt happened yet. Judging by the curve of the outbreak, were definitely on the increasing phase, said Dr. Bela Matyas, public health officer for Solano County. I anticipate well continue to see this will rise for a while longer because I dont see evidence of cresting yet. Eventually, he said, Itll crest and start to come back down. The real question is: Will it remain endemic in this community because we cant get rid of it? Or will we be able to successfully get rid of it? In San Francisco, the jurisdiction with the second-highest number of infections in California after Los Angeles County, cases are roughly doubling each week prompting the city Thursday to declare monkeypox a local state of emergency. As of Wednesday, the most recent day for which there is data, there were 281 confirmed and probable cases in San Francisco up from 141 just over a week ago and 60 a week before that, according to the city Department of Public Health. The U.S. epidemic curve is similarly rising, reaching about 4,900 cases to date. Were still in a phase of increasing spread, said Dr. Stephanie Cohen, medical director of San Francisco City Clinic, who is helping manage the public health departments monkeypox response. Monkeypox, a less severe cousin of smallpox, is an old virus that has been endemic in West Africa for years. The current outbreak is worrisome because its circulating in large numbers in parts of the world that dont typically see many infections. For a public collectively traumatized by SARS-CoV-2 a virus that caused deadly disease before it was tamed by vaccines the spread of monkeypox may sound scary. But experts say there are key differences that may be reassuring: The version causing the current epidemic is less severe than the one circulating in West Africa. Among the thousands of cases in the U.S., no one has died, and the vast majority of patients dont need hospitalization, although the lesions caused by the virus can be uncomfortable and even debilitating if theyre on or near the eyes, mouth, urethra or rectum because they make daily activities painful. Read more: Monica Gandhi: Everything you need to know about Monkeypox and how to stop it Monkeypox is a DNA virus, not an RNA virus like the virus that causes COVID-19, which means its more stable and likely wont mutate quickly the way COVID has. Unlike COVID, monkeypox is largely spread through prolonged skin-to-skin contact, such as sexual contact not from sharing air space for short periods of time. This dramatically alters its path to proliferation. Locally and nationally, monkeypox has so far largely been contained to gay and bisexual men who transmitted the virus through intimate contact often, health officials believe, as a result of multiple sexual encounters, including with anonymous partners. Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection in and of itself, but physical encounters allow for the necessary sustained contact for transmission. About 98% of cases in San Francisco are in males and the remaining 2% are trans male, and nearly 90% are gay, lesbian or same-gender loving, according to the citys most recent demographic data. There has been some but not major spillover recently to the broader population beyond gay and bisexual men two cases among U.S. children were reported late last week by the CDC. But the children likely got it from household contact with a known case, since it can also be spread by touching the same sheets or clothing, or by nonsexual skin-to-skin encounters such as holding a child or sleeping in the same bed. 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. The fact that the children did not get it from an unknown source which would have indicated more widespread community transmission is reassuring, said Dr. Abraar Karan, a Stanford infectious disease physician. The highest risk remains within sexual networks, which is why researchers are also keeping an eye on other high-risk groups such as female sex workers and people with many partners who seek frequent treatment at sexual health clinics. We havent seen significant spillover yet, outside men who have sex with men, Karan said. The fact that this hasnt spilled over more at this point suggests you need prolonged intimate contact the way youd see in sexual networks. There are now so many monkeypox cases around the world, theres a high chance the virus has also entered reservoirs of animals such as rodents which means there could be ongoing transmission from them back to humans, Karan said. Eradication will be tough, he said. For at least the foreseeable future, well have at minimum a low level of cases in the community once we get this initial outbreak under control. Eliminating this further is going to be very tough. Federal health officials said Thursday theyll be making an additional 780,000 doses of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine available Friday. But thats expected to fall well short of the current need. San Francisco requested 35,000 doses for its high-risk residents and so far has only received several weekly batches of a few thousand doses each. The citys main public vaccine clinic had to close to walk-ins this week after running out of supply, and vaccine providers have had to shift to a one-dose strategy to give more people partial protection. The shot is supposed to be given in two doses, at least four weeks apart, and the one-dose strategy means people whove gotten their first dose will probably not be able to get their second until global vaccine supply improves. If we had infinite amounts of vaccine, which we dont, how quickly could we get this under control? Id like to think we could get it under control fairly quickly, said Dr. Art Reingold, a professor of epidemiology at UC Berkeleys School of Public Health. But we dont have unlimited quantities of vaccine and wont for quite some time. I think we will continue to see transmission at least in the coming weeks. Theres just infected people out there. And they have contact with other people. Catherine Ho (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho A San Francisco law allowing noncitizen parents to vote in local school board elections was overturned Friday by a judge who said the California Constitution permits only citizens to vote. The ordinance, the first of its kind in the state, was approved by city voters as Proposition N in 2016, took effect in 2018 and was extended indefinitely by the Board of Supervisors in 2021. It allows noncitizens, including undocumented immigrants and legal residents, to vote for school board candidates if they are a parent or guardian of a school-age child and are not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction. A lawsuit by conservative organizations cited a provision of the state Constitution that declares, A United States citizen 18 years of age and resident in this State may vote. Lawyers for the city contended the may vote language did not prohibit a local government from authorizing others to vote, but San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer disagreed. Transcendent law of California, the Constitution ... reserves the right to vote to a United States citizen, contrary to (the) San Francisco ordinance, Ulmer said in a ruling that prohibits the city from enforcing the ordinance or counting noncitizens votes. Based on the logic of the citys argument, he said, children under 18 and residents of other states may also vote in California elections, which our Constitution does not allow. If the Constitution used the word shall instead of may, Ulmer said, it would require everyone 18 or older to vote. Mandatory voting is the law in some nations, such as Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Egypt and Thailand, but not in the U.S. or any of its states, the judge said. He also cited a state law passed by the Legislature that specified, A person entitled to register to vote shall be a United States citizen. Such laws address matters of statewide concern: education and voter qualifications, and cannot be overridden by a local government, Ulmer said, Ulmer had signaled his views at a hearing Thursday, when he told a lawyer for the city that the power of charter cities such as San Francisco to regulate municipal affairs does not override the Constitution. 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. James V. Lacy, who challenged the ordinance along with his organizations, the United States Justice Foundation and the California Public Policy Foundation, said the ruling was a verdict in favor of election integrity in California. Jen Kwart, spokesperson for City Attorney David Chiu, said the ruling is disappointing. We believe that allowing noncitizen parents to vote in school board elections is not only legally permissible, but strongly beneficial to our communities, Kwart said in a statement. The city could ask a state appeals court to reinstate the ordinance. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko San Francisco police have arrested a second person in the assault of James Spingola, the director of a nonprofit organization, who was beaten outside his groups Fillmore district building this month. Andrew Morelopena, 21, of San Francisco was taken into custody after a brief scuffle with police on Wednesday and booked on charges of assault, battery, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest, police said in a news release. Two people attacked Spingola, the executive director of the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center and a juvenile probation commissioner for the city, the morning of July 15, police said. Nelson Martinez, 24, was arrested later that day. The district attorneys office subsequently filed felony charges against him in the assault, including assault with a deadly weapon and causing great bodily harm. On Wednesday, police received a call that the second suspect had returned to the area. With the help of bystanders and witnesses, officers located the suspect, a police news release said. Following a brief struggle, Morelopena was taken into custody. Morelopena was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and later booked into San Francisco County Jail. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said at the time of the first arrest, Under my watch, utterly vicious attacks like this one will never be tolerated in San Francisco. Violent offenders will be held accountable for their actions. Spingola previously told The Chronicle that he was hit multiple times with a wooden plank, leaving him with a bone fracture under his eye and multiple stitches over his eyelid. The attack ensued after he initially approached the two assailants when they appeared to be setting up with drugs on the nonprofits property, he said. 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. Police said the investigation remains open. Anyone with information can call the SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411. Tips can be submitted anonymously. 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 2 1 of 2 Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle 2019 Show More Show Less The Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco is urging U.S. senators to reject the pending Respect for Marriage Act, which would protect same-sex marriage from a potential rollback by the Supreme Court. People who experience same-sex attraction should be treated with the same respect and compassion as anyone, on account of their human dignity, and never be subject to unjust discrimination, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone wrote in a July 22 Dear Senator letter posted on the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It was never discrimination, however, to simply maintain that an inherent aspect of the definition of marriage itself is the complementarity between the two sexes. Another esteemed California vineyard has been sold to a French corporation. Platt Vineyard, located a few miles from the ocean on the Sonoma Coast, was purchased by AXA Millesimes, the wine subsidiary of French insurance company AXA. The vineyard, featuring 38 planted acres, has been a prized vineyard source for notable wineries including Littorai and Ramey Wine Cellars, in addition to top California wine consultants like Thomas Rivers Brown, Julien Fayard and Philippe Melka. The sale is consistent with a controversial trend of California wine entities selling to foreign entities like Napa Valleys Shafer and Joseph Phelps, but the investment from a well-established French company could also help boost the profile of wines from the lesser-known Sonoma Coast region. The purchase price was not disclosed. Located near the community of Freestone and overlooking Bodega Bay, Platt Vineyard was first planted in 2003 by the late Lew Platt with a team of top viticulture gurus that included Pete Richmond and Daniel Roberts. Platt, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard and later Kendall-Jackson, was part of a small group of early visionaries following the lead of Sonoma Coast pioneers like David Hirsch and Steve Kistler who recognized the potential of the marginal region for premium wine growing. They dared to plant vines on the steep slopes of the rocky coastline thats characterized by strong winds, fog and cool temperatures. Planted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the Platt Vineyard sits between 450-850 feet in elevation, reaching just above the fog line. Its located in the West Sonoma Coast, a newly formed wine subregion of the larger Sonoma Coast appellation, created to further differentiate these uber-coastal wines for their elegance and ripping acidity. I thought it was an amazing feat, said Fred Scherrer, founder of Scherrer Winery. He was one of the first to purchase fruit from the Platt Vineyard and continued to do so until last year. Lew wanted to do something a little outside of the box and hired some of the best people at the time. They dug hundreds of soil pits and even used temperature logging devices to see how far down the slope they could get fruit ripe. George Rose/ Platt died before the vineyard produced its first crop, but his wife, Joan Platt, carried out his vision until 2015. She sold the property to vineyard investment fund Russian River Partners, which is managed by Eric Flanagan of Healdsburgs Flanagan Wines. Flanagan acknowledged that it was always the plan to eventually sell the property, as it was largely purchased as an investment. My plan was to bring in some very good winemakers, have them make great wines and build the reputation of the vineyard, Flanagan said. I think they were able to generate a lot of positive buzz for the Platt site. AXA Millesimes was introduced to the vineyard through wines top Napa wine consultant Brown makes from Platt for his personal brand Rivers Marie. He makes the wine for the companys other California holding: Napa Valleys Outpost, which it purchased in 2018. AXA Millesimes managing director Christian Seely said Outpost was acquired as a complement to its Cabernet production in Bordeaux. Platt, he said, will complement its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay production in Burgundy. Seely believes both regions are among the best in the world at producing their signature grapes. Ive tasted extraordinary wines from Sonoma Coast and I thought maybe we should be looking there, he said. AXA Millesimes, which has wine dealings in Portugal and Hungary in addition to France and California, intends to own the vineyard for the long term and will eventually use all of the fruit for its own brand. Brown and the majority of the Outpost team will be brought on to work with Platt as well. We identify great vineyard terroir and set about a decades-long work of custodianship developing those vineyards and dong everything we possibly can to make the greatest wine that vineyard is capable of, said Seely. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. French companies have been investing in California wine for some time. Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) most recently purchased the iconic Joseph Phelps Winery in Napa Valley and also owns Colgin, Newton Vineyards and Domaine Chandon. Bordeauxs Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte purchased Napas Flora Springs vineyard and winery in 2020. In 2021, cult Pinot Noir producer Williams Selyem sold a major stake to a Burgundy producer, the Faiveley family. These are just a few examples of many. Scherer likened AXA Millesimes Sonoma Coast investment to when French Champagne company Louis Roederer came to California, planting its flag in Mendocino Countys Anderson Valley in the 1980s. The region is now known as one of the top spots for sparkling wine production in the world. That was a big deal back then and it was a real validation of what that area had to offer, he said, suggesting that AXA Millesimes could do the same for the Sonoma Coast. David Ramey, founder of Ramey Wine Cellars, purchased Chardonnay from Platt for six years and also sees the upside to the French companys presence. But hes still wary of continued consolidation. On one hand, its a plus because these longtime, traditional and very knowledgeable French operations are interested in investing in California, he said. On the other hand, it is a concern that large and or foreign corporations are buying up California vineyard and winery assets. This story was updated to include comment from AXA Millesimes managing director Christian Seely. Jess Lander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jess.lander@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@jesslander Ernesto Barajas, 70, thought hed be spending his retirement days playing with his grandchildren in his backyard. But during the past few years, hes chosen to keep them indoors or take them to parks a little farther away to avoid the invisible toxins he fears are dropping from the sky. Its sad to live like this, but I dont know what else to do, he said. Barajas, who has been in his house for 30 years, lives less than two blocks from the Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose. Its the bigger and more active of two county-owned airports in Santa Clara County, with counted 155,472 flights in 2021. Most of those flights were by piston-engine planes, or small aircraft that seat 2-10 passengers and run on leaded aviation fuel. A decade-long study commissioned by Santa Clara County last year revealed children under the age of 18 who lived within a mile and a half of the airport showed higher levels of lead in their bloodstream than children affected by the notorious Flint water crisis. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Show More Show Less For years, Santa Clara residents and officials have tried in vain to close the airport. But the authority to close airports lies with the Federal Aviation Administration. On Thursday, to put pressure on the FAA and the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates aircraft emissions, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez testified virtually at a congressional hearing that keeping the Reid-Hillview Airport open would continue causing disproportionate harm to the diverse community that lives in its flight paths. More than 52,000 people live within a mile-and-a-half of Reid-Hillview, including 13,000 children, with more than half of residents identifying as Latino and a significant proportion identifying as Vietnamese. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Childhood lead exposure, from lead in aviation fuel, is a national public health crisis, Chavez told the Congressional Subcommittee on Environment, which was chaired by U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont. Reid-Hillview Airport in east San Jose is an important example of the environmental injustice posed by leaded aviation gas. The county released its peer-reviewed study from Mountain Data Group in August 2021. The study, which analyzed 17,000 blood samples from children who lived within 1.5 miles of the airport from 2011 to 2020, found levels approaching 2 micrograms of lead per deciliter in children close to the airport. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends further treatment or testing at 3.5 micrograms per deciliter. The CDC considers no amount of lead in the bloodstream to be safe, and warns that children have a lower threshold to lead toxicity than adults, making kids more vulnerable to developing all sorts of health and behavioral problems. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Lead is a cumulative poison, Bruce Lanphear, a professor of health sciences at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, said at the hearing. Children, especially low-income children in minority communities, are often heavily exposed to lead from paint and house dust and older, poorly maintained rental housing. Hundreds of studies have shown that exceedingly low levels of lead diminished children's reading abilities and cognitive abilities. After the county released its study last summer, Santa Clara County became the first airport operator in the country to end the sale of leaded gas at its two airports, Reid-Hillview and San Martin Airport. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle The transition, effective Jan. 1, was meant to provide immediate protection to surrounding communities by preventing lead fuel emissions in the air, but aircraft operators can fuel up elsewhere. In the six months since the county stopped allowing the local sale of leaded gas, Santa Clara Countys transition has virtually had no impact on airport operations, Chavez said. Lead in fuel was eliminated in vehicles as an automotive industry standard in 1996, but those standards do not apply to aviation fuel. Jet aircraft used for commercial transport do not use lead, according to the EPA. Efforts to close the airport have been complicated. In December 2018, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to stop accepting federal grants for Reid-Hillview Airport, but because of existing grants, the airport is expected to remain open until 2031. Small, private pilots operate out of the airport, which is home to a number of flight schools as well as San Jose State Universitys aviation program. Currently, the EPA is evaluating whether lead fuel emissions from piston-engine aircraft cause or contribute to air pollution and therefore may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. The agency plans to issue whats called a proposed endangerment finding by the end 2022, which will undergo a public comment period with a final proposal coming in late 2023, after which the agency is expected to propose regulatory standards. The final endangerment finding would also trigger the FAAs statutory mandate to prescribe standards for the composition of aircraft fuel, Joshua Alexander, an EPA spokesperson, told The Chronicle. Any subsequent regulatory action would involve both agencies (EPA and FAA) working together and carefully considering safety, technology, noise and economic impacts, including effects on small businesses, Alexander said in an email. In an emailed statement, the FAA said it has outlined a path to allow Santa Clara Countys airports to safely and expeditiously move to lead-free operations. But the agency didnt respond to questions about how long that path would be or if it overlaps with the countys own efforts to end the use of leaded aviation fuel. The FAA previously announced an initiative to eliminate the use of leaded aviation fuel by the end of 2030. Airborne lead exposure is a literal injustice that seeps into our bodies through our lungs into our bloodstream and bones where it becomes unextractable, Marciela Lechuga, a resident who lives five blocks from Reid-Hillview, said at the hearing. As a woman of childbearing age, I should not have to worry about how the lead in my bones might impact a future pregnancy or health of a baby. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle For Barajas, the slow-moving state of affairs is worrisome. Waiting until 2031 is too long to be continually exposed to lead while officials figure out next steps, he said. Barajas said he long suspected that a nearby airport contributed to his fathers death from cancer six years ago, but he had no way to prove it. Out of fear, he said he started being more vigilant of how much time his grandkids spend outside when they visit. In the meantime, he and his wife, Leslie, plan to continue hosting Christmas and Easter at their home. But for the time being, their big family will continue to unwrap presents, visit and celebrate indoors with the windows closed. You cant enjoy the precious moments with your grandchildren in the background of a toxic environment, he said. And while its important for them to make memories at grandpa and grandmas house, I cannot in good thinking have them exposed like this here. Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika Lauren Heplers July 12 article on a grand jury report detailing Alameda Countys failure to meet the needs of those struggling with psychiatric issues and homelessness hit upon the origins of the states mental health and housing crisis: California emptied the states psychiatric hospitals more than 50 years ago, leaving local jurisdictions to replace them with facilities that were never built. Given this root cause, why isnt the state reopening or developing new psychiatric hospitals? Why isnt such a move at least discussed as a partial solution? Is it because it would be too expensive or politically sensitive to do so? I cant imagine that it would be less controversial than spending $500 million a year on behavioral health services, as Alameda County does, while failing to assess the impact of the services, as Ms. Hepler reported. So far the closest the state has come is Gov. Newsoms proposed CARE courts, which allow for yearlong, court-ordered treatment in cases of severe psychiatric illness. The courts may offer limited help, but the larger problem will remain unless the shuttered psychiatric facilities that were meant to be replaced are restored or built anew. Robert Selna, Piedmont Many types of racism Steve Koppman wrote that Ann Hsus remarks were not racist but simply careless, impolitic and overgeneralized Comment on parenting and education not racist, (Letters, July 26). The trouble is careless overgeneralization is exactly what racism is. He said it wasnt racist because racism is believing that one race is superior to another. But racial supremacy is simply one kind of racism. Racism is making assumptions and judgments about people based simply on their race. That is exactly what Ms. Hsu did. And for Mr. Koppman to say that it is merely impolitic and no big deal for Ms. Hsu to say that Black parents dont encourage their kids to do well at school and by implication that they dont care if their kids do well and better themselves is a tremendous insult to every Black parent in San Francisco. Chris Hammond, San Rafael A defeat for global unity Your story Moscow to depart International space Station (News, July 27) made for a sad read. Misunderstanding and bickering among nations should not jeopardize this inventive quest that is bound to bring a trove of information for the benefit and enlightenment of mankind. The most prudent thing Russia could do is not to pull out of the International Space Station, but to contribute even more of its experience and expertise. Vaithianathan Subramanian, Lafayette Bring Griner back home Brittney Griner sits in a Russian jail, on trial for possession of cannabis cartridges found in her suitcase, allegedly for medical purposes. Many who commit crimes that actually harm people go free, such as the Kenosha killer and our former insurrectionist-in-chief. Yet Griner pleaded guilty in hope of a plea deal and a prisoner exchange between our two countries. Many Americans are outraged by Brittneys incarceration, blaming Russia, although far more are oblivious, or just dont care. They should. We need to BRING BRITTNEY HOME! Mitchell Goldman, Richmond Vote or deal with it The legislatures and governors of many states have passed draconian laws restricting reproduction choice. Fortunately, there are elections coming up in November, and again in 2024, in which the people of those states can fire those legislators and governors and replace them with people who will undo those laws. If they dont, then they will have to live with the consequences. Nicholas Taddeo, San Ramon The latest battle in San Franciscos seemingly endless culture wars would be just another tempest in a teapot were it not setting back the urgent work of improving educational outcomes for thousands of public school students. For the past week, a spectacle involving brand-new board commissioner of San Francisco Unified School District, Ann Hsu, has escalated. Its ostensible origin is a comment Commissioner Hsu submitted on a candidate survey. She is one of three commissioners appointed by Mayor London Breed to replace those recalled back in February and, along with the other two newly appointed commissioners, is now campaigning to earn a full term on the board. In reply to one query on the school board candidate survey, Hsu wrote: From my very limited exposure in the past four months to the challenges of educating marginalized students, especially in the black and brown community, I see one of the biggest challenges as being the lack of family support for those students. Unstable family environments caused by housing and food insecurity along with lack of parental encouragement to focus on learning cause children to not be able to focus on or value learning. After Hsu submitted her responses to the questionnaire, another board of education candidate highlighted this reply in a tweet. Thats when all hell broke loose. Within days of that other candidates tweet, a local news outlet published a story, followed by a Chronicle report, which in turn, apparently led some members of the Board of Supervisors and several community activist groups to call for her resignation even though Hsu had already apologized. For its part, the S.F. chapter of the NAACP met with Hsu, accepted her apology but then its membership voted to call for Hsus resignation immediately. As Black San Franciscans, we are appalled by the bad faith and cynical theatrics driving this controversy. This is not the first time a manufactured dust-up has been ignited by bad faith actors in SF who are more interested in performing progressive values, than they are in tackling the complex tangle of historic socioeconomic conditions and school bureaucracy that impacts student achievement especially for students from households with limited resources. In 2017, for example, the S.F. chapter of the NAACP issued a state of emergency report regarding dire achievement data for Black students in SFUSD, noting a litany of statistics on graduation rates, reading and math comprehension, and other key metrics of students progress that collectively shows that thousands of Black students struggle academically. Now, along with the local NAACP, some of the loudest voices calling for Hsus resignation are former SFUSD board commissioners who accomplished little to resolve the persistent achievement gaps in the districts student population during their time on the school board. Instead, previous board members, including the three recalled commissioners, prioritized cosmetic matters such as changing school names and removing murals at Washington High School rather than lighting a fire under school administrators and teachers to focus more closely on closing the persistent student achievement gaps. By contrast, when Hsu served on the districts bond-funding watchdog entity, Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, or CBOC, she focused on accountability notably, identifying gaps in processes affecting disbursement of the funding, including getting to the bottom of why certain schools slated to receive funding for critical facilities rehabilitation had not yet received their allocations. The district had been spending tens of millions of dollars without any independent oversight for almost three years until CBOC was formed in May 2021. As its inaugural chair, Hsu prioritized enforcing accountability on the districts stewardship of $744 million from the 2016 bond measure. That is exactly the kind of financial acumen and mission-driven professionalism that our students need on the school board. (Disclosure: Rex Ridgeway, one of the co-authors of this op-ed, served as vice-chair with Hsu.) Now, a predictable script is unfolding: A neophyte public figure in S.F. is being called racist, and a phalanx of usual suspects are calling for her removal. Having interacted with Hsu personally, we can confidently report that Hsu is foremost a continual learner up to and including in cultural matters. We question the apparent unwillingness of those calling for Hsus resignation to afford Hsu a degree of grace in what she herself has admitted was a terrible misunderstanding of the inter-connected factors that drive the stubborn achievement gaps in SFUSDs student population. We also take Hsu at her word when she indicated a fierce commitment to learning more about systemic racism in S.F. and nationwide as it has impacted Black people for centuries and as it continues impacting the shrinking population of Black people in our city. As a Galileo Academy of Science and Technology parent, president of its Parent Teacher Student Association, an immigrant and a serial entrepreneur with academic background in electrical engineering and business administration, Hsu has the intellect, experience and demonstrated commitment to effectively address the historic conditions that have fueled the academic achievement gap in SFUSD. We are not interested in performative pronouncements and symbolic displays of grievance: San Franciscos students all of them deserve SFUSD board commissioners who are tough and dedicated to fixing a system that has long failed its most vulnerable families. We know that Hsu fits this bill. Amy L. Alexander is a journalist and a member of the Abraham Lincoln High School (SF) Alumni Association. Rex Ridgeway is interim chair of the CBOC and a member of Lincoln Highs PTSA. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As monkeypox cases quickly spread across California, the virus is inflicting an uneven toll on gay and bisexual men, according to new data released Friday by the state Department of Public Health. The numbers show that among cases with available data, 91.7% of all patients whove tested positive for monkeypox have been gay people and 5.6% have been bisexual; men account for more than 98% of all cases. Transgender and gender nonbinary people account for 1% of cases. While its been known for weeks that the virus was rapidly spreading through LGBTQ social networks, the state had not previously released such infection data. LGBTQ advocates say releasing the data will help bolster their demands for a more urgent federal and state response. Showing the severity of the outbreak in the gay and trans community could also inform how the state distributes vaccines and shapes public-education campaigns and other relief efforts. It is so important to know who is getting sick and what groups are being disproportionately impacted because that will help guide the public health response, said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. Without that data, were flying blind in terms of a public-health response. The data California includes is demographic information about sexual orientation for about 70% of the 786 patients whove tested positive statewide. There isnt such data for the other patients whove tested positive. It also shows how the virus has had a disproportionate impact, along both racial and generational lines. Hispanic or Latino people account for nearly 36% of infections, although they are less than 19% of the population, according to available data on race and ethnicity. That means Latino people are nearly three times more likely than white people to contract the virus, relative to their share of the states population, with 3.2 cases per 100,000 residents, compared with 1.2 cases for white people. Nearly 75% of infections occurred among people between the ages of 25 and 44. Health officials say that the infection is spreading most rapidly among people with multiple recent sexual partners. The numbers show Los Angeles has seen the most cases, at 261, and San Francisco is close behind with 257. State officials released the data a day after San Francisco declared a public health state of emergency in response to the growing spread of the virus. The city has seen at least 281 people with monkeypox infections, though there are likely far more cases that have gone unrecognized due to a lack of readily available testing and a lack of awareness among many health providers about the virus. The crisis has been exacerbated by a shortage of available vaccines. So far, city officials say they have received about 8,200 doses of the Jynneos vaccine, which is intended to prevent monkeypox and smallpox in adults. City officials estimate they need as many as 70,000 doses. Fridays release of monkeypox data is significant for the LGBTQ community because it is the first time that the state has publicly released such data in response to the early stages of a public-health crisis. In 2020, state legislators passed a law that requires the state to ask patients who are tested for possible exposure to infectious diseases about their sexual orientation and gender identity. California already collects data on race, age and gender for patients tested for the more than 90 communicable diseases it tracks. Patients can decline to answer the question. Wiener proposed the measure, SB932, in response to the state not tracking the toll of COVID-19 on the community. He said it was intended to end decades of LGBTQ people being ignored in governments response to health crises. California has been gathering information about LGBTQ people infected with monkeypox for weeks, but state officials had previously declined to release the data. The Department of Public Health told The Chronicle earlier this week that it had not released it due to patient privacy concerns. There has also been a debate within the LGBTQ community about whether such data stigmatizes people. On Friday, Department of Public Health chief Tomas Aragon said his team is committed to fighting stigma against the LGBTQ community, which has been singled out and treated unfairly. No single individual or community is to blame for the spread of any virus, he told reporters during a conference call. Monkeypox can affect anyone and it spreads by skin-to-skin contact, as well as from sharing items like clothing, bedding and towels. Wiener, who is gay, said he strongly disagrees with any argument that releasing demographic data about the communities affected by monkeypox infections is harmful. Thats just ridiculous and it feeds into the whole notion that being gay is this dirty private thing that we shouldnt talk about in public, he said. We want the information. We want to know whats happening in our community. Gay and transgender advocates have widely blasted what they consider a sluggish federal and state response to monkeypox. Many have equated the situation to the early days of the AIDS pandemic, when gay and bisexual men died by the tens of thousands as the government largely ignored the spread of the virus. LGBTQ leaders have demanded the state and federal government declare a public health emergency in response to monkeypox, a move that would allow access to funds to fight the virus and increase public awareness. While California doesnt plan to declare a statewide health emergency, Aragon said Friday that the state will continue to review everything as the virus spreads. He said systems from the states COVID efforts have made it easier to respond to monkeypox and do things like create a vaccine registry. Were looking carefully to see whether we need to do an official declaration of emergency, to see what additional authority or resources that may mobilize, Aragon said. Were in a much better situation to be able to deal with monkeypox than if this had occurred two years ago. Wiener and other Democratic state legislators are negotiating a budget bill to increase state spending on testing, vaccination and contact tracing. They have also asked for federal authorization to spend some COVID-related funds on monkeypox response. San Franciscos state of emergency, declared by Mayor London Breed, takes effect on Monday. Breed said the move will allow us to continue to support our most at-risk, while also better preparing for whats to come. Monkeypox usually causes flu-like symptoms, along with a rash and dense, fluid-filled lesions. The virus is spread by intimate personal contact, including sexual acts and kissing. It can also be spread by sharing bedding or clothes, or potentially, breathing in close proximity. Although many cases resolve on their own, monkeypox can be quite painful and, in rare instances, can cause severe illness. Dustin Gardiner and Yoohyun Jung are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com, yoohyun.jung@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner, @@yoohyun_jung This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate California police officers are stopping transgender people for subjective reasons, and not because they necessarily witnessed a crime or violation taking place, at vastly different rates than their cisgender peers, according to a newly released state report that alarmed LGBTQ advocates. The draft report, released by the state attorney general, is based on data that 58 of the states biggest law enforcement agencies were required to collect. It reveals that when a transgender person was stopped by police in 2021, there was almost a 50-50 chance that it wasnt for a traffic violation or some other immediately apparent infraction. Instead, officers listed reasonable suspicion as their rationale for stopping transgender pedestrians and drivers nearly half the time, according to data that law enforcement agencies must collect. That means the officers believed they had justification to suspect the person was probably committing a crime. For transgender people, the proportion of these reasonable suspicion stops was 44% 4 times the figure for cisgender people. Transgender advocates and a Democratic state legislator say the data shows that, despite efforts to educate police about gender diversity in recent years, profiling of transgender people remains rampant across the state. They said trans women are routinely being targeted because of their appearance, including factors as innocuous as wearing sexy or fancy clothing, platform heels, big hair or extra makeup. Interactions between police officers are also more likely to lead to more drastic outcomes. Transgender people are far more likely to be searched, handcuffed and arrested and to have force both lethal and nonlethal used against them. Alex Binsfeld, legal director at the Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project, an advocacy group in San Francisco, said biases about traditional Western notions of gender result in officers focusing on transgender people because they dont fit their notions of how a woman or man ought to look. Its in effect a way to enforce Western gender binary norms on appearance, that you will be punished if you are not gender binary in your appearance, they said. Policing of trans folks at these disparate rates has led advocates to argue its a status crime. The data was released less than a month after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill designed to combat profiling by repealing a decades-old law that allows police to arrest people they suspect of loitering with the intent to commit prostitution, which LGBTQ leaders have dubbed a walking while trans ban. The new state data shows that transgender women are stopped due to an officers reasonable suspicion in more than 45% of encounters when they were stopped in 2021. Trans men were stopped for the same reason 43% of the time. Cisgender people, who made up the overwhelming majority of the total number of stops statewide, were stopped for traffic violations the vast majority of the time. Cisgender women were stopped because of an officers reasonable suspicion in less than 9% of encounters; cisgender men were stopped because of an officers suspicion in 11% of encounters. Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard that requires officers to be able to articulate reasons they believe a person is likely engaged in a crime. Its a lesser standard than probable cause, the standard required to arrest someone. California, under a landmark 2015 law known as the Racial and Identity Profiling Act, or RIPA, requires police departments to report the demographic data including race, gender and approximate age of every driver, bicyclist or pedestrian they stop, based on the officers perception of those characteristics. The data includes all people stopped by police, regardless of whether the officers were responding to a potential offense they observed or to a call for service. Law enforcement agencies with 334 or more officers were required to report data to the state for 2021. The reporting requirement expands to all police agencies for data collected this year. The data comes with a major caveat, though: Because its solely based on reports by officers, The Chronicle cannot independently verify its accuracy. RIPAs advisory board recommends agencies audit a subset of their data to ensure officers are properly reporting stops, including by reviewing body-camera footage and dispatch logs. Its not uncommon for police to report incomplete or false stop data. In addition, the data on stops due to reasonable suspicion includes stops that officers deemed a welfare check. But the draft report doesnt indicate what portion were due to such caretaking purposes. Transgender leaders and their allies said the proportion of reasonable suspicion stops of trans people illustrates two simultaneous truths: They say police often target transgender people walking down the street, even when they have not committed a crime. At the same time, a disproportionate number of trans people are sex workers, often because they struggle to find work because of hiring discrimination. The challenge is that were always thought of as suspicious individuals, said Maria Roman-Taylorson, vice president of the TransLatin@ Coalition, an advocacy group in Los Angeles. The reality is that many trans people have been pushed to the sidelines. Society creates a system that excludes us. Roman-Taylorson, 52, said trans women often have deep emotional scars from the harassment they endure in police custody. She recalled a 2000 incident in which Roman-Taylorson said an officer exposed his penis to her through the bars of her jail cell and tried to coax her to perform a sex act (she had been arrested on suspicion of loitering to commit prostitution). She didnt file a complaint for fear of retaliation. They hold all the power, she said. I had not committed a crime. I was just walking. Roman-Taylorson said she was a sex worker in her younger years because she couldnt find other work. She eventually found work as a nonprofit advocate and actress. Still, she said officers have continued to target her, stopping her dozens of times in the last three decades. In 2021, police searched transgender men and women at more than twice the rate of cisgender men, and more than 4 times the rate of cisgender women. Trans people were searched at least 30% of the time they were stopped. They are similarly far more likely to be handcuffed, ordered to exit a vehicle and be detained curbside or in a patrol vehicle. Encounters between police and trans people are also far more likely to be violent or deadly. Trans men and women had force used against them in more than 3.2% of stops, according to the 2022 RIPA report, compared with 2.7% for cisgender men and 1.7% for cisgender women. The second a police interaction starts, there is the potential for so much damage, said Binsfeld, the legal advocate. Despite being searched and detained more often, transgender people are far less likely to be cited than cisgender people. Officers took no action against trans men and women in more than 13% of stops in 2021, while cisgender men and women had no action taken against them in only 8% and 6% of stops. The states draft report suggests that could be indicative of bias on the part of some officers. If officers do not take any action as a result of stop, it may indicate in part that there was an unfounded suspicion of wrongdoing, and that explicit or implicit bias may have influenced the officer in making the stop, the report states. That said, trans people were a small portion of the overall number of stops officers reported making in 2021, accounting for 4,740 out of 3.2 million total stops. Its difficult, however, to compare how frequently they were stopped relative to the general population because the 2020 census did not include a question about gender identity. In addition, an officer might not perceive that someone is transgender in many cases. Police departments across the state have added training recent years to improve officers interaction with the LGBTQ community, including courses to meant to minimize bias. But trans advocates say that training has done little to reverse profiling targeting the community. Theyve pushed for laws to limit when officers can detain and arrest trans people. The community scored a major win in July, when Newsom signed SB357, the bill to repeal a loitering law that advocates say led to profiling of trans women, in particular. Effective Jan. 1, the bill repeals a 1995 law that prohibits loitering in public places with the intent to commit prostitution. The statute allows police to cite people they find suspicious due to factors like how they dress or where they stand on the street. Newsom faced heavy pressure to veto the bill from some anti-trafficking advocates and law-enforcement groups, who said it would make it harder for police to identify victims of sex trafficking. While the intent of this legislation is to protect the prosecution of a vulnerable community, the unintended consequences will be to benefit the sex buyers as well, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said in a statement. State Sen. Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who carried SB357, said the bill was designed to reduce profiling of trans people and women of color. He said the sweeping loitering law causes innocent people to get swept into the criminal justice system and makes sex workers less safe because they fear seeking out law enforcement. Even one arrest can have such profound implications for someones life, Wiener said. Its one step; theres certainly more work to do. Dustin Gardiner (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner A developer that was behind San Franciscos Salesforce tower got planning approval Thursday to increase the height of a residential tower near the Transbay transit center, a high-rise that would add 681 units to a neighborhood that has struggled to regain its footing as the pandemic subsides. The latest version of the development the parcel is bound by Beale, Howard, Main and Folsom streets adds about five floors to the tower, raising it from 450 feet to 513 feet tall. It also increases the bulk of the lower floors. The redevelopment of the full block parcel, which was used as the temporary bus terminal while the Transbay Transit Center was under construction, will also include a public park and another 192 units of affordable housing in two 17-story towers. The development, led by Hines, would have more affordable housing than any other downtown projects, with 307 below-market-rate units, about 45% of the total. The development, known as Block 4, also includes an unusual number of family-sized apartments, with 52 three-bedroom units and 105 two-bedroom units. We are excited to bring family housing to this part of the city that is the part we are most excited about, said Doug Shoemaker, president of Mercy Housing, the nonprofit housing developer working with Hines on the project. The approval comes at a time when downtown San Francisco has among the lowest office occupancy rates in the United States, as a majority of workers continue to work from the comfort of home despite the waning of the pandemic. Hines Kastle Systems, which monitors card key activity in office buildings, reported a 38.1% occupancy rate in San Francisco for the weeklong period ending July 13, compared to 40.7% in New York, 41.8% in Los Angeles and 58.1% in Austin. The lack of workers and sparse foot traffic since the start of the pandemic has driven restaurants and retailers out of business throughout the financial district. The Block 4 development will be a catalyst for the revitalization of downtown San Francisco, said Alex Torres, director of state government relations for the Bay Area Council. Housing Action Coalition Executive Director Corey Smith called the amount of affordable housing mind-blowing. This building, these homes, are part of the citys recovery strategy, said Smith. We all want to attract more people downtown, and one of the best ways to do that is to attract new residents. 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. In addition to the 513-foot tower, a mix of market rate and affordable units, the development will include a 16-story affordable podium structure with all affordable units. There will also be 20 townhomes in a six-story addition at the base of the tower. The development is one of the final pieces of the Transbay Transit District plan, which has already added 2,200 housing units to the neighborhood, in addition to millions of square feet of office space. The redevelopment agreement requires 35% of the total housing to be affordable. Groundbreaking on the Block 4 project is scheduled for late next year or early 2024, according to Marisa Monte, director of public relations for Hines. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen California fashions itself as a place of sandy beaches and sunny skies, where we take our greens juiced and our cars electric. But dual crises the pandemic and the changing climate have challenged this version of life in the Golden State. To date, California, the countrys most populous state, has racked up the most coronavirus infections in the U.S., while air monitoring data shows that Californians also breathe the most polluted air in the nation. Now a growing body of research suggests this may be no coincidence. This week, researchers from UCSF and the Public Health Institute published a study that found that Californians exposed to PM 2.5, a fine particulate matter that spews from tailpipes and industrial sources common in cities, had a much greater risk of infection and death from COVID-19. The study, sponsored by the California Air Resources Board and published in the journal Environmental Advances, was one of the first to home in on neighborhood-level health and air monitoring data to explore the effect of long-term pollution exposure on COVID infections and mortality in the state. The goal, said John Balmes, professor of medicine at UCSF and co-author of the report, was to improve upon previous research by applying a finer lens on population data and air quality in different air basins. The results are grim: Residents exposed to long-term elevated levels of air pollution were 20% more likely to contract COVID-19 and over 50% more likely to die because of it. The study estimates that if air quality impacts were improved, over 4,000 deaths could have been prevented within the timeframe studied, which was between February 2020 and February 2021. To put that another way, We found a factor that could have prevented 9% of COVID deaths, said Paul English, director of Tracking California at the Public Health Institute and co-author of the study. Thats a lot. These findings come as yet another surge of the coronavirus washes over the Bay Area and mushrooming plumes of smoke from the first major wildfires of the summer billow in the distance, prompting the Bay Areas air district to extend an air quality advisory late into the week. A key component of wildfire smoke: PM 2.5 Though the UCSF study didnt address the short-term impacts on respiratory health from wildfire smoke, other research has found that both short- and long-term exposure to air pollution increases not only the rate of transmission but also the severity of the infection and mortality rates associated with COVID-19. Beyond the short-term impacts of wildfire smoke, the most harmful concentrations of PM 2.5 were found in the San Joaquin and South Coast air basins, the latter including Los Angeles. The study also plainly stated that health and environmental burdens fall most heavily on disadvantaged communities including those in the Bay Area. Of the over 3 million infections and 50,000 deaths included in the UCSF analysis, the risk of infection and mortality were highest in neighborhoods with the greatest percentage of Hispanic and Black populations. Its a fact that reflects a national trend: In the United States, people of color are over three times more likely to live in areas with high concentrations of air pollution compared with white populations, the American Lung Association found. The pandemic really laid bare the disparities that have existed and that have been there for a long time, said Balmes. Although Balmes said that the states air quality has been improving in recent years, thanks to stricter regulations, Theres still a discrepancy between more affluent white communities and lower (income) communities of color, said Balmes, who sits on CARBs board. But its not just COVID-19 that public health experts like Balmes are worried about. Exposure to ambient air pollution has long been known to cause health problems, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, adverse reproductive outcomes, neurological disease and premature death, noted Balmes. While there is still more to learn, particularly around the way wildfires will impact the severity and spread of disease, this study is a clarion call for the state to rapidly reduce its air pollution, said Balmes, a measure that would benefit the health of residents and the planet, too. If shes not enthusiastic, whats the point? A wise old guy asked me that years ago after my attempts to impress a prospective date were unsuccessful. I was recently reminded of that courtship experience because San Francisco appears to be stuck in its own dating rut. In this scenario, the city of San Francisco is the would-be suitor, and tech companies are the unenthused. Its been that way for a long time. Last week Twitter announced it is letting go of a big chunk of its headquarters in SoMa its 10th Street offices connected to its main Market Street building. Etsy also dumped office space last week, following Salesforce, Block, PayPal and others. It hurts to see them all go. It feels like a rejection. But Twitter is the one that sticks. The City threw itself at Twitters feet in 2011, when the fast-growing startup suggested it might move to Brisbane to escape payroll taxes and get cheaper real estate. Mayor Ed Lee made keeping Twitter a top priority and cut the company and others a sweetheart of a tax deal to move into the area around Van Ness and Market streets. This newspaper called keeping Twitter unusually important in 2011, noting the company has an international brand name and cool reputation, and keeping the company here could reasonably be a turning point powerful enough to finally spark positive energy back into the down-and-out neighborhood of mid-Market. Did it work? Eh. For a while. There was a Twitter effect that pulled in other tech companies and gave restaurants and bars in Hayes Valley and SoMa a boost. The same thing happened with the opening of Salesforce Tower at First and Mission. There was excitement. The biggest mixed-use building west of Chicago! The SoulCycle studio at its feet was packed every weekday evening, and so were the bars nearby. But Ill let you in on a little secret: I worked in Salesforce Tower for a while, and it was never very full. If you got off the elevator on to the wrong floor, it was often so empty we used a word you hear said about vacant parts of downtown a lot these days: It was eerie. That could also be true about the Twitter Building, a 1-million-square-foot barn that literally echoes with emptiness in places. Remember, that was in the good times when we think of all the buildings in downtown as being full. Thats because it is very, very difficult to gauge office space needs for fast-growing tech companies. They had to take a lot of office space in advance of needing it, because they were hiring so rapidly, says Colin Yasukochi, executive director of tech insights for the commercial real estate company CBRE. It was constantly a moving target. So, imagine trying to figure out office space needs for tech companies now, with COVID hanging on, hybrid work constantly in motion and a possible recession on the horizon. Downsizing isnt about tech companies rejecting San Francisco. Its about COVID and the economy. Everyones asking, How much space do we need? Some companies want to get people back two to three days per week. But what does that mean for office space needs? Yasukochi says. No one knows. But somehow, if big tech companies stay, that will fix everything. Just like in 2011. If the cool person or company loves us, everything will be great. Keeping big tech in San Francisco is not the big answer and maybe it never was. When the Twitter tax break ended in 2019, The City estimated it had lost $70 million in payroll taxes in exchange for returns on investment that were unclear. Twitter benefited enormously and disproportionately from this tax break, Supervisor Gordon Mar, a longtime critic of the tax cut, told me in an email. Meanwhile, mid-Market continues to face immense challenges. Those challenges require more public investment, not less. A Twitter spokesperson said, We remain committed to our San Francisco employees, customers, and the city. Twitter was one of dozens of companies that benefited from the temporary central market tax exclusion, the spokesperson pointed out, saying it has revitalized parts of the city. We continue to call San Francisco our home and our roots remain strong here, the spokesperson said. Theres not one big answer keep big tech in downtown. Most of the workers are at home anyway, and many are not in the Bay Area. But there are signs of hope to revitalizing downtown. Yasukochi, the tech expert for the real estate firm CBRE, says that while many tech firms are downsizing their office space, some are also upscaling it in a flight to quality. CBRE shows that in downtown San Francisco, vacancy rates of the best, prime properties (12.9%) are about half that of other properties (24.9%). Yasukochi says thats because companies want a welcoming environment so that in-person work emphasizes quality over quantity. These newer offices have better amenities, the latest technology to incorporate, perhaps more meeting rooms, and less cubicles, he says. So when youre at the office, youre kind of like, Wow, Im at the office!, as opposed to Oh, Im back at this office that Ive been coming to for years, and its still a dreary place. The cybersecurity company Okta has based new hybrid work offices near Salesforce Park on Apple Stores, with work stations that are easy to drop into for quick collaboration. Employees stow their things in lockers, rather than being tied to one desk. Better offices for hybrid work are incentives for tech to be downtown but tech workers, not big companies. Tech workers are the ones who help revitalize downtown. And tech companies pay for better offices. Taxpayers dont. The answer is not to push tech workers back into the office, as Mayor London Breed did in March, asking tech companies to sign a pledge to implement return to in-person work policies. Lets incentivize the little guys for a change. The restaurants and bars and shop owners in downtown have been hit the hardest. Many of them didnt have the option of moving or downsizing. It would be great if tech would help with that. Perhaps by coordinating three-day in-person work weeks so that neighborhoods know when workers will be buying lunches and beers after work. And giving their employees stipends for downtown restaurants and shops. Mar says techs help is needed in many ways. We absolutely need collaboration and partnership from the tech industry to revitalize downtown but we dont need more corporate welfare, he says. We need to clean our streets, build more housing, support small businesses, and invest in downtown arts, culture, open space and public safety. That would give all San Franciscans incentives to revitalize downtown. Its not often that the culmination of a career leads you to take what you do on land and bring it to the sea. But when Dr. Meg Autry proposed a floating abortion clinic in the Gulf of Mexico, thats where she found herself. Autry, an OB-GYN at UCSF, wants the floating clinic to offer a safe space to women in nearby states whose access to reproductive care is being restricted. My whole career and my lifes work has been about reproductive freedom, health equity, training junior people and all of that is threatened by this, said Autry, referring to the wave of abortion-limiting state legislation following the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. And the people who are going to be most affected are poor patients and people of color and marginalized communities. And, you know, Im at a point in my career that if Im not working for this whats the point? According to the website of PRROWESS (Protecting Reproductive Rights of Women Endangered by State Statutes), a nonprofit that Autry has incorporated, the clinic intends to serve individuals seeking reproductive health care and surgical abortion where it is illegal or impossible. As a practical matter, the clinic in the Gulf of Mexico would serve residents of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas who would be closer to the coast than to other states with abortion options. PRROWESS pledges that, united, women can reassert control over their bodies no matter how draconian measures targeting reproductive rights become. This is what my whole career has been about, Autry said. Why provide the service offshore? Because states that have banned abortion have no jurisdiction in federal or international waters. Casino boat operators have used the same tactic. Reared in South Autry grew up a self-described Army brat. Born in South Carolina, she attended high school in Georgia, college in Tennessee and medical school in North Carolina. She moved to San Francisco in 1989 for a residency at UCSF in obstetrics and gynecology. When she arrived in The City, she appreciated what she described as an honest and open conversation around reproductive health and advocacy, and saw her interests coalesce. I think a lot of people in the South grow up and ultimately say that they were repressed and (reproductive health) just wasnt talked about, said Autry. So when I came out here, it was like, Oh my God, theres this whole reproductive health advocacy and, you know, things that we just never talked about before. She became impassioned in her advocacy for marginalized communities those whose rights were being threatened, or who were unable to advocate for themselves. Now, Autry is the vice chair of graduate medical education and continuing medical education for the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UCSF, a professor at the school, the chief of UCSF Fresno Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and an Army veteran. Following her residency, Autry served three years as a U.S. Army physician stationed in Germany. She spent five years at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and then returned to UCSF. She distinguished herself as a professor, earning the Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Medical Education Award in 2017 and the Outstanding Faculty Award in Resident and Medical Student Teaching from 2011 to 2016. I always wanted to be a teacher and help train the future leaders in our profession, Autry says. And now half of our people that are trained in OB-GYN are not going to be fully trained in basic health care. And, there are physicians now in states that are afraid to do whats right for their patients because theyre afraid of being prosecuted. How do you think it is to learn from someone whos afraid to do the right thing because theyre afraid of being prosecuted? Autry has found solace in finding solutions. That prospect is taking on the unlikely form of an abortion boat. And its an idea Autry has been considering for a while, contemplating first the viability of the Mississippi River as a roving ground. Only recently did the urgency and necessary magnitude of the project become apparent. The Mississippi River wouldnt have served as many people experiencing care restrictions as the team was aiming to help. As time marched on, it was very clear that reproductive rights were going to be further eroded. We started looking at the Gulf and then it became clear that it was legally a potential, says Autry. And then when the Dobbs decision leaked, we were basically like, OK, we need to be far enough along that when this decision comes down, we have a real solution. And so thats kind of what we did. The outpouring of support has been incredible, Autry says, and the clinic will seemingly be funded primarily by large donors, some of whom provided seed money to the project. If the floating clinic were not to reach fruition, the organization intends to distribute the funds to other projects working toward equitable abortion access. $20 million project The time frame for the clinic is still unclear. They are hoping to be afloat by this time next year, but that goal hinges on the acquisition of a sea-sound clinic space. They are still waiting on a donation of a vessel of at least 45 meters (about 49 yards). Overall, the project is estimating a price tag of $20 million, Autry told NPR. Autry has never practiced medicine at sea, but she feels that there is precedence for safe medical care on boats. Cruise ships and Mercy Ships are examples Autry mentions. Im not aware that providing medical care on a boat would be any different, she says. Women on Waves is a Dutch nonprofit with a similar mission, described on their website as aiming to prevent unsafe abortions and empower women to exercise their human rights to physical and mental autonomy. The group operates in the international waters offshore of countries where abortion is illegal. Services offered aboard the PRROWESS clinic would include comprehensive reproductive health care: surgical abortions up to 14 weeks, contraception, including emergency contraception, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and, in some instances, legal aid or social services. The intention of the vessel is to offer services three weeks out of each month depending on demand and Gulf conditions. And depending on need, the care would be offered at little to no cost to the patient. Following a prescreening, transportation would be arranged to and from the vessel. For those concerned about the legality of being served by the clinic, the Lawyering Project, which represents PRROWESS, offers reassurance. The services PRROWESS is planning to provide are 100% legal. Any legal threats to the boats operations, staff and patients will come from the same anti-abortion extremists who created this public health crisis, said Amanda Allen, senior counsel and project director at the Lawyering Project in a statement to The Examiner. The only reason PRROWESS is needed is because of anti-abortion politicians and their quest to criminalize health care and isolate pregnant people from their support systems, the statement reads. Out of safety concerns for patients and physicians, the organization is keeping veiled details about transportation to and from the vessel. Already, Autry has received brickbats for her involvement in the project. Ive already gotten emails, you know? Yeah, its just a horrible place to be in, she says. There are times she feels unsafe, but realizes that its part of an undertaking shes not willing to give up on. I think that I made a decision going on this path to put myself out there, Autry says of her role as the public voice of the project. But Im in this with people that I care about deeply. And I dont know that theyve made that decision. But until the project is in motion, Autry is working her day job, acting as her own media manager and striving to protect womens health freedoms. She says she is proud to see her state and her city show up to serve in any way they can. There are some amazing people that are stepping up and being creative and innovative to try to make sure that patients have access to the care that they need, want and deserve, she says. And Im determined to be one of those people. The City of San Francisco is adjusting the pay scale for the director of its newly formed Office of Racial Equity after realizing the position was relatively underpaid. Since its inception, the office has developed the first phase of a citywide racial equity framework, focusing on equity in the citys internal operations. The next phase will focus on ensuring equity in how the city provides services outside the walls of City Hall. San Francisco established an Office of Racial Equity in 2019 to help rectify long standing racial imbalances in City Hall, but the offices inaugural director was paid less than those with similar responsibilities in other departments. The shortcoming will be fixed, according to city leaders, who remain optimistic about the offices work and hope to strengthen its authority. The Office of Racial Equitys director left the position in July 2021. It has remained unfilled while City officials worked to reclassify it in the recently adopted budget, boosting its pay scale to match that of leaders in other city departments. Work will now begin to hire a new director for the office, according to Sheryl Davis, executive director of the Human Rights Commission, which oversees the Office of Racial Equity. Though the classification issue has been resolved, it highlights ongoing concerns over racial equity in San Francisco. Despite progress in some measures, The City still pays white employees 24% more than employees who are people of color, and the citywide Black population continues to decline. The Office of Racial Equity, established in part to help address those worrying trends, has many mandates. Under the law establishing the office, it is tasked with building a citywide racial equity framework, helping city departments develop and implement racial equity plans, reviewing the equity impacts of pending legislation and more. Currently, that work is being done by an office of just two people. Just like filling this position seems to have been a low priority for the city, racial equity is a low priority, if a priority at all, for San Francisco, Dante King, who founded the Black Employees Alliance in 2018. But Davis pointed to the bureaucratic complexities of filling the position while fixing its classification. The City set the Office of Racial Equity directors pay grade based on the budget it was given, Davis said. But as other departments created equity director positions of their own in recent years, it became clear they were better compensated, even though those folks would be working in collaboration with, (and) taking guidance from the Office of Racial Equity, Davis said. The initial director of the office, Shakirah Simley, left shortly after the city budget was finalized in 2021, Davis said. Due to city policy the position couldn't be reclassified once the budget was set, she added, so they were forced to wait until 2022. Though the details are still being worked out, the new budget will allow the position to be reclassified from a manager to a director, which improves the compensation scale. Two of the office's four positions are vacant, one of which has never been filled, according to the Department of Human Resources. Still, Davis described the office as "the little engine that could" and lauded the two employees that remain for continuing the offices mission. Simley declined an interview when contacted by The Examiner, but said in an email that her work for the Office of Racial Equity was about the work, beyond the pay. She is now the executive director of the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center. In a blog post explaining her departure in 2021, Simley enumerated the work done by the Office of Racial Equity under her leadership. Reject tokenism and performative acts of equity. Commit to being active agents in correcting the wrongs long perpetuated within City government, Simley wrote. When guided by a lens of racial and social justice, government is a force for the public good and is seamless for the people it is meant to serve. In 2021, the office published a Racial Equity Report Card, which documented the status of Racial Equity and the indicators of success by Race across San Francisco. Davis said the office has been fortunate to have the support of Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors. But she worried what happens if and when Breed and Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton are no longer in office. Davis is interested in expanding codifying the Office of Racial Equity's authority and role in city government. For example, she noted that the City Attorneys Office has representatives assigned to various departments but the Office of Racial Equity has no such system. "I don't think there's the autonomy within the office of racial equity," Davis said. By some measures, The City has made progress in addressing inequities in its workforce, according to a Budget and Legislative Analyst Report issued this year. Pay disparities between employees of color and white employees improved for every demographic except Filipino employees between the fiscal years ending in 2019 and 2021, according to the report. Still, disparities persist, and the percentage of the citys workforce that is Black actually slightly decreased during that timespan. The Bay Area is no stranger to psychedelic drugs. The region attained an almost mythical status for its LSD-infused counterculture in the 1960s. And recently, legislators are aiming to decriminalize psychedelics and academics are researching the drugs ability to treat mental health issues. On Tuesday, San Francisco Supervisors Dean Preston and Hillary Ronen introduced legislation that would would decriminalize use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms and other entheogenic plants such as mescaline. This legislation dovetails with the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics new website and training program, announced Wednesday, which aims to inform the public about the burgeoning use of psychedelics for addressing mental health issues. The center was founded in 2020 to conduct psychedelic research, training and public education under the supervision of interdisciplinary faculty at UC Berkeley. Its co-founder is psychedelics superstar Michael Pollan, UC Berkeleys John S. and James L. Knight professor of journalism and best-selling author, most recently of How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. Pollan is leading the centers public education program, which, if psychedelics are decriminalized in The City, would become an essential resource for those looking to begin treatment. These substances have enormous potential, but they are not for everyone and they carry serious risks when used improperly, said Pollan at a news conference. The shift from destroyer of young minds in the 60s to effective medicine in the 2020s is as sudden as it is confusing to many people. So we want to address that confusion and that curiosity with solid, credible information from a trusted source. Pollan also noted, Not many people were doing basic science, trying to understand how it is that psychedelics have the effects they have and why theyre effective in the treatment of various mental disorders. We want to figure out what psychedelics might teach us about things like perception, predictive processing, belief change and brain plasticity. Among the centers aims is to explore the chemical makeup of magic mushrooms and other plant-based psychedelics in order to establish their safety for clinical trials. Andrea Gomez, assistant professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley and a member of the centers executive committee, said, I believe a major strength of conducting psychedelic research at the BCSP is that, over the last half-century, there has been piecemeal advancement of clinical psychedelic science. On the contrary, innovations in molecular biology have exploded. Gomez explained, Owing to rapid advances in sequencing and gene editing technologies, we now possess the ability to edit our own DNA, to identify genes in our genome that may be mutated and cause pathological conditions such as neurodegeneration. By harnessing the power of these gene editing technologies we think this is a fantastic potential for understanding what genes are activated by psychedelics, how do they change the brain. And can we edit them? The center is also developing a training program for medical, religious, and other health care professionals who want to guide patients through psychedelics treatment. A study performed by John Hopkins Medicine found that two doses of psilocybin, along with supportive psychotherapy, reduced depressive symptoms in over half of the patients diagnosed with major depression. After four weeks, 54% of patients were considered to be in remission, meaning that they were no longer clinically depressed. Were finding that theres an increasingly large need for professionally trained facilitators to provide safe, legal and effective psychedelic assisted therapy, said Tina Trujillo, associate professor at UC Berkeleys School of Education and an executive committee member of the center. The field has recognized that these substances alone are not a magic pill. Theyre part of a larger system of sophisticated and coordinated care. That includes a trained guide or facilitator who supports clients to prepare to undergo and integrate their psychedelic experiences into the rest of their lives. Pollan echoed this sentiment. Estimates are were going to need 100,000 trained psychedelic facilitators when psilocybin and MDMA are approved by the FDA, which is expected to happen within the next five years or so, he said. This fall, the center is launching its first certificate program in psychedelic facilitation. Twenty-four licensed professionals, including chaplains, medical doctors, nurses, psychotherapists and social workers, will undergo 175 hours of professional preparation over the course of nine months. Trujillo said the course integrates five domains of knowledge: spiritual care, contemplative practice, psychotherapeutic methods, clinical science and research, and ancestral entheogenic traditions. As the field of psychedelic therapy expands and the need for trained facilitators potentially increases, center leaders said they want to avoid the traditional exclusion of marginalized communities. Were committed to creating a diverse and inclusive learning environment, said Trujillo. The field of psychedelic-assisted care is largely a white socio-economic privilege space. Were committed to doing better on behalf of all the communities who have been historically excluded from these types of care. Gomez said this year the center developed an Indigenous science student fellowship that focuses on the Indigenous science of psychedelics. The federal legalization of psychedelic medicine is making rapid progress in Congress, and Oregon became the first state to legalize the use of psilocybin under professional supervision, starting in 2023. Oregons legislation accompanies recent bipartisan efforts in Congress to legalize the use of MDMA (popularized as the rave drug molly or ecstasy) and psilocybin for terminally ill patients and armed services members suffering from trauma. While the center has no official stance on legalization, Pollan anticipates that psychedelics will be increasingly decriminalized in the coming years. One of the striking things about the Oregon experiment, which passed by ballot initiative in 2020, is that it will make a guided psychedelic experience available to anyone over 21, regardless of diagnosis, said Pollan. I do think that the use of psychedelics will not be restricted to the medical system. Its not now and wont be in the future. Correction: This article originally misstated the day San Francisco Supervisors Dean Preston and Hillary Ronen introduced legislation that would would decriminalize use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms and other entheogenic plants. It was Tuesday, July 26, not Wednesday, July 27. Henry Tobars office sits in the back left corner of Pier 39, a flight of stairs up from the sourdough bowls and crab sandwiches. You can hear the sea lions barking out on the docks in the adjacent marina when theyre not drowned out by a howling summer wind. Its a cramped little space thats really more of a warehouse than anything else. Stacks of sweatshirts line the walls, waiting for the next dimwit tourist to realize they bought a ticket to S.F., not L.A. And thats why I sought the man out. I wanted to find out whether tourists are coming back to San Francisco. Now, you can ask The City for the official numbers, which I did, but decided to go right to the source. The guy who sells the sweatshirts. Tobar, 42, is the general manager for the Only in San Francisco chain of tourist shops, which has two outlets on Pier 39. Sure enough, he confirmed that sales are way up. Hes selling over 1,000 a month. Like everything else post-pandemic, theyre more expensive. The bottom-of-the-line San Francisco sweatshirt costs $34.99 this summer. A couple years ago Tobar was selling them for $24.99. You do the math. You know, when people think about California, in general, they think about warm weather and palm trees, said Tobar. And San Francisco, its a windy city, and it gets cold here. Just ask Mark Twain. Now, you could attribute the sales spike to the fog. This has been an absolutely frigid no sky July. But thats nothing new. The number of tourists returning to San Francisco is the story. We can definitely see the big crowds back, said Tobar. Now, with the fewer restrictions, were seeing more of the European traffic. We still havent seen the Asians return. But a lot of the Europeans are back, along with people from Latin America. (Tourism) is definitely better than the last two years. According to the latest figures from the San Francisco Travel Association, Tobars observations are backed by the data. The trade group that tracks and promotes tourism in town tells me hotel occupancy rates surpassed 74% in June, which is 72% better than June of 2021. Theyre even seeing a return of convention business, although thats got a long way to go. They have 35 events at Moscone this year, with 316,486 attendees expected. Those attendees have 362,621 room nights blocked out, according to San Francisco Travel, which sounds like a lot. But pre-pandemic, San Francisco would host 70-plus meetings, or conventions, a year. Its not back to where it is pre-pandemic, but its picking up, said Hubertus Funke, the chief tourism officer at the San Francisco Travel Association, regarding our convention business. I think well have to see what will happen. In many cases weve seen hybrid programs, with an in-person component and a virtual component. Theres a value to in-person interaction, especially now after several years of virtual gatherings. Well have to see how companies respond to that. Well have to see whether the hybrid model is here to stay. I personally believe there will be a pivot towards in-person. In terms of overall spending and visitation, The City is forecast to attract 21.9 million visitors in 2022, which amounts to 84% of 2019 levels. Overall visitor spending is expected to grow from $3.1 billion in 2021 to $6.1 billion in 2022, which represents 63% of 2019 levels. According to the organization, In 2022, we expect to see an increase in domestic and international travelers, primarily from the U.K., Europe, Mexico, Canada and India, with a forecast of 1.38 million international visitor arrivals in 2022. Funke put a finer point on it. Were certainly seeing a return of tourism, especially from international markets, said Funke, who might just have the best name in all San Francisco. Pre-pandemic, international tourism was really, really important for San Francisco in terms of spending and impact. Were seeing a return of visitors, primarily from the European market. I hear French and German on the streets every day. What about the Americans? Are they coming back? Domestic (tourism) is still really, really strong, he said. The international piece is what was missing. And, like Tobar said, a big piece of that piece is still missing. Asian tourists remain largely absent from our streets, due to lingering restrictions and outbreaks in places like China, South Korea and Japan. San Francisco was always one of those favorite destinations for European travelers. There are no restrictions anymore, with the U.S. lifting its requirement for a negative COVID test. That was the last barrier. So what were seeing is pent-up demand, said Funke. That does not hold true for some of our Asian markets. China is still pretty much closed for travel. Were seeing a little uptick in Korea and Japan. Canada and Mexico have been strong. But in terms of impact, were seeing Europe as having the top impact. The main questions for most tourists considering a visit surround safety and homelessness. I just got back from Europe and I cant tell you how many people asked me about our situation. Theyd heard horrible things. One guy asked if theyre really stealing peoples dogs on our streets. I told him the truth: Um ... yeah, every once in awhile. Thats a pretty big problem, whether reality or perception. From my own travels around town this week, I can report that most of our tourist spots are pretty clean. Even Union Square, which got quite dodgy during the pandemic, is looking better. Just dont head toward City Hall. I asked Funke whether The City was working to address the issue to his organizations satisfaction, and he played it politic. We voice these concerns all the time, he said. We have a great relationship with City Hall. One of our main objectives is to have a seat at the table and have a voice when it comes to any policy decisions. And its an ongoing conversation and dialog, and certainly theres room for improvement. But what does he hear from visitors? Its one of those ongoing questions. In the case of San Francisco, the situation around homelessness and street conditions is one we share with other cities as well, said Funke. Theres more media focus on San Francisco, whether its for political or other reasons. While the conditions continue to be a concern, I think visitors can have and will have a great experience in San Francisco. Visiting a big city, there are aspects that may not be pretty, he said. We certainly dont want to mask that. We are very keen on making sure visitors have a safe and pleasant experience. To that end, San Francisco Travel introduced welcome ambassadors to greet tourists in the Union Square area, offering directions, advice and a helping hand. Funke says its been well-received. I have no idea, really. But its a step in the right direction one of many San Francisco needs to take to win back tourists, and their dollars. Perhaps the best tourism idea I heard all week came from longtime San Francisco press agent Lee Houskeeper, who called me from a cab heading crosstown. His driver told him that hes had a ton of riders who are visiting from places like Arizona and Texas. Theyve come to escape the nationwide heat wave. As Houskeeper put it, San Francisco should market itself as a climate tourism destination. I can see it now. Sick of sweltering heat? Come to San Francisco without a sweatshirt. San Francisco's mayor and public health officials declared a local emergency on Thursday to make it easier for the city to combat the monkeypox as virus cases increase and vaccines remain in short supply despite demand for more shots. The move allows the city to get reimbursed by state and federal governments as it mobilizes city resources, accelerates emergency planning and streamlines staffing, the city said in a news release. The declaration goes into effect Aug. 1. San Francisco showed during COVID that early action is essential for protecting public health, Mayor London Breed said in the release. We know that this virus impacts everyone equally but we also know that those in our LGBTQ community are at greater risk right now. Many people in our LGBTQ community are scared and frustrated. This local emergency will allow us to continue to support our most at-risk, while also better preparing for whats to come. RELATED: What to know about monkeypox in San Francisco right now Cases in San Francisco are climbing, with the Department of Public Health reporting a total of 261 cases on Wednesday, up from 222 cases the day before. No deaths have been reported in the U.S. outbreak so far, although the rash caused by the virus can be painful and lasts for two to four weeks. Vaccines are in short supply, and the clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital was forced to close Tuesday due to a shortage of Jynneos, the only shot specifically approved to prevent monkeypox. The department announced today that it is receiving 4,220 additional vaccines that will be going to clinics throughout the city. The department initially asked the federal government for 35,000 shots, and including this week's allotment, it has received only about 12,000 doses. To find information about how to schedule a vaccine appointment, go to sf.gov/monkeypox. The vaccine clinic at SF General is scheduled to reopen Aug. 1, 8 a.m. to noon, and will be open each day Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon, until supplies run out, the department said. There are 799 monkeypox cases in California, 4,639 confirmed cases in the United States, and more than 20,000 cases globally (in 77 countries), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. We need to be prepared and this declaration will allow us to serve the city better, San Francisco Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax said in a news release. Our COVID-19 response has taught us that it is imperative that we mobilize city resources. The declaration helps us ensure we have all the tools available to augment our outreach, testing and treatment, especially to the LGBTQ+ who remain at highest risk for Monkeypox. Supervisor Gordon Mar said on Twitter that this is the right thing to do. "And with this emergency declaration, Public Health Emergency Leave the law I wrote expanding paid leave for public health emergencies will now cover monkeypox in addition to COVID-19 when it takes effect on Oct. 1st," wrote Mar, in regards to the law that will expand paid leave for SF workers during public health crises and unhealthy air days. Breed said in a letter she wrote to federal health officials and posted on Twitter last week that the city needs "more vaccines to protect the LGBTQ community, which is at higher risk." While anyone can get monkeypox through close physical contact with an infected person, the current outbreak in North America and Europe is disproportionately affecting gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men. While public health officials and doctors are eager to avoid stigmatizing the virus, there is some concern among experts that avoiding the subject may prevent valuable information from reaching the people most likely to be affected. Science reporter Benjamin Ryan, for instance, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed on July 18 that public health officials are doing a disservice by not conveying "the seriousness of this burgeoning crisis to gay and bisexual men." This is a developing story and more details will be added as they become available. FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Spirits maker Beam Suntory is investing $400 million to expand a bourbon distillery in central Kentucky and will create 50 full-time jobs, Gov. Andy Beshear announced. The expansion is at James B. Beam Distilling Co.'s Booker Noe Distillery in Boston in Nelson County, Beshear's office said Thursday. The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority gave preliminary approval Thursday to a 15-year agreement that can provide up to $3 million in tax incentives. The company was also approved for up to $550,000 in other tax incentives, the governor's office said. James B. Beam Distilling Co. is based in Clermont. Beam Suntory was formed in 2014 after Japan-based Suntory Holdings acquired the company. Beam Suntory bourbon brands include Jim Beam, Makers Mark, Bookers, Legent, Basil Hayden, Knob Creek and Bakers. Manistee County has become a beacon on the map of Michigan communities. A place where many people come to vacation, only to leave wishing they could live here. Visitors watch with envy as residents relax on a Sunday afternoon instead of returning home for their work week. We have everything we need right here: a strong manufacturing backbone, small businesses to provide goods and services, and all the recreation northern Michigan has to offer. Our community is growing with several major projects that will have long-term and sustaining benefits to both residents and visitors. These projects come with an overwhelming array of permits, rules, assumptions and unknowns. These create this complicated map that investors must follow to succeed. Maps can help us navigate unfamiliar territory, and a critical part of finding your way is the maps key and knowing how to use it. In Manistee County, the chamber of commerce is key to these major projects and our communitys success. Our chamber of commerce has a diverse membership of investors from every facet of the business community. From industry-leading facilities across Manistee County to mom-and-pop shops in Bear Lake, all have found a spot at the chambers table. The chambers investors do not stop at businesses, instead acting as the driving force to bring together diverse entities such as the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, the U.S. Forest Service and the city of Manistee to name a few. Finally, it includes critical community service providers like nonprofits, education, energy suppliers, healthcare and transportation. Chamber investors are represented by a professional and highly skilled staff working to meet their best interests. These interests are attained through stakeholder visits, phone calls, emails or immediate representation on the board of directors. The mission of building a dynamic and sustainable organization for the business, workforce and economic development needs of all in Manistee County is supported further through the participation of Chamber Ambassadors. This team is made up of highly motivated and caring volunteers from the chamber investors. The Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce is known statewide as a leader in serving its business members, our community and developers. The staff channels its experience and connections with local, regional, state and federal resources to utilize any opportunities, giving Manistee County investors the support they need to succeed. The chamber President and CEO Stacie Bytwork regularly advocates for our community. As an active member of the Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance, she takes the interests of every business member, organization of the chamber,and community everywhere she goes. Current areas of advocacy include affordable housing, childcare and small business. You can find updates on the latest legislative advocacy efforts at ManisteeChamber.com. The passionate voice of the chamber has attracted elected officials and developers of all kinds, who can recognize that Manistee County is ready for investment. Fricanos Manistee River, The Hampton Inn & Suites and the Spirit of the Woods Gateway Project have been in the limelight lately. These new projects and businesses will have opportunities for both residents and visitors to enjoy. The benefit of replacing dilapidated buildings with new construction is reason enough to celebrate the investors behind these projects. We all must work together to make sure their dreams become part of our reality, acknowledging that these opportunities do not just happen on their own. Each of these projects has involved significant risk for the investors, and more is to come. The chamber staff have worked collaboratively to close gaps, find solutions and keep projects feasible; and that is why they are key. At times it is difficult to see progress and there is understandable frustration and concern. By expanding our sights to the bigger picture, we know that these projects will succeed. When we change our perspective, it is easier to see more reasons to be supportive. But new businesses are not the only investments that the chamber is working on. Existing businesses benefit from the talents, skills and advocacy of the chamber staff as well. An excellent example is the assistance provided to North Channel Brewing in securing $100,000 to expand canning operations. This grant significantly expanded the business, which started inside a once-blighted furniture outlet. Chamber staff is consistently available to both new and existing businesses, assisting with relocations, grant opportunities and any other problems they may be experiencing. The economic development focus of the chamber effectively unifies our community, promoting public service and community development. Staff is more than qualified to assist developers and businesses, Marc Miller, director of economic development for the chamber has experience as a former senior policy adviser to the lieutenant fovernor of Illinois and director of the Illinois DNR. Not only is the chamber leading in legislative advocacy, economic development and leadership, but also puts its work into action as the director of the Manistee Downtown Development Authority. Since taking leadership as the director of the DDA, the chamber has expanded the former Downtown Dollars program to manistee county ca$h. This change allows greater participation from both consumers and businesses. The introduction of The 'Stee social district invites mature consumers to shop with a beverage downtown, or while they wait for a table during busy times expanding the capacity of any restaurant that participates. Finally, the new platform dining options have allowed restaurants to thrive during periods when indoor dining was restricted or extra capacity was needed. These projects were all made possible in part by the chambers leadership and investors' efforts. To support the chamber as the key to our map, pause and answer the question, What has the chamber done for me? Business leaders can consider the impact on your bottom line that the past, present and future investments make. Does your business benefit from the increased foot traffic in the social district? Do your employees have a higher quality of life living in a town that meets their needs and expectations? Are you a resident because of the investments made in our community? Has your nonprofit grown after attending a common ground event like Chamber Untapped, or been a recipient during the Big Day of Serving from the chamber's Leadership Program? The professional services that the chamber provides are only attainable because of the collaborative efforts of businesses, local government and the community who individually, could not sustain these services. I urge you to support our chamber and the investments they are trying to bring to this community and ask you to consider how you can help. The chamber is always looking for motivated individuals to volunteer their time, effort and resources to make our community a better place. I walked through the park gates under the Disneyland Hotel in Europe, the hotel is literally built over the entrance to Disneyland Paris and into a magic kingdom that was like a mirror image of the Disney I know: almost exactly the same, but at the same time, very different. In front me, a gazebo where the flagpole would be in Disneyland, draped with iridescent bunting in celebration of Disneyland Paris 30th anniversary this year. To my left, City Hall, and to my right, Main Street Vehicles, a museum of turn-of-the-century cars. And beyond, Main Street U.S.A. and a gleaming pink and blue castle rising up in the distance. But the Main Street I walked down mouth agape, my brain barely able to comprehend what I was seeing wasnt exactly the Main Street I know and love in Anaheim (or even the one I know and love sliiiightly less, but still a lot, in Orlando). There were souvenir shops, there were a few Disney Legends windows, there was Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor but there was also a candy shop filled with Mickey-shaped meringues and guimauves (marshmallows), a walk-up window selling Nutella-filled crepes and, be still my heart, a cart in the hub selling glasses of Disneyland Champagne. Julie Tremaine Real, honest-to-god, from-the-Champagne-region-of-France Champagne, which I sipped standing in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, and shortly after, in La Taniere du Dragon, the cave under the castle where Dragon Maleficent lives, glaring her evil glare from a steaming lagoon as I sipped bubbly from a plastic Champagne tulip. (In France, even their disposable drink ware is on point.) Walt might never have wanted alcohol in his parks, but for me, it was a literal dream come true. There were some parts of Disneyland Paris that I didnt love, when I felt like I had been sucked through a rip in the multiverse and ended up in a world that was almost my reality. The effect was as jarring as it sounds. There were other parts I found very challenging to navigate, even knowing the American Disney parks as well as I do. But that be-castled Champagne, my dear reader, was a moment of pure delight. Julie Tremaine Since I spend a lot of time in Disneyland and Walt Disney World, I thought I only needed one day to figure out Disneyland Paris but thats exactly why I should have known better. None of my tips and tricks applied to a park where most people disappear for half the day, back to their hotels for a rest, leaving ride queues practically empty and yet dining is still nearly impossible to come by; where beignets are savory Mickey-shaped doughnuts; and where, in Avengers Campus, Thor and Loki speak French when theyre trying to convince recruits to pledge loyalty to one or the other Asgardian. My one day quickly turned into three days, and on each, I liked the resort more and more, probably because I got to know it better. Familiarity breeds comfort, even on another continent, and even when youre shrunk to the size of a rat and eating dinner on the lid of a jam jar but more on that last part later. Julie Tremaine How is Disneyland Paris different than Disneyland? Julie Tremaine Just like its California counterpart, the Disneyland Paris resort has two parks (Parc Disneyland and Parc Walt Disney Studios) that share a central plaza. There are also several Disney hotels on property, from the ritzy new Hotel New York, the Art of Marvel, to a couple of lower-tier, Western-ish hotels called the Hotel Santa Fe and the Hotel Cheyenne. The ideas of the parks are fundamentally the same: different lands jut out from a hub with a large anchoring landmark. In Parc Disneyland, its Sleeping Beauty Castle which is much bigger than in U.S. Disneyland, and has an astonishingly gorgeous walkthrough that features a soaring atrium and that subterranean dragon (and a gift shop where you can make your own glass and crystal magic wand! Disney, if youre listening, please bring this to America). In Walt Disney Studios, its the Tower of Terror, which is much gloomier and more haunting than the one at Hollywood Studios, and features a scarier story line with a creepy ghost girl. Julie Tremaine Parc Disneyland has Main Street U.S.A. (including the Liberty Arcade that was never built in Anaheim), plus Fantasyland, Frontierland, Adventureland and, rather than Tomorrowland, Discoveryland. Theyre definitely different than in Disneyland, but theyre all pretty great: Frontierland is home to that parks Haunted Mansion, called Phantom Manor; Adventureland has an extensive, "Goonies"-style labyrinth of pirate caves to explore; Discoveryland is steampunk-themed, even their Hyperspace Mountain, which is admittedly a strange juxtaposition of theming with the "Star Wars" story line inside. Walt Disney Studios has Toon Studio, with the Flying Carpets over Agrabah Aladdin-themed ride from Walt Disney World and a truly delightful, Finding Nemo-themed Crushs Coaster, plus character meet-and-greets. Worlds of Pixar has a Toy Story land with a couple of small rides and an enormous Buzz Lightyear greeting people, a Cars-land that has the rethemed studio tour thats now a Cars tram ride featuring the I-Fuel Tower, and a French land with Remys Ratatouille Adventure and Bistrot Chez Remy. I tried four restaurants at Disneyland Paris, and that one is the one Im going to think about for years to come. Julie Tremaine Inside, youre in the restaurant Remy opens after Ratatouille, and everything is scaled to make you feel rat-sized. All of the chairs are made from the metal cages that keep Champagne corks in their bottles. All of the tables are the lids of jam jars or tins of black pepper. The food is classically French and delicious, but the experience of eating under strings of Christmas lights that have 2-foot-long bulbs and paper cocktail umbrellas big enough to shade entire tables its a wonder. Whats also special about Disneyland Paris this year is its the parks 30th anniversary, and there are celebrations everywhere, from special cocktails and food items to decorations, to a drone show over the castle before the fireworks that is a true technical marvel, and better than any nighttime show Ive seen at any Disney, ever. Julie Tremaine How to get dining reservations in Disneyland Paris In short, its hard. Even the app has a warning saying reservations are hard to come by and that you should book two months out. Considering I downloaded the Disneyland Paris app a few hours before I stepped foot in the park, that wasnt an option. But I was able to sneak my way into two of the resorts most sought-after restaurants. For Remy, I snagged a cancellation for an 11:30 lunch at 11:20 and ran to the other park. For Walts, the fine dining restaurant on Main Street U.S.A. thats a tribute to Walt Disney (theres a Lillys Boutique attached, after his wife Lillian Disney), I walked up and they were able to accommodate six of us, but at two separate tables. My understanding, though, is that we got very lucky. Walk-up tables are much harder to come by than they are in Disneyland, and quick service restaurants are in much shorter supply. Friends I was with said they had a very hard time finding anything to eat before noon (though the park opened at 9 a.m.) and I couldnt find any quick service food after 8 p.m., though the park was open until 11 p.m. Maybe there are more tricks for people who go more often, but my advice is to plan very far out, and if you cant do that, try your best with day-of cancellations. Julie Tremaine How the rides are different in Disneyland and Disneyland Paris There are fewer rides in DLP, especially in Walt Disney Studios, but they are so, so great. Big Thunder Mountain is faster and has much steeper drops. Hyperspace Mountain has a huge rise at the beginning and a track that goes upside down. Phantom Manor is about 3,000 times scarier than Haunted Mansion, and features a tomb scene with a skeleton playing xylophone on human skulls and an Old West, Frontierland-style hellscape where the apothecary drinks poison and a mans head pops off when he tries to take off his hat in greeting. Adventureland has a Pirates of the Caribbean more like Disneylands than Walt Disney Worlds, complete with a Blue Bayou-style Captain Jacks restaurant inside the ride; but instead of Disneylands Indiana Jones ride, they have Indiana Jones et le Temple du Peril, a roller coaster that goes upside-down. In the new Avengers Campus in Walt Disney Studios, which opened the week before I visited, there are two rides: the same Spider-Man ride in California Adventure, and a re-theme of the parks Rock 'n' Roller Coaster into Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, starring Iron Man and Captain Marvel. The ride is so good: It has screens similar to Epcots Guardians of the Galaxy ride, and is intense enough that as we launched at 57 mph I screamed so much and so loudly that I had to pause and take a breath so I could resume screaming for the rest of the launch incline. It was great. Julie Tremaine My other favorite thing about rides at Disneyland Paris is that the wait times, on the whole, were incredibly low compared with American parks. In the height of the afternoon, Hyperspace Mountain had maybe a 45-minute wait, but often went as low as 15 later in the day. The same with Big Thunder and Avengers Assemble. As of this writing, its 8 p.m. in Disneyland Paris, and the wait for that ride, which has been open less than two weeks, is 15 minutes. Most rides also have single rider lines built in, which also display an estimated wait time. Unlike at Disneyland, where Genie Plus ended almost every single rider line, Disneyland Pariss Premier Access didnt interfere with single rider lanes. (Both Disneyland and Disneyland Paris are still operating on a reservation basis to manage capacity.) Julie Tremaine Is Disneyland Paris better than Disneyland? There are a lot of things that are better like the aforementioned Champagne on Main Street and the expanded Fantasyland but in a word, no. Its not. At least, not to someone who spends as much time in Walts park as I do. As you might guess from the fact that I added two more days to my trip, I enjoyed my time there, but nothing will ever compare to the original 1955 park experience. Not even drinking Champagne in a dragons lair. Donny P./Yelp Delah Coffee, a Yemeni coffee house, opened its doors on July 15 at 370 4th St., in San Franciscos SoMa district, according to Eater SF. The shop aims to bring Yemeni coffee culture to San Francisco. The name is in reference to the traditional coffee pot, a delah, and the walls are decorated with maps that explain the history of coffee and its significance to Yemen. The signature drink is the Yemeni latte, a dark roasted, heavily spiced brew with cinnamon and cardamom mixed with steamed milk. When you order coffee at your table, which is the way it is done in Yemen, the drink arrives in a pot, known as a jebati kettle, with candles lit underneath to keep it hot for the entirety of the experience. For years, the unassuming couple had been living peacefully on the island of Oahu. Husband Walter Glenn Primrose held a steady government job while his wife, Gwynn Darle Morrison, stayed at home. And though they mostly kept to themselves, they always made sure to smile and wave to their neighbors. When Hawaii News Now reported that they were arrested in a raid on Friday, July 22, thats when the accusations about their true identities started pouring in. Recent criminal complaints allege that Walter Glenn Primrose aka Bobby Edward Fort, and Gwynn Darle Morrison, aka Julie Lyn Montague stole the identities of dead infants from Texas to obtain passports, social security cards and drivers licenses. Though details are not yet fully clear, the legal document claims that they ultimately planned to commit an offense against the U.S. government. But before they were arrested and charged with aggravated identity theft, making false statements on passport applications and conspiracy to commit crimes against the U.S., it seemed that they led fairly normal lives. According to the complaint, records say that Primrose and Morrison both went to Calhoun High School in Port Lavaca, Texas, from 1970 to 1973, then attended Stephen F. Austin State University from 1976 to 1979. On Aug. 19, 1980, they married in Nacogdoches, and owned a home from 1981 to 1987. The year it foreclosed, they allegedly stole the identities of Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague, two deceased babies buried in Marble Falls and Burnet, Texas. Subsequently, government records say that Primrose fraudulently enlisted in the Coast Guard as Bobby Fort from 1994 until 2016, when he then worked as a contractor at the U.S. Department of Defense up until his arrest. Following the raid, theres been a flurry of news reports claiming that they might also be Russian spies. Photos from the U.S. Department of Defense show them in what appears to be KGB uniforms, and Hawaii News Now reported that investigators discovered coded messages and military maps inside their home, signaling espionage. A U.S. State Department spokesperson says that theyre American citizens and declined to comment further on the investigation. While it seems outlandish, according to the FBI, this morbid tactic of using dead doubles was commonly used among Russian spies in past cases. From about 2000 to 2010, the FBI carried out Operation Ghost Stories, a highly complex counterintelligence investigation into 10 illegal agents who posed as Americans but actually worked as unlawful agents for the Russian Federation. According to a sealed complaint filed in August 2010, this group of Russian secret agents assumed false identities and lived in the U.S. for years to carry out deep-cover assignments. Documents claim that these agents typically receive specialized training before entering the U.S., often communicating through invisible writing, Morse code and ciphers. In the reports, they also used brush-passes to exchange money and items a tactic where one person discreetly hands it to another while passing them in a public space. The complaint purports that this network of Russian spies sought to Americanize themselves as much as possible in order to infiltrate policy circles and harvest data for the Russian Federation, specifically communicating with a mysterious foreign entity called the Moscow Center. FBI special agent Maria L. Ricci says in the document that developing false identities, or legends, is the first step toward assimilation. The complaint says that typically, theyll earn degrees and hold down jobs to build a convincing identity, often working in pairs under the guise of a married couple. Chillingly, the document also claims that those who do live together will often have children to further deepen their legend. Over the span of a decade, documents say that the FBI monitored the shadowy group of 10 by placing microphones in their homes, leaving video cameras in public places and hotel rooms, and recording phone calls and emails. They reportedly decrypted a 2009 message from the Moscow Center, which was sent to two agents, Richard Murphy and Cynthia Murphy, who later revealed themselves as Russian agents Vladimir Guryev and Lydia Guryev. You were sent to USA for a long-term service trip, it reads. Your education, bank accounts, car, house, etc all these serve one goal: fulfill your main mission, i.e., to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in U.S. and send intels (intelligence reports) to C[enter]. After years of surveillance, on June 27, 2010, the defendants, Richard Murphy; Cynthia Murphy; Michael Zottoli; Patrica Mills; Donald Howard Heathfield; Tracey Lee Ann Foley; Juan Lazaro; Vicky Pelaez; Anna Chapman; and Mikhail Semenko all pleaded guilty to conspiring to serve as unlawful agents of the Russian Federation. By July of that year, the Department of Justice announced that they would be expelled from the United States, marking the end of one of the largest and most extraordinary FBI investigations in the organizations history. Hawaiis Department of Defense did not respond to SFGATEs request for comment at the time of publication. BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) A Las Vegas man pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of helping arrange the 2018 kidnapping and murder of a Vermont man that grew out of a financial dispute. Berk Eratay, 35, is the third of four men to be arraigned in the crime. He and Serhat Gumrukcu, 39, the co-founder of a Los Angeles-based biotechnology company, were arrested in May on charges of conspiring to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of the murder-for-hire that resulted in the death of Gregory Davis of Danville. Prosecutors say Davis had been threatening to go to the FBI with information that Gumrukcu was defrauding him in a multimillion-dollar oil deal that Gumrukcu and his brother had entered into with Davis in 2015. Davis was kidnapped from his Danville home on Jan. 6, 2018, and found shot to death in a snowbank the next day. Prosecutors say Aron Lee Ethridge, 42, of Henderson, Nevada, arranged for Jerry Banks, 34, of Fort Garland, Colorado, to kidnap and then kill Davis. Banks allegedly called Ethridge the day after the kidnapping to inform him that Davis had been successfully kidnapped and killed. Eratay is alleged to have paid Ethridge more than $110,000 some of which was paid to Banks according to court documents. After Davis death, Eratay allegedly provided Ethridge with an additional payment in bitcoin. Ethridge pleaded guilty last week for his role in helping to arrange the kidnapping and murder of Davis. Eratay, who was extradited from Nevada and has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Turkey, arrived in Vermont on Thursday to face charges. Gumrukcu is in custody and has not yet been arraigned. Banks has only been charged with kidnapping, but prosecutors allege he killed Davis. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held pending trial. WASHINGTON (AP) When a 10-year-old Ohio girl traveled to Indiana last month to end a pregnancy forced onto her by a rapist, several conservative politicians and TV pundits called the report a hoax. After horrific details confirmed the case was real, some tried a new tack: claiming, without evidence, that the child could have still legally obtained an abortion in Ohio under a near-total abortion ban that exempts only mothers whose lives or major bodily functions are at risk once fetal cardiac activity is detected. Catherine Glenn Foster, president of the anti-abortion Americans United for Life, added another defense for young rape victims: She told the House Judiciary Committee that a 10-year-old's pregnancy would probably impact her life and so, therefore, it would fall under any exception and would not be an abortion. In televised statements and interviews, anti-abortion advocates have used misleading rhetoric about abortion access to downplay fallout and complications from restrictive abortion laws as doctors, struggling to interpret laws that have largely been untested in courts, turn away pregnant patients for care. Those efforts have had an immediate impact, casting a narrative about a post-Roe v. Wade world that overlooks how abortion laws enacted in recent weeks have complicated the way doctors treat rape victims, miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. More than half a dozen doctors interviewed by The Associated Press said they feel compromised and uncertain operating in an abortion landscape fundamentally changed by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that rejected nearly 50 years of precedent that abortion was a protected constitutional right. Its a horrible position for health care providers to be in, to be unsure about whats legal and what's not legal, and to be questioning the care that they know that they should provide, said Dr. Jennifer Kerns, an associate professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who initially questioned reporting of the 10-year-old girl's rape case, said in a Fox News Channel interview that she did not have to leave Ohio for abortion treatment, citing the states exemptions. Last week, Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis repeated the claim during a public forum: She could have had that abortion here. The laws Republican sponsor said the same in a newspaper column published Thursday. But its not as clear cut as theyve suggested. The states nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission confirmed in an analysis that the age of a mother, alone, would not allow a girl to legally access the procedure in the state. Doctors in Ohio are required to document a medical condition and rationale if they administer an abortion to provide life-saving treatment. Yosts office did not return a request for additional comment. Gonidakis laid out different scenarios to the AP under which the girl might have been able to access the abortion in Ohio, such as if a doctor agreed her life was at risk because of her age, while noting that he had not reviewed her medical records. Across social media, some conservatives have also minimized concerns about access to treatment for ectopic pregnancies, calling it still legal in every state. An ectopic pregnancy is defined as one in which a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus, where it has no chance of survival. Earlier this month, abortion opponent Erin Morrow Hawley told the House Reform and Oversight Committee that ectopic pregnancies had become the subject of misinformation. There have been social media posts suggesting that women wont get treated for an ectopic pregnancy because doctors might be afraid of performing the procedure, but thats absolutely false, said Hawley, an attorney at the religious nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom. Treatment for an ectopic pregnancy is not, in fact, an abortion. State abortion laws, however, have fueled confusion. Doctors generally agree that the procedure to an end an ectopic pregnancy, which typically includes medication or surgery to remove the pregnancy, is not the same as an abortion. But women reportedly have been declined care in states that have severely restricted abortion access, like Ohio, where an abortion is banned once fetal cardiac activity is detected. Fetal heartbeats can still be present in ectopic pregnancies. In one case, a central Texas hospital told a physician not to treat an ectopic pregnancy until it ruptured, per a letter from the Texas Medical Association. In an email to the AP, Hawley said that doctors who have turned away ectopic pregnancy patients because of abortion bans are misinterpreting the laws. Still, before Roe v. Wade was even overturned by the Supreme Court in June, some religious hospitals had policies against treating women for ectopic pregnancies. And many states have not specified in their newly enacted abortion bans that an ectopic pregnancy can be treated as an exception. That's left doctors in some states leery of ending the pregnancy, said Dr. Kate White, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University School of Medicine. Lawmakers in West Virginia, for example, are considering an abortion ban that would carve out an exception for ectopic pregnancies. Clinicians may be afraid to treat it if the abortion law in their state does not explicitly carve out ectopic pregnancy. You can see their worry, Hey, growing pregnancy, cant interrupt it ever,' White said. They are afraid that the law is too broad. ___ Kelety reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio contributed. ___ Follow AP's coverage of abortion at https://apnews.com/hub/abortion. REED CITY The Reed City Area Public Schools administration is aiming to renew its four-year operating millage on the Aug. 2 primary election ballot. This proposal will allow the school district to continue to levy the statutory rate of not to exceed 18 mills on all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, required for the school district to receive its revenue per pupil foundation allowance and renews millage that will expire with the 2022 tax levy. The remaining 1.1031 mills are only available to be levied to restore millage lost as a result of the reduction required by the Headlee amendment to the Michigan Constitution of 1963 and will only be levied to the extent necessary to restore that reduction. Local school districts generate a portion of school funding through a property tax called a millage. A millage rate is made up of a certain number of mills. All Michigan school districts are required to collect an 18 mill, millage to pay for operations or day-to-day functions from employee salaries to utilities. Superintendent Michael Sweet said the passage of the millage would support school operations. This is the business and non-homestead renewal, Sweet said. What that does is it allows the district to continue to levy 18 mills, which is the requirement the state of Michigan in order to get your full per pupil funding amount, so important for the district to be able to continue to levy the full amount so that we get full per pupil funding for the state. Were confident that the voters will support it. The proposal states: "Shall the currently authorized millage rate limitation on the amount of taxes which may be assessed against all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, in Reed City Area Public Schools, Osceola, Mecosta, Newaygo and Lake Counties, Michigan, be renewed by 19.1031 mills ($19.1031 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of 5 years, 2023 to 2027, inclusive, to provide funds for operating purposes; the estimate of the revenue the school district will collect if the millage is approved and 18 mills are levied in 2023 is approximately $2,393,387." Sweet said the administration has a lot planned in terms of addressing concerns within the district. We're going to continue to work with curriculum instruction in high-performing groups, those are the big pieces, Sweet said. We're also going to continue refining our safety protocols to ensure that we have a secure facility for students and staff. For more information on RCAPS, visit the district website at www.reedcityschools.org. NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) A California woman sentenced Friday to between 21 years and life in prison for killing a mother and father and injuring their three young children in a 2020 drunk driving crash while the family was out looking at Christmas lights. Grace Coleman, 23, was sentenced after she previously pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, driving under the influence causing great bodily injury and other charges under a court-offered plea deal, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said in a statement. KEYSTONE, Colo. (AP) The U.S. Forest Service has ordered a halt to the expansion of a Rocky Mountains ski resort after contractors mistakenly demolished protected alpine tundra to create a temporary road. The Keystone Resort project involving new trails and lifts was stopped after officials saw work crews carving the path into protected land outside the approved construction area, The Colorado Sun reported Friday. We were surprised and disappointed to see this for sure, said Scott Fitzwilliams, the supervisor of the White River National Forest for the U.S. Forest Service. But he added that the mistake was "not a catastrophic ecological event. The order to stop work issued earlier this month suspended development of Keystone Resorts 0.9- square-mile (2.3-square kilometers) and 16-trail expansion until the environmental impacts of the unauthorized road are evaluated. Keystone Resort is owned by Vail Resorts, Inc. and the company has hired a restoration firm to help mitigate and repair the damage. We deeply regret the impact this unauthorized construction activity has had on the environment that our team works carefully to protect every day, Keystone manager Chris Sorensen said in a statement this week. Other ski areas owned by Vail Resorts have faced setbacks recently. At Park City Mountain Resort in Utah, the local planning commission rejected plans for expanded lift capacity following complaints that additional parking was needed. And approval for Vail Ski Resort to build affordable housing was retracted by the town council after the property was condemned because it is deemed critical for bighorn sheep. EDWARDSVILLE A decision on the court challenge to the states dismissal of Madison Countys 911 consolidation plan could be made public sometime in the next few months, according to Madison County 911 Director Dana Burris. At Wednesdays Emergency Telephone System Board meeting Burris said a final reply from the Illinois State Police is due to the court by Aug. 6, and a ruling could come within 60-90 days. Madison Countys state-mandated 911 consolidation has been on hold for several years because of delays and court challenges. In late 2019 the Illinois State Police rejected the ETSBs plan. The county had proposed cutting the number to eight from 16. Hearings and final actions on the plan had been delayed by several issues, primarily opposition from St. Clair County According to the written order from the state 911 administrator at the time, the major issues are that the countys unmanned backup PSAP housed in the 911 offices in Wood River, referred to as MADCOM, does not count as a PSAP for purposes of consolidation. That means the county has 15 PSAPs and must reduce the number to seven rather than eight. The state also took issue with the lack of direct dispatching, where individual units are dispatched to specific incidents. Instead, dispatching in the county for police calls are done by radio broadcast by dispatchers, which are then acknowledged by the units answering the calls. For many fire departments, especially smaller volunteer departments, dispatching is done by a general call-out with the first members responding radioing acknowledgement to dispatchers. The county challenged that ruling in court. A decision was delayed in part by continued legal issues involving St. Clair County, but also because of the almost total shutdown of the civil court system because of COVID-19. In other business the ETSB approved $724,529 in reimbursements to local police departments for 911 services. They also approved the purchase of an antenna router for the upcoming consolidation of the Highland 911 center into the Madison County Sheriffs Department, at a cost of $8,819. The ETSB also heard an update on the switchover, with officials saying it would probably occur sometime in August. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims. Thursday, July 28 11:52 p.m. - Deputies responded to a Midland Township residence for a possible domestic assault between a 33-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man. A report will be forwarded to the prosecutor for review regarding the alleged assault. The man was subsequently arrested on a warrant out of Grand Traverse County and was lodged without incident. 11:42 p.m. - Police were called to the 6100 block of Jefferson Avenue for a noise complaint. 10:02 p.m. - A deputy was sent to Lee Township to assist a woman who was making unusual statements. Upon arrival, the deputy contacted the womans husband and family. The family stated they would try to transport the woman to the ER for treatment or seek a mental health petition the next business day. 11:13 p.m. - Deputies conducted a traffic stop at a Greendale Township location. The contacted the 37-year-old male driver, who was subsequently arrested. The man was transported to the Midland County Jail, where he was lodged without incident. A report is being sent to the prosecutor. 10:22 p.m. - A deputy spoke with a 62-year-old Edenville Township man, who advised someone dropped a suspicious vehicle off at his residence that he believes may be stolen. The vehicle was not reported stolen at the time of the report. 8:07 p.m. - Police were called to the 6100 block of Jefferson Avenue for a civil complaint. 7:26 p.m. - A deputy spoke with a 56-year-old woman regarding an inappropriate message she received. The woman wished to have the incident documented. No further action was requested. 7:28 p.m. - Police were dispatched to the 1300 block of West Main Street for a private property crash. 6:26 p.m. - A deputy spoke with a 32-year-old Florida man who requested a wellbeing check for his 30-year-old Homer Township ex-wife. A deputy spoke with the woman, who advised she was fine and did not know why the man was concerned. 6:41 p.m. - Police responded to Cottonwood and Henry streets for an injury crash. 3:13 p.m. - A 64-year-old woman contacted the Sheriff's Office because she wanted to report excessive contact from a 63-year-old Sanford man. The woman had already told the man she did not want a relationship with him and he has not contacted her since. She wanted the event documented and did not want the deputy to contact the man. 3:14 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Coleman City residence to check on the wellbeing of a 28-year-old woman. The woman was OK. 3:12 p.m. - An animal control deputy was dispatched to a dog bite complaint that occurred in Warren Township. An accidental injury occurred when a dog and a 5-year-old child collided with each other. Isolation notice issued. 1:58 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Lincoln Township location for a motorist assist. The vehicle was taken off of the road shortly after deputies arrived. 12:59 p.m. - An 84-year-old Ingersoll Township woman reported her garbage can was taken while she was in the hospital for an extended time. 12:35 p.m. - A deputy took a report of a private property crash in Mount Haley Township. 1226 p.m. - Police were called to the 500 block of Buchanan for a domestic assault complaint. 10:33 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a neighbor dispute between a 64-year-old Edenville Township man and his 53-year-old Edenville Township male neighbor. Both parties were separated upon arrival. The complainant wanted this incident forwarded to the prosecutor for review. 9:58 a.m. - Police responded to East Buttles and State streets for a property damage crash. 5:08 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a possible domestic assault that occurred between a 28-year-old Coleman woman and her 28-year-old Mills Township estranged husband. The report is being sent to the prosecutor for review. 3:17 a.m. - A deputy spoke with a 24-year-old Hope Township man regarding a vehicle turning around in his driveway. The man believed it was a friend of his neighbor harassing him. The man was advised it is not a crime for someone to turn around in the man's driveway. 1:40 p.m. - Police responded to Sturgeon Avenue and N. Saginaw Road for a personal injury crash. 1:37 p.m. - Police were called to Eastman Avenue and Joe Mann Blvd. for a property damage crash. 1:24 a.m. - A deputy made telephone contact with a Lee Township man who stated his ex-girlfriend showed up on his property. The man asked that contact be made with the ex-girlfriend, and he said that she is no longer allowed on the property. Contact was made with the ex-girlfriend, who agreed to stay off of the property. CAIRO (AP) Egyptian prosecutors are denying allegations of torture and ill-treatment leveled by a prominent imprisoned activist and claim he is in good condition, years after the allegations were made. For nearly 10 days, Alaa Abdel-Fattah's family members say they have not heard from him and have been told by prison officials he's refusing to meet with them. Amnesty International has urged Egyptian authorities to allow the family access to the 40-year-old programmer and father serving a five-year sentence. He was sentenced in December on charges of spreading false news, a charge often used to sentence opposition and pro-democracy activists in Egypt. His family says he has been on hunger strike since April to protest his detention and has voiced serious concerns for his health. His imprisonment has come to symbolize the broad crackdown on dissent that has targeted not only Islamists from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood but also secular activists, economists, writers and others under the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. A statement released late Thursday by the Public Prosecution Office said a senior prosecutor was dispatched on Wednesday to Wadi el-Natrun Prison to investigate nearly three-year-old claims that Abdel-Fattah was beaten and denied basic rights. Abdel-Fattah's complaints stem from when he was previously held at the Tora prison complex in southern Cairo. After examining Abdel-Fattah, the prosecutor concluded that he showed no marks of torture, the statement said. The inmate is in good health and a doctor examines him regularly, along with other inmates. He never had any health complaint, read the statement. Abdel-Fattah's sister, Mona Seif, wrote on Twitter that the prosecutor's statement provides the family with proof that her brother is alive. That is the most important update now, she said. His aunt, award winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif, cast doubt on the seriousness of the prosecutors investigation. They are examining Alaa and concluding that they cannot see any signs of beatings that actually took place two years and nine months ago, she wrote on Twitter. Abdel-Fattah, an outspoken dissident, rose to prominence during the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak and has spent most of the past decade behind bars. His family has filed multiple complaints since 2019 about him being denied access to books, exercise time outside his cell, regular visits and proper medical care. In May, authorities transferred him from Tora Prison to the newly-inaugurated Wadi el-Natrun prison, located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Cairo. Earlier this year, Abdel-Fattah gained British citizenship through his mother, Laila Soueif, a math professor at Cairo University who was born in London. The family said at the time they sought a British passport for Abdel-Fattah as a way out of his impossible ordeal. The family has been asking authorities to grant him access to a consular visit. On Friday, the U.K. Foreign Office said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss raised Abdel-Fattahs case during a meeting with her Egyptian counterpart earlier this month in London. It said Britain is working to secure his release and called on Egyptian authorities to ensure his welfare needs are met while in prison. Employees of a Trader Joe's store in western Massachusetts on Thursday voted in favor of forming the chain's first union. The vote was 45 to 31 in favor of forming a union. There were 81 eligible voters. The store and employees have seven days to file objections to the results before they are certified. The workers are organizing under the name Trader Joes United, which would be an independent union, and not affiliated with a larger existing union. Unionization efforts began in May when organizers at the store sent an open letter to company CEO Dan Bane citing concerns about pay, benefits and safety. Its not the first time Trader Joes workers have talked about forming a union. At the start of the pandemic, some workers who were concerned about safety discussed organizing. But those efforts ultimately fizzled under pressure from management, who in a letter to workers said that unions drive discontent. Trader Joe's management has engaged in what organizer Maeg Yosef called classic union-busting tactics, including hiring a law firm specializing in fighting unionization to try and talk employees out of approving a union. Allegations of making coercive statements were filed against an individual at the store as recently as Monday, according to National Labor Relations Board records. California-based Trader Joes, which has about 550 stores nationwide, also just announced an enhanced benefits package that includes more paid time off and better pay for some employees, which she said was an effort to head off unionization. According to a company spokesperson this week, Trader Joe's has generous pay and benefits by retail industry standards. Trader Joes is a great place to work and our compensation, benefits, flexibility, and working conditions are among the best when compared to any retailer, Nakia Rohde said in an email. We welcome a fair vote by our crew members. Yosef said in May that the company cut contributions to employee retirement plans from the equivalent of 15% of an employees annual pay down to nothing since she started there. At the time, he also estimated that approximately two-thirds of store employees supported unionization. Workers from at least two other Trader Joes locations have initiated unionization efforts. Employees at a Minneapolis location have a union vote scheduled for Aug. 11 and 12, while the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 on Tuesday filed a union election petition with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of crew members at a Boulder, Colorado store. Video above: Flagship Seattle Starbucks store approves union Trader Joe's workers are part of a nationwide wave of employees at major companies who have or are attempting to unionize in an effort to secure a bigger say in their work conditions and compensation. Workers at multiple Starbucks coffee shop locations across the country, as well as employees at Amazon, Apple and REI, are among those who have joined unions in the past year. Union representation petitions increased 57% from Oct. 1 through March 31, according to the National Labor Relations Board. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DECATUR, Ga. (AP) The parents of a Georgia woman who died after she fell from a moving patrol car following her arrest fought back tears Friday as they demanded answers in their daughter's death. Brianna Grier, 28, suffered significant injuries July 15 and died July 21 at an Atlanta hospital. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said this week that the deputies who put Grier in the back of a patrol car to take her to the Hancock County Sheriff's Office failed to close the rear passenger-side door before driving away. What were trying to do, were trying to get answers of what really happened. Thats all we want to know. We aint trying to start no problem, a tearful Marvin Grier, Brianna's father, said during a news conference, his voice catching several times. He was joined by Brianna's mother and sister, Mary and Lottie Grier. Grier was arrested after Hancock County sheriffs deputies were called to a home in Sparta, the GBI has said. The deputies put Grier in the back of a patrol car, but she was not wearing a seatbelt, her hands were cuffed in front of her and the rear passenger-side door was never closed, according to GBI investigators. The GBI has not said why deputies were called to the home or why Grier was arrested. Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing her family, said Grier was taken into custody after a mental health crisis. Yet again we have another African American citizen killed in just an unbelievable way while in the custody of the police, Crump said at the Friday news conference in downtown Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta. He addressed Grier's parents: "We wont let them sweep your baby daughters death under the rug. Crump said his team will investigate what failures caused Grier to fall out of the car while it was moving and suffer a fatal brain injury that led to her being in a coma until she died six days later. Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, called on state and county officials for answers. To the Hancock County sheriff, its time to be transparent. Its time to be accountable. To the GBI, its time for yall to meet with this family. To the governor, its time for you to recognize, again, that Georgia has a police accountability problem, he said. GBI agents have met with the Grier family multiple times since July 15 and have also had several conversations with them to provide updates on the investigation, spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in an email Friday. The agency plans to release body camera footage after agents review it with the family, she said. ___ Brumback reported from Atlanta. DARIEN The towns first affordable housing master plan crafted in two decades came under its first public spotlight this week. Only a handful of residents including former First Selectman Jayme Stevenson commented on the plan, meant to chart Dariens current progress in tackling a housing shortage while laying out strategies for the future of affordable and high-density housing in a town that has maintained a longstanding commitment to homes meant for single families. Sweeping state legislation meant to tackle the housing shortage in Connecticut passed earlier this year, requiring all 169 municipalities to submit an affordable housing plan earlier this summer. During public comments, Stevenson took the microphone to ask officials to look at our housing inventory in a holistic way. Stevenson is running for Connecticut's 4th District in the United States House of Representatives. So just a word of caution in my opinion, is to digest what we've done so far ... Take a breath and go slowly, she said. Always be mindful that as we become more dense and developed, we are impacting the environment no matter how hard you try. Viewing the overarching principles that guide the six-chapter document, officials said they want to maintain Dariens character as primarily a single-family town built largely in a New England style. This is a really important document, chair Stephen Olvany said, adding that Darien was one of a handful of towns hosting a public hearing on the state plan. Officials also said they are aiming toward the ultimate goal: a moratorium on all new affordable housing regulations that would exempt Darien from state-mandated housing projects for a period of time. But officials also say they want to provide a wide array of housing stock for different needs, including younger and older people who often find themselves priced out of homes in town. As commission member Jim Rand noted, that will be increasingly hard to do with 98 percent of the town developed. Only three communities have achieved the moratorium including Darien, according to former zoning officer David Keating, who is acting as a consultant for the town. Resident Rolf Obin, who also serves on the Representative Town Meeting, urged the commission to identify ways to keep the town from pricing out senior adult people, especially as housing costs rise exponentially. Now as a senior, I want to stay in my house... I don't want to be forced out because of raising property taxes on a continual year-by-year basis, Obin said. And so anything that the planning and zoning commission can do because you have influence on the market is something I'd like to ask you to consider. MCDONOUGH, Ga. (AP) Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is using federal COVID-19 relief money to give teachers another $125 to buy school supplies, months after issuing a similar stipend. Kemp, a Republican running for reelection, made the announcement Friday at Ola High School in Henry County before teachers preparing for school to start next week. He said he learned firsthand how much teachers can spend buying supplies, learning aids and decorations for their classroom when his daughter started teaching first grade last year in Oconee County. We also know how challenging in cost it can be to set up a classroom before the start of a new academic year, because we helped Jarrett set up hers for the first time around this time last year," Kemp said. While January's $125 supplement went only to teachers and paraprofessional teacher aides, state education officials said the new supplement will include others who provide instructional support on a daily basis including counselors, librarians, school nurses and speech language pathologists. The last supplement cost about $15.9 million, said Kemp spokesperson Katie Byrd. She said the total cost for this round of spending has yet to be finalized. Teachers and others will get allocations in an online platform that they can use to order supplies. The money comes from federal COVID-19 aid that Kemp can give to schools. Georgia got two rounds of funding for public schools totaling $173 million that has already been spent, plus $79 million in money for emergency aid to private schools. Because of federal requirements, Kemp spokesperson Katie Byrd said that because of federal requirements for spending the money, Georgia has $59.7 million left over in the nonpublic school account. She said federal education officials are letting states spend that money on public schools at Kemp's discretion. The school supply grants are the first spending announced from those funds. While some states allocate money directly to teachers for supplies, Georgia does not. Some districts have given out supply grants in the past, though. Henry County schools spokesperson J.D. Hardin said the 43,000-student district gave each teacher $200 to help set up a home office while teaching from home during the pandemic. Democratic candidate for governor Stacey Abrams and others have repeatedly complained that Kemp is getting credit for handing out federal COVID-19 relief when he and other Republicans opposed some of the spending. Kemp on Thursday also mentioned the $5,000 pay raise that he successfully sought for teachers in two installments. Abrams has proposed a $1.65 billion bump in teacher pay over five years that would guarantee every teacher a $50,000 starting salary and increase average teacher pay to $75,000 from $60,553 this past school year. - BERLIN (AP) A German court on Friday threw out a lawsuit against a guideline issued by automaker Audi that called for employees to use gender-sensitive language. An employee of Audi's parent company, Volkswagen, objected to Audi colleagues using such language in their communications with him and went to the state court in Audi's home city of Ingolstadt to challenge the guideline. He alleged a violation of his personal rights. But the court ruled the person who brought the lawsuit had no right to demand the non-application of the guidance, German news agency dpa reported. Judge Christoph Hellerbrand said it was directed only at Audi employees and the plaintiff. as a Volkswagen employee, was not required to follow it. The court also found that being on the receiving end of gender-sensitive wording wasn't enough to justify a ruling in the Volkswagen employee's favor. He didn't have a right to be left in peace, the judge ruled. Some other companies have introduced similar guidelines. German nouns referring to people and their professions have different masculine and feminine forms. The Audi guideline in question was introduced last year. It called for the use of a form of German words that includes an underscore to encompass both masculine and feminine forms and is meant to show broader gender inclusiveness writing employees as Mitarbeiter_innen, for example. That and another gender-sensitive form that uses an asterisk in which employees would be written as Mitarbeiter*innen" annoy conservatives, some language experts and others. They prefer more traditional forms such as the generic masculine using the masculine plural, Mitarbeiter," to refer to all genders, or in some cases referring genders separately as Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter. DENVER (AP) A gun rights organization is suing Colorado over the states 2013 ban on magazines that hold over 15-rounds, arguing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a New York gun law reinforces the group's belief that it infringes on Second Amendment rights. The National Foundation for Gun Rights lawsuit marks one of the first in what is expected to be a wave of gun control measures across the country following the June 23 Supreme Court decision that struck down a New York law requiring people to show why they needed a concealed weapons permit. It was filed Thursday in federal District Court in Denver. The foundation and its sister organization, the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, have been fighting to repeal the magazine capacity limit since its passing in 2013. The law followed the 2012 mass shooting at a theater in Aurora, a city on the outskirts of Denver, which killed 12 people and injured 70. The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision gave us a four-ton wrecking ball to use against all different types of gun control, said Hannah Hill, director of research and policy for the National Foundation for Gun Rights, that gave us an opportunity to take another whack at the mag ban. This lawsuit is one of the first the organization plans to file, said Hill, we expect to be announcing some additional fights soon. Conor Cahill, spokesman for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, declined comment. He said the administration doesn't comment on pending litigation. The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners saw an early success this month when they sued the Town of Superior over an assault weapons ban. In that case, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the town from enforcing their ban. David Pucino, deputy chief council at Gifford Law Center, a gun control advocacy group, said that he expected a flood of litigation following the U.S. Supreme Court decision. But when it comes to magazine capacity limits and other gun restrictions, Pucino said, I have every confidence that the laws we have in the books are strongly grounded. ___ Jesse Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Bedayn on Twitter. Dancers of the Connecticut Ballet made a stop at the Boys & Girls Club Yerwood Center in Stamford on Thursday to demonstrate their art and give a short performance for a group of children who were encouraged to ask questions and mimic some of the stretches the professionals demonstrated in their dance. The dancers performed the Spanish-style "Paquita," which is part of the "Ballet Under the Stars" tour currently underway. Children who were going to be in third and fourth grade this school year interested in ballet were encouraged to audition for scholarships to attend Connecticut Ballet Center, held Aug. 13. No previous ballet experience is necessary to attend. DENVER (AP) A lawyer for a wealthy dentist accused of shooting his wife straight through the heart with a shotgun at the end of an African safari to be with his longtime girlfriend urged jurors on Friday to dismiss what he said was a government case built on gossip and innuendo and acquit him. Lawrence Larry Rudolph's attorney, David Markus, said there was a lot of noise during the three-week trial about the 67-year-old defendant's affairs, cash payments to his girlfriend and whether the funeral he organized for his wife was nice enough. But he said federal prosecutors had not proven that Bianca Rudolph, his client's wife of 34 years and a nervous traveler, did not accidentally shoot herself. Bianca Rudolph died after being shot by their Browning shotgun in their cabin as she packed in a hurry on the October 2016 morning they were supposed to leave Zambia and start their journey home to the United States. Lawyers gave their last arguments Friday in Denver federal court before handing the case off to a jury of six women and six men. Jurors did not reach a verdict by the end of the day and will resume deliberations on Monday. Rudolph is charged with murder and mail fraud in what prosecutors describe as a premeditated crime. He faces a possible death penalty if convicted of murder. Markus acknowledged that Rudolph, a big game hunter and former head of an international safari club who testified that he had an open marriage with his wife, may not be likeable but he said he is still innocent. Give Dr. Rudolph the benefit of the doubt that the law requires. He didn't do this, Markus said in closing arguments. But prosecutors said the facts of the case removed all doubt of Rudolph's guilt, including that the shot hit Bianca's heart at an angle that indicated the gun was slightly above and about 2 to 3.5 feet (1 meter) away from her. The fatal shot could not have been caused by her accidentally dropping the gun, U.S. Assistant Attorney Bryan Fields told jurors. Rudolph filed a life insurance claim the day before his wife's funeral, went to Las Vegas with another woman the day after the funeral and his girlfriend, Lori Milliron, moved into his home by the end of the month, U.S. Assistant Attorney Garreth Winstead said. Fields said Rudolph killed his wife to be with Milliron, a longtime employee at his Pennsylvania dental franchise, and regain control over his life and finances after Bianca Rudolph began demanding more say in the couple's finances and pressuring her husband to fire Milliron. Milliron was tried alongside Rudolph on accusations of lying to a grand jury and being an accessory after the fact. Millirons attorney, John Dill, has suggested she is the victim of leading questions by investigators and the grand jury. He told jurors Friday the case against his client was like a click bait news story without any substance to back up the enticing headline. Dill said investigators tried to trip her up and use her answers against her later, he said. Rudolph was worth more than $15 million when his wife died and Markus argued he had no financial motive for murder. Investigators for the insurers who later paid $4.8 million for Bianca Rudolph's death concluded her death was an accident. A bartender at a steakhouse in Phoenix, where Milliron moved to be with Rudolph after Biancas death, said he overheard Rudolph saying "I killed my f---g wife for you! during an argument they were having in early 2020. However, Brian Lovelace testified that he could not hear the words right before that statement because music was playing. Rudolph testified that he actually said, Now theyre saying I killed my f---g wife for you! after learning that the FBI was investigating him. Prosecutors emphasized that Rudolph filed a defamation lawsuit that said officials at Safari Club International falsely accused him of adultery and lying about his affairs when questioned by lawyers. During his murder trial, Rudolph acknowledged he had lied during that lawsuit but said he was being truthful now. Fields told jurors not to believe anything Rudolph said, saying he had nothing to lose by lying about killing his wife. During the trial, the Rudolphs longtime hunting guide, Mark Swanepoel, testified that mistakes can always happen with firearms, saying, The devil loads the shotgun. While Fields accused Rudolph of crying crocodile tears on the stand, after he said Rudolph shot and killed his wife, Fields pointed out that Swanepoel rushed in to find Rudolph sobbing. Fields said Rudolph recognized the gravity of what he had done. The devil loads the shotgun but it's the demons who haunt the man who wields it, Fields said. After closing arguments, Rudolph looked toward his two adult children, Anabianca and Julian Rudolph, sitting in the courtroom gallery to support him, and made a sign of the cross before being led out a side door by authorities. Outside in the hallway, they spoke quietly with relatives of their mother, including her brothers, who have been sitting on the prosecution side of court. TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas law allowing deadly force against an attacker doesn't protect people from prosecution if a bystander is injured, the state's highest court declared Friday. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in the case of a Wichita police officer whose shots at a charging dog wounded a 9-year-old girl. The justices ordered a trial in Sedgwick County District Court for former Officer Dexter Betts on a felony reckless aggravated battery charge. The December 2017 shooting happened after Betts and other officers responded to a call about domestic violence and a suicide threat at a Wichita home. Once inside, the dog charged at Betts, and he fired twice. His shots missed and hit the floor, and bullet fragments hit the girl above an eye and on a toe, according to the court's decision. Betts argued that he acted in self defense. A judge dismissed the case before trial, and the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld that decision. But Supreme Court Justice Dan Biles, writing for a unanimous state Supreme Court, said Kansas law grants immunity from prosecution for force used specifically against an attacker and doesn't mention bystanders. If the Legislature wishes to extend self-defense immunity when an innocent bystander is hurt, it can do so, Biles wrote. In the meantime, we find nothing in the statutes providing a blanket shield for reckless conduct injuring an innocent bystander who was not reasonably perceived as an attacker. Jess Hoeme, Betts' attorney, said he believes Betts will be acquitted at trial, but expressed concern that the ruling could hinder law enforcement and endanger officers. Law enforcement officers have a very, very difficult job to do, Hoeme said. When officers begin to hesitate or when they start to second-guess their own actions like that, law enforcement officers are going to get killed. Hoeme said the ruling is unfortunate because Betts didn't intend to hurt any person while shooting and the bullets fragmented. But prosecutors have argued that Betts acted recklessly in shooting at the dog with the girl nearby. A conviction on a reckless aggravated battery charge for a first-time offender carries a presumed sentence of 18 months' probation. This settled a question that had been unsettled since the passage of the `stand your ground''/ self-defense immunity law in Kansas, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said of Friday's ruling, adding it was a difficult legal question. ___ Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TOKYO (AP) A group of lawyers said Friday that the alleged assassin of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was one of many victims of the Unification Church, which has long cultivated ties with high-level Japanese politicians. The church, founded in South Korea in the 1950s, has become a focus of intense attention in Japan because the suspect in Abe's shooting, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, told investigators that he was motivated by Abe's supposed links to the Unification Church, which he said his mother had made massive donations to, bankrupting the family and destroying his life. Abe was killed on July 8 with a handmade gun as the former leader gave a speech ahead of national elections. Yamagami was immediately arrested and will be detained until late November for mental evaluations and further investigation. What he did was wrong, but Yamagami was suffering because of the church," Hiroshi Yamaguchi, a lawyer who heads the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales, told reporters. The network has about 300 lawyers who have provided legal assistance for people who say they've faced financial damage because of the church and other religious groups. In the 1980s the church began to face accusations that it was using devious recruitment tactics and brainwashing its adherents into turning over huge amounts of money. The church has denied the allegations, and says it has tightened compliance. Critics say things have gotten better but the problems still continue. The lawyers say they have received 34,000 complaints involving lost money exceeding 120 billion yen ($900 million). The church in a statement strongly protested the lawyers' claims that made it seem "as if our organization has been accused of the crime, while expressing views about our organization that have nothing to do with the attack. The church, which now calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, said the lawyers were hurting church followers credibility, violating their human rights and causing a risk of hate crimes against them. The church has been flooded by harassing phone calls, it says, including death threats. The church has previously denied forcing followers to give donations and says it has strengthened its compliance in recent years. The church also says Abe wasnt a member. Abe sent a video message last year to a group affiliated with the church, which some experts say may have infuriated the shooting suspect. The South Korean church, which came to Japan in the 1960s, has built close ties with a host of conservative lawmakers, many of them members of Abes Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled the country almost uninterrupted since its inception in 1955. The church was founded in Seoul in 1954 by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who called himself a messiah and preached new interpretations of the Bible. A staunch anti-communist, he urged his followers to embrace a family-oriented value system. The church's fundraising was especially aggressive in Japan, the lawyers say, because Moon taught followers there that they needed to give more money to atone for sins committed by their ancestors who colonized the Korean Peninsula, which was controlled by Tokyo from 1910 to 1945. Moons anti-communism gained strong backing from rightwing politicians, including Abes grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, who also served as prime minister. Yamaguchi, the anti-church lawyer, said his group made repeated requests to Abe and other lawmakers to stop supporting the church and its affiliates, but the requests were ignored. LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi denied at a regular news conference Tuesday that the governing party as a whole had relations with the church. Motegi said a number of LDP lawmakers have been linked to the church and the LDP planned to urge each of them to be stricter and more careful about their relationships to a group whose social problems have been pointed out. ___ AP videojournalist Chisato Tanaka contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BEIRUT (AP) Lebanon appeared Friday to reject claims by the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut that a Syrian ship docked in a Lebanese port is carrying Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia, following an inspection by Lebanese customs officials. A senior Lebanese customs official told The Associated Press that there was nothing wrong" with the cargo of the Laodicea, which docked in the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Thursday, and that its papers were in order. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The controversy surrounding the ship has underscored how Lebanon, a tiny Mediterranean country bordering Syria, has been in the crosshairs of Russias months-long war in Ukraine. The Laodicea is carrying 5,000 tons of flour and 5,000 tons of barley that Ukraine's Embassy in Beirut says was illegally taken by Russia. After the embassy raised the alarm, Lebanese authorities initiated an investigation. The Russian Embassy, meanwhile, has told Lebanese media that the Ukrainian claim was baseless. The U.S. Department of the Treasury had sanctioned the Laodicea in 2015 for its affiliation with the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad. According to the Ukrainian Embassy, the Laodicea is among scores of vessels that Kyiv alleges transported grain stolen by Russia. An embassy statement Friday said the ship had turned off its AIS tracking system in the Black Sea for 10 days, after docking earlier this month in Russia-controlled Crimea's port of Feodosia. There, the embassy said, it was loaded with barley and wheat flour illegally exported from the territories of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson in Ukraine areas taken by Russia in the war. Marine Traffic, which monitors vessel traffic and location of ships on seas, said the vessel was initially heading to Tartus Port in Syria, and had been expected to arrive there earlier this week. It was unknown why it had rerouted to Lebanon. There were no signs that its cargo was being unloaded and the customs official who spoke to the AP said the ship will remained docked until the owner decides what to do with the cargo." Also Friday, Lebanons acting Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Lebanon had received a number of protests and warnings from a number of Western countries following the arrival of the Syrian-flagged ship in Tripoli. The British Embassy in Beirut told the AP that it had also raised concerns with Bou Habib about the ship. The Ukrainian Embassy said it was going to ask Lebanese authorities to implement a Ukrainian court order and take possession of the vessel. Lebanese government officials declined to publicly comment on the matter, pending the investigation. Lebanon is scrambling to improve ties with the West as the cash-strapped nation appeals for financial assistance to help with its economic recovery. Western countries and Gulf Arab states are irked by the political power and influence that the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group a major ally of Iran and Syria wields in Lebanese politics. Ihor Ostash, Ukraines ambassador, met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday, warning him that purchasing stolen goods from Russia would harm bilateral ties, according to an embassy statement. Kyiv had previously praised Lebanon for condemning Russia for its war on Ukraine, which upset Hezbollah and allies who say they were not consulted on the matter - as well as Russia. Ukraine had also recently promised to export flour to Lebanon, struggling with a wheat shortage and food security crisis. Russias war on Ukraine, now in its sixth month, has prevented grain from leaving the breadbasket of the world, making food more expensive across the globe and threatening to worsen shortages, hunger and political instability in developing countries. Together, Russia and Ukraine export nearly a third of the worlds wheat and barley. LOS ANGELES (AP) A Los Angeles police officer was injured in a hit-and-run crash on a freeway Thursday night, authorities said. The motorcycle officer was struck on the 110 Freeway around 8:15 p.m. and paramedics took the officer to the hospital, officials said. BAMAKO, Mali (AP) Malis Supreme Court prosecutor has issued an international arrest warrant for ex-Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and several other ministers of the former government of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was overthrown by the military junta in August 2020. The move likely is being made to prevent these political figures from being candidates in presidential elections scheduled for February 2024. BOSTON (AP) Gov. Charlie Baker sent back to lawmakers on Friday a bill mandating some of the steps Massachusetts needs to take to meet a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In a letter to lawmakers, the Republican governor said he agreed with much in the bill, but suggested some changes. This bill contains a number of commendable ideas that, if implemented well, would be of significant benefit to the Commonwealth, Baker wrote. However, as drafted, certain sections of the bill would be difficult or impossible to implement. Baker acknowledged there is a small window of time to agree on a final bill the Legislature's formal session concludes at the end of the day on Sunday but said he was returning it in the hopes of reaching a compromise he will be able to sign. While the bill encourages the development of offshore wind, which Baker supports, he said the state needs to look to other sources of what he described as clean energy to meet its emissions goals. To do that Baker said he's again asking lawmakers to put $750 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds into a clean energy investment fund. Baker also said the legislation needs to do more to ensue improvements to energy transmission systems. The Massachusetts House approved the bill on a 143-9 vote. The Senate then voted 38-2 in favor of the bill before sending it to Baker last week. The bill takes more steps toward battling tailpipe emissions to help slow climate change. It would increase to $3,500 the rebate for qualifying purchases and leases of zero-emission passenger cars and light duty trucks costing $55,000 or less, and offer an additional $1,000 to purchasers who are trading in an internal combustion vehicle. New vehicle sales would be required to be zero emission starting in 2035 while new Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus purchases and leases would also be required to be zero emission by 2030 with the entire transit fleet transitioning to zero emission by 2040. The legislation seeks to combat so called range anxiety for electric cars by encouraging the creation of more charging stations. The bill would let agricultural and horticultural land be used for solar panels as long as they dont impede the continued use of the land for agricultural or horticultural uses. Under the bill, 10 cities and towns would be allowed to require fossil fuel-free new construction, as long as each community first meets the 10% affordable housing target set by state law and also exempts life sciences labs and health care facilities from the all-electric requirement. MIAMI (AP) The board for Floridas largest school district rescinded a decision made last week that rejected new sex education textbooks for middle and high school students. The debate over the sex education materials in Miami took place as school districts and boards navigate a new landscape in Florida classrooms over what officials deem appropriate content. Miami-Dade County has the nations fourth-largest public school system, with 334,000 students. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed new laws this year that prevent teachers from talking about gender identity and sexual orientation to third graders and younger and limiting how race can be discussed. Miami-Dade School Board approved the textbooks after Chair Perla Tabares Hantman changed her mind this week, citing the district needs to follow state standards and curriculum requirements. It is my duty, my obligation to ensure the proper operation of our school district, Hantman said. In spite of my personal beliefs, and I have very strong personal beliefs and principles, I must make sure our district is in compliance. The chair added the books are online and content that is not age appropriate is not accessible. She clarified parents are also allowed to opt their children out from lessons on sex education, tasking school officials with making a strong effort to let parents know. The rights of the parents will be respected every step of the way, Hantman said. Comprehensive Health Skills, published by Goodheart-Willcox in Illinois, comes in different versions for middle and high schools, with topics including nutrition, physical activity and sexually transmitted diseases, as required under the districts units of study for Human Reproduction and Disease Education. The board first adopted the textbooks in April on a 5-3 vote, but its material was challenged by parents citing the parental rights law signed by DeSantis in March. The new state law, which some critics call the Dont say gay bill, prohibits instruction related to gender identity or sexual orientation in grades K through 3, or in a manner that is not age appropriate. Other objections to the text came from anti-vaccine proponents who opposed to references to how vaccinations can prevent viral infections. Others objected to content about contraception and abortion. In April, the board voted to ask the publisher to remove chapters that cover gender and sexual orientation among other topics. Earlier this month, after coming under public pressure, the board reversed itself and rejected the book. On Thursday, to the surprise of some, the board reversed itself again to accept the text but to maintain a block on access on the more controversial chapters. Thursdays vote was the third regarding the textbooks with those members in opposition complaining they were blindsided that the issue was brought again up for vote after they had already agreed on it last week. If you support this item, you are not supporting transparency, said Lubby Navarro, one of the members opposing the textbooks. The public has a right to have been noticed properly on this matter. The school board attorney at the meeting said rescinding last weeks vote was allowed. Before the vote, Alex Serrano, of the Miami-Dade affiliate of a group called County Citizens Defending Freedom, said the district could set the example for other school systems on developing new curriculum that is appropriate. His group, he said strongly believes that from significant parental and community involvement, we can achieve human reproduction and disease education that is age appropriate, scientifically accurate and that complies with all pertinent statutes related to parental rights, Serrano said. Community members in attendance were not expecting the change of heart. Amanda Altman, CEO of Kristi House, a Miami-based nonprofit that helps children suffering from trauma, said she was pleasantly surprised. Altman supported the adoption of the textbooks. This is why we have school systems, this is evidence-based. Lets trust in the facts, lets trust in the system, Altman told The Associated Press. Altman said she worried about removing content about gender identity and sexual orientation, although she understood the challenging position the board faces. I understand the school board's concern, but I can also see the detriment for the children, when they face a lot of bullying and backlash for being who they are," she said. LANSING, Mich. (AP) A Michigan judge who suspended the states long-unenforced abortion ban in May denied a request Friday from state lawmakers seeking to disqualify her from presiding over the key abortion case. Michigan Court of Claims Chief Judge Elizabeth Gleicher wrote in her decision that at least one of the arguments the lawmakers made borders on frivolous. Gleicher granted a preliminary injunction in May to Planned Parenthood of Michigan that stalled the enforcement of a 1931 state law criminalizing abortion. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, her ruling became the only legal barrier to that ban taking effect. After Gleicher was assigned to oversee Planned Parenthood's lawsuit, she informed both sides that she regularly contributes to the group and previously represented it in an abortion case decided 23 years ago. But Gleicher wrote in Fridays decision that she incorrectly remembered her affiliation with that case. She said that while Planned Parenthood filed statements in support of her client, she did not actually represent Planned Parenthood. She said the Legislatures argument about her involvement in that case borders on frivolous. In filing their motion seeking to have Gleicher disqualified from the case, the Republican-controlled Michigan House and Senate contended in part that her contributions to Planned Parenthood violated an ethics standard against the appearance of impropriety. She wrote that the argument that judges who have made small contributions to an organization involved in a case must recuse themselves was simply unprecedented. Gleicher added that her contributions to Planned Parenthood were generally $1,000 or less, and that her last contribution was in December 2021. In 1967, Juan Garces bought the third volume of an 1844 edition of Don Quixote in a bookstore in Cali, Colombia. The book, however, held much more than a story of a man on a quest to revive chivalry. Garces soon began his own quest after learning that the book held a series of coded letters between two lovers. He initially bought the antique volume of Don Quixote to admire its engravings and to photograph and frame them. One day, sitting in his grandfathers folding chair, he noticed handwritten dots below certain letters. He started to piece the letters together to find that they created a message, with the first word being amor love. The placement of the letters is also significant. The coded message began on page 98, when Sancho Panza tells Don Quixote about a letter that he delivered to Don Quixotes lady love. I got suspicious, Garces said. I asked myself, Why would they start the letter on this page, not at the beginning of the book? Garces realized that the lovers knew the book well enough to appreciate its themes. Upon further reading, he learned that the writers names were Sofia and Federico, the latter a political prisoner during the Thousand Days War in Colombia, which lasted from 1899-1902. Sofia and Federico exchanged six love letters and strategic plans in the pages of Don Quixote," a book that was first published in the early 1600s. Each coded message spans several pages; where the text didnt have the needed letters, the lovers added them in the margins and placed dots below them. All the letters are exquisite. Some of them have a great deal of intrigue, said Juan's wife, Linda. In one of the letters, they talk about trying to get a man named Hernandes out and figuring out how to help him escape from prison. Garces asked his relatives and teachers about the letters, trying to learn more about Sofia and Federico. Unfortunately, no one was able to provide any more information. The story became a story to remember to tell people about this fantastic book I had found and the beautiful letters inside, no more than that, Garces said. He moved on, earning his doctorate in physical chemistry at Ohio University. It was there that he met Linda, a masters student in Spanish, and the couple bonded over their mutual fascination for Don Quixote. The Garces family moved to Midland when Juan accepted a job with Dow. His interest in Sofia and Federicos letters was renewed in 1998 after he found another secret in the ancient pages of Don Quixote. While reading the verso of the title page under a reading lamp, he realized there was a faint signature in invisible ink: Miguel Wenceslao de Angulo, the original owner of the book. This discovery galvanized Juan to discover the history of Sofia and Federico. Garces and his wife conducted research in Popayan, Colombia, to learn more about the lovers, looking through sales records, wills and letters. Through these documents, they were able to confirm the couples existence. Garces even had the chance to meet the great-great-great-grandson of Sofias father in Popayan. It is full of surprises, one right after the other, Garces said. Just the most incredible coincidences. I call them miracles because theres no other way to describe them. In 2006, Garces began writing Amor en Cuatro Puntos. He self-published the Spanish version in December 2020 and the English translation, Love in Four Dots, in June. Both versions are available for purchase on Amazon. It went through about 10 revisions, Garces said. It was very painful. Translations are more difficult than writing books. The first couple chapters of the book detail his discovery of the letters. The remainder is a fictionalized account of Sofia and Federicos story based on their letters and research by the Garces family. Garces said he pulled inspiration from the stories his grandfather told him of his time as a prisoner during the Thousand Days War. I just imagined (Sofia) writing the letter to (Federico), Garces said. He explained that Sofia and Federico used other books most likely the remaining three volumes of Don Quixote to exchange coded messages. Juan has been looking for the books, but apart from a copy of Volume 4 of the 1844 edition of Don Quixote found in Madrid, Spain, his search has been unsuccessful. However, upon further research, Garces discovered that he shares a family connection with Federico. Garces reflected that book had to meet his standards before it was published. He said that while writing, he felt like someone was watching over his shoulder. He has an emotional connection to the story, as he is dedicated to making sure that Sofia and Federicos love will be immortalized in story form. I felt that I had been chosen, Garces said. I had found these letters in a book from 1844 written by characters who were unknown to me but happened to be contemporaries of my grandparents, in the same town my family came from. All of these things are like magic. In some ways, I have exhumed a treasure that was buried inside of a book, like an archeologist finding bones. It is my obligation to tell the world about it. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) A judge on Friday acquitted a southwestern Missouri woman on murder and two other felony charges in the death of the autistic teenage daughter that she gave up for adoption as a baby. Greene County Circuit Court Judge Calvin Holden found Rebecca Ruud not guilty of first- and second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and felony abuse or neglect of a child but found her guilty on the remaining charge, illegally abandoning a corpse. The charges stemmed from the July 2017 death of 16-year-old Savannah Leckie, whose remains were found in a burn pit on Ruud's remote property near the Arkansas-Missouri border. Ruud is scheduled to be sentenced on the last charge Sept. 15 by Holden, who heard the case instead of a jury in Springfield after a change of venue from Ozark County to the southwest. Ruud could get up to four years in prison. Prosecutors described Savannah as the victim of severe abuse after she left her adoptive family in Minnesota and moved to Missouri to be with her biological mother. Ruud said the girl disappeared after running away because she blamed herself for starting a fire on the family's property. Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office declined to comment about the judge's decision. A public defender representing Ruud did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. Ruud lived outside Theodosia, a village about 250 people roughly 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of Branson, a popular vacation destination. According to a probable cause statement filed along with the charges against Ruud in 2017, the girl's adoptive mother asked Ruud to take her because Savannah did not get along with her adoptive mother's fiance. Authorities said that after the girl moved to Missouri, she was home-schooled and had almost no social contacts. Ruud reported Savannah missing two days after the fire on the family's remote property, authorities said. Several searches turned up human teeth, a meat grinder, a knife and 26 bottles of lye, which can be used to accelerate the breakdown of bodily tissue, according to court documents. Human bone fragments were found in a field about 400 yards (365 meters) from Ruud's home, about two weeks after Savannah's reported disappearance. An ex-boyfriend of Ruud's told investigators that he had seen her discipline Savannah by forcing the teen to crawl through a hog pen and making her bathe in a pond, authorities said. Ruud acknowledged that this was true and told investigators that when Savannah cut her arm in a suicidal gesture, she forced the girl to scrub the wound daily with alcohol and salt as punishment. JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) Authorities investigating the deaths of three children who were shot by their 15-year-old brother have not found any evidence that the shootings were planned, an Alaska State Troopers spokesperson said Thursday. There also were no obvious reasons for why he shot three siblings and took his own life," troopers spokesperson Tim DeSpain said. The only person people that know what really happened in that moment are deceased, he said. Investigators were confident that this was not an accident and confident that it was not planned, he said. Troopers on Wednesday said an investigation revealed that a 15-year-old boy the prior afternoon shot three siblings and then fatally shot himself in a home near Fairbanks. The parents were not home at the time of the shootings, the statement from troopers said. Three other siblings in the home, who are under the age of 7, were not hurt, troopers said. They were not in the same part of the house when the shots were fired, DeSpain said. The children who died were 5, 8, 15 and 17 years old, DeSpain said. DeSpain said after the shots were fired, a neighbor went to the home, discovered the bodies and called 911. Troopers have not released any names, and it wasn't clear when they might. There are aspects to the investigation that don't warrant" releasing the names of those who died at this time, he said. DeSpain has said the gun was a family gun but beyond that, its all still part of the ongoing investigation. Fairbanks is about 360 miles (580 kilometers) north of Anchorage. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on social media Thursday said he and his wife want to extend our sorrow and prayers to the family of this terrible tragedy. Please join us in lifting them up in prayer. Shannon Watts, founder of the group Moms Demand Action, which advocates for public safety measures to help guard against gun violence, tweeted a link to an article about the shooting on Wednesday. In a statement Thursday, she said: "An entire family and community are forever traumatized by a horrific, preventable act of gun violence because a 15-year-old was able to access a gun." The shooting comes after a woman earlier this month was charged in the deaths of two men in Anchorage. The Anchorage Daily News reported a prosecutor in the case said the killings lacked a clear motive but said the woman also had told detectives she had wanted to become a serial killer since she was a child. In 2015, authorities determined that a man had killed his girlfriend, her two children and then himself the year before in Kenai. The family had disappeared in 2014, and their bodies were found the following year near the family home. ___ Associated Press reporter Mark Thiessen in Anchorage and AP researcher Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed to this report. RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank on Friday, killing a 16-year old and wounding five people, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. According to the ministry, Amjad Abu Alia was shot in the chest by a live bullet and pronounced dead after he was brought to the hospital. He was shot as some 250 Palestinians gathered to protest against Israeli settlement expansion in the village of Mughayer, north of the city of Ramallah. IQALUIT, Nunavut (AP) Pope Francis traveled to the edge of the Arctic on Friday to deliver an apology to the Inuit people for the evil of Canadas residential schools, wrapping up his week-long penitential pilgrimage to Canada with a dramatic visit to the remote territory of Nunavut to meet with school survivors. Francis landed in Iqaluit, population 7,500, and met with former students at a primary school to hear first-hand their experiences of being torn from their families and forced to attend church-run, government funded boarding schools. The aim of the policy, which was in effect from the late 1800s to the 1970s, was to sever children from their Native cultures and assimilate them into Canadian, Christian society. How evil it is to break the bonds uniting parents and children, to damage our closest relationships, to harm and scandalize the little ones! Francis told a gathering of Inuit youths and elders outside the school. He thanked the school survivors for their courage in sharing their suffering, which he had heard for the first time this past spring when delegations of First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples traveled to the Vatican to seek an apology. This only renewed in me the indignation and shame that I have felt for months, Francis said. "I want to tell you how very sorry I am and to ask for forgiveness for the evil perpetrated by not a few Catholics who contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation and enfranchisement in those schools. Before his speech, the pope seated in a chair covered in seal skin watched Inuit throat singers and dancers perform. During his address, he said Im sorry in Inuktitut, the Inuit language, drawing cheers. And he ended by saying thank you in Inuktitut. The events stretched far longer than planned; the pope's plane took off for Rome about 90 minutes behind schedule. The visit capped an unusual tour designed specifically to give the pope opportunities to apologize to generations of Native peoples for the abuses and injustices they suffered and to assure them that he was committed to helping them reconcile their relationship with the Catholic Church. After stops in Edmonton, Alberta, and Quebec City, Francis ended his pilgrimage in Nunavut, a vast territory straddling the Arctic Circle that represents the farthest north the Argentine pope has ever traveled. Ahead of his arrival, organizers readied scores of hats with mesh face protection to guard against the mosquitoes that sometimes abound in the mild summer temperatures of Iqaluit, which is some 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The Canadian government has said physical and sexual abuse were rampant at the residential schools, and Francis on Thursday begged forgiveness for the evil of clergy sexual abuse, vowing an irreversible commitment to prevent it from happening again. His vow came after he omitted a reference to sexual abuse in his initial apology this week, upsetting some survivors and earning a complaint from the Canadian government. Francis apologies have received a mixed response, with some school survivors welcoming them as helpful to their healing and others saying far more needs to be done to correct past wrongs and pursue justice. Several protesters appeared at the main event in Iqaluit with placards making demands of this nature. The Inuit community is seeking Vatican assistance to extradite an Oblate priest, the Rev. Joannes Rivoire, who ministered to Inuit communities until he left in the 1990s and returned to France. Canadian authorities issued an arrest warrant for him in 1998 on accusations of several counts of sexual abuse, but it has never been served. The Canadian government said this week that it had asked France to extradite Rivoire, but did not say when. Rivoire has denied wrongdoing. Francis heard from survivors in a private meeting, including one woman whose daughter died at a residential school; the woman and her husband have been searching for her grave for years. Another speaker was the daughter of one of Rivoires victims, who died after years of alcohol abuse, said Lieve Halsberghe, an advocate for clergy abuse victims who has fought for years to bring Rivoire to justice. The Inuit warmly welcomed Francis to their homeland and lit a ceremonial lamp, or qulliq, for the occasion. Francis referred to its symbolic significance in his remarks, saying it dispelled the darkness and brought warmth. We are here with the desire to pursue together a journey of healing and reconciliation that, with the help of the Creator, can help us shed light on what happened and move beyond that dark past, Francis said Directing himself to younger generations, Francis urged them, too, to choose light rather than dark, to keep hopes alive, aim high and protect the environment. He stressed the value of teamwork, recalling the successes of Canadas beloved national sport of ice hockey. Jimmy Lucassi, an Inuit from Iqaluit, was at the school grounds for Francis visit along with his wife and children. It probably means a lot to a lot of people, he said. Its all weve been talking about. They closed the stores to celebrate. The trip was the first in which the 85-year-old pope was forced to use a wheelchair, walker and cane because of painful strained knee ligaments that forced him to cancel a trip to Africa earlier this month. Even with a reduced schedule, the trip was clearly uncomfortable for Francis and he has said he felt limited by his inability to freely move about as he pleases. Future travel is not clear. Francis has said he wants to visit Kyiv, Ukraine, but no trip is immediately on the horizon. He is also expected in Kazakhstan in mid September for an inter-religious meeting that might provide an opportunity to meet with the Russian Patriarch Kirill, who has justified Russias invasion of Ukraine. Reaction to Francis visit to Canada has been mixed, with even the government saying his apology didnt go far enough in accepting blame for the institutional role the Catholic Church played in supporting the school policy. Some school survivors have accepted his apology as genuine and helpful to their process of healing from trauma. Others have found it still wanting, angered that it took the discovery of presumed unmarked graves outside some residential schools for the pope to apologize after Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 specifically called for a papal apology to be delivered on Canadian soil. Still others have demanded the church provide further information about the fate of children who never returned home from the schools and repudiating the 15th century papal bulls that informed the so-called Doctrine of Discovery which legitimized the colonial-era seizure of Native lands for the sake of spreading Christianity. It is unlikely that the Vatican itself would hold records concerning the fate of Indigenous children who died at the schools, though it would have documentation on any priests who faced canonical penalties after 2001, and possibly some before then. If the documents about the children exist, they would likely be in the archives of individual religious orders. ___ Gillies reported from Quebec City. ___ 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. Imagine enjoying a day in Myrtle Beach and seeing a rattlesnake in the surf. It happened Tuesday at Myrtle Beach State Park. Watch the video above of the snake being released at its new home. A woman on the beach spotted the snake while walking along the sand. The park contacted Russell Cavender, the Snake Chaser, to help out. Cavender says he only gets a call for a rattlesnake on the beach about once every two years. He says that's a good thing because a rattlesnake could possibly only survive a day or so in salt water. Video below shows more of the snake: According to Cavender, no matter how scary they look, they need to be protected right now because their population numbers are dwindling. "The problem with this snake is, is they're easily killed because they're so identifiable," Cavender said. "They let you know they're there. Now you could walk across a copperhead all day long and never see it and they don't rattle their tail. That rattle is basically a death sentence to them. People hear them, and they're scared to death of them, and they just, unfortunately, kill them." Cavender collected the snake and dropped it in a swampy, rural area in Horry County, South Carolina. ROME (AP) A German humanitarian organization's maritime rescue ship was sailing Friday to the Italian mainland to disembark 438 migrants who were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, where many people smugglers are based. Sea-Watch said the ship was expected to reach Taranto port in Puglia, the region that forms the heel" of the Italian peninsula, by Saturday. The charity appealed for several days for permission to take the passengers to Italy, saying they were sweltering in temperatures that reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 F). Italian authorities gave the OK on Thursday evening. On one hand, there is relief, on the other, dismay,'' Sea-Watch Italy tweeted. Before the reach port, the migrants "face two more days of journey and further suffering inflicted on those who have suffered enough." The passengers on Sea-Watch 3 include unaccompanied minors, the organization said. A pregnant woman and a child with burns accompanied by immediate family members were already evacuated to Italy. A mix of spilled fuel on smugglers' vessels and salty sea water sometimes causes burns. Smugglers have launched multiple boats, generally in unseaworthy condition, toward Italy during a long spell of good weather. Many migrants reach tiny Lampedusa island south of Sicily, either after disembarking from rescue vessels or on boats that reach the island without being intercepted by Libyan or Italian coast guard personnel. Most Europe-bound migrants hope to reach family or find work, but many of them are denied asylum because they fled poverty and not persecution or war. With a surge in arrivals, the migrant center on Lampedusa was housing hundreds more people than its capacity, a not infrequent situation in the summer. With an early parliamentary election in Italy set for Sept. 25, right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini has made a campaign promise to take a hard line on migration if his party comes to power in a center-right alliance. Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese met in Rome with Lampedusa's mayor this week. She pledged to speed up the transfer of migrants to the Italian mainland or to the large island of Sicily. Italian Navy, Coast Guard and Border Police boats were being deployed for that purpose along with a commercial ferry, which will sail three times weekly between Lampedusa and Sicily to ease crowding at the migrant center. ___ Follow all AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration Richer countries failed to keep a $100 billion-a-year pledge to developing nations to help them achieve their climate goals, according to an analysis by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD. $83.3 billion in climate financing was given to poorer countries in 2020, a 4% increase from the previous year, but still short of the proposed goal. The United Nations-backed payment plan was first agreed in 2009 to help poorer nations adapt to the effects of climate change and reduce emissions. The pledge, which was originally set up as an annual commitment from its inception until 2020, has never been fulfilled. We know that more needs to be done" to address the shortfall, admitted OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann. Who pays for tackling and adapting to climate change has been a key sticking point between richer nations and poorer ones since international climate negotiations began 30 years ago. Harsen Nyambe, who heads the African Union climate change and environment division, told the Associated Press the continent will continue to put pressure on richer nations to ensure the $100 billion-a-year agreement is fulfilled. He added that the funds will give the continent better access to required technology and will help nations transition to green energy in a fair way. But others believe that after decades of unmet promises, it's unlikely that richer countries will start to step up. "They do not have the money. They are over-committed with issues such as Ukrainian crisis and that is why they have been unable to meet any of their pledges, said Godwell Nhamo, a climate research professor at the University of South Africa. Africa should move on and find other sources of funding, he added. A report released by the British charity Oxfam in 2020 warned that the recent increase in funding came in the form of loans, not grants, with climate-related loans increasing from $13.5 billion in 2015 to $24 billion in 2018. The charity said at the time that reaching the $100 billion goal in this way would be cause for concern, not celebration. Its unclear whether the latest year-on-year increase in climate funding came in the form of loans or grants. In recent years, climate financing has helped fund greener energy and transport sectors for poorer nations, as well as adaptation measures for the agriculture and forestry industries which are threatened by land degradation, according to the OECD. ___ Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MOSCOW (AP) The head of Russia's space agency said Friday that the country has not set a date for pulling out of the International Space Station program, noting that it would only do that after it puts its own space station in orbit. Yuri Borisov, who was appointed this month to lead the Roscosmos state space corporation, told President Vladimir Putin this week that a decision was made for Russia to leave the station after 2024 and to focus on building its own orbiting station. NASA and its partners hope to continue operating the 24-year-old International Space Station until 2030, and the Russian announcement threw that plan into doubt. Speaking Friday in televised remarks, Borisov said Russia will start the process of leaving the station after 2024 but the exact timing would depend on the International Space Station's condition. He said Russia wont pull out of the International Space Station until it puts its own space outpost into operation. The termination of work on the International Space Station and the start of work on the Russian station undoubtedly should be synchronized, Borisov said, adding that the Russian pullout could take up to two years. Russia has started design work on the new station, and space officials haven't said when it could be launched. The International Space Station, which has served as a symbol of post-Cold War international cooperation, is now one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Russia and the West amid the tensions over Moscow's military action in Ukraine. The Russian announcement fueled speculation it was part of Moscows maneuvering to win relief from Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine. Borisovs predecessor as Roscosmos chief, Dmitry Rogozin, said last month that Moscow could take part in negotiations about a possible extension of the stations operations only if the U.S. lifted its sanctions against Russian space industries. Borisov insisted his agency's decision wasnt related to politics. There are no political aspects here, and I believe there shouldnt be any, he said. The International Space Station has enriched science with knowledge about the Earth and about the universe and brought us all together, Borisov said. Such projects should stay away from politics. I'm sorry that our joint space projects that are important for the entire humankind are getting a political tinge. It's wrong. NASA officials said they had yet to hear directly from their Russian counterparts on the matter. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson issued a statement saying the agency was committed to the safe operation of the space station through 2030 and continues to build future capabilities to assure our major presence in low-Earth orbit. Scott Strazzante/AP SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The commuter train system servicing the San Francisco Bay Area is again requiring masks for travelers and employees, the agency said. The Bay Area Rapid Transit's board of directors voted Thursday to immediately reinstate the mask mandate on all trains and in stations beyond ticket gates. It runs through Oct. 1 unless it's extended again. KEARNEY PARK, Miss. (AP) Several workers suffered severe burns following a Friday morning explosion in central Mississippi. The explosion happened at a salt water disposal site in Madison County, WLBT-TV reported. At least six people sustained burns on at least 50% of their bodies, with one being burned from head to toe, said Minor Norman, the Madison County Fire Coordinator. Two people were airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center for treatment. Norman said the cause of the explosion was still under investigation Friday. Were not sure what caused it," Norman said. There were four storage tank facilities to hold products from oil wells. They (the workers) were in the process of changing out two tanks with new fiberglass tanks. They were getting ready to go into service when the older tank exploded." The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality was called to the site to investigate. The injured people are employees of W.S. Red Hancock, a Mississippi-based welding and fabrication company. Company officials told WLBT-TV they were assessing the situation Friday but had no additional information. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate JOHANNESBURG (AP) South Africas ruling African National Congress party begins its key policy conference on Friday beset by internal divisions and the countrys economic woes. The policy meeting is seen as a preview of the ANCs December conference where it will elect its leader. Nearly 30 years after Nelson Mandelas party won power in recognition of its fight to end white minority rule, the ANC is now faced with declining voter support. The party is widely criticized for rampant corruption and for not effectively pursuing policies to help poor Black South Africans. About 2,000 ANC officials and members are to participate in the three-day conference. This conference should be seen as a place where we have a festival of ideas, where the ANC lives up to its role as the leader of society by developing policies that prevail to the lived experience of our people where they live, and to shape the trajectory of our country, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also leader of the governing party, said to open the policy conference. The conference is to adopt policies to address urgent problems such as South Africa's 35% unemployment rate, rising poverty levels, corruption, and the faltering economy. The policy conference will also test President Cyril Ramaphosas support ahead of the crucial December conference where he will seek re-election as the ANC's leader. If Ramaphosa loses that party election, he will be under pressure to resign as South Africa's president. Ramaphosa is confronted by significant opposition within the ANC, as a rival faction loyal to former President Jacob Zuma is very active and will field a candidate to contest him for the party leadership. Ramaphosa is also facing pressure over South Africa's electricity crisis that has seen continued rolling nationwide power cuts. Ramaphosa's public efforts to stamp out corruption have been substantially weakened by accusations that he illegally concealed $4 million in foreign currency at his cattle and game farm. Among the controversial policies expected to be debated at the conference is the ANCs step-aside rule, which demands that party leaders facing corruption charges must resign from their positions. The policy has worsened divisions within the party, as some of its leaders forced to resign claim the rule is being used by Ramaphosa to sideline political rivals. ANC national executive committee member Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane told The Associated Press on Friday that discussions on the economy will be important. People will want to know what is the plan around (the state power utility) Eskom and energy to stop load-shedding (power cuts)," he said. People will want to know how are we going to deal with this high rise in the cost of living. The majority of delegates will want to debate those policies, said Kubayi-Ngubane. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) A former opioid manufacturer has agreed in principle to pay up to $2.4 billion in a deal with a dozen states over its marketing and product safety practices, state attorneys general announced Friday. The company, Allergan, is now part of AbbVie but sold its generics division Actavis, including its opioid products, to Teva Pharmaceuticals six years ago. Under the settlement, payments will be made to state and local governments, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. The agreement means pharma companies have consented to pay more than $40 billion to settle opioid crisis claims regarding manufacturers and distributors, The Associated Press has found. The agreement came days after a similar, $4.3 billion agreement was reached with Teva Pharmaceuticals. Teva spokesperson Kelley Dougherty declined comment. Shapiro said the settlement involved claims that Allergan, which produced Norco and Kadian brand generic opioids, downplayed the risk of addiction in marketing and did not act sufficiently to prevent the drugs from being improperly diverted. No amount of money will bring back the lives we lost, but todays agreement will help ensure we can fund the programs Pennsylvania counties need for our communities to recover from this crisis, Shapiro said in a statement. Negotiations with Allergan and Teva continue over their business practices and transparency, Shapiro's office said. It's a global agreement that involves California, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Other states will be able to sign on, Shapiro spokeswoman Jacklin Rhoads said. New York settled with Allergan in December. The opioid addiction and overdose epidemic has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the last two decades. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said Friday that over 2020, nine people in his state died daily from overdoses. There is no amount of money that could ever repair that kind of loss, but there is hope in recovery and thanks to our ongoing work to hold these drug companies accountable, people across this state are getting the treatment and support they need to get healthy, Stein said. Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson finalized a $5 billion settlement earlier this year. National drug distribution firms AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson finalized one worth $21 billion. OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is trying to persuade a court to let it move ahead with a deal that could include up to $6 billion from members of the Sackler family. ___ Associated Press writer Hannah Schoenbaum in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Tennessee is starting a sales tax-free weekend that covers back-to-school needs such as clothing, school supplies and computers. The sales tax holiday runs from Friday through Sunday. It includes general clothing items that cost less than $100 each. School and art supplies that cost less than $100 an item also are covered. Computers, including laptops, are included if they cost $1,500 or less. Three of Texas's representatives are banding together in an attempt to protect the state's coast. U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, introduced the Texas Coastal Spine Authorization Act to authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move forward with construction of a coastal barrier protection system around the Texas Gulf Coast. The barrier would reduce the impact of major hurricanes and any other significant water events around and in the Galveston Bay as well as the vast petrochemical industry surrounding it, according to a Tuesday news release from Weber's office. RELATED: Congressman Weber commends EOC The coastal barrier is a matter of national security. The Texas Gulf Coast is home to millions of people, countless homes and jobs, and numerous refineries. The Texas Coastal Spine Authorization Act will strengthen the resiliency of the Gulf Coast, Weber said in the news release. Its imperative that we complete this critical barrier protection as soon as possible, since its a question of whennot ifanother big storm barrels up the upper Texas Gulf Coast. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced the legislation to the Senate companion bill, which was co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Protecting the Texas Gulf Coast isnt just an important local priority its a national imperative, Cornyn said in the release. Our coastal communities are home to millions of Texans and pivotal industries that fuel our country and economy. This bill will ensure our coastline has the necessary infrastructure to help protect against future storms and I will continue fighting for this project. The project has been working its way through the ideation and funding stages since Hurricane Ike in September 2008. In April, construction on a nearly $2.4 billion storm surge protection system started in Orange County. The project is just a piece of the $37 billion Sabine to Galveston Bay project, which includes 15 miles of new earthen levees, roughly 10 miles of concrete floodwalls, about 50 gravity drainage structures, multiple pump stations, around 30 closure structures at certain roads and railroad crossings, two gates at Adams and Cow bayous and restoration of about 450 acres of coastal marsh and 560 acres of forested wetlands in Orange alone. Danylo Antoniuk/AP KYIV, Ukraine (AP) An appeals court in Kyiv on Friday reduced to 15 years the life sentence of a Russian soldier convicted in the first war crimes trial since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The trial has been closely watched as an early test of whether its possible to conduct fair trials during the ongoing conflict and of how well Ukraines beleaguered justice system will stand up to the enormous task of prosecuting thousands of complex war crimes cases. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ODESA, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a Black Sea port Friday to watch crews prepare to export grain trapped by Russias five-month-old war, a week after a deal was struck to allow critical food supplies to flow to millions of impoverished people facing hunger worldwide. The first vessel, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war, Zelenskyy, in his signature olive drab T-shirt, told reporters as he stood next to a Turkish-flagged ship at the Chernomorsk port in the Odesa region. He said the departure of wheat and other grain will begin with ships that were already loaded but could not leave Ukrainian ports after Russia invaded in late February. Ukraine is a key global exporter of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil, and their loss has raised global food prices, threatened political instability and helped push more people into poverty and hunger in already vulnerable countries. Ukraine's military is committed to the ships' safety, said Zelenskyy, adding, It is important for us that Ukraine remains the guarantor of global food security. His unannounced visit to the port is part of Ukraine's push to show the world that it is nearly ready to export millions of tons of grains under last weeks breakthrough agreements, which were brokered by Turkey and the United Nations and signed separately by Ukraine and Russia. The sides agreed to facilitate the shipment of wheat and other grains from three Ukrainian ports through safe corridors on the Black Sea, as well as fertilizer and food from Russia. But a Russian missile strike on Odesa hours after signing the deal threw Moscows commitment into question and raised concerns about the safety of shipping crews, who also have to navigate waters strewn with explosive mines. Russias deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told the U.N. Security Council in New York on Friday that Ukraine has been deploying military goods and hardware in the port of Odesa, and we will continue to destroy these goods and objects, as we did on July 23." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized the link between taking grain out of Ukrainian ports and unblocking direct or indirect restrictions on the export of our grain, fertilizers and other goods to global markets. The security concerns and complexities of the agreements have set off a slow, cautious start. The clock is ticking the deal is only good for 120 days. The goal over the next four months is to export some 20 million tons of grain from three Ukrainian sea ports blocked since the Feb. 24 invasion. That provides time for about four to five large bulk carriers per day to transport grain from the ports to millions of people in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, who are already facing food shortages and, in some cases, famine. Getting the grain out is also critical to farmers in Ukraine, who are running out of storage capacity because of a new harvest. We are ready, Ukraines minister of infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov, told reporters at the port of Odesa on Friday. But he said Ukraine is waiting on the U.N. to confirm the safe corridors that ships will use. In the meantime, a ship at the port of Chernomorsk was being loaded with grain, he said. Lloyds List, a global shipping news publisher, noted that while U.N. officials are pushing for the initial voyage this week to show progress, uncertainty on key details will likely prevent an immediate ramping-up of shipments. Until those logistical issues and detailed outlines of safeguarding procedures are disseminated, charters will not be agreed and insurers will not be underwriting shipments, wrote Bridget Diakun and Richard Meade of Lloyds List. They note, however, that U.N. agencies, such as the World Food Program, have already arranged to charter much of the grain for urgent humanitarian needs. Shipping companies have not rushed in because explosive mines are drifting in the waters, ship owners are assessing the risks and many question how the agreement will unfold. The deal stipulates that Russia and Ukraine provide maximum assurances for ships that brave the journey to the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Smaller Ukrainian pilot boats will guide the vessels through approved corridors. The entire operation will be overseen by a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul staffed by officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations. Once ships reach port, they will be loaded with grain before departing back to the Bosphorus Strait, where they will be boarded to inspect them for weapons. There will likely be inspections for ships embarking to Ukraine as well. ___ Associated Press writers Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Amtrak stopped running passenger trains Friday along a stretch of track near an old warehouse in Albany with an exterior wall in danger of partially collapsing. The track closure interrupted service west from Albany and complicated operations of Amtraks new Burlington, Vermont to New York City service. Amtrak officials could not say how long the stretch of track would be off limits to trains. Men have recently shown an increased interest in vasectomy procedures. But the reason is not what you might assume. A recent uptick in vasectomy interest comes from parents of babies conceived and born during the pandemic, according to Dr. Lorenzo Berlanga with the Medical Procedures Center of Midland. He said he has not yet seen an increased interest in the procedure due to the Supreme Court's recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. "There will be a wave related to the Supreme Court decision, but I think the biggest reason for the uptick was COVID births and pregnancies," he said. The Medical Procedures Center is known for its alternative approach to traditional vasectomy procedures. The technique, partly developed by center founder Dr. John Pfenninger, does not use a scalpel or needles. This approach is reportedly much less invasive than the common approach to the procedure and is more affordable than forms of sterilization that women undergo. "Our guys can get their vasectomy on Friday and be back to work by Monday. That's not (widely) common," Dr. Berlanga said. The recovery time is "not even close," he added, because the procedure wound is small and heals within seven days. By comparison, a more traditional approach can take up to four weeks to heal. About 95% of the clientele for the procedure have come from the Great Lakes Bay Region, as the Medical Procedures Center is unique to the region. Dr. Berlanga said the remaining percentage comes from the Traverse City and Grand Rapids areas and from the states of Ohio and Indiana. He even mentioned Canadian neighbors coming from Windsor, a city in Ontario, which is across the Detroit River. Debunking myths: Does the procedure affect testosterone levels? Even though male reproductive organs are being addressed for the procedure, the technique does not involve testicles. Therefore, male hormones are not impacted. Dr. Berlanga said, "It has no effect whatsoever." Does it impact sexual performance? Dr. Berlanga said having the procedure may create a positive sex experience for couples who may be concerned about the risk of pregnancy. "The female partner does not have to worry about pregnancy anymore," he said. Medical Procedures Center in Midland offers telehealth services Men, and sperm carriers, have also had increased access in the procedure through telehealth options that widely emerged in response to the pandemic. "We found that men are much more appreciated that for the reason that one, it's a 15 minute consultation to cover all their questions. said Dr. Lorenzo Berlanga with the Center. "It's very efficient, and they don't have to leave work." He added patients are asked into the business office for examinations before conducting the procedure. For more information, visit www.mpcenter.net/telehealth. See More Collapse The Medical Procedures Center is known for helping people achieve reproductive decisions and avoid "the snip." Dr. Berlanga believes time will tell about any potential relation to an increased interest in the procedure following the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade. "Things happen in waves, not instantaneously," he said. "Do I think it will? Absolutely, I do. I think vasectomy was an undervalued option for couples' contraception." WASHINGTON (AP) Attorney General Merrick Garland headlined a White House event Friday bringing together pro bono lawyers, bar associations and public interest groups to discuss how best to offer legal services and protections for women seeking abortions. The effort is part of an executive order signed by President Joe Biden earlier this month aimed at protecting access to abortion after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established a constitutional right to the procedure. Lawyers will work to encourage robust legal representation of those seeking reproductive care services, the White House said in announcing the event. Garland was accompanied by White House counsel Stuart Delery and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. A public schedule for second gentleman Doug Emhoff, himself a lawyer, showed he was expected to join the event later. It has now been 35 days since the Supreme Court overturned Roe and Casey, eliminating a fundamental constitutional right that had been essential to the freedom and equality of women in the United States for half a century, Garland said. On that day, I know we all feared what was to come. And what has happened in the days since has confirmed those fears. Among the issues that the White House said would be discussed were travel for abortions, what to do when women are denied the procedure and criminalization of the practice. Biden has said he cannot, on his own, restore access to abortion nationwide. He has called on voters to elect to Congress this fall a sufficient number of Democrats who could then vote to codify the rights of Roe v. Wade. But his administration has come under significant pressure from advocacy groups to use his executive powers, including declaring a public health emergency on abortion. The impact of the decision on the live as a people across our country has been immediate, wide-ranging and devastating, Garland said. Over the past month, states across our nation have taken steps to impose abortion bans and other restrictions on access. In states with the most severe restrictions. There is no longer a single clinic providing abortions. Delery said the session would allow the lawyers to think seriously about how they could bring our unique tools to bear in pursuit of reproductive freedom in the wake of the high court's ruling in the Mississippi abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. Before we can fight, we must listen listen to those who have worked closely with women who have suffered and will suffer because of the Dobbs decision, listen to the medical professionals who provide reproductive care at great personal and professional lives, and listen to the lawyers whove already been on the front lines of this battle for decades," he said. Also Friday, Biden said he would nominate to a federal appeals court the abortion rights lawyer who argued unsuccessfully for the preservation of Roe at the Supreme Court. Julie Rikelman, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, is Bidens choice to fill a seat on the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Harvard-educated Rikelman is a native of Kyiv, Ukraine, from which she emigrated with her family in 1979. In her presentation at the high court in December, Rikelman told the justices that eliminating or reducing the right to abortion will propel women backwards. Two generations have now relied on this right, and one out of every four women makes the decision to end a pregnancy. __ Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report. ___ Follow APs coverage of abortion at https://apnews.com/hub/abortion Barely a month ago, we lived in a world where all Americans had the right to decide for themselves whether to continue a pregnancy. For much of the country, thats now history. Just weeks ago, states could implement at least some common-sense limits on carrying guns. Public school employees couldnt impose their religious practices on students. And the EPA could hold back our climate disaster by regulating planet-heating carbon emissions from coal plants. Thanks to an appalling power grab by the Supreme Courts conservatives, all thats been demolished too. And theyve hinted that the right to take contraception, marry someone regardless of your sexual orientation, and even to choose your own elected representatives could be next. How did we get to this place? Because of decades of creating a right-wing Supreme Court majority that enacts an extremist agenda, rather than interpreting the law. When the very close presidential election in 2000 turned on Florida, five GOP justices halted the vote count, stealing the election for the man most voters rejected, George W. Bush. In return, Bush appointed right-wing judges John Roberts and Samuel Alito. In 2016, the Republican Senate defied the Constitution by refusing to let President Obama fill a Supreme Court vacancy. Instead, they let another voter-rejected president, Donald Trump, install right-winger Neil Gorsuch. Finally, even as voting was under way in the 2020 election, Republicans rush-approved Amy Coney Barretts appointment. So we now have a hard-right Supreme Court drunk on its own power. We need a fair balance and we dont have decades to set things right. We need to expand the Supreme Court to 13 justices right now, so we have judges who believe in privacy, who allow our government to protect our children from gun massacres, and who allow common sense steps to protect our future from climate change. Republican politicians will say that changing the number of justices represents politicizing the Court. But it is the Republican-appointed justices who have entered politics, unleashing gun lovers to run wild, vetoing climate change regulations, canceling abortion rights, and threatening other personal freedoms. The danger is only growing. The latest project is destroying the power of regulatory agencies. We will be left with a government that cannot protect babies from dangerous cribs and hazardous toys, cannot prohibit unsafe drugs and contaminated food, cannot protect workers from dangerous workplaces, and cannot limit climate-ravaging carbon emissions. If we allow this to continue, our political system will look a good deal more like Irans theocracy. Like the United States, Iran has elections. But reactionary, fundamentalist religious leaders there set election rules, decide who can run, and often override the decisions of the elected government. The Supreme Courts six conservative justices seem dead-set on playing this role here in our system. So the best way to curtail the power of our own black-robed fundamentalists is to increase the size of the Supreme Court. Under the Constitution, it is for Congress to decide how many justices there will be. Over the years, Congress has changed the number six times. Its time to change them again. For much of American history, theres been one justice for each judicial circuit. Today we have 13 circuits, so we should have 13 justices. We cannot simply accept the unfairness of the judicial takeover. We can and must act to restore balance to protect our rights, our lives, and our planet. This week, the United Kingdom is experiencing its hottest days ... ever. Fires in France and Spain are reaching the coasts. Last year in California, just one wildfire the size of Rhode Island broke records veteran firefighters said it was 10 times larger than anything they had ever seen. In Arizona, Lake Mead is approaching a level so low, water wont flow through the Hoover Dam. And North Atlantic hurricanes, which regularly make their way up to the Connecticut coast, are now more likely to reach categories 4 or 5, carry more water, and move slower (increasing damage greatly). Things that once happened in geologic scales are now happening in decades or even years. This is an emergency for our species. First Selectman Fred Camillo, while rejecting a climate emergency declaration proposed by Greenwich students, says its not really a life-and-death situation (Local Impact of Climate Weighed, Greenwich Time, July 17, 2022). But, it is. Not every town will feel the impacts the same way, or in the same time frame. A stage three cancer diagnosis in your liver may not affect your arms right away, but if you let it accelerate through stage four, it will take down your whole body just the same. Its not surprising to see government officials downplay the climate crisis. In the US, the go-slow crowd on climate is, effectively, the Republican party. The GOP, and a handful of coal state Dems, often claim that those concerned about climate are alarmist. Yes, its alarming. They also say itll cost too much. Camillo commented, oddly, that he was worried about the high price of gas. Do you know who doesnt worry much about gas prices? Those of us driving electric vehicles, which are now much cheaper to operate, especially commercial and municipal fleets. The vast majority of what we need to do to drastically reduce carbon emissions is not only technologically feasible, its cheaper. Renewable energy and battery prices have plummeted 70 to 90 percent in the last decade. And the things a town would do to aggressively tackle climate change will also make our lives healthier (radically less air pollution) and more comfortable. For example, greener office buildings, schools, and hospitals cost less to operate, and the people in them are more productive, learn better, and heal faster. Given the extreme cost doing nothing entire cities around the world becoming uninhabitable in a generation and the exponentially lower cost of doing something, inaction is far more expensive than action. But even if it werent, or if it took some up-front investment, so what? (By the way, we could cover all municipal buildings with solar without spending capital, using whats called a Power purchasing agreement). If one of the wealthiest communities in the world cant direct its development and investment dollars to build a thriving future, whos going to? As the two-thousand year old question from a Rabbinical scholar asks, if not now, when? and as many say, if not us, who? For 20 years, Ive worked with multinational businesses to help them thrive by solving the worlds biggest problems. Public companies rarely, if ever, do something they dont profit from. Attitudes and goals on climate change are shifting rapidly as the economic, strategic, and moral case becomes irrefutable. Is it enough? No, but the movement has begun, and clearly organizations around the world see this as an emergency. The European Parliament has declared an emergency, as have Bangladesh, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand. Major regions and cities of many other countries have done it also. Even the Pope declared a climate emergency. These Greenwich students are asking for their elders to do something with urgency. They should not be condescended to. They are young adults who care deeply about the world well be leaving them (and the one most of us will be getting old in). How do we look our kids in the eye and explain why their Greenwich, their Connecticut, their country, and their world will be a less rich, less healthy, more dangerous place to live? In the end, words only matter if they drive action. You dont like the word emergency? Fine, call it a crisis. Or an enormous opportunity to build a better, more attractive town and become a leader, not a laggard, on the greatest challenge of our times. Call it what you will ... just stop denying reality and get moving. Named to Thinkers50 list of the top management thinkers in the world, Andrew Winston is a globally recognized expert on megatrends and author of the best-sellers Net Positive and Green to Gold. He lives in Old Greenwich and serves on the Representative Town Meeting. It's not easy to track the political donations of rich and powerful Americans. They have a host of loopholes and tools at their disposal to mask and misdirect attempts at uncovering their true influence on key issues and candidates; more than $1 billion was donated to political campaigns without being reported during the 2020 election cycle alone, according to The American Prospect. But Federal Election Commission disclosures do provide some insight into where billionaires are spending their political cash. Every quarter, the FEC requires a number of political groups including election campaigns (officially known as candidate committees), party committees and political action committees, or PACs to release their donations publicly. Different types of groups are subject to different rules. Individuals can only give $2,900 to a candidate during the primaries, for instance, and another $2,900 during the general election (see the limits for other donations at the FEC's website). People can donate as much as they want to a special kind of PAC known as a "super PAC"; while those groups are allowed to openly support or oppose someone running for office, they're forbidden from interacting directly with candidates or campaigns. In April of 2022, Forbes reported that California has 186 billionaires, far more than any other state. Some of these figures are household names, like Rupert Murdoch and Peter Thiel. Others could walk down the streets of San Francisco and not once be recognized, despite controlling massive fortunes. In an effort to pull back the curtain ever-so-slightly on how billionaires and other wealthy Californians are influencing our lawmakers, SFGATE pored over countless FEC filings from the most recent quarter, which took place between April 1 and June 30, publishing a number of stories on noteworthy donations along the way. Here, we've zoomed out to present a list of noteworthy donations from uber-wealthy Californians. While it's by no means a comprehensive list, it does help show just how much American politics are shaped by California's upper crust. SFGATE's Zach Zafran contributed to this story. (Names are listed alphabetically.) John Chambers Former chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, current CEO of JC2 Ventures Occupation: CEO of JC2 Ventures, a venture capital firm Donations filed in: Palo Alto Notable recent donations to Democrats: $5,800 to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.; $2,500 to Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif. Notable recent donations to Republicans: $100,000 to the Take Back the Senate PAC, which supports conservative Senate candidates; $8,700 to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. (Louisiana runoff elections allowed for an additional $2,900 donation); $2,900 to a PAC affiliated with J.D. Vance, Republican Senate candidate in Ohio; $2,000 to a PAC affiliated with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Ron Conway Taylor Hill/Getty Images Venture capitalist and longtime London Breed ally Occupation: Founder of SV Angel, a San Francisco-based venture fund Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donation: $350,000 to a super PAC that supports pro-crypto politicians Notable recent donation to Democrats: $75,000 to DigiDems, a PAC that says it helps Democratic candidates in the most competitive races in the country with full-time tech, digital, and data talent Notable recent donations to Republicans and conservatives: $5,800 to Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.; $5,800 to Evan McMullin, a conservative running as an independent for Utah Senate seat Scott Cook Billionaire who co-founded Intuit, is a board member at eBay and Procter & Gamble Occupation: Chairman of Intuit Donations filed in: Woodside Notable recent donations to Republicans: $5,000 to a PAC affiliated with Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; $5,000 to a PAC affiliated with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas; $5,000 to a PAC affiliated with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; $2,900 to Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif. Chris Dixon Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch Listed as Forbes top tech investor for 2022 Occupation: Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm Donations filed in: Hillsborough Notable recent donations to Democrats: $5,800 to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; $5,800 to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; $5,800 to Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y.; $5,800 to Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. Notable recent donations to Republicans: $5,800 to Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; $5,800 to Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. Dagmar Dolby Billionaire by way of the Dolby Laboratories fortune Occupation: None Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donation: $300,000 to NARAL super PAC (an abortion rights advocacy group) Notable recent donations to Democrats: $2,900 to Cheri Beasley, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina; $2,900 to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada; $2,900 to Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; $2,900 to Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., whos running for U.S. Senate; $2,900 to Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga.; $2,900 to Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va.; $2,900 to Jessica Cisneros, a progressive who narrowly lost her Democratic primary race in Texas to Rep. Henry Cuellar William Duhamel Occupation: Founder of Route One Investment Company, a hedge fund based in San Francisco Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donations to Republicans: $75,000 to National Republican Senatorial Committee; $50,000 to National Republican Congressional Committee; $25,000 to a super PAC supporting Adam Laxalt, a Republican Senate candidate in Nevada; $5,800 to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.; $5,800 to Peter Ohtaki, a Republican candidate who failed to advance to the runoff in Californias 16th District (Investopedia digs into what happens to excess contributions after a candidate loses in the primary); $5,800 to Jim Bognet, a Republican running for Congress in Pennsylvanias 8th District; $5,800 to Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich.; $5,800 to Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis. Fred Ehrsam Occupation: Sometime billionaire co-founder of crypto exchange Coinbase Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donation to Democrats: $5,800 to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Notable recent donation to Republicans: $5,800 to a PAC in support of Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. William Fisher Billionaire brother of Oakland As owner John Fisher, heir to the Gap fortune Occupation: CEO of Manzanita Capital and director of Gap Inc. Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donations to Democrats: $5,800 to Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; $2,900 to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.; $2,900 to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; $2,900 to Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.; $2,000 to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.; $2,900 to Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.; $2,900 to Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif.; $2,900 to Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif.; $2,900 to Assemblymember Adam Gray, who is running for the House seat in California's 13th District; $2,900 to Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif. Notable recent donations to Republicans: $2,900 to Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; $2,900 to Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-Ga. Donald Friese 81-year-old billionaire, former owner of glazing supplies company C.R. Laurence Occupation: Retired Donations filed in: Chatsworth (suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles) Notable recent donations to Republicans: $597,000 to Take Back the House PAC in support of Republican congressional candidates; $2,800 to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.; $2,000 to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; $1,000 to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. Brad Garlinghouse PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images Occupation: CEO of Ripple, a blockchain financial technology company Donations filed in: Atherton Notable recent donations to Democrats: $5,000 to the Kansas Democratic Party; $5,800 to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Ingrid V.M. Hills President of the Edward E. Hills Fund and widow to the late Reuben Hills, who was president of Hills Bros. Coffee Occupation: Retired Donation filed in: Woodside Notable recent donation to Republicans: $3,000 to a PAC in support of Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Reid Hoffman Billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn Occupation: Partner at Greylock Partners Donations filed in: Palo Alto Notable recent donation to Democrats: Tens of thousands of dollars to DigiDems, a PAC that says it helps Democratic candidates in the most competitive races in the country with full-time tech, digital, and data talent Notable recent donation to Republicans: $5,800 to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska Karla Jurvetson Democratic Party megadonor who gave nearly $15 million to Elizabeth Warrens campaign during 2020 presidential primaries Occupation: Psychiatrist and philanthropist Donations filed in: Los Altos Notable recent donations to Democrats: $1 million to Courageous Leaders super PAC, in support of Mandela Barnes, Wisconsin Democratic candidate for Senate; $10,000 to a PAC in support of Cheri Beasley, North Carolina candidate for Senate; $10,000 to a PAC in support of Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running for Senate; hundreds of thousands of dollars to dozens of congressional Democratic candidates (see the full list on the FEC's website) Jan Koum Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images for Discovery Occupation: Billionaire co-founder of WhatsApp Donations filed in: Santa Clara Notable recent donation: $2 million to a super PAC that backs candidates who will be strong supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship in Congress Vinod Khosla Billionaire who calls himself an entrepreneurship zealot on his popular Twitter account Occupation: Venture capitalist Donations filed in: Portola Valley Notable recent donations to Democrats: $100,000 to a PAC affiliated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; $1 million to SMP, a super PAC in support of Senate Democrats Chris Larsen Venture capitalist and financial privacy advocate Occupation: Billionaire co-founder of Ripple Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donations to Democrats: $250,000 to a PAC affiliated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; $5,800 to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. Notable recent donation to Republicans: $5,800 to Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. Seth MacFarlane Occupation: Actor and creator of Family Guy Donations filed in: Los Angeles Notable recent donations to Democrats: $365,000 to a PAC that supports Democratic candidates; $263,400 to a PAC affiliated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Barry McCarthy Occupation: CEO of Peloton Donation filed in: Woodside Notable recent donation to Republicans: $2,900 to Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. Marc Merrill Co-founder of Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends Occupation: President of Riot Games Donations filed in: Santa Monica Notable recent donation: $1 million to Unite America super PAC, which says it supports centrist political candidates and election reforms (Merrill is on the board for Unite America) Dustin Moskovitz Billionaire who co-founded Facebook Occupation: Co-founder of Asana, a work management platform Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donations to Democrats: $580,000 to Center for Essential Information, a super PAC in support of Joe Biden; $150,000 to Progressive Turnout Project, which has a stated purpose of designing, testing and executing specialized voter turnout programs targeting inconsistent Democratic voters in the most competitive districts in the country Rupert Murdoch Billionaire who founded News Corporation and controls a media empire that includes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal Occupation: Executive Chairman of News Corp Donations filed in: Los Angeles Notable recent donation to Republicans: $200,000 to a PAC that supported David McCormick, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania who was defeated in the primary by Dr. Oz William Oberndorf Billionaire businessman, charter school supporter and major financial donor to the Chesa Boudin recall (read more SFGATE coverage of Oberndorf ) Occupation: Executive, Oberndorf Enterprises Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donation to Democrats: $10,800 to PAC that supports Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. Notable recent donations to Republicans: $10,000 to the Conservative Louisiana super PAC; $5,000 to Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; $5,800 to Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. Chamath Palihapitiya Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity Fair Venture capitalist and podcast host who owned a small portion of the Golden State Warriors Occupation: CEO of Social Capital Donation filed in: Menlo Park Notable recent donation to Democrats: $5,800 to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Geoffrey Palmer Billionaire real estate developer and ardent supporter of Donald Trump Occupation: Real estate developer Donations filed in: Beverly Hills Notable recent donations to Republicans: $150,000 to Make America Great Again, Again! super PAC; $5,800 to Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif. Alexandra and Sean Parker Billionaire couples wealth comes from Sean, who co-founded Napster and served as the first president of Facebook, among other ventures Occupations: Sean lists his occupation as founder of Apercen Partners, a tax consulting firm. Alexandra lists her occupation as artist and philanthropist. Donations filed in: Palo Alto Notable recent donations to Republicans by both Sean and Alexandra Parker: A combined $15,000 to PACs affiliated with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; a combined $10,000 to a PAC affiliated with Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La.; a combined $8,700 to Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa. Notable recent donation by Sean Parker: $5,000 to a PAC affiliated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Notable recent donations by Alexandra Parker to Democrats: $5,800 to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.; $5,800 to Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; $5,800 to Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; $5,800 to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; $2,900 to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; $5,800 to Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass.; $5,800 to Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; $2,900 to Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.; $2,900 for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; $2,900 to Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. Notable recent donations by Alexandra Parker to Republicans: $5,800 to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; $2,900 to Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; $5,800 to Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.; $5,800 to Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La.; $5,800 to Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo.; $5,800 to Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.; $5,800 to Rep. Diana DeGette, R-Colo.; $2,900 to Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. Alexandra Parker donated to dozens of senators and House members this cycle, many of whom were given max donations by Sean Parker in prior months. See a full list of Alexandra Parkers donations on the FEC's website. See a full list of Sean Parkers donations from earlier in the 2021-22 election cycle on the FEC's website. Ruth Porat Occupation: Chief financial officer of Alphabet/Google Donation filed in: Palo Alto Notable recent donation to Democrats: $5,000 to a PAC that supports centrist Democrats in the House of Representatives Jesse Powell Subject of a recent New York Times investigation for complaining about pronouns, questioning who should be able to say racial slurs and referring to American women as brainwashed Occupation: CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donations to Republicans: $5,800 to Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.; $5,800 to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; $5,800 to Bruce Fenton, a Republican running for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire George Roberts Occupation: Billionaire co-founder of KKR, an investment firm Donations filed in: Menlo Park Notable recent donations to Republicans: $5,800 to Dave McCormick, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania who lost to Dr. Oz in the state primary; $5,800 to Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.; $5,800 to Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo. David Sacks Steve Jennings Major funder of San Franciscos school board recall, San Franciscos Chesa Boudin recall and the attempted recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom Occupation: Executive at Craft Ventures, a venture capital firm Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donation to Democrats: $5,800 to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. Notable recent donations to Republicans: $1 million to a super PAC that supports J.D. Vance, Republican Senate candidate in Ohio; $100,000 to the Republican National Committee; $8,700 to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. Eric Schmidt Billionaire former CEO of Google Occupation: Co-founder of Schmidt Futures Donations filed in: Mountain View Notable recent donations to Democrats: $250,000 to SMP, a super PAC in support of Senate Democrats; $36,500 to Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; $50,000 to a PAC affiliated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Charles Schwab Charles Schwab, the company, shuttered its PAC after the Jan. 6 riots, but the man himself with a net worth of $10 billion is still a Republican mega-donor Occupation: Chairman of the Charles Schwab Corporation Donations filed in: San Francisco Notable recent donations to Republicans: $500,000 to the Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC; $50,000 to the Conservative Louisiana super PAC John Sobrato Occupation: Billionaire real estate developer Donations filed in: Los Altos Notable recent donations to Democrats: $4,000 to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; $4,000 to Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif.; $4,000 to Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.; $1,800 to Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill. Notable recent donations to Republicans: $2,900 to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska Hock Tan Regularly listed as one of the highest-paid CEOs in the world Occupation: CEO of Broadcom Donation filed in: Palo Alto Notable recent donation to Democrats: $5,800 to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. Vladimir Tenev Spencer Platt/Getty Images Occupation: CEO of Robinhood Donation filed in: Palo Alto Notable recent donation to Republicans: $5,800 to Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. Peter Thiel Billionaire venture capitalist, far-right political activist, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Occupation: President of Thiel Capital Donations filed in: West Hollywood Notable recent donations to Republicans: $5 million to a super PAC that supports J.D. Vance, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio; $3.5 million to a PAC in support of Blake Masters, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, July 28, 2022 _____ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING Severe Weather Statement National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 1058 PM PDT Thu Jul 28 2022 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1115 PM PDT/1115 PM MST/ FOR SOUTHWESTERN MOHAVE...NORTHEASTERN SAN BERNARDINO AND SOUTHWESTERN CLARK COUNTIES... At 1054 PM PDT/1054 PM MST/, a cluster of severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from Mountain Pass, to 10 miles north of Searchlight, to Golden Valley. These storms were moving generally south-southwest at 35 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Possible wind damage to roofs and trees, power lines and periods of blowing dust near dry lake beds. Locations impacted include... Bullhead City, Laughlin, Searchlight, Cima, Katherine Landing, Primm, Needles, Mountain Pass, Oatman, Mid Hills Campground, Nipton, Mojave Ranch Estates, Mohave Valley, Cottonwood Cove Campground, Big Bend Rec Area, Golden Valley, Mesquite Creek, Nipton And Ivanpah Roads, Cottonwood Cove and Nipton Road Mile Marker 3. This includes the following highways... Interstate 15 in California between mile markers 146 and 186. Interstate 15 in Nevada between mile markers 1 and 9. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... To report severe weather contact your nearest law enforcement agency. They will send your report to the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas. Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with these storms. Move indoors immediately. Lightning is one of nature's leading killers. Remember, if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. If on or near Lake Mohave, 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 RENO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Saturday, July 30, 2022 _____ HEAT ADVISORY URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Reno NV 211 AM PDT Fri Jul 29 2022 ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PDT SATURDAY... * WHAT...Afternoon temperatures of 100 to 105 through Saturday afternoon. These will reach or exceed daily records in many places. Additionally, well above normal overnight low temperatures of 65 to 75 will continue through Saturday night. * WHERE...All of western Nevada and northeast California, including the cities of Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Minden, Yerington, Fallon, Fernley, Nixon, Lovelock, Hawthorne, Gerlach, Susanville, and Cedarville. * WHEN...Until 10 PM PDT Saturday. * IMPACTS...High risk of heath health impacts for much of the population, especially those without sufficient cooling or hydration resources, and those outdoors for extended periods of time. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...While daytime high temperatures will be near or above records, limited overnight cooling will exacerbate heat health impacts especially for those without air conditioning.. 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 WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, July 28, 2022 _____ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Northwestern Oldham County in the Panhandle of Texas... Western Hartley County in the Panhandle of Texas... * Until 815 PM CDT. * At 644 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 4 miles south of Romero, or 10 miles east of Nara Visa, moving north at 10 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. * Locations impacted include... Romero. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways. ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM CDT FOR SOUTHWESTERN RANDALL AND EAST CENTRAL DEAF SMITH COUNTIES... At 646 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 5 miles northwest of Canyon, moving north at 15 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible. Locations impacted include... Canyon, Umbarger, Buffalo Lake, Dawn and Mescalero Park. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, July 28, 2022 _____ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Western Cimarron County in the Panhandle of Oklahoma... Northwestern Dallam County in the Panhandle of Texas... * Until 1030 PM CDT. * At 856 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 5 miles east of Texline, or 15 miles southeast of Clayton, moving north at 15 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. * Locations impacted include... Texline, Kenton, Wheeless, Black Mesa Park and Felt. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, July 29, 2022 _____ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Southern Oldham County in the Panhandle of Texas... Northern Deaf Smith County in the Panhandle of Texas... * Until 715 PM CDT. * At 607 PM CDT, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near Glenrio to 14 miles southwest of Adrian to 4 miles northwest of Simms to 11 miles southwest of Vega to 8 miles northwest of Dawn, moving north at 20 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible. * Locations impacted include... Vega, Adrian, Glenrio, Wildorado and Simms. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Large hail and damaging winds and continuous cloud to ground lightning is occurring with these storms. Move indoors immediately. Lightning is one of nature's leading killers. Remember, if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. Torrential rainfall is occurring with these storms, and may lead to flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways. ...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of central Wilbarger County through 700 PM CDT... At 611 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 4 miles northwest of Grayback, moving north at 15 mph. HAZARD...Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph and pea size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is possible. Locations impacted include... Vernon, Oklaunion and Grayback. If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building. Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe shelter inside a building or vehicle. LAT...LON 3399 9910 3395 9924 3414 9940 3421 9914 TIME...MOT...LOC 2311Z 159DEG 12KT 3405 9920 MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN MAX WIND GUST...55 MPH _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, July 29, 2022 _____ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Northwestern Armstrong County in the Panhandle of Texas... Northern Randall County in the Panhandle of Texas... Southwestern Carson County in the Panhandle of Texas... Southern Potter County in the Panhandle of Texas... * Until 715 PM CDT. * At 618 PM CDT, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 5 miles southwest of Bushland to Mescalero Park to 4 miles north of Palo Duro Canyon, moving northeast at 20 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible. * Locations impacted include... Amarillo, Canyon, Panhandle, Lake Tanglewood, Mescalero Park, Bushland, Washburn, Palo Duro Canyon, Timbercreek Canyon and Pantex. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Large hail and damaging winds and continuous cloud to ground lightning is occurring with these storms. Move indoors immediately. Lightning is one of nature's leading killers. Remember, if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. Torrential rainfall is occurring with these storms, and may lead to flash flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO NORMAN Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, July 29, 2022 _____ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING The National Weather Service in Norman has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Southeastern Wichita County in northern Texas... * Until 600 PM CDT. * At 521 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Iowa Park, moving north at 10 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. * Locations impacted include... Wichita Falls, Burkburnett, Iowa Park, Sheppard AFB, Pleasant Valley and Cashion. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Large hail and damaging winds and continuous cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Move indoors immediately. Lightning is one of nature's leading killers. Remember, if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO PENDLETON Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, July 31, 2022 _____ EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Pendleton OR 1006 PM PDT Thu Jul 28 2022 ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures approaching 110 to 115. Very warm overnight lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s. * WHERE...Portions of central, south central and southeast Washington and central, north central and northeast Oregon. * WHEN...Until 11 PM PDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat 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. SATURDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures up to 105. Very warm overnight lows in the mid to upper 60s. * WHERE...East Slopes of the Washington Cascades. * WHEN...Until 11 PM PDT Saturday. ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures 95 to 105. Warm overnight lows as high as the upper 50s to mid 60s. * WHERE...In Washington, Northwest Blue Mountains. In Oregon, Ochoco-John Day Highlands, Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon, Southern Blue Mountains of Oregon, Grande Ronde Valley, East Slopes of the Oregon Cascades and Wallowa County. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather WFO SPOKANE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, July 31, 2022 _____ EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Spokane WA 657 AM PDT Fri Jul 29 2022 ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...High temperatures through Sunday will range between 100 and 110 degrees. Overnight temperatures will only cool into the mid 60s to mid 70s. * WHERE...Loomis, Quincy, Winchester, Brewster, Waterville, Methow, Nespelem, Ephrata, Wenatchee, Holden Village, Conconully, Telma, Mansfield, Plain, Okanogan, Othello, Winton, Moses Lake, Bridgeport, Omak, Stehekin, Leavenworth, Dryden, Malott, Mazama, Lucerne, Cashmere, Peshastin, Entiat, Winthrop, Nighthawk, Carlton, Monse, Twisp, Palisades, Oroville, and Chelan. * WHEN...Until 11 PM PDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. Residents without air conditioners will experience a build up of heat within their home through late in the week. 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. Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. 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...Afternoon temperatures will reach the upper 90s to around 103 except 103 to near 108 across the portions of the Upper Columbia Basin and Lewiston-Clarkston Valley through Sunday. Overnight temperatures will be in the 60s to low 70s. * WHERE...Portions of North and North Central Idaho. Portions of East Central, North Central, Northeast, and Southeast Washington. conditioners will experience a build up of heat within their homes _____ Copyright 2022 AccuWeather Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen (R) receives Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Denny Abdi. (Photo: SGGP) Speaking at the receiving ceremony, the citys Party Chief hoped that the two sides will tighten bilateral relations in the fields of economy, politics and society, and have more activities strengthening mutual support and cooperation in the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, especially after the Indonesia-Vietnam Business Forum. Ambassador Denny Abdi committed that he would continuously further contribute to enhancing the bilateral strategic partnership between the two countries to a new height and bringing two-way trade to US$15 billion by 2028. Additionally, the two nations will focus on promoting the sectors of education and historical and cultural research. Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen (R) and Consul General of Italy in HCMC, Enrico Padula On the same day, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen received Consul General of Italy in HCMC, Enrico Padula. The citys Party Chief believed that Italian Consul General Enrico Padula would continue to promote cooperation in various fields, especially education and research, contributing to deepening the Vietnam-Italy strategic partnership. The Consul-General of Italy pledged to intensify cooperation with the governments of HCMC, provinces and cities to promote potential cooperative areas and strong points. In 2023, the two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The two nations will co-organize many activities promoting trade connections, and cooperative relations in the sectors of economy, culture, education and tourism. By Xuan Hanh Translated by Kim Khanh The traffic police have strictly punished law breaking nearly 10,000 cases related to alcohol concentration limit, which is normally the direct cause to various traffic accidents. Ho Chi Minh City is the locality with the highest number of violators in this aspect, at over 1,300 cases. Decree No.100 about sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of road and railway traffic stipulates that if the alcohol concentration does not exceed 50mg/100ml in the blood or 0,25mg/1l of breathing air, the fine is the lowest, at VND2 million (US$85.6). Those exceeding 80mg/100ml in the blood or 0,4mg/1l of breathing air will receive the highest fine, at VND8 million ($342.5). Despite such a severe punishment, this law-breaking type shows no sign of reduction, especially in large urban areas. The National Traffic Safety Committee reported that in the first 7 months of 2022, there have been more than 6,500 traffic accidents, killing 3,785 people and injuring 4,256 victims. The deaths have risen by 112. The main reason, according to this committee, is due to a sharp increase of transport activities after the Covid-19 pandemic last year. While traveling on roads, many vehicle drivers have low traffic awareness in dangerous behaviors like lack of observation, speeding, reckless overtaking others, falling asleep. The local traffic police are launching various campaigns to propagandize traffic laws to increase awareness in the public. Food shops and restaurants are requested to remind their customers not to control vehicles after drinking alcohol. However, it seems these educational and administrative methods are not sufficient. It is high time that functional agencies introduced stronger sanctions for criminal punishment of serious traffic law breaking cases. Punishment forms must also be diverse to suit all possible situations. By Gia Khanh Translated by Vien Hong An art performance at the programme (Photo: VNA) Party General Secretary and State President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh, and National Assembly Chairman Xaysomphone Phomvihane attended the event. The Vietnamese delegation to the ceremony was led by Politburo member and permanent member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee's Secretariat Vo Van Thuong.In his remarks, Thongloun Sisoulith affirmed that in any circumstances, the Lao Party, State and people will always work to preserve and promote the great friendship and special solidarity between the two countries across all spheres for the sake of their peoples.He congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in Doi Moi (Renewal) and considered them a great source of encouragement and precious lessons for Laos in national construction and defence.The leader also used the occasion to thank the Vietnamese Party, State and people for their great, timely and effective support to Laos in years gone by.For his part, Thuong highlighted the significance of the establishment of diplomatic ties 60 years ago as well as the signing of the treaty 45 years ago, and similarities between the two countries in history, geography and culture.Congratulating Laos on its comprehensive achievements in 35 years of reform and the implementation of the resolution adopted at the 11th National Party Congress, the official noted his belief that under the leadership of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP), headed by Thongloun Sisoulith, the governments management, and the legislatures supervision, Laos will continuously improve its reputation and position in the region and the world at large.Thuong spoke of cooperation orientations between the two Parties and countries in politics, security, external affairs, economy, culture, education and science-technology.Vietnamese and Lao Parties, State and people are resolved to forever protect their faithful, pure and unique relationship - an invaluable common asset of the two nations, he emphasised.Later the same day, Thuong, on behalf of the Vietnamese Party and State, presented the Gold Star Order to the Lao PM and NA Chairman, the Ho Chi Minh Order to four Lao Politburo members, and the first-class Independence Order to five Secretaries of the Lao Party Central Committee, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the bilateral relationship.Lao PM Phankham Viphavanh thanked the Vietnamese Party and State for the prestigious prizes, and pledged to make every effort together with Vietnam to preserve and strengthen the Vietnam-Laos special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation.Also on July 18, Thuong and his entourage paid a courtesy visit to Lao former Party General Secretary and State President Bounnhang Volachith and attended the opening of the Vietnamese cultural week in Laos. Vietnamplus Page Content Generally speaking, the more decisions are left to their discretion, the more businessesand their human resource professionalslike it. But the recent elimination of COVID-19-era mask requirements for most Canadian workplaces may have given employers a little more discretion than they are entirely prepared for. The absence of government mask mandates means that virtually all employers governed by provincial employment lawscomprising about 90 percent of Canada's workforcewill need to decide whether to continue their own workplace masking rules. The vaccination rate in Canada is high, and mask-wearing has not been the political hot button there that it has been in the U.S. Nonetheless, some people prefer wearing a mask, while others do not. Attitudes may vary regionally and according to what populations experienced during the pandemic. Ontario, for example, had long-standing mask requirements and suffered major COVID-19 outbreaks. In his own travels, Michael Richards, an attorney with DLA Piper in Toronto and Vancouver, observed that mask-wearing in and around public places in Ontario and elsewhere in the east has been and continues to be the norm. In the west, he said, people seem to need more reminders. Earlier this year, nearly three-quarters of Canadians supported provincial mask mandates, but currently only about half do, according to a July study by the nonprofit Angus Reid Institute, based in Vancouver. Even in discontinuing mask mandates, provincial governments continue to emphasize health and safety and recommend mask usage in various circumstances. Decision Point Against that background, what's an employer to do at this moment when COVID-19 is spiking and a possible surge in cases this fall is on the horizon? "It all comes back to health and safety," Richards said. "What is reasonable in the circumstances to protect the health and safety of workers?" Richards recommended that employers consider their own circumstances. "It depends on what the workplace looks like," he said. Is it an office where employees have their own space, or is it an assembly line? Do employees have the option to work at home? Are workers engaging with the public? Is the space well-ventilated or not? What is necessary to gain access to the physical workspaceproof of vaccination? Daily screenings for symptoms? In addition to weighing all those factors, employers need to assess how an outbreak would affect their workforce. A handful of cases could cause a small business to lose a large percentage of its workforce for several days. If employees have no option to work from home, "an outbreak could have a material impact on your business." Optional, Recommended or Required? Once an employer has determined the need for a mask policy, the question becomes, how strict? Richards' impression is that most employers prefer a "masks recommended" approach. "It's the path of least resistance, and it saves them from having to police a mandatory rule." Richards mentioned one gym that prohibits masking for workers and customers alike. "It makes news because it's an outlier," he said. For an employer that does impose a strict mask requirement, "the biggest risk is that people may choose to leave," Richards said. There is not much legal risk, unless there is a need to accommodate a disability or medical condition, he said. A mask objector could bring a claim for constructive dischargemeaning that conditions were so intolerable the employee was forced to quitbut it's a hard burden to meet, and the individual would have to demonstrate that mask-wearing was a material issue. But what about the person who just keeps breaking the rule? "You have to start disciplining them, and possibly ultimately terminate them for causeinsubordination." In the absence of a government mandate, an employee might successfully argue that a strict mask requirement was not a reasonable ruleat least not one that justifies termination. In the case of a scofflaw, the employer might simply decide "this isn't the kind of employee we want, and just 'package' them out," Richards said. Another strategy for dealing with noncompliant employees is to place them on unpaid leave for as long as they refuse to obey the rule. Some employers used this approach instead of termination for cause when employees refused to vaccinate contrary to a policy. In early July, this tack was upheld in an Alberta mask case (Benke v. Loblaw Companies Limited). The court found that the employee was not constructively discharged because the employee had voluntarily decided not to comply with the policy and that the employer's action was reasonable. When the employer has no rule, or a more permissive policy, an employee whose medical condition or disability makes it risky for them to be near an unmasked person may need an accommodation. As in the U.S., "Many people have decided that, either having had COVID or receiving the vaccine, no further precautions are needed. However, there are others who for many reasons still choose to wear masks and clean their hands frequently," said Katherine Dudley Helms, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Columbia, S.C. Stay the Course? Some observers have suggested leaving a mask requirement in place as a hedge against renewed government mandatesbetter to leave a rule in place than be whipsawed by government policy changes. Acknowledging that some employers are taking a wait-and-see approach, Richards sees no appetite in the provinces for renewed mandates. "I don't think that's going to happen unless things get really bad," he said. Employers that do adopt or continue their own mask rules should communicate the requirements and the reasons for them clearly and consistently. Government-required posters regarding masking may be coming down, but if the employer continues to require masking, it should not "leave space open to rumor," he said. Margaret M. Clark, J.D., SHRM-SCP, is a freelance writer in Arlington, Va. Packaged foods and beverages company Nestle India on Thursday announced the acquisition of pet food business Purina Petcare India for an estimated Rs 125.3 crore, as part of a transaction that will see the company now own and operate the brand, globally owned by Nestle, as part of Nestle India. Nestle India also announced the launch of toddler food brand Gerber in India. Purina is a pet food brand owned by Nestle globally. Purina Petcare was launched in India in 2017 as a separate entity. Since December 2017, Purina Petcare India has been undertaking the marketing and sale of PFB (dry dog and dry cat foods) under globally recognised brands such as Purina Supercoat, Purina Pro Plan and Purina Friskies," the company said in a filing to the exchanges. The business transfer of Purina Petcare India Private Ltd. to Nestle India is set to happen from 1 October 2022. The business transfer (slump sale) would entail transfer of all assets and liabilities related to PFB including employees of Purina Petcare India," the company said in its filing. For the financial year ended 31 March 2022, Purina Petcare India reported a turnover of Rs36 crore. Pet adoption has risen post pandemic, the company said. There are far greater synergies with evolution in channel strategies now than when the business was launched in 2018. The pet food business of Purina Petcare India has gained traction amongst Indian pet owners and established the pet food brands across key segments, while building a robust pet specialty distribution network, said Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestle India. Going forward, leveraging Nestle Indias network would accelerate the growth of pet food business in India and for Nestle India a promising business would be a part of its portfolio from the quarter ending 31 December 2022, Narayanan added. The move will help Nestle India gain access to pet foods business which grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.4% during 2018-21 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 50% during 2022-26. Under the general licence agreement, access to world class proprietary know-how, technology and brands related to pet foods would also become possible. In the first half of 2022, Purina Petcare India began sale and marketing of wet cat foods under the Fancy Feast brand. The products are imported from Nestle Thailand and Nestle Australia. Purina Petcare India does not have any manufacturing facility in India. On the launch of food brand Gerber, Narayanan said, In coming months, products tailored to the needs in the toddler segment, relevant and resonant to their nutrition needs in India would be introduced under brand Gerber. It is with great pride that I share that these products are Made in India and Made for India'." As the Indo-Us relationship is necessary to be enhanced to counteract the emergence of alliances between opposing nations the US shows interest in CAATSA waiver to India. The American Congressman, Ro Khanna, mentioned that the United States is seeking to improve its defence partnership with India in the backdrop of Indias reliance on Russias military equipment exports for national defence. In an interview, he pointed out that countering Americas adversaries through a sanctioned act (CAATSA) waiver to India is in the best national interest of the United States and the US-India relationship. On the 14th of July, the US House of Representatives approved an amendment with a majority to the national defence authorisation act (NDAA) that proposed to intensify US-India defence ties. This amendment was suggested by Khanna, a Democrat from California. He opined that it was the most imperative vote to enhance the US-India relationship since the civilian nuclear agreement. Further, Khanna stated that as both countries are democratic, it is crucial to building a defence partnership that is a strategic partnership. This helps them combat rising alliance forces among opposing nations. The Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement, signed in 2008, improved relations between the two countries. This nuclear deal, offered with a special waiver to India by Nuclear Supplier Groups (NSG), allows India to sign nuclear cooperation agreements with many countries. It also helped India to separate its civilian and military programmes and place its civilian-military facilities under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. The NDAA amendment is politically significant with its 300-plus votes from bipartisan groups, suggesting strong political support for the US President for waiving the sanctions. However, the amendment is not yet a part of the law. It is required to pass the Senate and be signed by Joe Biden. Only then will India be exempt from US sanctions for Indias cooperation with Russias missile systems. A vast majority of House members emphasised the Indo-US relationship as a critical element, thereby insisting the US President waive the sanctions. The US is working on methods to have a pricing point that incentivizes India to switch while protecting important American technology, and it would be handled through bilateral communication. Ro Khanna has been advocating for India's potential membership in NATO Plus for the past two years. 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! Remember when former Morrison government minister Stuart Robert lashed out at dud teachers? In March, the then acting education minister said the bottom 10 per cent of teachers cant read and write and blamed them for declining academic results. This is more than just a sensational headline or a politician trying to get attention. My research argues the way teachers are talked about in the media has a flow-on effect to how people feel about becoming a teacher, and how current teachers see their place in the community. Robert attack Credit:Fairfax When we talk about the shortage of teachers in Australia, we also need to look at media coverage of teachers in Australia. My new book examines how teachers have been represented in the print media in the past 25 years. When you look at the harsh criticism and blame placed on teachers, its no wonder we are not attracting enough new people to the profession and struggling to retain the ones we have. The World Coalition against the Death Penalty reported the number of recorded executions internationally in 2021 at 2397, with at least 2000 in China. The total figure is probably far higher because China keeps details of its executions a state secret. Loading Iran, with a population of 83 million, has a higher execution rate per capita than China. There were 977 executions in 2015, when Hassan Rouhani, regarded as a moderate, was president, 507 in 2017, falling to 365 in 2021. Egypt ranks third among executing states, and in the decade 2011-21 2182 people were sentenced to death, including children, mostly for political offences by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Penalty Is Death is, essentially, a collection of the best writing from world literature setting out the reasons why the death penalty should be rejected in all places and at all times. Among the writing are works by Cesare Beccaria, Charles Dickens and Clarence Darrow. George Orwells 1931 essay on a hanging he witnessed in Burma, perhaps the most compelling piece of writing on the death penalty, also appears. The world and the times have changed since 1968. In order to place these classic writings in our contemporary world, the commentary for each work has been updated and changed. Three brilliant forewords by leading jurist Michael Kirby, barrister Julian McMahon and Richard Bourke, the Australian barrister who is director of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Centre, place the works in the context of the ongoing struggle to advance the cause of abolition by Australians and those we work with around the world. In On Crimes and Punishments, published in 1764, Beccaria, an economist from Milan, argued for the abolition of the death penalty with a classic simplicity, that there is no demonstrable correlation between the severity of punishment and the crime rate: all punishment deters, but there is no statistical evidence that execution or torture deters uniquely. The aims of punishment, he insisted, are reformation and deterrence, and certainty of apprehension and conviction are the major determinants of the crime rate. The appropriate penalty is the lowest penalty consistent with public safety. Loading Although the number of abolitionist countries and those maintaining long-term moratoria on the death penalty continues to grow, much more than half of the worlds population live in places where they are at risk of the death penalty. Australia is geographically and politically well-placed to exert our influence and provide our assistance to progress the cause of abolition. One important aspect of the new commentary is the coverage of the large-scale use of capital punishment by the Australian military against Indigenous Papua New Guineans during the latter half of World War II. In 1968, only the slightest knowledge existed of these events and the briefest of mentions appeared in the first edition. Subsequent research in files albeit mutilated ones at the Australian National Archives (ANA) has revealed much more about this shameful episode in our military history. In Papua New Guinea in 1943 and 1944 the AIF tried, convicted and hanged about 150 Indigenous people in remote areas, mostly for murder but often for collaboration with Japanese forces. Most of those hanged had been subject to domination by different colonial powers before the Australian military and could hardly be blamed for carrying out instructions of those who, for the moment, had them at the point of their guns. Extraordinarily, the military authorities kept knowledge of these events from the Australian government. It was only in April 1945 that the prime minister, John Curtin, found out and the cabinet ordered the executions stopped. Even then, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Lieutenant-General V.A.H. (later Sir Vernon) Sturdee, hesitated and sought alternative legal advice before reluctantly complying with the instructions of the government of the day. These military executions remain, because of the state of the records, shrouded in mystery. Neither do we know why so many of the records are absent and incomplete. We do know, however, that the AIF were responsible for about 150 executions over about two years, some 35 more executions than occurred in Australia between 1901 and 1967. We live in deeply troubling times. It is easy to understand why people in many countries are gripped by insecurity. The ready access to lethal weapons and mood-changing drugs and the risk of attack, from internal or imported terrorism, are horrors seen every day on television and the internet. As a defensive reaction, many citizens would like to see the return of retributive punishments. We need to think deeply about how we define our humanity. In the final analysis, do we make judgments coolly and calmly on the basis of evidence that is capable of being weighed and objectively analysed? Or is it the case that, in dealing with human nature, objective analysis is useless and we are forced into terra incognita and must decide blindly, on the basis of instinct or gut reaction? We stand, I hope, against darkness, against obscurantism, against instinct, against pessimism about society and the capacity that individuals have for moral regeneration. Campaigners for abolition have to be prepared to argue for the tough cases, repulsive as they are: Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Timothy McVeigh, Amrozi. The moral high ground does not allow campaigners to be selective. The former archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Francois Marty, wrote: If a man does no longer act like a man, the community must refrain from following him Any individual who commits an act of violence against another individual is degrading mankind. If we want to safeguard the concept of human beings now being threatened, we must resist the temptation of retributive anger. Can man, that imperfect being, be expected to render perfect justice? Nguyen Tuong Van, aged 25, an Australian citizen of Vietnamese origin, was hanged in Singapore in December 2005 for carrying drugs for his brother from Cambodia to Australia and being caught in transit. Under Singapores mandatory death penalty, mitigating circumstances were irrelevant. It would be impossible to characterise Van Nguyen as the criminal of the year, or the century, but his penalty would have been no greater if he had been. Execution is the ultimate demonstration of state power; there are no chance factors and the victim becomes a passive object, even before he or she dies. In some jurisdictions, cost is a major factor: execution is far cheaper than lifelong imprisonment. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size You meet a charming man in an expensive suit while youre visiting Rome: his name is Dickie Greenleaf. He tells you he is living off the proceeds of a trust fund and after spending the day walking and talking around the city, he offers to take you to the opera. You cant believe your luck. Before the opera begins that night, you reach for your phone. Lets take a selfie, you say. He reluctantly agrees. You think you will add him on Instagram, to tag him in your post. When you search Dickie Greenleaf, you find another profile, with photos of a man with a similar watch and an identical suit. As the opera begins, and the lights dim, you excuse yourself to use the bathroom. You message the photo to a friend with a screenshot of the Instagram profile and explain the situation: Is this legit? you ask. Your friend does a little snooping online herself. She tells you Dickie Greenleaf is missing, presumed dead. She posts the photos on Twitter, tagging the Italian police. A journalist shares the images. Someone comments: OMG, thats Tom Ripley! I know him. Hes a whacko. You share your location with all your contacts. Within half an hour an untalented Mr Ripley is arrested. Its a very different ending to the one we know. Patricia Highsmiths The Talented Mr Ripley is not the only classic novel that would be radically changed if set in the year 2022. Think of your most beloved Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie novel, and place it in a contemporary setting, and youll find they all end with someone reaching into their pocket and pulling out their mobile phone. David Suchet as the famous inspector in Agatha Christies Poirot. Its not just smartphones expediting criminal investigations; according to a recent survey, one in six homes is now monitored by CCTV. Those that arent may very well benefit from their neighbours cameras, catching perpetrators coming and going, or footage of vehicles on the street. In this way, a classic literary detective would be redundant. See, Poirot? Right there on the security recording, Simon goes to Linnets cabin with the pistol, he then returns and shoots himself in the leg. The entry point and blood spatter will confirm this; the DNA and fingerprints will match too. Advertisement Even if the police dont instantly recognise the perpetrator from the CCTV footage, you could always drop it onto one of hundreds of local community noticeboards on Facebook or crime stopper pages on Twitter. Loading Its not all doom and gloom for imaginative crime writers; advancing technology opens new pastures for storytelling. The Tinder Swindler revealed that modern Tom Ripleys can exist, and with each generation of crime writers comes a new tranche of opportunities and challenges. It began with the home phone, reliable print matching, the internet and the rise of forensic evidence such as blood pattern analysis and DNA matching in the 90s and early noughties; then widespread CCTV surveillance, mobile phone tracking, and social media in more recent years. Now writers must navigate sophisticated AI, police chest cams, face-matching software and ubiquitous CCTV. Crime and sci-fi converge and with each leap forward, greater invention is required from the writer to keep the crime from being solved too quickly. At times, we must find ways to remove the characters access to technology without it being contrived. We must find new stories that cant be derailed by GPS, CCTV or DNA. Happily, modern-day private investigators have access to tools that are out of reach for the amateur sleuth. They often pay to have access to private databases with personal information addresses, phone numbers, employment history. Bugging a marks car is still possible, especially with things like Apples coin-sized AirTag GPS trackers, but PIs more often track someone via social media, or even through their phone (often illegally). The Wrong Woman is J.P. Pomares latest crime thriller. During research for my latest book, The Wrong Woman, I read forums in which PIs exchanged ideas to help investigate their marks. Members often spoke about white/grey hat hacking a less destructive form of hacking to gain access to private social media accounts, either by paying hackers or phishing for log-in details. Members shared their preferred methods for pretext calls, revealing who they impersonate when theyre seeking to elicit information from the mark or their friends and family. They often have fake social media accounts themselves, which they use to interact online. Advertisement Unlike their predecessors in the pages of golden-era detective fiction, modern PIs work covertly. Theyre not out solving deviously plotted crimes like Sherlock Holmes or working in conjunction with the police like Poirot. Theyre investigating insurance fraud, divorces and adultery, or errant employees for disgruntled corporate bosses. Who then from the golden age of detective fiction survives in the 21st Century? Poirot always struck me as over the top, with implausible insight. Holmes is only slightly less cartoonish. Roderick Alleyn, created by my New Zealand compatriot Ngaio Marsh, always felt the most contemporary to me. Being a police officer of the time (although not always on the case when solving crimes), he was much more procedural and less instinctive, less canny, less genius (so, more plausible). When I created private investigator Reid for The Wrong Woman, I had this in mind. Reid believes he has two strengths as an investigator. Firstly, he is completely unremarkable, physically and intellectually. He disappears in a crowd. Hed judge himself as perhaps slightly above average intelligence. Michelle McNamara died before the Golden State Killer was found, but her profile proved eerily accurate. Secondly, he will never give up on a case. His appetite for the truth is insatiable. Perhaps this is the one shared trait with those great gumshoes of the past Poirot, Sherlock, Alleyn, Marlowe, et al and in that way, some things dont change after all. The rise of the amateur sleuth Crime writers cant just rely on a dogged gumshoe to solve their cases any more because theres an army of amateur sleuths a hivemind of true-crime aficionados, each dedicating thousands of hours to helping solve cases who might get there first. Across podcasts and chat forums, these people have learnt to think like PIs because they have the ultimate resource in their pocket at all hours of the day. So what can the at-home sleuth learn from some recent resolutions to the question of whodunnit? Advertisement Michelle McNamara was a writer and internet sleuth who helped to solve one of the most stubborn serial killer cases in US history: the Golden State Killer. McNamara connected with others through her blog and spent years in contact with police and other investigators across several investigative bodies. She found patterns in a series of crimes and was the first to attach all the rapes and murders to one perpetrator. Loading McNamara died in 2016, two years before a former police officer named Joseph James DeAngelo was jailed for 13 murders, 50 rapes and 120 burglaries, but the profile she had built of the killer ended up being eerily accurate. Australias own Teachers Pet podcast brought the cold case of the disappearance of Lynette Dawson back into the public spotlight. Now, after 40 years, Lynettes husband, Chris Dawson, is awaiting a verdict on his trial for her murder. The Murder Squad, an American podcast hosted by retired cold case investigator Paul Holes and investigative journalist Billy Jensen, recently proved to be the catalyst in solving a 40-year-old cold case where once again DNA was the hero. Holes and Jensen urge listeners to actively help solve cold cases (Solving murders with YOU is their tagline), and in the 1980 case of 21-year-old Helene Pruszynski, they provided details that struck a chord with a listener, who decided to submit her DNA to the GEDmatch database. There was a match and a distant relative of the woman was eventually arrested. Popular podcasts such as The Murder Squad and Serial have huge communities of listeners, some of whom provide CCTV, DNA, stories or personal experiences about suspects and victims. Police have noted an uptick in tips received for cold cases after theyve been featured on podcast shows, sometimes leading to arrests. An army of dogged amateur gumshoes obsess over certain cold cases and invent their own language to discuss them. Crime novels are beginning to realise this potential. Wake, this years breakout crime debut by Shelley Burr, includes transcripts from internet forums of true crime junkies trying to solve the cold case upon which the narrative is built. Advertisement Of course, citizen sleuths get it wrong too. Consider the infamous case of D B Cooper, an anonymous man who skyjacked a flight from Portland to Seattle in 1971 before demanding a parachute and $US200,000 in cash. He proceeded to jump from the Boeing 727 somewhere over Washington state. It is one of the most iconic unsolved crimes in the US and Cooper has achieved cult-like notoriety: hero to some, villain to the police and FBI, who have failed to catch him. The search for D B Cooper goes on. Credit:AP There is an annual festival in November dedicated to Cooper, and potential Coopers have been harassed by some of the tens of thousands of fans trying to find their man. Loading This, I suppose, is the issue with citizen sleuths theyre not always equipped to overcome their biases and achieve the level of investigative objectivity required to view all the information in context. They are prone to developing a sense of certainty before the evidence proves anything. So, whats the lesson for amateur sleuths? If you want to help, never engage directly with suspects. Submit tips to police, and share theories with other citizen sleuths. Investigate in person if you like, but dont be intrusive. Share your DNA, personal experience and CCTV footage if you think it will help. Talk and raise awareness because one day you might find that youve helped in a small way to put a killer behind bars. The Wrong Woman by J. P. Pomare is out now, Hachette, $33. For Jess Hos first cooking lesson, the seven-year-old was handed a meat cleaver by their father and, then, a live chicken. So its fitting that as a commentator on the restaurant industry, Ho has a sharp and bloody wit. Melbourne diners may be familiar with Ho without knowing the name. Ten years ago, having raised eyebrows as a cynical food blogger, they became a formidable, platinum-blonde buzz-cut presence working front of house in restaurants (as The Age noted back in 2012, getting a table at Chin Chin means getting past Jess Ho). Since then, Ho has been a restaurant brand strategist, a bars editor and a wine bar owner, appeared as a judge on Seven Networks reality show Restaurant Revolution, and most recently hosted the SBS food podcast Bad Taste most of it before the age of 30. Jess Ho admits to having bought into the era of edgy chefs and bartenders who enjoyed cult-like followings. Credit: Their memoir Raised by Wolves traces a line from a childhood marred by horrific emotional and physical abuse (Ho flew the coop at 15), to becoming fully immersed in the dysfunctional but more accepting family of hospitality. Its no kiss-and-tell. Despite Hos acerbic observations and snappy way with a one-liner (treat me like the dumb door bitch and youll receive the dumb-door-bitch treatment), names are redacted. Sure, there are plenty of the kind of insider revelations you might expect womens toilets are the filthiest; staff enjoy spicy knock-off gossip sessions (the dialogue is so real that Im assuming Ho took notes at the time); and there are codes in the restaurants reservations system to warn of difficult breeds of customer but ultimately, Raised by Wolves is a take-down of restaurant trends that dilute and fetishise non-Western cultures, and that make those who work in them complicit. Manly coach Des Hasler may have delivered a memorable mea culpa, one that even brought esteemed author Thomas Keneally close to tears. But imagine if Des fronted the media with a logo from a weapons manufacturer. No doubt, it would have raised a social media storm and detracted from the intent of his message. Somewhere over the rainbow ... Manly coach Des Hasler and captain Daly Cherry-Evans sport their sponsors logo as they address the media about controversy over the pride jersey. Credit:Nick Moir It is a reflection of our nations blindness to the all-persuasive, all encompassing reach of sports betting an industry that preys on the young and the vulnerable that Manlys coach could deliver this message with a sports betting logo displayed prominently on his chest. In fact, it is one of the great ironies of the Manly jersey saga, that so much was made of the rainbow colours and so little was made of the sports betting wording that was front and centre. Australia looks on at the United States and its gun culture and shakes its head at a nation that has seemingly gone mad. And yet we have our own blind spot. Gambling. The transfer of the drugs from a South African port onto the yacht was accidentally recorded by Dicenta on his mobile phone, with the audio capturing the haste in which the men moved the 40 bags of narcotics. You have to put it inside before the other boat comes this is not cocaine, this is the other thing, its not heavy at all, Dicenta can be heard saying. State prosecutors would later refer to the blunder as the worst butt-dial in history. After six weeks at sea, at times in rough and dangerous conditions, the pair eventually arrived off the Geraldton coast, near where they had planned to transfer the drugs onto a local boat, DW 140, with Lassiter, Jackson and Jones on board. The Abrolhos archipelago, while beautiful, is notorious for its shallow reefs, with the word Abrolhos roughly translating to open your eyes in Portuguese a warning for sailors. Multiple shipwrecks lie on the sea floor off the coast of the islands dating as far back as the 1600s when Dutch explorers sailed the West Australian coast. The mutiny aboard the stricken Batavia is the most famous story of the ill-fated ships which sailed through the islands. The night before their capture, Dicenta and Palmers yacht ran aground on a reef, stranding them and their near-tonne of loot on the edge of Australias continental shelf. Desperate messages between the pair to the second boat revealed their pleas for rescue. Drifted a mile we have no control where we end up, one text read. Tell your friends to stop f---ing around and come and get us ASAP otherwise I will leave the girls here and get my own taxi out of here, said another. The stricken yacht run aground in the Abrolhos Islands. Credit:WA Police Fearing they were exposed, Dicenta and Palmer bundled the drugs into a small tender attached to their yacht and headed east to Burton Island where they went ashore and attempted to hide the haul under seaweed in the dark of night. Meanwhile, the DW 140 boat coming to their rescue also ran aground on a reef and was stuck waiting for the tide to rise. Dawn revealed the abandoned yacht and the reefed second boat with the trio on board. Authorities boarded the empty yacht and commenced a rescue operation to find its occupants, while local fishermens offers to help free the DW 140 in exchange for a carton of beer were declined. The sighting of the man in the hot pink shirt on Burton Island, coupled with police spotting a tender on the shore, led police to the island around 3pm. The bags of drugs discovered by police on Burton Island. Credit:WA Police Dicenta and Palmer tried to flee, but there was nowhere to run, with an elephant seal blocking the path to their tender. They woke it up and it jumped up with its big chest out and bellowed at them, Geraldton Volunteer Marine Rescue spokesman Damien Healy later told ABC Radio. The guys basically had the choice of going through the seal or getting arrested, and they ended up choosing getting arrested. As the duo were taken into custody, police spotted another boat cruising slowly just north of the island. They noted its registration, DW 140, and the following day traced the vessel back to Jackson. He and the other two crew members were arrested and denied anything to do with the drugs. They professed their innocence at trial, telling a jury they were simply on a boys fishing trip, but were eventually found guilty. Then-WA Police assistant commission Col Blanch confessed at the time that if not for the series of errors and a tip-off from the local fishermen, the drugs would have soon found their way into Australian networks. Weve come clean we said we were fortunate, very, very lucky that they hit the rocks and the fishermen were out there to help us, he said. During sentencing, Justice Edwin Corboy said it was vital the lengthy jail terms deterred others from bringing large quantities of drugs into Australia, given the damage they caused. NSW Environment Minister James Griffin has ratified a controversial licensing scheme that allows irrigators in northern NSW to capture floodwater in private dams, despite warning that it would erode confidence in the parliamentary process and jeopardise the environment. Griffin, a Liberal, has been under pressure from the Nationals to sign five water sharing plans that will allow irrigators to obtain licences to collect the floodwater that runs over their land by building banks, levees and dams a practice known as floodplain harvesting. On Friday, Griffin signed off on two of the five water sharing plans the Border Rivers and Gwydir River catchments. Flooding along the Darling River at Bourke in January, as heavy rains slowly made their way down the river system. Credit:Nick Moir Floodplain harvesting is legal and widely practised, and it is broadly agreed that it should be licensed so the amount of water taken can be monitored and regulated, to ensure there is enough water entering the rivers and flowing into the Lower Darling. Modern cities such as Sydney are becoming ghettos of rich people where few working people can afford to live, award-winning architects Jean-Philippe Vassal and Anne Lacaton warn. Known as the never demolish architects, Vassal and Lacaton won the Pritzker Prize, the worlds most prestigious architectural prize, in 2021 for a series of projects where they refused to raze existing public housing, apartment blocks and museums. Visiting French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal at The Rocks in Sydney. Credit:Nick Moir At workshops at Sydney University this week, the visiting French architects encouraged architecture students to reimagine a future for Waterloo estates public housing slated for redevelopment and future demolition. The brief: dont destroy anything. Not even a tree. Workers cottages built during the Commonwealth governments only war effort housing drive in Brisbane will be protected from demolition. The homes have stood since World War II, when they were erected to accommodate workers at the munitions factories at Moorooka, Rocklea and Salisbury. A woman working at one of many ammunitions factories at Rocklea during World War II. Credit:State Library of Queensland. At the time, the Rocklea Munitions Factory spanned almost 33 hectares around Evans Road near Moorooka, and parts of this were known as Camp Moorooka during WWII. The Moorooka War Workers Housing Estate is already recognised by the Queensland Government and registered as a historical site. The 47th federal parliament sat for the first time this week, and watching on from Sydney and chatting daily with our Canberra bureau, it felt like there were some fairly seismic shifts taking place. It was Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses time to shine, and he had set expectations high, with his talk of a fresh start in politics and a new way of doing business. It was also the week we saw the arrival of the teal independents, with lots of first-day nerves and maiden speeches pencilled in over coming weeks. The class of 22 take their seats in the 47th parliament. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Epitomising the new wave of politicians was Labor MP for Reid Sally Sitou, who has Chinese-Lao heritage and whose speech celebrated the increased diversity of the latest parliament. On the policy front, there were some significant movements on what was arguably the single strongest issue emerging from the election climate change. Australias closed borders and Chinas COVID response resulted in about 50 mostly Chinese students returning home to their families in 2020 and 2021, contributing to an estimated $3.5 million hole in the schools finances. But the school board spent much of the pandemic trying to extricate itself from historic, third-party contractual arrangements that made its operations dependent on its Chinese landlord. Sources within the school say these contracts compelled it to pay $500,000 to use the Kilmore name and $1.6 million for student services to a group of companies that were created late last century by the schools founder Ray Wittmer. Since November 2019, the companies have been owned by Taiwanese-born businessman Chien-Long Tai and his wife, Yuyu Chen. They are part of a family education business ultimately controlled by Chens father, whose principal interests are in Hainan. Colmont School in Kilmore. Credit:Adam Carey The school severed both contracts at an estimated cost of more than $1 million in legal fees and compensation. This explains why, in April this year, the school announced its intention to change its name to Colmont School and eventually abandon the Kilmore site. Wittmer, who is now retired, told The Age that the decision to dump the student services agreement failed to save the school money and instead contributed to its collapse. He said the complex contractual arrangements, in place since 1998, had been repeatedly queried by Victorian regulators but accepted by the federal Department of Education, which provides the school most of its government funding. Wittmer said that when the school ended its association with Kilmore International School (Vic), an international student services company owned by Tai and Chen, it lost its capacity to attract more students and best look after the ones it still had. They cant function now, he said. They havent got any expertise. He said the root cause of the schools closure was financial mismanagement. Wherever the truth lies within these competing narratives, the past two years have dramatically changed the character of the school. From its inception in 1990, the school offered the International Baccalaureate instead of VCE to senior students. Amber Meuwissen says while international students previously made up half her year level, there were just two left this year. International students are charged up to $35,350 while domestic students are charged fees of up to $16,260 and attracted federal government funding. This meant that under the schools business model, it took three new domestic students to replace the revenue lost when two international students went home. Tai released a statement on Friday denying his company was responsible for the school going under. We offered to help with sourcing necessary funds to maintain the schools operations, he said. Despite discussions, a suitable arrangement with the administrators that would allow the school to continue has not eventuated. Parents Sweta and Vijay Jaswal, with son Shaurya and daughter Reanna, are looking for a new school for their son after Colmonts sudden collapse. Credit:Justin McManus The issue was released on the letterhead of two companies, Sky Writers Pty Ltd and Victorian International Enterprises. Together, these companies own the school buildings and 12.5 acres of school grounds and surrounding land now ripe for residential development. In the final weeks of the schools life, board members and the administrators approached banks, their local MPs and the federal Treasury Department in search of a financial solution. Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes sends her own children to school in the area and said her local staff did what they could to help keep the school running. Local Federal MP Rob Mitchell said families had been let down and important questions remain unanswered. Where has all the money gone? he said. We have been trying to bloody work out what is going on. There are issues with the way the land was sold, the [way its] name was sold, a whole heap of things. The administrators need to take a deep breath and go back to families and staff and explain exactly what has gone on. Kilmore parent Vijay Jaswal feels cheated by the school. The Craigieburn father enrolled his daughter at the renamed Colmont School for next year on Tuesday. It was the day the school decided to place itself in administration, yet it took his money all the same. Im in a bad situation as I have paid fees for 2023 and there is no indication that Ill get my money back, Jaswal said. We dont know that. Loading The schools administrators told parents by email on Friday that pre-paid school fees and security deposits were being reviewed to assess if they could be returned, but gave no guarantee they would be. Parents were frantically swapping notes on Friday, trying to find a new school to take in their children. A flurry of names were floated as possibilities: Salesian College, Overnewton, Ivanhoe Grammar, Hume Anglican Grammar, Aitken College, Braemar College. Some raised the prospect of home schooling for the rest of the year. Hume Anglican principal Bill Sweeney said the school had fielded so many calls from Colmont parents it had put on an extra staff member to answer them. Peter Dutton is just about the last politician voters would expect to measure his words to avoid giving offence to a minority group. So it was revealing that he used the opening of federal parliament on Tuesday to break with the provocative habit of his predecessor. The opposition leader was careful not to repeat the formula that Scott Morrison used when responding to the Welcome to Country from Ngambri elder Paul House. Whenever the former prime minister paid his respects to Indigenous leaders past, present and emerging, he would include a shout-out to any servicemen and women in the audience. At best, it had been a clumsy attempt by Morrison to drape himself in the Australian flag; at worst, a passive-aggressive reminder that the white man was in charge. Illustration: Simon Letch Credit:The Sydney Morning Herald Dutton inverted the Morrison script by saying: I want to make sure that as a parliament, and as a former defence minister, we also pay our respects to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who have served our nation in the past and continue to do so today. Whether Dutton was just drawing a polite contrast between himself and the former PM or signalling something more virtuous in his approach to reconciliation remains to be seen. But it is a big step for a conservative leader to scratch the scab of our foundation. The Indigenous men and women who fought in the two world wars, in Korea, and in the first phase of the Vietnam War did so without the right to be counted as people in their own country. They gave their lives to a nation that did not see them as fellow members of the human race. The international nurses union says Australia needs to train its own nurses instead of poaching from overseas, as a Filipino academic warned her country was also running short amid a recruitment spree by wealthy nations. International Council of Nurses chief executive Howard Catton said the ethics of signing up nurses from developing countries had become even more problematic during the coronavirus pandemic when the global shortage of nurses, estimated to be 6 million in 2020, doubled. Nurses from the Philippines are in high demand around the world. Pictured is Ethel Lydia Matias, working in Dubai. Credit:AP Professor Teresita Irigo-Barcelo, former dean of the College of Nursing at Centro Escolar University in Manila and a former national president of the Philippine Nurses Association, said she did not agree with rich countries such as Australia poaching nurses from the Philippines. Our country needs our own nurses to care for our own citizens, Irigo-Barcelo told this masthead. We are also experiencing a shortage of nurses. Premier Dominic Perrottet will land back in Sydney on Saturday to despairing colleagues who are watching the government slowly disintegrate. No positive tales of his first trade mission as premier, but genuine fears that the Coalition is in free fall and nothing is being done to stop it. The John Barilaro US trade appointment fiasco has now dragged on for a ridiculous amount of time and is only gathering pace. A clearly frustrated Perrottet keeps pointing to the independent review he commissioned, which he is hoping will bring an end to the sorry saga. That is unlikely. Trade Minister Stuart Ayres and Premier Dominic Perrottet in Mumbai on Thursday. Credit:AAP Perrottet had initially expected to receive the review, being conducted by former public service commissioner Graeme Head, while he was overseas. However, that did not happen. The longer it takes to be handed to the premier, the more damage will be done. Meanwhile, his embattled Trade Minister Stuart Ayres joined him in India on the last leg of the mission, only serving to draw more attention to the fiasco. Document after document on the recruitment process is being released to the upper house, making the situation worse for Perrottet, and more so Ayres. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has capped off a horror 10-day trade mission overshadowed by multiple crises engulfing his government, including defending one of his ministers against unrelated bullying allegations amid the worsening Barilaro trade saga. On his last day in India Perrottet was forced to address allegations his SafeWork minister Eleni Petinos had a history of bullying and harassing staff in her office. NSW Premier under increasing pressure on the final leg of his trade mission in India. Credit:AAP It followed media reports Petinos, the small business and fair trading minister, allegedly berated staff with offensive language including the words retarded and stupid, triggering the departure of multiple staffers since she was promoted in December. The premier said Petinos denied the allegations reported by News Corp and stressed that an anonymous complaint to the Department of Premier and Cabinet had been dealt with appropriately. Gold mining businessman John Changjin Li has been an enigmatic figure in Sydneys trophy home market since he first made headlines in 2020 by buying Point Piper trophy home Edgewater for $95 million. Agents who sell for the formerly Shanghai-based businessman are guarded about media coverage, and none of the significant property deals linked to him are held in his name and are instead held in the names of family or corporate interests. An artists impression of the $10-million mansion on the drawing board for the Hopetoun Avenue site. But that hasnt stopped the director of Kingland Gold and Kingland Mining from making some handsome capital gains on his local real estate, like the Vaucluse investment bought in 2020 for $10.9 million and sold earlier this year for $26 million or the Bayview mansion bought for $11.5 million and sold a year later for $15 million. Li is hoping to do just as well again on his home in Vaucluse, which is being offered to buyers for $40 million-plus through Christies Shane Clinton. Hong Kong: COVID-19 antiviral eligibility relaxed (To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.) The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 4,696 additional locally acquired COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority announced that it is relaxing the eligibility of COVID-19 antiviral prescriptions. At a press briefing this afternoon, Hospital Authority Chief Manager (Clinical Effectiveness & Technology Management) Dr Gladys Kwan talked about the new arrangements for the COVID-19 oral antiviral medications. Dr Kwan said: For those who are under 60 years of age, and who are at high risk of medical illness, and for those who are suffering from chronic illnesses, if they have symptoms of COVID-19 within five days and seek medical attention, and if they don't have any contraindications to the antiviral drugs, all of these patients will be included and can be prescribed with antivirals. We have designated clinics so patients can be present physically to seek medical attention so that we can prescribe them with the antiviral drugs. The other way is to book our telemedicine service and through this we will prescribe the medications and then send the medicine to their home right away. She added that patients can also seek medical attention from private practitioners or even at private hospitals, and they can be prescribed with the antiviral drugs if appropriate. Regarding the newly acquired local cases, 1,751 were directly identified through nucleic acid tests and 2,945 via rapid antigen tests that were verified. Separately, 188 imported cases were reported. Two elderly care homes and two residential care homes for people with disabilities recorded positive cases involving residents and staff. The centre added that five more patients passed away, bringing the total number of deaths in the fifth wave of the epidemic to 9,285. There were also 351 virus cases reported by 290 schools. Three schools were subsequently advised to suspend face-to-face lessons for specific classes for a week. Meanwhile, the Government made a restriction-testing declaration to cover Tin Lai Court in Tin Shui Wai, 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 areas of Kwun Tong, Southern, Eastern districts, the Housing Department and 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 Government's dedicated webpage. This story has been published on: 2022-07-29. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. An Orthodox resident in Monsey takes a firearm training class with the Tactical Defense Initiative. (Courtesy) (New York Jewish Week) In the heavily Orthodox hamlet of Monsey in upstate New York, a Jewish gun owner is threatening a lawsuit to block Gov. Kathy Hochul's efforts to limit where guns can be carried. Tzvi Waldman, who is Orthodox and the founder of the New York State Jewish Gun Club (NYS-JGC) in Rockland County, told the New York Jewish Week that he plans to fight Hochul's gun legislation, calling it unconstitutional. "What the governor did in New York State flies in the face against any logic," Waldman said. "For a shul not to have the ability for people to carry arms is ridiculous." The club, which Waldman claims has hundreds of members, started about four years ago as a meet-up event for gun enthusiasts. It now includes training, education, help with permits and more. Among the majority of Jews who are not Orthodox, support for gun control is widespread. The Reform and Conservative movements, the network of Jewish federations and the non-denominational Jewish Council for Public Affairs have all passed resolutions in favor of tight gun safety laws. Yet Orthodox communities have polled and voted along conservative lines in recent years, sympathetic to a Republican platform that, especially in light of rising reports of antisemitic attacks, includes wide access to firearms. Meanwhile, deadly attacks on synagogues including the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the deadly 2019 shooting at a Chabad synagogue in Poway, California reignited a debate about keeping Jewish worshippers safe, with some synagogues advocating the carrying of concealed weapons. ..... With a global recession looming, the big US tech giants have been feeling the heat. Consumers tightening belts means less interest in gadgets and services, while businesses doing the same means a shrinking ad market. Then theres the ongoing global chip shortage and slow recovery from a pandemic for the sector to contend with. In May, the biggest tech companies had more than a trillion dollars wiped from their collective value in just three days. Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon are the largest companies in the US, with their combined worth making up a quarter of the S&P 500 index, so all eyes were on them (and Facebooks owner, Meta) this week as they posted their quarterly results. Mark Zuckerbergs Meta is in a transitional period as it moves from Facebook and Instagram to VR and the metaverse. The overall theme seems to be that the challenges are more or less unprecedented, the market for both hardware and advertising is under a lot of pressure, and the relative strength of the US dollar doesnt help when it comes to international business. But the tech behemoths have largely been able to lean on the parts of their business that consumers truly find essential the iPhone, Googles search engine, Microsofts cloud services to mitigate the worst of it. All except for Meta, which is struggling to hold on to whatever that essential element is. Chigaco: The death toll in eastern Kentucky has risen to at least 16 as flooding unleashed by epic torrential rainfall swept through homes, washed out roads and pushed rivers over their banks, state authorities said, warning that more fatalities were expected. Police and National Guard troops, including personnel from neighbouring states, used helicopters and boats to rescue dozens of people from homes and vehicles in Kentuckys Appalachian coal-mining region. Video from local media showed floodwaters reaching the roofs of houses and turning roads into rivers. Muddy water from a nearby river seeps into homes in Jackson, Kentucky. Credit:The Washington Post This isnt over. While were doing search and rescue, there are still real dangers out there, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said. After a helicopter flyover of the hardest-hit areas with Deanne Criswell, head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, Beshear said he was stunned by the scope of the flooding. PHILIPSBURG:--- With only a few days to go, Kittitians and Nevisians would be trudging back to the polling stations for the third election in seven years. The fledgling nation the seventh smallest democracy in the world is feeling the blows as for the first time, three political heavyweights are battling it out. It comes on the heels of the spectacular collapse of the Team Unity coalition government, where two of the parties Shawn Richards Peoples Action Movement and Mark Brantleys Concerned Citizens Movement publicly expressed no confidence in the man they supported as Prime Minister for two terms, Timothy Harris, who leads the Peoples Labour Party (PLP). Harris, who was installed as Prime Minister after winning only one seat in 2015, was back for the leadership position, despite holding the least amount of seats again in the partnership. However, on the campaign trail, his former allies have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Harris, blaming him for mismanagement of the countrys finances, financial malfeasance, and unprecedented levels of nepotism in his appointments in the civil service. They have also questioned his dealings with a number of big-budget legacy projects, including the proposed new prison, the Basseterre High School, and the controversial Leclanche energy project. However, a recent development has had the normally quiet electorate up in arms, demanding that a CARICOM observer mission is on the ground. They are fearing that the Harris administration is considering illegal and possibly treasonous tactics to secure victory. CNS spoke with several Kittitians, who are speaking out about some ominous happenings in the home stretch to the polls. One Fort Street vendor Tamara* (not her real name) said that the suspicious activity began about two weeks ago. It started with the Post Office. A couple of the people working there were complaining about a cough that wasnt going, she said. They tested for COVID, but they were negative. It was then that the Health Ministry sent in a team and discovered colonies of dangerous bacteria and Mould present throughout the building. We was (sic) not surprised, Tamara says, because a lot of the government buildings in town are very old, and the maintenance is not up to standards. Ah feel sorry fu de workers, but the government never really upkeep the place. However, that was not the end. Just a few days later, operations at the Robert L. Bradshaw Airport grounded to a halt, and employees walked out, complaining of coughs and itchy eyes. Tamara told CNS that she realized something was wrong. One employee at a popular concession stands said she was confused: It was really strange. The airport is one of the cleanest places on the island, and all of a sudden, there were people walking out and saying there was mould. The employee, speaking on condition of anonymity went on to say that she remained at her station and saw senior government and airport officials doing a walk-through of the facility before employees went back to work. There was no Mould. We managed to contact a senior official of the St. Christopher Air & Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) who confirmed that there was an incident where the facility was moderately humid and stuffy, and that the ventilation equipment was examined. However, he said he was not authorized to speak on the matter, and did not answer our queries about the presence of mould at the airport. CNS also tried contacting Mr. Alexis Nisbett, who is both the Election Campaign Manager for the PLP and husband of Health Minister Akilah Byron-Nisbett, but we were unsuccessful. However, a senior official from the Peoples Action Movement admitted that when they were part of the Team Unity coalition the question of the overseas/diaspora votes was a pressing one since those voters were largely supporters of St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP). He said that it is very important to the PLP that those voters be kept at bay, and added that he was hoping that Harris does not bring shame to the island by shutting down the airport under false pretenses in order to win the election. Maybe they got the idea from the post office scenario, and tried a test run at the airport, the official said. But I truly pray that no one is mad enough to bring the Federation into disrepute by closing the airport under false pretenses. That would be treason. ST. MARTIN:--- Its already being called a combustible poetry collection, Children of the Ash by N.C. Marks comes home to St. Vincent on Friday, July 29, 2022. The new book by Marks, an SVG geography teacher, will launch in the Conference Room of Beachcombers Hotel, Villa Beach, at 5 pm 7 pm, said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi (HNP), the books publisher. Children of the Ash was the main book launched to an audience of over 100 guests at the 20th annual St. Martin Book Fair last June. But there is nothing like coming home, said Sample. Comments on SVG radio programs; the stream of requests to Marks and HNP about where to buy the book; social media posts referencing the books mysterious-looking cover and excerpts of poems like Me Nar Go Back (To Red Zone) and Minister of Everything, suggest that Children of the Ash is a hotly anticipated title in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said Lasana Sekou, HNPs projects director. Critical reviews are also driving interest in the 120-page poetry collection. The UK lecturer/researcher, Dr. Michael McMillan, calls Children of the Ash An invaluable barometer of Vincentian societys response to the volcanic eruption of the islands mistress Soufriere in the 21st century. McMillan goes further. He dares to make a holy grail connection for the poet, better known for her dystopian novel Plastered in Pretty, by pointing out that, Marks achieves what [Shake] Keane did for the same [SVG society] in the late 20th century. The University of Belize lecturer, Ubaldimir Guerra, is more succinct: N.C. Marks collection combusts to bear witness to rape culture, suppression and landscape destruction, and unearth a horizon of truths and hypocrisies often buried by the rubble and violence of dominant media narratives, corruption, abuse, and neoliberal agendas. Trouble in paradise poetics or well-crafted verse, the July 29 launch is a book party and Marks said that she wants all her people to enjoy the culture of good books and exciting poetry on Friday. The invitation to Villa is a welcoming one (RSVP +1 (784) 526-5129), featuring a steelpan and kaiso performance, guest speaker Jomo Sanga Thomas, and the impeccable reception and ambiance hosted by Joche, said Shujah Reiph, Marks literary agent. Not to mention that all attention is certain to be on N.C. Marks, reading select poems from Children of the Ash. In the coming days Children of the Ash will be available at Gaymes Book Centre in Kingstown. The book is available at Amazon/SPDbooks https://bit.ly/3b8Pnd3. BONAIRE:--- The Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) is excited to announce the 2022 Junior Ranger Exchange event, which will be held on St. Eustatius between July 30th and August 5th. Junior Rangers from Aruba, Bonaire, Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten will come together to learn all about the unique biodiversity within the Dutch Caribbean and work to develop positive, cooperative, and social skills. Island Collaboration This annual event helps build community and collaboration between the Dutch Caribbean islands by supporting the next generation of nature-minded citizens. Each year, two junior rangers between the ages of 10 and 13 are invited to come together and share what theyve learned about nature on their islands. Participating organizations this year include Fundacion Parke Nacional Aruba, Stinapa Bonaire, Saba Conservation Foundation, Stenapa St. Eustatius, and Nature Foundation St. Maarten. By combining educational and scientific components throughout the exchange event, participants are empowered to share ideas and improve the connections between the protected area management organizations and the educational programs. Building Resilience The theme of this years event is Ecosystem Services and How They Support Us All. As small islands, the Dutch Caribbean will be forced to face some of the most significant impacts of climate change. Protecting and improving the local ecosystem services available to each island will help build resilience and ensure each island is capable of flourishing for the next generation. During this event, Junior Rangers will develop an awareness of each islands key flora and fauna, learn about the importance of biodiversity and its preservation in response to climate change and explore different links between humans and nature. This program is funded by Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF-NL). DCNAs activities are generously funded by the National Postcode Lottery. Island sponsors Azure Beach Hotel in St. Maarten, Winair, and Dominoes Pizza have also graciously donated to this event. To follow along, stay tuned to DCNAs social media pages- Facebook (Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance), and Instagram (dcnanature)! For interviews, please contact Dahlia Hassell Knijff, DCNA Projects Officer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands:--- CCRIF SPC is pleased to announce that its member governments have renewed their parametric insurance coverage for tropical cyclones, excess rainfall and earthquakes, and the fisheries sector for the policy year 2022/23, which began on June 1, 2022. For the earthquake, tropical cyclone, and excess rainfall policies, members ceded over US$1.2 billion in coverage an increase of 10 per cent over the previous year. Thirteen member governments increased their coverage compared with the 2021/22 policy year. The renewal and demand for increased coverage by members illustrate that countries continue to recognize the critical importance of financially protecting their economies against natural disasters, especially in the context of the increasing frequency and intensity of natural hazards. CCRIF continued to work with development partners to explore opportunities to support its members to retain and increase coverage. The World Bank, in partnership with (i) the European Union (EU) through its Caribbean Regional Resilience Building Facility (CRRB) managed by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, made available additional grant funding to CCRIF SPC to support eligible Caribbean countries; and (ii) the EU, Germany (through KfW Development Bank and Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)) and the United States Treasury (UST), through the Central America and the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Program, made available additional grant funding to CCRIF SPC to support Central American members. For the 2022/2023 policy year, and thanks to the support of development partners, CCRIF offered its members the option to reduce the cost of their policy premiums or to increase coverage or both by approximately 11 per cent for tropical cyclone policies and 24 per cent for excess rainfall policies for the Caribbean and 15 to 30 per cent to Central American members. In addition to this support, CCRIF also provided discounts to its members as an incentive to increase coverage, including a discount to members on any increased coverage over the previous policy year (2021/22) for tropical cyclone and earthquake policies. In previous years, CCRIF SPC offered similar discounts to its members as part of its support to the COVID-19 pandemic response of member governments. For instance, for policy years 2020/21 and 2021/22 CCRIF SPC, with support from the EUs CRRB and the Central America and the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Program, was able to give countries the option to increase coverage or reduce premium payments by up to 23 per cent for the Caribbean and up to 50 per cent for Central America. Additionally, CCRIF provides sales discounts and incentives each year to its members, given that it operates as a development insurance company, and has a strong interest in its members ambitions to advance sustainable development, recognizing that parametric insurance coverage is key to reducing budget volatility following natural disasters. Further, the World Bank provided premium support to pilot countries Grenada and Saint Lucia for a fourth year for their 2022/23 COAST policies. COAST is designed to support the fisheries sector and fisherfolk following climate-related disasters. The World Bank has been providing premium support to these two countries since COAST was introduced in 2019. CCRIFs value to members is continuously demonstrated through its quick payouts following natural disasters, allowing governments to address their most pressing needs, including support to vulnerable communities. CCRIF made payouts to three members during the 2021/22 policy year a payout of US$40 million to the Government of Haiti after the earthquake in August 2021, and payouts to Barbados after Tropical Cyclone Elsa and Trinidad and Tobago following heavy rains in August 2021. The payout to Haiti represents the largest payout that CCRIF has made since its inception in 2007. Since 2007, the Facility has made a total of 54 payouts to 16 of its member governments, totalling approximately US$245 million all paid within 14 days of the event. Based on the assessment of the use of payouts, these funds have supported over 3.5 million persons in the Caribbean and Central America and also have been used to support the rehabilitation of critical infrastructure. Countries can purchase policies with coverage up to US$150 million per peril, although the limited fiscal space of countries continues to constrain their ability to do so and many are not able to purchase optimal coverage consistent with the risk profiles of their countries, even with current discounts. CCRIF was formed as the rst multi-country, multi-peril risk pool in the world and was the rst insurance instrument to successfully develop parametric insurance policies for natural catastrophes. Parametric insurance, provided by CCRIF, is one of a suite of disaster risk financing instruments available to governments to financially protect themselves following natural disasters. CCRIFs parametric insurance was specifically designed to cover high intensity, low frequency events and to provide quick liquidity within 14 days of an event if a policy is triggered. CCRIF insurance fills the liquidity gap that space that lies between a countrys access to short-term supplies immediately following a natural disaster and before long-term reconstruction and redevelopment assistance begins. This really means that CCRIF was not designed to cover all losses on the ground but to provide countries with a quick injection of monetary resources to meet immediate needs of a country and support the most vulnerable. International discussions on sustainable recovery post-COVID call for investment in small island developing states in a range of disaster risk financing solutions and instruments such as parametric insurance and encourage governments to roll out, in collaboration with partners in the public and private sectors, other types of insurance mechanisms for vulnerable groups. CCRIF supports this approach and is currently leading the transition phase of the Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean (CRAIC) Project and working alongside the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative, ILO Impact Insurance, and Guardian General Insurance Ltd. to increase access to the Livelihood Protection Policy (LPP), a microinsurance product that was designed to protect the livelihoods of vulnerable low-income individuals by providing quick cash payouts following extreme weather events. Additionally, CCRIF is continuing the rollout of the COAST product for the fisheries sector, which was halted by COVID. CCRIF continues to expand its products and continues to work with the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) for the rollout of its electric utilities product. About CCRIF SPC: CCRIF SPC is a segregated portfolio company, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean. It limits the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes, earthquakes and excess rainfall events to Caribbean and Central American governments by quickly providing short-term liquidity when a parametric insurance policy is triggered. It is the worlds first regional fund utilising parametric insurance, giving member governments the unique opportunity to purchase earthquake, hurricane and excess rainfall catastrophe coverage with lowest-possible pricing. CCRIF was developed under the technical leadership of the World Bank and with a grant from the Government of Japan. It was capitalized through contributions to a Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) by the Government of Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, the governments of the UK and France, the Caribbean Development Bank and the governments of Ireland and Bermuda, as well as through membership fees paid by participating governments. In 2014, a second MDTF was established by the World Bank to support the development of CCRIF SPCs new products for current and potential members and facilitate the entry of Central American countries and additional Caribbean countries. The MDTF currently channels funds from various donors, including: Canada, through Global Affairs Canada; the United States, through the Department of the Treasury; the European Union, through the European Commission, and Germany, through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and KfW. Additional financing has been provided by the Caribbean Development Bank, with resources provided by Mexico; the Government of Ireland; and the European Union through its Regional Resilience Building Facility managed by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and The World Bank. For more information about CCRIF SPC: Website: www.ccrif.org | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | USU intensifies cooperation with automotive group on software license management MAglingen, Germany / Boston, USA a July 28, 2022 a Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is expanding its cooperation with USU to optimize its group-wide software asset management (SAM). The current contract covers the migration of the existing solution for USU software asset management as SAM solution-as-a-service. In future, USU will run the application as a full-service provider for the BMW Group at its own data center in Aachen and deliver extensive technical managed services. The strategy of proactive software asset management relieves the BMW Group of a whole range of manual work. As a result, the automotive group can focus on the relevant commercial data for making the right decisions on compliance and for the best possible use of software licenses. The BMW Group had already chosen a USU SaaS and managed service solution for SAP license optimization in 2021. With well over 100,000 SAP users, the car manufacturer is one of the worlda?s biggest SAP customers. Based on its positive experiences with the USU solution, the BMW Group is also expanding this full-service version to the management and controlling of software from all manufacturers it uses. Both SaaS applications run on a central server. For the software inventory of cloud and on-premise applications, the USU Discovery module is also used. aI am delighted that we are further expanding our cooperation with the BMW Group and can actively support our longstanding customer with minimizing risks and significantly reducing software costs. Especially in these difficult times, cost-effective use of software is particularly important,a says Achim Rudolph, Managing Director of USU Technologies GmbH. Inclusion and Innovation: Worldwide spectrum experts to gather at DSA Global Summit 2022 Posted by Publisher Telecommunication Washington D.C., USA, 28 July 2022: The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) has today announced the first speakers for its 10th annual Global Summit. Focusing on the use-cases and impacts of spectrum sharing success over the last year, the 2022 Global Summit returns to an in-person format, taking place in Paris, 12-14 September 2022. Building upon the work of previous summits, the 2022 Global Summit welcomes regulators, policymakers, industry stakeholders, academia and civil organizations from across the globe to discuss the spectrum sharing methods and models set to empower next-generation technologies like Wi-Fi 7 as the benefits of dynamic spectrum access become increasingly evident. Ahead of the event, the first two speakers have been confirmed as Mario Maniewicz, Director of the Radiocommunications Office, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and Councillor Yolisa Kedama of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). Further announcements are set to be released over the next few weeks. The 2022 Summit will be a three-day event, with a private Regulator-only discussion-oriented session taking place on Monday, September 12. Featuring a roundtable discussion with participants from the Americas, Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific aiming to identify gaps in dynamic spectrum sharing and to provide recommendations to increase spectrum availability for affordable connectivity for the underserved. The other two days will comprise of public sessions addressing recent events and global challenges faced by so changing the outlook for dynamic regulatory models. Topics discussed will include the success story of Wi-Fi 6E, the path to Wi-Fi 7, digital equity, digital inclusion and much more. aThe DSA would like to invite government and industry officials from across the globe to join us in Paris and discuss the reality and trends in efficient use of the spectrum. Users are demanding more capacity, better throughput, and low latency. For affordable networks, Wi-Fi, 6E and tiered spectrum sharing models are ideal technologies to deliver those requirements and spectrum regulators should act nowa said DSA President Martha Suarez. aFollowing last yeara?s virtual summit, I am looking forward to seeing many of our spectrum colleagues face-to-face as we look to address the challenges of increasing broadband demands and the work required to promote innovation digital inclusion.a With more and more countries pledging to open up the 6 GHz band for unlicensed access, and major spectrum sharing decisions being made for spectrum for industries and verticals using 3GPP technologies, the 2022 Global Summit will feature a particular focus on regional developments and inter-regional exchanges. The successes throughout the previous year will play a key role in discussions throughout the summit, producing a comprehensive event that will evaluate current use-cases and look to evaluate future progression. The 2022 Global Summit will be held 12-14 September, in Paris, France. For more information, please contact Proactive PR at dsa@proactive-pr.com. Posted Friday, July 29, 2022 7:15:40 AM Congratulations are in order for Kathleen Gati, who has been playing the role of love-to-hate Port Charles villain Dr. Liesl Obrecht for a whopping ten years. The actress marked the milestone moment by posting a photo on Twitter that shows her standing outside the GH studios. "Ten years this week @GeneralHospital," she shares. "First day at this studio was July 31, 2012 for a quick stint! Thank you @valentinifrank @TeschnerMark and to all cast and crew, and of course to all you amazing #GH fans for the ten years of love and kindness! #gratitude #actorslife" Ten years this week @GeneralHospital First day at this studio was July 31, 2012 for a quick stint! Thank you @valentinifrank @TeschnerMark and to all cast and crew, and of course to all you amazing #GH fans for the ten years of love and kindness! #gratitude #actorslife pic.twitter.com/k951AjsiKP - Kathleen Gati (@gatitweets) July 27, 2022 Though Gati first began taping the role of Dr. Obrecht on July 31, she made her on-screen debut on August 24 in a story that had Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) and Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) traveling to a medical clinic in Lucerne, Switzerland, in search of Anna's presumed-deceased daughter, Robin (Kimberly McCullough). Dr. Obrecht was a doctor at the clinic who was later revealed to be in cahoots with villain Cesar Faison (Anders Hove), together with whom she was secretly holding Robin and also Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan). In a 2013 interview with Soaps In Depth magazine, Gati revealed that her role as Dr. Obrecht came to be because "they needed a German doctor to say a few things and then go." The character was expanded after Anthony Geary (ex-Luke Spencer) sang Gati's praises to GH executive producer Frank Valentini, who agreed with Geary's assessment and asked then-head writer Ron Carlivati to create more material for the character. He did, and viewers have watched Gati's initial run as Obrecht turn into a decade of fun stories that have seen the character revealed to be the mother of Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) and Nathan West (Ryan Paevey), as well as the sister of Madeline Reeves (Donna Mills). Obrecht also became chief of staff at General Hospital, among other major storylines. As for her status at GH changing from a short storyline arc to years of material, Gati revealed in 2013 that her time on the ABC soap "was always precious and still is." She also enthused that being on GH felt like being home. "I've been in Los Angeles for 15 years, and for the first time, I actually feel like I belong to a family." MEXICO CITY (AP) At least 16 people were killed in a bus crash in northwestern Nicaragua, including 13 Venezuelans, National Police said Thursday. A Nicaraguan citizen was also among the dead and the other two fatalities had not yet been identified, according to a police statement. RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) A day after Connor Harney received anonymous text messages asking him to retract his signature from a petition to qualify Green Party candidates for the November ballot in North Carolina, he said unidentified canvassers brought their attempts to interfere with democracy to his doorstep. A woman claiming to represent the state Board of Elections appeared at his home in Fuquay-Varina in late June, a checklist of street addresses in hand, and repeated the request, he said. When Harney a 31-year-old historian at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro refused and questioned the womans affiliation, she left with a warning: If Green Party candidates gain ballot access, they could take away votes from Democrats and hand the GOP victories in tight races, namely the Senate race between Democrat Cheri Beasley and Trump-backed Republican Rep. Ted Budd. I told her, What youre doing now makes Democrats look very desperate, said Harney, a registered independent. But, more importantly, it goes against the democratic process because youre actively trying to ensure another party doesnt make it onto the ballot. A dispute over the Green Party's stalled effort to field a Senate candidate has exposed the Democratic Party's bareknuckle efforts to prevent the progressive group from siphoning away crucial votes come November. The state Board of Elections' Democratic majority rejected the Green Party petition in a 3-2 vote on June 30, citing petition sheets with nearly identical handwriting, incomplete personal information, duplicate names and deceased signatories. The Green Party then sued as the board investigates the validity of its signatures, alleging Democratic interference in the petitioning process and asking the court to reverse the boards decision. Harney is one of more than a dozen signers mentioned in the lawsuit who reported receiving intimidating messages, calls or home visits. These signers said some canvassers declined to identify themselves or falsely claimed to represent the Green Party or the elections board. Others said they were sent by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee the driving force working to elect Beasley and other Democratic Senate candidates nationwide. With the Senate in a 50-50 deadlock, North Carolina is one of the few states where Democrats have strong potential to pick up a seat, said Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper. Despite the stakes, he found the Democrats' tactics jaw dropping. This is not politics as usual, Cooper said. We expect political parties to want to win thats not the problem. It crosses the line when they appear to be resorting to intimidation and, in a few cases, lies. The Democrats acknowledge asking signers to remove their names, but claim they were merely trying to make sure potential supporters weren't being tricked. "We reached out to voters to ensure they had not been deceived, DSCC spokesperson Amanda Sherman said. Sherman said the DSCC is funneling $30 million into North Carolina and eight other Senate battleground states through its Defend the Majority campaign, the largest investment in field organizing the committee has ever made this early in the campaign cycle. Though Democrats had little success dissuading progressive voters from backing the Green Party ballot bid, their lawyers, including Elias Law Group, general counsel for the DSCC, lobbied the board to scrutinize irregularities among the signatures. With its petition rejected, the Green Party missed the July 1 deadline to nominate its candidates for the November ballot. Now the party's choice for Senate, Matthew Hoh, could appear only by court order or legislative action from the General Assembly, which concluded its work session on July 1, elections board spokesperson Patrick Gannon said. The board will present the findings of its fraud investigation on Monday, one week before the Green Party lawsuit gets its first hearing on Aug. 8. Hohs campaign manager Rose Ruby said their uphill battle to reach the ballot illuminates the many barriers third-party candidates face nationwide. But she embraces Hoh's role as a disruptor of the status quo and says Democrats have only themselves to blame if the Greens spoil their election. The spoiler label is an antidemocratic characterization of what it means to have a healthy democracy, Ruby said. If Democrats dont want to fear that theres a split in their vote, then its their job to earn those votes and to put out the kind of policies that the Green Party is getting out. ___ Schoenbaum is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her at twitter.com/H_Schoenbaum. BRIDGEPORT An attorney from Glastonbury was sentenced to two years in prison for tax fraud Thursday, according to federal prosecutors. After entering into a payment plan with the IRS to make up for multiple missed years worth of tax payments, Deron D. Freeman, 47, hid hundreds of thousands of dollars in a separate account, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in a news release. When he caught up on payments, Freeman shortly after transferred more than $200,000 from the separate account to his personal account. He then filed false tax returns for later years and failed to pay his owed taxes from 2012 to 2015, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. Evidence at his trial revealed Freeman spent lavishly on cars and watercraft during this time. Between 2012 to 2016, he spent about $1.5 million to construct a new home, the U.S. Attorneys office said. U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport sentenced Freeman to two years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for the tax fraud offenses. Bolden also ordered Freeman to pay $357,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and issued a fine of $15,000, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. Freeman was released on $100,000 bond and is required to report to prison on Sept. 12. The U.S. Attorneys office said the owner of the Law Offices of Deron Freeman in Hartford fell severely behind on his federal tax payments between 2006 and 2010. Freeman failed to pay his overdue tax balance, despite multiple notices of delinquent taxes and the imposition of payment and interest by the IRS. In 2010, the IRS started a collection action against Freeman for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 tax years, the U.S. Attorneys office said. Freeman then entered into a payment plan with the IRS. In 2011, he started to use a bank account in the name of a third party to hold hold hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to protect the funds from IRS scrutiny, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. By June 2012, Freeman made sufficient tax payments so that the IRS removed a lien against him for the 2008 tax year. Soon after, he transferred more than $248,000 from the account to his personal account, the U.S. Attorneys office said. Freeman subsequently filed false tax returns for 2011, 2012 and 2013, failing to pay taxes on approximately $950,000 in income in those years, and also willfully failed to pay significant taxes owed for the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 tax years, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. On April 18, 2022, Bolden found Freeman guilty of three counts of making and subscribing a false tax return and four counts of failure to pay income tax. HUBERT, N.C. (AP) A Virginia man drove more than 300 miles to confront a 27-year-old man who he said dated his daughter, then fatally shot him in a fight, according to authorities in eastern North Carolina. The Onslow County Sheriffs Office said emergency responders found Jared Musgrove suffering from two gunshot wounds at a Hubert mobile home park on July 5, news outlets reported. Musgrove was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN, Texas Questions from the jury about whether Alex Jones is sorry and has learned his lesson after defaming parents of a slain Sandy Hook first-grader have provided the first window into the thinking of 12 people who will decide how much Jones must pay in damages. Is there anything you would recant about the Sandy Hook story? asked Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, reading a question from the jury to Infowars star Owen Shroyer on the fourth day of testimony in the highest profile defamation trial of its kind in the country. Jurors are permitted to submit questions after the testimony of witnesses. I would not have covered it at all, Shroyer responded without delay. Shroyer along with Jones and Infowars parent company Free Speech Systems were found liable in 2021 for defaming Sandy Hook parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, who sat just a few feet away from the witness stand Friday morning. It was not a subject I was familiar with, Shroyer continued. It caused pain and long-term negative effects on my career. Are Alex Jones and Infowars making any changes as a result of this (trial)? the judge asked Shroyer, reading from a list of questions the jury submitted to her after Shroyer finished his second day of testimony. Yes, Shroyer said. Do Alex Jones and Infowars consider this (trial) a learning experience? the judge read from the question list. Yes, Shroyer said. The tone of contrition in Shroyers responses contrasted to testimony earlier this week from an Infowars producer who asserted Jones right to free speech. The exception was when the Infowars producer Daria Karpova was asked about Infowars decision to put a notorious Sandy Hook denier on the air. It was the worst decision ever made by the company, she said. Jones was not in the courtroom on Friday, but he made news by suing his parent company, Free Speech Systems, in Connecticut Superior Court. Free Speech Systems also filed for bankruptcy in Texas court on Friday, but Jones attorney told Judge Gamble that wouldnt affect the Texas trial. Its unclear what this means for a similar Connecticut trial that is scheduled to begin jury selection next week. Jones also announced on Infowars that Obviously, Ill testify on my side next week. The families attorneys have not said whether they would call Jones to the witness stand or play excerpts from his deposition. Jones attorney said hell leave it up to his client. Its Alex Jones it's really his decision, attorney Andino Reynal said. Earlier in the week Jones made appearances for opening statements on Tuesday, and for testimony on Wednesday and Thursday. Jones sat between his attorneys on Thursday, for example, when his attorney played a video clip from 2012 where Jones said, I believe children died at Sandy Hook. Jones called the shooting of the parents son Jesse Lewis and 19 classmates along with six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School staged, synthetic, manufactured, a giant hoax, and completely fake with actors. As a result, the parents argue, 75 million Americans doubt or disbelieve the shooting happened on Dec. 14, 2012. For that, the parents want $1 in compensation and $1 in punishment for every Sandy Hook denier, or a total of $150 million from Jones. The jurys questions for Shroyer do not foretell how much it will decide to award Heslin and Lewis, but the questions indicate some of the jurors thinking as the first week of the two-week trial closed. The nationwide attention on the trial, which has been piqued by Jones showing up with a symbolic piece of tape over his mouth, and with lawyers getting into a confrontation, comes as Jones prepares for trials in Texas and Connecticut that will decide how much he has to pay other Sandy Hook families he defamed. Much of Fridays testimony focused on the contrast between the ethics of journalism and the loose boundaries of talk show hosting including arguments on both sides about how seriously millions of viewers of a conspiracy broadcast should take on-air news. Do you believe that the judge in this case is a hired actor? the judge asked Shroyer from the jurys question list. No, Shroyer said. Do you believe members of the jury in this case are paid or hired actors? the judge read. No, Shroyer said. What have you changed at Infowars as a result of this case? the judge continued. I am a lot less likely if at all to take something they give me and go straight to air with it, Shroyer responded. Shroyer may have been referring to his testimony on Thursday, when he admitted under questioning that he did nothing to fact-check a story he broadcast in 2018 that defamed Heslin. On Friday afternoon, Jones defense was expected to continue its cross examination of a journalism ethics expert hired by the parents to review Jones reporting about Sandy Hook. Ever listen to Rush Limbaugh? asked Jones attorney Andino Reynal to the expert witness, Fred Zipp, director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. Reynal was referring to the conservative radio personality who died last year. Yes, Zipp answered. Its similar to the Alex Jones Show, Reynal suggested. The fact is, in our nation we have a long tradition of people who sit in front of a microphone and free-associate about whats going on. Is there anything wrong with that? As long as the ranting is not injuring people it is perfectly fine, Zipp responded. In-person services for unemployment compensation claimants are now available by appointment at all CareerLink centers throughout Pennsylvania, Department of Labor and Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier announced Thursday. In all, 58 Pennsylvania CareerLink centers are accepting appointments to assist claimants with their cases including offices in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Hazleton. The unemployment compensation system plays a critical role in making certain that Pennsylvanians and their families stay financially afloat in times of need, Berrier said. The in-person services are the direct result of funding the department received in March 2022 through a $6.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, designed specifically to promote equitable access to unemployment compensation programs. Since the programs launch in May, the Department of Labor has used this federal funding to serve and assist more than 4,500 unemployment compensation claimants across Pennsylvania. In-person services for unemployment compensation claimants are designed to assist individuals who do not have proper technology, equipment or technical skills; individuals without access to home internet or broadband and individuals with limited English proficiency. To schedule an appointment, contact a local Pennsylvania CareerLink Center including the offices at 32 E. Union St., Wilkes-Barre, 570-822-1101; 135 Franklin Ave., Scranton, 570-963-4671; 75 N. Laurel St., Hazleton, 570-459-3854; 50 E. Locust St., Nesquehoning, 570-325-2915; or 203 E. Arch St., Pottsville, 570-622-5253. Approximately 262,370 people, Romanian and foreign nationals, and over 62,330 means of transport underwent border checks at all of Romania's crossing points on Thursday, on both the inbound and the outbound, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reports. There were about 127,120 travelers on the inbound, including 11,341 Ukrainian citizens (by 7.1 percent fewer compared to the day before). The number of Ukrainians who crossed into Romania since the pre-war date of February 10 until Thursday midnight is 1,727,381, the IGPF said. As part of the specific activities at crossing points and the green border, the border police found 70 illegal acts (46 infractions and 24 contraventions) committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens. The value of the seized undeclared goods (which were to be smuggled into the country) amounts to approximately RON 811,500. Fines worth over RON 47,420 were also issued. 22 foreign citizens who did not meet the legal requirements were denied entry to the country, and 72 Romanian citizens were also not allowed to leave the country for various legal reasons. AGERPRES In a message sent on Friday, on National Anthem Day, Defense Minister Vasile Dincu emphasizes that it represents a touchstone of the nation and urges the Romanians to listen to its "peculiarly relevant" message in the current difficult regional security context, the National Defense Ministry informs in a release. The DefMin brings to mind that the anthem was born from the "felicitous symbiosis between the musical genius of Anton Pann and Andrei Muresanu's well-known poem 'Un Rasunet/An Echo', in the historical context favored by the ideals of the 1848 Revolution", and that "Desteapta-te, romane!/Awaken Thee, Romanian!" was officially sung for the first time on July 29, 1848 in Ramnicu Valcea. "The song quickly won its place in the hearts of patriotic Romanians, establishing itself in its time as a symbol of the reawakening of the consciousness of our Romanian origin, a catalyst for the revival of national dignity, of unity of nation and language. In the great battles fought by the Romanian people in the centuries that followed, from the Independence War to the First and Second World War, the chords of this legendary song have raised the hearts and carried to victory thousands and thousands of soldiers with the tricolor on their chests," Vasile Dincu says. On December 1, 1918 - he goes on to note - the more than 100,000 Romanians gathered in Alba Iulia from all corners of the country to witness the most important moment in our history, the accomplishment of the Great Union, vibrated again in unison to the melody of the march "Awaken, Thee, Romanian!" "Forbidden during the communist period, but never forgotten by the Romanians, 'Awaken Thee, Romanian!' triumphed in the December 1989 Revolution, reconfirming its power and vocation to unite the Romanians' energies and asserting itself as the national anthem. Naturally, July 29, the date it was first sung publicly, was established by law in 1998 as Romania's National Anthem Day. The ancient patriotic march is played today in the opening of military ceremonies and major public events of the Romanian state," says the Defense Minister. "On National Anthem Day, I urge each and everyone to pause just for a moment and listen to its peculiarly relevant message. In the complicated security situation in our region, with heavy war clouds darkening the skies of neighboring Ukraine, the Romanians have proven that they know and can act in unity to defend our national values and allies and that they carry forward the ancient values, generously offering shelter to the tens of thousands of Ukrainians who took refuge in our country," Vasile Dincu goes on to write. According to the Defense Minister, on National Anthem Day "we must uncover our foreheads in sign of respect and symbolically unite our voices, wherever we are, to retrace the glorious path of this shrine-song of the Romanian nation from history to present day." AGERPRES President Klaus Iohannis declared on Friday that there is a need for public clarifications from the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) in the context of the speech delivered in Romania by the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, but also for a clarifying discussion within the coalition. "I believe that there is a need for public clarifications from the UDMR, because a significant part of the leadership and from among the UDMR was present at that event. They will have to explain if they agreed with the content of that speech that they applauded, something that would be extremely complicated, or if they didn't understand what was being talked about and just generically applauded the character who delivered the speech. Whatever the explanation, it has to be there, and I think a clarifying discussion needs to take place including in the governing coalition," said the head of state, at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, at the joint conference with his counterpart from the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu. He emphasized that "no one in Romania wants to cause a government crisis because a high-ranking foreign dignitary gave an erroneous speech". "But we can't pretend that those things weren't said, just as we can't pretend that those words weren't applauded," said President Iohannis.AGERPRES President Klaus Iohannis criticized the speech of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, held in Romania, highlighting that "it is wrong, it is a major error and unacceptable for a high European dignitary to come to the public stage with a speech built on race theory". "It is basically wrong, it is a major error and unacceptable for a high European dignitary to come to the public stage with a speech built on race theory, a theory which led to the most terrible catastrophe of the XX-th century, the Second World War, it is a theory of Europe's saddest memory and it cannot be accepted in any way that a European dignitary to come with such a theory in order to motivate any internal or external political actions. It just as regrettable that a high European dignitary comes on the public stage with an anti-European speech. It is wrong, unacceptable, regardless where this stage might be, the fact that this stage was in Transylvania is a problem for us and the reactions from the public space have shown that this is a problem for us," the head of state said, at Cotroceni Palace, during the joint conference with his counterpart from the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The President of UDMR (Democratic Union of Hungarians of Romania), Deputy Prime Minister Kelemen Hunor, on Friday told AGERPRES that there should be no discussion about a crisis facing the governing coalition, because the Union has fulfilled all its obligations so far assumed with its partners, while the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, never spoke of either Romania or the Bucharest authorities while he was paying a visit to the Tusnad resort. "We shouldn't be talking about a crisis in the coalition, there is no reason for it. A crisis in the coalition would be if one of the parties involved fails to observe the governing programme, if it breaks the coalition agreement, if we cannot agree on subjects in the governing programme, on our political agenda, if one of us does something against the general or specific interests of Romania and it is not the case in the coalition. Everyone has done their job, we discuss, we implement the governing programme, we look for solutions to the problems of the citizens and to the problems we all face, but a conflict within the coalition over a speech by a politician, no matter who that politician is from the European Union, I don't think that this is the case to say that it harms the coalition or the coalition's performance in any way. Orban didn't talk about Romania, Orban didn't talk about the Government of Romania, about the coalition, so there is no reason for his speech to generate tension in the coalition. So, I think we can discuss in the coalition about what Orban said and I am ready for any discussion," the UDMR leader told AGERPRES.Kelemen Hunor reiterated the "extremely clear" position of the UDMR condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine."We don't agree with war, we don't agree with any way to attack a sovereign state, and from this point of view we have not had and do not have disputes in the coalition. So we all agree with this position from the very beginning. Moreover, one can criticize certain decisions taken by our colleagues at the European Union level, where, of course, heads of state and government represent the European Union, they take decisions together, they take decisions by consensus, that's the culture of consensus in the Union. This does not mean that we cannot criticize certain attitudes. We can criticize. Romania can criticize, and Hungary can criticize, and France and all those who are in the Union, because neither in the European treaties, nor in the accession treaties it's written that freedom of expression and the freedom to have a nuanced, different opinion are prohibited. There is no such thing!," underscored the Deputy Prime Minister.According to the leader of the UDMR, there have been and there will probably be in the future, too, disputes in the European Union, but this does not concern the governing coalition, its cohesion."I saw that many said: "UDMR must be removed from the government." But why? If we were talking about our own statements, our action or inaction in the Government, about how we observed the governing programme, the agreement the coalition is based on and the interests of the Government and of the country, yes, ok. We can look for sanctions, we can look for all sorts of issues related to the functioning, to the improvement of the coalition, but this is not the case. Yes, let's have a discussion, we have nothing against it, when someone brings up the topic at a future meeting of the coalition, we can discuss this. It is an important topic, I understand, but no one can say at this points that the UDMR or the leaders of the Union failed to respect the partners in the coalition, failed to respect the agreement in the coalition, the governing programme or acted against the general and specific interests of Romania. That cannot be said," claimed Kelemen Hunor.He added that he would like as many EU leaders as possible to come to Romania to present their vision. "I would like as many leaders from the European Union as possible to come to Romania, to hear a lot of opinions and visions about what awaits us, how we want to make it easier for the citizens of the states in the Union, and I think we would all get closer to the truth if we listened to a lot of points of view, whether we agree with them or not. So we can clarify this position, I think our positions are extremely transparent, and of course we try to answer all the questions asked," stated the Deputy PM.Kelemen Hunor mentioned that "Viktor Orban brought some additional clarifications, in Vienna, to his speech in Tusnad, specifying that he condemns racism and that his statement was presented in a different way than intended, and that probably that wrong sentence, interpretable, was taken out of context and it was reinterpreted."Regarding the applause received by Orban, the UDMR leader said that no one could prevent those present at the event in Baile Tusnad, many of whom came out of curiosity, to applaud out of respect, politeness or for other reasons.President Klaus Iohannis stated, on Friday, that there is a need for public clarifications from the UDMR in the context of the speech delivered in Romania by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, but also for a clarifying discussion within the coalition.According to Iohannis, "no one in Romania wants to cause a government crisis because a high-ranking foreign dignitary gave an erroneous speech." The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, had, on Friday, a telephone conversation with his Estonian counterpart, Urmas Reinsalu, with whom he discussed the implications and developments of the war in Ukraine, the official from Tallinn expressing special appreciation for the measures taken by Romania to support Kiev. The two ministers agreed on the importance of maintaining firm positions versus Russia at the level of all multilateral formats, with the aim of discouraging the continuation of aggressive actions and isolation on the international stage, according to a release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to AGERPRES.At the same time, Minister Aurescu presented his analysis of the ongoing proceedings at the level of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in which Romania will intervene, as Estonia, as well as at the level of the International Criminal Court, as a result of the illegal war of aggression launched by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.The two heads of diplomacy highlighted the importance of leveraging the instruments and institutions of international law in support of maintaining and restoring international peace and security. They also emphasized the importance that all those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide or crimes of aggression, including at the highest level, be investigated, brought to justice and answer for their actions. A new case of monkeypox was confirmed in Romania, the patient - a 51-year-old man from Giurgiu - being in good condition, in isolation at home, the Ministry of Health informed. Until now, 21 patients have been diagnosed with monkeypox in Romania. Head of the Bucharest Organised Crime Brigade (BCCO) Bogdan Motoroiu said on Friday that because the excellent co-operation between the relevant Romanian and UK authorities in the last seven-eight years, more than 50 human trafficking cases were solved similar to the one in which a Romanian was sentenced in July 2022 to 11 years and eight months in prison for the sexual exploitation of two young women. "There is good co-operation with the UK authorities, which is also revealed by the good practices that the Romanian authorities and the UK authorities have developed over the recent years in the area of combatting human trafficking. In the last seven-eight years, the number of cases in which the joint investigation team was used is somewhere over 50," Motoroiu told a news conference at the Press Centre of the Romanian Police General Inspectorate (IGPR) on the rescue of two young women in the UK. He informed that missions conducted together with the UK counterparts have led to a Romanian national domiciled in Constanta County being sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison for the sexual exploitation of two persons. AGERPRES Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca will participate on Saturday in the presentation ceremony of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division's battle flag, which will take place at the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Constanta County (south-eastern Romania), the government announced in a release. Forces and hardware of the Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, deployed to Romania following the decisions of the NATO Madrid Summit, will carry out a demonstration exercise together with troops of the 'Marasesti' 9th Mechanized Brigade. A technical exhibition will also be organized that will include attack helicopters, tanks, armored amphibious personnel carriers, artillery and anti-aircraft warfare elements, as well as specific engineering and first aid equipment of the participating Romanian and American subunits that participate in the drill. President Klaus Iohannis decorated on Friday several German personalities at a ceremony that took place at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace. "The relationship with Germany is a special one to Romania, with strategic valences defined by dynamic and fruitful political collaboration and substantial economic co-operation. This relationship is also based on strong social and cultural ties, with an old tradition. Amid the multiple challenges of recent years, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing with the war of aggression launched by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, we have all appreciated the fact that the Romanian-German relationship has preserved its solidity, and our partnership continued to grow. An eloquent example in this regard is the dynamism of the bilateral dialogue this year, and I mean here the visit to Romania of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the meeting I had with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Brussels, the visit I made to Hof, in Bavaria, as well as other ministerial meetings held in Berlin and Bucharest," said Iohannis. He added that the decorations awarded acknowledge the dedication and perseverance with which the decorated personalities have got involved in the development of Romanian-German political, economic, social and cultural relations. Iohannis awarded a Grand Officer medal of the Faithful Service National Order to Bernd Fabritius, a former commissioner of the German Federal Government for immigrants of German origin and national minorities, a member of the Bundestag and chairman of the Association of Transylvanian Saxons in Germany; a Grand Officer medal of the Merit for the Promotion of Human Rights and Social Commitments Order to Barbara Stamm, a former chair of the Bavarian Parliament (2008-2018); a Commander medal of the Merit for the Promotion of Human Rights and Social Commitments Order to Wolfgang Schramm, internal medicine physician specialising in haematology, working at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bavarian Aid Association for Romanian Children; an Officer medal of the Merit for the Promotion of Human Rights and Social Commitments Order to Uwe-Volker Fabritius, an official responsible for Romania at the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Affairs of the state of Bavaria. President Iohannis also bestowed a Knight medal of the Faithful Service National Order on Hans-Peter Niedermeier, a former chairman of the Hanns Seidel Foundation. AGERPRES Visiting President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu said on Friday that Romania has stood by Moldova's side throughout the years, in good times and in bad times, pointing out that Romania was a "strong voice" in Brussels in support of her country's getting EU candidate status. Sandu also expressed her belief that the Moldovan-Romanian partnership will help overcome the difficulties caused by the war in Ukraine. "I am happy to return to Bucharest to personally convey my gratitude for the tireless, consistent and generous support that Romania has offered us in recent years. I thank you for this help. I appreciate in this context the strengthening of relations between our institutions. In February, the governments of our countries had a joint meeting that laid the foundations for several important bilateral projects this June, when the two parliaments convened for a joint meeting, and the cooperation between the parliamentary committees is also very good," Maia Sandu said in a joint statement with President Klaus Iohannis. "Also, we thank you for supporting us in our European endeavor. We are very grateful for Romania's role in all the stages of the preparation of the [European Council's] decision of June 23 and for Romania's vocal support in Brussels for Moldova being granted EU candidate status. European accession will mean for Moldova the consolidation of a society guided by the rule of law and respect for the rights of all people, joining the richest and most prosperous investment market and new opportunities for its citizens," Maia Sandu added. "I trust that the Moldovan-Romanian partnership will help us overcome the difficulties caused by the war in Ukraine. This unjust and bloody war must be stopped. Ukraine needs help. (...) We stand by Ukraine. We wish them victory and peace. In troubled times, humanity, care, solidarity, mutual help prevail," the Moldovan President emphasized. Maia Sandu, who is on an official visit to Romania at the invitation of President Klaus Iohannis, was welcomed with military honors at the Cotroceni Palace. AGERPRES The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, was welcomed with military honours by President Klaus Iohannis, on Friday, at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace. The Romanian delegation includes, among others, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu, presidential advisers Luminita Odobescu, Daniela Barsan, Delia Dinu, Sergiu Nistor, Cosmin Marinescu, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) Iulian Fota. The two presidents will have one-on-one and official talks, followed by joint press statements. According to the Presidential Administration, this visit will provide the opportunity for the first direct bilateral meeting of the two heads of state after the historic decision adopted at the European Council on June 23-24, granting the Republic of Moldova candidate status to join the 27-member bloc. During the meeting, President Klaus Iohannis will reaffirm our country's firm support for the advancement of the reform process in the Republic of Moldova, necessary for the fulfillment of the objectives established by the European Commission's Opinion of June 17, the source states. In addition to the theme of supporting Chisinau's European path, regional developments in the context of the war of aggression launched by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the ways to counteract its negative effects on the Republic of Moldova will be discussed. "President Klaus Iohannis will highlight the multidimensional assistance that Romania provides to the Republic of Moldova, including for the management of the crisis situations it faces, and concrete ways of prioritizing and diversifying this assistance will be discussed. At the same time, the importance of the Platform of Support for the Republic of Moldova, an instrument launched by Romania, Germany and France, with solid relevance both in terms of politics and the development dimension, intended to keep the Republic of Moldova in the priority attention of donors and to mobilize support for the efforts of the authorities in Chisinau in what concerns the reforms necessary for European integration, will be tackled," the Presidential Administration reads. The two presidents will also address topics of core interest on the bilateral agenda, such as the energy security of the Republic of Moldova and sectoral cooperation in key areas. The official visit takes place by virtue of the substantial intensification of bilateral dialogue and cooperation both at the highest level and at the governmental and parliamentary level, in the spirit of the community of language, culture and history shared by the two countries, as well as the bilateral strategic partnership for European integration of the Republic of Moldova. After the reception at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, the President of the Republic of Moldova will have a meeting with the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, and then she will meet with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, and the Vice-President of the Senate with President attributions, Alina Gorghiu.AGERPRES President of the Romanian Senate Alina Gorghiu said on Friday, after meeting President of Moldova Maia Sandu, that they had a broad discussion on energy security, as well as on the political and economic aid that Romania will grant to Moldova to join the European Union. "The meeting with Mrs President Maia Sandu was an extremely good one; as usual, I want to thank her for choosing Romania as the first country to visit after Moldova was granted the status of a candidate for EU accession. It was a broad discussion related to energy security, related to this most important bilateral project, namely that of helping Moldova join the European Union, both the political and technical support the Romanian Parliament will be providing," said Gorghiu at the Parliament House.She added that she invited Sandu to be part of the delegation of Moldova at the next joint session of the parliaments of Romania and Moldova, which will take place in Bucharest."I invited her to be part of the delegation of Moldova at the next joint session of parliaments, which will take place here. In June, it took place in Moldova, and I am convinced that a joint session will materialise very soon in Romania after we discuss the agenda, schedule and so on," concluded Gorghiu. As many as 8,831 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the last 24 hours in Romania, down 508 from the previous day, with over 25,000 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Friday. Of the new cases, 1,688 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 - 1,632, and in the counties of Cluj - 505, Timis - 439, Sibiu - 387, Prahova - 354, Iasi - 329, and Constanta - 313. The 14-day notification rate nationwide is 2.85 cases per 1,000 population. The highest rates are in Bucharest City - 8.31, followed by the counties of Cluj - 7, Ilfov - 5.88, Constanta - 5.41, Brasov - 5.16, and Sibiu - 5.07. As of Friday, 3,052,036 cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Romania. - Hospitalisations - As many as 3,757 people with COVID-19, up 48 from the previous reporting, including 590 children, are hospitalised in Romania at specialist care facilities. Out of the total number of hospitalised patients, 266 patients, up 13, including four minors, are in intensive care. Of the 266 patients admitted to ICU, 230 are unvaccinated against COVID-19. - Deaths - According to the ministry, 28 Romanians, 21 men and seven women, infected with SARS-CoV-2 are reported dead in the last 24 hours. Of the 28 deaths, one was recorded in the age group 30-39 years, three in the age group 50-59 years, two in the age group 60-69 years, ten in the age group 70-79 years, and 12 in the age group over 80 years. All deaths were in patients with comorbidities, and 20 deaths were in unvaccinated patients. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 65,963 people diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection have died in Romania. AGERPRES The Oil and Gas University (UPG) of Ploiesti has become a member of the INSEN - International Nuclear Security Education Network of the International Agency for Atomic Energy - IAEA based in Vienna, Austria, the education institution announced on Friday, in a press release. The source says that participation in the International Network for Education in the field of Nuclear Security opens up to the staff of the Department of Automatic Control, Computers and Electronics at UPG opportunities for carrying out scientific research activities and training of educational materials in the field of IT and physical security of critical infrastructures in the field of nuclear energy, in collaboration with other teams of INSEN member universities. The application for registration in this prestigious consortium was sent by the rector Prof. habil. PhD Eng. Dinu Florinel and the management of the Department of Automatic Control, Computers and Electronics, a department known for its works in the field of IT and physical security of systems in critical energy infrastructures, the source said. The activity of the Oil and Gas University of Ploiesti within the INSEN network will be coordinated by the rector, and for the activity in the field of critical infrastructure security is responsible lecturer PhD Eng. Pricop Emil, director of the Department of Automatic Control, Computers and Electronics.AGERPRES HONG KONG China Evergrande Group will offer its offshore creditors asset packages that may include shares in two overseas-listed units as a sweetener, the developer said on Friday, as a stifling liquidity crisis in the property sector continues. The two listed units are Evergrande Property Services Group Ltd. and electric vehicle maker China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd., the embattled developer said in an update on its preliminary restructuring proposal, a move that was widely expected by creditors. Evergrandes restructuring proposal, which was thin in details, comes as Chinas property sector, a key pillar for the worlds second-largest economy, lurches from one crisis to another. The sector has seen a string of debt defaults by cash-squeezed developers. With more than $300 billion in liabilities, Evergrande, once Chinas top-selling developer has been at the center of the crisis and its debt restructuring plan is seen as a possible template for others. A person familiar with the restructuring plan separately told Reuters Evergrande aimed to wrap up group due diligence work next month before starting negotiations with creditors on specific terms. The developers goal is to present by November a restructuring plan with more details and which would have key creditors approval, said the person, declining to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media. Evergrande declined to comment. On Friday, Evergrande said in the restructuring update that the due diligence process was continuing, given the groups size and complexity and the dynamics the group finds itself in. It expected due diligence work on the group to be completed in the near future, and aims to announce a specific plan in 2022. The worlds most indebted property developers entire $22.7 billion worth of offshore debt including loans and private bonds is deemed to be in default after missing payment obligations late last year. The developer began talks with offshore creditors about the restructuring proposal earlier this year, after advisers for a group of offshore bondholders demanded more transparency from the developer. Some bondholders were left unimpressed by the update on Friday. It is disappointing but sort of expected... There is nothing they could offer because we all know the company is pretty much a zombie now, said one onshore Evergrande bondholder. The bondholder said he had been following developments related to the offshore restructuring to get clues on what Evergrande might do with its onshore debt. He declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media. Resuming work Last week, the developer said a preliminary probe found 13.4 billion yuan ($1.99 billion) in deposits in Evergrande Property Services were used as collateral for pledge guarantees to facilitate financing by the group and seized by banks. Read full story The seized amount could wipe out most of the cash the unit was holding, analysts had said. Evergrande is pushing ahead with the disposal of its Hong Kong headquarters via a tendering process that ended this week, another source said. The sale proceeds of the Hong Kong tower would be used to repay offshore creditors. In its Friday statement, Evergrande expected it would take a relatively long time for the business to restore orderly operations and asset value for all stakeholders, due to the state of the real estate markets in China and the overall size of the companys assets and liabilities. It posted contracted sales of 12.3 billion yuan in the first six months, compared to 356.8 billion yuan a year ago, and resumed construction of 96% of its pre-sold and undelivered projects. In a separate statement on the company website, Evergrande said company sales have gradually restored since March as homebuyers regained some confidence after it guaranteed home delivery. It has also acquired new financing of 2.57 billion yuan ($381.12 million) in the first half of the year. Evergrande said it cut management staff at its headquarters by 67% to 712 people and at the local project level by 54% to 776 people to cut costs. Chinas economy, of which the property sector accounts for a quarter, only narrowly missed a contraction in the second quarter. A growing revolt by homebuyers this month who are threatening to stop paying mortgages on unfinished projects, has further clouded the outlook for the sector. Evergrande said it was making its best effort to resume work and construction and the group had partially or completely resumed construction of 96% of its pre-sold and undelivered projects. ($1 = 6.7433 Chinese yuan renminbi) NEW YORK The head of the nations financial watchdog is having second thoughts about how useful fines are in deterring illegal behavior in the financial industry, saying some companies have gotten so big that the money makes little difference. In an interview with The Associated Press, Rohit Chopra signaled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to deploy an array of tools that could limit the ability of a bank or financial firm to conduct business if they violate the law. In less than a year at the helm of the CFPB, Chopra has moved to turn the agency back into the assertive regulator it was under President Obama. The bureau took far fewer enforcement actions during the Trump administration. Some staff that had left the CFPB under President Trump have returned. The bureau has been adding enforcement staff and has reprioritized issues such fair lending that were set aside during the previous administration. Chopra, in a video interview with The Associated Press, said that the changes at the bureau have been necessary because the financial services industry has been transformed dramatically. Apple is now one of the biggest payment processors and has a credit card, Facebook tried to launch its own digital currency, and Amazon acts a financial middle man between merchants and customers in a way unthinkable a few years ago. Theres also been the rapid growth of buy now, pay later companies, which offer ways for borrowers to split up a purchase into a small number of equal installments. Its a product that effectively did not exist in the U.S. even three or four years ago. In some of his earliest moves, Chopra directed the bureau to investigate whether technology companies such as Apple, Amazon, PayPal, Square and others may be violating privacy laws when it comes to payments. The bureau is also investigating whether buy now, pay later companies are causing consumers to take on too much debt as well as how those loans should be reported on consumers credit reports. We are trying to make sure that we have a real-world understanding of todays markets, not in light of what happened in the pandemic, but in light of banking has really changed in the past few years, he said. Banks and other businesses have taken notice of the bureaus shift. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched an advertising campaign this summer deliberately targeting Chopra, who the business lobbying group has alleged is trying to radically change the financially services industry. Chopra is re-evaluating some of the traditional tools at regulators disposal. Because of the size of some of these companies, he said that tools such as fines may no longer be sufficient to punish bad actors. The CFPB is exploring other ways to rein in illegal practices, ranging from limitations on a firms growth or banning a company from opening new accounts, as well as imposing fines and liability on individuals instead of just the company. One option now being considered for repeat gross violations would be to revoke a banks deposit insurance, under the premise it is operating in an unsafe and unsound manner. Revoking bank deposit insurance would be a crippling blow for any financial company. In April, the CFPB sued TransUnion for allegedly engaging in deceptive marketing of credit products, in violation of a 2017 enforcement order. The bureau also sued one of TransUnions executives as part of its lawsuit, which is seeking monetary fines as well as an injunction to stop the practices. Were shifting our enforcement focus to these larger actors who knew something was a violation of the law but made a calculated decision to violate that law, Chopra said. TransUnion has denied it violated the 2017 order and is fighting the CFPBs lawsuit. Chopras comments partly reflect his experience as one of the Democratic seats on the Federal Trade Commission under President Trump. During his tenure, Chopra was openly critical of the regulators history of big investigations into anticompetitive behavior that ultimately ended in an inconsequential fine against a large company. In 2019, the FTC fined Facebook $5 billion for the social media companys extensive privacy violations. While the fine was the largest ever imposed by the agency, it represented less than 10% of the companys total sales that year, and less than one-third of the companys annual profits. In the interview, Chopra reiterated that he believes the FTCs actions did little to stem Facebooks bad practices. It felt like there were two standards at the FTC: hammer the little guy when they break the law, but when a big firm engaged in repeat offenses, it felt like nothing happened, he said. Chopra publicly referenced the need for more forms of enforcement than just a fine Wednesday after a company owned by Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway was found to have illegally discriminated against potential Black and Latino home owners. We will continue to seek new remedies to ensure all lenders meet and fulfill their responsibilities and obligations, Chopra said. Other financial regulators have also taken a multifaceted approach. Regulators have fined Wells Fargo billions of dollars for various bad practices, including pressuring its employees to illegally open millions of fake accounts in order to meet unrealistic sales goals. But the Federal Reserve went further. Wells has remained under constraints set by the Fed since 2018, unable to grow its business until the central bank deems its culture problems to be resolved. We spend the first chunk of this episode weighing in (spoiler free!) on Jordan Peele's spin on the flying saucer genre, "Nope," which was filled to bursting with big concepts, memorable images and over-the-top set pieces that deserve to be seen on the biggest screen you can find. We also offer up a preview of "Vengeance," a fictional riff on the true-crime podcast genre that was written and directed by B.J. Novak who many will likely know better as Ryan from "The Office," as well as a look at "Paper Girls," a soft sci-fi time travel series premiering on Amazon Prime that's adapted from a comic by the absurdly prolific writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Runaways, Saga). Streamed & Screened is a podcast about movies and TV hosted by Bruce Miller, an entertainment reporter for multiple decades who is now the editor of the Sioux City Journal, Jared McNett, a reporter for the Sioux City Journal, and Chris Lay, the podcast operations manager for Lee Enterprises. Make sure you're subscribed to Streamed & Screened (wherever you get your podcasts!) so as to not miss our next bonus episode which rounds up the most exciting movies of the dozens that dropped trailers this past weekend. Where to watch: Recent articles by Bruce Miller: Check out Jared on the 'On Iowa Politics Podcast' here: FRIDAY, July 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Children with ADHD may have less flexibility in the brain circuitry that allows for seamless "multitasking," a new study suggests. Research has shown that kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder often have more difficulty with so-called cognitive flexibility than their peers without the disorder. That refers to people's ability to switch their attention from one task to another, then back again, in daily life: Can you put some soup on the stove, then send an email and chat with your kids, without forgetting about the soup? Such mental deftness is also key in communicating, said Weili Lin, senior researcher on the new study. People have very different ways of speaking to a friend, a child or a co-worker, and they need to be able to seamlessly shift among those styles. In short, "cognitive flexibility is crucial to everyday life," said Lin, a professor of neurological medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When children with ADHD lack that flexibility, they can have trouble with schoolwork, relationships and general "executive functioning" -- abilities like planning, organizing and completing tasks. For the new study, Lin's team looked at a related question: Do children with ADHD show objective evidence of less neural flexibility? That is: Do they have less agility in the brain wiring that allows flexible thinking and multitasking? To find out, the researchers recruited 180 children and teenagers diagnosed with ADHD and 180 without the disorder, and had each undergo functional MRI. That's a type of imaging that measures brain activity by charting blood flow throughout the brain. At any given time, Lin explained, different brain "networks" are working together to allow people to perform their day-to-day activities. Some of that teamwork is stable over time, while certain other brain network relationships are more flexible -- coming online depending on the task at hand. Based on the fMRI scans, kids with ADHD generally showed less of that neural flexibility than their peers. And those differences, the study found, showed up in a wide range of brain areas -- including those involved in attention, executive functioning and processing visual and sensory information. That finding supports the belief that ADHD involves dysfunction in multiple brain networks, according to Dr. Eric Hollander, director of the Autism and Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Program at Montefiore Health System in New York City. He was not part of the study. It's not clear whether neural inflexibility is the root cause of ADHD. But Hollander said it's likely one cause, rather than an effect of having ADHD. "This neural inflexibility occurs early in brain development, and differs from the pattern seen in typically developing [children]," he said. Hollander also pointed to another study finding: When Lin's team focused on 46 participants who were on ADHD medication, those kids showed no clear deficits in neural agility. Hollander called that finding "interesting," since it suggests ADHD medication might correct neural inflexibility. The study -- recently published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry -- was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and foundation grants. It received no industry funding, Lin said. About 10% of U.S. children and teenagers have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to government figures. That diagnosis is based on a clinical evaluation -- where a health care provider gathers information about a child's behavior from parents, teachers and caregivers. Lin raised the possibility of using neural inflexibility, detected on fMRI, as an objective "biomarker" of ADHD. "It could potentially be used for diagnosing ADHD, monitoring its progression and seeing whether treatment is working," he said. More research is needed, however, he stressed. The next step, Lin said, is a longer-term study that tracks kids over time, to test whether neural flexibility is a good marker of ADHD and its progression. Hollander, though, doubted that monitoring neural flexibility would be practical in everyday practice. "I don't think this is feasible in the real world, since functional MRI is expensive and hard to obtain," he said. It's also unclear whether signs of neural inflexibility on brain imaging would pinpoint ADHD, specifically. Inflexible thinking, Hollander noted, can also show up in other conditions, such as autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder. More information The Nemours Foundation has more on ADHD. SOURCES: Weili Lin, PhD, professor, neurological medicine, director, Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Eric Hollander, MD, director, Autism and Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Program, Montefiore Health System, New York City; Molecular Psychiatry, July 22, 2022, online BOSTON (AP) A former Massachusetts state senator and Republican candidate for Congress pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges including allegedly stealing a gun from an elderly constituent and misleading investigators about what happened. Dean Tran, 46, of Fitchburg, stated in court that he was absolutely not guilty to each charge. Investigators said Tran used his position as a public official to intimidate the woman into parting with her late husbands firearms, making her sign a pre-prepared contract and giving her $1,500 in cash for at least eight guns while visiting her in June 2019. When asked to return them the next day, Tran complied. But a day after he gave the guns back, he returned to the womans home, forced his way in and demanded a key to the gun safe, according to investigators. He then stole a Colt .45 while the constituent hid in her bedroom, investigators said. That gun was also later returned to the woman. Tran issued a statement earlier this month calling the allegations untrue and categorically false. Investigators say Tran allegedly gave conflicting stories and reasons for taking the guns when interviewed by police, including denying any type of firearm sale, later producing a sales contract for the weapons, and disparaging the constituents mental capacity before demanding a written apology from her. Investigators also allege Tran made false statements on his May 2019 license-to-carry renewal application. Tran is challenging two-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan for the congressional seat representing the states 3rd Congressional District. On Wednesday, Tran filed a federal lawsuit against Attorney General Maura Healey, alleging that the timing of the charges was politically motivated, given Healey's support for Trahan, a fellow Democrat and the fact that the allegations date to 2019. Healey is running for governor. Now, because I am challenging a Democratic seat in Congress, these allegations are coming forward, Tran posted on Facebook Wednesday. I want to state emphatically, that I did not engage in any wrongdoing and that these charges are being maliciously utilized to benefit my political opponent." A spokesperson for Healey declined to comment on the lawsuit. Tran was indicted July 1 by a Worcester grand jury on the charges including larceny of a firearm, filing an application for a license to carry containing false information, obtaining a signature by false pretenses with intent to defraud, and misleading a police investigation. The Massachusetts Senate barred Tran in 2020 from interacting with his staff except through official emails in the wake of an ethics investigation that found he had his staff conduct campaign work during regular Senate business hours. Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Spencer Toders phone buzzed on the table while we were meeting over coffee. If you spend much time with political candidates or elected officials, these sorts of interruptions are common. Theres always somebody a donor, a campaign manager, a spokesman, a reporter who is calling or texting. Missouri Voters Guide for Tuesday's primary elections The Post-Dispatch and the League of Women Voters of Metro St. Louis present this guide to the candidates and races on the Aug. 2 ballot. So it is for Toder, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Tuesdays primary. He checked his phone and showed me the number. It was Carlos. Carlos isnt a donor. He has nothing to do with politics. Hes a man on the brink of homelessness. Toder met him outside the Gelateria Coffee Co., on the south side of St. Louis, a couple of months ago. Carlos is 59. Hes battled drug addiction and says hes been sober for five years. He was evicted and had no place to go. Toder and his wife, Courtney, decided to help him. They got him into a shelter and set up job interviews. They started looking for permanent housing. There are resources out there for people, but our system makes it nearly impossible for someone to make it on their own, Toder says. The government is supposed to make sure that everyone has at least the bare essentials to get by. Hundreds of people walk by unhoused members of our community every day, and few people actually stop to have a conversation and to listen. The path taken from the streets to one that ends up with a roof and a hot meal is a good news story. But Tuesday, if conventional wisdom holds, wont hold any good news for Toder. He is expected by pundits to finish a distant third in the Democratic primary. The top two candidates by funding and media coverage, at least are beer heiress Trudy Busch Valentine and populist Lucas Kunce, a former Marine who moved back to Missouri to run for office. In the past week, the two of them have traded the sort of negative ad barbs that are all too common in political races. Valentine has accurately accused Kunce of flip-flopping on key issues of importance to Democrats abortion and LGBTQ rights. Kunce has accurately accused Valentine whose recent answers in a television interview could be generously described as word salad of trying to buy the race. Meanwhile, Toder, a St. Louis County native and Washington University graduate who can eloquently describe his progressive stance on important issues, cant break through the noise. His candidacy is symbolic of our broken political system, one in which people like me too often focus attention on the shiny object, distracting us from serious people trying to make a difference. If theres a consolation prize in politics and there generally isnt Toder will be able to walk away from this election knowing that he has indeed made a difference, and not just to Carlos. One of the reasons I met with Toder last week was because Robert Bucklin asked me to. Bucklin is one of the people who say they were victims of physical and sexual abuse at Agape Boarding School. Hes been urging Missouris politicians specifically Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt to use their power to close down the school, which has a well-documented history of abuse allegations. Toder has no such power, but he answered Bucklins call and hassled the agencies that were continuing to put their imprimatur of approval on Agape until they dropped the schools accreditation. He also did something that rural Democrats have been clamoring for in outstate Missouri for years, using his entrepreneurial tech skills to create software to help down-ballot candidates better connect with voters. While traveling the state, he also helped thousands of Missourians living in poverty sign up for Medicaid. He did these things, he says, because Missouri is his home. And running for Senate was a decision he made after watching his grandmother die from COVID-19 early in the pandemic, in a state that doesnt do enough to help its most vulnerable citizens. Carlos to me represents all the Missourians who feel voiceless, and I think thats why his story is so important to me, Toder says. We are a state that has been forgotten by anyone and everyone who isnt stripping us for parts. On Monday morning, Carlos is scheduled to move into permanent housing. Toder and his campaign volunteers have a surprise for him. Theyve laundered and folded all of his clothes, the ones he used to carry around in large garbage bags. People deserve to know they matter, Toder says. It may not be a winning campaign slogan in a system that gravitates toward the lowest common denominator. But as advice for making Missouri a better place, its a winner. One man was killed and five people were injured in a crash this week along Missouri Highway 100 in Franklin County, authorities said. Keith W. Bass, 46, of De Soto, died at a hospital. The crash was at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday on on eastbound Highway 100 at Highway T, the Missouri Highway Patrol said. Bass was a passenger in a 2018 Dodge Caravan, heading east on Highway 100. A 2017 Ford F-150 pickup, which had stopped at the intersection of Highway T and Highway 100, pulled into the path of the minivan, the Missouri Highway Patrol said. The vehicles collided, and the minivan ran off the road and hit a pole. The pickup overturned. The driver of the minivan, Wavely E. Minton, 62, of Poplar Bluff, suffered moderate injuries. So did two passengers in the minivan, Zachary Branham, 30, of Park Hills, and Matthew S. Nichols, 35, of Herculaneum. Police identified the driver of the pickup as Todd J. Pollock, 35 of Washington, Missouri. He suffered moderate injuries, as did his passenger, Anne M. Pollock, 36, also of Washington. All five survivors were taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital St. Louis. Everyone was wearing a seat belt in the crash, including Bass, the patrol said. ST. LOUIS A former St. Louis Zoo employee is facing charges in two counties of stealing thousands from a professional association of zookeepers. Miranda M. Durfor, 36, of the first block of Scenic Cove Lane in St. Charles, was charged this week in St. Charles County Circuit Court with five counts of stealing. Charges say she served as a local treasurer for the American Association of Zoo Keepers, a Tucson, Arizona-based group and stole more than $19,000 from the organizations bank accounts in St. Charles and Ferguson between 2019 and 2021. Durfors lawyer said she pleaded not guilty. He declined further comment. A zoo spokesman said Durfor started as a part-time employee in 2009 and that she became a full-time group ticketing manager on Jan. 1, 2020. Her last day was Dec. 20. St. Louis County prosecutors filed a felony theft charge against Durfor on March 10. Charges filed in both counties say she made unauthorized cash withdrawals from the groups bank account at at least two different banks. Durfor was fired after she admitted to the St. Louis Zoos safety director that she took the organizations money, charges said. Ed Hansen, chief executive officer of the AAZK, said the organization has 116 chapters at zoos across the continent. He said he believes Durfor was treasurer for the St. Louis chapter and that the chapter discovered the thefts when new chapter officers took over. He said thefts from AAZK chapters since he joined the organization in 1994 have been rare and that this is perhaps the third time someone has stolen chapter funds. But never, he said, to this magnitude. Stealing from a conservation group such as AAZK is disturbing, he said. Youre talking about groups of animal keepers, specifically in this instance at the St. Louis Zoo who are knocking themselves out doing fundraising for conservation, Hanson said. And its kind of a slap in their face and the rest of our memberships as well when youre working together as a group to save animals and then someone tampers with that money. According to the St. Louis Zoos website, the AAZK has a 19-year-old St. Louis chapter made up of zookeepers, staff, docents and volunteers dedicated to professional care and conservation. The site says that while the group is not officially part of the zoo, the groups activities and efforts are fully endorsed by the zoo. UNIVERSITY CITY The imbalance of public funding for schools across rich and poor communities is well documented. Whats more hidden is the inequity driven by private donations from parents and local businesses. Parent-teacher organizations can serve to enrich schools through donations for foreign language teachers, yoga classes or new science labs. Meanwhile, a majority of schools in lower-income areas lack the volunteers and resources to even organize a parent group. The 50 richest PTOs in the country raise an average of $851,000 for their schools each year, according to a 2017 report from the think tank Center for American Progress. Wealthy parents are raising large sums of money to improve their already-advantaged schools, the authors wrote. Superintendent Sharonica Hardin-Bartley of University City wanted to do something different. A few years ago, she gathered parents from the districts schools to brainstorm new ideas for sharing resources. The four elementary schools in University City range from poverty levels of 84% at Pershing to 50% at Flynn Park, where the PTO has had an annual budget of about $25,000 in recent years. The parents and administration decided to form One U City, a consolidation of the districts separate PTOs that launched this summer with a single bank account. One U City is the first such group in the St. Louis region and one of only a few in the country. As of July 1, the registered nonprofit made these moves: Each schools PTO was renamed as a community collaborative. All funds were pooled into the One U City account. Donations cannot be made directly to a school, and schools cannot solicit funds. The common fund will be distributed with 60% to community events, meetings and staff appreciation. The remaining 40% will be split among the four elementary schools and Brittany Woods Middle School. The One U City board will meet monthly, with representatives from each school and the district administration. Public meetings will be held quarterly with the boards from each school. Community events including a fall festival, winter chili cookoff and multicultural night will continue to rotate among the campuses. We wanted to get into each others spaces and think more broadly about the U. City community as opposed to my childs elementary school, said Tricia Sanders, a district parent and one of the founders of One U City. Some local districts including St. Louis Public Schools have their own nonprofit foundations, but individual schools still raise their own funds. University Citys program is a rare example of equal revenue-sharing across schools. The Evanston/Skokie (Illinois) School District launched a similar program this year. In both districts, all students attend the same high school, making it a natural shift to combine resources in lower grades, parents said. Other school districts, including District of Columbia Public Schools, have tried to encourage higher-funded PTOs to donate a small portion of their budgets to a fund for lower-income schools, but participation has been spotty. In the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District in California, plans to combine PTO funds across all schools fizzled when Malibu parents threatened to pull their donations. Nothing sinks a booster club faster than a parent thinking their kid isnt getting a fair shake, said Drew Englund of Parent Booster USA, a Florida nonprofit that helps PTOs navigate tax laws. The biggest challenge is getting volunteers who are into raising money not just for their local kids but for all of the schools generally. In University City, some larger donors to Flynn Park balked at giving money if it wasnt guaranteed to be used for the school, Sanders said. We told them we hoped they would continue to give, but we are starting to think holistically about our community, Sanders said. Whats good for all of our children is whats best for each of our children. Sanders said One U City is also committed to preventing over-representation of white parents on the board to make sure we arent creating the same thing with a different name. The group will be recruiting volunteers and board members Tuesday at the districts back-to-school rally at Jackson Park Elementary. At the end of August, the first community meeting will be held in the courtyard at the middle school. We have this unique opportunity to try this, Sanders said. We hope that were able to show that it can work and we can do a lot better by our children and community. ST. LOUIS Some people in a stretch of south St. Louis feel like theyre not getting their moneys worth out of their tax dollars. So they want to pay more. Theyre asking their neighbors in Holly Hills and a slice of Bevo Mill to vote Tuesday to add an average of $200 to their property taxes and raise about $400,000 per year. Theyre hoping to combat a sinking feeling that the area is on the verge of slipping, if it isnt already: High-profile crimes and gunshots at night are making some feel less safe. Car racing in the park keeps people up at night. And the city isnt responding as quickly as it used to, they say, to reports of dead trees and overgrown medians. The city is not in a good place right now, said State Rep. Steve Butz, a Democrat and longtime Holly Hills resident. Theres a consensus that we need to do more if we can. A new special taxing district could do what backers say the city cant: put more police on the beat, add new crosswalks with flashing lights to keep pedestrians safer, clean up the medians, and add gates at Carondelet Park. We just want to give ourselves a little bit more, said Christa Edelen, president of the Holly Hills Improvement Association. Were keeping ourselves from declining. If the measure passes, Holly Hills will become the latest neighborhood to put its name to a special levy to bolster services traditionally run out of City Hall. And its not entirely a surprise: The city is struggling with hundreds of vacancies in its ranks, hindering its ability to fight crime, answer 911 calls, respond to medical emergencies and collect the trash. Some in the area balk at the idea of paying more for the basics, and are dubious that the district will be able to deliver on its promises. Others worry that more police and a gated park arent welcoming in a neighborhood that has gotten more racially and economically diverse over the years. I dont want this to be like a private community in the Central West End, said Katy Glass, a school librarian. Supporters go block-by-block Developers built Holly Hills a century ago with the idea of bringing the elegance of Hollywood, California, to the south side. And what it lacks in iconic signs and impressive hills, it makes up for with tight-knit community where kids walk to school each morning, a collection of tidy brick homes, and easy access to Carondelet Park, the citys third-largest. But in recent years, residents say, some cracks have appeared in that idyllic facade. Butz remembers the three carjackings in less than three months in 2015. After that, he started taking donations to hire some off-duty cops to supplement regular patrols. Residents complain of break-ins and troublemakers gathering in the park at night. We have gunshots, loud parties all night, constant loud racing, ATVs all over the place, former Alderman Sarah Wood Martin told an aldermanic committee earlier this year. And the city just doesnt necessarily always have the resources to mitigate that activity. Some also say medians are getting shabby, trash is getting worse on the east side of the park, and drivers are turning tree-lined Holly Hills Boulevard into a drag strip. Nick Hartzler, who said hes lived in the area for more than 20 years, told the committee that residents who volunteer for periodic neighborhood cleanup have had to hold cleanups more and more often. Around the fall of last year, all of that frustration turned into serious conversations about a special taxing district. Brooks Goedeker, a Holly Hills resident whos worked with similar districts professionally for years and now runs redevelopment efforts in Midtown for St. Louis University, helped organize outreach efforts. Supporters went block by block, then to the neighborhood association, and then to the Board of Aldermen to put the proposal on the ballot. At the hearing in May, nearly every speaker spoke in support of the measure, telling aldermen it would help preserve a neighborhood where they can build their lives, their kids can walk to school and they can sleep in peace. Our goal is just to keep the neighborhood safe and a great place to be, said one, John Hogan. But it was hard to find that level of consensus around the neighborhood. In every neighborhood, a district There were supporters, like a man picking up trash in the park who declined to give his name. But there were others who didnt know much about the plan, and said the place seemed fine to them. Bruna Bardho, 28, an engineer at Boeing, said she hears gunshots sometimes, but theyre not close. People still walk around, she said. Alan Naber, 75, who was walking his dog, Tank, and said hes lived in Holly Hills for most of his life, had a similar attitude about the handful of garage break-ins hes heard about in the area. You have that everywhere, he said. And I dont know what theyre going to do for beautification. Its the citys job to trim the trees. Thats what got Paul Sager, a real estate agent who used to be the president of the neighborhood association. I get where this is coming from, he said. But I dont want to pay for these city services twice. He said if people who live on Holly Hills Boulevard right next to the park really want gates and extra patrols there, they could pay for it themselves. Alderman Anne Schweitzer, who represents part of the neighborhood and sponsored the bill to put the issue on the ballot, said she has mixed feelings on the matter, and is hearing from people on both sides. Butz, the state representative, has high hopes. If this can help Holly Hills, he said, why not the rest of the city? Hell be an evangelist. I want to take that idea to every neighborhood in the city thats interested. If passed, the first taxes will be collected at the end of the year, and the mayor will appoint a district board to prepare a budget. Polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Missouri Voters Guide for Tuesday's primary elections The Post-Dispatch and the League of Women Voters of Metro St. Louis present this guide to the candidates and races on the Aug. 2 ballot. CLAYTON St. Louis County voters will decide Tuesday whether to strengthen whistleblower protections for county employees reporting allegations of wrongdoing. The whistleblower measure, Proposition A, would update the countys 25-year-old whistleblower law by extending the protections to volunteers and interns and adding protections for whistleblowing to the news media, any law enforcement officer or state official. The current ordinance, last updated in 1997, forbids supervisors from prohibiting or retaliating against employees who report allegations to the County Council or County Auditor. Proposition A would give employees alleging retaliation a year to file a complaint, up from 10 days now. It would also define retaliation to include any warning or recommendation for discipline by any county officer, and protect employees for alleging a conflict of interest, or unlawful discrimination, in addition to misconduct. Proposition A was championed by Councilwoman Rita Heard Days, D-1st District, who twice tried to push through a similar law that was vetoed by County Executive Sam Page. A 2017 state law provides whistleblower protections, but Days said she wanted to go further than the state law as a matter of simply protecting the employees. Page and council allies argued the bill was too broad, citing language that specifies the county couldnt bar employees from testifying under legislative subpoena. Page said that would leave the county subject to politically-motivated subpoenas from the Legislature. Exposing county employees to that risk is not a responsible step, Page wrote in a veto letter. Days couldnt get a necessary fifth vote to override the veto. But the council voted unanimously in May to send the bill to voters in the form of a ballot measure. Ballot measures cant be vetoed. Days argued the whistleblower protections were necessary in light of a series of high-profile lawsuits alleging retaliation or discrimination, most of them out of the St. Louis County Police Department. The St. Louis County Police Association, the bargaining representative for county police officers, and the Ethical Society of Police, a group of police officers that advocates for racial and gender equity, both supported the measure. What this bill does is create the responsibility for county government to take action when retaliation occurs, ESOP said in a statement in May. If approved, the new whistleblower law would take effect immediately. County appointees Voters will also decide whether to give the County Council final authority over executive appointments, including leaders of several of the countys public agencies. The county charter gives the executive broad powers to make appointments subject to confirmation by the council. That includes nine department heads, the County Counselor and board or commission members, including the Board of Police Commissioners, a five-member panel that selects the county police chief. Proposition V would block any of the county executives nominees until they get majority approval from the County Council. A rejection would require the executive to find a new nominee. The council would have 30 days to vote; otherwise, the appointee would automatically be confirmed. The measure would take effect in Jan. 10, 2023. The council voted 4-3 to approve the approved the measure in May in response to Pages decisions to retain a handful of appointees opposed by a council majority. That includes Dr. Faisal Khan, acting director of public health and two Page appointees to the St. Louis County Port Authority. Page kept Khan in an acting role after the council voted 5-2 not to confirm his appointment to the department. Council members who opposed the proposition had favored a stricter proposal that would have taken effect immediately and triggered a 60-day window for Page to get approval of Khan and other appointees. County Council pay County voters will also decide whether to change the countys process for adjusting pay for the County Council. Proposition M would create a new, volunteer commission that would meet every five years to recommend council pay. The council would then vote on the recommendation. A rule barring council members from receiving a pay raise until the start of a next term would remain in place. Currently, the charter allows the council to consider raising its pay as often as every two years. The seven-member council is currently paid $20,000 a year; the last time the body voted to raise its pay was in 2005. The council voted 6-0 to approve the ballot measure after debating whether to raise their salary by as much as $40,000. Council members said the current salary wasnt enough for their roles as legislators in the Missouris most populous county. But they disagreed over other details of a pay raise. 6th District Councilman Ernie Trakas, who sponsored the ballot measure, said at the time that the commission is the most effective way to address concerns about raising council pay and still involve the public. If approved, the commission could meet as early as 2023. The panel would have 90 days to hold at least three public meetings and submit a recommendation to the council. Otherwise, council members pay would stay the same. The council would only be able to adjust its pay by adopting the commissions recommendation. The county executive would not be able to veto such a bill, if passed. Currently, council ordinances enacting a pay raise can be vetoed. The commission would include two appointees each from the county Republican and Democratic central committees, and one member selected by random from a list of nominees submitted by each council member. Commission members would not be paid, except for limited expenses. COTONOU, Benin (AP) French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday pledged security cooperation and support to Benin as it fights rising threats of extremism, as well as investments in education and a cultural center for the West African nation. Macron made the pledges after meeting with Benin President Patrice Talon as part of a three-country tour to improve relations with nations in west and central Africa. Benin is Macrons second leg of the journey after visiting Cameroon. He next heads to Guinea-Bissau. France promises support in air, intelligence and equipment as well as training for the defense and security forces of Benin, said Macron in a press conference alongside Talon. We are also going to meet Benins needs in terms of equipment and help the country to structure how it arms its army. Benin and neighboring Togo have suffered deadly recent extremist attacks, and are seeing increased risk of violence from al-Qaida and Islamic State-linked groups who are spreading further south from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. As France withdraws from Mali, it is restructuring its deployment of troops. Macron promised to follow the needs of the African states to fight against terrorism and come in to support in terms of training, equipment, and accompaniment. Macron also announced investments by France in education and culture in Benin, where more than a dozen artifacts were returned in 2021 after being looted by French colonial forces in 1892. The two had earlier visited the returned works of the royal treasures of Abomey. Talon lauded the support from France, which will also include increased educational funding, and said the two countries would also develop an artistic center in Cotonou. HASTINGS, Mich. Donald Trumps claim that the 2020 election was rigged has been decisively debunked by local election officials, state and federal courts, and the former presidents own attorney general. All deemed his case bogus. Here in Michigans rural Barry County, Sheriff Dar Leaf rejects all that. Since late 2020, Leaf has been investigating one of Trumps most fantastical false assertions that vote-counting machines somehow flipped votes from Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Working with key figures in the former presidents failed effort to overturn the election, the Republican sheriff has petitioned courts seeking to seize election equipment, assigned investigators to grill local clerks about balloting processes and made sweeping requests for their records. The sheriff is barreling ahead despite the conclusions of judges and the countys Republican prosecutor that he lacked probable cause. In the process, Leaf is roiling conservative Barry County, where Trump won decisively, and testing a legal theory with revolutionary implications for American democracy. Leaf is in the vanguard of the so-called constitutional sheriffs movement, which asserts that sheriffs, typically elected in counties, possess supreme law-enforcement power in their jurisdictions exceeding that of state police, federal agencies and any other official, including the U.S. president. The movements most prominent group, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, takes the extreme position that sheriffs can and should ignore any law they deem unconstitutional. Richard Mack, the associations founder, called federal and state bureaucracies the Gestapo of America that routinely adopt unconstitutional policies. The sheriffs are going to have to stop it, said Mack, a former sheriff of Graham County, Arizona, at the associations conference in Las Vegas earlier this month. The association claims sheriffs derive extraordinary powers from the oath they take to defend the constitution and its principle of separation of powers between local, state and federal agencies. Two constitutional scholars interviewed by Reuters dismissed that theory, saying it has no basis in the founding document or in U.S. history. In May, the association announced that its encouraging sheriffs to mount their own investigations into Trumps 2020 election fraud claims. So far, Leaf is one of four known to have launched such probes. But the movement appears to be growing; the association says more than 300 of the nations 3,000 elected sheriffs have gone through its training programs since 2020. In Michigan, Colorado, Arizona and other states, officials have blasted the constitutional sheriffs for undermining public faith in the integrity of elections and the local officials who run them. Now, Leaf himself is under scrutiny in a probe by state Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, into whether Trump backers illegally accessed voting equipment seeking fraud evidence in several jurisdictions in Michigan, a pivotal 2020 election battleground. The states top election official, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, initially requested that the attorney general investigate. She told Reuters that the probe is expansive. We want to see if theres coordination among those seeking illegal access to election equipment and whether that coordination reaches up to a national level, said Benson, a Democrat. Reuters reporting reveals that it does. The news organization conducted dozens of interviews, reviewed video from public meetings and examined scores of documents obtained through public records requests to explore Leafs investigation and the misinformation driving it. Among the findings: People spearheading Trumps rigged-election claims in Michigan were deeply involved with Sheriff Leaf early on, making Barry County a pillar of their efforts to overturn the presidential vote in a fiercely contested state that Biden won by 154,000 votes of 5.5 million cast. In April, Michigan State Police raided the clerks office in Barry Countys Irving Township, a locus of Leafs probe. The officers confiscated a vote tabulator suspected of being taken and examined without proper authorization a felony in Michigan. The Irving Township clerk, Sharon Olson, told police that an investigator working with Leafs department had taken the tabulator to forensically examine it, according to a state police report reviewed by Reuters. Olson, a Republican, told state police that the sheriffs office asked her to give the investigator the equipment and that Leaf told her it was fine, according to the report. Olson declined to comment on the incident. Leaf denied any wrongdoing in an interview and said that no one from his department touched any tabulators in my county. Leafs office worked closely with a private investigator, Michael Lynch, on its election-fraud probe, but the sheriff told Reuters he did not know if Lynch took the Irving Township tabulator. Leaf told investigators he did not authorize anyone to take the device, according to the state police report. Lynch did not respond to requests for comment. That case is among at least 17 incidents identified by Reuters nationwide, including 11 in Michigan, in which Trump supporters are alleged to have gained or attempted to gain unauthorized access to voting equipment. Leaf said hes concerned that tabulators nationwide were rigged to throw Trump votes to Biden and that it may have happened in Barry County. State and federal courts have cited insufficient evidence in rejecting Leafs requests for orders authorizing him to seize voting equipment in his county and statewide. The sheriff remains undeterred: Were going to keep going, he said. We get new information almost daily. Leaf said the state investigation has kind of interfered with what we are doing. Last month, he sued the attorney general and other Michigan officials, arguing that the states investigation has usurped his power as a constitutional sheriff to probe election fraud allegations in his county. The attorney general and state police declined to comment on their investigation into Leaf and others chasing baseless voter-fraud claims in Michigan. Leafs investigation was guided from the start by Stefanie Lambert, a Detroit attorney who was part of a legal team, led by prominent pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, that filed a federal suit immediately after the election seeking to overturn Michigans results. The judge found the suits claims of massive voter fraud so baseless that she sanctioned Lambert, Powell and other lawyers on the case for misconduct. Lambert is now representing Leaf in his lawsuit against Michigan officials. Powell did not respond to requests for comment. Lambert now faces an effort by the attorney general, governor and secretary of state to have her disbarred. She did not comment in response to inquiries. Leaf and his fellow constitutional sheriffs are part of a much broader effort within the pro-Trump right to gain control over the U.S. election system. In at least 15 states, candidates who embrace the false stolen-election narrative are campaigning for secretary of state, the top voting-administration office, in Novembers elections, according to the States United Action, a non-partisan election integrity group. In Florida, the Republican governor has set up an election-police squad meant to ensure voting integrity. In Pennsylvania, Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, who backs Trumps voter-fraud claims, is running on a platform that includes compelling all voters to re-register; making it easier for poll-watchers to challenge voters; and appointing a like-minded secretary of state to investigate and overturn elections. I could decertify every election machine in the state with the stroke of my pen, via my secretary of state, Mastriano told an interviewer in March. The upheaval in Barry County shows how the rights misinformation-fueled efforts to control elections have spread to even the smallest towns. Here and in some other conservative communities, Trump-aligned activists have sown doubt and discord that is putting long-serving election clerks on the defensive, forcing them to fight off specious claims that are often embraced by their constituents. Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes said such efforts are an attempt to make election extremism palatable to mainstream American conservatives, a phenomenon he said could fester quickly. He pointed to the Capitol riots as a harbinger of the potentially frightening speed of radicalization of anti-democratic efforts on the political right. The involvement of people with guns and badges to intimidate voters, and attempts to access voting equipment, could become go-to tactics, said Sykes, the editor of the Bulwark website and the author of How the Right Lost its Mind. It doesnt feel hyperbolic to say this is extremely dangerous, Sykes said. Speculative leaps Leaf has been the sheriff for 18 years in Barry County, a largely agricultural patch of southwest Michigan with about 63,000 residents, 96% of them white. Trump won the election here by a margin of two-to-one. Leaf oversees about 65 people, including about 30 deputies and detectives, from a squat, concrete building with a sticker on the front door announcing that lawful carrying of handguns is welcome and encouraged on the premises. Leaf was reelected in 2020 without opposition despite widespread criticism for appearing earlier that year at a right-wing militia groups rally. He later suggested that a plot by some militia members to kidnap Michigans Democratic governor may have been a lawful attempt to make a citizens arrest. He remains popular in the county despite the growing number of officials, mostly Republicans, who have publicly condemned his election-fraud investigation. Leaf declined to detail any election-fraud evidence his investigators have found, saying it could compromise his probe. He said, however, that his suspicions are based in part on a data analysis provided by Seth Keshel, a Trump ally and national leader in the election-overturn movement. Leaf said Keshel gave him an analysis specifically for Barry County that suggested fraud, which the sheriff said should help provide probable cause for his investigation. Keshels analysis, based on historical voting and registration patterns, has been widely discredited by experts in elections and statistics. Reached by Reuters, Keshel acknowledged his model cannot definitely prove fraud but maintained it can spotlight where results should be investigated. Leaf told Reuters he first became concerned about election-rigging four months before the 2020 vote, when two lawyers, who he did not identify, visited him at his office with an alarming claim: That vote tabulators used in his county, supplied by Dominion Voting Systems of Colorado, could be hacked and reprogrammed to flip votes. After Biden won, Trump and his top lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, championed the voting-machine conspiracy theory. Trumps supporters pressured Leaf to seize voting equipment in his county and seek evidence for the aggrieved presidents claims, Leaf told Reuters. He quickly launched an effort to gain access to voting machines, teaming up with Lambert, the lawyer seeking to overturn Michigans election results. Lambert represented Leaf as he filed suit in federal court on Dec. 7, 2020, seeking an order to impound all voting machines and software in Michigan for expert inspection. A Republican-appointed federal judge dismissed it a day later as based on speculative leaps. That same month, Leaf also petitioned a state judge for a warrant to seize voting equipment in Barry County; that bid was rejected, too, for lack of probable cause. Leafs demand was radical. Vote-counting equipment is highly secure and subject to stringent chain-of-custody requirements to protect against tampering that could compromise accuracy or enable fraud. Access to tabulators generally is restricted to certified election officials and authorized technicians. Any machine accessed by an unauthorized person is taken out of commission. Despite legal setbacks, Leaf pressed on with his investigation after Bidens inauguration in January 2021. He had theories about rigged voting machines but lacked a formal criminal complaint of wrongdoing to give his probe a firm legal footing. He soon got one from one of his former deputy sheriffs. That spring, Julie Jones, who had retired two years earlier from Leafs office, filed a complaint saying she had obtained information that voting results in Barry County were intentionally manipulated to favor one candidate. The complaint names no suspects; it lists the victim as Society. Jones could not be reached for comment. Her complaint was based almost entirely on claims made by Matthew DePerno, a Michigan lawyer and Trump supporter who is now running for state attorney general. DePerno had filed a suit alleging that vote tabulators could be rigged to flip votes from Trump to Biden. DePerno brought the suit on behalf of a voter in Antrim County, about 200 miles from Leafs turf. Antrim, like Barry, uses Dominion ballot-counting machines. The Antrim suit, filed against the county and state, ultimately was dismissed, a decision affirmed this year by the Michigan Court of Appeals. Its three judges, including two Republican appointees, said the suit merely raised a series of questions about the election without making any specific factual allegations. The Trump camp nevertheless used the Antrim suit as fodder for its legal assault on the election. A debunked report commissioned by DePernos team was cited in a draft presidential order dated Dec. 16, 2020, that would have ordered the U.S. secretary of defense to seize voting machines. Trump never issued the order. DePerno did not answer specific questions from Reuters but he disputed the contention that the voter-fraud allegations in Antrim county were baseless or unproven. Theories from a failed lawsuit As Lambert was helping Leaf, she was mounting a similar effort to get access to voting equipment 250 miles away in Cheboygan County, a conservative stronghold of 25,000 people on the states northern tip. Lamberts story of her entry into Trump worlds orbit illustrates the haphazard way the legal team challenging his election defeat was assembled. A former prosecutor in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Lambert had started her own criminal defense practice, she told the right-wing websites Gateway Pundit and 100 Percent Fed Up in July 2021. She entered the voter-fraud fray, she said, when a person she did not identify asked her in November 2020 to deliver an affidavit about election fraud to the White House. She soon after contacted Powell and Giuliani directly, she said. From there, I was the local attorney on the Michigan Sidney Powell case, she told the websites, which routinely promote pro-Trump, rigged-election conspiracy theories. Lambert introduced herself as part of DePernos Antrim election team at an April 14, 2021, meeting organized by Cheboygan Countys Board of Commissioners. She offered to conduct a forensic analysis to see if Cheboygans machines were rigged, according to video of the meeting obtained by Reuters through a public-records request. As in Barry County, Lambert cited the Antrim suit in an effort to win over Cheboygan leaders. An affidavit by Benjamin Cotton, founder of the digital forensics firm CyFIR LLC, contained a potentially explosive claim: that a Dominion ballot-marking device had communicated with Internet-protocol addresses in Germany and Taiwan purported evidence that it could have been hacked. Cotton did not respond to requests for comment. In reality, the device was never connected to the Internet before, during or after the election, according to Dominion and Antrim County Clerk Sheryl Guy, a Republican. Dominion, in a statement, said the accuracy of the 2020 results has been confirmed in countless independent reviews. It called the Michigan hacking and vote-flipping allegations yet another example of how lies about Dominion have damaged our company and diminished the publics faith in elections. After Lamberts pitch, Cheboygans commissioners all Republicans requested that the state allow it to audit the countys 2020 results. By this time, a judge had dismissed the Antrim case, ruling that the plaintiff had no right to a new review of the voting because statewide audits had already affirmed the results. Michigans Bureau of Elections denied Cheboygans request, and the effort to review the machines there fizzled. I was panicked In Barry County, however, Sheriff Leaf pushed ahead, now armed with his former deputys complaint. At Lamberts suggestion, in the spring of 2021 Leaf brought in a private investigator: Michael Lynch, who worked with Lambert and DePerno on the Antrim suit, according to promotional material for a California event featuring Lynch as a speaker. Leaf assigned one of his deputy sheriffs, Kevin Erb, to team up with Lynch. Erb did not respond to requests for comment. Soon, Lynch and Erb began making unannounced visits to the elected clerks who oversee voting in the countys townships. The pair told the clerks they were being interviewed as part of a criminal investigation and advised them to tell no one, two clerks who received the visits told Reuters. On June 11, the deputy left a message with Carlton Township Clerk Amanda Brown on her day off, asking her to meet them immediately at her office. His voicemail said theres an ongoing criminal investigation of election fraud in Carlton Township, and they wanted to talk to me, Brown, a Republican, told Reuters. I was panicked. I was upset. Brown called Barry County Clerk Pamela Palmer, a Republican who took office in 2015. Palmer, too, was stunned. She is responsible for training and overseeing local clerks on election operations, but she had heard nothing about the Leaf probe. Palmer immediately drove to the Carlton Township office, where she buttonholed Lynch and the deputy. They informed her that they had already questioned five clerks. Why didnt I know about this? Palmer said she asked the investigators, who told her they were working under the element of surprise. She recalled telling them: Theres nothing to investigate. We ran a clean election. A few days later, still steaming, Palmer called Barry Countys elected prosecutor, Julie Nakfoor Pratt, to protest that the clerks were unfairly being cast under suspicion. Pratt told Reuters that she, too, was blindsided by Leafs investigation, though she had worked effectively with the sheriff, a fellow Republican, on hundreds of cases over a decade. Pratt said she went to see Leaf at his office on July 13. She found him flanked by Lambert, Lynch and a third out-of-towner from Trump world: James Penrose, a former analyst and manager for the National Security Agency. Penrose had provided technical guidance to Powells legal team on their failed federal suit to overturn Michigans election and to other Trump allies working nationally to reverse Bidens victory. Lambert pressed prosecutor Pratt to seek warrants to seize vote tabulators and records from local clerks, Pratt said. I heard them out, but I didnt see evidence of a crime, said Pratt, who told them there was no probable cause to raid clerks offices. Lambert, Pratt said, was very insistent. She kept interrupting. But I held my ground. Penrose did not respond to requests for comment. Lamberts team left the prosecutor with three binders of material collected in the Leaf investigation. Pratt studied the material for two days and concluded there was nothing there. It read like a rehash of conspiracy theories and misinformation that judges had already rejected in lawsuits from Trump lawyers and allies. Pratt called Sheriff Leaf and urged him to suspend his investigation because it was putting our clerks under a cloud with no evidence. Leaf disputed that Pratt ever asked him to stop investigating or said that he was unfairly implicating clerks. Its not us versus the clerks, he said. More security breaches, and a state probe Election-fraud allegations and efforts by Trump supporters to get their hands on voting equipment kept popping up around Michigan. About 80 miles south of Barry County, the State Police in October launched an investigation into Adams Townships clerk, Stephanie Scott, a Republican. The secretary of state had reprimanded Scott for refusing to allow routine maintenance on her voting equipment. Scott, a Trump supporter, said in a township meeting that she resisted the procedures in the belief they could erase data from the 2020 election that she considered potential evidence. State officials have said the maintenance would have no effect on preservation of data from past elections. At the secretary of states orders, the clerk of Hillsdale county, which includes Adams Township, stepped in to take possession of the towns voting equipment. The county clerk discovered that a key component had gone missing from one of the tabulators under Scotts control the scan unit, which is the brains of the device. State police soon discovered the part in Scotts own office. The investigation continues. Lambert is serving as Scotts lawyer. Scott did not respond to requests for comment. In February of this year, the secretary of states office got wind of a security breach of vote tabulators and data drives in Roscommon County, another conservative bastion in north-central Michigan. Secretary of State Benson announced Feb. 10 that she had asked the state attorney general to begin a criminal investigation into the election security breaches, citing the Roscommon case. That probe has since expanded to include at least five towns and three counties, all of them rural areas Trump won easily in 2020, according to state police records obtained through records requests. The voting-system breaches in at least two of the jurisdictions being scrutinized by state police Roscommon and Missaukee counties came after a Republican state lawmaker who champions Trumps stolen-election claims pressured at least five clerks in the area to provide access to their voting equipment. The lawmaker, Daire Rendon, did not respond to interview requests but previously has denied direct involvement in any breaches. Leafs investigation had gone quiet for several months after last summer when Pratt, the prosecutor, raised concerns to the sheriff about the lack of evidence to justify his probe. Then, early this year, he hired a new deputy on his staff, Mark Noteboom, to help push the investigation forward. In March, still lacking a warrant to compel cooperation, Noteboom began sending the countys clerks sweeping public-records requests for data and files from the 2020 election. This is a criminal investigation, he wrote in one letter, so no information shall be redacted from requested materials. A backlash quickly followed. Some clerks denied the requests outright, arguing Noteboom and Leaf were seeking records that did not exist or could not be legally provided. Noteboom declined to comment. A cooperative clerk The following month, the attorney generals investigation turned to Irving Township, where the clerk turned over her offices Dominion vote tabulator to the investigator working with Sheriff Leafs office. State Police seized the equipment in a raid on the township offices the morning of April 29. Olson, the township clerk, told police she had been working with Leafs office and that she let the investigator take the tabulator without a warrant, according to the state police report. The security seals on the device had been broken, the report said, when the police found it in a bag next to the clerks desk. The report did not specify when the machine was taken or how long it was out of Olsons custody. Leaf said the tabulator was taken in the spring of 2021. Palmer, the county clerk, said a state police investigator told her the device was taken to Detroit and torn apart before being returned to the township. Palmer did not know who took the machine. While many Barry county clerks had been outraged by Leafs investigation, Olson was receptive. In Facebook posts reviewed by Reuters, Olson repeatedly embraced false stolen-election claims and shared a video promoting the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, which casts Trump as a savior figure battling a Democratic cabal of satanist pedophiles and cannibals. The video was entitled: Q The Plan to Save The World. I want to believe this will happen, Olson wrote when she shared it on November 25, 2020, right after Trumps election loss. The 2020 vote was the first presidential election clerked by Olson, who also drives a school bus and served as a U.S. Army logistics officer in Operation Desert Storm. She told the Barry County Commission at its October 2021 meeting that she first suspected voter fraud shortly before election day in 2020, when she noticed an unusual van parked outside the township hall, covered with antennas and obscured by trees, according to video of the commission meeting. She speculated that someone seeking to hack into her vote tabulator may have sent a technical team to access it wirelessly. Dominion has repeatedly said the tabulators used in Irving Township are not connected to the Internet and cant be remotely accessed. Leaf told Reuters that Olson brought her concerns to him and they have become a focus of his investigation. Olson told state police that she believed the investigator who took the tabulator was acting on Leafs authority and that, otherwise, she would not have given it to him, according to the police report. A state investigator asked if the Sheriff Department asked her to do this, the report noted. She said they did. State police redacted the names of Leaf and Olson from the report but the sheriff and the clerk both confirmed the report includes their interviews with state police. The name of the investigator was also redacted. When Reuters asked Leaf whether Lynch the private investigator working with his deputies took the tabulator, he said: I dont know about that. Olson declined to comment on the state police raid but said: Im just trying to do whats right. Soon after the raid, state investigators subpoenaed the two sheriffs investigators Leaf assigned to the voter-fraud probe, Noteboom and Erb, which Leaf took as a direct threat. He told Reuters he looked at the subpoenas and concluded: Those bastards are going after me! In early June, Leaf filed his lawsuit asserting that the attorney general and other Michigan officials improperly undermined his authority over county investigations. The suit calls the state police an unelected and unaccountable strong arm of the state and accuses state leaders of a campaign to bully and threaten him. The attorney general and state police declined to comment on Leafs lawsuit. Olsons fellow clerks in Barry County say the turmoil stirred up by Sheriff Leaf shows no sign of ending. Its the election that wont die, Robin Hawthorne, the Republican clerk of Barry Countys Rutland Charter Township for 18 years, told Reuters. And Dar Leaf wont let it die. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Three former Minneapolis police officers went before a federal judge during the last week to be sentenced for violating George Floyds civil rights, and for each man, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson handed out penalties well below what prosecutors sought and below federal guidelines. Tou Thao, who held back concerned bystanders as Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyds neck, got 3 1/2 years. J. Alexander Kueng, who pinned Floyd's back, got three. And Thomas Lane, who held Floyd's feet and asked twice about rolling the Black man on his side, got 2 1/2. For some Floyd family members and activists, the penalties were too small and a bitter reminder of a justice system they say does not treat all people equally. Once again, our judicial system favored people that should be locked up forever," Floyd's uncle, Selwyn Jones, said Thursday. The officers, he said, contributed to the most brutal, heinous killing in most of our lifetimes. Floyd, 46, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, knelt on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes as Floyd repeatedly said he couldn't breathe and eventually grew still. The killing, recorded by bystanders, sparked protests worldwide and a reckoning over racial injustice in policing. Chauvin, who pleaded guilty to a federal count in which he admitted willfully depriving Floyd of his right to be free from unreasonable seizure, was sentenced to 21 years for that and for an unrelated case involving a 14-year-old boy. Lane, Thao and Kueng were all convicted of depriving Floyd of medical care; Kueng and Thao were also convicted on a second count of failing to intervene. When issuing sentences in cases that include multiple defendants, judges have to look at each defendant's level of culpability and issue sentences that are proportional. Legal experts who spoke to The Associated Press did not expect any of them to receive sentences as long as Chauvin's. Mark Osler, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and former federal prosecutor, called the sentences for the three groundbreaking," saying it's rare for officers who don't directly commit killings to be held accountable. Paris Stevens, Floyd's cousin and a co-chair of the George Floyd Global Memorial, said she didn't think Lane, Kueng and Thao should have gotten the same penalty as Chauvin but the sentences they got were too low. She said police officers should be punished more harshly because of the power they hold, and said the three men could have helped Floyd, but didn't. They stood by and kind of watched, she said. Stevens saw favoritism in Magnuson's sentences. I think all officers get favoritism in the court of law. Because historically thats the way its played out, she said. At their sentencing hearings, Magnuson said Lane, who is white, and Kueng, who is Black, were rookies. He called Thao, who is Hmong American, a good police officer, father and husband. While he said the officers were culpable for violating Floyds rights, Magnuson also mentioned numerous letters of support that each officer received. And during Chauvin's sentencing, Magnuson appeared to suggest that Chauvin bore the most blame in the case, telling him: You absolutely destroyed the lives of three young officers by taking command of the scene. Toshira Garraway, an activist who attended the sentencing hearings on Wednesday to support Floyds girlfriend, took exception to Magnuson's assessment of Thao as a good police officer, father and husband." That was irrelevant to what he did on May 25, 2020, Garraway said. Ayesha Bell Hardaway, who directs the Social Justice Law Center at Case Western Reserve University, said the judge seemed to really have lost track of what occurred during those 9 minutes and 30 seconds" and what she called an egregious killing. She said Floyds killing sparked widespread awareness of the harm that excessive force and tactics can have, but worried that the sentences will undermine momentum for police reform. When someone dies and were only talking about the potential of two years in prison, I think theres a strong concern, a well-founded concern, that this removes the motivation for police to be more mindful of the way they choose to use force against individuals on the street, Hardaway said. Osler said any prison time for a police officer would likely make other officers think twice about declining to intervene. We should hope that it has the impact of changing behavior and prodding them to intervene when a life can be saved, he said. Angela Harrelson, an aunt of Floyds, said the judge showed favoritism when he allowed the three men to remain free pending sentencing and afterward although that is frequently done in federal cases. Still, she celebrated the guilty verdicts as progress toward holding police accountable for their actions. "Theres a lot of triumphs that have been made in pushing forward. We are on the right track and police officers are being held accountable, Harrelson said. For Black and brown people, we are dismantling the system. It is peeling away before our eyes. In separate proceedings in state court, Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter and was sentenced to a 22 1/2 years, which is being served at the same time as his federal sentence. Lane pleaded guilty in state court to one count of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing there. Kueng and Thao face an Oct. 24 trial on charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter. This story was first published July 28, 2022. It was updated July 29, 2022, to correct the spelling of Toshira Garraway's last name. Groves reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Associated Press/Report for America reporter Trisha Ahmed contributed from Minneapolis. Find APs full coverage of the killing of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) The Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan says if youre trying to smuggle its prized native dog breed out of the country, youre barking up the wrong tree. The government is now requiring that its celebrated Alabay dogs receive a passport before they can leave the country. A law that took effect Tuesday requires that all puppies of the breed, which is also known as the Central Asian shepherd dog, be marked in the governments pedigree book and register of pedigreed dogs. Passports will be issued including data on the dogs sex, date of birth, color, as well as details about the owner. Special government export permission will be required. Turkmenistan, an isolated desert country of 6 million people, prides itself on its horses and dogs, honoring centuries-old herding traditions. Alabay, traditionally used for guarding livestock herds, are among the worlds largest dogs, weighing as much as 80 kilograms (175 pounds). In 2020, then-President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov established a holiday honoring the dogs, and last year unveiled a 15-meter (50-foot)-tall golden statue of them in the nations capital, Ashgabat. The Turkmen leader extolled the Alabay for years. He published a book and wrote a song about the breed and presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with an Alabay puppy in 2017. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedovs son, Serdar, who was elected president this year, heads the international association of Alabays. PEVELY, Mo. As the U.S. Senate primary campaign nears its end in Missouri, the candidates are spending the final days making their closing arguments in a race in which many voters are still undecided. Among them is Dione Parrish, 53, who plans to vote in the GOP primary and attended Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitts rally on Wednesday in Columbia. In the past, especially with Republicans, weve been betrayed many times, Parrish said. They say the right things and know the language, and then they betray us. So Im really looking, trying to look deeper and harder so that doesnt happen. Schmitt painted himself as a fighter for the people, nodding to his penchant for lawsuits, including over mask mandates. President Joe Bidens administration has been a frequent target. My job as your attorney general is pretty simple: I get up in the morning, I go to work, I sue Joe Biden and I go home, Schmitt said to applause. I wake up the next day, and I do it all over again. U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, is focusing on social issues, including her opposition to abortion. And former Gov. Eric Greitens, the usually brash former Navy SEAL officer who drew condemnation in June for a campaign video showing him brandishing a shotgun and declaring that hes hunting RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only, is taking a softer approach down the stretch. One campaign email focused on his accomplishments during his year-and-a-half as governor, citing job growth, reduced taxes and tougher laws for those who attack police. The campaign also released a video montage featuring black-and-white photos with the message, This movement in Missouri is fueled by love, not hate. Twenty-one Republicans are on the ballot Tuesday, with Greitens, Hartzler and Schmitt believed to be the leading contenders. On the Democratic side, where 11 candidates are running, the campaigns final days included an eyebrow-raising comment from one of the top contenders. Trudy Busch Valentine, a retired nurse and heiress to the Busch beer family fortune, was asked about transgender youths during a meeting with local Democrats in St. Louis. I only would say, wait until 18, when a person is an adult, to do everything that wouldnt allow going back to being, maybe, the sex that you were, Valentine responded, according to video posted on Twitter. But otherwise I totally, totally support transgenders without a doubt. Her leading opponent, Marine veteran Lucas Kunce, called Valentines comments callous and dangerous. These are Republican talking points, Kunce told The Associated Press. This is going after the most vulnerable people in our society, the ones who need protection the most. Valentine said in a statement to the AP that she believes transgender children should be able to access gender-affirming care in line with the recommendations of medical experts like the American Academy of Pediatrics. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association support allowing kids to seek transgender medical treatment, but they dont offer age-specific guidance. Kunce is spending the waning days of the campaign reminding voters of his roots in a working-class family. If you want someone who wants to fundamentally change who has power in this country, Im your guy, he said. I think its time Missourians have someone who knows what its like to grow up like they do and live like they do. Valentines campaign said she is hearing from people about their financial hardships and their concerns about abortion access. The campaign said Valentine is offering commonsense solutions to these issues and running a campaign thats rooted in her values of honesty, integrity, and compassion. Missouri was long considered a swing state but has moved decidedly to the right over the past decade. The Republican winner will be favored in November, though GOP leaders worry that a Greitens win in the primary could open the door for a Democratic upset. Greitens first term was derailed by a sex scandal and two criminal charges one for allegedly taking a compromising photo of the woman, and one alleging a campaign finance law violation. Both charges were dropped, but under the risk of the charges being refiled, and facing possible impeachment, he resigned in June 2018. He and his wife divorced in 2020. In a March affidavit in a child custody dispute, Sheena Greitens accused her ex-husband of abuse and wrote that he demonstrated such unstable and coercive behavior as his political career appeared to be collapsing in 2018 that steps were taken to limit his access to firearms. Greitens denies the allegations. AP reporter Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed to this report. DETROIT Inside the quality services department at the Abbott Laboratories baby formula manufacturing plant in Sturgis, employees were in their cubicles on a Friday morning in May 2020 when the sound of an electric shock sizzled through the office space. One employee thought someone had been electrocuted. A worker holding a stun gun promised it was just a bug zapper before deploying the device again, sending another jolt of electricity through the office. Its definitely a stun gun and not a bug zapper, said one worker, according to internal Abbott employee communications obtained by The Detroit News. Later an employee who was in the room at the time sent an email to Abbott management about a possible weapon in the quality systems department. Since, whatever this is, is being played with openly, I am concerned someone is going to get hurt, the worker wrote in an email that morning. The incident emboldened a whistleblower, a quality assurance specialist at the plant at the time, to come forward and confront supervisors at the Abbotts Sturgis site over its safety. It set off a series of events that led to several investigations and the companys ultimate decision to shut down the facility for months and issue a nationwide recall of formula that is blamed for sickening infants after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning against several of the plant's products. The details of the whistleblowers actions are detailed in 658 pages of Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) documents obtained and reviewed by The News under an open records request. The records detailing the states investigation of Abbott establish a more complete timeline for the events that transpired at the troubled baby formula plant. They also provide insight into the nearly yearlong effort by one Abbott employee and his Kalamazoo-based attorney to warn government agencies about internal problems at the facility that they believed put both consumers and plant workers at risk. By June 2020, when the employee felt his supervisors in Sturgis failed to take action, he elevated his concerns to upper management at the companys headquarters in Illinois. Less than two months later, the employee was fired, sparking claims that Abbott had retaliated against him for speaking up about a safety issue that violated company policy and for repeatedly raising issues about product safety, according to the state records. The following month, the now former employee filed his first of two complaints with government regulators. His complaint in September 2020 about the stun gun incident to MIOSHA was the opening salvo for wider-ranging whistleblower allegations that the Abbott plant operated under what he later described to federal regulators as a culture of unrelenting pressure to meet metrics that routinely trumped product safety concerns in the production of baby formula. The state documents also reveal the whistleblower raised product safety concerns with state investigators in December 2020, two months before federal regulators were alerted to problems at the Sturgis plant. MIOSHA dismissed the former Abbott employees initial workplace safety complaint in June 2021, just over a year after the stun gun incident. But by then, the fired Abbott employee had already elevated his concerns about product safety to higher levels of government. Four months before Michigan regulators dismissed his original complaint about the stun gun incident, the former Abbott employee was seeking whistleblower protection under the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011. His federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration complaint alleged that the employee was fired for engaging in protected activity related to repeatedly raising or objecting to product safety issues, which he believed violated FDA regulations. With the help of a lawyer, the former Abbott employee later sent a more detailed accounting of alleged product safety allegations to the FDA in September 2021, about five months before federal regulators shut down the plant. Abbott Nutritions plant had lax cleaning procedures, untested baby formula was sent to store shelves after the discovery of harmful micro-organisms and a bottle-labeling machine in the factory frequently failed, causing some products to become untraceable in the event of a recall, according to the fired employees complaint sent to the FDA. The whistleblower outlined cleaning practices that were inadequate in countless ways. An FDA inspection report from February also said the company failed to ensure all surfaces that came into contact with baby formula were maintained to prevent contamination of the product. In another allegation, the former employee claimed there were yearslong issues with drying equipment that was failing and in need of repair. As a result, he said bacteria was not properly cleaned from equipment pipes, causing the baby formula to pick up the bacteria as it flowed through the pipes. Several concerns and claims outlined in the whistleblower report have since been corroborated by an FDA investigation and the companys own admissions to federal regulators, leading to the plants closure from February through early June. The shutdown was blamed for contributing to a nationwide shortage this spring of certain blends of baby formula. However, Scott Stoffel, a spokesman for Abbott, said the former employee was dismissed due to serious violations of Abbotts food safety policies. While at the company, the former employee did not bring forward product safety violations to our Office of Ethics & Compliance or others, Stoffel said in a statement to The Detroit News. After dismissal, the former employee brought forward a complaint to Michigan OSHA unrelated to product safety. That complaint was dismissed. A highly regarded employee The complaint came from a quality service specialist at Abbott Laboratories who had worked at the Sturgis plant for nearly six years prior to being fired on Aug. 24, 2020. Before taking the job in Sturgis, he worked as a packaged quality supervisor at Monsanto. According to the filings with MIOSHA as well as the complaint lodged with federal regulators after his termination, the employee had a habit of raising complaints about regulatory violations and refusing to go along with protocols to sign off on products leaving the plant. Annual performance reviews depict a highly regarded employee who occasionally had communication issues but appeared enthusiastic about addressing them, according to a June 3, 2021, investigation report prepared by MIOSHA investigator April Strahan. But in his final year of employment, he and other employees found themselves at odds with management over quality evaluations and assessments, according to the federal complaint, with claims that supervisors were pushing practices aimed at meeting certain production metrics. Increasingly ... management directed him and others to misuse the (standard quality evaluation) procedure in order to meet metrics for the Sturgis site, according to the product safety complaint. At times, complainant and others objected ... on occasion, managers were repeatedly confronted and questioned as to the appropriateness of the directive being given. The complaints are not the first time Abbott has faced pushback from workers about how its Sturgis plant has been run. Multiple lawsuits filed against the company over the last 15 years depict a workplace marred by favoritism, inconsistent standards and selective punishment. In a lawsuit filed in St. Joseph County in 2012 by former employee James Hoffman, the former energy center operator accused the company of violating whistleblower protections. According to the plaintiff, the company intentionally fired him as he was preparing to file a discrimination complaint with the state of Michigan over unequal workplace benefits, conditions and privileges. The lawsuit describes efforts by colleagues to falsify testing data and records, while accusing supervisors of allowing certain employees to violate company policies without recourse. In one instance, an employee allegedly took a company camera with him on vacation that was needed in the plant. Two employees were also reportedly allowed to remove a dead deer from Abbott's property and take it to a deer processing facility while clocked in at work. The case was settled out of court. A 2006 federal lawsuit accused the managers at the Sturgis plant of discriminating against an African American employee by firing the worker for a mistake that White employees made without being disciplined. That suit also was settled before going to trial. I would have been fired on the spot The four-month-long halt of Abbott's baby formula manufacturing in Sturgis and a subsequent nationwide shortage of formula traces to the May 29, 2020, stun gun incident inside the plants quality services department, where employees are charged with ensuring the quality of the liquified and powder food products being produced for infant consumption. Outside the plant, COVID-19 was raging. While much of the company was working remotely, the staff inside the quality systems department was still onsite working to ensure that production continued for critical products consumed by vulnerable people with often serious medical conditions, including specialty baby formula. The electric sounds that whizzed through the Abbott office had in fact come from a stun gun that a colleague had brought into work, apparently to show to another colleague, according to an interview conducted by MIOSHA with a supervisor in Abbott's quality assurance division and internal documents regulators obtained. The presence of the weapon created alarm within the department. Later that morning, with the staff still shaken by the incident, the quality assurance specialist sent the email alerting several layers of Abbott management, including an immediate supervisor, a next-level manager and the plant's quality assurance director. After being notified, the supervisor sought to address the concerns by having a conversation with the employee who had brought in the stun gun. The employee was warned that bringing the device or any other type of weapon onto the premises was inappropriate. If it happened again, the worker was told, it could result in disciplinary action, according to MIOSHA's investigation and emails from multiple employees. No one alerted staff in the employee relations division and no police reports were filed, the state report said. It wasnt the first time weapons issues had come up at the plant. In one previous instance, multiple employees were fired for selling a gun in Abbotts parking lot. No weapons were discharged in that incident. On another occasion, an employee arrived on company property with a rifle inside the worker's vehicle, having gone straight to work after hunting. That employee was also terminated, according to the state's investigation. The quality assurance specialist was unhappy with how the stun gun situation was handled. On June 1, 2020, the employee elevated the concern to someone in upper management in Abbott's corporate headquarters in Chicago. In an email, he told that person he didnt trust local leadership. In a later email sent on July 8, 2020, the employee expressed concern to someone in Abbotts headquarters that the co-worker who fired the stun gun in the office was getting special treatment from his immediate superiors at the plant. ... If I was the one who brought in the stun gun, I would have been fired on the spot, he wrote. ... This type of employee does not make mistakes like bringing a weapon to work unless they know they can get away with it. In a long email that MIOSHA redacted names from, the complaining employee later wrote that this weapon issue is just the tip of the iceberg. Seven weeks later, he was fired. According to Abbott, the quality assurance specialist was fired for failing to order necessary testing on three batches of products and allowing those batches to go out for delivery, something the company says qualifies as a serious mistake. When asked by The News about the stun gun incident, Abbott spokesman Stoffel said, We dont allow weapons at work and addressed the matter. ATMORE, Ala. (AP) An Alabama inmate convicted of killing his former girlfriend decades ago was executed Thursday night despite pleas from the victims family to spare his life. Joe Nathan James Jr. received a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his request for a stay. Officials said he was was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m. after the start of execution was delayed by nearly three hours. James, 50, was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1994 shooting death of Faith Hall, 26, in Birmingham. Hall's daughters have said they would rather James serve life in prison, but Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday that she planned to let the execution proceed. Prosecutors said James briefly dated Hall and he became obsessed after she rejected him, stalking and harassing her for months before killing her. On Aug. 15, 1994, after Hall had been out shopping with a friend, James forced his way inside the friend's apartment, pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Hall three times, according to court documents. Halls two daughters, who were 3 and 6 when their mother was killed, said they wanted James to serve life in prison instead of being executed. The family members not attend the execution. Today is a tragic day for our family. We are having to relive the hurt that this caused us many years ago," the statement issued through state Rep. Juandalynn Givan's office read. Givan was a friend of Hall's. We hoped the state wouldnt take a life simply because a life was taken and we have forgiven Mr. Joe Nathan James Jr. for his atrocities toward our family. ... We pray that God allows us to find healing after today and that one day our criminal justice system will listen to the cries of families like ours even if it goes against what the state wishes," the family's statement read. Ivey said Thursday that she always deeply considers the feelings of the victims family and loved ones, but must always fulfill our responsibility to the law, to public safety and to justice. Faith Hall, the victim of repetitive harassment, serious threats and ultimately, cold-blooded murder, was taken from this earth far too soon at the hands of Joe Nathan James, Jr. Now, after two convictions, a unanimous jury decision and nearly three decades on death row, Mr. James has been executed for capital murder, and justice has been served for Faith Hall. She said the execution sends an," unmistakable message was sent that Alabama stands with victims of domestic violence. The execution began a few minutes after 9 p.m. CDT following a nearly three hour delay. James did not open his eyes or show any deliberate movements at any point during the procedure. He did not speak when the warden asked if he had any final words. His breathing became labored, with deep pulsing breaths, and slowed until it was not visible. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm, responding to a question about why the execution was delayed, said the state is, very deliberate in our process in making sure everything goes according to plan. He did not elaborate. Hamm also said James, who showed no movements at any point, was not sedated. The execution took place at a prison that houses the state's death row. An inmate put signs in a cell window calling the execution a murder." A Jefferson County jury first convicted James of capital murder in 1996 and voted to recommend the death penalty, which a judge imposed. The conviction was overturned when a state appeals court ruled a judge had wrongly admitted some police reports into evidence. James was retried and again sentenced to death in 1999, when jurors rejected defense claims that he was under emotional duress at the time of the shooting. James acted as his own attorney in his bid to stop his execution, mailing handwritten lawsuits and appeal notices to the courts from death row. A lawyer filed the latest appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on his behalf Wednesday. But the request for a stay was rejected about 30 minutes before the execution was set to begin. James asked justices for a stay, noting the opposition of Hall's family and arguing that Alabama did not give inmates adequate notice of their right to select an alternate execution method. He also argued that Iveys refusal violates religious freedom laws because the Koran and the Bible place the concept of forgiveness paramount in this situation. Theres a reason people repeat the adage that half a loaf is better than none, coined in 1546 in John Heywoods collection of English proverbs. It is the same reason political activists, like Rep. Cori Bush, make unproductive legislators. Their causes may be noble, their passions commendable, and they may be skilled at getting their message before the public eye, but that does not always make them effective lawmakers or representatives. To be an efficient legislator requires compromise. Activists like Bush and their passions lead them to be uncompromising in their positions, which makes working with other members of a legislature difficult and makes bringing home the bread almost impossible. Political activists tend to see everything through the eyes of an ideological purity test and can be committed to their causes more than to their constituents or their political party. Consider Bushs votes (against her own party) on the following bills: No on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. No for providing emergency funding for Capitol security in response to the Jan. 6 attack and for the expansion of the Afghan visa program. No for making appropriations for the State Department, foreign operations and related programs. No for expanding security for members of the U.S. Supreme Court. No for banning Russian oil as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine. Bush joined five other Democrats in voting against the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Bush had vowed not to support the bill without a vote on a separate $2 trillion Build Back Better proposal, which included funding for universal preschool, climate change, health care and other progressive priorities. Before voting against President Joe Bidens infrastructure package, Bush told the president that St. Louis has to come first for me. Child care, climate action, community violence prevention. I made it very clear that those are the things that we need. We wont get those things if we dont stand up. And so he [Biden] understood that. Heres what Missouri will receive from the 2021 infrastructure bill: $6.5 billion for federal highway programs, $484 million for bridge replacement and repairs, $674 million over five years to improve public transportation options across the state, and a minimum allocation of $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state. More than 1.6 million people, or 26% of Missourians, will be eligible for assistance to help low-income families afford internet access. Missourians will also benefit from the bills historic $3.5 billion national investment in weatherization, which will reduce energy costs for families, and $866 million over five years to improve water infrastructure across the state and ensure that clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities. Transportation, broadband, reduced energy costs, and clean drinking water sounds beneficial to all Missouri residents. Bush did what she threatened and rejected the first half of the loaf even though the second half the social-spending bill she demanded had no chance of passage by the Senate. Luckily for the residents of Missouris 1st District, there were enough legislators who voted for half a loaf, so that all Missourians will get to eat some of the infrastructure bread. Some of these same activists-turned-legislators spend time protesting in front of the Supreme Court or even in front of the very building they work in. Bush is one of a small number of Americans who have the power to actually create laws and policies. Perhaps Bush and others should spend more time inside the Capitol building working with one another. Not only would it be more effective, it is their job. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, along with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, are examples of powerful members of Congress who are pragmatic, who negotiate and who have learned to accommodate the other side. They also understand that something is better than nothing. Representatives are responsible for representing all of their constituents. Not just those who agree with their cause or those who voted for them. All constituents should be considered when deciding on how to vote on any given piece of legislation. Political activism is an important part of our nations history, and we should be grateful for their contributions. There have also been great politicians and elected officials who have set and furthered worthy agendas. The problem comes when you combine them. Political activists, politicians and effective legislation rarely yield a fully baked, whole loaf. Lynn Schmidt is a Post-Dispatch columnist and Editorial Board member. lynnschmidtrn@outlook.com On Twitter: @lynnschmidtrn The House select committee hearings into the Capitol insurrection have established two facts virtually beyond debate: One, former President Donald Trump is culpable for what his followers did that day in support of his unprecedented attempt to overthrow a valid election. And, two, Trumps scheme was aided by deep flaws in the federal statutes guiding the process of counting and certifying electoral votes. The second issue, at least, now has a fix in sight. A bipartisan group of senators has unveiled legislation that will make it more difficult for future presidents to engage in the kind of anti-democratic mischief that Trump did, with rational and even-handed changes to current law. In a real sense, members of Congress voting on this will be making a choice between safeguarding democracy or defending Trumps attempted coup and risking an encore. The new legislation overhauls a poorly drafted, 19th-century law governing the certification of elections and makes other changes to repair weaknesses that Trump exploited. It specifies that the vice presidents role in the process is purely ceremonial, so future sitting presidents cant claim, as Trump did, that their vice presidents have the power to simply set aside the voters decision. The bill would make it more difficult for members of Congress to object to states electoral slates, upping the current threshold of one objector each in the House and Senate to one-fifth of members in each chamber. Under the current system, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawleys announcement in the days before Jan. 6, 2021, that he planned to object to some of the results the first senator to make such an announcement was in itself enough to set up the floor debate that helped inspire the rioters. A higher bar for objections could well have averted the whole thing. The reform package would also require states to appoint their electors as prescribed by their own state laws, without any possibility of changing the rules after Election Day, as Trump and his backers tried to get Republicans in key states to do after the 2020 election. The measure isnt a cure-all. It doesnt, for example, prevent states from changing their laws before Election Day to make it easier for legislatures to bypass the will of the people, which some red states are currently trying to do. Preventing that kind of undermining of democracy with a federal law would require more federal intrusion into state laws than most congressional Republicans are likely to agree to, and Republican votes are needed in the Senate to pass this. Ultimately, only voters in individual states can stop their leaders from rigging elections in advance. But this measure would, at least, prevent future Trumpian attempts to overthrow them afterward. Every congressional vote against it should be viewed as a vote against democracy. One of the great perks of the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card is the so-called Famous Companion Fare. Each cardholder year, members get a unique discount code letting them book an Alaska flight and add a companion for just $99 plus taxes starting, which start at $22. Alaska Airlines makes it quite easy to use this perk too. The unique code is deposited into your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account. That means you dont have to worry about finding an email or physical coupon when you want to use itand there are few restrictions on how you can use the discount code. If you can use this perk each year, you can easily justify the $75 annual fee on the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card. Lets show you how to earn and use the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare. How To Earn the Alaska Companion Fare The only way to earn Alaskas Famous Companion Fare is to hold select Alaska Mileage Plan credit cards. Currently, there are two cards that offer the Companion Fare: Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card and Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card*. Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card New Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card cardholders will earn an Alaska Companion Fare as part of the welcome bonus. Then, cardholders will earn another Companion Fare each card anniversary. Alaska notes that your first Companion Fare code will be deposited in your account 6 to 8 weeks after qualifying for the welcome offer. However, its likely to be much faster than that in practice. When I signed up for a new Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card in fall 2020, my Companion Fare was deposited just days after I met the spending requirements. To earn the cardholder anniversary Companion Fare, your account will need to be open and with active charging privileges on your account anniversarywhich can be 6 to 8 weeks after you originally opened your card. Per the terms, the Companion Fare discount code should be deposited in your account within two billing cycles after your account anniversary. Although, in practice, Ive found that the code usually deposits within a few days of your card anniversary. Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card * If you have a small business, you can sign up for the Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card*. As with the personal card, youll earn a Companion Fare as part of the sign-up bonus and then each subsequent year. The first Companion Fare will be added to your account 6 to 8 weeks after you meet the spending requirements. Then, youll get another Companion Fare each year on your account anniversary. Canada-issued Alaska Airlines Cards The Alaska Companion Fare isnt just for Americans. Canadians can also get a Companion Fare on both of Alaskas Canadian credit cards: Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard Alaska Airlines Platinum Plus Mastercard As with the U.S. cards, youll get the first Companion Fare after meeting the initial spending requirements and then each year after that. Rules for Booking Alaskas Companion Fare For such a valuable perk, you might expect a bunch of restrictions. However, Alaska only places a few restrictions on using the Companion Fare. Perhaps the most critical is that you need to book both passengers at the same time. This sets the Alaska Companion Fare apart from the Southwest Companion Pass, which lets you add your companion after booking the original passengers flight. The Companion Fare is only valid for economy bookings, so you wont be able to get buy-one-get-one-almost-free on first class fares. And, speaking of fares, you must book a published airfare. That means you cant book any crazy routings or flights between airports where Alaska doesnt sell flights. Finally, the Companion Fare cant be combined with other discounts and isnt valid for award bookings. That means you cant book any of the incredible Mileage Plan sweet spots and add a companion fare using a certificate. What is allowed when booking Alaska Companion Fare? Alaska lets travelers use the Companion Fare for other travelers. For example, Im using this years Companion Fare to book two friends on the same trip that I booked with last years certificate. When using the Companion Fare for others, the only limitation is that the holders credit card must be used to book the reservation, which is likely a step to prevent fraud. Although you cant use miles or discount codes to reduce the cost of a Companion Fare booking, Alaska lets passengers apply any valid Alaska travel funds to the booking. So if you had to ditch a trip due to the pandemic, you can use flight credits to reduce the cost of your Companion Fare booking. And good news for mileage collectorsboth travelers will earn miles and elite credits from the flight. Elite travelers are even eligible for upgrades to first class. However, both travelers must travel together in the same cabin,so there needs to be upgrade space for both travelers. How long is the Alaska Companion Fare valid? The Alaska Companion Fare expires at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the stated expiration date, which is set based on when you earned the Companion Fare Dont worry if you cant travel by that date. As long as your booking has been ticketed before the expiration date, you have up to 12 months to complete travel. How To Book the Alaska Companion Fare To get started, log into your Alaska Mileage Plan account. Under Account, click the dropdown box and select the discount/companion fare codes link. Click the shop button on the discount code you want to use. This will launch a search using that unique discount code. Alaska will automatically default to two adults, and youll get an error if you change the search to more or less than two travelers. The search also defaults to a round-trip, but you can book a one-way or multi-city trip instead. Enter your origin, destination and dates. Then click find flights to launch a search. The flight results will look a bit different to those that are used to the Alaska flight search engine. Youll see two prices for each flight. The top price is the cost (including taxes and fees) for the original passenger. The price for the companion is shown below that. The flexible-date search bar above the flight results helpfully shows the total price for both passengers. As you can see in the screenshot above, you can book either Saver or Main cabin fares. The Companion Fare is the same ($99 plus taxes) for either option. You cant mix and match Saver and Main fares between the outbound and return flights. Instead, youll need to choose Saver or Main for both directions of a round-trip. Also, since first-class fares cant be booked with a Companion Fare, Alaska shows these fares as N/A. Once youve selected your flights, click add to cart to proceed to checkout. Here youll see the fares for both the primary passenger and the $99 companion fare. In this example, youre saving over $150 thanks to the Companion Fare discount. Once you confirm the flight details, click the next button at the bottom of the page. On the next screen, enter the personal information for both travelers and click continue to move to seat selection. With your seat selected, the next step is to enter payment to complete the purchase. How To Maximize the Alaska Companion Fare Now, lets get into the fun part: maximizing the Companion Fare. As you can see, booking the Alaska Companion Fare is fairly straightforward and can all be done online. As long as you can price out an itinerary on Alaskas website, you can book it with the Companion Fare. Book a Multi-leg Trip One of the fun ways to maximize the Alaska Companion Fare is by booking two trips in just one ticket. For example, if youre based on the East Coast, you can book a trip to visit both the West Coast and Hawaii in the same trip. Another optionyou can depart from New York City and visit both Seattle and Hawaii for a few nights each before returning to NYC. This trip currently costs $482 round-trip in Saver or $652 round-trip in Main Cabin. After adding the $99 Companion Fare plus taxes and fees, you could pay just $620 round-trip for two passengers in Saver class or $790 round-trip for two in Main Cabin. Book the Alaska Milk Run This year I used the Alaska Companion Fare to book Alaska Airlines famous Milk Run. Each day, Alaska operates flights 61-67,each of which makes multiple stops in small towns in southern Alaska on the way between Seattle and Anchorage. As these flights carry vital supplies to these towns, these flights have earned the Milk Run nickname. And yes, you can use the Alaska Companion Fare to book these flights. Just make sure to use the Multi-City search tool to force your way onto one of the Milk Run flights. Unless you live in Seattle or Anchorage, make sure to book your positioning flights as part of the same booking. The $99 Companion Fare will be the same no matter how many flights you add. Youll effectively get buy-one-get-one-free on your positioning flights as well. Bottom Line The Alaska Companion Fare is a rewarding perk of Alaska co-branded credit cards. If you can use it each year, this perk alone can help justify the reasonable annual fee on these Alaska credit cards. The other perks of these cardsfrom free checked bags to discounts on in-flight purchases and lounge passesare just a bonus on top. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has fired the head of the SBU (internal security agency) and the chief prosecutor along with over sixty other officials and brought treason and collaboration charges against 651 SBU members and local officials. Most of those charged worked for the SBU. The large number of people charged is the result of more Ukrainians reporting information leaks and collaboration with the Russians in Ukraine as well as the occupied territories, especially the ones that were seized in the first week of the Russian February invasion. There were also credible complaints from more recent members of the SBU that there were still a lot of SBU veterans who openly criticized government policy and condoned corruption, especially within the SBU. The SBU is the successor to the Ukrainian branch of the KGB. After Ukrainian became independent in 1991, obvious KGB loyalists were fired but many vets remained and they perpetuated a culture of corruption along with the formidable deception and operational skills the KGB excelled in. The SBU is a large organization, with 35,000 employees. That is the same size as the American FBI, for a country with seven times more people. Equivalent European agencies, like DST in France and MI5 in Britain are equally small, relative to population, as the FBI. On a per-capita basis Western internal agencies have about 109 agency personnel per million population. For the Russian FSB it is 591 and for the SBU it is about 850. For the Soviet KGB it was 1,600. The SBU, like its predecessor the KGB, demanded high performance and discipline. In return, KGB personnel were free to make a little extra on the side, The KGB was literally above the law as the only ones who could arrest KGB personnel were other KGB personnel. The post-Soviet FSB and SBU have similar immunities. A growing number of the post-199os SBU hires were personnel who, like those who voted Zelensky into office in 2019, saw corruption as a major obstacle to Ukrainian prosperity and independence from Russian influence. Then came the 2022 invasion and NATO military aid and assistance, especially in intelligence collection. This monitored and decrypted (when needed) Russian communications relevant to Ukraine and shared much of that data with the Ukrainians. That data revealed many things, including evidence that turned suspicions of SBU treason into indictments. With leaky SBU members identified it was possible to identify many of their Ukrainian sources. It also sent a message to the SBU that the long sought culture shift in the organization was happening. Life in wartime is one of extremes in courage and craven behavior. The courageous tend to be the majority, at least on the winning side and thats where Ukrainians want to be. For Russians the war in Ukraine is all about gaining real estate and population. For Ukrainians the war is all about the survival of the Ukrainian state and its separate identity. Russia has been trying to erase that separate identity for centuries and this is something people in all nations can understand. Ukrainian have openly complained about Russian efforts to regain control of Ukraine after 1991. Thats what numerous independence movements in Ukrainian history are all about. The 2014 uprising of Ukrainians against a president who sold out to the Russians after promising closer ties to Europe and NATO did not end with the resignation of that president. The Russians kept trying and the Ukrainian kept resisting until 2022 when a desperate Russian leader risked another major defeat to absorb all of Ukraine back into Russia. Its another example of the irresistible force going against the immovable object and, like the Germans in 1941, irresistible is often not enough. The military government is now threatening to force the 15,000 UN peacekeepers out of the country unless the UN agrees to give the Mali military government control over what the peacekeepers can do. The government is particularly angry at the way the peacekeepers report on atrocities committed by Mali security forces as well as the Russian Wagner Group military contractors. The government forced the French and G5 peacekeepers out by the end of 2021. It was believed that Mali would prefer to keep the 13,500 UN peacekeepers that maintains government control over the rebellious north. These peacekeepers are supplied by AU (African Union) nations and some of the African nations supplying these peacekeepers are withdrawing that support. A few percent of the peacekeeping force consists of troops from NATO nations that supply specialized services, especially transport helicopters and other services. Currently the foreign contingent is about a thousand German troops. There is growing opposition among UN members for maintaining the expensive peacekeeper force, which is the most dangerous the UN is currently involved with. The Mali peacekeeping operation costs about half a billion dollars a month and that is about the only foreign aid Mali gets now that the military government is in control. Most foreign aid was halted because the government was stealing so much of the aid. It is difficult to steal any of the money spent on peacekeepers but the government seems to be trying to do just that. Once the UN voted to maintain the Mali peacekeeping force for another year the military government began harassing the peacekeepers and threatening to expel all of them. The peacekeepers serve on contracts (with the UN) for varying periods usually between two and six months. The UN threatens to withdraw its peacekeepers because Mali is paying for about a thousand Russian mercenaries (Wagner Group military contractors) as well as buying weapons from Russia, which is banned from selling weapons to foreign nations. Russia is under severe economic sanctions because of its recent Ukraine invasion but Mali gets around that by paying Russia in gold. Mali is a major producer of gold and Russia has a large gold stockpile for emergencies. Russia will accept gold for the weapons and Wagner Group contractors. Russia also supplies pilots and maintainers for the eight Russian helicopters Mali has received since 2017. Most of the helicopters are flown by Russian pilots with a Mali co-pilot who is learning how to operate the new helicopters. Wagner Group personnel began arriving in mid-December 2021. The government had already begun construction of a Wagner Group base outside the capital airport. The Wagner Group personnel and additional weapons arrived in Russian military transports. Soon small contingents of Wagner Group men moved to the north, occupying base facilities recently abandoned by the French peacekeepers. The Warner men were accompanied by a larger number of Mali Army troops, who would receive advice and hands-on instruction on how to carry out operations successfully. Wagner Group operations use Russian methods, which involve terrorizing civilians believed cooperating with Islamic terrorists. Wagner Group operates mainly in central Mali, where Wagner Group men accompany Mali troops on surprise attacks, often in towns where Islamic terrorists are known to be active. Russian transport helicopters are often used to carry the ground assault force. Mali troops speak the local languages and are better able to spot known or suspected Islamic terrorists. The Wagner Group men, most of them veterans of Russian special operations or airborne units, have combat experience and pass that on to the Malian forces. This produces thousands of civilian casualties. This is one reason for UN threats to withdraw all peacekeepers, who are essential to keeping the north under government control. This is mainly because of the Wagner Group, which has been accused of using unacceptable (to the UN) tactics. The Russian presence threatens to end most foreign aid, including the 13,000 AU (African Union) peacekeepers that have policed the north since 2013. This is where most of the Islamic terrorist and ethnic conflict has always been found. Since 2018 a lot of the violence has moved south to central Mali and the three-border area where the Mali army and tribal militias take most of the casualties. A month ago, the UN voted to keep the peacekeepers in Mali for another year. In 2018 the UN began planning to reduce and ultimately end the Mali peacekeeping force, especially if there is not more progress in Mali. Being a peacekeeper can be a dangerous job, especially in Mali where peacekeeper casualties since mid-2013 were over 500 dead and wounded. Mali is the most dangerous peacekeeping operation the UN operates. Losses were much heavier among the Islamic terrorists. Since 2015 Islamic terrorist operations, mainly in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso left 25,000 locals (civilians and security forces) dead and forty percent of those deaths occurred in Mali. In response to the terrorist threat France supplied an additional counterterrorism force (Operation Barkhane). These 5,100 French counterterrorism troops were always separate from the UN Mali peacekeepers because the French force deals with Islamic terrorism throughout the region and has a license to kill. UN peacekeepers mainly defend and are rarely given permission to search and destroy. Since 2018 popular support for Barkhane in France declined and that led to efforts to get other nations to replace the French force completely or partially. Because of all this, the official end of Barkhane is not surprising. It was not a matter of if, but when. Western nations have long contributed small contingents who operate transport helicopters and surveillance UAVs. Sometimes they send small teams of special operations troops. France has been reducing its counter-terrorism forces since 2018 and trying to replace them with special operations troops from African nations also threatened by the growth of Islamic terrorism in Africa during the last decade. The local G5 Sahel counterterrorism force was seen as a better peacekeeping solution because it consists of the best troops from five Sahel nations (Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad) and is capable of dealing with Islamic terrorism throughout the Sahel, which is the semi-desert belt below the Sahara Desert that extends across most of Africa. The problem is that the least effective G5 contingent comes from Mali, which has long had a reputation for the least effective military in the area, G5 began operations in early 2018 after three years of planning and preparation. In late 2016 the countries involved agreed on the details of G5. This included who would provide what in terms of the 5,000 soldiers and police needed and where they would be based. The G5 force was to be stationed in three operational areas along with troops familiar with local conditions. Sahel East consists of troops from Chad and Niger. Sahel Central is staffed by troops from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso while Sahel West mainly uses troops from Mali and Mauritania. The G5 force has been most active in the three borders area (where borders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso meet) and found itself spending more and more time in this terrorist hotspot. A successful G5 Force would enable France to shrink and eventually disband the force of 4,000 French troops it has deployed in the Sahel since 2013 and reduce the 13,000 strong UN peacekeeper force in Mali. Increasingly, central Mali is where there has been more and more Islamic terror group activity, not all of it violent. The Russian presence led Mali to withdraw from the G5 force as well as ordering all French counterterrorism forces out. The other G5 members saw that as the end of the G5 force. The growing Russian presence is what threatens the continued presence of the peacekeepers. This is because the UN presence also enables investigations of alleged atrocities committed by Mali soldiers or police. This has been a problem for decades and led to the 2011 rebellion in the north that in turn led to a military coup in Mali and the military intervention of France to keep the north part of Mali. The UN peacekeeper presence means the UN is able to investigate the growing number of incidents where the army is accused of terrorizing civilians in Central and northern Mali, usually because the civilians were suspected of supporting Islamic terrorists or tribal militias that had clashed with soldiers. The military government can now block some of those investigations because Russia will use its UN veto to block certain investigations. The military government expulsion of French troops and the French ambassador caused economic sanctions to be imposed. The officers running the military government seem unconcerned because they have access to income from Mali gold mines. Mali also has rich farmland in the south and exports a lot of food. There is a desert and semi-desert area north of the Niger river that has less than ten percent of the population and causes a disproportionate number of problems. Most of the northerners are Tuareg and a smaller number of Arabs. Both of these groups are ethnically different from the 90 percent of the 20 million Malians living in the well-watered south. The only reason the ethnically different north is part of Mali is because, when France organized its Mali colony, it incorporated the northerners because to the north of Mali were Arab majority nations that did not want more of those troublesome Tuaregs. The black African Mali majority does not want to cut the north loose, as many Tuareg want, because the northerners would still be a problem for Mali. The northerners are better fighters and have defied southern control since Mali became independent in the 1960s. Historically the Tuareg were responsible for many raids on the more populous and prosperous south. The Tuaregs have been relatively quiet since a peace agreement was signed in 2015. Mali governments, especially the new military one, have not upheld their part of the deal and now that the peacekeepers are gone or apparently going, the Tuaregs threaten to renew their war with the government. This northern problem kept Mali from achieving peace and prosperity. In 2021 the situation got worse when there was another military coup. This one was an internal dispute among army officers upset about corrupt civilian members of the interim government and the prospect of the army losing power after new elections. Since the May 2021 coup foreign donors have warned that most of the foreign aid will stop coming if Mali does not carry out a significant reduction in corruption, government ineffectiveness and overall instability. None of these three military takeovers were about corruption, but rather anger at the corrupt politicians stealing money meant to finance operations against Islamic terrorist and separatist minorities in the north. The colonels running the current military government are unwilling to step down and are trying to make it on their own, despite the large number of UN peacekeepers and French troops who have long kept the Islamic terrorist problem up north under control. For countries dependent on foreign trade and foreign aid, ignoring what the trading partners and aid donors think is a no-win situation. The trade partners can take their business elsewhere, where there are fewer problems. For the foreign aid groups, they are faced with a global situation where need far exceeds the aid available. That has led to triage, in which recipient nations or regions that use the aid less effectively, usually by diverting much of it to corrupt rulers or rebel leaders, get less. A military coup is usually a sign of problems and the threat of more economic and diplomatic problems. By 2022 most foreign aid was gone and Mali was bankrupt, but the military government was not. The threats from the military said a lot about their motives, which was mainly about maintaining their power and helping themselves to a portion of foreign aid. The Mali military government is spending at least $10.8 million a month to pay for a thousand Wagner Group military contractors, Wagner Group also provides media and political support to local governments that hire them. An example of this is Russia and the Mali coup leaders both accusing the French of sustaining colonial rule. This angle serves the coup leaders and Wagner because it makes it patriotic to expel some contingents of European troops. Wagner is also foreign, but they have been hired by the coup government and are thus considered serving Mali, not practicing some form of colonialism. French and foreign donor efforts against corruption are portrayed by the corrupt coup leaders as another example of French colonialism. This may seem absurd to outsiders but the coup government controls most mass media to justify attacks on hostile demonstration and protection of supportive ones. The Russian presence is not the only problem the military has to deal with. At the start of 2022 Mali defaulted on more of its foreign debt. So far Mali is unable to make payments on $180 million in debts. This is partially due to the reductions in foreign aid because of the ongoing corruption and refusal of the military government to hold elections. The best the military government could do was promise elections in five years. That was answered with major cuts to foreign aid. The loss of over 20,000 foreign troops (peacekeepers and foreign special operations forces) will cause a lot more violence in Mali and so far the military government seems unconcerned. This sort of mismanagement is why Mali became the center of a growing Islamic terrorist problem in the first place. Islamic terrorists are a growing problem in Mali. A decade ago, most were in the north but now most of them are south of the Niger river and few are Arabs or Tuareg. African Islamic terrorists believe a religious dictatorship will solve the problem but that has never worked either. Captured Islamic terror group records always include complaints about corruption, and that occasionally makes the news when a terrorist leader absconds with a large amount of money. Islamic terrorism is another form of civil war, by religious zealots against an elected government or, more likely, a dictatorship or military government. Malis neighbors have long considered Mali as more of a problem than a helpful neighbor. Now the neighbors will concentrate on isolating themselves from Mali and that will mean seeking some of those 20,000 foreign troops Mali ordered out. Mali now has only about 14,000 troops and paramilitaries, including the thousand from Wagner Group, to handle security previously supplied by 33,000 foreign and Malian troops. Taking security advice from Russia is not a good idea, as Russian discovered in Ukraine. Some members of the Mali military government are having second thoughts if only because the numbers dont add up to anything that will benefit Mali. July 27, 2022: In central Mali (Mopti) Islamic terrorists carried out simultaneous against the army in three different locations, leaving fifteen soldiers and three civilians dead. The government says 48 attackers were killed or captured during these clashes. Many Islamic terrorist groups are active in the area, most of them affiliated JNIM (Jamaah Nusrah al Islam wal Muslimin, or Group for the support of Islam and Moslems), the largest Islamic terror group in Mali. Most JNIM attacks are on military convoys. These occur at least once a month. More frequent attacks are directed at local civilians who will not cooperate with the terrorists. July 22, 2022: In the south (the capital Bamako) Islamic terrorists attacked the main base of the Mali Army outside the capital using two car bombs and gunmen was repulsed. One soldier died while seven attackers were killed and eight captured. This is the closest attack to the capital the Islamic terrorists have ever made. The captured attackers belonged to JNIM and said the attack was a protest against the government use of Wagner Group mercenaries. JNIM also took credit for five smaller attacks on soldiers in five south Mali towns yesterday. These attacks left one soldier dead and fifteen wounded. Some attackers were wounded but no dead bodies were left behind and none of the attackers were captured. These attacks may have been an effort to draw troops away from the main army base outside Bamako. July 21, 2022: The government suspended the rotation of UN peacekeepers. July 20, 2022: The spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission was expelled from the country for describing the situation in Mali in terms the military government did not agree with. July 14, 2022: The government has prohibited the UN from carrying out its annual rotation of peacekeeping troops. July 10, 2022: The government ordered the arrest of 49 Ivorian soldiers who had arrived at the airport outside the capital as part of the current UN peacekeeper rotation. The government accused the Ivorian peacekeepers of being mercenaries sent to overthrow the military government. The Mali government was using a technicality to detain the Ivorians, who were there to provide security for German peacekeepers in the capital, not join the Ivory Coast Army peacekeeper detachment in the north. July 5, 2022: In the north (outside Gao) Islamic terrorists used a roadside bomb to attacks a peacekeeper supply convoy. Two peacekeepers died and five were wounded. June 19, 2022: In the north (outside Kidal) Islamic terrorists used a roadside bomb to attacks a peacekeeper patrol. supply convoy. One peacekeeper died and several were wounded. June 29, 2022: The UN voted to extend the UN peacekeeping mission for another 12 months. June 7, 2022: Mali is paying for about a thousand Russian mercenaries (Wagner Group military contractors) as well as buying weapons from Russia, which is banned from selling weapons to foreign nations. Russia is under severe economic sanctions because of its recent Ukraine invasion but Mali gets around that by paying Russia in gold. Mali is a major producer of gold and Russia has a large gold stockpile for emergencies. Russia will accept gold for the weapons and Wagner Group contractors. Russia also supplies pilots and maintainers for the eight Russian helicopters Mali has received since 2017. Most of the helicopters are flown by Russian pilots with a Mali co-pilot who is learning how to operate the new helicopters. Wagner Group operations use Russian methods, which involve terrorizing civilians believed cooperating with Islamic terrorists. Wagner Group operates mainly in central Mali, where, Wagner Group men accompany Mali troops on surprise attacks, often in towns where Islamic terrorists are known to be active. The Russian transport helicopters are often used to carry the ground assault force. The Mali troops speak the local languages and are better able to spot known or suspected Islamic terrorists. The Wagner Group men, most of them veterans of Russian special operations or airborne units, have combat experience and pass that on to the Malian forces. This produces thousands of civilian casualties. Wagner Group uses kinder and gentler tactics elsewhere in Africa where Wagner is an investor in local raw materials extracting operations as well as providing the security. Review: Canon CR-N500 PTZ Camera At $5,399, the Canon N500 is a bargain compared to other 1" sensor PTZ video cameras. Featuring 4K/30P and NDI|HX2 support, it has a long 15x optical zoom lens and dual XLR audio inputs, and supports the low-power POE+ standard. Page 1 of 3 next This review of the Canon CR-N500 (Figure 1) is partly my personal camera journey and, partly a PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) video camera review. Im writing it this way because I have always felt that selecting a video camera is not something that can be done in isolation from the workflows that it will be part of and the needs of the video producer. Figure 1. The Canon CR-N500 PTZ camera Sony Camcorder and Cine Camera Years For the past 20 years, I was primarily a Sony shooter. Of the 27 video cameras that I have owned, 17 were Sony prosumer/professional videos cameras and I owned multiples of many. I started with a pair of PD150s and over the years, have owned the PD170, Z7U, Z5U, FS100, FS700, A7S, X70, FS5, A7Sii, FS5MKii, and Z280. As a product reviewer and regular NAB attendee, I have been fortunate enough to evaluate dozens of different video cameras. Mostly I was a Sony guy because I started with Sony and because of the ease of mixing and matching new Sony video cameras with my existing ones, thanks to helpful preset picture profile looks for Rec. 709 in standard dynamic range productions, I stayed in the Sony camp. It wasnt a difficult decision to stay with Sony because they made a good product that arguably all others were compared to, but over the last few years I have been feeling more and more that Sonys new video camcorders were less aligned with my needs. Ultimately, I grew tired of all of the trade-offs. If you have only one or two video cameras in your business at a time, then it is easier to switch brands when you see something new that you like better. By the end of 2021, my business had grown to the point that the majority of our work was multicamera livestreaming productions and we owned and operated 9 different Sony video cameras. Owning multiples of the same model meant I could shoot with wider dynamic range gammas, which was otherwise really challenging to do across different models that were from different generations, as they had different sensors, different gammas, and even the Rec. 709 PP3 preset didnt match well. 2018 was the last year that Sony released a video camera that I was interested in: the Sony Z280. I bought two and, for a time, I was really happy with finally being able to shoot in 4K/60P, and having HD-SDI and HDMI outputs that worked at the same time. All my other Sony models were limited to 4K/30P with a HD-only 3G HD-SDI output and 4K HDMI output, of which I could only use one at a time. I have to go back an entire decade to the FS700 to the last Sony video camera I owned that allowed me to use both the HD-SDI and HDMI outputs at the same time. Dont even get me started with the limitation on the FS5s and X70s that, in 4K mode, wouldnt let me record, output over HDMI, and view on the LCD or VF, at the same time. There is nothing like the feeling sitting behind the video switcher and the moment you go live, and the operator hits the record button to record in-camera, your signal goes dead. Or the conversation with the camera operator about why they cannot simply connect a camera monitor to the unused video output on the video camera. Ultimately my issues with the Z280 in late 2021 was that as a smaller 1/2" sensor video camera (relative to the 1", Super35, and Full Frame cameras I owned), it was a noisy camera and was only really happy operated with the lens wide or mostly wide-open. It also used really expensive SxS cards or uncommon XQD cards with an obsolete SxS adapter (from 2012), and it was completely unrelated to any of the Sony cameras I owned in terms of the menu and settings. So the majority of the time we defaulted to continuing to use the Super35 sensor FS5 (2015) and FS5MKii (2018) with the Sony 28-135 f/4 power zoom cine lens and Sony 70-200 f/4 photo lensboth of which were parfocal. Having multiple cameras with different lenses meant we could get the coverage we needed but it also limited us if we needed a tighter shot on the 28-135 or a wider shot on the 70-200. Sony didnt stop their video camera development, but they focused it on full-frame digital cine cameras, like the A7, FX, and Venice lines, and stopped making new Super35 sensor video cameras. The full-frame Sony cameras are absolutely amazing for creative digital cine endeavors, but what I really wanted was a larger-sensor professional camcorder for my bread-and-butter multicamera live stream work. If I switched from a Super35 sensor to a full frame, it would reduce my lens reach by 50% and make my depth of field even shallower. Neither of those two worked for me so I kept waiting, until finally I gave up on Sony. I decided to start over without any consideration for the 9 Sony video cameras in my fleet that I decided to sell. Pivoting to PTZ COVID was a factor in my decision to start my search by first looking into PTZ cameras. The combination of distancing requirements, client preference for smaller crew sizes, and COVID causing my crew roster to shrink, made the ability to control multiple video cameras remotely even more attractive. Previously, I reasoned that PTZ cameras really only became efficient for me when I went from 2 to 3 video cameras because on a lot of my productions, I would have one camera operator operate both a wide and a medium or close-up camera at the same time. But the more I thought about it, having the camera operator be a PTZ camera operator seated right next to me as the technical director/video switcher operator/sound technician/live stream technician, meant I could much more easily communicate with the camera operator and let them know what shots I wanted, without first having to wave frantically at them to get their attention, and then through a series of rehearsed hand signals, gesture the movement that I wanted, all before the opportunity passed. Yes, this is what intercom systems are for, and I own one, but not every client budget can handle this additional equipment cost and set-up time. Initially I underestimated the efficiency of PTZ cameras. Through a discovery process, I have used several different workflows for different-sized productions with crews ranging from me on my own with multiple PTZ cameras and crews of 2 and 3. The big difference is that, rather than have my crew stand behind a camera with little to do for hours (I especially feel bad for the operators on the wide camera angles that rarely ever change), I can assign the crew to other roles, like audio, or better supporting the client or presenters. Key PTZ Specs and Considerations What was really important to me, coming from a background of using Super35 sensor video cameras to optimize video signal quality, was that I didnt want a PTZ camera that produced video that looked like it was coming off of a security camera or small-sensor camcorder. I focused my efforts on 1" sensor video cameras that for me hit the right trade-off between better video quality and reduced optical zoom compared to smaller 1/3" or 1/2" class sensor options. This sensor-based selection reduced the field to the following 4 options: Panasonic AW-UE150K, Sony BRC-X1000, BirdDog P4K, and Canon CR-N500. In Table 1 I have listed the features that stood out to me the most. The Panasonic came highly recommended to me from a few broadcaster friends who raved over its video quality. It also had the highest MSRP at $11,400, although at the time of this writing in July 2022, BH Photo is selling it for $9,995. The Panasonic can justify its price premium with a 20x lens and 4K/60P support but despite this price premium, NDI|HX is a $299 paid upgrade, and POE support is via the more power-hungry POE++ standard, which requires a more expensive POE switch. Table 1. PTZ cam key features Both the Sony and BirdDog 1" sensor PTZ cameras have very limiting 12x lenses, and while the Sony lacks NDI support, the BirdDog supports Full NDI in all its low latency and I-Frame codec glory. If this was a three-pony race, I feel like the Panasonic and BirdDog are priced properly and I would try to stretch my budget for the Panasonic because I know that a 12x optical zoom lens doesnt have enough range for me. Interestingly, this author believes that all three cameras feature Sony-made 1" sensors as Panasonic ceased their own semiconductor production in late 2019 and some of their other cameras use Sony sensors, and BirdDog makes specific mention of Sony sensors as a feature. At only $5,399, the Canon N500 is a bargain compared to the other 1" sensor PTZ video cameras. Featuring 4K/30P and NDI|HX2 support, it has a long 15x optical zoom lens and dual XLR audio inputs. Sure, it would be nice to have the 20x Panasonic lens, considering all four 1" PTZ camera lenses have the same f/2.8-4.5 maximum aperture, but for about the same cost as owning a single Panasonic UE150K after you pay for the NDI license, you can own two Canon N500s. The trade-off here is the lack of 4K/60P support but you at least the NDI|HX2 codec is a better codec with lower latency than NDI|HX. I also prefer the lower-power POE+ standard. After I completed my initial features and cost assessment, I felt really good about the value proposition of the Canon N500, which started shipping in mid-2021. I felt even better when Canon started shipping the new XF605 camcorder in late 2021, with similar specs and features to the N500, and which satisfied my need for a professional camcorder that could shoot 4K/60P and output 12G HD-SDI. My hope was that the N500 PTZ and XF605 camcorder (Figure 2) could replace my aging fleet of Sony video cameras. Figure 2. The Canon XF605 camcorder Not able to arrange a demo unit of the N500, I blindly went in and bought an N500 and arranged a loan of the XF605. Both performed great and I promptly ordered 2 more N500s and 3 XF605s. It took 60 days before the order was fulfilled and during that time I sold my Sony cameras, one or two at a time, locally in Vancouver, Canada and to buyers as far away as the UK and the tiny island of Fiji. I am now a Canon shooter and am planning to acquire a fourth of each camera. Initially, I thought I would be mixing and matching them more on the same shoots but in the 6 months that I have owned them, we did this only once, but there are times I have felt it would be nice to have another video camera or two when we have multiple back-to-back projects on the go. Shares of P&G (NYSE: PG) are down 3.6% in premarket trading on Friday after the company offered disappointing full-year guidance. PG reported a core EPS of $1.21 that missed the estimate of $1.23. Net sales came in at $19.52 billion, slightly ahead of the $19.38 billion consensus. P&G reported negative organic volume growth of -1% while analysts were looking for +0.58%. The company said it expects to generate organic revenue growth of +3% to +5%, missing the consensus of +5.19%. PG expects diluted net EPS growth of +4% compared to FY 2022 EPS of $5.81, which equates to $5.93 per share. Stifel analyst Mark S. Astrachan said the results were disappointing and somewhat transitory. Overall we view the result as disappointing, particularly given consistency and outperformance in recent years. That said, we anticipate sales underperformance to be mostly transitory, including results from Russia, China, and SKII. We anticipate F2023 consensus moves down ~1%-2%, with PG shares underperforming similarly, Astrachan wrote in a research note. Goldman Sachs analyst Jason English is also disappointed as he believes PG reported results and outlook that fall short of an already lowered bar. Most investors expected EPS guidance to come in below the Street at the mid-point, but the range provided is still below what most we spoke with expected. All-in, we would expect the stock to trade down on the quarter miss and guide-below, English said. By Senad Karaahmetovic WestRock Company (NYSE: WRK), a leading provider of sustainable paper and packaging solutions, today announced that Dmitri L. Stockton, retired chairman, president and chief executive officer of GE Asset Management, has been elected to the Companys board of directors. We are pleased to welcome Dmitri to our board of directors, said David B. Sewell, chief executive officer of WestRock. His vast experience has honed a business perspective that will benefit WestRock significantly as we continue advancing toward our goal of becoming the best paper and packaging company in the industry. I am excited to join the WestRock Board of Directors to help further the Companys objectives of delivering value for our shareholders and serving our customers with leading edge, sustainable products, stated Stockton. Stockton spent 30 years with GE Company, beginning with leadership assignments throughout the United States and progressing to executive leadership roles including a decade abroad with appointments as chief executive officer of GE Capital Bank in Switzerland, president and CEO of GE Consumer Finance in Central and Eastern Europe, and president and CEO of GE Capital Global Banking. Stockton became a vice president of GE Company in 2005 and senior vice president in 2008. In 2011, Stockton returned to the U.S., spending five years as chairman, president, and chief executive officer of GE Asset Management, a $120 billion global asset management company. Dmitri spent his final role at GE Company serving as special advisor to the chairman and senior vice president of GE, providing ongoing counsel on strategy. Stockton is a member of the board of directors for Target Corporation, Ryder System, and Deere & Company. Dmitri graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in accounting from North Carolina A&T State University in 1986. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of humanities by the university in 2013. New York and San Francisco have each declared a state of emergency on monkeypox, a move that allow[s] officials to mobilize additional resources and to accelerate funding and emergency planning to combat the outbreak, according to the L.A. Times Outbreaks are almost exclusively affecting gay & bisexual men and transgender and nonbinary people LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today is calling on the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to immediately declare a state of emergency on monkeypox. Both New York and San Francisco have declared such emergencies, which according to the Los Angeles Times, would allow officials to mobilize additional resources and to accelerate funding and emergency planning to combat the outbreak The World Health Organization declared the virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern over the weekend and now both San Francisco and New York have declared states of emergency in their respective cities while Los Angeles health officials once again are lagging behind and dragging their feet on a critical public health issue, said AHF President Michael Weinstein. We know vaccine doses areand will remainin critically short supply worldwide with months-long production delays expected. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health should mobilize everything in its toolbox to address monkeypox and declaring a state of emergency is a crucial next step to address monkeypox. Since May, the monkeypox virus erupted into several epidemics outside of Africa, where it has long been considered endemic in a handful of countries. Today, its become a worldwide public health crisis, with more than 20,800 confirmed or presumptive positive cases reported across more than 70 countries where it is not considered endemic, according to Reuters Monkeypox Factbox. The vast majority of these infections are occurring in gay men and men who have sex with men. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.6 million individuals in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth, follow us @aidshealthcare or subscribe to our AHF podcast AHFter Hours. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005499/en/ MEDIA CONTACT: Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications, AHF +1.323.791.5526 [cell] [email protected] [email protected] 770.940.6555 mobile Source: AIDS Healthcare Foundation ST. CATHARINES, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Algoma Central Corporation (TSX: ALC) (TSX: ALC.DB.A) today announced that it will report its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 after market close on August 5, 2022. Our second quarter earnings release as well as full financial results will be available on the Company's website and on SEDAR. Algoma owns and operates the largest fleet of dry and liquid bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Seaway, including self-unloading dry-bulk carriers, gearless dry-bulk carriers and product tankers. Since 2010 we have introduced 10 new build vessels to our domestic dry-bulk fleet, with one under construction and expected to arrive in 2024, making us the youngest, most efficient and environmentally sustainable fleet on the Great Lakes. Each new vessel reduces carbon emissions on average by 40% versus the ship replaced. Algoma also owns ocean self-unloading dry-bulk vessels operating in international markets and a 50% interest in NovaAlgoma, which owns and operates the world's largest fleet of pneumatic cement carriers and a global fleet of mini-bulk vessels serving regional markets. Algoma truly is Your Marine Carrier of Choice. For more information about Algoma, visit the Company's website at www.algonet.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005486/en/ Gregg A. Ruhl President & CEO 905-687-7890 Peter D. Winkley, CPA, CA E.V.P. & Chief Financial Officer 905-687-7897 Source: Algoma Central Corporation OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of aa+ (Superior) of the main subsidiaries of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV) (headquartered in New York, NY) [NYSE: TRV], collectively known as Travelers Group (Travelers). In addition, AM Best has affirmed the FSR of A++ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICRs of aa+ (Superior) of Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America (TCSA) (Hartford, CT) and Travelers Insurance Company of Canada (TICC) (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Concurrently, AM Best has affirmed the FSR of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of a (Excellent) of The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company (Dominion) (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). AM Best also has affirmed the FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of a- (Excellent) of First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance Company (First Floridian) (Tampa, FL). Lastly, AM Best has affirmed the Long-Term ICRs and the Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IR) of a+ (Excellent) of TRV and its two wholly owned downstream holding companies, Travelers Property Casualty Corp. and Travelers Insurance Group Holdings Inc. (both headquartered in Hartford, CT). All outstanding securities issued by the two downstream holding companies are guaranteed by TRV. AM Best also has affirmed all other Long-Term IRs and Short-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Short-Term IR) guaranteed by TRV, as well as TRVs indicative Long-Term IRs. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. Please see link below for a detailed listing of the companies and ratings. The ratings of Travelers reflect the groups balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its very strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). Travelers risk-adjusted capitalization remains strongly supportive of the groups ratings and exceeds the threshold for the strongest assessment level by a wide margin, as measured by Bests Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The assessment of Travelers balance sheet strength reflects its strong loss reserve position, the benefits derived from the conservative investment portfolio, the use of a comprehensive reinsurance program, which utilizes high quality reinsurance partners, and the additional financial flexibility available through its ultimate parent, TRV. Travelers very strong operating performance reflects consistently profitable results driven by strong underwriting and investment results. Travelers has reported positive underwriting income in each of the past 10 years. Travelers is the second largest commercial lines insurer in the United States based on 2021 direct premiums written and is one of its top 10 largest personal lines insurers. Overall, Travelers is the sixth largest property/casualty (P/C) writer in the United States. Travelers maintains a broad spread of risk in that it offers a wide array of P/C coverages spread geographically in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, England, Ireland, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. The ratings of TCSA reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its very strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate ERM. The ratings of TICC reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate ERM. The ratings also reflect the implicit support it receives from its ultimate parent, TRV. The ratings of Dominion reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate ERM. The ratings also reflect the implicit support it receives from its ultimate parent, TRV. The ratings of First Floridian reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate ERM. The ratings also reflect the implicit support it receives from its ultimate parent, TRV. The ratings of TRV and its two wholly-owned downstream holding companies are reflective of its modest financial leverage ratios, strong coverage ratios, ample liquidity and overall financial flexibility. A complete listing of The Travelers Companies, Inc.s FSRs, Long-Term ICRs and Long- and Short-Term IRs also is available. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Bests website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Bests Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Bests Credit Ratings, Bests Performance Assessments, Bests Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Bests Ratings & Assessments. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005455/en/ Elizabeth Blamble Senior Financial Analyst +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5603 [email protected] Michael Lagomarsino, CFA, FRM Senior Director +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5810 [email protected] Christopher Sharkey Manager, Public Relations +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159 [email protected] Jeff Mango Managing Director, Strategy & Communications +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5204 [email protected] Source: AM Best NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Audax Private Debt announced that, as Joint Lead Arranger, it provided a unitranche credit facility to support Genstar Capitals (Genstar) acquisition of Cerity Partners (or the Company). Founded in 2009 and headquartered in New York City, Cerity Partners is a registered investment advisor providing wealth management and financial planning services to high-net-worth individuals and businesses. Through the firm's team of in-house attorneys, tax advisors, financial planners, investment professionals, and retirement plan consultants, Cerity Partners offers diverse solutions to address the various facets of a clients financial life. Cerity Partners manages approximately $50 billion in assets for more than 10,000 clients across 16 markets in the U.S. Remington Chin, Managing Director at Audax Private Debt, said, We have supported Cerity Partners for almost two years and have seen the Company continue to establish itself as a leading provider of comprehensive wealth management services. Were excited to continue our partnership with management, and to support Genstar as the Company enters its next phase of growth. About Cerity Partners Cerity Partners is a nationally recognized financial and wealth advisory firm serving high-net-worth individuals and their families, businesses and their leaders, and non-profit organizations throughout the United States. Cerity Partners provides estate, financial and tax planning, tax preparation, executive financial counseling, retirement plan advisory, and investment management services. For more information, visit https://ceritypartners.com/. About Audax Private Debt Based in New York, Audax Private Debt is a leading debt capital partner for North American middle market companies. Since its inception in 2000, Audax Private Debt has invested over $30 billion across more than 1,150 companies in support of over 260 private equity sponsors, and has raised $22 billion in capital. The platform offers its clients a range of financing solutions, including first lien, stretch senior, unitranche, second lien and subordinated debt, as well as equity co-investments. With more than 45 investment professionals and over 130 employees, Audax Private Debt provides financing certainty, add-on investment capability, and the experience and collaborative approach to partner with private equity firms and their portfolio companies. For more information, please visit www.audaxprivatedebt.com or follow us on LinkedIn. Audax Private Debt is an integral part of Audax Group, a leading alternative investment manager with offices in Boston, New York and San Francisco. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220727005662/en/ Contact Audax Private Debt Remington Chin [email protected] Media FGS Global Julie Rudnick / Catherine Livingston [email protected] / [email protected] Source: Audax Private Debt PLYMOUTH, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Horizon Global (NYSE: HZN) announced today that it will host a conference call regarding the Companys second quarter 2022 results on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call will be hosted by Horizon Global's President and Chief Executive Officer Terry Gohl, and James Zhou, Chief Financial Officer. Participants on the call are asked to register five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time by dialing (844) 825-9786 and from outside the U.S. at (412) 902-4185. Please ask to join the Horizon Global call. The second quarter 2022 results and supplemental materials, including a presentation in PDF format, will be distributed before the market opens on August 9, 2022, and will be available on the Companys website at www.horizonglobal.com prior to the start of the call. The conference call will be webcast simultaneously and in its entirety through the Horizon Global website. Shareholders, media representatives and others may participate in the webcast by registering through the Investor Relations section on the Companys website. A replay of the call will be available on Horizon Globals website or by phone by dialing (877) 344-7529 and from outside the U.S. at (412) 317-0088. Please use the replay access code number 6436360. The telephone replay will be available approximately two hours after the end of the call and continue through August 23, 2022. About Horizon Global Headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan, Horizon Global is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of a wide variety of high-quality, custom-engineered towing, trailering, cargo management and other related accessory products in North America, Europe and Africa. The Company serves automotive original equipment manufacturers, retailers, dealer networks and the end consumer as the category leader in the automotive, leisure and agricultural market segments. Horizon provides its customers with outstanding products and services that reflect the Company's commitment to market leadership, innovation and operational excellence. The Companys mission is to utilize forward-thinking technology to develop and deliver premium products for our customers, engage with our employees and realize value creation for our shareholders. Horizon Global is home to some of the worlds most recognized brands in the towing and trailering industry, including: Draw-Tite, Reese, Westfalia, BULLDOG, Fulton and Tekonsha. Horizon Global has approximately 3,800 employees. For more information, please visit www.horizonglobal.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005302/en/ Jeff Tryka, CFA Investor Relations, Lambert & Co. (616) 295-2509 [email protected] Source: Horizon Global Corporation MUMBAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE: IBN) filed its annual report in Form 20-F for the year ended March 31, 2022 (FY2022) on July 29, 2022, as required by United States securities regulations. The Form 20-F annual report includes the Banks consolidated financial statements under Indian GAAP and a reconciliation of consolidated profit after tax and net worth under Indian GAAP to net income and stockholders equity under U.S. GAAP, approved by the Audit Committee of the Board. Copies of the Form 20-F are available from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website www.sec.gov or via a direct link to the SEC website at "About Us/Investor Relations/SEC Filings" page of ICICI Bank's website: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1103838/000095010322013302/dp173855_20f.htm Shareholders may obtain a copy of the complete audited financial statements free of charge by writing to General Manager & Company Secretary, ICICI Bank Limited, ICICI Bank Towers, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai 400051 or sending an e-mail to [email protected], with details of their shareholding and mailing address. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005512/en/ For further press queries please call Sujit Ganguli / Kausik Datta at 91-22-2653 8525 / 91-22-2653 7026 or e-mail at [email protected]. For investor queries please call Abhinek Bhargava / Aashwij Mallya at 91-22-24008 6173 / 91-22-4008 7107 or email at [email protected]. Source: ICICI Bank Limited NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KBRA Credit Profile (KCP), a division of KBRA Analytics, releases its KCP K-LOC Index for the month of June. K-LOC Index The KBRA Loan of Concern (K-LOC) Index was 19.73% in June 2022, down from 20.62% in May 2022 and 27.88% in June 2021. We removed the K-LOC designation on 213 loans ($4.3 billion) in our conduit CMBS coverage universe in June, including 116 lodging ($2.48 billion) and 59 retail ($1.14 billion) loans, based on our improved outlook for the underlying collateral. In addition to our examination of the index by vintage, property type, and metropolitan statistical area, we examine modified loans secured by malls, including those receiving maturity extensions and debt bifurcation. We highlight a number of loans sponsored by Pyramid Management Group as a basis for our analysis. About the Index The K-LOC designation serves as KBRAs primary metric used to identify loans that are in default or at heightened risk of default based on KBRA Credit Profiles (KCP) proprietary research and analysis. KCP is a division of KBRA Analytics. The KLOC Index for June 2022 is a composite of 3,102 K-LOCs with an aggregate UPB of $67.05 billion across 429 conduit transactions. For any given cohort, the index is the quotient of its aggregate K-LOC balance and the cohorts defeasance-adjusted UPB. As it includes loans at risk of default, it is a useful, forward-looking credit barometer. The KLOC designation is determined by our team of analysts, who perform in-depth monthly analysis on individual transactions and the underlying loan collateral. For the purposes of this report, we exclude legacy CMBS (2008 and earlier). Click here to view the report. Related Publications About KBRA Analytics KBRA Analytics, LLC (KBRA Analytics) is our premier product platform for high quality data and advanced analytics. Our seasoned teams of industry specialists across each product provide unparalleled insight creating a foundation of deeper analysis and rapid discovery for users. KBRA Analytics is an affiliate of Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC (KBRA). KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered in the U.S., designated to provide structured finance ratings in Canada, and with credit rating affiliates registered in the EU and UK. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005515/en/ Maverick Force, Director +1 (215) 882-5904 [email protected] Patrick Czupryna, Managing Director +1 (215) 882-5854 [email protected] Sales Marc Iadonisi, Managing Director +1 (215) 882-5877 [email protected] Source: KBRA Analytics, LLC Towing never looked this good! The all-new Hidden Hitch series from Draw-Tite is the newest, sleekest design in towing. PLYMOUTH, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Horizon Global Corporation (NYSE: HZN), one of the worlds leading manufacturers of branded towing and trailering equipment, announced today the launch of its Hidden Hitch series by Draw-Tite. Hidden Hitch trailer hitches have been released for more than 20 popular vehicles across car brands, including Audi, BMW, Subaru, and Volvo. The innovative new hitch design is now available for purchase at Draw-Tite dealers nationwide, www.hiddenhitch.com, and automotive aftermarket e-commerce sites. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005101/en/ Draw-Tite Hidden Hitch main photo (Photo: Horizon Global) Unlike a typical hitch, the Hidden Hitch trailer hitch mounts behind a vehicles rear fascia, so it stays hidden, allowing the vehicle to maintain its original fresh from factory appearance. When ready to tow, simply attach the removable receiver, secure a hitch accessory or ball mount, and go! Each Hidden Hitch trailer hitch features a custom design to fit each vehicle specific make and model allowing for a superior fit and a concealed, no-drill installation. The designwhich does not interfere with ground clearanceallows for mounting of cargo carriers, bike racks, and ball mounts for light-duty towing (up to 3,500 lbs. gross trailer weight and 350 lbs. maximum tongue weight). The Hidden Hitch series is Draw-Tites all-new premium hitch and truly a hitch only when you need it, said Greg Sarkozi, Product Manager of Towing and Electrical Products at Horizon Global. The 2-inch removable receiver can easily be inserted or removed with a simple handle turn and stores when not in use in a provided hard case. The hitch was engineered for smooth, quiet, and easy towing performance with an included anti-rattle hitch pin and requires no added tools to secure towing accessories. Every Hidden Hitch trailer hitch includes: A popular 2-inch receiver opening to fit a wide number of hitch attachments Quick and easy removal of receiver assembly with simple handle turn no tools necessary! An anti-rattle hitch pin to tightly secure accessories in receiver assembly for a quiet ride Hard storage case for removeable receiver when not in use Two safety chain connection points for chain quick links and added security when towing An anti-theft lock incorporated into the receiver for added security Welded steel construction with a black powdered coat finish Like all Draw-Tite hitches, the Hidden Hitch series is engineered and tested to exceed the highest standards (SAE J684 and Euro dyno test) and includes a limited lifetime warranty. Draw-Tite prides itself on providing top quality custom hitch designs for nearly every vehicle on the market, with solid, all-welded construction for maximum strength and towing performance. For more information, please visit www.hiddenhitch.com or www.draw-tite.com. Check out the Hidden Hitch highlight reel: https://bit.ly/hiddenhitch-videos. Hidden Hitch application guide: For a current list of available vehicles, please see below or visit: https://www.hiddenhitch.com/application-guide. Acura RDX / All Styles / 2010-2012 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76902) All Styles / 2010-2012 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76902) Acura RDX / All Styles / 2013-2018 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76902) Acura RDX / With +12V Power Provision / 2019-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76902) Acura RDX / Without +12V Power Provision / 2019-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76902) Audi Q3 / All Styles / 2019-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76918) Audi Q5 / All Styles / 2018-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76911) Audi SQ5 / All Styles / 2018-2021 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76911) BMW X1 / All Styles / 2016-2019 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76923) BMW X1 / All Styles / 2020-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76923) BMW X3 / All Styles / 2011-2017 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76906) BMW X3 / All Styles / 2018-2021 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76906) BMW X3 / All Styles / 2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76906) BMW X5 / Except M Sport Package / 2007-2014 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76903) BMW X5 / Except M Sport Package / 2015-2018 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76903) BMW X5 / Except M Sport Package / 2019-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76908) Cadillac XT5 / All Styles / 2017-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76924) Chrysler Grand Caravan (Canada Only) / All Styles / 2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76916) Chrysler Pacifica / Limited, Touring L, Touring L Plus, Touring Plus / 2017-2020 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76916) Chrysler Pacifica / LX, Touring / 2017-2020 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76916) Chrysler Pacifica / All Styles / 2021-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76916) Chrysler Voyager / All Styles / 2020-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76916) Ford Explorer / All Styles / 2020-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76910) Ford Mustang Mach-E / All Styles / 2021-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76919) Honda Odyssey / With Fuse Provisions / 2018-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76915) Honda Odyssey / Without Fuse Provisions / 2018-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76915) Infinity QX60 / All Styles / 2014-2020 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76904) Jeep Grand Cherokee / All Styles / 2011-2013 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76913) Jeep Grand Cherokee / All Styles / 2014-2021 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76913) Jeep Grand Cherokee WK / All Styles / 2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76913) Lexus RX350 / Except F Sport Models / 2016-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76905) Lexus RX450h / Except F Sport Models / 2016-2021 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76905) Lincoln Aviator / All Styles / 2020-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76910) Mercedes-Benz GLE350 / All Styles / 2021-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76925) Nissan Pathfinder / All Styles / 2013-2020 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76904) Subaru Forester / All Styles / 2019-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76927) Subaru Outback / Wagon, Except Sport / 2011-2019 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76907) Subaru Outback / All Styles / 2020-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76926) Toyota RAV4 / All Styles / 2019-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76912) Volkswagen Tiguan / All Styles / 2018-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76918) Volvo XC40 / All Styles / 2019-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76922) Volvo XC60 / All Styles / 2018-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76920) Volvo XC90 / All Styles / 2016-2022 (Hidden Hitch Part Number: 76920) Follow Draw-Tite on social media: Draw-Tite on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drawtite/ Draw-Tite on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drawtite Draw-Tite on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwDH5J4mYwyk3AevT1qQB9A #drawtite #drawtitehitch #drawtitehitches #hiddenhitch About Horizon Global Headquartered in Plymouth, MI, Horizon Global is a leading designer, manufacturer, and distributor of a wide variety of high-quality, custom-engineered towing, trailering, cargo management and other related accessory products in North America, Europe and Africa. The Company serves automotive original equipment manufacturers, retailers, dealer networks, and the end consumer as the category leader in the automotive, leisure, and agricultural market segments. Horizon provides its customers with outstanding products and services that reflect the Company's commitment to market leadership, innovation, and operational excellence. The Companys mission is to utilize forward-thinking technology to develop and deliver premium products for its customers, engage with its employees, and create value for our shareholders. Horizon Global is home to some of the worlds most recognized brands in the towing and trailering industry, including Draw-Tite, REESE, Westfalia, BULLDOG, Fulton, and Tekonsha . For more information, please visit www.horizonglobal.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005101/en/ Horizon Global Brett Craib, Director of Marketing 734.656.3000 [email protected] Source: Horizon Global Corporation ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PGT Innovations (NYSE: PGTI), a national leader in the premium window and door category, is pleased to announce the grand opening of its new NewSouth Window Solutions showroom next week in Atlanta. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005412/en/ Home restoration project by the team at NewSouth Window Solutions (Photo: Business Wire) Located at 3305 Breckinridge Blvd. in Building 2, Suite 134 in Duluth, the showroom will be NewSouths first in Georgia and will serve as the brands flagship location. The 4,500-square-foot showroom will feature NewSouth window and door products, including single hung, double hung, horizontal slider, and picture windows, as well as sliding glass patio doors and entry doors. A grand opening event will be held at the new showroom on August 3 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and will include a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, followed by refreshments and light snacks. Customers can also take advantage of a Grand Opening promotion that will begin at the event and run through August 6. The promotion will offer 40 percent off all windows and doors to customers who come into the showroom with their window and door measurements. We are thrilled to continue expanding our brands footprint outside of Florida and bring our exceptional NewSouth products and services to Georgia homeowners, said Earl Rahn, President of NewSouth Window Solutions. With this showroom, customers in the Atlanta market can take advantage of the streamlined factory-direct purchase experience, along with the many benefits of our energy-efficient and impact-resistant NewSouth products. With NewSouth Window Solutions, homeowners will be able to see, feel, and operate full sized windows and doors at the showroom, work directly with a NewSouth Window representative throughout the entire process, have their products installed by a NewSouth Window team, and be protected with a lifetime warranty. Prior to the showrooms grand opening event, homeowners in the Atlanta area are invited to schedule an in-home consultation with a NewSouth Window representative to learn more about the brands cutting-edge technology, unwavering commitment to customer service, impeccable quality, and energy conservation. About NewSouth Window Solutions NewSouth Window Solutions serves homeowners directly by both manufacturing and installing high performance, energy efficient replacement window and doors with impact resistant options. Each product is custom made and backed with a lifetime warranty. Offering factory direct solutions in 16 cities across 7 states in the Southeast U.S., NewSouth was named the nations largest factory direct company for windows and doors exclusively, by DWM Magazine in 2022. About PGT Innovations, Inc. PGT Innovations manufactures and supplies premium windows and doors. Its highly engineered and technically advanced products can withstand some of the toughest weather conditions on Earth and are revolutionizing the way people live by unifying indoor and outdoor living spaces. PGT Innovations creates value through deep customer relationships, understanding the unstated needs of the markets it serves, and a drive to develop category-defining products. PGT Innovations is also the nations largest manufacturer of impact-resistant windows and doors and holds the leadership position in its primary market. The PGT Innovations family of brands include CGI, PGT Custom Windows and Doors, WinDoor, Western Window Systems, Anlin Windows & Doors, Eze-Breeze, NewSouth Window Solutions, and a 75 percent ownership stake in Eco Window Systems. The companys brands, in their respective markets, are a preferred choice of architects, builders, and homeowners throughout North America and the Caribbean. Their high-quality products are available in custom and standard sizes with massive dimensions that allow for unlimited design possibilities in residential, multi-family, and commercial projects. For additional information, visit www.pgtinnovations.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005412/en/ PGT Innovations Contact Media Relations Stephanie Cz, Corporate Marketing Manager [email protected] 941-480-1600 Source: PGT Innovations, Inc. With a robust assortment of back-to-school essentials, Pottery Barn Kids makes it fun and easy to shop by age, by product category, or by color, design, and personalization. SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pottery Barn Kids, a portfolio brand of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM), the worlds largest digital-first, design-led and sustainable home retailer, offers the brands largest assortment of backpacks for every child, from toddler to extra-large sizes for the back-to-school shopping season. The robust assortment of gear features trend-forward designs for backpacks, lunch bags, food containers and nap mats all designed to start the school year prepared and in style. The Pottery Barn Kids stores and website also now offer resources and tools to help ensure the proper fit for gear as well as recipes to inspire school lunches. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005082/en/ Pottery Barn Kids debuts new gear styles and shopping tools for back-to-school season (Photo: Williams-Sonoma ) Weve built incredible resources both online and in our stores to simplify the process of selecting the correct sizing for all kids school gear, including backpacks, lunch bags, water bottles and accessories, said Jennifer Kellor, President, Pottery Barn Kids. Heading to school is an important milestone, and Pottery Barn Kids is a destination for everything kids need. Available in 97 print and pattern options, Pottery Barn Kids gear is designed with icons and styles children love in unique fabrications, including glow-in-the dark and glitter. The most popular prints are also available as lunchboxes, pencil cases, hot and cold containers, and water bottles. Add personalization with a name or initial available in a wide variety of font styles and color options. Pottery Barn Kids has successfully grown the brands gear assortment from what was once a seasonal capsule, to a year-round business as customers have embraced gear for year-round use for sports, travel, camp, or any other activity that keeps kids on the go. To help customers select the proper size and style, Pottery Barn Kids has also launched the online Gear Guide, which showcases all the innovative design and material features as well as sizing guides to easily visualize what fits in each bag. View the online guide at www.potterybarnkids.com/gear-guide. For further assistance, customers can chat with a Design Crew Specialist online or visit in-store for help with sizing to ensure the right fit for the littlest learners to big-kids. Customers who visit the Pottery Barn Kids website will also find recipes to inspire school lunches as part of a partnership with sister brand, Williams Sonoma. The Pack Lunch Like A Pro video series features delicious and easy recipes designed to fit in a Pottery Barn Kids Bento lunch box for on-the-go ease. Videos and links to recipes are available at www.potterybarnkids.com/lunchrecipes. To shop the full assortment of Pottery Barn Kids gear, visit www.potterybarnkids.com and join the conversation on social media with @potterybarnkids. ABOUT POTTERY BARN KIDS Introduced in 1999, Pottery Barn Kids offers exclusive home furnishings available online and in stores globally to create kid-friendly, eco-conscious, stylish, and innovative spaces. Pottery Barn Kids mission is to bring the utmost in quality design, sustainability, and safety into every familys home. Products are rigorously tested to meet the highest child safety standards and are expertly crafted from the best materials to last beyond the childhood years. Pottery Barn Kids is a member of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) and participates in The Key Rewards, a free-to-join loyalty program that offers members exclusive benefits across the family of brands. WSM-PR View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005082/en/ Molly Terrell Public Relations, Pottery Barn Kids [email protected] Lauren Sanchez Public Relations, Pottery Barn Kids [email protected] Source: Pottery Barn TOKYO, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced that Julie Pope, now Vice President of Human Resources (HR), has been named Senior Vice President and the companys first Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), effective September 1, 2022. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220728006121/en/ Julie Pope, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Renesas Electronics Corp. (Photo: Business Wire) As SVP and CHRO, Julie will oversee Renesas global HR organization, including talent acquisition and management, Renesas Culture promotion, compensation and benefits, diversity, equity & inclusion and HR operations. Under Julies leadership, Renesas aims to accelerate its efforts to make it the best place to work for its employees by accelerating the globalization and streamlining of its HR efforts. Julie joined Renesas in August 2021, following the completion of the acquisition of Dialog Semiconductor Plc, where she served as Senior Vice President of HR. She brings about 30 years of HR experience across several global organizations. Throughout her career, Julie has developed expertise in driving organizational effectiveness and helping to revitalize organizations to enhance profitability and growth. Our success starts with our people and our culture, said Julie Pope, Vice President of Human Resources at Renesas. As Renesas first CHRO, I am delighted to have the opportunity to continue to cultivate an engaging and rewarding workplace for our employees. By building talented, diverse teams and fostering career development, this will enable us to drive sustainable growth in the global semiconductor market. Please see below for a brief biography of Julie Pope. About Renesas Electronics Corporation Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) empowers a safer, smarter and more sustainable future where technology helps make our lives easier. A leading global provider of microcontrollers, Renesas combines our expertise in embedded processing, analog, power and connectivity to deliver complete semiconductor solutions. These Winning Combinations accelerate time to market for automotive, industrial, infrastructure and IoT applications, enabling billions of connected, intelligent devices that enhance the way people work and live. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Brief Biography of Julie Pope Julie Pope joined Renesas in August 2021 with the acquisition of Dialog Semiconductor Plc. Julie is a business focused HR executive with extensive international experience in talent planning, compensation and benefits, change management, mergers and acquisitions and global talent acquisition. Julie began her career as an actuarial consultant at The Wyatt Company and then KPMG before joining IBM Corporation in 1998 where she worked in New York and Paris holding various HR roles. Julie joined American Express Company in New York in 2003 and held HR roles spanning New York, Sydney and London. In May 2017, Julie joined Dialog Semiconductor Plc as SVP, HR and held that position until the acquisition of Dialog by Renesas. Julie holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Psychology from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas and is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220728006121/en/ Japan Kyoko Okamoto Renesas Electronics Corporation + 81-3-6773-3001 [email protected] Source: Renesas Electronics Corporation Company will use the money to build its Fort Worth manufacturing expansion FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fort Worth-based Rhino Health USA, Inc. today announced the closing of a $58 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transaction that will help fund the companys $200 million investment for its large-scale manufacturing expansion in North Texas. We are pleased to close on this important tax credit transaction that will allow us to fully build-out our Fort Worth expansion, said Mark Lee, CEO of Rhino Health USA, Inc. This shows that the marketplace is already responding to our product and that the future is very bright for Rhino Health USA, Inc. As the only domestic manufacturer of nitrile rubber gloves, Rhino will use the 400,000 square foot facility in Majestic Fort Worth South Business Park to produce 3 billion gloves per year. This will be Rhinos largest manufacturing facility to date and will also house the companys corporate headquarters. Rhinos investment will eventually bring approximately 520 new quality jobs to Fort Worth and will exponentially increase the companys production output. Additionally, as nitrile gloves play a major role in Personal Protective Equipment, this expansion significantly strengthens the Made in the USA PPE supply chain infrastructure. The NMTC financing will be used to fund nitrile glove manufacturing equipment and working capital and was made possible by five Community Development Entity Lenders: Texas Mezzanine Fund, Stonehenge Community Capital, Prestamos CDFI, Pacesetter CDE and MBS Urban Initiatives. U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, the community investment and tax credit division of U.S. Bank, is participating as the NMTC investor. Project structuring and support was provided by Jennifer Veal, President and CEO of Community Inspired Capital Development, LLC and the Law Office of Mark D. Foster. Rhino would like to thank all the NMTC parties that made this transaction possible. The additional capital made possible from the NMTC transaction has been particularly impactful as this large-scale project is being implemented in an especially challenging economic environment, where construction and implementation costs are at all-time high, said Mark Lee, CEO of Rhino Health USA, Inc. "It has been a privilege working on such a consequential project with a great collaborative team," noted Pacesetter CDE President Mark DiSalvo. About Rhino Health USA, Inc. Fort Worth-based Rhino Health USA (www.rhinohealth.net) is the nations first nitrile glove manufacturer. In 2019, the company began operations in Church Rock, New Mexico in partnership with the Navajo Nation. Rhino works closely with the Department of Defense and is currently operating two manufacturing factories and is continuing to aggressively and strategically expand its operations. About the New Markets Tax Credit Program: The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program was established by Congress in 2000 and incentivizes community development and economic growth through the use of Federal tax credits that attract private investment to distressed communities. About Community Inspired Capital Development, LLC (CICD) - CICD is dedicated to helping communities, nonprofit organizations and business owners navigate the New Markets Tax Credit Program and realize their development goals through this unique, highly effective funding resource. CICDs specialty advisory services are devoted exclusively to NMTC financing, with focused expertise and tailored structuring solutions, keeping the project on a path to success from start to close. About U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation - U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, the community investment and tax credit subsidiary of U.S. Bank, provides innovative financing solutions for community development projects across the country. As a leading community development investor, lender and tax credit syndicator, its capital commitments contribute to the creation of new jobs, rehab of historic buildings, construction of needed affordable housing, development of renewable energy facilities and generate economic activity in underserved communities across the country. Visit USBCDC on the web at www.usbank.com/cdc. About Pacesetter CDE - Pacesetter CDE, Inc.(PCDE) was created by the nations oldest Minority Enterprise Small Business Investment Company. In a 40-year history it invested over $1B of its capital in 383 small businesses, 88% minority-owned. PCDE kept to mission in the NMTC market, establishing an innovative collaboration with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City to extend the reach of NMTC to inner-city entrepreneurs. PCDEs nationwide effort focuses on project profiles that benefit from catalyzing innovation represented by PCDEs unique concentration on life-changing and neighborhood transforming efforts. 100% of its proposed investments target severely distressed areas with unemployment rates and poverty levels as high as 29% and 56%, respectively. About TMF CDE Texas Mezzanine Fund (TMF) is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that has promoted economic growth in low and moderate-income communities throughout Texas since 1999. TMF was capitalized by a consortium of financial institutions to fill an important void in Texas financial landscape. About Stonehenge Capital - Founded in 1999, Stonehenge Capital is a nationally recognized specialty finance company operating at the nexus of finance and community development. The firms expertise includes financing small businesses, real estate and community development projects that leverage tax credits along with conventional debt and equity capital. Beginning with its first award in 2004, Stonehenge has been an active participant and steward of the U.S. Department of the Treasurys New Markets Tax Credit program and its mission to drive private investment to economically distressed communities across the country. www.Stonehengecapital.com About Prestamos CDFI - Prestamos CDFI, LLC (Prestamos), is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and a Community Development Entity (CDE). : provides high-quality financial products, technical assistance services for small businesses and - impactful economic development projects. Prestamos through its parent corporation, Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc., has administered a variety of lending programs since 1980. In light of the success of its loan programs and the continued need and demand for these services, CPLC created Prestamos CDFI, LLC in 2000. Prestamos successfully promotes economic and community development in order to create jobs, revitalize communities and facilitate community wealth building. Prestamos CDFI was named the #1 U.S. Small Business Administration PPP lender by number of loans and the #3 lender by dollar volume with $7.6 billion in approved loans with an average loan amount of $15,526 serving 78% minority owned businesses. About MBS Urban Initiatives CDE LLC -MBS Urban Initiatives CDE is a Community Development Entity (CDE) established by the Saint Louis-based development firm of McCormack Baron Salazar to enhance, strengthen, and revitalize low-income communities for families and children and to stimulate economic opportunities for low-income residents through the creation of jobs and the provision of services within these communities. MBS Urban Initiatives CDE is an equal opportunity provider. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005402/en/ Kasey S. Pipes 817-542-3870 Source: Rhino Health USA, Inc. TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rupert Resources Ltd (Rupert or the Company) announces that it has published its unaudited financial results for the three months ending May 31, 2022 and accompanying Managements Discussion and Analysis for the same period. Both of the above have been posted on the Companys website www.rupertresources.com and on Sedar at www.sedar.com. Financial highlights During the 3 months ending May 31, 2022, the Company spent $8,716,489 (3 months ended May 31, 2021 $5,947,360) on its exploration projects. As of May 31, 2022, Rupert held cash or cash equivalents of $45,755,018. The Company recorded a net loss and comprehensive loss for the quarter of $(5,144,977) (3 months ended May 31, 2021 $(3,479,066)) and a net loss per share of $(0.01) (3 months ended May 31, 2021 $(0.01)). Operating Highlights During quarter to end-May 2022 and up to the date of this document, Ruperts operational activities have been primarily focussed on the Rupert Lapland Project Area and Ikkari in particular, located in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt (CLGB) together with more limited exploration activity at Hirsikangas in Central Finland. Rupert Lapland Project Area, CLGB, Northern Finland The regional exploration program at the Rupert Lapland Project Area is designed to identify and evaluate the mineral potential contained in Ruperts land package in the CLGB. Since July 2020 the Company has been engaged in a diamond drill program to further evaluate discoveries made within the Rupert Lapland Project Area, including Ikkari, as well as continuing to generate new targets. Excluding the Pahtavaara Mine, some 73,100m had been drilled during 2021/22, including 46,500m at Ikkari. A similar amount of diamond drilling is anticipated in 2022/23 some sixty percent of drilling is budgeted for infill and extension drilling at Ikkari with the balance allocated to regional exploration. Base of till (BoT) sampling continues across the Rupert Lapland Project Area, specifically over geophysical anomalies of interest and programs will begin on recently granted permits in the coming months. Ikkari Preliminary Economic Assessment and Related Studies Following publication in September 2021 of the Ikkari Technical Report, and the on-going regional diamond and BoT drilling and sampling programs, a NI 43-101-compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment of Ikkari (Ikkari PEA) is currently underway and is expected to be completed along with an update to the MRE in the second half of 2022. The Ikkari PEA project is led by Tetra Tech, and encompasses an evaluation of the economic potential of the Ikkari and Pahtavaara mineral resources as well as satellite deposits that have continued to be drilled during the recent 2021/22 winter exploration program, as well as subsequently. Various studies have been initiated and which will contribute to the PEA, including but not limited to: optimisation of planned mining methods, schedules and site layouts, hydrogeological and geotechnical evaluations and metallurgical studies, including assessment of processing options. The aim of the Ikkari PEA is to better define the optimum parameters that will be used in a Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) that is expected to be initiated subsequent to its completion. Ikkari and Pahtavaara Environmental Assessments An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was initiated during 2021/22 at each of Ikkari and Pahtavaara, with the aim of securing an environmental permit and thereafter a mining licence for Ikkari in addition to those already held at Pahtavaara. The Ikkari PEA is also drawing from this process as appropriate. Pahtavaara Mine Further to the drilling programs at the Pahtavaara Mine as reported in October 2020 and July 2021, a trade-off study of Pahtavaara is to be completed as part of the Ikkari PEA in order to define the most suitable mining methods and cut-off grades and to complete an updated National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report. The Ikkari PEA will also review the opportunity to develop Pahtavaara as a satellite mine to a new central processing facility at Ikkari, which may allow Pahtavaara to benefit from cost synergies and shared infrastructure. Central Finland Properties Hirsikangas In 2022, IP surveys and drill testing are planned for both Ullava and Purontaka targets. Field work continues at the Lesti Arc area and southern extent of Himanka volcanic belt, which also hosts the Hirsikangas deposit. A new area for field exploration 2022 is the gold potential in the Pihtipudas region in Middle-Finland, some 70 km SSE of Nivala. About Rupert Resources Rupert Resources is a gold exploration and development company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol RUP. The Company is focused on making and advancing discoveries of scale and quality with high margin and low environmental impact potential. The Companys principal focus is Ikkari, a new high quality gold discovery in Northern Finland with an inferred mineral resource estimate of 49Mt at 2.5 g/t gold for 3.95 million ounces1. Ikkari is part of the Companys Rupert Lapland Project, which also includes the Pahtavaara gold mine, mill, and exploration permits and concessions located in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt of Northern Finland (Pahtavaara). The Company also holds a 100% interest in the Surf Inlet Property in British Columbia, a 100% interest in properties in Central Finland and a 20% carried participating interest in the Gold Centre property located adjacent to the Red Lake mine in Ontario. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release contains statements which, other than statements of historical fact constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to: results of exploration activities and mineral resources. The words may, would, could, will, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made, and are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other known and unknown factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the general risks of the mining industry, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's annual Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended February 28, 2022 available on Sedar (www.sedar.com). Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law. 1 National Instrument 43-101 inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) for Ikkari of 49 million tonnes (Mt) at 2.5 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au), for 3.95 million ounces (oz) in total (see the technical report entitled NI 43-101 Technical Report: Ikkari Project, Finland with an effective date of September 13, 2021 prepared by Brian Wolfe, Principal Consultant, International Resource Solutions Pty Ltd., an independent qualified person under NI 43-101: the Ikkari Technical Report). The MRE has been estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines. It was calculated using the multiple indicator kriging method (MIK) and is classified as an inferred mineral resource as defined by the CIM. Numbers are affected by rounding. The MRE was reported using cut-offs of 0.6g/t Au for mineralisation potentially mineable by open pit methods and 1.2g/t Au for that portion that is potentially extractable by underground methods. The cut-offs were based on a gold price of US$1430/oz Au, with a 92% overall recovery and costs derived from benchmarks and first principles (see: the Ikkari Technical Report). Mineral Resources do not include Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted to Mineral Reserves. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005185/en/ For further information, please contact: James Withall Chief Executive Officer [email protected] Thomas Credland Head of Corporate Development [email protected] Rupert Resources Ltd 82 Richmond Street East, Suite 203, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1P1 Tel: +1 416-304-9004 Web: http://rupertresources.com/ Source: Rupert Resources Ltd ST. JOHNS, Newfoundland and Labrador--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 569 reached a tentative agreement today with the City of St. Johns. The union represents approximately 400 outside municipal workers. No further details on the tentative agreement will be made public until it is ratified by the locals membership. A ratification vote by union members is scheduled for Monday, August 1, 2022. I want to thank the bargaining committee for their hard work in reaching this deal. Were pleased to recommend the agreement to our members, says CUPE 569 President Gord Evans. Hopefully, this agreement will show city council in other municipalities that collective bargaining works and that workers deserve fairness and respect, says CUPE NL President Sherry Hillier. CUPE 569 represents outside municipal workers employed at the City of St. Johns who work in the parks department, fleet repair, sanitation, road maintenance, water and wastewater, traffic department, humane services, and property management. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220729005477/en/ Colleen Reynolds CUPE Atlantic Communications 902-809-2253 Source: Canadian Union of Public Employees ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WestRock Company (NYSE: WRK) today reported that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share on its common stock. The quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share will be paid to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 12, 2022, and will be paid on August 24, 2022. About WestRock WestRock (NYSE: WRK) partners with our customers to provide sustainable paper and packaging solutions that help them win in the marketplace. WestRocks team members support customers around the world from locations spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Learn more at www.westrock.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220727005842/en/ Investors: Robert Quartaro, 470-328-6979 Senior Vice President, Investor Relations [email protected] James Armstrong, 470-328-6327 Vice President, Investor Relations [email protected] Media: Robby Johnson, 470-328-6397 Manager, Corporate Communications [email protected] Source: WestRock Company ARK Innovation, the fund founded by Cathie Wood, is on track to report its first monthly rise in eight months in July. The rise is on the back of a slight recovery in stocks after a significant downturn that hit tech stocks this year. The recent rise is due to investors believing the Fed may not be as hawkish as expected. According to Reuters, ARK Innovation has gained 11.3% in July despite declining Friday. The ARK gain has been boosted by a 27% increase in the top holding Tesla's share price during the month. Wood's fund saw tremendous gains during the pandemic as stocks such as Teladoc Health Inc, Zoom Video Communications Inc, and Tesla soared. However, Reuters stated ARK is still down 53% in 2022, with the Fed's aggressive rate hikes weighing on Woods' preferred companies, many of which are comparatively young or unprofitable. Earlier today, Tom Lee's Fundstrat stated they think the current market environment is "turning out to the be an August 1982 moment. when stocks 'recovered the entire 36 month bear market loss in 4 monthst .. that is why we think S&P 500 could be >4,800 before year-end .." By Sam Boughedda FILE PHOTO: Trevor Milton, founder and former-CEO of Nikola Corp., exits the Manhattan Federal Courthouse following an appearance in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nikola Corp, the electric- and hydrogen-powered truck maker, on Friday asked a U.S. judge to quash a subpoena from founder and former Chief Executive Trevor Milton as he defends against criminal fraud charges, calling it an overbroad "fishing expedition." In a filing in Manhattan federal court, Nikola said it has already produced millions of pages to Milton, including materials collected in related probe by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said it would be "unduly burdensome" to comply with Milton's June 27 subpoena containing 38 requests for materials about its products, talks with investigators, media appearances and other matters. It called the subpoena "exactly the type of fishing exhibition" prohibited in the 1974 Supreme Court case U.S. v. Nixon. Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for Milton, declined to comment. Nikola's motion came after Bradley Bondi, another lawyer for Milton, in a July 22 letter said his client "urgently" needed the subpoenaed materials for his scheduled Sept. 12 trial. Milton has pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with two counts each of securities fraud and wire fraud. Authorities have accused him of misleading investors in social media posts, TV appearances and podcast interviews about Nikola's products and business prospects, to drive up its stock price and bolster his stature as an entrepreneur. Last month, prosecutors charged Milton with defrauding a Massachusetts man who sold him a Utah ranch, and said he accepted now-worthless Nikola stock options as partial payment based on Milton's claims about the truck maker. Nikola agreed last December to pay $125 million to settle an SEC civil fraud case over its representations to investors. In U.S. v. Nixon, the Supreme Court ordered then-President Richard Nixon to turn over tape recordings and other subpoenaed materials to a federal district court in connection with the Watergate scandal. Nixon resigned 2-1/2 weeks later. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy) FILE PHOTO: An Uber advertisement is seen behind travelers exiting the baggage claim area at the United Airlines terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, U.S., December 22, 2021. REUTERS/Bing Guan By Gigi Zamora (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc's CEO said the company is expanding a program in the United States to show drivers fare value and routes before accepting rides, part of its efforts to bring on more drivers. Uber is expected to announce its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. In May, the ride services company said its driver base was at a post-pandemic high. It had faced criticism about its treatment of those behind the steering wheels of Uber vehicles. "We were focused sometimes more on building autonomous cars than focusing on our real drivers, and our drivers ultimately are just not replaceable," Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said at a driver event on Thursday. The feature, which the company started testing in February and will be expanding in close to 30 areas in August, allows drivers to see how much they will earn and the pick up and drop off locations of their passengers before accepting a ride. Matt Hughes, who has been driving with Uber since 2016, said he wanted to make sure he was getting a good fare before he accepted a passenger. "Its got to make it worth your time, so the upfront pricing is key information, he said. Uber said it is also rolling out systems, in the same cities as the "Upfront Fares" feature, to let drivers choose from a list of trips, and to get recaps of weekly earnings, including Ubers cut from completed trips. To lessen the impact of higher gas prices, the company introduced a new debit card that will give drivers up to 7% cash back on gas depending on their loyalty status. The company said it will also re-introduce the Uber Pro driver rewards program with new features in November that will allow drivers to choose the areas they operate. (Reporting by Gigi Zamora; Editing by Peter Henderson and Raju Gopalakrishnan) TORONTO, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Belo Sun Mining Corp. (Belo Sun or the Company) (TSX: BSX; OTCQX: BSXGF) announces that Joe Milbourne, Vice President, Technical Services, will be retiring as an officer of Belo Sun effective August 1, 2022. Peter Tagliamonte, President, and CEO commented, Joe has done an outstanding job assisting Belo Sun advance the Volta Grande Gold Project. His leadership of the Engineering and Technical teams and his dedicated efforts have been instrumental in advancing the engineering and design work and to the tremendously successful Feasibility Study for the Volta Grande Gold Project. Personally, Joe has been a good friend and colleague for many years, and it has been an honor, pleasure, and an inspiration to have worked with him for over 25 years. On behalf of the Board of Directors and all Belo Sun employees and stakeholders, I would like to thank Joe for his commitment and dedication to Belo Sun. The Belo Sun Team wishes Joe and his family all the best and much enjoyment and success in his future endeavors. About Belo Sun Mining Belo Sun is a Canadian-based mining company with a portfolio of gold-focused properties in Brazil. The Company is currently focused on the development of the Volta Grande Gold Project. Belo Sun trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol BSX and on the OTCQX under the symbol BSXGF. For more information, please visit www.belosun.com or contact Investor Relations at +1 416 861-2262 Caution regarding forward-looking information: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the resignation of officers of the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks inherent in the mining industry and risks described in the public disclosure of the Company which is available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.belosun.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Source: Belo Sun Mining Corp. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cornish Metals Inc. (TSX-V/AIM: CUSN) (Cornish Metals or the Company) is pleased to announce the results of its 2022 Annual General and Special Meeting of the shareholders of the Company held via live audio teleconference on July 28, 2022 (the Meeting). Proxies representing 305,975,225 common shares of the Company (Common Shares), being approximately 57.6% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares, were voted. All resolutions were passed. The voting results of the business of the Meeting are summarized as follows: MOTION Votes For % For Votes Against % Against Votes Withheld Number of directors set at eight 303,533,574 99.97 82,702 0.03 0 Election of Patrick F.N. Anderson 303,490,073 99.96 0 0.00 125,103 Election of Richard D. Williams 303,403,043 99.93 0 0.00 212,133 Election of D. Grenville Thomas 303,531,591 99.97 0 0.00 83,585 Election of Kenneth A. Armstrong 303,487,173 99.96 0 0.00 128,003 Election of Donald Njegovan 303,471,591 99.95 0 0.00 143,585 Election of John F.G. McGloin 303,532,343 99.97 0 0.00 83,933 Election of Stephen T. Gatley 303,555,973 99.98 0 0.00 60,303 Election of Tony Trahar 303,544,873 99.98 0 0.00 70,303 Appointment of Auditors 305,904,873 99.98 0 0.00 48,916 Approval of Amended and Restated Stock Option Plan 303,421,255 99.94 195,021 0.06 0 Approval of General Share Authority 303,384,228 99.93 218,162 0.07 0 Approval of Pre-Emptive Disapplication Authority 303,401,825 99.93 200,565 0.07 0 The Companys Stock Option Plan (the Amended Plan), as approved by the shareholders at the Meeting, was amended to comply with new TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) rules with respect to security based compensation. The Amended Plan allows the directors of the Company to issue stock options to directors, officers, employees, and consultants of the Company. The maximum number of shares issuable under the Amended Plan, together with the number of shares issuable under outstanding options granted otherwise than under the Plan, shall not exceed 10% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares, being 53,124,849 Common Shares as at the date hereof. The Amended Plan was conditionally approved by the TSX-V on June 16, 2022 and is subject to final approval of the TSX-V. ABOUT CORNISH METALS Cornish Metals completed the acquisition of the South Crofty tin and United Downs copper / tin projects, plus additional mineral rights located in Cornwall, UK, in July 2016 (see news release dated July 12, 2016). The additional mineral rights cover an area of approximately 15,000 hectares and are distributed throughout Cornwall. Some of these mineral rights cover old mines that were historically worked for copper, tin, zinc, and tungsten. The South Crofty project covers the former producing South Crofty tin mine located beneath the towns of Pool and Camborne, Cornwall. South Crofty mine closed in 1998 following over 400 years of continuous production. Since acquiring the project in 2016, Cornish Metals has completed and published maiden NI 43-101 Mineral Resources for South Crofty using the vast archive of historical production data and more recent drilling completed between 2007 and 2013. Additionally, Cornish Metals has undertaken extensive pilot-scale water treatment trials and successfully applied for and received the necessary environmental permits to abstract, treat and discharge mine water in order to dewater the mine. Planning permissions for the operation of the mine and re-development of the surface facilities have been secured and construction of the water treatment plant foundations commenced. The dewatering pumps, variable speed drives and new high-voltage power supply have been delivered to site. An updated Mineral Resource was completed in June 2021 as summarised below: South Crofty Summary (JORC 2012) Mineral Resource Estimate Area Classification Mass (000 tonnes) Grade Contained Tin / Tin Equivalent (000 tonnes) Increase in contained Tin / Tin equivalent from 2016 MRE Lower Mine Indicated 2,084 1.59% Sn 33 10.2% Inferred 1,937 1.67% Sn 32 129.8% Upper Mine Indicated 277 1.01% SnEq 3 9.5% Inferred 493 0.93% SnEq 5 8.0% The Mineral Resource Estimate for South Crofty (see news release dated June 9, 2021), is available in a report titled the South Crofty Tin Project Mineral Resource Update, dated June 7, 2021, authored by Mr. N. Szebor, CGeol (London), EuroGeol, FGS, of AMC Consultants (UK) Ltd, can be accessed on the Companys SEDAR page. For additional information please contact:In North America:Irene Dorsman at (604) 210 8752 or by e-mail at [email protected] SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) Tel: +44 203 470 0470 Richard Morrison Charlie Bouverat Grant Barker Hannam & Partners(Joint Broker) Tel: +44 207 907 8500 Matthew Hasson Andrew Chubb Ernest Bell BlytheRay (Financial PR/IR-London) Tel: +44 207 138 3204 Tim Blythe [email protected] Megan Ray [email protected] ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Richard D. WilliamsRichard D. Williams, P.Geo Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Caution regarding forward looking statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" including, but not limited to, statements in connection with the Amended Plan and the final approval of the TSX-V in respect thereof. Forward-looking statements, while based on managements best estimates and assumptions at the time such statements are made, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to receipt of regulatory approvals, risks related to general economic and market conditions; risks related to the COVID-19 global pandemic and any variants of COVID-19 which may arise; risks related to the availability of financing when required and on terms acceptable to the Company and the potential consequences if the Company fails to obtain any such financing, such as a potential disruption of the Companys exploration program(s); the timing and content of upcoming work programs; actual results of proposed exploration activities; possible variations in Mineral Resources or grade; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations. Although Cornish Metals has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Cornish Metals undertakes no obligation or responsibility to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Source: Cornish Metals Inc. UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NJ, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EarthCam, the leading provider of construction camera technology and software, today announced significant new services to address growing security and safety concerns in the construction industry. The suite includes new perimeter security options utilizing a combination of high quality cameras, EarthCams industry leading software and UL Listed, Five Diamond Central Station Monitoring (CSM) centers to view, verify and respond. EarthCams 25 years of expertise in installing and managing jobsite cameras makes the company ideally positioned to deliver security solutions for projects of all sizes from a 5000 sq. ft. retail build to a 5000 acre campus. EarthCams new Two Camera Perimeter Detection - effective in all weather conditions - includes thermal and AI camera options plus talk down capabilities with a deterrent strobe to alert intruders. If a person or a vehicle enters a designated zone, alerts are sent to EarthCams CSM where trained professionals review the incident, assess the risk and dispatch law enforcement when necessary. We use EarthCams perimeter detection systems constantly, said Michael Jansen, Construction Superintendent at Haynes Construction Company. The alerts are accurate, and have helped us deter theft attempts on several occasions. We can get law enforcement on site automatically, without false alarms. It gives us peace of mind that even our large-scale jobsites are guarded effectively at all times. EarthCam has been optimizing its security solutions by working closely with clients over several years to train, test and enhance its AI object identification. Billions of jobsite images are used to provide a new level of data intelligence for security. This system is far more accurate than decades-old motion detection technology which is easily triggered by benign movements caused by wind and weather events or animals. With AI object identification, the cause of the alert is clearly communicated with a count of how many people, what type of vehicle, and whether there was an unauthorized interaction with equipment, such as an intruder climbing a crane. Our goal is to help our clients maintain a healthy, safe and secure jobsite. said Brian Cury, CEO and Founder of EarthCam, EarthCam has managed security cameras on jobsites for decades. This gives our customers a big advantage as their needs escalate for security and risk management expertise. As we expand our AI object recognition capabilities, were uniquely able to help clients deter theft, increase safety and reduce costs. EarthCam already exceeds the specifications of the most demanding insurance providers and to add another layer of protection for clients, EarthCam introduced a new all-weather License Plate Recognition Service, designed to identify vehicles by their plates using optical character recognition, even when moving quickly, or at night. The new LPR system automatically handles access control, verifies deliveries and sends alerts to management. Reports are created of all access denials, unknown vehicles and approved entries with accompanying images. LPR is a key part of smart jobsite operations, automatically opening gates and disabling CSM for authorized vehicles. As part of this initiative, EarthCam also recently allied with Kastle Systems, a leading provider of security services and property technology, to augment Kastles advanced video services and access control solutions with high-resolution AI-powered construction cameras. EarthCams Control Center has long been the software of choice among industry leaders for smart project documentation, promotion, safety and security. EarthCam provides camera rentals, professional installation and reality capture services to make construction project management more efficient with powerful visual data. To learn more about EarthCams software, services and enterprise pricing for construction security, visit earthcam.net/security. ABOUT EARTHCAM EarthCam is the global leader in providing webcam content, technology and services. Founded in 1996, EarthCam provides live streaming video, time-lapse construction cameras, 3D/4D BIM model integrations and security solutions for corporate and government clients. EarthCam leads the industry with the highest resolution imagery available, including the worlds first outdoor gigapixel panorama camera system. This patented technology delivers superior multi-billion pixel clarity for monitoring and archiving important projects and events. EarthCam has documented over a trillion dollars of construction projects around the world. The company is headquartered on a 10-acre campus in Northern New Jersey. Projects documented by EarthCam include: One Vanderbilt Manhattan, St. Regis Chicago, Hudson Yards, UBS Arena, Los Angeles SoFi Stadium, Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, LAX Airport, Moynihan Station, San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, Panama Canal Expansion, The Red Sea Project, The Jeddah Tower, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Whitney Museum of American Art, Louvre in Abu Dhabi, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, One World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty Museum and the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Learn more about EarthCams innovative solutions at earthcam.net. Attachments Sydney Fader EarthCam 201-488-1111 [email protected] Source: Earthcam TORONTO, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just Energy Group Inc. (Just Energy or the Company) (NEX:JE.H; OTC: JENGQ), a retail energy provider specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities and bringing energy efficient solutions, carbon offsets and renewable energy options to customers, today announced that the Company is unable to file its annual filings, including the annual audited financial statements and management discussion and analysis for the year ended March 31, 2022 (the Annual Filings), within the prescribed time period under applicable Canadian securities laws without unreasonable effort or expense because the Company needs additional time to complete its financial statements and related disclosures due to the Companys ongoing proceedings under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) (CCAA) and under Chapter 15 of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The Company has filed an application with the Ontario Securities Commission, its principal regulator, for a management cease trade order, in accordance with National Policy 12-203 - Management Cease Trade Orders (NP 12-203). If approved, this application would give the Company extra time of up to one month after July 29, 2022 to file the Annual Filings. There can be no certainty that a management cease trade order will be granted. The applicable regulatory authorities may instead determine to issue a full cease trade order against the Company. The Company intends to file the Annual Filings on or before August 12, 2022. The Company has established a blackout on trading of the Companys securities by directors and officers in connection with the Annual Filings and intends to continue the blackout until such time as the Annual Filings have been filed. The Company confirms that it intends to satisfy the provisions of the alternative information guidelines found in Section 9 and 10 of NP 12-203 for so long as it is delayed in filing the Reporting Documents. As previously reported, FTI Consulting Canada Inc. (the Monitor) is overseeing the Company's CCAA proceedings as the court-appointed Monitor. Further information regarding the CCAA proceedings is available at the Monitors website at http://cfcanada.fticonsulting.com/justenergy. Information regarding the CCAA proceedings can also be obtained by calling the Monitors hotline at 416-649-8127 or 1-844-669-6340 or by email at [email protected]. ABOUT JUST ENERGY Just Energy is a retail energy provider specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities and bringing energy efficient solutions, carbon offsets and renewable energy options to customers. Operating in the United States and Canada, Just Energy serves residential and commercial customers. Just Energy is the parent company of Amigo Energy, Filter Group, Hudson Energy, Interactive Energy Group, Tara Energy, and Terrapass. Visit https://investors.justenergy.com to learn more. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including with respect to the timing by which the Company will file the Reporting Documents. These statements are based on current expectations that involve several risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks with respect to the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern; the ability of the Company to file the Annual Filings by August 12, 2022; the ability of the Company to obtain a management cease trade order from the Ontario Securities Commission; the outcome of proceedings under the CCAA, the outcome of any potential litigation with respect to the February 2021 extreme weather event in Texas, the outcome of any invoice dispute with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc.; the Companys discussions with key stakeholders regarding the CCAA proceedings, the impact of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic on the Companys business, operations and sales; uncertainties relating to the ultimate spread, severity and duration of COVID-19 and related adverse effects on the economies and financial markets of countries in which the Company operates; the ability of the Company to successfully implement its business continuity plans with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic; the Companys ability to access sufficient capital to provide liquidity to manage its cash flow requirements; general economic, business and market conditions; the ability of management to execute its business plan; levels of customer natural gas and electricity consumption; extreme weather conditions; rates of customer additions and renewals; customer credit risk; rates of customer attrition; fluctuations in natural gas and electricity prices; interest and exchange rates; actions taken by governmental authorities including energy marketing regulation; increases in taxes and changes in government regulations and incentive programs; changes in regulatory regimes; results of litigation and decisions by regulatory authorities; competition; and dependence on certain suppliers. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Just Energys operations or financial results are included in Just Energys annual information form and other reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities which can be accessed through the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions website at www.sec.gov or through Just Energys website at investors.justenergy.com. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Michael CarterChief Financial OfficerJust Energy[email protected] or InvestorsMichael CummingsAlpha IRPhone: (617) 982-0475 [email protected] MediaBoyd ErmanLongview CommunicationsPhone: 416-523-5885[email protected] Source: Just Energy Group Inc. Source: Just Energy Group Inc Company appoints new Chief Operating Officer TORONTO, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX:K; NYSE:KGC) (Kinross or the Company) today announced the appointment of Claude Schimper as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Paul Tomory, Executive Vice-President and Chief Technical Officer, will be leaving the Company on August 31, 2022 to pursue new opportunities. In his new role, Mr. Schimper will be responsible for the operational success of the Companys recently re-positioned portfolio, with approximately 70% of Kinross production now based out of the Americas. Mr. Schimper has more than 30 years of mining experience and first joined Kinross in 2010, holding progressively more senior operational roles within the Company, most recently as Executive Vice-President, Operations with oversight of the Russia and West Africa regions. He was also Vice-President and General Manager, Kupol before assuming the leadership of the Companys Russia region in 2014. Previous to Kinross, Mr. Schimper was the Chief Operating Officer for Balkan Resources Inc., and also held positions at Placer Dome, Canada, and several South African mines including AngloGold Ashanti's Mponeng gold mine. Mr. Schimper received a South African National Higher Diploma in Metalliferous Mining from the Technikon Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. With this new appointment, Claude will take charge of our re-positioned portfolio, and bring an enhanced focus on our operational commitments while continuing to prioritize safety. He is a veteran of this industry whose significant experience and insights will be invaluable as we look to further optimize our operations to ensure we safely deliver on our goals, said J. Paul Rollinson, President and Chief Executive Officer. On behalf of our employees and the Board, I would like to thank Paul Tomory for his leadership and many important contributions to Kinross, from the successful completion of the Tasiast Phase One expansion, to the development of our major project pipeline, and wish him success in his future endeavours. Ned Jalil will take on an expanded role as Senior Vice-President, Technical Services, to lead Kinross Technical Services function, reporting directly to Paul Rollinson. He will oversee project development, exploration, geology, mine planning, operations strategy and the supply chain functions, bringing his technical expertise and over 25 years of international leadership and experience in strategic operations and engineering to his role. Mr. Jalil rejoined Kinross in January 2022, having previously held various leadership roles, most notably directing the strategic planning and technical services of the Companys tier one Paracatu mine and delivering the sites successful asset optimization initiative. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Atlantic Nickel and Mineracao Vale Verde, where he oversaw the Santa Rita nickel mine and the Serrote copper project. These new appointments will enhance oversight of our operations, projects and technical services groups as we optimize our re-positioned portfolio and move ahead with our growth strategy, said Mr. Rollinson. With the increased operational technical bench strength and expertise on our leadership team, we will be prioritizing thoughtful, balanced planning to consistently deliver on our commitments. These commitments include an expected production increase next year and an average of two million gold ounces of production per year over the remainder of the decade. About Kinross Gold Corporation Kinross is a Canadian-based global senior gold mining company with operations and projects in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile, Ghana and Canada. Our focus on delivering value is based on our core principles of responsible mining, operational excellence, disciplined growth and balance sheet strength. Kinross maintains listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol:K) and the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:KGC). Media Contact Louie Diaz Vice-President, Corporate Communications phone: 416-369-6469 [email protected] Investor Relations Contact Chris Lichtenheldt Vice-President, Investor Relations phone: 416-365-2761 [email protected] Cautionary statement on forward-looking information All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained or incorporated by reference in or made in this presentation, including but not limited to any information as to the future performance of Kinross, constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including the provisions of the Securities Act (Ontario) and the provisions for safe harbor under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this presentation. Forward-looking statements contained in this presentation include, without limitation, statements with respect to guidance for production and project development. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Kinross as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, legislative and competitive risks and uncertainties and contingencies. Many of these risks and uncertainties and contingencies can affect, and could cause, Kinross actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward looking statements made by, or on behalf of, Kinross. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: operational or technical difficulties in connection with development, mining or processing activities; the volatility of prices of gold and silver; uncertainty of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; the speculative nature of gold exploration and development including, but not limited to, the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and risks associated with operating in foreign jurisdictions, including government relations risks. There can be no assurance that forward looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. All of the forward looking statements made in this presentation are qualified by these cautionary statements, and those made in our filings with the securities regulators of Canada and the U.S., including but not limited to those cautionary statements made in the Risk Factors section of our most recently filed Annual Information Form, the Risk Analysis section of our FYE 2021 Managements Discussion and Analysis, and the Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information in our news release dated July 27, 2022, to which readers are referred and which are incorporated by reference in this presentation, all of which qualify any and all forwardlooking statements made in this presentation. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Kinross. Kinross disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forwardlooking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forwardlooking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. Source: Kinross Gold Corporation DuBois, Pennsylvania, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- How far would you travel for a minimally invasive medical procedure that is performed by an expert in the field? Betty Milburn traveled 32 miles from her home in Derry, Pennsylvania to Penn Highlands Connellsville in Fayette County Pennsylvania to have Michael Pelekanos, MD, perform the EnPlace procedure to correct her pelvic organ prolapse. I was in a great deal of discomfort, said the 72-year old mother of four. I felt bloated and had to make frequent trips to the bathroom. Mrs. Milburns family practice physician suggested that she see Dr. Pelekanos who performs the mesh-free minimally invasive EnPlace procedure at Penn Highlands Connellsville. Dr. Pelekanos is a urogynecologist with Penn Highlands Healthcare, which is one of only a few health systems in the United States offering the unique, Food and Drug Administration-cleared procedure. In addition, he is one of only six instructors in the U.S. that teaches the EnPlace procedure. Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when the muscles and tissues supporting the pelvic organs (uterus, bladder or rectum) become weak and drop or press into or out of the vagina. Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is a debilitating disease. Many women are uncomfortable talking with their doctor about their symptoms until the discomfort becomes too great, said Dr. Pelekanos. POP is very treatable, he continued. The EnPlace approach is an advanced procedure for fixation of pelvic floor ligaments. Mrs. Milburn had the procedure to re-suspend her uterus thus preventing the need for a hysterectomy. Alice Burrell, an 80-year-old mother of four and grandmother of five from Plum Borough, Pennsylvania, had the procedure to correct a bladder prolapse. Im not fond of going to the doctor so I lived with the discomfort of my bladder prolapse for nearly two years until my doctor suggested that I see Dr. Pelekanos, explained Mrs. Burrell. I had my procedure nearly a year ago and I didnt experience any pain in fact almost immediately I felt 100% better. EnPlace can relieve pelvic organ prolapse without mesh or a biologic implant. The procedure is performed with almost zero cutting of the vaginal wall and without general anesthesia. EnPlace takes less than 45 minutes in an outpatient setting. We are excited to offer this approach to the women of Southwestern Pennsylvania. It is helpful to have expansion of bio-technology in our collection of resources so that we can help women rapidly resume their normal lifestyle activities, said Dr. Pelekanos. Our EnPlace enables patients to go home the same day and are back to work or normal activities within 48-72 hours which is amazing! Dr. Pelekanos is on staff at Penn Highlands Connellsville. His practice is limited to gynecology, urogynecology, infertility surgery, endometriosis surgery and routine annual women visits. His office is located at the Penn Highlands Connellsville Womens Health Center (the former Zach Connell School), at 700 Park Street, Suite 6, in Connellsville. Soon, Dr. Pelekanos will also be seeing patients in his Greensburg office located in the Walsworth Commons Building, 1275 S. Main Street, Suite 203, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. For more information, call 724-603-2671. ### About Penn Highlands Healthcare Penn Highlands Healthcare was officially formed in 2011, and is comprised of eight hospitals Penn Highlands Brookville, Penn Highlands Clearfield, Penn Highlands Connellsville, Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn Highlands Elk, Penn Highlands Huntingdon, Penn Highlands Mon Valley and Penn Highlands Tyrone -- that have served area communities for the past 100+ years. Its business continuum also includes home care agencies, long-term care facilities and residential senior living communities, as well as durable medical equipment companies and retail pharmacies. Penn Highlands Healthcare has evolved into an organization with 6,651 workers in 150+ locations throughout 39 counties in Northwestern/Central and Southwestern Pennsylvania that include community medical buildings, outpatient facilities, surgery centers and physician practices. The facilities have a total of 1,498 inpatient, skilled nursing and personal care beds. The system, which has 827 physicians and 405 advanced practice providers on staff, offers a wide range of care and treatments with specialty units for cancer, cardiovascular/thoracic, neurosurgery, pulmonology, neonatal and high-risk pregnancy patients. Being focused on what is important patients and families makes Penn Highlands Healthcare the best choice in the region. Attachment Corinne G. Laboon Penn Highlands Healthcare 724-258-1339 [email protected] Source: Penn Highlands Healthcare Toronto, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Good news this Global Tiger Day: Nepal has more than doubled its wild tiger population from approximately 121 individuals in 2010 to 355 tigers in 2022, according to the results of its latest National Tiger and Prey Survey. With this announcement, Nepal has gone beyond its national target and achieved one of the most ambitious global pledges in the history of conservation. Known as Tx2, the goal to double wild tiger numbers by 2022, the Chinese Year of the Tiger, was set by tiger range governments at the St. Petersburg Summit in 2010 after the worlds tiger population hit a new low at the time, there were as few as 3,200, tigers, down from an estimated 100,000 a century ago. Over the last 12 years, tiger numbers in Nepal have steadily climbed. Four-year periodic population assessments indicated a rise in Nepals tiger population to 198 in 2014 and 235 in 2018. The latest national survey, led by Nepals Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation with implementing partner WWF-Nepal and other conservation organizations, was an extensive effort covering 18,920 sq. km and 16,811 days of field staff time. It identified individual adult tigers based on stripe patterns, excluding juveniles and cubs and used cutting edge analytical tools to arrive at robust populations estimates. These incredible results highlight the importance of protecting key tiger habitats and corridors and partnering with the local communities that live alongside tigers. With wildlife populations around the world in decline, they also show us that the successful recovery of a species is possible with the right conservation actions. With the help of donors in Canada, WWF-Canada has supported tiger conservation in Nepal since 2013 through population monitoring, habitat improvement, the training of citizen scientists and supporting efforts to reduce human-wildlife conflict. Rinjan Shrestha, lead specialist Asian big cats for WWF-Canada, says: WWF-Canada is privileged to have gone on this incredible conservation journey alongside our colleagues in Nepal, and with the support of donors here in Canada. The comeback of tigers in Nepal is an extraordinary achievement and exemplifies that even the most daring conservation goals can be reached when governments, conservation partners like WWF and, most importantly, the local communities come together. This historic success story brings a message of hope and reassurance about the long-term survival of tigers in Nepal. However, progress is still fragile. As the tiger population grows, it is more important than ever that we increase our efforts to expand the tigers shrinking range, connect their habitats and make landscapes safer for tigers and the people to co-exist. Ghana S. Gurung, Country Director, WWF-Nepal, says:Conservation delivery takes time. However, under the leadership of the Nepal government, together with conservation partners and support from our communities, we have been able to live up to the trust of donors and supporters globally. Alongside maintaining the current achievements with renewed focus on co-existence of humans and tigers, we will continue to invest in tackling the emerging challenges. Therefore, we aim to prioritize our efforts in water security, wildlife-friendly infrastructure and managing the dispersal of tiger population, while further solidifying our communitys stewardship. Please find tiger photos available for media use here. For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact [email protected] or Jenny Roberts, WWF-Tigers Alive at [email protected]. Why tigers matterAs the worlds largest cat and an apex predator, tigers play a significant role in the structure and function of the ecosystem on which both humans and wildlife rely. They are a landscape species, needing large areas with diverse habitats, free from human disturbance and rich in prey. Success or failure means more than securing the future of a single iconic species it sets a precedent for how we will consider and prioritize the health of nature in global development and in a changing climate going forward. For more information see: tigers.panda.org. About World Wildlife Fund Canada WWF-Canada is committed to equitable and effective conservation actions that restore nature, reverse wildlife loss and fight climate change. We draw on scientific analysis and Indigenous guidance to ensure all our efforts connect to a single goal: a future where wildlife, nature and people thrive. For more information visit wwf.ca. Source: WWF-Canada HOUSTON, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vantage Drilling International ("Vantage" or the "Company") today announced that it will host a conference call at 10:00 AM Eastern Time on August 11, 2022 to discuss operating results for the second quarter of 2022. Vantage will release earnings before the market opens on August 11, 2022. Vantage's earnings release will be posted to the Vantage website at www.vantagedrilling.com. To access the conference call, Connect Me and enter your information to be connected. As an alternative, U.S. callers may dial toll free 800-289-0720 and international callers may dial +1 323-701-0160 using passcode 2366353. Please call ten minutes ahead of time to ensure proper connection. A replay of the conference call will be available for two weeks following the call and can be accessed by dialing 719-457-0820 for U.S. callers and 888-203-1112 for international callers. The access code for the replay is 2366353. About the CompanyVantage, a Cayman Islands exempted company, is an offshore drilling contractor, with a fleet of two ultra-deepwater drillships and two premium jackup drilling rigs. Vantage's primary business is to contract drilling units, related equipment and work crews primarily on a dayrate basis to drill oil and natural gas wells globally for major, national and independent oil and gas companies. Vantage also markets, operates and provides management services in respect of, third-party owned drilling units. www.vantagedrilling.com Contact Info:Douglas E. StewartChief Financial Officer and General CounselVantage Drilling International c/o Vantage Energy Services, Inc.777 Post Oak Blvd. Suite 440Houston, Texas 77056Tel: +1 281 404 4700 PDF available: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/9521423a-25d8-42ec-8d60-cf3b2f74173c Source: Vantage Drilling International FILE PHOTO: An employee speaks over his phone as he sits at the front desk inside the office of Ola cab service in Gurugram, previously known as Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, April 20, 2016. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee (Reuters) -Uber Technologies Inc and its Indian rival Ola on Friday denied a media report that the ride-hailing firms were in talks for a merger. An Economic Times report said that Ola Chief Executive Bhavish Aggarwal had met top Uber executives in San Francisco, United States, citing two sources. (https://bit.ly/3cPbXro) "That report is inaccurate. We are not, nor have we been, in merger talks with Ola," Uber said in a statement. Ola's Aggarwal tweeted, "Absolute rubbish. We're very profitable and growing well. If some other companies want to exit their business from India they are welcome to! We will never merge." The two companies have been slugging it out in an intensely competitive Indian market and have spent billions in incentives and discounts to passengers. Uber sold its local food delivery business Uber Eats to Zomato Ltd in January 2020, while Ola shut down its grocery delivery business and has of late invested billions of dollars in its electric vehicle venture, Ola Electric Mobility. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur) AZ State Electric (480-750-9732), which serves the Greater Phoenix and Chandler communities, is now offering electrical repair and installation services through its new location in Scottsdale. Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - With this service expansion, local households and businesses in Scottsdale can now access a comprehensive range of services from a team of licensed and insured electricians. In addition to this new location, AZ State Electric's services are available to customers in Avondale, Tempe, Sun City, Surprise, Mesa, Litchfield Park, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Cave Creek, Apache Junction, and Glendale. AZ State Electric To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/132286_d0f683b1e40998a6_001full.jpg More information can be found at https://azstateelectric.com The launch of a new location is timely, as faulty wiring in older houses causes one-third of residential electrical fires. Among business customers, outages caused by this issue result in downtimes that have a direct impact on one's operations and bottom line. Following the move, local households can now call on AZ State Electric for complete home rewiring projects, regardless of the complexity of its design or the size of the property. The company can also perform panel and meter inspections to identify possible compliance issues. In addition, it can install and upgrade electrical fixtures and appliances, such as ceiling fans and lights. As part of the latest announcement, AZ State Electric also offers lighting system installations in building exteriors, parking lots, and showrooms for commercial customers. Its technicians are also trained in smoke detector and security system installations. Further, AZ State Electric can be tasked to perform electrical design for both new construction and relocation projects. The electrical services industry is expected to grow by at least 6% yearly until 2030 as a more modern infrastructure is laid over older wiring systems from the 1970s or earlier. Further, the electrical requirements of modern properties and the use of LED lighting solutions have risen as well, driving the demand for licensed electrical contractors. "Our professional electricians deliver only the highest quality electrical service and repair. We are confident that when you call our office your questions will be answered and you can schedule an appointment that is not only convenient for you - but guaranteed to exceed your expectations," the company stated on its website. Interested parties can learn more at https://azstateelectric.com Contact Info: Name: Mohamed Maloum Email: [email protected] Organization: AZ State Electric Address: 24 W Camelback Rd a254, Phoenix, AZ 85013, United States Phone: +1-602-584-7820 Website: https://azstateelectric.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132286 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 27, 2022) - DNI Metals Inc. (OTC: SMNKF) ("DNI" or the "Company"). Decision of Madagascar Supreme Court On February 15, 2022, the Cassation (Supreme Court, "the Court") of Madagascar held a trial (see Background to the case below). Neither Mr. Goertz nor his lawyers attended the trial. On March 15, 2022, the Court rendered its decision, which cannot be appealed according to our counsel in Madagascar. The Court upheld the original sentencing of two years in prison for Mr. Goertz and he will be banned from staying in Madagascar for a period of three years after he has served his sentence. The Court also ordered Mr. Goertz to pay DNI 65,000,000 Ariary (sixty five million Ariary) in damages. All charges against Mr. Weir, that Mr. Goertz had brought forward to the police in Madagascar, were dropped in their entirety. Mr. Goertz had already been removed as Gerant of DNIM Holding No.1 Sarl and DNI has applied to remove him as Gerant of DNI Metals Madagascar Sarl. Now that Mr. Goertz has been criminally convicted, he cannot serve as a Gerant of any company in Madagascar. His continued claims of having control of the DNI assets are baseless. DNI has also filed a civil lawsuit against Mr. Goertz for U$2.5 Million in Madagascar representing some of the losses that he has caused DNI and its shareholders. Background Under Malagasy law, if a person becomes aware of a crime it must be reported to the police. Therefore, Mr. Daniel Weir, Chairman of DNI Metals Inc. reported the fraud to the police. The fraud being, that the former DNI Madagascar team led, by Mr. Steven Goertz, had apparently forged government documents and misappropriated funds. On February 19, 2020, a trial was held. On March 5, 2020, the judgement and sentencing were released to us. The court found Mr. Goertz guilty of fraud and forgery of official government documents. He was sentenced to two years in prison and Mr. Goertz will be banned from staying in Madagascar for a period of three years after he has served his sentence. The same court also ordered Mr. Goertz to pay DNI, 60,000,000 Ariary (sixty million Ariary) in damages. On October 6, 2020, an opposition trial was held for Mr. Goertz. Since Mr. Goertz nor his lawyers attended the original trial in February of 2020, he was entitled to oppose the length of the sentencing but not the fraud and forgery charges themselves. The court upheld the original sentencing of two years in prison and Mr. Goertz will be banned from staying in Madagascar for a period of three years after he has served his sentence. The same court also ordered Mr. Goertz to pay DNI, 60,000,000 Ariary (sixty million Ariary) in damages, plus court costs of 5,000,000 Ariary (five million Ariary) On February 12, 2021, an appeal trial was held. The court upheld the original sentencing of two years in prison and Mr. Goertz will be banned from staying in Madagascar for a period of three years after he has served his sentence. The same court also ordered Mr. Goertz to pay DNI, 65,000,000 Ariary (sixty million Ariary) in damages. Status of Mining Permits in Madagascar According to Mining Review Africa, in an article dated November 4, 2020; "Since assuming office in January 2019, President Andry Rajoelina has made reform of the mining sector one of his top priorities, yet his approach has drawn criticism from industry players." "Approval of a new mining code by the government council on 20 November 2019, after no prior consultation with stakeholders, sent shock waves through the industry." "Although the provisions were rejected at a subsequent cabinet meeting on 27 November 2019, the government's approach served to fuel distrust between Rajoelina's administration and mining operators." "At the time, there were mounting frustrations within the government that big asset operators such as Rio Tinto, which had accumulated significant debts at QIT Madagascar Minerals, were under-performing." "Pressure from the World Bank and the Chamber of Mines eventually led the Ministry of Mines to initiate a proper consultation process involving all stakeholders." "The COVID-19 pandemic has stalled this review process." The government of Madagascar continues to have the issuing of all licenses, permits and title cards on hold as they are still considering changes to some of the mining laws. On August 15, 2021, a new Mines Minister was appointed in Madagascar, he then resigned 4 days later on August 19, 2021. The Prime Minister of Madagascar temporary held the position of Mines Minister. On March 16, 2022, a new Mines Minister, Oliver Rakotomalala, was appointed. DNI has congratulated Mr. Rakotomalala on his appointment. Mr. Rakotomalala understands the Canadian public markets as he previously worked for a company that was listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Cougar Metals On September 24, 2018, a Settlement Agreement (the "Agreement") was reached between DNI and Cougar Metals NL ("Cougar") with respect to the DNI Vohitsara Property in Madagascar. On July 23, 2019, DNI issued Cougar a default notice claiming that Cougar had breached the non-disparagement provision in the Agreement. Cougar requested an arbitration to dispute the default. A hearing was held on November 18, 2019, in Toronto. On December 2, 2019, a decision was handed down by the arbitrator in which it was decided that; Cougar had breached the non-disparagement provisions of the Agreement; The DNI notice of breach was justified and the Cougar claim was dismissed; DNI was unable to prove that it had incurred financial damages as a result of the Cougar breach; DNI's request for a set off against, or cancellation of, the payment to be made by DNI to Cougar under the Agreement was dismissed; and The original payment that was due to Cougar on July 25, 2019, was now due two days after the date of the decision and the regular payment schedule under the Agreement was to commence thereafter. However, on November 5, 2019 (prior to the arbitrator decision dated December 2nd) DNI was forced to issue Cougar a second default notice for continued failure to observe the non-disparagement and confidentiality obligations of the Agreement. As applicable with the first default notice, the Agreement provides that DNI is entitled to suspend payment of the balance of the amount owing under the Agreement pending determination of any dispute regarding Cougar's breach by an arbitrator. On December 10, 2019, DNI was forced to issue Cougar a third default notice, a fourth notice was issued to Cougar on May 4, 2020, a fifth and sixth notice on March 16, 2021, a seventh notice on July 30, 2021, an eighth notice on October 18, 2021, and a ninth notice was issued on March 28, 2022. Again, under the Agreement, DNI is entitled to suspend payment of the balance of the amount owing under the Agreement pending determination of any dispute regarding Cougar's breach by an arbitrator. According to a news Bulletin from the ASX, dated Oct 5, 2021, Cougar Metals NL ('CGM') was removed from the Official List from the commencement of trading on Tuesday, 5 October 2021 in accordance with Listing Rule 17.12. The securities of CGM have been suspended from trading for a continuous period of 2 years. The removal has been undertaken in accordance with the policy set out in section 3.4 of ASX Listing Rules Guidance Note 33 Removal of Entities from the ASX Official List. For further information, contact: DNI Metals Inc. - Dan Weir 416-720-0754 [email protected] Also visit www.dnimetals.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132102 House of Representatives Passes Long-Awaited US$52 Billion Bill Fremont, California and Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - Enablence Technologies Inc. (TSXV: ENA) ("Enablence" or the "Company"), a supplier of optical components and subsystems, is pleased to respond to and applaud the US government for passing a long-awaited bill aimed at boosting US semiconductor production in a bid to increase American competitiveness, a bipartisan achievement that will send tens of billions of dollars into American manufacturing and scientific research. The US$52 billion bill passed the House on July 28, 2022 with broad bipartisan support, which will be followed by it going to President Biden to be signed into law. The CHIPS and Science Act is aimed at increasing domestic semiconductor manufacturing, making the US less reliant on other countries such as China for semiconductors, therefore boosting US national security and technological innovation, while creating jobs. "We recognize the US government's sense of urgency and leadership in passing this bill to ensure leading edge companies, such as Enablence, that are at the forefront of and critical to the semiconductor sector in a variety of strategic verticals have the appropriate funding and government support in place to maintain leadership and render the US self-sufficient," said Todd Haugen, CEO of Enablence Technologies Inc. "We are seeing demand accelerate for our products in mission critical applications and welcome the opportunity to work with our government representatives to access funding for growth through this bill and creating value for all of our constituents and stakeholders." About Enablence Technologies Inc. Enablence is a publicly traded company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: ENA) that designs, manufactures and sells optical components, primarily in the form of planar lightwave circuits (PLC), on silicon-based chips. Enablence products serve a global customer base, primarily focused today on data center and other rapidly-growing end markets. Enablence also works with customers that have emerging market uses for its technology, including medical devices, automotive LiDAR and virtual and augmented reality headsets. In select strategic circumstances, the Company also uses its proprietary, non-captive fabrication plant in Fremont, California to manufacture chips designed by third party customers. For more information, visit: www.enablence.com. For more information contact: T. Paul Rowland, CFO Enablence Technologies Inc. [email protected] Todd Haugen, CEO Enablence Technologies Inc. [email protected] Ali Mahdavi, Capital Markets & Investor Relations [email protected] Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company based on current expectations and assumptions of management, which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties associated with our business and the economic environment in which the business operates. All such statements are forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to Enablence seeking funding under the terms of the CHIPS and Science Act. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions. Assumptions are based in part on the ability to secure regulatory approval. These statements are based on current expectations that involve several risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to risks relating to the Company failing to obtain the requisite regulatory (including the TSX Venture Exchange) approvals; the terms as described hereof may be amended following the date hereof; the impact of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's business, operations and sales and related adverse effects on the economies and financial markets of countries in which the Company operates;; and the ability of the Company to obtain access to government funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking statements contained in this news release, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We caution our readers of this news release not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements as a number of factors could cause actual results or conditions to differ materially from current expectations. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect the Company's operations are set forth in the Company's continuous disclosure documents that can be found on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Enablence's issuer profile. Enablence does not intend, and disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132310 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - Graph Blockchain Inc.(CSE: GBLC) (OTC Pink: REGRF) (FSE: RT5A)("Graph" or the "Company") announces the voting results from the Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders of the Company (the "Meeting") which was held on July 28, 2022. At the Meeting, 16.99% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company were represented. Shareholders voted in favour of all resolutions brought before the Meeting. Details of all resolutions that were voted upon are set out in the Management Information Circular (the "Circular") dated June 17, 2022. The Circular is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). All of the board of directors nominees listed in the Circular were re-elected as directors of Graph. Results of the vote were as follows: Motions Votes For % Votes For Withheld % Withheld Paul Haber 91,376,312 94.36% 5,463,593 5.64% Youngcho Lee 91,372,642 94.35% 5,467,263 5.65% Alex MacKay 92,778,890 95.81% 4,061,015 4.19% Other Items of Business In addition, at the Meeting, shareholders approved: a resolution fixing the number of directors at three (3); a resolution re-appointing Kingston Ross Pasnak LLP as the Company's auditors; the Stock Option and RSU Plan Resolution; the Name Change Resolution; the Consolidation Resolution; and the Continuance Resolution. The results of the votes were as follows: Motions Votes For % Votes For Against % Against Number of Directors 92,931,211 95.96% 3,908,694 4.04% Appointment of Auditors 92,782,892 95.46% 4,411,737 4.54% Stock Option and RSU Plan 87,460,049 90.31% 9,379,856 9.69% Name Change Resolution 91,431,456 94.07% 5,763,173 5.93% Consolidation Resolution 83,488,358 85.90% 13,706,271 14.10% Continuance Resolution 91,398,507 94.38% 5,441,397 5.62% About Graph Blockchain Graph Blockchain provides shareholders with exposure to various areas of Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Focusing on altcoins through its wholly owned subsidiaries Babbage Mining Corp., a Proof of Stake ("POS") miner, and Beyond the Moon Inc. an IDO focused company, Graph gives investors exposure to the vast emerging market of cryptocurrencies with the significant technological disruption and potential gains altcoins represent. In addition, through its investment in New World, Graph is providing its shareholders with exposure to rapidly growing and emerging NFT market. Additional information on the Company is available at www.graphblockchain.com. For further information, please contact: Investor Relations & Communications Michael Vasile [email protected] Paul Haber, CEO 416-318-6501 Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". Forward-looking information in this news release are based on certain assumptions and expected future events. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions, or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. ### To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132347 Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - Grizzly Discoveries Inc. (TSXV: GZD) (FSE: G6H) (OTCQB: GZDIF) ("Grizzly" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has commenced surface exploration in the Greenwood area while it targets drilling startup in August and as it awaits a drilling permit for the Robocop Project. Crews from APEX Geoscience Ltd. commenced soil and rock sampling in June and have conducted sampling at the Rock Creek area, the Midway area and Sappho area to date. Additional groundwork including sampling is being planned for the Mt Atwood-Overlander area, Motherlode area and the Copper Mountain area. Additional ground work will be composed of one or more of prospecting, rock sampling, soil sampling and ground geophysics. The Company is in receipt of at least five expressions of interest for drilling and is currently reviewing these proposals for core drilling during the 2022 exploration season. The Company is permitted for initial drilling programs at its copper-gold Motherlode skarn and Dayton Skarn/Porphyry Prospects in the Greenwood area, BC and is currently in the process of obtaining the required permits for drilling at the Robocop Project near Grasmere, BC. The Company is contemplating drill startup in August. 2022 Exploration Conducted to Date Grizzly has collected a total of approximately 308 soil samples in the Rock Creek area in the vicinity of the the Nick nickel-cobalt prospect and in the area of the Ket 28 gold prospect and the Dayton copper-gold prospect. Prospecting has resulted in the collection of approximately 100 rock samples in the area. All samples have been sent to ALS Global in Vancouver for analysis. Additional prospecting and rock sampling has been conducted at the Midway and Sappho prospect areas. The Midway area is being targeted for copper-gold skarn and epithermal gold. The Sappho area is being targeted for copper-gold skarn and porphyry type targets associated with an alkalic intrusion and several diorite intrusions (Figure 1). At least two new showings of copper oxide mineralization have been found during the 2022 program (Figure 1b). Previous surface sampling and drilling by Grizzly has yielded significant anomalous copper, gold, silver along with platinum and palladium. Numerous rock grab samples have yielded greater than 1% copper, 1 gram per tonne (g/t) gold, 1 g/t platinum and 1 g/t palladium (Figure 1a). Historical drilling has yielded up to 0.31% Cu, 0.75 g/t Au, 0.34 g/t Pt, 0.39 g/t Pd and 6.57 g/t Ag over 6.5 m core length in skarn at Sappho south of Greenwood near the US border. Dayton and Motherlode Targets Grizzly is anticipating that the drilling program will likely commence at Greenwood in August and will begin with drilling at either the Dayton copper-gold-silver (Cu-Au-Ag) porphyry target near Rock Creek or at a number of skarn related targets in and around the historical Motherlode Pit area 3 km northwest of the town of Greenwood. All of the drill targets are road or trail accessible and located close to excellent infrastructure. Once permits are received for drilling at the Robocop Project either a second drill rig will be engaged to complete the Robocop drilling or the rig engaged for the Greenwood drill program will be shifted to the Robocop Project. Figure 1a: Copper oxide in a trench at the Main showings; 1b: New copper oxide showing in the Sappho area To view an enhanced version of Figure 1a and Figure 1b, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4488/132334_fig%201a%20grizzly.jpg. The Dayton IP2 target (an induced polarization chargeability anomaly) was tested by Grizzly with a single hole in 2011 and intersected potassic altered volcanics and intrusives with a near surface intersection of 0.15% Cu and 0.43 g/t Au (or 0.4% CuEq*) over 51 m core length starting at a depth of 3m. The Motherlode skarn targets are comprised of Cu-Au-Ag +/- lead-zinc (Pb-Zn) in proximity to the historical producing Motherlode Mine, which produced significant amounts of Cu, Au and Ag. Prior drilling by Grizzly intersected up 17.15 g/t Au, 41.7 g/t Ag, along with 0.56% Pb and 1.51% Zn over 1.5 m core length. Other Exploration The 2022 exploration program for the Greenwood Precious-Battery Metals Project and the Robocop Battery Metals Project has commenced and will comprise soil and rock sampling, along with ground geophysical surveys followed by drilling at both projects in southern BC. Grizzly will focus efforts at a number of new and existing high-priority battery metals targets at Robocop (copper, cobalt and silver) and precious metals - battery metals targets at Greenwood (gold-silver-copper and other based metals). The ground exploration will be focused on or near prospective targets to be drilled during 2022 as well as a number of other high priority targets. Recent geophysical results have outlined large areas with anomalous geological potential for new discoveries at both projects. Surface exploration has commenced for the 2022 program with ground crews currently conducting prospecting and soil sampling in the Rock Creek area. Other targets to be examined and sampled this year in the Greenwood Project area with a view of determining additional drilling targets include the Prince of Wales Au-Cu skarn target and the Mabel Jenny Cu-Au skarn/porphyry target in the Copper Mountain area, the Attwood - Overlander skarn and epithermal precious metal targets in the vicinity of the Lexington and Golden Crown mines east of the town of Greenwood, and the Sappho alkalic porphyry/skarn target with Cu-Au-Ag and significant platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd). Brian Testo, President and CEO of Grizzly Discoveries stated, "We look forward to the start of the 2022 program after completing a significant financing that will allow us to complete our drill programs at the Robocop Battery Metals Project at our Greenwood Precious Metals-Battery Metals Project. Grizzly has significant potential for new copper-cobalt and copper-precious metal discoveries during a time when demand for battery metals is surging due to the shift to renewable energy sources and electric vehicles. We are looking forward to commencing an initial Phase 1 program over the next couple of months to isolate drill targets in preparation for a Phase 2 - 2022 drill testing. The geology of the Robocop and Greenwood areas has the potential to yield world-class discoveries." The technical content of this news release and the Company's technical disclosure has been reviewed and approved by Michael B. Dufresne, M. Sc., P. Geol., P.Geo., who is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. *CuEq calculated using a price of US$1,750 per oz Au and $US4.00 per pound for Cu Warrants and Options Exercised Between July 1, and July 29, 2022, the Company issued 1,488,560 common shares for proceeds of $111,642 upon the exercise of outstanding warrants, and 375,000 common shares for proceeds of $18,750 upon the exercise of outstanding options. As at July 29, 2022, the Company has 137,186,227 common shares issued and outstanding. ABOUT GRIZZLY DISCOVERIES INC. Grizzly is a diversified Canadian mineral exploration company with its primary listing on the TSX Venture Exchange focused on developing its approximately 66,000 ha (approximately 165,000 acres) of precious and base metals properties in southeastern British Columbia. Grizzly is run by highly experienced junior resource sector management team, who have a track record of advancing exploration projects from early exploration stage through to feasibility stage. On behalf of the Board, GRIZZLY DISCOVERIES INC. Brian Testo, CEO, President For further information, please visit our website at www.grizzlydiscoveries.com or contact: Chris Beltgens Corporate Development Tel: 604-282-6372 Email: [email protected] Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Caution concerning forward-looking information This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This information and statements address future activities, events, plans, developments and projections. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information and statements are frequently identified by words such as "may," "will," "should," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "believe," "estimate," "intend" and similar terminology, and reflect assumptions, estimates, opinions and analysis made by management of Grizzly in light of its experience, current conditions, expectations of future developments and other factors which it believes to be reasonable and relevant. Forward-looking information and statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Grizzly's actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information and statements and accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed thereon. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary include but are not limited to the availability of financing; fluctuations in commodity prices; changes to and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including environmental laws and obtaining requisite permits; political, economic and other risks; as well as other risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in our annual and quarterly Management's Discussion and Analysis and in other filings made by us with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com. Grizzly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements except as may be required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132334 NearMe VIP, a new online business directory, is now hosting the profiles of enterprises with a 5-star reputation across the US. Miami, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - July 29, 2022) - NearMe VIP's database now hosts top-rated businesses in all continental US states in an array of fields, including food and drink, restaurants, health, hotels, automotive, plumbers, roofing companies, and even under the category of 'things to do'. NearMe Business Directory Launches New Site Featuring 5-Star Local Listings To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/132287_462d2d95c4646903_001full.jpg More details can be found at https://nearme.vip The launch of this new platform comes in response to the latest market research figures from Qualtrics. According to their statisticians, 93% of customers now read online reviews before making a purchase or choosing a company, even for small purchases and simple services. However, with some of the world's largest review platforms like Google Maps now amassing up to 300,000 reviews for single sites and businesses, NearMe VIP knows it can be more time-consuming and confusing than ever wading through pages and pages of contradictory reviews to ascertain the true quality of a product or service. As such, their directory is designed to be exclusive, listing only those businesses that have obtained a 5-star reputation on other popular platforms. With hubs in all major cities across the country and now even in smaller towns, NearMe VIP believes that they are a timesaving and quality-guaranteeing way for users to access the 'best of' in their local area. With top listings verified and added every week, the directory keeps on top of the quality level of their businesses and modifies listings accordingly. The platform's clean interface also makes it easy for users to grab all the necessary contact information of listed companies and access prior reviews and concise service lists. Positioned as a service for both customers and local businesses, NearMe VIP has paid options for companies who want to enjoy promoted listings. NearMe VIP is a new online local business directory. It seeks to serve discerning customers who are looking for 5-star service and product providers and to connect local businesses with a suitably discerning customer base that will appreciate the quality difference they provide. A spokesperson for the directory said, "NearMe VIP represents a promise to the public for the highest quality products and experiences, and works as an application for marketing and promoting the brands that are looking to differentiate themselves in a saturated online market. We are passionate about helping people find what they need and helping the businesses that provide these services succeed." More information is available at https://nearme.vip Contact Info: Name: Tony Peacock Email: [email protected] Organization: LinkDaddy DBA Near Me Business Directory Address: 1065 SW 8th St PMB 622, Miami, Florida 33130, United States Website: https://nearme.vip To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/132287 FILE PHOTO: Chinese and Taiwanese printed flags are seen in this illustration taken, April 28, 2022. Picture taken April 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States has seen no evidence of looming Chinese military activity against Taiwan, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday when asked about a possible visit to the island by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "(We've) seen no physical, tangible indications of anything untoward with respect to Taiwan," Kirby told reporters. Pelosi has not confirmed a potential trip to Taiwan. Tensions around Taiwan were a dominant topic on Thursday in a phone call between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi warned against playing with fire over Taiwan. China has been stepping up military activity around Taiwan seeking to pressure the democratically elected government there to accept Chinese sovereignty. Taiwan's government says only the island's 23 million people can decide their future, and while it wants peace, it will defend itself if attacked. Pelosi, who as House speaker is No. 3 in the line of U.S. power hierarchy after Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, signaled on Friday she was going on a trip to Asia. She did not say she was going to Taiwan. "I'm very excited, should we go, to the countries that you'll be hearing about along the way," she said, after citing the importance of the U.S.-Asia-Pacific relationship. The White House has refused to comment on reports that she will go to Taiwan. "Where she's going and what's she's going to be doing, that's for the speaker to talk to," Kirby told reporters. Kirby said U.S. officials have seen bellicose rhetoric from China about a potential trip by Pelosi and said, "there's no need for that." A U.S. military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the military had so far not sent additional ships or planes near Taiwan in recent days. The United States already has a large military presence in the Asia-Pacific, including around the South China Sea, through which a U.S. aircraft carrier is currently sailing. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Rami Ayyub; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Idrees AliEditing by Alistair Bell) WASHINGTON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, July 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee released the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill that will support budget investments in mental health and suicide prevention. Laurel Stine, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) releases the following statement: AFSP COMMENDS SENATE COMMITTEE FOR INVESTMENTS IN SUICIDE PREVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH AFSP commends the Senate Appropriations Committee on release of the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill and thanks Chairman Patrick Leahy for his leadership and commitment to mental health. This budget includes significant investments in several mental health and suicide prevention programs, with specific funding for crisis care services. AFSP is grateful to the Committee for prioritizing suicide prevention, and encourages swift passage of this FY23 spending bill. In 2020, nearly 46,000 Americans were lost to suicide.i We know that while suicide can affect anyone, it can be prevented through prevention, intervention, and postvention programming in addition to ending stigma and raising awareness. Vital investments in prevention and research programs can have a positive impact in reducing suicide and saving lives. According to CDC data, from August 2020 to February of 2021, over 4 in 10 adults reported experiencing anxiety or depression.ii From 2009 to 2019, the number of high school students reporting feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased by 40%, the number of those seriously considering suicide increased by 36%, and that of those creating a suicide plan increased by 44%.iii Nearly one in twenty American adults (4.9%) report having had serious thoughts of suicide in the last year.iv This budget provides necessary funding to address these troubling rates. Among the critical allocations included in this bill is $697 million for the new 988 dialing code and National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline). In keeping with President Biden's FY23 budget proposal, this funding would go towards strengthening and expanding the network of over 180 national and local call centers to support the ongoing implementation of the new 988 suicide and crisis hotline. By investing across all points of the crisis care continuum, this funding will enable the Lifeline to enhance technology, infrastructure, and workforce not only in its many call centers, but in mobile crisis response teams and stabilization facilities to provide essential wrap-around supports for individuals who are experiencing a mental health, substance use, or suicidal crisis. This spending bill also offers an increase in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Program of $10 million over the previous fiscal year's levels. The CDC's Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Program, currently with grant recipients in 11 states, targets populations at disproportionately high risk of suicide through approaches and programs that utilize tailored strategies to specifically address the unique needs of these communities. These groups can include Veterans, LGBTQ youth and adults, residents of rural communities, tribal populations, and youth, and specific strategies can involve reducing access to lethal means, provider education, peer programming, and provider education, among many others. AFSP has been advocating for greater investments for the Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Program, and we are grateful for the inclusion of $30 million in this spending bill. Further investments in Mental Health Block Grants at $1.42 billion (an increase of $564 million over FY22) with an increase from 5% to 10% for the set-aside for crisis care will allow for expanded grant programs for community based mental health services. Additionally, the bill includes $385 million for Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHCs), an increase of $70 million over FY22 as well as increases for the Garret Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention program through state and campus grants as well as further investments in its resource center. The inclusion of these significant increases over the previous year's levels is extremely heartening and demonstrates the Committee's ongoing prioritization of mental health and suicide prevention in the FY23 budget. AFSP thanks the Committee for its commitment to supporting the mental health of all Americans, and urges the Senate to swiftly pass this FY23 funding bill. We look forward to Congress enacting a full FY23 budget in the coming months and to further collaboration on suicide prevention initiatives in the future. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide, including those who have had a loss. AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, with an Advocacy office in Washington, DC, AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. i Ehlman DC, Yard E, Stone DM, Jones CM, Mack KA. Changes in Suicide Rates United States, 2019 and 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:306312. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7108a5.htmii US Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Symptoms of Anxiety or Depressive Disorder and Use of Mental Health Care Among Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic United States, August 2020February 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/pdfs/mm7013e2-H.pdfiii Office of the U.S. Surgeon General. (2021.) Protecting Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-youth-mental-health-advisory.pdfiv Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021.) 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Annual National Report. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-foundation-for-suicide-prevention-commends-senate-committee-for-investments-in-suicide-prevention-and-mental-health-301595868.html SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Multifaceted operations executive to lead company with an ongoing commitment to excellence KANKAKEE, Ill., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aqua Illinois, a subsidiary of Essential Utilities, Inc., proudly welcomes leader David Carter as state president. In this role, Carter will lead the Illinois team as they continue to provide high-quality, reliable water and wastewater services to 273,000 customers. Carter joins the organization with over 15 years of water and wastewater industry experience, and over 15 years of experience in engineering, consulting and development. He brings a wealth of knowledge in strategic planning, multi-location plant operations, safety and compliance. "Aqua Illinois has worked hard to become an industry frontrunner, and I am eager to support the company's mission with its pursuit of excellence top of mind," said Carter. "I look forward to partnering with this talented team and our partners to bring our customer-focused services to communities across the state." Carter succeeds Bob Ervin, who continues his Aqua leadership journey as president of Aqua Indiana. Prior to joining Aqua, Carter oversaw Suez Environment's Midwest Division as senior director of operations/general manager. There, he helped a staff of over 125 employees achieve strategic objectives while leading environmental and safety performance. Carter has also served as vice president of operations at Veolia Water North America and Utilities, Inc., where he managed business and technical activities while pursuing organic growth. A champion for innovation and compliance, Carter has led initiatives related to water, wastewater, biosolids processing, waste to energy conversion and organic waste processing. Most recently, he managed residential improvement projects for his own construction management business, David Carter Group. "David Carter brings vast experience and a multidimensional perspective that sets him apart as a strong leader in the utility management industry. He is the kind of hands-on visionary you want at the helm to solve Illinois' most pressing water and wastewater challenges," said Colleen Arnold, president, Aqua. "We are so pleased to welcome him to Aqua Illinois, and eager to see how his expertise shapes our growth and service standards." Carter holds a Master of Science in engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University. About Aqua Illinois Aqua Illinois is a subsidiary of Essential Utilities, Inc. Founded in 1886, Aqua Illinois currently provides water and wastewater services to approximately 273,000 people in 70 communities and 13 counties. To learn more, please visit aquaamerica.com/our-states/illinois.aspx. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aqua-illinois-appoints-david-carter-as-state-president-301596311.html SOURCE Aqua Illinois MIAMI, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line is pleased to announce that we are adjusting certain protocols to reflect the lifting of CDC requirements for the U.S. cruise industry. We remain, as always, committed to the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve. These changes will be made in phases, with the first of these updates effective on Thursday, August 4, 2022 and focused on short cruise itineraries of 5 nights or less. More changes will be announced shortly and all changes are subject to any requirements of destinations on the itinerary. Effective for embarkations on or after Thursday, August 4: No pre-cruise testing for fully vaccinated guests booked on cruises with itineraries 5 nights or less. Pre-cruise testing for itineraries 6 nights or longer can be conducted three (3) days before departure. There will be no in-terminal testing for unvaccinated guests on day of departure, but all unvaccinated guests ages 2 and older must provide proof of a negative result of a lab-administered or supervised self-administered antigen COVID test taken within three (3) days before embarkation. Guests should continue to carefully review all pre-cruise communications and refer to the Have Fun. Be Safe. page on Carnival.com for more information. ABOUT CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE Carnival Cruise Line, part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is proud to be known as America's Cruise Line. Since its founding in 1972, Carnival has continually revolutionized the cruise sector, making a cruise vacation an affordable and popular option for millions of guests. Carnival operates from 14 U.S. homeports and employs more than 40,000 team members representing 120 nationalities. Carnival's newest ship, Mardi Gras, featuring the first roller coaster at sea, is the first cruise ship in the Americas powered by eco-friendly Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Carnival returns to Australia in October 2022 and will welcome four additional ships over the next two years, including Carnival Celebration, which arrives to Miami in November to close out Carnival's 50th birthday festivities. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carnival-cruise-line-announces-adjusted-protocols-to-reflect-cdc-requirement-changes-for-us-cruise-industry-301596298.html SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line Financial Statements for Q2 2022 DALLAS, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Elah Holdings, Inc. (OTC: ELLH) has released its interim unaudited financial statements and disclosure report for the second quarter of 2022. This report and additional company information can be found at www.elahholdings.com under the Financial Releases section of the website. About Elah Holdings Elah Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as Real Industry, Inc.) is a reorganized holding company led by experienced business leaders that is seeking to acquire profitable businesses in the commercial and industrial markets to generate sustainable profitability and cash flows, unlock the value of our considerable tax assets, and use creative deal structures that reduce risk and ultimately create long-term value for our shareholders. For more information, visit www.elahholdings.com. Elah Holdings' stock trades on the OTC Pink Market, which is operated by OTC Markets Group, a centralized electronic quotation service for over-the-counter securities under the symbol "ELLH." Contact: Michael Hobey Elah Holdings, Inc. +1 (805) 435-1255 @elah_inc www.linkedin.com/company/elah-holdings-inc/ View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elah-holdings-inc-releases-second-quarter-2022-report-to-stockholders-301596338.html SOURCE Elah Holdings, Inc. WASHINGTON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was issued by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in response to border security legislative recommendations unveiled by House Republicans this morning: "Over the past 18 months, we have all witnessed the devastating harm wrought by a rogue administration that is asserting near dictatorial powers in a relentless effort to keep our borders open. The American people are appalled by what is going on and want to see it ended. "When the 118th Congress opens with a new House majority, it will be in large part because Americans rejected the Biden administration's purposeful dismantling of our nation's borders, as well as Speaker Pelosi's amnesty-first legislative agenda. House Republicans will have a mandate to immediately act decisively to restore control of our borders and this framework from the American Security Task Force is a great first step. "FAIR has been proud to stand with the strongest-ever assembled coalition of public interest groups and former immigration officials in calling for legislation right out the gate to end a border crisis deliberately instigated by the Biden administration. We thank Republican leaders for listening to our expertise and insight, and stand ready to work with them on turning this into legislative text." Contact: Ron Kovach, 202-328-7004 or [email protected] ABOUT FAIR Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fair-applauds-house-republican-border-security-framework-301596310.html SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) GO2 Foundation will recognize Dr. Rafael Rosell at the 23rd International Lung Cancer Congress for his global contributions to oncology, particularly in the field of non-small-cell lung cancer SAN CARLOS, Calif. and WASHINGTON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer announced today that it will present Dr. Rafael Rosell with the 2022 Bonnie J. Addario Lectureship Award for his global contributions to translational medical oncology, with emphasis on non-small-cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations. GO2 Foundation will honor Dr. Rosell with the award at the 23rd International Lung Cancer Conference (ILCC) held July 28 - 30, 2022 at Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, California. "Lung cancer is a global disease and requires a global effort. Dr. Rosell's groundbreaking work represents that effort and is getting us ever closer to a cure," said Bonnie J. Addario, co-founder and board chair of GO2 Foundation. "Dr. Rosell's work aligns perfectly with one of GO2's key objectives - increasing the rate of biomarker testing to ensure patients can receive the most effective, targeted treatments possible." Based in Barcelona, Spain, Dr. Rafael Rosell is the past Director of the Cancer Biology and Precision Medicine Program at the Catalan Institute of Oncology, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol; Chief Scientific Officer, Chairman and Founder of Pangaea Oncology SL; Chief Medical Officer and President of the Dr. Rosell Oncology Institute (IOR), Quiron Dexeus; General de Catalunya & Sagrat Cor Univ. Hospitals, and Founder and President of the Molecular Oncology Research Foundation. He is also Founder and Director of International Relations and Projects, Spanish Lung Cancer Group (SLCG), member of the Foundation Council and Steering Committee of the European Thoracic Oncology Platform (ETOP) and on the Foundation Board of the ETOP- International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG). He is also a panel member of the ASCO Clinical Practice Living Guidelines- Systemic Therapy for Stage IV NSCLC. Dr. Rosell is fully dedicated to the improvement of lung cancer therapy. His current research programs include continued investigation in translational/preclinical research, liquid biopsy, and novel technologies with NGS. In 2018, he was selected to participate in The European Liquid Biopsy Academy (ELBA). In 2013, Rosell was recognized by The Lancet as the highest authority in lung cancer. Dr. Rosell has authored over 600 articles in scientific journals. "After decades battling against lung cancer, amazing scientific advances and discoveries permit us to be closer to lung cancer curability in different sub-groups of patients," said Dr. Rosell. "I'm honored that GO2 Foundation, a leader in pursuing biomarker testing and targeted treatment, has recognized my work in this field." Past Bonnie J. Addario Lectureship Award recipients: 2021 Dr. Heather Wakelee, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Oncology at Stanford University and Deputy Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute. Dr. Heather Wakelee, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Oncology at Stanford University and Deputy Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute. 2020 Charles Swanton, M.D., Ph.D., FRCP, FMedSci, FRS senior group leader at the Francis Crick Institute Charles Swanton, M.D., Ph.D., FRCP, FMedSci, FRS senior group leader at the Francis Crick Institute 2019 Solange Peters, M.D., Head of Medical Oncology and Chair of Thoracic Oncology at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland Solange Peters, M.D., Head of Medical Oncology and Chair of Thoracic Oncology at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland 2018 Vassiliki A. Papadimitrakopoulou, M.D., Chief of Thoracic Medical Oncology, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Vassiliki A. Papadimitrakopoulou, M.D., Chief of Thoracic Medical Oncology, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 2017 Frances A. Shepherd, M.D., FRCPC, Senior Staff Physician, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine Frances A. Shepherd, M.D., FRCPC, Senior Staff Physician, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine 2016 Giorgio Vittorio Scagliotti, M.D., Professor of Oncology, University of Torino; Head of the Department of Oncology and Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology, San Luigi Hospital, Torino, Italy Giorgio Vittorio Scagliotti, M.D., Professor of Oncology, University of Torino; Head of the Department of Oncology and Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology, San Luigi Hospital, Torino, Italy 2015 Fred R. Hirsch, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine Fred R. Hirsch, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine 2014 Roy S. Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., Ensign Professor of Medicine and Chief of Medical Oncology, Yale Cancer Center Roy S. Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., Ensign Professor of Medicine and Chief of Medical Oncology, Yale Cancer Center 2013 Tony Mok, M.D., Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology, Chinese University of Hong Kong in Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong Tony Mok, M.D., Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology, Chinese University of Hong Kong in Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong 2012 D. Ross Camidge, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Thoracic Oncology Clinical Program and Associate Director for Clinical Research, Colorado University Cancer Center D. Ross Camidge, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Thoracic Oncology Clinical Program and Associate Director for Clinical Research, Colorado University Cancer Center 2011 William Pao , M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research; Director, Personalized Cancer Medicine, Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center William Pao , M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research; Director, Personalized Cancer Medicine, Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center 2010 David R. Gandara , M.D., Associate Director, Clinical Research, UC Davis Cancer Center David R. Gandara , M.D., Associate Director, Clinical Research, UC Davis Cancer Center 2009 Harvey Pass , M.D., B.A., Director of the Division of Thoracic Surgery and Chief of Thoracic Surgery, New York University Medical Center Harvey Pass , M.D., B.A., Director of the Division of Thoracic Surgery and Chief of Thoracic Surgery, New York University Medical Center 2008 Paul A. Bunn, Jr. M.D., Principal Investigator and Director, University of Colorado Cancer Center About GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer Founded by patients and survivors, GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer transforms survivorship as the world's leading organization dedicated to saving, extending and improving the lives of those vulnerable, at risk and diagnosed with lung cancer. We work to change the reality of living with lung cancer by ending stigma, increasing public and private research funding, and ensuring access to care. About the International Lung Cancer Congress For 22 years, Physicians' Education Resource (PER) International Lung Cancer Congress has brought together medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists to foster awareness of state-of-the-art treatments for patients with lung cancer. This year's two-day virtual webcast features cutting-edge lectures, panel discussions, multidisciplinary tumor boards, and interactive question-and-answer sessions from leading international and national experts. Faculty share their perspectives and personal experiences on the clinical challenges and ongoing controversies in lung cancer management. About Physicians' Education Resource, LLC (PER) Since 1995, PER has been dedicated to advancing cancer care through professional education and now advances patient care and treatment strategies on a wide variety of chronic illnesses and diseases. In 2016, PER initiated continuing medical education (CME) programming in the cardiovascular and endocrinology areas. While expanding into topics outside of oncology, PER stands as the leading provider of live, online, and print CME activities related to oncology and hematology. The high-quality, evidence-based activities feature leading distinguished experts who focus on the application of practice-changing advances. PER is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the California Board of Registered Nursing. PER is a brand of MJH Life Sciences, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels. Find PER on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. #gotoILCC About IASLC The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global network dedicated to the study and eradication of lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. Since its founding in 1974, the association's membership has grown to more than 8,000 lung and thoracic cancer specialists from all disciplines and more than 100 countries. By hosting global conferences, funding cutting-edge research, and educating the health care community and the public about thoracic cancers, the IASLC works to alleviate the burden lung cancer places on patients, families, and communities. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/go2-foundation-for-lung-cancer-to-honor-dr-rafael-rosell-with-the-bonnie-j-addario-lectureship-award-301595966.html SOURCE GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer ATHENS, Greece, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Intracom Telecom, a global telecommunication systems and solutions vendor, announced the supply of its advanced 5th generation Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) platform, the WiBAS G5, at mmWave frequencies to Peoples Wireless, through Winncom Technologies, company's trusted networking solutions distributor in North America. More specifically, Peoples Wireless decided to start the deployment of Intracom Telecom's FWA technology, the WiBAS G5 evo-BS and WiBAS G5 Connect+, at the 24 GHz frequency band after extended field testing. The WiBAS G5 demonstrated outstanding reliability, excellent performance and leading capacity at long ranges, successfully addressing customer's expectations. This new generation of mmWave Point-to-MultiPoint radios will enable the Peoples Wireless network to better serve home and business subscribers. Keith Kindle, Director of Wireless Operations at Peoples Wireless, said: "We are constantly looking for new technologies to increase bandwidth to our customers in rural east Texas and help bridge the digital divide. The WiBAS product from Intracom Telecom has been a perfect fit to provide the much needed capacity that our customers demand and deserve." Mike Cook, Vice President of Business Development at Winncom Technologies, stated: "In support of our partnership with Peoples Wireless we are always in search of next generation technology solutions to provide diversity in network deployment options and the WiBAS G5 mmWave 24 GHz FWA solution has proven to be an ideal fit." Dharminder Chanana, CEO of Intracom Telecom's subsidiary in the USA, Conklin-Intracom, commented: "We are delighted that the partnership with Winncom Technologies is already proving to be fruitful and we are looking forward to our further expansion in North America. Our system's unrivalled capabilities, capacity and leading performance at very long distances will bring great value to Peoples. We are excited with their choice and strategic decision to invest in the 24 GHz band." About Peoples Wireless Peoples Wireless began offering fixed wireless broadband solutions in 2009. The parent company, Peoples Telephone Cooperative, has been providing telecommunication services in rural east Texas for over 70 years. The company embarked on a fixed wireless deployment to serve residents located in the unserved areas beyond the service footprint of the cooperative. Now serving across 13 counties with multiple fixed wireless technologies, the company is a leader in the east Texas region in deploying cutting edge technology and demonstrates a commitment to providing innovative solutions within the communities they serve. For more information, please visit: https://peoplescom.net About Winncom Technologies Winncom Technologies, global value-added distributor of wireless and wired broadband equipment offers the most advanced forms of communication by providing customers cutting-edge, industry-leading products and solutions. With a far-reaching international scope, Winncom remains at the forefront of the global technology marketplace, demonstrating a reputation for quality products, a full range of network infrastructure and access products, and a customer-centric business model. We offer one of the industry's most notable product portfolios along with scalable solutions, world-class customer service, engineering services, network design, and outstanding support. For more information, please visit: http://www.winncom.com About Intracom Telecom Intracom Telecom is a global telecommunication systems and solutions vendor operating for over 40 years in the market. The company has become the benchmark in fixed wireless access and it successfully innovates in the 5G/4G wireless RAN transport and small-cell SON backhaul international arena. Intracom Telecom offers a comprehensive revenue-generating software solutions portfolio and a complete range of ICT services, focusing on IoT, SDN/NFV, Big Data analytics & data-driven intelligence, and Smart City solutions. Moreover, it addresses the Energy & Utilities industry, emphasizing on smart metering and end-to-end IT solutions. Intracom Telecom is also active in the defense sector providing security integrated systems for critical infrastructure protection and border surveillance. The company has extensive know-how and a proven track record in the market, serving fixed and mobile telecom operators, public authorities and large public and private enterprises. Intracom Telecom maintains its own R&D and production facilities, and operates subsidiaries worldwide. For more information please visit: www.intracom-telecom.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/intracom-telecom-delivers-its-mmwave-wibas-g5-fwa-technology-to-peoples-wireless-in-north-america-301596199.html SOURCE Intracom Telecom KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kansas City Life Insurance Company recorded net income of $4.5 million or $0.46 per share in the second quarter of 2022, an increase of $0.2 million or $0.02 per share relative to the second quarter of 2021. In the first six months of 2022 we recorded a net loss of $3.2 million or $0.33 per share, compared to net income of $3.6 million or $0.37 per share in the first six months of 2021. Total investment revenues declined in both the second quarter and first six months of 2022 compared to the same periods in the prior year. Partially offsetting this, policyholder benefits, interest credited to policyholder account balances, and operating expenses declined in both periods compared to the prior year. Kansas City Life Insurance Company (OTCQX: KCLI) was established in 1895 and is based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Company's primary business is providing financial protection through the sale of life insurance and annuities. The Company operates in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Please refer to our Quarterly Report for the period ended June 30, 2022, for additional information, which is available at www.kclife.com. Kansas City Life Insurance CompanyCondensed Consolidated Income Statement(amounts in thousands, except share data) Quarter Ended Six Months Ended June 30 June 30 2022 2021 2022 2021 Revenues $ 114,579 $ 124,804 $ 233,810 $ 247,135 Net income (loss) $ 4,485 $ 4,286 $ (3,191) $ 3,618 Net income (loss) per share, basic and diluted $ 0.46 $ 0.44 $ (0.33) $ 0.37 Dividends paid $ 0.14 $ 0.27 $ 0.41 $ 0.54 Average number of shares outstanding 9,683,414 9,683,414 9,683,414 9,683,414 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kansas-city-life-announces-second-quarter-2022-results-301596185.html SOURCE Kansas City Life Insurance Company NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuberger Berman High Yield Strategies Fund Inc. (NYSE American: NHS) (the "Fund") has announced a distribution declaration of $0.0905 per share of common stock. The distribution announced today is payable on August 31, 2022, has a record date of August 15, 2022 and has an ex-date of August 12, 2022. Under its level distribution policy, the Fund anticipates that it will make regular monthly distributions, subject to market conditions, of $0.0905 per share of common stock, unless further action is taken to determine another amount. The Fund's ability to maintain its current distribution rate will depend on a number of factors, including the amount and stability of income received from its investments, the cost of leverage and the level of other Fund fees and expenses. There is no assurance that the Fund will always be able to pay a distribution of any particular amount or that a distribution will consist only of net investment income. Due to an effort to maintain a stable distribution amount, the distribution announced today, as well as future distributions, may consist of net investment income, net realized capital gains and return of capital. In compliance with Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, a notice would be provided for any distribution that does not consist solely of net investment income. The notice would be for informational purposes and not for tax reporting purposes, and would disclose, among other things, estimated portions of the distribution, if any, consisting of net investment income, capital gains and return of capital. The final determination of the source and tax characteristics of all distributions paid in 2022 will be made after the end of the year. About Neuberger Berman Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategiesincluding equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity, real estate and hedge fundson behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. With offices in 25 countries, Neuberger Berman's diverse team has over 2,500 professionals. For eight consecutive years, the company has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management survey (among those with 1,000 employees or more). In 2020, the PRI named Neuberger Berman a Leader, a designation awarded to fewer than 1% of investment firms for excellence in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. The PRI also awarded Neuberger Berman an A+ in every eligible category for our approach to ESG integration across asset classes. The firm manages $418 billion in client assets as of June 30, 2022. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com. Statements made in this release that look forward in time involve risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the adverse effect from a decline in the securities markets or a decline in the Fund's performance, a general downturn in the economy, competition from other closed end investment companies, changes in government policy or regulation, inability of the Fund's investment adviser to attract or retain key employees, inability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy, inability of the Fund to manage rapid expansion and unforeseen costs and other effects related to legal proceedings or investigations of governmental and self-regulatory organizations. Contact:Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLCInvestor Information(877) 461-1899 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neuberger-berman-high-yield-strategies-fund-announces-monthly-distribution-301596361.html SOURCE Neuberger Berman "Jackie Kennedy's White House Guidebook 60th Anniversary" WASHINGTON, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The White House Historical Association has released the latest episode of its podcast, The White House 1600 Sessions: Jackie Kennedy's White House Guidebook 60th Anniversary, which revisits the history of how the popular publication came to be and marks the release of a special edition on July 28, 2022. The White House: An Historic Guide was first published in 1962 as a collaboration between First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the White House Historical Association, and the National Geographic Society. Prior to its creation, there had never been a guide that offered a room-by-room tour that visitors could purchase at the White House much like they would on a trip to a museum like the National Gallery of Art. In this episode, Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, speaks with Renee Braden, senior director of library and archives at the National Geographic Society. Braden shares an oral history recorded with Bob Breeden, who was instrumental in the creation of the first White House guidebook. We also hear a fond remembrance from the Hon. Condoleezza Rice about a family trip she made to the White House. As the former U.S. Secretary of State recalls: "I just remember being completely taken with the beauty of the White House. And remember, John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, Camelot. It was a time when Americans thought of the White House as incredibly magical, and I think my parents and I were the same way." Watch the full video of this podcast episode here. "Mrs. Kennedy knew exactly what she wanted the White House guidebook to be. The impact of this particular project was really big at the National Geographic," Braden explains. "We are proud to mark this milestone with a special edition that honors the legacy of Mrs. Kennedy and the innovative creators," says McLaurin. "They have made something that has endured the test of time for 60 years." More than 5 million copies of the guidebook have been sold since the first edition was published on July 4, 1962. Proceeds from these sales go towards the Association's mission of preservation and education. With the release of the 26th edition on July 28, 2022, The White House: An Historic Guide, celebrates 60 years in print, and with it, the White House Historical Association celebrates its 60th year in publishing. To order a copy of The White House: An Historic Guide - 26th Edition visit the WHHA online shop. The 1600 Sessions is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. The White House 1600 Sessions White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurinMcLaurin is the host of "The White House 1600 Sessions," the Association's official audio and video podcast devoted to exploring the history, cultural impact, untold stories, and personal accounts of America's most iconic residence and highest office. About The White House Historical Association The White House Historical Association was founded in 1961 by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to support her vision to restore and preserve the Executive Mansion and its legacy for generations to come. Mrs. Kennedy sought to inspire Americans, especially children, to explore and engage with American history and its presidents. Supported entirely by private resources, the Association is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has contributed more than $100 million to the White House in fulfillment of its mission. To learn more about the White House Historical Association, please visit WhiteHouseHistory.org. The White House Historical Association P.O. Box 27624 Washington, D.C. 20038 WhiteHouseHistory.org Twitter | Facebook | Instagram View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-episode-the-white-house-1600-sessions-podcast-301596413.html SOURCE White House Historical Association Grant Expands Food Pantry Program and Supports Family Members of Service Members Deployed to Europe Due to Russia-Ukraine Conflict TYSONS, Va., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The PenFed Foundation, a national 501(c)3 founded by PenFed Credit Union, furthered its commitment to military heroes with a $50,000 grant to support the Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) to mitigate food insecurities among families of junior enlisted service members serving at Fort Bragg. ASYMCA Fort Bragg will now be able to expand the food pantry program to include a mobile pantry and transition into a larger building to serve more military families. "Food insecurity affects our military families. We are determined to support our men and women in uniform and their families by improving access to initiatives like ASYMCA Fort Bragg Food Pantry Program. A partnership between PenFed Foundation and ASYMCA Fort Bragg has established food pantries on site," said PenFed Credit Union Senior EVP and President of PenFed Foundation Shashi Vohra. "No Soldier, Airman, Sailor, or Marine should struggle to feed their family." "The PenFed Foundation is proud to support the ASYMCA Fort Bragg food pantry expansion renovation project and mobile ASYMCA/PenFed mobile food truck. We thank ASYMCA Fort Bragg for their tremendous impact on the service members, veterans, and their families," said retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. and PenFed Foundation Outreach Director David Clark. "On behalf of the PenFed Foundation and the many service members, veterans, and families you support, thank you for making a positive difference." PenFed Foundation and ASYMCA Fort Bragg will be renovating a vacated 20th Engineer Brigade dining facility to expand crucial support to junior enlisted service members and their families. Renovations to the building will include refrigeration renovation, floor repair or replacement and the addition of stock shelving and storage facilities. "We are honored by The PenFed Foundation's support of our Fort Bragg Food Pantry," said Executive Director of ASYMCA Fort Bragg Jeremy Hester. "This grant will enable us to expand and serve more military families." The new location will increase the food pantry space from 800 square feet to 2,000 square feet. The dining facility also has a loading dock which will be beneficial for receiving large donations. About PenFed Foundation Founded in 2001, the PenFed Foundation is a national nonprofit organization committed to empowering military service members, veterans and their communities with the skills and resources to realize financial stability and opportunity. It provides service members, veterans, their families and support networks with the skills and resources they need to improve their lives through programs on financial education, homeownership, veteran entrepreneurship, and short-term assistance. Affiliated with PenFed Credit Union, the Foundation has the resources to effectively reach military communities across the nation, build strong partnerships, and engage a dedicated corps of volunteers in its mission. The credit union funds the Foundation's personnel and most operational costs, demonstrating its strong commitment to the programs the Foundation provides. Equal Housing Opportunity. To learn more, visit www.penfedfoundation.org. About ASYMCA Fort Bragg, NC As the only authorized food assistance program on the installation, the Armed Services YMCA Fort Bragg Food Pantry offers military families and area veterans' access to nutritious food options and necessities at no cost to combat economic, health and readiness stress. ASYMCA is proud to provide our nation's young military personnel, both single and married, and their families, quality programs that will assist in building Soldier careers and strong families. ASYMCA aids 62,500 active-duty Soldiers, 76,486 family members and 94, 939 retired Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines either stationed or living within the vicinity of Ft. Bragg, NC and surrounding counties in North Carolina. To learn more, visit www.asymca.org/fort-bragg-home View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/penfed-foundation-combats-food-insecurity-among-military-families-with-50-000-grant-to-support-the-armed-services-ymca-301596386.html SOURCE PenFed Foundation Enabling patients to conduct electrocardiogram (ECG) tests safely and efficiently at home using PCA 500, the only medical grade 12-lead Resting ECG approved by the FDA for patient use. LAS VEGAS, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Demand for telehealth and home care has surged drastically during the pandemic. QT Medical Inc. (QT Medical), a Los Angeles-based company, now provides Xpress ECG service an online order, mail delivery electrocardiogram (ECG) testing service using their PCA 500 platform. The company will exhibit PCA 500 alongside their Xpress ECG service at the CES 2022 show. Through the Xpress ECG service, patients can complete 12-lead Resting ECG tests using PCA 500 in the comfort of their own homes. Xpress ECG tests may be ordered by doctors or requested by patients alike. The service provides superior ECG quality, patient convenience, and a lower risk of infection, offering significantly higher value than in-hospital ECG tests. After the patient completes the test, QT Medical offers an interpretation of the results by expert cardiologists, with the reports sent to the ordering doctor or the patient's physician. QT Medical aims to provide better ECG testing using the revolutionary PCA 500 platform. With the PCA 500, all electrodes are pre-positioned and pre-connected, removing the necessity of operator training and opening the doors for home use with minimal risk of error. The PCA 500 electrode strip is also a medical-grade single-use product that can be placed within 10 seconds, saving time and reducing the risk of disease transmission compared to traditional ECG testing. "Xpress ECG has proven to be a much-needed service, and 98 percent of patients could complete their tests at home with simple instructions," said Dr. Ruey-Kang Chang, Chief Executive Officer of QT Medical. PCA 500 electrodes come in four sizes for adults (18 years and older). Featuring modern, easy-to-use designs, it is the only medical standard 12-lead Resting ECG approved by the FDA for patient use. With seamless integration of state-of-the-art technologies: a super-compact recorder, patented prepositioned electrode strips, user-friendly apps for mobile devices, and HIPAA-compliant cloud, a hospital-quality 12-lead ECG can be completed by anyone, anytime, anywhere. The Xpress ECG service features: At home ECG testing that is user friendly PCA 500 with various sizes of electrodes to suit patients Medical grade 12-lead Resting ECG Less prone to human error FDA cleared, American Heart Association standards HIPAA-compliant cloud Is Xpress ECG the way forward?Resting 12-lead ECG is the most used medical test for diagnosing heart diseases, such as arrhythmias and coronary artery disease. However, traditional ECG machines are bulky, inefficient, and can only be used in healthcare facilities by professionals. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 35 million outpatient ECG tests are done every year in the United States alone. The way how resting 12-lead ECG tests are done have not changed in nearly 80 years, making it outdated for the current healthcare environment. In traditional ECG testing, trained technicians conduct a complex process totaling over 20 steps. As a result, approximately 3% of ECG tests done in hospitals result in leads being misplaced. Additionally, traditional ECG machines require cleaning and disinfection after each use, a time-consuming process that increases the risk of disease transmission if done improperly. In a world where doctors visit patients over video calls, physicians must equip themselves with the necessary tools to deliver personalized healthcare that is fast, accurate, consistent, and standardized. Dr. Chang "is confident that Xpress ECG is the solution to cumbersome traditional ECG testing." QT Medical will be showcasing their solution at the TTA Pavilion at Booth 61423 in Sands Hall G, Eureka Park, Las Vegas Convention Center. For more information, visit www.qtmedical.com. About QT Medical Inc.QT Medical is a medtech company with a focus on high quality 12-lead diagnostic electrocardiogram (ECG) for use by healthcare professionals and patients. Cleared by the FDA, TFDA, PMDA and CE mark, PCA 500 is the world's most compact 12-lead ECG system. With its simplicity, ease of use, mobile technology and cloud management, PCA 500 brings hospital-grade ECG to homes, and enables doctors to make informed decisions anywhere, anytime. Powered by advanced AI diagnostics, QT Medical will revolutionize cardiac care in the 21st century for millions of patients. Further Inquiries:Website: www.qtmedical.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/qtmedical/LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/qt-medical-inc-Twitter: https://twitter.com/QTMedicalinc Press Kit:Please refer to the attached photos and videos for content.Video: A better way to do ECG https://vimeo.com/651029239/48f7081492 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/qt-medicals-online-order-mail--delivery-xpress-ecg-testing-service-to-exhibit-at-the-worlds-largest-annual-trade-show-301595919.html SOURCE QT Medical Inc. NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhino, the leading real estate technology company and pioneer of security deposit insurance, announced today its partnership with AmTrust Financial to provide an additional $60 million in premium-writing capacity for its core product offering. AmTrust Financial, an international property and casualty insurer, will join Rhino's existing panel of industry-leading insurance carriers and reinsurers, bringing Rhino's total premium-writing capacity to over $200 million. Rhino's partnership with AmTrust Financial will further enhance the company's capacity to support the rapid growth and adoption of its innovative security deposit insurance solution and modernize the rental experience, making it easier and more efficient for both property owners and renters. "We are excited to support Rhino in setting a new standard for the renting experience. Partnering with Rhino, the forerunner in security deposit insurance, is a natural fit for AmTrust's customer-centric culture," said Jeff Fenster, EVP and Head of AmTrust North American Specialty Risk. "As the upfront cost of renting continues rising to unprecedented levels, renters are increasingly turning to innovative solutions, like security deposit insurance, to remove barriers to finding affordable, quality housing," said Benjamin Lantos, Rhino Co-Founder and Chief Risk Officer. "Rhino's partnership with AmTrust Financial will help a growing base of renters save money and give property owners the financial protections they need to operate sustainable businesses." Rhino hit a milestone earlier this year, announcing that its security deposit insurance was offered in more than 2 million homes, saving American renters more than $800 million in upfront move-in costs. About Rhino Rhino was founded to give renters everywhere greater financial freedom to plan and enjoy their lives. We eliminate the need for traditional security deposits by replacing them with smart, affordable insurance so renters can maintain control of their cash. Instead of a large upfront cash security deposit, renters pay Rhino a small monthly fee, and Rhino insures the property owner for damages that might occur and lost rent. To date, we are offered in over 2 million homes with a 6 million home partner network, and we have saved renters over $800 million in cash. About AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., a multinational insurance holding company headquartered in New York, offers specialty property and casualty insurance products, including workers' compensation, business owner's policy (BOP), general liability and extended service and warranty coverage. With nearly 6,000 employees worldwide, AmTrust has grown to become an industry-leading insurance provider, focusing on small business insurance solutions. AmTrust is rated "A-" (Excellent) with a Financial Size of "XV" by A.M. Best. For more information about AmTrust, visit www.amtrustfinancial.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rhino-announces-strategic-partnership-with-amtrust-financial-301596382.html SOURCE Rhino More than 200,000 military service members nationwide will be affected as they struggle with hearing loss due to an allegedly defective 3M earplug ONTARIO, Calif., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP, (MWA) a national consumer law firm representing hundreds of service members who suffered hearing loss from allegedly defective ear plugs manufactured by 3M's wholly owned subsidiary is holding a press conference at One Lakeshore Center, 3281 E. Guasti Rd., Suite 100, Ontario, California at 11:00 a.m. on August 1, 2022. Speaking and taking questions will be: Two retired service members with hearing loss that have brought lawsuits against 3M as clients of MWA will discuss how the allegedly defective earplug affected them and their perspective on the bankruptcy filing. (Ret.) Marine Corps Major Cory Weck, an MWA Partner, will discuss the obligations that 3M has to service members who were supplied these earplugs, and how the bankruptcy affects that obligation. Richard McCune, MWA's Senior Partner, will discuss the appropriateness of the bankruptcy in light of 3M's healthy financial condition. The press conference will provide context from the perspective of affected service members and attorneys representing service members on the impact and appropriateness of the bankruptcy. It will be livestreamed at 11:00 a.m. PST on Facebook and YouTube. Background and Purpose of the Press Release Aearo -- 3M's now wholly owned subsidiary manufactured and sold their CAev2 earplug to the military, marketing it as protection for service members who were being exposed to loud noises. This was especially important as a significant number of service members supplied with these earplugs were serving in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. 3M is legally responsible for any defects that appear in the earplugs, including the defects which cause hearing loss in users, as MWA's lawsuit alleges. Approximately 230,000 service members have brought lawsuits claiming the earplugs were defective and ineffective resulting in tinnitus and hearing loss. After a number of juries agreed that the earplug was defective, 3M now puts Aearo into bankruptcy, which could limit the recoveries to $1 billion for 230,000 service members (approximately $4,350 average per service member) who suffer from lifetime permanent hearing loss and tinnitus. The press conference will present unique context and understanding of the effect of the importance of this bankruptcy filing on 230,000 injured service members. About McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP: McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP has a deep history of success for its clients, including a $203 million verdict against Wells Fargo Bank, recovery of over $1 billion for its clients, and over 100 contingency cases with recovery of $1 million or more. MWA maintains California offices in Ontario, San Bernardino, Palm Desert, and Irvine and supports its national practice with offices in Illinois, and New Jersey. For over 30 years, MWA has successfully represented clients involved in product liability lawsuits. Visit mccunewright.com for more information. Media Contact: Juniper Elizondo, 602-373-0059, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/service-members-and-their-attorneys-holding-press-conference-on-august-1-2022-at-1100-am-in-response-to-3m-owned-aearos-declared-bankruptcy-on-july-26-2022-301596259.html SOURCE McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP TAIPEI, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cell Envision, a startup based in Taiwan, has developed an SACA Monitoring System that can improve patient survival rates facing the dangers of cancer, together with enhancements in reproductive medicine. The company recently participated at the VivaTech 2022 event in Paris, France showing off their product to other startups and leaders and demonstrating the company's innovative cancer prediction technology. While the effectiveness of cancer treatment will vary from one individual to another, with generally higher overall recurrence rates, it is important for patients to understand their conditions and what can be done as a treatment. The Cell Envision SACA system actively monitors the probability of recurrence, giving patients the chance of seeking active treatment early and increasing their chances of beating the disease. The SACA system, which utilizes a variety of technology including a Nonfixable Live-cell Staining Microdialysis Chip and Patient-Derive Explants Platform used for profiling, allows for more efficient response assessment and selection for cancer immunotherapy. The use of multi-omics analytical modules makes it easier to detect somatic mutation profiles, put together comprehensive immune profiling, and even produce cell therapy predictions that can be accurate for most pieces of information. When it comes to capturing a specific target cell, the use of these systems makes the process a much more efficient one. The features of the Cell Envision SACA monitoring system include: Liquid biopsy - Only 2ml of blood is needed for analysis Simultaneous analysis of multiple cancer cell types - Circulating tumor cancer cells, cancer cell clusters, immune cells and cancer cell conjugated, and more can be analysed High accuracy - The predicted success rate is 8 times higher than that of CEA or CA 199 monitoring alone Ease of use - Cancer cells can be isolated to the genetic testing platform Pushing the boundaries of biotech, Cell Envision aims to accelerate the discovery of identification and pathogenesis in reproductive medicine and oncology by revealing the functional biology of every patient cell, and the SACA system monitors will help pave the way. With patents approved in the United States, China, and Taiwan, Cell Envision hopes to deliver even more positive results in the biotech field. The company has recently closed its angel funding round, and will look to new territories like Europe and the United States following its presence in Asia. Together with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the company is in a great position to innovate further, and bring even more benefits to those in the medical field as well as patients around the world. About Cell Envision We are the first commercial Patient-Derived Explants (PDEs) platform used for profiling the response assessment and selection to cancer immunotherapy by developed of the single cell functional multi-omics analytical modules with SACA monitoring system. Cellenvision is accelerating the discovery of identification & pathogenesis in oncology by revealing the true functional biology of every patient cell. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/taiwan-cell-envision-enhances-cancer-survival-rates-by-accurate-predictions-301595881.html SOURCE Cell Envision LAS VEGAS, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- iPreg Incorporation (iPreg), an award-winning biomedical device manufacturer in the field of reproductive medicine, has developed a new and enhanced solution for infertility. The "Sperm Sorting Chip'' is expected to increase fertility rate and fill in the blind spots that come with the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process, the technology was showcased at CES 2022 The research and development team at iPreg designed the "Sperm Sorting Chip'' using microfluidic technology which allows the fluid mechanics of sperm to swim in the microfluidic chip and create an environment that allows the sperms to race in the chip. This uniquely designed chip also increases the purity of healthy sperm to 90% while posing minimum damage to the DNA. Sperm preparation by iPreg sorting chip increases the healthy sperm ratio to 90% in 15 minutes while maintaining the patient's safety as well as high recovery and efficiency. This plays an important role in assisting reproduction that speeds up the crucial stage of sperm screening in the IVF process. With current infertility rates hanging at an average of 15% globally, IVF is believed to be the most efficient solution on the market with the ability to increase the pregnancy rate to 37.4%. On the other hand, the live birth rates of an IVF cycle with a woman's eggs at age 40-44 is down to a staggering 4.7%. Through the many stages of fertility, from increasing the ratio of healthy sperm to the early formation of the blastocyst, the sperm sorting chip is expected to improve the success of pregnancy. Currently, swim up and discontinuous density gradients are the most utilized in fertility clinics to select the fraction of motile spermatozoa. However, both methods have negative effects on sperm viability and can result in sperm DNA fragmentation and consequently lead to a low success rate of pregnancy in IVF therapy. Since health sperm is critical to the success of assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures, iPreg developed a novel device intended for preparing motile sperm from semen. "iPreg aims to increase the fertility rate and provide modern day parent(s) the opportunity of building a family. With today's lifestyle, medical procedures need to be refined further to cope with the continuous change that poses an obstacle. We are looking to break barriers and provide a fighting chance to parent(s) across the globe," said Chen-Yen Chung, Chief Executive Officer of iPreg Inc. As women's age at first childbearing increases year by year, the infertility situation is getting worse. Therefore, we believe that the research of IVF treatment urgently needs more investment in new technology. We expect that the application of iPreg chip can increase the fertilization rate and further increase the pregnancy rate of IVF. In addition, the future iPreg chip can also be extended towards tumor diagnosis, immune cell purification and animal husbandry industry, making this technology applicable to more fields. Going global to make a change Ever since its establishment, iPreg has been focusing on the in Vitro fertilization market and seeks to continuously improve the new generation of sperm sorting methods to help keep the fertility rate high and the infertility rate as low as possible. In the coming years, the company aims to set up footprint in Southeast Asia, North America and Europe. iPreg Incorporation will be showcasing its technology at the Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) Pavilion at Eureka Park, Venetian Expo 1F (Former Sands expo), booth no: 61423. For more information, visit https://www.ipreginc.com/. About iPreg Incorporation Founded by Dr. CY Chung, who holds a Ph.D. in Immunology, in 2018. iPreg Incorporation is a biomedical device manufacturer focusing on reproductive medicine. The newly invented iPreg sperm sorting chip helps facilitate the IVF process in the key step of sperm screening and to further improve the success rate of assisted reproduction. iPreg Incorporation and the sperm sorting chip have won several awards in Taiwan including the 2020 Global Hack Startup, 17th National Innovation Award and the 2020 From IP to IPR Program. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/taiwan-ipreg-inc-to-exhibit-the-newest-sperm-supporting-chip-a-new-solution-for-infertility-at-ces-2022-taiwan-tech-arena-pavilion-301595875.html SOURCE iPreg Incorporation Item 3.01. Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard; Transfer of Listing On July 25, 2022, Quanergy Systems, Inc. (the Company) received a written notice (the Notice) from the New York Stock Exchange (the NYSE) that the Company is not in compliance with the continued listing standards set forth in Rule 802.01B of the NYSE Listed Company Manual because its average global market capitalization over a consecutive 30 trading-day period was less than $50 million and, at the same time, its last reported shareholders equity was less than $50 million. As required by the NYSE, the Company intends to timely notify the NYSE of its intent to cure the deficiency and restore its compliance with the NYSE continued listing standards. In accordance with applicable NYSE procedures, the Company has 45 days from receipt of the Notice to submit a plan advising the NYSE of the definitive action(s) the Company has taken, or is taking, that would bring it into compliance with the minimum global market capitalization listing standard within 18 months of receipt of the Notice. The Company intends to develop and submit a plan to bring it into compliance with the NYSE continued listing standards within the required time-frame by pursuing measures that are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. The NYSE will review the plan and, within 45 days of its receipt, determine whether the Company has made a reasonable demonstration of an ability to conform to the relevant standards in the 18-month period. If the NYSE accepts the plan, the Companys common stock will continue to be listed and traded on the NYSE during the 18-month period, subject to the Companys compliance with other NYSE continued listing standards and continued periodic review by the NYSE of the Companys progress with respect to its plan. The Notice has no immediate impact on the listing of the Companys common stock, which will continue to trade on the NYSE during the applicable cure period, and does not result in a default under the Companys material debt or other agreements. The Company is considering all available options to regain compliance with the NYSE continued listing standards. The Company can provide no assurances that it will be able to satisfy any of the steps outlined above and maintain the listing of its shares on the NYSE. Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure. On July 29, 2022, the Company issued a press release announcing that it had received the Notice. A copy of that press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference. The information contained in this Item 7.01 shall not be deemed to be filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, and is not incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Forward-Looking Statements This Current Report on Form 8-K includes certain statements that are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as believe, may, will, estimate, continue, anticipate, intend, expect, should, would, plan, predict, potential, seem, seek, future, outlook, project, will likely result and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this Current Report on 8-K, are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Quanergys ability to regain compliance with the NYSEs continued listing standards. These The Air Force has temporarily sidelined nearly half of its combat training aircraft and a smaller portion of its primary training aircraft while it reviews the safety of a potentially defective ejection seat part. Its the same component the Navy and Marine Corps are concerned enough about that theyre replacing it in some airplanes, such as Super Hornets and Growlers, the Navy announced earlier in the week. The Air Education and Training Commands 19th Air Force confirmed the grounding of the trainers, Air Force Magazine reported Thursday. The order affects 203 T-38 Talon jets and 76 T-6 Texan IIs, 19th Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Craig Wills told the magazine. That equates to about 40% of the T-38 fleet and about 15% of the T-6 planes in the Air Force inventory, the San-Antonio Express News reported. Fighter and bomber pilots train on the supersonic T-38, while the turboprop two-seat T-6s are used to teach basic flying skills. The aircraft are assigned to Air Force undergraduate training bases and Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., which trains aviators from all branches of the military. The issue triggering the grounding involves a cartridge-actuated device, or CAD, a component thats activated when aviators pull the ejection handle or deploy a parachute. The Navy and Marine Corps are replacing the CAD in aircraft equipped with the potentially defective part, the Navy announced Tuesday. Planes affected include the F/A-18B/C/D Hornet, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, E/A-18G Growler, T-45 Goshawk and F-5 Tiger II, the Navy said. But officials would not say how many planes are involved, what the defect is and whether any jets had been grounded. The Navy said it was notified of the potential defect by vendor Martin-Baker, a British manufacturer of ejection seats. Martin-Baker began installing new escape systems in Air Force T-38s in 2010. The new seat, called the Mk US16T, provides rapid deployment of the parachute following ejection, an Air Force official was quoted as saying at the time. When the seat clears the airplane, explosives deploy the parachute, the official said. The T-6 uses a more lightweight ejection seat, also designed by Martin-Baker, which produces the ejection seat for the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet as well. Saudi Arabia, January 1991: All is quiet for the time being on the flight line at a base in central Saudi Arabia in January 1991, but planes are ready for the next mission against Iraqi targets in the early stages of the Gulf Wars air campaign. 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 . CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea Humanitarian aid from the Red Cross to North Korea dropped last year by about 86% compared to 2020 due to COVID-19 travel restrictions imposed by the communist regime, according to a new report from the organization. The Red Cross reported roughly $16,500 going toward assistance to North Korea, most of it for medical aid, according to the annual report of finances and activities by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Separate from the medical aid, just $8 was spent on reliable water and construction-related tasks in North Korea. The report released on Wednesday lists aid from the Red Cross to more than 100 countries. In 2020, the Red Cross provided nearly $120,000 in aid to North Korea roughly $108,000 for food, household essentials and agricultural goods and an additional $11,700 toward water and construction projects. Outlays over the past two years are a substantial drop from 2019, when the organization spent about $2.5 million for projects that included physical rehabilitation for victims of unexploded ordnance from the 1950-53 Korean War. The Red Cross cited North Koreas closed borders, some of it attributed to the countrys COVID-19-related travel restrictions, for the recent drop in aid and suspended humanitarian projects. Foreign Red Cross staff left North Korea as the COVID-19 pandemic spread in 2020. North Korea restricted travel to and from its borders while reporting zero cases in the country. The authoritarian regime reported its first case of an unspecified fever in May. The stalled projects included initiatives to increase food production among economically vulnerable rural communities and broaden access to water and sanitation for inhabitants of peri-urban areas, the Red Cross said in its report. The [International Committee of the Red Cross] continued to give them material support but replenishing their stock of medical supplies was made impossible by [North Koreas] closure of borders, the report said. With limited access to North Korea, the Red Cross continued operations remotely through China. The Red Cross has operated in North Korea since 2002 and is based in Pyongyang. North Koreas regime is among the chief violators of human rights and continues to subject its people to a humanitarian crisis, according to the State Department. The crisis has been exacerbated by bleak harvests from heatwaves, torrential rains and typhoons, as well as the regimes funding of its weapons program. The United Nations childrens agency in a 2021 report estimated that 40% of North Koreans faced food insecurity. As recently as June, North Koreas Foreign Ministry rejected pandemic-related humanitarian aid from the United States. The ministry in a statement described the offer as a diversionary plot and insisted the U.S. focus on its own domestic situation. Individuals living near sites contaminated by manufacturing chemicals known as PFAS should be regularly tested, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recommended in a report released Thursday. PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of chemicals that have been widely used in manufacturing processes since the 1950s. They have been used in thousands of products to aid in repelling water or oil and to reduce friction. PFAS do not break down into their harmless elements over time after escaping from the original product. They have earned the moniker forever chemicals because they persist in the human body and the environment, the report said. Roughly 2,854 locations in the United States are contaminated to some degree by PFAS, and about a quarter of those sites are linked to military installations, according to the 300-page report, which was commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Academies study cites data collected by the Environmental Working Group that found 678 U.S. military sites are contaminated by PFAS to varying degrees. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes the use of fewer chemicals in agriculture, said in a 2020 report that tap water or groundwater at 328 military installations showed the presence of PFAS, based on records it obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Although not all of the contamination represents exceedances of health advisories, the pervasiveness of the contamination is alarming, the National Academies report said. Furthermore, almost 100 percent of the U.S. population is exposed to at least one PFAS. The health risks posed by PFAS are not entirely understood, but the National Academies report concluded there is sufficient evidence that four diseases or conditions were associated with PFAS exposure. They were decreased antibody response in children and adults, a cholesterol imbalance called dyslipidemia found in children and adults, decreased growth in fetuses and infants and increased risk of kidney cancer in adults. There is limited but suggestive evidence that the chemicals are linked to increased risk of breast cancer, pregnancy-induced hypertension, testicular cancer and an inflammatory bowel disease. The report recommends that doctors offer testing to patients likely to have a history of elevated exposure to PFAS, which would seem to include a large swath of the population. Among them are those who have had occupational exposure, such as individuals who worked with fluorochemicals and firefighters. Also, at elevated risk of exposure are those who have lived near facilities that use or have used fluorochemicals, commercial airports, military bases, wastewater treatment plants, farms where sewage sludge may have been used, or landfills or incinerators that have received PFAS-containing waste, the report said. The report includes input collected from citizens around the U.S. during a series of town hall meetings, some of whom have been grappling with PFAS contamination from military bases. Cathy Wusterbarth co-founded Need Our Water, a community group in Oscoda, Mich., in response to contamination left by the nearby former Wurtsmith Air Force Base. The areas groundwater was contaminated by PFAS found in firefighting foam used at the air base. Aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF, accounts for much of the PFAS contamination found at military installations. Wusterbarth said during the town hall that improved access to PFAS blood testing was crucial to understanding the links between exposure and poor health outcomes as experienced by many living in Oscoda. Weve tested the fish. Weve tested the deer. Weve tested the groundwater, the waterways and the foam, Wusterbarth said at the town hall. When are we going to test the people? An $8.4 billion deal to sell a fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to Germany along with a supporting arsenal of missiles and munitions has been greenlighted by the U.S. State Department. The deal for 35 planes still requires final approval from Congress, a formality that will clear the way for Berlin to make one of its most significant military upgrades in years. The proposed sale will improve Germanys capability to meet current and future threats by providing a suitable replacement for Germanys retiring Tornado aircraft fleet in support of NATOs nuclear sharing mission, the centerpiece for deterrence in Europe, the department said in a statement Thursday. Earlier this year, the German government announced its desire to acquire the stealthy jets, which it plans to station at Buechel Air Base. The installation in southwestern Germanys Eifel region is about 40 miles from the U.S.-operated Spangdahlem Air Base. The base is a central part of NATOs nuclear sharing mission, which involves American B-61 nuclear weapons at certain locations in Europe. Reports over many years saying that U.S. nuclear bombs are stored at Buechel were inadvertently confirmed in a 2019 NATO document. In the event of an alliance decision to use the weapons, they would be carried by nuclear-capable aircraft, such as the F-35. Germanys decision to acquire the F-35 is part of a roughly $100 billion planned upgrade to its military that Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in the aftermath of Russias unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February. The F-35s, made by Lockheed Martin, are expected to be delivered to the German air force by 2026. This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of a NATO ally that is an important force for political and economic stability in Europe, the State Department said. Ukraine said it is close to restarting grain shipments, although the timing will depend on go-ahead from the United Nations, which helped broker last weeks deal, and there were still few details available about how the process will unfold. Our side is fully ready, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in the Odesa region, where he was watching grain being loaded onto a Turkish ship at Chornomorsk port. Crop markets are watching closely for concrete moves toward unlocking the millions of tons of grain that have been piling up in Ukraine, which is one of the biggest wheat, corn and vegetable-oil suppliers. The war has shaken the food trade and spurred warnings about a global crisis, while the country is under pressure to resume exports to boost its war-devastated economy. Its farmers have also warned they are running out of space to store crops. There have been incremental signs of progress: Ukraines Sea Ports Authority told companies that a small test boat would sail on Friday, and a group of insurers set up a program to cover cargoes of food from Ukraine -- a key step as insurance has been seen as one of the big challenges to shipments. However its been a week since the agreement was reached between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN, and some traders and exporters said they were still waiting for information about how and when vessels will depart. The infrastructure minister is in direct contact with the Turkish side and the UN, we are waiting for their signal that we can start, Zelensky said. The ships will need to navigate through safe pathways through the mined seas and Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov told reporters that Ukraine was hoping to receive confirmation on Friday from the UN about the corridors. Shipments can only happen when procedures are clear and the parties in the Joint Coordination Committee have agreed to those movements, UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths said at a briefing late Thursday. A successful resumption of grain and oilseed shipments from Ukraine is seen as key to easing a global food crisis, but many analysts and western officials have been skeptical about whether last weeks deal can be implemented. Shipowners are facing a myriad of challenges including getting insurance and recruiting crews to operate the ships as safety concerns remain. Russias attack on Odesas sea port with cruise missiles hours after signing the deal also raised questions about its commitment. A group of G-7 ambassadors to Ukraine and their Turkish colleague were in Odessa Friday to demonstrate that the world will be watching, the U.K Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons said in a tweet. The Sea Ports Authority told companies at a meeting on Thursday that a small test boat would sail today, said Shota Khajishvili, the co-founder of Risoil, which operates a terminal at Chornomorsk port. Khajishvili said he had two ships ready that he was hoping could sail on Saturday if the test run goes to plan. A trader who has a shipment waiting to depart at the same port said separately they had also been notified about Fridays test, while asking not to be identified discussing private dealings. Both Ukraines sea port administration and Infrastructure Ministry didnt immediately reply to requests for comment. Ukraines military authorities declined to comment. Ascot Group is leading a group of insurers in offering up to $50 million of cover for grain and food cargoes from Ukraines ports. The program was put together by Marsh, the worlds largest commercial insurance broker. The creation of this facility is an important step in releasing crucial grain supplies from Ukraine, said Marsh Global Head of Marine and Cargo Marcus Baker. Cargo insurance is just one leg of what will required to get shipments to market, he said, as hull war insurance will also be needed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the agreement to unblock exports depends on easing restrictions on the export of Russian grains, fertilizers and other agricultural commodities- though Russia has continued shipping big volumes of wheat since the war began. Bloombergs Daryna Krasnolutska, Alaric Nightingale and Abdel Latif Wahba contributed to this report. KYIV, Ukraine - Dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the famed Azov Regiment were killed Friday in a strike against their detention center in the eastern Russian-occupied region of Donbas, but it was unclear how the attack happened or who carried it out. At least 53 POWS were killed and 75 injured in the strike, according to Darya Morozova, an official for the Donetsk Peoples Republic, the pro-Russian breakaway region where the prison was located. Ukraine and Russia traded blame for the strike, with each saying the other had carried it out to silence the prisoners. All or most of the POWs were members of the Azov Regiment who had surrendered when Russian troops captured the city of Mariupol in May after a two-month siege. Their fate had been the focus of fraught prisoner-exchange negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. Russias Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack using U.S.-supplied HIMARS - High Mobility Artillery Rocket System - launchers, which are helping shift the tide of the war in Ukraines favor. The ministry framed the incident as a bloody provocation intended to discourage Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. Russian media commentators suggested that Ukraine hit the detention center to stop the prisoners from providing testimony to interrogators about war crimes committed by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine denied any involvement and accused Russian forces of carrying out the attack, which it called a war crime. Ukraine did not conduct any shelling or artillery strikes Friday in the vicinity of Olenivka, the town where the detention center was located, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a post on its Facebook page. Rather, the General Staff said, it was Russia that staged the attack and used it to accuse Ukraine of committing war crimes as well as to cover up the torture and execution of prisoners. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a posting on his Twitter account, called on the world to condemn what he called a petrifying war crime and a brutal violation of international humanitarian law. Ukrainian officials also questioned whether the incident had been caused by an artillery strike at all. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted that explosives specialists who had examined images of the burned-out detention center believe that the destruction may have been caused by an explosion or fire inside the building itself, rather than the result of shelling. Videos of the aftermath of the blast broadcast by Russian media outlets show a tangle of twisted, burned metal bunks inside a blackened warehouse-like structure with a large hole in its roof. Charred bodies and body parts are strewn around the wreckage. Russian media outlets posted photos showing what they claimed were fragments of HIMARS rockets found at the scene. It wasnt immediately possible to verify that the shards had been fired by HIMARS launchers. Analysts also said there have been enough HIMARS attacks in recent weeks that the fragments could have been gathered elsewhere. Also unclear was whether any Russians or prison staff members had died in the attack. Russias Defense Ministry said eight members of the staff were injured, but Morozova, the Donetsk official, said in a video interview that no Russians or local staff members were hurt. Happily, the workers of the place of internment did not suffer. They find themselves in good condition. Only the prisoners suffered, she said. The Azov Regiment vowed revenge. Writing on his Telegram channel, Azov founder Andriy Biletsky pledged to hunt down those responsible. No matter where you hide, you will be found and exterminated, he said. The Azov Regiment is among Ukraines most battle-hardened military units but has attracted controversy over its links to far-right nationalist ideology. Russian President Vladimir Putin has framed his invasion of Ukraine as an attempt to de-Nazify the country, partly referring to the Azov forces. Ukraine did not need to use HIMARS launchers to attack a site less than six miles from the front lines, said Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraines defense minister. The high-precision weapon systems, of which Ukraine has only 12, are being reserved for their long-range capabilities, he said. Sak said the Russians could have killed the prisoners for a simple reason: They hate them and they want them dead. Walker reported from London. The Washington Posts Robyn Dixon and Mary Ilyushina in Riga, Latvia, contributed to this report. PHILADELPHIA The federal government has issued a six-paragraph notice that portends a potentially huge improvement for Ukrainians fleeing to this country cutting their wait for work permits by months. Instead of the current eight- to 10-month delay, which has left newcomers struggling to pay for food and housing, and strained their relationships with relatives who never imagined hosting long-term dependents, the wait could drop to as short as three months, according to people familiar with the change, announced on Thursday. The national non-profit Welcome.US, created to welcome Afghans amid the war-end evacuation last August and recently expanded to include Ukrainians, told members and partners in an email that work applications could be approved in as little as six weeks. A success? "A big one," said Olha Khomyak, a New York immigration attorney who helps lead a Ukraine Immigration Task Force focused on the issue. "It's much better, a month or two months, compared to six or nine months. That's a big difference. They can provide for themselves." The inability to work has made it impossible for newcomers to send money to help their families in the war zone. It's also kept workers away from employers who are desperate to hire, and deprived local, state, and federal governments of tax revenue. "It's very good news," said Valentyn Khimchuk, who came here from Ukraine with his girlfriend, Roksolana Tokarevych, both 21. They arrived in the U.S. on July 8, moving into the home of an uncle in Northeast Philadelphia, and six days later applied for work permits. "I hope they can proceed with this as fast as they can." U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that processes work-permit applications, made no mention of reduced wait times in its announcement. Instead, the agency simply said it was "employing technological solutions and efficiencies to reduce processing times." Basically, the agency will allow people who are admitted into the United States under a certain category to file for employment authorization online. Until now, the thousands and thousands of Afghans and Ukrainians entering the United States have had to file those requests on paper, by mail. "I am thrilled to hear that USCIS has responded to this huge crisis, not only to help so many Ukrainians, who are struggling because they can't work, but also many of our neighbors who recently arrived from Afghanistan, Cuba, and Haiti who also deserve the ability to support themselves and their families," said Anne Smith, an immigration attorney in Washington who serves as task force policy director. USCIS spokespeople could not immediately be reached for comment. Many people refer to the Afghans evacuated to the United States under Operations Allies Welcome, and to the Ukrainians coming here now under programs like Uniting for Ukraine, as "refugees," but that is incorrect. The vast majority entered and continue to enter under what is called "humanitarian parole," which is permission to come here, not a legal immigration status. More specifically, in these cases, the newcomers are classified as urgent or "public-interest parolees" basically, people who cannot go back or may never be able to go back to their homelands. While the vast majority are currently Afghans and Ukrainians, everyone who fits the category will be able to apply on-line. The change will benefit Cubans, Haitians and others coming to the United States under humanitarian parole. "We were excited to see the announcement," said Kit Taintor, vice president of policy and practice at Welcome.US. "And we're really excited that this change applies to a larger set of people." To file, applicants must visit my.uscis.gov to create a free online account. A faster approval process promises to make a big difference for people like Liliia Kravtsova, who fled the Ukrainian seaport city of Odesa. She lives with an aunt, uncle, and cousin in Huntingdon Valley, but has not been allowed to work. "People are forced to look for illegal work," Kravtsova, 28, recently told The Inquirer, "and face many risks." It costs $410 to apply for a work permit, which is expensive, immigration attorneys note, and can become exorbitant if families apply for two or three members. Applicants seeking a fee waiver must continue to file by mail. USCIS, like other federal immigration agencies, faces enormous backlogs. More than 1.5 million work-permit applications were pending at the end of 2021, according to the agency. The pandemic worsened already-existing delays when USCIS halted in-person operations and appointments in March 2020. Even when the agency reopened, not all services fully resumed. Thousands of appointments needed to be rescheduled, and in the meantime applications continued to arrive. The United States evacuated and continues to resettle about 76,000 Afghan war allies. The Biden administration currently offers the opportunity for haven to about 180,000 Ukrainians, a big number in terms of recent immigration to this country, and barely a ripple among the 9.9 million who have fled a war that's provoked the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II. From March to June, more than 71,000 Ukrainians arrived in the U.S., and last month another 23,000 had been approved to travel. Few arrivals have received permission to work at a time when the U.S. has 11.3 million job openings and 5.9 million unemployed, nearly double the number of available jobs than people to fill them. ___ (c)2022 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A former Air Force airman was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release. Bryce Carter Studebaker, 25, of Moncks Corner, S.C., pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in South Carolina. U.S. District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks also ordered Studebaker to register as a sex offender and remain under lifetime court supervision after his release, according to court documents. There is no parole in the federal system. Studebaker was an airman stationed at Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif., in 2018 when he began messaging a 14-year-old girl living in Tennessee through Facebook, the news release said. During the messaging, Studebaker persuaded the minor to produce videos and images of herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and to send the videos and images to Studebaker, the DOJ said. Authorities discovered the conduct after responding to a call from the minors mother who said her daughter had been communicating with an online predator. A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment against Studebaker on March 18, 2019, and the airman was subsequently charged with four counts of producing and attempting to produce child porn and four counts of receiving child porn. Studebaker pleaded not guilty to the eight counts but changed his plea on July 22 to guilty on one count. WASHINGTON Air Force Maj. Sharon Arana was a single mother of two and a week away from graduating from officer training school when her birth control failed in 2009. She took a pregnancy test alone in a gas station restroom, avoiding her Alabama military base clinic in case someone there notified her chain of command about the pregnancy. To obtain an abortion, Arana first drove three and a half hours to Atlanta and then flew home to Brooklyn, N.Y., where she paid $400 for the procedure. Air Force Maj. Theresa Mozzillo was 21 years old and newly stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri when she discovered she was pregnant. Shy and alone in a male-dominated environment, she felt devastated and lost and considered discussing such an intimate issue with military leadership out of the question. With the help of her only friend, she drove an hour and a half to an abortion provider and paid her entire $550 monthly paycheck for the procedure. Arana and Mozzillo shared their stories Friday during a House Armed Services Committee subpanel hearing in hopes of drawing attention to the new obstacles women in the military face in the wake of the Supreme Courts decision last month to eliminate the constitutional right to an abortion. Alabama and Missouri are among at least eight states that have now forbidden the procedure. Another four states ban abortions at six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. Im especially concerned for these junior enlisted members like I was, on a tight financial budget, who are now stationed in a state that has banned abortion, Mozzillo said. Many will now need to travel hundreds of miles away. Will they be able to afford the transportation and hotel costs along with the cost of an abortion? Will they need to ask their direct supervisors for leave? Will this knowledge compromise their careers or will their privacy be respected or will their situation become work center gossip? But most importantly, what would their future look like if they didn't have an abortion? Some Democrats in Congress rushed to shore up abortion protections for the military after the controversial Dobbs v. Jackson court decision leaked in May. Lawmakers have demanded a standardized leave policy for abortion care that prioritizes privacy. They have urged the Pentagon to offer financial support for service members who must travel for abortion access. And they have introduced bills to allow military medical facilities to provide abortions, calling for the overturn of a federal law that prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for an abortion unless the mothers life is in danger or the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said during the hearing Friday that her office has been inundated with calls from current and former service members who are anxious and despondent about being stationed in states that have outlawed the procedure. Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, also spoke at the hearing and said veterans have even less access to abortion care and counseling than active-duty troops. Speier, chairwoman of the House Armed Services Committee's personnel subcommittee, counted 102 military installations in states without abortion access and another 29 installations in states readying to ban the procedure. She said lawmakers are still unclear on the guidance that military medical providers are receiving to continue performing permissible abortions nor do they know if service members can be denied leave or retaliated against for needing an abortion. An estimated 50,000 women now serving in the military are expected to have an abortion during their lifetime, many during their years in service, Speier said. The Department of Defense must act now to provide the right resources, at the right time and right place so that service members and their families who have no choice about where they live continue to have access to the reproductive care they need, want and deserve, she said. Gil Cisneros, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, told the House subpanel that the Pentagon is learning to navigate new abortion laws in as many as 29 states but remains committed to providing federally authorized abortions. He admitted the Defense Department is wary about the effect abortion bans will have on recruitment and readiness. It is essential for the survivability of our force that we become more diverse and women are a big part of that. They will make us a more lethal and better fighting force and we need them to join our military, Cisneros said. To think that some women may think twice before joining the military because of the Dobbs decision is definitely a concern. Arana and Mozzillo said they do not regret their careers in the military despite experiencing isolating and, at times, callous treatment. Three weeks after Aranas abortion in New York, she went to her base clinic in Alabama to check on some continued bleeding. The nurse told Arana that she would keep her abortion a secret, just in case. I was confused and I felt stigmatized for having an abortion, like I was being judged for a decision that my partner and I had carefully made together, she said. I was never offered any support or follow up care at the clinic. Rather, I was sent on my way back to training without my pregnancy termination ever documented in my medical records. Arana praised the Air Force for implementing a new policy that enables women to request leave for abortion without obtaining pre-approval from their commander or detailing the nature of the health care service that they plan to receive. But Arana said service members are still left with the burden of using personal days for the procedure and paying for expenses out of pocket. Jackie Lamme, an active-duty Navy gynecologic surgeon and obstetrician, told lawmakers that she is particularly worried about pregnant women who carried fetuses with malformations so severe that they would not survive birth. Lamme recalled telling the wife of an airman stationed overseas that she could not give the woman an abortion because her life was not at risk. Instead, the woman had to spend thousands of dollars to travel home to the U.S. to have an abortion that was not covered by the militarys health insurance, Tricare. The family was able to afford the trip and the procedure because of a friends fundraiser, Lamme said. Ghazaleh Moayedi, a Texas-based civilian OB-GYN who treats service members, said she will never forget weeping after sitting with a service member who counted quarters to pay for her abortion. The patient asked Moayedi which parts of pain management care she could forego to afford the procedure and assured Moayedi that she was strong enough not to need pain medication. I was changed forever bearing witness to that injustice, Moayedi said. Both doctors said the military does not have enough staffing to see every patient of reproductive age and must heavily rely on local civilian doctors to provide treatment, especially for high-risk obstetric care. Cisneros and Seileen Mullen, the acting defense secretary for health affairs, acknowledged the shortage and said it was emblematic of a nationwide problem also affecting the civilian sector. To increase access to womens health care, the Defense Department this week expanded the number of its walk-in contraception clinics and set up a dedicated womens health website to better disseminate information about benefits, Mullen said. The military is also moving to eliminate copays for IUDs and other contraceptives, Cisneros added. Speier pressed the officials to commit to building up a more robust contraception education program in the military, for women and men. We keep losing sight of the fact that there are two in this process, she said. The burden and responsibilities rest with just one once she is pregnant. Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said it was powerful for him to hear the perspectives of women in the military who testified Friday and understand the role of luck and happenstance in obtaining abortion care while serving in the military. It just shows and reinforces to me just how broken of a system [this is], how we failed you in terms of being able to provide you what you need, he told Arana and Mozzillo. A Newport News attorney has agreed to pay the IRS $869,000 in back taxes after admitting to federal tax fraud. Nosuk Pak Kim, 61, pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of felony tax evasion in U.S. District Court in Richmond. She faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for each of the two counts, aside from the restitution shes already agreed to. Kim, whos been licensed as a Virginia lawyer for 31 years, is a founding partner at the Oyster Point law firm Cowardin & Kim, where she specialized in immigration law. Shes been a substitute judge since 2014 in Newport News General District Court and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, and has taught in recent years as an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary Law School. She was accused of working to evade taxes on some of the millions of dollars the government paid to her husbands company over the years. Beyung Kim, 63 now in federal prison in West Virginia owned and operated a Hampton company, I-Tek, that provided clothing and various promotional materials to the military between 2011 and 2018. The company, on Executive Drive in Hamptons Coliseum area, provided thousands of West Point swim trunks to the Army, and various trinkets coffee mugs, water bottles, mouse pads, foam balls, T-shirts and pencils for the Marine Corps and various state National Guards. The company also provided wire rope for the Coast Guard operations. But court documents say Beyung Kim and various employees defrauded the government by attesting that the goods were Made in the USA when they were manufactured in China or other low-cost sourcing locations. Beyung Kim and I-Tek sourced these products in cheaper, foreign markets like China to inflate their profit margins, court documents say. They concealed the fraud by, among other things, removing the labels reflecting the true country of origin. The scheme also involved providing the Department of Defense with fake supplier quotes and purchase orders. The conspiracy separately featured a retired disabled veteran falsely posing as the companys president and owner in order to qualify for Small Business Administration set-asides. Nosuk Kim wasnt involved in I-Teks conspiracy to defraud the government in the importing, court documents say. But she was involved in a separate effort to evade taxes on some of the proceeds that came in. A statement of facts agreed to by both prosecutors and the defense as part of Kims guilty plea Thursday says I-Tek was paid more than $4 million under a Marine Corps contract plus another $141,000 for 30,000 T-shirts to the Indiana National Guard in 2015 and 2016. But when I-Tek got those payments, it wired about $2.2 million to an entity in China, Goldway International Trading LLC, which then wired the money back to Nosuk Kims attorney trust account at her Newport News law firm. The lawyer then withdrew that money, spending most of it to pay down debt on the couples financial interests. Kim took out four separate cashiers checks totaling about $1.2 million to pay down a business loan for a company called BBK Enterprises LLC based at a Jefferson Avenue address. She used $621,000 of that amount to pay down the balance on a home equity line of credit on the couples home on Ferguson Cove in Newport News. She used the rest about $415,000 to buy out a partner and pay down a business loan involving a commercial property on J. Clyde Morris Boulevard. The IRS said the Kims should have reported that $2.2 million as taxable income in 2015 and 2016. The failure to do so, the statement of facts said, cost the government about $869,000 in lost tax revenue. Nosuks web page at her law firm says she holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from the College of William & Mary in 1983 and a law degree from Suffolk University School of Law in Boston in 1989. For over 25 years she has represented clients of all nationalities who wish to work and stay in America, the website says. The website says shes a founding board member of the Peninsula School for Autism, a board member of the Hampton Roads International Montessori School, and an advisor to the Peninsula Korean-American Association. Kims attorney in the tax fraud case, Timothy Clancy, said his client is doing all she can to make amends. I certainly think its fair to say that she is very well regarded in the community, both professionally and personally, Clancy said. Shes certainly accepting responsibility and is doing everything she can to remedy this situation, including paying the taxes. Clancy said Kim is no longer practicing law. Shes doing no more than wrapping up her practice and ensuring that her clients are protected, he said. Kims bond conditions require her to stay at her home on Ferguson Cove in Newport News between now and her sentencing. She cant leave the state of Virginia except for a pre-planned vacation to the Outer Banks that her probation officer has signed off on. Shes not allowed to open any lines of credit and has to make her financial accounts open for inspection. Beyung Kim was sentenced in August 2021 to four years and 10 months in prison for I-Teks conspiracy to defraud the United States and is slated for release in late 2024. Hes also on the hook to pay $7.6 million in restitution. Four other I-Tek employees were also sentenced in the conspiracy case last year: Dongjin D.J. Park, 55, of York County, was sentenced to 31 months and ordered to pay $475,000 in restitution. Pyongkon Phil Pak, 54, of James City County, was sentenced to 32 months and $147,000 in restitution. Chang Alex You, 62, of York County, was sentenced to five months and $247,000 in restitution; and Seung Sam Kim, 32, of Newport News, was sentenced to five months and $36,000 in restitution. Nosuk Kim will be sentenced Jan. 25 on the tax evasion charges. 2022 Daily Press. Visit dailypress.com . Thomas Quigley (74) is facing 10 charges over a woman's personal injury compensation claims A solicitor has been sent for trial accused of deception and money laundering in an alleged insurance fraud case. Thomas Quigley (74) is facing 10 charges over a woman's personal injury compensation claims totalling nearly 30,000. He had a book of evidence served on him when he appeared in Dublin District Court today. Judge Treasa Kelly sent him forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Mr Quigley, of Thomas Quigley Solicitors, Ballyfermot Road, Dublin is charged with six counts of deception related to compensation paid to a Winnifred Lawrence and four counts of money laundering, all over a two-year period. Today, Detective Garda Ivor Scully told the court the accused made no reply when charged. A book of evidence was ready and was served on Mr Quigley. The DPP directed trial on indictment and consented to the accused being sent for to the next sittings of the circuit court, a state solicitor said. There was no objection to Mr Quigley going forward on bail. Judge Kelly gave him the formal notice that he had 14 days to furnish the prosecution with alibi details. Mr Quigley, dressed in a dark jacket and trousers and check shirt, replied yes, your honour, when the judge asked him if he had received the book of evidence and understood the alibi notice. He made the same reply when asked to acknowledge his signature on the bail bond. The judge also ordered the prosecution to provide copies of the accused's garda interview video to the defence. The case will be listed before the circuit court on October 7. Mr Quigley was represented by solicitor Richard Young and did not otherwise address the court. Three deception charges allege that he dishonestly induced others at CIE, IPB Insurance and Liberty Insurance to compensate Ms Lawrence in another womans name for personal injury on dates in February, March and May 2014. He allegedly deceived Liberty into compensating Ms Lawrence in the sum of 12,460 on September 11, 2012, CIE into paying her 6,250 on June 19,2013 and AIG Europe into paying her 11,014 on October 18, 2013, all in the other womans name. Three money laundering charges allege that Mr Quigley engaged in converting, transferring, handling, acquiring, possessing or using proceeds of criminal conduct. According to these charges, he took receipt of the sums of 6,250, 12,460 and 11,014 for Ms Lawrence in the other womans name on the specified dates. The final charge alleges that he did not verify the identity of a customer between 01/09/2012 and 11/05/2014, another money laundering offence. Mr Quigley has not yet entered pleas to the charges. Winnifred Lawrence and several other co-accused are currently before the courts. Brady and co-accused Dean Byrne are charged with conspiring to persuade a State witness not to testify during Brady's trial for the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe Aaron Brady was found guilty of the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe Garda killer Aaron Brady and another man will stand trial at the non-jury Special Criminal Court next year accused of plotting to pervert the course of justice. Brady and co-accused Dean Byrne are charged with conspiring to persuade a State witness not to testify during Brady's trial for the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe during a robbery at Lordship Credit Union, Bellurgan, Jenkinstown, Co Louth, on January 25, 2013. Brady had pleaded guilty to the murder of the married father-of-two but a Central Criminal Court jury found him guilty by a majority verdict in August 2020 and he was sentenced to life imprisonment, 40 years of which must be served. It was the longest murder trial in the history of the State. Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe (Garda/PA) Brady (31) of New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh and Dean Byrne (29) from Cabra Park, Phibsborough, Dublin, are accused of conspiring to persuade prosecution witness Daniel Cahill not to give evidence in order to pervert the course of justice between April 8, 2020, and June 22, 2020. However, during the trial, which ran from January to August of that year, Mr Cahill testified he overheard Brady say he shot a garda. Brady is also accused of recording the playing of a video of a witness being interviewed by gardai, thus embarking upon a course to pervert the course of public justice between February 20, 2020 and May 7, 2020. Garda killer Aaron Brady charged with plot to pervert course of justice during murder trial During Brady's trial in 2020, the court was told that the video of Mr Cahill telling gardai that he heard Brady admitted to murdering a garda was circulating on social media. Trial judge Mr Justice Michael White described the dissemination of the video as "the most outrageous contempt of court" and a "deliberate attempt to intimidate" the witness and others who were to give evidence. It is alleged that a phone was recovered from co-accused Mr Byrne's cell in Mountjoy Prison with five recovered WhatsApp exchanges in which there were messages to an anonymous contact with offers to intimidate Dean Cahill. Today at the Special Criminal Court, Kate Hanley BL, for Brady, told the court that a trial date would be required. Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding at the three-judge court fixed October 2, 2023, for the trial and put the case into November 7 next for mention. In the first trial in 2020 the jury was unable to reach a verdict A young woman who was driven to a beach and gang raped in a car by three teenagers has described how she had to go through two trials and several days of cruel cross-examination in her fight for justice. Dion Genocky (23), Troy Ryan (24) and Daryl Rooney (24) were 17 and 18 years old when they drove the then 18-year old teenager to Dollymount Strand six years ago, where they then took turns raping her. The court heard that after she was raped by the three men, the woman was told to get into a second car which had arrived at the scene. Two more men from that car then raped her before leaving her on the beach. These men are not before the court. Genocky of Clarion Quay Apartments, Rooney of Railway Street and Ryan of Lower Gardiner Street, all in Dublin city centre were convicted of raping the woman at Bull Island, Dollymount, Dublin, on January 5, 2016, following a second trial at the Central Criminal Court this year. The jury in the first trial, which was held in 2020, was unable to reach a verdict. At a sentence hearing today, the court was filled with supporters who had written testimonials on behalf of the three men and who were present in order to be cross-examined. Eilis Brennan SC, defending, said she did not need to cross-examine these people as they had all stated they were aware of the rape convictions. Mr Justice David Keane said he would accept the testimonials on that basis and the court was cleared so only two to three supporters for each man remained in court. The woman did not attend court in person and gave her victim impact statement via video-link. Read more Man who sexually abused young girl for seven years jailed She told the court her life has been on hold for the last six years. I have been waiting fearfully for the day they would get away with the pain and trauma they caused me, she said. I never felt like me again after they raped me and left me scared for my safety. The woman said she had to go through two trials where she was cross-examined for days on end and cruelly questioned about her past and her childhood, much of which was spent in care. I did not feel like the victim, she said. My mental health has suffered so much since they gang raped me, she said. She told the court she has struggled with drug addiction and she will never get these years back. I fought hard to get justice, she said. I didn't give up. I didn't give up when I was threatened. I fought back. I fought back to get justice for me and for the safety of other women. The woman concluded her statement by saying she hopes the three men pay for the pain, trauma and loss they cost me on that night. Sergeant Paul Sweeney told Ms Brennan that on the day in question, the young woman, who had recently left state care, travelled to Dublin to meet with friends. Later that evening, she purchased some Xanax pills and then went to an internet cafe. While there, she was approached by a boy and told that the three teenagers, who she had never met before, wanted to talk to her. The men told her they wanted to bring her for a quick spin. The woman initially declined but eventually agreed and left the cafe with Ryan (17) and Rooney (18) to get into a car outside, which was driven by Genocky (17). The trial was shown CCTV footage from the internet cafe. The court heard the men drove out to Clontarf and down to the end of the wooden bridge at Dollymount Strand where they stopped by a shelter. Genocky then asked the woman: Are we going to have some fun? The woman replied no, she didn't want to and she had only wanted to go for a short drive, but the men were refusing to listen, the court heard. Genocky and Rooney got out of the car and stood in the shelter while Ryan produced a condom from a stash in the glove box of the car and proceeded to rape the woman. When he was finished, Genocky got in and put a condom on. Genocky tried to sweet talk the woman, the court heard and said he wasn't going to hurt her, before he proceeded to rape her. Genocky then handed a condom to Rooney who raped the woman. At this stage, the woman didn't even get a chance to say no. It was three against one and she didn't have a choice, the court heard. The trial heard her door had a child lock on it and she could not get out of the car the whole time she was there. The woman was told another person was going to pick her up and bring her home and the men left the scene quickly. Another car arrived containing three men and she was raped by two of the men in this car. She said that the men all got into the car afterwards, laughed and drove away, leaving her in the middle of nowhere. The court heard mobile phone evidence from one of the men's phones showed he rang an occupant of the second car. The woman immediately called 999 and was taken to hospital. The men were identified from CCTV footage taken from the internet cafe and arrested in 2018. Genocky gave evidence at trial and said he never disrespected a woman in his life. Defence counsel claimed the woman initiated sex and Genocky said the woman was treated with nothing but respect by himself and his two gentlemen friends. Genocky has no previous convictions, while Ryan has 24 previous convictions including for theft and drugs. Rooney has 225 previous convictions including violent disorder, drugs, public order offences, trespass, theft and road traffic matters. All three have been in custody since April, when they were found guilty. The court heard the men all have partners who were in court to support them. They are now fathers, except for Ryan, whose partner is pregnant with their first child. Defence counsel handed in a number of reports as well as the testimonials on behalf of the men. Mr Justice Keane adjourned the case to October 21, when their pleas of mitigation will be heard. After hearing that it was thought Elliot may be in Ireland, trial judge James Adkin said there was no good reason why the case could not proceed in his absence A sex offender who travelled to Ireland for a funeral when he was due to appear in Durham Crown Court for trial has been jailed. Craig Elliott (33) had denied two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 by touching, in offences dating from October 4, 2021. He appeared at a pre-trial hearing in the case, at Durham Crown Court, in February and was bailed to an address in East Kilbride, Scotland. But on the day the trial was listed to start, May 9, Elliott failed to appear in court. After hearing that it was thought Elliot may be in Ireland, trial judge James Adkin said there was no good reason why the case could not proceed in his absence. The jury found him guilty on both counts on the third day of the hearing. Judge Adkin imposed a 40-month prison sentence, while also making Elliott subject to registration as a sex offender, indefinitely. He also issued a warrant for Elliotts arrest. Following execution of the bench warrant, the defendant appeared at the court on Wednesday, July 27, by video link from nearby Durham Prison. He faced a new charge over his failure to appear for his trial. Elliott insisted that he did have a reasonable excuse, and said he had explained this to his solicitor. But, he agreed to the bail breach when the allegation was put to him again. His solicitor Paul Newcombe, said: He would urge me to say there was a death in Ireland and he was called unexpectedly away. He apologises. There was no attempt to offend the court. Judge Adkin said the evidence was, overwhelmingly against the defendant. The judge added an extra six weeks of prison to the 40-month sentence, imposed for the sexual assaults after the trial, saying there would have to be a short consecutive sentence to mark the breach of bail. He was given bail despite the strong evidence against him, the judge added. He also imposed a restraining order prohibiting him from approaching or contacting the victim of the sex assaults, for life. Elliott was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, also for life. Hutch (58) and Dowdall (44) are both charged with the murder of David Byrne (33) at the Regency Hotel in Dublin on February 5, 2016. In what was a unanimous decision on Friday morning the five judge Supreme Court cleared the way for the two men's trial to proceed before the SCC. Hutch (58), who was extradited from Spain, and former Dublin City councillor Dowdall (44), of Navan Road, Dublin, are both charged with the murder of David Byrne (33) at the Regency Hotel in Dublin on February 5, 2016. They deny the charges. The men's lawyers had argued that their trials before the SCC would be unlawful because the SCC has become a de facto permanent court when the relevant legislation only provides that it be temporary. The argument was made in an appeal by the two men, who are charged with murder, against an earlier High Court decision rejecting their challenge over the trials being heard before the SCC. The High Court found the temporary/permanent argument was a political question and therefore not justiciable before a court. If the decision to continue the SCC is made without bad faith, or absent mala fides, then the courts could not intervene, it was also found. In its decision the Supreme Court comprised of the Chief Justice Mr Justice Donal O'Donnell, Mr Justice Peter Charleton, Ms Justice Iseult O'Malley, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, and Mr Justice Brian Murray upheld the High Court's findings and dismissed the appeal. Giving the Supreme Court's decision the Chief Justice said that the 1939 Offences Against the State Act does not contain "a test of permanence," by which to gauge the lawfulness of the existence of the SCC. Dowdall The Chief Justice said the test of lawfulness of the SCC, which is contained in the law, was whether or not the Government is of the opinion that the ordinary courts are adequate to secure the administration of justice and the preservation of public peace and order. The Supreme Court also found that no duty attaches to the to Dail Eireann to continuously review he necessity of the SCC. The formal review process of the SCC contented for by the applicants in this case, the Chief Justice said, was not required. The court in its decision also ruled that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission did not meet the legal requirements to be formally joined as an amicus curiae or friend to the court in the proceedings. More to follow.................. Sinead ONeill has said if it wasnt for her boss she believes she would be dead. Survivor of coercive control, Sinead ONeill has spoken out about her six-week ordeal after her abuser was jailed for 17 years. Dean Ward (36) met Sinead on an online dating site in May 2019 and effectively moved himself into her home in Killybegs, Co. Donegal. Ward used lies and emotional manipulation to insinuate himself into her life, presiding judge Justice Kerida Naidoo said at sentencing on Thursday. During the next six weeks he repeatedly attacked Ms O'Neill, spraying Mace into her face, tying her up, choking her and then raping her, threatening her with a hammer and punching her in the face. He controlled her access to friends and family, took over her online banking and monitored her whereabouts, social media and mobile phone use and removed her contraceptive device as she slept. Opening up about her ordeal, Sinead, who waived her anonymity so that Ward could be named publicly, told RTEs Morning Ireland that she was first suspicious of Ward not long after they met, when she found out that he had been lying to her about where he was living. "He came clean and said he had lied to me and that he was actually living in Dublin, which of course was another lie, but I had told him at that point, no, I didn't want him to come back, I don't know why he is lying or what's going on, but something wasn't right and I put my phone on silent. She said that he then sent her a flood of text messages and calls, and as a result, she turned off her phone and went to bed. The next morning she was getting ready when Ward entered her home. "That's when he had told me he had slept in my shed and I kind of laughed it off because it was a strange thing to do I suppose. "But he had made a comment about a candle that I had left burning in the kitchen and he wouldn't have seen that had he not been out the back of my house, so I believed him when he said that." She said that he tried to control her life, accessing her social media accounts and deleting them. Dean Ward. He deleted everything that I was on, bar my Facebook, she said explaining that it was because she had no phone signal at her house and it was her only way of keeping in contact with her family. However, he monitored all her messages. "He was tracking my phone, so any messages I was receiving or sending. At the time I wasn't able to understand it, but he was able to see them even before I had seen them and he was tracking, I think it was through Google, all my movements from the phone." She says she was "embarrassed and ashamed" and didnt want anyone to know what was going on. "There were so many threats on my life that one day at work, I broke down to my boss and told her what was going on," she said, adding that if it were not for her boss, she wouldnt be alive today. "She completely took over. She kept getting at me every day... she kept telling me 'Sinead you are not going to live through this, you're going to die, he is going to kill you.'" Sinead recalled that when she wrote her original statement to Gardai she was afraid they wouldnt believe her because it was so out of any kind of normality. "It happened to me and I'm reading it and it's just too much to take in, like this can't be real," she said. Encouraging others to speak out if they are in similar situations she said: "There are so many resources out there and there is so much help... it is being believed; it is being taken seriously." Ms ONeill said she is relieved that the ordeal has come to an end. "For the past three years I pretty much locked myself away from everybody. Again, going back to being embarrassed and ashamed which is ridiculous. But also, it leaves you with a lot of paranoia and a lot of fear that wouldn't be logical to anyone else, she said. Unless you have been through it, you couldn't possibly understand it. "There were times when I would say to myself 'Sinead, he is in prison, he can't touch you' - but it didn't matter, it was my body reacting to the trauma." While she said she is grateful to everyone for the support she does not believe that Ward is capable of changing and she said he showed no remorse during the trial. "I would imagine in his mind, I caused this, I did this, which is really really scary because he is going to spend the next 17 years in prison. What is his mind going to be like when he comes out? she said. "And I know it's something I need to just let go of, I do understand that I have to rebuild my life and get on with things and I will. I have an awful lot of support and I know I am strong enough to do it, but that is definitely something that kind of haunts me. Ward formerly of Ballintlea, Hollyfort, Gorey, Wexford was jailed in 2016 for four years for falsely imprisoning and assaulting a young mother in November 2015. Ward and that woman had met on the internet dating website Plenty of Fish and Ward attacked her on their third date in the woman's own home. Ward, also known as Dean Alexander Fowkes, used a different name on first meeting his victim. At a trial earlier this year, he was convicted of twelve offences; four assaults, one false imprisonment, one making a threat to kill, two counts of production of articles, three counts of rape and one count of coercive control on dates between June 11 and July 17, 2019. The offences occurred between the woman meeting the man for the first time and his arrest by armed gardai at her home on July 17 2019. He has been in custody since his arrest. He attempted to get away from officers but was caught jumping over a back wall. Ward told gardai during an interview that they had a happy relationship and were planning for marriage and a baby. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please contact Womens Aid on 1800 341 900, Rape Crisis Helpline on 1800 77 8888 or in an emergency situation, contact Gardai on 999. Boy B's lawyers had sought to introduce reports written by eminent psychologists who said that Boy B was subjected to "manipulation and pressure" by gardai during interviews. The Court of Appeal has refused to allow fresh evidence in an appeal being brought by the teenager who lured 14-year-old schoolgirl Ana Kriegel to a derelict house so that his friend could murder her. Following the ruling, the court set a date of October 5 to hear the full appeal against the now 17-year-old teenager's murder conviction. Mr Justice George Birmingham, delivering the ruling of the three-judge court today, said that the application to bring fresh evidence on behalf of the teenager known only as Boy B does not come near the threshold set for such cases. He said that Boy B was attempting to "set at naught" the way that his trial was run and having hired a new legal team was trying to run an entirely different case in the appeal court. Boy B's lawyers had sought to introduce reports written by eminent psychologists who were critical of an expert called by Boy B's trial lawyers. The reports also claimed that Boy B was subjected to "manipulation and pressure" by gardai during interviews, that his mind was "substantially overborne" and that the account Boy B gave to gardai may have been misleading. Mr Justice Birmingham today said that it was "unusual" that Boy B's lawyers were challenging the admissibility of his interviews when there was "no challenge whatsoever" during his trial. It was open to his trial lawyers to get reports from the same experts now relied on and to raise issues if they felt the interviews were not voluntary. He added: "At no point during the trial was it suggested that the responses to questions from the appellant were coerced, or anything other than voluntary. The appellant's position was that, while lies were initially told, he eventually presented a true picture of what had occurred, the true picture being that he was an observer or eyewitness but not a participant." Ana Kriegel He further stated that any suggestion that Boy B had "buckled" during interview and had given an involuntary account was negated by the fact that in June 2018 he gave a similar account to a friend which included saying that he saw Boy A attacking Ana. Mr Justice Birmingham said the application to admit new evidence was "radical" as it amounted to an attempt to: "set at naught the way the trial was run on his behalf. More than three years after the trial, the appellant seeks to run an entirely different case. He does so despite the fact there has never been any suggestion of inadequate legal representation provided to him by the solicitor, junior or senior counsel who represented him at trial." At a previous hearing Brendan Grehan SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said that while Boy B clearly lied in his garda interviews, there is no suggestion that he has denied that the final account he gave to gardai was true. In his garda interviews, Boy B initially denied any knowledge of what happened to Ana and gave several different accounts of what he had done and seen. In his final interview he admitted to seeing Boy A assault Ana and remove some of her clothing but denied that he played any part in her murder. His lawyers argued at his trial that he was an innocent by-stander. Ana Kriegel: Three people who posted info online about accused boys win High Court challenge Boy B appealing conviction for murder of Ana Kriegel (14) claims he was 'pressured' by Gardai The jury accepted the prosecution's case that Boy B lured Ana to the house by telling her that Boy A wanted to meet her, knowing that Boy A intended to kill her. He watched as Boy A, who was dressed all in black and wearing a ghoulish mask, shin guards and knee pads, sexually assaulted Ana having dragged her to the ground where he beat her repeatedly with a piece of wood and a large block. In his garda interviews Boy B also admitted that Boy A had previously told him that he wanted to kill Ana. Boy A and Boy B were convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury in June 2019 of murdering Ana at a derelict house in St Catherines Park in Lucan in May 2018. Both boys were 13 at the time of the murder. Boy A was also convicted of Ana's aggravated sexual assault in a manner that involved serious violence. Boy B was sentenced to 15 years detention, to be reviewed after eight years. Boy A was sentenced to life imprisonment with a review after 12 years, and eight years imprisonment for aggravated sexual assault. No appeal has been lodged on Boy A's behalf. Irish News Investigation | Owner of Thai restaurant at centre of gay orgy storm denies holding sex party in premises The MEP said she has said from the outset that Russia is to blame for the war. MEP Clare Daly is claiming that she and fellow Independent MEP Mick Wallace have been represented unfairly by the establishment media for their stance on the war on Ukraine and wider issues in the bloc. Speaking to The Indo Daily podcast, Ms Daly said she has never been a Putin puppet and that she has said from the outset that Russia is to blame for the war. Ukraines secret service recently included the former Dublin TD Ms Daly on a list of 72 public figures who they say promote narratives consonant with Russian propaganda. While, Ms Daly said she has roundly condemned Russia for starting this war she also argued that what she calls the role of the US and NATO in the conflict cannot be ignored. And she re-affirmed her stance that sanctions are the wrong course of action. Ive been an anti-war activist all of my life but what I have said is that sanctions dont help and that arming, putting arms into a conflict, doesnt defend people, it actually prolongs the war; meaning more of them get killed. "I think sadly Ive been vindicated in that position, because were seeing more arms going in, more sanctions being piled on and the result of that is more and more Ukrainians dying, being displaced. Thats the last thing that I want to see, she said. Some of our positions have been spun mischievously by some political opponents but also deliberately, I think, by sections of the establishment media. "To spin them into something different, if you like, my opposition to sanctions is somehow oh Im soft on Russia and I dont want Russia damaged or anything, theres no so such thing. "Im opposed to sanctions because they dont work, because they punish ordinary people. I mean look at the impact of the sanctions, Russia is making more money than it ever did. It cannot spend the money because of the sanctions, but it is sitting on billions and billions and billions. Weve been accused of being Putin puppets and all this but nobody has ever been able to produce a single word anywhere that shows me supporting Putin. Hes a right-wing neoliberal nationalist and I have nothing to do with them now or ever. Ms Daly said that she knows there are people who do not support her views, who wont vote for her again and that she has received some vitriolic emails recently, but equally she said she receives many emails from supporters. She also denied ever stating the Ukraine should be allowed to joined the EU, but said the idea of fast tracking the countrys membership is a unworkable. She further argued that there are questions to be answered about corrupt practices in Ukraine. Ive absolutely never said that, its entirely a matter for the people of Ukraine if they would like to join the European Union or not. "What we said was that this idea of accelerating Ukrainian membership, its not going to happen, its a pipe dream, its nonsense and everybody knows it, she said. We should be careful on this as well because the European Court of auditors own body said it couldnt account for the billions that have gone into Ukraine because of the level of corruption in that society, and so on, that European taxpayers money couldnt be accounted for properly there. Regarding being placed on the Ukrainian security watch list, she described the move as sinister and said it was undemocratic. Because the hallmark of the democratic society is having the right to have a difference of opinion and thats how people learn and develop, she said. MEPs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly. Pic Collins Courts. Collins Courts. While discussing her political connections with Mick Wallace, MEP Daly said they have very similar views and their differing background make a good combination. She argued that the good work they do is often not covered by the Irish media and said a disconnect exists between people in Europe and the European institutions, which is magnified in Ireland. Sinn Fein has been topping opinion polls for well over a year now and Ms Daly it is a real sign that people are fed up of the old guard and that and election should be called. [Successive governments have] failed to deal with the key issues facing ordinary people in terms of housing, the health crisis, cost of living and all the rest of it. So, people want change and they deserve and the sooner the better and I think Sinn Fein deserves its chance to be in there and show can it do something different because thats what people are calling, she added. The long-awaited verdict in the Wagatha Christie libel trial involving Coleen Rooney (36) and Rebekah Vardy (40) is due at around noon today. The events leading up to the court case and the trial itself made it one of the most hotly discussed and enthralling celebrity sagas in recent memory. Even the most devote followers could be forgiven for missing certain details, so here is a recap of the real life soap operas biggest moments. 1.How it started On October 9, 2019 Coleen Rooney, the wife of former Man United captain Wayne Rooney, sent social media into overdrive when she posted a message on Twitter accusing Rebekah Vardy, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, of leaking personal information about her to the UK tabloid, The Sun. Ms Rooney said she suspected that one of her private Instagram followers was passing information, that could only be seen on her Instagram posts, to the newspaper. She blocked all of her other followers and began posted false stories over the course of a few months to see if they would appear in print. In a series of tweets on that faithful October day, Ms Rooney wrote: You know what, they did! I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. Its Rebekah Vardy. Ms Vardy, then pregnant with her fifth child, denied the allegations and said various people had access to her Instagram over the years. She claimed to be so upset by Ms Rooneys accusation, later adding: I thought she was my friend but she completely annihilated me. The public dispute mad headlines around the world, with the hashtag #WagathaChristie trending. 2.The escalation In February of that year, in a tearful appearance on ITVs Loose Women, Ms Vardy said the stress of the dispute caused her to have severe anxiety attacks and she ended up in hospital three times. Ms Rooney released a statement saying that she did not want to engage in further public debate. In June of that year, it emerged that Ms Vardy launched libel proceedings against Ms Rooney. Ms Vardys lawyers alleged that she suffered extreme distress, hurt, anxiety and embarrassment as a result of the publication of the post and the events which followed. Rebekah and Jamie Vardy arrive at the Royal Courts Of Justice, London, as the high-profile libel battle between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney continues. Picture date: Tuesday May 17, 2022. PA 3.Pre-trial hearings A series of explosive messages between Ms Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt which Ms Rooneys lawyers allege were about her were revealed at a preliminary court hearing in February of this year. The court is told Ms Vardy was not referring to Ms Rooney when she called someone a nasty bitch in one exchange with Ms Watt. Ms Rooneys lawyers seek further information from the WhatsApp messages, but the court is told that Ms Watts phone fell into the North Sea after a boat she was on hit a wave, before further information could be extracted from it. In April, the court is told Ms Watt is not fit to give oral evidence at the upcoming libel trial, as the case returns for another hearing. The agent revoked permission for her witness statement to be used, and withdraws her waiver which would have allowed Sun journalists to say whether she was a source of the allegedly leaked stories. Ms Vardy later appears to accept that her agent was the source of allegedly leaked stories, Ms Rooneys barrister David Sherborne tells the High Court. He argued that a new witness statement submitted by Ms Vardy suggests Ms Watt was the source but Ms Vardy claims she did not authorise or condone her. Ms Vardys lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson, said the statement did not contain any change whatever in the pleaded case, with her legal team having no communication with Ms Watt. 4.The trail begins On May 10, Ms Vardy and Ms Rooney come face-to-face in court as the trial of their libel battle takes place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London before Ms Justice Steyn. Both women give evidence, as revelations from the case make daily headlines in the press. For three days Ms Vardy was put through her paces by Ms Rooneys legal eagle David Sherborne, who repeatedly accused Ms Vardy of lying under oath. You are making this up arent you Ms Vardy? and Thats a lie isnt it? he stated on numerous occasions. No I am absolutely not lying, Ms Vardy replied, while at one change tact, which Mr Sherborne capitalised on. Discussing a message exchange with Ms Watt Rebekah Vardy said: If Im honest I cant remember. Id much rather you are honest because you are sitting in a witness box in a trial, Mr Sherborne retorted. 5.The Peter Andres chipolata comment A regrettable and unforgettable moment in the trial saw popstar Peter Andre dragged back into the spotlight, when Ms Rooneys barrister attempted to prove Ms Vardys apparent disregard for peoples privacy. Peters hung like a small chipolata, shaved, slobbery, lasts five minutes, Mr Sherborne said, reading the headline from a 2004 News of The World interview with Ms Vardy, where she discussed her old relationship with Mr Andre. He continued to read snippets of the article aloud in court, where Ms Vardy was quoted as saying Peter had the smallest trouser equipment Ive ever seen. Ms Vardy later described the interview as one of her biggest regrets, while Peter Andre hit back at the comments, telling his Instagram followers: Do you know how hard it is to keep biting my lip on situations? At least she has now admitted it wasnt true. And was forced to say it. Coleen Rooney arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice, London, as the high-profile libel battle between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney continues. Picture date: Monday May 16, 2022. PA 6.The Davy Jones reference While accusing Ms Vardy of destroyed key evidence, Ms Rooneys barrister made a nautical reference that flew over Ms Vardys head. On day three of the trial, Mr Sherborne said messages on her agents phone could not be retrieved because they were now in Davy Jones Locker. A bemused Rebekah Vardy responded sincerely who is Davy Jones?, which in turned prompted the judge, Ms Justice Steyn, to clarify that the expression refers to the bottom of the sea. 7.Arguing with Coleen Rooney would be like arguing with a pigeon Following Ms Rooney big reveal post in 2019, Rebekah Vardy gave an explosive interview with the Daily Mail, which was read out in court. Arguing with Coleen Rooney would be like arguing with a pigeon. You can tell it that you are right and it is wrong, but its still going to s*** in your hair, Ms Vardy told the Daily Mail. Speaking in court, she rowed back on the comments somewhat saying: At the time I was speaking to [the Daily Mail journalist] I didnt know what to think, I didnt know what to believe... I wasnt thinking straight the day after this had happened. Following the 2019 post, Ms Rooney shared a separate message with her private Instagram followers, writing: Dont play games with a girl who can play better. Referring to the message in court Ms Rooney said: I felt like I had found out who it was... It was a quote that I found, and I put it up, and it was just something that I did. 8.Rooney takes the stand The trial inevitably brought the two England Euro 2016 strikers into the limelight, but in opposing camps. While on the stand, Wayne Rooney said he was asked to have an awkward conversation with Jamie Vardy about his wife. He said then England manager Roy Hodgson wanted Rebekah Vardy to calm down her media activity during the tournament. So I agreed to speak to Mr Vardy... to ask him to ask his wife to calm down, he said. However, Ms Vardys legal team reject that the conversation ever happened, to which Wayne Rooney responded: Im sat here under oath. I 100 per cent spoke to Mr Vardy about this situation. Rebekah Vardy arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice, London, for the high-profile libel battle between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney. Picture date: Friday May 13, 2022. PA 9. Waynes talking nonsense Not taking the situation lying dying, the Leicester City goal scorer, who only came to court on the day that Wayne Rooney spoke, issued an heated statement outside the judicial building, accusing Rooney of talking nonsense. Wayne is talking nonsense. He must be confused because he never spoke to me about issues concerning Beckys media work at Euro 2016, Jamie Vardy said. Following the rift, both Vardys left the court early, with Ms Vardys legal team saying it was because she wasnt feeling very well. 10.Vardy-Watt message released Some of the longed-for messages between Ms Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt were revealed in court. Following Coleen Rooneys infamous Twitter post, Ms Watt sent the tweets to Ms Vardy, saying: Message her now and ask what the f*** this is x. Wow thats war x, Ms Vardy replied. You will have to say that you dont speak to anyone about her but that recently your insta has even been following people you dont follow... Just say you allowed a company to access it for sponsored posts and a former social media agency that worked with too, Ms Watt added. Roger Taylor has told how a previous royal engagement, back in 1983, had been targeted by the IRA The drummer with Duran Duran, Roger Taylor, has revealed how the IRA planned to assassinate Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince Charles at one of their gigs in the 1980s. The new wave band from Birmingham that came to prominence in the late seventies and eighties, is set to headline the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on Thursday. But drummer Taylor has told how a previous royal engagement, back in 1983, had been targeted by the IRA. Taylor described how they were headlining the London charity gig, when according to the drummer, the later discovered the shocking plot aimed to kill Diana and Charles and everyone in the room. Speaking to the Mail on Sundays Event magazine, Taylor said: They wanted to kill Diana and Charles and everybody in the room. It was so shocking. We were only made aware of it years later, but it was very frightening, adding that it was the scariest moment of his life. The IRA were reportedly planning to strike the show, but the man due to install the gelignite bomb was actually a police informant. While he did find a spot for the 25-pound bomb in the bathroom close to the Royal Box the informant never planted it. It is believed that the attack was planned in retaliation to the death of Bobby Sands, a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike while imprisoned. The Mail also quotes from the informant, Sean OCallaghan's book 'The Informer', that described how it was a brilliant but horrific plan. "The IRA leadership was still desperate to strike at the heart of the British Establishment in revenge for the death of Bobby Sands and nine other hunger strikers. "If Charles and Diana were murdered by the IRA, Anglo-Irish relations would sink to a new low. "The fallout for the Irish community, particularly in London, can only be guessed at something the IRA leadership would have regarded as a bonus." Diana, Princess of Wales, frequently described Duran Duran as her favourite band and she attended a string of their live performances and went on to meet them several times. Diana would meet them again, two years later, at the premiere of James Bonds A View to A Kill. And in 2007 when her sons Prince William and Prince Harry were selecting musicians to perform at a memorial concert for the late Princess, who died ten years earlier the two brothers invited Duran Duran to pay tribute to their favourite princess. Speaking at the Concert for Diana, Le Bon said: We are honoured that she always referred to Duran Duran as her favourite band as she was certainly our favourite princess." Instagram says it is pausing its rollout of new features on its app following backlash online from users and celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Chrissy Teigen. Among the new features was an increase in video content being displayed to users and recommendations which were criticised for blocking posts from friends. Earlier in the week Instagram boss Adam Mosseri posted several videos to Twitter explaining the changes and said he wanted to continue supporting photoss But on Thursday a spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Instagram, said the company wanted to take the time to get the changes right. Based on our findings and community feedback, were pausing the full-screen test on Instagram so we can explore other options, and were temporarily decreasing the number of recommendations you see in your feed so we can improve the quality of your experience, a Meta spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. We recognise that changes to the app can be an adjustment, and while we believe that Instagram needs to evolve as the world changes, we want to take the time to make sure we get this right. In response to Mosseris earlier Twitter video, US model Teigen said that users dont wanna make videos and are seeing lower engagement for photos. Kardashian and Jenner also shared an online petition to Make Instagram Instagram again on their stories. Police at the scene in Boston after a nine-year-old girl died from a suspected stab wound. Picture date: Friday July 29, 2022. Joe Giddens/PA Wire PA Police at the scene in Boston after a nine-year-old girl died from a suspected stab wound. Joe Giddens/PA Wire PA Police at the scene in Boston after a nine-year-old girl died from a suspected stab wound. Picture date: Friday July 29, 2022. Joe Giddens/PA Wire PA Police have launched a murder investigation after a nine-year-old girl died from a suspected stab wound in Boston, England. Lincolnshire Police said officers were called to the scene on Fountain Lane at around 6.20pm on Thursday. The force said the area has been cordoned off and they will be at the scene for the foreseeable future. Police said the incident is being treated as murder. Police at the scene in Boston after a nine-year-old girl died from a suspected stab wound. Joe Giddens/PA Wire PA At the scene late on Thursday night, a police car was stationed either side of an alleyway to cordon the area off to the public. Two forensic officers in white suits could be seen working at the scene before leaving in the early hours of Friday morning. A large object appeared to be covered in the middle of the alleyway, which was marked by small yellow signs. The victims parents have been informed, and the force said their thoughts are with them at this incredibly difficult time. Her family will be supported by specialist trained officers, a short statement added. Police at the scene in Boston after a nine-year-old girl died from a suspected stab wound. Picture date: Friday July 29, 2022. Joe Giddens/PA Wire PA The Conservative MP for Boston and Skegness, Matt Warman, said he had been in contact with the policing minister to ensure national assistance is available to the murder investigation. Profoundly shocking news in Boston this evening, Mr Warman he said. I have spoken to senior officers locally and am hugely grateful for all the emergency services work. I have also been in contact with policing minister Tom Pursglove to ensure that any national help that might be useful is made available as quickly as possible. This week, almost 70 years after his death, a researcher revealed the identity of the mysterious Somerton Man. Peter Bergmann captured on CCTV outside just inside the door of his hotel in Sligo Just this week, after almost 70 years, a researcher revealed the mysterious Somerton Man as Carl 'Charles' Webb. Webb was found dead on Somerton Park Beach in Adelaide on December 1st 1948. He was lying on his back with his head resting against the sea wall, and it is believed the man died while asleep. The man was dressed in a suit, and there were no apparent signs of injury. The cause of death could not be determined, with authorities branding it an "unparalleled mystery". Searching his pockets found various items, including cigarettes, matches, a comb and an unused second-class rail ticket. An artist's impression of the man whose body was found in 1948 Months after his death, a small rolled-up piece of paper with the words 'Tamam Shud' was found in a pocket sewn into his trousers. The text, meaning "ended" or "finished" in Persian, is included on the final page of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. After a public appeal, the same book from which the phrase was torn was located. The book was found in an unlocked car, not far from the beach where the man's body was discovered. In the back of the book, a coded message was written, fuelling a theory that the man was a spy. The man's body was exhumed last May and taken to a forensic lab in the hope of obtaining DNA to carry out testing to identify him. Then, after some painstaking work by researchers, they could give him his name back. But his story is not unique. While many people are found deceased in mysterious circumstances, few prove to stand out among the crowd for the bizarre and sad situations surrounding their deaths. Here are their stories. Peter Bergmann The body of 'Peter Bergmann' was found face down and partially clothed in the early hours of Tuesday, June 16th 2009, on Rosses Point beach in Sligo. When he was found, the deceased man was wearing a T-shirt tucked into his underpants and swimming trunks underneath those. On a rock nearby lay his neatly folded jumper, jacket, jeans, shoes and socks - all the tags had been removed, and no ID was found on his person. While trying to establish who the man was, Gardai discovered that he arrived in Sligo days earlier on Friday, June 12th, where he checked in to the Sligo City Hotel. He checked in under the name Peter Bergmann and gave his address as Ainstettersn 15, 4472, Vienna in Austria. When Gardai traced the name and address, both were fake. And so, a mystery that remains unsolved to this day began to unfold. Peter Bergmann captured on CCTV outside just inside the door of his hotel in Sligo Peter's case became even more baffling for Gardai when they found CCTV that captured him in and around the Sligo area for a few days before he was found dead. During his stay at the hotel, Peter was seen on security footage leaving the building with a plastic bag full of items. However, when he returned to the hotel, he was no longer carrying the bag. Authorities believe he was making trips out of the hotel to dispose of his belongings in bins around the city. On Saturday morning, he visited the post office and bought eight stamps and airmail stickers. As they were not found with his body, it is assumed he used them to post letters to his loved ones before he died. The following morning, he took a taxi to Rosses Beach to scope it out before returning to the city with the same driver. After requesting a late check out on the last morning of his stay, Monday, June 15th, he was seen on CCTV leaving the hotel carrying a black shoulder bag and a black luggage bag. Neither was with his body when he was found. Peter took a bus to Rosses Point Beach, where he was spotted numerous times throughout the day, pacing up and down the beach. He was last spotted at 11.50 pm by a woman who said she saw him walking along the lapping waves of the incoming ocean. The following morning, after his body was found, Peter was taken to Sligo University Hospital, where a post-mortem was performed. Foul play was ruled out, and it was found that he died from acute cardiac arrest. The pathologist discovered during the autopsy that 'Peter Bergmann' had prostate, lung and chest cancer and cancer in his bones. His heart also showed signs of previous heart attacks, and he only had one kidney. While it appears the man went to Rosses Point beach to die, the toxicology report found no painkillers or poisons in his system. There were also no signs he had inflicted injury upon himself. Interpol has said there is no match for him on their database as either a missing or wanted person. After Gardai's five-month investigation, they were unsuccessful in finding the real identity of Peter Bergmann, and he was buried in Sligo. Who he was and why he went to Sligo to die remains a mystery. Jennifer Fairgate Another person who died in a shroud of mystery after checking into a hotel under a fake name was Jennifer Fairgate. On Wednesday, May 31st 1995, the young woman checked into the Crown Plaza in Oslo, Norway using a fake moniker and address. A man named Lois Fairgate also checked in with her but was not seen for the remainder of her stay. Based on data from her hotel room key, authorities discovered that the woman was not in her hotel room for the two days after she checked in. A forensic sketch of Jennifer Fairgate On Friday, hotel staff saw her returning to her hotel room and placing a "do not disturb" sign on the door handle. The following day, on Saturday, June 3rd, a hotel employee knocked on her bedroom door and immediately heard a gunshot. Disturbed by what they had just heard, they rushed to reception to report it, and security arrived 15 minutes later. Upon arrival, they found the double-locked door as if someone had locked it after exiting the room. While initial observations of the scene suggested that Fairgate took her own life by shooting herself in the head, there was also circumstantial evidence that suggested she may have been murdered. The gun used in the incident was found placed in Fairgate's hands, and the serial number had been professionally removed using acid. Neither gunshot residue nor blood was found on her hands, which would be expected if she had pulled the trigger herself. This inconsistency and lies about her identity and the untraceable weapon led to theories that she may have been killed as part of a covert operation. All the labels had been removed from her clothing, and police found no passport or identification among her belongings. No toiletries such as toothpaste or a toothbrush were found in the room either. A forensic sketch of Jennifer Fairgate Among her items of clothing were several bras and jackets but only one pair of stockings and underwear. The bizarre mix of clothing appeared to suggest she had packed in a hurry. A small black holdall was also found, which contained 34 bullets. Lois Fairgate's room key was also discovered in the room, suggesting he had never used it. In November 2016, her body was exhumed to collect a DNA profile. While authorities successfully obtained a sample of her DNA, the real identity of Jennifer Fairgate and the mystery surrounding her true identity remain a mystery. Isdal Woman 25 years before Jennifer's death and almost 500km away in Bergan, Norway, one of the most profound mysteries of the Cold War in Norwegian history began to unfold. On November 29th 1970, while a man and his two daughters were hiking in The Ice Valley, they came across the charred body of a woman. They notified the police, who rushed to the scene and launched a full investigation. The woman was found lying on her back, posed in a stance similar to that of a boxer. Known as a pugilistic pose, it occurs when muscles contract due to burning, which causes joints to flex. Items such as an empty bottle of liquor, water bottles, a plastic passport cover, rubber boots and other items of clothing were found near her body. A fur hat with traces of petrol was also discovered at the scene. Like Somerton Man, Peter Bergmann and Jennifer Fairgate, the labels had been removed from all of her clothing. Three days after her body was found, police located two suitcases belonging to the woman at Bergen railway station. A forensic sketch of the Isdal woman In the lining of one, they found money from Norway, Belgium, Switzerland and Britain. Other items such as clothes, shoes, wigs, make-up, maps and a notepad were found, along with a pair of sunglasses with a partial fingerprint that matched the body. An autopsy found that she died from drug-induced incapacitation and carbon monoxide poisoning. The pathologist established that she consumed a significant amount of sleeping tablets before being lit on fire in a bid to destroy her body. Soot was also found in her lungs, which indicates that she was alive as she burned. Police launched an appeal for information in which they discovered she was last seen alive six days before her death when she checked out of a hotel nearby. Staff told police that she was "good-looking and roughly 5 ft 4, with dark brown hair and small brown eyes. They said the woman remained mainly in her room and "seemed to be on guard." After she checked out, she requested a taxi, and her movements between then and her death remain unknown. Authorities could decode notepad entries which indicated the dates and names of places she had visited. They determined that she had travelled around Europe with fake passports as part of the investigation. Police determined that she had previously stayed at several hotels in Bergen and was known to change rooms after checking in. In addition, she often told people she met that she was a travelling saleswoman and an antique dealer. Based on witness descriptions and analysis of her body, composite sketches were made and circulated via Interpol. While authorities concluded that she died by suicide, others believe she may have been murdered. It is unknown why she went to such lengths to conceal her identity, and it remains a mystery to this day. Local democracy reporting spoke to three members of Bay of Plenty Upokorehe hapu this week, who are urging the people of Whakatohea to keep them in the iwi. Voting opened on Tuesday to decide whether the Whakatohea Pre-settlement Claims Trust mandate should be amended to exclude Te Upokorehe and their claims from the Whakatohea Settlement for historical treaty claims. The settlement with the Crown is at the ratification stage of the process after a Deed of Settlement was initialled in December, however, the process is being held up by members of Te Upokorehe who say they are a separate iwi in their own right. Meanwhile more than 1700 Upokorehe hapu members are registered with Te Whakatohea Maori Trust Board. Te Upokorehe Iwi Treaty Claims Trust, which protested at the initialling, instigated this vote by lodging a petition with more than 700 signatures to the Whakatohea Pre-settlement Claims Trust, wanting to remove Te Upokorehe claims, whenua and sacred sites from Whakatohea settlement. Three spokespeople of Te Upokorehe hapu, who asked not to be named through fear of the repercussions for their school-aged children, says they represented the majority of Upokorehe who have always considered themselves a hapu of Te Whakatohea and are asking people of Whakatohea to vote no to their removal from the mandate. They says it was just one whanau driving the separation from Whakatohea. "They are the same group who protested inclusion of Te Upokorehe in the Ngai Tuhoe settlement. Their stand with Tuhoe was were with Whakatohea. Now theyve gone and contradicted themselves. What [Te Upokorehe Iwi Treaty Claims Trust] are actually doing is changing our whakapapa connections to Whakatohea to suit them, one spokesperson says. They are doing it because they want money from the Crown. They say that its the Whakatohea Pre-settlement Trust that are being greedy, but we know what these people are like. We know that were doing it for themselves and their own whanau. Our marae will miss out. There are five marae within Te Upokorehe though only three are in use: Roimata, Kutarere and Marumahoe on the awa Waiotahe. The spokespeople for Te Upokorehe hapu are connected to Kutarere and Marumahoe marae, although they say they also whakapapa to Roimata Marae, which is the principal marae for Te Upokorehe. They says the schism within the hapu had become quite nasty in recent times and the whanau behind the iwi claim had pushed other whanau out of Roimata Marae, which still receives funding from Whakatohea as one of its marae. At the marae, theres always been a representative for each whanau of that marae. At Roimata Marae theyve actually taken off all the other whanau as trustees and its just six of them. We had whanau on there and theyve been removed. They dont acknowledge our whakapapa either when they speak about the area. Our family is never mentioned and were tuakana (senior) whanau, but they push that aside. We descend from the eldest (sibling) and they come from the teina (younger). They says meetings held at the marae have not been notified publicly. They never put it out there for other whanau to come and join hui or attend AGMs. Not only are we being pushed apart, but we are being pushed out of our own marae. We didnt know about this iwi thing until it came up in the newspaper. They dont tell us anything. Theyve just done all of this behind our backs. Its really quite hurtful. Theres a lot of us that feel the same way. Its not just us three. They are also dubious about the 700-plus people who are supposed to have signed the petition. I dont know if there were actually 700. Some of the signatures were not even proper names. Someone had signed Satan. "As I see it, if we are voted out of the mandate, we will lose everything. It affects us in a lot of ways. It affects our whakapapa, it affects our marae. Weve got a great relationship with Whakatohea. Theyve always kept us informed of anything that they do. Any hui are always advertised. But the big thing for us is the fact that they are changing our whakapapa and our history. It becomes a question of who are we then? Te Upokorehe Iwi Treaty Claims Trust says that being included in the Whakatohea mandate and settlement would effectively confiscate Te Upokorehe lands all over again. It is urging people to tick yes on their ballots in the mandate amendment vote that opens today. An information sheet released by the trust states: We believe that this settlement will leave Te Upokorehe worse off. Rather than a settlement which would not recognise our interests, since 2010, Te Upokorehe has asked for a process where both Whakatohea iwi and Te Upokorehe iwi would work to secure a settlement for their people in their own respective rohe, but work together on shared areas. The WPCT [Whakatohea Pre-settlement Claims Trust] Board has never had a representative mandated by Roimata Marae, nor do we accept that Te Upokorehe representatives on the WPCT Board represent our people. As a result, we do not believe that the voice of Te Upokorehe has been heard while the settlement was being negotiated. A public information hui to discuss the mandate amendment vote will be held on Saturday between 11am and 1pm at the Opotiki RSA. It is one of six information hui being held between now and August 22, both online and in person, and the only one to be held in the Opotiki district. The Whakatohea Pre-settlement Claims Trust is also holding a hui-a-iwi on the mandate amendment vote on Sunday from 10am to 12pm at Waiaua Marae. Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air Bay of Plenty You will be operating the Roller and also required to help out the team hands on. You will be working near Bayfair for a... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz The Ministry of Health is today reporting 7605 new community cases of Covid-19, 799 current hospitalisations, and 25 people in ICU. There are 41 new deaths reported today. Of the 41 people whose deaths we are reporting today, 14 were from Auckland region, three were from Waikato, two were from Bay of Plenty, three were from Lakes, two were from Hawke's Bay, one was from Taranaki, two were from MidCentral, two were from Whanganui, two were from Wellington region, seven were from Canterbury, three were from Southern, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. One was in their 50s, one was in their 60s, eight were in their 70s, 12 were in their 80s and 19 were aged over 90. Of these people, 22 were women and 19 were men. There are 35 people in Bay of Plenty hospitals and 16 in Lakes hospitals. There are 313 new cases from people returning from overseas. The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 7,618. There are now a total of 1,479 deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor. The average increase in deaths each day attributable to Covid-19, over the past seven days, is now 18. Covid-19 Hospitalisations Covid-19 Cases in hospital: total number 799: Northland: 21; Waitemata: 100; Counties Manukau: 51; Auckland: 93; Waikato: 97; Bay of Plenty: 35; Lakes: 16; Hawkes Bay: 44; MidCentral: 48; Whanganui: 13; Taranaki: 21; Tairawhiti: 5; Wairarapa: 7; Capital & Coast/Hutt: 45; Nelson Marlborough: 17; Canterbury/West Coast: 129; South Canterbury: 13; Southern: 44. Weekly Covid-19 Hospitalisations - 7 day rolling average: 796 (This time last week 764) Average age of current Covid-19 hospitalisations: 64 Cases in ICU or HDU: 25 Vaccination status of new admissions to hospital*: Unvaccinated or not eligible (69 cases); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (5 cases); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (67 cases); received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (379 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 and Hutt, and Northland. Covid-19 vaccinations administered Vaccines administered to date: 4,029,165 first doses; 3,982,004 second doses; 33,986 third primary doses; 2,704,566 first booster doses: 296,611 second booster doses: 265,862 paediatric first doses and 144,422 paediatric second doses. Vaccines administered yesterday: 25 first doses; 41 second doses; 19 third primary doses; 714 first booster doses; 11,739 second booster doses; 36 paediatric first doses and 173 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): 4,563 Number of Rapid Antigen Tests reported total (last 24 hours): 13,953 PCR tests rolling average (last 7 days): 4,090 Number of Rapid Antigen Tests dispatched (last seven days as of 28 July 2022): 2.1 million. Covid-19 Cases Total number of new community cases: 7,605 Number of new cases that have recently travelled overseas: 313 Seven day rolling average of community cases: 7,618 Seven day rolling average of community cases (as at same day last week): 8,915 Number of active cases (total): 53,301 (cases identified in the past seven days and not yet classified as recovered) Confirmed cases (total): 1,592,893 New cases by District and other more detailed case information 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 There are now a total of 1,479 deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor. This is the number that will be reported to the World Health Organization as it provides the most accurate assessment of Covid -19 related mortality in New Zealand. In the past seven days there have been an average of 18 deaths confirmed each day as being attributable to Covid -19, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. This is a very sad time for whanau and friends of those who have died and our thoughts and condolences are with them. Information on the number of new deaths of people with Covid -19 reported to the Ministry of Health in the last 24 hours, and the seven day rolling average, is available on the Ministry of Health website. This includes information on the age band and location of these newly reported deaths. COVID-19 death data These newly reported deaths have not yet been categorised as to whether they are attributable to Covid -19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor, or are unrelated to Covid-19. As this categorisation is made over coming days, the attributable deaths will be added to the total reported above. An exhibition of all things Ocean, above and below will be held at Bethlehem Pottery Club today, thanks to the work of some creative youngsters in the recent school holidays. Young potters got the chance to explore turning clay into ocean-themed sculptures at the club, held on four days between July 11-July 20. Bethlehem Pottery Club, with funding from Creative Bay of Plenty, offered places to children at a variety of schools around Tauranga, to take part in pottery classes during the school holidays, says Juliet Fitzgerald. Meia Webb, Charlotte Watts, Saraya Nichols and Elani Kinsella Photo: Supplied. Now the classes have been held, and the pieces of work made have been fired, the club is holding an exhibition of the work that will be open to the general public from 10am-2pm Saturday, July 30. The club has received funding from Lotteries Grant Board, Holland Beckett Law, Digital Pie, and Creative Bay of Plenty to hold the exhibition. As part of the Cape to Cape exhibition coming up on September 29 -October 2 weve been holding the four kids pottery classes during the July school holidays. Each class has had 12 kids enrolled. Meia Webb. Photo: Supplied. With the theme Ocean, above and below, Juliet says with the first two classes produced lighthouses, boats, octopus, fish, a treasure chest and more. Thanks to Creative Bay of Plenty funding we were able to make two of the classes scholarship classes, and we invited schools in Tauranga to nominate one or two of their students to take part,." says Juliet. All work done by the kids from the four classes will be on display to the public at the Bethlehem Pottery Club, Bethlehem Road, from 10am-2pm on Saturday July 30. Entry is free. Alex Holmes. Photo: Supplied. Emily Johnson and Juliet Fitzgerald. Photo: Supplied. CGTN: We noticed that recently the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway has entered the stage of construction above the subgrade and the Karot Hydropower project has been put into full operation. In the meantime, a new batch of Chinese assistance has been delivered to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, among others. We have seen continuous progress in cooperation projects between China and its neighboring countries despite multiple challenges including the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, increasing risk factors in regional economy, blows dealt to the industrial and supply chains and growing noises for decoupling and breakage of the industrial and supply chains. Could you shed some light on how this has been made possible? Zhao Lijian: The Asia-Pacific is a common home for China and other countries in the region. China has always followed open regionalism and been committed to jointly building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future with other regional countries. Both the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway and the Karot Hydropower project you mentioned are hallmark projects of the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and relevant countries, and they will give a strong boost to local socio-economic development after completion. Throughout the process of advancing relevant projects, China has always focused on development and cooperation, kept in mind the benefits of people in these countries, and respected the development needs and independence of relevant countries. We have always acted upon the vision of win-win cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, been committed to equal consultation on the basis of mutual respect and sought to form synergy for relevant cooperation and complement each other with comparative strengths. We have never pursued political agenda in the name of promoting economic cooperation, still less put China before anything else or force other countries to pick side. In the wake of the earthquake in Afghanistan and the economic difficulties in Sri Lanka, China has done its best to help and put credibility, the greater good and sincerity first, for we believe this is the way how neighbors should treat each other. Just as State Councilor Wang Yi noted in his speech at the ASEAN Secretariat not long ago, the friendly cooperation between China and its neighbors and other countries in the Asia-Pacific has been able to keep advancing steadily and make accelerating progress because China has always upheld the concept of peaceful coexistence, the goal of development and rejuvenation, the principle of independence and the spirit of openness and inclusiveness. This is an embodiment of Oriental wisdom and Asian strength and an important contribution to global economic recovery and growth. Xinhua News Agency: It has been reported that the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will be held in New York in August. Will China attend the conference? What outcomes would you like to see? Zhao Lijian: The Tenth NPT Review Conference will be held from August 1 to 26 at the UN headquarters in New York. The Director-General of the Department of Arms Control of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs will head a delegation to the conference. The NPT is the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime and an integral component of the post-war international security architecture. The world is undergoing once-in-a-century changes and a pandemic at the same time and entering a stage of fluidity and turbulence. The global strategic security environment has been deteriorating. The international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime is confronted with grim challenges. There is deep divergence in the area of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. It is Chinas hope that all sides will take this conference as an opportunity to firmly uphold the universality, authority and effectiveness of the NPT, advance in a balanced manner the three pillars of nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and add new vigor to the NPTs role in serving peace and development. China has been actively implementing the Global Security Initiative. We are committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. We stand ready to work in concert with all parties for a successful and productive NPT Review Conference to improve global nuclear governance and uphold the international order underpinned by international law. At the same time, we will firmly safeguard the legitimate security and development rights and interests of China and the developing world. Macau Monthly: A delegation of Japanese lawmakers, led by former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, recently visited Taiwan and met with the leader of the Taiwan region. What is Chinas response? Zhao Lijian: Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinas territory, and the Taiwan question is purely Chinas internal affair. China firmly opposes all forms of official interaction between the Taiwan region and countries having diplomatic ties with China. We seriously urge the Japanese side to earnestly abide by the principles of the four political documents between China and Japan and its solemn commitment on the Taiwan question, prudently and properly handle relevant issues and not to send wrong signals to the Taiwan independence forces. The DPP authorities attempt to rope in external forces to engage in political manipulation and benefit politically will never succeed. PTI: We have seen the elaborate statements from both sides after yesterdays talks between President Biden and President Xi Jinping. From Chinas point of view, what exactly is the outcome, especially on the issue related to Taiwan? Zhao Lijian: With regard to the telephone conversation between the heads of state between China and the US, the Chinese side has issued a press release at the earliest time possible. As for the Taiwan question, President Xi elaborated on Chinas principled position on the Taiwan question. Chinas opposition to official exchanges between the US and Taiwan is clear and consistent. Recently, China has made its position and attitude clear on multiple occasions. As President Xi stressed, the three Sino-US joint communiques embody the political commitments made by the two sides, and the one-China principle is the political foundation for China-US relations. China firmly opposes separatist moves toward Taiwan independence and interference by external forces, and never allows any room for Taiwan independence forces in whatever form. The position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan question is consistent, and resolutely safeguarding Chinas national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people. The public opinion cannot be defied. Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this. The US should honor the one-China principle and implement the three joint communiques both in word and in deed. CCTV: A follow-up on the talks between President Xi and President Biden yesterday. The White House Press Secretary said that President Joe Biden raised genocide and forced labor practices in Xinjiang during the call with President Xi Jinping. Can you confirm this? Zhao Lijian: I can tell you that allegations of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang are pure lies. You said the White House Press Secretary claimed that genocide and forced labor came up in last nights call. That is disinformation. Kyodo News: During the call between the two Presidents, the Chinese side made clear its position on the Taiwan question. The two sides also agreed to stay in touch. But if Speaker Pelosi would visit Taiwan, does China believe that the atmosphere to keep the China-US high-level dialogue going will no longer exist? Zhao Lijian: In their phone conversation yesterday, Chinese and US Presidents had a candid, in-depth communication and exchange on China-US relations and issues of interest. The Chinese side has repeatedly made clear to the US side our serious concern over Speaker Pelosis potential visit to Taiwan and our firm opposition to the visit. If the US side challenges Chinas red line, it will be met with resolute countermeasures. The US must bear all consequences arising thereof. China Daily: Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating openly criticized US House Speaker Pelosis potential visit to Taiwan in a recent statement, saying it would be foolish, dangerous and unnecessary to any cause. If the situation is misjudged or mishandled, the outcome for the security, prosperity and order of the region and the world and above all for Taiwan would be catastrophic, he added. Do you have any comment? Zhao Lijian: About Speaker Pelosis potential visit to Taiwan, people with insight both within and outside the US have spoken out on this. We believe former Prime Minister Paul Keatings statement is one such example. We hope the US side will see what they see and hear their voice of reason. Bloomberg: The US readout from the call yesterday said that the two sides agreed that their team should work towards an in-person meeting between the two Presidents. Can you confirm that was agreed on the call? Do you have any information about when that meeting might be? Could the two Presidents meet at the G20 Summit in Bali? Zhao Lijian: I can tell you that both Presidents agreed to stay in touch and instructed the two teams to keep up communication and cooperation. Bloomberg: Can you confirm whether the specific question of Nancy Pelosis possible visit to Taiwan came up on the call? Zhao Lijian: I think I have covered the related points. PTI: Are there any other issues besides Taiwan discussed by the two leaders, especially the issues related to the Indo-Pacific? Can you just give us an idea of any outcome related to that? Zhao Lijian: It was late at night when the phone call between the two Presidents concluded. The Chinese side released a readout immediately afterwards. During the call, the two Presidents had a candid communication and exchange on China-US relations and issues of interest. President Xi elaborated on Chinas principled position on the Taiwan question. He stressed that the two sides need to maintain communication at all levels and make good use of existing channels to promote bilateral cooperation. The two Presidents also exchanged views on the global economic situation. The two sides believe that China and the US need to maintain communication on such important issues as coordinating macroeconomic policies, keeping global industrial and supply chains stable, and protecting global energy and food security. President Xi also stressed that attempts at decoupling or severing supply chains in defiance of underlying laws would not help boost the US economy. They would only make the world economy more vulnerable. The two sides need to work for deescalation of regional hotspots, help rid the world of COVID-19 as early as possible, reduce the risk of stagflation and recession, and uphold the international system centering on the UN and the international order underpinned by international law. The two Presidents exchanged views on issues including the Ukraine crisis. Bloomberg: One question on the Long March rocket which still has not returned to Earth. The tracking data shows still a risk of hitting a populated area. Do you have any more information about where China expects the rocket remains to land? Zhao Lijian: I shared relevant information the day before yesterday and gave Chinas position on that. I have nothing more to add at the moment. The team responsible for the mission is keeping a very close eye on it. Macau Monthly: On July 26, the Helena Kennedy Center at the Sheffield Hallam University in the UK issued a report to once again hype up the so-called human rights issues in Xinjiang. Do you have any comment? Zhao Lijian: The institution you mentioned has released multiple fake reports on Xinjiang. It was previously revealed that some authors of these reports had received large funding from certain US agencies and some even have links with terrorist groups. The patron of the Helena Kennedy Center is the founder of an extremist anti-China political group. The allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang as claimed by the report are seriously flawed. They cannot even stand basic fact-check and have been proven false by the people cited in the reports themselves. The Helena Kennedy Center presents itself as an academic institution, but serves in reality as the tip of the spear of the anti-China forces. This is such a contemptible act. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. What just happened? Sony is the latest company to feel the post-lockdown effect. The Japanese giant has revised its annual profit forecast on the back of weaker software sales, which have fallen 26% year-over-year due to a dearth of big PlayStation releases in 2022. In its latest earnings report, Sony lowered its profit forecast for the year by 16 percent from the 305 billion yen ($2.3 billion) it predicted in May to 255 billion yen ($1.9 billion). Part of that comes from the $3.7 billion acquisition of Bungie, but it's also the result of "an expected decrease in sales of first-party titles." The Verge notes that while excellent PlayStation exclusives Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7 did arrive in 2022, they had to compete against the multi-platform Elden Ring. Sony sold 47.1 million games for the quarter ending June 30, 2022, 6.4 million of which were first-part titles. That's a significant drop from the 63.6 million games and 10.5 million first-party titles it shifted during the same quarter a year earlier. It was also bad news for the PlayStation Network, which fell to 103 million active monthly users, down 3% YoY from 105 million. PSN subscribers were at 47.3 million. That's a year-on-year increase from 46.3 million but down from the 48 million reported in fiscal Q3 2021. PlayStation 5 console sales, meanwhile, were up by only 4% YoY in the quarter to 2.4 million units, bringing total lifetime sales to 21.7 million. That puts the console's lifetime sales around the same level as the Nintendo GameCube. The report also shows that digital versions of games keep taking more sales from their physical alternatives. The quarter saw 79% of PlayStation games sold digitally, up 11% YoY, helped by the digital-only PS5. The industry has been moving in this direction for years, affecting retailers like GameStop. Sony's game sales for the rest of the year should pick up the pace. In addition to the launch of God of War Ragnarok and The Last of Us Part 1 remake, we can expect the usual uptick over the holiday season. But Sony will be hoping it can meet the still-strong demand for PS5 consoles. "Supply has not been sufficient [...] demand has not gone down. We really need to meet the demand, that is the important thing to do," said Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki in an investor call. For this week's Gadget Battle series, TechTimes is bringing you a round-up of the best Vlogging Cameras for 2022, and it presents different use and features you would need for your content. One significant factor for vlogs includes their shots as they try to showcase the place and give the world information on specific topics with visual aids. A good shot greatly impacts the world's consumption of vlogs, hence a need for a superb camera. Best Vlogging Cameras for 2022 (Photo : CoWomen on Unsplash) GoPro Hero 10 - Action Shots and Adventures (Photo : GoPro via Amazon) The latest flagship camera from the famous action camera company, GoPro, is the Hero 10 Black, bringing significant technology to all users. It is the top camera from GoPro now. It still carries the iconic shots from the small device that provides image and video stabilization, water and dust proofing on its body, and shockproof capabilities. It is one of the most complete action cameras available today, and the brand is a stellar name in the business already. Users may toggle between the wide shots, ultra-wide shots for the fish-eye format, or the flat HD rectangle for other forms of videos. It brings a 5.3K high definition recording, as well as a front cam for self-shots using the device. GoPro is available for $399 via Amazon (originally $427.99). Read Also: Leica Unveils M-A Titan Film Camera For a Whopping $20,000 Price Insta360 - For An Overall Shot of the Place (Photo : Insta360 via Amazon) Insta360 brings a significant camera for all, and it comes from a Chinese manufacturer of the same name. It presents a 360 view of the place and is "Google Street View ready," which aims to provide its services for all. Insta360's ONE RS 4K Edition is available for $329.99 via Amazon. Sony ZV-1 - Light Mirrorless Camera (Photo : Sony via Amazon) Sony is still one of the most significant camera manufacturers in the world, and it brings the Sony ZV-1 mirrorless camera to help photographers and vloggers get a quick snap with its features and top specs. It is "Vlogging ready" as it supports shooting at 4K resolution and a ready port for external microphones for lapel mics or mounted mics on top of the camera. Sony's ZV-1 is available for $748.99 via Amazon (originally $799.99). Mevo Start - Livestream and Stream with Mobile (Photo : MEVO via Amazon) Mevo Start is a newcomer in the list of cameras, but it is one significant device to use as it offers 1080p streaming capabilities. It also provides Livestream on the spot, using only one's mobile device to capture and use mobile data to showcase the stream online. It can also record on the camera itself and can go up to 6 hours on battery power. It also features a microSD port to record the clips on the device itself. The Mevo app offers a wide selection of shots like the wide shot and tight shots, all on the device, and uses its software to track people and switch shots automatically. Mevo Start is available for $429.99 via Amazon. Related Article: Nikon Teases Z30 Mirrorless Camera With 125-Minute Video Record For Vloggers This article is owned by TechTimes Written by Isaiah Richard 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Two new NASA Ingenuity-like helicopters will soon be launched. The international space union confirmed its new plan on Wednesday, July 27. (Photo : Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) A full scale model of the experimental Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which will be carried under the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, is displayed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on February 16, 2021 in Pasadena, California. These two new Martial vehicles will be part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Martian rock sample efforts. The space agency said the rock samples gathered by the two new helicopters will return as early as 2033. Heres our updated plan to bring Mars samples to Earth: The @NASAPersevere rover will take samples to a lander, so a robotic arm provided by @ESA can load them into an ascent vehicle. Two Mars helicopters will act as back-ups. Targeting return in 2033. https://t.co/jUMh6vMKnR pic.twitter.com/TOWFpp3sOk NASA (@NASA) July 27, 2022 "The @NASAPersevere rover will take samples to a lander, so a robotic arm provided by @ESA can load them into an ascent vehicle. Two Mars helicopters will act as backups. Targeting return in 2033," said NASA via its official Twitter announcement. Two New NASA Mars Ingenuity-Like Helicopters Will Launch Soon! According to HuffPost's latest report, the two new helicopters will be based on the existing Ingenuity helicopter. (Photo : Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images) In this NASA/JPL-Caltech handout image, NASAs Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this shot while hovering over the Martian surface on April 19, 2021, during the first instance of powered, controlled flight on another planet. Also Read: NASA to Hold Key Insights Amid the 11th Annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference They will have the vehicle's design. However, NASA plans to integrate wheels and a small robotic arm into both of the upcoming helicopters. These features will allow them to collect sample tubes of Martian rock efficiently. The space agency explained that these two new aerial vehicles will serve as backups if ever the Perseverance Rover malfunctions. As of press time, NASA is still working with the European Space Agency to complete the development of the new helicopters called the Earth Return Orbit and Sample Retrieval Lander. When it comes to the launch date, the new Sample Retrieval Lander is expected to reach Mars this coming 2028. On the other hand, the Earth Return Orbit will be launched on 2027. Why Collecting Mars Rock Samples is Important NASA recently explained that acquiring rock samples of the Red Plant is essential since scientists can examine these materials for new studies. The international space union further explained that bringing these rock samples back to Earth will allow the science community to test new models and theories. On the other hand, the advanced NASA Perseverance Rover was able to write its first letter on the Red Planet. Meanwhile, the NASA James Webb Space Telescope revealed new details about the Grand Design Phantom Galaxy. For more news updates about the new Mars helicopters and other space techs of NASA, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: NASA Perseverance: Sand Transport on Mars Now Under Investigation from Rover This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. CDC announced a life-threatening bacteria in U.S. soil. The international health agency has already recorded two cases, and one of them was discovered this 2022. (Photo : Photo by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Getty Images) A bubonic plague smear, prepared from a lymph removed from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient, demonstrates the presence of the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes the plague in this undated photo. The global COVID-19 pandemic is still affecting many countries across the globe. While new variants are being discovered, government officials are also trying to prevent the monkeypox disease. Now, another health threat has been detected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, July 27. How serious are these new bacteria? Here are the major details. CDC Confirms Life-Threatening Bacteria in US! According to CDC's official report, it is the first time that the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei (B. pseudomallei) has appeared in the United States environment. (Photo : Photo Courtesay Manfred Rohde, Helmholtz-Zentrum fuer Infektionsforschung (HZI)/Getty Images) In this handout photo provided by the Helmholtz Center for Research on Infectious Diseases an EHEC bacteria is visible on May 30, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. Also Read: CDC Says US COVID-19 Vaccine Utilization Has a Problem | Government Now Diverts Coronavirus Funds The health department said that the bacteria was identified after they sampled the soil and water in the Gulf Coast region of southern Mississippi. They conducted this research while investigating two cases. Gizmodo reported that the first infection was recorded back in July 2020. On the other hand, the second case was documented in May. CDC said that both patients had no recent travel history to endemic areas. But, they live close to close to one another in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. After further investigation, the infected individuals were hospitalized. Luckily, they were able to recover from the sepsis caused by the B. pseudomallei. Pseudomallei's Severity Health officials explained that bacteria don't always make people sick. But, it will be hard to detect, even if you are already developing its symptoms. CDC explained that the B. pseudomallei's signs are commonly random. This alarming is that it can remain inactive for many years and will likely become active after the infected individual's health declines. Authorities added that immediate care would most likely be delayed since diagnostic tests can mistake the bacteria for other infections. When it comes to fatality, the bacteria can range from 10% to 50%, putting people with underlying medical conditions in danger. On the other hand, new poliovirus cases were recorded in South Africa. Meanwhile, CEPI shared one major difference between monkeypox and COVID-19. For more news updates about the new life-threatening bacteria in the U.S. and other health topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: New Research Shows Bacteria in Snake & Spider Venom Mutates, Human Victims Must be Treated for Infections Too This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The SpaceX Dragon Capsule is expected to have a new competitor, The Exploration Company, a European startup that works on its own reusable spacecraft. (Photo : SpaceX) SpaceX Dragon Capsule's New Competitor To Arrive? European Startup Works on Reusable Rocket Alternative! The space firm's CEO and co-founder, Helene Huby, explained that Europe is always behind the United States regarding the space race. This has been the same scenario for the past ten years. Before Huby founded their new startup, she worked as the European Service Module's Vice President at Airbus. However, she decided to let go of her position in August 2021 and start her own company that focuses on reusable rockets. SpaceX Dragon Capsule's New Competitor To Arrive? According to TechCrunch's latest report, Huby resigned from her recent work because she no longer wants to work on a space vehicle that is not reusable or can't be refueled. (Photo : Screenshot From Commons.Wikipedia.org) SpaceX Dragon Capsule's New Competitor To Arrive? European Startup Works on Reusable Rocket Alternative! Also Read: SpaceX Falcon Heavy to Launch NASA's Roman Telescope for Dark Matter, Exoplanets, and MORE "I didn't want to spend my life working on a vehicle that is not reusable, cannot be refueled," said The Exploration Company's CEO. Thanks to her efforts, the rising European aerospace startup acquired a $5.3 million seed round, led by Promus Ventures. As of press time, the workforce of The Exploration Company has already reached 30 employees. Helene claimed their new firm is unlike other space companies since their co-founders came from other space corporations. The Exploration Company's Reusable Rocket Before 2022 ends, The Exploration Company plans to launch its re-entry orbital vehicle demonstrator called "Bikini." After that, they will say their first functional prototype around 2024. As of writing, their 2024 mission is already 80% pre-booked with client payloads. In 2026, the rising European space firm will send Nyx, its proper orbital vehicle, into its maiden flight. The official website of The Exploration Company said that the name of their reusable rocket came from Nyx, a Greek goddess with excellent navigation skills. Nyx will have two components; the capsule and service module. Aside from this, it will also use solar panels, heatshield, and reusable cryo-engines. It will be powerful enough to carry up to 4,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. The new reusable rocket can do this for up to six months. If you want to see further details about the new SpaceX Dragon Capsule competitor, you can visit this link. Meanwhile, Elon Musk recently admitted that SpaceX Starship's point design was inspired by the comedy movie "The Dictator." On the other hand, experts claim that there will be new militarized SpaceX Starship rockets. For more news updates about reusable spacecraft and other kinds of rockets, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Eutelsat and OneWeb Join Forces For $3.5 Billion Deal To Compete With Elon Musk's SpaceX This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Russia is now taking back its word on its International Space Station exit in 2024 and is extending four years from its claims that it will now put its departure in 2028 for its farewell. It is known that NASA plans to decommission the ISS in 2030 and drop it into the Pacific Ocean by that time, with a new space station coming for the world. The Russian authorities said that they would continue to do their work and part until the time came for its exit. Russia is Extending its Stay on the ISS until 2028 (Photo : NASA via Getty Images) In this NASA handout, the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Discovery begin their relative separation after their crewmembers concluded nine days of cooperative work August 6, 2005. Undocking occurred at 2:24 a.m. (CDT), August 6, 2005. Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to return to Earth August 8. Reuters reported that Russian space officials released a statement earlier that changes its initial timeline for its exit from the International Space Station, initially set for 2024. Russia would not depart in two years' time, as the country extends to six more years aboard the orbiting laboratory with other nation's astronauts until 2028. According to CNN, Roscosmos' chief Yuri Bosirov told President Vladimir Putin that the agency decided to step away from the ISS after 2024, different from the original timeline it announced earlier this week. The decision for a more extended stay is the latest there is to their plans and their continued work on the space station along with astronauts from NASA, ESA, JAXA, and more. Read Also: Roscosmos Says It Will Use Its ISS Part in Any Way - A Reply To NASA's Criticism Over Russian-Backed Territory Flags Why is Russia Staying Longer in the ISS? The reports indicate that Russia's more prolonged stay in the ISS focuses more on its plans to do their work and part in the space station. Authorities and reports received no other information regarding this development from the initial information regarding the country's exit from the peaceful platform and laboratory in space. Russia and its ISS Missions Threats and statements from Russian authorities from Roscosmos filled the news earlier in 2022, especially during the height of the country's conflict with Ukraine, which brought a significant dispute for the world. The Roscosmos head previously said that US sanctions on the government could "destroy" its relationship and cooperation in the ISS. Furthermore, the statements did not end there, and several claims regarding the ISS came from Russian authorities in the past month, saying that its stay in the space station would not be for long. The events pushed Roscosmos to suspend its cooperation with NASA and the ESA, and it is a significant dispute among the space crew in the orbiting laboratory. Russia had a significant stay on the International Space Station for several decades now, and it signified a peaceful and harmonious relationship between the United States and the transcontinental country. However, its news regarding the pullout from the space station is a massive change in their dealings, and its extension still does not change anything. Related Article: Elon Musk Wishes Russia 'Bon Voyage' on its International Space Station Exit on 2024 This article is owned by TechTimes Written by Isaiah Richard 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Meta no longer offers monetization, payments, or compensation for US publishers for their pieces, works, and uploads that make up its Facebook News tab on social media. Previously, Facebook offered to pay for the uploads made by publishers in the new experience it introduced three years ago, now ending the contracts. Meta: Facebook News to No Longer Pay US Publishers for Uploads (Photo : Unsplash/Austin Distel) Facebook Axios first reported the news regarding the significant changes to the Facebook News experience for US publishers, and it claims that there would be no more compensation for the uploads made on the dedicated tab. The experiment for the Facebook News tab started three years ago, in 2019, and it gave the world another feature to access via the social media platform to help in their news consumption. The report said that Meta spent a massive $105 million for the project and another $90 million for video uploads in the said tab. It partnered with the likes of the New York Times to which it paid $20 million, the Wall Street Journal, which received $10 million, and CNN, which also received compensation amounting to $3 million. That deal started three years ago and is under a contract that Meta made with the news companies. Read Also: Instagram to Focus on Photos As Much as Videos, Reels; Mosseri Responds to Backlash No More Compensation for News Uploads-New Focus? However, it is no longer renewing its deals with these companies this year, after its contract ended the initial three-year deal with the news websites. According to The Verge, Wall Street Journal said that this experiment is something that "did not pay off" for Facebook and Meta. Hence it is stopping the payments it will make to its partner companies. Meta's focus will be on other experiences on its platforms, including podcasts, Novi, and its "Hotline" initiative. Meta's Monetization on Facebook, Instagram Meta's social media platforms offer different experiences for all, and it is beneficial for both the audience and content creators that aim to make a living using their significance and reach online. Meta's latest announcement for all is pausing the monetization cuts that would reduce what influencers make on the platform until 2024. There are many offers from Meta to focus on a content creator's experience and monetization online. One of them is the Instagram Creator Marketplace, which will expand more of the networks and connections. Additionally, it will help future collaborations with different creators, focusing on giving more to the audience and each other in the process. Monetization and compensation for content creators and publishers are massive for the online world now, and it is something that has been a significant income stream for some. However, it may be changing for the Facebook News experience that would no longer observe this in its platform, despite its continued operations on the platform. Related Article: Meta: Facebook Videos Monetization with Licensed Song-Features Post Malone, Tove Lo, and MORE This article is owned by TechTimes Written by Isaiah Richard 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. According to Google's terms of service, police in the United States can access one's Nest camera footage without a warrant. Google's Nest Doorbell Google's policies usually indicate that if law enforcement agencies want access to user data kept in its security cameras, such as the Nest Doorbell, they must submit a warrant or court order. But suppose the scenario threatens a person's safety and life. In that case, it can provide information to authorities without a warrant if the act can help avoid an ongoing threat, as reported first by CNET. The tech company's terms of service state that: "If we reasonably believe that we can prevent someone from dying or from suffering serious physical harm, we may provide information to a government agency - for example, in the case of bomb threats, school shootings, kidnappings, suicide prevention, and missing persons cases." The search engine giant goes on to say that it examines these data requests by considering relevant laws and policies. While Google maintains that the firm must reserve this right, it has never shared a user's data with law enforcement without a warrant. According to a Nest representative's statement with CNET, Google's rationale for the exception is the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which allows companies like Google to disclose information with law enforcement without a legislative mandate. But it is worth noting that the provision is optional, which means that corporations may refuse government data demands that do not require a warrant. Read also: Gmail Unified Interface: New Look is Coming for More Users, What to Expect on the Latest Google UI? Similar to Amazon Android Central noted that Amazon previously admitted that it provided 11 Ring video snippets to law police without user authorization this year. The online retailer simply asks police enforcement to fill out a form declaring that the data request is for an emergency as long as it is "an imminent danger of death or significant physical injury to any person." This information was discovered in an Amazon letter by U.S. Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts. This came after Massachusetts Democrat's separate letter to the corporation, in which he questioned Ring's monitoring techniques and close connection with law police. Other producers of wireless home security cameras, such as Arlo, Eufy, and Wyze, on the other hand, have guaranteed not to reveal user data without the existence of an appropriate legal process. For instance, Eufy is employing end-to-end encryption to restrict anyone, even the company itself, from accessing camera footage. Related Article: Google Pixel 6a Security Issues: Fingerprint Is Not Accurate, Allegedly Unlocks Phone for Unregistered Users This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, is set to meet Twitter in court starting Oct. 17. The trial will last for five days until Oct. 21, according to the judge. The controversial feud between the tech billionaire and the social media giant began when Musk ditched the acquisition deal. Elon Musk vs. Twitter Trial Date (Photo : Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue) Elon Musk and Twitter will meet in court on Oct. 17. The trial will last for five days, according to the judge. According to a report by The Verge, Twitter has already locked in that the trial will last for five days starting Oct. 17. As for the official schedule, Judge Kathaleen McCormick confirmed that it will run until Oct. 21. The schedule was not settled by the two sides previously. Musk's lawyers wanted the trial to take place next year. Meanwhile, Twitter said that they could pursue a September date for the meeting at the Delaware Court of Chancery. Elon and Twitter have an interesting history when it comes to relationships. A few months ago, Musk said that he wanted to buy the microblogging site for $44 billion. Many people were happy about this deal, while some disagreed with the Tesla boss. However, the agreement did not go smoothly as planned. Twitter said Musk ditched the deal, making it "wrongful and invalid." In this context, the social media giant thinks Musk is the law. For instance, he believes that he has all the power to change decisions for the company and its operations. Speaking of which, he could walk away with no problems and what ifs. A few weeks ago, Twitter decided to file a lawsuit against the business tycoon. The company blamed Musk for casting a lot of doubts on the second-quarter earnings. Elon highlighted that the Q2 2022 results displayed worse performance than last year's. In return, Musk said that Twitter was rushing the lawsuit. In fact, he added that it's a straight tactic of the company to hide the true number of bot accounts on the platform. "Twitter has failed or refused to provide this information. Sometimes Twitter has ignored Mr Musk's requests, sometimes it has rejected them for reasons that appear to be unjustified, and sometimes it has claimed to comply while giving Mr Musk incomplete or unusable information," Musk's attorney penned in a letter. This happened when Twitter decided to make a move and sue Musk. Elon directly said there's a need to reject the rushed lawsuit the firm filed against him. Related Article: Elon Musk's Twitter Disappearance Update: Billionaire's Inactivity Reaches 9 Days! Here are Several Reasons Why What Happens if Elon Musk Loses the Case? As per The Independent, there's no clear signs about the potential victor of the trial. However, if Elon drops his composure and slips down the trial, he might pay a huge penalty that Twitter is asking from the beginning. In an interview with Bloomberg, Boston College law professor Brian Quinn said that if Musk disagreed to pay the penalty, he would be placed "in contempt and set a daily fine until he complies." Read Also: Elon Musk Vs. SEC: Billionaire Compares Himself To Eminem as Pre-Approval Twitter Post Issue Continues This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Joseph Henry 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. "If you go to Thailand, be careful about what you eat." Without realizing it, can I use hemp? Abortion rights protesters hold signs and shout to try to drown out Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, as he speaks to media members outside outside the 19th Judicial District Courthouse in Baton Rouge, after a hearing there on Monday, July 18, 2022. District Judge Don Johnson heard arguments regarding the state's 'trigger law' Monday to determine whether the clinics could continue to stay open temporarily or be shut down again, deciding in favor of extending the temporary restraining order one day, and requesting more information be presented to him before another hearing Tuesday morning. Court watchers agree the law will ultimately be either upheld or struck down by the state Supreme Court. Traffic waits Thursday, July 28, 2022, at a traffic light on La. 30 in front of Our Lady of the Lake Ascension Hospital in Gonzales. City and hospital officials a close to finalizing a land agreement to build a new road tied to the hospital that would avoid congested La. 30. Lara Nicholson writes for The Advocate as a Report for America Corps Member. Email her at lnicholson@theadvocate.com or follow her on Twitter @LaraNicholson_. To learn more about Report for America and to support our journalism, please click here. Jack Ma is taking a weeks-long tour in Europe after largely disappearing from public view for almost two years, adding to signs that Chinas government is easing pressure on the entrepreneur as he steps back from a business empire that had made him one of the countrys most powerful people. The 57-year-old co-founder of Alibaba Group has popped up at restaurants in Austria, toured a university in the Netherlands to learn about sustainable agriculture and docked his yacht off the Spanish island of Mallorca, according to reporting by Bloomberg and local media. Alibabas Jack Ma has kept a low profile since criticising Beijing, but there signs of tensions thawing. Credit:AP While its not Mas first trip outside China since he criticised Communist Party officials in 2020 over regulation of his fintech giant Ant Group, its a stark change from the days when the billionaire was being advised by the government to not leave the country. In one sign of how skittish investors had been about the tycoons fate as recently as two months ago, Alibaba shares briefly lost $US26 billion ($37.1 billion) after a state media report that authorities had imposed curbs on a person surnamed Ma. Subsequent information made clear the report was referring to someone else. Ma has had to make significant concessions to get out of the government dog house. After regulators torpedoed Ants hotly anticipated initial public offering in 2020, the company overhauled operations to comply with tighter controls and have discussed regularly with the countrys central bank how to rectify operations. In its early years, Ants success in services like digital payments and money market deposits threatened the dominance of major state-backed banks. One of the founders of the embattled Australian fitness group F45 says a combination of COVID and its rash expansion plans - backed by celebrity investor and board member Mark Wahlberg - may have been its undoing. F45 revealed this week that its financiers had put a brake on expansion plans, triggering the departure of its chief executive and forcing the group to slash nearly half of its staff and other costs to preserve its cash and stay afloat. F45 co-founder Luke Istomin left the business in 2016 due to creative differences. Luke Istomin - the personal trainer who developed F45s core regime of 45-minute functional high-intensity interval and circuit training classes based on a motto of no mirrors, no microphones, no egos - says he doesnt think the company ever foresaw the problem it would have with rapid expansion. With a bit of money they were making at the time, and the plan to grow rapidly, very rapidly, I think they bit off more than they can chew, Istomin, who co-founded the company with Rob Deutsch in 2013, said. Latrobe Valley residents have asked new federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to scrutinise a controversial proposal to flood the enormous Hazelwood coal mine pit to make a lake, citing concerns about future water availability in an era of climate change. They want Plibersek to apply a water trigger to the proposal under Australias national environment laws, which subjects large coal mines to a rigorous assessment of the projects potential impacts on surface and groundwater. ENGIE has proposed to turn the Hazelwood coal pit into a lake. Credit:Jason South Its estimated the pit lake would take up to 25 years to fill and require almost double the amount of water Melbourne consumes in a year. Environmental Justice Australia made the submission to Plibersek this month on behalf of Friends of Latrobe Water and Environment Victoria. It asked her to apply the water trigger under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. The true prevalence would be much higher as the test only picks up about 80 per cent of the COVID-related antibodies. But why do some people get very ill from COVID-19, others experience little or no symptoms, and some do not get infected at all? Dr Vanessa Bryant is leading part of the Australian First Few X (FFX) Study that is investigating COVID-19 transmission in households. Credit:Simon Schluter That is the puzzle we are trying to crack, says Professor Stuart Tangye, an immunologist from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research who leads the Oceania hub of the COVID Human Genetic Effort. Rather than luck, the consortium of scientists believes the answer lies in our genes. It is investigating the DNA of people from all over the world who either suffered from a severe life-threatening case of COVID-19, experienced an asymptomatic infection or are possibly resistant to infection or disease. Our mission is to find out why and how our genes affect our immunity against coronavirus, and how and why immunity can also be affected by other, non-genetic causes, the COVID Human Genetic Effort says on its website. In late 2020, the COVID Human Genetic Effort made some major discoveries, revealing why some otherwise healthy people end up in intensive care units following SARS-CoV2 infection. About 15-20 per cent of people with severe COVID develop antibodies that neutralise a key component of our own immune system which prevents us from attacking the invading virus. Another 3.5 per cent were found to have genetic mutations which impaired their immune response to certain viruses, including SARS-CoV2. People who were missing a key protein interferon essential for immunity in the first few days of infection, were left really vulnerable to critical disease, says Dr Vanessa Bryant, an immunologist from WEHI, Australias oldest medical research institute. Bryant is leading part of the Australian First Few X (FFX) study that is investigating COVID-19 transmission in households. Loading That can give us insight into new antiviral therapies and different ways to shape and boost our immune system. While the work on severe COVID is ongoing, Tangye says the global consortium has now evolved to answering the more difficult questions. Whats become obvious is that theres been a number of people who not only are not symptomatic, theyre actually not infected, or they exhibit some type of resistance, he says. The next plank is to identify genes that could be essentially giving you a bit of protection or forcefield, or whatever you want to call it, that stops you from either getting infected, or stops you getting really sick if you do get infected. This has been a little bit trickier, Tangye says, because asymptomatic and healthy people are not showing up in doctors clinics. So youre trying to pull them out of the woodwork to go, you know what, theres some people here who seem to have a superpower of resistance, and theyre not succumbing to infection or disease, or even symptoms. Tom Alderton and Madeleine Holmes will participate in the study. Credit:Rhett Wyman Last November, a study of UK health care workers during the first wave of the pandemic found some were able to clear their bodies of the virus before producing COVID antibodies. It was hypothesised that exposure to other human coronaviruses such as those that cause the common cold had helped them fight off infection. Loading There can be elements of cross reactivity, Bryant says. But the impact of that is still unknown and somewhat controversial, like, is it just providing an extra bump in our protection? We certainly dont think that it is a main driver in protecting people from severe disease. At this point in the pandemic, it is difficult to unpick whether people are not getting sick due to vaccines and boosters, a past undiagnosed COVID infection, or something else. It could boil down to a combination of cross-immunity against some other infection that they previously had, but that is offering some kind of protection, says the Murdoch Childrens Research Institutes Professor John Christodoulou, who is also involved with the COVID Human Genetic Effort. Or it could be environmental factors like being very diligent with mask wearing or physical distancing. Or it just could be blind luck. Loading The COVID Human Genetic Effort is also researching whether in extremely rare cases some people carry a mutation that makes them resistant to SARS-CoV2 infection and severe COVID-19. Almost 30 years ago, researchers discovered a genetic mutation which means about 1 per cent of people descended from Northern Europeans are immune to HIV infection. This led to scientists developing HIV-blocking drugs. Christodoulou hypothesises that if there were mutations in the bodys ACE2 receptors essential for the COVID-19 virus getting into our cells it could prevent people being infected. And so thats certainly one of the genes that people are looking at amongst that very small proportion of individuals who seem to have been hyperexposed, this is, those who have had multiple family members affected with COVID, yet they remain COVID-free. But ACE2 receptors also regulate blood pressure and inflammation and Bryant warns that a mutation probably comes with another health cost. But identifying those gene changes really gives us an amazing opportunity to develop better drugs or hone our vaccine targets and, at the other end of the spectrum, identify people who are most vulnerable to severe disease. On Wednesday, Holmes and Alderton met with Tangye, and offered to contribute to the COVID Human Genetic Effort study. Falling enrolments and soaring fees will threaten the viability of Sydneys Jewish schools as families are squeezed out of the private system, a review led by businessman David Gonski has found. Merging campuses, selling off assets and a central fee assistance model are some radical ideas proposed in a report that projects some of Sydneys Jewish schools will lose hundreds of student enrolments and revenue of $10 million in coming years. Candice Janit with her children Lexi and Ryan who attend Mount Sinai College. Credit:Louise Kennerley The biggest challenge for families is affordability, Gonski told the Herald. Growth in independent school fees has outstripped general inflation over the past few years. The situation with Jewish schools is the same in many ways as independent schools generally that charge full fees. I dont think the problems we are looking at are specific to the Jewish community, he said. Concerns over the third Omicron wave and the need to support the Ekka have prompted a government deal to distribute free masks. Health Minister Yvette DAth on Friday announced the masks offer, after weeks of debate over the impact of major events on Queenslands high COVID-19 case tally. The Ekka is being held for the first time since 2019. Credit:Bradley Kanaris We want Ekka visitors to enjoy this years show safely and experience all it has to offer Australias best livestock, produce, food, fashion and fireworks, DAth said. The last thing we want when the Ekka returns is to see show goers having to spend the next week in isolation with COVID-19 or influenza. Australia needed to slow its coronavirus spread because the current virus burden in the community made it difficult to manage outbreaks in hospitals and aged care settings, she said. Chant also said social research conducted by NSW Health had shown that the majority of people in the community did not want to be told what to do via broader mask mandates. However, CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Andrew McKellar told the panel he believed mask use would be one of the highest potential returns on investment to protect the community. We dont want to get into a situation where the pressure on the health system does become unsustainable; where we end up having to go back into more restrictive measures, he said. Ultimately, I dont think impacts anybody to wear a mask to come into a shop, but if you cant actually go to the shop, I think thats a much bigger restriction. There were 157 deaths from COVID-19 reported in Australia on Friday, but this was largely due to 105 Victorian deaths that had been recorded since the start of the month but left off previous counts due to data feed issues. Kelly said recent high rates of coronavirus deaths among the elderly were largely the result of the effectiveness of earlier pandemic restrictions, which delayed and reduced anticipated fatalities in the first two years of the pandemic. He described the deaths as the reaping delayed, referring to the Grim Reaper figure who was initially associated with medieval plagues. In the first quarter of 2022, Australia reported more deaths than expected a figure over the excess death rate. Recent NSW data shows about a third of deaths recorded in the state are aged over 90. The people that havent died in the last two years because we had no flu because we did not have [high rates of] COVID and for various other reasons, are now, unfortunately, in that difficult position of being high risk despite the high vaccination rate, and that is by far the majority of people that are dying, Kelly said, noting the stress of the current wave on hospitals and aged care. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler also raised concerns about the challenging times faced by the health system during an address on Friday at the Pharmaceutical Society of Australias annual conference. Despite official records showing Australia recording 330,000 coronavirus cases this week, Butler said the real figure was more like twice that, noting the 5500 people with the virus were occupying one in 12 hospital beds. Loading He criticised apathy around COVID-19 booster shots and said more needed to be done to encourage those who only received two doses to get a third. However, he said it was pleasing to see an increasing uptake of fourth doses, particularly in aged care, where 78.5 per cent of residents have received the second booster. Butler will appear at the AMAs national conference on Saturday during a debate with federal Coalition health spokesperson Anne Ruston. The conference on Friday also heard a pre-recorded lecture from US infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci. There are 1034 unallocated cases, meaning they dont have an officer dedicated to their welfare, and of these 636 are children in care. Hendon said caseworkers were burning out and leaving the job, resulting in not enough left to manage demand. Too many caseworkers had 15 or more cases. Some even had more than 18 to manage. The total number of children in care on the monitored list is 636 There are: 14 in the Pilbara District 103 in the South West District 28 in the East Kimberley District 27 in the West Kimberley District 385 in metropolitan locations. Currently, there are 75 caseworkers across the state with responsibility for the welfare of more than 15 cases each. The average number of cases per worker is 9.06. A 2007 Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission order states child protection workers can hold an upper limit of 15 cases each, with up to 18 cases in certain circumstances. Something quite significant needs to be done in this space to provide that circuit breaker, Hendon said. Caseworkers are needed to approve children in care going on school camps and excursions, enrolling in daycare or school and travelling with their foster family. They arrange contact between the child and their biological family, approve or deny medical assessments and therapies, work with the NDIS and on legal issues for the child. A foster carer who spoke on condition of anonymity said children without their own caseworker were floating in the system with no one looking after their interests. Caseworkers are meant to check on children once every three months. Many kids are massively at risk of being in unsafe situations and no one knowing, she said. The total number of all cases on the monitored list is 1034. There are: 24 in the Pilbara District 139 in the South West District 115 in the East Kimberley District 69 in the West Kimberley District 542 in metropolitan locations Commissioner for Children and Young People Jacqueline McGowan-Jones said she held grave concerns for any child or young person who may be at further risk due to a lack of resourcing. I would always be very concerned that children and young people may be at risk due to not having an allocated caseworker, she said. Whilst we do not have the specific numbers we are aware that this does occur, and these matters are part of the ongoing conversations I have with the Director General of Communities. Loading She said she had spoken with the executive director of the Foster Care Association and some kinship carers who raised concerns about the challenges of not always receiving a timely response for even simple matters such as making medical appointments for children because caseworkers were overrun or their child didnt even have one. It is critical that children and young people in the WA out-of-home care system are provided a safe and nurturing environment to live, and active case managers are key to achieving this, she said. Department of Communities executive director, service delivery, Glenn Mace said the number of children on the monitored list changed daily. Communities aims to ensure all children in care have an allocated caseworker but a range of factors such as planned/unplanned leave, recruitment, and vacancies can impact on the capacity to allocate a designated caseworker to all cases, he said. Being on the monitored list does not mean the child is not being cared for. It means the child or family does not have an allocated caseworker. He said the immediate safety of children was always actioned, even for children on the list. A team leader reviewed each case to ensure there were no tasks requiring immediate action. On Wednesday Opposition Leader Mia Davies said Communities was clearly dysfunctional while dealing with some of the most vulnerable people in the community. Its time that the light was shone into all corners of that significantly large and complex department to make sure that we are actually doing whats right for the vulnerable people in Western Australia, she said. But Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk said her government had increased child protection spending by almost 25 per cent and provided 224 new case workers. It is my goal that every child in care has a dedicated caseworker they can build a relationship with it is good for the children and good for staff, McGurk said. Unfortunately, there have been pressures on the workforce due to COVID, but we are working hard to overcome these issues. She said the best long term strategy was to invest in initiatives that support families so their children can remain safely with them. McRae predicted other states would follow suit and create splinter memberships. He is one of three candidates for federal AMA president, to be chosen at the AMAs National Conference on Sunday. Khorshid said he did not support the Victorian move and neither did other states. He said he was working with the Victorian body to resolve the conflict and hoped it wouldnt continue for long. Anti-vaccination protesters and COVID-19 deniers gather in Melbourne. Credit:Penny Stephens The Victorian branch has been especially bullish about COVID-19. At one point McRae was quoted saying anti-vaxxers and COVID-deniers should update their advance care directives so they dont disturb the public hospital system for a disease they dont think exists, and instead let nature run its course. The branch later issued a clarification saying: It was not the Presidents intention to suggest that COVID deniers and anti-vaxxers should be denied treatment. And among the motions due to be debated at the AMA conference this weekend is a curly one from the Victorian branch demanding a royal commission into the medical regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority. Calls for an inquiry were heightened when AHPRA slapped a registration condition on Broome-based GP David Berger, who has built a large online following through his zero-COVID advocacy and criticism of those who disagree. AHPRA required Berger to complete a Medical Board-approved education program in behaving professionally and courteously to colleagues and other practitioners including when using social media. Khorshid weighs into the controversy carefully. He says the AMAs current position is that it does not support a royal commission, and it accepts the job of the regulator is to protect the public. The AMA is arguing for the reintroduction of indoor mask mandates. Credit:Tanya Lake The AMA is supportive of doctors acting professionally on social media and we do have an obligation to think about the broader impact of the things that we say and do, Khorshid says. On the flip side, its important doctors dont feel muzzled from speaking out on things they think are important. The wording of the decision has alarmed many of our members in terms of whether it could be more broadly applied. The AMA is currently calling on governments to wind back the clock and reintroduce mask mandates indoors, a move politicians have resisted. The Perth-based Khorshid says the AMA was popular with the previous federal government when it was urging the public to follow orders in the pandemics early stages but the relationship soured as the lobby group became a louder critic. While the AMA may have sometimes been a thorn in the side of decision-makers, senior people in the room dont begrudge the organisation advocating on behalf of public health thats its job. Dr Nick Coatsworth is an AMA critic. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen However, there have been vocal critics. In December, former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth called the AMA the peanut gallery association for complaining Australias booster program was falling behind; he believed it was far too early to make that call. (Coatsworth has since deleted the tweet.) His broader critique is that the AMA, led by Khorshid, was too risk-averse about COVID, too enthusiastic about broad-brush restrictions and engaged in COVID fearmongering. Theyre very good at pointing out the symptom. Theyre seldom helpful in providing a cure, Coatsworth says now. There are many organisations that seem to continue to think that fear is the way to drive action and that whole-of-community action rather than targeted action is the right response at this stage of the pandemic. Loading Their thinking has been dominated by that and it hasnt shifted in the slightest. Ive always had an antipathy toward organisations or individuals who use fear as a method of community coercion. Khorshid rejects this attack. I think weve been very moderate. Weve not been on the extreme of the commentary that you see on social media. Ive had just as much criticism for not calling for action, not calling for things like mask mandates. Once regarded as a lobby group not to be messed with, the AMAs influence is now up for debate. It was a significant roadblock against voluntary assisted dying for many years, but the practice is now legal in every state (a territory rights bill is also going to the federal parliament next week which could overturn the Howard-era block in the NT and ACT). In Canberra, the AMAs presence has literally shrunk. In 2018, it sold its flagship building in the Parliamentary Triangle for $15.6 million and moved staff to a smaller, rented office on Brisbane Avenue. The loss of the former AMA House was seen as symbolic of the groups decline, said one insider, speaking on condition of anonymity. Dr Tony Bartone, former president of the Australian Medical Association. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Any lobby group worth their salt will have their headquarters in the Parliamentary Triangle, they said. The powerful Pharmacy Guild, the Business Council of Australia and National Farmers Federation are all nearby. The following year, the board appointed Dr Martin Laverty as the AMAs new secretary-general (essentially the chief executive) and made a number of senior staff redundant. While in the AMAs heyday the president was seen as all powerful, mild-mannered Melbourne GP Tony Bartone held the position in 2019 and Martin sort of ran the show, the insider said. Others feel the AMAs power is undiminished. Tony Abbotts former health adviser Terry Barnes, who clashed with the lobby group over the Abbott governments plan for a GP co-payment, says declining membership does not ipso facto mean declining influence. The AMA is a trade union. It always was, always will be. Their power is in the power of the white coat, he says. Ministers on both sides of politics are very wary, even run scared of the AMA. If the AMA doesnt like it, it is very hard to bring reform and change to healthcare and health policy. I dont think thats really changed. Barnes says one of the AMAs big advantages over, say, the RACGP, is that it is media savvy. Its an easy go to source of comment. If you want an opinion on COVID, if you want an opinion on a health issue, you ring the AMA. Broadly, Barnes believes the AMA used its powers for good during the pandemic by focusing on the health outcomes. But lately, he says the group has not fully grasped the level of COVID-fatigue in the wider community. Its not enough for a government to just sign off with the Indigenous leadership. Nothing can be done except with bipartisan support. And not only because this touches the sensitive matter of race relations. Even the most humdrum subject will fail at a referendum unless both sides of parliament agree. Loading If you are in any doubt, adds Brennan, there have been three attempts to introduce local government into the Constitution and each has failed. So, what is the Coalitions position? To date, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been keeping an open mind. He has neither accepted nor rejected the idea of a constitutionally enshrined Voice to parliament: Well have a look at what theyre proposing, Dutton said in May. I want the symbolic nature which I accept is very important to many people to be accompanied by practical responses. This is progress. We have had three Liberal prime ministers in a row reject it out of hand, so for Peter Dutton to be agnostic and open-minded is a good thing, suggests Frank Brennan. Contrary to the vilification of Dutton as Voldemort, the Liberal leader has the capacity to be bipartisan and unifying in the national interest. It was a bad look for him to boycott Kevin Rudds apology to the Stolen Generation in 2008. It was a mistake, and he was big enough to admit it this year: I made a mistake in relation to the apology. At the time, I believed that the apology should be given when the problems were resolved and the problems are not resolved. Dutton has matured. When the new parliament opened with a Welcome to Country ceremony on Tuesday, Anthony Albanese won some news coverage with his emotional address urging all MPs to embrace the Voice. A ceremonial dance marks the start of the Garma Festival in northeast Arnhem Land on Friday. Credit:AAP Duttons speech was every bit as important: The words we heard this morning carried a strong message of unity. A Welcome to Country made in the spirit of peace and a desire for harmony with all peoples of modern Australia, said the opposition leader. He then adopted Noel Pearsons compelling vision for the culmination of Australias unique identity: I recall the words of Noel Pearson who said, Our nation is in three parts. There is an ancient heritage, written in the continent and the original culture painted on its land and seascapes. Theres our British inheritance, the structures of government and society transported from the United Kingdom fixing its foundation in the ancient soil. There is our multicultural achievement, a triumph of immigration that brought together the gifts of peoples and cultures from all over the globe, forming one Commonwealth. Dutton concluded: Noel Pearson also said Australians have an epic story. Its one of the greatest epic stories of this planet. We will recognise the scale of our story when we recognise each other. Loading Like many others, Dutton, reasonably enough, wants to see the details. Until today, there werent any. The significance of Albaneses speech today is to propose the first ones. There are three key details. First is its standing in the Constitution. The prime minister proposes, as quoted above, that the Constitution be amended to say the Voice may make representations. It would be a source of advice and accountability. Not a third chamber, not a rolling veto, not a blank cheque, Albanese points out. It would not be a threat to the powers of the parliament or the government but an advisory adjunct. Second is the design of the body itself. Albanese recommends the Constitution be amended to say the parliament shall have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. So all the practical operations of the Voice would be decided by the parliament. And could be amended by the parliament. Once again, this would firmly establish the Voice as subordinate to the parliament, not its master nor its equal. Loading Third is Albaneses suggestion for the referendum question to be put to the people: Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice? This is a minimalist question for the creation of a minimalist institution. Albanese says he is putting these ideas forward only as the basis for dialogue to get the discussion started. And the only timeline he suggests is that the referendum occur some time in the life of this parliament. So if the Voice is to have so little power, if its mostly symbolic, whats the point? This is perhaps the biggest threat to its success. Its a triple fallacy. The first fallacy is that symbolism is useless, meaningless or powerless. On the contrary, men and women have been prepared to give their lives for symbols throughout history. Loading The flag, the cross, the crescent, outward signs of inner belief. Symbols are powerful because they are the visible signs of invisible realities, St Augustine is reputed to have said. Some symbols are so evilly powerful that countries make laws to ban them. The swastika, for instance. The second fallacy is that recognition is meaningless. Test the truth of this the next time someone ignores you or snubs you. Recognition is a central need of the human spirit. The ancient Greeks had a word for it. Thymos the part of the human soul that craves recognition. With it, we are empowered and ennobled. Without recognition, we are less than fully human. The third fallacy is that symbols and actions exist in parallel universes or are mutually exclusive. This is the false construct that trapped Peter Dutton into boycotting the apology. Albanese put it like this: Let us all understand: Australia does not have to choose between improving peoples lives and amending the constitution. We can do both and we have to. Loading Because 121 years of Commonwealth governments arrogantly believing they know enough to impose their own solutions on Aboriginal people have brought us to this point. This torment of powerlessness. A life expectancy gap of 20 years. And so on. And if governments simply continue to insist they know better then things will get worse. Albanese has launched the campaign and filled in the first details. Opinion polls have shown public support for a constitutionally recognised Voice at around 50 to 60 per cent. But this is fragile; the idea hasnt yet been contested seriously. Some politicians will seek to make careers for themselves by destroying it. It was only on Tuesday that Pauline Hanson stormed out of the Senate rather than listen to something as routine as an Acknowledgement of Country. San Francisco: The mayor of San Francisco has announced a legal state of emergency over the growing number of monkeypox cases, allowing officials to mobilise resources and cut through red tape to get ahead of a public health crisis reminiscent of the AIDS epidemic that devastated the city. London Breeds declaration takes effect on Monday and was welcomed by gay advocates who have grown increasingly frustrated by what they called San Franciscos lacklustre response to a virus that so far has affected primarily men who have sex with men, although anyone can get infected. San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks during a briefing outside City Hall in San Francisco in December. Credit:AP Breed said cases had more than doubled in a week to 261. Thats out of about 800 in California and nearly 5000 nationwide, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. A national shortage of vaccine has resulted in people waiting in line for hours for scarce doses, often to be turned away when the shots run out. San Francisco is an epicentre for the country. Thirty per cent of all cases in California are in San Francisco, said the citys Public Health Officer Dr Susan Philip. Sao Paulo: Brazils environmental authority has granted an initial permit to allow a major highway to be paved through the centre of the Amazon rainforest, the minister of infrastructure said, in a move that threatens to increase deforestation. Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro on the campaign trail had pledged to repave the BR-319 road, that would connect the capital of the Amazon state, Manaus, year-round to the Porto Velho in the state of Rondonia. The road was originally constructed by the military dictatorship in the 1970s but rapidly fell into disrepair in the harsh conditions of the rainforest. Much of the route is an impassable stretch of mud during the roughly six-month rainy season. After 160km, BR-319 begins to devolve into whats known as the middle stretch: 400km of crevices and mud-slicked sections so formidable that they cause vehicles to spin out. Credit:Raphael Alves/The Washington Post Paving the road would allow illegal loggers and land grabbers to more easily access remote and relatively untouched areas of the forest, environmental experts said. A study estimated the project would result in a five-fold rise in deforestation by 2030, the equivalent of an area more than twice the size of Tasmania. Germany: DARC meets with BNetzA DARC reports on a meeting with representatives of the Federal Network Agency BNetzA which discussed the future of amateur radio exam questions and regulation of automatic stations such as HAMNET A translation of the DARC post reads: On July 26, a delegation from the Federal Network Agency visited the DARC amateur radio center in Baunatal. The constructive discussion was primarily about the future of the exam questions for all amateur radio candidates. This is not without reason at the present time, because in the past few months a volunteer team in DARC e.V. has been working on amending the exam questions. At the HAM RADIO event in Friedrischafen, visitors to the AJW stand were already able to gain an insight into the world of the new exam questions, and the August issue of the CQ DL magazine also dealt with this topic. Another topic of discussion with the BNetzA was the Hamnet. The VUS speaker spoke to the BNetzA regarding regulatory aspects of automatic stations using Hamnet as an example. In terms of content, the aim was to simplify coordination. The direct discussion with the authority is generally very constructive and also necessary in order to regulate current relevant points for all radio amateurs in their interest. Source DARC https://darc.de/ Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. In a move described by some political figures and privacy advocates as dangerous, Amazon said it agreed to a $3.9 billion all-cash deal to buy One Medical, a San Francisco-based private health services provider. If completed, the deal will give Amazon access to One Medicals 188 primary care practices and its 767,000 members, who pay approximately $200 in concierge fees annually to access the providers services, CNBC reported. Amazon also will acquire One Medicals subscription telehealth service, in-house electronic health-record system and established contracts with employers who hire One Medical to provide healthcare services to their employees. The One Medical transaction represents Amazons third-largest acquisition, following Whole Foods ($13.7 billion) and MGM Studios ($8.5 billion). One Medical reported a net loss of $90.9 million for the quarter ending March 31, according to its most recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Amazon and One Medical said the deal reflects their shared objective to reinvent healthcare. Neil Lindsay, Amazons senior vice president of health services, told The Washington Post owned by Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos that we think healthcare is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention. Lindsay added: We love inventing to make what should be easy easier and we want to be one of the companies that helps dramatically improve the healthcare experience over the next several years. One Medical CEO Amir Dan Rubin who will continue to run the company after the purchase is finalized described the deal as presenting an immense opportunity to make the healthcare experience more accessible, affordable, and even enjoyable. The One Medical deal is Amazons latest in a string of acquisitions and partnerships focused on the tech giants rapidly expanding healthcare division. It also signals Amazons ongoing attraction to the healthcare sector, which accounts for approximately one-fifth ($3.8 trillion) of all spending in the U.S. Not everyone sees the deal as a positive opportunity for healthcare consumers including some members of Congress and advocacy groups who cited antitrust considerations, others who raised privacy concerns and suggested the deal could undermine Medicare. Amazon Has a History of Engaging in Business Practices That Raise Serious Anticompetitive Concern Amazons purchase of One Medical is subject to the normal regulatory approval process, according to The Lever. But the deal immediately raised red flags among some members of the U.S. Senate, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who demanded the U.S. Department of Justice reject Amazons acquisition of One Medical. The function of a rational health care system is to provide quality care to all in a cost-effective way, not make billionaires like Jeff Bezos even richer. At a time of growing concentration of ownership, the Justice Department must deny Amazon's acquisition of One Medical. https://t.co/ekpJdTbf2N Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 21, 2022 Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committees antitrust subcommittee, formally requested the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate the deal. Klobuchar said the acquisition raises questions about potential anticompetitive effects related to the pharmacy services business Amazon already owns and about preferencing vendors who offer other services through Amazon. In a letter to the FTC, Klobuchar wrote: Amazon has a history of engaging in business practices that raise serious anticompetitive concerns, including forcing small businesses on its site to buy its logistics services as a condition of preferred platform placement, using small businesses non-public data to compete against them, and, as was recently disclosed in new documents from the House Judiciary Committees Big Tech investigation, potentially restricting advertising by competitors who could offer lower prices and better service. In addition, Amazon has been accused of misrepresenting facts when testifying under oath to Congress, a matter which has been referred to the Department of Justice for further investigation. Legislation is pending before Congress that would strengthen antitrust regulations, but it appears to be stalling, according to Eleanor M. Fox, professor of trade regulation at the New York University School of Law. Fox told The Defender: Theres a lot of legislation pending recognizing this conservative nature of our law, trying to expand it and to make it more elastic and to cover more acts, [such as] the Klobuchar-Grassley bill [proposed October 2021] against a small group of big platforms for preferring themselves over all of their rivals on their platforms. Unsurprisingly, Fox said, Big Tech firms are spending billions of dollars to try to prevent the legislation from being passed. According to OpenSecrets, Amazon is the eighth-highest spender on lobbying in the U.S. this year, and has hired a high-powered lobbying firm run by the brother of Steve Ricchetti, counselor to President Biden. Amazon also reportedly joined a lobbying coalition with the aim of encouraging legislative change regarding home health a move that may already be paying dividends for the company. Terrifying That Amazon Could Control Healthcare Data for Another 700,000 People Barry Lynn, executive director of the Open Markets Institute (OMI), voiced harsh criticism for Amazons proposed deal. U.S. enforcement agencies should block this deal, Lynn said, and should move swiftly to establish a basic set of rules to protect every corner of Americas health industry from the power of the manipulation platforms. OMI warned: Every medical professional and medical business in the United States should also play close attention to this deal. Every time Amazon and Google expand their control over the delivery of healthcare to Americans, they also expand their power over doctors, nurses, and rival practitioners. Krista Brown, senior policy analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project, voiced similarly scathing criticism, telling The Lever: Allowing Amazon to control the healthcare data for another 700,000+ individuals is terrifying. Acquiring One Medical will entrench Amazons growing presence in the healthcare industry. Brown also said: Amazon has no business being a major player in the health care space, and regulators should block this $4 billion deal to ensure it does not become one. [The One Medical acquisition] wont make Amazon the largest player in healthcare, but will further dissolve integrity that is already on shaky territory with the health care system. Amazon Will Be Able to Collect Most Intimate and Personal Information Some described Amazons healthcare strategy as going beyond providing care and access to also gain data on users. Klobuchar, in her call for an FTC investigation into the deal, also raised concerns about privacy and personal health data. Klobuchar said: I also ask that the FTC consider the role of data, including as a potential barrier to entry, given that this proposed deal could result in the accumulation of highly sensitive personal health data in the hands of an already data-intensive company. Commenting on the deal, NPR correspondent David Gura tweeted: Is there anything this corporation wont know about your day-to-day life? Is there anything this corporation won't know about your day-to-day life? https://t.co/HIH9rNmEOM David Gura (@davidgura) July 21, 2022 OMI issued a similar warning, highlighting Amazons significant and still-expanding ability to surveil and collect data about its customers and influence their decision-making and purchasing decisions. According to OMI: Amazons takeover of One Medical is the latest shot in a terrifying new stage in the business model of the worlds largest corporations. The deal will expand Amazons ability to collect the most intimate and personal of information about individuals, in order to track, target, manipulate, and exploit people in ever more intrusive ways. Every American should stand against this radical extension of corporate power into our lives. In addition to manipulating how we talk to one another and do business with one another, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple are moving fast to manipulate our perceptions of our own health and wellbeing. Brown said the deal will also pose serious risks to patients whose sensitive data will be captured by a firm [Amazon] whose own Chief Information Office once described access to customer data as a free for all. Similar concerns about the amount of data consumers are giving up for the sake of convenience arose earlier this year in the U.K, where Amazon already works with the publicly run National Health Service (NHS). As part of its various partnerships with the NHS, Amazon has the ability to use patient data for free on its Alexa platform, including the cloud-based NHS Login. Amazons agreement with the NHS allows Alexa to trawl the NHS database for answers to common health questions. However, testing conducted by Privacy International found that, in numerous instances, Alexa provided answers that did not come from the NHS further indicating privatization of health services. According to Lynne Dunbrack, group vice president for public sector for the International Data Corporation (IDC): Over time, one could envision these consumer devices connecting with Amazon Care: think Alexa, Id like to schedule an Amazon Care appointment. Or the Halo Band could be used to support chronic condition management by sending data from patients with chronic conditions for monitoring, and alerts could be sent to Amazon Care healthcare providers to flag up when clinical intervention is required. As they start to get more into that space, theres a lot of data that could suddenly become very important and could find its way into AWS, for instance, and it could be used to help train analytic models, or as a commercial data set that is provided to AWS clients, in an anonymized and privacy protected way, but that could be a really valuable asset. Does the Deal Pose a Threat to Medicare? Axios health tech reporter Erin Brodwin said One Medical already has its tentacles in Medicare, having acquired Iora Health, which provides primary care services for Medicare patients. With Amazons acquisition of One Medical, Brodwin said now Amazons got a clear foothold there. Amazon just set its health care efforts to warp speed. in addition to One Medical's primary care clinic network, it now has: pharmacy (Amazon Pharmacy), fitness trackers (Halo), and even more IRL/virtual care (Amazon Care, Crossover). what's left? Erin Brodwin (@erinbrodwin) July 21, 2022 According to The Lever, Amazons purchase of One Medicine could allow it to use its new platform to advance the cause of Medicare at a much more aggressive pace. The consequences, according to The Lever, wouldnt just mean more taxpayer dollars funneled to the mega-corporation, but also Medicare recipients facing a healthcare system with ever more resources being allocated to profit instead of care. Such privatization would continue an ongoing trend in which a Medicare privatization scheme known as ACO REACH assigns Medicare patients involuntarily to private health plans operated by for-profit companies, which then receive a set amount from Medicare for the care of each patient. This incentivizes the private health providers to limit the amount they spend per patient. In fact, according to One Medicals most recent quarterly report, more than half of its revenue already comes from Medicare and from programs such as ACO REACH and Medicare Advantage plans provided by private health insurers. The companys most recent annual report states that a significant portion of our revenue comes from government health care programs, principally Medicare. Any changes that limit or reduce the [ACO REACH model or] Medicare Advantage could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, according to the report. The Lever further reports that Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is the recipient of substantial government contracts that significantly contribute to Amazons high profits, may seek to leverage its cloud computing services to obtain contracts that would essentially lead to further privatization of Medicare. Programs such as ACO REACH and the backdoor privatization they encourage have caught the attention of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In May, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a member of the caucus, described ACO REACH as Medicare privatization, hidden in layers of bureaucracy, which allows third parties to take for themselves as profit whatever they dont want to spend as the patient. Nevertheless, according to The Lever, the Biden administration continues to implement the ACO REACH program. In the meantime, Amazon appears to also be aiming for the approximately 30 million uninsured and 40 million underinsured Americans filling yet another gap in the U.S. health system. One Medical Deal Part of Broader Amazon Healthcare Strategy As part of this Amazon-run healthcare experience, the company appears to be looking to apply successful business models from its other products to medical services. For instance, in an article about Amazon Care, the companys existing and growing healthcare service, ZDNet wrote: Through services like Prime, Amazon has got consumers used to being able to expect to get things delivered in hours with just one click: its raised our expectations of how businesses should work and now were finding that old school business models waiting on the phone to book a doctors appointment, travelling to their offices, waiting for the doctor to be free are increasingly frustrating. Thats something that Amazon Care is looking to change, offering 24/7 consultations and healthcare professionals that will come to users where they are, rather than the other way around. As The Defender reported in April, Amazon Care was introduced in September 2019, and is characterized by the company as a new kind of healthcare that is built around you, your life, and your schedule. Amazon described Amazon Care whose mission is to be the Earths most customer-centric company as an effort to bring the most patient-centric health care to customers when and where they need it, and combine the best of virtual care and in-person services as more and more organizations look for convenient, comprehensive, high-quality health care solutions. These services include clinicians on your schedule that would be available online, care that comes to you via at-home follow-up visits for labs, tests, and treatment, convenient testing options for COVID and dedicated care teams. The company adds it is working in lockstep with our customers to address their growing needs. Amazon Care was originally offered just to Amazon employees but has since expanded to other large employers. Silicon Labs, TrueBlue and Whole Foods Market (owned by Amazon) have joined the lineup of companies offering Amazon Care to their employees nationwide. In 2018, Amazon purchased online pharmacy PillPack for $750 million and merged its services with Amazon Care. Two years later it launched Amazon Pharmacy and earlier this year it expanded Amazon Care Telehealth. The tech giant also worked on developing at-home medical diagnostics and in 2020, developed the Amazon Halo, a wearable fitness band and health-tracking device. Earlier this month, Amazon announced it is collaborating with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center to develop personalized cancer vaccines for patients suffering from late-stage melanoma skin cancer and certain breast cancers that have metastasized or are unresponsive to other treatments. As part of this collaboration, Amazon is providing scientific and machine learning expertise. Amazon reportedly previously was part of a secret project to develop a vaccine for the common cold. The company also was extensively involved in public health measures related to COVID-19 via: A partnership with CVS Health and Thermo Fisher Scientific to promote employer-based COVID-19 testing. Utilization of its AWS cloud computing infrastructure to make its COVID-19 data lake available to the public. Collaboration with the Yale School of Public Health and nonprofit consortium Volunteer Surge to recruit and train 1 million healthcare workers to provide COVID-19 care. Linking up with 17 large health systems and Big Tech companies to form the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition, with the aim of coordinating pandemic response efforts via the use of data analytics. Amazon also is venturing into primary care, utilizing its virtual digital assistant, Alexa, to provide an at-home care model for seniors. According to ZDNet, Amazon Care was developed, in part, to improve health outcomes for its staff but it could also be used to monitor employees. ZDNet also quoted Arielle Trzcinski, a principal analyst for Forrester, a healthcare provider, who said monitoring devices such as the Halo, could help Amazon track employees health over a long period. 07/28/22 Childrens Health Defense, Inc. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of Childrens Health Defense, Inc. Want to learn more from Childrens Health Defense? Sign up for free news and updates from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Childrens Health Defense. Your donation will help to support us in our efforts. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here. Illegal immigrants near a gap in the U.S.-Mexico border barrier, awaiting processing by the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona, on May 20, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Biden Admin to Complete More of Trumps Border Wall Project, Closing 4 Gaps The Biden administration spent millions last year to halt the wall construction The Biden administration is set to close four wide gaps in the U.S.-Mexico border wall in an open area of southern Arizona near Yuma, to address operational impacts and immediate life and safety risks. The four gaps are within an incomplete border barrier projectthe former Yuma 6 project area near the Morelos Dam, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The area has become one of the busiest corridors for illegal crossings. The border barrier project, which was operational under the Trump administration, was left incomplete after President Joe Biden in 2021 sent back $2.2 billion in border wall funds to the Department of Defense to be used for overseas defense construction projects. The funds had previously been diverted by President Donald Trump to build the border wall, which at one time was going up at the pace of one mile a day. Completing the border wall was among Trumps top campaign promises. Due to the proximity to the Morelos Dam and the swift moving Colorado River, this area presents safety and life hazard risks for migrants attempting to cross into the United States where there is a risk of drownings and injuries from falls, the DHS stated on July 28. This area also poses a life and safety risk to first responders and agents responding to incidents in this area. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol agent patrols after sunset along a gap in the border wall at the Morelos Dam between the U.S. and Mexico in Yuma, Arizona, on May 31, 2022. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas authorized the projects completion, which will be paid for out of the DHSs fiscal year 2021 budget. Prior to construction, DHS will engage in standard environmental planning and conduct stakeholder outreach and consultation. DHS will move as expeditiously as possible, while still maintaining environmental stewardship, the statement continued. This project supports CBPs and DHSs priority to deploy modern, effective border measures and also improving safety and security along the Southwest Border. Illegal immigrants wait in line to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing through a gap in the U.S.-Mexico border barrier in Yuma, Ariz., on May 21, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) The U.S. Border Patrols Yuma Sector has quickly emerged as the third busiest of nine sectors along the border, with much of the traffic funneling through the Morelos Dam. Illegal immigrants arrive in the small town of Algodones and walk unencumbered across a concrete ledge on the dam to the United States, where they wait for U.S. Border Patrol agents to take them into custody. In the Yuma sector alone, U.S. border agents stopped illegal immigrants 160,482 times from January through June, a figure nearly four times that of the same period in 2021, according to CBP data. The only other sectors with more traffic were Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. The area has been especially attractive to Colombians, Venezuelans, and other nationalities who have flown to Mexicali, Mexico, and taken a short bus or taxi ride to Algodones to walk across the border before being released into the United States. A Border Patrol agent drives a van between a gap along the border wall between the United States and Mexico in Yuma, Arizona, on June 1, 2022. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images) Biden halted further wall construction after he took office, but in the lead up to the 2022 primary elections, has since made closing the gaps just south of Yuma a priority. A report by Senate Republicans in July 2021 said that Bidens efforts to halt border wall construction was costing American taxpayers $3 million per day, and the administration is estimated to have spent at least $1.8 billion by July 2021. The Associated Press contributed to this report. British Army Veteran Filmed Being Arrested After Posting Offensive Meme on Social Media The actor and political activist Laurence Fox filmed Hampshire Police arresting a man at his home for posting an offensive meme on Facebook, allegedly after a complaint was made and the suspect refused to pay for and attend what he called a reeducation class. Hampshire Police have been criticised for arresting and handcuffing an army veteran for an alleged hate crime at his home in Basingstoke, southern England, on Thursday after he posted an image of the transgender flag which was mocked up to look like a swastika on social media. Police & Crime Commissioner Hampshire & Isle of Wight told The Epoch Times in a statement by email that she was concerned about both the proportionality and necessity of the polices response to this incident. Laurence Fox, leader of the Reclaim party, attends a Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Royal Artillery War Memorial in Hyde Park Corner, in London on Nov. 8, 2020. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images) The police had received a complaint about the image and this was allegedly their third visit over social media posts. Big Brother Overreach The man, who has not been named, was supported by the organisation Fair Cop and The Bad Law Project. Both founder members of the organisation former policeman Harry Miller and British actor and leader of the new political movement the Reclaim Party Laurence Fox were at the scene of the arrest and posted footage on Twitter. Fair Cop is an organisation that was set in response to what it calls a Big Brother overreach of various police forces. The Bad Law Project was set up to deal with what they call a culture of coercion and control that is fast replacing our legal system. Laurence Fox told The Epoch Times that he alleges that there are a number of laws broken and police procedures not followed. The Bad Laws position is that you cannot arrest someone who has not committed an offence, he said. The police force in Britain has stopped being a police force that polices without fear or favour. Its become a politicised police force exactly like the Stasi, Cheka, and the Gestapo, said Fox. All horrific incidents that happened in the 20th century began with the politicisation of the police force. And thats what is happening in the country. They are operating rogue against the law. They are policing an ideology, said Fox. Woke ideology has permeated every single one of our institutions and its a religion to them. They dont care whether they arent allowed to do it, theyre going to do it because its what their god tells them to do, the one of equity, diversity, and inclusion, he added. Fox said the veteran contacted The Bad Law Project as he was very worried about police turning up at his front door on Sunday morning. The police told him that they were going to visit him again on Thursday and Fox and Miller waited at the veterans house and brought a cameraman with them. In December 2021, Miller won a legal challenge against a national policy for forces to record gender-critical views as non-crime hate incidents. Its very clear in the Miller vs College of Policing judgment that they are not allowed to do this, but they are still doing it, said Fox. In the footage, three police officers are seen with Miller, who tells them they are not following correct police procedure. An officer tells him that this was his opinion, and Miller replies that its not an opinion, its a fact and you dont get to make up subjective and objective reality. The officer then arrests Miller for obstructing the police. Police said that handcuffs were put on him he was explaining himself. The ex-army veteran was also arrested shortly after. Fox said that both were released without charge. The Facebook Police In the publication The Critic, Miller wrote an article called The Facebook Police where he said that new policing guidelines are wholly ineffective, detailing the first visit by the police on Sunday. They remind the suspect that this is their third visit, having previously intervened pursuant to a joke about Tom Daleys knitting, and the reposting of a Hitler in a bunker meme. The meme has been doing the rounds since the late noughties but this is immaterial to the police officers who are keen to exercise their powers of Three Strikes and Youre Out, he wrote. The image, a swastika made out of four LGBT pride flags, was originally posted on Twitter by Fox In June after he said that the image reflected his belief that LGBT pride month is enforced with a sense of hectoring authoritarianism. His account was subsequently locked by Twitter for being against its hateful imagery policy, according to The Daily Mail. Miller claimed that the veteran was instructed to attend a Community Awareness Course for 60. Victim Awareness Courses are designed for people over 18 who have committed an offence such as theft, criminal damage, low-level public disorder or assault where no serious physical injury has occurred. Miller alleges police told the veteran that the course would reeducate him. The Epoch Times has not been able to independently verify this claim. Something is Wrong In a statement, Police & Crime Commissioner Hampshire & Isle of Wight Donna Jones told The Epoch Times by email that she was aware of the video published on Twitter which shows the arrest of two men in Hampshire yesterday, one for malicious communications and one for obstruction of a police officer. The police and crime commissioner is an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled in the area. I have taken this issue up with the Constabulary today and have been advised officers made the arrests following a complaint from a member of the public of an alleged hate crime. It follows a post on social media of Progress Pride flags in the shape of a Swastika, she said. I am concerned about both the proportionality and necessity of the polices response to this incident. When incidents on social media receive not one but two visits from police officers, but burglaries and non-domestic break-ins dont always get a police response, something is wrong, added Jones. As Police Commissioner, I am committed to ensuring Hampshire Constabulary serves the public as the majority of people would expect. It appears on this occasion this has not happened, she said. This incident has highlighted a really topical issue which Hampshire Constabulary and other police forces need to learn from. In order to support this I will be writing to the College of Policing to make them aware of this incident and encourage greater clarification on the guidance in order to ensure that police forces can respond more appropriately in the future, said Jones. Hampshire Police told The Epoch Times by email that they were making enquiries following a report that an offensive image had been shared online. They were investigating an alleged offence under Section 127 of the Communications Act (2003). They said that a 51-year-old man from Aldershot was arrested on suspicion of sending by public communication network an offensive, indecent, obscene, menacing message or matter. He was released under investigation and now has been NFAd [No Further Action]. They added that a 57-year-old man from Market Rasen, Lincs, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing/resisting a constable in execution of duty. He was released under investigation, and our enquiries are ongoing. Due to this being a live investigation we cannot comment further. It is important to say that our officers come to work every day to protect the public. They were acting in good faith after being deployed to investigate the report of an offensive image being shared online. Policing reports in relation to online content is a complex and challenging picture. We are engaging further with our Police and Crime Commissioner to make sure that we deploy our resource in a way that reflects need in our local communities, Hampshire Police added. New Guidance On Monday, the feminist Youtuber Kellie-Jay Keen was visited by Wiltshire Police to offer words of advice after a complaint was made against comments in her video that the complainant felt were inappropriate and offensive. On July 21, new guidance from England and Waless police body said that individuals who are commenting in a legitimate debate, for example, on political or social issues, should not be stigmatised because someone is offended. Chief Constable Andy Marsh, CEO of the College of Policing, said that non-crime hate incidents should not be recorded where they are trivial, irrational, or if there is no basis to conclude that an incident was motivated by hostility. The police regularly deal with complex incidents on social media. Our guidance is there to support officers responding to these incidents in accordance with the law, and not get involved in debates on Twitter, said Marsh. The controversial statue of colonialist Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, University of Oxford, UK, issued on May 20 2021. (PA Media) British Culture Secretary Gives Grade II-listed Status to Cecil Rhodes Plaque at Oxford British culture secretary Nadine Dorries has granted listed status to a plaque commemorating the industrialist and colonialist Cecil Rhodes at a University of Oxford college. The Oriel College memorial in Oxford, has a plaque of Cecil Rhodes (18531902) on the outside wall, just around the corner from the much-contested statue of the British mining magnate and politician. Special Historic Interest In 2018, Historic England advised the government that the plaque should not be listed. However, on Friday British culture secretary Nadine Dorries, head of the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), said she felt it to be of special historic interest. We are committed to retaining and explaining our heritage so people can examine all parts of Britains history and understand our shared past, a DCMS spokesperson told the BBC. Grade 2 listed is defined as a UK building or structure that is of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve it. This means it cannot be taken down. British colonialist 19th-century industrialist Rhodes was associated with southern Africa and Rhodesia, had a country named after him, made a fortune from founding the diamond company De Beers, and became prime minister of Cape Colony. He donated a huge sum in his will to Oriel College to fund scholarships. According to historians, Rhodes laid the foundations of modern apartheid. A student-led Rhodes Must Fall protest erupted in 2016, and again during the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. Though it was later decided not to remove the statute, citing regulatory and financial challenges. Laws were enacted in 2021 to protect Englands cultural and historic heritage. Under the regulations, if the council intends to grant permission for removal of a particular statue and Historic England objects, the Communities Secretary will be notified so he can make the final decision about the application in question. Protect the Statues The UK government also introduced a series of measures to protect the statues, including new bills with jail terms for damaging memorials, planning permission for demolishing monuments, and threatening institutions with funding cuts if they remove historical objects over protests. Unlike Rhodess statue, Colstons statue was toppled during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 7, 2020, before being dumped in Bristol Harbour and later recovered by Bristol City Council. Colston, a 17th-century British merchant and philanthropist, profited from his shares in the Royal African Company (RAC), which members traded gold, ivory, and enslaved Africans. He had also been an active member of RACs governing body for 11 years. Alexander Zhang and Lily Zhou contributed to this report. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 29, 2020. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via Reuters) California Man Sentenced for Threatening to Kill Rep. Matt Gaetz: DOJ A California man has been sentenced to six months of home confinement for leaving a voicemail in which he threatened to kill Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in early 2021. It was not the first time 59-year-old Eugene Huelsman, who is from Thousand Oaks in California, made threats of violence, when he called Gaetzs district office in Pensacola on Jan. 9, 2021, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). U.S. Attorney Jason Coody for the Northern District of Florida gave a warning to those who think that free speech might extend to death threats. While free speech is central to democracy, Coody said Huelsmans threat via phone to kill Gaetz was clearly unlawful, particularly given he had been investigated for similar threats of violence. With our law enforcement partners, we are committed to protecting public safety for all citizens, Coody said in a statement. Todays sentence acknowledges the defendants repeated threats of violence and should serve as a significant deterrent to those who would threaten violence against others rather than engage in lawful debate. At the hearing, Huelsman pleaded guilty and was convicted and sentenced on one count of transmission of a threat in interstate commerce. The DOJ said that when no one answered the call, Huelsman left the expletive-laden threat as a voicemail. The death threat came just days after the event at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during the certification of the 2020 general elections. Tell [M.G.] to watch his back, tell him to watch his children, Huelsman said, according to an indictment (pdf) in which Gaetz was referred to as M.G. Im coming for him Im gonna [expletive] kill him. Im gonna put a bullet in you and Im gonna put a bullet in one of your [expletive] kids too. In October 2021, Gaetz said on Twitter that Huelsman was a longtime camera operator for CNN, ABC, NBC, and others. Im glad that prosecutors in the Northern District of Florida take death threats against me and my family seriously. I wish that were an ethic across the [Department of Justice] enterprise, Gaetzs office told local media at the time. Gaetzs office contacted U.S. Capitol Police when the threat was made, triggering security protocols around the congressman. The Thousand Oaks residents case was investigated by U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Goldberg. Not the First Time An investigation revealed that Huelsman had made threats to other political figures. The U.S. Secret Service investigated Huelsman for threatening a member of a former presidents family on social media. The sentencing should serve as a warning to others that words matter, said Sherri Onks, the special agent in charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division. Everyone has the right to express their opinion, but when you harass, intimidate, and threaten violence against others, its a federal crime that will not be tolerated. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will work to hold you accountable. The DOJ said that Huelsmans six-month home confinement will be followed by five years of probation and a $10,000 fine. Company Sgt.-Maj. David George Parfitt is shown in a handout photo. Parfitt, a Canadian soldier killed in battle during the First World War has been identified, more than a century later. (The Canadian Press/HO-Parfitt Family) Canadian Soldier of the First World War Identified Years After Death in France A Canadian soldier killed in battle during the First World War has been identified more than a century later. The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces publicly confirmed the identity of Company Sgt.-Maj. David George Parfitt on Thursday. Parfitt was one of 156 members of the 8th Canadian Infantry Battalion killed in action on Sept. 26, 1916, during the Battle of Thiepval Ridge. He was leading a platoon in the attack that day. Parfitts headstone, which is in Regina Trench Cemetery in Grandcourt, France, identified him only as an unknown sergeant-major of the infantry battalion. He was 25 years old at the time of his death. Defence Minister Anita Anand said Canada remembers the courage of those who served our nation both at home and overseas in the First World War. The successful identification of Company Sergeant-Major Parfitt is a reminder for all Canadians of the ultimate sacrifice made by many in service to our nation, Anand said in a news release. To the family of Company Sergeant-Major Parfitt, know that Canada honours him and is grateful for his service. Parfitt was the only Canadian company sergeant-major to have died on that date in France, a detail that the Department of National Defence said significantly contributed to the identification of his grave. Parfitt was born in London, England, in 1891 and immigrated to Canada at the age of 18. He was a mill worker in Keewatin, Ont., before enlisting in the army in Valcartier, Que. Three of his brothers also enlisted and survived the war. The Canadian Armed Forces said Parfitts family has been notified of his identification. A headstone rededication ceremony is set to take place at the earliest opportunity at the Commonwealth War Graves Commissions Regina Trench Cemetery in France, the military noted. Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay also recognized Parfitts contributions to Canada. Company Sergeant-Major Parfitt was one of our own a Canadian soldier who fought for our country with honour during the First World War. His name is engraved on the base of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial along with those of the more than 11,000 of his comrades who were posted as missing, presumed dead in France, MacAulay said. Now that his grave has been identified, Im pleased to know he will receive a permanent headstone to commemorate his courage, service and ultimate sacrifice. By Noushin Ziafati New economic data shows the economy is in a recession, but President Joe Biden urges Americans to consider other factors, as Democrats are inching closer to passing a new historic spending bill. What is a recession? This is the question many throughout the country are asking as the U.S. economy contracts for the second straight quarter. Heritage Foundations EJ Antoni will join us to discuss. Biden and Chinas Xi Jinping held a phone call for over two hours. What does the White House tell us, and how does the hot-button issue of Taiwan come into play? With China dominating the headlines, more members of Congress are speaking out. We speak to Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio. A bill to provide health care to veterans exposed to burn pits or other toxins has garnered wide bipartisan support. But it is now held up in the Senate. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will not teach at George Washington University this fall, following a petition and protest by university students. Is this a case of mob rule or a win for the First Amendment? * Click the Save button below the video to access it later on My List. Follow CapitolReport on social media: Twitter https://twitter.com/capitolreport Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CapitolReport/ Gettr https://gettr.com/user/capitolreport 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 A general view of the Centers for Disease Control headquarters in Atlanta on April 23, 2020. (Tami Chappell/AFP via Getty Images) CDC Met With Big Tech Officials in Bid to Tackle COVID-19 Misinformation, Emails Show The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) met with executives from Big Tech companies in an effort to cut down on narratives deemed by officials as COVID-19 misinformation, according to newly released emails. The CDC hosted meetings on May 14 and May 28 in 2021, with slides outlining what the government agency described as false or misleading narratives about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines, according to the emails, which were obtained by America First Legal. We would like to establish COVID BOLO meetings on misinformation and invite all platforms to join the meetings. We are aiming for our first one on Friday at noon, Carol Crawford, a CDC official, wrote to executives at Google, Twitter, and Facebook before the first meeting. BOLO stands for Be on the Lookout, she noted. At least one of the narratives deemed misinformation was later proven to be accuratenamely, that COVID-19 vaccines affect male fertility. Others included the vaccines causing people to become magnetic, that vaccinated people can cause issues for people near them, and that vaccinated people were developing blood clots when they traveled by airplane. In one message to Todd OBoyle, a senior manager of public policy at Twitter, Crawford sent a list of specific posts discussing some of the rumors. Todd, we wanted to point out two issues that we are seeing a great deal of misinfo aboutvaccine shedding and microchips. The below are just some example posts, Crawford wrote. Boyle had written to Crawford in April, telling her that his team has asked for examples of problematic content so we can examine so we can examine trends, adding that all examples of misinformation are helpful. Crawford later reached out to Twitter to alert the company that the CDC was working with the U.S. Census Bureau to leverage their infrastructure to identify and monitor social media for vaccine misinformation. We would like the opportunity to work with your trust team on a regular basis to discuss what we are seeing. I understand that you did this with Census last year as well. Are you all interested in scheduling something to kick it off and discuss next steps? she added. This sounds great! Meredith Lightstone, another Twitter official, said. Facebook and Google Facebook executives, meanwhile, worked with the CDC on the companys COVID-19 information page, and reached a deal that enabled the company to put the CDCs logo on the page. Facebook also donated $15 million in ad credits, which an agreement said will be used by CDCs COVID-19 response to support the agencys messages on Facebook, and extend the reach of COVID-19-related Facebook content, including messages on vaccines, social distancing, travel, and other priority communication messages. The executives informed Crawford and other CDC officials in early 2021 of their efforts to crack down on COVID-19 misinformation, which included an announcement that the company would be working with groups to encourage people to get vaccinated while making it harder to find accounts that discourage vaccination. Crawford at one point asked Google to tweak its search rankings to make it so a specific CDC page ranked higher in the results, and asked Google-owned YouTube to share a CDC video. She also suggested YouTube staffers had assisted the CDC in a campaign. Thank you so much for all the assistance on the college influencers. We appreciate the special help you are providing us as we navigate this new territory, she wrote. These explosive smoking-gun documents, obtained as a result of America First Legals litigation against the Biden Administration, conclusively demonstrate that Big Tech has unlawfully colluded with the federal government to silence, censor, and suppress Americans free speech and violate their First Amendment rights, Stephen Miller, a Trump administration official who is now president of the legal group, said in a statement. Government is expressly prohibited from censoring competing or dissenting viewpoints or from silencing its political opponents whether it does so directly or whether it uses an outside corporation to achieve its draconian, totalitarian ends. AFL will not rest in the fight against illegal collusion between Big Tech and Big Government to trample on your voices and the Bill of Rights, he added. Twitter declined to comment. The CDC, Google, and Facebook did not respond to requests for comment. Correction: A previous version of this article inaccurately stated the amount the CDC received in Facebook ad credits. It is $15 million. The Epoch Times regrets the error. A general view of Evergrande residential buildings under construction in Guangzhou, on July 18, 2022. (Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images) China Collects $44 Billion to Save Real Estate Developers, 500,000 Presale House Buyers Stop Mortgage Payments China plans to collect up to 300 billion yuan (about $44.4 billion) to support real estate developers struggling to finish their projects, while over half a million buyers stopped mortgage payments on their unfinished homes in July. The fund is collected by Chinas State Council, financial information platform REDD reported on July 26. The China Construction Bank has contributed 50 billion yuan (about $7.4 billion) and Chinas central bankthe Peoples Bank of China (PBOC)made an effort of 30 billion yuan (about $4.44 billion). The report didnt indicate which organizations will pay the rest. However, the fund cant even fill the loop that the rotten tail buildings, or the unfinished presale houses created. The Chinese regime allows real estate developers to presale apartments even when the buildings are only drawings. Buyers need to pay the whole price, which includes a down payment and mortgage after they sign the contract. The project becomes rotten tail buildings when the developer has halted construction for 12 months. State-run Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute reported on July 18 that there are about 900-billion-yuan (about $133 billion) in mortgages tied to the rotten tail buildings in China. Buyers started to refuse to pay mortgages in July. A residential and commercial complex under construction in Nanning, in southern Chinas Guangxi region on Nov. 9, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) By July 26, victims from 113 cities in 26 provinces listed 321 unfinished building projects on GitHub. They uploaded photos and statements to verify the authenticity of the claims. E-House calculated that there are 1,701 apartments in one project on average, which means about 550,000 buyers cant move into the homes they purchased. E-House warned in its 2022 annual report that buyers of 3.85 percent of Chinas real estate projects might refuse to pay the mortgage because the presale homes they bought are rotten tail buildings, even though it means they will have a lowered social credit score. The social credit system is a method the Chinese regime uses to control people. The regime doesnt allow a low score person to take public transportation or allow their children to go to public schools. State Fund Wont Solve the Issue: Banker On top of the $44.4 billion state fund, local regimes in eastern Chinas Jiangxi, central Chinas Hunan, southwestern Chinas Yunan, northwestern Chinas Shaanxi, and southern Chinas Fujian provinces also launched local funds to help real estate developers, state-run Jiemian News reported on July 22. However, economists and bankers dont think these funds can solve the issue. Unless the Chinese regime likes to spend all its money on the real estate market, Cheng Xiaonong, a political and economics scholar who holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University, commented on July 24. Cheng didnt think the regime would spend its national treasure. One fund cant solve the issue, Zheng Yi, a former China investment banker, told The Epoch Times on July 21. The rotten tail buildings issue is an accumulated problem. It needs new policies and a large amount of funds to solve. Zheng said that developers purchase lands from a local government, sell the apartments to individuals, bribe the government officials and banks to make the projects progress smoothly, put the money into their own pockets, and then pays for the construction. Residential buildings under construction in Yichang, Hubei Province, on Oct. 20, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) The developers borrow from banks. At the same time, the buyers get mortgages from banks. With the loans and the sales income, the developers should have enough money to finish a project. However, they cant finish the project if they dont calculate and control the costs well. On the other hand, the banks that provide loans and mortgages are facing big risks when the project remains unfinished. To solve the issue, the government has to use taxpayers money. The government can only support a few developers that it wants to help, Zheng said. It doesnt have the capacity to help all. Zheng believes there will be chain reactions. New buyers will only purchase from developers who received the government funds. The other developers will go bankrupt faster, which means they cant pay back their loans or finish all the projects. Then the banks have nothing to foreclose on and cant collect the loans and mortgages. The banks face the risk of bankruptcy and cant issue any more loans to the surviving developers. Its hard to solve the issue, Zheng said. I think the worst problem in Chinas real estate industry is that the consumers and investors dont have confidence in the market. Market Confidence Chinas property market has lacked buyers since the pandemic began. At the same time, more and more people try to sell their homes. To revitalize the market, the Chinese regime launched policies to either encourage or force people to purchase a home. Since June, at least nine Chinese cities have been reportedly encouraging residents, including government employees, to group buy designated properties in an effort to boost local property sales. On June 13, the Huangdao district regime in Qingdao city, publicly announced that any resident who had enough savings in the bank should buy a new home, officials must talk to any residents who dont want to buy, and staff members of each community in the district will be fined if residents in the community buy less than two new homes in June. An advertisement from Central China Real Estate offering to let buyers use garlic crops to make a down payment on a property in June 2022. (Reuters/Screenshot via Reuters) Several city governments, including Zhongshan city, issued a limiting order stipulating that the interval between each adjustment of the sales price of a new residential building shall not be less than 3 months, and the decline shall not exceed 5 percent. The struggling developers are using many ways to promote their products. In central Chinas Henan province, developers offered to take wheat and garlic crops as down payments. One Central China Real Estate advertisement says buyers can use the crop, priced at 26.7 cents per pound to offset as much as $23,900 of a down payment in one of its developments. In eastern Chinas Jiangsu Province, developers offered to take peaches and watermelons as down payments. However, these policies and promotions had limited success. The China National Statistics Bureau released a report on July 15 that said the total home sales decreased 26.2 percent in the first half of the year, compared with 2021, and the total home sales in value decreased 31.8 percent. That same day, the bureau also released statistics on the home price index of 70 cities in June showing that prices in 34 cities have dropped to a level lower than June 2020. Six of them dropped to the level in June 2017. A Chinese worker walks past a new property development in Beijing on April 1, 2013. (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images) Buyers Sadness The issue of so many unfinished buildings is too big to hide. The regime hasnt banned related posts on social media. Even the state-run media reported the victim buyers sadness. I borrowed 500,000 yuan (about $74,000) from my relatives for the down payment, and pay over 6,000 yuan (about $890) for the mortgage every month, 30-year-old Wuhan resident Li Mingyu (pseudonym) told The Epoch Times on July 13. According to the contract, the developer promised Li it would be ready by the end of 2021 but completely stopped construction last September. Li said her salary isnt large, and she felt her life would be totally ruined if she kept on paying the mortgage for an unfinished home. Yang Yue (pseudonym) and her husband migrated to Zhengzhou several years ago to operate a furniture business. They dont have local registered addresses which the regime uses to control where people move. To send her son to a school in the city, they have to own a home. We bought the presale apartment in 2020. The developer would give us the keys in 2023, Yang told The Epoch Times on July 23. Yang and her fellow home buyers found that the developer stopped construction of the building last year, and didnt give them any information about when they will resume the project. At the same time, it becomes harder and harder to sell furniture. People became poorer, and the economy is in bad shape. Facing the bills for her stores rent, current home rent, living costs, and education for her son, Yang said she regretted buying the presale home. An elderly Chinese farmer stands outside her home on farmland backdropped by a new housing development in Hebei on Nov. 21, 2014. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) State-run Huashang Newspaper reported in March that over 300 buyers in Xian didnt have enough money to rent a finished home, and moved into the unfinished presale apartments they bought in 2013 or 2014. The unfinished residential buildings have no electricity, water, heating, or bathroom. And the walls and floors are just raw cement. Yi Ru contributed to this report. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds her weekly news conference with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 14, 2022. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz) China State Media Threatens to Shoot Down Pelosis Plane to Taiwan If She Flies With Military Escort The White House has refused to comment on a threat by a Chinese state media figure who said that the Chinese military should shoot down a plane carrying House speaker Nancy Pelosi if she visited Taiwan with a military escort. As it relates to the Speakers travels, its something that were just not going to speak to. Right now thats a hypothetical, said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on July 29. We are just not going to speak on her schedule Im not going to speak to a hypothetical. Jean-Pierres comments were made in response to a question as to the White Houses position on recent comments made by Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of the Chinese Communist Party-controlled Global Times media outlet. Hu suggested that Chinas military, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), should use force against Pelosi if she visited Taiwan with U.S. military protection. If U.S. fighter jets escort Pelosis plane into Taiwan, it is invasion, Hu said in a tweet. The PLA has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosis plane and the US fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down. Hus comments were just the latest in a growing list of bellicose rhetoric emanating from Beijing and its various mouthpieces. In May, Chinas defense secretary threatened to start a war no matter the cost to prevent Taiwans de facto independence from becoming internationally recognized. Likewise, Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping threatened President Joe Biden on a phone call on Thursday, warning that the United States was playing with fire on the Taiwan issue. The saga comes amid reports that Pelosi was planning a personal visit to Taiwan, which was previously scheduled in April. At that time, Pelosi contracted COVID-19 and canceled the trip. The House speaker is reportedly departing for a tour of Asia on July 29, with a Taiwan stop remaining uncertain. News of the trip has become something of an international incident owing to the White Houses intervention into the matter. Upon hearing of the trip, Chinese communist leadership threatened forceful measures against the United States and Taiwan. Following those threats, Biden publicly said that Pelosis trip was a bad idea and that the military was against it. Pelosi subsequently said that she had not spoken to Biden about the trip but that the military may have been concerned China would shoot down her plane. Security experts, however, believe that the many threats from Chinas communist leadership are not serious, and reflect a weakness in Chinese diplomacy. These are just idle, empty, hollow threats, [meant] to get us to back down for free, said Gen. David Stilwell, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs told NTD, an affiliate of The Epoch Times. They [China] still play the role of second-tier middle power But as a great power, empty threats, when demonstrated to be empty with no intent to prove them, makes it more difficult for them to actually create the desired deterrent effect with future threats. Earlier this week, a White House official said that Pelosi was receiving standard military input on the security situation in relation to Taiwan. Its routine for us when she travels overseas to provide her facts and analysis, context, geopolitical realities that shes going to be facing wherever she goes, said John Kirby, an official at the White Houses National Security Council. And theres always issues of security surrounded by her travel, too, that sometimes the Department of Defense participates in, depending on where she goes and how long shes going to stay and what the threats and challenges are. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) maintains that Taiwan is a breakaway province of China. CCP leadership has thus vowed to unite the island with the mainland, and has not ruled out the use of force to do so. Taiwan, however, has been self-governed since 1949, has never been under CCP control, and boasts a thriving democracy and market economy. The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by the Taiwan Relations Act to provide it with the arms necessary for its self-defense. Washington also maintains a doctrine of strategic ambiguity in which it will neither confirm nor deny whether it would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. CCP leadership has ramped up its hostilities in recent years in an effort to get the United States to break from its relations with Taiwan. While these efforts have been wholly unsuccessful, the White House has warned that Chinas hostile behavior in the region, including dangerous actions against international aircraft, is likely to lead to a major incident. Two freshmen students picking up recycled dorm essentials at Grad Bag event in New York City on July 28, 2022. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) College Students Get Free Recycled Dorm Essentials NEW YORKCollege freshmen picked up recycled linens, blankets, and other dorm essentials in Manhattan on July 28 from a program run by two moms who realized how much can be reused after their children finished college. Liz Gruber and Tara Smith Tyberg created the Grad Bag organization in 2012. Grad Bag volunteers collect comforters, blankets, sheets, laundry bags, hangers, and other products such as lamps, fans, decorative pillows, storage containers, and mirrors. In 2012 one school donated items and over 30 students received recycled dorm essentials. In 2019, 16 schools donated benefiting 1,700 students. The organization has recycled 20,000 pounds of linens since its inception. The Grad Bag program had to stop for the past two years due to the pandemic. This year, the organization anticipates donations from 11 schools and about 500 students coming to pick products they need for their dorm rooms. College freshmen are waiting in line to pick up recycled room essentials in New York City at the Grad Bag event on July 28, 2022. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) College freshmen browse through recycled dorm items during the Grad Bag event in New York City on July 28, 2022. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times) A commercial laundry company cleans the linens for free, said Gruber. A trucking company helps transport the donate goods. Everybody needs this when they go to college, theyre creating their new homes, said Gruber. This program is a way to encourage students to donate and live sustainably, she added. Some students who received recycled items returned them after they graduated. Milani Escolastico studied graphic design in high school and plans to study fashion design in college. The program is helpful because dorm essentials are pricy, she said. BREAKING NEWS: The craziest crazies have somehow escaped the asylum and installed themselves in high positions of power. Insane, they are coming up with one bad idea after another and barking orders at us, mad shine in their eyes and saliva coming out of their mouths. They are crazy and in charge of institutions, schools, newspapers and armies. They are running around with their high-tech pistols filled with high-tech poisons and their little sadistic CRISPR scissors. They are crazy yes, they are crazy and they are killing us slowly, and sometimes not so slowly. Welcome to the future where toxicity is health and the old crazy is the new normal. We are not crazy they are crazy and they have been from the beginning. And in 2020, they stopped pretending. What now? Project Insect Allies You may think that you have seen it all but here is a great idea. Take some insects, infect them with a genetically modified virus designed to genetically edit mature plants in real time, and release them. Release them into wild and repeat, its safe and effective. Sweet idea, right? Well, DARPA thought so, and so in 2016, they started a project called Insect Allies that is designed to do that. (This is a different project from Oxitecs controversial release of GM mosquitos.) DARPAs official story is that in the name of national security, a good way to protect the American crops from potential threats is to genetically modify them using GM viruses as genetic modifiers and insects as flying syringes. And that they just need to test it! In a 2016 release titled, DARPA Enlists Insects to Protect Agricultural Food Supply, the agency stated: A new DARPA program is poised to provide an alternative to traditional agricultural threat response, using targeted gene therapy to protect mature plants within a single growing season. DARPA proposes to leverage a natural and very efficient two-step delivery system to transfer modified genes to plants: insect vectors and the plant viruses they transmit. In the process, DARPA aims to transform certain insect pests into Insect Allies, the name of the new effort. Insect Allies three technical areas trait design, insect vector optimization, and selective gene therapy in mature plants layer together to support the goal of rapidly transforming mature plants to protect against natural or intentional agricultural disruption without the need for extensive infrastructure. The foundational knowledge and generalizable tools developed under the program could also support future agricultural innovation. Some suspicious peasants may foolishly wonder: What will happen in the short term and in the long term to the people who eat those plants, to the people and animals possibly bitten by those insects, to the wild insects who mate with the infected insects, and to all other life in the area and beyond that may get impacted? What ridiculous nonsense. Here is the answer, peasant: No one knows and importantly, no one cares. Any more questions? The first Insect Allies funded paper, titled, Multiplexed heritable gene editing using RNA viruses and mobile single guide RNAs, was published in 2020. Please note the word heritable in the headline. The paper stated: Mutant progeny are recovered in the next generation at frequencies ranging from 65 to 100%; up to 30% of progeny derived from plants infected with a virus expressing three sgRNAs have mutations in all three targeted loci. DARPA never disclosed if they tested this program outside of greenhouses. Objections From the Scientific Community and Even the Pre-2020 Media Actually, it turned out that a few scientists care and at least during the pre-COVID era, they have objected. Here is a short 2019 educational animation made by the German Max Planck Society (formerly the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History). Their main objection is the potential weaponization of the technology, they dont mind the gene editing in principle. But our standards for health and dignity are so low that this objection is better than no objection, and even this limited kind of objection and questioning DARPA takes some courage (even though its unknown if they would have objected in 2020). And here is what Vice (!!) had to say in 2018 about the outcry from scientists: In the editorial, published on Thursday in Science Magazine, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology and the University of Freiburg in Germany, and Frances Universite de Montpellier, requested more transparency and opportunities for public discussion regarding the project and its implications. Easy simplifications could be used to generate a new class of biological weapons, a press release reads, weapons that would be extremely transmissible to susceptible crop species due to insect dispersion as the means of delivery. What did DARPA say? In an email to Motherboard, a DARPA spokesperson rebutted the thesis of the Science Magazine piece and denied any intent to deploy technology developed through Insect Allies in an offensive setting. We created Insect Allies specifically to develop technology that can deliver positive, protective traits to plants to help them survive unanticipated and/or fast-moving agricultural threats, the spokesperson wrote. We see it as a critical addition to the national security toolkit, part of a layered strategy to preserve the security of the food supply. The Insect Allies program is a collaboration between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Environmental Protection Agency, US Army, and other agencies. According to a DARPA slide presentation, the goal of Insect Allies is to stably transform multiple mature crop plants in a complex, multi-species plant and insect community with enhanced trait(s) of agricultural interest by mid-2021. Newsweek covered it, too. In a 2018 article, they said that the U.S. governments Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been accused of trying to create a new class of biological weapons that would be delivered via virus-infected insects. Scientists with DARPA are looking at introducing genetically modified viruses that can edit chromosomes directly in fields these are known as horizontal environmental genetic alteration agents (HEGAAs). The DARPA program is using the principles of HEGAAs but, unlike traditional methods of dispersal like spraying fields with them it wants to spread them through insects. The researchers raising the alarm asked specifically why, for agricultural use, it was so important to use insects as gene modification vectors, given that spraying was available. In response to Newsweek at the time, DARPA denied all allegations of military use and reiterated that the projects aim was to protect American crops. In 2022, another paper was published where researchers expressed their concerns: The hazard and exposure potential of an HEGAA approach can vary greatly depending on the viruses, vector insects, target plant species, and genetic modifications selected and their effects. However, at the current stage of development, the most critical aspect is the compromised reliability of the HEGAA approach, owing mainly to its complex design with three different species They are a cause for concern because of the numerous effects that can increase the potential for hazard and exposure. Combined with the current inadequacy of corrective measures, it is clear that there is an urgent need for early analysis of whether HEGAA approaches can be inherently contained and controlled by their specific technology design. Horizontal Environmental Genetic Alteration Agents What are HEGAAs? According to Wikipedia, the term genetic alteration agent first appears in 2016 in relation to this project, in a work plan by DARPA describing a tender for contracts to develop genetically modified plant viruses for an approach involving their dispersion into the environment. The prefixing of horizontal environmental to the former to generate the acronym HEGAA was first used in the [aforementioned] 2018 scientific publication. Agents such as pathogens, symbionts or synthetic protein assemblages that can be acquired through horizontal transmission in the environment can potentially be engineered to become HEGAAs. This would be achieved using biotechnology methods to confer to them the capacity to alter nucleotides in the chromosomes of infected individuals through sequence-specific editing systems like CRISPR, ZFNs or TALENs. No known infectious agent naturally has the capacity to gene edit eukaryotes in a manner that can be flexibly targeted to specific sequences (distinct from substantially random natural processes like retroviral integration). By definition, HEGAA induced gene editing events are intended to occur outside of contained facilities such as laboratories or hospitals. While genetically modified viruses with CRISPR editing have been successfully used as research tools in laboratories or for gene therapy in clinical settings, all gene editing events are intended to physically occur within contained facilities. By contrast, HEGAAs for their intended mode of action relies on inducing gene editing events that occur largely or exclusively in the environment. There are two types of HEGAAs: somatic and germline. Somatic HEGAAs are not inheritable, while germline ones impact somatic cells and also cell lineages from which germline cells can be ultimately generated (e.g. sperm, oocytes, pollen, ovules, zygotes or seeds). When it comes to the Insect Allies project, its a gray area. The original assumption was that Insect Allies involved somatic HEGAAs but the aforementioned 2020 paper shows that the genetic changes in plants were heritable. Here is more detail: HEGAAs are viruses which have been genetically modified to gain a capacity to edit the chromosomes of a target species (e.g. plant or animal) when intentionally released into the environment The word horizontal comes from their ability to be transmitted in the environment by infection The word environmental comes from the intention for these genetically modified viruses to be dispersed into the environment The words genetic alteration agents comes from the capacity to alter the chromosomes of a target species. This might be through causing a random mutation or introducing a new DNA sequence The specificity of HEGAAs is dependent on two things (1) the range of species the genetically modified virus can infect AND (2) the presence of the suitable DNA sequences in the plant chromosomes of cells that become infected An example of an insect dispersed viral HEGAA which disrupts a specific plant gene is illustrated in this figure below Image source: web.evolbio.mpg.de/HEGAAs/available-illustrations.html All in all, this informational Max Planck Society affiliated website, whose purpose is to contribute towards fostering an informed and public debate about this type of technology, is one of the best sources of information on HEGAAs and the Insect Allies project. Incidentally, this particular website covers self-spreading vaccines as well. Here is a little video promo of the Euroscience Open Forum 2020: And here it the actual 2020 panel (some of it is already outdated but very educational): Project Coast One of the panelists above mentions Project Coast is South Africa and while it is not directly related to Insect Allies, it kind of is. Project Coast was a toxin and bioweapon development project that took place in South Africa during the apartheid era. As a part of that project, scientists developed covert assassination tools and methods of covert sterilization, intended against the black population of South Africa. A warning? No really, a warning? Back to DARPA Here is more from the MPS-affiliated informational website: Even as the halfway point of the Insect Allies program approaches, DARPA has chosen not to publicly describe in its response to our Science article what is the basis of their having concluded that a developmental pathway exists that circumvents the early proliferation of biological weapons (described by the black development path in the accompanying image). This is in addition to explaining in detail why their developmental plan is easier to develop than alternative paths (described by the red paths). As our Science article makes clear, this is central to justifying the wisdom of embarking on the development of HEGAAs, and many other types of GM viruses. Over the next five years, only a minority of anticipated CRISPR-inspired innovations will involve intentional environmental releases (see recent NAS report). HEGAAs, and some other GM viruses, have the property of an early-stage biological weapons proliferation risk that is not shared with most other proposed techniques (including avant-garde ones like gene drive). Choosing not to clearly address these obvious issues of global concern, as detailed in the Science article, makes their current model of develop first and explain later an especially unwise path, particularly for this insect-delivered program, that in many ways appears to be designed to get carried away. Living Foundries To provide a backdrop for the Insect Allies project, here is a brief look at the DARPA Living Foundries bioengineering program, launched in 2010. DARPAs Living Foundries program aims to enable adaptable, scalable, and on-demand production of critical, high-value molecules by programming the fundamental metabolic processes of biological systems to generate a vast number of complex molecules. Programming Biological Systems In order to orient ourselves in this attempted new normal, we need to understand the mindset. Please note the use of term engineer all throughout this benevolent-sounding presentation: DARPAs Biological Technologies Office DARPAs Biological Technologies Office was founded in 2014. Here is an informational video on, in their own words, DARPAs way of thinking about biological technology to defend the homeland. According to DARPAs website: DARPA has enjoyed a strong relationship with Silicon Valley since the early 1960s, working with innovators to lay the groundwork for new industries built around Agency investments in semiconductors, networking, artificial intelligence, user interfaces, programming, materials, microsystems, and more. [We knew that!!!] Biotech is now emerging as a breakthrough opportunity space and it represents an area that is ripe for fresh collaboration among DARPA, the nations top researchers, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs. Here are some of the listed topic of interests: Building with Biology Using Engineered Living Materials, which focused on programming DNA to grow materials to specifications at the sites where they are needed and developing living materials that are responsive to their environments and can heal when damaged; Staying on Target: Minimizing Off-Target Effects in Gene Editing, which focused on making personalized medicine feasible by conducting rapid, low-cost screens of an individuals likely responses to tailored gene therapy; Creating a Pandemic-free World, which focused on DARPAs vision of distributed healthcare that combines technology to detect pandemic outbreaks, rapidly identify and grow potent antibodies to fight infectious disease, and response tools for creating a pandemic firebreak; Immunity on Demand [emphasis mine] , which focused on rapidly developing and delivering nucleic-acid-based protections against infectious disease; , which focused on rapidly developing and delivering nucleic-acid-based protections against infectious disease; Failing Faster: De-Risking the Path to FDA Approval, which focused on using organ-on-chip technology to better predict the efficacy of new drugs in the development pipeline; A Real-time Window into Your Bodys Chemistry, which focused on tissue-integrating in vivo biosensors to continuously monitor physiology over the long term to predict the onset of disease; Reinventing Psychiatry Using Neurotechnology, which focused on using implanted, closed-loop neural systems to record and stimulate the brain to treat neuropsychiatric illness; MindFlight: Your Brain Will Be Your Pilot Today, which focused on direct neural control of complex physical systems; Memory Enhancement in Everyday Life, which focused on non-invasive electrical and auditory stimulation technology to enhance memory by facilitating the neural replay process Is it me, or is it that the crazies are running the asylum? Remote-Controlled Insects If you think that you have now seen it all, well, you havent. Here is a video of scientists in Singapore torturing live insects and turning them into cyborgs. Horrifying. And here is, you guessed it, DARPA: Through a DARPA-funded program, scientists at the University of California invented a tiny rig that connects to an insects brain and flight muscles. Once implanted, the device takes over the insects body, turning it into a remote control cyborg capable of receiving flight commands wirelessly from a nearby laptop. Its all good and fun (not really, more like a horror movie), and we could close our eyes but will it be fun if the emboldened crazies try to remote-control your children? About the Author To find more of Tessa Lenas work, be sure to check out her bio, Tessa Fights Robots. Republished from Mercola.com Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts arrives to the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 16, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Deafening Silence on Dobbs Leak Undermines Supreme Court as an Institution Commentary Chief Justice John Roberts is said to see defending the Supreme Court as an institution as pivotal to his role on it. On its face then, the courts silence some two months after Roberts announced an investigation into what he termed an egregious breachthe assault on the institution of the court that was the leak of the draft Dobbs opinion that would prevail, returning the question of abortion to its rightful place within the statesis itself an egregious breach. As The Associated Press recently reported, the court is at present mum on whether its still even investigating the leak, as well as on a host of other basic questions about the probe. There were already glaring outstanding questions regarding those few elements of the investigation to which we were privy. For example, we dont know why the marshal of the Supreme Court was particularly well-equipped to lead it, nor the resources the marshal was bringing to bear. We dont know what the probe entails, or entailed, beyond the fact perhaps that rankled staff at the court leaked that it was asking of clerks that they provide cell phone records and sign affidavits in connection with it, and that reportedly the marshal obtained electronic devices from some permanent employees who work closely with the justices. We do not know whether the court will publicly announce the findings of its investigation in whole or partstarting with who the leaker wasnor the punishment the leaker will face, and the steps the court will take to ensure such a leak never happens again. Now, the universe of people who could have obtained and leaked the opinionthe leaker described as a person familiar with the courts proceedings in the Dobbs caseis small. If the court does not by now know who leaked the opinion, it would seem to constitute a breathtaking display of incompetence. If the court does know who leaked the opinion, yet for whatever reason is sitting on its findings, it would seem to constitute a breathtaking display of politics. Thats because, on the merits, the silence is indefensible. What could be of greater import to the institutions integrity and credibility than to demonstrate that it will stop at nothing to, and with great haste, find and bring to justice an individual who would so grievously undermine the courts ability to do its most basic duty: deliberate, discreetly and insulated from political pressure and intimidation. Silence on the leak probe only compounds the error of not ruling expeditiously in the wake of the leak, which fueled what else but a campaign of political pressure and intimidation up to and including threats to the life and limb of the judges. Does the chief justice, so attuned to public opinion about the court, think the probe can be cast as some kind of internal matter to be handled privately, and made to fade into the ether? Do the findings implicate one or several justices, and as such, is the chief justice unsure how to proceed with the public? The longer he remains silent, the greater the speculation will grow. Surely the chief justice does not think promoting such speculation is in the interest of the Court as an institution. Or could it be that the Roberts courts silence is representative of the fact that the chief justices understanding of protecting the Supreme Court as an institution differs from ours? Robertss past attempts to protect the court as an institution can be seen in his rewriting of Obamacare as a tax, lest President Barack Obamas signature achievement be properly rendered unconstitutional; his failed attempt to split the baby in issuing a similarly tortured Dobbs concurrence, while also failing to flip Justice Brett Kavanaugh toward his position and away from that of Justice Samuel Alito; and in the overarching incrementalist approach reflected in many of his rulings, whereby Roberts eschews hewing to the law if, in his view, the results would be too practically jarring, or not deferential enough to precedent, no matter how wrongheaded. For the purported institutionalist, the chief justices continued silence on the Dobbs probe will perpetuate the damage of the egregious breach the longer it persists. It strains credulity to think that after two months, the court would still be in a posture of neither confirming nor denying anything about an investigation that it already announced, and one of the utmost importance. This is about more than meting out justice to an individual for a single act. That act was, in Robertss own words, a betrayal of the confidences of the courta singular blow against this most hallowed of institutions. When is the chief justice going to act like it? Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Police tape blocks the street near the scene of a shooting in Sacramento, California in a file photo. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo) DUI Driver Sentenced to 21 Years in Newport Beach Crash That Killed Couple, Injured 3 Children SANTA ANA, Calif.A 23-year-old woman was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison on July 29 for an alcohol-fueled crash that killed a Santa Ana couple and left their three young daughters hospitalized. Grace Elizabeth Coleman pleaded guilty June 24 when she accepted a plea deal from Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg Prickett, who capped the maximum punishment at 21 years to life in prison, her attorney John Barnett said. Ms. Coleman openly accepted responsibility to the judge for this complete tragedy, Colemans other defense attorney, Paul Meyer, said. We recognize the difficult judicial call in a very tragic case involving a 22-year-old young woman and the truly horrible results of drinking and driving, Meyer said Friday. We appreciate the judges wisdom in balancing the very sad tragedy with Grace Colemans age, full acceptance of responsibility and strong rehabilitation along with her year of selfless community service while in custody. Coleman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as well as single counts each of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, a DUI with a blood-alcohol content exceeding the legal limit of .08 percent or more causing injury, and failure to stop at a hit-and-run with injury or death, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood-alcohol content in excess of the legal limit. Coleman could have faced up to 42 years and eight months to life in prison if convicted at trial. Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker alleged that on the night of the deadly collision in Newport Beach, Dec. 8, 2020, Coleman got a ride home before the crash, but then got back behind the wheel of her vehicle. The misdemeanor DUI charges relate to Colemans arrest in Laguna Beach on Aug. 29. That case was not submitted to prosecutors until Dec. 16, 2020, said Kimberly Edds, a public information officer with the Orange County District Attorneys Office. Under state law, a driver with a prior DUI conviction who is subsequently involved in a deadly DUI crash can be charged with second-degree murder, which carries a life sentence. The same legal principle is applied in some cases for a prior arrest when a suspect has been given what is known as a Watson waiver admonishment. Walker previously said in court that Coleman was involved in a hit-and-run with property damage in 2019 in Laguna Beach. According to now-retired Laguna Beach police Sgt. Jim Cota, the victim reported the collision the following day and submitted video footage, but the two sides later settled the matter between themselves, and no arrest or referral for charges was made to prosecutors. Prosecutors alleged Colemans blood-alcohol level was 0.22%nearly three times the legal limitat the time of the collision that killed Henry Eduardo Saldana-Mejia, 27, of Santa Ana, and his wife, Gabriela Andrade, who would have turned 29 later in December 2020. According to a GoFundMe page created by Andrades sister, the family had been admiring holiday lights in the area that night, and the victims daughters, who are 1, 3, and 5 years old, were dressed in their Christmas pajamas. Santa Ana police raised $8,000 to help the children and bought toys for them for Christmas, said former Santa Ana Police Department Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. They all suffered broken legs and the oldest also had broken arms, Bertagna said. Coleman was driving a black Range Rover southbound on Newport Coast Drive when the SUV collided with the victims Nissan Versa as Saldana was turning onto Pelican Hills Road South at 7:46 p.m., according to Heather Rangel, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Police Department. Rangel said the three children were riding in the back seat of the sedan. She said Coleman possibly ran a red light. Saldana-Mejia and his wife were pronounced dead at the scene. Elon Musk attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on May 2, 2022,. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) Elon Musk Countersues Twitter, Files Response in Lawsuit Tesla CEO Elon Musk has filed a counterclaim against Twitter after the social media company sued the billionaire for walking away from their $44 billion purchase deal. Musks counterclaims are an abrupt escalation in the legal battle between the big tech company and the richest man in the world, where Twitter is suing Musk to complete the acquisition deal he entered into with Twitter on April 25. Musks lawyers alleged that Twitter did not provide the bot user data that the billionaire sought when Musk backed away from the deal on July 8. Twitter sued days later, rejecting Musks assertion and seeking to complete the deal. Musks move against Twitter was made public a day after Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick, the judge overseeing the lawsuit, ordered that the five-day trial was to begin on Oct. 17, 2022. McCormick ordered Twitter to answer the counterclaim on or before Aug. 4, 2022. The discovery phase of the lawsuit ends in the first half of September. It is unclear, as of now, when the public version of Musks counterclaim will be available. The Wall Street Journal confirmed that a redacted version of Musks counterclaim would be available as soon as next week. While the court file was not immediately accessible to the public, Musks legal team had repeatedly hinged its argument on the number of bot accounts on the social media platform, a piece of information that Musks lawyers say was made available to them only after the signing of the deal, but could significantly impact Twitters value. The core dispute over false and spam accounts is fundamental to Twitters value. It is also extremely fact and expert intensive, requiring substantial time for discovery, Musks lawyers said in a July 15 filing requesting a February 2023 trial date, adding that Twitters refusal to provide this information drove Musk to file to walk away from the deal on July 8. Musks lawyers assert that the platforms monetizable daily active users metric is indicative of the proportion of bot accounts on the social media platform. An avid Twitter user himself, Musk previously alluded on Twitter that the discovery phase may lead to more insights into the proportion of bots on Twitter and, therefore, the platforms profitability. Meanwhile, Twitter, in a July 19 hearing, said that Musk has been trying to sabotage the social media company by requesting an unreasonably elongated schedule. Musk has been and remains contractually obligated to use his best efforts to close this deal, William Savitt, the attorney representing Twitter, said during the hearing. Twitter requested during the hearing that a trial take place in September 2022. What hes doing is the exact opposite; its sabotage, Savitt said. The material damage to Twitter, according to the companys July 18 filing, arises from the damage to Twitters relationships with employees and customers in this very public dispute between the platform and Musk. Twitter alleges that Musk, with his more than 100 million Twitter followers, is using [Twitters] own platform as a megaphone to disparage it. Millions of Twitter shares trade daily under a cloud of Musk-created doubt, the social media platforms filing said. No public company of this size and scale has ever had to bear these uncertainties. Judge McCormick, who presided over the hearing, sided closer to Twitter and ordered that a five-day trial take place in October 2022. The reality is that delay threatens irreparable harm to the sellers, McCormick said in her ruling, referring to Twitter. The longer the delay, the greater the risk. EndCCP Tour of United States Shares Call for No More Communism Will reach about 20 states in a 3 week tour: Organizer The fourth EndCCP Tour of America kicked off July 23 from New York. A team of about 50 volunteers started their journey across America in 15 cars. The 3-week tour will reach major metro areas and tourist sites in about 20 states, according to the organizer. The EndCCP Tour, sponsored by the New York-based Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), aims at bringing awareness to the world about the evil of communism and the CCP. The first long-distance EndCCP Tour commenced in September 2021. Along with the EndCCP.com petition launched in June 2020, tours have taken place in numerous countries in Europe and North America. Large display boards, mounted atop the vehicles carrying messages, such as End the Evil Chinese Communist Party, No More Communism, The CCP Brings Destruction, etc. have attracted attention and praise along the way. Milwaukee Resident Welcomes Tour As the convoy arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 26, two Milwaukee residents, Jefferson Davis and Katie Forester gave them a warm welcome. Davis, owner of a financial planning business, recalled his encounter with the third EndCCP Tour in Florida. Milwaukee resident and financial service business owner Jefferson Davis holds a framed photo of a previous EndCCP Tour as he welcomes the fourth EndCCP Tour convoy in Milwaukee, Wis., on July 26, 2022. (Sarah Lu/Epoch Times) It was on Christmas day last year, my wife and I were in Clearwater, Florida, when we saw cars with big signs parked by the beach. We went and talked to them. Davis learned about the goal of the EndCCP tour and was very moved. We share many things in common, we value freedom, independence, and liberty. You came here to America to escape communism and suppression. We dont want any of that here. Thats why we came down here to celebrate what you are doing all over our wonderful country. Touching and Heartwarming Upon hearing the news of the fourth tour passing by Milwaukee, Davis brought his friend Katie Forester along to greet the tour participants. Forester is an entrepreneur, together with her husband, they own a couple of restaurants and some other businesses. Restaurant owner and entrepreneur Katie Forester welcomes the fourth EndCCP Tour convoy in Milwaukee, Wis., on July 26, 2022. (Sarah Lu/Epoch Times) Now its time to step up to protect our freedom, to make sure our elections are free and fair. So we are not taken over by the CCP or any other nefarious group that is trying to destroy our country, Forester said. I am blown away by the number of people here, I didnt know what to expect. Its so inspiring to see all of you and what you are doing. You are doing a lot more than a lot of Americans! Its very touching and heartwarming. You are protecting our country and therefore protecting the rest of the world. I hope more Americans can wake up and see whats happening. I appreciate everything you guys are doing, Forester told the tour participants. I support the EndCCP petition This is our fourth long-distance tour across America, team captain Michael Yu said. When we are on the go, people would honk in support of our messages. When we are at rest stops, people chat with us and sign the EndCCP.com petition. Its been a very encouraging experience. Will Brininstool supports the EndCCP petition when the EndCCP Tour was resting at the parking lot in Michigan on July 25, 2022. (Sarah Lu/Epoch Times) At a parking lot in Michigan, people were excited to see the messages, and many signed the EndCCP petition. Contractor Will Brininstool said that he supports the EndCCP petition, because the CCP is influencing Americans, it is influencing our schools. There are a lot of children who are born in America but are embarrassed by the [American] flag. We believe that God gives us the rights, not the government. The government [should] protect our rights. Thats what were born with. Thats what makes America special. In Milwaukee, the tour bumped into the Northwestern Mutual annual conference, where thousands of the employees gathered in person for the first time since 2019. A financial advisor Ms. Tsai said that she is from Singapore, and that her great grandparents emigrated to Singapore to escape from the CCP. So, the reason I have a good life is because they made that decision. Tsai signed the petition and said, I dont trust [CCPs] motives. I dont think that they will be responsible world leaders in any way, shape, or form. I dont agree with their efforts to suppress freedom in Taiwan and Tibet. I just dont think that they respect human rights. The EndCCP Tour of America covered 9 states in its first 4 days, and it will continue westward lasting about three weeks, finishing where it started in New York on July 23, 2022. (Google map screenshot by The Epoch Times) The first 4 days into the tour, the team drove westward about 2,000 miles crossing nine states. By end of July, almost 2.5 million people around the world have signed the EndCCP petition. This week, we feature military and war-related selections: the gripping memoir of a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot and a biography of an enigmatic Band of Brothers hero. Fiction We Need Our Heroes Rising Tiger By Brad Thor An American agent is assassinated in Rajasthan, India. An Indian Air Force helicopter is downed. The threat is global, and the enemy is powerful. Time to unleash Americas deadly operative Scot Harvath, who has the unparalleled skill set to bring the bad actors to justice. Atria/Emily Bestler Books, 2022, 336 pages Boots on the Ground Fields of Fire By James Webb An Annapolis graduate and former U.S. senator, James Webb saw combat as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam and delivers that experience in this novel. Here, we meet several Marines serving in the An Hoa Basin in 1969, young Americans battling a tough enemy in an unpopular war. The combat scenes come alive through Webbs vivid prose, his knowledge of tactics and small-unit fighting, and his understanding of the hearts and minds of these Marines. The final 20 pages masterfully capture the ambiguities of this war. Bantam, 2001, 480 pages Memoir A Pilots View of the Battle of Britain Arise to Conquer: The Real Hurricane Pilot By Dilip Sarkar Ian Richard Gleed was an RAF fighter pilot among Churchills few who defeated the Luftwaffe. In 1942, he put his experiences down in a fictionalized memoir, one of the earliest first-person accounts of the battle available to the public, showing what it was like to be a fighter pilot during the opening days of World War II. This edition is worth reading because of the editors explanatory introduction and because it contains 60 previously unpublished wartime photos of Gleeds squadron. Air World, 2022, 232 pages History An Inspiring Story About Aeronautics Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race By Margot Lee Shetterly Before electronic computers appeared, calculations now done by these machines were done by hand. The work was exacting and unexciting. World War II expanded the need for human calculators. NACA (NASAs predecessor) opened positions to blacks. Several black women, through sheer competence, gained positions of great responsibility, even serving as engineers despite lacking engineering degrees. This book presents their accomplishments. William Morrow, 2016, 368 pages Biography A Band of Brothers Story Fierce Valor: The True Story of Ronald Speirs and His Band of Brothers By Erik Dorr and Jared Frederick Ronald Speirs quickly became a fan favorite for those who watched HBOs Band of Brothers, and those hoping to learn more about the enigmatic and incredibly brave lieutenant can discover what happened to him after World War II. Was he a killer or just a very good soldier? This book helps explain the mystery behind the man. Regnery History, 2022, 400 pages Classics Pascals Pensees Edited, Outlined, and Explained Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascals Pensees Edited, Outlined, and Explained By Peter Kreeft Blaise Pascal was brillianta scientist, mathematician, and inventorwhom Kreeft believes was centuries ahead of his time. He was also the author of Pensees, a Christian apologetics that Kreeft finds perfect for our modern age of doubt. Kreeft gives us many of Pascals passages and then analyzes them, spreading before us a feast of ideas for thought and discussion. Remarkable in his own right as an entertaining and erudite Christian writer, Kreeft and his talents shine in his quest to introduce Pascal to our confused age. Ignatius Press, 1993, 341 pages For Kids Introduction to the Rebus The Fantastic 5 & 10 Store: A Rebus Adventure By J. Patrick Lewis and Valorie Fisher An old 5- and 10-cent store comes to life in this rebus storythe classic form in which pictures are used to represent some words or word parts, creating a puzzle of sorts that readers can solve in order to decipher the story. Schwartz & Wade, 2010, 40 pages A Feast for the Eyes Annos Journey By Mitsumasa Anno This book without words offers a trip through Northern Europe. The artwork is beautiful, and the visitor encounters storybook and historical characters, visual jokes and puzzles, and scenes from cities and the countryside. This book is for readers aged 4 to 8. Puffin Books, 1997, 48 pages EXCLUSIVE: Capitol Police Officers Were Investigated, Some Found Guilty of Being Friendly to Jan. 6 Protesters Many investigations were prompted by anonymous tips Despite the mounting evidence continuously exposed by The Epoch Times that some law enforcement officers engaged in brutal, unprovoked attacks against essentially peaceful Jan. 6 protesters, every one of them has been cleared of wrongdoing. However, several documents obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times show other officers were investigated for being friendly with protesters, six of whom were found guilty and disciplined for their actions. According to a Sept. 12, 2021, news report, the U.S. Capitol Police Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) launched 38 internal investigations related to police conduct on Jan. 6, 2021. Many of the investigations were prompted by anonymous tips after USCP personnel were encouraged to report any misconduct by USCP employees. Bulletin No. 21.13, published Jan. 13, 2021, announced the establishment of the Office of Professional Responsibility Tip Line encouraging U.S. Capitol Police personnel to report any misconduct by USCP employees that occurred during the events on Janury 6, 2021. (U.S. Capitol Police) However, the OPR was only able to identify the officers involved in 26 of the 38 incidents. Twenty-five of these reports were obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times, some of which are outlined below. The Reports In some of these cases, officers were investigated for simply bumping elbows (pdf), shaking hands (pdf), and fist bumping (pdf) with protesters who had entered the Capitol building. Another officer was investigated because he had an Oathkeeper bumper sticker on his personal vehicle (pdf), which allegedly brought the Department into disrepute. None of the officers involved in these cases were found guilty of wrongdoing. In another report, an unnamed officer was accused of violating the USCP rules of conduct when he allegedly made contact with three unidentified and unauthorized male individuals in what appeared to be recognition and possible friendship and then initiated fist bumps with the men, who were part of the protest at the Capitol (pdf). The report goes on to disclose that the unnamed officer had come into possession of what looked like a two way radio with a small antenna, which was not a USCP Department issued radio. The radio had allegedly been abandoned near the Capitol Rotunda doors by a protester. During questioning, the unnamed officer said he found the radio and picked it up. I didnt want anyone else getting their hands on it that shouldnt have their hands on it so I was securing it, he said. The officer was temporarily suspended from his duties, but as with the preceding cases, the OPR ultimately determined there was insufficient evidence to establish that the officer had nefarious intentions after retrieving the radio. Some Officers Found Guilty While the majority of the investigations concluded the accused officers were not guilty of violating any rules, others were not as lucky. Of the 26 incidents investigated, the USCP announced that disciplinary action was recommended in six cases. Three of these were for conduct unbecoming. Another was for improper remarks. One other was for improper dissemination of information, and another one was for failure to comply with directives. Reports for five of the six cases were among those obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times. Conduct Unbecoming One of the cases, No. 21-002 (pdf), involved an officer who allegedly violated USCPs rules of conduct on Jan. 6 when he posed for several pictures with Pro-Trump supporters who had entered the Capitol. Screenshot from footage filmed on Jan. 6, 2021, and posted to social media by journalist Timothy Burke. (U.S. Capitol Police) The OPR received numerous complaints, via telephone and at least 170 emails received in one day, regarding photographs that appeared in news stories and on a live Twitter video of a USCP officer posing with rioters after the Capitol Building was breached. The video, no longer available online, had accrued an estimated 18.5 million views by 3:42 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, and an additional 162,000 people were posting on Twitter about it. Crime novelist Don Winslow even offered a $20,000 reward to anyone who could identify the officer. The report added that during a Jan. 7, 2021, interview conducted by WUSA9, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said, Some people are worried today that some police were complicit with the protesters. Its one thing to be friendly and to de-escalate the violence. But its one thing to take selfies with them (rioters) and let them go through the lines. In case No. 21-018 (pdf), the OPR received a social media video clip from another anonymous tipster showing a bicycle officer stopping to allow someone to take a selfie with him. During his interrogation, the officer was shown the social media clip and asked if he recalled stopping to take the photo. No maam, he replied. I had people coming up to me and videoing me all day long. Pictures and videos of officers all day long. So, I mean, there was a lot going on that day. He went on to say hed been sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray and had been fighting with protesters all day. Thats a traumatic life event, he said. I mean, I never experienced anything like that in my life thought I never would. The investigation concluded that the charges of conduct unbecoming against the officer were sustained. In case No. 21-039 (pdf), another officer was charged with violating the USCP rules of conduct for allegedly posing for a photograph with a man later identified as Daniel Diaz, a protester who was inside the Capitol. Daniel Diaz (L) takes a selfie with an unnamed Capitol Police officer on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Capitol Police) On Feb. 19, 2021, inspector Jason Bell forwarded the following email from the FBI to the OPR: I was given your name by our Command Post here at the WFO. I am investigating a subject named Daniel Diaz. We believe we have enough for an arrest warrant for his role on 01/06/2021 at the US Capitol. We are using his Facebook account as evidence as he posted multiple photos/videos/comments at the Capitol. One of the photos we will use in the warrant is of Diaz taking a selfie with one of your officers. The arrest warrants are public so I just wanted to give you a heads up that this is happening so you all arent blindsided by it. The photo is attached. I am not sure when the arrest warrant will be issued. Fee/free to contact me to discuss further. During his interrogation, the report says the unnamed officer said he told Diaz to take the photograph with him so it could be used as evidence against Diaz once an investigation took place. But investigators were dissatisfied that the officer didnt alert his superiors, the investigations division, or the FBI until four days later when he was interviewed as a victim of the events. The investigation concluded that the charges of conduct unbecoming against this officer were also sustained. Failure to Comply With Directives The officer involved in case No. 21-010 (pdf) was deemed guilty of failure to comply with directives because he shared social media posts with conservative viewpoints about gun control and the general state of the country that were deemed to be in sympathy with the Jan. 6 protesters. He also displayed the USCP logo to honor USCP Officer Brian Sicknick, who died of natural causes after the Capitol breach. Investigators received an anonymous tip from a longtime acquaintance of the officer, who attached screenshots of the officers Facebook page. Please note I am aware that Officers [redacted] politics leaned conservative, the tipster said in a Jan. 11, 2021, email to the OPR. And that in and of itself obviously plays no role into his fitness for duty in the Capitol. Having political opinions in one direction or another is only human and natural. However, the message from the riots in the Capitol was one of insurrection against the institutions of government and democracy in this country. And looking over the posts from Officer [redacted] since January 6th, I have a hard time reconciling tributes to a colleague murdered by this anti-democratic mob on one hand, and messages that appear to be in sympathy and support of those involved in such a murder on the other hand. As reported by The Epoch Times, a Washington medical examiner confirmed on April 19, 2021, that Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, Improper Dissemination of Information In case No. 21-015 (pdf), another anonymous tipster turned in a friend of forty years, who is a special agent in the protective services bureau, because the agent had disclosed in a conversation with an anonymous friend that members of Congress had been taken to a secure location during the breach of the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021. While the tipster said he believed it was inappropriate for [redacted] to reveal where members were evacuated, he admitted the agent did not state any specific information about SECURE LOCATION other than it was a location that members were evacuated to. The tipster did not indicate that the agent assisted the rioters in any way, but he said he was uncomfortable with how this friend has associated himself with the rioters and the people that were sympathetic with Trump and stealing the election and overturning the election. Because of that, the tipster said he believed the agent was part of that cult. The OPR concluded from its investigation that the charges against the special agent were sustained. Similar Evidence, Different Standards A Feb. 26, 2021, memorandum from OPR Commander Inspector Michael Shaffer regarding case No. 21-026 states the OPR received an email alleging a USCP officer punched a citizen without reason. Screenshot from a video used in a January 2021 report of suspected police brutality. (U.S. Capitol Police) While the report says a review of the provided images disclosed that the officer was not a member of the USCP, the agency continues to refer to the individual as an officer and shows him wearing a vest with the word police on the back. Then the report claims the mask the officer is wearing in the image makes it impossible to identify him. In addition, the images do not show the officer striking anyone, only their arm extended, the report states further, noting that the images are of such poor quality that it cannot be determined whether or not this incident occurred on U.S. Capitol Grounds and that the officer is also wearing a facemask where only the area around their eyes visible [sic] making identification highly improbable. However, this photo is similar to several that are being used as evidence against Jan. 6 prisoners, but viewed by different standards. As reported on July 5 by The Epoch Times, two Jan. 6 attorneys are claiming the government is manufacturing evidence to arrest and incarcerate their defendants. Screengrab from a video used by the FBI to prove its allegation that Jan. 6 defendant Bryan Mock kicked a police officer who was on the ground. (FBI) The screenshot of an image showing Jan. 6 defendant Bryan Mock with his right knee lifted has been used to accuse him of kicking an officer who was on the ground. However, the full video shows that Mock was in the process of falling backward when the screenshot was taken from the video, and his foot never made contact with the officer. A series of still frames pulled from videos were used to allege that Jan. 6 defendant Christopher Worrell sprayed police officers with pepper gel. However, there is no image actually showing police officers being struck with pepper gel. Screengrab from video used by the FBI to prove the allegation that Chris Worrell sprayed police with pepper gel. However, the image does not show police being struck with pepper gel. (FBI Criminal Complaint) Screengrab from video used by the FBI to prove the allegation that Chris Worrell sprayed police with pepper gel. However, the image does not show police being struck with pepper gel. (FBI) The Epoch Times reached out to the OPR for comment. Former District Councillors: Hong Kong District Council Elections to Become a Thing of the Past The current District Councils in Hong Kong expire at the end of 2023. Chief Executive (CE) John Lee Ka-chiu first responded to whether the District Councils should be retained or abolished when he attended the Legislative Council Q&A session on July 6. If necessary, a decision should be made, and a plan should be set up before the next election. He added that he would examine the inefficacy, damage, and problems of the current system, implying that District Council elections may become a thing of the past. The Epoch Times interviewed three former District Councillors. All of them expect the government to abolish all elected District Council seats and replace all members of the district administrative advisory bodies with appointees instead. All to be Decided Before the Next Election On July 6, John Lee attended his first Legislative Council Q&A session. A Member of the Election Committee for the Legislative Council, Andrew Lam Siu-lo, asked, What specific plans and timetables are there for the reform and arrangement of the local administration? Lee replied, A real decision and plan must be in place before the next election of the District Councils, if any are needed. We will examine all our past experiences, the problems that had occurred in the failure or even destruction of the entire system in the past because we must comply with the requirements of the Basic Law, and see how Hong Kong can form an effective regional administration. Lee did not explain what he meant by the inefficacy, damage, and problems of the current system. The Epoch Times reporter looked through the governments 2021 promotional pamphlet to improve the electoral system and found one photo in the Shatin District Council chamber. There was a Lennon Wall, also some pro-democracy District Councillors holding demonstrative banners such as Carrie Lam Step Down, Accountability for the Shooting, and the likes. Some parts of the text in that promotional pamphlet had such statements: Radical elements entered the Hong Kong political circle via the then electoral system and used their status as public officials to sabotage and paralyze the administrations governance. After gaining a majority in the District Council elections, they then planned an illegal primary election to plot for other ambitions such as the 35+ (an attempt to win more than 35 seats in the Legislative Council elections in 2020). The same pamphlet also claimed that the District Council elections spawned, politicized and extremist chaos, causing this formerly non-governmental regional organization to deviate from its original nature and orientation. It was on the verge of failure, causing many complaints from residents in the different districts. All the above content might reflect the governments stance on the current District Councils. In 2019, during the anti-extradition movement, the democrats and non-establishment factions won the District Council elections by a considerable margin. From that victory, they captured a total of 388 seats and gained control of 17 (out of 18) district councils. However, in 2021, the government intentionally let it be known that the DQ (disqualification) process of the councillors will be implemented first by requiring them to swear an oath of allegiance. Then even after taking the oath, there would still be the chance of being disqualified. When that happened, the respective councillors would be liable for refunding nearly one million dollars in salary and allowances. Consequently, there was a wave of resignations upfront. Adding those disqualified after swearing the oath, 333 District Councillors seats have remained vacant until today. The net effect is that there are fifty-two non-establishment District Councillors against ninety-three from the pro-establishment faction, resulting in the democrats losing their overall advantage. All Former Councillors Interviewed Are Pessimistic Daniel Kwok Tsz-kin: The district council election will likely be canceled: Former Kwai Tsing District Councillor Daniel Kwok Tsz-kin speculated in an interview with The Epoch Times that John Lee might refer to last years so-called improvement of the electoral system and abolish the system of electing District Council members altogether. Kwok believes that the resignation of the pro-democracy District Councillors and the subsequent DQ process had taken place almost a year ago. Since then, he observed that the channel for the government to obtain opinions of the people through the District Councils had nearly disappeared completely, and the local administration had lost all its effective media and public interaction. If it continues and extends, more ineffective policies and measures will be implemented, which will intensify public grievances and create what can be seen as a vicious circle. He hopes that the people of Hong Kong will become more united. Although the civic groups had been dissolved, the citizens could still form their neighborhood organizations, working together to help each other. Please keep it in good shape, and be able to take good care of everyone around them. Carmen Lau Ka-man: Not unexpected but very disappointed: In an interview with The Epoch Times, former Wong Tai Sin District Councillor Carmen Lau Ka-man pointed out that after the resignation of District Councillors en masse and the DQ process in 2021, the government had not held any by-elections, which reflects the governments desire to shake up the District Councils. So, she would not be surprised by the abolition of elected district councils in the end. But she was still very disappointed because Hong Kong would have no real public representatives anymore. Lau noticed that since 2021 when there was a lack of public opinion representatives to deal with regional policies, some citizens spontaneously formed their organizations to look after regional issues and tried self-help. Ben Lam Siu-pan: Consultative democracy is no longer needed: Lam Siu-pan, a former member of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council who was a member of the Fire Safety Committee, made his analysis in an interview with The Epoch Times that the District Council was a regional advisory body established by the British Hong Kong government after the riots in 1967 to promote consultative democracy. The prime intention was to collect local public opinions and turn social movements on the streets into orderly parliamentary behaviors. It was an attempt to channel public grievances and maintain social stability. He pointed out that, on the contrary, the current political atmosphere has changed drastically. The Hong Kong government is implementing a policy of high-pressed governance. It does not pay attention to public opinions during policy implementation. At the same time, it also prohibits demonstrations, DQ duly elected candidates, and sends opposition figures to prison instead of bringing them to become part of the system. Furthermore, they view overthrowing the system set up by the British Hong Kong government as one form of showing political loyalty. Lam estimates that the elected District Council members will be replaced by members of the District Committees, Fire Safety Committees, and Fight Crime Committees, all appointed by the government. Ultimately, all District Council elections will become a thing of the past. For Lee, before the 2019 District Council elections, the District Councils were dominated by pro-Communist factions and were the governments cheering teams. But the government does not need cheering teams anymore because it has ignored public opinions altogether. From Sponsorship to Coercion: Senates Report Tells How the CCP Traps Fed Reserves Officials to Spy The Federal Reserve economists have been targets of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for years, a report (pdf) made available on July 26 by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs indicates. China considers financial knowledge and economic capability to be a lynchpin to its military modernization efforts, the report said. The report revealed how the regime attracted American professionals throughout its decades of espionage. Certain identifying information of individuals had been removed, At the request of the Federal Reserve Board, to avoid interfering with any ongoing investigations, and in keeping with the Committees practice, the report said. The Targets The CCP uses a number of tactics to target Federal Reserve officials, ranging from outright threats and coercion, to softer tactics, such as sponsorship. The motivation, however, is the same: China obtaining access to sensitive economic and monetary policy information, the report said. The cases reported in the investigation show that the specific Federal Reserve officials the CCP targets are the ones who have access to the security data used by the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) who implements U.S. monetary policy, and oversees market operations. The Soft Tactics Individual A, for instance, is a senior official at the Federal Reserve Bank, with Class III FOMC information access eligibility. In 2010, he was first lured with joining the recruitment plan of the Thousand Talents Program, a CCP program designed to attract distinguished Chinese experts abroad to facilitate the transfer of Western research and technology to China. The U.S. Department of Justice announces that Dr. Xiao-Jiang Li, a Chinese professor, was sentenced for concealing his participation in the CCP Thousand Talents Program and for not reporting this foreign income on his federal income tax returns over several years, on May 11, 2020. (The Epoch Times/Screenshot via The Epoch Times) Individual A acknowledged that he joined the Thousand Talents Program in exchange for sponsorship by a Chinese university. The connection won him visiting professorship at Chinese state-run academic institutions, a collaborative research agreement and employment contract for a professorship related with the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), and ties to a senior university administrator affiliated with the CCPs Organization Department, a highly influential department within the CCPs Central Committee that oversees nearly every senior position in the country and administers Chinas talents programs, according to the report. The Coercion However, the CCP forcibly detained him on four occasions during a trip to China in 2019. During the forced meetings, he was asked to sign non-disclosure documents about the meetings. The Chinese officials threatened Individual As family, tapped his phones and computers, accused him of crimes against China, and demanded that he say good things about China while in the United States. On two subsequent occasions, Chinese officials interrogated Individual A about his position with the Federal Reserveas well as his views on the trade war and Chinas economy. The Chinese officials demanded that he cooperate with the regime and share sensitive, non-public economic data to which he has access as a Federal Reserve economist, and to advise CCP senior officials on sensitive economic issues, including trade tariffs and FOMC information. Lack of Protection The Federal Reserve reported the incident to the FBI and the Department of State after receiving Individual As account of what he experienced. The FBI then interviewed Individual A, the report said. Following the notification and interview, neither the FBI nor State Department advised the Federal Reserve regarding what to do to prevent and mitigate such incidents going forward. Without assistance, the Federal Reserve was not sure what else could be done to protect [its] people, said the report. According to the report, on July 18, 2019, the Federal Reserve issued a general warning to all economists about travel to China. Zhang Ting contributed to this report. GOPers Tee Up New Oversight Probe of Foreign Influence, Political Bias in NSF Grants Three Republican senators are launching an oversight investigation to determine why measures to bar foreign influences on the hundreds of millions of tax dollars awarded annually by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have not been implemented. The senatorsRand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Richard Burr of North Carolinaalso want answers on NSF grants in recent years that appear to be intended to favor ideological interest groups in American public policy. Paul is the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on emerging threats and spending oversight. Cruz is the top GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Paul and Cruz are likely to be in influential positions next year if Republicans regain the Senate majority in Novembers mid-term elections. Burr is retiring at the end of his present term and will not be in the Senate in 2023. We have a growing concern that tens of millions of dollars have and continue to be spent on studies of questionable value. While not all of these studies are obvious wastes of taxpayer dollars, many still raise major concerns about the importance of your agencys mission, the senators told NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan in a letter made public on July 29. These concerns are compounded when NSF funds research projects with a particular political bent, the Senators continued. While NSF enjoys independent status in order to protect the agencys scientific mission, grants such as these call into question the NSFs impartiality and whether the agency considers it is appropriate to fund projects leveraged for political advocacy. The NSF has a 2022 budget of $8.8 billion from which it funds more than 11,000 studies from among the 41,000 proposals the agency receives each year. The senators warned Panchanathan that they will have many more questions in addition to those posed by the letter because we live in a time where most Americans are trying to make ends meet to put food on the table and gas in the cars, meanwhile our government agencies seem to be spending money frivolously on a wish list of special interest research projects. A spokesman for the NSF did not respond to The Epoch Times request for comment on the letter. At the center of the lengthy letter is the senators desire to know why NSF apparently has not implemented Government Accounting Office (GAO) recommendations in a 2020 report for preventing conflicts of interest in both foreign and domestic grant recipients. NSF stated it had taken action to address the risk of foreign influence. However, as of February 2022, NSF had not taken any action to address GAOs specific 2020 recommendations, the letter said. The senators also pointed to multiple examples of grants they believe display evidence of being intended to boost political special interests, including a $650,000 grant in 2016 to study whether undergraduate programs based on social justice ideas advance students understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. In a 2017 grant, according to the senators, NSF awarded $50,000 for a study to understand the sources for the resurgent conflict between Russia and the United States. The senators want to know what, if any, safeguards NSF has to ensure the grant is free of foreign influence. They also want to know if the five-year grant is continuing even though its end-date was June 2020. Other questions the senators posed to the NSF chief included whether the agency has any procedures in place to make certain a grant funded by U.S. taxpayers will not benefit foreign adversaries, if there are specific countries that are prevented from receiving grants, and does the agency have any policies against funding research in conjunction with foreign entities of concern like the Peoples Liberation Army? The letter to Panchanathan concluded by noting that on June 30, 2021, you received a set of letters with questions about outstanding recommendations made by the [Office of the Inspector-General] OIG and GAO to either reduce the risk or address identified instances of fraud, waste, and abuse. In a follow-up report, the OIG told Congress that it had found $2.6 million of questioned costs from four audited NSF award recipients, and recommended that NSF direct award recipients to strengthen controls over the areas that led to the questioned costs and that NSF recover the questioned costs. The senators want to know if NSF resolved those issues as it promised to do no later than March 31, 2022. Firefighters work on extinguishing the Costal Fire in Laguna Niguel, Calif., on May 11, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Growing Population of Californians Live in Wildfire Danger Zones: Report A growing number of Californians now live near wildfire danger zones as the state builds more homes to combat its housing crisis, according to a July 28 report by Chapman University. Nearly 13 percent of the states population lives in areas at-risk for wildfires like those threatening structures and scorching thousands of acres in Northern California, the Bay Area, and near Yosemite National Park, according to the universitys science and engineering student researchers using U.S. Census data. Rapid housing development in response to the states housing crisis has driven the increase, according to project mentor Shenyue Jia, a postdoctoral researcher with the Institute for Earth, Computing, Human and Observing at Chapman University. In California, such pressures are largely driven by the increase of human populations and rapid real estate development in response to the housing crisis, Jia said. Understanding which regions experienced significant population growth over the past decade can identify communities at greater risk of wildfire, especially when using the most recent demographic data. Areas at-risk of wildfires in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Riverside counties grew the most in the past decade. Riverside has the highest number of residents living in housing tracks in the wildfire danger zones, according to the study. Meanwhile, firefighters continued to make progress on the Oak Fire near Yosemite National Park this week. The fire has consumed more than 19,000 acres and was nearly 40 percent contained July 28, according to state fire officials. Health care workers protest against NorthShore University HealthSystem's vaccine mandate outside Evanston Hospital in Evanston, Ill., on Oct. 12, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Health Care Workers Who Sued Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Win $10 Million Settlement A group of health care workers who sued their hospital over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate are slated to receive $10 million, according to a settlement agreement filed on July 29. About a dozen workers at the NorthShore University HealthSystem in Illinois lodged the suit in October 2021, arguing that the facility was illegally not granting religious exemptions to the mandate. After eight months of negotiations, the workers and NorthShore have agreed to settle this case, according to a memorandum filed in federal court. Under the settlements terms, NorthShore will pay $10,337,500 into a settlement fund for workers affected by its mandatespecifically, workers who between July 1, 2021, and Jan. 1, 2022, asked for a religious accommodation and were denied and either received a vaccine to avoid termination or were fired or resigned. About 473 workers fit under that category. NorthShore will also adjust its vaccine mandate to enhance its accommodation procedures for individuals with approved exemptions for sincerely held religious belief. Workers fired because they refused to get vaccinated due to their religious beliefs are eligible to apply for re-employment. U.S. District Judge John Kness, the Trump appointee overseeing the case, was asked to approve the proposed settlement. Liberty Counsel, the legal group representing the platiniffs, described the settlement as a first-of-its-kind for an action against a private employer who denied hundreds of requests for religious exemptions to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The drastic policy change and substantial monetary relief required by the settlement will bring a strong measure of justice to NorthShores employees who were callously forced to choose between their conscience and their jobs, Horatio Mihet, vice president of legal affairs at the group, said in a statement. This settlement should also serve as a strong warning to employers across the nation that they cannot refuse to accommodate those with sincere religious objections to forced vaccination mandates, he added. Fund If the agreement is approved, affected workers could apply for money from the $10 million fund. Each worker who eventually got a vaccine despite raising religious objections would be eligible for approximately $3,000 while those who were fired or resigned could get up to about $25,000, according to estimates. The final amounts will depend on how many workers apply for money, among other factors. In addition, the agreement sets aside $260,000 for the named plaintiffs in the case. Each would be slated to receive about $20,000, on top of the other funds. Liberty Counsel is also asking for $2 million in attorneys fees, or about 20 percent of the total settlement. The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 31, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) House Passes Assault Weapons Ban Along Party Lines, Likely Doomed in the Senate The House of Representatives on July 29 passed legislation that would ban so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and dubbed the Assault Weapons Ban Act, passed in a mostly party-line 217213 vote. Though the definition of assault weapon has long been contested, the bill defines such weapons as semiautomatic assault weapon[s] or large capacity ammunition feeding device[s] and makes the importation, manufacturing, transferring, or possession of such items a crime. This would also include some semiautomatic handguns. The bill exempts firearms that require a manual action between rounds to prepare the gun to fire again, including things like bolt-, pump-, lever-, or slide-action mechanisms. Also exempt are firearms that have been rendered permanently inoperable or are classified as antiques. In addition, the bill contains a short list of rifle and shotgun models that are specifically exempted. The bill also allows the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of otherwise-prohibited firearms for law enforcement or authorized research purposes, as well as for activities related to securing nuclear materials. Retired law enforcement officers would also be permitted to own the banned weapons. The proposed ban would not apply to any firearms already in existence. Weapons that were manufactured before the effective date of the ban could still be legally bought, sold, and owned. This grandfather clause is similar to a clause contained in President Ronald Reagans 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act, which banned the manufacture of new automatic weapons for private use after May 1986. High-capacity magazinesdefined in the bill as magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds of ammunitionwould be removed from circulation, but current owners would be allowed to keep the magazines already in their possession. The bill would also require that high-capacity magazines and prohibited weapons manufactured for law enforcement purposes display the date of manufacture and serial numbers. Finally, the bill would seek to reduce the number of firearms and magazines in circulation through a buyback program. Democrats, Republicans Split on Issue Democrats said that the bill, which is very similar to a 1994 bill, is essential in the wake of a string of high-profile shootings in recent months. Assault weapons, especially when combined with a high-capacity magazine, are the weapon of choice for mass shootings, said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.). These military-style weapons are designed to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time. Quite simply, there is no place for them in our streets, Nadler said. Referencing the 1994 semiautomatic weapons ban, Nadler said: In 1994 we banned these killing machines, and countless lives were saved. But Republicans allowed [that bill] to lapse. Since then, we have seen the predictable results: mass shootings have increased exponentially in our public spaces: schools, movie theaters, supermarkets, houses of worshipyou name ithave all become vulnerable to attack. How many more mass shootings do we have to endure? Nadler added. Republicans, on the other hand, excoriated the bill as a violation of law-abiding citizens Second Amendment rights. For years Democrats told us theyre not coming for your guns, said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in an impassioned speech on the House floor. Oh yes they are! Lets be clear: the Second Amendment is as clear as possibleand thats their beefthe Second Amendment says The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,' Jordan continued. But they dont care. In fact, [Cicilline] said so in committee. He said, quote: Spare me the B.S. about constitutional rights. They dont care about that fundamental liberty that law-abiding citizens in this country enjoy, Jordan said. Slim Chance in Senate Initially, the bill was set for consideration on July 27. However, that vote was delayed after infighting among Democrats threw into doubt the possibility of advancing the legislation through the House. Because Democrats hold the lower chamber by four seats, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) couldnt afford to lose a single vote on the legislation, which is likely to face unified GOP opposition. The bill advanced quickly through the House Judiciary Committee on July 20 despite unanimous Republican opposition. This bill is only the latest in a series of efforts by Democrats in the House and Senate seeking to advance stricter gun control laws. At the end of June, a compromise gun bill brokered in the Senate between Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) won enough support to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold, and has since passed the House and been signed into law by President Joe Biden. While the measure was a victory for gun control proponents and a stinging defeat to Second Amendment advocates, Democrats have little chance of being able to replicate the feat with more wide-reaching firearms legislation. The latest bill will now go to the Senate for consideration, where it will almost certainly fail to gain the 10 GOP votes needed to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Hundreds of guns were hidden in car panels and doors as part of an international weapon-smuggling operation. These handguns are in a 2013 file photo. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Hundreds of Guns Smuggled From Cleveland to Beirut in Used Cars, Indictment Says Smugglers hid firearms inside used cars and then shipped them overseas, U.S. authorities said this week, revealing details of what they say was an international operation based in and near Cleveland, Ohio. The gun-running operation allegedly sent hundreds of guns to Beirut, Lebanon, where they were resold at a profit, a news release from federal agencies said. The documents do not say how much money may have changed hands in the scheme. Interpol was involved in the arrest of one of the two suspects, Jean Youssef Issa, 48, earlier this month, more than six years after he and George Nakhle Ajaltouni, 47, formerly of North Olmsted, near Cleveland, were named as co-conspirators in a federal indictment. The gun-running operation allegedly used vehicles being transported on a cargo ship. (Tobias Tullius/Unsplash) That indictment was filed in 2016 but remained secret until a federal judge unsealed it this week, at law enforcements request. Ajaltouni remains at large and police are seeking the publics help to locate him. He is featured in an FBI Most Wanted poster. Ajaltouni, who is said to use 10 aliases, was born in Lebanon and authorities believe he still lives there, but he may travel to Cyprus and France. He may be with a fellow Lebanese national Nakhle Mike Nader, who is also wanted by the FBI on a separate income-tax-evasion indictment. Nader is not accused of involvement in the alleged gun-smuggling scheme. Indictments against all three men had remained under seal for several years while authorities searched for them. But officials asked a federal judge to unseal the records as of July 25, 20 days after Issas arrest under an Interpol Red Notice, a worldwide request for law enforcement to find and provisionally arrest a suspect. George Nakhle Ajaltouni. (FBI photo) Court records do not say specifically where Issa was arrested, nor do they disclose where he was being held, or his current extradition status. Daniel Ball, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Northern District of Ohio, said he could not provide additional information about Issa and had no photo of him. In the recently unsealed indictment, Ajaltouni and Issa are charged with conspiracy to smuggle and illegally ship firearms, smuggling goods from the United States, unlawful delivery of firearms to a common carrier, and control of arms exports and imports. Ajaltouni is also accused of a separate charge of unlicensed dealing in firearms. The alleged conspiracy involved buying firearms from federal dealers, gun shows, and private sellers between May 2011 and September 2014. Ajaltouni frequently attended gun shows and paid cash to purchase firearms from exhibitors, a news release said. The indictment said that he allegedly purchased as many as 20 guns at a single gun show, while the vehicles were mainly purchased from automobile auctions. The vehicles were allegedly used to store and conceal firearms inside the doors and body panels, the news release said. The indictment states that Issa traveled from Beirut to Cleveland to assist Ajaltouni to prepare the firearm-laden vehicles before the cars were loaded onto ships and transported to Beirut. The indictment says dozens of guns were sometimes hidden within a single car; 93 weapons, mostly 9mm handguns, were allegedly concealed in a green 2006 Honda Odyssey. At times, a shipped vehicle contained only one gun, the indictment shows. Ajaltouni and Issa traveled between Cleveland and Beirut to ensure that the smuggled weapons arrived, authorities said. Ajaltouni is also charged in a separate indictment with naturalization fraud. An indictment says that he became a U.S. citizen in 2009 but was not entitled to do so. Neither the news release nor the 2018 indictment provides additional details. The FBI asks anyone who knows the whereabouts of Ajaltouni or Nader to contact its tip line at 1-800-225-5324. Callers can remain anonymous. Multiple agencies have been involved in the three mens cases, which are being prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorneys Matthew Shepherd, Matthew Kall, and Robert Patton of the Northern District of Ohio. (L-R) Minister Martin Heydon, Charlie McConalogue, Mininster Eamon Ryan, and Minister Pippa Hackett speaking about reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a press conference at government Buildings in Dublin on July 28, 2022. (Government of Ireland handout via PA Media) Irish Farmers Asked to Cut Emission by 25 Percent by 2030 Irish farmers were told on Thursday that they should reduce a quarter of their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a target described by the farming sector as a potentially devastating blow. The target is part of the governments Climate Action Plan after parliament passed a law committing Ireland to slash emissions by 51 percent by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 at the latest. After the coalition government reached an agreement on sectoral emissions ceilings Thursday, the electricity sector was told to cut emissions by 75 percent by 2030, compared to the figure in 2018. The transport sector has to slash emissions by half, public and commercial buildings by 45 percent, residential buildings by 40 percent, industry by 35 percent, and other sectors by half. The reduction target for agriculture was set at 25 percent, but the government said the changes for agriculture will be voluntary and farmers are promised generous financial incentives andan additional financial package in Budget 2023 that are yet to be specified. Irish Farmers Association (IFA), the biggest farming representative body in the country, said the coalition government deal between the three ruling parties is all about the survival of the government rather than survival of rural Ireland. Tim Cullinan, president of the IFA, called the announced target a potentially devastating blow for Irish farming and the rural economy. The government has agreed to a target without any pathway to get there or any budget to assist farmers to reduce emissions. They have no idea of the economic and social impact of todays decision on the farming sector or rural Ireland. Farmers across the country will be rightly worried about what this means for their future, Cullinan said in the statement. The implementation plan to achieve the target will be vital. I want to make it clear that any attempt to undermine farmers livelihoods or the viability of sector, in order to achieve these targets, will be opposed vigorously by the IFA, he said. Cullinan demanded the government come forward with real proposals and proper funding to support climate measures. He also said the IFA strongly believes the government has not complied with its own climate law that requires it to consider the risk of carbon leakage and the characteristics of biogenic methane before implementing climate measures. Carbon leakage, in this case, refers to a scenario in which a foreign beef or dairy importer turns to a different country with less efficient farming for supplies, thereby increasing total global emissions. Myles Allen, Professor of Geosystem Science at Oxford, proposed a new metric to measure emissions in 2018, arguing that steady levels of methane emissions dont have as much warming effect as its advertised, given its short-lived in the atmosphere. And that the current measure significantly understates the warming impact of increasing methane. A herd of cattle grazing in Co. Laois, Ireland, on May 7, 2022. (Lily Zhou/The Epoch Times) In 2018, Irelands agriculture emissions add up to about 22.3 megatons of CO2, representing 35.2 percent of all emissions in Ireland and less than 0.07 percent of the global emissions that year. Most emissions are biomethane from cattle while some are from the use of fertilisers. According to official figures, in 2020, the agri-food sector accounted for almost 7 percent of modified gross national income, 10 percent of export in terms of value (14 billion), and 7.1 percent of total employment (164,400 jobs). The governments climate action plan, published last year, proposed a reduction target of between 22 to 30 percent for agriculture. It was reported that Green Party leader, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan initially pushed for a 30 percent target while Fianna Fails Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue was pressured by rural lawmakers and farmers to resist going over 22 percent. According to a report (pdf) by KPMG Ireland, based on the technology last year, a 30 percent reduction in emissions is estimated to require a 20 percent cut of cattle herds22 percent of beef herds and 18 percent of dairy herdsas well as a 5 percent cut of sheep, pigs, and poultry. Regulations that in effect downsize farming have recently prompted large protests in the Netherlands and led to the economic collapse of Sri Lanka. The last round of carbon emission targets was pledged by governments at the COP26 climate summit last year. Many climate scientists predict that growing emissions will cause more severe weather events, such as storms and droughts, though historically the more catastrophic predictions havent materialized. Critics have pointed out the decarbonization agenda would undercut living standards without achieving meaningful change in the climate. For one thing, China, the worlds largest carbon emitter by far, and India dont intend to constrict their economies toward carbon reductions. Petr Svab contributed to this report. Weve all heard of someone referred to as having an addictive personality. Some even say it about themselves. But you may be surprised to know there is no such thing. Despite decades of research, no-one has been able to identify a consistent set of personality traits or a single personality type that can reliably predict whether someone will have problems with alcohol or other drugs. The development of alcohol or other drug problems is a complex and difficult-to-predict mix of factors. The addictive personality is, in essence, just a stereotype. Where Did the Idea of an Addictive Personality Come From? Nearly 90 years ago, around the time of the birth of the Twelve Step movement and Alcoholics Anonymous, there was a move away from thinking about alcohol problems as a moral failing and towards taking a more medical approach. The first step in this transition, based on the relatively little that was known about alcohol and other drug problems in the 1930s, was seeing these problems as a personality flaw. It was the best explanation at the time of why some people develop problems with alcohol and others dont. Later those ideas further developed into a broader disease model. The disease model and the later brain disease model viewed alcohol and other drug problems as a lifelong and incurable disease of the mind, making abstinence the only option. Shutterstock Why Is the Idea of an Addictive Personality a Problem? The term addictive personality generally conjures up negative images: weak, unreliable, selfish, impulsive, lacking control. Its a stereotype that increases stigma about alcohol and other drug problems and reinforces the idea change is difficult or impossible. And stigma prevents people from seeking help when they need it. The addictive personality idea can also lead people to believe they are either destined for problems, or completely protected from them, neither of which is true. For those who do experience problems, they may have a sense of helplessness about managing their use. Its a shorthand way of saying, I cant do anything about it. Is There Any Truth to the Addictive Personality Idea? We now know some people who have problems with alcohol or other drugs can return to regular use. And most people experience problems with only one drug, using other drugs in non-problematic ways. Both of these things contradict the addictive personality theory because they suggest there is a level of control. But there are some traits that are more likely to be found in people who have problems with alcohol or other drugs. There are two main personality clusters that seem to increase risk of problems: risk-taking or impulsiveness, and sad or anxious temperaments. Or a combination of both. Both risk takers and high achievers are more likely to develop alcohol or drug problems. The common thread to these seemingly unrelated traits is difficulty regulating emotions. Shutterstock This partly explains why people who have experienced trauma have a higher risk of developing alcohol or other drug problems, and why there are higher rates of dependence among people with ADHD. Both these conditions increase activity in the limbic system, the part of the brain responsible for emotional reactions, and decrease activity in parts of the prefrontal cortex, the logical part of the brain that helps regulate emotional responses. There is some genetic component to personality between 30% and 60%. And there is also some genetic component to the development of alcohol or other drug problems 45%-65% for alcohol. But inherited personality traits are a result of more than 700 possible gene interactions and theres no single personality gene that leads to alcohol or other drug problems. A Better Explanation We now know the development of alcohol and other drug problems is influenced by a number of factors. Many US troops in Vietnam in the 1970s developed a dependence on heroin and used it regularly while they were in Vietnam, but they stopped quickly once they returned home. So its not just the drug itself or the person using it, but also where its being used. Some drug experts refer to this as drug, set and setting: the qualities of drug itself, individual traits, and the context in which the drugs are used. But how do these combined factors lead to problematic drug use and dependence? After many decades of behavioural and neuroscience research we now know the brain is very plastic and continues to learn and shape itself with new experiences right throughout our lives. Heres how it works: any time we do something pleasant, we get a little burst of dopamine in the brain. The dopamine makes us feel good and says to our brain you should try that again sometime. Alcohol and other drugs release a lot of dopamine. Some drugs release more than others. Our brains quickly connect the dots between action (taking the drug) and reward (feeling good). That pathway is strengthened each time the drug is used. If we add strong emotions like intense pleasure or relief then the connection gets even stronger. This is called operant conditioning. The more you use, the more those associations are likely to form. Some peoples brains naturally release more dopamine than others so their pathways are formed faster and stronger. Our brain also notices cues in the environment that become signals for drug use and can trigger a desire or craving to use. If you use the same special glass every time you have a drink or sit in the same chair every time you smoke a joint, the brain notices that connection. So when you see that glass or sit in that chair you might feel a little urge to use even when there is no drug. This is called Pavlovian conditioning. So rather than a fixed personality trait, the motivation to use alcohol or other drugs is driven largely by our brain learning associations between the effects of a drug (drug), our individual response to the drug (set) and the environment in which the drug is used (setting). Its great news because what is learnt can be unlearnt. And it means alcohol and other drug use and problems are not inevitable, even if you have a genetic or personality predisposition. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The seal of the United States Department of Justice is seen on the building exterior of the United States Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, N.Y., on Aug. 17, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters) Justice Department Official Explains Spike in Domestic Terrorism Cases Since Early 2020 A Justice Department official on July 28 revealed what is prompting the spike in domestic terrorism incidents across the United States. Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matt Olsen testified before the House Judiciary Committee regarding national security threats where he told House lawmakers that the number of FBI investigations of suspected domestic violent extremism has more than doubled since the spring of 2020, adding that the threat from domestic extremists is persistent, complex, and continues to evolve. Olsen said that nearly 900 people have been arrested so far in the investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. We have arrested and charged more than 860 individuals in nearly all 50 States who took part in the Capitol assault, Olsen told lawmakers, adding that over 350 individuals have either pled guilty or were found guilty at trial. The Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol stands apart. The departments investigation is the single largest domestic terrorism investigation in the nations history, Olsen told the committee. We are committed to holding accountable those who engaged in violence and other illegal acts and to bringing to justice anyone who unlawfully tried to overturn the election. We are upholding our oath to defend the Constitution against those who tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, he added. According to a July 26 press release by the Department of Justice, more than 850 defendants have been arrested in the 18 months since the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in relation to the incident. Whistleblowers Come Foward That includes over 260 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. When asked by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is a Jan. 6 Select Committee member, if the surge in domestic terrorism investigations has led to an increase in indictments, not including those prosecuted over Jan. 6, Olsen said he did not have a specific number on that. Because that number, that jump, doubling, that number does include the Jan. 6 cases, and there, of course, we have over 800 arrests of individualsnot all of them are characterized as domestic violent extremists, to be clear, but many are, and those do account for at least a significant portion of that jump over the past two years in the number of investigations, Olsen replied. Elsewhere, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) claimed that multiple whistleblowers had approached House Judiciary Republicans claiming that FBI officials were pressuring agents to categorize cases as domestic terrorist threats when they in fact are not. Are you juicing the numbers? Jordan asked, to which Olsen said he was not aware of such accusations. Earlier this month Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), questioned why Democratic lawmakers only appear to label right-wing extremists as domestic terrorists. For the last two years, weve heard the Democrats talk about domestic terrorism and they only point to one group of people when this happens, they only point to the far right, and say this is domestic terrorism, Mullin said on NTDs Capitol Report. Mullin questioned why the same label wasnt being applied to a man who attempted to murder Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on June 8. The same man told officers that he had been compelled to act because of a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion suggesting that Roe v. Wade would be overturned. Mullin said he believed the response would have been different if a similar incident had occurred at the home of Biden-appointed Supreme Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Its called domestic terrorism. And weve got to stop this, he said. Kansas Abortion Amendment Spurs Registrations, Projections of Record Aug. 2 Primary Tally Theres a pitch battle, one of words and wording, being waged across the rolling woods and river-creased plains of Kansas, with both sides accusing the other of spinning lies to fearmonger for votes in a special election being intensely watched nationwide. The proposed Value Them Both constitutional amendment states it would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion, including, but not limited to, in circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or when necessary to save the life of the mother. At least four other abortion-related ballot measures will go before voters nationwide in November, including proposed constitutional amendments protecting access to the procedure in Michigan and Vermont. Restrictive ballot proposals set for Fall votes include a no right to abortion proposal in Kentucky and a Medical Care Requirements for Born-Alive Infants measure in Montana. A prospective Colorado proposal restricting abortion has until Aug. 8 to collect needed signatures to qualify. First Referendum on Abortion Kansans on their Aug. 2 primary ballots will see a special election that asks voters to approve or deny a proposed constitutional amendment that proclaims there is no right to an abortion in the state. The proposed amendment on Kansas Aug. 2 ballot is the nations first public referendum on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 June 24 decision repealed its 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling and kicked abortion regulation back to the states. With Kansas center stage, and more than $13 million has been spent by Value Them Both supporters and opponents, polls project a close vote, and election officials say a surge in voter registrations presages a near-certain record primary tally that could, perhaps, rival the states near-71 percent 2020 general election turnout. The Value Them Both Coalition, which includes Kansans for Life, the Kansas Catholic Conference, and numerous other churches and grassroots conservative groups, has raised more than $4.69 million, including $1.3 million from Connecticut-based Susan B. Anthony Foundation, according to filings with the Kansas Secretary of State Offices Election Division (KED). Abortion rights advocates, spearheaded by Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, have raised $6.54 million since the start of 2022, KED filings show. Polls indicate that most Kansans oppose no-restriction abortions but didnt necessarily want to see Roe vs. Wade go away. An Associated Press VoteCast survey of 2020 Kansas voters found that 54 percent of the 1,445 surveyed said abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, while 44 percent said it should be mostly or always legal. Nationwide in that survey, 59 percent said abortion should be legal. Despite 54 percent saying abortion should be illegal, the AP survey found that 62 percent of those same 1,445 2020 Kansas voters wanted Roe v. Wade left as it was, while 35 percent said it should be overturned. Nationally, 69 percent said leave Roe as it was. More recently, a July 21 Co/efficient poll of 1,500 Kansas voters showed that 47 percent supported Value Them Both while 43 were opposed. The remaining 10 percent were undecided. Key distinctions in that poll include only 5 percent support for a total abortion ban, such as those recently adopted in neighboring Oklahoma and Missouri, and only 7 percent support for a ban with an exception only for the mothers health. More than 86 percent of Co/efficient Poll respondents were familiar with the proposed constitutional amendment on the Aug. 2 ballot. Of course, with Value Them Both and Value Her Choice signs spiked into lawns, roadside billboards blaring Stop the ban: Vote No or Vote Yes, radio and television ads on full spin cycle, it would be hard not to sense the ambient urgency astir in Kansas. As the last weekend before the Aug. 2 vote unfolds, both campaigns are stepping up radio and television plugsat least $2 million is being spent on TV ads over the last week, tracking company AdImpact reportsand will dispatch teams of canvassers to hit the streets, often in the same shopping centers and neighborhoods at the same time. The Value Them Both Coalition maintains that its canvassers have knocked on 100,000 doors. Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Missouri, has joined abortion rights advocates knocking on doors on the Kansas side of the river. The Value Them Both amendment was placed on the ballot by state lawmakers following two-thirds supermajority votes in both chambers in January 2021. A yes vote would amend the Kansas Constitution to essentiality assert that the state Legislature has the sole authority to pass laws regarding abortion. Pro-Life lawmakers and Right-to-Life organizations have push for reasserting legislative authority since the states Supreme Court overturned the 2015 Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act in its 2019 Hodes & Nauser, MDs, PA v. Schmidt ruling. The 2019 decision determined that the state Constitutions Bill of Rights protects a womans right to an abortion, making Kansas one of 10 states where court rulings granted the right to abortion. The Value Them Both Coalition says the measure is necessary to ensure that the Sunflower State doesnt become a destination state for the abortion industry. According to the coalition, if voters dont adopt the amendment, reasonable regulations on abortion, such as parental consent, waiting periods, and restrictions later in pregnancy, are near certain to be wiped away in legal challenges. Kansans for Life Director of Communications Danielle Underwood told The Epoch Times in May that even with Roe v. Wade repealed, that 2019 ruling still limits what lawmakers can do in placing restrictions on the nearly unlimited right to abortion allowed by the state. Underwood said that without the amendment, Kansas is unprotected territory, a haven for taxpayer-funded, late-term abortions. They will both be allowed. Thats not true, Kansans for Constitutional Freedom counters, pointing to state laws that include four-hour waiting periods, parental consent for minors, and restriction for abortions after 22 weeks. Value Them Both supporters, meanwhile, claim opponents are purposely hawking hysteria when they allege the amendment, if adopted, would outright ban abortion as unconstitutional. All it does, they reiterate, is give lawmakers the prerogative to protect reasonable safeguards. Baloney, scoff abortion rights advocates, who say if the amendment passes in November, it clears the way for a total abortion ban to be adopted in January when lawmakers convene in Topekaa total abortion ban such as the one proposed in a bill filed last March by Rep. Trevor Jacobs (R-Fort Scott). I have no doubt that that is where the Legislature wants to go, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly told KCUR Radio in Kansas City in mid-July. Folks who were working on the constitutional amendment made it very clear they want to resurrect a House bill that would be a total ban. No exceptionsnot the life of the mother, not rape and incest. You know, a 10-year-old girl who was raped would be forced to deliver or go elsewhere. Such claims are over the top, the Value Them Both Coalition maintains in a radio ad that states the opposition is spending millions lying to you about the Value Them Both Amendment. Voting Yes will ensure we have common sense abortion limits in Kansas. Busy Election Day County elections officials are braced for a busy Election Day that could see turnout double the typical 25-35 percent midterm primary tally in some areas. Some counties expect turnout to be as high as 60-66 percent. KED reported on July 28 that, as of the previous day, 44,139 of the 118,670 requested mail-in ballots (44.2 percent) had been returned, and more than 87,350 Kansans had voted in-person during the still underway July 13-Aug. 1 early voting period. The 163,562 Kansans who have already cast ballots is more than double the 70,512 who voted by mail or in-person early during the 2018 primary. The 118,670 requests for 2022 primary/special election mail-in ballots is significantly lower than similar requests during the pandemic-skewered 2020 election cycle when 261,180 primary and 459,229 general election ballots were cast by mail. But the Aug. 2 primary/special election has already set a record for in-person early voting turnout in a Kansas primary. The 87,000-plus who had voted by July 27 easily eclipsed the 51,664 early-voter record established in 2018. The pace of early voting was accelerating as Election Day nearedmore than 50,000 cast ballots between July 25 and July 26. It is unlikely, however, that the early-voter turnout will approach the 371,854 Kansans who cast early votes in the November 2020 general election. In 2020, more than 636,000, or 34.2 percent of the states registered voters, participated in the primaries while 1.375 millionnearly 71 percentvoted in the general election. Most project the Aug. 2 turnout to fall somewhere between those numbers. According to KED, as of July 27, Democrat-registered voters had returned 23,551 of 52,713 requested mail-in primary/special election ballots. They must be postmarked by Election Day, Aug. 2, to be counted in the tally. KED reports that 43,649 Democrats had voted in-person during the 20-day early voting period as of July 27 with five days to go before it closes Aug. 1. Thus far, more than 67,000 of the states 495,574 registered Democrats have cast ballots in the primary/special election. Mail-in ballots were requested by 48,851 Republicans with 22,678 returned by July 27, according to KED, which documents that 50,333 registered Republicans have voted early in-person, meaning more than 73,000 of the states 851,882 registered GOP voters have already cast ballots. Of 17,416 mail-in ballots requested by unaffiliated voters, 6,397 had been returned as of July 27, the states Secretary of State Office documents, noting that 16,182 unaffiliated voters had cast ballots in-person during early voting. Less than 22,500 of Kansas 560,309 voters who are not affiliated with a party29 percent of all those registeredhad, thus far, participated in the Aug. 2 election. Abortion rights advocates claim the Republican-led state legislature placed the proposed constitutional amendment on the Aug. 2 primary ballot hoping unaffiliated and third-party registered voters would not realize they could vote in the special election. Lawmakers said aligning the special election with the primary would ensure it got more attention than it would receive in November when the ballot will include several heated races, including Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidts gubernatorial campaign to unseat incumbent Democrat Kelly. Abortion rights advocates say the proposal is purposely confusing by saying a yes vote does not create a right to abortion when a yes vote actually would eliminate an existing right. Critics claim it is also deceitfully worded. The proposal says a yes vote would ensure the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion. There is no such requirement in the Kansas Constitution. Greens leader Adam Bandt speaks at a party room meeting at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 7, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) Left-Wing Greens Could Influence Government to Enable Destructive Policies: Shadow Environment Minister Australias Shadow Environment Minister has warned that the left-wing Australian Greens party will push the centre-left Labor government to implement tough environmental laws, which could come at the expense of the economy. The comment comes as Labors Climate Change Bill is set to go before the lower house on Wednesday, with the Greens votes needed for the legislation to pass in the federal Upper House. Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen on Tuesday announced that the 43 percent emission cut represents a floor and not a ceiling, echoing Greens leader Adam Bands previous comment that whatever target is agreed to for 2030 should only be the minimum standard. Tasmania Liberal Senator Jonno Duniam, whos also the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Fisheries and Forestry, said Australia should be concerned that destructive policies could come into force if the Greens get their way as part of a deal. The government will rely on the Greens to legislate many reforms, he told The Epoch Times. The Greens have made very clear their demands on environmental regulation, including the banning of certain important industries from coal mining to native forestry. Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaking to media with Liberal Senator Eric Abetz (L), Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein and Liberal Senator Jonno Duniam (R) at Pennicott Wilderness Journeys before attending the Liberal Party of Tasmanias 2020 State Council in Hobart Saturday, November 7, 2020. (AAP Image/Chris Crerar) He further noted that the government must recognise the positive elements of what is happening in the environment rather than only focusing on the negativity. But, more importantly, [the government] must act in a way that does not needlessly damage the economy and destroy jobs at a time when Australians need certainty more than ever. New Report Fuels Calls for Further Climate Action The Greens have campaigned for a 74 percent emissions reduction target by 2030, demanded to stop subsidies to major coal, oil and gas corporations, transition Australia to 100 percent renewables, replace every-coal fired power plant in the nation by 2030, and invest A$25 billion (US$17.4 billion) in rewiring Australias grid. Greens leader Bandt on July 20 said that the party is in good faith negotiations with the government. He also urged Labor to drop its insistence on having a weak target and opening more coal and gas, adding that you dont put the fire out while pouring petrol on it. The State of the Environment report and the Pacific Island leaders give the government all the justification it needs to do more. The State of Environment report, released by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on July 19, described Australias environment as poor and deteriorating and suggested the government adopt sweeping environmental reforms. Viewing the Great Barrier Reef on a glass-bottom boat is a popular activity for tourists. (Fred J. Eckert) However, Peter Ridd, a former professor at James Cook University and a member of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, argued that the report was not a scientific document and excluded a whole lot of information that contradicts the story that theyre telling. For example, while the report claimed that Australian Great Barrier Reefs were in a declining condition, the latest data showed the reef was, in fact, enjoying record high coral cover, Ridd argued. Theyll give you a little bit of a bone here. But then they take away the whole thing somewhere else, he told The Epoch Times on July 20. Australias environment is much, much better than almost anywhere else on earth. Risks of Bureaucratic Climate Policies The governments report also called for a holistic environmental management to integrate state and territory systems, global action to reduce carbon emissions, and the introduction of national environmental standards. But Duniam told The Epoch Times such environmental measures must not act as an extended arm of the government. As a basic principle, the cost of any administrative or regulatory changes, including data collection, cannot be high nor can any such process be overly bureaucratic. Party supporters attend the Greens national campaign launch at Black Hops Brewery on May 16, 2022 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Dan Peled/Getty Images) In response to Pliberseks attack on the former governments environmental response, Duniam defended the centre-right Coalition, saying they have spent over $100 billion on environmental improvements. During our time in office, Australias emissions were reduced to a level 20 percent lower than they were in 2005 (the baseline for the Paris Agreement), he said in a press release obtained by The Epoch Times on July 21. That was a superior performance to any year under the Rudd and Gillard governments and left Australias emissions over 100 million tonnes lower than they would have been under Labors own projections about the proposed impact of its carbon tax. The move to enshrine net-zero comes as the Labor government scrambles to deal with skyrocketing electricity and gas prices amid ongoing reluctance from policymakers and business leaders to support coal and gas development due to the climate change movement. The Epoch Times has reached out to Bandt and Plibersek but didnt receive a response in time for publication. Liz Truss Vows to Be Ukraines Greatest Friend If She Becomes UK Prime Minister UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has promised to follow Prime Minister Boris Johnsons footsteps and become Ukraines greatest friend if she succeeds in her bid to become Conservative Party leader and prime minister. Truss, who is one of the last two contenders in the race to replace Johnson as prime minister, vowed to double down on support for Ukraine and to make President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the first foreign leader she will call if she becomes the occupant of Number 10 Downing Street. In a statement issued on July 28, she said: As prime minister I will be Ukraines greatest friendfollowing in the footsteps of Boris Johnsonand commit completely to ensuring [Russian President Vladimir] Putin fails in Ukraine and suffers a strategic defeat, and that Russia is constrained in the future. Truss said the conflict in Ukraine is in the balance and now is not the time to discuss concession and compromises. She said that the UK needs to work with its Western partners and carry on providing weapons, aid, and diplomatic support to Ukraine. She added, I am the candidate the British people can trust on Ukraine, and that they can trust to defend our freedom at home and abroad. New Focus The foreign secretary also said she would update the Integrated Defence and Security Review in light of the conflict in Ukraine. The Integrated Review, which set out the governments vision for Britains role in the world over the next decade, was published in March 2021, before Russias invasion of Ukraine and NATOs withdrawal from Afghanistan. Truss said she would add a new and updated focus on China and Russia, as she believes the invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regimes growing influence demand a new approach to the UKs security. She has already pledged to raise defence spending to 3 percent of GDP by 2030. Truss got a major boost to her campaign on July 29 as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said she is the candidate who will do best by defence of this nation. He also said Truss is the candidate who understands the world in which we are now living in terms of defence. Wallace said Truss had always been straight in her dealings with defence and consistent in her support for soldiers, and that he welcomes her plans to update the integrated review, reconsider the shape of our forces, and increase defence spending. Lily Zhou and PA Media contributed to this report. An electronic shop worker watches a speech by Malaysia's new Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on television in Shah Alam, Malaysia, on Aug. 22, 2021. (Lai Seng Sin/AP Photo) Malaysia Passes Historic Party-Hopping Ban to Put an End to Political Defection in Parliament The lower house of the Malaysian Parliament passed a bill on Thursday to prevent members of parliament (MPs) from jumping or switching parties in the middle of their terms in a bid to curb political defection. So-called party hopping contributed to the downfall of the former Pakatan Harapan government in 2020. The proposed bill was approved by a two-thirds majority, with 209 members of the lower house voting in favor. The other 11 members of the chamber were not in attendance, according to the countrys legal affairs division. Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the parliament made a historic decision to ensure political stability and prevent the country from facing a political crisis caused by party defection. I would like to say thank you to all the members of parliament, either from the government bloc or opposition parties, for supporting the constitutional amendment, Ismail Sabri said in a Twitter post. Under the new law, members of parliament would lose their seats if they were to resign from their political party or try to switch political parties while in office. This would not apply to those who are fired by their party or whose party is dissolved. De-facto law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said in a press conference on Thursday that the proposed bill will be presented to the upper chamber on Aug. 9 and is expected to take effect by September 2022. We give freedom for states to adopt this bill, even though there are laws that we can use for states to use it, he was quoted as saying by a state-run news agency. The law was adopted in four states. Unhealthy Democratic System Wan Junaidi has stated that Malaysias democratic system is unhealthy, citing the fact that since the 2018 election, 39 lawmakers have switched parties and the nation has gone through three prime ministers. This situation has caused much debate and polemic among the public, as it involves the mandate or trust of the people who elect their representatives, he said, according to local media Malay Mail. The countrys political crisis has been ongoing since the collapse of Pakatan Harapan, a coalition of four parties led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, when several of the coalitions MPs switched allegiance in February 2020. Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad (R) and former Malaysian deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin (L) talk to each other before a press conference with members of the opposition party in Kuala Lumpur on March 4, 2016. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images) That coalition was replaced by the Perikatan Nasional coalition government led by then-Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who eventually resigned in August 2021 after losing the majority due to his failure to control the countrys rising COVID-19 cases at the time. Ismail Sabri signed a memorandum of understanding with Pakatan Harapan for bipartisan cooperation after being appointed prime minister in 2021. The proposed bill was part of the agreement signed with the opposition party. He said on Wednesday that both parties have agreed that no new written agreement is required to replace the existing accord, which stipulated that the next general election should not be held before July 31. If I feel the time is right to dissolve the parliament, I will dissolve it either this year or next year, the prime minister said, according to local reports. A supplied image obtained on Monday, June 20, 2022, of Poppy Thannhauser waits for her dad to finish work at a farm near Mildura, Victoria, in March 2022. The image was taken by her mother Aimee, as is one of 12 winners of Rural Aid's Spirit of the Bush photography awards. (AAP/Rural Aid/Aimee Thannhauser) Mildura Emerges as Australias Richest Farming Region Mildura, a regional city in Victorias northwest with a population of just under 56,000, has emerged as Australias richest farming region, according to figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). According to the ABS, total agriculture production within the Mildura Rural City Council was worth $1.13 billion (US$911 million) in 2020-21, making it the most of any Australian local government area. The country towns main cash cow during 2020-21 was fruit and nuts (excluding grapes), which were valued at$422.5 million. The majority of this figure came from almonds, which were valued at $273 million. Just over AU$324 million came from grapes, while total broad-acre crops came in at $250 million. Total nurseries, cut flowers or cultivated brought in just under $39 million, while the total value of crops came in at just over $1 billion. Toowoomba, in southeast Queensland, came in second for total agriculture production by local government area, bringing in nearly $1.1 billion, with total crops valued at just under AU$375 million. Livestock products such as wool, milk and eggs brought in just under $332 million. Carrathool, in the NSW western Riverina, and Moree Plains in northern NSW came in third and fourth, respectively, with Moree Plains emerging as Australias cropping shire with $915 million coming from broad-acre crops. Other shires that made it to the top 10 were Moyne Shire in southwest Victoria, Corangamite in Victoria, Western Downs in Queensland, Bundaberg in Queensland, Esperance in Western Australia, and Campaspe in Victoria. According to ABS data, 12 of the top 25 shires were in Victoria, seven in Queensland, four in NSW, one in South Australia, and one in Western Australia, reported the Herald Sun. In 2020-21, Australian agriculture saw a 17 percent increase in value to AU$71 billion, according to the ABS. Amanda Clark, ABS Program Manager of Agriculture Statistics, said 2021-2021 has seen record production, particularly in broadacre crops such as wheat, barley, and canola. Many farmers reported crop yields being at once in a lifetime levels, with records broken in many regions for key commodities. Compared with the previous year, the value of wheat grew by 99 percent to $9.9 billion in 2020-21, with production up 120 per cent, Clark said in a statement. Strong Crop Growth Forecasted Despite Recent Floods According to a June report by Australias Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (ABARES), the opening of the winter cropping season in 202223 has been very favourable in most cropping regions. Total rainfall between February and April was above average in most cropping regions in eastern states and Western Australia, which have helped to support high soil moisture profiles for the planting of winter crops. However, heavy May rainfall in Queensland and large parts of New South Wales has caused waterlogging issues in some regions experiencing ongoing wet conditions, the ABARES website states. This has limited access to fields for some growers in early winter and is likely to prevent them from planting a full program if conditions in June remain wet. ABARES states that there is a very high chance that cropping regions in the eastern states and South Australia will exceed their median winter rainfall, while Western Australian cropping regions are more likely to receive below-average winter rainfall. Favourable planting conditions are expected to drive areas planted to winter crops during 202223 to reach 23.4 million hectares nationallyslightly lower from last years record levels. Summer crop production in 2021-22 is estimated to reach 5.5 million tonnes, despite well above average rainfall between February and March, which led to flooding, weather damage, harvest delays, and the inundation and loss of some summer crops. The extent of damage was significant for some growers but was localised and did not have a major impact on national volumes, ABARES states. A baby boy who was not breathing at birth underwent resuscitation efforts for 20 minutes. During this period, doctors feared brain damage or cerebral palsy, or that he simply wouldnt survive. Now, almost four years on, hes as capable as his peers, and his recovery is considered a miracle. Urias, the youngest child of his parents, Hannah and Jacob Sheriff, of Durant, Oklahoma, was born at Alliance Health Durant on Aug. 31, 2018the same birthplace as his four siblings. Hannah, a stay-at-home mom, had no idea what was wrong with her fifth child until she went into active labor. I carried him full term, so he was only about nine days early, which is pretty typical for all my pregnancies, Hannah told The Epoch Times. [The morning of] my 38-week appointment, I began experiencing a lot of pain. (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) Doctors checked Hannah and the babys heartbeats, and everything seemed fine. The then-expectant mom was dilated five centimeters, so she was transferred to the hospitals Womens Center, wanting a natural birth. However, after a contraction that lasted six minutes, the birth plan took a turn. Im a Christian and spirit-filled I just began having an urgency to be attentive, said Hannah. I told my nurse, I know the plan wasnt an epidural, but if I need to have one, thats okay; whatever its going to take for him to be delivered healthy.' (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) With approval from Hannahs doctor, she had the epidural, as it was discovered that the baby was not handling the labor very well. It was then that the room grew foggy. Hannah has since learned that her delivery team was struggling to find the babys heart rate and that there were complications. She was then moved to the operating room for an emergency Caesarean section. I did not hear him cry, I didnt hear anything, said Hannah. He was dead; he was not breathing. I didnt get a visual look at him because of the way they covered him they werent telling me anything. Hannah had suffered a placental abruptiona serious condition in which the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus before birth. Baby Urias had been deprived of oxygen as he was born. (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) Jacob, a lead pastor at the church, recalled: When I walked into the operating room, I saw our son and he was already limp. He had lost oxygen long enough for him to have lost all vitals they were doing CPR on him to try to get a heart rate it was very unnerving, it was very fearful, and of course, there was a lot going on that I dont know. Hannahs doctor insisted on pushing resuscitation efforts past the 10-minute mark, despite the babys rapidly fading survival odds. Their faith was activated by fear, and Hannah and Jacob prayed. According to Jacob, the doctor was relentless and wasnt going to stop, even though thats counter to conventional wisdom. They got a pulse, but after 20 minutes, every vital organ had shut down, Jacob shared. Urias going home with his parents on Sept. 20, 2018. (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) Baby Urias was intubated and placed in a mobile incubator, then transferred to the specialist NICU at Texas Health Presbyterian in Plano by helicopter. Knowing it was best for their baby, Jacob set off for Plano while Hannah stayed behind to heal from surgery. Urias suffered two seizures in his first four hours of life, one in the helicopter and one in the NICU. He was diagnosed with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), brain damage caused by a lack of blood and oxygen. Staff at Texas Health took their efforts into high gear, placing Urias on a 72-hour cooling treatment to lower his body temperature and slow his metabolism so that whatever potential damage was done in the brain didnt get worse. Forty percent of babies that enter this treatment sometimes dont even come out, said Jacob, but it was the NICUs best chance of stalling brain damage. Urias going home with his parents on Sept. 20, 2018. (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) The babys most probable prognosis was cerebral palsy, with seizures and developmental delays. They said, You need to expect that hes not going to walk, hes not going to talk,' said Jacob. They also added that, if he would ever talk or walk, it would take a very long time. Jacob and Hannah were reunited at the NICU after 48 hours. Here, the couple were given the news that things looked bad and that it might be cerebral palsy in an extreme form. The couple compiled a prayer of scriptures and a Facebook page, so that when loved ones and their church offered help and support, they could implore: pray. Their call to prayer went global. Was I ever unafraid? Hannah reflected. Absolutely not, I was very afraid. I didnt fully understand the why. But in that moment, thats not really the right question to ask; I knew that my son needed me to fight for him. (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) I also, as a mom, felt like, in that moment, I needed to be willing to give him up I knew in my heart I was choosing, whatever the outcome, whatever the future that was lying ahead of us, that I was going to trust God. With this resolved in Hannahs heart, the parents knew that they couldnt control the timeline of when they would see the next positive thing or if it would be all negative. However, what Hannah could do, she said, was trust the peace that surpassed all understanding. As Uriass life hung in the balance, a night nurse witnessed the first miracle: he opened his eyes. When Urias came out of his 72-hour cooling treatment, medics assessed that his condition was not as bad as theyd feared. A few days later, an MRI identified unusual activity, but there was little to do besides wait. Over the next week and a half, there would be really great days and a setback, said Jacob. But when they sent us home, that was when they said, Things are looking really great his recovery was a big surprise. (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) Hannah and Jacob held their baby after one week and headed home after three. They weaned Urias off his seizure medication, and his care team grew exponentially optimistic. They didnt have a medical reason why he got better, said Jacob. They were always very cautious to give us hope. I respect them and I appreciate them for that, but my wife and I, our families, and our church were pretty obstinate. We know the power of prayer, and we stood in faith, and we got our church to pray with us. The doctors acknowledge that it really is a miracle. Uriass progress was monitored by Dallas area nurses for a year. He then began to hit developmental milestones. Hannah said that the nurses were amazed when he learned to crawl and grew muscle definition, debunking their fears of cerebral palsy. (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) Hannah and Jacob rested easy for the first time since Uriass birth at his one-year checkup; their pediatric neurologist delivered the life-changing news that Urias was absolutely normal, and would need only a couple more visits before kindergarten. The toddler began walking at around 13 months, just as his siblings had, and began to talk right on schedule. We dont have to see specialists anymore, said Hannah. We do like our other kids; we take them to their routine, yearly checkups but theres been no issues. You would not know that he went through what he did if you didnt know his story. The Sheriff family. (Courtesy of Hannah Sheriff) Soon approaching his 4th birthday, Urias today is a talkative tot with highly developed language skills. He has weaned off his medications and is on par with his peers, developmentally. Hannah said: Were very humbled by the grace of God, and even through this story, encouraging others that when times are tough we live in Gods word as the final word. Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 22, 2021. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo) Pelosis Husband Wrong to Sell Chips Shares, GOP Might Change Member Trading Rules: McCarthy During a weekly briefing on Friday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said it was wrong that Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was allowed to sell his shares of a computer chip manufacturer just before the House voted on a chips manufacturing bill. McCarthy suggested Republicans would look into options for changing stock trading rules for lawmakers and their families The news broke under required financial disclosure laws that Paul Pelosi had sold $4.1 million dollars worth of NVIDIA Corp. shares on July 26. The sale, which resulted in a financial loss of over $340,000 for the Pelosis, was the end result of scrutiny by critics, who saw a conflict of interest in Paul Pelosi owning the stocks. This is far from the first time the Pelosis have been in the limelight for trading related to ongoing legislative deliberations. Though she has in the past opposed efforts to ban stock trading by members of Congress, Nancy Pelosi recently indicated she intends to move forward with a bill to ban some types of trading by lawmakers. During his weekly briefing, McCarthy suggested doubts about the timing of the bill, in view of the speakers past opposition. I find it very ironic that the speaker of the House now talks about bringing up a bill at the very end of the term of Congress, McCarthy said when asked about whether he would support the trading ban bill. So her husband could trade all the way through but now it becomes a crisis? McCarthy said Paul Pelosi didnt just trade stock, he traded options. I think what her husband did was wrong, he said. Denial of Wrongdoing The Pelosis have long maintained that they dont discuss Paul Pelosis financial trades, but McCarthy suggested he strongly doubts that Paul Pelosi is unaware of his wifes legislative work. McCarthy said he was sure the speaker often had phone conversations with colleagues about the details of certain bills, including when the Pelosis were traveling together overseas. Im sure she had those conversations, McCarthy reiterated, adding, I dont know if [Paul] was able to hear em or not. McCarthy said it was important to bring trust back to the institution of the House and to investigate what the rules should be for members of Congress with regard to stock trading. I dont think that the proper way to do this is Nancy Pelosi writing the bill, because we have proven that she shouldnt do that, he said. This should be a bipartisan matter, McCarthy said, continuing, We should look at it through committee, and this is something well do in the majority: putting new rules forward to make sure you have trust in this House and knowing that people are not investing in a place where they have influence. Asked whether he would commit to not discussing legislation with his spouse if he became speaker, McCarthy said he would, noting that he and his wife only own mutual funds rather than individual stocks. McCarthy didnt commit to advancing a bill about blocking members from trading stocks, but he said lawmakers would be looking into the problem. [Republicans] will come back not only to investigate this, we will come back with a proposal to change the current behavior, he said. McCarthys Comments Come Amid Calls for Reform While far from a commitment, McCarthys comments indicate that Republicans are open to congressional stock trading reform. In December 2021, an investigation by Insider sought to show that insider trading is widespread among members of Congress, alleging that 49 members of Congress have violated the law. U.S. law forbids people with insider information, including members of Congress, from buying stocks on the basis of that information, and those who break these laws can be subject to criminal prosecution. Laws against congressional insider trading were strengthened in 2012 amid a wave of insider trading in Congress; the STOCK Act, or Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, placed limitations and new reporting guidelines on federal lawmakers. Most critically, the law began requiring members of Congress to disclose, publicly and quickly, trades made by themselves, their spouses, or their dependent children. Insiders report found that a large, bipartisan swath of 49 members in both chambers had violated these laws. These include, among many others, well-known names such as Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and House Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas). In light of this report, Speaker Pelosiwho has almost unilateral control over what makes it to the House floor for a votewas asked by a reporter whether members of Congress should be barred from stock trades, and she quickly defended the practice of members of Congress trading in the stock market. No, Pelosi said. We have a responsibility to report [our trades] [and] if people arent reporting, they should be. Pressed to explain her no, Pelosi said: Because were a free market economy. [Members of Congress] should be able to participate in that. Her recent moves to advance a congressional trading ban seem to be a sharp departure from this earlier position. Banning Individual Stocks In January, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers came together to demand a vote on legislation that would ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks, but that measure hasnt advanced. The law prohibits only those stock trades that members of Congress make or direct because of their nonpublic knowledge, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who spearheaded the push, stated in a letter to Pelosi at the time. But it can be nearly impossible to determine what counts as nonpublic knowledge or how personally involved members are in their stock trades. Instead, Congress should close these loopholes by simply banning members from owning or trading individual stocks while in office, Golden said. We came to Congress to serve our country, not turn a quick buck. But other lawmakers share Pelosis opposition to a trading ban. Crenshaw has also defended stock trading by sitting members of Congress. According to a report by Unusual Whales, Crenshaw had the fifth-highest returns of any member of Congress for his stock trading in fiscal year 2021. During an appearance on the All American Savage Show podcast, he discussed the returns and his position on Congress members trading on the stock market. The host asked him whether he thought that sitting members of Congress should be allowed to invest in the stock market. I think it would be fine if you banned individual stock trading, Crenshaw said. Notice I said individual stocks. The Texas Republican explained that while he would accept bans on buying and selling individual stocks, he thinks that members of Congress should still be allowed to invest in exchange-traded funds and similar stock funds. Im kind of neutral on it, Crenshaw said. But he claimed that if such a ban were put in place, no one would run for Congress because you have no way to better yourself. Not Pelosis First Insider Trading Allegation Allegations of insider trading against Pelosi and her husband are nothing new. In 2011, CBSs 60 Minutes aired an episode that accused several prominent lawmakers, including Pelosi, of insider trading. According to that report, Paul Pelosi bought $2 million of stock in Visa Inc. in March 2008. Later the same year, the House Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would have hurt the bottom line of big name credit card issuers over swipe fees. But that bill was also suddenly and inexplicably dropped and was never brought to the House floor. Observers at the time accused Pelosi of using her influence as speaker to snuff out the bill, a charge she vehemently denied. But not long after the 60 Minutes report, Congress passed the STOCK Act, which included the so-called Pelosi provisiona clause that forbade members of Congress from receiving early access to private stock offerings simply because of their positions. In December 2020, Paul Pelosi bought 25 call options in Tesla Inc., one of the leading electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers in the world. Both during the campaign and after being declared victor, President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of EVs in his administrations efforts to reduce U.S. carbon emissions. Since then, Speaker Pelosi has been outspoken in support of the Build Back Better bill, which includes, among other climate provisions, hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for an EV tax credit and an EV charging station network. The purchase quickly raised some eyebrows as commentators considered the ethics of such a purchase ahead of Bidens pro-EV administration. Conservative MP Raquel Dancho rises during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Oct. 2, 2020. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press). Proposed Liberal Firearm Buyback Program Gives Criminals a Free Pass, Say Conservatives The Liberal governments proposed firearms buyback program will benefit criminals and punish law-abiding gun owners, the Conservative Party says. In May, the government said it will introduce a mandatory firearms buyback program, paired with new legislation proposed in Bill C-21, that will tighten gun restrictions announced in 2020 that banned over 1,500 types of assault-style firearms. Raquel Dancho, Conservative shadow minister for public safety, and Pierre Paul-Hus, shadow minister for public services and procurement, said in a statement that the Liberal buyback program gives criminals a free pass. Instead of targeting gangs and illegally smuggled firearms, Justin Trudeau is introducing a firearm buyback program that punishes lawful firearms owners, the statement says. The fact is, hobbyists, collectors, sport shooters, and hunters are not the ones to blame for the rise in gun crime in Canada gangs, criminals, and the guns they illegally smuggle from the US are. Dancho and Paul-Hus estimate the buyback program will cost Canadian taxpayers between $400 and $600 million and that the responsibility of enforcing it will fall on local police departments. Conservatives remain concerned that this burden will fall on local police, whose resources are already maxed out as they fight real crime on our streets, said the statement. Offloading this expensive and ineffective policy on police would only further jeopardize public safety by draining limited police services in our communities. Liberal MP and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino elaborated on the governments proposed buyback plan in a recent tweet and statement. Mendicino said the 2020 firearms ban wasnt enough since many of the outlawed guns remained in Canadian circulation. Weapons of war like the AR-15 have no place in Canada, he wrote. Thats why we banned them, and will be establishing a buyback program to get them out of our communities. On July 28, the government released a list of proposed prices that the government would pay gun owners for handing in their now-illegal firearms. The list includes 11 different prices for various models, with $1,337 in compensation for AR-15s and $2,600 in compensation for M-14 rifles. Todays proposed price list represents another step towards getting these dangerous firearms out of Canadian communities while ensuring current firearms owners are compensated fairly, Mendicino said. If passed, the legislation introducing the buyback program would require Canadian owners of the now-illegal firearms to sell them to the federal government, render them inoperable at the Governments expense, or otherwise lawfully dispose of them, according to Mendicinos statement. Owners will have until October 2023 to take one of these actions; there is an amnesty order in place protecting them from being criminally charged for possession of the outlawed guns until then. The government is seeking responses on the buyback price list, saying it welcomes the opinions and insights of firearms owners on the proposed price list in an online survey available until August 28. The survey is anonymous. Push for Community Schools Focused on Equity Raises Red Flags, Say Critics A global push to provide students with much more than just education under the banner of community schools has left many parents wondering what the program is all about, whos behind it, and why its agenda is centered around the concept of equity. A full-service community school strives to meet the social, emotional, physical and mental health, and academic needs of students, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Its the next generation of coordinated school health, says the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers union in the country, in response to a model for these schools developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and an organization once called the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development that now goes by ASCD. The CDC calls them healthy schools and has developed a 10-part framework for addressing all aspects of a childs health on campus called the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. But community schools dont only address students health. The NEA describes a community school as a network of partnerships offering services that remove barriers to learning, like trauma, hunger, homelessness and the myriad of other problems faced by families living in poverty. A student receives a pre-packaged lunch at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles on April 27, 2021. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images) On the NEAs website, Cindy Long recounts an example in Las Cruces, New Mexico that offered mental health services to a 13-year-old boy who witnessed the murder of his uncle, then days later lost his father to suicide. [T]he full-time community school coordinator spent hours researching and applying for a grant to pay for his fathers and uncles funerals, a time-consuming effort that would be impossible for staff at a regular public school to handle on top of regular workloads, wrote Long. She also discusses schools that offer food banks, family computer rooms, donated clothing, on-site laundry facilities, medical and dental care, and more. Long said the hope is that these services can be expanded to address the needs of a students siblings, parents, grandparents, and neighbors. The idea is that lifting up a student isnt possible unless her community is lifted up, too. However, some parents and community members disagree with schools taking on these far-reaching responsibilities. Taking on the Role of the Parent Kelly Schenkoske, a California parent who has extensively researched community schools and hosts a podcast called A Time to Stand, told The Epoch Times the CDC and ASCD are working together to turn every school into a community school, and that while the schools may sound wonderful, there are legitimate concerns. The schools are trying to take on the role of the parent and remove the parent from their relationship with the child. This is a complete obstruction and an assault on the family, said Schenkoske, who homeschools her two children. For me, the biggest concern with all of this is having the school be the nucleus of every community and handing over more control to the government and all of these experts who are going to invade the home and tell families how to parent. Kelly Schenkoske, a critic of community schools, appeared recently on Gina Gleasons Real Impact podcast. (Brad Jones/The Epoch Times) Schenkoske became especially concerned when she learned the California Teachers Association (CTA), one of the largest teachers unions in the state, and the NEA have fully backed the WSCC model and that state educators recently held a conference in Los Angeles where they discussed community schools and multiple plans centered around equity, she said. The United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization, most U.S. states, teachers and many non-government organizations also support the push for community schools. California has already invested $4.1 billion in the Community Schools Partnership Program, including about $649 million in grants to 268 school districts across the state. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) received more than $44 million. The state program offers various grants to partners ranging from $100,000 to $2 million, and the U.S. Department of Education is also offering grants through its Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program. CTA Vice President David Goldberg did not respond to inquiries, but he said at a virtual press conference on June 6 the teachers union is all in for community schools. He applauded the states deeper investment in the community schools model, stating that academic learning does not exist separately from social emotional learning. Echoing California Gov. Gavin Newsoms recent assertion that democracy itself is under attack in the United States, Goldberg touted the community schools model as a way of developing democratic processes to include the voices of parents, students, educators, and administrators at the table. California Models Former teacher Ingrid Villeda said she left her position at the 93rd Street Academy in south Los Angeles to become the community school coordinator at the elementary school. She told The Epoch Times that most of the new funding will go to pay salaries for the next five years for community school coordinators, parent representatives, and employees with the Healthy Start program, another initiative that was designed to increase the health of women and children. Community schools differ from other schools because they get input from community stakeholders, Villeda said. A school administrator confirms student health check data on a laptop computer as students and parents wait in line to enter school at Grant Elementary School in Los Angeles on Aug. 16, 2021. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) Traditionally, a principal arrives at a school, and its their vision that is rolled out, and when those principals change or go to other schools, the school goes through this trajectory of change until another leader comes in, and then it stabilizes again, she said. With community schools, and all stakeholders having a voice, you create a vision that includes everyone, so its not dependent on me or the principal, but on our needs and the vision is there for the long term. Villeda has worked with the community to provide free vision and dental screenings for children. Out of 925 students at the school, 350 were able to get free eyeglasses, she said. In LAUSD, some high schools have health centers on campus. Her school has a partnership with nearby Fremont High School which is equipped with a full-service health center. So usually, if parents tell me they need to take their kid to the doctor we call directly and we actually make an appointment for them, and show them how to get there, Villeda said. Currently, there are about 30 community schools operating in Los Angeles and six in San Diego with plans to convert 10 additional schools this year and more in the future, according to Villeda. The NEA and the CTA say there are about 5,000 community schools nationwide. Equity: Who Decides What a Child Needs? Villeda, a self-described Democrat and lefty union activist, said that although equity means different things to different people, to her it means having access to services and opportunities. Equity to me is not that we all have the same, but that everyone has what they need, she said. And there are some of us that need more than others. If children dont have everything they need, then it becomes the problem of the schools, Villeda said. The schools are then forced to find solutions, and thats what theyre doing through community schools, she said. Me giving a child a sweater at school doesnt mean that child is going to get an A. It just means that that child is going to be able to sit in a classroom without being cold, she said. However, James Lindsay, author of Race Marxism and co-author of other books such as Social (In)justice, and Cynical Theories, told The Epoch Times that to understand the new education lingo, parents should first be aware that equity means socialism. Equity is the rebranding of socialism, he said. Its the adjustment of shares so that individuals and groups are made equal. This means the proponents of equity, including the World Economic Forum (WEF), want to dismantle and rebuild the whole system of food distribution, transportation, and housing so the outcomes are made more equitable, Lindsay said. He claims the WEF is also trying to create a bottom-up demand for health equity among the youth and ultimately change those systems in ways that may not appeal to everyone. James Lindsay, author of Race Marxism and founder of New Discourses, in Washington on Feb. 15, 2022. (Otabius Williams/The Epoch Times) Theyre redesigning the whole system to create better so-called health outcomes, and they use it to justify bringing in things like affirmative trans health care, as they call it, he said. People need to understand that there is a purpose behind this, and its largely controlled by a few people who want to reshape whats going on in the world according to what they think is necessary or that they want, Lindsay said. The WSCC model mirrors the Soviet model where a council of appointed individuals make all the decisions with the schools, he said. Gender-Affirming Care A University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) document lists Planned Parenthood, which has actively supported gender-affirming care, as a potential partner of community schools. But schools and the medical community have recently come under fire for using this policy to encourage the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery on minors who identify as transgender. Lindsay contends that these transgender medical interventions are not care, but are instead amputating childrens genitals and sterilizing them. Planned Parenthood is the single largest provider of sex education in the U.S., reaching 1.2 million people with education and outreach each year and promoting Comprehensive Sex Education as well as programs for LGBT youth. In Dec. 19, 2019, Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles (PPLA) issued a press release announcing its instrumental role in the opening of 50 Wellbeing Centers in L.A. high schools, billed as the first-of-its-kind collaboration between local partners to address the social, emotional, and sexual health needs of young people throughout Los Angeles County. According to the CDCs virtual healthy school tour, under the WSCC model, school-based health centers can refer students and families to the public health department for family planning, prenatal care, and concerns about sexually transmitted diseases, and health educators will frequently collaborate on activities and training for children and adolescents in the community. Planned Parenthood did not respond to an inquiry about whether its role in sex ed would be expanded under the community schools model nor whether it has applied for or received grant money as a community partner. Meanwhile, Kimberly Ells, author of The Invincible Family: Why The Global Campaign To Crush Motherhood and Fatherhood Cant Win and a policy advisor for Family Watch International, said shes opposed to the WSCC model. More and more parents are opting for homeschooling and realizing they may be better at educating their own children than the public school system theyve trusted in the past, she said. A woman helps her kindergarten daughter with schoolwork at home in San Anselmo, Calif. on March 18, 2020. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Ells wrote an article earlier this year for The Daily Signal, condemning Communist-Style Community Schools which she views as a globalist attack on the traditional role of parents and families. Its like the worst example of cutting off the branch that youre sitting on that Ive ever seen. To try and undercut the family is to undercut civilization, because societies cant thrive without strong families, she told The Epoch Times. A chapter in her book exposes the UNs push to make Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) a human right of all children, while the program focuses heavily on gender theory and advocates for abortion, Ells said. Another chapter focuses on the UNs Convention on the Rights of the Child, and how it exploits health to include many of these controversial medical practices, she said. We need to wake up to the fact that there is a global agenda, Ells said. Even in the Sustainable Development Goals, one of the goals is health, but then it depends on what you believe health to be. The California Department of Education, CTA, and NEA did not respond to inquiries. Rep. Greene Beats Disqualification Lawsuit; Challengers Appeal After a state judge refused to disqualify U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from the ballot, the left-wing group that challenged her candidacy on insurrection grounds is appealing the judges ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court. The state court threw out the challenge on July 25. The appeal was filed July 28. Greene, an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump, represents Georgias 14th Congressional District. The Christian conservative is known for making strongly worded, often controversial statements. A first-term lawmaker now seeking a second term, she won the Republican primary in her district on May 24 with 70.4 percent of the vote. A group called Free Speech for People and five local voters claimed Greene cannot serve in Congress because she allegedly participated in an insurrection to prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power by supporting Trumps post-election challenges to the November 2020 election results. The group claimed the rarely invoked Disqualification Clause in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted in the wake of the Civil War to keep former Confederates out of Congress, applied to her as an alleged insurrectionist. This supposed insurrection culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, in which protesters delayed the congressional certification of the presidential election results for several hours. Democrats and some Republicans characterize the disturbance, from which some elected officials took cover, as an insurrection or coup attempt aimed at overthrowing the U.S. government, a claim that has been adamantly denied by Trump and his supporters. According to the challengers, Greenes rhetoric made her an insurrectionist. For example, the day before the security breach, she urged Trump supporters to flood the Capitol, they said in a petition filed with the court (pdf). But on July 25, Judge Christopher Brasher of the Fulton County Superior Court rejected these arguments, upholding (pdf) an earlier ruling by an administrative law judge that affirmed Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergers decision to allow Greenes candidacy to continue. Brasher wrote that there was no evidence Greene participated in an insurrection. The court does not find that the Administrative Law Judge applied the wrong legal standard, he added. Free Speech for People criticized the ruling in a statement. Judge Brashers short (six-page, double-spaced) decision rejected the appeal with minimal legal analysis, largely simply stating that the administrative law judges legal decisions were within his discretion. Judge Brasher declined to decide any of Greenes counterclaims, such as that the events of January 6 were not an insurrection, or that the candidate challenge process was unconstitutional. In essence, his opinion affirms the administrative law judges opinion without adding or changing anything, the statement reads. The notice of appeal (pdf) was filed in court 0n July 28. Free Speech for People has also tried to disqualify other Trump-supporting elected officials, including Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Republican seeking his states governorship, as well as U.S. Reps. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.). The group has also urged secretaries of state across the country to keep Trump off the 2024 presidential ballot. The Epoch Times reached out repeatedly to Greenes congressional communications director, Nick Dyer, but hadnt received a reply as of press time. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the University of Miami Health System Don Soffer Clinical Research Center in Miami on May 17, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Restaurant Says Drag Shows Will Go On Despite Opposition From Governor PUNTA GORDA, Fla.A Miami restaurant is in the sights of Gov. Ron DeSantis for holding drag queen shows where children were part of the audienceand the showbut its owners are pushing back against a complaint filed by the state where investigators called the venue a nuisance. They say the controversial drag show will go on in spite of Gov. Ron DeSantis criticism. At the urging of the governor, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) is targeting the liquor license of the R House, which stands accused of exposing children to sexually explicit drag queen shows after an investigation conducted by the state. A spokesman for the restaurant told reporters, Its business as usual at R House. As of right now we are set to continue this weekend, said Larry Carrino, a restaurant spokesman on July 28. There are no plans to alter operation while the client and their attorney are working with the state to remedy the situation. Owen Bale, co-owner of R House, said there has been overflowing support since the dispute unfolded. We had a lovely, positive vibe in the restaurant last night [July 27] and look forward to serving our guests tonight and in the days and nights to come, Bale said in a released statement on July 28. R House is and always will be an all-inclusive environment and we thank our fans, friends, and the entire community for the positive, heartfelt support weve received in the wake of the complaint. The controversy began on July 26, when DBPR filed a complaint asking for a final order on the R House, after videos surfaced online of a drag queen show where children were either paraded around with drag queens dressed in pasties and T-backed bikini bottoms adorned with dollar bills or were attending in the audience. The state is targeting the restaurants liquor license and the governor said at a July 27 press conference in Tampa that he wants to shut it down because children didnt need to have some agenda shoved down their throats all the time. The nature of the performances particularly when conducted in the presence of young children, corrupts the public morals and outrages the sense of public decency, the complaint read in an argument that accused the R House of disorderly conduct. The R House in Miami on its Facebook page touts the proud home of South Floridas most popular weekend drag brunches! Make some time to check us out and experience R House. The restaurant advertises a brunch menu featuring $30 kids meals and adults at $55. The brunches are by reservationbooked weeks in advanceand there is no age requirement listed. It was noted in the complaint that the restaurant has been hosting brunch drag shows since 2017. The R House released a written statement in response to the formal complaint by DBPR: We are aware of the complaint and are currently working with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation through our attorney, to rectify the situation. We are hopeful that Gov. DeSantis, a vociferous supporter and champion of Floridas hospitality industry and small businesses, will see this as what it is, a misunderstanding, and that the matter will be resolved positively and promptly. However, DeSantis said there was no mistaking what investigators found during a visit to the Miami restaurant as an exhibit was included with the complaint that he said showed a nearly nude dancer parading a young girl through the audience, in Miami. The complaint called the R House a nuisance and said the Florida Supreme Court has recognized that men impersonating women in the context of suggestive and indecent performances constitutes a public nuisance. The restaurant has 21 days in which to respond to the complaint. The investigation revealed that investigators visited the restaurant on three separate occasions, July 9, July 17, and July 23 and took video of the brunch where investigators saw a little girl that appeared to be between 3 to 5 years of age with a dollar bill in her hand was being led by a transgender dancer. The complaint said the apparel of the dancers was described as sexually suggestive and sometimes sexually explicitconsistent with what one would observe at an adult-themed nightclub. Investigators also included as part of their complaint social media screenshots of similar videos and compared it to a strip club performance with children being welcome to attend. Gainesville attorney Jeff Childers, who specializes in corporate law, told The Epoch Times the state has a solid case. But he did point out that this is not a criminal case, but a civil one because the role of the DBPR is to regulate alcohol permits and when complaints are filed to investigate them. However, Childers pointed out that the defense will more than likely question the timing and speed that this case is being handled and may cite that it may be politically motivated because the government never moves that fast. Assuming there was a citizen complaint, which seems likely [the state] is on solid ground to have commenced the investigation, he told The Epoch Times. Childers said he expects this to move along to the Florida Supreme Court, which he described as the most conservative court in the country. Given the temperature of the state right now, I would be surprised if the court did not weigh in on it. He said that the state very smartly took on the issue of the bars ability to hold a drag show, and the involvement of children would be problematic for R House. If the restaurant were Childers client, he said he would recommend they settle with DBPR. I would suggest that they offer to ban children from all future performances, he said in a hypothetical sense. Just shut it down voluntarily and keep their liquor license. Then Childers said the DBPR can pass it to the state legislature that will be convening in work sessions this fall for the new laws in the spring. When asked about the states child welfare lawswhen exposing children to drag shows and allowing their participation in themhe pointed to the Florida Department of Children and Family Child Maltreatment Index which he said was very specific. Im not sure that anybody has an appetite for prosecuting parents for making the decision to take their child to a drag show, he said. There might be a compelling case against the parents under a child endangerment theory or contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Without specific case law in front of him, he could not elaborate further but said that there should be a solution that doesnt involve creating a new law that could backfire on the governors parental rights law. Some Republicans in state government are very concerned with these new laws that theyre making that they could be at some point be turned around, he said. However, the governor is firm in his beliefs about protecting Floridas children. Having kids involved in this is wrong and it is not consistent with our law and policy in the state of Florida We want to make sure that we have a state, and we have communities where kids can be kids. The governor, who is the father of three young children, said that he is sensitive to this. Mark Ridley-Thomas attends the opening of the Helen Keller Park Screening Room in Los Angeles on Dec. 10, 2014. (David Buchan/Getty Images) Ridley-Thomas Sues to Restore Pay After Suspension From LA City Council Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas sued the city July 28 over the decision to suspend his pay and benefits following his indictment in a federal corruption case. The lawsuit names City Controller Ron Galperin and alleges that Galperins decision was unauthorized, unlawful and politicized. It seeks a ruling to strike down the decision as unlawful, along with attorneys fees. Ridley-Thomas was suspended from the council last October after his indictment. Chelsea Lucktenberg, Galperins director of communications, declined comment Thursday, citing pending litigation. But in a statement after suspending Ridley-Thomass pay last year, Galperin said he could not use city money to pay the salary of an elected official facing federal bribery and fraud charges who is now legally unable to do his job. Mark Ridley-Thomas is no longer empowered to carry out the duties and responsibilities for which he was elected, and he can no longer be present to effectively serve his constituents or represent their interests at City Hall, Galperin said at the time. Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin attends Venice Family Clinic Hosts 37th Annual Silver Circle Gala: Honoring Ivy Kagan Bierman and Russel Tyner at Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 25, 2019. (John Sciulli/Getty Images for Venice Family Clinic) Rob Wilcox, the director of community engagement and outreach for the City Attorneys Office, said the citys lawyers would review the lawsuit and declined further comment. Ridley-Thomas and former dean of the USC School of Social Work Marilyn Flynn were charged in a 20-count indictment alleging a secret deal in which Ridley-Thomaswhen he was a member of the county Board of Supervisorsagreed to steer county money to the university in return for admitting his son Sebastian Ridley-Thomas into graduate school with a full-tuition scholarship and a paid professorship. Flynn allegedly arranged to funnel a $100,000 donation from Ridley-Thomass campaign funds through the university to a nonprofit organization to be operated by his son, a former assemblyman. The donation prompted an investigation by the U.S. Attorneys Office in Los Angeles that remains open, prosecutors said. In exchange, the indictment contends, Ridley-Thomas supported county contracts involving the School of Social Work, including lucrative deals to provide services to the county Department of Children and Family Services and Probation Department, as well as an amendment to a contract with the Department of Mental Health that would bring the school millions of dollars in new revenue. Both defendants have strongly denied any wrongdoing and promised that evidence will clear their names. Ridley-Thomass trial was delayed until November earlier this month. Herb Wesson (C) attends the City Of Los Angeless Black History Month Celebration at Los Angeles City Hall, in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 4, 2020. (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images) Herb Wesson, who was appointed the temporary replacement to represent the 10th District for Ridley-Thomas in February, was blocked by a Superior Court judge last week from performing any council functions. The decision by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel effectively blocks Wesson from representing the district, although it did not formally remove him from the post. The ruling marked the second time Strobel has issued a restraining order against Wessons service on the council. On Feb. 24, Strobel sided with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern Californias (SCLC) challenge to Wessons appointment, issuing a temporary restraining order that blocked him from serving. But she later vacated the order and declined to issue a preliminary injunction, saying that procedurally, the SCLC needed to obtain permission from the state Attorney Generals Office to proceed with its legal challenge. According to the appointment, Wesson is supposed to hold the position through Dec. 31 unless Ridley-Thomas is acquitted or the charges against him are dropped. Galperin also cut off Wessons pay last week after the judges decision, the Los Angeles Times reported. Investigators search for evidences outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 25, 2022, after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two teachers. (Jae C. Hong/AP Photo) Robb Elementary School Principals Leave With Pay Lifted, Will Continue to Serve in Role: Lawyer The principal of Robb Elementary School in Texas, Mandy Gutierrez, has been reinstated three days after she was placed on paid administrative, her attorney has said. Ms. Gutierrezs Administrative Leave With Pay has been lifted and she has been fully reinstated to her position, where she will continue to discharge her duties and continue to serve all the families of the UCISD, her attorney, Ricardo Cedillo, told The Epoch Times in a statement. Cedillo also sent a copy of a letter from Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District superintendent Hal Harrell, addressed to Gutierrez, which states that she will continue to serve as principal of the school. In the letter, Harrell thanked Gutierrez for responding to our request for information by submitting your response to the House Investigative Report. That is an apparent reference to a letter that Gutierrez sent on Wednesday to the Texas state House of Representatives committee that is investigating the shooting in which she challenged some of the claims that had been made in their report on the handling of the shooting massacre, CBS reports. With mutual agreement, you will continue to serve the District in an administrative capacity, the letter continues. Thank you for helping us as we work through this transition. Gutierrez has worked in the Uvalde school district for more than 20 years and became principal of the school in 2021. She was placed on paid administrative leave with pay earlier this week following the Texas lawmakers report in which she gave testimony. Regrettable Culture Of Noncompliance According to the report, Gutierrez stated that the school administration knew about security issues in the form of a door to one of the classrooms in which the shooting took place that did not lock, prior to the May 24 mass shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead. The report was highly critical of both the school administrations and law enforcements response to the shooting. There was a regrettable culture of noncompliance by school personnel who frequently propped doors open and deliberately circumvented locks, the report states. At a minimum, school administrators and school district police tacitly condoned this behavior as they were aware of these unsafe practices and did not treat them as serious infractions requiring immediate correction. In her letter to Texas lawmakers on Wednesday, Gutierrez denied the reports claims that the lock to the classroom where the gunman is believed to have entered did not work, noting that the lock is checked every night by a custodian and that it was locked and checked before the tragedy took place. Gutierrez also wrote that she was explicitly trained not to use the schools public address system during shooting situations, noting that our training emphasized that using the Public Address System could compound the problem in creating a panic situation with students and an alert to the one or more gunman that was present to do maximum harm. Lieutenant Mariano Pargas, who was the acting police chief on duty the day of the incident, has also been placed on leave following the report, as has CISD police Chief Pete Arredondo, who was one of the first responders on the scene. The Epoch Times has contacted Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for comment. Red Cross staff drive by in their vehicles to the besieged Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant to observe the evacuation of Ukrainian servicemen from Azovstal steel plant, in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, on May 18, 2022. (AP Photo) Russia Says Ukraine Shelling Killed Dozens of Ukrainian POWs; Ukraine Denies the Attack KYIV, UkraineRussia and Ukraine accused each other Friday of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine, an attack that reportedly killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of a southern port city in May. Russia said Ukraines military used U.S.supplied multiple rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk Peoples Republic. Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian POWs and wounded 75. The Ukrainian military denied making any rocket or artillery strikes in Olenivka, and said it only aims for Russian military targets. It accused the Russians of shelling the prison to cover up the alleged torture and execution of Ukrainians there. Neither claim could be independently verified. Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Moscow-backed Donetsk Peoples Republic, said the prison held 193 inmates. He didnt specify how many of them were Ukrainian POWs. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, described the strike as a bloody provocation aimed at discouraging Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. He said Ukraine used the precision High Mobility Artillery Rocket System to hit the prison and eight guards were wounded. A video screenshot shows Ukrainian troops and Azov batallion members surrendering at Azovstal steelworks, carrying wounded, getting into buses, getting medical help in Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 17, 2022. (Russian Defence Ministry via Reuters/Screenshot via The Epoch Times) Ukrainian forces are fighting to hold on to the remaining territory under their control in Donetsk, which together with neighboring Luhansk Province makes up Ukraines mostly Russian-speaking Donbass region. For several months of the war in Ukraine, Moscow has focused on trying to seize parts of the Donbass not already held by the separatists. Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said one person was killed and five injured in Russian rocket strike on the city of Kramatorsk on Friday. The POWS at the Donetsk prison included members from the Azov Regiment captured during the fall of Mariupol. More than 2,400 members from the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian national guard and other military units gave up their fight and surrendered in May. Scores of Ukrainian soldiers have been taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas such as the Donetsk region, a breakaway area in eastern Ukraine which is run by Russian-backed separatist authorities. Some have returned to Ukraine as part of prisoner exchanges with Russia. By Susie Blann Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has called school choice "the civil rights issue of the 21st century." Here, he is seen on stage during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit held at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Fla., on July 22, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) School Choice Looms as Electoral Stealth Issue Conservatives gathered at the pro-Trump America First Policy Summit in Washington this week talked about numerous issues like soaring crime, the ailing economy, and tensions abroad. One topic, though, emerged as a stealth issue and potentially significant factor in the upcoming elections: school choice. The policy seeks to give parents who want to take their children out of failing public school systems more access to charter or private schools. School choice is the single most important domestic issue in this country. Its the civil rights issue of the 21st century, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said. Cruz made the comments during a panel discussion on the subject on Tuesday with former Trump campaign manager and senior advisor Kellyanne Conway and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) The three have nine children between them in public schools. According to polling estimates, 70 percent of Americans support school choice, with an even higher number of black and Hispanic parents included in that average. Their view on the issue stands consistently at 70 to 80 percent support, Cruz said. Donalds, who represents southwest Florida in Congress, said the issue decided Ron DeSantis narrow victory over Andrew Gillum in the 2018 Florida governor race, which went to a recount. As the election approached, Gillums staff thought they had the race won, Donalds said. But Republicans sent out targeted messages to black and Hispanics saying that Gillum would take away school choice. Parents will side with their kids each and every time. Sixty years after Democrat governors stood in schoolhouse doors refusing to let in children of color, Conway said, now we have bigoted people all over the country refusing to let kids out of those schoolhouse doors to access educational opportunities. Former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway believes the school choice issue is drawing minority parents to the Republican Party. (Courtesy of the Corman Campaign) Cruz said the issue is so critical it decides whether hell endorse a candidate in a Republican primary, at risk of alienating other Republicans. He only does it for candidates who support school choice, he said. If kids get a good education, we know that their chances of going down the road of crime, the chances of being trapped in poverty, their chances of health care challenges, of addictions, plummets, Cruz said. The Texas senator said he saw these challenges firsthand when the public schools closed during the COVID-19 lockdown, many for a year or more, to rely on remote education. He and his wife Heidi had their hands full working with their two childreneach supervising oneto keep them on task. But he realized single mothers who couldnt work remotely and had to go to work didnt have that option. And most of those children just missed school for all those months. Shift Among Minority Voters The issue may be one driving a shift among minorities towards the Republicans, particularly among Hispanic voters. Recent polls in Georgia show Republican Brian Kemp attracting 35 percent of the Hispanic vote and Republican Herschel Walker getting 40 percent of it. Hispanics have always been very supportive of school choice. Many want to send their children to Catholic parochial schools or other Christian and faith-based schools, said Alfonso Aguilar, president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, a Washington-based advocacy group. Their support for school choice has only increased, Aguilar said. Hispanics are concerned and turned off by efforts in public schools to sexualize children or teach them woke ideas like CRT. Polls show that 70 percent of Democrats nationally support school choice, including two-thirds of black, Asian, and Hispanic parents, said Marci McCarthy, Republican chairwoman in Georgias DeKalb County, part of metro Atlanta. She said that her county party has seen more interest from minorities who have previously been considered staunch Democrat voters. Lot of Parents Concerns The school choice issue ties together a lot of concernsnot just historically failing schools. Anger has surged over schools poor performances during the COVID-19 lockdown, masking controversies, the teaching of critical race theory, and the teaching of sexuality such as transgenderism to young children. McCarthy said Donaldss take on DeSantiss electionthat he was put over the top by minority parents behind school choiceis the conventional wisdom among Republicans now. He got a lot of the black female vote. Democratic strategist Fred Hicks of Atlanta said Democrats are coming around on the issue. The Democratic nominee for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools, Alisha Thomas Searcy, supports school choice, said Hicks, who has consulted for her campaign. Democratic strategist Fred Hicks says Democrats are coming around to support school choice. (Supplied/Fred Hicks) So its not a partisan issue anymore. Old school Democrats were traditionally opposed to it, Hicks said. But the year of learning lost to COVID-19 triggered change. Parents want schools that are going to work for them and their kids. And other Democratic candidates may be getting the message. Hicks said Stacey Abramss campaign for Georgia governor has hired a policy director who advocates for charter schools. What Democrats can support is choice within the public school system, giving parents more freedom, say, to get away from their failing public school to enroll in a better one elsewhere in the same district. That may not work, however, in rural areas, where schools are distant, or a county has only one high school, Hicks said. Where the parties differ, he said, is on the issue of school vouchersgiving parents their childs share of school education funds to use to send their child to a public or private school of their choice. The money usually wont cover the full costs of private schooling. Some parents cant afford to make up the difference, Hicks said. He added he was a public school teacher in Alabama and then an education professor at Florida A&M University before he switched to politics. What raises the financial bar even higher is having to make up for benefits like transportation and meal programs offered by public schools, but not private schools. A deeper problem, he said, is that private schools can pick and choose their students, which often includes less children from low-income neighborhoods. In attempts to do this, low-income children have not fared as well. Public schools must take children with disabilities and behavioral problems. Another divisive issue remainswhether the money should be used to send children to religious private schools. A recent Supreme Court decision allows Maine parents in rural areas with no public schools to do just that. Unions Stand in Opposition Hicks differentiated teachers from their unions on school choice. He said that teachers dont necessarily oppose the policy, focusing instead on pay, benefits, tenure, and working conditions. Public schools pay better, but many teachers prefer the more orderly classroom atmosphere of private schools. Teachers unions are a very different story, he said. Theyre very anti-school choice and anti-vouchers. McCarthy said the issue exposes broad dissatisfaction with public schools, which spend an increasing amount of time addressing race and sexuality questions rather than focusing on STEAM: science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. We are teaching people to be victims in our schools rather than to become contributing members of society, McCarthy said. She talked about her own countys strugglesa student video of appalling conditions at one high school went viraland with a school board she called ridiculously woke. SCOTUS Justice Alito Criticizes World Leaders for Opposing Abortion Ruling, Cites Hostility to Religion 'Religious liberty is fragile, and religious intolerance and persecution have been recurring features of human history' The Supreme Court justice who drafted the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade decried a growing hostility toward religion in the West in his first public appearance after the ruling. The problem that looms is not just indifference to religion, its not just ignorance about religion, Alito said, starting his keynote address at the 2022 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in Rome on July 21. His 37-minute speech was released on July 28. Theres also growing hostility to religion or at least the traditional religious beliefs that are contrary to the new moral code that is ascendant in some sectors, the justice said. The keynote address marks the top judges first appearance after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States, with a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. It came as a defiant comeback as lawmakers in the United States and across the world voiced opposition to the ruling, with some even calling the June ruling an assault on democracy. The Proud Civilization Alito, a Roman Catholic, reflected on the parallels between the United States and Rome, as once a proud spiritual civilization, nonetheless proved no human achievement is ever permanent. I find myself thinking about the proud civilization that was centered here two millennia ago, he said. As I think back, I also think ahead, and I wonder what historians may say centuries from now about the contribution of the United States to world civilization. One thing I hope they will say is that our country, after a lot of fits and starts, and ups and downs, eventually showed the world that it is possible to have a stable and successful society in which people of diverse faiths live and work together harmoniously and productively while still retaining their own beliefs, Alito added, noting that the fact that Americans can exercise religious liberty has been truly a historic accomplishment for the country. In this United States, the Justice said, where religious liberty goes hand-in-hand with many other rights, a growing hostility towards religion is threatening the protection of this sacred right across the country. And the problem that looms is not just indifference to religion, its not just ignorance about religion. Theres also growing hostility to religion, or at least the traditional religious beliefs that are contrary to the new moral code that is ascendant in some sectors, the justice added. Yet, according to Alito, this hostility to religion and religious freedom threatens a range of other fundamental rights. The exercise of religion very often involves speech, a spoken or written prayer, the recitation of Scripture, a homily, a religious book or article these are all forms of speech they are also forms of religious exercise. If this sort of speech can be suppressed or punished, what is to stop the state from crushing other forms of expression? We consider the relationship between freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. A religious service in a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple is a form of assembly. If a government can ban those assemblies, will it hesitate to outlaw others? On the other hand, if religious liberty is allowed, it will be harder for the state to restrict other speech and other assemblies, Alito said. While most legal academics nowadays believes that religion doesnt merit special protection, Alito added, the Constitution of the United States provides a clear answer to the question of whether religious liberty warrants protection. Constitution protects the free exercise of religion And for judges like me, who think to the belief that it matters what the Constitution says and what it does not say, that is enough, the justice said. Its the law, and dont ask me why. What Really Wounded Me In what he described as an unusual sense of diplomatic impulse in him, Alito responded to foreign lawmakers and celebrities who felt perfectly fine commenting on American law. One of these was former Prime Minister Boris Johnsonbut he paid the pricepost hoc ergo propter hoc right? Alito said, applying the after this, therefore resulting from it fallacy to the fact that the UK PM resigned after voicing opposition to the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling. But the justice did not stop there. What really wounded mewhat really wounded mewas when the Duke of Sussex addressed the United Nations and seemed to compare the decisionwhose name may not be spokenwith the Russian attack on Ukraine, Alito said, referring to Prince Harry, who claimed the overturn of Roe v. Wade was a part of a global assault on democracy and freedom in a speech in July. Religious Liberty The justice went further to reflect on religious persecution across the worldsuch as in Nigeria, Egypt, and Indiaand, most prominently China, but all were not successful. During my lifetime, the Peoples Republic of China did its best to eradicate religion completely. And yet it failed. Just as the Roman emperors who spent centuries trying to destroy Christianity failed, the justice said. As an example of this, Alito added, was that the Cultural Revolution did its best to destroy religion, but it was not successful. It could not extinguish the religious impulse. The cultural revolution was a tumultuous period between 1967 to 1977, during which the Chinese Communist Party sought to eradicate traditional beliefs and values. Alitos speech came after the highest court made multiple rulings on cases pertaining to religious liberty in the United States, including a June ruling that ruled in favor of a football coach who petitioned for his right to pray and another ruling in the same month that struck down Maines ban on religious school funding. Chinas Long-Arm Persecution Currently, plaintiffs in another high-profile religious freedom case before the Supreme Court is seeking in what they describe as Chinas long-arm religious persecution in the United States. Twenty-three attorneys general (AGs) across the nation, in a joint amicus brief, described the point of law in the case as an issue of national importance, supporting the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs complaint (pdf) describes around 40 incidents of threats or physical assault against them for participating in parades representing Falun Gong, handing out flyers about Falun Gong, or managing a booth with Falun Gong-related literature in the United States. Falun Gong is a spiritual practice consisting of meditative exercises and moral teachings centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. It became widely popular in China in the 1990s. In 1999, the communist regime, perceiving that popularity to be a threat, began nationwide persecution targeting the practice and its adherents. Millions of practitioners have since been held in detention centers, jails, and labor camps across China, where they are subject to physical torture, forced labor, and forced organ harvesting. With respect to one incident in July 2011, two plaintiffs describe in graphic detail an attack by Li Huahong, head of the Chinese Anti-Cult World Alliance, a CCP-affiliated organization that targets religious dissidents overseas with violence and harassment. According to two witnesses, a mob of 20 to 30 people then surrounded two Falun Gong practitioners. One of them was held for about 30 minutes until the police arrived, while a mob yelled kill her and beat her to death. In this case, a religious group known as the Falun Gong, which originated in China, experienced persecution and harassment on American soil, according to a statement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtons office on June 29. The group started in China under a Communist regime hostile to religious pluralism, the AGs wrote. Many Falun Gong practitioners have thus fled to America. Yet even after coming here, Petitioners allegedly continue to face persecution and abuse from Communist sympathizers. The AGs, in their amicus brief, said the 2021 ruling of a lower court dismissing the case is wrong on an issue of national importance that stands at the center of our constitutional traditionnamely, religious liberty. In doing so, the court unduly narrowed a statute meant to bar the worst acts of violence in many of Americas sacred places, the AGs said. Americas commitment to religious freedom is essential. It constitutes one of our most treasured and jealously guarded constitutional rights, the AGs wrote, quoting previous court opinions. Our hearts are restless until we rest in God, Alito said in his speech. And, therefore, the champions of religious liberty who go out as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves can expect to find hearts that are open to their message, the justice said. Eva Fu contributed to this report. RCMP Chief Supt. Chris Leather is questioned by lawyer Thomas Macdonald at the Mass Casualty Commission inquiry into the mass murders in rural Nova Scotia on April 18/19, 2020, in Halifax on July 28, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Kelly Clark) Senior Mountie Says Federal Lawyers Advised Him Not to Disclose Call From Lucki Requesting Gun Details After NS Shootings A senior RCMP officer has testified that lawyers from the federal Justice Department advised him not to disclose a call he received from Commissioner Brenda Lucki asking him to send her details of the firearms used in the mass shooting in Nova Scotia. In his testimony on July 27, Chief Supt. Chris Leather told the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) that he had received a call from Lucki on April 22, 2020three days after the shootings that left 22 deadasking him to send her details about the guns. Leathers statement about the call with Lucki, and about a series of emails that followed, didnt come up in a July 6 interview he gave to commission lawyers. During cross examination on July 28, Leather told Michael Scott, a lawyer who represents the majority of the victims families, that he hadnt mentioned the call in the interview because he had been told by lawyers with the Justice Department to take a reactive posture. The advice I received was not to proactively disclose the conversation [with Lucki] and the emails leading up to the meeting on April 28, [2020], Leather testified, after his request to have his solicitor-client privilege waived was granted. I knew from my notes and emails I had prepared and submitted that it was obviously relevant to what would become the infamous phone call of April 28, and was troubled by that and wanted their advice and was advised to take a reactive posture, he said. Misunderstanding Lori Ward, counsel for the Justice Department and the RCMP and one of the two lawyers who met with Leather, said there was a misunderstanding in regards to the advice they gave the chief superintendent. Shortly before his interview with commission counsel, [Leather] had raised a document of which we had no knowledge in the context of our discussions about the meeting with Commissioner Lucki, Ward said. From his description of the document, we thought it was potentially relevant but possibly privileged, and based on assurance of confidentiality, given to those who are involved in the making of the document. As such, we told Chief Superintendent Leather we would obtain that document and review it and disclose it if it was relevant. Weve now reviewed it, and it will be disclosed imminently, she added. At no time did we advise Chief Superintendent Leather not to speak about it if it came up, and not to speak the truth. Commission chair Michael MacDonald said to Ward that he thought the issue was proactive versus reactive, not about whether to tell the truth or not. Leather said the essence of the meeting with the two federal lawyers was to seek their advice on whether to proactively disclose the conversation he had with Lucki during his interview with the MCC lawyers. He confirmed to Scott that he was concerned about how to address the issue if it surfaced in case he was seen to be improperly holding back relevant information critical to the investigation. It pertains to this very issue, post my interview, given my discomfort with how things proceeded and the fact that it didnt surface during the course of the interview. And I felt I needed independent legal counsel to get advice on how to manage the situation on a go-forward basis, he said. Political Interference Allegations Leather also told the inquiry on July 28 that he believes political interference was behind Luckis determination to have the firearms details made public to further the federal governments gun control legislation. Thats my impression, he said, during cross-examination by lawyer Tom MacDonald, who represents the families of two victims killed in the mass shootings. Leather said he came to that conclusion after gathering the facts about the lead-up to the teleconference with Lucki on April 28, 2020, which his colleagues in H Division, then-Superintendent Darren Campbell and then-strategic communications director Lia Scanlan, also attended. I did not come away from that call immediately feeling that, he said, explaining that he came to that conclusion after gathering the facts and conferring with Campbell and Scanlan. So to answer your questionnot immediately. Subsequently, yes, when I gathered all the facts and had an opportunity to learn what had occurred in those final hours before that press conference of the 28th. Campbell, now chief superintendent, had recorded in his handwritten notes that during the meeting on April 28, 2020, Lucki said she had promised then-Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and the Prime Ministers Office that information on the guns would be released, and that it was tied to pending gun control legislation. In his notes, Campbell detailed his concerns that disclosing the weapon details to the public could jeopardize the investigation being carried out by the RCMP and U.S. law enforcement, which he reiterated during the public inquiry. Scanlan provided a similar retelling of events in an email to Lucki sent a year after the tragedy. Campbells and Scanlans recollections were publicly released by the MCC in June, which prompted the Conservatives to call for an investigation into alleged political interference. Both Lucki and Blair have said there was no political interference in the investigation into the killings. Noe Chartier and The Canadian Press contributed to this report Starbucks Korea Apologizes After Carcinogen Found in Giveaway Bags Starbuck Korea issued a public apology on Thursday over its summer giveaway bags that contained carcinogenic chemicals and said that it would offer free drinks, or other products, as compensation to customers. We deeply apologize to our customers who are disappointed in us for the recent issue [surrounding the giveaway bags], the company said in a statement, The Korea Herald reported. Starbucks Korea ran a test on its Summer Carry Bag, a picnic bag given to customers who bought 17 drinks between May and July, after an unidentified FITI Testing & Research Institute employee posted online that it contained formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is an industrially produced and naturally occurring chemical that has a pungent smell and is flammable. According to the National Cancer Institute, exposure to high levels of formaldehyde can cause myeloid leukemia and rare cancers. On July 22, we have requested state-approved institutions to run tests on six unopened samples and five opened samples of giveaway bags and detected formaldehyde on both outer and inner fabrics of the samples, Starbucks Korea said. The institutions found an average of 459 milligrams per kilogram of formaldehyde on the exterior surface of an unopened bag and 244 milligrams per kilogram of the same substance in the bags inner fabric, it stated. The same substance was found on bags that had been left opened for two months, with an average of 271 milligrams per kilogram on the outer surface and 22 milligrams per kilogram on the inside surface. In South Korea, formaldehyde standards have been set at less than 75 milligrams per kilogram for undergarments and other clothing, and below 300 milligrams per kilogram for outerwear and bedsheets. To compensate customers, Starbucks Korea said it would give customers vouchers for three free drinks if they returned the bags to its branches by Aug. 31. Customers can also choose to swap the bags for other items or get a 30,000 won ($23) online gift card for each bag returned. We plan to bolster our companywide quality control review system and expand related teams by hiring professionals, it stated. The company cited the absence of formaldehyde standards for bags as the reason behind its delayed response to the matter. Starbucks Korea Ownership The Seattle-based coffee chain exited South Korea in July last year and sold its stakes to local partner E-Mart Inc, which acquired an additional 17.5 percent stake in Starbucks Korea for $411 million. E-Mart now owns 67.5 percent stakes in the company. The remaining 32.5 percent stakes of Starbucks Korea were sold to Singapores wealth fund company GIC for an estimated $700 million. South Korea is Starbucks fifth-largest market with more than 1,500 stores across 78 cities, but analysts said the country offers little growth opportunity for Starbucks due to its mature and saturated market. Starbucks, the worlds largest coffee chain, has in recent years been expanding globally especially in China due to its largest marketthe United Statessaturates and grapples with stiff competition. Reuters contributed to this report. State of Emergency in San Francisco Declared Over Monkeypox Spread A state of emergency has been announced in San Francisco on July 28 over the spread of monkeypox, a viral disease that has spread to more than 70 countries since the start of 2022. San Francisco is declaring a Local Public Health Emergency for monkeypox, London Breed, the mayor of the city, announced. This declaration will go into effect starting Aug. 1 and will allow us to prepare and dedicate resources to prevent the spread. The declaration is a legal document that allows authorities to mobilize city resources, streamline staffing, and coordinate agencies across the city, as well as speed up emergency planning and allow for future reimbursement by the state and federal governments, she said in a statement. The move also raises awareness in San Francisco about how to stop the spread of monkeypox, Breed added. San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks during a news conference outside of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital in San Francisco, Calif., on March 17, 2021. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) The city has at least 281 cases out of about 800 in California and about 4,907 across the United States as of late July 28including probable casesaccording to data from San Franciscos health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cases of monkeypox have increased in California since late Junethe end of Pride Month. San Francisco is an epicenter for the country. Thirty percent of all cases in California are in San Francisco, said San Francisco Public Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip. San Francisco shut down its primary monkeypox vaccination clinic earlier this week after it ran out of doses, saying it had only received 7,800 doses of a requested 35,000. That is not nearly enough, and the reality is we are going to need far more than 35,000 vaccines to protect our LGBTQ community and to slow the spread of this virus, Breed said. Mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions (L), and spherical immature virions (R), obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. (Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP) A study published in the Journal of New England Medicine on July 21the first major peer-reviewed study of monkeypox infectionsindicated that a vast majority of people with monkeypox were gay or bisexual men, and a vast majority of the infections were suspected to have occurred through sexual activity in 95 percent of those infected. Researchers had observed monkeypox infection across 16 countries between April and June, when cases began to be reported in countries outside of Africa. San Francisco was at the forefront of the public health responses to HIV and COVID-19, and we will be at the forefront when it comes to monkeypox, said state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat who represents San Francisco. We cant and wont leave the LGTBQ community out to dry. The San Francisco mayor clarified that officials are not implementing behavior restrictions or other measures like we did under COVID. This is all about having the resources and ability to move quickly to deploy these resources, Breed said. She said the emergency declaration must be adopted by the Board of Supervisors within a week, adding on July 28 that the board has agreed to convene an emergency meeting next week to consider this emergency. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on July 23 declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency, citing the global growth in caseseven though a special advisory committee did not reach a consensus on whether to declare the global health emergency. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Duong Di Sanh departs from the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in Melbourne, Australia, on May 17, 2022. Former Liberal Party candidate Di Sanh Duong is charged with preparing an act of foreign interference within Australia following a year-long investigation by ASIO and the AFP. (AAP Image/James Ross) Alleged Chinese Agent to Stand Trial in Australia for Foreign Interference A Melbourne-based Asian community leader who has been accused of planning foreign interference on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been committed to stand trial. The decision was made on July 28 by Melbourne magistrate Susan Wakeling who found enough circumstantial evidence for the case against Duong to go to trial. Wakeling also said that the evidence taken at its highest could support a guilty conviction. Duong has formally pleaded not guilty to a charge of intentionally engaging in conduct with the intention of preparing for, or planning, foreign interference. Under the 2018 National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Act, the maximum penalty for preparing for a foreign interference offence is 10 years imprisonment. Prosecutors allege that Di Sanh Duong, also known as Sunny Duong, 67, donated $37,000 (US$25,609) to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 2020 as a vehicle to ingratiate himself with [Tudge]. According to several tapped recordings, which were presented to the Magistrates Court of Victoria on May 17, Duong spoke to a Liberal Party staffer in March 2020 when he offered to purchase COVID-19 testing kits from Hong Kong and donate them to Tudge. Duong was a Liberal Party member at that time, but resigned in November 2020 following a joint investigation between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Further conversations that were presented to the courtwhich were authorised by the federal attorney generalfound that Duong agreed to donate the money to the Royal Melbourne Hospital after being asked whether he would offer the same donation to then federal MPs, Greg Hunt and Gladys Liu. Duongs defence argued that the donation was merely a way for the Chinese Australian community to show they cared during the COVID-19 pandemic and that such action is further evidence that he was not acting on behalf of the CCP. Duongs bail was extended to August 25, when he will appear at the County Court for a directions hearing. As part of his bail conditions, Duong is not allowed to leave Australia or contact a consulate, embassy, foreign intelligence agency or an elected official. Duongs Alleged Alliance with Beijing Duong was previously a leader of several community organisations in Melbourne, including the Oceania Federation of Chinese Organisations from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos Inc., and the Museum of Chinese Australian History Melbourne. Using his position, he mobilised other Melbourne-based Asian community leaders to support Beijings geopolitical claims to Taiwan and the East China Sea. For example, in 2007, Duong, along with an alleged 30 community organisations, jointly condemned then-Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bians Four Noes and One Without pledge. The pledge affirmed Taiwans status as an independent nation from Beijing. In 2011, Duong signed a joint declaration with several other community leaders for Japan to relinquish control of the Senkaku Islands to Beijing. The letter claimed to represent the Chinese community in Australia and New Zealand, despite varying political views of the vast Mandarin-speaking population in both countries. Over the past three years, ASIO has quietly expelled several Chinese businessmen and journalists due to alleged ties to the Ministry of State Security or Chinese foreign interference agencies, reported The Age. In April, property developer Zheng Jiefu was deported after it was alleged that he engaged in foreign interference on behalf of Beijing, including offering AU$20,000 (US$13842) to the Australian-based son of a human rights activist in China. AAP and Daniel Y. Teng contributed to this report. Taste of Yorba Linda is Returning on July 29 For the 38th year, the Taste of Yorba Linda event will be returning on July 29 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Yorba Linda Community Center. Around 75 food, beverage, and sponsor vendors will be on site, with local restaurants, breweries, and wineries showcasing their unique flavors. Meanwhile, guests can dance and enjoy live music from the bands King Salmon and the Funkyard Horns. The event is hosted each year by the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce. CEO Susan Wan-Ross told The Epoch Times this year they are expecting around 1,000 people. The Taste of Yorba Linda event is meant to help boost economic development in the community, said Wan-Ross. Another event coming up in two weeks, Restaurant Week, will also help generate interest in local businesses. A Taste of Yorba Linda event. (Courtesy of Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce) Spokesperson Alex Hernandez from the Chamber of Commerce told The Epoch Times a ticket to Taste of Yorba Linda allows individuals to have unlimited food and drinks from all of the vendors at the event ranging from pizza and beer to ice cream and cookies. Some sponsors include the Orange County District Attorneys Office, the OC Local Tap Room, Toll Roads of OC, 11th Marine Expedition Unit, and Veteran Air. One unique aspect of this event is the opportunity for community members to sponsor a Marine to attend. The Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce and the 11th MEU Adoption Committee have teamed up to create this opportunity to thank Marines for their service and provide them with a fun evening. There will be 40 Marines visiting the event from Camp Pendleton Marine Base in San Diego. Tickets to sponsor a marine are already sold out. Tickets for the event are on sale for $55 each. VIP ticketswhich offer guests their own beer, wine and food serviceare also sold out. It is easier to set limits early onregarding phones and social mediathan it is to try to implement them later. (BearFotos/Shutterstock) Texas Lawmaker Wants to Ban Minors From Social Media State Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Texas) plans to introduce legislation in 2023 that will ban minors from using social media. Patterson told The Epoch Times that the bill aims to protect childrens mental health. The idea for the new bill came after talking to school officials in the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. School safety was paramount, but Patterson said social medias impact on children was also a concern. Im a big believer in parental rights, but I think parents dont stand a chance against these self-learning, artificial intelligence algorithmsthese teams of engineers and even child psychologists that these social media companies are hiring, he said. Patterson posted on Twitter earlier this month about his plan to introduce legislation banning social media companies from allowing users under 18 to use their platforms. State Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Texas). (Photo courtesy of Jared Patterson) His post was in response to an article shared by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The conservative group advocated banning minors from social media based on a story of a young girl barraged with videos of body image, eating disorders, and self-harm. Users on Twitter were quick to denounce the idea, with some saying that guns need to be banned instead of social media. Others said that children have a right to free speech and that social media use should be a parental decision, not a governmental one. Patterson said that parents are up against a giant industry that pushes addictive content. Theres been an uptick in suicides and self-harm from 2007 to 2017, corresponding to an explosion in social media use. Before 2007, suicide rates were decreasing. He said that cyberbullying and school shooters have been linked to social media but emphasized that the bill would not be a cure-all for mental health issues. Look, Im not saying if we ban social media providers that we will have no more mass shootings. What I am saying is this is absolutely a piece of it. Children cant legally buy guns, tobacco, or alcohol, he said, adding that society safeguards children physically far better than it does mentally. Patterson sees social media as being similar to cigarettes in the 1960s. He compared it to minors smoking before the Surgeon General warned the public about its dangers. Patterson believes something similar will happen to social media in future years. They are built to hook you in longer, just like a drug, he said. A teenager and his younger brother enjoy trading insults over an instant messaging system. Many children in the U.S. have started to use the internet as a way to cyberbully because they dont really think that they are doing anything wrong, they think they are having fun. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images) Patterson said the idea has received mixed reviews from other lawmakers, saying a ban might be a tough sell. Another approach would be banning media companies from using algorithms on those under 18 years old. Social media companies such as TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter have been invited to an Aug. 8 meeting on the topic. Patterson said he isnt looking to lock up children or parents. Social media companies would be penalized for allowing minors to use their sites under the bill. I think theres broad bipartisan support, he said. I think theres going to be broad bipartisan opposition. The Last-Second Move That Determined the Fate of Irvine Ranch Commentary The recent piece, Who Are the Irvines? provided a little glimpse of the familys impact on Orange County. Except for a couple of seconds, this familys impact and heritage would not have even happened. The story is a fascinating portion of Orange Countys history, and it was captured by Robert Glass Cleland in his book, The Irvine Ranch, published by The Huntington Library, copyright 1966. Orange County has become famous for its land development and the resulting boom and bust cycles in the real estate market. The original owner of the ranch, James Irvine, born in 1827, owned the Irvine & Co., a wholesale produce and grocery merchant in San Francisco. The profits from his business were invested into income-producing real estate. He and investment partners purchased ranchos from the Californios that could not hold on to their land due to drought and other circumstances. He would eventually buy out his partners. James Irvine would not live long enough to fully see the Great Boom in Southern California land values between 1886 and 1888, as he passed on March 15, 1886. His will named executors who were to administer the estate for his 18-year-old son, James II, his wife Margaret, and a few other beneficiaries. One of the provisions was that his only son, James, Jr., would inherit the estate, after certain bequests had been honored, when he reached age 25. At that time, the ranch was still under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County. Orange County successfully split off and became its own county in 1889. The size of the holdings for Rancho Lomas de Santiago, Rancho San Joaquin, and Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, which would constitute the Irvine Ranch, was more than 100,000 acres, or about 20 percent of the new county. The ranch was put up for sale at public auction on July 16, 1887. According to Cleland, before the bidding was to begin, there was a provision that no bids under $1.3 million would be accepted, that a nonrefundable certified check for $50,000 must be immediately provided at the conclusion of the auction, and that all bids must be made within thirty minutes from the actual start of the sale. There were two major bidders and in the flurry before the conclusion of the thirty minutes, the official timekeeper appeared to become momentarily confused. He recognized the highest timely bidder, at $1,380,000, as the winner. The other party then bid $1,385,000 and the timekeeper said, You have it. Both parties laid their certified checks on the table. The trustees refused to close or consummate the transaction. Of course, the losing bidder filed suit in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. The court would determine that the timekeeper was saying, You have it, to the first bidder. More surprisingly, The Court is of the opinion that neither plaintiff nor defendant is entitled to the decree prayed for or to any relief and orders judgment accordingly. The court agreed with the trustees that no sale had occurred. According to Cleland, In this dramatic fashion the difference of a seconds time, a little more or less, determined the fate of the Irvine Ranch! In the months that followed, rumors of offers and potential sales proved to be unsubstantiated, and James Irvine, II would keep and manage the ranch. On June 4, 1894, he incorporated the land holdings as The Irvine Company. In 1897 he donated what is now known as Irvine Park. He and his wife and children would move permanently to Orange County after the San Francisco earthquake of April 1906. The rest is history. The original ranch home, built in 1900, was lost to a fire in 1965. However, the County of Oranges Public Library Department had it rebuilt according to the original architectural renderings. This new library, located in the city of Irvine, was dedicated shortly after I was elected as a county supervisor in 2006. Family scion, Joan Irvine Smith, called me and was as giddy as could be. It was named after her mother, and Joan let me know that touring the new facility brought back many childhood memories and was enthralled with the accuracy of the rebuilt home. For this glorious piece of Orange County history, please visit the Katie Wheeler Library which is located at 13109 Old Myford Road. It is adjacent to the original Irvine Ranch headquarters, which houses the Orange County Parks Department. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Struck by the resilience of the Nenet people, a group of Siberian nomadic shepherds who endure temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit), an Italian photographer traveled to their land three times to honor their existence and share it with the world in an atmospheric photo series. Alessandro Bergamini, 35, of Finale Emilia in the province of Modena, Italy, makes trips around the globe every year to take photos. Past destinations include Afghanistan, China, India, Myanmar, Peru, and Siberias Yamal peninsula, the latter of which he has visited in December of 2018, 2019, and 2021. Today, the Nenet people are facing survival threats due to the ecological damage being done by the exploitation of the regions natural gas and oil deposits. Bergamini told The Epoch Times that he has never seen another tourist group on his visits to this remote, freezing location in northern arctic Russia. The main thing that struck me is their ability to adapt themselves to the most inhospitable place I have ever visited. Everything is difficult, he said. Even walking outdoors in those temperatures is incredibly tiring; you freeze! And the awareness that they are a people destined to disappear within a few years has prompted me to photograph them. They are the last. They live in impossible climatic conditions. It puts us to the test and makes us realize how tiring it can be to survive, but it also offers unforgettable and intimate moments, where time and white merge. While unsure exactly how many Nenet people there are in Yamal, Bergamini claimed they usually live in small family groups of six to eight. On each of his three visits, the photographer stayed with a different host family to learn about life in the tundra. Bergamini had an interpreter with him who helped him in communicating with the Nenet families. We needed to have special means of transport able to withstand those temperatures, and specific equipment to navigate where there are no roads, only expanses of white, he said. We all slept together. In the morning, everything is frozen inside the tent. The food is based on either stewed reindeer, or fish caught and left to freeze outside. They are a working people, not very sociable, but nevertheless interesting and hospitable. As do many tribal and traditional communities, the Nenet revere their elders. One of Bergaminis most memorable experiences in Yamal was a shared moment between a grandfather and his grandson, the past and future of the photographers host family. Inside the tent, the old man tried to make us feel at ease by offering us food and hot tea, and shelter from the cold by the light of a lantern, he recalled. He tried to tell us about his family with a shepherd dog puppy on his lap, while his nephew listened to him. The Nenet survive temperatures as low as 50 degrees below zero, and just a few hours of sunlight a day, inside tents, or chums, made from the reindeer skins from which they also make warm clothes. They sell some reindeer in the cities they pass in order to stock up on essential staples for the winter. Ice fishing provides another staple food. The Nenet pierce the frozen water, spear big fish, and use the flesh to make warming soups on wood-burning stoves inside their tents. While these are on, the climate is quite welcoming, said Bergamini. But as soon as you go to bed and they go out, you sleep at 20 degrees below zero. The Nenet change location in search of fresh pasture and food as the weather changes, on foot or by sled. Babies and children may ride in small covered carriages to protect them from the cold. During his trips, Bergamini was also lucky enough to witness a Nenet migration. At first light, the families dismantle their tents following an orderly and rapid system, rolling up their reindeer leathers, dismantling wooden poles, lifting the flooring, collecting their food supplies, then loading their sleds and securing babies and children. Before sundown, they have herded their reindeerwith the help of trained dogs who retrieve the grazing reindeer from the tundraand have set off on a journey of several kilometers. The cold during the journey is at the limit of bearable, said the photographer. Once they have chosen the new area, within an hour or two the tents are set up again in the dark. Finally, a fire can be built to warm up. The Italian started taking photos in his mid-20s with his fathers old reflex camera, after being asked to document the places he visited and people he met. His passion for capturing the essence of travel through photos turned into a career. He shares his favorite shots on Instagram, in printed collections and competitions, and at photo festivals and live exhibitions. Bergaminis photos from Yamal belong to a portrait collection celebrating cultural diversity, titled, Humanity. My inspiration is not someone but something, he told The Epoch Times. The curiosity of a way of life different from mine in such an inhospitable and humanly difficult place, and the will to testify to their existence by telling it, through images. Check out more of his work below: Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) speaks during a House Judiciary Committee mark up hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington on June 2, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Three Hostile Foreign Actors Breached US Federal Courts System in 2020 Cyberattack: NY Congressman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, revealed on July 28 that three hostile foreign actors carried out an incredibly significant and sophisticated cyberattack against the federal courts document management system in early 2020. The cyber breach has since had lingering impacts on the department and other agencies, Nadler said during a congressional hearing on Thursday. Perhaps even more concerning is the disturbing impact the security breach had on pending civil and criminal litigation, as well as ongoing national security or intelligence matters, Nadler added. Judiciary The U.S. Judiciary issued a statement about the breach on Jan 6, 2021, saying that its Case Management/Electronic Case Files system (CM/ECF) had become a victim of an apparent compromise. The system allows attorneys to file case documents, such as pleadings, motions, and petitions, with the court online. The Judiciary added the breach happened because of vulnerabilities in its system that greatly risked compromising highly sensitive non-public documents, particularly sealed filings. Due to the nature of the attacks, the review of this matter and its impact is ongoing, the statement concluded, adding that the Judiciary was working with the Department of Homeland Security on a security audit. The Homeland Security Department headquarters in northwest Washington, on June 5, 2015. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo) Nadler added that the committee learned in March of the startling breadth and scope of the systems security failure. The cyberattack was unrelated to the massive SolarWinds hack that was exposed in December 2020, Nadler added. The congressman from New York then asked Matt Olsen, assistant attorney general for the National Security Division (NSD) at the Department of Justice, what types of cases, investigations, or U.S. attorneys offices were impacted most by the breach. In response, Olsen said he couldnt speak directly to the nature of the ongoing investigation regarding the effort to compromise the public judicial dockets. However, He did say his division was focused generally on cyber threats from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. This is, of course, a significant concern for us, given the nature of the information as often held by the courts, Olsen added. Olsen also said he couldnt think of anything in particular when asked if the break had impacted any NSD investigations. I can assure you, based on my own personal experience, that we are working very closely with the judicial conference and judges around the country to address this issue, Olsen said. FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the fiscal year 2023 budget for the FBI at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 25, 2022. (Bonnie Cash/Pool via Getty Images) China While neither Nadler nor Olsen named any country responsible for the breach, the Chinese communist regime is likely at the top of the list. In January, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Chinese regime has unleashed a massive, sophisticated hacking program thats bigger than those of every other major country combined. The Chinese government steals staggering volumes of information and causes deep, job-destroying damage across a wide range of industriesso much so that, as you heard, were constantly opening new cases to counter their intelligence operations, about every 12 hours or so, Wray added. Wray pointed to the 2021 Microsoft Exchange Server hack as an example of recent Chinese cyberattacks, saying China compromised the networks of more than 10,000 American companies in a single campaign alone. In March, cybersecurity firm Mandiant reported that a hacker group backed by Beijing successfully compromised at least six U.S. state government networks between May 2021 and February 2022. Read More Chinas Cyber Capabilities Pose an Existential Threat to America I would say that the challenge, when it comes to the sophisticated nation-state type activity that we see in cyber, the challenge is significant, Olsen said. And its very difficult to ever be in a position to say that any system is 100 percent safe when it comes to sophisticated nation-states that seek to obtain persistent access to these systems. Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), testifies to a Senate panel on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 11, 2021. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool/Getty Images) Top FDA Officials Concerned About Pressure to Authorize COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters: Emails Top officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were worried about what they saw as pressure being placed on them by vaccine companies and the White House to clear booster shots, according to newly released emails. Dr. Marion Gruber, the director of the FDAs Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR), said that she was very concerned that companies (such as Pfizer and Janssen) are trying to put pressure on OVRR by way of PR, or public relations, in one of the missives. We need to be given time to consider their data and cannot be pushed by these companies and, for that matter the Administration, who try to impose timeless [sic] that make no sense, Gruber told Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDAs Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in the Aug. 25, 2021, email. The 126 pages of emails, obtained and released (pdf) by the nonprofit Judicial Watch, show that there was increasing pressure on OVRR from both inside and outside the government to take action on requests for authorization for boosters. The pressure was triggered in part by a joint statement signed by FDA Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock, longtime National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, and other Biden administration officials. The group said that the protection from the COVID-19 vaccines were declining over time and that a booster shot will be needed to maximize vaccine-induced protection and prolong its durability. Marks was encouraging Moderna to submit a formal request for booster authorization Michelle Olsen, a Moderna executive, told Sudhakar Agnihothram, who worked under Gruber, via email two days later. Marks urged Moderna to file the request as soon as possible, according to the emails. Bite My Tongue In a discussion around that time, Marks told staffers that we wouldnt be doing rushed reviews anymore, Dr. Doran Fink, who also worked under Gruber, wrote to Gruber and others. I had to bite my tongue so as not to ask about the booster doses that the administration promised to everyone by Sept 20! Fink wrote. He keeps on telling me that following this approval, he will sit down with us to hammer out a plan to get on top of the workload because while I was gone he actually did an inventory and determined that our workload is no longer manageableat the same time he encourages sponsors to send in submissions and I am sure promises fast turn-around, Gruber responded. Johnson & Johnson also repeatedly emailed the FDA, asking for meetings to discuss data in preparation for submitting a booster authorization request. Karin Van Baelen of Moderna said that an executive was meeting with Marks and that Moderna had already made presentations to Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health. Gruber grew frustrated, culminating in the email to Marks. In another message, Gruber pushed back when Marks messaged Fink to personally review work they were doing analyzing vaccine data, which Marks said was done at the behest of Woodcock. I am concerned and disappointed about the apparent lack of confidence and trust that Dr. Woodcock has in the OVRR team and that she has asked you to verify the information that we have provided to you in todays meeting and in the email sent to you by Doran this afternoon, Gruber said. Edits May be Rejected The rush to get boosters cleared was prompted by the joint statement from the White House and other Biden administration officials, according to Van Baelen. In view of the urgency created by the recent joint announcement by HHS and Medical Experts, we consider it important to be able to address the questions raised related to U.S. citizens who received the Janssen vaccine single dose regimen earlier this year as soon as possible, she said. Gruber at one point reached out to international colleagues, lamenting the crazy controversy and very strong push towards boosting vaccinees that I am seeing here in the U.S., the E.U., and a few other countries. The message appears to be total buy-in in the need for boosters,' Gruber wrote in another email, asking for edits on a statement the FDA was preparing. This is not how I am writing the BD, I am trying to take a more neutral approach. This piece sounds as if we already decided to approve this supplement. Maureen Hess, a colleague, said that she would make edits but noted that Woodcock signed onto the joint statement, so our edits may be rejected above us. Gruber and Dr. Phil Krause, who was deputy director at OVRR, resigned from the FDA because of the disagreements over the need for boosters. You had this corporate-government pressure on the civil servants who were over there and they objected so much, at least two of them resigned, Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said on EpochTV. Gruber, Krause, Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson did not respond to requests for comment. The FDA, Marks, and Woodcock declined to comment. The FDAs outside advisory panel challenged the administrations effort for boosters for all, voting only to recommend authorization of boosters for several subsets of Americans. However, the FDA soon bypassed the panel and authorized boosters for all adults, triggering public pushback from Krause and another former FDA scientist, Luciana Borio. Second boosters have since been cleared for tens of millions of Americans because of the waning protection provided by the first booster, and there are signals that virtually all Americans will soon be advised to get second boosters. Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Dr. Fink. The Epoch Times regrets the error. The new Toyota Corolla Hybrid car during the first press day of the Paris auto show in Paris on Oct. 2, 2018. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters) Toyota Misses AprilJune Output Target but Says May Be Turning Corner TOKYOToyota Motors production for the AprilJune quarter fell around 10 percent short of its initial plan, but the automaker struck a more optimistic note for its business from August onwards as Chinas COVID-19 lockdowns eased and demand outside Japan was resilient. The worlds largest automaker by sales said on Thursday that output and sales were on the path to recovery, raising hopes it will still be able to reach its record 9.7 million global vehicle production target for the year ending March 2023. We do expect a recovery trend, including in Japan, but we are still in a situation where we cannot foresee the future, a spokesperson said, pointing to wariness over risks such as lingering global chip shortages, a COVID-19 resurgence that is hitting Japan, and high fuel prices that could make consumers more cautious about spending. Toyota said it had produced 793,378 vehicles globally in June, which was slightly above a target of 750,000 it had cut twice and down 4.6 percent from the same month last year. For its AprilJune first quarter, Toyota produced 2,120,577 vehicles, 9.8 percent below its initial target of 2,350,000 for the period. The entire industry and all the Japanese auto manufacturers in April and May were in a state of disarray, said Koichi Sugimoto, an analyst at the Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. Its getting better with each passing month. Toyota said its overseas production hit record levels for both June as well as the first six months of the calendar year, with 587,005 units and more than 3 million units, respectively. Although the global chips shortage is an unresolved issue, areas such as Europe where it uses fewer chips for vehicle components were less susceptible to the effect, boosting production by 12.4 percent for June year-on-year. On the other hand, Toyotas domestic and North American factories were hit harder by the semiconductor shortage, since they make cutting-edge vehicles, such as its luxury brand Lexus, that use more chips. An easing of lockdowns in Shanghai also helped production in China rise 42 percent for June. Other Asian countries also saw production bouncing back from the pandemic. Although Sugimoto said he does not expect a dramatic improvement in the semiconductor shortage, there will be some gradual improvement, calling Toyotas 9.7 million vehicle target for the current fiscal year not an impossible number to achieve. Toyota has called the AprilJune quarter an intentional cooling off period to ease the burden on its suppliers by notifying them of changes to production plans as early as possible. It first cut the June production target in late May, blaming the lockdown, and then again in mid-June, citing a COVID-19 outbreak at one supplier and a production equipment defect at another. On Thursday it said it would cut domestic production in July by an additional 200 vehicles, to 4,200 vehicles, after heavy rain disrupted part supplies. Former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the America First Policy Institute Agenda Summit in Washington on July 26, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Trump Claims Absolute Immunity From Jan. 6 Civil Suits Former President Donald Trump asserted absolute immunity to shield him from civil lawsuits over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. In a July 27 filing (pdf), Trumps attorneys Jesse Binnall and Molly McCann urged a federal appeals court in Washington to entirely dismiss the former commander-in-chief as a defendant in civil suits linked to the Capitol incident in early 2021, citing presidential immunity. This appeal requires the adjudication of a simple but important constitutional issue regarding the separation of powers: whether the scope of the presidential absolute immunity continues to reach the outer perimeters of presidential responsibilities or whether the immunity can be undercut if the presidential act in question is unpopular among the judiciary, said the preliminary statement to the court. This question has already been answered by the Supreme Court, it continued, which held that the immunity is rooted in constitutional separation of powers, and it is especially important to the President because he deals with matters that are controversial and arouse intense feelings. The 48-page document sought to reserve a previous decision by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee who denied Trumps claim of absolute immunity in February, deeming the former presidents post-election effort on Jan. 6, 2021 a personal attempt to remain in power, rather than official acts. It means such civil lawsuits can still hold Trump accountable for the Jan. 6 attack. Such analysis would open the flood gates, the legal team warned in the new filing. The exception would swallow the rule. Future courts would be free to look to the political context of the presidential act rather than being constrained to look no further than the nature of the act itself, they wrote. Executive Immunity Binnall had previously contended that statements by then-President Trump were protected speech and he was acting within the scope of his official presidential duties. Executive immunity must be broad, he said during a five-hour court hearing in Washington before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. The latest brief from Wednesday asserted that Trump is shielded by absolute presidential immunity because his statements were on matters of public concern and therefore well within the scope of the robust absolute immunity afforded all presidents. Attorneys called on the appellate court to reject the so-called attempt to undermine absolute immunity. No amount of hyperbole about the violence of January 6, 2021, provides a basis for this Court to carve out an exception to the constitutional separation of powers, it concludes. Mehta admitted in his February ruling that the denial of a president immunity from civil damages is no small step. The court well understands the gravity of its decision. But the alleged facts of this case are without precedent, and the court believes that its decision is consistent with the purposes behind such immunity, he said. Trump appealed a month later against the district courts ruling, yet the panel of presiding judges has not been decided yet. The former president is now facing multiple civil cases linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol incident, including those filed by Democrats, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Capitol and Metro police officers. The Wednesday court filing also called these lawsuits an attempt to thwart an early acquittal of Trump, which amounted to harassment that presidential immunity is meant to foreclose. The Twitter logo is seen on a sign at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, California on Nov. 4, 2016. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images) Twitter Censors All Content From The Epoch Times The social media company 'must explain itself for this outrageous act of censorship,' Senator Marco Rubio says UPDATE: Twitter has halted its censorship of content from The Epoch Times following a flood of public criticism. Twitter on July 28 imposed a blockade on all content from The Epoch Times without explanation, raising further concerns about freedom of speech on the platform and drawing ire from three U.S. senators. The platform enforced a warning on all links from The Epoch Times. A click on a link directs users to a page titled Warning: this link may be unsafe, which prompts users to return to the previous page. The link you are trying to access has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe, the warning stated, citing Twitters URL policy. We are aware that Twitter has marked all links to https://t.co/copOc5TSA6 as "unsafe." We believe this is a mistake and we have submitted a review to @TwitterSupport. pic.twitter.com/UyFqoiaUkq The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) July 29, 2022 The notice said that the link could fall into any of four categories: malicious links that could steal personal information or harm electronic devices; spammy links that mislead people or disrupt their experience; violent or misleading content that could lead to real-world harm; or content that if posted directly on Twitter, are a violation of the Twitter Rules. Twitters warning page allows users to proceed to the Epoch Times link if they click on the word continue at the very bottom of the page. The platform has not responded to multiple requests from The Epoch Times for clarification. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), vice chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who serves on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who serves on the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, decried the move as an act of censorship. Twitter is blocking all links to @EpochTimes, including a story about a human trafficking survivor, and labeling them as spammy and unsafe. Twitter must explain itself for this outrageous act of censorship, Rubio wrote in a July 29 tweet. Johnson described Twitters action as alarming. Twitter is censoring @EpochTimes under the guise of unsafe speech. Remember what happened the last time corporate media and big tech tried to censor my investigation on Hunter Biden corruption? he wrote. The truth always prevails. Scott asked Twitter in a July 29 tweet wheres the respect for free speech and freedom of press, Twitter. We all remember your biased censorship of [The New York Post] and how that ended for you, Scott said. Human Trafficking Interview Censored Among the first to be affected by Twitters blockade was Eliza Bleu, a human trafficking survivor. In an interview that premiered at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Bleu shared about how abusers groomed her by preying on her vulnerabilities. Bleu tried to repost the link after watching the interview, and to her surprise and dismay, found that she couldnt even click on the link. Im pretty disheartened that the interview link was labeled as unsafe, because its not unsafe, she told The Epoch Times. By watching the interview, anyone can tell its pretty educational, she said. I wasnt talking about anything that wasnt factual. I was just really just trying to educate, raise awareness, and bring attention to the issue. She added that the link seemed to be accessible when the interview first aired but became blocked sometime afterward. Twitter Targets American Media, Not Chinese State Media The Epoch Times was founded in 2000 by Chinese Americans who fled communist China and sought to create an independent media outlet to bring uncensored and truthful information to the world. At least 10 staff members for The Epoch Times were arrested that year in China, with one editor-in-chief spending a decade in prison. While operating outside of China, the media outlet has remained a consistent target of attacks from the Chinese regime over the past two decades. The printing press of the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times has suffered a series of violent break-ins, including arson, over the years, viewed as attempts by Beijing to intimidate the publication. In an official statement last year, President Joe Bidens State Department condemnded an attack on an Epoch Times reporter in Hong Kong. Major Chinese state media, by contrast, remain accessible on the platform as of press time. Jeffrey Tucker, founder of the Brownstone Institute think tank and a contributor for The Epoch Times, also expressed his shock. The @EpochTimes, the entire media complex, has been declared by Twitter to be unsafe. This stuns me, even though I thought I was beyond shock at this point, he wrote. Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report. People line up outside the University of Toronto Mississauga campus for a COVID-19 vaccination clinic on May 6, 2021. (Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press). University of Toronto Mandates COVID Booster Shot for In-Residence Students This Fall The University of Toronto (U of T) has mandated a COVID-19 booster requirement for all students and employees who will be living in residence during the 2022-23 academic year. Students living in residences this fall will be required to have a primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine and at least one booster dose before moving in, reads a COVID-19 update on the universitys website. Ontarios full-vaccination requirement is two doses of any Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot. Cheryl Regehr, vice-president and provost, and Kelly Hannah-Moffat, vice-president of People Strategy, Equity & Culture, wrote in the July-28 update that the universitys decision to mandate booster shots for in-residence students was influenced by Ontario having recently expanded the availability of second booster shots for residents aged 18 years and older. The university will require just one booster shot for in-residence students, but strongly encourages all students, staff, and faculty to remain up-to-date on their vaccinations and upload their proof-of-vaccination documents to the universitys UCheck portal. Staying up-to-date on your COVID-19 vaccinations offers the best protection against severe illness, says the update. It will also reduce isolation requirements and disruptions to your on-campus activities in the event that you are exposed to COVID-19 or test positive. U of T paused several campus-wide health measures in May 2022including its requirement to be fully vaccinated for all in-person activities on university premisesshortly after a group of its staff, students, and faculty filed a complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The complaints basis was that U of T continued its on-campus vaccine mandates even after the Ontario government announced an end to the province-wide vaccine passport system on March 1, 2022. According to a press release issued by the complainants, the university was going against public health recommendations even though they relied on them to enforce overly restrictive mandates on students, staff, and faculty. U of T made clear that it was pausing, but not dropping, several of its health measures for the summer term. They included wearing masks inside university buildings, completing online health screenings prior to entering campus, and showing proof of vaccination for university events. It noted that any or all of these health measures could be reinstated on short notice and strongly encouraged students, staff, and faculty to continue adhering to the measures even while not required to. The University will continue to monitor public health conditions over the coming weeks as September approaches to adjust our response as needed, reads the July-28 update. U of Ts Fall 2022 semester will begin on Sept. 8. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, before she christened the nuclear aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., on Dec. 7, 2019. (Steve Helber/AP Photo) US Ambassador Kennedy Meets Australian PM, Talks to Coastwatchers Who Helped Rescue JFK Australian prime minister and deputy prime minister have met the newly appointed U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, with climate change and Indigenous issues being discussed. Kennedy, 64, is the daughter of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and has served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan between 2013 and 2017 under former President Barack Obama. She was long considered a candidate for the high-profile role in Australia after showing support for Joe Bidens bid for the presidency. She landed in Sydney last week, beginning her ambassadorship with a focus on regional security and climate change. Fantastic meeting with US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy today, already a close friend of Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote in a Twitter post on July 27. The new ambassador conveyed the greetings of U.S. President Joe Biden and the White House to Albanese during the introductory meeting. Fantastic meeting with US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy today, already a close friend of Australia. pic.twitter.com/dhjAQUnTGv Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 27, 2022 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles also welcomed the new ambassador. The two discussed the future of the Australia-U.S. alliance and areas of cooperation to support a secure, resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Meanwhile, Kennedy has already stepped into the political role by supporting one of the centre-left governments leading goals, Indigenous reconciliation. In a first for the U.S. embassy, Kennedy held a Welcome to Country ceremonyan Aboriginal smoking ceremony that is part of the reconciliation efforts as they acknowledge the traditional ownership of the land and involve Aboriginal Australians in events that take place on their land. The decision to hold the ceremony comes after the ambassador was introduced to the Uluru Statement from the Heart (pdf) by the Australian prime minister, which calls for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution. Caroline Kennedy thanks Vice President Joseph Biden after he spoke during an event to honour her fathers inauguration on Capitol Hill on January 20, 2011, in Washington, DC. (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images) Amazing Example of US-Australia Alliance The daughter of former President John F. Kennedy also visited the Australian War Memorial and spoke to the last two surviving Australian Coastwatchers, whose elite team helped rescue her father during World War II. It was a great honour to meet two Australian Coastwatchers, who played an essential role in keeping the region secure during World War II, Kennedy said in comments obtained by ABC. President Kennedy and daughter Caroline aboard the Honey Fitz off Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, Aug. 25, 1963. (Cecil Stoughton/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum) Australian and Solomon Island coast watchers rescued former President John F. Kennedy from a sunk torpedo boat in the Pacific. The story has become American folklore and was presented in the 1963 Hollywood movie PT 109. I owe personal gratitude to an Australian Coastwatcher and two Solomon Islander scouts who saved my fathers life, she said. These men represent the best of their generation and are an amazing example of the bonds of the U.S.Australia alliance. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel speaks at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on May 23, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images) US Government Reaches New Deal With Moderna for 65 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses The U.S. government has reached a deal with Moderna for 65 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Biden administration announced on July 29. The contract is valued at $1.7 billion. Moderna will sell doses of its vaccine that target Omicron coronavirus subvariants, according to the agencies that announced the agreement. The actual contract hasnt yet been made public. Vaccine makers have been updating their COVID-19 shots because the vaccines are based on the Wuhan strain, which hasnt been prevalent since 2020. The vaccines have proven increasingly worse at protecting recipients as newer variants emerge. BA.5, an Omicron subvariant thats currently dominant in the United States, bypasses the protection from vaccination and prior infection better than earlier strains, according to emerging data. Prior infection, or natural immunity, continues to hold up better than vaccination, according to studies. U.S. drug regulators recommended in June that vaccine makers tweak their formulations to include components of BA.5 and BA.4, another Omicron subvariant. The companies had been focusing on early Omicron strains, which have since been largely displaced. Currently available vaccines have helped reduce the most serious outcomes (hospitalization and death) caused by COVID-19, but results from post-authorization observational studies have shown that effectiveness of primary vaccination wanes over time against certain variants, including Omicron. And while initial booster doses have helped restore protection against severe disease and hospitalization associated with omicron, studies have also indicated waning effectiveness of first booster doses over time, Dr. Peter Marks, a top Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official, said in a statement. As we move into the fall and winter, it is critical that we have safe and effective vaccine boosters that can provide protection against circulating and emerging variants to prevent the most severe consequences of COVID-19. Any updated formulations would need to be cleared by the agency. We are pleased to extend our successful collaboration with the U.S. government, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a July 29 statement. Modernas mRNA platform is enabling us to rapidly create mRNA-1273.222, a bivalent vaccine that specifically targets Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, the most prevalent variants of concern in the U.S. today. Pfizer Purchase Before the Moderna agreement, the U.S. government agreed to buy 105 million updated Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses. That agreement was valued at $3.2 billion. Both agreements were hammered out with the Department of Defense, which coordinated with the Department of Health and Human Services. They include options that enable the government to buy up to 600 million doses in total, or 300 million from each company, if additional doses are deemed necessary. However, that would require more funding from Congress, Biden administration officials say. Deliveries of the updated Moderna and Pfizer vaccines could come as early as the fall, pending FDA authorization and backing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We must stay vigilant in our fight against COVID-19 and continue to expand Americans access to the best vaccines and treatments, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. As we look to the fall and winter, were doing just thatensuring Americans have the tools they need to stay safe and help keep our nation moving forward. A helicopter of the German Federal Police battles wildfires in the Saxon Switzerland National Park near Schmilka, Germany, Wednesday, July, 27, 2022. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP) Wildfires in Germany, Czechia Threatening Tourist Region BERLINA large wildfire on the German-Czech border is spreading and threatening to destroy a forested national park popular with tourists. The fire in the region, called Bohemian Switzerland on the Czech side and the Saxon Switzerland national park on the German side, started last weekend. It had seemed to be under control but spread again early Thursday, German news agency dpa reported. Hundreds of firefighters on both sides of the border battled the flames with help from reinforcements from neighboring Poland and Slovakia. Eight firefighting helicopters were working to douse the flames in the hilly and rocky region that is difficult to access and where about 250 hectares (618 acres) of forest were burning Thursday. Bundeswehr helicopters land on the banks of the Elbe to help with firefighting efforts in the Saxon Switzerland National Park, Schmilka, Germany on July 28, 2022. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP) Local authorities warned tourists to stay away from the area. Saxony state officials banned hikers from entering several forests in the region. To prevent additional blazes, they also asked local residents not to set off fireworks at private parties, Its all very tense. We can by no means speak of an easing of the fire yet firefighters have reached the limits of their capabilities, Saxony Interior Minister Armin Schuster said. Another large forest fire in the Elbe-Elster district of the eastern German state of Brandenburg was under control Thursday after flaring up again on Wednesday evening, local authorities said. The fire was still burning an area of 500 hectares (1,236 acres). A police helicopter scouted the area with a thermal camera to look for pockets of embers that could ignite into flames. Some areas are contaminated with World War II ammunition and are too dangerous for firefighters to enter because the heat or human contact could cause explosions. Germanys army has sent several military helicopters to both fires to support local units. Signs hang in opposition to proposed locations city officials are considering to zone for housing in Yorba Linda, Calif., on July 27, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Yorba Linda Residents Dispute Citys Proposals to Meet State Housing Quotas YORBA LINDA, Calif.As over two dozen people gathered within the chambers of the civic center, planning commissioners approved July 27 an environmental impact report for the citys prospective locations for the state-mandated housing zones. To meet Californias housing demand, the state mandates cities to rezone land for housing. Yorba Linda must make space for over 2,400 new housing units by 2029. The city does not need to construct the units, but only make space for them. During the commission meeting, residents voiced concern on how additional units would interfere with an emergency evacuation during a fire, like the Blue Ridge fire in 2020 that tore through nearly 14,000 acres, much of which was in Yorba Linda. A fire helicopter drops water on the Blueridge fire as it burns near homes in Chino Hiils, Calif., on Oct. 27, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) I read the environmental impact report and it says the project will definitely increase calls for service for the Orange County Sheriffs Department and the Orange County Fire Authority, Patrick Thrasher, a 29-year resident of Yorba Linda, said at the meeting. Wildfires in the east end of the cities are a major issue. We fear anytime we see smoke in the sky theres going to be another fire. City officials have appealed to bring down the number of mandated housing units in 2020 and 2021, but were denied. After narrowing down select sites, city staff proposed over two dozen that would go toward the states requirement. (Courtesy of the City of Yorba Linda) Proposed areas of rezoning for state-mandated housing throughout the city range from church properties to vacant parcels of land connecting with neighborhoods and schools. Some of these sites are in residential areas, where signs stating, NO REZONING and NO HIGH DENSITY HOUSING could be seen posted to fences along the sidewalks. With the commissions approval, the environmental impact report will move to the city council for consideration Aug. 2. Signs hang in opposition to proposed locations city officials are considering to zone for housing in Yorba Linda, Calif., on July 27, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) RICHMOND, Va. (AP) The FBI has recently conducted interviews about the origin of the sexual assault allegations made in 2019 against then-Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, according to Fairfax and several others who said they were interviewed. Fairfax, who said he met for several hours with the FBI in early June, welcomed the inquiry. The 43-year-old Democratic attorney, who left public office in January, has consistently denied the assault allegations against him, which have not resulted in criminal charges, and has long called for law enforcement to investigate them. He maintains he had consensual encounters with the women who have accused him of assault and has insisted that their complaints against him were part of a politically motivated smear campaign. Three other people confirmed to The Associated Press that they had been interviewed, insisting on anonymity to discuss what they and Fairfax believe to be an ongoing investigation. A fourth person familiar with the matter who also insisted on anonymity confirmed that Fairfax had been interviewed. That person was not one of those interviewed. Dee Rybiski, a Richmond-based FBI spokeswoman, declined to comment. The FBI does not typically confirm or deny the existence of investigations. The allegations against Fairfax surfaced publicly in February 2019, as he appeared poised to become Virginia's governor because of a scandal that had erupted over a racist photo on then-Gov. Ralph Northam's yearbook page. With Northam facing near-unanimous calls to resign, Fairfax would have been elevated to the post. But then two women days apart accused him of an assault in 2004 and rape in 2000, resulting in demands that Fairfax resign and blunting the pressure on Northam. Both men ultimately went on to finish their terms. Fairfax, a former federal prosecutor and civil litigator, said he has been in touch with the FBI on an ongoing basis since February 2019, providing evidence of what he has long alleged was a coordinated effort to block him from becoming governor. The news of his and other interviews was first reported by The Intercept. Fairfax has claimed for years without proof that former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and his close ally, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, played a role in surfacing the allegations, something McAuliffe and Stoney have called absurd. Fairfax points in part to connections between a former Stoney advisor and one of his accusers. Fairfax was once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, and he competed against McAuliffe and three others for last year's Democratic nomination for governor; Stoney is also widely seen as a contender for higher office. Fairfax said the FBI did not disclose the full scope of its apparent investigation but asked him questions about his concerns. Stoney said at a news conference Wednesday that the FBI had not reached out to him or anyone in his operation. Stoney said he believes the women's allegations, called the idea that he was involved in a smear campaign ridiculous and added the only one talking about the FBI was Fairfax. These are claims by an individual who has been accused of rape, bottom line, he said. Jake Rubenstein, a spokesman for McAuliffe, said McAuliffe knows nothing about any of this. Period. Attorneys for the women, Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson, defended their clients and criticized the idea that the FBI might be investigating. Nancy Erika Smith, an attorney for Watson, said in a statement: If it is true that the FBI is actually investigating two victims of Justin Fairfax, shame on the FBI. This latest abuse is obviously at the urging of Fairfax and his political benefactors and PR team. Debra Katz, an attorney for Vanessa Tyson, said neither she nor Tyson had been contacted by the FBI. She said she would be shocked if there was a real FBI investigation and suggested Fairfax was trying to weaponize the suggestion of one. The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but both women came forward publicly with their allegations against Fairfax. Tyson said Fairfax at the time a Columbia Law School student serving as an aide to Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards forced her to perform oral sex in his hotel room during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. Two days after Tysons statement, Watson issued her own, accusing Fairfax of raping her in 2000, when they were students at Duke University. Fairfax has said that in the case of his encounter with Watson, an eyewitness was present in the room. That person has not responded to repeated interview requests from the AP and has not spoken publicly to confirm or deny Fairfax's assertion. Watson and her attorney have declined to address whether a third person was in the room. One person who described being interviewed by the FBI in early July was asked if they had ever heard anything about money being exchanged in relation to the allegations, the person said. The person had heard of something similar and reported it at the time to a spokesperson for Fairfax. The person, who is not close with Fairfax, has no firsthand knowledge of any payments and doubted that the individual who made the comment did either, the person said. A second person who was interviewed was asked whether they had any knowledge about connections between the mayor's office and the women or any possible payments to the women, the person said. The third individual who was interviewed described being asked similar questions and provided the AP a copy of an apparent email exchange with the FBI. Separately, Tommy Bennett, president of the Danville branch of the NAACP, told The Post that the FBI reached out to him to ask about the allegations. Fairfax finished his term as lieutenant governor a mostly ceremonial role that involves presiding over the state Senate in January. He got about 4% of the vote in last year's Democratic primary. McAuliffe won that contest, then went on to lose the general election to Republican Glenn Youngkin. ___ Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker reported from Washington. BOGALUSA, La. (AP) Louisiana rapper JayDaYoungan was fatally shot in his hometown of Bogalusa, north of New Orleans, police said. The musician, whose real name is Javorius Scott, was killed Wednesday just after 6 p.m. He was 24. Police said they received a call about a shooting just before 6 p.m. Wednesday. One of the injured people was brought to Our Lady of the Angels emergency room. Another victim, still on scene, was critically wounded and was transported there by ambulance. Police were then notified of another shooting shortly after 7 p.m., about four miles from the first shooting. Authorities said a car was hit by bullets, but the occupants were not injured, police said. In a Facebook post, Bogalusa Police confirmed Scott's death as a result of his injuries. The other victim, identified by multiple news outlets as Kenyatta Scott Sr., the rapper's father, was said to be in stable condition. Police said the surviving victim was a close relative of the rapper but would not discuss their relationship. Bogalusa Police investigators said they believe the two shootings are linked. Investigators have connected Scott to crimes involving gang rivalries in parts of rural Louisiana in recent months. They said they believe the violence is retaliatory. An investigation is continuing. In June 2021, Scott was released from prison after serving seven months on charges of possession of a firearm while under indictment for a crime. In September that year, he was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and accessory to a second-degree murder that occurred in Louisiana. The next month, he was arrested for multiple felonies, including the illegal use of a controlled dangerous substance in the presence of minors. Bogalusa Mayor Wendy Perrette, in a statement, urged residents to remain calm while police investigate. The senseless shooting in Bogalusa (is) another tragic reminder of the pain that violent crime brings with it," she said. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims' family and friends. As your Mayor and as a Mother I plead on behalf of our community and for our children, today must mean enough is finally enough. Stop the violence! See something, say something. Perrette also asked that Louisiana State Police assist the Bogalusa Police Department and the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office in the investigation. In 2016, Scott released his debut mixtape YOUNGANimal. He later signed to Atlantic Records and dropped his mixtape Misunderstood, featuring breakout hit 23 Island, in 2019. His major-label debut album Baby23 arrived in 2020. Earlier this year he released two EPs, Scarred and All Is Well. In his brief career, Scott had worked with Lil Durk, Latto, Moneybagg Yo and Kevin Gates. Scott has more than 2.5 million followers on Instagram. His most recent video, First Day Out Pt2 had amassed 1.9 million views on YouTube. A spokesman for Atlantic Records could not immediately be reached for comment. MEXICO CITY (AP) Authorities in Mexico said Thursday that at least 94 migrants had to bash their way out of a suffocating freight trailer abandoned on a highway in the steamy Gulf coast state of Veracruz. Carlos Enrique Escalante, the head of the state migrant attention office, said migrants had to break holes in the freight container to get out, some apparently through the roof. SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) A court in Bosnia sentenced a former top ruling party official Friday to three years in prison for corruption, according to a Bosnian media outlet. Amir Zukic, former secretary-general of the ruling Bosniak Party of Democratic Action, or SDA, was convicted of using party connections and bribes in 2016 to secure people jobs in state-run institutions, the Klix news portal reported. An Edwardsville man faces felony vehicle theft and fleeing charges, among a number of felony charges filed Tuesday by the Madison County States Attorneys Office. Christopher A. Bell, 32, of Edwardsville, was charged July 26 with aggravated offenses relating to motor vehicles, a Class 1 felony; aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, a Class 4 felony; and driving while license revoked, a Class A misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force. According to court documents, on July 19 Bell allegedly had a reported stolen 2017 Harley Davidson on Interstate 255 at Collinsville Road and fled an Illinois State Police trooper while driving with a revoked license. It was noted the motorcycles registration was altered at the time of the incident. Bail was set at $100,000. Other felony charges filed July 26 include: Zachary R. Pinkerton, 32, of Swansea, was charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department. On May 22 Pinkerton allegedly had less than five grams of methamphetamine. Bail was set at $25,000. Mikhail A. Yurcisin, 34, of Hartford, was charged with threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Hartford Police Department. On July 25 Yurcisin allegedly threatened a Hartford police officer and his family. Bail was set at $53,000. Kelly L. Porterfield, 50, of Pontoon Beach, was charged with retail theft under $300 (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Glen Carbon Police Department. On July 10 Porterfield allegedly took grocery and household items valued at less than $300 from the Glen Carbon Walmart. She has a 2020 conviction for stealing out of Cape Girardeau County. Bail was set at $20,000. James M. Long, 32, of Collinsville, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. On July 23 Long allegedly was driving a 2004 Dodge Ram when he attempted to flee from a Madison County sheriffs deputy, reaching speeds in excess of 21 miles above the posted speed limit. Bail was set at $40,000. David R. Hayes Sr., 33, of Caseyville, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On July 15 Hayes allegedly was driving a 2007 Dodge Charger when he attempted to flee from a Granite City police officer, reaching speeds in excess of 21 miles above the posted speed limit. Bail was set at $25,000. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Show More Show Less 3 of 3 WASHINGTON (AP) The State Department on Thursday offered a reward of up to $10 million for information about Russian interference in American elections, including a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a troll farm that officials say fueled a divisive social media campaign in 2016. The reward, offered by the department's Rewards for Justice program, seeks information about the Internet Research Agency, Yevgeniy Prigozhin a wealthy businessman whose ties to Putin earned him the nickname Putin Chef and other entities involved in interfering in the 2016 U.S. election won by Republican Donald Trump. Alex Carson and Matthew Sprankle are Glen Carbon's two newest police officers after they were sworn in Tuesday during the village board meeting. Police Chief Todd Link provided background information then Mayor Bob Marcus swore each officer in. Carson, 29, grew up in Breese and Trenton. After high school, he earned a certificate in welding technology from Ranken Technical College. He later attended Greenville University and earned his bachelor's degree in criminal justice administration. In 2017, he began his law enforcement career by working part-time for the Carlyle Police Department and the Clinton County Sheriff's Department. The following year, the New Baden Police Department hired him on full-time. He briefly worked for Fairview Heights Police before returning to New Baden. "His background is stellar but unlike Matt, who worked in an urban setting, Alex worked as a lone ranger a lot of the time. He has a lot of solo experience and comes to us as a very self-reliant officer," Link said. Sprankle is 31 and originally from Troy. After he graduated from Triad High School in 2009, Sprankle joined the United States Marine Corps. During his time in the Marines, he served as an infantry sergeant with a combat deployment in Afghanistan and two more deployments in Africa and Europe. Sprankle was honorably discharged from the Corps in 2016. He returned to college at SIUE and earned a bachelor of science degree in history in 2019. In 2020, he joined the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department as a patrol officer where he received praise and commendations for his job performance. "According to everything that came out of his background, he was a model officer and he received many commendations. Obviously, the experience he brings to us from the City of St. Louis is great," Link said. After their badges were pinned on, the officers, family and friends moved outside with the rest of the department for photos. Nairobi, 28th July 2022. Amidst an increase in COVID-19 infections in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, key stakeholders - Amref Health Africa, Unilever and the National Business Compact on Coronavirus (NBCC), among other partners have unveiled a refreshed behaviour change campaign in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Targeting 75 million people in the three countries by April 2023, the initiative aims at scaling up the fight against COVID-19 by influencing the adoption of hygiene behaviours to help protect lives and livelihoods from the pandemic. Amref-NBCC are activating the project as part of the global Hygiene and Behavior Change Coalition 2 (HBCC 2) funded by Unilever and the UKs Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. According to the Amref Health Africa Group CEO, Dr Gitahi Githinji, key messages driven during the previous project (HBCC 1) on masking up, handwashing and social distancing positively affected health metrics in the targeted communities. He said, while our initial agenda was to slow down the rate of infections of the virus, together with our partners, we were able to develop tools and identify new touch-points that helped us to accrue multiple benefits that today demand reinforcement to avoid regression and erosion of gains made. Health CAS - Dr Ann Mwangangi celebrated the coalition partners, terming their efforts as a true manifestation of humanity. She said, selfless giving of time, resources and know-how by the coalition partners not only complements governments efforts in the war against COVID-19 but also introduced non-traditional partners into the health conversation. She noted that the use of influencers, youth, digital platforms, puppets, campaign slogans and more not only refreshed the conversation but infused new and productive approaches that had not previously been thought of. Noting the increased infection numbers in the East Africa region, and ongoing vaccination drives, Dr Mwangangi emphasised the need to sustain the fight until victory is declared against COVID-19. She highlighted that complacency would make us lose momentum on the progress achieved through initiatives like HBCC 1. She added, with discipline and collective intent, we can raise the bar on our basic health standards and overall wellness. Amref-NBCCs activations as part of HBCC 2 will incorporate a number of former and new partners to amplify and strengthen the partnerships. NBCC secretariat Chair and Brands on a Mission founder Prof. Myriam Sidibe articulated the efforts of Amref-NBCC in the earlier project (HBCC 1) to sustainably improve preventative hygiene practices, thus protecting lives and livelihoods in the first year of the pandemic. Prof. Sidibe highlighted that the observation of key hygiene practices, including regular handwashing with soap, mask wearing and social distancing, significantly reduced incidences of hospitalisation for respiratory and hygiene-based diseases. This improvement of the general health of our communities also helped reduce strain on already overstretched medical services, particularly during the first year of the pandemic. Targeting the region, HBCC 2 seeks to drive public awareness on COVID-19 prevention, and long-term behaviour change related to hygiene practices as well as promoting vaccinations among the targeted communities. The campaign also aims at improving access to hygiene products and handwashing facilities by donating hand-washing equipment to 375 healthcare facilities. It will also strengthen health systems through advocacy and the training of 10,100 Community Health Workers (CHWs) and staff while also placing great emphasis on reaching the most vulnerable populations, including persons with disabilities, mothers, children and young people. Importantly, it intends to create sustainable change, ensuring that knowledge, infrastructure and capacity is built into communities in the long-term. To date, over 30 organisations have partnered with Amref-NBCC, ranging from digital media agencies to social businesses, community organisations, retail companies, funding partners, and more. All are aligned with the core goals, with each one bringing something different to the mission of refreshing public commitment to hygiene and self-protective social behaviours. Enough is enough, a person like Austin Umahi tells Nigerians regarding patronage, which is the awarding of jobs or contracts to political cronies and nepotism, which is showing favoritism toward one's family members or relationships, in both economic and employment practices. This blunt psychological open rebuke is evident in a statement from Austin Umahi, the younger brother to the Ebonyi State governor David Umahi, as he rejects President Muhammadu Buharis appointment as the Secretary of Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). In his own words, "I am honestly humbled by this show of love. However, I regret to inform you that I declined the appointment because it is at best for job seekers or retired civil servants, or better still, anyone who loves the job, and secondly, I am convinced that at my age and work experience, it is not in doubt that I know what I want in life." Please if you are interested in the position do not hesitate to approach our indefatigable governor to do the needful because as far as I am concerned the position is still vacant. Thanks and God bless. In other words, there are people who need jobs more than I need this one. There are people who really need jobs. And he is saying this publicly on ethical grounds. For reasons best known to him, Austin Umahi, a reported Christian minister and one with an accounting background, is tired of a situation where human resource practices are corrupted or contaminated by political patronage, nepotism, or cronyism as they have a profound negative impact on recruitment and appointment processes, productivity, discipline, satisfaction, and credibility. He sends a message to all Nigerians, particularly to public and private sector employers, that granting favors or jobs to families and relatives without regard to merit are practices that have damaging effects on equal economic opportunities and effective institutions, as such acts exclude vast groups of needy people and weaken the growth of democracy. A young democratic society whose human resources are founded on nepotism, partiality, favoritism, clannishness, and patronage, as is happening in Nigeria, forms quick and lasting psychological paths to political crises, social conflict, crisis of government, and general discontent and unhappiness, which threaten justice, peace, and security across the nation. The brother of Governor Umahi, who I must say is educationally qualified for the stated job given his accounting, finance, and money science background, like many Nigerians, is just tired and frustrated about a society rooted in greed, partiality, cronyism, tribalism, and abuse of power that can result in intended and unintended consequences for democracy. Lets hope that this new psychology set by Austin Umahi is learned or copied by employers, especially in public and corporate service, regarding the reality that nepotism, manipulation, and marginalization hinder economic and democratic growth amidst the current insecurity in Nigeria. Even a 7-year-old child in southern and northern Nigeria knows all is not currently well in society given the worsening economic and security situation in the country, and Austin Umahi, unlike many in leadership, is leading Nigerians to say it is high time Nigerians begin to speak the truth. Let's hope President Buhari, Governor Umahi and their likes start acknowledging this reality. 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] Yet to be confirmed terrorist group attacked Zuma Rock military checkpoint near Abuja yesterday evening. At the end of the encounter, unspecified number of soldiers are believed to have lost their lives in defence of their fatherland. The encounter took place at about 7pm yesterday, according to security sources. Zuma Rock, located along the Abuja -Kaduna expressway, is a border between Niger State and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. This attack is coming days after the terrorists killed at least two military officers and six soldiers in Bwari, Abuja. The terrorists reportedly stormed the checkpoint with heavy fire power, gunning down the soldiers on duty. They stayed there for about 30 minutes. Sources said the soldiers mobilized from the nearby Zuma Barrack and went to the scene of the attack about 20 minutes after the terrorists had left. Earlier on Thursday, the Defense Headquarters Abuja said they have killed 30 terrorists who attacked and killed soldiers in Bwari. On Sunday, terrorists had ambush the troops near the Nigerian Law School in Bwari Abuja hours after they threatened to abduct President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Nasir El-Rufai and other top government officials.. Presidential Guards Brigade is an elite brigade of the Nigerian Army responsible for protecting the President of Nigeria and securing the capital city. The slain officers were drawn from the 7 Guards Brigade based in Lungi Barracks, Maitama Abuja, it was learned. Dear Asiwaju, I believe by now, if anyone tells you you're going to win the 2023 election effortlessly, you would fix the person with a scornful look and probably bury your hand in his face in strike of a feral slap. With his gross incompetence, the Buhari you shoved down our throats has wrecked havoc on Nigeria, while you're acting unconcerned. Dear Jagaban, as a frontline patriot, you had promised that Buhari's experience as a military leader would easily combat Nigeria's insecurity. Unfortunately, his nepotism in selecting the top brass across the military parastatals has done us great harm. The man you whitewashed to Nigerians has set insecurity at its most alarming rate. We are now the sixth most terrorised nation in the world. People get killed and kidnapped on a daily basis; bandits still decide the peaceful days for Nigerians. While canvassing for votes, you promised Nigerians that economic hardship would be unfound with the emergence of your incompetent Daura friend. Baba Seyi, while you are here, a dollar is now 710 Naira at the parallel market. Recently, we handed the award of the "capital for world poverty" to India, even though India is six times more populated than we are. The anti-corruption crusade you and your party men canvassed with, is nothing to write home about. With ten fingers, our national cake is still being eaten by the top men at the helm of Nigeria's affairs. Do I even talk about university students who have been sitting at home for over four months because of the lingering ASUU strike, or their junior ones in private primary and secondary schools whose schools are now shutting down for fear of attacks by bandits? Asiwaju, you are in the know of all these and still tells us you will "continue from where Buhari stopped"? From where, Jagaban? From where? Was that an insensitive statement to get the support of the president, who you claimed did not want you as his successor, or do you really want to continue with the hardship Buhari has inflicted on Nigerians? The APC has done great harm to Nigeria already, Asiwaju. It has failed in all its promises to Nigerians. The top three promises: insecurity, economy and anti-corruption were mere empty promises from your mealy-mouthed man. Dear Bola, the hearts of Nigeria have welled up in so much sorrow. Their tears have been so heavily provoked that even Nigerians who have never voted in their entire existence have defied all odds to register for their PVCs and patiently waiting to cast votes, mostly not in support of the two big wigs. Asiwaju, this is what APC has done to Nigeria, that any voice from the party is now a voice of mosquito which Nigerians do not want to hear. Dear Tinubu, if you really mean well for Nigeria, my biggest hope is that you succeed in the forthcoming presidential election. If otherwise, I hope you rescind your decision now for the sake of man and posterity. Because, as it stands, it seems no good bullet would come from the gun of APC. Hashim Yussuf Amao Twitter: @LegalBard CSW congratulates The Most Rev Daniel Okoh on his inauguration as president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The Most Rev Okoh was inaugurated on 28 July as part of a three-day assembly at the National Christian Centre in Abuja which concludes on 29 July with a Handing-Over ceremony. He had served as CANs vice-president on two previous occasions, and is the General Superintendent of the Christ Holy Church International, as well as the International Chairperson of the Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC). In April 2022 The Most Rev Okoh was also elected vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of CSW-Nigeria (CSWN). CSWNs Chief Executive Reverend Yunusa Nmadu said: CSW warmly congratulates The Most Rev Okoh on his inauguration as president of CAN. We pray that he will be richly blessed in his new capacity, and believe that he will steer the Association to even greater things. CEO of CSW UK Scot Bower, who is a member of the CSWN board, added: It was an honour to attend the inauguration of The Most Rev Okoh in Abuja. He assumes the CAN presidency at a particularly difficult time in the nations history, as it faces unprecedented levels of insecurity in the lead up to elections that will determine its trajectory. The Most Rev Okoh can be assured of our prayers and support as he navigates the Christian community through unprecedentedly troubled waters, and we look forward to working with him in his new role. This week in Nigeria Report: journalist Masara Kim reports on recent mass kidnappings of Christians in Kaduna state, and fears that kidnapped women will be forced into sex slavery: Christians in Nigerias Kaduna State are worried 21 women kidnapped by suspected Islamist militants from the southern village of Kasan Kogi on 21 June 2022 might never return. They [the abductors] said they will marry off our women to their members if we dont pay N100 million ($230,000) ransom within days, said the Reverend Ezekiel Garba, a pastor at the Chapel of Good News Church in Kasan Kogi in a phone call. They said they will use them to produce children who will kill us in the future, added Garba whose wife is among the abductees. The villagers are predominantly peasant farmers who have been impoverished by frequent attacks and kidnappings by terrorists, said Jonathan Asake, the president of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU). Where will they get that kind of money from? said a worried Asake by telephone. Read the whole article. Follow Nigeria Report on Twitter for the latest updates. Nigeria Report is a project of Christian Solidarity International. Its goal is to spread awareness of, and promote solutions for, the widespread sectarian violence afflicting Nigeria. Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is a Christian human rights organization promoting religious liberty and human dignity. Brit, Dane caught in Phuket high-roller gambling den PHUKET: A British national and a Danish national were among 11 people arrested in a raid on a gambling den on Koh Siray, east of Phuket Town, early this morning (July 29). By Eakkapop Thongtub Friday 29 July 2022, 03:44PM Phuket Provincial Police along with officers from Region 8 Police raided the venue, a villa on Thepprathan Rd, at 3:30am. The raid followed a tip-off via a post online, teasing police to raid the venue, or else risk being accused of taking bribes to allow the gambling to continue. The post also shared an advertisement posted online promoting the venue, which called itself The Royal Club, as the The Best Poker House in Phuket. The grand opening was marked as from July 28-30. Officers conducting the raid arrested eight Thais, one Cambodian, one British citizen and one Danish citizen, police reported today (July 29). When officers arrived, betting chips for more than B2 million were on the poker table. Officers seized the poker table, three decks of cards and a further 783 betting chips which altogether were marked to cover B1,579,150 in bets. Police also seized a laptop computer. According to records of betting chips exchanged at the scene, the gambling began at 9:30pm, police noted. Two of the 11 arrested said they had travelled from Bangkok to gamble at the venue. Both had made bookings to confirm their attendance at the event, police said. All 11 were taken to Phuket City Police Station to be charged, and for further questioning, police reported. One person, identified as the organiser of the event, faced extra charges for illegal possession of gambling equipment and paraphernalia, and for organising an illegal activity, police said. Phuket officials honour birthday tributes for HM King PHUKET: Phuket officials concluded their formal ceremonies to commemorate the 70th birthday of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun yesterday (July 28) with a blessing ceremony held at the Phuket Provincial Administration Center in Phuket Town last night. culture By The Phuket News Friday 29 July 2022, 10:27AM Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew led the ceremony, held at the Auditorium building, at the auspicious time of 7:19pm. Joining the ceremony were hundreds of officials in full dress uniform, including the senior officials, soldiers and police as well students, members of community organisations and other members of the general public. Governor Narong led the ceremony by laying offerings in front of a large image of His Majesty in the Auditorium hall to pay tribute to HM The King. The tribute ceremony was followed by a candlelight ceremony during which blessings were recited in honour of His Majesty. The official ceremonies to commemorate His Majestys birthday began yesterday morning, with a merit-making giving of alms to 79 monks and a mass pledging of the Oath of Allegiance by leading provincial officials. At 5pm, a performance of traditional Thai dance was held in the Auditorium building in honour of His Majesty The King. Phuket receives positive review from BIE Expo inspection team PHUKET: The delegation of representatives from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) were treated to tours in Phuket Town and local Phuket cuisine and a turtle-release at Nai Yang yesterday (July 28) as part of their inspection of the island to assess whether Phuket should be selected to host the World Specialised Expo 2028. healthtourism By The Phuket News Friday 29 July 2022, 02:09PM In Phuket Town, the 10-member delegation arrived at the Phuket Thai Hua Museum to be welcomed by selected Phuket youth ambassadors and a singing performance focussed on healing the world and how people can help each other to build a better future for the happiness of everyone in the world. The young ambassadors also performed their rendition of the jazz song Oh I say composed by King Bhumibol The Great (Rama IX). The delegation was then divided into three groups and taken on escorted tours of the Phuket Old Town area to see the local art and culture and sample local Phuket food. At Baan Kao Sip Song, more young ambassadors welcome the group and performed a traditional Thai puppet show while the visiting delegation members sampled the Phuket version of the stir-fried noodle dish Hokkien Mee. the BIE representatives also tried their hand at making turtle-shaped Angku cakes, popular among Phuket Towns Peranakan community. At Nai Yang Beach yesterday afternoon, BIE representatives joined a turtle release that was marked as also being held as part of the celebrations to commemorate the 70th birthday of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun yesterday (July 28). The Giving back to the turtles nature activity was explained to the BIR members by more selected young ambassadors as highlighting the importance of conservation of endangered sea turtle species in Phuket. Each BIE representative released a turtle, and was accompanied by a member of the Young Ambassadors to ensure that the 20 turtles released were handled properly. SUPPORT At an official welcome reception at The Slate yesterday, Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayudhya, Director of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), explained that Thailands bid for Phuket to host Expo 2028 was under the theme "Future of Life: Living in Harmony, Sharing Prosperity" and was aimed at developing Thailand to become a comprehensive health destination. If Phuket receives the right to host the expo, it will be the first city in ASEAN to host a global expo, he said. The event is expected to attract up to 7 million visitors from countries around the world, generating approximately B50 billion in income during the event, he added. It is also an opportunity to develop the infrastructure of Phuket and improve the quality of life of people in the area, he said. An important consideration is the guidelines for the development of the area after the event. This is something that the BIE is concerned about. If Thailand is chosen as the host, it will generate income not only within the city where the event is held, it will generate income for the Andaman provinces and Thailand as a whole, Mr Chiruit said. [The Expo] is expected to increase the value of the countrys gross domestic product, GDP, by B39.357bn and create more than 110,000 jobs. The government expects income from tax collection of B9.512bn. Overall, the return on investment ( ROI) is as high as nine times, he added. Most importantly, it will create an image and emphasise the reputation of Thailand and Phuket as a world-class travel destination and promote the image of potential health tourism. Therefore, I would like to ask the Thai people to join together to support Phuket being chosen to host this event, Mr Chiruit said. The BIE will conduct another inspection in November, Mr Chiruit added. After this, BIE will officially announce the selection of the host country in June 2023, he said. Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew said support for Phuket to host the expo was wide ranging, from local people to private industry to government agencies all working together to support the bid. The heart of the event is to use the development area [of 141 rai in Mai Khao] to become a comprehensive health centre to present Phuket as a world leading wellness destination, he said. If Phuket is chosen as the host, in addition to the economic benefits of tens of billions of baht to come to Phuket, it is also an opportunity to accelerate infrastructure development and increase the islands capacity to host international events, he added. The government has a project to upgrade Phukets economy with a comprehensive health tourism industry to become a world-class medical destination, and doing so requires developing various aspects of city management to enhance the quality of life of the people of Phuket and nearby areas, Governor Narong said. The infrastructure development for Expo 2028 Phuket, Thailand will help expedite development plans that are beneficial to people in Phuket and nearby. After the event, the building will be used as an international medical and health centre, as a premium rejuvenation international convention centre and a Health and Therapeutic Park, an ecological learning resource centre and provide areas for physical and mental health of the people. The Cabinet has already approved a budget of B4.18bn for the project, he said. POSITIVE IMPACT BIE Secretary General Dimitri S. Kerkentzes spoke well of the delegations experience during their visit. "We have received very high level presentations. We have seen a project that is of immense high importance to Phuket. A project that was born out of something that was already conceived even before the idea of an expo arrived in the minds of the people of Phuket. I think that is very important, Mr Kerkentzes said. "We also have a theme that will become more and more important, and especially over the past three years that has really become the issue that the world is now looking at. "I can only say positive things in how well the presentations were done, how good the answers were that we received. Any doubts that we had I believe have been dissuaded, he added. "There is still a lot of work in front of us for the enquiry mission to put together the final details of this report to submit it to the Executive Committee in October, before any final approval can come during the general assembly in November, Mr Kerkentzes noted. "There is still a long road to go... As you know you have four other competitors for this competition. Its a long road, but I believe you have made an excellent start," he said. Fundador del Foro Davos, @ProfKlausSchwab, curso invitacion al Presidente @PedroCastilloTe para participar en proxima Reunion Anual del @wef, a realizarze 16-20 de enero 2023. Activa participacion de @DinaErcilia, @CesarLanda0 y @MEF_Peru en 2022 genero interes por nuestro pais. pic.twitter.com/5vTocFpGcW Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Generally cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 26C. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 17C. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Members of the United Auto Workers union have rescinded an increase in strike pay that had been approved earlier in their annual convention YEREVAN, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS. The Karabakh issue is not a territorial issue for Armenia. In that sense, the security and rights of Karabakh Armenians are fundamental to us. In one of his speeches in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Pashinyan mentioned that there is an idea to separate the Nagorno-Karabakh issue from Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. We must now actively discuss that option and decide how to proceed, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Gevorgyan said in an interview with ARMENPRESS. Mr. Grigoryan, geopolitical centers have recently been making assessments that there is a serious possibility of normalizing Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and thus establishing long-term peace and stability in the region. Does the government of Armenia see such an opportunity? The fact that the Armenian government has declared the peace agenda as a state strategy and policy is a direct evidence that we see such an opportunity. That possibility becomes even more grounded when we consider that the Armenian government, the political majority, is taking responsibility for the implementation of the peace agenda, realizing that it is not an easy way. I think the commitment of the Armenian government and the political majority to the peace agenda is an important factor for the assessments coming from different international platforms. What is the road map you see for the implementation of the peace agenda? That agenda is known. border delimitation and border security level raising works with Azerbaijan, which has already started, and the second session of the border delimitation and security commission is scheduled in Moscow in the second half of August, opening of regional communications... That agenda is known. border delimitation and border security level raising works with Azerbaijan, which has already started, and the second session of the border delimitation and security commission is scheduled in Moscow in the second half of August, opening of regional communications... Azerbaijan claims that Armenia is delaying the solution of these issues. The session of the delimitation and border security commission was scheduled for the second half of August at the proposal of the Azerbaijani side. The Armenian side was ready for the second meeting in June and July. We have repeatedly expressed our willingness to open regional communications. Recently, the package of proposals we conveyed through diplomatic channels in December 2021 appeared on the internet, which is still valid today. We have made several other proposals and are very interested in the opening of regional communications, which is part of the "Armenian Crossroads" project. Of course, the issue of the specific route of the east-west section of the project can be discussed, we have never emphasized the possibility of only one option, and we need to find the most efficient route, because the functionality and attractiveness of the "Armenian Crossroads" project depends on it. We notice some progress in the trilateral working group on the issue of communications, which is co-chaired by the deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we are ready to continue in the same spirit. Does establishing peace with Azerbaijan consist of these two steps? What will be the status of Karabakh? No, the culmination of the road map and peace agenda you mentioned is, of course, the signing of the peace treaty with Azerbaijan. You know that Azerbaijan presented five points in this regard and the Republic of Armenia stated that there is nothing unacceptable in them. Including the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan? In other words, does Armenia recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and has no territorial claims? Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan at least due to the fact that it is part of our legislation. We have said many times that Armenia and Azerbaijan have recognized each other's territorial integrity and inviolability of borders by the agreement on the formation of the CIS signed in 1991 and later ratified. And this is part of the legislation of both Armenia and Azerbaijan today. It should be expressed at the bilateral level as well. And as we said, there is nothing unacceptable for us in such a perspective, and Armenia, yes, has no territorial claims from Azerbaijan. And Karabakh, what will be the status of Karabakh? We have repeatedly said that the Karabakh issue is not a territorial issue for us. In that sense, the security and rights of Karabakh Armenians are fundamental for us. In one of his speeches in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Pashinyan mentioned that there is an idea to separate the Nagorno-Karabakh issue from Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. We must now actively discuss that option and decide how to proceed. In other words, to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan without a final solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue? There is also such an idea. But at this moment it is too early to talk about any such resolution. What security guarantees will there be for the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians? There is an international guarantee for ensuring the security of NK Armenians, which is the presence of the peacekeeping troops of the Russian Federation. We need to work on the further improvement of that guarantee, but the demilitarization of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is an important idea. Generally speaking, is Armenia ready to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan? Generally speaking, I think we're going in that way. And the return of the POWs, the clarification of the fate of the missing persons? The resolution of humanitarian issues is a necessary component of peace. Including issues of preservation of cultural heritage. All those questions, of course, need to be addressed. By the way, in the last two years, Armenia has transferred 130 bodies of Azerbaijanis missing since the first Karabakh war to Azerbaijan. We are ready to cooperate actively on this issue as well and we expect the same from Azerbaijan. The Armenian side has more than 770 missing persons since the first Karabakh war. The number of our missing persons in the 44-day war is 203. Yesterday, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure announced that the reconstruction of the Kornidzor-Tegh-M12 highway is planned to begin in August. Is that the new Lachine Corridor route? And when will the construction be finished? Yes. The construction will be completed within the time limit stipulated by the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020. How do you assess the prospects of Armenia-Turkey relations? The special representatives of the two countries have reached concrete agreements, that is, to open the border for citizens of third countries and to start air cargo transportation between the two countries. In a telephone conversation held on July 11, the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Turkey agreed to implement these agreements and take further steps. It is clear that we will remain committed to those agreements, especially given that both Russia, the USA, France, Iran, Georgia, and the EU support the process of normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations. Have an interesting bit of news youd like to see mentioned in the Along the Way column? Email it to Natasha Connolly at news@thesunchronicle.com . West Virginia lawmakers have passed up the chance to become the first state to approve new legislation restricting access to abortions after the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling SPRINGFIELD Illinois needs to make enforcing current gun laws a priority, an Alton gun dealer told state lawmakers Thursday. The bipartisan House Public Safety and Violence Prevention Task Force convened Thursday to discuss ways to address gun violence. The task force brought together lawmakers, prosecutors and a licensed gun dealer to come up with possible solutions to shootings occurring around the state. We all agree that we have a problem in Illinois and that problem is people are dying from preventable deaths due to violence, sid state Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago, the chair of the task force. Scott Pulaski, who owns Piasa Armory in Alton, asked what laws could be added to the books to prevent crime. Pulaski said enforcing current law should be the priority. Those who may be arrested for committing gun crimes but wind up back out on the street and may face a plea bargain or just be released with charges dropped, doesnt do anything to deter crime, Pulaski said. Legislation is being introduced that would include new restrictions and registration requirements for military-style weapons. State Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee, is sponsoring House Bill 5522, which would ban such guns, .50 caliber weapons and high-capacity magazines. It would also require registration of currently owned assault rifles. There is no reason why anyone needs to own weapons of war like the ones used by the Highland Park shooter, Mason said. A grand jury in Lake County has returned 117 felony counts against Robert E. Crimo III, 21, accused of shooting into a crowd during a July 4th parade in Highland Park, killing seven people and wounding dozens of others. One program Illinois authorities are using to trace illegal guns used in crimes is the online Crime Gun Connect platform. Officials said the portal contains more than 100,000 crime-gun trace records from about 200 law enforcement agencies in Illinois dating back to 2009. Adam Braun, executive deputy from the State Attorney General's Office, said the resource is useful in fighting crime. It is an instrumental tool in solving individual investigations, but it also helps identify broader trends and helps law enforcement see what is happening in neighboring jurisdictions, Braun said. Polls show crime is on the minds of voters before the election in November. The issue dominated the gubernatorial primary campaign and debates. YEREVAN, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS. The guests of FemInno international innovative women's conference to be held in Armenia for the first time, got acquainted with the activities of Tumo creative technologies center. In a conversation with ARMENPRESS, the founder of the conference, Seda Papoyan, mentioned that the invited speakers, in addition to being happy to participate in the conference, are also fascinated by the IT sector of Armenia, and discovered that the IT community is active in the country. "Within the framework of FemInno, we have technology and innovation-linked guests from Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, Nigeria, Switzerland. Grasping the opportunity, we try to introduce them to the IT ecosystem of Armenia. We also managed to visit the PMI research center. I am glad that as a result of cooperation with Tumo, we have the opportunity to organize this visit and show where many of our talents in the field are born," said the founder of the conference. Papoyan emphasized that after getting to know the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies, the conference speakers will understand how big "unicorn" companies are created in small Armenia. According to her, the Tumo Center is the best example to show that Armenian youth have the opportunity to enter the digital world from a young age. The founder of the conference stated that they aim to present the technological companies operating in Armenia and their impact on the entire ecosystem to the guests. Jumoke Dada, the founder and executive director of the Taeillo company founded in Nigeria, said that it was interesting for her to know that it is possible to create a "unicorn" company in Armenia. She is also interested in the activities of Tumo Center. In her opinion, the sector is developing in an interesting way in such a small country. On July 30-31, the FemInno innovative international women's conference will be held for the first time in Armenia, during which the results of the competition of startups created by both Armenian and foreign women and girls will be summarized. VIENNA (AP) Former Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache was acquitted Friday in a corruption trial, the second he has faced since a scandal surrounding him brought down the country's government in 2019. Strache was accused of procuring a post on the supervisory board of Asfinag, a government-owned company that manages Austria's highway system, for businessman Siegfried Stieglitz in exchange for donations to an organization close to the politician's far-right Freedom Party. EDWARDSVILLE Battery charges in two separate incidents were among felony cases filed Thursday by the Madison County States Attorneys Office. Jason D. Holt, 42, of Collinsville, was charged July 28 with aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony; and domestic battery (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. According to court documents, on July 27 Holt allegedly strangled a household or family member. He has a 2007 conviction for domestic battery out of Madison County. Bail was set at $75,000. In an unrelated case, Ernest E. Ripley, 28, of Granite City, was charged with aggravated battery. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. According to court documents, on July 27 Ripley allegedly chest bumped a Madison County sheriffs deputy. Bail was set at $50,000. Other felony cases filed July 28 include: Robert T. Schnelten, 60, of Wood River, was charged with criminal trespass to a residence, a Class 4 felony, and criminal damage to property, a Class A misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Wood River Police Department. According to court documents, on July 5 Schnelten allegedly entered a Wood River residence knowing someone was present and used a fire or explosive to damage a shed on the property, causing less than $500 damage. Bail was set at $15,000. Kelsey S. Chandler, 30, of Jerseyville, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Wood River Police Department. On March 2 Chandler allegedly was driving a 2006 Pontiac Torrent when she attempted to flee from a Wood River police officer, reaching speeds in excess of 21 miles above the posted speed limit. Bail was set at $15,000. Justin D. Bishop, 30, of OFallon, Illinois, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Maryville Police Department. On July 23 Bishop allegedly was driving a 2008 Lexus LS 460 when he attempted to flee from a Maryville police officer, disobeying two or more traffic control devices. Bail was set at $15,000. James E. Brown, 42, of Cahokia Heights, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department. On July 27 Brown was driving a 2003 Suzuki motorcycle and attempted to flee from a Collinsville police officer, reaching speeds in excess of 21 miles above the posted speed limit. Bail was set at $15,000. Dezmond L. Spruill, 21, of Alton, was charged June 22 and July 9 with two counts of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. Both cases were presented by the Alton Police Department and had been suppressed until July 28. According to court documents, on June 3 and July 10 Spruill allegedly was driving a Dodge Charger when he attempted to flee from Alton Police, in both cases reaching speeds in excess of 21 miles above the posted speed limits. Bail was set at $15,000 for the June 3 incident and $50,000 for the July 10 incident. In an amended information, Edmond J. Jirdon, 21, of Alton, was charged July 7 with aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony. The was presented by the Alton Police Department and charges were sealed until July 28. According to court documents, on July 4 Jirdon allegedly had a Glock 19 9 mm handgun without a valid concealed carry permit. No bail amount was noted. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 John Badman Show More Show Less 2 of 3 John Badman Show More Show Less 3 of 3 ALTON While Piasa Street was being prepared for repaving following the Illinois American Water sewer separation project in downtown Alton, other workers on Thursday were replacing the bricks torn up on 5th Street between Piasa and Belle streets. Several workers were replacing the bricks by hand over a bed of sand. Brick streets in Alton are protected by ordinances and have to be put back together whenever work is required under the streets. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate EDWARDSVILLE Madison County Clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza is reminding people that the deadline to file referendums by petition is Aug. 8. Citizen groups seeking to put a petition on the November ballot must obtain the proper number of signatures and submit paperwork by that time. The number of signatures required varies, depending on which political subdivision the referendum pertains to. My office is always willing to assist residents and answer their questions to successfully file petitions for such referendums, Ming-Mendoza said in a written statement. Local governments have until Aug. 22 to submit referendum questions, which can either be advisory or binding. The Madison County Board recently approved an advisory referendum on the Illinois General Assemblys implementation of judicial subcircuits in Madison County. Collinsville Township has submitted a binding referendum on whether the township will have the authority to supply electricity for residential and small commercial retail customers, excluding Collinsville and Maryville. Another referendum question which will appear on the November ballot has been submitted by Collinsville Township as Resolution 2022-R09. This is a binding referendum which is posed to voters in the unincorporated area of the township, excluding the City of Collinsville and the Village of Maryville. Ming-Mendoza encouraged voters to review the referendum questions listed in the Madison County Voters Guide prior to going to vote. The best way to be an informed voter is to review the Voters Guide prior to casting your ballot, she said. ATHENS, Greece (AP) Germany's top diplomat visited refugees at a camp in Greece on Thursday after stressing that European Union countries should do more to safeguard people seeking refuge from war and hardship. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited a Holocaust memorial in Athens before sitting down with refugees at a camp west of the city. She used the visit to promote what she called a common European sea rescue policy" and to oppose summary deportations of asylum-seekers and migrants. A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts: ___ Post spreads baseless claim about Jan. 6 conversations CLAIM: Freedom of Information Act requests show a dozen phone calls between Ray Epps cell phone and House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office a week before the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. THE FACTS: Such records would not be obtainable through FOIA requests, because Congress is exempt from the law, legal experts say. Epps, an Arizona man who was filmed encouraging others to enter the U.S. Capitol the night before the riots, has long been the subject of a baseless conspiracy theory that he is a federal agent who helped orchestrate the insurrection. Theres no evidence to suggest that Epps was anything but a disgruntled supporter of former President Donald Trump, and Epps has testified to the House committee investigating Jan. 6 that he wasnt working for law enforcement. But a new false claim based on the conspiracy still circulated widely on Twitter. Freedom of Information Act requests show a dozen phone calls between the cell phone of Ray Epps and the office of Speaker Pelosi in the week before#January6th, reads the tweet, which has been shared more than 15,000 times. The user provided no evidence for the claim. Drew Hammill, a spokesperson for Pelosi, said in an email to the AP that the claim is false. And experts in the Freedom of Information Act which allows members of the public to request records from federal agencies confirmed that such information cannot be obtained through a FOIA request. Congress is not subject to the law, which is limited to the executive branch of the federal government and agencies, experts said. It does not apply to Congress, the courts, state and local governments, or private entities, Kel McClanahan, executive director of the National Security Counselors law firm, told the AP in an email. A right to access public records exists under the common law which has been occasionally interpreted by courts to apply to certain Congressional offices, but no Congressional office would voluntarily turn over such information without litigation, McClanahan wrote. If such a case were litigated, the congressional office would likely win, because phone records would fall under the speech or debate clause of the U.S. Constitution, which places rigid restrictions on what information, if any, members of Congress can release, McClanahan said. Adam A. Marshall, a lawyer at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, concurred that such information couldnt be obtained through FOIA. Congress is not subject to FOIA. It doesnt matter what type of records are at issue, Marshall said in an interview with the AP. Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who led questioning in the closing summer hearing of the Jan. 6 committee, also tweeted that the claim was false. Take a gander. Absolutely false, literally made up, yet tens of thousands of RTs, This is what democracy is up against, Kinzinger said. Its time for the uneasy alliance between democracy defending people of all political stripes. #misinformation. Epps did not respond to a request for comment. ___ Contrary to false claim, Russia hasnt closed WHO offices CLAIM: Russia has officially expelled the World Health Organization and closed all of its offices in Moscow. THE FACTS: The WHO continues to operate offices in Russia, the organization confirmed to the AP. A widely viewed Instagram video and posts on other social media platforms are spreading the false claim that Russia banned the global health agency from the country. Russia has officially expelled the WHO and closed all of its offices in Moscow, a woman in the video claims without evidence, before criticizing U.S. COVID-19 vaccine policies and mRNA vaccines. The same claim was spread thousands of times through an image shared on Facebook and Twitter. In reality, the WHO still maintains its offices in Moscow. The claims made in the video are false, WHO spokesman Bhanu Bhatnagar said in an email to the AP. WHO continues to operate in the Russian Federation, both through our Country Office and our Office for Noncommunicable Diseases. In May, Pyotr Tolstoy, the deputy chairman of the Russia State Duma lower house of parliament, did suggest Russia should withdraw from the WHO as well as the World Trade Organization. The same month, delegates of the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the WHO, approved a resolution condemning Russias war in Ukraine and attacks on health care facilities there. But Russia remains a member state of WHO and nothing has changed, said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University law professor and director of the universitys WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. Gostin noted in an email that the country still has voting rights in the World Health Assembly. European member states also suggested the organization should consider moving the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases from Moscow a position that Ukraine has voiced. But Bhatnagar said that matter is still under advisement. Associated Press writer Angelo Fichera in New York contributed this report. ___ Old video of Weather Channel co-founder fuels climate misinfo CLAIM: Climate change is not happening, nor are humans causing significant global warming. There is also no scientific consensus that climate change is occurring. THE FACTS: The scientific consensus is that climate change is real and that greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity are driving climate change, as the AP has previously reported. A video of John Coleman, the now deceased co-founder of The Weather Channel, making a variety of false claims about climate change during a 2014 interview on CNNs Reliable Sources resurfaced online, with social media users sharing it as if it were new. During the interview, Coleman claimed that there is no consensus in science that humans are causing climate change. Climate change is not happening, there is no significant man-made global warming now, there hasnt been any in the past and there is no reason to expect any in the future, Coleman said. A tweet featuring the footage has been shared over 28,000 times since it was posted last week. Colemans claims are false. As the AP has previouslyreported, overwhelming scientific evidence shows global warming and climate change are real and caused by human activity, including human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an entity consisting of more than 200 scientists, said in a report released in February that human-induced climate change is already causing deadly extreme weather, such as drought, fires, and floods, and that the situation will get worse if global warming isnt curbed. The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health, the report said. Coleman, who co-founded The Weather Channel and served for its CEO for about a year, died in 2018 at age 83, the AP reported. Despite his background as a meteorologist, Coleman caused controversy in the later years of his career for doubting humanitys role in causing global warming, which he called a hoax and a scam. When Coleman appeared on CNNs Reliable Sources in 2014, The Weather Channels parent company distanced itself from his comments. David Kenny, then CEO of the Weather Company, appeared on the same segment to respond, noting that Coleman hadnt been involved at The Weather Channel for decades. The science is pretty clear about climate change, Kenny said. I think some people were confused to hear a statement from somebody who was noted as a co-founder of The Weather Channel, which is true, were grateful that he got it started 32 years ago. But he hasnt been with us in 31 years, so hes not really speaking for The Weather Channel in any way today. Weather Group, the channels current parent company, did not comment. Associated Press writer Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed this report. ___ CLAIM: A headline on People magazines website reports that Klondikes Choco Tacos were discontinued in response to the woke mob and recent allegations of cultural appropriation. THE FACTS: A representative for People magazine confirms this headline was fabricated, and Klondike did not cite cultural appropriation as a reason for discontinuing its beloved treat. Still, a manipulated image designed to look like a People magazine headline circulated as real across social media this week as the public reacted to the news of the Choco Tacos demise. The fake headline, which amassed thousands of shares on Twitter, read, Klondikes Choco Taco Cancelled By Woke Mob After Almost 40 Years. A fabricated subheading read, A representative for the brand confirmed to PEOPLE that due to recent allegations of cultural appropriation the Choco Taco is no more. Though some Twitter users shared the image as a joke, others believed it represented a real People magazine story, but the image was fake, confirmed People spokesperson Julie Farin. People magazine did report on the news, but with a different headline, Klondikes Choco Taco Discontinued After Almost 40 Years. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Klondike had cited an unprecedented spike in demand across our portfolio over the past two years as its reason for discontinuing the product. A Klondike representative said the brand had to make very tough decisions to ensure availability of our full portfolio nationwide and said a necessary but unfortunate part of this process is that we sometimes discontinue products. Klondike also said on social media that it was working hard to find a way to bring Choco Taco back to ice cream trucks in the coming years. ___ Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck ___ Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck ALTON OSF HealthCare Saint Anthonys Health Center Mission Partners (employees) are planning free meetings to inform the public about lymphedema. The National Cancer Institute defines lymphedema as a condition where lymph fluid does not drain properly. The fluid may build up in the tissues and cause swelling, usually in the arms and legs. The condition is often associated with cancer and radiation therapy. Its important to be aware of lymphedema, as it can seriously impact the quality of life for patients, said Frances Young, manager of rehabilitation services at OSF Saint Anthonys. Fortunately, we know a lot about managing this condition. OSF Saint Anthonys rehabilitation services mission partners will hold free informational meetings on Aug. 4, Sept. 1, Oct. 6, Nov. 3 and Dec. 1. Each session is 1-2 p.m. at the OSF rehabilitation services office at Alton Square Mall, 200 Alton Square. In addition to learning about lymphedema, residents will get to speak with people who have the condition to learn how they manage. ALTON OSF HealthCare Saint Anthonys Health Center in Alton will have one last celebration before school on Saturday, Aug. 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The free event will include a fire truck, an MICU ambulance, a UPS truck, a K-9 unit, a shark dissection, vaping danger education and fun activities. Hot dogs and snow cones will be available. School supplies such as paper, pens, pencils and crayons will be available to the first 300 kids 4-12 years old. WOOD RIVER Statewide unemployment was up slightly in June, while Metro East unemployment rates showed a slight downward drop according to the latest figures from the Illinois Department of Employment Security and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to data released Thursday, statewide unemployment in June was up .2 percent to 4.7 percent. Last year statewide unemployment was at 5.7 percent. Locally, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.2 percent, down from 4.6 percent in May, in the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area which includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties. There were no real surprises in the numbers, according to Tony Fuhrmann, director of Madison County Employment and Training. Its pretty consistent to what we would see in the summer, he said. Madison County is 4.0 (percent unemployment), which is a pretty good number. Year-over-year, down a percent and a half. In June 2019 there were 105,456 jobs in Madison County. That dropped to 97,140 in June 2020 when the countys unemployment rate was more than 13 percent, but it rebounded and, as of June 2022, there were 106,855 jobs. Were feeling pretty good, Fuhrmann said, adding there were a lot of opportunities and jobs available in a number of job sectors. He pointed to the continuing need for more workers in transportation, warehousing and logistics, and he noted the new retail development in Glen Carbon. Those types of businesses keep coming, and the need for workers in those types of industries keep coming too, Fuhrmann said. He said employers are becoming more sophisticated, with even the hospitality industry seeing a need to worry about worker retention. Business culture is coming up more in the last six months than I have heard in the last 20 years, he said. Employers are trying to be flexible. Local unemployment rates range from 2.9 percent in Clinton and Monroe counties to 4.9 percent in St. Clair County. Madison County was down by almost one-half percent to 4 percent in June, from 4.4 percent in May. Jersey County stood at 3.7 percent, down .2 percent; Macoupin County was down .4 percent to 3.8 percent; Bond County was at 3.7 percent; and Calhoun County was at 4.1 percent, down .2 percent. Greene County, which is part of another statistical region, was at 3.8 percent, down .5 percent from May. State officials continued to emphasize the year-to-year drop. We continue to be encouraged by the ongoing pandemic-related economic recovery in every corner of the state, said Deputy Gov. Andy Manar. IDES and its local workforce partners remain committed to providing training employment services for the unique Illinois workforce. With the statewide unemployment rate at its lowest since the onset of the pandemic, the data released today is a further reflection of continued economic recovery and evidence of a strengthening Illinois labor market, Manar added. As continued claims volumes reach record lows, the Pritzker Administration and IDES, working with local partners, are committed to providing employment and training resources to ensure a competitive labor force while assisting employers in finding versatile workers. Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Director Sylvia I. Garcia also touted the year-to-year improvements. Illinois has made tremendous strides in the labor market, adding nearly 250,000 jobs over the past year and reaching the lowest unemployment rate since the onset of the pandemic, said DCEO Director Sylvia I. Garcia. Illinois remains laser-focused on supporting the states positive gains by expanding workforce training opportunities, attracting job creators and making resources available for priority industries, such as tourism and hospitality and small businesses. Fuhrmann said the recent announcement that U.S. Steel was selling off part of its operation to SunCoke Energy Ltd. and closing large parts of its Granite City Works facility, costing about 1,000 jobs, is something they are thinking about. But because the closure will be at least two years before anything happens, there is little they can do right now. Theres a lot of questions that need to be answered, he said, including the actual timing, and how many of those affected workers will be seeking different employment. Two issues to be considered are the exact number of workers to be hired at SunCoke and how many workers will opt for retirement. MCET offers services ranging from job postings and help with resumes or job searches, including funding for training in some fields. For information about employment and workforce training opportunities, call 618-296-4301, visit the Madison County website at https://www.co.madison.il.us/ or visit the departments Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MCETD. Wood River Police Department WOOD RIVER The Wood River Police Department is seeking the publics help in finding a man missing since July 21. Vernon L. Law, 35, described as a white male, about 190 pounds, with brown hair and eyes, was last seen leaving Economy Boat Store at approximately 2 p.m. on July 21. YEREVAN, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS. Political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the Arab Republic of Egypt were held in Yerevan on July 29. The Armenian delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan, the Egyptian side was headed by Ihab Nasr, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt for European Affairs. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the parties noted the high level of relations and political dialogue between Armenia and Egypt, based on the historical, cultural and civilizational ties and friendship of the Armenian and Egyptian peoples. During the consultations, reference was made to the current situation in Armenian-Egyptian bilateral relations in a number of areas and the necessary steps for their further expansion and strengthening. The parties emphasized their willingness to work together towards the further development and deepening of relations between Armenia and Egypt, exchanged thoughts on a number of issues of regional and international agenda of mutual interest. The sides referred to Armenia's steps aimed at establishing peace and stability in the region. In the context of the humanitarian problems caused by the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan, the Armenian side emphasized the need for the repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons, as well as the need to preserve the Armenian cultural heritage in the territories that have passed under Azerbaijani control. Following the consultations, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received the Egyptian delegation. Minister Mirzoyan attached importance to the political consultations between Armenia and Egypt, as well as contacts and mutual visits at different levels, which contribute to the expansion and deepening of multi-sector bilateral cooperation. Beijing strongly opposes foreign interference in Taiwans affairs and will firmly defend its sovereignty, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a phone call with US President Joe Biden on Thursday. July 29, 2022, 09:55 China strongly opposes foreign interference in Taiwans affairs Xi Jinping STEPANAKERT, JULY 29, ARTSAKHPRESS: "We strongly oppose separatism and foreign interference in Taiwans affairs," the Xinhua news agency quoted Xi Jinping as saying. "The government and people of China have consistently held this position, we will firmly defend the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country," he added. According to the Chinese leader, the "One China" principle provides the political basis for relations between Beijing and Washington. Xi Jinping noted that China expected the US to comply with its obligations. Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949. Beijing regards the island as one of its provinces and this position is supported by most countries, including Russia. Washington cut diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979 and established relations with China. While accepting the "One China" policy, Washington continues to maintain contact with the Taipei administration and provide weapons to the island. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is leading an official congressional delegation to Asia on Friday although its unclear whether the trip will include a stop in Taiwan, NBC reported citing sources. July 29, 2022, 10:22 Pelosi leading delegation to Asia on Friday with Taiwan visit still undecided NBC STEPANAKERT, JULY 29, ARTSAKHPRESS: One of the sources who reviewed the itinerary Thursday afternoon said it listed a Taiwan visit as tentative. The trip will include visits to US allies Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. In another development, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said Chinese officials were pressuring him to try to halt Pelosis trip to Taiwan. President Joe Biden, who spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, had raised concerns about Pelosis possibly traveling to Taiwan. He said over the weekend that U.S. military officials have told him that visiting Taiwan is not a good idea right now. The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations released its Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations Bill today, which reaffirms Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act and recommend $2 million in demining assistance to Artsakh, along with humanitarian aid to help displaced Armenians, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). July 29, 2022, 12:17 Senate Appropriations Committee 2023 bill reaffirms $2 million in demining assistance to Artsakh STEPANAKERT, JULY 29, ARTSAKHPRESS: Specifically, the Committee Report stated that up to $2,000,000 for humanitarian demining and unexploded ordnance [UXO] clearance activities in areas affected by fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, subject to prior consultation with the Committees on Appropriations as well as humanitarian assistance for those displaced by the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Last month, the House of Representatives passed its version of the Bill that called for $60 million in assistance to Armenia and $2 million for demining activities in Artsakh. The House Bill also included language on Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act. "Having just returned from Armenia and Artsakh, continued U.S. assistance and engagement remains critically important, stated Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan. The Assembly will continue to work with the House and Senate to ensure the best outcome to help the Armenian people, Khaloyan added. When Ben Philipp got the news, he nearly threw up on his desk. I was shocked, he said. It was a surprise. Philipp is an assistant costume designer for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the Amazon Prime period comedy about a 1950s New York housewife who discovers her talent for stand-up comedy. The news was a 2022 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Period Costumes. Its a thrill and an honor, Philipp said. I was just standing at my desk having a cup of coffee and the head costume designer Donna Zakowska says, I just got a text that says congratulations and I dont know what it is about. No one knew it was happening that day. While this is not the first costumes nomination for the cult favorite, it is the first time Philipp has been included on the ballot. He joined the show in the middle of its first season, which debuted on Amazon Prime in 2017. Earlier this year, the show was renewed for a fifth and final season. The nomination is for Season Four, which Philipp spent part of on lockdown in the Hudson Valley. I bought a house two weeks before the shutdown, he said. I could not have been luckier. We found this house its that 200-year-old Hudson Valley home that had been on the market for a year and a half just sitting there. I feel like we got the last deal. The deal was in Salt Point, close to Clinton Corners. As an assistant, Philipps job involves sourcing vintage clothing for the show. For the uninitiated: Clothing is essentially its own character on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. You could pretty much turn off the volume on any episode and youd be watching a silent yet meticulous documentary about 1950s fashion history. It informs so much about the characters. You look at how they are dressed, and it tells you so much about who that person is, Philipp said. Working on this past season, Philipp never knew how long he was going to be upstate. He kept thinking he would be asked to return to the New York City studio where the show is shot. But weeks kept passing. I continued to work from the house. I would basically wake up, sit at my computer, go on Etsy, and shop for clothing. I was having it all shipped here. The mailman kept dropping off boxes of ladies hats, he said. Provided by Ben Philipp As he shopped, he marveled at how special it was to able to work when everything felt stacked against him, the staff of the show, the world at large. I remember the excitement of when everyone got to take a day off work to get their vaccine, trying to be in a safe place with coworkers, and making it happen, he said. They did an amazing job of keeping us all safe and letting us create a show that didnt take place during a pandemic. Philipp also remembers the specific joy of being able to support the many vintage clothing dealers he has formed relationships with over the years. It was great sitting at home on Etsy buying hats, jewelry and dresses and getting notes from people saying, Thank you. You saved my business. You just paid my rent. There is one episode of Mrs. Maisel Season Two, Episode Four, to be exact that was shot on location in the Catskills. The characters travel upstate to an old-school resort for the summer. The clothing scads of leisure wear for departure, over-the-top outfits for the lake are a main plot point. When I meet someone and talk about how I work on the show, everyone loves the Catskills episode, Philipp said. He was not personally on set in Deposit, where the scenes were filmed; he was in New York City working ahead on future Maisel adventures. Still, he particularly loved the uniforms, including some scandalously tiny red shorts worn by the resorts staff. Zakowska, the head costume designer, won her second Emmy for the Catskills episode. Philipp has also shopped locally for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, including at the antiques mall in Hudson, Sideshow Clothing Company in Craryville and the Millbrook Antiques Center, where he picked up a gorgeous 60s teal boucle coat. I pop into these local antique stores, and it drives my partner crazy, Philipp said. He is looking for the thing for the house, and Im looking for womens gloves. There are also two wonderful costume rental houses Philipp frequents in the region: Daybreak Vintage Rentals in Albany and Right to the Moon Alice in Roscoe. Its a labyrinth of 20th-century clothing. Its so fascinating that there is this business in a barn in the middle of the Catskills that supports so many television shows and films. I think she provided the original dress to the little girl in Stranger Things. They made Halloween costumes out of that dress! These days, Philipp, who went to college and graduate school for theater and costume design, is mostly a weekender in Salt Point, though when production is on hiatus, he happily spends longer stretches of time locally. He was first drawn to the area because he has friends and coworkers with homes here. Also, he loves being outside. My partner and I are both originally Southerners. We were raised with outdoor spaces, thats not something you get in the city, he said. He hasnt made plans to date for going to the Emmys, which will take place on September 12 or, more importantly, what he might wear. I havent thought that far ahead yet. Maybe something vintage. KINGSTON This rapidly gentrifying city of 24,000 became the first municipality north of the New York City suburbs to adopt rent stabilization for some residential buildings, after declaring a housing emergency in a resolution passed Thursday night. The vote sets in motion the establishment of a county rent control board that will dictate rent increases for city buildings with more than six units built before 1974, per guidelines established in the Emergency Tenant Protection Act. The ETPA was first enacted in New York City in the late 1960s and was expanded to Westchester, Rockland and Nassau counties in 1974. It became an option for all communities in the state when the state Legislature modified the law in June 2019. Rent control is only available to municipalities that can prove a housing emergency, defined as a vacancy rate of 5 percent or less in rentals with at least six units. A study by Kingston earlier this year established the vacancy rate was 1.57 percent. The ETPA adoption will apply rent stabilization to approximately 1,200 units in the city, according to For the Many, a progressive Hudson Valley-based group that pushed for the measure. We applaud Mayor Steve Noble and the Kingston Council for taking this step to protect housing affordability, For the Many Executive Director Jonathan Bix said in a statement. This will benefit long-term residents whether owners or renters. The only people this wont help are corporate landlords. Kingstons housing market has been under immense pressure since the beginning of the pandemic as downstate residents relocated to the Hudson Valley. Housing prices have risen by two-thirds since March 2020, pushing up rents and limiting housing options. The Kingston Common Council passed the resolution 7-1, with one member absent. Most members voting for the measure admitted it was an imperfect solution, but talked about its importance as they have seen their constituents priced out and displaced over the last few years. Council member Rita Worthington said the city could not impede progress in pursuit of perfection, admitting rent control would not solve the entirety of the crisis before casting her yes vote. Council member Reynolds Scott-Childress called the measure reasonable before voting in favor. Without good housing, nothing else in Kingston works, he said. Not all council members agreed. The lone vote against the resolution was cast by Michael Olivieri, a registered Democrat who ran on the Republican Party line during the last election. He agreed there were bad landlords and that there was a housing crisis in the city, saying Kingston became Brooklyn North during the pandemic, but argued there were better ways of addressing the issue, including selling vacant zombie properties that have been foreclosed on by the city and regulating short-term rentals. Related: Local officials signal openness to stricter vacation rental laws Kingstons landlords had also suffered during the pandemic, Olivieri said, while the eviction moratorium was in effect, which he defined as the governor giving the green light to not pay rent while the landlords property taxes were still due. He said the law would ruin the good landlords by bunching them with the bad, and that he would introduce an amendment to the resolution raising the number of units required for rent control to apply, to give the good guys a reprieve. Kingston Mayor Steve Noble said he would sign the resolution into law. We have long known we have a housing crisis in our community, and this is yet another step we are taking to protect our residents and make sure that everyone who wishes to live in Kingston is able to, he said in a statement. Noble mentioned other initiatives to fight displacement, such as establishing the good cause eviction law in the city and pursuing rezoning. We are using whatever mechanisms we can to protect our residents and ensure housing for all, Noble said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ALBANY The city has declared a state of emergency and Amtrak temporarily suspended service west of Albany, and on the Lake Shore Limited train, after chunks of the facade of Central Warehouse, one of Albany's biggest and most notorious eyesores, fell late Thursday. A structural engineering report the city received earlier this week states that portions of the exterior southern wall are in danger of imminent collapse. The passenger rail service put out an alert at midnight Thursday on its website about a potential safety concern posed by a then-unidentified non-Amtrak, privately owned building near train tracks. Full Amtrak service will remain between the Rensselaer station across the river from Albany and New York City, but an Amtrak spokesman said there was no immediate timeline on how long other service in the area would be affected by the falling facade. The spokesman said nothing had fallen on the tracks and that the move to suspend service was a precautionary measure. Chunks of concrete from the Central Warehouse could be seen near the tracks, and city codes officials were at the property Friday morning. The rail line runs right next to the mammoth former storage facility, which is close to the Hudson River. Mayor Kathy Sheehan's chief of staff, David Galin, said in a statement that the city is working with local, state and federal partners and engineering experts to determine the extent of the structural failure and develop a plan to ensure the safety of residents and businesses, and get the train service back on schedule. The disruption will be significant: Empire Service west of Albany and the Lake Shore Limited, which runs from Boston to Chicago, are temporarily suspended. The crumbling wall also appears to be affecting service north and east of Albany, according to Amtrak's website. The line runs west to Schenectady before turning northeast to Saratoga Springs. On Friday, service to Saratoga Springs was unavailable and service to Burlington, Vermont, involved putting passengers on a bus to Saratoga Springs before they could get on a train. The suspension comes as Amtrak officials, including CEO Stephen J. Gardner, gathered in Burlington to celebrate the newly extended Ethan Allen rail line that would bring regularly scheduled passenger service from New York City back to Burlington for the first time since the 1950s. Barbara Urban, of Troy, was hoping to be one of the first passengers on that new service. Urban, a self-described avid Amtrak traveler, said she received an alert at 6 a.m. that the trip would be delayed. When she went to the train station in Rensselaer, she was told passengers would be bused to Saratoga Springs and then put on a train to Burlington. Urban said she decided to drive to Burlington for the weekend instead, in part because canceling her hotel stay would've cost her $700. "We'll have our weekend in Burlington even though it's not by train," she said. "The fun was going to be being the first ones in by train." Bruce Becker, of the Empire State Passengers Association, who was in Burlington for the Ethan Allen line celebration, said he was aware of the issue. "We would certainly encourage all parties, including the New York State Department of Transportation, to come up with a solution to get the trains running again," he said. An Amtrak spokesman said the city of Albany alerted the rail service on Thursday about the problem. The Central Warehouse has been at the center of several legal battles between its current owner, Evan Blum, and Albany County. The county has been trying for over a year to seize the property for back taxes. Blum, who bought the building in 2017, owes more than $500,000 in back taxes, including some from before he owned the building. On Friday, Blum said he learned about the building's latest problem when another news outlet contacted him for comment. Blum said no city officials had reached out to him about it. Blum attempted to cast doubt on the extent of the problem, arguing the city had commissioned the report on the building's failing condition solely to make him look bad. "We don't know when those pieces fell off the building, they could've fallen five years ago," he said. If the county is successful in seizing the property from Blum, it intends to transfer the building for $50,000 to CW Skyway, a redevelopment company controlled by two firms, Redburn Development and Columbia Development. The developers have a large-scale redevelopment planned that includes apartments, retail and commercial space. Full plans have not been released but the developers have said they intend to seek public financing to help assist with the project. In addition to two lawsuits, Blum has twice filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to maintain control of the property. His first bankruptcy filing ended after a judge refused to approve his proposed plan to pay off the property tax debts. A second bankruptcy filing was thrown out earlier this year. An 11-year-old girl was killed in a boating incident while wearing a life jacket and helmet in southern Michigan, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reported. Conservation officers for the DNR are investigating the incident and said the girl was struck by a boat around 3 p.m. Wednesday on Lake Michindoh, according to a press release issued by the DNR Thursday. The lake is offshore of the Michindoh Conference Center, a Christian camp and conference center located along Bacon Road on the east side of the lake. A 25-year-old lifeguard from the conference center was operating a 1989 Supra Sunsport that was pulling 12 children on a banana boat, which is a non-motorized inflatable tube people ride on pulled by a motorized boat, according to the DNR in the release. The boat and tube belonged to the Michindoh Conference Center. A 29-year-old woman was also on the boat, watching the children as a "spotter," according to the DNR in the release. All children were wearing life jackets and helmets. Three children fell from the banana boat into the water. When the operator returned to pick up the children, the vessel struck the 11-year-old girl who was not previously seen in the water, according to the DNR in the release. The man operating the boat "immediately jumped into the water to help the girl and a woman from the conference center called 911 requesting an ambulance," according to the DNR in the release. A second person called 911 providing additional details. The girl was transported to the conference center dock and emergency responders met her there for medical treatment. EMS personnel rushed the girl by ambulance to Hillsdale County Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries, according to the DNR in the release. Alcohol and drugs are not believed to be a factor, authorities said. Weather conditions were favorable for boating and the boat was the only operating vessel on the lake when the incident occurred. The boat operator has a Michigan boater safety certificate and is cooperating with the investigation, authorities said. Authorities have not yet released the names of those involved as the investigation is ongoing. Assisting agencies are the Hillsdale County Sheriffs Office, Michigan State Police, North Adam Fire Department and Reading Emergency Unit. NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) Cyprus and Greece plan to consult with other European Union members on how to respond if Turkey tries again to drill for oil and gas inside waters that Cyprus claims as its exclusive economic zone, the Cypriot foreign minister said Thursday. Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said earlier this week that the countrys newest drill ship, the Abdullhamid Han, would set sail Aug. 9 for a drilling operation in the Mediterranean. The exact location has not been announced. The state will freeze SUNY tuition and fees but spend $53 million on hiring new full-time faculty for SUNY colleges, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced. In addition, the state will spend $60 million, a one-time funding pot, on academic programs, student services and other items. That spending will be prioritized for campuses with the greatest student diversity. The State University of New York board of trustees approved the items Thursday. The state Legislature passed a three-year freeze on SUNY tuition last year after years of steady increases. This year's freeze on fees is notable because in the past they have risen by a much higher percentage than tuition. Fees can add hundreds of dollars to the bill each semester. For example, after tuition was frozen last year, the trustees agreed to more than double the innovation fee at the University at Albany, Binghamton University, the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University. It went from $62.50 to $137.50. The fee was to cover new equipment and laboratory improvements. The fees are not covered by the Excelsior Scholarship, which provides free tuition for students of families making less than $125,000 a year. In another change, students wont have to pay a SUNY application fee if they apply from a public school where 75 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, as determined on a three-year rolling basis. The United University Professions union praised the spending on hiring and academic programs, calling it sorely needed in a statement. They also called for more, saying the SUNY system has been hurt by decades of disinvestment and austerity budgets. For our campuses to maintain ratios of faculty and staff to students that are comparable to other institutions and that ensure student success, we need further state investment and must make a shift away from an over-reliance on student tuition dollars, the union said in its statement. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TROY A hearing next week may bring an answer to whether an $8 million federal civil rights lawsuit stemming from a Rensselaer County ballot fraud case can move forward. County Democratic Elections Commissioner Edward G. McDonough appealed lower court decisions dismissing his lawsuit against Youel C. Trey Smith III that spun out of the grand jury indictment of McDonough for his alleged role in a Working Families Party ballot fraud scheme. McDonough was acquitted at his second trial after a mistrial was declared in the first trial. The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the lawsuit, ruling that McDonoughs case was properly filed when he was acquitted in December 2012 and that it did not have to be filed when allegedly fabricated evidence was brought against him. Similarly, while noting that only McDonoughs malicious prosecution claim was barred on absolute-immunity grounds below, we make no statement on whether or how the doctrine of absolute immunity would apply to McDonoughs fabricated-evidence claim, the court majority ruling stated in a footnote. Thomas J. OConnor, the attorney for Smith, has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit based on a law granting prosecutors immunity from being sued for their actions in pressing a criminal case. Were challenging the admissibility of the allegations. Were also alleging Mr. Smith had absolute prosecutorial immunity, OConnor said Thursday. The case arises from the handling of absentee ballots by Democratic Party elected officials and operatives for the Working Families Party primary in September 2009. U.S. District Court Judge Mae A. DAgostino has scheduled a hearing for Aug. 5 to hear oral arguments in the case in Albany. The case is scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 19. Brian D. Premo, who represented McDonough during the criminal trial and in the civil lawsuit, contends that Smith lost his immunity by participating in the investigation by directing it and questioning witnesses during the investigation. It is alleged that Mr. Smith fabricated evidence in the investigation he directed and in which he participated. And it is our position that he waived any absolute immunity agreement in any event by failing to brief any such issue before the second circuit on the primary appeal, Premo said, referring to the appeal heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City. McDonough and former Councilman Michael LoPorto, who died earlier this year, were acquitted, while five Democrats pleaded guilty and charges were dismissed against two other Democratic councilmen in the interest of justice. Rensselaer County is going through another ballot fraud investigation of the 2021 elections being handled by the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of New York. The 2021 elections involve the handling of absentee ballots by elected Republican officials and party operatives. Former Troy Councilwoman Kim Ashe-McPherson pleaded guilty in federal court to her role. The case continues to be investigated. San Francisco officials on Thursday announced they are declaring a public health emergency over monkeypox that will go into effect on August 1, CBS News reports. July 29, 2022, 14:47 Monkeypox emergency declared in San Francisco STEPANAKERT, JULY 29, ARTSAKHPRESS: San Francisco Mayor London Breed tweeted about the declaration Thursday afternoon, saying it would allow the city to "dedicate resources to prevent the spread" of the virus and accelerate the health department's emergency response. The mayor's tweet included a link to a Medium.com blog post that provided additional details regarding what the emergency declaration would mean for the health department's response to monkeypox. The blog post also noted that San Francisco would not be "implementing behavior restrictions or other measures" as was done in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The declaration will also enable the city to expedite emergency planning and staffing in addition to helping San Francisco get emergency funding from the state and federal government. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) The mayor of Portland, Oregon, warned the Pacific Northwest could see the most dangerous part of an extended heat wave this weekend as Portland and Seattle appear to be on track to break records for extended scorching temperatures. As the Northwest nears the sixth day of an intense hot spell, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said the weekend marks a new phase that could pose the highest risk to our most vulnerable community members. Were reaching the most important phase of this heat emergency, Wheeler said Friday. Temperatures have neared the triple digits in Portland the entire week, hitting a high of 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 Celsius) on Tuesday. Forecasters predict temperatures could top 100 F (37.8 C) once again on Saturday. On Friday the Oregon State Medical Examiners Office said it was investigating an additional possible heat fatality from suspected hyperthermia, bringing the total to five. The deaths were reported in Multnomah County, which is home to Portland, Umatilla County in the eastern part of the state, and Marion County, which includes the state capital Salem. The deaths occurred Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The state medical examiners office said the heat-related death designation is preliminary and could change. The heat wave has lasted longer than forecasters initially predicted, prompting Multnomah County to extend an emergency declaration that was set to expire on Saturday through Monday morning. Earlier in the week we did not anticipate that it would be this long or this severe, said Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury. The countys four emergency overnight cooling shelters were at 70% capacity on Thursday with around 220 people spending the night, Multnomah County said in a statement. Kafoury said officials will be watching very carefully to see whether the shelters will need to remain open through Sunday night, which we had not originally planned to do. Portland will probably need additional capacity over the weekend, said Shad Ahmed, director of the citys Bureau of Emergency Management, adding that his office is working to ensure that we have the logistics, supply and staffing necessary to address that. The National Weather Service has extended excessive heat warnings in Portland and Seattle through Sunday evening. On Tuesday, Portland set a daily record of 102 F (38.9 C). Forecasters said the city appears to be on track to at least tie previous heat wave duration records, which currently stand at six consecutive days of 95 degrees or warmer. Sunday would break the record if temperatures that day hit 95 degrees, said David Bishop, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Portland. Seattle on Tuesday also reported a new record daily high of 94 F (34.4 C). If temperatures rise above 90 F (32.2 C) through Sunday in Seattle, that would be six straight days of the mercury topping 90 something forecasters say has never happened before in the city. Courtney Lewis and Rylee Griffin were visiting Seattle this week during the hot snap. I mean it is nice, like to help get a tan. But its just hot. Very hot, Griffin said. Forecasters predict there will be no relief until Monday when cool air from the Pacific Ocean blows in. Climate change is fueling longer heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts. Residents and officials in the Northwest have been trying to adjust to the likely reality of longer, hotter heat waves following last summers deadly heat dome weather phenomenon that prompted record temperatures and deaths. About 800 people died in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia during that heat wave, which hit in late June and early July. The temperature at the time soared to an all-time high of 116 F (46.7 C) in Portland and smashed heat records in cities and towns across the region. Many of those who died were older and lived alone. While the current heat wave will not see such high temperatures, it remains very serious nonetheless, said Andrea Hamberg, interim director of Environmental Health Services at the Multnomah County Health Department in Oregon. This heat event might not feel as severe as the June 2021 heat dome. But in many ways it is, Hamberg said, warning of a scorching day six and a day seven that is forecast to be even hotter. "To compound that risk, we are not getting the overnight lows our homes need to cool and our bodies need to recover, said Hamberg. Forecasters predict the low in Portland Friday night will not dip below 70 F (21.1 C). Due to the long duration of the heat spell, officials have urged residents to check in on people who are more at risk of heat-related illness, such as older people and those who live alone. During the 2021 heat dome, 78% of those who died in Multnomah County were 60 or older, and 71% lived alone, Hamberg said. She added that 94% of people died in their own homes. The heat wave stretches south into Northern California and Nevada, where records fell for the second day in a row Friday in Reno with a high of 104 F (40 C). Even in the mountains around Lake Tahoe above elevations of 6,200 feet (1,890 meters), South Lake Tahoe, California followed Thursdays record-high of 92 F (33.3 C) with a high of 91 F (32.8 C) on Friday, tying the previous mark set in 1988. ___ Associated Press videographer Manuel Valdes contributed from Seattle. ___ Claire Rush is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter. The Energy in Agriculture, Energy and Farm Business show that took place Gurteen College, Co. Tipperary, Minister McConalogue at the closing of the show highlighted the role that agriculture can play in helping the economy achieve its 51% economy wide greenhouse reduction targets. Minister McConalogue said: On-farm renewable energy generation activities of our farmers contribute in a positive way to the decarbonisation of the energy system providing a diversification opportunity for farmers who remain committed to playing their part in achieving our national climate change emission reduction goals. The Minister further added that Agriculture will contribute to displace fossil fuels based energy through utilising solar panels to produce electricity, forestry biomass to displace heat and opportunities arising from the development of an AD industry. The Minister highlighted the role of TAMS and the significant financial investments that have been made to that across several different areas. He referenced the new TAMS 3 scheme which is currently awaiting approval from the Commission by stating: There will be additional investments, a higher investment ceiling of 90,000 for individual farmers, higher grant rates for Organic Farmers, Health and Safety Equipment, Young Farmers and specific funding for Women to recognise the importance of Women in Farming. The event which previously took place in 2019, brought together many different stakeholders from across the industry focusing on a wide spectrum of issues such as renewable biomass in agriculture, solar micro generation to on farm tourism opportunities. There were opportunities for one-to-one mentoring with sectoral experts in a range of different areas. Earlier in the day, Minister of State Hackett took part in a panel debate which focused on the issue of achieving net zero emissions in agriculture. Her interventions focused around the importance of carbon farming and forestry and the important role they will play in reducing land-based emissions. Minister of State Hackett said: I am really excited by the opportunities that exist for farming families across Ireland to increase their contribution to climate and biodiversity friendly farming. We must reduce land-based emissions from our peat-based soils, but farmers must be financially rewarded for providing this public good for all in society. Our department is delighted to support Energy in Agriculture, Energy and Farm Business and I would like to congratulate the organisers for an excellent, informative and well-run event. The Irish agriculture sector will be required to cut emissions by 25% in the next eight years. That's according to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, who today (Friday July 29) confirmed ceilings agreed by the government for each sector of the economy. The minister said, "Today the Government has agreed a pathway to a 51% cut in economy wide emissions by 2030. The emissions ceiling for agriculture has been set at a level requiring a 25% reduction by 2030. This falls within the target range assigned to the sector under the Climate Action Plan 2021. "I am pleased to have reached this conclusion as a way of offering certainty to our farm families and their businesses over the next decade." According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), agriculture was responsible for 37.5% of greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland in 2021, the largest total emissions from any sector including transport (17.7%). It marks a 3% increase in emissions compared to 2020, with agriculture emissions up 19.3% in the last ten years despite Ireland signing the Paris Agreement (a legally binding international treaty on climate change) in 2016. Reasons for the increase, according to the EPA, include a 5.2% rise in nitrogen fertilizer use and 49.5% rise in liming, as well as higher numbers of dairy cows (up 2.8%) and ramped up milk production (up 5.5%). Minister McConalogue continued: "The Programme for Government and the Climate Act committed us to strong climate action. The world is facing a climate crisis, so such action is absolutely essential. It also recognises the special economic and social role of agriculture, and the importance of sustainable food production. "I am satisfied that the agreement we have arrived at today strikes an appropriate balance in this regard. He added: "This target reflects a very challenging but achievable ambition for the sector. The protection and enhancement of our sustainable food production system, while ensuring that agriculture plays its part in climate change mitigation, has been a priority for this Government. "I am confident that farmers will embrace this challenge and, as Minister, I will stand full square behind our farmers on this journey to support them at every step. According to Minister Pippa Hackett, farmers will be supported through a number of initiatives promoting environmentally friendlier farming. She said, "We will be supporting farmers through initiatives such as a new forestry programme and improved incentives to engage in Organic farming and invest in renewable energy technology. "The Government will also be assisting in the development of biomethane from Anaerobic Digestion (AD), which will provide opportunity for farmers who wish to consider additional income sources while also contributing significantly to decarbonising the energy system. I am confident that we can meet our climate action targets by working together in a solutions focused way. Minister Martin Heydon noted the need for research to form part of the solution. He said, "Solutions are in development, we are seeing great progress in relation to feed additives, particularly the 3NOP additive which is under research at Teagasc. This additive was designed for continual feeding in indoor systems, the challenge now is to develop options for our pasture-based animals. "We will continue to invest heavily in research to support our farmers to produce food even more efficiently into the future as well as delivering for the environment and farm incomes." According to Minister McConalogue, guidance on what the decision means must be made clear to farmers. He said, "My priority now is to work with stakeholder on supporting and delivering these targets. Our Ag-Climatise roadmap updated as soon as possible, which will incorporate new recommendations from the Food Vision Dairy and Beed committees. The sector needs a clear roadmap going forward and my ambition is to progress this process this autumn. The Minister added: "I have already configured our supports, such as the CAP strategic plan and support in areas such as for Low Emissions equipment and for on-farm energy production towards achieving these targets. This will continue and farmers will be supported in their ambition. Regarding the decision to defer the inclusion of LULUCF (Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry) in the sectoral emissions ceiling process for 18 months to coincide with the completion of a Land Use Review, the Minister stated: "This decision has not been taken lightly, but reflects the complexity and uncertainty associated with the quantification of emissions arising from this biological system. "The EPA, in its recent 2022 National Inventory submission, included a refinement with respect to the emissions coming from the land. "I have invested heavily through the National Soil Carbon Observatory and the Soil Sampling scheme in better knowledge of what is happening across our soils. This decision is in line with the provisions of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 in order to better understand what is happening with regard to our soils and our forest estate, especially as our land use emissions and sequestration changes over time. From right to left: Nathaniel Licht, Joe Thompson, Melanie Lalone and Anna Lehnortt practice for their free concert, taking place on Friday night at Titusvilles First Presbyterian Church. The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that a lawsuit brought by a former altar boy who alleges he was sexually abused as a child in the 1960s by a now-deceased Roman Catholic bishop and other clergy can proceed We noticed this report earlier in the news cycle and tonight we want to share the aftermath. There are now charges against this youngster who is now charged with shooting at a young family in his neighborhood following allegations of bullying against his family member at school. Here are the basics . . . A security camera on her front porch captured video of a man running to the lawn, yelling at her children, and then he pulls out a gun. Its unknown at this time what was said and how long he was waiting nearby. He shot at the two children multiple times as the 12-year-old, still with her baby brother in her arms, runs through the front door. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Kansas City mother shot while with her children KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A mother is recovering from gunshot wounds after what she said was a targeted shooting at her daughter in the front yard of their home. Rosa Olivas was lying on the floor inside her house as her 12-year-old daughter was holding her 11-month-old brother while watering tomatoes in their yard. Teen suspect charged for shooting at family outside KC home KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A 16-year-old teenager is facing charges for allegedly firing more than 15 gunshots at a 12-year-old and her 11-month-old brother outside their home Sunday afternoon. The teen suspect, who is not being identified, has been charged with first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault and two lower felony charges. Developing . . . Moscow assumes that no actions capable of aggravating the situation around Taiwan will be taken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Friday after the SCO Foreign Ministers Council meeting, Tass informs. July 29, 2022, 17:44 Russia hopes there will be no provocations to aggravate situation around Taiwan Lavrov STEPANAKERT, JULY 29, ARTSAKHPRESS: "Our position of having only one China remains unchanged, the same position in words is periodically confirmed by the United States, but in practice, as you yourself understand, actions do not always match their words. We have no problem with defending the principle of China's sovereignty, and we assume that no irritants, no provocations that could aggravate this situation will be undertaken," Lavrov said in reply to a question about the situation around Taiwan and possible plans of Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to pay a visit to Taiwan. The NBC TV channel, citing sources, reported that Pelosi will start her tour of Asia on Friday, she heads the delegation of American lawmakers. According to the channel, no decision had been made yet regarding a possible trip to Taiwan. Earlier, there were reports in the media that Pelosi, who occupies the third most important post in the US government hierarchy, intended to visit the island in August. It was noted that Pelosi had planned to visit Taiwan back in April, but postponed the trip because of the coronavirus. The visit would have been the first visit to the island by the speaker of the US House of Representatives in 25 years. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said Beijing would take drastic measures in case of the visit. Torontos SickKids Hospital told caregivers liquid forms of fever and pain medicines for children will no longer be sold over-the-counter due to a nationwide supply shortage. In the south of Spain, I find an endless farm-to-table feast, from first breakfast to second dessert Megan Wu, 24, of Newmarket, left, and Julio Abrantes, 34, of Richmond Hill were both found deceased by Toronto Police's Marine Unit, after a boating collision in the Toronto Harbour and Tommy Thompson Park area in late May, 2022. - Aileen Zangouei/ Torstar Media Group Air travel could put more strain on personal budgets after a sharp increase in international and domestic airfares. (Source: Getty) The cost of international airfares from Australia has surged between May and July this year, according to new data. Travel search engine KAYAK revealed the average return economy international flight price in Australia - based on flight searches between July 1 and July 18 - was approximately $1,761, an increase of about 14 per cent compared to the same period in May. Meanwhile, the average return economy domestic flight price in Australia - based on searches in July - climbed to $406, an increase of about 21 per cent compared to the same period in May. 10 biggest price jumps Here are the international routes that have experienced the biggest price increases: Sydney to Copenhagen (Denmark) - approximately 47 per cent Perth to Johannesburg (South Africa) - approximately 44 per cent Melbourne to Denpasar (Bali) - approximately 33 per cent Sydney to Athens (Greece) - approximately 32 per cent Melbourne to Bangkok (Thailand) - approximately 32 per cent Sydney to Honolulu (Hawaii) - approximately 32 per cent Melbourne to Honolulu - approximately 31 per cent Perth to Denpasar - approximately 29 per cent Sydney to Istanbul (Turkiye/Turkey) - approximately 29 per cent Brisbane to Denpasar - approximately 28 per cent Bali airfares surging When it comes to the most popular travel destinations for Aussies, Bali is number one. Here are the average return economy flight prices between Australian cities and Bali in July compared to May: Sydney to Denpasar - approximately $967, a 26 per cent increase Melbourne and Denpasar - approximately $850, a 33 per cent increase Brisbane and Denpasar - approximately $753, a 28 per cent increase Webjet found 64 per cent of Australian adults intended to travel overseas in the next six months. (Source: Getty) London calling? Europe is the second-most-popular travel destination for Aussies, with London often the first stop. Story continues Here are the average return economy flight prices between Australian cities and London in July 2022 compared to May 2022: Sydney to London - approximately $2,534, a 10 per cent increase Melbourne to London - approximately $2,468, a 19 per cent increase Brisbane to London -approximately $2,712, a 22 per cent increase Decreasing airfares Not all international flights are attracting a significant price increase. The following routes experienced either a decrease or minimal price increase in July compared to May: Melbourne to Auckland - 6 per cent decrease Brisbane to Nadi - 4 per cent decrease Melbourne to Singapore - 1 per cent decrease Sydney to Auckland - 1 per cent increase Sydney to Queenstown - 2 per cent increase How to beat the price hikes Elia San Martin, KAYAK vice-president and general manager APAC, advised being flexible with your dates and flight times to maximise your travel savings in 2022. The most affordable month to book an international flight for the rest of 2022 is October, which is around 21 per cent cheaper than the rest of the year. The most affordable month to book a domestic flight this year is in November, which is around 22 per cent less than the 2022 average. "One piece of advice to Aussies looking for a great deal is to be flexible with your dates, and consider choosing a mid-week or off-peak flight time," San Martin said. "Travellers should also consider booking two one-way flights with different airlines to save money on return flights." Bali remains the number one destination for Aussie travellers. (Source: Getty) If you were looking to book a trip without breaking the bank, San Martin offered the following tips: Consider booking a hacker fare: Hacker fares let travellers combine two one-way tickets on different airlines when it can save them money over a traditional round-trip. Get flexible if you can be, and choose "flexible" filters. If your travel dates aren't set in stone, and you have a little wiggle room available, chances are you can save some cash booking within three days - before or after - of your desired date range. Choose your dates wisely: Flying out and returning midweek vs the weekend can be cheaper on short-haul and longer-haul trips. It is a similar story for shorter breaks. Travelling on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday generally may be a lot more affordable than at other times of the week. Percentages are on average and prices may vary with time. Set a price alert: Price alerts help travellers save money by alerting them when prices change for a flight or hotel they want. If a flight you're eyeing drops in price, an alert will help you lock in that new price, instantly saving you both time and money. Post-pandemic travel bug catching on As an increasing number of countries relax their pandemic travel restrictions, jet-setter wanderlust has kicked in big time. Online travel service Webjet recently revealed the travel industry would be getting a post-pandemic boost as the desire to travel grew. Mental health was a top post-pandemic priority, with 35 per cent of people using travel to take a much-needed break, the company said, following research conducted among 5,000 adults Australia-wide in July. Webjet also uncovered the following: Aussies are still looking locally: 62 per cent of people have gone on domestic trips in the past six months and 89 per cent of Aussies plan on travelling domestically by the end of the year. Hesitancy to travel overseas is at an all-time low , with 71 per cent of Aussies now comfortable travelling internationally and 64 per cent intending to travel overseas in the next six months. COVID has impacted travel priorities; 20 per cent of post-pandemic travellers now value flexibility when booking flights and accommodation. Travel insurance a high priority: While 59 per cent have travelled without insurance in the past, 58 per cent wouldn't travel without insurance in the future, showing the increased shift in caution since pre-COVID, particularly in light of recent press about flight cancellations and lost baggage. Early bookings: Aussies are making plans to tick off their pandemic travel bucket lists; 36 per cent are planning trips six months in advance. Spontaneous holiday planning is on the rise, with 46 per cent of Aussies planning trips only a few months in advance. Aussie travel goals revealed In terms of where Aussies were travelling to, Webjet's survey found the following: Going coastal: Beach getaways continued to be top of mind for holidays (24 per cent). Most popular destinations: Bali, Europe and New Zealand topped the list for most popular destinations, while those seeking adventures closer to home were looking to Queensland and Tasmania for a domestic getaway. Japan still popular: The Asian country ranked fourth on the list, although border restrictions were yet to be eased for individual travellers. Luxury in mind: Aussies were looking to splurge on more luxury accommodation, with the preference to book hotels (40 per cent) and resort (27 per cent) stays ranking above apartments, holiday rentals, B&Bs and cabins. Family time: Spending quality time with loved ones was top of mind after pandemic isolation. Family holidays were the top reason for travel plans (28 per cent). Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to the free Fully Briefed daily newsletter. At least 16 people have been killed in torrential flooding in eastern Kentucky, after intense rain inundated many corners of the Appalachian mountain region. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has declared a state of emergency, and called it the worst flooding disaster in his lifetime. The death toll is expected to rise as rescue teams continue to search through flooded areas. Floods began overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, but rains continued Thursday night and into Friday. Thouands of people were out of power, and people have been reported waiting on roofs or in trees for rescue. The Kentucky National Guard, as well as state and local officials, were working on rescue operations. Flash floods like this are likely to become more common in many parts of the United States as the climate crisis grows, a recent study found. As the planet gets warmer, rainstorms can become more intense, dumping vastly more water in a short period of time. When theres too much water all at once, the ground especially in low-lying areas, cities, and nearby bodies of water like rivers can become oversaturated and flood. Intense flash floods also struck earlier this week in and around St. Louis, Missouri. In addition, massive floods swept through Yellowstone National Park earlier this summer. Key Points Many unnacounted for, but no reliable number due to spotty communication So far 16 people have been confirmed dead, including two children Flood warning still in effect, with more rain forecast over the week 15 dead in Kentucky flash floods including children Friday 29 July 2022 14:28 , Ethan Freedman 15 dead in Kentucky flash floods including children Death toll to rise Friday 29 July 2022 14:39 , Ethan Freedman Governor Beshear has said that he expects the death toll, currently at 15, to more than double, per the Associated Press. Among the confirmed dead are children. Power remains out Friday 29 July 2022 14:47 , Ethan Freedman About 23,000 customers were still without electricity on Friday morning, according to Poweroutage.us, with outages concentrated in Knott, Perry, Letcher, Leslie and Breathitt counties. Story continues Flooding began overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Disaster also spread to Virginia, West Virginia Friday 29 July 2022 14:54 , Ethan Freedman The governors of Virginia and West Virginia have also declared states of emergency as some of the intense storms that hit eastern Kentucky spread into neighboring states. A state of emergency declaration can open up resources for emergency services and first responders. Photos show families escaping the disasters Friday 29 July 2022 15:06 , Ethan Freedman Rescue crews help a family in Quicksand, Kentucky (Getty Images) A family waits to hear news of missing relatives in Jackson, Kentucky (AFP via Getty Images) Rain isnt done Friday 29 July 2022 15:19 , Ethan Freedman Parts of the US, including Kentucky, could experience more flooding in the week to come, as inches more rain is expected across a large swath of the country, per the National Weather Service Over the next 7 days, a large swath of precipitation will extend from the Desert Southwest thru the South Central US to the Mid-Atlantic, bringing increased threats for flash flooding as Excessive Rainfall may bring QPF totals as high as 5" in some locations thru Thu 08/04 pic.twitter.com/S3WFyu4HLW NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) July 28, 2022 Biden issues disaster declaration Friday 29 July 2022 15:22 , Ethan Freedman President Joe Biden has declared a federal disaster in response to the flooding in eastern Kentucky, opening up more resources to help emergency responders, per a statement from the white houe Governor gives update briefing Friday 29 July 2022 15:38 , Ethan Freedman Governor Andy Beshear had expected to give an update on the ground in Hazard, Kentucky, but it was not safe to land, he said at a briefing Death toll rises to 16 Friday 29 July 2022 15:39 , Ethan Freedman At least 16 have died the Governor said on Friday morning In Knott County, 11 have died, including two children Hundreds are in shelter Friday 29 July 2022 15:41 , Ethan Freedman 337 people are in shelters across the area of eastern Kentucky, Governor Beshear said on Friday morning Dam breach a concern Friday 29 July 2022 15:44 , Ethan Freedman The Panbowl Dam, near Jackson, is at risk of breaching, after dicharge was seen coming through it. While concerns are not as high as last night, the Governor said anyone still in the area that could be affected should evacuate. Thousands still without power Friday 29 July 2022 15:46 , Ethan Freedman Just short of 24,000 people are still without power, Governor Beshear said Roads still blocked Friday 29 July 2022 15:50 , Ethan Freedman At least 28 state roads are still blocked, but some areas are unable to even be reached for clearing due to damage, the Governor said Friday 29 July 2022 15:51 , Ethan Freedman The people impacted by this are going to lose just about everyting, Gov Beshear said Nearly 300 rescued at least Friday 29 July 2022 15:53 , Ethan Freedman About 294 people have been rescued, including over 100 via air operations, the governor said on Friday, though the number may be higher Friday 29 July 2022 15:55 , Ethan Freedman We are here to help you, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Friday 29 July 2022 15:57 , Ethan Freedman Many people are still unaccounted for, FEMA Administrator Criswell said Friday 29 July 2022 15:59 , Ethan Freedman This isnt over, Governor Beshear said. The water wont crest in some areas until tomorrow, he noted, and rain is going to continue this weekend and into next week. Friday 29 July 2022 16:02 , Ethan Freedman Currently there is no reliable number of the people unaccounted for, in large part due to spotty communication in many of these areas, the governor said Friday 29 July 2022 16:04 , Ethan Freedman Perry County is still trying to figure out how many bridges theyve lost, Governor Beshear said Friday 29 July 2022 16:06 , Ethan Freedman This kind of flooding, being so high, is hard to prevent, the governor said Friday 29 July 2022 16:13 , Ethan Freedman The North Fork Kentucky River in Whitesburg, Kentucky reached major flooding status on Thursday, shattering the record high with over 20 feet of water The North Fork Kentucky River flood gauge showed record high water levels (NOAA) Flood warnings still active Friday 29 July 2022 16:16 , Ethan Freedman Flood watches, warnings and advisories are still in effect for parts of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee as the forecast calls for more in the next few days Rain will continue this week Friday 29 July 2022 16:21 , Ethan Freedman Up to three more inches of rain is expected over the next week in part of eastern Kentucky, which brings continued flood risk as conditions remain wet Seven-day rainfall potential, showing up to four inches in part of the country (NOAA) Flooding also hits Las Vegas Friday 29 July 2022 16:31 , Ethan Freedman A flash flood struck in Las Vegas, Nevada last night, bringing rushing water to the Las Vegas Strip @News3LV this is the Linq parking garage on the Strip. pic.twitter.com/lWfKULEAom Coach Ken Camp (@CoachKenCamp) July 29, 2022 Friday 29 July 2022 17:05 , Ethan Freedman April Stivers was airlifted from her home in Lost Creek, Kentucky after her partner busted a hole in the roof to escape (Getty Images) Friday 29 July 2022 18:21 , Ethan Freedman Firefighters from Lexington, Kentucky head out to look for people in Lost Creek, Kentucky on Friday (Getty Images) Friday 29 July 2022 18:27 , Ethan Freedman Many of the floods were in Appalachian towns along stream-lined valleys, reports the Associated Press, where intense rain pushed waters higher. Governor and FEMA administrator survey dmanage Friday 29 July 2022 18:29 , Ethan Freedman Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell have taken to the skies to oversee flooding and damage in eastern Kentucky Photos tweeted by Ms Criswell show towns and roads inundated with muddy water Im in the air right now with @govandybeshear surveying the damage caused by devastating flooding in eastern Kentucky.@FEMA is here to help now, and we will be here to assist through your recovery as long as you need us. pic.twitter.com/dNy6iEcD2p Deanne Criswell (@FEMA_Deanne) July 29, 2022 Friday 29 July 2022 19:40 , Ethan Freedman President Joe Biden is expected call Kentucky Governor Beshear again on Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news briefing The president has also called Senator Mitch McConnell, who represents Kentucky The three-member Farm Laborers Wage Board will meet in September and issue a final recommendation on whether the overtime threshold should be lowered for New York farmworkers. The meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6 the day after Labor Day. The board will vote on its final report. If it is approved, state Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon will have 45 days to review it and decide whether to go along with the board's recommendations. Based on the timeline, a final decision would be made no later than Friday, Oct. 21. More information about the wage board meeting will be posted at dol.ny.gov/farm-laborers-wage-board-hearings. The wage board met in January and, in a 2-1 vote, approved three resolutions, one of which was to endorse a 40-hour overtime threshold for farmworkers. Denis Hughes, former president of the New York State AFL-CIO, and Brenda McDuffie, former president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League, voted for the change. It was opposed by New York Farm Bureau David Fisher, who also sits on the board. The proposal supported by Hughes and McDuffie would phase in the 40-hour overtime threshold over an eight-year period beginning in 2024. Every two years, the overtime standard would decrease by four hours in 2024, it would be 56 hours a week, then 52 in 2026, 48 in 2028, 44 in 2030 and 40 in 2032. Advocacy groups for farmworkers praised the wage board's vote, while farmers criticized the decision to lower the overtime threshold. Proponents of the change believe it would treat farmworkers like workers in other industries. But farmers worry that it could have serious economic consequences one survey found that some farms may close or move out of state due to the policy. You are going to have to watch what you say on those Whatsapp messages, memes and Blogs afte Russian forces deployed in Ukraine are insufficient for Russia to replace the government in Kyiv. Thats according to the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "Currently, Russias deployed forces in Ukraine are insufficient for it to achieve its stated objective of replacing the government in Kyiv," reads the tweet posted by the agencys press service. It is noted that "Russia will continue to struggle to make even modest tactical progress on the eastern and southern fronts." At the same time, the Russian Federation no longer has sufficient reserves to replenish its group operating in Ukraine. "Almost all Russian Army units have been involved in combat in Ukraine. Russia has seen such high casualties across most of its Army units that it is struggling to even find untrained recruits to backfill deployed units, the report reads. This leads to a significant decrease in the number of participants in this years annual strategic military exercises Vostok. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will take revenge for every killed or maimed Ukrainian soldier. The Army commander has issued the relevant statement on social media, commenting on the Russian terrorist attack targeting a penal colony in the occupied Olenivka, where Ukrainian POWs were held, Ukrinform reports. "Russia is a terrorist state. The atrocities committed by the Russians against our prisoners of war spark fury. We will avenge every dead or maimed brother-in-arms," Zaluzhnyi wrote. He emphasized that, unlike Russian war criminals, Ukraine adheres to the norms of international humanitarian law. "We will do everything possible - and impossible - to punish those guilty of crimes against our brothers- and sisters-in-arms, as well as civilians. These crimes have no statute of limitations. Beware, enemies, you will have no place to hide on this Earth," said the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As Ukrinform reported earlier, law enforcers had opened criminal proceedings into the Russian attack targeting a penal colony in Olenivka, Donetsk region, as a result of which about 40 people were killed and 130 injured. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian military deliberately attacked the facility where Ukrainian POWs were held. The General Staff decried the Kremlin's statements about the alleged shelling of civilian infrastructure and population by the Armed Forces of Ukraine as blatant lies and provocation. According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Ukrainian POWs could have been killed by mercenaries with the Wagner (Liga) Private Military Company, integrated into the Russian invasion forces. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, and the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, demand that the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross respond to Russia's terrorist attack in Olenivka, Donetsk region. Thats according to a joint statement released by the Ukrainian Ombudsman in relation to the mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war on July 29 in the village of Olenivka, Ukrinform reports. "We demand that the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which acted as guarantors of the lives and health of Ukrainian prisoners of war, immediately respond to the terrorist act committed by the Russian Federation," the statement emphasizes. Its authors demand that the inspection mission, consisting of the UN and ICRC officials, the Ukrainian Ombudsman, and representatives of the Joint Center for the Search and Release of Prisoners, be Donetsk region. As recalled by the signatories, on the night of July 29, an explosion rocked the former correctional colony No. 210 in Olenivka, a settlement in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region. As a result, the building in which Ukrainian prisoners of war had been held was destroyed. It is noted that, according to the Russian reports, more than 50 captured Ukrainian defenders were killed, while the number of wounded remains unclear. According to the comments issued by the Russian side, not a single penitentiary administration staffer, DPR militant, or Russian soldier guarding the premises was injured by the blast. "Immediately after the explosion, Russia accused Ukraine of shelling a penal colony with American weapons and killing Ukrainian soldiers," the statement said. According to the Ukrainian military and law enforcement, the explosion is a cynical terrorist act on the part of the Russian Federation, a military provocation, and a classic false flag operation, aimed to cover up war crimes, compromise the Armed Forces, disrupt the supply of Western weapons, and destabilize Ukraine. At the same time, it is emphasized that the Ukrainian Army strikes target exclusively Russian military facilities: fuel, arms, and ammunition depots, command and control posts, and military infrastructure facilities. It is noted that the Ukrainian Army has sufficient means to identify targets, including space reconnaissance systems, but Ukraine fired no missiles and artillery shells at Olenivka. Also, the authors of the statement remind that the format of the Mariupol defenders evacuation from the territory of the Azovstal plant provided for a ceasefire and surrender of the Ukrainian military as prisoners of war, with their subsequent exchange under the guarantees of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. It is noted that this format was chosen and approved by the Mariupol defenders, who took part in the negotiations. In particular, on June 29, the first of the scheduled swaps took place, as a result of which 144 Ukrainian servicemen returned to Ukraine, including 95 Azovstal defenders. The key condition of the chosen format was for Russia to undertake commitment to international organizations regarding the preservation of the lives and health of Ukrainian defenders, military and law enforcement officials emphasized, and stated that this guarantee was cynically violated. It is also stressed that multiple pieces of evidence testify to the pre-planned nature of the crime committed against Ukrainian POWs. In particular, it is about the deliberate transfer of POWs to a new barrack shortly before the explosion occurred, the nature of the damage and the blast wave, invaders communications intercepts, the absence of shelling traces in the specified location, and other evidence. "All this leaves no doubt: the explosion in Olenivka was a Russian terrorist act and a gross violation of international agreements," the authors of the statement are convinced. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian military deliberately attacked the facility where Ukrainian POWs were held. The General Staff decried the Kremlin's statements about the alleged shelling of civilian infrastructure and population by the Armed Forces of Ukraine as blatant lies and provocation. According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Ukrainian POWs could have been killed by mercenaries with the Wagner (Liga) Private Military Company, integrated into the Russian invasion forces. The Government of North Macedonia adopted a decision to donate Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine to fight Russian aggression. The Ministry of Defence of North Macedonia said Ukraine will receive tanks belonging to the country's tank battalion which is in the process of being upgraded, Reuters informs. "Taking into account this situation and the requirements of the Ukrainian defence ministry, the government has decided that a certain quantity of these (tank) capacities will be donated to Ukraine, in line with its needs," the statement said. The ministry did not specify the number of tanks, but it said they belonged to the so called third generation of main battle tanks from the 1970s and 1980s that have composite armour and computer-stabilised firing control systems. As reported, on July 28, the Government of Latvia supported the proposal of the countrys Ministry of Defence to provide additional military support to Ukraine. Photo credit: Georgi Licovski ol German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht greenlighted the transfer of 16 Biber armored bridgelayers to the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "We continue to support! Minister Lambrecht adopted a decision to send 16 Biber armored bridgelayers to further support the Land Forces of Ukraine. They can be used to overcome water and other obstacles during the battle," the Ministry of Defense of Germany posted on Twitter. As noted on the website of the Bundeswehr, Biber bridgelayers help the engineering groups to ensure the mobility of troops to overcome cross-sections of terrain, ravines or water reservoirs. When laying, the high-speed armored bridge with a total length of 22 meters is connected from two halves. Biber bridgelayers are made on the chassis of Leopard-1 tank. Earlier, Germany sent three Mars II MLRS to Ukraine. Ten PzH 200 self-propelled howitzers and five Gepard armored fighting vehicles are already in Ukraine. ol On July 27, a Syrian ship, loaded in Feodosia with barley taken from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, entered the Lebanese port of Tripoli. Relevant information was posted by the Embassy of Ukraine in Lebanon on Facebook. On July 28, Ambassador of Ukraine to Lebanon Ihor Ostash met with President of Lebanon Michel Aoun. During the meeting, the issue of Ukrainian wheat supplies to the Lebanese market was discussed. It was emphasized that Ukraine remains a reliable partner of Lebanon and will ensure its food security despite military actions waged by the Russian aggressor. "The Ambassador drew the President's attention to the fact that a Syrian ship, loaded in the port of Feodosia with barley taken from the occupied territories, had entered the seaport of Tripoli on July 27. A request was made to take measures to clarify the circumstances of its stay in the Lebanese territorial waters. It was also underscored that this fact could harm bilateral relations," the statement reads. The Ambassador of Ukraine also informed President Aoun of the military situation in the south and east of Ukraine, the Embassy added. As reported, according to intelligence data, Russia failed to sell the stolen Ukrainian grain in Lebanon: the ships carrying the grain were unloaded in Syria. ol The ambassadors of the Group of Seven (G7) countries and Turkey have arrived in Odesa to reiterate the importance of implementing the agreement to allow the resumption of Ukrainian food exports. British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons wrote this on her Twitter account, Ukrinform reports. My fellow G7 ambassadors and I are in Odesa with Turkey to reiterate the importance of the UN-brokered deal allowing food to be shipped out of Ukraine. Russia must respect the deal, the ambassador wrote. As reported, on July 22, the agreement on exports of grain and other foodstuffs from the Ukrainian ports was signed following a quadripartite meeting in Istanbul between Ukraine, Turkey, the United Nations, and Russia. Following the signing of the Initiative on the export of grain and related food products by sea of July 22, 2022, Ukraines ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi are being prepared for the export of Ukrainian grain. On July 23, the Russian forces struck the Odesa port with Kalibr cruise missiles. Two missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defense forces. Two other missiles hit the ports infrastructure facilities. iy Ukraine and Lithuania will continue to work together to speed up the European integration of the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this at a joint briefing with his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda in Kyiv on Thursday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "We held, as usual, substantive negotiations with President [Nauseda] on security, defense, and further protection of our common interests. Russian terrorist forces are accompanying our holiday today with increased missile activity. Air raid sirens have already gone off several times this day in many Ukrainian cities," Zelensky said. According to him, against this background, it was especially important to hear assurances from President Nauseda that defensive assistance for the Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to come. "As before, we will continue to work together to speed up the European integration of Ukraine," Zelensky added. He recalled that the first Ukrainian center for citizens who have been forced to leave Ukraine due to the Russian war had recently opened in Vilnius. According to Zelensky, this and other initiatives, together with all the help from Lithuania, "emphasize how close our peoples are, how ready we are to respond to existing challenges together." Nauseda visited Kyiv on July 28 on the Day of Ukrainian Statehood. U.S. Rep. John Katko was not exaggerating when he described the significance of the CHIPS and Science Act that was approved by the House this week. "This is probably one of the most consequential bills being passed that will impact central New York in our lifetime," he told The Citizen on Friday. "This has the potential to generate the single-biggest investment in upstate New York since the Erie Canal." Others agree. When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer commented on his chamber's passage of the bill earlier this week, he called the possibility of computer chip manufacturers setting up shop in upstate New York the "21st century's Erie Canal." The legislation, which President Joe Biden plans to sign into law, aims to boost semiconductor chip manufacturing in the U.S. The $280 billion package includes $39 billion in incentives to encourage manufacturers to produce the chips in the United States. There is $11 billion for research and development and $200 million to train workers in semiconductor manufacturing. The chips bill received bipartisan support in both houses. Katko, R-Camillus, was one of 24 Republicans who broke with most of the GOP to vote for the legislation. For Katko, there are two main reasons he supported the measure. He thinks semiconductor manufacturing would be an economic boon for central New York. He has long discussed the loss of jobs and manufacturers in the region. "This has the potential to turn the ship around like nothing we've seen since then," he said, highlighting the high-paying jobs, spin-off businesses and other investments that would come if central New York can land at least one chip manufacturer. The funding that would come into the area would be unprecedented, according to Katko. He said it would cost tens of billions of dollars just to build the manufacturing plants. The factories would employ more than 10,000 people, with average salaries topping $100,000. But Katko, who is the ranking Republican member of the House Homeland Security Committee, also sees a national security benefit. Much of the chip manufacturing is done in Taiwan. That's a concern because if China decides to invade Taiwan, he said they would have a "stranglehold" on the computer chip market. The chips manufactured in Taiwan are used in everything from aircraft and cars to missile and defense systems. If China controls the chip market, Katko said it would be "to the detriment of everyone else." "We can't have that," he said. "That's a national security issue. That's why it's so important to bring this industry back home." That's the goal of the legislation. Katko said there will be five or six other locations in the U.S. to start. He is hoping that central New York, specifically Onondaga County, can land a major manufacturer. The passage of the bill is also personally meaningful to Katko, who is retiring at the end of the year. He has advocated for bringing semiconductor manufacturing home for economic and security reasons. Even as some members of his party railed against the legislation, he stood up and pushed for its passage. As he enters his final months of congressional service, he said the "timing is perfect" for the semiconductor bill. "I think it's a heck of a capstone to my career to be able to help get this across the finish line," he said. "I know this is going to be one of the most important pieces of legislation that upstate New York has ever seen. I'm very proud of that." Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has welcomed the United States Senate Resolution calling on the Secretary of State to designate the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism. The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Twitter, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. An important resolution of the United States Senate. Thanks to Kamala Harris and the Yermak-McFaul sanctions group, we are getting closer to recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, Shmyhal wrote. In his words, Russia proved this status long time ago, dropping bombs on Ukrainian cities. Call on our partners to accept this decision. It is necessary to stop Russia, Shmyhal stressed. A reminder that the U.S. Senate unanimously adopted a non-binding resolution calling on the U.S. Department of State to designate the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Photo: Denys Shmyhal, Telegram mk Former head of the British Ministry of Finance Rishi Sunak and the current Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the remaining candidates for the post of prime minister, promised during the latest debates to pursue the policy of unwavering support for Ukraine against the background of the ongoing Russian aggression. Thats according to The Washington Post, Ukrinform reports. "Both candidates say they will continue the staunch support for Ukraine that has made (outgoing PM Boris) Johnson more popular in Kyiv than in London," the report reads. It is noted that Great Britain has already provided Ukraine with GBP 4 billion (US$5 billion) worth of military and humanitarian aid, and is training Ukrainian military personnel on UK soil. Sunak and Truss promise that Great Britain's support for Ukraine will not slow down if either of them is elected to the top government post. Read also: Johnson visits Ukrainian military trained by British instructors Both candidates also promised to keep defense spending above 2% of GDP, which is recommended by NATO. As Ukrinform reported earlier, members of the ruling Conservative Party will vote to elect the successor to the current head of the British government, Boris Johnson, before summer end. The outcome of the vote will be announced on September 5. The finalists in the ongoing race are the former head of the Ministry of Finance Rishi Sunak and the current head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Liz Truss. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on partners to strongly condemn Russias shelling of a correctional facility in the occupied Olenivka and recognize Russia as a terrorist state. The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Twitter, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Russia has committed another petrifying war crime by shelling a correctional facility in the occupied Olenivka, where it held Ukrainian POWs. I call on all partners to strongly condemn this brutal violation of international humanitarian law and recognize Russia a terrorist state, Kuleba wrote. A reminder that, according to the data from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian troops deliberately launched an artillery strike on a correctional facility in Olenivka, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were kept. The effects of the enemy shelling are yet to be checked. In Donetsk Regions Olenivka, near Mariupol, two filtration prisons were established by Russian invaders. Here, they keep former law enforcement officers, pro-Ukrainian activists, the unfaithful until they are sentenced or undergo filtration procedures, and volunteers who evacuated Mariupol residents. It was also reported that the Ukrainian servicemen taken captive in Mariupol had been brought there. mk The second group of wounded Ukrainian soldiers 29 people arrived in Poland for treatment. They will be treated in the hospitals of Lesser Poland (Krakow) and Silesian (Katowice) voivodships, Ukrinform reports with reference to Tvn24.pl. The Ukrainian soldiers aged 19 to 45 received injuries caused by gunshot wounds, mine and projectile explosions. They have different physical conditions, but their lives are not in danger. Ukrainian soldiers were welcomed to Krakow by Consul General of Ukraine Vyacheslav Voynarovsky. Governor of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship ukasz Kmita said that the region's healthcare facilities were ready to accept the next group of wounded Ukrainian soldiers. According to him, many services and persons are involved in the transportation of Ukrainians to places of further treatment: railway workers, doctors, hospital directors, police officers, firefighters, and the Polish territorial defense forces. For his part, governor of the Silesian Voivodeship Jarosaw Wieczorek emphasized that the treatment and rehabilitation of Ukrainian soldiers was "another brick of support" for Ukraine from Poland and its citizens in the face of Russian aggression. The first group of Ukrainian defenders 31 wounded arrived in Poland for treatment on July 18. Photo: PAP/ukasz Gagulski ol | By Andrew Tie The PATIENTS Program at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is collaborating with partners in West Baltimore to improve the inclusion of African Americans and minority populations in COVID-19 vaccine research. The one-year, $1 million collaboration, titled COMmunity Mistrust and Institutional Trustworthiness to Advance Health EQuity Research (COMMIT-EQ), is supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the governmental regulatory body that oversees the regulation of testing, vaccines, and treatment approval. The initial clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine research, which have produced the vaccines made by Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax, initially struggled to include enough African Americans in their samples. UMSOP and the FDA, through COMMIT-EQ, seek to better understand this challenge and ameliorate it for future COVID-19 vaccine development to better ensure vaccines are safe and effective for all communities. When you start a clinical trial and put out advertisements, sometimes it may not have as many members of every single community represented, says Joey Mattingly, PharmD, MBA, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research (PHSR) and a co-principal investigator of COMMIT-EQ. Its important to have diverse participation in clinical trials, so we can evaluate the safety and efficacy of vaccines or drug products that come out of that research. In addition to Mattingly, other principal investigators on the project include Claudia Baquet, MD, PhD, MPH, affiliate professor of PHSR, C. Daniel Mullins, PhD, professor of PHSR and executive director of the PATIENTS Program, and Franklin Lance, DMin, pastor at Mount Lebanon Baptist Church. The focus of this research on COVID-19 clinical trials, vaccines, and variant research requires ongoing guidance from communities most affected by inequities in health, Baquet says. I look forward to the valuable and powerful input from the community participants in guiding the solutions to assuring equity and justice in research and health care. COMMIT-EQ has three main aims. First, it will build off Baquets previous research to determine the reasons that people, in particular African Americans, may not want to participate in clinical trials. Second, COMMIT-EQ will develop a set of community guidelines for vaccine research. Third, the project will create a toolkit for clinical investigators that will include best practices on recruitment, bioethics, and considerations for working with minority populations. My interest in this research builds around my previous work advancing the triple aim of health care, Mattingly says. We try to improve the quality of patient experiences, improve patient health, and lower costs. To achieve its research goals, COMMIT-EQ will take a multi-faceted approach. Focus groups, primarily with African American stakeholders in West Baltimore, will allow investigators to hear directly from community members. An expert consensus method will bring experts in the field together to develop guidelines. Although just a one-year project, Mattingly says the researchers hope to have a lasting effect on the FDA, Baltimore, and future research in this area. This grant focuses primarily on COVID-19 vaccines, but we anticipate it could have broader implications because were hoping the results or recommendations could apply to all types of clinical trials, Mattingly says. Aerial view of Za'atari refugee camp, Jordan. UNHCR/Mohammad Hawari UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, this week marked the 10th anniversary of Zaatari camp in Jordan, the temporary home to 80,000 Syrian refugees. While the camp has saved thousands of lives and created economic opportunities for Jordanians and Syrians alike, the Agency stressed the need for durable solutions for refugees. Jordan now hosts some 675,000 registered refugees from Syria, who began fleeing in 2011 when the crisis in their country brought unimaginable suffering on its citizens. Most Syrian refugees in Jordan live in its towns and villages, among local communities. Only 17 per cent live in the two main refugee camps, Zaatari and Azraq. Humanitarian support for refugees in Zaatari is spearheaded by the Jordanian government and UNHCR, with almost 1,200 staff from 32 different international and Jordanian organizations working in the camp. This humanitarian assistance would not have been possible without support from the international community. Zaatari has witnessed refugee entrepreneurship from day one. Determined to get back on their feet, refugees have set up almost 1,800 shops and businesses within the camp. From cell phone stores to restaurants, bridal shops to mechanics, these businesses employ an estimated 3,600 refugees. But they do not operate in isolation. Refugee entrepreneurs regularly engage with companies and clients in the nearby city of Mafraq and contribute to the Jordanian economy and host society. After 10 years, however, a whole generation of children has grown up without seeing anything beyond the camps perimeter. The camp has become their world. Over 20,000 births have been recorded in Zaatari camp since its opening. The camp is now home to 32 schools, 58 community centres, and eight health facilities that operate alongside civil defence and community police. In addition to co-managing the camp with the authorities, UNHCR and its partners provide protection, health and cash assistance to the women, men, and children in the camp. Over the past decade, UNHCR, in coordination with partners, has provided over 25,000 caravans as shelters and each month administers approximately 25,000 medical consultations. Every quarter, UNHCR provides cash assistance to all families living in the camp. These investments have allowed camp residents to flourish. However, UNHCR is concerned about the sustainability of the camp, which began as a temporary facility. The caravans, which replaced tents in 2013, have a normal life span of six to eight years meaning most of them are now in need of urgent repair. In 2021 alone, over 7,000 refugees requested support for maintenance as roofs and windows cracked and walls warped, leaving some residents exposed to the elements. According to a recent UNHCRs Vulnerability Assessment Framework 2022, 70 per cent of wall conditions in Zaatari are considered sub-standard. Electricity is another area of concern. While a solar plant was opened to power the camp in 2017, its capacity was only able to meet the needs of all residents for 11.5 hours a day. In recent months, as electricity demand increased for summer, UNHCR has had to reduce this to nine hours of power per day to be able to cope with the additional electricity costs incurred, as the solar plant does not provide for all the needs. In addition, economic shocks from COVID-19 and now the cost of living crisis challenge the resilience of camp residents and vulnerable Jordanians alike. Two thirds of refugee families in Zaatari camp say they are in debt and 92 per cent of families reported resorting to negative coping strategies such as reducing food intake or accepting high-risk jobs. These numbers have been going up at a worrying pace. The compounded effect of these shocks threatens to undermine the achievements of the past decade. On the 10-year anniversary of Zaatari camp in Jordan, UNHCR calls for the renewed commitment of all actors development agencies, Jordanian authorities and humanitarians. With no immediate solution to the conflict in sight and humanitarian conditions deteriorating at a worrying pace, all actors need to work together to find long-term solutions for all Syrian refugees in Jordan and beyond, and to support their resilience until such solutions are found. For more information on this topic, please contact: A refugee whose family were impacted by human trafficking shows her support for UNHCR's anti-trafficking campaign in eastern Sudan. UNHCR/Osama Idriss GENEVA - Protection services are severely lacking for refugees and migrants making perilous journeys from the Sahel and Horn of Africa towards North Africa and Europe, including survivors of human trafficking, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency warned today. In a report released today, the eve of World Day against Trafficking in Persons, UNHCR mapped protection services available to asylum-seekers, refugees, and migrants as they travel along these routes. Some victims are left to die in the desert, others suffer repeated sexual and gender-based violence, kidnappings for ransom, torture, and many forms of physical and psychological abuse. The report is the second of its kind and highlights the gaps in available protection services, notably in shelter, access to justice, identification of survivors and the provision of responses to gender-based violence, trafficking, and for unaccompanied and separated children. It covers 12 countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote dIvoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Somalia, and Sudan. I am appalled by the abuses that refugees and migrants face as they travel through the Sahel and the East and Horn of Africa towards North Africa, and sometimes on to Europe, said UNHCR Special Envoy for the Central and Western Mediterranean Situation, Vincent Cochetel. Too many lives have been lost or broken on these routes. Cochetel stressed the urgent need for more funding to implement better services for preventing human trafficking, identifying and supporting survivors, ensuring access to asylum for victims and those at risk of trafficking who need international protection, as well as bringing perpetrators to justice. He also cited the need for States, UN bodies, civil society and NGOs to redouble efforts to implement existing international frameworks like the UN Palermo Protocols on human trafficking and smuggling as the best collective means to save lives and combat these crimes. Given the global expansion in the use of technology and online platforms enabling traffickers and smugglers to advertise their services and lure unsuspecting victims, part of the new effort, he added, must also involve collaboration among States and the private sector to crack down on the use of the Internet by traffickers to identify, groom and recruit victims, including children. Digital technologies can also be leveraged, however, to provide communities with trustworthy information on the risks of irregular journeys, including trafficking, and empower them with tips and information on safe options. All measures to respond to human trafficking and smuggling, including online, must be compliant with international law and human rights standards. The report, Mapping of Protection Services for Vulnerable People on the Move, Including Victims of Trafficking, provides tailored information for refugees and migrants on services that are currently available on the different routes. It also serves as a reference for donors to target investments in resources where they are most needed, and to the actors best placed to provide these essential services. To support and assist survivors, it urges the introduction of community-based shelters and safe spaces, better access to legal services; and differentiated services for children and female survivors of trafficking and gender-based violence. It also identifies critical locations on the routes that serve as last stops before refugees and migrants embark on further journeys across the Sahara. Failing to plug service gaps in such locations misses an opportunity to help people to access protection and safety rather than forge ahead with life-threatening onward travel. In April 2022, UNHCR published an updated strategy on Protection, Saving Lives and Solutions for Refugees in Dangerous Journeys - along routes towards Europe across the Central and Western Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic This hybrid strategy and appeal called for US$163.5 million to assist and protect thousands of refugees and others. It is currently only 30% funded. Notes: Globally, UNHCR works with multiple UN agencies, particularly IOM and UNODC, as well as regional and national partners, to develop initiatives to address human trafficking. These include the 2020 Joint Framework Document on the development of Standard Operating Procedures to facilitate the identification and protection of victims of trafficking, with IOM, and a separate pilot initiative with IOM and UNODC to work with States to protect and assist victims of trafficking. Human trafficking is specifically addressed in the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). UNHCR calls on all States to ratify and apply all the international standards relevant to prevention, protection and prosecution in the context of human trafficking. For more information on this topic, please contact: Deborah and Kip, from the Myanmar Ethnic Women Refugee Organization, conducting a virtual support group session with other refugee women. UNHCR/Patricia Krivanek GENEVA - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is concerned about the nutrition of refugees and its potential impact on health outcomes amid a confluence of global crises, including food shortages and limited access to job opportunities. A third of the 93 sites surveyed in UNHCRs 2021 Annual Public Health Global Review, out today, showed serious levels of global acute malnutrition and critical levels were recorded at 14 per cent of locations. The rates of malnutrition are troubling, particularly as they were recorded before the war in Ukraine sent food and commodity prices rising, said Sajjad Malik, Director for the Division of Resilience and Solutions at UNHCR. Nutritional intake is a cornerstone to building healthier, resilient communities. In a difficult year, marked by COVID-19 and record levels of global displacement, 7.6 million refugees received healthcare supported by governments, UNHCR and other partners. The leading causes of illness remained upper respiratory tract infection (23 per cent), malaria (19 per cent) and lower respiratory tract infection (7 per cent). Non-communicable diseases accounted for 5 per cent of consultations while mental health services made up 2 per cent, a slight increase on 2020. Gains were made in the inclusion of refugees into national health policies. In the 48 countries surveyed on inclusion, 76 per cent included refugees in the national health plan, an increase from 62 per cent in 2019. All countries reported that refugees could access primary health facilities, with 94 per cent under the same conditions as nationals. By the end of 2021, the second year to be marked by COVID-19, 162 countries had included refugees and asylum-seekers in national vaccination plans. By the end of the year, 4.79 million vaccine doses had been administered to 3.25 million refugees. UNHCR also procured and delivered personal protective equipment and other critical items such as rapid diagnostic tests and oxygen concentrators worth $69.1 million to 75 operations. More broadly, UNHCR remains concerned by the disruption to services caused by the pandemic and is focusing on the uptake of routine childhood immunizations in 2022. Despite the interruptions to health services caused by the pandemic, access to skilled birth attendants for refugees remained static at 93 per cent. Skilled birth attendants assisted in 114,490 of the 123,264 deliveries recorded in 2021. UNHCR is committed to equitable access to health care and urges states to include refugees into functional national health systems and services wherever possible. The full report, 2021 Annual Public Health Global Review, can be accessed here. For more information on this topic, please contact: Trucks deliver pre-fabricated shelters using a newly-constructed tarmac road in Za'atari refugee camp, Jordan, in November 2012. UNHCR/Brian Sokol Ten years ago, a group of 450 Syrians fleeing the fighting in their country emerged from the desert under cover of darkness and crossed the border into neighbouring Jordan. Later that day, they became the first inhabitants of the newly opened Zaatari refugee camp. Within a year, the camps population had soared to 120,000 people. The tents that provided a temporary roof in the initial weeks and months were replaced by thousands of metal shelters. Roads, schools and hospitals were built to meet the needs of residents, and shops and small businesses sprang up, run by enterprising refugees. A decade since the camp first opened its gates, the population has stabilized at around 80,000 people. It remains the largest refugee camp in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world, and a symbol of the long-running Syrian refugee crisis. Jordan's Za'atari refugee camp: 10 years (UNHCR, Moh'd Al-Taher, Farah Alsadi, Producers/ Shawkat Harfoush, Yousef Al-Hariri, Camerapersons / Moh'd Al-Taher, Farah Alsadi, Editors) Here are ten things you need to know about Zaatari: Tents have been replaced by 25,000 prefabricated shelters The first refugees to arrive in Zaatari camp were given tents by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to provide shelter from the harsh summer weather. In 2013, tents were replaced by static caravans. Their life span is six to eight years, meaning that most of them are now in need of urgent repair. According to a recent assessment, over 70 per cent of shelters now have walls, floors and ceilings that are considered sub-standard. Over 20,000 births have been recorded in Zaatari This equates to around 40 babies being born every week. Half of the camps population are children and many of them have never been beyond the camp perimeter. From health care to community centres, all services that children need are provided inside the camp including schools, which are run by the Jordanian Ministry of Education. A mother and her child attend a consultation at a specialist women and infants' clinic in Za'atari in 2013. UNHCR/Jared Kohler A bustling market features 1,800 shops The Sham Elysees a play on ash-Sham, a word Syrians call Damascus, and the famous Parisian boulevard, Champs-Elysees stretches almost 3 kilometres through the centre of the camp, hosting everything from vegetable stores to bicycle repair shops, all run by refugees. The entrepreneurship of refugees in Zaatari has been featured in news reports across the world. Trading relations with local Jordanian businesses and suppliers in the nearby town of Mafraq mean there is a constant stream of delivery trucks going to and from the camp. View of the busy "Sham Elysees" market street in Za'atari in June 2015. UNHCR/Christopher Herwig Eight medical facilities provide free health care Operated by a range of international and local organizations, primary health clinics are dotted around the camp to treat everybody from emergency patients delivered by the camps ambulance service to refugees who walk in off the street. Approximately 25,000 medical consultations are provided every month, with more serious cases referred to Jordanian hospitals in nearby towns and cities. More than 30 organizations operate in the camp Keeping Zaatari camp running is no mean feat. Almost 1,200 staff are employed by 32 different UN Agencies and NGOs working in the camp. From protection to health, cash assistance and shelter maintenance, coordination is key to keeping everything functioning smoothly. UNHCR manages all these activities in cooperation with the Jordanian Government. Water is a precious resource With Jordan recognized as the second most water-scarce country in the world, water is a precious resource in the camp, which is located in the arid northeast of the country. Although all shelters in the camp are connected to the water network, in a recent survey, 30 per cent of households in Zaatari said the water supply was not enough to cover all their needs. Syrian youngsters play atop a water tanker, which used to be the main water source for the camp, in summer 2013. UNHCR/Jared Kohler Zaatari camp is powered by solar energy The solar power plant in Zaatari opened in 2017 to provide green energy and electricity to refugee families. Originally designed to supply electricity for almost 12 hours a day, the power plant transformed life in the camp, with the market able to operate at night and walking the streets made safer after dark. In recent months, however, UNHCR has had to reduce the electricity supply to 9 hours a day to manage costs as electricity demand has soared. The largest solar power plant ever built in a refugee setting provides clean energy to the camp. UNHCR/Mohammad Hawari Only 4 per cent of refugees hold work permits Work permits can be granted to Syrian refugees in Jordan to work in any sector open to non-Jordanians, including agriculture, construction, services and basic industries. Currently, however, only 4 per cent of refugees of working age in Zaatari hold work permits. As the impact of the pandemic continues to be felt in Jordans economy, a lack of job opportunities for both refugees and Jordanians is leading more camp residents to take high-risk jobs or get into debt. Two-thirds of refugee families in Zaatari report that they are in debt. Odai, 28, who has lived in the camp since 2012, owns a shop selling traditional Arabic desserts. UNHCR/Yousef Alhariri Cash is being replaced mobile money UNHCR distributes cash assistance each quarter to all refugees living in the camp to help them meet their basic needs. Over the past few months, however, cash distributions have largely been replaced by mobile money. 95 per cent of refugee households in the camp now have a mobile wallet. This innovation is allowing refugees to make digital payments and save money for the future. Most refugees want to return home one day Survey data shows that the majority of the camps residents still want to return to Syria in the future. While most believe it is still not safe at present, longing for their country remains strong even among the younger generation who have never seen their home. Traditions passed down through the generations help keep Syrian culture and heritage alive in the camp, thanks in part to the strong community ties feel that has grown in Zaatari camp over the last ten years. Harriet Tubman Home, Inc., has two years to prepare for what could be a sizable windfall. The passage of the Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act would be reason enough for the Auburn landmark's leaders to celebrate. The legislation gives them one more: Half of the surcharges paid for the coins will be given to the Harriet Tubman Home. When the Tubman coins go on sale in 2024, up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins and 750,000 half-dollar coins will be available. The surcharges would be $35 for the $5 coins, $10 for the $1 coins and $5 for the half-dollars. If all the coins are sold, the total surcharges paid will be $9.5 million. The Harriet Tubman Home would receive $4.75 million. It would be a huge influx of cash for the organization, which owns and operates the South Street property that's now part of the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn. While there are park rangers on site, the Tubman Home maintains a presence. When park rangers aren't giving tours, Tubman Home staffers lead the tours. When asked what they could do with the money, Karen Hill, who is the president and CEO of the Harriet Tubman Home, responded, "What couldn't we do with it?" "We have needs everywhere," she said. One possibility is to use at least part of the funds to build what Hill called "a world-class visitor center." The construction of a visitor center for the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park was included in the Upstate Revitalization Initiative plan for central New York, but the $500 million awarded to the region went to other projects, including the $10 million Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn. There are other ways the Harriet Tubman Home could use the funding, according to Hill. She said they could provide additional programming at the site or hire more staff. "We've been doing the job but it's been with a lot of sacrifice on behalf of everybody," she added. If the initial version of the bill had passed, the Harriet Tubman Home would not have benefited from the sale of the coins. In 2020, the measure was first introduced with the goal of releasing the coins in 2022 Tubman's 200th birthday. However, the organization that would've received the surcharges was Brooklyn-based Project Legacy. Hill credited U.S. Rep. John Katko, who co-authored the Tubman coin bill, for securing the change and ensuring that the Tubman Home would benefit from the sale. "He was the real driver in terms of putting the Harriet Tubman Home into the legislation," she said. Katko, who spoke on the House floor before the final passage of the bill on Tuesday, called the vote "one of the most significant steps forward in strengthening federal recognition of the Harriet Tubman Home since its designation as a national park in 2017." "Specifically, I am pleased that the coins issued under this legislation, bearing (Tubman's) likeness and symbolizing her legacy, will directly benefit preservation and education efforts at the Tubman Home in Auburn," he said. The bill now heads to President Joe Biden's desk for his review. He is expected to sign the legislation. Before the Tubman Home can receive the money, it must raise private funds that are either equal to or more than the surcharges. If it doesn't, according to the bill's text, the U.S. Treasury will "promptly pay to the other entity the proceeds of such surcharge." The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati will split the surcharges with the Auburn site. The Harriet Tubman Home, according to Hill, is planning a "robust fundraising campaign" around the coin. "There is a lot of work to be done," she said. The 44th annual Myles Keough Paddle, Wheel, and Run, also known by most as the Great Race, returned to Emerson Park Sunday. It's the first tim The National Highway for Electric Vehicle (NHEV) will oversee the trial run of India's first electric highway to connect Delhi and Jaipur. The National Highway for Electric Vehicle (NHEV) has announced the date of trial run of the upcoming Delhi-Jaipur E-highway. The trial run for the electric highway, which will be the first in India when completed, will start from September 9 this year. NHEV aims to throw open the Delhi-Jaipur electric highway for public early next year. The 278-km highway will have the facility to recharge EVs on it, which will help in reducing the carbon footprints. Ashwini Chaubey, Minister of State for Environment, who will flag off the trial run, said that the Delhi-Jaipur E-Highway with NHEV pilot will be the landmark initiative by Ease of Doing Business. Chaubey said, This unique initiative will benefit tourist and people to travel clean on EVs who are not even EV owners and will inspire more people to buy and participate in making India surface transport green." The electric highway has been modelled after the electrified roads in countries like Germany and Sweden. Electric highways allow battery recharging of electric vehicles plying on them. The step is looked upon as a step to bring e-vehicles into greater focus. FOLLOW US:Stay Updated with latest content - Subscribe us on FOLLOW US:Stay Updated with latest content - Subscribe us on The trail run will do an on-ground assessment of 24 electric buses and more than a hundred electric vehicles on the electric expressway to check its viability. NHEV said that every EV maker will be able to sponsor run of one prototype electric vehicle in this TECH-Trial and get empaneled for fleet orders. The Delhi-Jaipur E-highway trial run will be the longest EV TECH-Trial Run ever conducted in the country. Earlier, the record was held by the 210-km long Yamuna Expressway. Besides the Delhi-Jaipur stretch, talks are also on with a Swedish firm for electric highway stretch on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. Gadkari has urged foreign investment in the highways sector and had earlier invited EU to build electric highway in the country. He said that 22 green expressways were on the anvil and work has already started on seven of them. First Published Date: March 16 2018 North Ayrshire Council has followed its counterparts in North Lanarkshire with news that it is openly considering removing all high-rise housing from its books, subject to consultation with tenants.The authority currently owns seven towers, five at Fullarton in Irvine and a further two in Saltcoats but has become concerned at the escalating costs of maintenance borne by the need to install sprinklers and other improvements in the wake of the Grenfell disaster.One way out of this quandary would be to simply bulldoze all such homes and build 400 replacement low-rise houses, something which could be achieved as soon as 2023. Combined upgrade and maintenance costs over the next 25 years have been put at 22.5m whereas a programme of wholesale demolition and rebuilding has been calculated at 44.6m.Council leader Joe Cullinane commented: The relatively small difference in costs between retaining the high flats and building new properties means its definitely worth exploring if this is the best option for both our tenants and the Council.Rather than spend millions of pounds maintaining ageing high flats, would it be better to redirect that money to invest in brand-new, high quality housing?For its part North Lanarkshire Council has committed itself to demolish 4,000 high-rise homes spread across 48 towers over the next 20 years, transforming the skylines of Cumbernauld Motherwell , Coatbridge and Airdrie in the process.No decision will be taken on the fate of the high-rise homes until later this year. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2022 ) :Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail said here on Friday that attracting the United States foreign investment in different sectors of country's economy was the government's top priority. The minister was talking to Ambassador of the United Stated of America to Pakistan, Donald Blome who called on him here, according to press statement issued by the Finance Ministry. Economic Counselor, Aaron Fishman and Treasury Attach of US Embassy, Ms Larita Bolden accompanied the ambassador while Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha, Special Secretary Finance and senior officers also attended the meeting, the statement added. Miftah said the incumbent government was focusing on creating a business-friendly environment for foreign investors. Miftah Ismail extended warm welcome to the ambassador and congratulated him on assuming the office. He stated that Pakistan and the US enjoy long-term, broad-based and multi-dimensional relationship. He highlighted the economic agenda and policies of the government with aim to bring about economic and fiscal stability. The minister reiterated the desire of the present government to further deepen bilateral economic, trade and investment ties with the USA. On the occasion, the ambassador underscored that both countries enjoy good relations and expressed confidence on the policies and programmes of the government. He extended his support to further promote bilateral economic, investment and trade relations between both the countries. CANBERRA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2022 ) :Australia has reported its highest COVID-19 daily death toll in recent months as the country continues to battle against the wave of Omicron sub-variant infections in winter. There were 157 new COVID-19 deaths reported across Australia on Friday, including 107 in Victoria and 22 in New South Wales. The spike takes Australia's total COVID-19 death toll to over 11,600, of which almost 10,000 have occurred in 2022. Figures published by the Guardian Australia on Friday revealed Australia has one of the highest coronavirus death rates among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations. The seven-day average of deaths per million residents was 2.77 in the week to Wednesday, trailing only New Zealand and Norway. Australia on Friday reported more than 40,000 new COVID-19 cases. (@ChaudhryMAli88) TASHKENT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2022 ) :Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met here on Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Wang said that faced with the current severe and complex international situation, China and Russia, as two major countries and permanent members of the UN Security Council, should strengthen strategic communication in a timely manner, which will help demonstrate the basic situation of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, promote the sound and steady development of bilateral relations, uphold and practice true multilateralism, and push forward the development of the international order in a fair and reasonable direction. As this year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the SCO Charter and the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation of the SCO Member States, it is of great significance to inherit the past and usher in the future, Wang said. China stands ready to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with all member states of the SCO, including Russia, to make the organization a backbone for defending international fairness and justice, a stabilizing factor for regional and world peace, and an important engine for global post-pandemic recovery, he added. Noting that time reveals a person's heart, Lavrov said Russia-China relations have withstood the test of the international situation, which fully demonstrates the traditional friendship and mutual strategic trust between the two countries. Russia is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges with China and promote practical cooperation in various fields. The two sides should continue to strengthen coordination in multilateral affairs, support the central role of the UN in international affairs, maintain the international order based on international law, and support developing countries in adhering to independence, said Lavrov. Both sides spoke positively of the development of the SCO, and pledged to jointly support Uzbekistan in successfully hosting the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the SCO, promote the meeting to achieve positive results, and make various preparations for the SCO summit in the city of Samarkand. They also pledged to explore and optimize the operation of the SCO, and advance the expansion of the SCO membership in an orderly manner. Noting that the SCO brings together major food, energy producing and consuming countries, the two sides said they believe that SCO member states need to strengthen coordination, gather consensus, and jointly play a constructive role in addressing the challenges of global food and energy security. Both sides agreed to deepen the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union to promote regional connectivity and common development. (@FahadShabbir) Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2022 ) :France has filed charges against five more children of former Gabonese president Omar Bongo over allegedly benefiting from ill-gotten assets, a judicial source said Friday. Those charged in June and July as part of a 15-year-old inquiry include Pascaline Bongo, 66, his eldest daughter and former director of his cabinet, Omar Denis Jr Bongo, 28, who is also the grandson of Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Jeanne Matoua, 38, and Joseph Matoua, 40, the source said, confirming a report by Africa Intelligence. It was not immediately clear who the fifth child was. They were charged with receiving misappropriated public funds, "active and passive corruption", money laundering and "misuse of social assets". Omar Bongo, a close French ally, ruled the oil-rich state from 1967 until his death in 2009, when he was succeeded by his son Ali. He had 54 children. French investigators suspect several members of the late president's family to have knowingly benefitted from a fraudulently acquired real estate empire worth at least 85 million Euros ($87 million). Pascaline Bongo's lawyer, Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, said the charges involved "legal and factual anachronism". Omar Denis Jr Bongo's attorney, Jean-Marie Viala, rejected the allegations against his client. French financial investigators between March 25 and April 5 filed charges against four other adult children: Grace, Betty, Arthur and Hermine Bongo. Charges against the siblings included concealing embezzlement of public funds, corruption and misuse of assets, documents seen by AFP showed. All denied any knowledge of the allegedly fraudulent origins of the assets, a judicial source said at the time. They told investigators they had received the properties -- apartments in the well-heeled 15th and 16th districts of Paris -- as gifts from their father between 1995 and 2004. Contacted by AFP, Gabonese presidential spokesman Jessye Ella Ekogha declined to comment as the affair concerned "neither the president... nor any other member of the presidency". ROME, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2022 ) :Italy is heading to early polls after the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Draghi's government fell apart after 18 months as three coalition partners out of 10 withdrew their support. The pull-out by populist and right-wing partners: the 5 Star Movement, the League and Forza Italia, created a crisis as there is no longer a majority in parliament. President Sergio Mattarella dissolved the parliament on July 21 on the grounds that there was no majority to form a new government and announced snap elections on Sept. 25. This will be the ninth snap election in the country where governments on average last a little over one year. The last snap election in Italy was held in 2008 when the left-wing coalition government led by Romano Prodi collapsed in the same year. - Far-right takes lead in latest polls According to the latest opinion polls, the Brothers of Italy (FdI), led by the extreme rightist Giorgia Meloni, ranks first with around 23-25% of the votes. The Democratic Party, formed after the merger of the center-left parties, seems to be in second place with 22-23% of the votes. In the third place is the League Party, led by the right-wing Matteo Salvini, who is accused of being under Russian influence in Italian politics, with 12-14% of the vote. If one goes by the polls, neither party will be able to win a simple majority in parliament. In this case-scenario, Fdl could form a right-wing coalition government with the other two major members of the center-right alliance, the League and Forza Italia. As the saying goes, if you want to understand politics, follow the money. With the August 2 primary election for the next mayor of Flagstaff just one weekend away, the Arizona Daily Sun has combed through the publicly available campaign finance reports of all three mayoral candidates to give readers a better sense of how, and from whom, the candidates are raising funds. Becky Daggett Becky Daggett raised a total of $26,464.19 for her campaign. Over 96% ($25,541.96) of those funds came from in-state, individual contributions. Of those contributions, roughly 18% ($4,487.39) were donations of under $100. I have 103 unique donors -- some have given more than once -- and the average donation amount is $163, Daggett said. She described her fundraising as a person to person effort characterized by reaching out to all the people in the community I know, and participating in events such as fundraising house parties. About 1.5% ($422.23) of Daggetts funds came from out-of-state individual contributions. Mostly, these funds were from a single donor that Daggett described as a dear friend. She loves me and is supporting my campaign, Daggett said. Another 1.8% ($500) of Daggett's funds came from a single contribution from a political action committee (PAC) known as Arizona List. This PAC describes themselves as a statewide membership network that works to recruit, train, support and elect pro-choice Democratic women running for office in Arizona. They also supported Daggett during her run for Flagstaff City Council. When asked about the pro-choice element of Arizona Lists mission, Daggett said it certainly doesn't play a strong role in the mayoral race, but it is a firmly held value for me as an individual. I firmly believe that all individuals should have the right to privacy and the right to seek whatever kind of medical treatment that they need. When it comes to her expenses, Daggett disbursed a total of $21,706.03 for what she described as fairly standard campaign expenses. Her largest single expense of $8,744.45 was for printing and campaign outreach paid to International Minute Press, a Flagstaff business. I tried to support local businesses wherever possible, Daggett said. When reflecting on legally mandated campaign finance reporting, Daggett said she was a firm believer in transparency. I also work for the Stop Dark Money campaign, she added. She sees the reports as a show of support. I look at my campaign finance report and the number of donors that I have, and I think that shows strong community support, she said. Daniel Williamson As officially reported, Daniel Williamson raised $11,602.19 for his campaign. However, this number is inaccurate. Williamsons financial reporting contains errors, particularly around his recording of personal contributions to his campaign. He told the Arizona Daily Sun that he intends to rectify these errors by filing amended second quarter and pre-primary finance reports. A rote addition of his reported contributions produces the sum of $12,900.40, and Williamson agreed that this was the most accurate sum to work from. It is worth noting that Williamson has already filed one amendment to his second quarter report after the City of Flagstaff received an official complaint that his financial reporting was inaccurate and incomplete. Williamsons financial reporting is currently under investigation by the city clerks office, and his campaign has until August 21 to officially reply to the complaint before the investigation is submitted to the city attorney. When asked about these errors his financial reporting, Williamson said what it boils down to is that I was reading the report wrong. He said campaign finance reporting has been a time commitment that he hadnt anticipated. I have come to the conclusion that we're going to contract an independent CPA (certified public accountant) to take this over for us, Williamson said. He maintains that he is incredibly demanding of accountability, especially financially. Working from the sum of $12,900.40, nearly 87% ($11,435) of these funds came from in-state individual contributions. Of these, 4% ($485) were contributions under $100. For contributions over $100, the average contribution was $1,095. He had no out-of-state contributions. Williamson said his fundraising strategy is not fundraising but friend-raising. He said the original intention was large amounts of donors with small amounts of money, but as he came up upon campaign deadlines, he started reaching out to supporters for larger donations that could support immediate needs. Those larger donations, two of which were between $3,400 and $3,900, were project oriented rather than process oriented, Williamson said. About 10% ($1,355.60) of Williamsons fundraising came for personal donations he made to his campaign. Less than 1% came from an in-kind donation of $109.80. His largest expense was $3,014 to GWG Enterprises for campaign signs. When it comes to finance reporting in general, Williamson said, As I'm learning about campaign financing, I'm very impressed at the level of accountability and transparency that the public has access to. I really appreciate that...I think it's necessary that people have access to know where money is coming from and how money is being utilized. Paul Deasy Incumbent Paul Deasy raised a total of $15,005 in his campaign. Roughly 19% ($2,905) came from in-state individual contributions. Of those, over 60% ($1,155) were donations of less than $100. He received no out-of-state individual contributions. I get a lot of $5 and $10 donations, Deasy said, estimating that he had about 50 individual donations in this range. When it comes to his fundraising strategy, he said, I dont ask for money I dont need. I tend to play more of a ground game in these situations. I like governing better than campaigning, Deasy added. We have so many issues that I'd much rather be in the streets, clearing debris and organizing sandbagging and doing all these other things that I feel are more important than big shiny numbers. About 67% ($10,000) of Deasys funds came from a single contribution from a political action committee known as the United Food and Commercial Workers Advocacy (UCFW). This is a labor union comprised of 1.3 million members across the U.S. and Canada. Their mission includes supporting fair wages, work-life balance, access to healthcare, fair scheduling and workplace safety for their members. During the height of the pandemic, when PPE was at a premium, Mayor Deasy helped get UFCW members thousands of N95 masks to ensure they were safe, the UFCW said in a statement to the Arizona Daily Sun. UFCW remembered that Paul stood with them during the COVID crisis. UCFW had previously supported Deasy with a $2,500 contribution during his first campaign for mayor, but he was pleasantly surprised by this years $10,000 contribution, though labor rights are something Deasy said he has been fighting for his entire adult life. While $10,000 is a sizeable sum from an organization with an out-of-state address, Deasy said he really sees it as a contribution earned through relationship with local due-paying members of the UCFW. UFCW has about 700 union members in Flagstaff, Deasy said. The donation is, in essence, about $14 per worker that we mutually represent. Roughly 13% of Deasys fundraising comes from a $2,000 loan that he issued to his campaign as a private individual. Start-up money, he said, to get the campaign running. He intends to pay himself back from campaign funds, but will have to see how things go. He made similar loan to his first campaign, and then paid himself back only $1,500. I ended up donating 500 bucks, he said. For Deasy, money speaks to the priorities of a candidate. Its extremely important to know where dollars are coming from, he said. Because it is representative of the values that we have. Friday, July 29 is the last day to vote early in person. Two candidates will move on form the primary election to participate in the general election on November 8. To access all Flagstaff campaign finance reports, visit https://www.flagstaff.az.gov/4696/2022-Campaign-Finance-Reports. For more election information, visit www.flagstaff.az.gov/2105/Elections. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Jul, 2022 ) :Country Director for UNAIDS, Yuki Takemoto called upon Secretary, Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives Syed Zafar Ali Shah here on Thursday and discussed matters of mutual interests. Both the dignitaries discussed the current situation and future strategies to combat the looming concentrated epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan. Member (Social Sector), Chief Health, and other Officers of the Health section participated in the meeting. Country Director, UNAIDS appreciated the commitment of senior leadership of the Planning Commission for approving investment in domestic resources in the form of PC-I for financial support in Islamabad Capital Territory, GB, and AJK. Member (Social Sector) Planning Commission urged UN partners to constitute a larger consultative forum to discuss and find solutions for HIV/AIDS control in Pakistan involving National and International stakeholders. She emphasized the need of mapping out available resources and identifying the gaps in funding and technical assistance for the country. The Chief Health highlighted the need for intersecting oral collaboration for effective prevention and control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Pakistan in this regard he referred to the policy shift of the government whereby voluntary non-remunerated blood transfusion is being promoted to avert the transmission of HIV to the general population. Secretary Planning appreciated the UNAIDS's commitment to supporting the development portfolio for HIV/AIDS control in Federal as well as Provincial territories of Pakistan. The Secretary Planning lauded all the United Nations partner agencies for their continuous support in providing technical and financial assistance for HIV/AIDS control, especially when many people are living with HIV (PLHIV) in Pakistan. The meeting reaffirmed the political commitment of the Government of Pakistan to tackle the issue of HIV/AIDS. The secretary thanked the UNAIDS team for their commitment to continue having dialogue to raise public awareness for the AIDS control program. Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday demanded an immediate decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in prohibited foreign funding case of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI). PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2022 ) :Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday demanded an immediate decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in prohibited foreign funding case of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI). Addressing a press conference, PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is also the central ameer of Jamiat Ulema Islam-F said that PTI's foreign funding was pending for several years and urged ECP to decide it immediate. He said that people of Pakistan knew that which party had received foreign funding from rival countries and this party might be banned immediately if it would found guilty. He said PTI lawmakers of Punjab Assembly were de-seated on the letter of PTI Chairman while almost a similar letter of PMLQ President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was ignored in a same case. He said decision in the case of Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly's ruling might be different if a full court bench of Supreme Court had been formed. He said double standard in the dispensation of justice could weak democracy and confidence of people, he added. He said that we highly respect state institutions including judiciary and demanded that all decisions should be taken on merit. Fazl said that institutions should not be used for political gains or promoting an individual. He said Pakistan was created for its people and not for "Ladla", adding if any one in a state institutions was fond of politics should come in political field rather than pushing "Ladla." He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was charged in Panama case and was later disqualified on Aqama. He said religious and political parties despite ideological differences gathered under PDM's umbrella were fighting for the country's survival rather for the government. He claimed that Ladla did nothing for youth accept leveling baseless allegations against political parties. He said today all democratic forces were in one side and "Fitna Khan" to others. He said political stability was imperative to take the country out of existing economic challenges. (@FahadShabbir) Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmoodo on Friday assured the family of deceased mountaineer John Snorri of Pakistan's full support and assistance in retrieving the climber's body ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2022 ) :Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmoodo on Friday assured the family of deceased mountaineer John Snorri of Pakistan's full support and assistance in retrieving the climber's body. The foreign secretary expressed these views as he received the family of the Icelandic mountaineer, who had lost his life during a K-2 scaling expedition last year. Expressing his heartfelt condolences to the family, the foreign secretary lauded the heroic spirit and passion of John Snorri, which he said, had connected the peoples of Pakistan and Iceland. It may be recalled that the government of Pakistan had undertaken an extensive search and rescue operation last year for John Snorri and other climbers who had gone missing on an expedition to scale K-2. These efforts included engagement at the level of the foreign ministers of the two countries to facilitate efforts to locate the Icelandic mountaineer. The family members including John Snorri's wife, daughter and two sisters appreciated the government of Pakistan for its extensive facilitation and voiced their deep affection for the country. LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Jul, 2022 ) :No confidence motion against Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari succeeded. As many as 186 votes were polled against the deputy speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari. The no confidence motion was allowed in the Punjab Assembly as soon after Muhammad Sibtain Khan was elected as Punjab Assembly Speaker. The no confidence motion was moved by Muhammad Basharat Raja. The schedule regarding the election of Punjab Assembly deputy speaker has been announced according to which the voting would be held on Sunday at 1:00 pm. The nomination papers for the PA deputy speaker slot would be submitted till 5:00 pm on Saturday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel next month to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, the State Department announced Friday, as Washington ramps up diplomacy in Africa to counter a Russian charm offensive Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2022 ) :US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel next month to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, the State Department announced Friday, as Washington ramps up diplomacy in Africa to counter a Russian charm offensive. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will also go in August to Ghana and Uganda and the US aid chief, Samantha Power, recently completed a trip to longtime US ally Kenya, as well as troubled Somalia, where she highlighted the rise in malnutrition aggravated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The diplomacy comes as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov undertakes his own extensive tour of Africa, where he has sought to cast spiraling global food prices as a consequence of Western sanctions -- an idea rejected by Washington, which points to Moscow's blockade of Ukrainian ports. Blinken will send a message that "African countries are geostrategic players and critical partners on the most pressing issues of our day, from promoting an open and stable international system, to tackling the effects of climate change, food insecurity and global pandemics to shaping our technological and economic futures," a State Department statement said. South Africa, a leader in the developing world, has emerged as a key diplomatic battleground as it has remained studiously neutral on the Ukraine war, refusing to join Western calls to condemn Moscow, which still enjoys affection over its opposition to apartheid. Blinken will visit Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria from August 7-9. He will then head to the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa in a bid to show support for sub-Saharan Africa's vastest country as it tries to turn the page on decades of conflict. He will complete his trip in Rwanda, which has seen a flare-up in tensions with DR Congo after it accused its neighbor to the east of backing M23 rebels, a charge Kigali denies. The State Department said Blinken will press for the release of Paul Rusesabagina, who is credited with saving hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide and inspired the movie "Hotel Rwanda. " A US permanent resident, Rusesabagina is a critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and was sentenced to a 25-year prison term for "terrorism" after a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed in Kigali in 2020. Blinken will be paying his second trip to sub-Saharan Africa since he took office last year with President Joe Biden's administration. Late last year, he traveled to Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal as he sought to highlight democracies. Before Russia's February invasion of Ukraine, US efforts in Africa had a heavy subtext on competition with China, which has poured money into infrastructure building on the continent and contrasts itself with the United States by making no demands on democracy or human rights. - Rejecting Russian narrative - While the Biden administration identifies China as the Primary long-term competitor of the United States, it has focused in the short-term on countering Russia. Western nations have overwhelmingly voiced outrage and sought to punish Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine but developing nations, especially in Africa and South Asia, have been more hesitant. Yoweri Museveni, the veteran leader of Uganda where Thomas-Greenfield is heading, met Tuesday with Lavrov and said, "How can we be against somebody who has never harmed us?" Lavrov, speaking the next day in Ethiopia, urged Africa to resist a world "totally subordinated to the United States" and warned that other nations risked punishment if they run afoul of Western interests. Blinken on Wednesday described Lavrov's trip as "a desperate game of defense to justify to the world the actions that Russia has taken" including its "aggression" in Ukraine. President Emmanuel Macron of France, which has a long history in Africa, on a visit to Benin on Wednesday called Russia "one of the last imperial colonial powers."Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, on her trip to the Horn of Africa unveiled more than $1 billion in emergency assistance to fight rising hunger and challenged other nations such as China and Russia to follow suit. Catching Up With Laura Laughlin, Director of USM Fraternity and Sorority Life Fri, 07/29/2022 - 15:54pm | By: David Tisdale Southern Miss Now recently caught up with Laura Laughlin, director of Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) to chat with her about her duties in this role, the achievements of students in USMs fraternities and sororities, her goals as director, and why students should consider membership in one of the universitys chapters. SMN: When did you take on the role of director of FSL? LL: I served as interim director of Fraternity and Sorority Life in 2019 and started the role full time in January 2022. SMN: What are your primary responsibilities in this position? LL: Providing oversight and direction to the fraternity and sorority community, increasing interest and membership, and improving the overall fraternal experience at Southern Miss. SMN: What are some goals/initiatives you started when you took over, and what is their status today? LL: We increased interest in membership through partnerships with offices in enrollment management. The office and our students have been much more visible on campus and at events for prospective students. That hard work is paying off in in the interest were seeing from new and continuing students. There is always more work to be done to communicate the value of fraternity and sorority membership, but were off to a great start! Improving alumni confidence and engagement with the community is also an important objective; weve worked to build relationships with chapter advisors this semester and want that to continue. Our office also plans to expand that engagement to other FSL alumni. Alumni of the experience can expect outreach and events this fall specifically geared to them. Creation of a long-term strategic plan to ensure continued growth and success is another priority. Our staff wants to make sure our operations are smooth, and plans are put in to place ensuring future team members are just as successful. A lot of work this semester has been behind the scenes in organizing and structuring the office. SMN: What are some superlatives of Fraternity and Sorority Life during your time as director of which you are most proud? LL: Our office staff and students attended more than 20 local and regional enrollment management events; we sent over 7,000 direct mail marketing pieces to prospective Southern Miss students and families; we awarded four scholarships to Southern Miss undergraduates who attended UIFI (Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute) in Indianapolis, Indiana, a national leadership development program; and we created the inaugural Fraternity and Sorority Life Advisory Council (FSLAC) to provide strategic direction for the community. SMN: How does your own experience being a member of a sorority inform your work as director? What are memorable experiences/impacts from your time in college as a member of your sorority that shaped your life positively? LL: When I reflect on my undergraduate membership, I think of an experience that allowed me to learn, develop integral life skills, and build a lasting network. Im not sure, however, that I knew all of that at the time. In my work now, I try and help students understand what their Southern Miss experience is giving them as theyre living it. If students can be led to make meaning of their experiences while theyre in college, theyll be better prepared for life after they graduate. The same chapter advisors who invested in members when I was in school continue to serve their chapters. Theyve all taught me a valuable lesson about service and dedication to organizations you believe in. SMN: What are the biggest changes in fraternity/sorority life, not just at USM but across the country, in the last several years, or since you were an undergraduate? What changes, if any, do you see in the future? LL: Membership in fraternities and sororities is more inclusive, diverse, and accessible now than it was when I was in college, and I hope that good work continues - indeed, it must, for the experience to remain relevant. That means continuing to be critical of our programs, processes, and services to understand the extent to which they do or dont serve all our students. If we do this, fraternity and sorority life will continue to be set apart as a premiere student development experience. SMN: Whats your pitch to someone for them to consider being a member of a sorority or fraternity at USM? LL: Fraternity and sorority life is transformative. Membership can provide growth, connection, and empowerment throughout college and long after. College students have a lot of options when they get to school. We believe that fraternity and sorority membership is special because, when done well, it makes people better people and lasts for a lifetime. SMN: What are your thoughts on working with new USM Interim President Dr. Joe Paul? LL: I sat in then Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Joe Pauls office my junior year and asked him what I needed to do to be him one day. As always, he gave me good advice. Im really looking forward to working for him now as a professional staff member, even for a brief amount of time. My Southern Miss story feels full-circle these days! On the morning of July 28, the Department of Industries and Commerce in collaboration with Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Da Nang Branch (VCCI) held an intensive seminar on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) for import and export businesses, as well as state management agencies in the provincial area. Mr. Nguyen Dien disseminating intensive contents on RCEP Agreement The seminar aimed at concretizing the Provincial Peoples Committees digitalization plan, thereby, supporting the state management agencies and import, export business community to seize and make the most exploitation of the opportunities brought by the RCEP Agreement. The intensive contents the RCEP Agreement, which were disseminated, included trade in goods, cod of conducts, customs, trade facilitation, measures to ensure food hygiene, intellectual property, etc. At the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Dien Former Deputy Director of VCCI had the detail presentation on RCEP such as what RCEP is, RCEPs basic commitments; the differences between RCEP and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); EU Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement; as well as the opportunities, challenges of Vietnam when participating in the RCEP. RCEP Agreement is a free trade agreement signed by 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and 5 partner countries of ASEAN including Japan, Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand. The negotiation process of RCEP officially started from 2012, up to November 15, 2020, 15 member countries have signed the RCEP. In Vietnam, RCEP Agreement entered into force since January 1, 2022. Although RCEP has entered into force for nearly 7 months, up to now, many businesses in the provincial area have not gotten the full contents on commitments offered by the RCEP Agreement to apply to their work of operation. Therefore, after this seminar, import and export agencies and businesses will somewhat be clearer to implement, at the same time, taking advantages of the opportunities when implementing the RCEP Agreement", said Mrs. Tran Thi Hoa, Head of the Management, Trade, and Export Import Division (of the Department of Industries and Commerce). By Han Dang Some of the parishs elderly helping themselves to the Zambian dish of Nsima or Buhobe at the Sunday celebration. St Peter the Apostle - Airport Parish in the city of Livingstone, Zambia, celebrated the second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly with Masses and a shared meal with grandparents of the parish. Vatican News. Livingstone Diocese St Peter the Apostle - Airport Parish celebrated with the Universal Church the second World Day for Grandparents and the elderly last Sunday. Having received a reminder from the Diocesan Pastoral Coordinator on 7 July 2022 about the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, our Parish Coordinating Team started circulating word around the Small Christian Communities about the need to prepare for the day. Announcements were also made at various Sunday Liturgies, and soon preparations were well underway, said the Parish priest, Fr Imasiku Mwanamulena Ngalama. Sharing a meal and the wisdom of grandparents On the day, in the introductions and homilies, grandparents and the elderly were specifically mentioned, and a plea was made to pray for and with them. In the Prayers of the Faithful, grandparents and the elderly were interceded for. Furthermore, during the Mass of 09.00 hours, grandparents and the elderly took centre stage. They read the first and the second readings and led the Intercessions. After the Masses, a special meal was shared with grandparents and the elderly of the parish. The funds for the meal came from contributions that parishioners made for the occasion in their Small Christian Communities, explained Fr Imasiku. In old age, they will still bear fruit The theme chosen by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for the second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly 2022 was, In old age, they will still bear fruit (Psalm 92:15). With the theme, the Church intends to emphasise how grandparents and the elderly are a value and a gift both for society and for ecclesial communities. The theme is also an invitation to reconsider and value grandparents and the elderly who are too often kept on the margins of families, civil and ecclesial communities. Their experience of life and faith can contribute, in fact, to building societies that are aware of their roots and capable of dreaming of a future based on greater solidarity. Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica-Cathedral receives Pope Francis for Vespers with Canada' bishops, clergy and consecrated people. By Francesca Merlo On Thursday afternoon, Pope Francis travels to Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica-Cathedral, where he presides over Evening Prayer with consecrated people, seminarians and pastoral workers. The Pope is due to be welcomed by the Cardinal Archbishop of Quebec, Gerald Lacroix and the President of the Bishops Conference, Bishop Raymond Poisson. The Basilica Cathedral Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica-Cathedral was built in 1647, and was given the name Notre-Dame de la Paix, (Our Lady of Peace). It was the first church to be built of stone in the city. Over two hundred years later, Pope Pius IX declared it a basilica, because of the important number of pilgrims it draws. The church was bombarded and burned in 1759 during the British siege and then rebuilt according to the original plans. Various parts or decorative components were added during the following decades. It burned down once again in 1922, and was rebuilt using the old plans for a second time. In 1984, Saint John Paul II began his pastoral visit to Canada with a moment of prayer inside the Cathedral in order to share a sense of faith with the people of the community. The Basilica-Cathedral is situated in the very heart of old Quebec, and has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site. Canadian bishops' conference Amongst those present at Vespers in the cathedral later today are members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCBE), which brings together the prelates of the Latin and Eastern ecclesiastical circumscriptions of the country. The conference was established in 1943 and officially recognised by the Holy See in 1948 under the name Canadian Catholic Conference, taking on its current name in 1977. The National Secretariat is based in Ottawa. Anglophone and Francophone bishops alternate in its presidency every two years. At Vespers in the Notre-Dame de Quebec Cathedral on Thursday, Pope Francis invites the Bishops, clergy, religious, and pastoral workers in Canada to overcome the challenges that hinder the proclamation of the joy of faith, and asks forgiveness for the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people by some members of the Church. By Benedict Mayaki, SJ Pope Francis, on Thursday evening the fifth day of his Apostolic Journey to Canada presided at Vespers with Bishops, clergy, consecrated persons, seminarians and pastoral workers at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec. During his homily at the event, the Holy Father highlighted the significance of meeting at the Cathedral of the Church, whose first bishop, St. Francois de Laval, opened the Seminary in 1663 and devoted his ministry to the formation of priests. He pointed out that readings at the vespers speak about elders (presbyters), noting that St. Peter urged them to tend the flock of God willingly, and so, the Churchs pastors are invited to show that same generosity in tending the flock, in order to manifest Jesus concern for everyone and his compassion for the wounds of each. Vespers at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec Pastors, a sign of Christ Tending the flock, the Pope said, should be done with devotion and tender love as St. Peter urges - guiding it and not allowing it to go astray, because we are a sign of Christ. Pastors should do this willingly, not as a duty, like professional religious personnel or sacred functionaries but zealously and with the heart of a shepherd. The Pope pointed out that the pastors too are tended with Christ's merciful love and feel the closeness of God. This, he affirmed, is the source of the joy of ministry and above all the joy of faith. Christian joy Christian joy is about the experience of a peace that remains in our hearts, even when we are pelted by trials and afflictions, the Pope said, for then we know that we are not alone, but accompanied by a God who is not indifferent to our lot. Vespers at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec He explained that this is not a cheap joy like the world sometimes proposes, or about wealth, comfort and security, rather, it is a free gift, the certainty of knowing that we are loved, sustained and embraced by Christ in every situation in life. So, let us ask ourselves a question: How are we doing when it comes to joy? Does our Church express the joy of the Gospel? Is there a faith in our communities that can attract by the joy it communicates? Threats to joy of faith Reflecting on the joy of the Gospel in our communities, the Pope pointed at secularization as one of the factors that threatens the joy of faith and thus risks diminishing it and compromising our lives as Christians. He laments that secularization has greatly affected the lifestyle of contemporary men and women, who relegate God to the background. God seems to have disappeared from the horizon, and his word no longer seems a compass guiding our lives, our basic decisions, our human and social relationships, the Pope said. Vespers at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec Considering the ambient culture, Pope Francis cautions against falling prey to pessimism or resentment, passing immediately to negative judgments or a vain nostalgia. He, rather elaborates two possible views of the world: the negative view and the discerning view. Negative v. discerning views The first view the negative is often born of a faith that feels under attack and thinks of it as a kind of armour, defending us against the world, the Pope said, adding that this view complains that the world is evil, sin reigns and risks clothing itself in a crusading spirit. The Pope warns against this, as it is not Christian and not the way of God. He notes that God detests worldliness and has a positive view of the world, blesses our life and makes himself incarnate in historical situations to give growth to the seed of the Kingdom in those places where darkness seems to triumph. We are called to have a view similar to that of God, who discerns what is good and persistently seeks it, sees it and nurtures it. This is no naive view, but a view that discerns reality, Pope Francis insists. Vespers at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec Secularization and secularism To refine our discernment of the secularized world, the Holy Father recommends drawing inspiration from Paul VI who saw secularization as the effort, in itself just and legitimate and in no way incompatible with faith or religion to discover the laws governing reality and human life implanted by the Creator. Paul VI also distinguished between secularization and secularism which generates subtle and diverse new forms of atheism, including consumer society, pleasure set up as a supreme value, a desire for power and domination, and discrimination of all kinds. As Church and as shepherds of Gods People and pastoral workers, therefore, the Pope says it is up to us to make these distinctions and make this discernment, adding that if we yield to the negative view, we risk sending the wrong message as though the criticism of secularization masks the nostalgia for a sacralized world, a bygone society in which the Church and her ministers had greater power and social relevance. God does not want us to be slaves, but sons and daughters; he does not want to make decisions for us, or oppress us with a sacral power, exercised in a world governed by religious laws. No! He created us to be free, and he asks us to be mature and responsible persons in life and in society. Vespers at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec Secularization: a challenge for our pastoral imagination Secularization, continued the Pope, demands that we reflect on the changes in society that have influenced the way in which people think about and organize their lives not the diminished social relevance of the Church. Consequently, secularization represents a challenge for our pastoral imagination, and an occasion for restructuring the spiritual life in new forms and for new ways of existing. Thus, a discerning view motivates us to develop a new passion for evangelization, to look for new languages and forms of expression, to change certain pastoral priorities and to focus on the essentials. Communicating the joy of the faith Pope Francis goes on to stress the importance of communicating the Gospel and the joy of faith to todays men and women, insisting that it is a proclamation of a witness abounding with gratuitous love that should take shape in in a personal and ecclesial lifestyle that can rekindle a desire for the Lord, instil hope and radiate trust and credibility. Indicating three challenges that can shape prayer and pastoral service, the Pope said that the first is to make Jesus known, and return to the initial proclamation, amid the spiritual deserts created by secularism and indifference. He added that we must find new ways to proclaim the Gospel to those who have not yet encountered Christ and this calls for a pastoral creativity capable of reaching people where they are living, finding opportunities for listening, dialogue and encounter. Vespers at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec An occasion for conversion The second challenge -witness- said the Pope, requires us to be credible, as the Gospel is preached effectively when life itself speaks and reveals the freedom that sets others free, the compassion that asks for nothing in return, the mercy that silently speaks of Christ. On this note, the Pope thought of the Church in Canada that has been set on a new path after being hurt by the evil perpetrated by some of its sons and daughters. The Holy Father also spoke of the scandals of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people. Together with you, I would like once more to ask forgiveness of all the victims. The pain and the shame we feel must become an occasion for conversion: never again! never again can the Christian community allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to others, or that it is legitimate to employ ways of coercing others. To defeat the culture of exclusion, Pope Francis advocates that bishops and priests start from themselves and should not feel themselves superior to our brothers and sisters. Likewise, pastoral workers should understand service as power. Fraternity, the third challenge, means the Church will be a credible witness to the Gospel the more its members embody communion, creating opportunities and situations that enable all those who approach the faith to encounter a welcoming community one capable of listening, entering into dialogue and promoting quality relationships. The Church is called to embody this love without borders, in order to realize the dream that God has for humanity: for us to be brothers and sisters all. The renewable energy sector in Vietnam is one of the most vibrant in Southeast Asia with high demand and significant potential thanks to the countrys abundant offshore wind sources as well as abundant solar sources. Vietnam Briefing sheds light on the recent cooperation between Russia and Vietnams energy corporations on the development of a new wind energy project. Russia was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, laying the groundwork for strong bilateral and economic relations between the countries. As of early 2022, Russia ranked 24th among foreign investors pouring funds into Vietnam with the energy sector being the main focus of the major investment. New renewable energy projects underway Recently, Russias state-owned corporation Rosatom and Vietnams An Xuan Energy signed an agreement on cooperation in wind energy. The agreement aims to organize cooperation on the construction of a 128 MW wind farm in the Vietnamese province of Son La, located in the northwest of the country. With Rosatoms long-built experience as a developer of wind power projects in Russia, the involvement of the Russian corporation in the project is how it looks to export renewable energy technology to Vietnam. In addition, the corporations representative also cited Southeast Asia and Vietnam in particular as their priority areas. In fact, Rosatom is already implementing several projects in Vietnam in the field of energy and science. This includes the MoU on a US$350 million project to construct a nuclear research and tech center in Vietnam that Russias Rosatom Group and Vietnams Ministry of Science and Technology signed in 2019. The center is expected to be equipped with Russian-designed research reactors, a multi-purpose cyclotron, as well as research laboratories, an engineering complex, equipment, and infrastructure to ensure the safe operation of the center. Now as both countries further work on renewable energy and energy in general, these areas of cooperation will not only contribute to ensuring energy security and industrialization of the region but also help transition to an energy model that meets the goals of sustainable development. Russian energy projects in Vietnam Russian trade trends with Vietnam are also on an upwards trajectory. According to Russian customs, bilateral trade for last year reached US$6.87 billion in 2021, up 21.7 percent from the previous year. Vietnam and Russia are seeking out ways to accelerate their trade and investment ties which are on the rise and have aimed to take advantage of the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (VEEUFTA), which took effect in 2016. The union includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. According to a priority list for jointly-implemented Vietnam-Russia projects, 17 projects have been adopted by both countries covering oil and gas, transport, agriculture, electricity, construction, industry, and high technology. As both nations agree to continue further boosting their energy cooperation as one of the key pillars, Vietnam and Russia earlier inked a series of deals, focusing on facilitating energy cooperation, for example: Russias NOVATEK PLC and Vietnams south-central province of Ninh Thuan signed an MoU to expand an integrated power project using liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the provinces Ca Na area. Russias Zarubezhneft and Vietnams T&T Group also inked a cooperation agreement on expanding renewable energy sources. Russian companies have been operating in Vietnams energy sector effectively for a long time. Up to 30 percent of crude oil and about 25 percent of the gas in Vietnam are exploited by enterprises involving Russian investment, such as companies of Zarubezhneft, Rosneft, and Gazprom. Vietnams renewable energy also has seen considerable progress in the past few years. Particularly, solar energy production in Vietnam expanded to nearly 11 percent from about 0 percent in just four years, turning the country into the 10th solar power generator in the world in 2021 and placing Vietnam among the countries with the fastest clean-energy transition rates worldwide. However, renewable energy contributes over 3 billion kWh per month, which only accounts for 10 percent of the capacity and 6 percent of the national commercial output, according to a 2021 report produced by the British Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam. In that context, the government has issued many mechanisms and policies to encourage the development of renewable energy sources, especially solar and wind energy in Vietnam which have in turn succeeded to appeal many domestic and foreign investors and enterprises to engage in the market. Takeaways According to figures from the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), as of late 2021, Russia had 149 valid investment projects in Vietnam, registered at US$953.7 million. Russian projects are implemented in oil and gas, manufacturing, mineral exploitation, transport, telecommunications, fishery, and noticeably energy. Even though some Russian-backed energy projects in Vietnam have been put on hold due to ongoing geopolitical concerns, key investments continue in energy especially in the renewable energy sector, facilitating the countrys objective toward a more sustainable economy. A Malawian rights activist has been found safe a day after his reported abduction led to the cancellation of an anti-government protest. An eyewitness said five men abducted Sylvester Namiwa, the head of the Center for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI), as he was leaving a press conference Wednesday. He was found alive Thursday afternoon in a bush in the Nathenje area on the outskirts of Malawis capital, Lilongwe. Edwin Mauluka is the spokesperson for the CDEDI. I was this morning with him as we escorted him to police. The issue is in the hands of police because we reported that matter to police, that Mr. Namiwa has found there at Nathenje, said Mauluka. Namiwa spoke to reporters after his re-appearance Thursday. He said he would not give details on his alleged abduction until he talked with his lawyers and family members. However, he said he believed the abduction was a government ploy to silence dissenting views. I am betting my last drop on my blood to defend this democracy.... Chakwera and his Malawi Congress party are a threat to democracy but I will not be intimidated," said Namiwa. Police said Friday they have taken a statement from Namiwa and are conducting an investigation. Harry Namwaza is the deputy spokesperson for the Malawi Police Service. After taking a statement from him, there are other things we should do like visiting all scenes where he was allegedly taken to," said Namwaza. "So, once we are done with our investigation, we can give an update in terms of what we found and what will be the way forward because we also have to identify those behind these abductions. The abduction of Namiwa ignited a war of words in parliament Thursday. The minister of Homeland Security accused the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of carrying out the abduction to tarnish the image of the government. DPP lawmakers accused the government of abducting Namiwa to foil an anti-government protest that was planned for Thursday. The protest was canceled in Lilongwe but demonstrations went forward in other areas, where police fired teargas to disperse people who allegedly wanted to loot shops and vandalize property. Last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision eliminating a nationwide right to abortion will heavily impact minority and low-income women, leading to worse outcomes along socio-economic lines, according to researchers, reproductive rights groups and civil rights organizations. "The Supreme Court decision will disproportionately harm women and children of color, those living on lower incomes, including immigrants," National Urban League President Marc Morial told VOA. "Our organization will continue to fight for the reproductive rights of women." More than a dozen U.S. states have laws banning nearly all abortions that were activated when the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States. Many of those state laws are being contested in court. Other states are expected to enact new abortion bans, potentially leaving women without access to the procedure in vast swaths of the country. Several states with abortion bans tout social services and programs to help needy mothers. Anti-abortion groups say they, too, stand ready to help pregnant women of all races and economic conditions. "Nearly 3,000 pregnancy centers across the country lovingly give hope and encouragement to expectant mothers and provide critical resources throughout pregnancy and after their child is born, typically at no charge," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, in a recent statement. The group also supports Louisiana's Women's Right to Know Law. It mandates that state agencies provide information on abortion alternatives, assist women during and after pregnancy, and that adoptive parents in many cases pay the medical costs associated with carrying a woman's child to term. More pregnancy-related deaths Even with such assistance, a recent study concluded that abortion bans would result in more deaths among Black women than any other racial group. The study, conducted last year by Duke University, estimated that pregnancy-related deaths among Blacks would increase by 33% in the years following an abortion ban, compared with a 21% increase for the overall population. "By more women giving birth we can expect infant mortality to rise but it won't be felt equally because of racial disparities," said Lisa Harris, an obstetrician-gynecologist who teaches at the University of Michigan. Even before the Supreme Court made abortion access a state-by-state matter, Native American, Alaska Native, Black and other minority women were two to three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Guttmacher Institute, a Washington-based research and policy organization that advocates reproductive health rights, calculates more than 900,000 legal abortions were performed in the U.S. in 2020. Myriad factors go into the decision to seek the procedure, according to abortion rights defenders. "An abortion is not something where it's either make a choice to choose to be a parent or not to choose to be a parent," said Oriaku Njoku, executive director of ARC-Southeast, a group that provides funding and logistical support for reproductive care based in Georgia, speaking on ABC News. "There's so many things like access to food, access to a living wage, access to insurance, your race, your gender, your ability to make money for your family." Georgia example Georgia is one of 33 U.S. states that ban the use of government Medicaid funds for abortions, putting a greater financial burden on low-income and minority women seeking the procedure. In 2019, Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed a bill banning most abortions in the state after six weeks of pregnancy. Kemp recently defended the law while hailing resources available to pregnant women in Georgia. "We have worked hard to increase supportive services for mothers and their children before, during, and after birth," Kemp said in a statement. He highlighted "expanding pregnancy and parental resources, extending health coverage to a full year for mothers after birth, improving our adoption system, and reforming foster care." In Indiana, meanwhile, Republican lawmakers have proposed allocating $58 million to increase services for pregnant women, including $30 million to help low-income families under the Medicaid program. But abortion rights activists argue expanding social services is no substitute for maintaining a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. Both, they say, are needed. "Improving access to health care, education and family planning are better ways to reduce unintended pregnancies than trying to restrict abortion," said Njoku. Biden administration responds Responding to the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden signed an executive order in early July boosting federal efforts to ensure women's access to health care, including emergency medical services, family planning and contraception. The directive also seeks to protect women who travel across state lines for abortions as well as their access to medical abortions. "We cannot allow an out-of-control Supreme Court ... to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy," Biden told reporters at the White House. Anti-abortion groups remain mobilized as well. "Our legal team will continue to file (legal) briefs as needed and advise lawmakers in all 50 states," said Americans United for Life in a statement. "We are helping create over 400 pro-life bills in over 40 states and our legal experts are preparing to fight for the sanctity of human life in all 50 states." This article is based on historical research and on simply reading the Vim user manual cover to cover. Hopefully these notes will help you (re?)discover core functionality of the editor, so you can abandon pre-packaged vimrc files and use plugins more thoughtfully. physical books To go beyond the topics in this blog post, Id recommend getting a paper copy of the manual and a good pocket reference. I couldnt find any hard copy of the official Vim manual, and ended up printing this PDF using printme1.com. The PDF is a printer-friendly version of the files $VIMRUNTIME/doc/usr_??.txt distributed with the editor. For a convenient list of commands, Id recommend the vi and Vim Editors Pocket Reference. Table of Contents History Birth of vi Vi commands and features go back more than fifty years, starting with the QED editor. Here is the lineage: 1966 : QED (Quick EDitor) in Berkeley Timesharing System 1969 Jul: moon landing (just for reference) 1969 Aug: QED -> ed at AT&T 1976 Feb: ed -> em (Editor for Mortals) at Queen Mary College 1976 : em -> ex (EXtended) at UC Berkeley 1977 Oct: ex gets visual mode, vi You can discover the similarities all the way between QED and ex by reading the QED manual and ex manual. Both editors use a similar grammar to specify and operate on line ranges. Editors like QED, ed, and em were designed for hard-copy terminals, which are basically electric typewriters with a modem attached. Hard-copy terminals print system output on paper. Output could not be changed once printed, obviously, so the editing process consisted of user commands to update and manually print ranges of text. By 1976 video terminals such as the ADM-3A started to be available. The Ex editor added an open mode which allowed intraline editing on video terminals, and a visual mode for screen oriented editing on cursor-addressible terminals. The visual mode (activated with the command vi) kept an up-to-date view of part of the file on screen, while preserving an ex command line at the bottom of the screen. (Fun fact: the h,j,k,l keys on the ADM-3A had arrows drawn on them, so that choice of motion keys in vi was simply to match the keyboard.) Learn more about the journey from ed to ex/vi in this interview with Bill Joy. He talks about how he made ex/vi, and some things that disappointed him about it. Classic vi is truly just an alter-ego of ex they are the same binary, which decides to start in ex mode or vi mode based on the name of the executable invoked. The legacy of all this history is that ex/vi is refined by use, requires scant system resources, and can operate under limited bandwidth communication. It is also available on most systems and fully specified in POSIX. From vi to vim Being a derivative of ed, the ex/vi editor was intellectual property of AT&T. To use vi on platforms other than Unix, people had to write clones that did not share in the original codebase. Some of the clones: nvi - 1980 for 4BSD calvin - 1987 for DOS vile - 1990 for DOS stevie - 1987 for Atari ST elvis - 1990 for Minix and 386BSD vim - 1991 for Amiga viper - 1995 for Emacs elwin - 1995 for Windows lemmy - 2002 for Windows Well be focusing on that little one in the middle: vim. Bram Moolenaar wanted to use vi on the Amiga. He began porting Stevie from the Atari and evolving it. He called his port Vi IMitation. For a full first-hand account, see Brams interview with Free Software Magazine. By version 1.22 Vim was rechristened Vi IMproved, matching and surpassing features of the original. Here is the timeline of the next major versions, with some of their big features: 1991 Nov 2 Vim 1.14: First release (on Fred Fish disk #591). 1992 Vim 1.22: Port to Unix. Vim now competes with Vi. 1994 Aug 12 Vim 3.0: Support for multiple buffers and windows. 1996 May 29 Vim 4.0: Graphical User Interface (largely by Robert Webb). 1998 Feb 19 Vim 5.0: Syntax coloring/highlighting. 2001 Sep 26 Vim 6.0: Folding, plugins, vertical split. 2006 May 8 Vim 7.0: Spell check, omni completion, undo branches, tabs. 2016 Sep 12 Vim 8.0: Jobs, async I/O, native packages. For more info about each version, see e.g. :help vim8 . To see plans for the future, including known bugs, see :help todo.txt . Version 8 included some async job support due to peer pressure from NeoVim, whose developers wanted to run debuggers and REPLs for their web scripting languages inside the editor. Vim is super portable. By adapting over time to work on a wide variety of platforms, the editor was forced to keep portable coding habits. It runs on OS/390, Amiga, BeOS and BeBox, Macintosh classic, Atari MiNT, MS-DOS, OS/2, QNX, RISC-OS, BSD, Linux, OS X, VMS, and MS-Windows. You can rely on Vim being there no matter what computer youre using. In a final twist in the vi saga, the original ex/vi source code was finally released in 2002 under a BSD free software license. It is available at ex-vi.sourceforge.net. Lets get down to business. Before getting to odds, ends, and intermediate tricks, it helps to understand how Vim organizes and reads its configuration files. Configuration hierarchy I used to think, incorrectly, that Vim reads all its settings and scripts from the ~/.vimrc file alone. Browsing random dotfiles repositories can reinforce this notion. Quite often people publish monstrous single .vimrc files that try to control every aspect of the editor. These big configs are sometimes called vim distros. In reality Vim has a tidy structure, where .vimrc is just one of several inputs. In fact you can ask Vim exactly which scripts it has loaded. Try this: edit a source file from a random programming project on your computer. Once loaded, run :scriptnames Take time to read the list. Try to guess what the scripts might do, and note the directories where they live. Was the list longer than you expected? If you have installed loads of plugins the editor has a lot to do. Check what slows down the editor most at startup by running the following and look at the start.log it creates: vim --startuptime start.log name-of-your-file start.log name-of-your-file Just for comparison, see how quickly Vim starts without your existing configuration: vim --clean --startuptime clean.log name-of-your-file clean.log name-of-your-file To determine which scripts to run at startup or buffer load time, Vim traverses a runtime path. The path is a comma-separated list of directories that each contain a common structure. Vim inspects the structure of each directory to find scripts to run. Directories are processed in the order they appear in the list. Check the runtimepath on your system by running: :set runtimepath My system contains the following directories in the default value for runtimepath . Not all of them even exist in the filesystem, but they would be consulted if they did. ~/.vim The home directory, for personal preferences. /usr/local/share/vim/vimfiles A system-wide Vim directory, for preferences from the system administrator. /usr/local/share/vim/vim81 Aka $VIMRUNTIME, for files distributed with Vim. /usr/local/share/vim/vimfiles/after The after directory in the system-wide Vim directory. This is for the system administrator to overrule or add to the distributed defaults. ~/.vim/after The after directory in the home directory. This is for personal preferences to overrule or add to the distributed defaults or system-wide settings. Because directories are processed by their order in line, the only thing that is special about the after directories is that they are at the end of the list. There is nothing magical about the word after. When processing each directory, Vim looks for subfolders with specific names. To learn more about them, see :help runtimepath . Here is a selection of those we will be covering, with brief descriptions. plugin/ Vim script files that are loaded automatically when editing any kind of file. Called global plugins. autoload/ (Not to be confused with plugin.) Scripts in autoload contain functions that are loaded only when requested by other scripts. ftdetect/ Scripts to detect filetypes. They can base their decision on filename extension, location, or internal file contents. ftplugin/ Scripts that are executed when editing files with known type. compiler/ Definitions of how to run various compilers or linters, and of how to parse their output. Can be shared between multiple ftplugins. Also not applied automatically, must be called with :compiler pack/ Container for Vim 8 native packages, the successor to Pathogen style package management. The native packaging system does not require any third-party code. Finally, ~/.vimrc is the catchall for general editor settings. Use it for setting defaults that can be overridden for particular file types. For a comprehensive overview of settings you can choose in .vimrc, run :options . Third-party plugins Plugins are simply Vim scripts that must be put into the correct places in the runtimepath in order to execute. Installing them is conceptually easy: download the file(s) into place. The challenge is that its hard to remove or update some plugins because they litter subdirectories in the runtimepath with their scripts, and it can be hard to tell which plugin is responsible for which files. Plugin managers evolved to address this need. Vim.org has had a plugin registry going back at least as far as 2003 (as identified by the Internet Archive). However it wasnt until about 2008 that the notion of a plugin manager really came into vogue. These tools add plugins separate directories to Vims runtimepath, and compile help tags for plugin documentation. Most plugin managers also install and update plugin code from the internet, sometimes in parallel or with colorful progress bars. In chronological order, here is the parade of plugin managers. I based the date ranges on earliest and latest releases of each, or when no official releases are identified, on the earliest and latest commit dates. Mar 2006 - Jul 2014 : Vimball (A distribution format and associated Vim commands) Oct 2008 - Dec 2015 : Pathogen (Deprecated in favor of native vim packages) Aug 2009 - Dec 2009 : Vimana Dec 2009 - Dec 2014 : VAM Aug 2010 - Nov 2010 : Jolt Oct 2010 - Nov 2012 : tplugin Oct 2010 - Feb 2014 : Vundle (Discontinued after NeoBundle ripped off code) Mar 2012 - Mar 2018 : vim-flavor Apr 2012 - Mar 2016 : NeoBundle (Deprecated in favor of dein) Jan 2013 - Aug 2017 : infect Feb 2013 - Aug 2016 : vimogen Oct 2013 - Jan 2015 : vim-unbundle Dec 2013 - Jul 2015 : Vizardry Feb 2014 - Oct 2018 : vim-plug Jan 2015 - Oct 2015 : enabler Aug 2015 - Apr 2016 : Vizardry 2 Jan 2016 - Jun 2018 : dein.vim Sep 2016 - Present : native in Vim 8 Feb 2017 - Sep 2018 : minpac Mar 2018 - Mar 2018 : autopac Feb 2017 - Jun 2018 : pack Mar 2017 - Sep 2017 : vim-pck Sep 2017 - Sep 2017 : vim8-pack Sep 2017 - May 2019 : volt Sep 2018 - Feb 2019 : vim-packager Feb 2019 - Feb 2019 : plugpac.vim The first thing to note is the overwhelming variety of these tools, and the second is that each is typically active for about four years before presumably going out of fashion. The most stable way to manage plugins is to simply use Vim 8s built-in functionality, which requires no third-party code. Lets walk through how to do it. First create two directories, opt and start, within a pack directory in your runtimepath. mkdir -p ~/.vim/pack/foobar/ {opt , start} ~/.vim/pack/foobar/ Note the placeholder foobar. This name is entirely up to you. It classifies the packages that will go inside. Most people throw all their plugins into a single nondescript category, which is fine. Pick whatever name you like; Ill continue to use foobar here. You could theoretically create multiple categories too, like ~/.vim/pack/navigation and ~/.vim/pack/linting. Note that Vim does not detect duplication between categories and will double-load duplicates if they exist. Packages in start get loaded automatically, whereas those in opt wont load until specifically requested in Vim with the :packadd command. Opt is good for lesser-used packages, and keeps Vim fast by not running scripts unnecessarily. Note that there isnt a counterpart to :packadd to unload a package. For this example well add the ctrlp fuzzy find plugin to opt. Download and extract the latest release into place: curl -L https://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim/archive/1.79.tar.gz \ https://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim/archive/1.79.tar.gz | tar zx -C ~/.vim/pack/foobar/opt zx~/.vim/pack/foobar/opt That command creates a ~/.vim/pack/foobar/opt/ctrlp.vim-1.79 folder, and the package is ready to use. Back in vim, create a helptags index for the new package: :helptags ~/.vim/pack/foobar/opt/ctrlp.vim-1.79/doc That creates a file called tags in the packages doc folder, which makes the topics available for browsing in Vims internal help system. (Alternately you can run :helptags ALL once the package has been loaded, which takes care of all docs in the runtimepath.) When you want to use the package, load it (and know that tab completion works for plugin names, so you dont have to type the whole name): :packadd ctrlp.vim-1.79 Packadd includes the packages base directory in the runtimepath, and sources its plugin and ftdetect scripts. After loading ctrlp, you can press CTRL-P to pop up a fuzzy find file matcher. Some people keep their ~/.vim directory under version control and use git submodules for each package. For my part, I simply extract packages from tarballs and track them in my own repository. If you use mature packages you dont need to upgrade them often, plus the scripts are generally small and dont clutter git history much. Backups and undo Depending on user settings, Vim can protect against four types of loss: A crash during editing (between saves). Vim can protect against this one by periodically saving unwritten changes to a swap file. Editing the same file with two instances of Vim, overwriting changes from one or both instances. Swap files protect against this too. A crash during the save process itself, after the destination file is truncated but before the new contents have been fully written. Vim can protect against this with a writebackup. To do this, it writes to a new file and swaps it with the original on success, in a way that depends on the backupcopy setting. Saving new file contents but wanting the original back. Vim can protect against this by persisting the backup copy of the file after writing changes. Before examining sensible settings, how about some comic relief? Here are just a sampling of comments from vimrc files on GitHub: Do not create swap file. Manage this in version control Backups are for pussies. Use version control use version control FFS! We live in a world with version control, so get rid of swaps and backups dont write backup files, version control is enough backup Ive never actually used the VIM backup files Use version control Since most stuff is on version control anyway Disable backup files, you are using a version control system anyway :) version control has arrived, git will save us disable swap and backup files (Always use version control! ALWAYS!) Turn backup off, since I version control everything The comments reflect awareness of only the fourth case above (and the third by accident), whereas the authors generally go on to disable the swap file too, leaving one and two unprotected. Here is the configuration I recommend to keep your edits safe: " Protect changes between writes. Default values of " updatecount (200 keystrokes) and updatetime " (4 seconds) are fine set swapfile set directory^=~/.vim/swap// " protect against crash-during-write set writebackup " but do not persist backup after successful write set nobackup " use rename-and-write-new method whenever safe set backupcopy=auto " patch required to honor double slash at end if has("patch-8.1.0251") " consolidate the writebackups -- not a big " deal either way, since they usually get deleted set backupdir^=~/.vim/backup// end " persist the undo tree for each file set undofile set undodir^=~/.vim/undo// These settings enable backups for writes-in-progress, but do not persist them after successful write because version control etc etc. Note that youll need to mkdir ~/.vim/{swap,undodir,backup} or else Vim will fall back to the next available folder in the preference list. You should also probably chmod the folders to keep the contents private, because the swap files and undo history might contain sensitive information. One thing to note about the paths in our config is that they end in a double slash. That ending enables a feature to disambiguate swaps and backups for files with the same name that live in different directories. For instance the swap file for /foo/bar will be saved in ~/.vim/swap/%foo%bar.swp (slashes escaped as percent signs). Vim had a bug until a fairly recent patch where the double slash was not honored for backupdir, and we guard against that above. We also have Vim persist the history of undos for each file, so that you can apply them even after quitting and editing the file again. While it may sound redundant with the swap file, the undo history is complementary because it is written only when the file is written. (If it were written more frequently it might not match the state of the file on disk after a crash, so Vim doesnt do that.) Speaking of undo, Vim maintains a full tree of edit history. This means you can make a change, undo it, then redo it differently and all three states are recoverable. You can see the times and magnitude of changes with the :undolist command, but its hard to visualize the tree structure from it. You can navigate to specific changes in that list, or move in time with :earlier and :later which take a time argument like 5m, or the count of file saves, like 3f. However navigating the undo tree is an instance when I think a plugin like undotree is warranted. Enabling these disaster recovery settings can bring you peace of mind. I used to save compulsively after most edits or when stepping away from the computer, but now Ive made an effort to leave documents unsaved for hours at a time. I know how the swap file works now. Some final notes: keep an eye on all these disaster recovery files, they can pile up in your .vim folder and use space over time. Also setting nowritebackup might be necessary when saving a huge file with low disk space, because Vim must otherwise make an entire copy of the file temporarily. By default the backupskip setting disables backups for anything in the system temp directory. Vims patchmode is related to backups. You can use it in directories that arent under version control. For instance if you want to download a source tarball, make an edit and send a patch over a mailing list without bringing git into the picture. Run :set patchmod=.orig and any file foo Vim is about to write will be backed up to foo.orig. You can then create a patch on the command line between the .orig files and the new ones. Include and path Most programming languages allow you to include one module or file from another. Vim knows how to track program identifiers in included files using the configuration settings path , include , suffixesadd , and includeexpr . The identifier search (see :help include-search ) is an alternative to maintaining a tags file with ctags for system headers. The settings for C programs work out of the box. Other languages are supported too, but require tweaking. Thats outside the scope of this article, see :help include . If everything is configured right, you can press [i on an identifier to display its definition, or [d for a macro constant. Also when you press gf with the cursor on a filename, Vim searches the path to find it and jump there. Because the path also affects the :find command, some people have the tendency to add **/* or commonly accessed directories to the path in order to use :find like a poor mans fuzzy finder. Doing this slows down the identifier search with directories which arent relevant to that task. A way to get the same level of crappy find capability, without polluting the path, is to just make another mapping. You can then press